Pop Culture recipes
Thinking About Santa
Some interesting comments from Noel Piper:
Over the years, we have chosen not to include Santa Claus in our Christmas stories and decorations. There are several reasons.
First, fairy tales are fun and we enjoy them, but we don’t ask our children to believe them.
Second, we want our children to understand God as fully as they’re able at whatever age they are. So we try to avoid anything that would delay or distort that understanding. It seems to us that celebrating with a mixture of Santa and manger will postpone a child’s clear understanding of what the real truth of God is. It’s very difficult for a young child to pick through a marble cake of part-truth and part-imagination to find the crumbs of reality.
Third, we think about how confusing it must be to a straight-thinking, uncritically-minded preschooler because Santa is so much like what we’re trying all year to teach our children about God. Look, for example, at the “attributes” of Santa.
- He’s omniscient—he sees everything you do.
- He rewards you if you’re good.
- He’s omnipresent—at least, he can be everywhere in one night.
- He gives you good gifts.
- He’s the most famous “old man in the sky” figure.
But at the deeper level that young children haven’t reached yet in their understanding, he is not like God at all.
For example, does Santa really care if we’re bad or good? Think of the most awful kid you can remember. Did he or she ever not get gifts from Santa?
What about Santa’s spying and then rewarding you if you’re good enough? That’s not the way God operates. He gave us his gift—his Son—even though we weren’t good at all. “God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us” (Romans 5:8). He gave his gift to us to make us good, not because we had proved ourselves good enough.
Helping our children understand God as much as they’re able at whatever age they are is our primary goal. But we’ve also seen some other encouraging effects of not including Santa in our celebration.
Read the rest of the article here.
What about you? How do you do Santa?
Steven Seagal: Lawman
I thought this was a joke until I heard Steven say: “It’s not a joke.”
Apparently, it’s not a joke. And according to Seagal, it’s not a job either: “It’s an adventure.”
I present to you the depths to which reality tv has fallen: Steven Seagal: Lawman.
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=99E16w0PxCA]
Mass We Pray
Seriously? I mean, seriously?
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nRMiRFJzIKA]
I don’t know whether to laugh, cry, or scream. I’ve got a pretty good idea which one Jesus is doing though.
Somebody tell me this is a joke.
David Letterman and the Gospel
Russell Moore has a great post about what David Letterman can teach us about the gospel. In case you missed it, Letterman admitted on his show last Thursday that he was the victim of extortion, that he had numerous affairs with people on staff of the Late Show, and someone had found him out. That person was blackmailing Letterman in order to keep quiet.
Here’s a part of what Russell pointed out:
The power the blackmailer had over the comedian was in the truthfulness of his accusations, and in the cold, rational evidence he had for each of his charges.
You and I once felt a deeper, more primal blackmail, and it scared us to the core. In fact, we often still do. Now, for most of us, it’s not the same kind of transgression or the same type of discovery. But we’re blackmailed just as surely, in fact even more so.
The scripture says that Satan’s reign over this present order is by holding us captive through the slavery of the “fear of death” (Heb. 2:15). And why are all humans afraid of death? Because, like Letterman’s letter in the back of the car, our conscience is pointing us to judgment, with a “black box” of evidence of our guilt (Rom. 2:15-16).
That’s why the gospel is such good news for blackmailed creepy people like us…
Practical Television Advice
This is a tough one for me, cause I love TV. Alot. Nevertheless, here’s some great, thought-provoking suggestions from Randy Alcorn. You do not have to agree with all of it to benefit from his advice. Here are his points (but click through to read his reasons):
- Keep track of how much time you spend watching.
- Decide in advance how much TV to watch per week.
- Use a schedule to choose programs for the week–then stick to your choices.
- Keep your television unplugged, store it in a closet, and/or put it in a remote part of the house (prevents mindless flip-on).
- Periodically “fast” from television for a week or a month. Notice the “cold turkey” effects. (Avoids addiction, reminds you of all that can be done when TV off).
- Choose programs that uplift rather than undermine biblical values.
- Use the “off” switch freely. If it’s wrong and you keep watching, you’re saying “I approve.” (Unless it doesn’t present temptation and you’re critically analyzing it).
- Use the channel changer frequently.
- Watch and discuss programs together as a family–to avoid passivity and develop active moral discernment through interaction. (Avoid the second TV set that splits the family and leaves children unsupervised).
- Don’t allow young children to choose their own programs–that’s the parent’s responsibility.
- Don’t use television as a baby sitter.
- Spend an hour reading Scripture, a Christian book or magazine, or doing a ministry for each hour you watch TV.
- Consider dropping cable, Showtime, HBO, or any other service that you determine is importing ungodliness or temptation into your home.
- If you find you can’t control it–or you’re tired of the battle–get rid of your television.
U2's Stage for Upcoming Tour
It’s big. Really, really big. Check it out:
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TDNaEuVgfEo&eurl=http%3A%2F%2Ftakeyourvitaminz.blogspot.com%2F2009%2F07%2Fu2s-stage-for-upcoming-tour.html&feature=player_embedded]
Michael Jackson's Funeral
Vitamin Z here with some good thoughts:
Everyone knows that Michael has been dead for awhile now… or so we thought. Thousands gather for the memorial service a week later and are treated to the shock of a lifetime. At the end of the service, Michael jumps out of the casket in the full Thriller costume and is joined on stage by all the dancers from the video decked out as well. They perform the whole routine while the music thumps. Women are fainting, men are fist pumping, people are screaming, dancing and wetting themselves. It would go down in history as the biggest publicity stunt in history. His career would be revitalized overnight. Can you imagine it? As a child of the 80’s, it certainly would send a chill down my spine. Yeah… what if. Not gonna happen, but it would be something no one would ever forget.
Oh, but wait. Jesus did do that. But he really died and really rose again. It wasn’t’ a publicity stunt. It is a fact of history. People knew it was true and still hated him for it. Should tell us something about the human heart. We are still talking about it 2000 years later too.
Z continues:
In his memorial service today, millions are with him and applaud his life and work. Our Savior died despised and alone. Today we see clearly that God’s values are not our values. We like Michael Jackson more than Jesus. It’s a good reminder for me, a sinful guy who loves the praise of men, (maybe just as much as Michael did) that God does not play by our rules. It’s hard, but I am fighting to play by His.
50 Cent – The Wind Beneath My Wings
No kidding. According to an article referenced by Vitamin Z, Bette Midler and 50 Cent are now BFF’s:
The two apparently met while working on park restoration projects together. Says Bette, “He is one of the newest members of our tribe. He has really made my life worth living. 50 has been with me through thick and thin.”50 Cent agrees, “Look how beautiful things are and how nice it feels when I’m around her. Me and Bette collaborating would be really hot. But I’d need to make something new for her. For the right song, we’d definitely get together.”
How about that, guys? Bette and Fidy? It got me thinking. What if they did collaborate… what would the name of that song be? Here’s a few suggestions:
In Da Rose Club
Boogie Woogie Window Shopper
Wind Beneath My Candy Shop
21 Questions From a Distance
Got any more?
Steroids In Your Context
It came out this week that Manny Ramirez used illegal performance enhancing drugs. As a consequence, he is forfeiting approximately $7.7 million in salary and will be suspended for 50 games, or 1/3 of the baseball season. You can read the full story here.
I’ll be the first to say that my typical reaction to stuff like this isn’t sympathy; it’s somewhere along the lines of “What a moron.” The reasoning is simple – he’s already a superstar, making tons of money, an incredible amount of fame and noteriety – why jeopardize it with something like this? After all, it’s my understanding that steroids don’t make a bad ballplayer good; they simply can make a good ballplayer great.
That understanding puts a new spin on the temptation associated with steroids. Think of it like this: Let’s say you’re an author. You already have a couple of books out, and they’re selling reasonably well. Then someone comes to you saying that if you did this one thing, you would go from being a reasonably well known author to being on the best-seller list. The only problem is that thing is a little shady and might have some long-term negative effects.
Or maybe like this: Let’s say you’re a blogger that has a strong readership of 250 hits a day. But with one action you can increase that to 700 hits a day. Again, the only problem is that the action might or might not be morally questionable.
Or maybe this: It’s tax time, and you’re getting a refund of $500. But with one little tweak here, your refund will jump to $1500.
You could easily justify simple actions like these:
“I’m only hurting myself.”
“It’s for the benefit of others.”
“I’ll do good things with my money.”
But here’s the thing with all those justifications, and all the above scenarios: I can tell myself that it’s not a big deal, or that it’s for the benefit of others, or that the ends justify the means. Ultimately, however, I am at the center of the motives. It’s about me – my benefit.
Without commenting too much on Manny in particular, I do find myself today thinking of the thousands of little ways that I think about me under the guise of “it’s not that big a deal.”
On the Road to "Major" Sin
How long does it take sin to totally screw up your life?
OK… here’s where I’m going with this one: One day your a prominent pastor. The next you get caught with a male prostitute allegedly buying crystal meth. One day you’re a pastor, looked up to by your congregation. The next, you’re caught buying and selling pornography on the internet. One day, your a beloved pastor with a beautiful wife and family that you adore. The next, you have an affair with a woman you’re counseling. One day, you’re a youth pastor with a loving wife and young kids. The next, you’re caught exposing yourself to someone in a park.
Here’s my thing: I don’t think huge sins happen in one day. Tell me if I’m wrong, but you don’t go from ok to exposing yourself in one day. You can’t go from everything being hunky dorey with your wife and family to the next day getting jiggy with someone you’re counseling. And you surely don’t go one day from being happily married to buying a male prostitute and experimenting with drugs, or selling porn on the internet…