i might be over-estimating a little bit, but my guess is that a lot of Christians in america frequent starbucks more often per week then they do church services. nothing wrong with that, just the context in which we begin.

just about everybody knows that starbucks, in an effort to give us ‘better coffee’, is instituting a new logo on its cups…which is, ironically, its old logo.

the ‘new’ logo features a much more golden-maritime-age mermaid with two tails. it hearkens back to a mustier time, when sailors had scurvy and starbucks had one single store in a dank, smelly building.

the new logo is similar to the green circle we’re used to, but she’s more…artsy, more detailed and more…mythical.

oh, and she’s topless.

i’m not going to post the picture here, because i feel that would be in bad taste (you know, like that burnt taste starbucks coffee leaves in your mouth). i suppose you can find it on your own if you so desire.

i was reading a little about it today and it raised a question in my mind.

let’s get the disclaimers out of the way.

- i am not calling for a boycott of starbucks
- i am not personally boycotting starbucks (currently)
- i am not intending to burden anyone
- i do not want God’s people to be known for what we’re against, but Who we’re for

with those said, my question is this: As Christians, Does It Matter?

does it matter what movies we’re seen at (or simply watch)?

does it matter what words come out of our mouths?

does it matter what products and companies we support?

does it matter what sort of image the coffee cup on our desk is displaying?

it is clear that we couldn’t realistically boycott every company/product that doesn’t line up 100% with our Biblical values and still live a normal life, but do the things listed above ever matter?

i’m not trying to editorialize (no really, i promise), i’m just asking what you guys think, because i simply can not shake the thought that Christians 50 years ago would have had a big problem with something like a topless starbucks logo.

looking at it from a slightly different perspective, would it matter if the new starbucks logo was an image of a pagan idol (i mean, even more than it is…)? or a person bowing to an idol? is there any breaking point in which Christians should pause and evaluate our patronage?

does it matter that much of what we view on network tv after dinner would have been characterized as pornography 50 years ago, and that nudity has made its way onto our coffee cups?

i can’t shake the thought that at some point Christians must draw a line in the sand. i know that line is different for each believer, so this question is incredibly difficult.

so, the bottom line is: at some point is it fair to, with the compassionate love of God in our hearts, say ‘enough is enough’?

that’s the question i was asking myself today.

what do you think?

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now, part 2.

a few days ago we talked about a trend in christian music.

while it is undeniable some people are upset with the Church in america, i find that in every area of this country there really are churches that are busily showing God’s love to their communities.

not only that, but i find that in every area of this country God is using His Church to win souls for time and for eternity.

not only that, but i find that in every area of this country there are hundreds of thousands of christians meeting faithfully, coming sunday mornings and wednesday nights (and lots of other times) to worship God together, to put Him first, to magnify His glory.

i’m excited about that.

it is heartbreaking when christians tear each other down. many times we do so under the guise of admonition, but, i think, more often our flesh simply longs to build itself up while pushing others down.

i’m not saying that there is never a place for lyrics like the ones we saw in part one. i do see the sentiment and frequency of that sort of attitude increasing, and that is unsettling to me.

the criticism is hypocrisy or inaction or complacency or close-mindedness or selfishness. those are real things because we are a fallen people who must be redeemed, restored, reshaped.

every church, every generation will have christians that aren’t living to their full potential.

are any of us living to our full potential?

that does not excuse the constant rebuke we get from christian musicians who we will never meet and who will never visit our churches. they are often speaking to us through our radios or ipods or computer screens that we are an embarrassment to the Lord, that we should be ashamed of ourselves.

i don’t see that in the love-letter God wrote to us. instead, we are told to live in victory. in peace. in joy. in expectation.

not in disappointment. not in defeat. not in dejection. not in self-loathing.

let’s remember two things:

#1 – even peter’s church had ananias and sapphira. God deals with the problems in His Church. we don’t need to do it for Him.

here’s what i mean; i don’t think God has ever called me to publicly rebuke an entire nation or group of people. He may call others to, i just suspect that He has asked fewer people to do so than are actively doing right now.

#2 – this is Christ’s Bride we’re talking about. again, the Church should be a place of openness, of integrity, of love…and that IS what we find in every region of the world. but, we should be very careful when complaining about Jesus’ Bride. when criticizing Jesus’ Bride. when telling Jesus’ Bride how disappointed we are with the table she’s spread before us.

you wouldn’t do that to my wife, would you?

exhortation is an essential part to the christian life. i found some earlier this week when i got Delirious’ new album: Kingdom of Comfort.

it is amazing.

here’s a line from it:

save me from this kingdom of comfort where i am king
for the kingdom of heaven where You are King

i appreciate these guys so much. they don’t spend 13 tracks telling me how THEY have figured out what the message of Jesus really is, and how I am blowing it.

instead they share this wonderful, personal revelation. minute after minute, track after track. they share a heart that is full of joy and expectation. a heart that is ready to be changed but is overflowing with worship.

not criticism.

when i hear them say “save me from this kindom of comfort” i hear a lot of things that stir me up, not tear me down.

“save me” from the kingdom of comfort where i fail to sacrifice for the Lord.

“save me” from the kingdom of comfort where i strive for material possessions.

“save me” from the kingdom of comfort where i put myself and my desires before my Savior.

“save me” from the kingdom of comfort where i can say whatever i want about other christians without thinking about what that does to our Body.

let’s build together.

blessings

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first, part 1.

have you noticed the trend?

It’s time for something more real than all these words
While the least of these are broken and dying
We count the pearls in our purse
It’s time to live in love

If judgement looms under every steeple
If lofty glances from lofty people
Can’t see past her scarlet letter
And we never even met her

The Word of the Lord came one evening
Concerning His bride’s sin
He assured me we will be forgiven
And then let the marriages begin

But if we are the body
Why aren’t His arms reaching?
Why aren’t His hands healing?
Why aren’t His words teaching?
And if we are the body
Why aren’t His feet going?
Why is His love not showing them there is a way?
There is a way

right now it seems many in the christian music industry are dissatisfied with ‘the Church’ in america. the problem to me is that not only are these statements are so sweeping, so easy to make, so judgmental, so unfair and so unaccountable, but they’re not really very honest if we get right down to it.

i would guess that the authors of these lyrics would speak joyfully of their ‘home’ church and about all the love experienced there. in fact, as i’ve read interviews/blogs/etc from these folks, that’s just what i find.

but…there is a disconnect. so many of these songs really are directed to the Church at large. they are songs that speak AT the Church, pointing a finger and accusing her of greed, of lovelessness, of sloth, of sin.

are we to believe that the Church is failing? that no churches in our great country are growing? are vibrant? are impacting their communities? are winning souls for heaven? are giving selflessly? are unconditionally representing Christ to the world around them?

if they are, then why the constant rebuke? why the angry disappointment? why the harsh accusations?

throughout the nation and the world we DO see God’s arms reaching, hands healing, words teaching, feet going. do we really believe that we’re failing? do the authors of these lyrics really believe that?

i guess i’m just a little offended at lyrics like these.

are you?

next, part 2.

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right now i’m a conduit through which an already widely-posted article will flow.

HT: this guy

as Barack Obama found out last week, when you run for president you can’t even get away with being a lousy giver to charity. After Mr. and Mrs. Obama released their tax returns, the press quickly noticed that, between 2000 and 2004, they gave less than one percent of their income to charity, far lower than the national average. Their giving rose to a laudable five percent in 2005 and six percent in 2006…

According to an Obama spokesman, the couple’s miserly charity until 2005 “was as generous as they could be at the time,” given their personal expenses. In other words, despite an annual average income over the period of about $244,000, they simply could not afford to give anything meaningful.

The Obamas got rich in 2005. Their income increased sevenfold from 2004 to 2005, mostly because of Mr. Obama’s book royalties, and stayed very high in 2006 for the same reason. In 2006, another wealthy political couple with significant book royalties was Mr. and Mrs. Cheney, who had a combined income of $8.8 million, largely due to Mrs. Cheney’s books and the couple’s investment income. Just how much did the Cheneys give to charity from their bonanza? A measly 78 percent of their income, or $6.9 million. (No, that is not a misprint.) [emphasis added]

one word: gnarly.

read the rest here

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the majority of readers here are Christians, which is good.

Christians have lots of varying opinions on things, which is natural, but difficult.

whether you support our president or not, today he needs prayer.

oliver stone’s movie ‘W’ starts filming this month

‘bush killed’ in palestinian kids tv show

i think it’s safe to say that most of us don’t have people making international films and television shows that call for our murder or treat us so hatefully.

let’s pray for president bush today.

on the one hand this is a great story. our president, who i greatly respect, is man enough to throw out the opening pitch at a baseball game and NOT have it bounce before the plate.

I didn’t want to bounce it, that’s for certain,” Bush later told ESPN announcers Jon Miller and Joe Morgan. “That’s why I came in with high heat.”

on the other hand it is a stunning testimony to the immaturity and bratiness of our american culture.

i mean, really, since when is it ok to boo the president of the united states? since when is that the acceptable behavior for adults?

i applaud those who cheered for our commander in chief and was embarrassed by those who booed him, not because i support george bush (though i do), but because it showed the lack of class that is becoming more and more prevalent in the usa.

anyway, good job mr. president.

read it here
watch it here

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apparently some ‘researcher’ thinks moses was a dead-head.

read about the silliness here

question 1 – what? (accompanied by furrowed brow and squinted eyes…)

question 2 – how can you even attempt to ‘research’ a topic like this?

i love his quote: “As far Moses on Mount Sinai is concerned, it was either a supernatural cosmic event, which I don’t believe, or a legend, which I don’t believe either, or finally, and this is very probable, an event that joined Moses and the people of Israel under the effect of narcotics.”

that logic is ROCK SOLID!

–

i think i bit off more than i can chew…

…someone please help…

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as many of you know, i like mike huckabee. if the election were tomorrow he would definitely get my vote. as for november ’08…we’ll see.

as many of you don’t know is that i am on the mikehuckabee.com blogroll. i don’t really think i deserve to be there, but hey, it’s pretty cool. i wouldn’t have mentioned it (because such own-horn-tooting is annoying to me) except that i have inadvertently become part of a campaign…mitt romney’s campaign.

what?

yeah i’m just as surprised as you are…

i don’t know a lot about elections and campaigning, but, even my limited political skills make it clear that the biggest thing you want to avoid is giving the ‘other guy’ free, positive press. thus, if i support mike huckabee then i probably shouldn’t do a lot of linking to ron paul’s various crazinesses (aside; am i alone in thinking that ron paul is quite crazy???!?!)

apparantly things are different in illinois.

how surprised was i a couple of days ago to see that i was being linked by the “Illinoisans For Mitt Romney Blog” as well as the “Organization For Mitt Romney” blog (before you get too excited, they’re both identical blogs run by the same person)?

here are the links

http://illinoisans-4-mitt-romney.blogspot.com/2008/01/oops-here-is-link-to-huckabees-official.html

http://reason4romney.blogspot.com/2008/01/mike-huckabees-official-blog.html

not only did i get a free link, i got 2 free links!

not only did i get 2 free links, i got a blurb:

…There are 7 blogs with the word pastor, 1 Blog with Jesus, 3 blogs with the word “pray”, and 14 blogs with the word “Christ” in the official name of blogs on Mike Huckabee’s (someone running for political office) official blogs. Mike Huckabee is running for pastor in chief.”

not sure why you would link dozens and dozens of supporters of your opponent…but whatever. maybe it’s some sort of revolutionary, reverse-psychological campaigning.

as for me, i couldn’t help but return the link-favor to mr. romney’s supporter, especially since when you follow those links you just find a bunch of pro-huckabee pages waiting for you.

good luck mitt. i think you might want to tighten up your grass-roots support.

as for me…

–
in case anyone was wondering if anti-christian sentiment is increasing in our country…

scary stuff when handing out a Bible is likened to terrorism, especially by someone as influential as a university professor.

pray for america!