Episode 2: What's Happening in the World

Even though the stereotype is most sequels aren't as good as the original, you will still want to check out the newest episode as Hans and Logan talk about Logan's possible A.D.D., Hans' birthday, things they found interesting in the news including Joss Whedon's quote about Ultron, and the last of the changes Logan wants in the NFL. Please give feedback on twitter to @brodiscourse. Please rate this podcast on iTunes. This episode features the song "Aftermath" by The Starship Renegade.

Significant life

Hey it's Hans here. Today is the day 21 years ago that God decided I would come into this world. It's crazy how the time has gone by. I'm only a young man, still a kid really, and yet I already feel like time is running away on me. The older I get the more I realize how precious our time here on this earth is.

In my short time here I've learned this, that a successful life is one of significance. It doesn't matter how much money you earn, how many possessions you aquire, or how successful your career is. What does matter is how do you impact the lives of those around you. Ultimately you have nothing if you don't have love. I don't mean romantic love though that is wonderful. I mean love for people in general. Love for others, whatever form of love that may be whether it's romantic, brotherly, unconditional, or conditional, is the only thing in this world worth living for. Yeah heartbreak is the worst pain in the world but that's only because love is the most beautiful thing in the world. Love is why Jesus died on the cross. He died because he loves us and wanted to restore the relationship mankind had with God in the garden all those many, many years ago.

In my 21 years I have tried to do my best to live a life of significance. They have been wonderful years and I am so grateful to God for each and every one of them. He has blessed me more then I could ever repay and far more then I will ever deserve. He has given me a wonderful family and incredible friends. He has given me hope and a reason to live. He has always guided me and been by my side. My life has been a short one so far but man, has it been a grand one!

Happy Easter by LM

Happy Easter, everyone. I hope you have enjoyed today. As I am a Christian, this day is the day Jesus rose from hell and the grave and took death on in a fight and won. It is the most important day to observe in Christianity, because without this event happening Christianity would be the greatest falsehood of all time. I know some are rolling their eyes at the idea of a holy man coming back from such a brutal death, and it was absolutely brutal. The last time I saw a documentary about the punishment of crucifixion, it detailed the newly discovered horrors of it with the latest science and technology. Apparently, with the way Jesus was crucified, he wouldn't have died by asphyxiation due to being stretched out with his arms out and high above him or blood loss. This documentary presented a case for Him and others who were crucified at the time dying because of the pain. Yes, the pain. The pain experienced during crucifixion would've been so great that the brain told the body to shut down and die so it wouldn't have to feel the pain anymore.

Learning this has only caused me to reflect even more on what I believe. If I believe what I believe, then my mistakes, my vices, my selfishness, and every way I have hurt others whether physically, mentally, emotionally, and spiritually put Jesus through that. My way of living is why he had to go through such terrible way to die. If He hadn't died then I could not have a friendship with God. Could you imagine putting a person, a stranger you had never seen, through something like that? Would you even wish this on your worst enemy? Would you want that person whom you literally hate most in the world to experience such an agony? Serious questions, I know.

There's this song by Dead Poetic called "Vices". It is a favorite of mine. In it, the songwriter goes through his various relationships. First, he sings of his relationship with the crowd and the fans that listen to the band. Second, it's the relationship with his mom. Third, it's about his lover and him. In all these, we see this common dynamic. The fans, the mother, and the lover have these expectations of him, expectations that only end up hurting him. He, too, has his own expectations, and it is those expectations of the fans, his mom, and his lover that only end up hurting himself and them too. In the song, he tells them this:

"Oh, but (child, mother, lover) .
I’ve got Vices like any other man.
Vices that you’re not used to.
Vices that’ll make you think less of me."

He recognized they could not love him fully. There was no one from any of them who could truly understand why he screws up the way he does. As much as forgiveness helps clear things up in life, we struggle to let go and forget. Perhaps all of us should slow down on the relational punishment we put on people because like the songwriter says, "I've got vices like any other man". He isn't the only one with moral failings, addictions, murders, hate, or selfishness.

At the end, he describes one last relationship:

"Feeling cold, feeling empty. I am low, unworthy.
Bleed the God. Bleed the blessing. Like a vulture feasting.
I’ll exist as if I don’t feel conviction of my ignorance to my perfect prison.
But I feel the stabs on my wrists and ankles every time I try...

To forget you. To forget you."

This is his relationship with God:

"Oh, but Jesus.
I’ve got Vices like any other man.
Vices that you’re so used to.
Vices that won’t make you think less of me."

Unlike everyone else, Jesus is the only person who accepts the songwriter as he is in appearance, action, or consequence. He has no expectations. All of us need that. All of us need someone to love us in spite of our crimes, our sickness, our ugliness, our poverty; our utter imperfection. But who will? Our fans and friends cannot. Our mothers, the foundations of our existence, cannot do it. The very people with whom we entangle our very beings and souls with cannot do this completely. Romantic loves fails us! How heartbreaking!

I won't know all of you personally. I will never meet everyone who reads this face to face even thoughI would love to. I do not know if you are atheist, agnostic, Christian, or any other of the myriad of beliefs that exist in our world today, but here is what I know: Jesus loves me. He loves me despite me! If you don't know Jesus, find someone who does. I If you can't find anyone, call Him out. Call Jesus out. See what happens. Ask him to forgive you for everything and believe that He is real. Believe that he did what he did for you. Say it out loud, "the Son of God died for me. Jesus died because he loved me. God, You want me, and You can love me". Then find others who believe and be part of this family God has made.

I'm sure my fellow believers are wondering when I am going to mention lifestyle changes. Well, fellow believers, let God change the individual so He can receive glory for it. If someone changes under their own strength, then where was God in it? What credit should He receive from it then? God receives glory for loving sinners as they are and leading them from there. That's what Jesus did before and after his death so let God work.

Everyone else, who might not believe, whether or not you like these words of mine, remember, we all need someone to love us despite what we've done or thought or wanted to do. We were born for this. Who do you have that can love you even though you are going through hell or creating hell for others. We will fail people and people will fail us. Jesus, though, is the only one who we cannot fail nor will he fail us.

With love,
Logan Miltimore

Up all night by LM

So.. I was up all night. All night. Why? The podcast. The podcast has finally been born into the world. Episode 1 is called "Girls, Wingmen, and Football". Please check it out and send us feedback. We want to hear from you. The good, the bad; the ugly. All of it. We want to keep upping the ante on Brotherly Discourse, and we will only go up if you wonderful, beautiful listeners push us up. If you like it, share it with others.

Listen and share,
Logan Miltimore

Brotherly Discourse Podcast episode one: Girls, Wingmen, and Football

Here you go poeple: In the first ever episode of the Brotherly Discourse Podcast, Hans and Logan talk about Hans' man crush for Chris Hemsworth, how Logan is a terrible wingman for Hans, the battle for the best MCU movie, football, life, and how girls flirt. Plus, they screw up their very first outro. Lots of laughs and possibly some tears, and most importantly, this episode features music from The Starship Renegade with a cool song called "Aftermath". You can find them on iTunes and Amazon mp3. 

New Logo

Just setting up a new logo

It's Almost Here by Logan Miltimore

It's early Friday morning. I'm in my room watching The Justice League for the sake of nostalgia (though, let's be honest, Marvel's The Avengers: Earth's Mightiest Heroes is a superior show). Tonight I can afford to stay up a little later since I do not have to be at work til 12:30 or so. As I lay on my bed half-heartedly watching this early aughties cartoon, my mind started to drift toward tomorrow. What's tomorrow? Well, it's D-day, people. Hans and I are doing this. We are recording the first episode of the Brotherly Discourse podcast.

I have no idea how long it's going to be since Hans and I want this to be very organic and laid back. It could be twenty minutes. It could be two hours. Either way, it will be fun. I am hoping to get it all edited and finished and up some time on Saturday. The more I think about it, the more excited I get. Inside I am screaming like a gleeful, little school girl. I'm that stoked! And because I'm so stoked I think I will divulge a little preview.

Good news, friends, we have some intro music for our show. After talking to a friend of our's, (we love you, Chewy) The Starship Renegade is letting us use their song "Aftermath" for our intro. That should help make everything feel more legit especially considering we have no professional equipment to record this. We are working toward having something decent (otherwise the audiophile in me will go insane if we don't). All in due time, though.

One of the things we will be talking about will be what we want changed in our favorite sport, football. Hans and I have become quite attached to the sport, but like all good things, football should get better with time. We have some ideas about how football can get there. We'll see if you agree. I know the NBA playoffs are starting, but I have to honest: I'm not looking forward to it whatsoever. Why? You'll have to listen and find out. If you read Hans' post (if you haven't go read it) he calls me out on my choice for choosing The Avengers as the better film over Captain America: Cold Winter Soldier. I'll probably address that as well. There will some other topics too. Middle school and high school you will really want to listen. I won't say why, but just trust me. You'll be happy you did.

That the tease I'm going to give you. I hope you are excited. If not. Well... just listen anyway. Single ladies, Hans has quite the manly voice so at least tune in for that.

Good night and good luck,
Logan Miltimore

Tip of the Iceberg

Good evening everyone. Its day two of this project and we have already gained a lot of ground. Thank you one and all for your support and we are now looking into investments such as recording and editing software, music, possible equipment purchases, etc. We are very excited to share the craziness of our lives with all of you. As Logan said last night be prepared to have your wildest dreams fulfilled.

So moving on with the blog. Logan and I have apparently had our minds swapped. This is a terrible terrible fate believe me. "How could this be?" you ask. Let me explain. First let me say that Captain America: The Winter Soldier is the best Avengers movie so far. Logan argues that The Avengers is better but I disagree because of one major fact that lets the Avengers down in terms of overall greatness. A lot of action movies save the biggest chunk of action for the end and it is most often roughly thirty minutes. The Avengers is that action sequence for the Avengers movies as a whole. Most of the plot and back story are found in the Iron Man movies, Thor, and the first Captain America. Now this is where the mind-swapping comes in. I would usually be prone to vote for a movie like The Avengers while Logan would prefer a deeper, more complex movie like Captain America: The Winter Soldier. I tend to be a man of simpler tastes (food, music, art, movies) while Logan appreciates the more intricate aspects of those things. But the truth is that I am a huge comic book and superhero nerd. Its true. I love my superheroes and the different tie-ins and easter eggs of The Winter Soldier just sent me over the edge in my love for it.

So now you have a quick glimpse into the mind of Hans. Thought I would give you a teaser tonight into the some of the kinds of things that will be discussed on our podcast and blog. This is merely the tip of the iceberg (hopefully Brotherly Discourse doesn't follow the Titanic's example). So sit back, gather your loved ones, grab your popcorn, and prepare to be amazed (or slightly amused) by the greatest show on earth (or something like that).

Here we go!

It's late. Really late. As in past 2 in the am late. But the slaving away will be worth it. Hans and I tonight are working to get things up and going so we can get some early interaction with all of you (yes, Mom, that means you too).

This upcoming podcast show will be everything you ever wanted but not what you expect (I can almost audibly hear the sighs for using this cliché). It will be light and fun. It will at times get heavy and deep, but Hans and I just want to be Hans and I. We'll go wherever the conversational compass points us. We're adventurous like that, and we want you to join us on this adventure as ridiculous as it could be.

If you have any comments, concerns; complaints please send them to Hans on Facebook. Just kidding. You can email us @ brotherlydiscourse@gmail.com. Seriously. As much as we love positive words, we will still take your hate mail. Just know, if you send us an email, it might be read on air.

Please check back soon for more posts and soon a podcast episode.

Thank you,
Logan Miltimore (with Hans in the background)