Pet Peeve

I really haven’t seen THAT much of the world, but I guess I’ve seen a little more than the average American. The places I have had the opportunity to visit were very memorable experiences, getting to know the people who live there in an up close and personal way.
It’s amazing how people have to live, existing in conditions we would never accept as Americans. And I have to say every time I have returned I never get over our obvious excessiveness. I look at what we value and am not surprised that we are despised by so much of the world. People live in horrid conditions and we have the largest percentage of obese people on the planet. We have HUGE utility vehicles to climb over speed bumps so our kids can get to school.
Lattes, cell phones, RV’s, bass boats, NASCAR, Play Stations, Vegas, and Don’t forget Paris and Nichole.

But the thing that never ceases to amaze me is pets!
In 2005 people spent 36.5 billion dollars on their pets. 36.5 BILLION!!
This is just a brief run down on what is available for ANIMALS these days.
Ulti-Mutt candy bars ($5) Aromutt Therapy shampoos ($11 – $15), spritzers, candles and even pet strollers ($165). Most of this stuff is sold through home parties called Pupperware or Pet Pawties.
You can buy a $12 bottle of orange mango scented foaming cleanser for your dog, or you can buy holistic food, and toys for not only your dog but for your cat and birds.

How exciting is that?!

We have a dog named Roger and I like the dog. He’s fun at times and other times he’s a pain. I’ve had dogs all my life and there are certain things I know about dogs and cats.

1. THEY KNOW HOW TO GIVE THEMSELVES A BATH! Especially cats.
2. They would much rather do it themselves. Not only do they get clean and cover themselves with a natural cleanser from their saliva, but
3. the whole “twisty turning” thing, is a feline yoga, therapy, centering kinda experience for them. It’s relaxing. Trust me, for a cat sitting in a sink with someone soaking them with a sprayer nozzle is not a centering experience for any cat I’ve ever known.
4. Hurking up a hairball is great for their abdominal muscles. Cats like to look ripped.
5. Dogs, will eat anything they find buried in the yard, sometimes even yesterdays “business”.
6. They eat grass until they throw up on the carpet.
7. Dogs really enjoy licking their privates. It’s what dogs do.
8. Dogs don’t know the difference between cinnamon sprits and mango shampoo, they just want to get the heck out of the tub so they can shake water all over the place and roll on the carpet for twenty minutes, It’s what dogs do.

It’s true, our pets are “very smart” but not as smart as we are, so we have to make decisions for them, like buying them pet strollers so they don’t have to WALK. (because we know better).

The truth is, both our pets and P.T. Barnum know what’s really true.

“Isn’t that right little snooke’m- wookem?”

Darfur, Indonesia, Pakistan, India, Laos? No wonder we’re hated by so many people throughout he world.

Isn’t it time we did what’s right? Quit being so self centered and give to others out of the abundance which truly makes our lives so much easier?

Yeah, I know what you’re thinking. Wouldn’t they enjoy a couple cases of Lemon Flavored Yak Chews, or several bottles of Aroma-Goat shampoo? Good idea!

Hey, it’s the least we could do, right?

Bisquit? Sit. Speeaaaak. Say, mommie. Cooommme oonnn. Gooood boyiiee!

To The Glory of God

This is just a quick post about something which always makes me want to stand up and shout, “AND?”

I have heard preaching twice in the last week which causes me to want to do this and I just wait for the message to go further, but it always stops short.

Preaching of the gospel almost always goes like this:

Christ died for you.

“AND?”

Christ died for you so that you might have eternal life.

“AND?”

Christ died so save you from your sin.

“AND?”

Christ came to earth, died on a cross, was buried, raised from the dead, ascended to the right hand of the Father where he was given all authority.

“AND?”

He will return for us someday.

“AND?”

We will rule and reign with Him

“AND?”

I heard a pastor this week tell the congregation, “The most important thing that will ever happen in all eternity is that you will except Jesus as your Savior.”

Another pastor just today preached, “The reason God created you and gave Christ to die for you is so that you would know the joy of standing in His presence”.

I get so frustrated with halfway preaching. It always ends with US. Christ for US. God for US. Sacrifice for us. Salvation for us.
It all sounds so good. So right. So spiritual. So final. So complete.

Well it’s not!

We have got to get it right or we will remain a bunch of people attempting hollow exploits of no great value which have US as the net result.

If you read scripture there is a very obvious NEXT STEP mentioned numerous times throughout scripture as the true reason for it all, which is beyond US and will always be beyond US, but I RARELY hear it preached.

FOR THE GLORY OF GOD!

All things are of Him, by HIm, for Him and through Him.

Anything less causes the gospel to be FOR US, ….. and it’s not, it’s FOR God.

Living the Christian life will continue to have an attitude of being optional unless the glory of God is first and foremost in the hearts and minds of the believer.

We have a mantra of “God show us your glory.”

But rather, God requires, “Let me see MY glory in you”

God doesn’t NEED any of us in order to make Himself complete.

He IS complete in Himself.

We, ARE created for the increased revelation of His glory in all of heaven in a way which had remained a mystery prior to the revealing.

It is that which is of God and from God and is now being brought forth and put on display.

As I teach I always lay a foundational truth as a place from which to stand:

“IN THE MIDST OF GOD DISPLAYING HIS GLORY, SO I AM”

Nothing can be preach from a position based upon anything less.

The Protest Pro-Test

I know most people don’t llike to discuss religion or politics, but hey, sometimes things need to be put into perspective.

First I want to preface this post by stating that any loss of human life is a tragedy. I am not intending to disrespect U.S. soldiers and civilians who have died in Iraq. I do however want to make a specific observation regarding protests against the war.

Any protester would tell you that the war is causing the needless loss of American lives.
Okay. War is like that and always has been.

The protesters march on Washington, which is their right.

But well over a year ago I did a little test on statistics.

Let’s say Iraq is geographically the same size as the state of California. (I think it’s pretty close)
In a 12 month period in 2003-2004 the amount of people killed in LA County alone was greater than the number of soldiers killed in Iraq during the same 12 month period.
Even this year, more people have been killed in LA County than in Iraq. One person is killed every 24 hours in that county.

http://www.lacountymurders.com/stats.cfm

Now, this is just LA County alone. That doesn’t include Oakland, San Francisco, or Sacramento. I don’t know but I don’t think Compton falls into that number either. Let’s not forget Fresno or San Diego.

So if California is the same size as Iraq, and LA County alone has more murders per day than we lose in soldiers per day in Iraq, where are the protesters?
As a matter of fact I believe LA County had more gang related homicides in one twelve month period than we lost in Iraq during the first year of the war.

Now. if you were to add up ALL the homicides in the entire state of California it would be statistically safer to be in Iraq. At least there you have body armor and a gun.

This is just an observation. I guess if I were a protester devoting my life to demonstrating against the needless loss of American lives I would surely be compelled to march through the streets of South Central LA.

I wonder why they don’t?

Does it matter WHERE the loss occurs?

I’m sure it has nothing to do with one loss being worthy of more press than another. Or more political. Or more popular.

Naw!

I, Me, Mine. I, Me, Mine. I, Me, Mine. (the Beatles)

No-one’s frightened of playing it
Everyone’s saying it
Flowing more freely than wine
All through your life I me mine

George Harrison

In my previous post I discussed the error of Spiritual DNA, or a t least the concern over how it was able to find a place in some areas of the evangelical faith.
I had mentioned that one of the reasons it came in existence was the fact that no one wanted to play second fiddle to someone else, and that it was a necessary practice put in place to “save face”. But one may not know the history of how this came about. I’ll bring you up to speed.

Once upon a time in a kingdom (city) things were kind of slow and nothing exciting seemed to be happening, the commoners were getting a little bored. Noticing this, some leaders of various townships (fellowships) knew they needed something to help keep the people interested in kingdom things. So one day a great thinker-leader stepped up and announced,

“We need to move towards the establishment of a City Church. A unified effort to bring the townships in the city together for a stronger, more influential kingdom presence”.

Now the problem begins. “What would it take to make something like a city church happen?”

I remember having a conversation with a couple of pastors one day and said to them, “In order for a city church to work all you have to do is be willing to close the doors of your fellowships and go serve another pastor in his efforts. The fewer signs around town the closer you are to that “unified look”.

Not much of a conversation from that point on. Actually I think it shifted to something else. (once again I had displayed my reputation of being a learning challenged disciple)

However there is one major obstacle working against the establishment of a city church and it has to do with the way it is perceived and approached. I will start along the same thought process and when we reach the point of a mojor flaw I’ll stop, okay? Here we go.

“All we have to do is get as many pastors as we can to come to the table”.

STOP!

CLANG!

WE’RE DONE.

This is the fatal flaw that takes hold before we even get started.

Getting everyone to the table:
The idea, is to have pastors from all over the city gather together at the table in order to hammer out how they are going to make all of their different ministries work, and mesh, and compliment each other, so that the world will see that we truly are worth being a part of.

(Again, this is one of those efforts where scripture seems to be totally ignored).

Jesus said to his disciples, “Who has more honor, the one sitting a the table or the one who serves?”

The main point is that in order to make a city church work, the last thing one seeks is a place at the table, Jesus said he did not come to be served, but to serve.
The apostles (disciples of Christ) knew all to well their place was at the end of the procession. This is the way the kingdom advances. There’s a passage of scripture which we love to use, “Submit one to another in love.” But there’s another scripture which I believes brings a little more clarity to it. “Submit to one another in reverence to Christ” The first verse is always quoted in such a way that the focus is on each another. The second I believe, brings a little more clarity to the first. The point of both scriptures is CHRIST, that He be seen.

We tend to believe that our efforts are so the world will see how well “we all” can get along and the lost will want to hang out with us, which is true to a certain degree. The real reason is that we will be the demonstrative witnesses of Christ into the world. Not that our efforts towards one another will change us but rathrer our effors are the result of having been transformed.

Jesus came as a servant, not to testify of himself but rather to testify of the One who had sent him.

We now begin to move towards the reason for spiritual DNA.

Once the leadership of the townships realized no one was willing to close the doors to their own piece of heaven to help others “float their boat” by handing out bulletins, parking cars, or heaven forbid working in the nursery, they became desperately awkward when faced with the realization of the cost, and began looking around the room, staring out the window, the floor and at the shine on their shoes, until someone tossed spiritual DNA on the table.

“Hey guess what? We don’t have to help each other, because we’re each called to do something different.”

And so it was, that the vision of a city church floated off into obscurity and the DNA reformation was birthed.

WHEW!

And they all existed haphazardly ever after.

“He who seeks to find his own fellowship will loose it, but he who seeks to lose his fellowship for my sake, will find it” (or something like that)

Now they’re frightened of leaving it
Everyone’s weaving it
Coming on strong all the time
All through the day I me mine

George Harrison

Spiritual DNA: Deity Suffers Identity Theft

There is a science which has gained a lot of popularity in recent years, it’s the study and use of DNA testing. It has caused the criminal justice system to review some criminal cases in order to establish whether or not a person actually committed a crime. In some instances the person has had their conviction over turned.
DNA is the fingerprint of the individual, the molecular foundation as it were, which determines every trait of the individual (in layman’s terms). No two people have the same DNA structure or pattern, it is specifically an individual design which is unique to that person.
It’s used not only by the criminal justice system but also archeologists, and especially Hollywood as the basis for several crime shows.
In some respects its the “happenin’ science. It’s the way of effectively identifying each person’s body. It can determine if you (your body) was at or involved in a crime because of your DNA evidence.
Again it’s the fingerprint of your body. The whole of you. It has always, for the most part, proven itself to be accurate.
No two people can share the same DNA and no one person can have more than one DNA finger print or structure.
No one will argue that point. It’s fact. Truth.

If this is true, why has the church, as the body of Christ, embraced the teaching that each individual fellowship can have it’s own “spiritual DNA”?

The bible clearly teaches that the church is the body of Christ. He is the head and we make up the many members of His body, being joined together to form a witness of Himself. Eyes, ears, hands, mouth etc. There is no way any part of a single body can posses a DNA different from that of the body which it forms. (The only exception is in the case of a transplant).
But this isn’t the case as it pertains to taking on life in Christ, and being a part of His body the church.

IT JUST CAN’T BE!

So, if this is in complete opposition to how God has clearly designed man “physical”, and transformed man in Christ “spiritually”, why is multiple DNA being taught and embraced?
Why is it with so many potential errors in bible teaching being detected and corrected, the obvious is being totally overlooked and instead is being established as a foundational cornerstone from which a fellowship is to operate.

If fallen and corrupt physical DNA has yet to be disputed and is accepted as being true for our identity, how more so should be the pure and holy spiritual DNA of Christ be accepted wholly as the identity of the church? Again, why has this blatant error been so widely and easily embraced? I have a thought.
No one wants to play second fiddle. The mantra in a lot of today’s evangelical circles is, “Come and be a part of what we’re doing. Or rather what God is doing in our house” “Come join “US”.
Everyone has it “going on” at their house.
After awhile reality began to set in and no one was getting on board anybody else’s boat. Now that doesn’t look to good when no one wants to help you float your boat or you not wantin’ to help float anybody else’s. (No one want’s to be second fiddle). Some times pride can look ugly and for church leadership it can be down right embarrassing. So in order to save face you invent Spiritual DNA. Why? Because this way you can easily “not participate” in what the other church is asking you to participate in by saying things like:
“It’s not what we do”, or
“It’s not our spiritual DNA”, or
“See each church has its own spiritual DNA so we do what God has specifically called ‘US’ to do.”

How slick is that. Talk about getting off the hook! It ranks right up there with, “Sorry, that’s not my job”.
So what if it smacks against biblical truth, it sounds cool, and it makes us sound so UNIQUE. Yeah, “WE’RE SPECIAL!”

“You keep doing what you’re doing and we’ll keep doing what we’re doing and we’ll just keep it at that.”
“It’s best for everybody”

1 Corinthians 12:

“The human body has many parts, but the many parts make up only one body. So it is with the body of Christ. Some of us are Jews, some are
Gentiles, some are slaves, and some are free. But we have all been baptized into Christ’s body by one Spirit, and we have all received the same Spirit”.

“Now all of you together are Christ’s body, and each one of you is a separate and necessary part of it”.

In the next post will attempt to shed some light on how the DNA thing came to be.

Pathetic Prophetic

As I become older there are times when I take time to evaluate certain things, like; what I value, believe in, give my time to, stuff like that. I pick up new things and lay other things aside. Some things move up my “importance list” and others fall towards the bottom, or are removed all together. One item which has made a significant drop is the “gift of the prophetic” Now I’m not referring to prophecy as it relates to that which is from God, I’m referring to the useless “Spiritual Splenda” which flows all to often as gluttonous rivers of “feel good” in most evangelical circles. I could never really nail down why the prophetic kept moving further down my list but there was something that continued to nag me on this subject. Whenever you take a casual position on the things of God there is always this soul searching which takes place, “Am I slipping, am I becoming cynical of my faith?” So you step back and realize, “No”, if anything I have become even more convinced that God is everything He has said He is, and more.
Then I read a passage from a small book by A.W. Tozer written sometime in ninteen seventy. The section goes like this.

“The doctrine of Christ’s return has fallen into neglect, on the North American continent at least, and as far as I can detect, today exercises no power whatever over the rank and file of Bible believing Christians. For this there may be a number of contributing factors; but the chief one is, I believe, the misfortune suffered by prophetic truth between the two world wars when men without tears undertook to instruct us in the writings of the tear-stained prophets. Big crowds and big offerings resulted until events proved the teachers wrong on too many points; the reaction set in and prophecy lost favor with the masses. This was a neat trick of the devil and it worked too well. We should and must learn that we cannot handle holy things carelessly without suffering serious consequences.”

Bingo! I knew that I knew but just couldn’t nail it. It wasn’t the prophetic at all, which is what I believed all along, but rather it was how it was misused and abused over the last ten to twelve years by those the faithful trusted as being the “hearers of God”. One reason was that the faithful were all to eager to run to the feet of the prophets to receive their own nugget of spiritual gold much like the pathetically, erie character in Lord of The Rings, seductively stoking his “precious” with hypnotic fascination.
The leaders and the followers both feeding off one another, each giving the other what they truly wanted. Affirmation. But after awhile the fascination began to wear off and something else had to take it’s place. What that new thing is I have no idea because about two years ago I checked out of the prophetic tail spin scene and began to hang out with Christians who are more concerned about actually reaching the lost and expanding the kingdom of God through “down to earth” practical action. To be honest, it has been very refreshing.
Do I seek the prophetic? Sure, but there’s only one person in the entire U.S. who I can say I truly trust to deliver a real word from God. That’s not a bad thing just prudent.
To quote Tozer once again:
“We should and must learn that we cannot handle holy things carelessly without suffering serious consequences.”

Confessional of a non-Professional

There’s an interesting thing I have noticed which has slowly crept into the automotive industry which has caused a significant drop in car sales. Now most people would think it has to do with interest rates or higher gas prices, but it’s not. The sudden drop in car sales which has led to plant closures and lay offs is the disclaimer. Yeah, the disclaimer. Those subtle notes across the bottom of the TV screen. You’ve seen em.
“Professional Driver on Closed Course”
“This is a simulation do not attempt”
“Professional Stunt Person Do Not Attempt’
“This is a dramatization, vehicle is not designed to actually be driven under water”

Gee, is there ANYTHING I can actually do in my car?
If I can’t, then why should I even attempt to buy one if everything I see it doing can only be done by a “professional driver on a closed course”?
Now just in case you are wondering what kind of driving is taking place which requires a professional driver and requires having the road closed I’ll take you on a step by step detailed description just so you know.

The scene is a wonderful leaf laden winding country road. Into camera view comes the car, the “professional driver” turns the wheel guiding the car through a smooth right turn, followed by a smooth long left turn, again followed by yet another slow, long right turn. From there the driver professionally guides the car into a long straight stretch and exits the scene out the top left of the screen.

On another commercial the professional driver guides a truck up a small hill along a dusty road and through a 3″ deep mud puddle.

What makes ME think I can buy one of these cars? I mean come on did you see what that driver was able to do? First a turn to the left and then a turn to the right only to be followed by yet another turn to the left. And that mud puddle? COME ON, what do you expect of me as a driver anyway?
I’m sorry but that kind of professional driving pretty much excludes me from any hopes of owning a car like that.

I’m sorry but I’m no professional. I’m sorry, but that’s just the way it is. I … I just can’t.

So uh…. can you give me a ride to the grocery store, it’ just a quick couple of turns is all?

Social Justice (git’er done for crying-out-loud!!)

There are a few things that cause me to want to slap some people. Not always, but some times….or at least whenever they happen.
I guess it falls under the heading of social responsibility. Surely there are requirements for not being a burden on society, causing unnecessary anguish and grief for no apparent reason. I would imagine that if these crimes were committed in certain countries one would be drug into a town square and flogged with a rod, or at least forced to listen to a two hour speech by Jim Hill take your pick. I submit this list in hopes of finding some agreement and just possibly seeing the start of a nation wide movement in hopes of bringing and end to these senseless abuses inflicted upon those of us who do good.

1. People who fail to turn with traffic against the red light onto a one way street. (It is legal you know).

2. Slowing down from 45 to 15 miles per hour before moving at an incredibly obscure, lethargic angle into the left turn lane with the tail end of the car remaining a good two to three feet in traffic.

3. People who stand in line for five minutes at a Burger King and then wait until they are asked, “Can I help you” as their que to actually look at the menu for the first time to decide what they want to eat. Which leads to the next one.

4. Uhhm …… let’s see …… what’s the difference between the cheese burger and the double bacon cheese burger? …. Do they have mustard on them? ….. Okay ….. uuuhhh …. how many pieces of chicken come with the tenders? Uhhhh …. I … wiiiii..llllll haaaaavvvveeee …. thuuuuuu ….. a salad. What kind do you have? (obviously they had to make a left turn to get here)

5. The coffee shop drive thru. You know you’re in trouble when you become pinned in and happen to see the person at the window in front of you pull out the order list for everyone at the office.

6. The, “I’ll wait and see how much my groceries are going to be before I open my purse and pull out my check book to fill out the check. And if the amount has cents, I will write the check for the even dollar amount then reach inside my purse for my coin pouch and fumble through that until I find the 47 cent balance” person.

7. 30 mph in a 35 mph speed zone (everybody knows a 35 is 40)

8. People who think that the bag that is in the carry-on compartment just above your seat can’t be moved to another spot on the jet in order to accommodate their bag.

9. The Person next to you who flies with the window shade wide open during the in flight movie.

The Fruit of Sacrifice

On September 11th the world experienced an act which will never allow it to remain the same.
Two commercial jetliners were each flown into the world trade center’s, twin towers. They were flown by terrorists determined to bring down their enemy, and for the most part the twin towers were the icons of all the terrorists were against. So, .. go for the heart. I can’t tell you right off how many men were involved in this act, but it changed the world as we now know it.
It hasn’t changed the world so much in a physical sense but surely it has caused a change in the hearts and minds of those who live in it.
As tragic as this event was, and it was, I have to tell you, from a effectiveness perspective, I really admire this particular group of terrorists. Now before you go trying to lynch me from the top of a flag pole let me explain. This is a comparison observation in active obedience.

Here you have, twelve guys who believed in what they believed. They were given a directive by their leader to go out and bring down an enemy for the sake of the advancement of their religious ideals, thus benefitting the world and bringing glory to their God (in a nut shell).

Weren’t there also twelve guys about two thousand years ago who were given the same directive by their leader?
The disciples of Jesus?
They were sent out to bring down darkness, and the wicked bondage men were enslaved to? Weren’t they told to do this in order to advance a kingdom through their actions, thus bringing freedom to those in the world through their acts bringing glory to their God?

The modern day terrorists used jets as weapons, but the disciples of Christ were told to use weapons not like those of the world but rather weapons that were heavenly (spiritual). And although the type and source of weapons were different one thing remained the same, each had to be willing to lay down their lives in an act of faithful obedience in order to change the world.
Both groups did just that and both groups achieved their objective.

The modern day terrorists went right for the heart of the kingdom they were against and pierced it (the twin towers) with jets, (earthly weapons) in order to initiate change in the hearts and minds of men.

The disciples of Jesus used proclaimed words of truth, (spiritual weapons) towards men, in order to bring down a kingdom of darkness thus causing change to occur in the hearts and minds of men
.
The terrorists knew they were gong to die for their actions even before they took up the act.
The disciples of Jesus too were told that they were going to be hated and eventually be killed for what they were going to do long before they took up the act.

Both were accomplished through determined acts of obedience.

Jesus knew before he was even sent to the world that he would have to give his life in order to accomplish the goal of releasing power which could bring life to the world and advance the kingdom of His Father.

Two groups of men, at different times in history, each laying down their lives to change the world.
Each succeeded.

You may not agree with the method and results of the latter and then again you may not agree with the method and results of the former, either way the results cannot be ignored, the world you live in today is different because of each, and as a result, has directly effected your world whether you are willing to admit it or not.

My question is this. The terrorists rocked the world as we now know it by faithful obedience.
“Loving not their own lives even unto death”

Twelve.

What ever happen to the millions of men who made the same kind of promises at all the Promise Keeper events?

I went to one and there was a reported 35 thousand men in attendance.
There were hundreds of these meetings over several years in every major city of the U.S with larger numbers than 35k in attendence.
Plus there was The Million Man March in Washington D.C.

What ever became of all those promises?

Where are all those men?

Where did they go?

Who were they making these promises to?

What did they say they would do?

I’m not saying that in order to be an effective Christian you have to lay down your life.

God did.

I’m not saying you have to deny yourself, pick up your cross and follow him.

Jesus did.

I’m not saying that if you lose your life you will find it, and if you try to keep your life you will lose it.

God did.

I’m not saying you have to lay down your life for another.

Jesus said that.

I’m not saying you have to love the Lord your God with all your heart, soul, mind and strength.

Jesus did.

I don’t have to SAY any of that. I merely have to live as an obedient demonstrative witness of it.

That’s all.

Lock and load. (spiritually speaking)

DaVinci: “Hollywood is not to blame” (aka “The Moaning Lisa”)

One more time.
I was having a conversation with a family member the other day and they had mentioned that for the last several Sundays their pastor had been preaching on, “Breaking Through The DaVinci Code”, (or something like that). I asked them why? They said, “Because of all the concern over how so many people had been drawn out of the church because of the deception caused by the book and the movie”.
Again I asked, “Why”
Without going into a lot of redundancy please refer to my previous blog on “DaVinci”
(To tell you the truth I majored in art and I really like and admire Leonardo, it’s just to bad his reputation is being tarnished by all of this).
So … back to the conversation. I was wondering to this family member why so many people were being affected by this whole thing if pastors are being the good teachers and preachers they’re suppose to be?”
No comment
“I mean, if teaching is done correctly and a good foundation is in place, shouldn’t a person be able to stand firm when ever something as simple as a movie generated by Hollywood comes along?”
“Isn’t it a little late for the pastor to be laying a foundation for the flock?”
“Who’s to blame for the failure?”
No comment
All that said I would like to submit excerpts from and article I read just yesterday in USA Weekend an insert found in our local newspaper. It’s an interview and story written by Suzanne Ely about Kirk Cameron the teenage star of the 80’s TV show “Growing Pains” Although Kirk bailed from the Hollywood scene, he sought a career in the Christian “entertainment” industry”.
First of all Kirk is saved, that’s cool, but I want to insert some quotes from the article to prove a point I made in my blog on Davinci.
So …. go read the blog and come back and we will pick it up from there. I’ll wait.

Suzanne Ely

“.. Cameron says, he “jumped off the boat” and decided to devote his life and career to Christianity. His acting peers might have thought he jumped off the deep end if it weren’t for a major phenomenon called “Left Behind,” an exploding empire of Christian-themed entertainment centered around a mega-selling series of books based on the Bible’s apocalyptic Book of Revelation. A whopping 63 million units in the entire product line have sold. The newest book, “The Rapture: In the Twinkling of an Eye,” hits shelves this week.
Since 2000, Cameron has starred in three “Left Behind” movies, fantasy-adventures with Christian themes aimed at a once-overlooked segment of Americans who prefer their entertainment to be faith-based and overtly religious in tone.
” … unlike the elaborate publicity campaign behind “Da Vinci,” the producers and distributor of the “Left Behind” series have taken an unassuming approach to reaching target viewers. Sony, which brought you “The Da Vinci Code,” as well as such films as “Hellboy” and “Christmas with the Kranks,” became the first major studio to get behind the Christian series by distributing the third movie, “Left Behind: World at War,” last fall. But instead of pouring millions into advertising and a big-screen rollout, the studio bypassed theaters entirely and licensed the film to more than 3,200 churches for one weekend. Says Cameron: “The studio went directly to the core book fans who go to church on Sunday mornings.”
This grass-roots approach has translated into big bucks. Estimated income from the movies alone has totaled at least a reported $100 million — and Hollywood is watching closely.
As for criticism that his “Left Behind” movies turn sacred biblical stories into slick, special effects-laden pulp, Cameron says, “The classic definition of the word evangelical is to spread the message of the gospel with people who don’t understand the love and mercy of God.” And getting those non-believers on board is not only good for the soul, but good for business, too.
By Suzanne Ely

At this point I will separate the quotes from the article to emphasize a point: But note, they are not in any way taking the truth of the qoutes out of context.

” … an exploding empire of Christian-themed entertainment” (entertainment)

“A whopping 63 million units in the entire product line have sold.”

” ..fantasy-adventures with Christian themes”
(fantasy-adventure)

” ..aimed at a once-overlooked segment of Americans who prefer their entertainment to be faith-based and overtly religious in tone.”
(their entertainment )

“Sony, which brought you “The Da Vinci Code, …..” (are you ready for this?)
” … became the first major studio to get behind the Christian series by distributing the third movie, “Left Behind: World at War,” last fall.”

“…. But instead of pouring millions into advertising and a big-screen rollout, the studio bypassed theaters entirely and licensed the film to more than 3,200 churches for one weekend.”

“The studio (Sony) went directly to the core book fans who go to church on Sunday mornings.”

(At this point the author of this blog has to at least say, “church, shut up and get out of bed with the enemy”)

“Estimated income from the movies alone has totaled at least a reported $100 million — and Hollywood is watching closely.” (Hollywood is watching closely)

(Quote Cameron) ” … And getting those non-believers on board is not only good for the soul, but good for business, too.”
(good for business)

Now again this is not to “dis” Kirk Cameron, and Suzanne Ely did a great jopb of nailing some true stats. I’m not talking about Sony either, but I am however asking the church to fess up for what it has to own. Hollywood is not willing to spend money on what people don’t want. (well, most of the time .. “My Mother The Car” I’m sure was just a bad oversite). Hollywood puts its money in what they believe people are going to bite at. And in this case the church has taken it hook line and sinker.
We need to get honest and get back to the foundations of the gospel.

Christ, the Son of God. Crucified. Buried. Raised from the dead. Exalted. Seated at the right hand of God. Made King over ALL that is. Given ALL authority. The sacrifice for ALL sin. Through Him alone was God truly satisfied.

We need to admit we are guilty of sin (yes we have to admit we are wrong and sinful and that God is right and truly Holy)

The reason so many people are deceived is because they are invited to “our church” and are seldom led to the cross where their power and protection from these things is truly found.

I think I’m done