1 Corinthians 1:27 and Gideon

But God hath chosen the foolish things of the world

to confound the wise; and God hath chosen the weak

things of the world to confound the things which

are mighty.

1 Corinthians 1:27

There's many things one could say about that verse

in Corinthians. One main factor is obviously

'through God all things are possible'

you could study years and years

study books upon books, know everything

in the world there is to know, and

you can still be absolutely clueless in Gods eyes.

You could understand anything and everything

and still be completely dumbfounded when it comes

to God.You could quote scripture after scripture,

memorize verse after verse and still

not understand.

In the bible God always seemed to choose the people

to work through, that in the worlds eyes,

just seemed completely ridiculous.

God chooses people to work through

that may not seem like the logical choice

because he wants it known that it is HIM working

and not the person themselves.

Moses wasn't exactly the most eloquent of speakers,

and yet God chose him to lead his people out of Egypt.

And Moses said unto the LORD, O my Lord,

I [am] not eloquent, neither heretofore,

nor since thou hast spoken unto thy servant:

but I [am] slow of speech, and of a slow tongue.

And the LORD said unto him, Who hath made man's mouth?

or who maketh the dumb, or deaf, or the seeing, or the blind?

have not I the LORD? Now therefore go,

and I will be with thy mouth,

and teach thee what thou shalt say.

Exodus 4:10-12

Jeremiah claimed he was just a child..

Then said I, Ah, Lord GOD! behold, I cannot speak:

for I [am] a child. But the LORD said unto me, Say not,

I [am] a child: for thou shalt go to all that I shall send thee,

and whatsoever I command thee thou shalt speak

Jeremiah 1:6-7

and the same can be said about Paul in the

New Testament.

Or how about David... the youngest of the family..

the least of his brothers, and God chose him to lead

his people. David wasn't some mighty warrior who God

looked upon and said:

"Well obviously I'll choose David to be King"

God chose David because of his heart and then

made him into a mighty warrior.

The Lord told Samuel when he looked

upon Davids older brother (who Samuel figured

would be Gods choice. )

But the LORD said unto Samuel,

Look not on his countenance,

or on the height of his stature;

because I have refused him:

for [the LORD seeth] not as man seeth;

for man looketh on the outward appearance,

but the LORD looketh on the heart

1 Samuel 16:7

The same could be said for Gideon,

who was the least in his fathers house..

yet God chose him to save Israel from

the Midianites. Gideon himself couldn't

believe it...God had to show him a couple

signs, for Gideon to actually believe

God chose him.

And the LORD looked upon him, and said,

Go in this thy might, and thou shalt save Israel

from the hand of the Midianites: have not I sent thee?

And he said unto him, Oh my Lord,

wherewith shall I save Israel?

behold, my family [is] poor in Manasseh,

and I [am] the least in my father's house.

And the LORD said unto him,

Surely I will be with thee,

and thou shalt smite the Midianites as one man.

Judges 6:14-16

Gideon was like...me God? save Israel?

are you crazy? I'm poor..I'm no warrior...

hell, I'm not even the best choice in my

own family...and yet you choose me

of all people.

Gideon had God give him a couple signs,

and of course God came through, and Gideon

realized that God truly would work through him

to save Israel. So Gideon gathers the Israelites

together, and gets as many as he can find to

fight for God and Israel and they number up to 32,000

men. Then God says to Gideon...

"Hmm..you have to many men, Israel

would just boast and say they

saved themselves,

so tell anyone who is afraid to turn back"

and what happens? 22 thousand men leave..

First of all, lets establish the fact that 32,000

men wasn't "logically" to many men, as the Israelites

were facing a vast army of uncountable men...

So Gideon must of been like:

"Seriously God? too many? we don't have enough!"

but he did what God told him to do, and he is

now left with only 10 thousand men to fight up

against a huge force of well trained armored

soldiers. God then says..

"Uh...you know what? there is still

to many of you"

Gideon must of been besides himself when

once again God tells him he has to many men,

and he sends more home until there is only Gideon

and 300 men.

And the LORD said unto Gideon,

By the three hundred men that lapped will I save you,

and deliver the Midianites into thine hand:

and let all the [other] people go every man unto his place.

Judges 7:7

I'm sure Gideon was completely freaking out,

I mean 300 men against thousands upon thousands

is insane. Thats probably why God gave Gideon some

comfort when he told Gideon to follow his

servant Phurah and go just outside of the Midianites

camp and listen to them talking.

Gideon overhears a man telling another man

his dream, and the other man interprets

the dream to mean that God has given their

whole camp into the hands of Gideon and

the Israelites.

Gideon was put at ease after hearing that.

It obviously comes to pass that God through Gideon does

take out the Midianites, and

God did what he said he was going to do and he

saved Israel by the hands of Gideon. God made

sure by cutting down the israelite numbers that he

would be glorified. He also chose a man that

wasn't a big bad warrior, in fact he chose

a man that was unsure of himself and

was in fear right up until the last minute

Which brings us full circle back to the

verse...

But God hath chosen the foolish things of the world

to confound the wise; and God hath chosen the weak

things of the world to confound the things which

are mighty.

1 Corinthians 1:27

I love the story of Gideon in the bible...

it's Judges 6-8

The World is a Thorn(Review)

Demon Hunter "The World is a Thorn"

has finally arrived..

does it live up to the hype?

has the absence of Don Clark

and Ethan changed the band?

The answer to the first question

depends on who you are asking,

I've been a Demon Hunter fan since

I heard "Not Ready to Die"

and needless to say they are probably,

no wait scratch that, They ARE

my favorite heavy metal band

so I may be a little "bias".

So do I think the new album is worth it?

abso-Freakin-lutely!

The bands sound has changed, which that tends

to happen when you replace the lead guitarist,

and Demon Hunter has replaced both guitarists in

the band, with Patrick Judge now taking lead

and Ryan Helm(of The Ascendicate) taking rhythm.

Don't get me wrong you still hear that classic

Demon Hunter sound you know and love, but

I believe the Guitars have been greatly improved..

Patrick Judge brings a thrash metal "Pantera like"

sound to the band, which I totally welcome with open arms.

and what about the drums you ask? come on...it's Yogi..

and there are some great songs where Yogi is allowed to

shine, and the bass remains the same with Jonathan Dunn

aswell as obviously the vocals with Ryan Clark.

The album opens up with "Descending Upon Us"

where we are treated with a beautiful Guitar solo

and Yogi banging away on drums. Now I am going

to be a little nit picky here, because I don't want to be

overly bias, but I don't find the song to be a great

opening song for the album. Don't get me wrong..

I think it's a good song and I love the lyrics and everything,

I just think it feels out of place as the opening song..

If that makes any sense whatsoever.

Like for example with their last album(Storm the Gates of Hell)

the opening song was Storm the Gates of Hell and

it was powerful in your face and pulled you in

letting you know exactly what you were in for with the album.

Even before that with "Triptych" the true opening song was

"Not I" and that did the same thing and even farther back

with "Summer of Darkness" the opening song was

"Not Ready to Die" see the theme here? they opened

with amazing songs for their records, and while

"Descending upon Us" is a good song....

It isn't good enough to open the album,

and really there is a couple other songs I would

have went with as the opening to get people pumped.

That is one of my gripes, and really isn't that big of

a deal. The next song is called "LifeWar" and

it is totally a song that could of started the album off...

Patrick Judge shines here and this is really where you

can hear that "Pantera like" thrash metal sound in

the guitar. I really love this song and to be honest

might be my favorite except I really can't decide on

my favorite off this album yet(Seriously)

The third song is called "Collapsing" and it

is the first single off the album it has that

"Tide begins to Rise"/"Fading Away"

Demon Hunter feel to it. Ryan is joined

by Bjorn "Speed" Strid as guest vocalist

and really I don't have much to say about the song...

It's really one of those songs that has become

a niche for Demon Hunter....I love it.

"No Vow of silence...No remission of truth!"

Next song is called "This is the line"

a powerful anthem of a song as much

as "Follow The Wolves" was on the last album.

Lyrically and musically this song is amazing

and this is a song where it just feels like everyone

is stepping it up, everyone just seems to be clicking...

Yogi is dominating the drums(A song where he shines)

Ryan with his lyrics and vocals step it up ect ect...

EVERYONE shines here...no joke, and to me

this is yet another song which could of and maybe should

have been the opening song. The song is about defining a

line, what's right and what's wrong, good/evil and choosing

a side realizing there is NO middle.

"Scum of the Earth (power of Air)

you wanted the world? we'll bury you there!

This is a battle

we are the blade

and this is the line

all that they build

we will break

this is the line!"

The fifth song is called "Driving Nails"

showing the softer side to Demon Hunter, a song

much like "Heart strings" or "Carry me Down"

or better yet as Ryan himself compared it to

a beautiful, yet very sad song, "My throat is an open Grave"

from their first album. When I first heard the song I took

it as the battling of yourself, battling of the enemy we

face inside(our sins and fleshly desires) wanting to pull

us down and keep us forever in our own torment, which

is essentially how Ryan Clark explained the song himself.

"Something else inside....is driving nails into my soul,

(and) angels from my door. Something inside....."

The sixth song is called "The World is a thorn"

yet another song that should of... could of been

the song to kick off the album. The World is

a Thorn is fast hard, and yes thats right

in your face! it pulls you(or at least me in)

just as much as "Storm the Gates of Hell" did.

It's one of those hard headbanging songs you expect

a Demon Hunter album to be full with.

Gotta love the lyrics aswell..

"See the world in its grave, at the hands

of the enslaved!

Wont bow to man!

Wont bow to Government!

(won't trust in a failed system of self-

fulfilling lust!)

Won't love a world where my God is MOCKED!

I DEFY!"

Next Demon Hunter keeps hitting with

"Tie this around your Neck"

a song that you just want to "Scream along with"

another song where Yogi shines!

I also love the opening lyrics..

"This is the age of the dead!

the generation of pagan and self-led!

you can hear the bones shatter beneath our feet

the blood of lust staining our teeth.

WE FEED ON pain,disorder,delusion

(the filth of the modern plague)

and in this reign of Godlessness, the heathens will say:

TIE THIS AROUND YOUR NECK!"

Flowing right along with that hard hitting flow

comes "Just Breathe" which features Christian Alvestam

on guest vocals. At first listen I wasn't really feeling

the song, it feels like it has a bunch of different sounds

mixed together...like it's thrashy in some spots and then

death metal in others and maybe a hint of swedish death metal

and maybe thats just because of Christian Alvestam.

Anyways I love the combination in this song...

and I really like the small roll Christian had in the

song, I dunno the whole beat and groove of the

song has really grown on me.

Next we got "Shallow Water" coming in at nine,

I absolutely love the guitar work in this song,

and I think this is really the song that highlights Yogi

Watts and his awesome gift. Then of course we got the

lyrics, and really I want to give Ryan Clark props..

I was a little worried that lyrically this album might not

be as good, specially since Ryan lost his writing partner.

To be honest I think this record really shines lyrically

on pare with what Demon Hunter has done in the past

if not better.

I haven't heard Ryan explain the meaning behind

"Shallow Water" but listening to it my grasp on it,

it sounds like Ryan is talking about Christians

who don't want to step out in their Faith...

They don't put their full trust in God and choose

to remain in "Shallow Water" because if they

fall they wont sink to "Deep" thats what I get out of it

anyways.

"SEE NOW: every scar is a choice you make,

every choice is a vow you take. Take pity upon your fate.

YOU COWARD!

Sleepwalk through Heaven's call- No forest for the trees

unlearn every step you take- it'll bring you to your knees.

Tread shallow water- safe from the weight, the burden of sacrifice.

sons and daughters-pray fro the rain(May it redeem their eyes)

and now we have seen what complacency brings!

as the blind are assuming the LEAD!"

Now comes the tenth song called "Feel as though you Could"

featuring Dave Peters on guest vocals. This for me is

the weakest song on the album, I am really not feeling

the song whatsoever...nothing really stands out as a bright

spot on this song to me. Infact for those who have the

"Deluxe edition" you know there is a extra song called "Desire

the pain" I actually like that song, and I feel they should

of just left out "Feel as though you could" and gave everyone

"Desire the pain".

The final song on the album is "Blood in the tears"

a song very much like "Carry me down" from last album.

Catchy chorus...beautiful/sad melody once again

it's Demon Hunter that you know and love.

So in closing you can see the only song that turned me off

was "Feel as though you Could" and the fact

that the album didn't exactly pull you in with the first song.

However there is a lot, and I mean a lot to love about this album..

and with just the whole flow the album seems to have after the first

song, and how Patrick has brought a new vibe to the band...

I'm really feeling the new yet at the same time old style.

Demon Hunter knows how to make an album, and they

haven't disappointed me yet, and they sure the hell

didn't star now...

If you are Demon Hunter fan I'm sure you already

have this, and it is totally worth a buy. If you are not,

I still suggest you check the new stuff out,

because I have a feeling there's going to be

a bran new crop of Demon Hunter fans with this

record alone.