American Idle?

How many of you heard that this was the best talent that American Idol has supposedly had?

Is it me, or was everyone awful? Maybe the dude with dreads was ok, and I can almost admit that the 17 year old boy that laughed uncontrollably was alright, but if you ask me, the whole evening was sub-par.

And, I may be imagining this, but I think American Idol has this new pedophelia thing going on. Not only is there a great deal of young boys, but many of them have somewhat effeminate qualities, whether it be mannerisms or hairstyles or whatever. I understand that this is the way style is going but I kind of almost felt guilty watching the show, as if it was slightly naughty to be watching so many young effeminate men. Or is it just me?

Either way, the show last night sucked. Period.

Barack Obama

The day I knew would come at last has come at last

I predicted about a year ago that it would happen, and alas, sadly, it has. Someone I work with said, and with a straight face, that he thought Barack Obama was the Anti-Christ. Thats right. . . you heard me. . . good old Satan in the flesh - the one from all those Timothy Lahaye books (well to be fair, you could say it was in the Bible first, although Lahaye has conveniently layed out all that Jewish Apocolyptic Literature for you (sigh))

I bring this up not to boast about my prophetic prowess, rather to point out how sadly predictable and scary some "christians" can be.

Think about this, someone is calling Obama=Satan, and is seriously meaning it. That then implies that everyone who votes for him is assumingly one of the lost who will spend an eternity in hell.

I could discuss this theologically for hours, and I have more questions than answers, but I don't think I am going overboard by saying this is somewhat ludicrous and maybe a tad extreme.

Here are my questions:

Is this a fear of religion, or race, or just democrats?

Will more right wing christians adapt this attitude?

What are those of us that see christianity and politics as being a lot more complicated to do?

If he is the anti-christ, can I vote for him and still like God better?

What is more important, the leader of our country or the leader of our heart?

A Daily Prayer from jesusforpresident.org

Jesus For President Litany of Resistance
Created with the help of our friends Jim Loney (CPT Reservist) and Brian Walsh (activist theologian)
--------------------------
One: Lamb of God, you take away the sins of the world
All: Have mercy on us
One: Lamb of God, you take away the sins of the world
All: Free us from the bondage of sin and death
One: Lamb of God, you take away the sins of the world
All: Hear our prayer. Grant us peace.

One: For the victims of war
All: Have mercy
One: Women, men and children
All: Have mercy
One: The maimed and the crippled
All: Have mercy
One: The abandoned and the homeless
All: Have mercy
One: the imprisoned and the tortured
All: Have mercy
One: The widowed and the orphaned
All: Have mercy
One: The bleeding and the dying
All: Have mercy
One: The weary and the desperate
All: Have mercy
One: The lost and the forsaken
All: Have mercy

One: O God -- Have mercy on us sinners
All: Forgive us for we know not what we do
One: For our scorched and blackened earth
All: Forgive us
One: For the scandal of billions wasted in war
All: Forgive us
One: For our arms makers and arms dealers
All: Forgive us
One: For our Caesars and Herods
All: Forgive us
One: For the violence that is rooted in our hearts
All: Forgive us





One: For the times we turn others into enemies
All: Forgive us
One: Deliver us, O God
All: Guide our feet into the way of peace
One: Hear our prayer.
All: Grant us peace.

One: From the arrogance of power
All: Deliver us
One: From the myth of redemptive violence
All: Deliver us
One: From the tyranny of greed
All: Deliver us
One: From the ugliness of racism
All: Deliver us
One: From the cancer of hatred
All: Deliver us
One: From the seduction of wealth
All: Deliver us
One: From the addiction of control
All: Deliver us
One: From the idolatry of nationalism
All: Deliver us
One: From the paralysis of cynicism
All: Deliver us
One: From the violence of apathy
All: Deliver us
One: From the ghettos of poverty
All: Deliver us
One: From the ghettos of wealth
All: Deliver us
One: From a lack of imagination
All: Deliver us
One: Deliver us, O God
All: Guide our feet into the way of peace
One: We will not conform to the patterns of this world
All: Let us be transformed by the renewing of our minds
One: With the help of God’s grace
All: Let us resist evil wherever we find it

One: With the waging of war
All: We will not comply
One: With the legalization of murder
All: We will not comply
One: With the slaughter of innocents
All: We will not comply
One: With laws that betray human life
All: We will not comply
One: With the destruction of community
All: We will not comply
One: With the pointing finger and malicious talk
All: We will not comply
One: With the idea that happiness must be purchased
All: We will not comply
One: With the ravaging of the earth
All: We will not comply
One: With principalities and powers that oppress
All: We will not comply
One: With the destruction of peoples
All: We will not comply
One: With the raping of women
All: We will not comply
One: With governments that kill
All: We will not comply
One: With the theology of empire
All: We will not comply
One: With the business of militarism
All: We will not comply
One: With the hoarding of riches
All: We will not comply
One: With the dissemination of fear
All: We will not comply

One: Today we pledge our ultimate allegiance… to the Kingdom of God
All: We pledge allegiance
One: To a peace that is not like Rome’s
All: We pledge allegiance
One: To the Gospel of enemy love
All: We pledge allegiance
One: To the Kingdom of the poor and broken
All: We pledge allegiance
One: To a King that loves his enemies so much he died for them


All: We pledge allegiance
One: To the least of these, with whom Christ dwells
All: We pledge allegiance
One: To the transnational Church that transcends the artificial borders of nations
All: We pledge allegiance
One: To the refugee of Nazareth
All: We pledge allegiance
One: To the homeless rabbi who had no place to lay his head
All: We pledge allegiance
One: To the cross rather than the sword
All: We pledge allegiance
One: To the banner of love above any flag
All: We pledge allegiance
One: To the one who rules with a towel rather than an iron fist
All: We pledge allegiance
One: To the one who rides a donkey rather than a war-horse
All: We pledge allegiance
One: To the revolution that sets both oppressed and oppressors free
All: We pledge allegiance
One: To the Way that leads to life
All: We pledge allegiance
One: To the Slaughtered Lamb
All: We pledge allegiance
One: And together we proclaim his praises, from the margins of the empire to the centers of wealth and power
All: Long Live the Slaughtered Lamb
One: Long Live the Slaughtered Lamb
All: Long Live the Slaughtered Lamb

If Burgess Meredith and Britney Spears had a love child . . . .

If Burgess Meredith and Britney Spears had a love child . . .
So I went to a "mega-church" this weekend, for the first time in quite a while and its got me thinking about all kinds of things. Having been way more involved in church politics than I would like to admit, I am still trying to repent of some of the awful things that I have done in my past when handling church business. With that said, I am always trying to chew over things more so I no longer make the same mistakes and sometimes I think pointing out positives and negatives can really create some good dialogue. So here it is – A review, or a good chewing over if you will. Feel free to chime in

The church was in Cincinnati – that's the only info that's relevant - some of you that know me might know which church it is, but for the purpose of this discussion, its not necessary

The good:
1.The music was excellent – as I would expect it to be when you can pull from such a big talent pool

2.The service featured creative sketches that were both funny and entertaining – Its great to keep people laughing and to not always be serious. I think this helps people stay focused. If the church needs anything, it needs to remember how to laugh

3.Multitude of programs and small groups – If you are willing to call someone or speak out, it would be easy to get involved. There is something for everyone – and for any focus you may want

4.The atmosphere – It was electric. It was Super Bowl Sunday. People were tailgating in the church parking lot. Free Hot Dogs, Free Coffee. A lot of young, good-looking professionals. Hipsters volunteering everywhere. People that look like me, or at least, look as hip as I want to feel (this truly is a compliment)

Rather than saying bad, or the bad, I am just going to ask questions. Questions I would ask of any church, for the most part, and questions that I believe should be asked. *No church is perfect – sorry to break that to ya, but considering its full of ruffians like me and you, what could we possibly expect?

Questions:
At one point should a church spend its money on itself rather than on the needs of its community, city, nation and world?

Are custom football jerseys at $300 a pop necessary for one Sunday?

Is it important to buy 10,000 people who come to your church a hot dog (presumably mostly from an affluent neighborhood) rather than buying 10,000 hotdogs for people who wouldn't otherwise eat today?

Could we set a better example in spending money on others than spending money on ourselves?

Are too many churches hiding behind the idea "that we are doing this to save souls" to justify spending money on themselves and their congregants?

Does the parable of the rich man and the widow have something to say about this (Mark 12:41-43), or does the multitude of deeds a large church can do put them in God's positive column, even if they are still spending lots on themselves?

Can we preach about the difference about knowing God's will and doing God's will and mention tithing to the church in the same message?

Can the cornerstone of a message's gimmick/theme revolve around the identity of a head pastor – or more simply stated, should we make a big deal about who the head pastor is at all times (or even more simply, can you lead a mega-church and not come off as arrogant)?

What is more important, the amount of money you take in, or the amount of people that attend? Or, how do we measure success?

Just because someone attends the "god-show" are we to assume they took anything from it?

Does spectacle equal experience?

Is it a mega-churches responsibility to lead the way in recycling by Serving God and Saving the Planet?

Does a large church have the responsibility to serve fair trade coffee so they can look the attendees in the eye and say "this cup of coffee did not oppress anybody" even if it means they have to spend a little more? Or is coffee unnecessary anyway?

Are gadgets God-approved spending, since after all, it gives people a better experience?

Do people attend because its God, or because its cool?

Is a mega-church a gateway, and can they only take you so far?

When you focus on toys and gadgets and gimmicks is it still possible to focus equally, or even more so, on God?

Is a mega-church like a Wal-mart to your local mom and pop shop?

I honestly don't have a lot of answers to these questions. I have heard stock answers to many of them and have spoken passionately about others, but either way, I think they are worth asking. I cannot condemn any church. I have my thoughts and opinions.

Just some thoughts

How can anyone say men and women aren't different? Other than the obvious genitalia issues, there are several proofs we are so different. What's the first one I can think of? Funnel Cake. Sure I like funnel cake, but would never stop and by one. On the other hand, women are genetically predisposed to buy funnel cake. When walking by a booth, or once the smell hits their nostrilsm its all over. She needs to have one. Period. If there was ever a true civil war between men and women. Men would not need to fight. We would just bake funnel cakes and poison them. The whole female race would be done in about 3 minutes.



Want to know how trapped by the consumer culture I am? I always buy the two-disc special edition of DVD's but I never ever watch the special features. But somehow, I feel I need to have them, you know, "just in case."



There is nothing you could say to convince me that Neil Diamond is not one of the best musical artists of our time. Sure he was not a great singer, and almost talks as much as he sings, but there is something about his music that just makes you happy. He is kind of like a white Bob Marley.