"Reuben Hick" <outerdarkness@[EMAIL PROTECTED]
> wrote in message
news:e_CFj.1699$p24.1486@[EMAIL PROTECTED]
>
> "Diana" <dianaiad@[EMAIL PROTECTED]
> wrote in message
> news:SgyFj.6837$Oj5.4750@[EMAIL PROTECTED]
>>
>> "Daniel S. Vieira" <email-in-sig@[EMAIL PROTECTED]
> wrote in message
>> news:13ucuu5j0qd0d00@[EMAIL PROTECTED]
>>> Diana wrote:
>>>
>>>> Dan?
>>>>
>>>> I had to look a couple of times to make certain that it was you
posting
>>>> this. It seems somewhat out of character. Goodness, what a grump!
>>>
>>> Why? That I care that what p***** for "church" these days is more of
a
>>> media-fest, feel good, humanocentric approach to "god" than anything
>>> resembling the Gospel?
>>>
>>> The American Religion isn't the Gospel of Christ, it's the Gospel of
>>> Man. We've discussed it to death here, you might want to go to Google
>>> groups, look up "American Religion" and read our critiques of it.
>>>
>>> Anyway, Happy Ostara!
>>>
>>> Dan
>>
>> I think that, in many of the events you give us, there is a great deal
>> more about the Savior and the Atonement than you give them credit for,
is
>> all I'm saying.
>
> Sorry to butt in here, but Dan truly provided a community service. LOL!
>
> Lets noodle this one out. If you are a regular member of a true
thriving
> church, do you need any of these ads?
>
> Even if you just moved into town, and are in need of a "Bounce House",
> free breakfast and live rock-n-roll by some 2nd rate amateurs, don't you
> think that you would have already scouted this sort of "ministry" out
> earlier rather than on the most attended day of the year?
>
> Visitors are and should be consumers, yet I'm struggling with how my
tax
> deductable church donation is somehow furthering the Kingdom by awarding
a
> once-a-year attendee with a Nintendo Wii just for showing up. Are
they
> there to win a game console so that they can go home and indulge in 24/7
> first person shoot-em-ups and play Grand Theft Auto courtesy of Woodland
> Hills Church? Or are they there to get saved? I'm 100% confident it
is
> the former, and also strongly confident that if by some accident they
did
> come to get saved, there wouldn't be much reason to given the din of the
> screaming guitars and raging drum solos for Jesus. I just can't see St
> Paul doing his best Alice Cooper routine before a screaming throng of
> Romans in the Colliseum so that some might be saved, yet that is exactly
> what church organizers are betting on.
>
> If Texas is the buckle of the Bible Belt, the city of Austin would be
one
> of the sizing holes in the belt because I swear, judging by the crowds
> last night, Lot must be my next door neighbor. (OK, I'm taking a bit of
> literary license). There wasn't a "church" in the entire area (save
the
> small OPC I attend) that didn't have some sort of fertility symbol rich
> children's event going on (aka 'Ishtar egg hunt', chicken eggs courtesy
> of a prolific bunny named Peter). As for me, I'm highly offended. As
Dan
> points out, here is a church that instead of advertising the
foundational
> elements of the Christian faith on the Passover week, chooses to spend
its
> marketing and advertising budget on advancing ancient Babylonian
fertility
> rites for the neighborhood children. (I'm sure the government schools
> cover the obligatory temple prostitute rites for us)
>
> Can anyone explain to me how gathering up colored plastic eggs hidden in
> the parking lot and the landscaping of the local "church" is supposed to
> lead anyone to Christ? Did I miss something in my EE cl*****?
>
> I also am intrigued by the "blended wor****p" offered at 1st Presby of
> Grenada Hills. Who thought that this was a great idea? Traditionally
the
> Big Box Hallelujah House have a CCM service and a "traditional" service
> ostensibly because one group can't stand the other's choice in wor****p.
> So when they promise to "blend" the services, are they trying to piss
> everyone off? I'm sure when the house band puts the amps in overdrive
> this might be the first time in a long time that granny can hear the
music
> without a hearing aid - and ***** about it being "too loud".
Unfortunately
> they might also prove that there is indeed the Brown Note. Hopefully
she
> is wearing an adult diaper when this takes place.
>
> I like the CP Lutheran's "Unique Multi-Media Wor****p Service". Sort of
> like experiencing Woodstock on a big screen TV without the mud and rain.
>
> So I went to www.theshepherd.org to see this spectacle of the glowing
> tomb. Honestly I don't know what possessed the artist to make a bright
> light ****ne from an EMPTY tomb, I sort of expect to see some willowy
> green alien from the "Invasion From Mars" movie slowly emerging from
this
> glowing tomb, smoke billowing out as a creepy frame, the alien slowly
> raising his hand in a Vulcan greeting...background music making a slow
> crescendo before Alfie the dog breaks free and jumps up on the alien,
the
> alien then shooting rays from its eyes va****izing the poor sheep dog.
>
> Actually, if they had that as a website animation, I would have gone
> regardles if there was a FREE Continental breakfast.
>
> Furthermore, I fail to see why anyone wants to romanticize the
crucifixion
> by backlighting the cross, or a tomb. It was a messy, bloody, horrible
> event that was detailed by the disciples by the long description "...and
> he was crucified." Even they didn't want to revel in the act of His
> death. I look at these pictures and wonder if some dope is going to
> think that this is beautiful and they would contact a landscape designer
> to rig up the same backdrop in their own yard. "Honey, its a beautiful
> sunset, lets take that bottle of wine, and go out and spend a romantic
> evening under the torture device." It looked so attractive and inviting
> in the church brochure.
>
> [ Personally I am convinced that it wasn't St Helena's cross, but an
olive
> tree where Christ and the two thieves were crucified.]
>
> I might want to add. You can always tell a healthy church when the
> parking lot is about the same level on Resurrection Sunday as it is on
> anyother non-summer Sunday. When they are parking in the grass and
need
> to bring in shuttles, you are guaranteed that it would have been better
to
> be on the golf course than inside.
>
> I hope that my rant here has made Dan's community service appear to come
> from a giddy optimist in comparison.
>
Hey, don't go yelling at me! The church I go to doesn't have a cross in
or
around it. Our Easter services don't involve eggs or a bunnies (though I
imagine that, just as I did when I was a child, and as I did for my own
children, there were Easter baskets and egg dying and all that sort of
stuff
done at home), and our parties are reserved for NEXT week. (Why next week?
Because...well...no reason, exactly. We just decided that on months with
five Sundays, we'd have a pot luck dinner for after the services, with
another congregation that shares our building.) Our music is staid (piano
and organ, thank you...no amplified anything...) and our sermons were
centered on Christ and His Atoning sacrifice, and His resurrection. I do
love it when Sister H--is asked to speak: she is amazing.
But we are known for our evangelism; we have more missionaries out than
just
about anybody--and I used to be one of 'em. Thus, I know that before you
can
TEACH the Word, you have to attract attention. In today's flash bang music
video world, many people attempt to gain that attention by great big
celebrations. That's not a bad thing, if the message behind it is a good
one.
There is a very large church about a half mile from me; "Desert Vineyard."
I
don't know what larger denomination it aligns itself with, but it is very
big; it bought and remodled a strip mall--grocery store, drug store, all
of
the small stores that went with it--and added to that. It has a school,
offices, shoot, I think you get the picture. They have actually done a
pretty good job of turning a strip mall eyesore into something that looks
very nice, indeed.
ANYway, they had a huge party yesterday. The parking lot was overwhelmed,
and people were parking all the way down--almost to my house. The music
was
pretty loud, too. Everybody looked happy. Next week their attendance won't
require quite so much parking space, but a bunch of the folks who showed
up
yesterday will decide that hey, this is sorta neat--let's stick around and
see what happens.
Now I didn't go to their meeting yesterday. However, I do know that
beneath
all the flash and the entertainment, the message was about Christ and His
atonement.
So you guys might want to give people a break here.
Especially about symbols. Yes, most of the symbols that Christians use
today
have pagan origins, from the bunny to the eggs to "Easter" itself. That
doesn't matter; a symbol only has the meaning that the *user* assigns to
it.
So it doesn't matter what the egg USED to mean.
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