7th Heaven's Replacement

Seems to be NBC's The Book of Daniel and somehow I don't think this one will last 10 years.

Granted, I admit that Christians, even pastors, are messed up people in need of grace, but somehow I think this one's overboard, and I don't think a boycott will work either.

Reprinted from NewsMax.com
Wednesday, Dec. 28, 2005 11:39 a.m. EST
New
NBC Show Called Anti-Christian Bigotry
The American Family Association (AFA)
says NBC’s new show "The Book of Daniel” is an example of that network’s
anti-Christian bigotry.
AFA reported that NBC has received over 400,000
emails complaining about the program, scheduled to begin in January. In
addition, local affiliates are being pounded with hundreds of phone calls asking
them not to carry the program.
NBC touts the show as a serious drama about
Christian people and the Christian faith. The main character is Daniel Webster,
a drug-addicted Episcopal priest whose wife depends heavily on her mid-day
martinis.
The network and other press reports state that Webster regularly
sees and talks with a very unconventional white-robed, bearded Jesus.
The
Webster family is rounded out by a 23-year-old homosexual Republican son, a
16-year-old drug- dealing daughter and a 16-year-old adopted son who is having
sex with the bishop’s daughter. Webster’s lesbian secretary is sleeping with his
sister-in-law.
According to an article by Religion News Service, the series
is written by Jack Kenny, a practicing homosexual, who describes himself as
being "in Catholic recovery,” interested in Buddhist teachings about
reincarnation, and unsure exactly how he defines God and/or Jesus.
"I don’t
necessarily know that all the myth surrounding him (Jesus) is true,” Kenny said
at the Television Critics Association’s summer press tour.
"The decision by
NBC to air the series reflects the anti-Christian bias which exists at the
highest levels of the network,” said Donald E. Wildmon, chairman of AFA.
"Christian bashing is in style at NBC,” the United Methodist minister said.

In other news

Christmas 2005 was great. We had a wonderful time in Oklahoma with my family. There were a few interesting things this year.
#1 My dad had an accident last Thursday and lost about an inch off two fingers. That made for a really difficult time watching him in such pain.

#2 For the first time at a family gathering, I felt like a true adult. I led all the family prayers, cooked most of the food and never went outside to play basketball with any of my cousins. I now feel like I can be myself around my family without living up, or down, to a "little" Bobby persona. It's complicated...ha..

#3 We had the most amazing time of worship at Heritage Presbyterian Church. I did not really get many Christmas sermons growing up, so I've been making up for lost time as a Presbyterian with Advent. This past Sunday, however, was so amazing, so Christ centered, so beautiful. And since HPC practices weekly communion (*cough* the preferred way *cough*) we were able to enjoy communion on Christmas without being Roman Catholic! (that's a joke)

All in all, I am pleased...now we're looking forward to Jen's parents arrival tomorrow for yet another Christmas celebration.

Merry Christmas

from the family...minus the turtle

What to call this...

Saturday evening, Jen and I were waiting in line at the Moolah Theatre to see King Kong. There were these two teenage boys with three teenage girls waiting in line in front of us. It was an 8:45p.m. showing and the topic of the three hour plus length came up.
One of the boys said, "this is late, so we'll be tired in the morning for church."
The girls said, "you go to church?"
Same boy, "yeah, you should come with us tomorrow."
(at this point I was getting excited at the fact that these girls may be going to church)
Then the oldest boy says, "yeah, we go to church. Every m----- f------ Sunday."

Obviously, I am disappointed that the one kid would use such language, and could make a huge rant about how this kid is a phony and those girls are hopeless if they even go to church with them, etc, etc.

But, I'm not so pessimistic. If the Word is there, I know that the Spirit uses the reading of the Word, especially the preached Word, to convince and convert sinners, bringing them to holiness and comfort, through faith unto salvation.
There's nothing in there that says a swear can stop that.

Who are you?

While beginning an unsuccessful venture into Christmas shopping, I spent a good amount of time at the Galleria in St. Louis.
Maybe I am cynical since I am looking at the advertisements from an advertising background, but nevertheless, they all seem to say the same thing: "you must own this in order to be".
I think a too often we have given into this notion and believe that our identities are derived from what demographic categories we fit into, rather than where our true identities lie; made in the image of God, a child of the King, or not.
I just wish that we Christians would stop falling into the identity trap.

Wha happened?

Probably the most flamboyant Fundamentalist of the 20th century was J. Frank Norris. If you don't believe me, ask yourself this question: what other pastor was charged with burning his own church down, acquitted of murder after shooting someone to death in a dual, pastored two churches at the same time in Michigan and Texas, and burned Nazi flags at revivals? (and legend has it, that he is the only person to have been literally thrown out of the Southern Baptist Convention)
You get the point.

Anyway, I found it to be interesting that Norris was very opposed to the US going to war in Europe in the 1930s. He thought it to be a Communistic plot in which Roosevelt would usher in a "Red" United States. Somewhere during an elaborate 6 week (or so) vacation in England, Italy, Israel and Iraq, summer 1939 Norris changed his mind about war. When he came back he published something in his paper, The Fundamentalist, in the fall of 1939 where he specifically endorsed the idea of the US going to war against Nazi Germany. He did not elaborate on his change of position, he just stated something to the effect of "we must go to war against Germany".

I wonder what he saw during that time that changed his mind?
I know he's an inconsequential figure today, but in his time, he was the mack daddy of all things Fundamentalist, so his opinion carried a lot of weight. I just wonder...wha happened?

Moved

While watching Narnia this past Saturday night, I was very moved by the scene where Aslan proclaims Edmund to be Edmund the Just. Edmund certainly had no reason to be called Just, but someone went in his place, taking the punishment he deserved in order that he could be Edmund the Just.
Grace is awesome.

Almost there....

I sat through my last lecture for Fall 2005, and all that is left for me is the final for Ecclesiology and Eschatology.
Let me just say, I hope to never translate from Hebrews again. Talk about some crazy Greek!

Come Monday, I hit my independent study in Church History in full force.
By the end of Christmas break, I hope to have an outline and thesis for my paper, which should be 30-40 pages with countless hours of research that has been poured into my subject matter. I have really gone overboard with research since this is just for 2 credits of work and not for a Thesis or Dissertation. I do have quite a bit done that will be used later in my studies. And besides, how many people do you know who can give you a long discourse of the intricacies of American Fundamentalist Eschatology during 1935-1941? (btw, that's not even my paper, that's the schlock I've had to endure for the purpose of my paper)

Christmas is on a Sunday this year! Don't go to church!

But don’t try attending some of America’s finest mega-churches. It seems that the consumer driven, baby-boomer, “me” mentality, has won the day and some churches are closing their doors on Sunday, December 25, 2005.

I am concerned about this for several reasons.

1. American Churches (especially the large ones) typically have Patriotic Services for July 4, even on Sunday. Why celebrate an imperfect country if you cannot celebrate your perfect Savior?

2. People who do not normally attend church SHOW UP on Christmas and Easter. Good job alienating them, now they’ll go somewhere else.

3. It is placing too much emphasis on the people who “make it happen”. Some of the reasoning given is that it takes too many people to get church ready for Sunday, etc, and too many will be out of town. That’s just silly.

4. It makes Evangelical Christians look like morons. Think about it. For the past month, many evangelicals have been sending boycott emails and have been on cable TV complaining that the secularists are taking “Christ” out of Christmas since companies won’t say, “merry Christmas”. Given this, I would think that every Evangelical church in the country would want to have their seats full on Sunday, December 25, 2005.

5. It gives more fuel for the dying Fundamentalist movement. All over the country, there will be pastors, ranting and raving about the evil of megachurches and how they lost their first love because they gave in to the slippery slope of the NIV which lead to women’s pants, then modern music, then modern morals, and now won’t worship on Christmas. After 50+ years, you want to give them more sermon fodder?

6. It gives even more fuel for Emerging movements. Now people my age can point to the selfishness of the Baby Boomer church growth movement, and how it does not preserve community, seek to influence incarnationally, etc, etc.


In a broken world that is looking for meaning, it should behoove churches to take every opportunity possible to have the doors open and ministries available for people who may walk in our doors.

I know I have been a little on the sarcastic side today, but I am simply stunned that on the most Christian holiday of the year, there will be some churches with their doors closed. At least people could come in on the Fourth of July, Sing God Bless America and eat Jell-O salad.

The end is near

This is my last week of classes for the semester and I slacked on translating verses for my NT class.
We are assigned 100 verses every semester, and wouldn't you know that through a miscalculation on my part I have 80 to translate by Friday, instead of the 50 I thought I had to translate.


In the meantime, this is funny for stereotypes on steroids....You might be emerging if..

Liars

I am not fond of liars. In fact, I harbor much hatred for them that seems to be more sinful than sanctified. Sometimes I wonder if it is because I am jealous that they can get away with their lies, or because I cannot stand to see the hurt they cause.
Lately, I've been experiencing the unpleasant situation of being lied to over and over. It's not by anyone I'm related to, or even love, but people who have a certain amount of authority over me. I do not like it.
Yesterday, I was talking to someone who had been lied to for the first noticable time by a certain liar in my life. She could not believe he lied to her, she was dejected and did not understand.
In my mind I said, "why be surprised, that's what liars do, they lie.", but I did not have the heart to say it out loud.