“Twilight” — good moniker

Yeah, I’m strange. But don’t let that fool you.

Let me see if I can make some friends…

The movie and books are targeted to adolescent girls.  350 different fan websites are now on the internet averaging 31 female fans for every male. The demonic is after our daughters. It’s a part of the devil’s ancient war on women. – Steve Hickey

The Twilight Saga is a Gateway drug –  lowering inhibitions and desensitizing.  It creates a fantasy world where girls experience Edward’s advances vicariously within their own imaginations – Spies Unica

I’ve seen and experienced much. This, and more, makes me nervous. I often have to deal with the aftermath.

Satan is wise, experienced and is determined to destroy us.

Evil has a world-class marketing department and they are masters at packaging stuff to touch deep needs in the human heart. And there is no sector of our society more receptive and vulnerable than adolescent girls. – Steve Hickey

For what it’s worth…

Rewriting history

In September of 1981 I stepped off an airplane in Fortaleza, Brazil. This was to be my new home and I was full of confidence of the change I was about to be an agent in bringing about.

Last night, cruising the internet, I came across a description of the work I helped to plant. It was biased, incorrect and totally lacking in historical fact. Reading what was written, I wondered what place the author was referencing; it wasn’t the reality that I had lived. It made me mad and sad.

It showed me how easy it is to rewrite history. The last man standing’s version becomes the official record.

This is exactly what our Enemy does with us in our lives. He rewrites reality, distorts the truth and makes us believe that we are mistaken when we attempt to see ourselves as Jesus does.

It’s all a lie, a rewriting of history. The truth?

So, what do you think? With God on our side like this, how can we lose? If God didn’t hesitate to put everything on the line for us, embracing our condition and exposing himself to the worst by sending his own Son, is there anything else he wouldn’t gladly and freely do for us? And who would dare tangle with God by messing with one of God’s chosen? Who would dare even to point a finger? The One who died for us—who was raised to life for us!—is in the presence of God at this very moment sticking up for us. Do you think anyone is going to be able to drive a wedge between us and Christ’s love for us? There is no way! Not trouble, not hard times, not hatred, not hunger, not homelessness, not bullying threats, not backstabbing, not even the worst sins listed in Scripture…

Cart pushing horse?

All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. — Jesus

So, who doesn’t have the power?

Why are we acting and living as though he does?

Jesus kidnapped over weiner poopie

Tweets for Jesus

I’ve been asked by more than my fair share of folks, including my wife, why would I waste my time ot the social interaction tool called “Twitter.”

Seems that many a folk has been asked the same question.

Preaching and witnessing were the original means of spreading the gospel. Later, the printed word, radio and television became key media for sharing the good news. Many Christians have now embraced a new tool: Twitter. (Champion Newspaper)

Removing the “interesting” etiquette, can 140-characters really do anything for Jesus? That is all you’re allowed in a “Tweet,” or posting, 140 characters.

For those who don’t know about Twitter, it’s a free online social networking service that allows users to send and read messages called tweets. Text is limited to 140 characters and appears on the author’s profile page. Those who subscribe to someone’s Twitter profile—known as a follower—could receive the tweets. Celebrities typically have hundreds, sometimes thousands, of online followers.

Since its launch in 2006, Twitter has grown to more than 32 million users, including prominent pastors.

It can make a difference. I’ve used in across two continents to further Kingdom activity.

Tech-savvy Christians have wasted no time in using this new medium. At the Frankfurt Book Fair, attended by the largest publishing houses around the world, they debuted the so-called Twitter Bible. It summarizes the Bible’s more than 31,000 verses into almost 4,000 short tweets. The Bible is officially titled And God Decided to Chill.

WWJT… (What Would Jesus Tweet)

…by most accounts, it has been an effective tool, especially for reaching a generation of young people who may never open or even own a traditional Bible.

Doesn’t that make it worthwhile?

Upset at “Pissing on Jesus?”

Just so I don’t get taken out with preemptive nukes… this isn’t my title but that of Aceshowbiz.com and HBO.

Whew!

Check out the writeup here.

Last Sunday on “Curb Your Enthusiasm“, Larry David’s new pill has increased his flow so much it is causing him to splatter, which leads to a misunderstanding about a miraculously weeping Jesus in Maureen and her mother’s bathroom. Immediately after the air time, Catholic groups came out with disapproving statements.

We tend to be johnny-come-latelies to the party. The Enemy has methodically and effectively taken territory while we’ve been fiddling around. This is a reversal of the “fiddling while Rome burns” syndrome; we gave up the helm to take an extended coffee break and are surprised when, thirty to forty years later, we come back on deck and discover a trendy Satan cruising along with the approval of the passengers.

Why are we surprised when the world acts like the world and we refuse to act like believers.

What’s he done now?

Ever had a friend that continuously gets you into trouble?

Growing up I did. In college I did. Now I do again.

He and trouble seem to be buddies because it is always following him around (which means I get drug into it as well!). He hangs out with the wrong folks, he goes places he shouldn’t, says the oddest things at the most inappropriate times. He can be really funny, but the audience doesn’t usually get the joke. Most folks have a difficult time taking him seriously.

Because of him I’ve been called out of bed a number of times in the wee hours of the night. He’s always throwing my name around to people who need assistance.

He always gets me in trouble. I really like the guy, but the more I hang out with him, the more it seems to put me in uncomfortable situations.

What kind of a friend is that?

I wonder if he is latin… he goes by Jesus.

Is that it?

For the majority of the years I labored under the Christian banner my “walk” was constantly plagued by the nagging question “Is that it?” Is this all there is to this thing? Doesn’t it get any better? What’s all the hoopla about?

Being the good little Christian, however, I never voiced my rising concern. I was, after all, a “professional” Christian. I’d actually gone to school to do this. I “knew” how it worked.

And that was a big problem… I KNEW how it worked. Better stated, I knew how it DIDN’T work. But I was expected to have all the answers. Even more frightening, when I asked those who I deemed as “spiritual” what I was missing, I was told to not ask those sort of questions because they were “of Satan” and that I needed to work on my faith to make it stronger.

Decades–and a massive train wreck of epic proportions of my life and faith–later, I sit in awe. In awe of Abba. Honestly amazed at how I could so mess things up and he still be wanting me… me.

It seems so contradictory to wonder if there is “more” when you claim to believe in a Being who has created everything. How can my faith be so fragile if God has unlimited resources? How can he be real when my life is so unfulfilling? It just can’t be.

Either he is distracted and a liar or I’m missing something.

Experience has shown me that it is the “something” factor. When you discover the “something” it changes everything; it also makes a lot of folks uncomfortable.

Why wouldn’t it?

Everything changes while pursuing a “something” in a pit on a snowy day.

The gospel according to… Jesus?

I have a friend who says he’s worried that the church sometimes offers more of a “good deal” than it does in just sharing the Good News. It seems to me that many in the Christian world have a tendency to offer their brand of Christianity (sometimes denominational: Baptist, Methodist, charismatic, Catholic) which in essence says something to the effect of “come join us — our brand, our church, our faith — and you, too, can share in this good deal we’ve gotten in on.” —Buddy Duncan

You may remember a best seller about four decades ago entitled The Gospel According to Peanuts by Robert Short. The message of Jesus as portrayed through the characters of Charlie Brown, Lucy, Linus and Snoopy. Big hit, millions sold, many imitators: The Gospel According to the Beatles, the Matrix, the Simpson, U2, etc., have followed.

Pastor Buddy makes a legitimate point: why don’t we reference Jesus as the best source for espousing his message?

Instead of asking what Jesus would do, maybe we should just do what He did. He proclaimed the good news. He reached out and accepted people, right where they were. He invited them to come along and walk with Him. His Good (Dare I say GREAT!) News was that the Kingdom of God has come actively into our world… Maybe if we practice the Kiss principle (Keep It Simple Stupid), we won’t have to be so creative and feel the need to write future editions of The Gospel according to: the Black-Eyed Peas; Walt Disney; Paris Hilton; Steven Spielberg; Oprah, or any other pop icon …

I love the current era’s emphasis on Jesus. Sadly, it is the younger generation that is carrying that banner. We 40+ folks have really fallen on our faces. It’s time for us to make a difference and not solely rely on our offspring to carry the banner. Our younger leaders are making some of the same mistakes we did because we bungled things badly, missed the gospel message, and have made them react instead of respond to Jesus.

Their mistakes look different. They do actually point people to Jesus and want to gather in as many as possible; but so often they, like us, end up presenting a gospel according to something else… just like we did.

Perhaps it’s time for us older believers to put our hands to the plow, learn from our younger brothers, and do what Jesus did. Time to act, not criticize.

How many votes for “all too probable?”

I am desperate to experience the life of impossibility.

Yesterday, I stumbled across this quote by Martin Buber in his On Judaism:

“Whoever can no longer desire the impossible will be able to achieve nothing more than the all too probable.” ~page 145

Any takers for the “all too probable” lifestyle?