Ministry, Feminism, Carrie Prejean Fired, U.S. Politics, and more!

Greetings C2 readers... as you have seen I have not been able to post anything in a couple days. With summer beginning and school letting out and an impending mission trip with my church my time has been quite limited. This blog is a passion of mine, but right now I've got to take a couple days or so to get things in order ministerially. Please pray for me and my church and our upcoming mission trip to New Mexico, for our youth ministry (summer is out and things are picking up speed; pray that we God do some amazing things in the lives of our youth and their families) and my family (we've had much go on in the last couple weeks).

There is much going on in the world and culture that I'd love to write about, but the time is not there for me to write full posts. So here are some snippets of things happening that have my attention:

• The U.S. government looking to pass hate crime laws that will most likely be a stepping stone to hindering the speech of religion (all religions).
• Carrie Prejean is fired for "dereliction of duties". Obviously I don't have a clue as to whether or not Carrie is doing her Ms. USA job or not, but it seems rather convenient. I'm curious if her firing now is what Donald Trump and the organization wanted to do before, but because of the intense media attention (and heated conversation about her marriage stance) they opted to retain her until later. Again, I have no idea, but this seems rather convenient.
  
• lemondrop.com has released a list of TV's "Least Feminist" characters with Friends' Rachel Green (played by Jennifer Aniston) taking the top position, followed by Married with Children's Kelly Bundy (played by Christina Applegate). My brief take: Feminism is a sad movement, especially in our present day. It exists because of the failure of men to see and value women as God created them: valuable, honorable, cherishable, respectable and equal in worth. Unfortunately, many men do not hold them in such a high regard and the result is feminist groups attacking any sort of tradition. This list is somewhat comical, but the values and ideas behind the feminist opinion of what defines a woman ought to be examined seriously in light of the Creator's idea as to who women really are (men too, for that matter, because many of them aren't living up to their God-given role).
  
• President Obama insulted Israel in a picture of him talking with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu with his feet on the desk (revealing the soles of his shoes). I completely understand the perception of the photo and the apparent insult, though I highly doubt President Obama intentionally set out to insult their nation or its leadership. What's funny to me is aol.com took a poll asking mostly American voters if the pic offended them. In the famous words of Gomer Pyle, "Surprise, Surprise, Surprise": 75% were not personally offended (of 321,000 or so votes). Of course they aren't offended, America is not offended by much (except Christianity - but that's another conversation). Silly poll question.
  
• My wife and I watched the movie "He's Just NOT That Into You" last night. I plan to write a blog entry on this movie in the next couple days (I hope) and its worldview.
  
• There are a slew of movie and television show franchises either being resurrected or rebooted in the next couple of years. I have some input as to why Hollywood is smart for going this way (after all, all they want to do is make money) and why movie goers are most likely gonna buy in... more on this when I post this.
  

That's all for now... I've got to get back to work. :-) More in the next couple days. Hopefully I will then get back to my regular daily posts. Until then...

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Carrie Prejean is NOT the Face of Christianity

Ok… the powers that be (namely “The Donald”) have stated that Carrie Prejean can keep her Miss California crown. While I am happy for her, I honestly don’t really care if she has it or not. To be honest, her having the spotlight right now (crown or not) is troubling for me as a Believer since it seems the media (and in some ways Carrie herself) are insistent on attaching the issues surrounding her to Christianity. Somehow she has become the spokesperson for Christianity and this is problematic in every way! It is a fallacy. Just because she speaks on behalf of Traditional Marriage, claims to be a Christian and mentions her faith as one of the defining reasons for her stance on marriage does not make her the spokesman/spokesmodel for Christianity!

Yes, I give her props for getting on the stage in front of a national audience (though I still don’t know anyone who actually watches the “beautiful on the inside and outside” contest) and a panel of judges with advocates for gay marriage (most notably Perez Hilton) and speaking up for traditional marriage when it is now the new taboo. BUT she is not (and should not be) the new face of Christianity. I think it is highly problematic to place any face (especially hers) on Christianity for several reasons…

1. It already has a face – Jesus Christ. Not for nothing, no one can match or surpass Him.
2. People are subject to fail. NO ONE can live up to the pressure of being the face of Christianity. Carrie’s life is an unfortunate example of this. Since her famous/infamous answer of Perez’s question the tabloid media has been scrambling to ruin her name (and they haven’t had to work that hard). In the last couple weeks several reports have surfaced about Christianity’s “new face”… topless photos, risqué photos, claims of her receiving a pageant-funded-boob-job, links to party-boy Olympian Michael Phelps, blah blah blah. People are by nature self-indulgent… to put any one as the face of Christianity in the media is problematic.
3. The Church (all Bible believing, God loving, Christ following churches, regardless of the name on the front) was created by Christ to be His memorial and voice in a Lost and seeking world. That task is far too big and grand for one individual. Even highly respected Christians such as Rick Warren, John Piper, Mark Driscoll, J.D. Greear, the late C.S. Lewis, and the late Paul (the Apostle) are not capable of serving as the poster child for Christianity (nor is that how Christ wanted it).
4. Just because Carrie speaks on behalf of traditional marriage does not mean she speaks on behalf of Christianity. She has never publicly stood for Christ (to my knowledge). She has said that she goes to church and that her faith is a major influencing factor for her pro-traditional marriage stance, but that does NOT mean that she has the desire to live for Christ. Matter of fact, it is her lifestyle and decisions to advance her career that are causing such an uprising and causing so many non-believers to question her faith.
   

My heart goes out to Carrie. I cannot begin to imagine the stress and pressure that is on her right now. Yes, it comes with the territory of seeking the national spotlight, but even one seeking such attention could never be prepared for this type of scrutiny.

TO THE CHURCH: This conversation is less about Carrie and more about us as the worldwide memorial for Christ. People look at the church and its congregants who (1) seek self pleasure above loving God, (2) stand behind their blind and uninformed faith and (3) blur the line of Christian distinctives (those things which make us Christian) and then wonder why they should waste their time with such a mindless, compassionless, judgmental faith. It’s time that we begin to look at the people in our cities with the same compassion that Christ did and seek to love them and be a voice in the darkness that champions justice, Truth, righteousness and above all love!

PARENTS: Much of the scrutiny Carrie faces is the result of her own desires and choices. The photos in question were all ones that she posed for professionally hoping to make it big. Forsaking her faith (or at least tabling it) she put her desire for fame first and took risks that are now backfiring on her. Instead of being respected for her craft, she is mocked as a hypocrite. I think it would do well for us to remind our children/teens (and ourselves) of the importance of loving and modeling Christ above all things. After all, “what does it profit a man if he gains the whole world, but loses his soul”? (Matt. 16:26)

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Image Credit: Associated Press

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Perez Hilton, Miss USA 2009 and Slander: A Christian Response

A few confessions/admissions out of the gate:

1. I did not watch the Miss USA 2009 contest (I've never watched a Miss USA contest)
2. Since I did not watch the show, I only know what I've read or seen online via various sources and articles (some of them being: CNN, Fox News, Perez Hilton blog, WorldNet Daily, various yahoo articles, etc.)
   
3. If you know anything about me (or have been a reader of this blog for any amount of time) you know I am a major advocate for traditional man-woman marriage, as it is designed by God and recorded in the Bible
   
4. I had no interest in discussing this topic since its seems everyone else is... HOWEVER...

Over the last few hours I've come across certain things regarding this story that have shocked me, in particular about Perez Hilton (one of the contest's judges), and have now decided to enter the conversation as well. The aforementioned "things" I've seen from the contest's judge are as follows:

• He posted a picture on his blog of Ms. California (Carrie Prejean) answering a question into a microphone where he (in his raunchy, typical fashion) drew male genitalia over the microphone, directed at her mouth
  

• He blasted her on his blog as a b--ch and stated in an MSNBC interview (in defense of his original rant and name-calling) "No, I'm going to stand by what I said just like she's standing by what she said. And I called her the 'b' word, and hey, I was thinking the 'c' word."
  

• Several of Hollywood's "elite" defending Perez's comments and reaction (to include Miley Cyrus)

I have no desire to enter into the gay marriage conversation on this post (a topic worthy of discussion in a calm, polite and respectful tone). I am, however, curious how it became okay for him (as a representative of the Miss USA 2009 contest) to speak in such a manner of one of the show's contestants? Or to bash her so tastelessly simply because she disagrees with him (as does much of America, still)?

Surely this is not what the Gay Marriage movement has resorted to - name calling? Slander? Personal attacks on anyone who disagrees? (I am in no way saying that Perez Hilton is the leader or face of that movement, but a definite vocal advocate of it.)

How is that productive to this conversation or the gay community's desire to advance their movement? How is it even justifiable? Is it that he deserves respect for his views, but those who oppose his views do not? I am aware that not all Christians act in a manner that is God-honoring either (with actions or words, especially concerning the gay marriage conversation), but the rude behavior of others does not necessitate the need to forget common decency and begin drawing and verbally spewing filth about someone. Such a response is childish, intellectual irresponsible and all-together unnecessary.

Side Note: Just remember that precious freedom you cling to, Perez: the Freedom of Speech to speak your mind (even if I disagree with what you say or loathe how you say it). Afford Ms. California, me and other Christians that same right (even if you loathe what we say). Hate/hateful speech has no place in this dialogue (from either side).

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Image credit: Associated Press
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