@Robert. I admire your passion and that you would stand up for what YOU believe but you do so in a way that is judgmental and arrogant. I am not saying that some your points (and those of Colleen)aren’t valid but the method of your approach to this post is exactly what turns some people away from Christianity.

Foolish arguments that continue to divide the Church and Christians are of no benefit – to our faith or those who do not believe in Christ. Yes, there are churches and church leaders who have gone too far to “market” the Word of God. However, I would say that there is no justification in saying that we cannot use pop culture (or hide from it)to spread the Gospel.

Colleen posted a couple comments about “I will pray for your church that you will learn to rely on the Lord to bring people HE is dealing with and that you will quit relying on the marketing techniques of the world..” Maybe Don IS relying on the Lord and doing what God has called him too. Who are you to question that?

You also stated “I pray that more Christians would forsake the popular clothing trends and hairstyles and nicest cars and biggest houses and help others escape those bondages” also and so on.

Does that mean that Christians who dress in Abercrombie, drive a BMW, or have a Zac Efron haircut are in bondage? I know of Christians who are “pop culture” who live Jesus more than some of the “traditional” people. We can glorify God no matter how we look, dress, or what we live in. Honestly, I would fear coming to your church and being transparent because your comments seem to judge the outside – not the heart. Maybe the comments come from the stand point that YOU have been judged for your appearance.

We should not hide or insulate ourselves from the culture around us. And this comment doesn’t mean to become of the world. We should also not condemn people as it is happening in this post without looking at ourselves first. One thing I have noticed that people who desire to have theological fights and stone throwing competitions would probably be more effective as a true disciple if they would love others unconditionally and agree to disagree on some viewpoints.

There are bigger issues than whether churches are right or wrong for using The Simpson’s for a message point. Besides, if a person comes to know and follow Christ because they visited a church who used a Simpson’s poster, praise God! We should rejoice.

Go out and love your neighbor today like Jesus would and stop nitpicking about YOUR point of view. I know Michael and his heart – it should not be questioned.

@Robert. I admire your passion and that you would stand up for what YOU believe but you do so in a way that is judgmental and arrogant. I am not saying that some your points (and those of Colleen)aren’t valid but the method of your approach to this post is exactly what turns some people away from Christianity.

Foolish arguments that continue to divide the Church and Christians are of no benefit – to our faith or those who do not believe in Christ. Yes, there are churches and church leaders who have gone too far to “market” the Word of God. However, I would say that there is no justification in saying that we cannot use pop culture (or hide from it)to spread the Gospel.

Colleen posted a couple comments about “I will pray for your church that you will learn to rely on the Lord to bring people HE is dealing with and that you will quit relying on the marketing techniques of the world..” Maybe Don IS relying on the Lord and doing what God has called him too. Who are you to question that?

You also stated “I pray that more Christians would forsake the popular clothing trends and hairstyles and nicest cars and biggest houses and help others escape those bondages” also and so on.

Does that mean that Christians who dress in Abercrombie, drive a BMW, or have a Zac Efron haircut are in bondage? I know of Christians who are “pop culture” who live Jesus more than some of the “traditional” people. We can glorify God no matter how we look, dress, or what we live in. Honestly, I would fear coming to your church and being transparent because your comments seem to judge the outside – not the heart. Maybe the comments come from the stand point that YOU have been judged for your appearance.

We should not hide or insulate ourselves from the culture around us. And this comment doesn’t mean to become of the world. We should also not condemn people as it is happening in this post without looking at ourselves first. One thing I have noticed that people who desire to have theological fights and stone throwing competitions would probably be more effective as a true disciple if they would love others unconditionally and agree to disagree on some viewpoints.

There are bigger issues than whether churches are right or wrong for using The Simpson’s for a message point. Besides, if a person comes to know and follow Christ because they visited a church who used a Simpson’s poster, praise God! We should rejoice.

Go out and love your neighbor today like Jesus would and stop nitpicking about YOUR point of view. I know Michael and his heart – it should not be questioned.

I guess what I would like to say in regards to the whole point of the blog is that YES, Jesus and the Apostles referenced their culture, but they did NOT imitate popular culture.

Also, I went to dictionary.com and looked up the word. Two of them fit our discussion.

1. the quality in a person or society that arises from a concern for what is regarded as excellent in arts, letters, manners, scholarly pursuits, etc.
2.the behaviors and beliefs characteristic of a particular social, ethnic, or age group: the youth culture; the drug culture.

Jesus did address the culture of His time and that is not wrong. It is not even wrong to imitate the culture if the culture is morally and ethically godly. But, when we talk about today’s ‘POPULAR’ culture, I don’t think ANYONE would call it godly.

See…I don’t think the problem, as stated in the blog above, is that so many of today’s churches/ministries are lazy and non-creative and so they steal another’s creativity. The problem…or sin…is that they are stealing/imitating from an UNgodly source!! Sources that in no way acknowledge Christ, and so many times actually outright ridicule Christianity. The people who are imitating them are actually FLATTERING them. (afterall, imitation is the greatest form of flattery) They are laughing with this ungodly popular culture and asking non-believers and immature believers to join in with them instead of showing how God hates divorce, rebellion, drunkenness, adultry, homosexuality, and on and on and on!

(Flotsam, I do agree with you about the maturity of the leadership. And I would say that quite a few of the ‘new’ sorts of churches today are led by very immature men. Men who refuse to grow up and who try to run their church like they did the previous youth group they led. These are men who never out grew their immaturity of thinking that ‘having fun’ should be the number one goal in life, refusing to bring in the seriousness of what it means to be a mature Christian. I Timothy would be a great place to see what I mean.

But, all that to say….several of these immature men are leading large churches. This, I believe, is because they are charismatic in personality.

There are also lots of mature men who have stability, but we would never consider them godly. These are men who lead the Mormon churches and JW’s, etc…

Everything we are taught, even by stable men with large churches and who find favor with other men, should be put against the word of God. Sorry that was off topic, but I just wanted to get that in there. )

I guess what I would like to say in regards to the whole point of the blog is that YES, Jesus and the Apostles referenced their culture, but they did NOT imitate popular culture.

Also, I went to dictionary.com and looked up the word. Two of them fit our discussion.

1. the quality in a person or society that arises from a concern for what is regarded as excellent in arts, letters, manners, scholarly pursuits, etc.
2.the behaviors and beliefs characteristic of a particular social, ethnic, or age group: the youth culture; the drug culture.

Jesus did address the culture of His time and that is not wrong. It is not even wrong to imitate the culture if the culture is morally and ethically godly. But, when we talk about today’s ‘POPULAR’ culture, I don’t think ANYONE would call it godly.

See…I don’t think the problem, as stated in the blog above, is that so many of today’s churches/ministries are lazy and non-creative and so they steal another’s creativity. The problem…or sin…is that they are stealing/imitating from an UNgodly source!! Sources that in no way acknowledge Christ, and so many times actually outright ridicule Christianity. The people who are imitating them are actually FLATTERING them. (afterall, imitation is the greatest form of flattery) They are laughing with this ungodly popular culture and asking non-believers and immature believers to join in with them instead of showing how God hates divorce, rebellion, drunkenness, adultry, homosexuality, and on and on and on!

(Flotsam, I do agree with you about the maturity of the leadership. And I would say that quite a few of the ‘new’ sorts of churches today are led by very immature men. Men who refuse to grow up and who try to run their church like they did the previous youth group they led. These are men who never out grew their immaturity of thinking that ‘having fun’ should be the number one goal in life, refusing to bring in the seriousness of what it means to be a mature Christian. I Timothy would be a great place to see what I mean.

But, all that to say….several of these immature men are leading large churches. This, I believe, is because they are charismatic in personality.

There are also lots of mature men who have stability, but we would never consider them godly. These are men who lead the Mormon churches and JW’s, etc…

Everything we are taught, even by stable men with large churches and who find favor with other men, should be put against the word of God. Sorry that was off topic, but I just wanted to get that in there. )

How we go about evangelizing or preaching the word tells the story of what we think of the power of God’s word.

I have an aquaintance who runs a blog called “A form of Sound Words” and he is the most uncompromising preacher I’ve ever come across.

If you believe that God’s word is powerful and that it is the means that God uses to convert a soul, then you will have no use for video screens, smoke pods, rock bands, TV themed sermons, and other gimmicks.

Just ask rand.

http://www.aformofsoundwords.blogspot.com

How we go about evangelizing or preaching the word tells the story of what we think of the power of God’s word.

I have an aquaintance who runs a blog called “A form of Sound Words” and he is the most uncompromising preacher I’ve ever come across.

If you believe that God’s word is powerful and that it is the means that God uses to convert a soul, then you will have no use for video screens, smoke pods, rock bands, TV themed sermons, and other gimmicks.

Just ask rand.

http://www.aformofsoundwords.blogspot.com

Another question to ponder is this: whether it’s copied from the world or something completely original, why is there a drive to constantly produce different methods of communicating the gospel to people? That is what advertising agencies do all the time for companies. It’s scary terrain to me and makes me wonder what do we really think about the Good News, because by nature advertising is manipulative and the product is almost never as good as the claims behind it.

Another question to ponder is this: whether it’s copied from the world or something completely original, why is there a drive to constantly produce different methods of communicating the gospel to people? That is what advertising agencies do all the time for companies. It’s scary terrain to me and makes me wonder what do we really think about the Good News, because by nature advertising is manipulative and the product is almost never as good as the claims behind it.

What everyone is forgetting is this: what gives us the right to deviate from what we are commanded?

Preach the gospel to all creatures.

Preach = Proclaim

The gospel = The good news.

We see that Paul tells timothy to preach, teach, exhort, all that he’d been taught.

We see that they read the word, explained it.

So for unbelievers…proclaim the word…

For church…read, explain, exhort.

What other clues do we have as to what we are to do?

I’m just asking….

What everyone is forgetting is this: what gives us the right to deviate from what we are commanded?

Preach the gospel to all creatures.

Preach = Proclaim

The gospel = The good news.

We see that Paul tells timothy to preach, teach, exhort, all that he’d been taught.

We see that they read the word, explained it.

So for unbelievers…proclaim the word…

For church…read, explain, exhort.

What other clues do we have as to what we are to do?

I’m just asking….