Filed under the if you can't beat 'em-join 'em category, CBC's youth ministry, Generation Church has started a blog.

It is currently the most.boring.blog.ever. But hey, they're new at this, so I'll give them a chance.

A good friend of this blog just had his first child, a beautiful girl named Ayva:

Congratulations, Henri and Cara. We wish you the best.

For more pictures click here.

CNN.com interviewed Jean Claude LaMarre who directed the new movie Color of the Cross, released on October 27th.

Concerning a black Jesus, Mr. LaMarre said:

Mel Gibson's Passion of the Christ was "a bit off in terms of the visual representation of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ … Everything that we know about that region of the world suggests that Jesus would in fact have been a person of color, probably of darker hue, and definitely Semitic in nature … obviously the images that we have been fed as a Christian community goes against everything that logic points to."

When asked about the role racial motivation played in the crucifixion, Mr. LaMarre answered:

"Understand that in this film, Christ's color is used as a metaphor for his station in life … he was as scripture tells us a member of the disenfranchized … he was a member of an undesirable class … he was a lowly man … if Jesus Christ were black or a darker skinned Jew he would most likely have experienced some of the alienation and the discrimination that the darker skinned people today experience throughout the world …"

Asked about the reaction of white Christians to a dark skinned Jesus, he said:

IF that poses a problem, "you need to look inward and really question what your values are" as Christ was all about inclusion and brotherhood.

What color is your Jesus?

Additional Links: CNN.com article | Official Movie Web Site

In CLF Update , Casual Observer asked about Wendell Smith running for office:    

I was responding to the comment about someone running for office … I assumed that the comment was about Wendell Smith possibly running … If Wendell Smith runs, I assume his meddling in the affairs of other churches would be baggage.

 Well CO, looks like a case of "like father, like son".

Cafepress Link.

Daid Kuo, author of Tempting Faith, participated in an online Washington Post Chat yesterday. Kuo as you may recall, wrote a book criticizing the Bush Administration for their lack of compassion in supporting Faith Based Initiatives. Kuo used to work in the Office of Faith Based Initiatives and came to find out that the administration was merely using the Evangelical community to win elections. They had very little interest in actually helping the poor.

You can read the entire chat here. But let me post a few of my favorite excerpts:

Alexandria, Va.: I've heard people in my church argue that you can't be both a Christian and a Democrat. Is this attitude prevalent among evangelicals and do you think this concept originated in the minds of Republican political strategists?

Thank you and God bless.

David Kuo: It is a very common belief and one I first discovered circa 1990 when I started attending a church in Alexandria too. It represents this amazing distortion of Jesus' Gospel - literally, the good news that Jesus was raised from the dead and that his followers could be as well - with a particular political agenda. It reduces Jesus to some lobbyist or political consultant and that really isn't a very good thing.

Washington, D.C.: Do you think it is a move in the right direction for faith-based groups to be receiving federal funding at all — is the idea to eventually phase out government social service provision and to have local organizations take up this work on the ground?

David Kuo: I do, I absolutely do. I think small faith-based and secular groups working at the neighborhood level are so vital to providing care that they deserve so much help.

One organization for instance, here in DC, is a tiny place called the Unique Learning Center. There, one woman has dedicated her life to helping kids one family at a time. Groups like Unique are rescuing countless lives and deserve so much help.

Where Dogs Bite Men: The thesis of your book isn't exactly a revelation, you know?

David Kuo: I know! It is actually about 2000 years old (at least) - thesis is simply this - you can't serve two masters…

I agree 100% with David. And he also has a blog you can read here.

John 444's email reminded me of a story:

Every Sunday @ CBC, right in the middle of worship*, one elder would walk through the crowd and pick out 4 or 5 members to go and pray for Pastor Frank Who would be sitting in the front row… did I mention this was right in the middle of worship… It was always funny to watch how excited people would get when the elder would walk their direction. They really believed it was a huge honor to be able to pray for Hank in front of the entire church, while we were busy trying to worship.

One guy in particular had this slow and pious(?) walk towards Frank. He was very methodical with each prayerful step, savoring every little moment of glory, as if to say, "Look how important I am". Quite pathetic really.

The worst example I can remember is one Sunday there was a young man attending whom I had never seen before. He was bald, tattooed, and covered with piercings and appeared to really love Jesus. I watched him during worship as he danced, raised his hands, and sang his heart out to God.

As the pastors gathered the "Prideful Pray-ers" to minister to Frank (during worship), this young man got excited and marched right down the center isle and laid his hands on Frank and began praying. Instantly one of PF's cronies grabbed the young man and marched him to the back of the church for a lecture.

I don't know what happened at that point, but he did not return to the service and I never saw him there again.

Gee, I wonder where CBC's focus is???

*During the offering time, however, we were told to stay seated because they didn't want anyone to get distracted (this is prior to the "bring your tithes forward so we can use peer pressure to influence your giving" time).

You know how it goes, CBC starts passing the buckets, some young college girl gets a chance to sing a "special", the spirit starts to move, everyone stands to their feet with their hands raised and worships God… that was unacceptable to City Bible Church, but gathering a crowd front and center to "minister" to Frank Damazio was just fine.

Gee, I wonder where CBC's focus is???

Go ahead and say it "Johnpaul, you're just bitter because they never picked you to pray for Frank". Damn. And I spent so much time trying to sit close enough.

 John 444 sends in this email:

Hi JP and Justin,

After Anna's post in the "Odds 'n' Ends" thread, I visited Amazon.com and looked up Frank Damazio to see what kind of books he's written. When I saw Frank's book "The Gate Church", I remembered hearing him preach about "gate churches" at the Shiloh Equipping the Prophetic Conference in Kansas City at Metro Christian Fellowship Church in November 1999. My wife Karen attended with me and remembers Frank as well.

Frank's message wasn't consistent with the overall theme of the conference, which was for teaching about the gift of prophecy, and so I forgot about Frank and his message, although if memory serves, there was a 'prosperity/blessings' flavor to it. The basis of his message as I recall, was relating Jacob's ladder to churches, and how us and the angels would ascend / descend the ladder to heaven, carrying blessing of one form or another. I attended a few conferences at MCF in KC between 1999 and 2002, and only recall seeing Frank the once. Can't say I was looking for him, but given my initial impression that Frank wasn't on the same page as the other speakers (Mike Bickle, Paul Cain, Kingsley Fletcher, Rick Joyner, Graham Cooke, etc.), I assume Frank wasn't asked back.

Though Frank's message was forgettable, there is one lasting memory I have of my encounter with him in KC, and that is how Frank spent several minutes telling the audience about the 4 (I believe) intercessors he takes with him when he travels. He pointed them out in the front row at the conference, and said during the entire trip, their job was to pray for him, even while he was preaching. I'm sure it was intended to impress us, but it bugged me in that it seemed 'self important' and puffed up. Why announce that? It seemed extravagant. I can understand traveling with someone to keep company, his wife or a close male colleague, but 4 intercessors? Couldn't they intercede for Frank from Portland while he was in KC?

I'm left wondering if taking intercessors with him is a junket kind of thing as a reward for faithful butt-kissing?

John444

 The only problem I have with this story is the timeframe. I'm fairly certain that in November of 1999 Frank was busy preaching the Faith Harvest message to me and my friends at City Bible Church. Oh well, could have been a guest speaker that week.

City Bible Church wrote about Faith Harvest in their latest bulletin. So, I feel it's only fair to let them tell you what they think Faith Harvest is all about (it's confusing, I know)…

Today's Thought
The Bible is filled with "seed" language when talking about our lives. The gospel message is likened to a seed planted and our natural lives begin with a seed that led to conception. Seed language helps us understand that our lives tomorrow, will be the fruit of the seed we plant today. It furthermore helps us realize that those "seeds" bathed in prayer and faith are the ones that bear the greatest fruit.

Personal finances are also called seed. How we direct our money reflects our dreams and heart-desires. Tithing and giving to missions are obvious examples of sowing our financial seed, so too is investing in our education, a wedding, helping our parents, a home or saving for retirement. Financial seed is planted, good fruit results.

At CBC we understand that the principle of sowing and reaping is just as true in the spiritual dimension as it is in a natural. That’s why we’ve established a tradition to help the church family put this seed-planting principle into practice. We call it Faith Harvest Giving. It is the time when we intentionally take the seeds of our dreams, needs and desires and present them to the Lord in a faith-filled environment expecting a great future harvest. Let’s approach this Faith Harvest season with great faith and optimism for own lives and the extension of God’s kingdom

 Sounds like I sumed it up rather well…

A reader sent me a link to the following Daily World article discussing the Christian Life Fellowship situation.

I've already given my opinion, but there are some entertaining bits of information in this news report. I think it's safe to say, that Wendell Smith, Dick Iverson, MFI and Doug Cotton took a bad situation, dragged it out unnecessarily and made it worse. PR 101 says, you admit your mistake, resign and then move on. Evidently, Wendell Smith and Doug Cotton take their PR strategy from House Speaker Dennis Hastert. Brilliant!

The whole article is informative. But the reporter digs into the City Church/Christian Life Fellowship connection:

During the past weeks, Cotton has attended services at The City Church in Seattle, Anderson said. The City Church and Christian Life Fellowship are “network” churches, and there is a relationship between the senior pastors, he said.

Cotton has also sought counsel from pastors at The City Church, the attorney said.

And unlike MaFIa, The City Church (or this blog for that matter), the elders at CLF took the high road:

Cotton was given severance pay from the church, plus any unused vacation time and a bonus for his years of ministry. The elders say Cotton and his family are welcome to continue attending Christian Life Fellowship.

The elders have not yet discussed if or when a new senior pastor will be hired, Moyer said.

"In the meantime, the church will be well cared for. Our mission has not changed at CLF. We are still excited about serving our church and the community through various outreaches and programs and providing a caring atmosphere to worship Jesus," the elders' statement said. "Our hopes and prayers go out to Doug and his family. We wish them nothing but God's best and know that they, like us, did what they felt was right under the circumstances."

Let's hope this is the end of it.

Cafepress Link.