Manson definitely includes heaps of offensive content into his lyrics and imagery. I would discourage anyone who thinks picking up one of his records is a guaranteed harmless experience.
for me personally, I identified with Manson's first couple of records before I knew Jesus, and found them very thought provoking. It was interesting to me that though Manson was very disparaging of Christianity and American culture, he seemed to have (to an extent anyway) studied up on religion and philosophy and was approaching things in a kind of intellectual, albeit extreme and offensive, way. those types of artists were the first to make me serious about wanting to make music.
after i became a Jesus-follower, i returned to some of those bands/albums with a different perspective and found myself appreciating them in different ways. mostly from a musical, sonic perspective but in some other ways as well.
many of Manson's gripes with the church are spot-on, he just expresses them in a Jesus-less way. Manson complains that Christians are hypocritical, hateful, overly political war mongers... in many ways, he's not terribly off.
i've been able to "admire" what he's doing creatively from a sort of objective place: i disagree with a great deal of what he has to say and how he says it, but i have a genuine desire to see those frustrations of his allayed by Jesus. Manson himself isn't a terribly "musical" person, but he's surrounded himself with talented musicians and songwriters throughout his career and their influence has been pivotal to Showbread's music. "Anorexia Nervosa" for example, as a sort of abrasive, dark, industrial concept record, was influenced primarily by Manson's "Antichrist Superstar" and Nine Inch Nail's "The Downward Spiral."
In the same way I might have a friend who is terribly coarse and offensive but who doesn't stumble or influence me, I can appreciate what Manson does as an artist without being coerced by it.
I can't do that for everything, no one can. Some Jesus-followers would be putting themselves at risk to introduce that kind of thing into their psyche. I think we have to trust the Holy Spirit's conviction and be in dialogue with him about what we ingest, even when we think we're okay. -Josh

when you follow Jesus the only real "plans" you can make are to follow Jesus. When/if the time is right to have a family, have a family. If God has called you to an unconventional lifestyle of traveling and poverty, he won't leave you high and dry. You might be tired and poor, but the good news is that the poor are blessed!
Turns out Jesus knew what he was talking about when he said to seek the kingdom first and everything else will fall into place. -Josh

we all try to live beneath our means. I rent a cheap, tiny house. I have no health insurance. I never, ever go out to eat. Abi and I share a used car. I only buy clothes when the ones I have literally fall apart and I never spend more than $20 on an article of clothing. And, with a few exceptions, I mostly only buy "toys" for myself (movies, comic books, etc.) with money I get from birthdays or Christmas.
That's not the only way to be frugal and certainly not the methodology everyone should use, that's just what works for us. We are in the process of learning that everything we have belongs to God and our job is to share the things he gives us. -Josh

No :) -Josh

it was kinda boring. -Josh

you don't need that period between "sucking" and "cause." -Josh

For you have heard it said "Love your neighbor and hate your enemy", but I say to you, Love your enemies, bless those who curse you, pray for those spitefully use you and persecute you, so that you may be sons of your Father in heaven, for He causes His sun to rise on the good and the wicked, and He sends His rain upon the just and the unjust. - Matthew 5: 43-45

Jesus promises that when you draw nearer to him, he draws nearer to you. In my experience, God always makes good on his promises.
Part of walking with Jesus is learning to trust and find joy in him even when there is no special feeling or emotional high. Always think of your relationship with Jesus like a marriage, not every day is cloud 9 over the moon romance, but you walk in love every day anyway.
Part of experiencing the freedom of Jesus is leaving the world behind and finding your identity and your passion and your joy in him alone.
it's tough to bottom out sometimes, but he's waiting!
we'll be praying for you! -Josh

You are made right with God the moment you decide to trust Jesus as Lord of your life, believe in his death and resurrection and turn from the old way of living.

Being right with God simply means following Jesus. -Josh

I've felt God. I've heard him speak to my heart and soul. He's wonderfully, astonishingly and even painfully taken me apart and put me back together. His artistry screams within every molecule of creation.
No one person can prove to another person that God exists, but God can. Often with nothing other than a still small voice. Part of hearing is a real desire to listen.
I have listened and heard and the song is good! -Josh

two crazies sure don't make a sane. -Josh

Forgive what needs to be forgiven. Focus on the Lord. Move on. -Drew

I think God's will for us does not always come to pass. Because of his love for us, he allows us to make our own decisions and many times we make bad decisions. These bad decisions can put us in unpleasant situations that God never intended for us to go through. However, even in our mistakes and stupid decisions, He still loves us and can make the best of our situation and use it to bring glory to Him. -Drew

Non-violence never means standing by and watching, it just means never using violence. I think that the presumption that the only answer to violent situations is more violence is unfortunate. There are active roles for Jesus followers in extreme situations, but killing God's kids is not one of them. The fact is that the nazis were valued by God the same way that Jews and Americans and the french, etc. etc. are all valued by God. If we kill one person to save another person from being killed, we assume one has more value to God than the other. Vengeance and justice belong to God, the call of the cross is to lay down the sword for good, and to care for God's children without killing God's children. -Josh

Legends of the Hidden Temple

we talk about what we believe, but would never single anyone out who disagrees with us or say anything hostile or rude. i don't see why he'd have any reason to be uncomfortable. -Josh

fold, i'm not a caveman. -Josh

my first order of business? resignation. my mentality would be to, as with everything, try to line everything up with Jesus and i'm sure a mostly un-Christian nation wouldn't appreciate an immediate dissolution of the military and a redistribution of all the nation's wealth to countries in need. i don't think it would be fair to "force" the country into real Christian ethics. this is why we, as believers, build the kingdom and not the empire. -Josh

start by saying "Hi, i like your shirt..." -Josh

don't talk until you know what to say, until then, do the more effective thing: SHOW your friend Jesus by loving them and serving them. -Josh