Man, I love this piece. Bell does an amazing job articulating in a tangible way God’s love for us. I love the humanity and compassion in the message.

Make a Joyful Noise

It’s Friday again and I can’t wait to go home, sit back and have a cool glass of aftershave. Oh sweet delicious aftershave. Gives me a buzz and makes me smell like a man. Evidently those crazy Russians think like me:

British researchers claim that “hazardous drinking” caused 43% of deaths among working-age men in a Russian city between 2003 and 2005.Their study, which looked at 1,750 deaths, found that men who drank “non-beverage alcohol” were nine times more likely to die. “We’re talking about things like eau de cologne and aftershave which are widely available at kiosks and cheaper because they are not subject to excise duty,” a researcher tells BBC News.
USA TODAY

Um, that’s just crazy. Sad, but crazy. So that leads me to ask the question:

What’s the craziest, oddest or grossest thing you’ve ever eaten or drank?

Mine? It was some sort of Vietnamese delicacy with duck meat marinated in duck blood and eaten raw. So what’s yours?

The other day I posed a quote by Rob Bell, “When people think about changing the world, they do not think of the church.“ Then asked the follow up question, “Why do you think that is?“

Virgil had a great response:

“My guess would be that it is because the church has decided to only care about the afterlife. The mentality is that you get as many of em in as you can” - who needs to change the world?”

You know, I really think he’s on to something here. I had a conversation with a student who told me, “Do I care about where I go when I die? Why should I? That’s for old people like you to think about.” Evangelism has changed. The message hasn’t, but what matters to people has. Americans never want to think of themselves as old. Death isn’t something that’s thought about very often - it’s just not sexy.

And is eternity the only message behind the gospel? Isn’t there a here and now to Christ? Why is that so hard for us to convey? Here’s the one thing that you can do to evangelize effectively everyone you know: tell them what Christ has done for you. That’s what they want to hear. We are the “what’s in it for me” society. Really think and articulate what having Jesus Christ as your Lord and Savior has done for you. Don’t give them the, “he’s forgiven my sins!” answer.

How has knowing and walking with Christ changed your existence in this world? Answer that question, honestly and from your heart… and people will listen. That is what evangelism is about. Not saving souls. Not packing them down the aisles. It is our job to simply share the good news of what Christ has done for us. It’s about changing the world one life at a time. That is what people need to hear.

[photo courtesy of Donny's Ramblings]

I received a myspace bulletin  from (XXXChurch.com).

The post is about Donnie a former porn producer who has turned his life over to the Lord. Donny was a pastors son who rebelled and ran from God. But like a prodigal, the Lord has done amazing things with Donny. He’s turned his life around and now speaks out against the porn industry and how destructive porn can be. His story is inspiring change in many hurt and broken people. Sounds like a great story right? Something to inspire the church? You know, how God heals and restores lives. Well, here is how someone responded to Donny.

“Right now CPS (child protective services) is sticking their nose into my life because some idiot at a local church told them I used to be a porn producer and that they should investigate to make sure I never exposed my son to anything he shouldn’t see. That is ridiculous, as I would never in a million years do such a thing. They listened to him because he’s a licensed counselor and therefore has contacts inside CPS.

What this does to me is raise up all the old bitterness I feel towards anything to do with churches, and I’m battling a raging anger and hatred at the moment. Why is it that churches have to bury their wounded? I don’t understand it. Now CPS wants to talk to my son, and every attorney I’ve spoken with says there is nothing we can do to keep them from talking to him. God only knows what types of questions they’re going to ask. A 7 year old should not have to be exposed to such things. And I have no doubts that as he gets older he’ll remember being asked about this and wondering why he was made to go into a meeting, alone, with total strangers and answer questions about his daddy… How ignorant the majority of Christians are? How they act like anything BUT God?”     -  Donny

Some good questions were brought up.

Why do we bury our wounded?
How come sometimes we (Christians) act like anything but God?
Why are so many of us so ignorant?

For more about Donny check out his blog here.

“When people think about changing the world, they do not think of the church.“

-Rob Bell

I agree with him, but why do you think that is?

It first started back at Acquire the Fire. Then I saw it on Youth Specialties. Then the mailings came. For some reason, the Christian $$ Bandwagon has really jumped aboard the ark of Evan Almighty. It’s being pushed as if it was the second coming of Christ. It’s being pushed by Christians hard and endorsed by most Christian organizations as well. For some reason it doesn’t sit well with me.

Does it have vague biblical themes? Yes. Is it rated PG? Yes. Well there you have it. Let’s call up Tim LaHaye so we can ride the next wave of meaningless, hollow Christian consumerism. What does this have to do with our faith? Nothing. I don’t care if it’s a movie about doing good. We’re not called to be merely good!?! Why are we so eager and easily brainwashed by this crap?

I’m sure it will be a funny movie and I’ll wet my pants because it’s so biblically hilarious. BUT that’s not the point. How easily do we as Christians whore ourselves (and our money) out because things look vaguely Christian? Here’s the stick we should measure these things by as Christians:

How will this (or anything) either draw us closer to Christ or help us to point others to Him?

My answer is… Evan Almighty doesn’t. Sure we can rationalize and twist things into some self pleasing justification, but you can rationalize just about anything! We are so eager to follow something that seems to embody goodness, but unwilling to follow Christ. Why? Because it’s safer and we can eat popcorn while doing it.

For further fuel to the fire on missing the point here is a blog from John Cooper of Skillet. He’s defending the fact that Skillet is supporting (meaning: getting paid to show the preview at concerts) Evan Almighty.

I wanted to send a note responding to the overwhelming amount of messages we have received about the ‘Evan Almighty’ movie promotion that we have done. The messages I am referring to are generally about how Skillet should not be supporting a movie that is a mockery of the Bible. This has been a big surprise to me because I cannot see where these opinions are coming from. We were approached by the company (a Christian company) that did the promotion for Narnia and Passion of the Christ about us helping to get the word out about the movie. We felt that it was an opportunity to stand for a movie that was wholesome, a family movie, and against the grain of what Hollywood typically stands for. We were also told that organizations like Youth Specialties, Willow Creek Church, Teen Mania, Christian radio and festivals, etc. were supporting this endeavor as well.

The movie is based on the idea that God tells a man named Evan to build an ark because there is a flood coming, and Evan has to decide if it’s for real or not. Secondly, man, including his own family, thinks he is going crazy. In the movie, God is real, His word becomes real, and it’s just based on the idea of “what would it be like if the flood happened today instead of thousands of years ago?” It is a family movie, directed by a Christian (Tom Shadyac, who CCM magazine profiled a few years ago) is rated pg and IS also being supported by numerous well-known and respected Christian organizations and pastors (see below comments from such). I honestly cannot see how this movie is a mockery, and though I have not seen the entire film (as none of you have not either) I don’t see why this movie would be sacrilegious, offensive, or negative for Christianity. It’s a lighthearted, family movie where the God of the Bible is real, tells a man that something as unlikely as a flood is coming, it actually happens, and even though everyone else in the world thinks the man is crazy he builds it anyway because he knows what he believes and that God’s word becomes true. Is it really that different than a veggie tales movie about Jonah? Is it sacrilegious to compare Jonah from the Bible to a cucumber? You decide. But whatever you do choose to think on this subject, I ask you to remember an important thing called grace; and how those of us who have been given so much of it seldom give it to others.

I like Skillet, but I think Johnny Boy is missing the point here. Mockery is not the heart of the matter. The movie isn’t the heart either. My beef is why the heck are we all so willing to follow some movement, this or any other, (need I mention, 40 days of whatever anybody?) and but not so eager to follow God?

Any thoughts?