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Baptist Pastor Not Amused by America's 'Addiction'
AgapePress ^
| October 7, 2003
| Fred Jackson
Posted on 10/07/2003 12:00:07 PM PDT by Vindiciae Contra TyrannoSCOTUS
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To: CajunConservative
Well my southern baptist church is throwing out solid bible teaching to entice the unchurched, my cell group leader even says that we aren't going to do bible study at the meetings in case some unbeliever is there and it turns him off. Needless to say I see where this pastor is coming from. Well get out and find a Indepentent Fundemental Baptist Church. There are some weak ones, but if you look you can find a solid Bible preaching one that does not follow the new ways.
BigMack
To: CajunConservative
Your cell group leader?
42
posted on
10/07/2003 1:15:01 PM PDT
by
SmithW
To: malakhi
This is gonna be fun. :)
BigMack
To: PayNoAttentionManBehindCurtain
I saw this thread, and immediately thought of you! ;o)
44
posted on
10/07/2003 1:19:56 PM PDT
by
malakhi
(Thy word is a lamp unto my feet, and a light unto my path.)
To: Vindiciae Contra TyrannoSCOTUS
The entertainment industry is very much a part of our advanced technological society. The entertainment industry has advanced so far that it has replaced mythology, mythological heros such as Hercules and Jason, and romanticism. Take that away, and you take away the last remnants of our human spirit.
Hear that, Phil Hendrie? Leave our sports heros alone, it's all we have left as role models, they are not mere humans. Heck, even Zeus wasn't what you would call perfect.
45
posted on
10/07/2003 1:20:06 PM PDT
by
RightWhale
(Repeal the Law of the Excluded Middle)
To: SmithW
Your cell group leader? Yeah, that's the new in thing on Sunday nights. Instead of church on Sunday nights, we meet in small groups in someone's home. That actually is a good thing because it allows people to connect, however, the amount of teaching is gradually disappearing. This is based on Rick Warren's Purpose Driven model.
To: Aquinasfan
To: All
Read his article. He is simply stating what most of us say here. It is just permeating all aspects of life now. That is people do not know how to think critically anymore.
All addiction has consequences. America's obsession with entertainment has produced a society that has become increasingly more passive toward life. It seems we would rather watch reality on television than experience it first-hand.
Entertainment is designed to appeal to an audience's emotions. Those addicted to amusement lose their desire to think critically. The entertainment addict reacts to information, and even life, based on how it makes him or her feel. Emotion, rather than fact, is the supreme barometer for those enslaved to entertainment.
Addiction is also, by its very nature, an escalating condition. That is, an addict's appetite never plateaus. Hence those obsessed with entertainment desire more and more amusement that is increasingly more spectacular. The end result is that the sensational trumps the substantive.
The attention span is the casualty of all addiction. The entertainment addict is not only easily bored and distracted, but also has difficulty retaining relevant information for a very long period of time. Those obsessed with amusement are unable to juxtapose contemporary happenings with history. Thus, current events become nothing more than passing bits of trivia.
A society addicted to entertainment comprises individuals whose obsession is their own pleasure. Once a people lose the desire to pursue life and to think critically, once a society fails to recognize the substantive and cultivate a historical perspective, once these realities become the rule rather than the exception, a society is in danger. There are many things in life that taken in moderation are not necessarily negative. Entertainment is one of them. However, America has crossed the line of moderation and is plunging headlong into addiction. It seems we are, in the words of New York University's Neil Postman, "Amusing ourselves to death."
Boggs' column appears each Friday in Baptist Press. He is pastor of Valley Baptist Church in McMinnville, Ore
To: RightWhale
last remnants of our human spirit- Rapper Music????
To: Vindiciae Contra TyrannoSCOTUS
Yeah. Well, Zeus didn't have what we have. He had zero tech, no CDs, no electronic amplification [granted, he didn't need it,] no movie stars, no MTV, you name it, he was deprived. He didn't even know about the 3-point shot.
50
posted on
10/07/2003 1:48:43 PM PDT
by
RightWhale
(Repeal the Law of the Excluded Middle)
To: Vindiciae Contra TyrannoSCOTUS
I think the real problem is attention span. Americans have the shortest attention span on earth and it takes the equivalent of a rock concert to keep them awake in church.
To: CajunConservative
Our desire to be entertained is what the Greeks called idleness and they looked down on it with disdain. Thinking critically, reading and studying just for the sake of learning was considered liesure. We are an idle generation.
52
posted on
10/07/2003 3:13:39 PM PDT
by
virgil
To: CajunConservative
Yeah, that's the new in thing on Sunday nights. This is not a new thing. I was at some churches in California that were doing this 20 years ago. Except that they did it during the week. Sunday night was for fire and brimstone.
53
posted on
10/07/2003 3:47:38 PM PDT
by
Harmless Teddy Bear
(Don't shoot people: The paperwork is a pain in the butt.)
To: Harmless Teddy Bear
This is not a new thing. I was at some churches in California that were doing this 20 years ago. Except that they did it during the week. Sunday night was for fire and brimstone. You have to remember, Southern Baptists sometimes run 20 years behind things lol It's not a bad thing, actually it's needed. The bad thing is the watering down of scripture to appeal to the unchurched.
To: CajunConservative
On yes it is a good program. One of the churches that I remember using it was running in the low hundreds and now runs in the thousands with several "daughter" churches having sprung up because of it.
It was also defiantly a "milk not meat" sort of format. Which since they kept Sunday as fire and brimstone worked fine. It also gave people who thought they might be interested in the ministry a safe place to begin.
55
posted on
10/07/2003 4:36:32 PM PDT
by
Harmless Teddy Bear
(Which kind of cake should I serve? Angel's Food or Devil's Food?)
To: virgil
Our desire to be entertained is what the Greeks called idleness and they looked down on it with disdain. Thinking critically, reading and studying just for the sake of learning was considered liesure. We are an idle, generation.Agreed
To: Aquinasfan
Postman doesn't do a thing for me. His books aren't amusing enough.
57
posted on
10/07/2003 5:13:17 PM PDT
by
bethelgrad
(for God, country, and the Corps OOH RAH!)
To: Orangedog
Rome is burning but Nero isn't fiddling...he's watching the play-offs.Sportsianity starts early with the Cult of the Soccer Mom. If a kid doesn't want to play sports, his parents won't know how to bond with him.
58
posted on
10/07/2003 5:13:30 PM PDT
by
JoeSchem
(Gropemeister for Guv: Winning is everything, and character doesn't count!)
To: Vindiciae Contra TyrannoSCOTUS
I always remember what my dad told me when I asked him about some of the protestant churches.............
He said "They don't believe in anything thats any fun.........."
Ha!
59
posted on
10/07/2003 5:18:49 PM PDT
by
WhiteGuy
(The next time I vote, I'm demanding a receipt! (you should too!))
To: CajunConservative
Yeah, that's the new in thing on Sunday nights. Instead of church on Sunday nights, we meet in small groups in someone's home.
ESPN Sunday NFL game at 8:00 PM - Nice cover.
60
posted on
10/07/2003 5:23:40 PM PDT
by
WhiteGuy
(The next time I vote, I'm demanding a receipt! (you should too!))
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