If you ever need a time for extended reflection I recommend the drive from Stillwater, Oklahoma to Dallas. I finished that trek yesterday and I had much time to listen to music and think. The group “Casting Crowns” has recently been resonating with me. Let me take that a step farther. Their lyrics have been kicking my butt all over the field. One song in particular stuck in my mind, heart, and soul during that long drive. The song is called “Stained Glass Masquerade” and the title says it all. This song speaks powerfully to the all too human desire to be phony at church so that the others (who are also acting phony) will not think less of us. To have an impact in this culture we have to be genuine, real, authentic. Young men and women have a phony detector that is tuned to pick up the smallest deceit. I am tired of the phoniness. I am tired of
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Here is one of my core principles. You never want to have USA Today lead a story about you with the word “embattled”. For example, in todays issue the paper reports that “embattled author James Frey defended his best selling memoirs on Larry King’s CNN talk show Wednesday.” Embattled and having to talk to Larry King? How much can one man endure?  Frey is the author of the mega bestselling book “A Million Little Pieces”. As I type these words the book is the number one seller on Amazon.com. The Barnes and Noble website review called Frey,  “Prodigiously talented, poetic, unflinchingly honest, and relentlessly present. A lot to live up to? Not if you’re James Frey, whose memoir Pat Conroy calls “the War and Peace of addiction.” As Frey will unapologetically assert, he’s an Alcoholic and a Drug Dealer and a Criminal.” (caps his). But a problem has arisen with that little “unflinchingly honest” phrase in the B&N review. It appears that Frey has been a bit
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Rumination… a noun. 1. The act of pondering; meditation. 2. The act or process of chewing cud.    (courtesy of www.dictionary.com) I am going with pondering and meditation as my preferred meaning as I review some responses to previous posts. By far the greatest volume of readers and responses to this fledging blog was in response to the Victoria Osteen incident prior to Christmas. Some took me to task for my call for Mrs.Osteen to humbly repent and seek forgiveness of those affected. Reader Kevin wrote the following… I will pray that you never make any mistakes around your house or the wall mart , so you don’t have to feel like her . Pls lets just pray for that family that is touching not just the neiborhood but the world. It is because the Osteens have such a wide audience that I believed they needed to immediately respond. I can assure you Kevin that I will make mistakes and my
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Recently Salon Online Magazine (April 28, 2005) ran an interview with atheist and evolutionary activist Richard Dawkins. At least the writer of the piece, Gordy Slack, made his slant clear early on. Given his outspoken defense of Darwin, and natural selection as the force of life, Dawkins has assumed a new role: the religious right’s Public Enemy No. 1. Yet Dawkins doesn’t shy from controversy, nor does he suffer fools gladly. He recently met a minister who was on the opposite side of a British political debate. When the minister put out his hand, Dawkins kept his hands at his side and said, “You, sir, are an ignorant bigot.” What a charming response from Mr.Dawkins! I would never think of denying common courtesies to those who would disagree with me or even call me an ignorant bigot. I was taken aback by Slack’s apparent assertion that the minister was, in fact, a fool. I was surprised that he proclaimed Richard Dawkins as Public Enemy Number 1 of the religious
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Oops, we did it again. The uproar from the Christian community and the boycott campaign from the American Family Association has given unmerited sympathy to a horse that should have been shot Friday night. I wonder if NBC wouldn’t have quietly let the show “The Book of Daniel” die without the always predictable controversy that the evangelical community generates.  The network is now likely concerned about appearing to give in to the pressure. No doubt the show will receive support from the usual suspects entirely because of the controversial boycott attempt. From my view “The Book of Daniel” did more damage to the television industry than it did to Christians. I haven’t seen a family with this many problems outside of “COPS”! In fact I would recommend that the families of “COPS” watch “The Book of Daniel” to feel better about their families. The beleaguered clan of show patriarch Daniel Webster has hit the sin lottery. You list a sin…they have a family member knee deep in it. But the show’s
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As I read about the brewing evangelical storm over the new TV series, “The Book of Daniel,” I was tempted to paraphrase the immortal words of Ronald Reagan. “Well, there you go again.” I am referring to the call by the American Family Association to boycott the show and put pressure on local affiliates and NBC to not air the show. The strategy includes downloading a document, filling out the call letters and phone number of the local NBC affiliate, and passing it out at church services around the country. Then churchgoers are to call the local affiliate and besiege some poor receptionist who will likely resign and never go near a church again. Christians are urged to forward the email located on the website to get the word out. Here is the description of the show from the American Family Association site. While the public has not seen the program, NBC is promoting “The Book of Daniel” as a serious drama about Christian people and the Christian faith. The main character is Daniel
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A few people who likely need a hobby subscribe to this modest effort to get an occasional laugh. I have to warn you that recent events in my world have temporarily suspended the shows at Dave’s Chuckle Hut…one show daily…tip your blogger. Readers of yesterday’s post know that a dear friend died this week and with that comes a lot of reflection. I admit that I sporadically sample country music and one song oddly resonated with me this week. Kenny Chesney has had his own struggles lately but his recording of ‘The Good Stuff’ should remind all of us about what really matters. The song revolves around a man who has his first real fight with his new wife and he leaves in search of some liquid comfort at a local bar. The bartender walks up and asks him what it will be… I said,”The good stuff”He didn’t reach around for the whiskeyHe didn’t pour me a beerHis blue eyes kind of
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