the Oliver Stone method applied to the SBC.

+

= End of Boycott???
Back in 1997 'our friends' at the Southern Baptist Convention made a silly pronouncement by announcing a boycott of the Disney Corporation. There are many different claims as to why they made this declaration but the unspoken reason has often been assumed to be becuase of their support or indifferene toward the GLBT agenda. Disney has allowed gay-days at their theme parks and I think this was a place where the Southern Baptists could put a stake in the ground and make a statement in the midst of the Clinton 90's.

Fast-forward to this summer and you see this artilce
End of boycott article-

This summer, many of the conservative organizations who were boycotting Disney have lifted their bans. Coincidentally, or not coinsidentally, this winter the movie versions of C.S. Lewis's The Chronicles of Narnia are coming out, which are being made and produced by our friends (again) at Disney. (if you visit a christian bookstore, first use caution, then you can see the books and music from the movie proudly displayed).

The problem is that no one is addressing the hypocrisy and situational-ethics of these boycotting groups. It did not have any effect on anyone when they decided to boycott the Woddy and Buzz from Toy Story era of Disney, but now they can't be a part of a group which is boycotting movies based on book of their favorite, legitimate, 20th century theologian. (who was not really theologically, politically, or socially conservative, but we can talk about that over a brandy and cigar like he would have if you want)

I hope and pray that people in the pews and in America will begin to think harder about the conservative leadership in their organizations and in this country. There are too many conservative leaders running around, doing whatever they want and can to promote themselves to get power in the name of family values and getting God's man for the job. (at some point I think this Tom Delay thing could move in that direction)

I am a strong supporter of the priesthood of the believer which forces me to allow someone to believe differently than me. Therefore, I am happy that there is a conservative conscience out there to balance out the liberals. That is ok and healthy.

What I am calling for is thought. Please, think about what is going on, read something different that the Conservative Times (fictitious name for a fake paper I made up to make a point) and watch something other than Fox news where all that is shared is what conservatives want to hear and how they want to hear it. Dissent and conflict work to provide a balace of power in this society. We should challenge people and leaders to be honest, up front, and commited to the things they get power from us to do.

Therefore, the leaders of the SBC deserve a slap on the wrist from someone for pulling this stunt this summer. They knew what was happening and they managed to slide it under the radar so they could promote a Christian movie from a wholesome, but not Christian, company, who has to power to do what they cannot: produce quality films that make a difference in peoples lives, that are appealing to a wide variety of people, who dont normally shop at Christian book stores for everything.

Welcome to Mayberry!!!

I begin a new chapter in my blogging. I now blog from Mount Airy, North Carolina. I begin work in about 12 days as the associate pastor of First Baptist Church. I am really excited about new work and a new adventure.

Mount Airy is the actual town that the fictional town of Mayberry from the Andy Griffith show is based on. Many of the sites and sounds of the show actually exist here. For those of you who, like me, are not junkies of Mayberry, I am going to work at CENTRAL PERK. Only here there are pleny of Joey imersonators. I usually fill the place of Chandler.

I actually will plan to blog more and I am trying to get my address out too. If you come by and read this perodically, please leave a comment every once in a while.

Also, I promise my next blog will be very interesting, keep checking back.
Peace from Mayberry.
aho

blog of a sorry white man

Last night we went to dinner with friends and then went back to their place. After the girls revealed they didnt want to get whooped in spades, again, by saying they wanted to watch a movie instead, we hit the time warner digital cable "ondemand" channel. Here you can choose from hundreds of movies to watch. We narrowed it down to two, HITCH and DIARY OF A MAD BLACK WOMAN. We should have chosen Hitch.

DIARY had been recommended to us several times by several people we actually like and trust. We used to trust their opinions, NOT ANY MORE!!!!

This is the worst movie I have ever seen that I can remember. The characters were mean and under-developed, the dialoge was predictible, and the story was crap. I was hoping to see a funny man dressed up as a mean old funny woman. What a got was a lifetime movie about love and vengance, with a failed attempt at comic relief through a bad imitation of an Eddie Murphy movie.

Now, I have a different taste in movies than some, but PLEASE, PLEASE, PLEASE, trust me on this one. This movie is bad. You will waste your time and money. I am more upset about the two hours of time I lost than the $4 that was spent.

Two more things: 1. If you watched this movie and liked it, please comment and tell my why. I promise you this, I will listen and respect you opinion, I just want someone to tell me why they think this was a good idea.
2. Best line in the movie: "girl, I am so crazy about you, thinkin bout you all the time, that I go to the grocery store and I buy you feminine products." Really, it was in there.

Thanks for reading. peace

holy cow?!?!?!

Tomorrow is the day. As a posted a few weeks ago, Natalie and I are moving to the quaint town of Mount Airy North Carolina. It is a beautiful place and we are excited aobut starting new jobs, but the reality is actually setting in that this is all about to happen.

Tomorrow, North American Van Lies comes to pack our stuff, then on Monday, they load it on to a truck, and then on Tuesday they unload it at our new house, (rent house that we have only seen one time). I preach for the last time at church this Sunday and then on Next Saturday and Sunday we say goodbye to the church that I have worked at for 5 years.

Excitement is mixed with a feeling of being a little scared. Therefore, Frank Barone's Holy Cr_ _ is the only possible reaction to the next week's events.

But, fear will all pass away if thess guys can come and help with the move. They show up in a google image search for North American Van Lines.

nightline???

I happened to catch nightline on abc last night. I usually opt for the pillow, spanish channel, or Leno and Letterman, but I turned it on to see what the topic was and they were celebrating BB King's 80th birthday. It was a great interview protrayal of his story as a kid from the Mississippi Delta who forged his own way and type of music.

One of my best college memories is of a night my friend Ben (of makebenfair.blogspot.com) and I got to go to an Austin Bluesfest. I won free tickets one morning while listening to the BEAR 102.5 while I was waking up in my dorm room in Penland Hall. We got to go see Stevie Ray Vaughan's brother Jimmy Vaughan, BB King and many others. It was fantastic.

I didnt really know what I was hearing at the time though. I was raised on oldies and country music. No one in my family was really into the blues and my dad has very ecclectic taste in music, which is actually good i think. I remember thinking at the time that I was possibly even a little bored witht he concert, but I knew I was seeing legends and needed to hang in there.

Now, I wish I could go back. I dont really know the song better, but I have a much better appreciation for the musicians abilities as artists. I would love to hear that concert again, but I was really glad to hear it the first time. I am thankful to the bear for the free tix and to ben for going with me and bringing me along in the music. peace

my next attempt at death

There are many things that just might bring it to an abrupt halt to my life at any moment.
- Certainly my diet is not going to help keep me on this earth past the average life expectancy.
- My driving is a bit sketch. I am doing much better, but even then, I drive a jeep most of the time and cruising on I-40 at 75 with no doors is about as close to crazy as you can get without a motorcycle.
-I am trying to run regularly, but it has been so long since I have put in 30miles a week on a regular basis, it just might kill me before I get healthy.
- Then, insanity is always an option. I often teeter on the edge, I think, you might agree.

But, I am looking forward to my next attempt:


I can't wait til it snows and I can get my new burton custom out for a little snowboarding.
Now this might be a death wish: I could land off a jump wrong, or taking a jump might just be a bad idea- i am sure it is not easy to do those twists and spins in the air or ride those rails- or there is always the skiier who has met the end of the road with the punk boarders and I just end up inthe wrong place at the wrong time.

But with all of that out front, please come and board with me. We will be less than 2 hours from some good east coast skiing, and 4 hours from the best southeast skiing. Plus, the farmers almanac is predicting a colder than average winter with more snow for our part of the world. Great news for a guy with a snowboard and a Jeep...Mountains here I come, then, doctor and insurance, here I come.