This story, about religion in prison, is excellent.
Best quote?
“I used to read the Bible like any book, but they taught us to read one verse maybe a hundred times until you get the meaning,” says Rodney Collier. “Now I know how to go to God.”
Tags: Christianity, Prison
I was going to post this last week, and I forgot. Second Page Media has a FABULOUS blog entry titled, “This life has been censored for content.” It opens with this:
At the not-so-ripe old age of 22, I’ve come to realize that a great deal of censorship issues don’t mean much to me, being an adult and all. While for most people the fact something isn’t directly bothering them is good enough to stop worrying about it, I’d like to think about the impact policies done now could effect future generations from the one growing up directly behind me to many more that have yet to be born.
I am fairly happy about the time that I grew up in. I came before the Barney revolution, before there were tailor-made blocks of family friendly programming on cartoon networks that were designed for me, back when if I felt like learning, I could watch PBS. I saw Looney Toons cartoons that were apparently too racist for children of today to see. I never put two and two together that the guy with the funny looking eyes was supposed to be making fun of everyone from Japan and I missed the boat on the deep-speaking, dark colored… he looked like an oversized mole, I’m not sure… but whatever he was, he was supposed to be a stereotype for Africans. Could have fooled me. Perhaps I was just a dumb kid.
Speaking of which, I grew up back when the word “dumb” was okay. Now it’s… what?: educationally challenged? I’m sure there’s some lengthy multi-syllable word that that sums up what used to be called ‘dumb’, but I try to keep from learning such new buzzwords at the risk of my head exploding.
Heck, I even played some Mortal Kombat when I was younger. Anyone remember that game? Every time you hit someone the screen was filled with blood. It was an entertaining game that, for some reason or another, didn’t turn me into a mass killer.
All I can say, is RIGHT ON! Seriously go read the whole thing.
Check these out, from Independent Christian Voice:
A man who was completely innocent, offered himself as a sacrifice for the good of others, including his enemies, and became the ransom of the world. It was a perfect act.
I know men and I tell you that Jesus Christ is no mere man. Between Him and every other person in the world there is no possible term of comparison. Alexander, Caesar, Charlemagne, and I have founded empires. But on what did we rest the creation of our genius? Upon force. Jesus Christ founded His empire upon love; and at this hour millions of men would die for Him.
~ Napoleon
As a child I received instruction both in the Bible and in the Talmud. I am a Jew, but I am enthralled by the luminous figure of the Nazarene. …No one can read the Gospels without feeling the actual presence of Jesus. His personality pulsates in every word. No myth is filled with such life.
Jesus of Nazareth, without money and arms, conquered more millions than Alexander the Great, Caesar, Mohammed, and Napoleon; without science and learning, he shed more light on things human and divine than all philosophers and scholars combined; without the eloquence of school, he spoke such words of life as were never spoken before or since, and produced effects which lie beyond the reach of orator or poet; without writing a single line, he set more pens in motion, and furnished themes for more sermons, orations, discussions, learned volumes, works of art, and songs of praise than the whole army of great men of ancient and modern times.
No one else holds or has held the place in the heart of the world which Jesus holds. Other gods have been as devoutly worshipped; no other man has been so devoutly loved.
A man who was merely a man and said the sort of things Jesus said would not be a great moral teacher. He would either be a lunatic – on a level with the man who says he is a poached egg – or else he would be the Devil of Hell. You must make your choice. Either this man was, and is, the Son of God; or else a madman or something worse. You can shut Him up for a fool, you can spit at Him and kill him as a demon; or you can fall at His feet and call Him Lord and God. But let us not come with any patronizing nonsense about His being a great human teacher. He has not left that open to us. He did not intend to.
I found this today, and I don’t know if I should laugh or be offended.
Basically, someone has set up a bot who chats with you as if it’s God. Unfortunately, bots really can’t hold great conversations. My conversation with “God.”
Me:
So you’re God.
God:
Interesting deduction. Yup. That’s me alright.
Me:
You wrote the Bible.
God:
Thanks for telling me: said I wrote the Bible.
Me:
Can you quote the Bible?
God:
Only at formal occasions.
Me:
What’s a formal occasion?
God:
That’s a good question.
Me:
Can you answer it?
God:
” That’s a good question. “? Can I answer it?
Me:
Who is Jesus?
God:
Jesus is my son.
Me:
Why did he die?
God:
To achieve his goal.
Me:
What was Jesus’ goal?
God:
Is that a rhetorical question?
Me:
No
God:
Oh so must really want an answer.
The bot is so bad, it really is kind of funny.
Tags: iGod
Every night, thousands of children in Uganda walk miles into town to sleep for fear of being abducted out of their homes.
Let’s do something about it! Invisible Children is organizing a Global Night Commute on Saturday, April 29th. I urge you to seriously consider getting involved. “We’re taking this lying down.”
Tags: Christianity, Invisible Children, Uganda, Global Night Commute
There’s a song by Todd Agnew called “My Jesus” that tells of a Jesus people are rarely introduced to.
Todd Agnew has the gift of telling it like it is. For example,
Who is this that You follow
This picture of the American dream
If Jesus was here would you walk right by on the other side
Or fall down and worship at His holy feetPretty blue eyes and curly brown hair and a clear complexion
Is how you see Him as He dies for Your sins
But the Word says He was battered and scarred
Or did you miss that part
Sometimes I doubt we’d recognize Him
But he takes it a step further when he says,
Cause my Jesus would never be accepted in my church
The blood and dirt on His feet might stain the carpet
But He reaches for the hurting and despises the proud
I think He’d prefer Beale St. to the stained glass crowd
And I know that He can hear me if I cry out loudI want to be like my Jesus
I don’t know about you, but this makes me feel about an inch tall. Because I know how true this is.
Most of us have a picture of Jesus in our heads that is completely contrary to how he is portrayed in the Bible.
First of all, Jesus wasn’t white. He was from the Middle East, people. Secondly, he didn’t give people a license to sin. He loved people and extended grace and mercy, but he was firm in what he taught. Jesus wasn’t legalistic. He wasn’t dogmatic. He simply stood for the Truth. I can’t remember the last time I saw a Christian (myself included) who simply stood for the Truth.
A life in Christ isn’t about the rules. It isn’t black and white. It’s never a matter of, “You sinned, so Jesus can’t possibly love you.” Yes, you sinned. So did I! So *do* I on a daily basis! God doesn’t love me any less because of my sin. My sin breaks his heart, that’s for sure. But only because he wants the very best for me, and I keep screwing that up with bad choices.
I want to be like my Jesus.
Am I the only Christian who thinks this is ridiculous? The American Family Association has accused Wal-Mart of “pushing an agenda” by promoting and selling the recent Academy Award winner for Best Picture in stores.
That’s right. Apparantly, by selling the Best Picture for 2006 in its stores, Walmart is pushing a gay agenda.
This is ludicrous! No, I don’t agree with the homosexual lifestyle, and I have no plans to see the movie. But I’m not going to stop shopping at a store that is doing what stores do–selling what sells. Brokeback Mountain is no different than several other movies sold by Walmart–but no one has complained about those. Let’s see…there’s Rent, which features 2 gay couples and 4 people who suffer from AIDS. Then there’s the full seasons of Sex and the City. What about those? Why hasn’t Walmart been pushed to take those off the shelves?
You know, I like my freedom. I like the rights that I have to agree or disagree with you. These are actually God given rights, because God created us all with free will. Groups like these have missed the point. You can’t censor everything. You can disagree with it, choose to not see it, but you can’t force people not to sell it or buy it.
Tags: Christianity, Walmart, Brokeback Mountain
Something about this just doesn’t sit well with me. TLC has taken 5 men and 5 women and plopped them into a monastery and abbey, respectively, for 6 weeks. And filmed it.
The premise of The Monastery, an American version of a similar British show produced last year for the BBC, is to cloister five men of varied backgrounds and faiths at the Benedictine Monastery of Christ in the Desert here in the mountains northwest of Santa Fe and five women at the Our Lady of the Mississippi Abbey on a farm near Dubuque, Iowa. Each participant has a dramatic back story, from a soldier who lost his leg in the Iraq war to a woman who had her first child at age 14 and yet put herself through school for an MBA degree.
“This isn’t a reality show,” series producer Sarah Woodford says.
“The point has not been to create traps for hapless people to fall into. We’re interested in exploring how people like us can live a good and purposeful life and what the 1,500-year-old monastic tradition can teach modern people.”
Not only did they invade a sacred way of life, but it almost seems as if they are intentionally trying to mock the faith of the monks and nuns.
Maybe I’m overreacting. Thoughts? Comments?
Tags: Christianity, Monastery, TLC, Reality TV
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I am amazed at what folks will believe these days. It seems that National Geographic has just unveiled The Gospel of Judas (for CNN’s version, click here). This Gnostic gospel was discovered several decades ago, but has never really been shown to the world. In this “gospel,” Judas is depicted as a hero–a man who betrayed Jesus only because Jesus asked him to.
Read Michael Spencer’s critique. Among his better points:
I mean, seriously. Who believes this kind of stuff?
Tags: Christianity, Gospel of Judas, Bible
This week’s Christian Carnival is hosted over at intheouter.net this week. Check it out!
Tags: Christian Carnival
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