Holy Halloween?!

Hey, here’s a thought (for you like two and a half people that read this blog):  What ways can we “do Halloween” that will show people God’s love and the grace of the gospel?

The top four options (as I have seen it) that Christians and churches have historically chosen are these:

• withdraw completely and be condemning of Halloween.
• create an “alternative celebration” at the church building: geared toward getting the kids out of trick-o-treating… or towards “reaching out to the community”… or some combination of both.
• participate in Halloween festivities, parties, TOTing, etc. but just without the “evil” emphasis (no ghouls, witches, scary stuff, etc.)
• participate fully in Halloween.

Any new ideas?  Any ways we can go out and among the folks that are doing a regular ole’ Halloween and bring the kingdom?  Show God’s love?  Shine some light?  Outside the walls of the Church?

And, if you are NOT a Christian, if you are not a “church” person: what do you think?  What do you think of the ways Christians have done things around Halloween?

Atheistic Ad Campaign?

In an inevitable next step, atheists in the UK are advertising (read about it here).  Now in America, there might be a few Christian groups that freak out about this… boycott buses or something… but there some in the UK that have actually donated to the campaign.  Any talk about God in the “public square” is going to make people think.  This is also, ironically, what the atheists want people to do as well.  I don’t know that I would donate to the cause, but I think I tend to agree.

First of all, I don’t think we should be surprised, shocked, or offended that some atheists might buy some signs to hang on a bus… or a billboard… or the newspaper…  or wherever.  Christians do it all the time.  (Is anyone still under the illusion that the West is “Christian”?  I’d say post-christian, at best.)  Second of all, if people who don’t believe in God want to bring up the subject of God, then it’s all the easier to enter into the conversation.

What do you think?

Watching the Diversity Channel?

So my wife sends me a link to this article from the NY Times (ahem, here).

It’s all about how the most culturally and racially diverse place on TV is kids TV.  Disney Channel.  Nickelodeon.  Yep, it’s true.  It’s sure as heck not prime time, though I would certainly admit that things have gotten better over the last 20 years.

Hey I have a 9 yo son and a 5 yo daughter, and they watch Disney and Nick.  And I’m a witness to the fact that there’s a lot of diversity on there.  Not the in-your-face-I-have-an-agenda kind of diversity (usually), but the kind that makes it seem like it’s normal to have friends and know people and value people that have different skin colors and accents and cultures and styles and dress.  Hmmm….

So here’s my question:  have you ever noticed that God often uses the world… the secular culture… to prophesy?  To proclaim His heart and purpose to the world?  (In case that aggravates your theology, re-read that “God talking through the unclean donkey” story again.)  Not that everything in culture bears God’s message, but there’s alot (in MHO) that does– if you have eyes to see and ears to hear.

Or the question this way:  why is the media reflecting the heart of God in terms of valuing people of all colors and cultures, and the church (for the most part) is still the most flippin’ segregated group of people in the universe?

I’m not going to argue it here– many have already stated the case.  My question is what are we doing about it?

Read this too to bookend the NY Times thought:  http://blog.beliefnet.com/godspolitics/2008/08/a-multicultural-witness-agains.html

Scattered Saturday Stuff

Here’s some stuff I’d like to share but I’m too busy or tired to blog about:

• Iron Man review here.
• CT’s Mark Galli on evangelicals and liturgy here.
• Eastern Orthodox thoughts on whether or not our gospel is too small:  Read “The Poverty of Love” here.
• Thoughts on how the Church should respond to Grand Theft Auto IV here.
• Cool post of the sovereignty of God here.
• And last but not least, from the blog you’ve just gotta check out, this post about those religious sounding email addresses, and this very cool one comparing two movies that tell us the gospel.

My Top Ten: Coolest Pink Floyd Song Titles

Believe it.  Please note:  I have an unapologetic bias against the post-Roger Water years.

They are (in no particular order):

1.  Another Brick in the Wall

2.  Pigs On the Wing

3.  Shine On You Crazy Diamond

4.  The Final Cut

5.  Comfortably Numb

6.  Interstellar Overdrive

7.  Careful With That Axe, Eugene

8.  A Saucerful of Secrets

9.  Two Suns In The Sunset

10.  Several Species of Small Furry Animals Gathered Together in a Cave and Grooving with a Pict

Honorable Mention (because this is my list):  Get Your Filthy Hands Off My Desert

You got a list??