When I saw that Amazon Prime was allowing us to have a voice and a say in upcoming programming, I knew I couldn't let the opportunity pass me by. Rather than sitting on the sidelines and whining about how I didn't like the state of current entertainment, I wanted to do something about it. This letter is the result of the survey... I enjoyed the comical approach of this pilot to JCVD's career and the genre of 80's/90's action films. His willingness to be self-deprecating paid off, and I was actually pleasantly surprised by the performances. The pilot was well-done.
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The closer we get to November, the more we see things that shock and surprise us out of the Democratic and Republican nominees. I owe my own attention toward these matters to my pastoral activities at the Iowa State Capital in Des Moines over the past two and a half years. Those activities have mainly centered around prayer support, meals and conversations with senators and representatives, and occasionally lobbying for matters that intersect faith and culture. Though I don't recall ever believing personal faith (i.e. worldview) could or should be removed from culture, I have only recently begun to see the significance of pastorally speaking into political spheres and governmental systems. Whether that means running for office or speaking with those who do-and-have-run for office, the Christ-follower's role in civic matters is crucial.
I just heard someone talking about their time at a fellow Christian friend's place, where their friends were trying to sell their home and it wasn't going well. As he left, he noticed that there was an idol in their front foyer; one of those "this is a cool statue from another country that would look cool in our house" kind of things. A neat decoration among many. He got in his car with his wife and was about to leave but the Spirit wouldn't let him. He went back in and asked if he could see a Bible. I don't recall the exact passage he read (something similar to Exodus 20:1-6, Zechariah 13:2, Ezekiel 20:1-20 or some such I'm sure), but he then encouraged them to get rid of the statue and not consider the flippant possession of an idol a small thing. They said okay and went to bed, but all that night the woman was troubled by the passage he'd shared and the unsolicited advice. The next morning the woman grabbed the idol and threw it away in the garage trash. As she walked into the house, the phone rang with someone wanting to purchase the home. Coincidence, or God's sovereignty meeting man's obedience? Maybe without knowing it, this man faithfully carried out the desire of the Lord to confront people's sins (Isaiah 58), not in a self-righteous way but in faithful obedience that calls others to follow God in obedience as well. Life can throw us curve balls, and often God allows these difficult times to test us, to see if we will be faithful to Him. Sometimes it's life. But many of us experience a hindrance in our lives because we are treating sin lightly also, even coming to God as we would a non-judgmental best friend (who agrees with us even when our sinful thoughts, words, or deeds would better be served by a needed rebuke). God is clear about His call for faithfulness and the rejection of false gods. There is much to consider here, and we would do well to think about the consequences of our actions toward God, especially as followers of Jesus. Today's topic is the recent move of the Freedom From Religion Foundation to see all Gideon Bibles removed from Iowa State University's college hotel (see article here). What is interesting to me are the words of the FFRF's attorney from the article, as seen here: "The group's attorney, Patrick Elliott, said that for a state-run university to provide a Bible to guests, 'that policy facilitates illegal endorsement of Christianity over other religions and over non religion.'" My question is: How does the individual work of Gideon's, on behalf of this non-profit Christian organization of the same name, get described as the work of the university itself? Since when are the actions of a few lumped in with an official, state-sponsored endorsement of any one faith over another? Answer? When it suits your purposes. My desire was to make this clear, so I engaged in an exercise of futility, contacting the FFRF and leaving the following letter to report an abuse of this "constitutional separation of church and state." Do you recall the old, late 1980's Bud Ice commercials with the penguins? In each installment, people drinking Bud Ice were in ridiculous situations and had a penguin that was coming after their beers. In most cases, the suspense built until the penguin intoned Sinatra's "dooby dooby doo" from the song "Strangers in the Night." The following encouragement was to drink Bud Ice but "Beware The Penguins." What did that mean? I have no idea, and I don't really care, but the "dooby dooby doo" has stuck with me all these years. I'll come back to this... Amidst the buzz about nude photos being leaked on the internet, I'm providing this absolutely free, fool-proof method of protecting your private moments from wandering eyes. You're welcome. Please feel free to share this wonderfully simple, and free, public service announcement.
The word "submission" could conjure up images of wrestlers, assignments, job proposals, sexual perversions dealing with domination, or more common in the Christian context in which I'm writing... submission of personal will to another. I've come across a lot of reading about the topic of submission in the Church lately and want to dialogue with some of it here. There is abuse on both sides of the debate, which makes for a fair amount of confusion on the interpretation of texts when we start talking about terms like "hierarchy," "equality," "boss" and "subordinate," "complementarian," and "egalitarian." Throw in terms like "patriarchy," "misogyny," and "misandry" for good measure and we're no longer coming to the biblical text open to learn but to ferret out abuse. To be clear, sound biblical interpretation involves looking at the text and determining if the text is descriptive or prescriptive, if what we read in some section of the Word of God is instructive or the explanation of mankind's fallenness. We should hope to avoid any use of scripture to promote an otherwise unbiblical agenda. A blog post by Rachel Held Evans describes well how scripture can be used to promote hierarchy/patriarchy, but we need to be willing to ask if this is the work of the Word or the individual using it to that end. Said in another way, do we throw out the passage that is so used, or just the interpretation and look at the passage again with fresh eyes? To her credit, Evans says the argument should be framed in terms of what scripture does or does not demand, not just make a social or practical argument (though the context suggests this is less important to her than to evangelicals). ...is hard to keep our eyes on, isn't it? There's been a good deal of commentary about Miley Cyrus' performance at the 2013 VMAs. Most people have commented with shock and upset over her sexual gyrations, one site gave a sickeningly truthful reason for her press coverage (I'll deal with later), and some considered that there is a more godly way of responding to her actions, taking the religious "Jesus loves Miley" trump card out of the deck and spreading guilt to any who might've voiced their gut-reaction nausea at her behavior. What I wish I'd seen more of, but only found a piece or two over, was a public outcry against Robin Thicke, her male dance partner in the debacle. One father, Matt Walsh, wrote an open letter to his son asking his son not to let Robin be a lesson to him, i.e. don't follow an example like that. Instead, he gives a number of great ideas about what being a man really means, what it looks like, and how seldom--if ever--the qualities we should strive for as men are praised or exalted in media outlets and by entertainment icons. Some have taken personal shots at Miley, and social media sites abound with opportunities to poke fun at the Disney star-turned-young adult. |
AuthorI write to remember the lessons I learn as a Man, Husband, Father, Son, Brother, Pastor, and Friend. As I come to grips with the blackness within me, I am more appreciative of God's grace-filled grip. We all change in the seasons of life. This is my deep well... Archives
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