Don't Take God's Name Lightly!

Make Fun Of Faith? Sure. Jesus? Uh, No.

Comedian Kathy Griffin has built her D-list career on telling A-list Hollywood celebrities -- to "suck it."

So when she told Jesus to "suck it" after winning an Emmy for her reality show, "My Life on the D-List," it was meant as another swipe at someone who gets invited to better parties than she does.

But as she quickly learned, dissing Jesus, even in left-leaning Hollywood, carries more risk than poking fun at the Lindsay Lohans of the world.

Griffin's remarks -- "I want you to know that no one had less to do with this award than Jesus. . . . So all I can say is, suck it, Jesus. This reward is my god now!" -- were censored when the E! Network broadcast the Creative Arts Emmy Awards show.

The Academy of Television Arts and Sciences said the remarks were struck because they were "offensive." It wasn't clear whether they disliked the vulgar "suck it" part or the blasphemous "this reward is my god now" part.

Either way, one thing is clear: Poking fun at religion in general is fine. Taking jabs at hypocritical religious leaders is even encouraged. But when it comes to Jesus, Hollywood still gets squeamish.

Some conservatives smell a double standard. Audiences laugh when Griffin insults the Christian messiah, but she could never get away with telling Muhammad to do the same, they say. "She wants to stick it to Christians," said Kiera McCaffrey of the Catholic League civil rights organization.

Atheists see a more sinister plotline at work in the network's decision to muzzle Griffin. It's not about decency, they say. "It was about protecting belief in Jesus," said Ellen Johnson, president of American Atheists. "You're not allowed to say anything that ridicules belief. . . . What's next? Punishment for that?"

photo courtesy images.google.com & story washingtonpost.com, 9/22/07

Exodus 20:7 (NLT)

7 “You must not misuse the name of the Lord your God. The Lord will not let you go unpunished if you misuse his name.

Just a thought but:

God's name is special because it carries His personal identity. Using it frivolously or in a curse is so common today that we may fail to realize how serious it is. The way we use God's name conveys how we really feel about Him. We should respect His name and use it appropriately, speaking it in praise or worship rather than in curse or jest. We should not take lightly the abuse or dishonor of His name.

God tells us that He will punish those who misuse His name.

This truth should strike fear in the heart of Kathy Griffin, but my guess is that it doesn't when you consider what she said about Jesus.

How about us? We know that God is loving, but do we remember that God is also holy and punishes sin.  It is a sin to misuse His name.  He will punish you Kathy Griffin.  Not that you care!!

Are you a "Big Baby"

Nadia, who weighs 17.1 lbs in the old scale, was delivered by cesarean section in the local maternity hospital in the Altai region on September 17, joining eight sisters and three brothers, local reports say.

"We were all simply in shock," said Nadia's mother, Tatyana Barabanova, 43.

"I ate everything, we don't have the money for special foods so I just ate potatoes, noodles and tomatoes," she said, adding that all her previous babies had weighed over 5 kg.

The Guinness World Records lists a 10.2 kg baby boy born in Italy in 1955, and a 10.8 kg baby boy who was born in the United States in 1879 but died 11 hours later.

The average weight for most healthy newborn babies is around 3.2 kg, according to World Health Organisation figures.

Chris - How would you like to rock that baby to sleep.

 

Hebrews 5:11-14 (NLT)

A Call to Spiritual Growth

11 There is much more we would like to say about this, but it is difficult to explain, especially since you are spiritually dull and don’t seem to listen. 12 You have been believers so long now that you ought to be teaching others. Instead, you need someone to teach you again the basic things about God’s word. You are like babies who need milk and cannot eat solid food. 13 For someone who lives on milk is still an infant and doesn’t know how to do what is right. 14 Solid food is for those who are mature, who through training have the skill to recognize the difference between right and wrong.

What does today's God's Story scripture teach us about spiritual growth?

Tyndale's LIFE APPLICATION STUDY BIBLE notes make it very clear:

5:12-14 In order to grow from infant Christians to mature Christians, we must learn discernment. We must train our conscience, our senses, our mind, and our body to distinguish good from evil. Can you recognize temptation before it traps you? Can you tell the difference between a correct use of Scripture and a mistaken one? Our capacity to feast on deeper knowledge of God ("solid food") is determined by our spiritual growth. Too often we want God's banquet before we are spiritually capable of digesting it. As you grow in the Lord and put into practice what you have learned, your capacity to understand will also grow.

If we're not growing spiritually, we might have to admit that we're a bunch of big babies!

Bonfire!

Awanita! That is Cherokee Indian for "youth". That is the camp that I had the opportunity to take our teenagers to this past weekend. I think that the teenagers had more fun there than anywhere we have been. Just to go to the top of "Hummer Hill" was an experience in itself. The 150 ft. slide, the zip line over the lake, and of course the mud pit: Ugh! (See pictures), but also an experience! To be in the mountains and see God's creation and in all of its beauty was amazing. We had a lot of time to spend before the throne of God as well. Our theme was "Broken". The three sessions were 1) Broken in our worship, 2) Broken over our sin, 3) Broken for the lost. It was a blessing to be a part of a service and during the invitation you look around and see teenagers weeping and getting things right with God. Others wrapped their arms around each other showering them with the power of prayer. It is an amazing thing to see teenagers (one more time) get in touch with God. Yes we had the most fun ever, but God really did show up. I hope that this is another spark that will lead to the biggest bonfire the world has ever seen.

Limitless Opportunity

There comes a time in everyone’s life when you have to make a choice to be all you can be for Christ or to be satisfied with the way things are. The Lord has opened many doors for me personally, in our youth group, our church, and now I have had the amazing opportunity to get to know a group of teenagers, and coaching staff that may not necessarily have the opportunity, for what ever reason, to go to church. The Lord has allowed me to have the chance to present the gospel to the entire South Florence High School football team (JV and Varsity) every Tuesday after practice on the field where they are. When I surrendered to the ministry I asked God to allow me to have the chance to reach people in many different walks of life. The Lord has opened those doors that I feel privileged to walk through.

I am proud of South Florence Baptist Church as well. You have made things happen for these players that will go down in the record books for eternity. You have shown them compassion, love, and Christlikeness in ways that I have never seen before. Thank you for giving me the opportunity to be Jesus to these athletes, after all, we may be the only Jesus some of them will ever see.

I share this story just to let you know that the opportunities are limitless to share Christ. Keep on praying, keep on serving, keep on living for Christ, and allow Christ to minister to someone through you. Just as the song says written by Jeremy Camp: “I come alive when I’m broken down and giving you control.”

As I came into the hotel room in Greenwood and turned the TV on, I was blown away that another event had taken place. This event was of a bridge that had collapsed over the Mississippi River in Minneapolis. It was shocking to see the people that were there "as we know as rubber neckers" as well as the people that were actually involved. The thing that amazed me most is that they say that it was "structural". Some of the things that was going on during the construction could have caused the bridge to fall. The thing that gets me is that how does a bridge over 40 years old just all of a sudden get weak and fall. That concerns me. something else to think about is when is the next bridge going to fall. Well anyway, I am moved to the point that I wonder if any of those people saw it coming. We can learn a lot from this story. Picture yourself sitting in the driver seat of your car and you have no idea that the bridge that you are on is going to fall at any moment. then all of a sudden you hear noise as sit in still traffic then the nest thing you see is that truck in front of you upside down and on fire. You see other cars sliding around and at the same time you realize that you a moving as well. Then you see a school bus full a children sliding into the guard rail. you still have no idea what has actually happened. then you look up at the road that your once were traveling on and see another car come falling down right on top of your car. That is when you thank God for bringing you through one more time. Then you think of those around you and you begin checking to make sure that everyone is OK. Then it really sets in what just happened, and you feel as though you are in the worse situation that you have ever been in. In a world full of destruction and "shock" the only thing that we can do is be rescued. we need to go to Jesus and tell him that we need him. The song says "I need you Jesus come to my rescue, where else can I go. There's no other name by which I am saved, capture me with grace, I will follow You."