GCB blasphemes Christ. Does it matter to you?

Take Action! Click here to let advertisers know if they continue to support a show that ridicules and attacks your faith, you will not support them with your pocketbook.

 

Pass this on to your friends.

 

One thing I’ve noticed.  When those on the left are offended or outraged, or their beliefs are threatened, they seem to follow the advice of General Patton who once stated:  “… attack, and attack, and attack some more.” When the Susan Komen Foundation made the business decision to no longer fund Planned Parenthood, abortion advocates came out of the woodwork in indignation at the thought of any threat to the flow of money empowering Planned Parenthood.  Liberals put so much pressure upon the Komen Foundation that within days they were nearly groveling for forgiveness and reinstating the funding for Planned Parenthood.

Sadly, however, we on the right could take a lesson – not from their tactics, but from their passion and perseverance.

 

When ABC began airing “GCB” last month, sinking to new lows in attack upon Christianity – even by Hollywood’s standards – there was a brief flurry of protest from some Christians.   However, considering that this show so blatantly ridicules the Christian faith and blasphemes our Savior, the outrage has been rather minimal and seemingly short-lived.    It seems as if every pastor in the pulpit and every person in the pew should be expressing indignation over this derogatory depiction of the Christian faith ABC is dishing out to millions of viewers.  If our loved ones were being slandered, we’d be up in arms, but when it’s our Lord we can’t be bothered?

Perhaps that seems like a jaded, pessimistic view.  But even the New York Daily News has observed the same thing, writing:  “…things were quiet among viewers potentially offended by ABC’s “GCB”…”

 

However, numbers of you, our readers, have been the exception. Thousands of you have used our “take action” link to let advertisers know you have taken notice of their empowerment of Christian bigotry and will use your purchasing power to support companies that aren’t in the business of offending and assaulting your faith.

Yet, while the “take action” response to the advertisers from the first couple of  “GCB” episodes was greatly encouraging, the response to the last couple of episodes has declined.  Have we already lost that passion and perseverance those on the left are so good at exhibiting?

This current window of time could mean the difference on whether “GCB” is renewed for next fall or not.  Right now the show is on the fence.  “GCB” has not drawn large numbers of viewers and some advertisers have backed away from sponsoring the show.  Next Sunday (Easter) ABC is airing two new episodes back to back to test whether or not “GCB” will draw enough viewers to make it as a replacement for the show “Desperate Housewives” which is ending in May.  If advertisers hear from large numbers of potential customers, they will be more leery about getting behind “GCB” and will let ABC know.

If we already wash our hands of the battle and give up after just one month, “GCB” will become established and we’ll see the series continue to take potshots at Christ and the Church for years to come.  Now is the time to send a message to Hollywood that it’s not profitable or acceptable to attack Christianity.

I began with a quote from Patton.  I think it’s fitting to end with one from General Eisenhower.  “What counts is not necessarily the size of the dog in the fight – it’s the size of the fight in the dog.”

 

How much “fight” is in you and me?  With passion and perseverance, please continue to express your concern to the sponsors of “GCB” and also forward this to your family, friends, and church family, urging them to stand with us.

The good news is that of the 28 sponsors from the March 25 episode of “GCB,” only 3 of them advertised again on  last night’s episode!  Included in those 25 who did not advertise last night, was JC Penney’s who has been a regular, hard-core sponsor of “GCB.”

 

The three who returned to advertise were Old Navy, Verizon Wireless and a local ad, Watson’s.

 

Take Action! Click here to let advertisers know if they continue to support a show that ridicules and attacks your faith, you will not support them with your pocketbook.

Like us at Facebook – another good way to help us expand our outreach.  Tell others!

http://www.americandecency.org/archives/gcb-blasphemes-christ-does-it-matter-to-you/#more-6502

You Can’t Do It Alone (1)

“I am not able to bear all [this] alone.” Nu 11:14 NKJV

One day Moses told God that the job was too big for him. So God told Moses to find seventy men with leadership ability. Then He said: “I will take of the Spirit that is upon you and will put [it] upon them; and they shall bear the burden…with you” (v.17 NKJV). Understand this: you will never fulfill your dream as long as you are unable or unwilling to get others to buy into it. Don’t think that because your dream is worthwhile, people will automatically line up to be part of it. It doesn’t work that way. The same dream that will bless you, can bury you if you don’t surround yourself with the right people. Moses said, “I am not able to bear all these people alone, because the burden is too heavy for me. If You treat me like this, please kill me here and now” (vv.14-15 NKJV). Don’t wait till you’re on the verge of a nervous breakdown or your family is falling apart before you reach for help. When God calls someone He always calls others to stand with them. So start looking around you. You may need just one person, or you may need many. Indeed, the greater your dream, the greater your team must be. But here’s the good news: the size of your dream determines the size of the people who will be attracted to it. If you have a big dream, you have even greater potential for good people to help you. What you need to do is connect with them, invite them in, transfer the vision and then turn them loose.

http://theencouragingword.wordpress.com/2012/04/02/you-cant-do-it-alone-1/

Riding the Waves of Life

“So Ish-Bosheth gave orders and had her taken away from her husband Paltiel son of Laish. Her husband, however, went with her, weeping behind her all the way to Bahurim. Then Abner said to him, “Go back home!” So he went back.— 2 Samuel 3:15–16

Not many people have heard of the biblical character named Paltiel. His presence in the Bible is brief and not particularly memorable. He was the second husband of King Saul’s daughter Michal. Her father had given her to Paltiel after she had helped her husband, King David, escape from her father’s fury. As opposed to King David’s universally known heroism and might, Paltiel’s heroic act lies far beneath the surface, almost totally unknown.

The Scriptures tell us very little about Paltiel. He was Michal’s husband and when she was given back to King David, he “went with her, weeping behind her.” The Talmud teaches that Paltiel was not weeping because of the loss of his wife. In fact, we are taught, he knew all along that King David was Michal’s true husband, and so Paltiel never consummated their marriage. The reason Paltiel cried was because for the whole time that he was living with Michal, he was confronted with the difficult challenge of leaving her untouched. It took tremendous strength and daily discipline to restrain his desires. Now that she was gone, so was his challenge.

While most people spend their lives running away from difficulties or getting past them as quickly as possible, along comes Paltiel son of Laish and turns that sentiment inside out. Challenges aren’t something to wish away; they are something to long for!

http://www.holylandmoments.org/devotionals/riding-the-waves-of-life

“I have chosen thee in the furnace of affliction.” Isaiah 48:10

According to God‘s own testimony, it is “through much tribulation” that we are to enter into the kingdom; and therefore there is no entering into the kingdom of grace here or the kingdom of glory hereafter without it. But let this be ever borne in mind, that whatever affliction befall the saints, it is laid upon them by the hand of God, and that for the express purpose of putting them into a situation and of making them capable of receiving those comforts which God only can bestow. None but Jesus himself and the Father can comfort a truly afflicted heart. And he can and does from time to time comfort his dear people by a sense of his presence; by a word of power from his gracious lips; by the light of his countenance; by the balm of his atoning blood and dying love; and by the work and witness of the Spirit within. And as they receive this consolation from the mouth of God, their hearts are comforted. How good the Lord is of his own free grace to bestow such blessings upon his redeemed family! May he give us much of them! And may he wherever he has bestowed upon any of us everlasting consolation, or even a good hope through grace, comfort our hearts as we journey through this vale of tears, and may our consolations be neither few nor small.

http://devotionals.ochristian.com/j-c-philpot-daily-portions.shtml

 

The Glory That’s Unsurpassed

The Glory That’s Unsurpassed.

Keep Your Eye Fixed on Christ

Keep Your Eye Fixed on Christ.

Ordinary Versus Extraordinary

For more than a century, the pinnacle of golf has been to score 59—a score that had been recorded only three times in PGA Tour history before 2010. Then, in 2010, Paul Goydos scored a 59—only to be equaled a month later by Stuart Appleby’s 59. Consequently, some sportswriters speculated that the most coveted achievement in golf was now becoming commonplace! It’s amazing to see two 59s in the same season, but it would be a mistake to begin to view this as ordinary.

For those who follow Jesus Christ, it is also a mistake to view the remarkable as ordinary. Think about prayer for instance. At any moment we can talk to the Creator God who spoke the universe into existence! Not only are we welcomed into His presence, but we are invited to enter boldly: “Let us therefore come boldly to the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy and find grace to help in time of need” (Heb. 4:16).

There is nothing ordinary about access to God—yet sometimes we take this privilege for granted. He is almighty God, but He is also our Father who loves us and allows us to call on Him at any moment of any day. Now that’s extraordinary!

Our prayers ascend to heaven’s throne Regardless of the form we use; Our Father always hears His own Regardless of the words we choose. —D. De Haan

God is always available to hear the prayers of His children.

http://odb.org/2012/04/02/ordinary-versus-extraordinary/?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+odb%2Ffeed+%28Our+Daily+Bread%29

Tozer Devotional-Worshipers then Workers

Worshipers then Workers

The primary work of the Holy Spirit is to restore the lost soul to intimate fellowship with God through the washing of regeneration. To accomplish this He first reveals Christ to the penitent heart (1 Cor. 12:3). He then goes on to illumine the newborn soul with brighter rays from the face of Christ (John 14:26; 16:13-15) and leads the willing heart into depths and heights of divine knowledge and communion. Remember, we know Christ only as the Spirit enables us and we have only as much of Him as the Holy Spirit imparts. God wants worshipers before workers; indeed the only acceptable workers are those who have learned the lost art of worship. It is inconceivable that a sovereign and holy God should be so hard up for workers that He would press into service anyone who had been empowered regardless of his moral qualifications. The very stones would praise Him if the need arose and a thousand legions of angels would leap to do His will. Gifts and power for service the Spirit surely desires to impart; but holiness and spiritual worship come first

http://www.cmalliance.org/devotions/tozer?id=507

What We Do to Him · Max Lucado

What We Do to Him · Max Lucado.

The Ninth Station: Jesus Meets the Women of Jerusalem by Mark D. Roberts

Luke 23:27-31

A great number of the people followed him, and among them were women who were beating their breasts and wailing for him. But Jesus turned to them and said, “Daughters of Jerusalem, do not weep for me, but weep for yourselves and for your children. For the days are surely coming when they will say, ‘Blessed are the barren, and the wombs that never bore, and the breasts that never nursed.’ Then they will begin to say to the mountains, ‘Fall on us’; and to the hills, ‘Cover us.’ For if they do this when the wood is green, what will happen when it is dry?”

Luke 23:27-31

Growing up, I pictured the last week of Jesus’ life in stark, simple terms. Jerusalem, in my imagination, no doubt colored by Sunday school film strips, was a small town of maybe a few hundreds residents. All of these people came out to hail Jesus as king on Palm Sunday. Then, all of these same people showed up at Pilate’s palace to call for his crucifixion. Though I wasn’t an intentional anti-Semite, I believed that “the Jews” wanted Jesus dead because he claimed to be God.

Whenever I pictured Jesus meeting the women of Jerusalem along the Via Dolorosa, there were just two or three women, no doubt followers of Jesus, who were weeping for him. Meanwhile, the rest of the Jewish crowd was egging on the Roman soldiers, eager to see Jesus crucified.

But a few years ago I began to study the New Testament records of Jesus’ death with greater care. To my surprise, I saw things I had completely overlooked before, things that changed my perception of Jesus’ last hours.

For example, Luke 23:27 notes that “a great number of people followed [Jesus]” as he walked to Golgotha. Luke gives no indication that they were crying out for Jesus’ death. In fact, by mentioning the women weeping for Jesus, Luke implies that a “great number of the people” were upset by what was happening to him. There’s no evidence that that were egging on the Roman soldiers, as I once imagined. Luke makes this even clearer a few verses later, after Jesus’ death: “When all the crowds who had gathered there for this spectacle saw what had taken place, they returned home, beating their breasts” (Luke 23:48). This can only mean that the great majority of Jews who witnessed Jesus’ crucifixion were horrified, not happy, to see him die. They were certainly not among those who had earlier called for his crucifixion in Pilate’s courtyard.

The fact that only a small minority of Jews in Jerusalem actually wanted Jesus to be killed is confirmed by another passage in the Gospels that I had once overlooked. In Matthew, as Jesus is teaching in the temple during the days before his death, we read: “When the chief priests and the Pharisees heard his parables, they realized that he was speaking about them. They wanted to arrest him, but they feared the crowds, because they regarded him as a prophet” (Matthew 21:45-46).

The Jewish leaders wanted to arrest Jesus, but “they feared the crowds.” Why? Because the crowds “regarded him as a prophet” and, by implication, would have been horrified to see him arrested and crucified.

My close reading of the Gospels, combined with study of first-century Jewish history and culture, has corrected my youthful misunderstandings. I now recognize that Jerusalem wasn’t a small village, but a substantial city of perhaps 30,000 residents. During the Jewish holidays, such as Passover, the population would swell to as much as ten times this amount. This means that a tiny percentage of the Jews in Jerusalem actually called for the crucifixion of Jesus. His death was surely engineered by the Jewish leaders in collusion with Pilate and his Roman cohort. As far as we know, the vast majority of Jews in Jerusalem were horrified by what happened to Jesus.

I think it’s important for us to understand what really happened in the death of Jesus for a number of reasons, not the least of which is the sad history of anti-Semitism among Christians. For too long, it was acceptable to utter the familiar refrain, “The Jews killed Christ.” And for too long, many Christians used this as an excuse to persecute Jews who lived centuries after the death of Jesus, and who therefore had nothing to do with his death. In fact, some Jews were involved in the death of Jesus, mostly the leaders of Jerusalem. But Pontius Pilate alone had the authority to crucify Jesus. According to the Gospels, the majority of Jews who had any awareness of Jesus’ death were grieved, not glad. If we blame “the Jews” for the death of Christ, we’re making a mistake.

And, of course, we’re also missing the main point. Jesus did not die primarily as a helpless victim of Roman or Jewish injustice. He chose to die on the cross in faithfulness to the Father’s will so as to bear the sin of the world. If anyone is to blame for the death of Jesus, we are, because we have sinned. Thus in looking upon Jesus’ death, we join the women of Jerusalem in weeping, not only for Jesus, but also for ourselves. In the death of Jesus we see what we deserve and we rightly feel appalled.

Then the mystery of grace astounds us. We realize that Jesus is bearing our sin so that we might be forgiven, that he is dying in our place so that we might live in his place. We sense the wonder expressed in 2 Corinthians 5:21: “For our sake [God] made [Christ] to be sin who knew no sin, so that in him we might because the righteousness of God.” How amazing!

QUESTIONS FOR FURTHER REFLECTION: How have you pictured the events of Holy Week in your imagination? What shaped your vision? In what ways do you relate to the women who wept for Jesus?

PRAYER: Gracious God, to whatever extent there are remnants of anti-Semitism in me, please forgive me and cleanse my mind and heart. Help me not to blame others for the death of Jesus, but to see my own sin as sending him to the cross. Even more, help me to grasp the mystery of your grace, to see in the death of Jesus that which gives me life. May my weeping over the suffering of Jesus, and my sorrow over my own sin, turn to joy when I recognize the majesty of your mercy. Amen.

http://www.thehighcalling.org/reflection/ninth-station-jesus-meets-women-jerusalem