prayer

GBC

‘Good Christian Bi*ches’ unholy or wholly funny?

For months, rumors went around the internet that a Christian Desperate Housewives show was going to air on ABC. The show was to depict Christians in very unflattering and negative ways. Then, the hype died down, until last Sunday.

‘GCB’ aired premiered and was certainly full of drama… was it Christian drama? Well, you be the judge.

The show was originally named, “Good Christian Bi*ches,” proved to be offensive to some so the series was changed to “Good Christian Belles.” GCB is based on a book with the same ugly title (the B-word word one with seven letters). I’m really looking for the words to describe this show and I cannot find them. So, I’ll use someone who is keyed into Hollywood and who gives a better description:

grammys

LL Cool J acts as chaplain at Grammys

At a time when the music industry was mourning the loss of Whitney Houston, rapper LL Cool J acted as an impromptu chaplain to those at the Grammys and millions of viewers. As the Grammys opened, many viewers were wondering how the Grammys would incorporate the tragic loss of Houston’s death.

LL opened with these words:

“Tonight, we ask ourselves: How do we speak to this time, to this day? There is no way around this – we’ve had a death in our family. And so at least, for me… the only thing that feels right is to begin with a prayer for a woman that we loved, for a fallen sister, Whitney Houston.

Heavenly Father, we thank you for sharing our sister Whitney with us. Today our thoughts are with her mother, her daughter and all of her loved ones. And although she is gone too soon, we remain truly blessed to have been touched by her beautiful spirit and to have her lasting legacy of music to cherish and share forever. Amen.

That said, welcome to the 54th Grammy Awards.

Rick Warren

Rick Warren’s purpose driven weight loss

Rick Warren, a mega-church pastor and author of The Purpose Driven Life, latest weight loss ministry has raised questions about the purpose of a church. Warren has lost 60 pounds under a new ministry called “The Daniel Plan“. The Daniel Plan is based on the story of Daniel only eatting vegetables. The weight loss lifestyle ministry employs healthy eating, regular exercise, stress reduction, prayer and small groups meeting in church member’s homes. Apparently, the ministry is effective. The church claims to have lost over 250,000 pounds among its 30,000 members.

What sparked this ministry? Warren explains his revelation to CNN:

On that particular day, I was baptizing 858 people… That took me literally four hours. As I’m baptizing 858 people, along around 500, I thought this … ‘We’re all fat. But I thought, I’m fat,” he said. “I’m a terrible model of this. I can’t expect our people to get in shape unless I do.

This weight loss ministry for Warren’s Saddleback Church is catching on. Dr. Oz is now partnering with the church and is providing a fitness and diet plan.

Is Rick Warren’s latest announcement a gimmick for weight loss or is there something deeper going on?

Obama, prayer

At prayer breakfast, Obama is theologian-in-chief

At the National Prayer Breakfast Thursday morning, President Obama got theological in front of 3,000 attendees. Obama pulled passages from the Bible to encourage governmental policies to help the poor and provide more opportunities for the disadvantaged. Drawing from Jesus’ words, the president encourage higher taxes on wealthier Americans.

Drawing upon faith tenants from almost every world religion, Obama said,

“For me, as a Christian, it also coincides with Jesus’s teaching that ‘for unto whom much is given, much shall be required… I know that far too many neighbors in our country have been hurt and treated unfairly over the last few years, and I believe in God’s command to ‘love thy neighbor as thyself. I know the version of that Golden Rule is found in every major religion and every set of beliefs -– from Hinduism to Islam to Judaism to the writings of Plato.”

Last year, the president used the opportunity to proclaim his personal relationship with Jesus Christ at a time when 1 in 4 believed he was a Muslim. This year he shared how he begins every morning with prayer and a scripture devotional. In addition, he shared his experience and prayer time with Billy Graham, perhaps the most impactful preacher/pastor in the 20th century. Obama gave an insight into his personal prayer life since meeting Graham:

Good Friday, Holy Week

Prayer for Good Friday

O Christ, your life was no triumph, you carried a cross; may we walk along the same road as you.

O Christ, by your suffering you learned faithfulness; you became a source of eternal salvation for the whole human race.

O Christ, when threatened you did not retaliate; enable us to forgive to the very end.

O Christ, you see the pain of those who are exiled and abandoned; take their suffering upon yourself.

O Christ, when lies and worries try to separate us from you, your Holy Spirit is always with us.

O Christ, you are the happiness of those who follow you: enable us to live by your trust.

O Christ, our life is hidden with you in God; that is a joy that touches the depths of the soul.

Strengthen us, Eternal God, and we will wait in silence and peace until the light of the Resurrection rises upon us. Amen.

Prayer from Taize

Japan, trolling

Crazy "God Girl" Japan Video Trolling the Internet

If someone sends you a link to a video of a girl talking to the camera about how happy she is about the Japanese earthquake don’t worry… it’s fake. A young women named “tamtampamela” has been trolling the internet with fake personal testimonies about her crazy religious views on parody websites. “It’s so amazing to see how God can answer prayers like this,” she said. “I’m so overjoyed.” Somehow, people thought it was real.

If you are easily offended, don’t watch.

Here, she “explains” her fake videos:

Halloween, new

7 Reasons why a Christian can celebrate (and remake) Halloween

Can there be a Christian Halloween? Can a Christian celebrate Halloween, which honors ghouls, demons, ghosts, and everything that goes bump in the night dangerous or even evil?

Somewhere, in the halls of history, Halloween or All Hallows Eve, got hijacked. What started as a day to prepare for All Saints’ Day (November 1st), Halloween became a spooky, evil, and candy filled observance. The term “Halloween” from its beginnings, had nothing to do with any pagan or evil beliefs. The Christian festival All Hallows Eve morphed into our current term Hallowe’en.

The key in understanding of the origins of the term Halloween comes from the sense of what is “hallowed” or “holy”. In the Lord’s Prayer, Christians pray, “Our Father, in heaven, hallowed be your name…” In the fourth century, John Chrysostom tells us that the Eastern church celebrated a festival in honor of all saints who died. In the seventh and eighth centuries, Christians celebrated “All Saints’ Day” formally.

How did Halloween become associated with evil spirits? When we look at history we discover:

More than a thousand years ago Christians confronted pagan rites appeasing the lord of death and evil spirits… the druids, in what is now Britain and France, observed the end of summer with sacrifices to the gods. It was the beginning of the Celtic year, and they believed Samhain, the lord of death, sent evil spirits abroad to attack humans, who could escape only by assuming disguises and looking like evil spirits themselves. The waning of the sun and the approach of dark winter made the evil spirits rejoice and play nasty tricks.

If the Christian observance of Halloween began with a religious focus, how can we reclaim and celebrate Halloween from its current feared status? Here are 7 ways Christians can take back Halloween:

prayer

Prayer for Our Nation

Prayer for Our Nation, July 4th Prayer

Almighty God, you rule all the people of the earth.
Inspire the minds of all women and men
to whom you have committed the responsibility of government and leadership in the nations of the world.
Give to them the vision of truth and justice,
that by their counsel all nations
and peoples may work together.
Give to the people of our country zeal
for justice and strength or forbearance,
that we may use our liberty in accordance with your gracious will.
Forgive our shortcomings as a nation;
purify our hearts to see and love the truth.
We pray all these things through Jesus Christ. Amen.

(Amy Langford, USA 20th cent.)

prayer

Mother’s Day Prayer

Prayer for Mothers

Leader: Mothers come in diverse portraits, and today we celebrate the gifts of the spirit we readily observe in these portraits.

All: Thank God for mothers!

Leader: Each of us is a son or a daughter.

All: Thank God for my mother!

Leader: For women who have gone before us and left us legacies of love, endurance, and inspiration.

All: Thank God for the women we commemorate in our hearts and lives.

Leader: For every woman currently working to nurture, teach, and love her children.

All: Thank God for the mothers of today.

Leader: For women who have made children their own through adoption or foster care.

All: Thank God for women who know motherhood is unbounded.

Leader: For women who mourn the death of a child.

All: Thank God for grieving mothers who depend on God’s love.

Leader: For all women, with or without children, who have extended their gifts of nurture and affirmation to members of their communities.

All: Thank God for women who are mothers by heart! We thank you, Lord, for women who have influenced our lives in so many ways.

Mother’s Day Prayer

spirituality

So you want to be spiritual? Try this:

With so many Americans calling themselves “spiritual” rather than religious, many in the Christian community have asked, “How can we make Christianity more spiritual?” That is a laughable question because Christianity is inherently spiritual. Prayer, baptism, worship, singing, communion, fellowship, reading scripture, and the list can go on. Sure, Christianity does not have rocks, stones, and other “new age” objects or artifacts, but there is a steady diet of spiritual things in Christianity.

For hundreds of years mystic, monastic, and ascetic Christians have sought to have a deeper connection with God. St. John of the Cross, Francis of Assisi, Julian of Norwich, and Thomas Merton are a few names that Christians may have heard before. Sometimes their stories are bizarre, but often many mystics simply wanted a prayerful spiritual life.

Some Christians may run the other way when they hear the word “mystical”, but believe it or not every time we pray we are being mystical. When we pray, we are praying to a transcendent God to ask or praise him for supernatural works. When we Christians use the word “mystical” we are talking about the spiritual life and we do not have to speak in tongues to be spiritual either.

One the most transformational components of the spiritual life is reading scripture. However, many find the Bible boring and need a guide when reading. One the most spiritual things we can do when we read scripture is to participate in lectio divina. What the heck is that?

Holy Week

Prayer for Holy Week

God whose word cannot be broken:
with Jerusalem we are stunned this Holy Week.
Like a city overcome with sudden devastation,
we are swept up in the confusion and desolation,
wondering what is happening.

Liturgy, Scripture, and song immerse us in the river
that flows to betrayal and the cross.
The gospel we have tried to make manageable
has overturned our tables of control.
The sufferings of Jesus
that we try to avoid engulf us.
The fruitless fig tree withers before the majesty
of one whose mission is
relentless and uncompromised.

Help us with all of your church to watch and pray,
to behold anew the unfolding scandal
and the ragged good news of salvation.
Behold with mercy the agonies of the world
where the suffering of Jesus is being completed,
both then and now.

Let the Via Dolorosa for us
be both acts of devotion and worship
and of compassion and justice,
so that Christ’s abundant sufferings
become the world’s abundant consolations.

Silent prayer and listening

Order of Saint Luke Publications. This prayer, written by Dan Benedict, is from The Daily Office: A Book of Hours for Daily Prayer (Volume II: For Lent and the Triduum).

Advent, blog

It’s Black Friday! But, Christmas is Coming!

Well, today is Black Friday! The craziest shopping day of the year! Did you go and brave the crowds for all those insane deals? I could never get up at 4 a.m. and wait in line just to get a better price on a Christmas gift. Just of thought of the crowds, the lack of order, and crazy moms fighting over the newest toy (this year its some robotic hamster). Just check out all these people waiting in the cold:

Did you notice the throngs of store employees standing there to keep order? We have all heard the stories of people getting injured, trampled, and even killed by mobs of angry shoppers. Crazy! From the looks of this video, it is an orderly procession of people waiting for that great deal on that perfect gift for Christmas. From the shouts of joy in the video, I can only imagine the excitement, adrenaline, and hope that people experienced. They are excited about the deals. Their adrenaline is pumping because they know they have to run to be the first. And, they hope that their Xbox or Wii will be there for them to buy.

Why is it so exciting to wait and line at 4 a.m. to get the “best” deal? Why all the excitement?

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