Therefore, my brethren, let us stand on the rock of faith and in the Tradition of the Church, not removing the landmarks [Prov.22:28] set by our holy Fathers — not giving room to those who wish to introduce novelties and destroy God’s holy, universal, apostolic Church. For if everyone is allowed to do as he pleases, the entire body of the Church will, little by little, be destroyed.
— St John of Damascus
Thanks to FWD from Fr Josiah Trenham.
Victoria’s Secret, Spiked Heeled Choir Director, Idiot-proof Hymns, Mass Humanity, and more!
An article in today’s Washington Post fits right in with last week’s running dialogue on Attractive Worship on Touchstone’s Mere Comments.
The WP article is about Joel Osteen, “the smiling preacher.” Notice I didn’t say PASTOR — because if you’re sick, he ain’t calling; if you’re dead, he ain’t burying; if you need counseling, buy the books, tapes, or CDs; got a shotgun?, still no wedding.
But if you want to feel better about yourself after having been jacked up, entertained, and self-motivated at church, well … Joel’s your man.
Here’s some excerpts (read it all H E R E):
HOUSTON — The pastor once startled his own mother by exhorting the women in his congregation to shop at Victoria’s Secret to improve their marriages. Last weekend, his glamorous musical director led four services in a hot pink coat and black spiky boots, stomping around the stage and singing the praises of Jesus in rousing, original rock sounds.
The crowds he attracts in Houston come away inspired. “He pushes us to a level God wants us to be at,” said Juli Hain, who attends regularly. “He kicks us in the rear to take steps that will take us to a higher [personal] level.”
“Joel is doing it better than most,” said William Martin, a sociology professor and religion expert at Rice University. “He is purposely seeking to lower the barriers that keep people from going to church. They don’t know the hymns; they don’t have to learn the creed. It’s all there for them.”
He is unapologetic that he lives well in a $1 million house in an upscale neighborhood and that he is pouring the church’s offerings into the Compaq Center these days, not into charities.
“I feel like God wants us to prosper,” he said. “My dad grew up in the Depression. . . . It is not God’s will for anybody to live where you can’t support your family. . . . [Houston Astros pitcher] Roger Clemens just signed for $18 million — man, don’t tell me I can’t have a nice house and send my kids to college.”
The church service and the meet-and-greet are the only opportunities his followers have to get close to Osteen. Unlike his father, Osteen does not perform weddings or funerals. He avoids sickbeds and doesn’t do personal counseling. For those needs, the church employs another 60 ministers. Members said that is fine.
“I’m not here to meet the pastor; I’m here to meet God,” said Pam Hall, 47, who has been coming to Lakewood for 15 years but who acknowledged that Osteen does not know her name. “He is a great inspiration to me.”
The church is run by the Osteen family and a cadre of 4,000 volunteers, 1,200 of whom are needed for each service. It is a tightly organized Sunday operation at which ushers looking like Secret Service agents wear earpieces and microphones and manage to get 6,000 to 8,000 people to their seats quickly. Parents are able to check their infants and toddlers at the door with volunteer caregivers. They are given a numbered token, and if there is a problem with their child, the token number flashes on the big screen during the service.
He knows that some people just come for the music. And that is a good thing, he said. Whatever gets them in the door.
Thanks to NEWS FORUM for the link.
Someone left a comment on NF‘s site:
“At the risk of sounding judgmental, (okay, I am being judgmental) that just turns me off. I’ll stick with my poor, tiny church.”
Uh … no comment.
In the past 16 months…
(Each + represents 8,000 human lives)
Capital Punishment killed 98 Americans
War in Iraq killed 100,000 people + + + + + + + + + + + + +
Abortionists murdered 1,750,656 American infants + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + +
“The common outcry, which is justly made on behalf of human rights — for example, the right to health, to home, to work, to family, to culture — is false and illusory if the right to life is not defended with maximum determination.” – John Paul II
This is from newadvent.org. Don’t listen to the liberals when they say that the War in Irag is the greatest evil of our time. Abortion (that which that promote) is the true holocaust. Do everything you can to stop it.
For visual effect, I stole the above blog post from Ecclesia Anglicana.
I would add that the blood of the innocent is not only on the hands of the abortionists. It stains the hands and hearts of mothers, fathers, sons, and daughters. We are killing our babies. Eternal consequences, sure. But even in the here, now, and not too distant …
This, from TOUCHSTONE:
“By 2050, people aged 60 and over are expected to outnumber those under 15 for the first time in known history,” observed Kyung Hee Universtity’s Sanghan Yea in the Journal Futures. Yea, and economist, predicted that “between 2040 and 2050, the world’s population would fall by about 85 millon … and would [then] shrink by roughly 25% with each successive generation.” Because population growth is necessary for economic prosperity, the decline will bring an economic “crash” in which “the world economy will contract faster than [the world population] does and [will] never reach the previous levels attained with the earlier smaller populations.” A shrinking population means “sharply winnowed and less competitive work forces,” too many retired people, and a decline in efficiency, creating a “chain reaction” of economic problems from which “the economy would never recover.” [Vol.18,No.1,p.52]
As mentioned before, Pregnancies don’t just happen; our culture, the Culture of Death, is part of the problem. This past week much was reported about a holocaust that happened over 50 years ago. Lord have mercy!
But then …
Who was it who said, “Free speech should be safe, legal and rare”?
Read rant here. Caveat lector!
First, the good news.
For those of you familiar with Karl of St Stephen’s Musings … here’s a
MUST READ,
posted by his sister-in-law, about the birth of a miracle baby. Glory to God for all things! Many years, Kristen, mom & dad!
In case you missed it, due to much controversy, I took it upon myself to uncover the true sexual orientation of Mr Sponge Bob Square Pants. It turns out that Mr Square Pants is, honest-to-goodness, a Hermo.
Kinda Good News: PBS has PULLED an episode (“Sugartime!”) of the cartoon “Postcards from Buster” which features a lesbian couple in Vermont.
THX: Classical Anglican
Speaking of sex — Gosh, is there nothing else? — Christianity Today has an article about these bad ol’ days vs them good ol’ days. Here’s a sample:
When, in Tom Wolfe’s most recent novel, I Am Charlotte Simmons, Charlotte’s mother asks her during Christmas break where students go on dates at Dupont University, Charlotte responds: “Nobody goes out on a date. The girls go out in groups and the boys go out in groups, and they hope they find somebody they like.” This is Charlotte Simmons’s description of “hooking up.” “Hooking up” has replaced traditional courtship and dating among today’s college students. “Hooking up” is dating sans courtship or expectations of a future relationship or commitment. It is strictly about user sex. I use you and you use me for mutual pleasure. And liquor is more often than not the lubricant that makes things go.
I confess, I read I Am Charlotte Simmons. While the subject matter is shocking — just reading the book, with all of its true to life colorful language, was in itself shocking. It do make one wanna keep yo babies home from da college.
But really. Is it all that bad? Better yet, What do you say at a naked party? Frederica answers.
Okay, sure, college has gotten a bit out of hand. What about high school? Have you heard about the latest Prom Dresses?
Maybe Papa was right:
In Humanae Vitae, Pope Paul VI warned that the wide-spread use of contraception would lead to “conjugal infidelity and the general lowering of morality”; he also warned that man would lose respect for woman and “no longer [care] for her physical and psychological equilibrium”; rather, man would treat woman as a “mere instrument of selfish enjoyment, and no longer as his respected and beloved companion.” Why? By breaking the natural and divinely ordained connection between sex and procreation, women and especially men would focus on the hedonistic possibilities of sex and cease to see sex as something that was intrinsically linked to new life and the sacrament of marriage. [Touchstone, Vol.18, No.1, p.39]
But I thought all that stuff was due to heterosexism (scroll down).
Not everything is out in the open these days — out of the Closet, so to speak. HERE’s a story of a Closet Crosser.
Recently, I mentioned Rolling Stone’s rejection of an ad for yet another Bible translation. Rolling Stone has since reversed its decision.
World Blog comments on the reversal:
Considering the TNIV’s gender-inclusive language, Rolling Stone’s anti-Christian agenda may yet realize some fruit.
There’s also a couple new tidbits here:
1) A story on the sad state of Christianity in Bethlehem
2) Stats on what brings new folks to church
3) Curious facts regarding the Crusades
