If you have an opinion, your a LEGALIST!
I am sick and tired of being called Pharisaical or that I am legalistic every time a make a statement about a “emergent’ type ministry!
This all started when Way of the Master Radio (WOTM) spoke about an ad made by xxxchurch.com. In the ad, there is a puppet named Pete the Porno Puppet and his friend is Ron Jeremy, a porn legend who sees nothing wrong with porn. The 30 second spot includes the puppet saying the word pornography in a mocking tone a few times as well as guest Jeremy saying that porn is consenting adults having consenting sex for consenting adults to watch. Needless to say, WOTM did not agree with their methods or the message. xxxchurch (X3) posted a fairly grumpy blog about WOTM and how they didn’t care what people thought but decided it was wise to publish the ministries phone number and email for hate mail. I found it amusing that they said that they would not bash wotm but they said the host had no courage.
I love X3’s accountability software called x3watch but I don’t agree with their methods such as Pete or Wally the Wiener (a huge blow up penis). As usual with any other fairly emergent ministry, as soon as someone posted a comment to their blog x3 was more than ready to say that Jesus was cutting edge and if you disagree with them you are being legalistic (interesting how they can never be in the wrong).
If you say that a huge blow up penis is a little much for a Christian ministry they are quick to bring up Jesus overturning tables but if you think that street preaching is good they will tell you that you are being too in your face…. since when did a 15 foot penis become a every day occurrence??
I am not saying that nothing X3 does is ever right nor am I say that wotm is perfect (blog on them coming soon) but isn’t it possible for two ministries to disagree without one being told they are legalistic. If x3 stands behind their tools that’s fine but why all the nasty comments?
I would love to hear your thought on either ministry or their tools as well as the fact opinions no longer seem to be allowed without someone being legalistic.
God bless,
Anthony
Who is raising your children?
The statement ” If you don’t raise your children, I will” is commonly credited to Marilyn Manson but I cannot find anywhere to back that claim up.
I bring this quote up to point out the obvious: Who is raising this generation?
I realize that I am young but I deal with youth all the time and have noticed that there is a lack of communication between schools and parents when it comes to teaching about the tough things such as sex, drugs, alcohol, and even faith. Schools expect parents to teach things like abstinence while parents expect schools and churches to teach those much needed lessons. Instead, this generation is left to learn about sex, drugs, and faith from the only people that are comfortable talking about it: Hollywood.
The entertainment industry has no problem telling this generation that if you want to have sex, just make sure you wear a condom and if you want to drink or do drugs, don’t drive and just stick to pot. TV shows like the OC and any other “teen-drama” and popular movies show underage drinking, experimental drug use and promiscuous sex with multiple partners. Rap and mainstream rock music says women are just meat and come a dime a dozen while “hardcore” and metal say that life is cheap and do all kinds of drugs. Take Nicklback’s song rock star. they glorify the Hollywood scene. Here is the chorus (capital letters are the beginning of a line):
‘Cause we all just wanna be big rockstars And live in hilltop houses driving fifteen cars The girls come easy and the drugs come cheap We’ll all stay skinny ’cause we just won’t eat And we’ll hang out in the coolest bars In the VIP with the movie stars Every good gold digger’s Gonna wind up there Every Playboy bunny With her bleach blond hair And we’ll hide out in the private rooms With the latest dictionary and today’s who’s who They’ll get you anything with that evil smile Everybody’s got a drug dealer on speed dial,
Is this what we want this generation to see? that its cool to do drugs and hang out with playboy bunnies?
I am not saying that all parents are terrible or that churches are not doing their jobs but I think that the two need to work together to fight against Hollywood’s teachings.
So who is raising this generation? Churches and Parents or entertainers? I would love to hear thoughts from my generation as well as the parents of my generation.
God bless,
Anthony
Can I laugh at that?
Recently, pastor Mark Driscoll preached a sermon on humor in his “ask anything” series. The question submitted to him asked why he made jokes about Mormons, homosexuals and others in his sermons and in the same sermon expected them to be saved. Pastor Driscoll shows in his sermon that the Bible contains a lot of humor and that humor is alright to be used. The entire Ask anything series has drawn negative comments but I would like to address the humor issue.
In the various blogs and forums I have read on this particular sermon, people seem to have come to the conclusion that the only type of humor allowed is humor that makes fun of the joke maker. I began to wonder why and came to the conclusion that people need to lighten up a little bit. While I realize that Christianity is a serious thing, I think it has become a little to legalistic. Are we not allowed to laugh in a service? My pastor makes jokes about everyone from homosexuals to married couples, from the more mature to the young and jokes about individual people (including myself). I do not see a problem with that at all.
When you see a comedian on TV who does he make fun of? EVERYONE! and why does he do it? to make everyone lighten up and in the case of some very talented comedians, to make a point. Humor is used even in politics! Candidates use humor to poke fun at rivals.
So if humor is used in pretty much every form of public speaking to make some sort of point, why can it not be used in preaching?
I think I am having difficulty saying what I want to say so I would like to know how you feel: Can humor in any form be used in Preaching? Can the speaker make jokes about people or groups they do not belong to? Why or why not? Please leave any thoughts you have on this subject.
God bless,
Anthony
PS I would have used some humor in this post to make my point but could not think of anything remotely funny.
A Call for Prayer.
If you live in Reno,NV, you probably already know that a 19 year old girl has been missing since early Sunday morning. Her name is Brianna Denison. If you all would please pray for her and her family, as local police are speculating that she may have been kidnapped. Please pray for her friends including my girlfriend Ashley who went to high school with Brianna. Pray that she be kept safe wherever she may be and pray that God will grant the police with the wisdom to find this girl.
Here is a link to the news story for those not in the Reno area.
God bless,
Anthony
I would walk 5,000 Miles….
I subscribe to a blog called Think Christian and they posted a blog about a guy named Sam and his ministry called Pray4One. What he is doing is walking around the entire world asking that everyone commit themselves to pray at 4:01 (AM or PM). he says “it is an awesome though to know that EVERY HOUR around the globe there are people gathering together to pray for our broken family.” His mission is to unite Christians world wide. Go over to the site and Check it out.
God bless,
Anthony
This is what really matters
I was planning on writing on something different today but I was ask on a forum this question: “- what does one have to believe in order to qualify for salvation?” I decided that I would share my answer with you because sometimes I think we forget what we are doing this all for. If we lose sight of the cross, we are wasting our time because without Christ we have nothing. Here is my response to the question:
You don’t have to do anything to be saved. now let me explain: Christ died on the cross to pay for our sins and took all our sin (past, present, and future). By ourselves we are evil, wicked people and cannot receive salvation. This is the point where most would say you have to accept Christ into your heart and say the “sinners prayer” but this is not true. Christ doesn’t need your acceptance, you need his. He payed the price now all you have to do is receive it. What you do is simple: you trust in Jesus and pray for repentance (a turning away from sin). You do not have to say any special words. Pray for forgiveness and a change of heart. If you are truly saved, your whole outlook on life and sin will change. You will not want to sin because you know Christ hates sin and therefore so do you.
This my friends is the Gospel. Do you think I worded it well or correctly? I pray that this touches someone but I think this was Gods way of reminding me why I do what I do. It is really easy to focus on what you are doing rather than why it is being done.
God bless,
Anthony
A Tribute.
Today was the memorial for Bob Greer. He was an elder at my church and a valued member of the body of Christ. He went to be with the Lord in the early morning of Thursday Jan 3rd, 2008. I did not know him as much as I would have liked to but I know that he was a very wise man and great in Christ. He had been battling with cancer for a second time for close to a year and yet never stopped praising the Lord. I admired his faith. Of all the wonderful things Bob left as his legacy I pray I would take away the wisdom that no matter the circumstances there is always a reason to thank God. When planning the memorial, Bob Greer’s wife asked that the drama team (of which I am the leader of) preform a human video to “I can only imagine” by MercyMe as it was one of Bobs’ favorite songs. I am not the best at sentimental words so I cannot describe how honored I felt to be able to take part in celebrating the life of such a great man of God. It was a bitter sweet day as we lost a much loved member of our church family but I know that Bob Greer is in Heaven with his new glorified body in the presence of Christ.
God bless,
Anthony
Unite for purity
I received a comment on my recent post and began to reply in the form of a comment but as you can see below, it turned into something longer than what could go in a comment form. This is in response to Nicks’ comment as well as extra thoughts. :
I understand your point but the main objective of my post was not so much the topic of girls getting 4 weeks off (I agree they should have a way to graduate) as much the fact that instead of worrying about how to help pregnant girls, parents should be trying to teach purity.
I am in no way condemning pregnant girls as that I commend their courage for their decision to raise their child. I was attempting to show that instead of trying to fix things by assisting the mothers(while it is good), our society should be focused on trying to stop the high amount (and apparent approval of) fornication among teen-aged kids.
I realize that some parents are against this behavior and I applaud them for their efforts, but society as a whole seems to show that this type of conduct is acceptable and this needs to be changed. Parents and students who believe in purity should unite in order to change this society.
As teenagers, we should no longer consume the high amount of sexual perversion in the form of movies, TV, music and even advertisements ( I recently saw sex used to sell red bull and pizza). If this generation were to stand against the current marketing schemes, advertisers, producers and record labels would be forced to change their current practices. As for our friends who do not choose purity, we should tell them about their sin and share the Gospel.
As parents, you should support your child and continue to teach the importance of purity and Christ. I realize that I am not a parent but I think that parents should stand with their children that choose purity. As for the children that choose not to follow purity, parents should stand strong and attempt to monitor their child’s activity. I realize this is easier said than done but if parents stand strong it could help.
I do not have the answers or do I claim to have them but I know something has to be changed in this society. I apologize if I offended anyone by anything I said. I was attempting to make a point
God bless,
Anthony
PS. Be sure to Check out the girls over at Purity: Fully Clothed. They have made purity their mission.
You want what??
I found this article about Denver High Schools being asked to institute a four week maternity leave for students that were new mothers because the current policy is they must return to school the day after they are released from the hospital. While I understand the point trying to be made, we are talking about teenage girls here. The entire group in question would range from ages 14 to 18 and they all are unmarried. According to the Denver Post, “Denver has one of the highest teen-pregnancy rates in the state. Of every 1,000 girls ages 15 to 17, 54.5 will become pregnant in the city, compared with 24.3 throughout Colorado, according to state health statistics.”. So instead of finding a way to stop the fornication, school officials rather just find a way to make things easier for the mothers.
I am glad that these girls choose to keep their babies and didn’t get an abortion but shouldn’t the parents be finding a way to stop this problem at the root. This all goes back to sex and how schools are preaching that it is ok to have sex whenever. The parents of Denver should be worried about changing those statistics rather than just dealing with them. Whats next, childcare in the schools?
Pray for this country and it’s youth.
God bless,
Anthony
You’re so vain……
…..you probably think your testimonies about you, YOU’RE SO VAIN.
Although I started this blog on a fairly funny note, your testimony and who it focuses upon is a very serious subject. I listened to the testimony of pastor Paul Washer (you can find it on way of the master radio) and instead of him focusing on how horrible he was for the majority of it and just barley mentioning Christ and His saving grace like most testimonies these days are he instead spoke briefly on his sin and spent most of his time on Christ and the Gospel.
Whats your testimony like? I was greatly convicted by this because every time I have shared my testimony it was always about me, me, me and all my sin. everyone knows that we are sinners. Next time you are asked to share your testimony, bring the glory to Jesus Christ and the cross rather than glorifying your past sins.
God bless,
Anthony
