Confessions of a Recovering Pharisee

[First Coast News]

A south Florida man believes he’s found Jesus at the breakfast table.

Troy Eckonen was eating breakfast at Mack’s Cafe in Pompano Beach last Tuesday when he spotted Jesus’ face on his last piece of French toast.

Read more here.

[From me]

Looks like Father Guido Sarducci to me.

What do you think?

I love Contemporary Christian Music. (CCM)  I remember staying up late when I was in high school to hear “Bread & Jam” on WDJC in Birmingham on Friday nights so I could hear Daniel Amos, Phil Keaggy, Rez Band, Degarmo and Key, and others. It was music like those groups and others to come that gave me my love for the guitar.  I also play the keyboard.  I try to keep up with CCM because I do love the music.

But here is my problem. Christian radio stations are not geared for men. I try to listen because the language is clean but the DJ’s and hosts are…well, wimpy! I traveled a lot before I entered the ministry so I listened to the radio for 6-8 hours a day.  But I got hooked to Talk Radio because it made me feel like there was someone with me.  I longed for Christian stations to do the same but I can only stand to listen for so long.

It isn’t just in one city either.  Charlotte, Atlanta, Birmingham, Mobile and Dallas/Ft. Worth have similar formats. The DJ’s and hosts in the Christian stations gear their shows for women.  Now I love women. I’ve been married for over 20 years.  But men can only handle hearing about cooking and some of the other stuff that these stations talk about for so long. The family name game does not make me want to listen–in fact, I turn the station. John Tesh is a great guy but his show is aimed at women. The morning show DJ’s in every city I’ve heard talk to women.  After a while, I turn to ESPN radio.

I’m asking that someone in the Christian Radio Station industry to syndicate a show geared for men.  Why can’t there be a show that plays edgier music and has DJ’s that talk towards men.  I suggest a show from 12-4 EST that mixes music and conversation.  Have 2 or 3 men as well as a woman who balances them out.  Talk about things men struggle with like being a Godly husband, father and businessman.  Talk about the fears men have trying to provide for their families.  Talk about struggles with pornography, women, bosses, employees, tempers, etc…  Have celebrity guests like athletes, businessmen, actors, and every once in a while a pastor.  Let men know that all men struggle.  Just be real!

Christian radio is ….boring. Now maybe it is just me, but I mentioned this a few weeks ago on an Twitter update and had about 10 men comment.  So I know I’m not alone.  Some would say, Kevin start your own station or show.  Well, I’m not a DJ or talk show host and certainly don’t have the money to pull it off.  I realize Rick and Bubba are believers and I’ve listened to them and they are good.  But, not all of us are “good old boys.”  But they don’t play music either. I’m talking about a Talk/music show that would be attractive to men.  Maybe I’m crazy but I think this format would be successful.

What do you think?

[JWR] by Cal Thomas

When Barack Obama takes the oath of office on Jan. 20, 2009, he will do so in the 30th anniversary year of the founding of the so-called Religious Right. Born in 1979 and midwifed by the late Rev. Jerry Falwell, the Religious Right was a reincarnation of previous religious-social movements that sought moral improvement through legislation and court rulings. Those earlier movements — from abolition (successful) to Prohibition (unsuccessful) — had mixed results.

Social movements that relied mainly on political power to enforce a conservative moral code weren’t anywhere near as successful as those that focused on changing hearts. The four religious revivals, from the First Great Awakening in the 1730s and 1740s to the Fourth Great Awakening in the late 1960s and early ’70s, which touched America and instantly transformed millions of Americans (and American culture as a result), are testimony to that.

Thirty years of trying to use government to stop abortion, preserve opposite-sex marriage, improve television and movie content and transform culture into the conservative Evangelical image has failed. The question now becomes: should conservative Christians redouble their efforts, contributing more millions to radio and TV preachers and activists, or would they be wise to try something else?

I opt for trying something else.

Too many conservative Evangelicals have put too much faith in the power of government to transform culture. The futility inherent in such misplaced faith can be demonstrated by asking these activists a simple question: Does the secular left, when it holds power, persuade conservatives to live by their standards? Of course they do not. Why, then, would conservative Evangelicals expect people who do not share their worldview and view of God to accept their beliefs when they control government.

Too many conservative Evangelicals mistake political power for influence. Politicians who struggle with imposing a moral code on themselves are unlikely to succeed in their attempts to impose it on others. What is the answer, then, for conservative Evangelicals who are rightly concerned about the corrosion of culture, the indifference to the value of human life and the living arrangements of same- and opposite-sex couples?

The answer depends on the response to another question: do conservative Evangelicals want to feel good, or do they want to adopt a strategy that actually produces results? Clearly partisan politics have not achieved their objectives. Do they think they can succeed by committing themselves to 30 more years of the same?

If results are what conservative Evangelicals want, they already have a model. It is contained in the life and commands of Jesus of Nazareth. Suppose millions of conservative Evangelicals engaged in an old and proven type of radical behavior. Suppose they followed the admonition of Jesus to “love your enemies, pray for those who persecute you, feed the hungry, clothe the naked, visit those in prison and care for widows and orphans,” not as ends, as so many liberals do by using government, but as a means of demonstrating G-d’s love for the whole person in order that people might seek Him?

Such a strategy could be more “transformational” than electing a new president, even the first president of color. But in order to succeed, such a strategy would not be led by charismatic figures, who would raise lots of money, be interviewed on Sunday talk shows, author books and make gobs of money.

G-d teaches in His Word that His power (if that is what conservative Evangelicals want and not their puny attempts at grabbing earthly power) is made perfect in weakness. He speaks of the tiny mustard seed, the seemingly worthless widow’s mite, of taking the last place at the table and the humbling of one’s self, the washing of feet and similar acts and attitudes; the still, small voice. How did conservative Evangelicals miss this and instead settle for a lesser power, which in reality is no power at all? When did they settle for an inferior “kingdom”?

Evangelicals are at a junction. They can take the path that will lead them to more futility and ineffective attempts to reform culture through government, or they can embrace the far more powerful methods outlined by the One they claim to follow. By following His example, they will decrease, but He will increase. They will get no credit, but they will see results. If conservative Evangelicals choose obscurity and seek to glorify G-d, they will get much of what they hope for, but can never achieve, in and through politics.

Article is here.

[From me]

Cal put into words my thoughts much better than I could articulate them.  Cal was with the Moral Majority in the beginning.  Isn’t it sad how those in charge of the Religious Right know the Bible well but don’t follow the example of our Savior.  I will always vote my convictions but I’m committed to living out my faith in daily life.  We shouldn’t be focused on winning in November every election year, we should be winning by living out our faith everyday.  

What do you think?

[HT] Bryan Riley

[UPI]

Police in Greensboro, N.C., said a woman scared off an attempted robber by praying too loudly for the suspect’s comfort.Investigators said Kathy Headen, 39, was approached by a man with a handgun at about 8 p.m. Wednesday while she was taking books out of the rear seat of her car at the Vance Chavis Library, the Greensboro News & Record reported Thursday.The suspect, described as a 5-foot-4 man in his mid-30s, demanded the woman’s cell phone and purse, police said.

However, Headen instead began praying and police said the man fled empty handed after she refused to lower her voice.

Read more here.

[From me]

Love it!  I guess the prayer of a righteous man or woman fends off robbers!

What do you think?