Work Is Sacred. Work Is A Ministry.

“Bondservants, obey your earthly masters with fear and trembling, with a sincere heart, as you would Christ, not by the way of eye-service, as people-pleasers, but as bondservants of Christ, doing the will of God from the heart, rendering service with a good will as to the Lord and not to man, knowing that whatever good anyone does, this he will receive back from the Lord, whether he is a bondservant or is free. Masters, do the same to them, and stop your threatening, knowing that he who is both their Master and yours is in heaven, and that there is no partiality with him.” (Ephesians 6:5-9, ESV)

I Thought I Was Done With Suno, Until I Used Donna.

 1Jn 1:9  If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.

I have unintentionally broken my word.

I still had a craving for generating AI music, and I thought that using Donna was the solution.  It turns out, according to sources, that Donna uses Suno in its AI generation.

So, I have sinned, and failed in that regard.

Now, what about my future use of AI generated music?

Actually, Suno has changed.  They are playing nice with record labels by making a new legitimate model, and retiring old ones.  So, in my mind, this makes Suno more ethical to use.  I'm willing to be corrected if I'm wrong.

The Secondhand Reprimand

“Them that sin rebuke before all, that others also may fear.” (1Ti 5:20, KJV)

 (Full disclosure: I decided to quote the KJV instead of the ESV for this one, because in the ESV, it says "persist in sin", implying to me that you have to wait until a pattern of sin occurs to rebuke someone.  I doubt that, correct me if I'm wrong (Proverbs 6:23) )

Another story time!

On at least two occurrences at work, someone has been publicly called out for being negligent in their duties, whether as a safety violation or not be cognizant of temperature and acting accordingly.  In both occurrences, the one who committed the negligence was given severe words on their conduct.  In one instance, it was warned that the next occurrence would result in a write-up.

In every instance, such verbal reprimands were in my earshot, especially concerning the warning about the write-up.  This stuck to me, because I hate write-ups.  Why?  Because to me, it is a mark, a visible sign, of dishonor.

So, I called these experiences a "secondhand reprimand".  I didn't do it, but it felt like I did.

Which reminded me of the above Scripture.  I've heard of other places in Scripture where public rebuke occurred, such as in Galatians 2:14:

“But when I saw that their conduct was not in step with the truth of the gospel, I said to Cephas before them all, “If you, though a Jew, live like a Gentile and not like a Jew, how can you force the Gentiles to live like Jews?”” (Gal 2:14, ESV)

Romans 13 Commands Me To Do This.

 “Let every person be subject to the governing authorities. For there is no authority except from God, and those that exist have been instituted by God.” (Romans 13:1, ESV)

I am calling the easternmost of the Great Lakes "Lake America" in the name of Romans 13.  Period.

You can read President Trump's executive order here.

The Deception of "Christian" AI Slop

 “For we are not, like so many, peddlers of God's word, but as men of sincerity, as commissioned by God, in the sight of God we speak in Christ.” (2 Corinthians 2:17, ESV)

(Props to the YT channel providing this video for exposing these deceivers.  They may or may not be doing it in the name of Ephesians 5:11, but the deceivers are exposed anyway.)

I have said this time and time again.  If anyone is trying to make merchandise of Christianity, then they're a fraud.

I have also said this time and time again, those who follow such merchants are not saved, because:

“A stranger they will not follow, but they will flee from him, for they do not know the voice of strangers.”” (John 10:5, ESV)

Heretics, false teachers, etc. are the strangers Jesus is talking about.  If you are a true believer, you will flee from them.

Masculinity Is Not Toxic. Men Need To Reign It In.

“And he inquired about their welfare and said, “Is your father well, the old man of whom you spoke? Is he still alive?” They said, “Your servant our father is well; he is still alive.” And they bowed their heads and prostrated themselves. And he lifted up his eyes and saw his brother Benjamin, his mother's son, and said, “Is this your youngest brother, of whom you spoke to me? God be gracious to you, my son!” Then Joseph hurried out, for his compassion grew warm for his brother, and he sought a place to weep. And he entered his chamber and wept there. Then he washed his face and came out. And controlling himself he said, “Serve the food.”” (Gen 43:27-31)

Again, the algorithm strikes again.

I've been slipping into watching VTubers on Youtube.  VTubers are cartoon representations of people, mostly female, and they talk about stuff.  One such VTuber is named Saphia, someone who really tugs at the heart strings of men, mainly because she always appears encouraging, soft, kind, as a defender of men, etc.  Anyway, there was one such video where she talks about why the reason men don't open up emotionally as much is because they were taught to rein it in, and not be so emotional.  You could say, be like Mr. Spock.

She says the following:

"Men are taught to hold everything in.  From a young age, men get told stuff like, 'Don't cry!', 'Be strong!', 'Man up!', 'Don't show weakness!'.  And that does something to you.  That makes you...close off.  That makes you...hide feelings.  That makes you scared to be vulnerable.  And then people get mad when men don't open up.  Bro, they weren't allowed to!  They were trained out of it!  They were told that emotions are wrong.  So, when I see a man open up, even a little, that's brave, that...is huge.  And that deserves love, not judgment."

There is one thing that Saphia criticizes in which she is correct to criticise:  The idea that emotions are wrong.  As even the cited Scriptures clearly show, this is false doctrine.

However, in this piece, I make the case that men reigning it in is good.  

Even the YouTube reviewer (not a VTuber, btw) The Critical Drinker emphasizes this point in his critical review of new Star Trek movies.  He compares the death scene of Spock and Admiral Kirk giving the eulogy.  In these scenes, Kirk is mature, and holding his emotions.  Why? As Mr. Drinker says:

"Because he's a grown a** man, and he's the captain of a starship.  He's expected to lead by example and hold himself together, whatever his personal feelings, because that's how professional officers conduct themselves.  And that little moment when his composure slips becomes all the more poignant, because you know how hard he's trying to hide it."

In the starting Scripture, Joseph is similarly moved with emotion (albeit it's a happier ending than with Kirk), and also tries to hide his public display of emotion.

Now, it would be dishonest of me to leave out the part where Joseph later couldn't handle it anymore:

“Then Joseph could not control himself before all those who stood by him. He cried, “Make everyone go out from me.” So no one stayed with him when Joseph made himself known to his brothers. And he wept aloud, so that the Egyptians heard it, and the household of Pharaoh heard it.” (Gen 45:1-2)

Even then, Joseph had everyone except his family leave.

There is a lesson here.  Heck, even when God confronted Job near the end of his unpleasant season, God says twice, as the KJV renders it, to "gird up" "thy loins" "like a man" (Job 38:3, 40:7)

Now yes, there is a time and place for everything (Ecclesiastes 3:1), even men being emotional, and wailing like women.  I've done it, as I've written in The Ninth Cloud, Chapter Four:

42 I then spake, “I pray I manifest not such fervour when I sojourn with Kebert Stella.”

43 She rejoined, “Oh, nay! 'Tis wholesome to release thy emotions!” 

44 This did stir within me greater passion. I am of a susceptible spirit. 

45 When a famed healer of the stars doth grant me leave to weep, I am wont to oblige.

(and yes, I deliberately used the chapter/verse format as a creative tool.  Is it really sacrilege to use such a format in a secular work?  I don't know.  That's for another discussion.)

Even then, as "verse" 42 says, I confessed to Medis Stella (who is really actress Gates McFadden) that I wanted to reign it in.  Why?  Because I believed that men need to reign it in.  However, her encouragement for me to let it out made me lose it.  Indeed I was of a "susceptible spirit".

In short, while men are allowed to be emotional (we're not robots, we are human), we are to still be men.  And as men, we are to reign it in, only emoting where and when appropriate.  To fail to do so is to lean towards effeminacy, which leads to Hell.  I'm using the KJV for this reference, since I believe it does a better job at rendering the Greek word malakos than the ESV, which merely speaks of homosexuality:

“Know ye not that the unrighteous shall not inherit the kingdom of God? Be not deceived: neither fornicators, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor effeminate, nor abusers of themselves with mankind, Nor thieves, nor covetous, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor extortioners, shall inherit the kingdom of God.” (1Co 6:9-10)

Even straight people can be soft.  Also, to be gay does not always mean to be soft.  The Village People, and scenes from Police Academy at "The Blue Oyster" emphasizes that (This is not an endorsement of homosexuality, nor the Village People, nor Police Academy, nor The Blue Oyster).  So, while homosexuality certainly leads to Hell (as emphasized in Leviticus 18:22, 20:13, Romans 1:27 [maybe also v. 26 if they're referring to lesbians]), men being soft, as written in I Corinthians 6:9-10 also leads to Hell.

So men, it's OK to cry, but still be a man.

Video sources:

Saphia video: https://youtu.be/osXAPojzsNU?si=9jVNdrYR3OYJ1VkR&t=80

Critical Drinker video: https://youtu.be/CQ92cggLMx8?si=zqIBdJj2CqrLmOl2&t=219

I Was Careless Once.

 ““Judge not, and you will not be judged; condemn not, and you will not be condemned; forgive, and you will be forgiven; give, and it will be given to you. Good measure, pressed down, shaken together, running over, will be put into your lap. For with the measure you use it will be measured back to you.”” (Luke 6:37-38, ESV)

I am a nearly 40 year old retail stocker, going on six months working for the company in this current run.  I have seen the work of those around half my age not only be inconsiderate in their work, but have a less than ideal work ethic.  For a moment, I was incensed.   Then I remember, I was once young, inconsiderate, and, to put it bluntly, lazy.  So, I quickly let it go.

Is it because of the "no one wants to work anymore" or "no one wants to work for less than a 'living' wage" attitude that the young are what they are?  That's a discussion for another time.  What matters in the moment was my reaction to it.

Yes, there must be accountability, but also:

“For judgment is without mercy to one who has shown no mercy. Mercy triumphs over judgment.” (James 2:13, ESV)

Even today, I have committed errors in safety and in recklessness that cost the company not a small sum.  While being held accountable, I was still shown mercy.