The Virtual Pew

The Inconvenient Truth of 24

Reviews by Mike Furches — Thu, 25 Jan 2007 17:13:00 +0000

I have recently become aware of the power of television and movies by listening to people on the internet and by listening to people with the strangest of bedfellows, politics and religion. It is with the blending of these two, often taboo subjects, that I have found an agenda that is often times hidden, and one weaved from the fabric of intentional lies or at the very least, misguided ignorance. This mistaken identity comes not just from a misguided understanding and agenda from the marriage of these two groups, but from the outer fringes of both groups that will seemingly stop at nothing to promote their agendas. This is seen no place better than what I will call; The Inconvenient Truth of 24.

Let me regress a little and tell you what I have observed regarding two recent media controversies, one being the Al Gore movie An Inconvenient Truth, and the other being the television show starring Kiefer Sutherland, 24.

Let's first look at An Inconvenient Truth. This documentary presented by Al Gore has many within the Religious Right, and Right Wing of the Republican party up in arms. It has them up in arms because of their perspective of the falsehoods presented by Gore in the documentary. There is after all a great deal of doubt from these groups regarding the concept of "Global Warming."

The film is basically a presentation that former presidential candidate and Vice President Al Gore does on Global Warning. In this movie, Gore, presents as scientific proof, events which he believes is leading to the destruction of the earth. The facts are that many of the worlds leading scientists agree with much of the presentation of Gore. The movie does a wonderful job at describing current climate trends in a language the average viewer can understand. While the film has garnished some debate, it has largely been from the religious and political right. I will not debate the science of the film, as I am not a scientist, but it is alarming at those who are debating the legitimacy of the film based not on what they know of science or religion, but based on what others are saying.

One of the alarming facts that one will soon discover if doing any research on this topic is that often those most critical of the film, have their own political and religious slants they want to persuade others of. In fact, it is alarming at the many, especially within the religious community who are critical of the film that hasn't even seen the film. They often use arguments centered on creation, the heresy of any scientific evidences in contrast to scripture, and more. What one quickly finds out in these types of discussions is that those perspectives are often perpetuated and pushed by a political agenda that has at its heart, more of a desire for power than it does truth. Unfortunately in this process, the religious right will sleep with strange bedfellows when gathering their information.

While this is not intended to attack any particular individual, certain names will be mentioned to help illustrate my point. Much of what is driven on the talk radio shows across the nation is driven by Rush Limbaugh. Limbaugh, an entertainer and political pundit who has gone through many areas of controversy in his own life. From numerous divorces to his own issues with prescription drug abuse, this individual has become for many, the spokesperson for the political and often times, "religious right." Now let me be clear on something, I like Rush Limbaugh, I see him as a great entertainer, I do not always support the things he says, and I certainly don't see him as a moral compass. That said, there is a real danger in the types of things he often says and does, for example, his constant attacks in the past on Algore, a play on the old horror character, Igor, as well as his constant misspeak of current political leaders where he confuses their names. An example would be Obama, Osama, where there is an obvious attempt to connect the person of Osama Bin Laden with Barak Obama.

In the presentation of views, often not based on science but, political agenda, it can be a dangerous thing when groups of people start listening to a source that at worse is filled with lies, and at best an attempt at political satire. Again, let me make clear, I like Limbaugh for what he is, a political satirist and radio entertainer. I do see terrific danger though in groups that use him as a major source of opinion. At that point, the fault lies not just with people like Limbaugh, Michael Savage, or Sean Hannity, but with those taking what they say for granted. Rest assured, this political promotion does not just exist within the conservative movement. There is enough vile and lies to go around for Air America and any other host of liberal commentators.

Another provider of "truth" for many within these particular groups is the Newspaper, The Washington Times. This especially drives the conservative political leaders out of Washington DC. Think about this, there are the Washington Post, which is more liberal in their political slant, and the Washington Times, which is more conservative in their political slant. It makes perfect sense that political leaders in Washington DC, from members of Congress including the House and Senate, up to the President, and supporting staff read the paper which most fits their own political agenda. While I could easily point out a number of issues with the Washington Post, I am addressing the conservatives at this point so will mainly address the issues related to The Washington Times.

There is no doubt as to the influence of the religious right on the political process. This influence, while being supportive of various candidates on both sides of the aisle at times, has largely, and primarily been supportive of the Republican Party. It has been said, that without the support of the Religious Right, the Republican Party has no chance of winning a national election. Most have a belief that this is primarily Christian, certainly Christians have this belief. Yet, when looking deeply at the issue, it is easy to see this is not always the case.

The truth is, many within the religious right, specifically within the Christian religious right have often had strange bedfellows. From Jerry Falwell, to Pat Robertson, and from Ted Haggard to James Dobson, these groups have joined in, in close association with others who many Christians have severe issues with. No better example of this exists than the association with the Washington Times, a major news publication having a tremendous political impact on legislators, specifically Republican. It is interesting because for many Christians, there are issues with cults, specifically those who are against the message of Jesus Christ. It should be understood here, the Washington Times, and many publications put out by the times is in fact owned and operated by one of the worlds largest cult leaders, Rev. Sun Myung Moon. In 2002 Moon said about this newspaper that it was, "the instrument in spreading the truth about God to the world." The question I ask, is whose truth? This newspaper has had a major influence on political leaders, many Christians have blindly accepted as speaking their truth. Many have allowed those same political leaders to influence their views on things such as Global Warming, and what is often presented as "Liberal Theology." It is sad most of these groups, don't understand, or accept the reality that much of what has been interpreted as political and religious truth, in fact comes from those who don't adhere to the same truths about their God.

How much of an impact has these groups, the religious, and political right had in recent through the influence of the Washington Times? One has to look no further than the last few weeks and the stories started about Barack Obama. From internet mass emails, to presentations on talk radio, and Fox television news, lies have been spread about Obama and his associations and the schools he attended. Insight Magazine, a magazine owned by, guess who, The Washington Times, recently ran a story stating that, "Barack attended a madrassah, or Muslim religious school, in Indonesia" For those that don’t know a madrassah is a school that promotes extreme Islamic behavior including Jihad. What occurred in the context of the article, later picked up on and promoted by Fox News, Rush Limbaugh and numerous mass emails, from guess who, Christians, was that Obama had close associations with Islam, and in fact was Muslim and had in the past supported numerous anti American agendas and practices, when in fact, none of this was the case.

I could dwell on that subject, but the intent of this article is not to be specific about this issue, but to more importantly address the base of knowledge for the populist, including Christians, and where they obtain their source of truth. With that being said, hopefully at this point, there is a point in fact that at least many on the side of the Political Right and Conservative Christian Thought, need to be more careful about their source of information.

I could go on and pick apart much of the perspectives held by these two groups. I suspect that if I did there would be a mass support of liberal thought that would come up and say things like, "Yea Mike, keep it up, way to go, you're exactly right." That would be nice in some ways, but I don't know if that would be the full basis of what my attempt here is. You see, the problem don't just exist with the Conservative, Religious Right Wing Political pundits. It exists on the left as well.

Recent news and opinion has come out attacking the television series 24 starring Kiefer Sutherland as nothing more than Right Wing Propaganda attempting to provide support for the War on Terror while at the same time dehumanizing the Muslim population and portraying the Democratic party as weak. As is evidenced by these reports I decided to do some research.

I have to admit, I have been a fan of 24 for some time. I love the intensity of the show and have always liked Kiefer Sutherland. I didn't see the show as anything promoting a political agenda and when the recent reports of the show started coming out I had to step back, pay attention, and give a close watch. I heard people like Limbaugh stepping back and supporting the show with what I thought was excellent analysis. I also saw, and heard, many within the more liberal leaning facets of religion and politics stepping back and attacking the show for its agenda, stating things like, "After all we can know it is a ploy by Murdock and his right wing Fox Television to support the war because after all, Limbaugh likes the show, so it must be a Republican Right Wing ploy." The mud started flying and the accusations about the show were as far fetched as one could think.

While being a fan of the show, I had always watched the show on DVD almost a year after presentation on television because I enjoyed the no commercials and shorter time. I also believe that much of today's television lends itself to be more enjoyable in a DVD format. This is especially true with the continuation stories much like 24. With that said, I decided to go to www.fox.com and watch the episodes from this year so far on their on line free web casts of the television shows. What I had heard, and what I actually saw made no sense to me.

Many have been critical in this season's episode because there is a terror attack on America that eventually leads to a nuclear explosion and the threat of more. Suddenly, as if the television show could prevent this from happening, perspectives were being given that seemed to imply, that the president in the show was a African American Democrat who had little power and was in fact gutless. Now understand, this is what many liberal Christians and politicians were saying that the show was implying. It was as if we suddenly had a personal attack against politicians, against the Democratic party, and specifically, as some believed, towards Barack Obama.

I have to be honest; I don't know where this criticism comes from. From what I have seen in the shows so far, all as of today's date is that the president while black is the brother of another former president. I don't know or it certainly hasn't been mentioned in the show so far as to what his political affiliation is. Therefore, the association that he is a weak Democrat comes from I don't know where. I also don't see the president or his administration as weak. I personally see them as facing a tragedy no one has had to deal with before. I am confident that this show being used as an attack on the Republican Party in unjust criticism. I continue to be amazed at how both ends of the political spectum turns little things like this into major news stories and thus ends up getting political mileage out of it.

Liberal approaches, hypocrisy, and tactics weren't just invented though. I have to wonder why this type of complaint, about a television show supposedly tearing down a political view wasn't addressed during shows like The West Wing, and others that seemed to support a liberal political perspective. I am confident these things didn't occur because it wasn't in their best political interest to address these types of shows.

Here is my concern for today and my admonition if you will. Am I the only one that takes offense that both ends of the political and religious spectrum seem to think that I and the rest of the populace are idiots? I realize some puppets will believe whatever they are told without close investigation. I believe there are exceptions though, I for one, and I believe many others, are intelligent enough to search for facts and discover truth. Now I realize this is getting much more difficult in the world we live in, but I refuse to become a puppet on a string, controlled and manipulated by someone who thinks they are all that, up above me, and able to control my every move. While I have come to expect this type of behavior from some who are the great manipulators, I take offense at those who do these things in the "Name of Jesus."

For those of us who are Christian, we are called to be better, and do better than this. From a Biblical mandate in Genesis, we are commanded to take care of the earth God has given us, not make excuses. We get so caught up in the political end of things that we fail to see the destruction of the very planet, in all capacities, that God gave us to care for. We don't care about the hunger in Somalia, we don't care about the vanishing ocean life so critical to our planets ecological system, and we don't seem to care about the destruction of the worlds forests, so critical to the production of appropriate oxygen sources. Why don't we care? Because they don't seem to fit into a political agenda driven by those who in reality have nothing in common with the God we pretend to worship. Don't take me wrong here, I am aware there needs to be truth on both sides of the spectrum, but we need to test the spirits, test the truth as we are instructed to do in Scripture. We need to do this regarding our environment; we need to do this regarding political truths and untruths. The book of James is very clear on issues like this, as is the entirety of scripture. We read, don't take the name of the Lord in vain, yet, we don't see that James says our word is everything about our integrity, and thus we end up speaking lies before discovering truth. The sad thing is, often times we do not even attempt to find truth.

I am unapologetically Anabaptist in my theology. My faith system has a great deal to say about the mixing of political and Christian concepts. I wish more people saw the political system for what it is. While it has the potential to do good, it also has the potential to do evil. One thing for certain, I am confident we are called as Christians to support our governments when they do something good, and speak out when they do something evil. Unfortunately many see the political system and the political parties as, "Of God." or "Not of God." I believe the truth of it is that the political system has the inability of being "Christian" because it doesn't have a soul. It simply is, which we are to respect, but we need to realize that as Christians our primary citizenship is not with the particular country we live in, our primary citizenship is a "Heavenly" citizenship centered on the person of Jesus Christ. Our obligation to truth is greater, God don't play word games, and he doesn’t make inappropriate comparisons based on things he has heard and not seen. Our faith is in Christ whom we have not seen, but our actions and words are to be based on knowledge, and from testing. When going on faith, we need to make sure that the thing we put our faith in is deserving. For me, that certainly isn't a political system that has shown a history of being inconsistent.

There is another danger though, one I didn't touch on and one that could be the most critical. That danger is those presenting their far fetched ideas and views without searching for truth, whether by watching the movies, the television shows, the research and proofs that they argue so strongly against. This presents a danger ultimately destructive to both the political and religious concepts. Those arguing their particular points, without the research, are in essence saying, I am right on these issues and you are wrong. Not only are they saying this, without knowledge, they in fact discourage knowledge because they are encouraging people to take what they say for granted. This becomes a serious attack on free thought, and ultimately something in America that should be held dear, free speech.

It is amazing at the Religious, and Political swayed individuals that focus more on a point of debate, than they do on the ultimate truth or intent to seek truth. For the religious person, it is no different than the aspect of free thought sought out by many reformers during the reformation. For the politically minded, it is no different than the aspect of freedom sought out by free thinkers like Washington, Franklin, Jefferson and so many others. Hopefully, some day, people will have their eyes opened, not by what others have said, but by what they have experienced from the study of political systems, and for Christians by the study of the Bible. If God was capable of giving the words to a fisherman to write down, he is certainly capable enough to give you a mind that can understand what you are reading. Read the Bible in its context, at get this, without the assistance of the commentaries. Nothing wrong with them in their place, but, nothing wrong with seeing what God will do in helping you understand the Bible on your own either.

I am calling on all Christians, and all citizens, to quit basing their political, and religious agendas on the things you hear, base them instead, on the things you have seen, and come to know as fact. Don't let the extreme right or left wing be your puppet master, instead let God be your master, realizing that he gives you liberty and freedom to use the brain he gave you to discover truth. Don't fall for the lies many would have you believe, but get caught up instead in the web of truth God provides in the ability to use your brain and your intellect.

Now for those that do not know, make sure you check out the numerous articles and blogs by checking out the archives. If visiting The Virtual Pew or MySpace they are archived on the left hand side of the page. Scroll down to where you see newer or older listed under archives and then click there. There are numerous postings, and you will have to go into the archives to see the 100 plus postings over the last months.

Now I also want to remind you that you can visit http://www.thevirtualpew.com/ and on the front page scroll down to the left hand side of the page where you sill see our store. Your purchases through our Amazon store provides needed funds to The Virtual Pew. If you do not see something on the page to buy, you can click on the search engine for the store, (do not put anything in the search box at this time) and you will then be taken to Amazon where you can search for anything you desire. Hopefully you will consider a gift to The Virtual Pew and/or at the very least shop our store. The items on the store page are highly recommended.

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To become a part of The Virtual Pew, visit, http://www.thevirtualpew.com/ To learn more about me visit http://www.furches.org/ I am also active on MySpace at: http://www.myspace.com/mikefurches I have another blog at http://blog.myspace.com/mikefurches To visit the Hollywood Jesus group at MySpace with membership by numerous Hollywood Jesus reviewers visit: http://groups.myspace.com/hollywoodjesus For a more in depth weekly study and conversation you an visit: http://virtualpewsermon.blogspot.com/ where you can access deeper teaching and ultimately videos for viewing and teaching. You can also subscribe to the newsletter at http://www.thevirtualpew.com/ or see the newsletter on line at http://thevirtualpewnews.blogspot.com/ You can also sign up for the free newsletter from The Virtual Pew by visiting the main page for The Virtual Pew, or you can see the newsletters online by visiting this web site: http://thevirtualpewnews.blogspot.com/ You can contact me via email at mike@furches.org or mike@thevirtualpew.com For those interested in knowing more about my own story, contact me for a free e-copy of my book The Keystone Kid in pre-edit form.

Adoption, Former Leader Article

Reviews by Mike Furches — Mon, 22 Jan 2007 22:37:00 +0000

Here is another Blast from the Past I wanted to share with you. It is a great story about the difference one family made in the lives of numerous children. An interesting tid-bit is that shortly after I wrote this article, the Hudgeons family adopted another child. We can all make a difference, the question is, are we? For this family it was providing homes for children, for someone else it may be taking meals to a Senior Citizen or maybe serving a meal at a homeless shelter. Then again, we can serve each other in the simplest of ways, maybe watching the children of a young couple with not much money at no charge, shucks even give them a gift of child care, a nice dinner and a movie, you can do all of that for out of pocket expense of around $30-$50, we provide those types of help here at The Virtual Pew. The point is, this family has made a tremendous difference in the lives of the children they have adopted. If you read between the lines, you can even read about the birth mothers who they have served. You can make a difference as well, the question is not if you can though, but will you? Enjoy getting to know this great family.

The Hudgeon's Family
The Christian Leader
July 2001
Mike Furches
Copyright 2001

It's Saturday morning and things are hectic at the Hudgeons house. Samuel and Michael are getting ready for soccer. Nine year old Samuel is the analytical one of the two brothers. He enjoys science and reading. Michael, his younger birth brother is 7 years old, is the exact opposite of his brother. The boys are of Korean decent and outside of the two enjoying soccer they are like not much alike. Michael enjoys playing in the mud, working with tools and building things. He is aggressive and it's not unusual for him to take down a player twice his size in a soccer game.

Emily, the same age as Michael, is turning cartwheels in the driveway as her dad, Dean, finishes packing the mini van with supplies for the soccer game. Emily is a child of Mulatto origins, her birth parents where from Caucasian and African American backgrounds. Emily enjoys dance and is involved in gymnastics. She is quite at first but loosens up after awhile.

Emily has two younger sisters, three year old Aunah, an African American, and two year old Abbey who is Caucasian. Aunah is the most outspoken child, not afraid to speak her mind. She enjoys playing with her sisters. On the other hand, Abbey is quiet and shy. She is currently being cleaned up from breakfast prior to the soccer game by her mother, Jeanette. Abbey enjoys playing with her dolls. Even though they are only a year apart in age they are quite the opposite.

It is a busy Saturday morning for this family with 5 children ranging from age 2 - 9 from 4 different racial backgrounds. It is a remarkable journey from the time that Dean and Jeanette were told they would not be able to have biological children.

Dean and Jeanette are a Caucasian couple in their mid thirties who had dreamed of having children of their own. After trying for a couple of years they finally saw several doctors who told them about several medical options that were available. They were quite expensive and had a low success rate. "It was really hard for me because even though I had my college degree and was working , I never really wanted to be a career woman. My goal was to be a mom, a wife and a mother." Jeanette would recall, "Dean was the one who took my hand and led me down that adoption road." Dean, a bank trust officer, sees his family as his first ministry. "Making sure that we are raising them to know the Lord and raising them to honor God."

"God led us to some friends who lived in Topeka, Kansas who had adopted 3 children. We saw the wonderful family that the Lord had put together and the Lord opened our hearts." Jeanette states still showing the joy of the process.

The Hudgeons family would begin the process of application that started with Life Choice Ministries in Manhattan, Kansas. This ministry, a pro-life agency, provided assistance in the adoption of each of their children. In the early stages of adoption when presented with what types of children to adopt Jeanette describes, "After a lot of prayer, we decided that we didn’t want to tie God's hands. We wanted to be open to whatever child God placed in our home."

The Hudgeons placed their initial application for adoption in June and heard back from the agency in September. Their first adopted child was Emily. Emily's birth mother wanted an open adoption. The birth parent was able to look through a list of applicants and actually choose the couple she wanted to adopt her child. She chose the Hudgeons but there was still some fear. Jeanette detailed one of her concerns, "Was the birth mom going to change her mind?" Aunah, the cute 3 year old jumps in the conversation to reassure her mom, "She didn't change her mind."

With the adoption the birth mother, Dean and Jeanette each selected three male names and three female names. They were surprised that on each list of names was Emily, this despite not seeing each others list. The birth mother wanted to give Emily her middle name and chose Elaine which is also Jeanette's middle name which the birth mother did not know. Not only was this confirmation to the birth mother but Jeanette saw this as, "kind of a sign of God's seal of approval." Dean and Jeanette took Emily to her new home the day after being born.

When adopting Samuel and Michael, biological siblings, they had less than 30 minutes notice. They received a phone call from their attorney and dropped immediately to their knees and started praying. Dean asked Jeanette right after their prayer, "What do you think?" "These are our sons." Jeanette would reply. The next day they had 2 new sons.

Samuel and Michael were an answer to prayer for Jeanette. She had been praying for twins and shortly after receiving Michael and Samuel she realized that Michael and Emily where both the same age and they quickly became like twins.

Aunah became a member of the Hudgeons family shortly after her sister Emily had been praying for a younger sister. Emily recalls, "I wanted a sister to sleep with, but I don’t want to sleep with her now." A typical big sister reaction as Emily and Aunah start teasing each other.

Emily's prayers did not seem to be answered right away. Dean and Jeanette had found out they would be receiving a son, named Talon. They picked Talon up and after 8 days in the family the birth mother decided before the final papers were signed that she did not want to give him up and took him back. This would be a down time for the family. Their church, friends and family would begin praying for the family. Two weeks later the Hudgeons were notified that Aunah's birth mother would be giving birth in about 2 months and had selected them as the adoptive parents.

It would be hard to imagine the Hudgeons family without Aunah. She is outspoken 100% African American and a joy to be around. The 3 year old is emphatic about letting one know that she "wants grape juice and communion." The relationship that has developed between the birth mother and the Hudgeons is also exceptional.

The Hudgeons were confronted with various beliefs related to adoption and abortion through Aunah's adoption. Aunah's birth mother became pregnant after being raped. Jeanette explained her opinion on this issue, "Some had said that abortion is wrong except in the case of rape but God put us face to face with that. It was like God had a plan for this child. This baby was not a mistake. Even though Satan meant this for evil, God is going to use this for good. Life is sacred and even though she might not have been conceived in the ideal circumstances she was not a mistake."

Aunah's adoption, like all of the other adoptions was an open adoption. Jeanette begin to develop a relationship with Aunah's birth mother and grandmother, even attending the doctor's visits during the pregnancy., Jeanette was also present during the birth. Aunah, the Hudgeons, and the birth mother have become a testimony to almost everyone they meet. Together they share their story across the Tulsa Community in churches, women's groups, public schools and more. They tell how the birth mother was going to have an abortion but after being told that she had to wait for 7 weeks she changed her mind. Instead, as Jeanette describes it, she made a "sacrifice of love for Aunah." "We are so proud that our birth mothers chose the path they did as opposed to abortion. God has strengthened our faith because we have seen God at work. Our open adoptions are not coparenting. They totally let us be the parents. They know that is our role and that is what they want us to do." Aunah's birth mother and grandmother visit on a regular basis and the birth mother is also now enrolled on a scholarship in music and drama at a local university.

When Dean discusses the positive aspects of open adoption and how that Aunah has been released to the Hudgeons family Aunah jumps in an emphatic tone, "I don't belong to mom and dad, I belong to Jesus. Now come on."

Two year old Abbey is the youngest and the only Caucasian child in the family. Her birth mother, 15 at the time, was involved in a church and decided that it would be best to give her up for adoption. She called the Hudgeons on December 3rd telling them that she had signed over papers for them to adopt her. This day was Dean's birthday and while the Hudgeons where not in the adoption process they knew this was a gift from God. They recognized the gift of love from the birth mother. "It was such a selfless decision out of love for Abbey. She knew the pain it was going to cause but wanted the best for Abbey." Jeanette describes.

While it is clear that the Hudgeons family has been blessed with a family, it has not been without difficulty. One of the areas the family has had to learn is methods of their children's skin and hair care. The open adoption process has helped a great deal with this. Dean is quick to point out that those are things that are learned rather quickly. He even points out that "even people of the same race have different hair and skin types."

Dean and Jeanette are often asked about the involvement in educating each child of their heritage. The fact that they home school 3 of their children and eventually will all 5 makes this easier. Home schooling allows them to establish the curriculum and some of the birth parents have also assisted in the integration of each child's culture. Dean quickly point out, "We don't want to over do that though because we don't want them to think that we're different. We have our own Hudgeons traditions." He goes on explaining, "We don't want our children to feel like they are in compartments. They are a part of the whole. Our first heritage is that we're God's children, after that we're Hudgeons, then Jeanette's family is Stigge's . We are making our own heritage and it is whatever God makes it. It is fun to explore, Africa, Korea and everything else that is a part of our biological background but really our spiritual heritage is what is important and that is what we try to highlight."

Jeanette adds in "We don't downplay anything about how God made Aunah or any of the other children." Dean then jokingly adds, "Yea we celebrate Aunah's hair for about an hour and a half every week."

Dean and Jeanette are also quick to point out the difficulty they had with some of their family, especially after the adoption of their first child Emily. Deans grandfather at first "disowned", him. After a long and difficult discussion with his grandfather Dean explained that the adoption was something they "just had to do and it was the right thing to do."

His grandfather had been active in, and grown up in the church and it was something Jeanette describes as, "We just didn't see it coming." "He had grown up in Colorado and had had virtually no contact with minorities whatsoever."

Dean explained that although there are still some difficulties and things are far from perfect, "the blessing came later on when he began to see all of our children as children of God and there was absolutely no difference except for a little difference of skin tone. It was an incredible blessing to us and later he actually affirmed our family and we had discussions where he essentially said I was wrong and you were right. For someone of that generation to say they were wrong was quite a big deal."

Jeanette going into additional detail, now filled with tears of emotion, "To think that a 80 year old man, set in his ways, and see God began to change him, we have seen God do that. He, (God), can change someone's heart like that. You know if people don’t come face to face with it, (racism), if they don't have to confront it a lot of times they will go through their whole lives and they will never have to deal with, 'How do I feel about people of a different race?' I think our family didn't know what it was going to be like because they had never been put in a situation but it is so neat to see how they have just embraced our kids and loved them."

It was during a Thanksgiving dinner when Aunah was sitting on Jeanette's fathers lap that she observed him sharing a cup and spoon with him that she realized how far people could come if they just took the chance.

Dean believes that "for a long time Christians were a big part of the problem in regard to racial relations. Scriptures that were used to support racism were taken out of context. Today a lot of churches are leading the way to restore racial relationships. Our church Westport Mennonite Brethren has been wonderful. One of the positives is that it's just no big deal that we have the family we do. They, (Westport) don’t over react and try to over compensate. They just don't make a big deal about it and that is one of the best things they can do. Our church doesn't over react, we’re just a family, another family in the church, another family with an extraordinary God."

The Hudgeons openly admit that they don't know what the future holds in regards to additional children. "The Lord is too big for us to say it can't be done or shouldn't be done. If the Lord puts it in our heart we'll know, it's been clear each time. Abbey and Aunah are still pretty little, we want to give them all that we can but we want to be open to what God has for us." Jeanette describes, Dean adds in with a smile, "The answer to that is that we don’t know." Dean also adds, "America is badly in need of parents who care passionately about their kids and are willing to make them their top priority. I hope that the passion that we have for our kids encourages people to be patient parents whether they have natural or adopted children. Children are a gift of God. Hopefully, parents will see that parenting really is the number one occupation."

Jeanette reflects on their journey thus far, "When times were difficult and we wanted children there was a verse near the kitchen sink that gave us comfort. Jeremiah 29:11-13." Jeanette then quoted the verse from memory, "For I know the plans I have for you, declares the Lord, plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future. Then you will call upon me and come and pray to me, and I will listen to you. You will seek me and find me when you seek me with all your heart." She quotes the verse perfectly as her son Samuel recites it with her.

For complete edited version contact The Christian Leader, Hillsboro Kansas. Not to be used without permission from the author and publisher.

Now this video is not of the Hudgeons Family, but it is a great video to show the effects of adoption. I can tell you from personal experience regarding the adoption of our son, it is something I will never regret, what a gift from God.

Now for those that do not know, make sure you check out the numerous articles and blogs by checking out the archives. If visiting The Virtual Pew or MySpace they are archived on the left hand side of the page. Scroll down to where you see newer or older listed under archives and then click there. There are numerous postings, and you will have to go into the archives to see the 100 plus postings over the last months.

Now I also want to remind you that you can visit http://www.thevirtualpew.com/ and on the front page scroll down to the left hand side of the page where you sill see our store. Your purchases through our Amazon store provides needed funds to The Virtual Pew. If you do not see something on the page to buy, you can click on the search engine for the store, (do not put anything in the search box at this time) and you will then be taken to Amazon where you can search for anything you desire. Hopefully you will consider a gift to The Virtual Pew and/or at the very least shop our store. The items on the store page are highly recommended.

Contact and Giving Information

Oh Yea, here is that contact information again.

The Virtual Pew
P.O. Box 17731
Wichita, KS 67217

Or you van give on line via Pay Pal at: http://www.furches.org/donations/index.html

To become a part of The Virtual Pew, visit, http://www.thevirtualpew.com/ To learn more about me visit http://www.furches.org/ I am also active on MySpace at: http://www.myspace.com/mikefurches I have another blog at http://blog.myspace.com/mikefurches To visit the Hollywood Jesus group at MySpace with membership by numerous Hollywood Jesus reviewers visit: http://groups.myspace.com/hollywoodjesus For a more in depth weekly study and conversation you an visit: http://virtualpewsermon.blogspot.com/ where you can access deeper teaching and ultimately videos for viewing and teaching. You can also subscribe to the newsletter at http://www.thevirtualpew.com/ or see the newsletter on line at http://thevirtualpewnews.blogspot.com/ You can also sign up for the free newsletter from The Virtual Pew by visiting the main page for The Virtual Pew, or you can see the newsletters online by visiting this web site: http://thevirtualpewnews.blogspot.com/ You can contact me via email at mike@furches.org or mike@thevirtualpew.com For those interested in knowing more about my own story, contact me for a free e-copy of my book The Keystone Kid in pre-edit form

The Turtle or Snail?

Reviews by Mike Furches — Wed, 24 Jan 2007 12:06:00 +0000

One of the things I really don't understand is people who blog, but only allow certain select friends see those blogs. Now don't get me wrong, I understand why on occasion one would want to have private messages be just that, private, but one of the analogies I have often used, is a great song isn't worth very much if people don't have the opportunity to hear it.

I suspect there are different reasons one would choose to be silent in their thoughts and musings. One of them is that they are afraid of what people will think. But this perspective seems to be quite selfish, and in all honesty, quite defeating. In fact, I would encourage people to open up, be themselves, don't worry about what others think. Well at least don't dwell on what others think, I do believe that it is human nature to try and please others, there is a sense of serving others and helping others that we in fact have to unlearn as we are growing up.

Then there are those who for whatever reason choose to live in their own secret world, keeping their close nit group of friends and not welcoming anyone else in. I guess for those, that is okay, but what a lonely life those people must live. I can't imagine never meeting new people, never exploring new territory and new thoughts. I believe the human mind was developed by God to keep on learning, to keep on progressing. It is one of the beautiful things about getting older. I know more because I have experienced and learned more. There is no way I could have done that without coming into more contact with more people.

I also think people are afraid of confrontation. I guess this is a legitimate reason that some keep their thoughts private, but I am saddened that this really says something about the fact that individual human beings can't deal with confrontation. In other words, it is as if we don't have room to disagree without some big argument taking place and we taking the disagreements as personal attacks. I think on this point there is a lot of maturing to take place on the part of humanity. I have learned lessons here more so from the movie reviews I do than anything. It was a great tool to learn that I can disagree about a movie I feel passionately about with someone and still get along with them. Sure I will argue my point, and even at times the attack on my end have become personal, but I learned and grew through that. I know that if I can most anyone else can.

Here is the challenge for all people, if you write, let others read it. If you sing, let others hear the song. If you have a voice, share it with those around you. If you have a life, live it with those you come into contact with. If you breathe, share the air around you with all of those you come into contact with. Life is too short to go through it living in a shell like we are some kind of turtle or snail. Every now again, we have to stick our heads out, take a chance, and shred our shell. It is only as we share in life that we can truly experience the full benefit of life.

Truth is, I try to understand and befriend people, but when I see some that only share with their close interment friends, not only I but anyone else who wants to learn is cut off, maybe I am the problem for wanting to get to know people. I don't know. I do know I have people ask me, how have you developed so many friends? Part of the answer to that is easy, I love music so I have a lot of musical oriented friends, some who are real friends, but the other thing is in reality not easy, but it is worthwhile. I try to be vested in the lives with those I come into contact with, in other words, I try to be a real friend. As I try to pick back up over this week, I have had 4 phone calls, and had to respond to over 30 emails, just this week. I suspect that will increase today as I already know I have two more phone calls today to interact with people, and friends, and will likely have at least another 10 emails to respond to on various things from wrestling to substance abuse. I have never regretted trying to be a friend, well maybe once, but I'll get over it.

I know we aren't all the same, and that is a good thing, but it would be nice if we all tried to get along, and that won't happen unless we are willing to share. We wonder why countries can't get along and stop the violence, maybe; just maybe, we have to learn to do that with each other first. If we can't share and love on a one to one basis, I don't know why we think countries can ever do that. These are just thoughts to ponder for the day. Blessings to you and don't be afraid to open up, I think you might like what you find. There is a beautiful world outside of that shell.

Now for those that do not know, make sure you check out the numerous articles and blogs by checking out the archives. If visiting The Virtual Pew or MySpace they are archived on the left hand side of the page. Scroll down to where you see newer or older listed under archives and then click there. There are numerous postings, and you will have to go into the archives to see the 100 plus postings over the last months.

Now I also want to remind you that you can visit www.thevirtualpew.com and on the front page scroll down to the left hand side of the page where you sill see our store. Your purchases through our Amazon store provides needed funds to The Virtual Pew. If you do not see something on the page to buy, you can click on the search engine for the store, (do not put anything in the search box at this time) and you will then be taken to Amazon where you can search for anything you desire. Hopefully you will consider a gift to The Virtual Pew and/or at the very least shop our store. The items on the store page are highly recommended.

Contact and Giving Information

Oh Yea, here is that contact information again.

The Virtual Pew
P.O. Box 17731
Wichita, KS 67217

Or you van give on line via Pay Pal at: http://www.furches.org/donations/index.html

To become a part of The Virtual Pew, visit, http://www.thevirtualpew.com/ To learn more about me visit http://www.furches.org/ I am also active on MySpace at: http://www.myspace.com/mikefurches I have another blog at http://blog.myspace.com/mikefurches To visit the Hollywood Jesus group at MySpace with membership by numerous Hollywood Jesus reviewers visit: http://groups.myspace.com/hollywoodjesus For a more in depth weekly study and conversation you an visit: http://virtualpewsermon.blogspot.com/ where you can access deeper teaching and ultimately videos for viewing and teaching. You can also subscribe to the newsletter at www.thevirtualpew.com or see the newsletter on line at http://thevirtualpewnews.blogspot.com/ You can also sign up for the free newsletter from The Virtual Pew by visiting the main page for The Virtual Pew, or you can see the newsletters online by visiting this web site: http://thevirtualpewnews.blogspot.com/ You can contact me via email at mike@furches.org or mike@thevirtualpew.com For those interested in knowing more about my own story, contact me for a free e-copy of my book The Keystone Kid in pre-edit form.

A Blast from the Past, Addicitions

Reviews by Mike Furches — Thu, 18 Jan 2007 16:43:00 +0000

I was motivated to write this article, published in 2001 shortly after a dear friend of mine recessed back into his alcoholism. It was around this time of year, that this dear friend got drunk one night, fell asleep in his house while smoking a cigarette and ended dying in a house fire. This dear friend had recently split up with his wife because of the families own inability to deal with this rehash of addiction. I write this in his memory. He was a member of the worship band I played in and was a dear friend. I firmly believe that he loved God, but just didn't have the resources to deal with his addiction. May each of us, see, help, and love those we know who face addictions. May we be a reflection of the love God has for them, and may we present that love in a way that they will receive, knowing all along the way, they are the ones responsible for their actions, not we, but they.

Addictions Breaking the Habit
Christian Leader
May, 2001
Michael A. Furches
Copyright 2001

Why would someone choose to follow a habit that is self destructive? In many ways that is exactly what an addiction is, a bad habit that can become self destructive. Researchers have discovered that it takes approximately 21 days to develop a habit. For many, their habits are worthwhile habits like praying, going to church, reading the Bible, exercise, and more. Others have habits like smoking, alcohol use, drugs, and overeating. Bad habits often become addictions. When a person practices a habit that is self destructive we often ask, "Why? Can't they just quit?" The questions we sometimes ask shows the lack of understanding for what the individual with addictions is going through. Many Christians often place the blame on the individuals who live with addictions and we offer little or no help at helping them overcome those addictions

The National Institute of Health has identified that 1 in 10 Americans are addicted to alcohol. When looking at various drugs, including both legal and illegal drugs such as nicotine and over the counter prescriptions, that number goes to approximately 1 in 6. Despite what many believe many addictions, including alcoholism and drug abuse are at epidemic levels. If our churches mirror the communities they exist in, and if we are seeking to save the lost in our communities, we must be prepared to assist those who have addictions.

There are many reasons people follow their addictions. There is clear, indisputable evidence that many alcoholics have a predisposition to the disease. Hereditary, plays a factor as to why some become more easily addicted than others. The environment and community one lives in also has a major influence. Many are looking for a means of escape from the world around them, while others are influenced by peer pressure. Some individuals may use drugs, such as crack or heroin only one time before developing a physical and/or psychological addiction. Others, who have previous addictions can easily fall back into those addictions if they give into the temptation, even if just one time. This is true for any addiction. Without the help of Jesus Christ, close friends, a community of supporters and individual will power one will have difficulty overcoming their addiction.

The most effective programs helping with addictions have as a core ingredient, reliance upon God. Most 12 step programs such as Alcoholics Anonymous (AA) and Narcotics Anonymous (NA) were originally rooted not only in God but specifically Jesus Christ. While there is reward in this approach there is also a danger. Many who have gone through 12 step programs believe that because of their involvement they have the support and help from God. While recognition of God is vital and necessary, a belief in God does not mean one has the assistance of Christ and the Holy Spirit or that they have a relationship with Him.

Matthew 7: 21-23 is a clear indication from Christ. Many think they know Him, but in reality do not. "Not every one who says to me, 'Lord, Lord,' will enter the kingdom of heaven; but he who does the will of My Father who is in heaven. Many will say to me on that day, 'Lord, Lord did we not prophesy in your name and in your name cast our demons, and in your name perform many miracles?' And then I will declare to them, 'I never knew you; DEPART FROM ME YOU WHO PRACTICE LAWLESSNESS.'

In Scripture wine is used in celebrations, as medicine and casual drink so it is difficult to support total abstinence of alcohol with these examples. However, it is very easy to see the numerous references to the sins of being drunk, being a glutton and numerous other behaviors that support an addictive lifestyle. It is also important to look at Scriptural examples of not leading others into temptation. Knowing of the hereditary and disease related issues with various addictions we, as Christians, should set good examples for those around us being careful to not lead them into temptation.

Knowing of the Scriptural references of addiction sins, and then continuing in that behavior one must realize that he is ultimately serving his physical desires as opposed to his spiritual needs. Paul explains in Romans 13: 13,14 "Let us behave properly as in the day, not in carousing and drunkenness, not in sexual promiscuity and sensuality, not in strife and jealousy. But put on the Lord Jesus Christ, and make no provision for the flesh in regard to its lusts." Our appearance and actions should mirror those of Jesus; our focus is on Him, not ourselves.

Persons with addictions understand all too well the words in Proverbs 23: 29-35. It is almost as if the Psalmist had an alcohol addiction. There are the familiar descriptions of sorrow and destruction that comes with being intoxicated. Anyone struggling with an addiction can read these words and relate.

Those with addictions know about the destruction they are leading themselves into. Christ also knew, and made an effort to reach out to, love, and save those who lived in sin. He, was Himself, accused of being a glutton and drunkard, in part because He loved the addicted enough to make the effort to spend time with them, in their environment, loving them, seeking relationship and ultimately dying for each persons sin. "The Son of Man came eating and drinking, and they say, 'Behold, a gluttonous man and a drunkard, a friend of tax-gatherers and sinners!' Yet wisdom is vindicated by her deeds." Matthew 11:19. For many it is a matter of looking them in the eye and saying, "I love you, let me help."

The first Bible verse that many learn is John 3:16, "For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish, but have eternal life." The ultimate truth of God's love exemplified in this verse is as much for those facing addictions as those who have grown up in church. The lasting implications of that truth should not be lost, especially by those facing addictions. For those having friends who suffer from addictions we should constantly strive to assist them in understanding God's love for them. John 10:10 states in part, "…I came that they might have life, and might have it abundantly." Christ would choose that we have life in Him. Life we don't have while being controlled by substances or actions that take us away from our families, self-control, the church, and ultimately Him.

One of the traps of addictions is that many of those addicted think it is still possible to have a life in Christ while at the same time being trapped by their addiction. Numerous passages of Scripture tell us otherwise including, Colossians 3:1-5,

Slavery still exists; the question is; Are we a slave to our sins and addictions or are we free? Are we working with the addicted person, whether they be family or friends? Are we helping provide a route of escape to stay in their addictions by making excuses for them? It is important that you love them fully, but that you also let them receive the consequences of their sin. For many it is only from living with, seeing, and understanding that their sin has consequences that they are motivated to not repeat their sin.

Copyright 2001
For the finished and edited version contact The Christian Leader, Hillsboro Kansas
No part of this story can be used without written permission of Mike Furches and The Christian Leader, Hillsboro Kansas.

The following video is from the Jim Carroll Band and was in the movie Basketball Diaries with Leonardo DeCaprio. It is a great movie that shows the horror of addictions. When I was with the band Route 66 we used to do this song on a regular basis with two additional verses I wrote for the song, all with real people, describing real events.

The two verses I wrote with the song were

Cherry got stabbed from a deal gone bad
Darryl used a bullet Dinky Od'd
Sarah passed on from huffing Pam
Jeff took a leap off a bridge indeed
All my friends who died on me
These are my friends who died

Your friend Eddy must have been a good man
My best friend his name was Stan
A musician, writer and a thinker too
Stan didn't know what to do.
So he took a shot gun put it to his head
Now my friend named Stan is dead.

Now for those that do not know, make sure you check out the numerous articles and blogs by checking out the archives. If visiting The Virtual Pew or MySpace they are archived on the left hand side of the page. Scroll down to where you see newer or older listed under archives and then click there. There are numerous postings, and you will have to go into the archives to see the 100 plus postings over the last months.

Now I also want to remind you that you can visit http://www.thevirtualpew.com/ and on the front page scroll down to the left hand side of the page where you sill see our store. Your purchases through our Amazon store provides needed funds to The Virtual Pew. If you do not see something on the page to buy, you can click on the search engine for the store, (do not put anything in the search box at this time) and you will then be taken to Amazon where you can search for anything you desire. Hopefully you will consider a gift to The Virtual Pew and/or at the very least shop our store. The items on the store page are highly recommended.

Contact and Giving InformationOh Yea, here is that contact information again.

The Virtual Pew
P.O. Box 17731
Wichita, KS 67217

Or you van give on line via Pay Pal at: http://www.furches.org/donations/index.html

To become a part of The Virtual Pew, visit, http://www.thevirtualpew.com/ To learn more about me visit http://www.furches.org/ I am also active on MySpace at: http://www.myspace.com/mikefurches I have another blog at http://blog.myspace.com/mikefurches To visit the Hollywood Jesus group at MySpace with membership by numerous Hollywood Jesus reviewers visit: http://groups.myspace.com/hollywoodjesus For a more in depth weekly study and conversation you an visit: http://virtualpewsermon.blogspot.com/ where you can access deeper teaching and ultimately videos for viewing and teaching. You can also subscribe to the newsletter at http://www.thevirtualpew.com/ or see the newsletter on line at http://thevirtualpewnews.blogspot.com/ You can also sign up for the free newsletter from The Virtual Pew by visiting the main page for The Virtual Pew, or you can see the newsletters online by visiting this web site: http://thevirtualpewnews.blogspot.com/ You can contact me via email at mike@furches.org or mike@thevirtualpew.com For those interested in knowing more about my own story, contact me for a free e-copy of my book The Keystone Kid in pre-edit form.

Reflections of 1968, I was There!

Reviews by Mike Furches — Mon, 15 Jan 2007 19:27:00 +0000

I was thinking about what to write today with it being the celebration of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.'s Birthday. I didn't think long or wasn't hard as it was instinctive for me. After all I am old enough to remember and experience history. In this area, I experienced history. First of all, it is a day not just about Dr. King, it is a day about all who stood beside him, marched with him, and carried on without him. It is a day celebrating the millions which lived life's of abuse and prejudice before him. I supported a day honoring this man and his mission long before many others did.

I will never forget growing up and moving from one location to another. I'll never forget 1968. I was spending time in Washington DC with my grandfather and aunt. It was a year full with riots and hatred. It was the year Dr. King was killed. While growing up in the South I had heard many comments about Dr. King, a common term, even among the religious community was "Nigger." It was a word I hated then and hate even more today. It troubles me to even type the word it is so offensive. While I hated the word due to growing up among blacks, I had to spend time off and on with family members who did not live among blacks. There was so much bitterness, so much misunderstanding. I'll never forget my grandfathers' words when the news came on and announced that Dr. King had been murdered, his exact words still ring in my ears, "It is about time somebody killed that Nigger." The words stung, and hurt, they hurt and in many ways turned me away from God. If this was the type of God people worshiped, I wanted nothing to do with him. That year, I saw my grandfathers' anger grow as we would drive down the streets of Washington DC and see the city on fire.

I am pleased to say, that over the years, my grandfathers' attitude changed. He repented and asked God to forgive him. While he had been a man who had used harsh words, he and my grandmother were two people who went out of their way to help others, even if later on, those people were black. I saw a real miracle occur in the life of my grandfather. I was convinced as I got older, it was my grandfathers' own willingness to let God change his heart, even though he had been a leader in the church, even though he had many other issues, on this issue, my grandfather sought out, and received help from God to change his heart. I think most of that came about because of his own close contact and interaction with blacks as he got older. God found the easiest way to change his heart was to have family put him into close contact with friends of theirs who were also black.

My grandfather was a reflection of his culture and community. Yet, even though he was a reflection he changed. In short I think that is all Dr. King was asking, oh yea justice and all was a part of it, but he realized it wouldn't occur unless the heart changed.

There was something else about Dr. King that many forget about. He was a minister of the Gospel of Jesus Christ. It was in fact, the message of Jesus that drove Dr. Kings message. I’ll never forget a few years ago hearing Felix Justice and Danny Glover do a presentation on the Poems of Langston Hughes, and the message of Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. Felix Justice did a powerful performance of Dr. King’s last message in Memphis. It wasn’t just a message; it was a sermon that reflected heavily on the person of Jesus Christ. It was an honor spending a little time with Danny Glover and Felix Justice after their performance talking about this.

It is a shame the religious community forgets about Minister King, it is a shame the non religious community forgets. It is up to us to make sure they are reminded of that. Dr. King was influenced and got his message from the great liberator, the great emancipator, the person of Jesus Christ. From his willingness to love his enemy, to the presentation of the salvation offered by Jesus, Dr. King did not forget about the person of Jesus. Neither should we.

In closing today, last year I put together a video I desired to reflect the liberation Jesus provides. I based and dedicated the video to John Newton, a former slave trader who changed his life, but also to Dr. King who reflected that message of having a dream. What resulted was a video that has had many thousands of views and emails commenting on it. We, my wife and I, believe in sharing the love of Christ to all people, so much we made a special request to adopt a mulatto son. We deal with the issue of loving cross culturally on a regular basis; we know it is our hearts that bring us together. It is not the chromosomes we share, or the cellular make up, it is the willingness to love each other despite color, race, sexual preference, or any other distinguishing characteristic that we may have some level of prejudice towards. Love, love in Christ, which was the message of Dr. King. Why was he so passionate? It is quite simple really. If you watch the video of Amazing Grace, you will see an amazing story, an amazing story rooted in love, one promoted by Dr. King and one we can still promote today, some years even after his death.

Now for those that do not know, make sure you check out the numerous articles and blogs by checking out the archives. If visiting The Virtual Pew or MySpace they are archived on the left hand side of the page. Scroll down to where you see newer or older listed under archives and then click there. There are numerous postings, and you will have to go into the archives to see the 100 plus postings over the last months.

Now I also want to remind you that you can visit www.thevirtualpew.com and on the front page scroll down to the left hand side of the page where you sill see our store. Your purchases through our Amazon store provides needed funds to The Virtual Pew. If you do not see something on the page to buy, you can click on the search engine for the store, (do not put anything in the search box at this time) and you will then be taken to Amazon where you can search for anything you desire. Hopefully you will consider a gift to The Virtual Pew and/or at the very least shop our store. The items on the store page are highly recommended.

Contact and Giving Information

Oh Yea, here is that contact information again.

The Virtual Pew
P.O. Box 17731
Wichita, KS 67217

Or you van give on line via Pay Pal at: http://www.furches.org/donations/index.html

To become a part of The Virtual Pew, visit, http://www.thevirtualpew.com/ To learn more about me visit http://www.furches.org/ I am also active on MySpace at: http://www.myspace.com/mikefurches I have another blog at http://blog.myspace.com/mikefurches To visit the Hollywood Jesus group at MySpace with membership by numerous Hollywood Jesus reviewers visit: http://groups.myspace.com/hollywoodjesus For a more in depth weekly study and conversation you an visit: http://virtualpewsermon.blogspot.com/ where you can access deeper teaching and ultimately videos for viewing and teaching. You can also subscribe to the newsletter at www.thevirtualpew.com or see the newsletter on line at http://thevirtualpewnews.blogspot.com/ You can also sign up for the free newsletter from The Virtual Pew by visiting the main page for The Virtual Pew, or you can see the newsletters online by visiting this web site: http://thevirtualpewnews.blogspot.com/ You can contact me via email at mike@furches.org or mike@thevirtualpew.com For those interested in knowing more about my own story, contact me for a free e-copy of my book The Keystone Kid in pre-edit form.

Ephesians 4 Gifts

Reviews by Mike Furches — Thu, 11 Jan 2007 18:09:00 +0000

Prior to starting the study of Ephesians Chapter 4 I feel compelled to mention an important aspect. Often times, Christians take principles and concepts out of context. The following chapter is a perfect example of that. I have held and still do, that the way we treat non Christians, as opposed to Christians is different. In fact, that is not only the case in tone, but in attitude and expectations. I truly believe that Jesus was the ultimate example of this, he responded totally different to non religious people than he did religious people.

If looking at the life of Jesus, it is easy to see him confronting religious people, even his own followers, but often times, if not most all of the time, loving of the non religious people, whether a tax collector, a prostitute, or whoever else he came into contact with outside of religious beliefs different than his own. Yet, we as Christians, often times seem to take the confront all, speak against all, that is different than what we believe in a harsh directive tone and manner. The following chapter of Ephesians is one in particular that some often use as an example of the right to do this. Here is my challenge, Ephesians, as you can tell from looking at past studies, was a letter of Paul to the Church. Paul is in fact telling the church at Ephesus how they are to treat each other. There is no indication that this is the way we are supposed to treat people outside of our faith.

I have been criticized quite often because of the fact I try to be loving and considerate of people outside of our faith. I am slow to judge, and even slower to condemn. I simply believe it is not my job. It is the job of the Holy Spirit to do his work with those who are not of the same belief. In fact, in all honesty, I will say, that it does not matter what I say, or what I do, other than the fact that the Holy Spirit of God, may, or may not choose to use my words and/or actions. Of course at that point, I also understand that the person has the choice to listen or not. Bottom line though, I have the right, and even obligation to confront my fellow believer of where they may be wrong, even then though, it is to be in love, and with the intent of making right and good with God. When it comes to one who don't believe though, I am to love, share what I believe after relationship is developed, and then let the Holy Spirit do his job.

Now with all of that said, remember, the words we will study today, were words directed towards the church at Ephesus, thus to Christians.

Ephesians Chapter 4

Unity with Christ
(1) As a prisoner of the Lord, I beg you to live in a way that is worthy of the people God has chosen to be his own. (2) Always be humble and gentle. Patiently put up with each other and love each other. (3) Try your best to let God's Spirit keep your hearts united. Do this by living at peace. (4) All of you are part of the same body. There is only one Spirit of God, just as you were given one hope when you were chosen to be God's people. (5) We have only one Lord, one faith, and one baptism. (6) There is one God who is the Father of all people. Not only is God above all others, but he works by using all of us, and he lives in all of us.

Paul is again letting it be known that he sees Jesus Christ not just as his Savior but as his Lord. He owes him everything, Jesus is seen as a master, and Paul gladly sees himself as a slave. Paul in his own humility is openly willing to beg for the points he is about to present. He cares about the people he is writing, but he also cares that they present themselves as living in a way that illustrates them as displaying God's love for them and their need to live up to God's expectations for them.

Paul starts hitting the message right off the bat with this church in this passage. Telling them to be humble, gentle, patient and loving of each other. One can't help but think of how often those who call themselves Christian don't act this way towards each other. It is important to remember this point a little later on, while there may be times of controversy within the church, among Christians, the way we treat each other should still be following these directives here. Believe me, I know how difficult this is, I know how often I fail, but I also know what I see among others who call themselves Christian. Unfortunately not only are we not these things with each other, we aren't these things with the very ones that God loved so much to send his son to die on a cross for. We confront them, their wrongs, and expect that for some reason we are better than others, again, even Paul, uses these words carefully.

One of the things that I often have difficulty with is the elitism among some denominations. They tend to think they are right and everyone else is wrong. Yet, within this church, and even for all Churches, Paul is asking to find ways to be united and to live in peace. In other words, get along with each other. I can tell you from past experience as a pastor of a church. The reality is that more churches and denominations approach each other from a competitive perspective than they do a loving unified perspective. It is unfortunate, but that is the way it is. All churches, have to make the effort to get along, to help each other in the building of the Kingdom of God, instead of the competition and tearing down of each other. It is one of the things that in my opinion gives validity to the need that The Virtual Pew is a organization and group that works with churches of various denominations. While each church has to be a church that recognizes the basics of the faith in the person of Jesus Christ, we need to be able to make recommendations to the Methodists, Mennonites, Baptists, and Non Denominational among others. The truth of it is we serve the one God. We are a part of the same body and the Holy Spirit has the ability to bring us together.

These verses also display the nature of what many Christians call The Trinity. Notice there is a distinct purpose of God, The Son, (Jesus Christ), and The Holy Spirit. Involved with all of that is the closing comment that all will work with those who call Jesus Leader and Forgiver. The concept that God works, while using us, is a concept I still marvel at. To think that God would choose to use me is unimaginable. Yet, that is exactly what God does, not just for me, but for all who have a relationship with his son Jesus Christ.

Questions:
1. How does Paul see himself in this passage?
2. How should we see ourselves?
3. What does it mean to be humble, gentle, and patient?
4. When Paul says be united and live in peace, what is he talking about?
5. What happens if we don't allow God to use us?

(7) Christ has generously divided out his gifts to us. (8) As the Scriptures say,

"When he went up

to the highest place,

he led away many prisoners

and gave gifts to people."

This is an amazing passage of scripture that would be easy to loose sight of if we are not careful. There is the powerful concept that Jesus has given gifts to his followers. I often strongly encourage followers of Christ to take a gifts assessment test to see where their gifts are at. I actually have a couple of assessment tests that I strongly believe in but know others exist. For Christians who have not done this, I strongly encourage you to give it a shot. It will help let you know where your gifts are at from a Biblical perspective, but they will also give clarity as to why you are the way you are. I would encourage you taking one of these tests, then getting with your pastor, and or ministry leader and have them help you explore how you can use those gifts. For those that depend on The Virtual Pew, get with me, email me at mike@thevirtualpew.com and I will get you an assessment, go over the tests with you, and help you explore the best ways to use those Christ given gifts to help where you are, and to help with The Virtual Pew if that is the place God is calling you.

I have several Christmas gifts that are still in their packaging. I opened them from their Christmas wrapping but haven't opened their other packaging yet and put them to use. I will assure you, until I do so I won't experience the full benefit of those gifts. The same can be said with the gifts that Christ has given you if you are a follower of Jesus. It is time to open up all of the wrapping, and put the gifts to use.

Questions:
1. Have you taken a gifts assessment?
2. What are your gifts?
3. How are you using the gifts God gave you?
4. How do your gifts help others?
5. Would you like to be used by God?
6. What are you doing to be used by God?

(9) When it says, "he went up," it means that Christ had been deep in the earth. (10) This also means that the one who went deep into the earth is the same one who went into the highest heaven, so that he would fill the whole universe.

(11) Christ chose some of us to be apostles, prophets, missionaries, pastors, and teachers, (12) so that his people would learn to serve and his body would grow strong. (13) This will continue until we are united by our faith and by our understanding of the Son of God. Then we will be mature, just as Christ is, and we will be completely like him. (14) We must stop acting like children. We must not let deceitful people trick us by their false teachings, which are like winds that toss us around from place to place. (15) Love should always make us tell the truth. Then we will grow in every way and be more like Christ, the head (16) of the body. Christ holds it together and makes all of its parts work perfectly, as it grows and becomes strong because of love.

Some say, and I tend to agree, that Paul is reminding the church at Ephesus that Jesus went through the ultimate sacrifice for them. He literally went into Hell, and then ascended to, and went up into Heaven where he now resides. From Heaven, Christ can look over the earth, look over his people, and then be there to assist and direct the Holy Spirit as to what to do.

We need to recognize, Jesus is the giver of gifts. We can't change what he gave to whom. Bottom line though, he knew what gift was best for each individual and gave that individual those gifts. He gave these gifts so that people could learn and better serve each other. Notice the gifts are not for our own benefit per say, but for the benefit of others. I fully believe, if you aren't using your gifts to help the body or help other Christians or those who don't believe in Jesus, then you are not really using the gifts that God gave you.

Verse 13 is critical, Paul is telling us that God is going to use this method until we reach maturity. For many, the belief is that we never reach full maturity until we get to Heaven. I don't know about this. I do believe that we should continue to mature, as we get older, not just in our faith but in years. We should learn in such away that we have begin to take on these attributes that Paul talks about. As we mature, as we use the gifts God has given us to serve others, the more we become like Christ. Remember, Jesus was at peace and able to totally love every individual, no matter how much harm they chose to bring to him. Jesus was content, and able to do incredible works. As we exercise the things that Paul is talking about to the church of Ephesus, as we begin to use our gifts and serve each other, remember, we become more like Jesus in all ways.

Paul then goes on and gives a little strong admonition here. It is kind of contrary to other passages of scripture if you think about it. Some say we should become like Children, yet, Paul here is telling us to quit acting like children. He tells us this, I believe with the understanding that we have to be careful about what we listen to, and who we listen to.

One of the things I think the church has not done a good job of is looking at Scripture in its entirety and then evaluating the teachings of scripture with each other, thus finding a practical and consistent application. In the preamble to this posting I mentioned a way I think we do that. Christians treat non Christians like they should be Christians, often times misapplying scripture as a justification of doing that. They could simply look at the Bible in its entirety and evaluate what has to be a logical conclusion. I believe that looking at the life and teachings of Christ and the apostles provide quality examples to learn from. Yet, what do we often do? We listen to television or radio preachers tell us what to think. They tell us what to think because they don't think the Holy Spirit can do his job. They Holy Spirit has to have others tell us the meaning of scripture. I would say be careful here, be careful about that radio preacher, that television preacher, even that internet preacher Mike Furches. Measure what I and or any other pastor says with the message of the Bible. Of course we can't know that message if we don't read it and apply it to our lives. Then again, we can't fully know it if we don't follow the directives that Paul has already given in the first several verses of this passage.

There is a major reason people don't follow these concepts though, the first word of verse 15 gives us a good indication as to what is needed here, LOVE! The bottom line is, we talk a good game about love, but we don't really love. We say we do, we say things like, "I’ll pray for you," then we don't. We say things like, "If you need me for anything let me know," then we don't follow through. Truth is, many Christians have forgotten how to love. Jesus is the ultimate measure of what love means. Yet truth be told we don't want to be like Jesus, because to be like Jesus means we take up our cross and we follow him daily. Did you hear that? We take up our cross, which means exactly for us what it meant for Jesus, great sacrifice and ultimately death, not per say a physical death, although in many parts of the world that is exactly what it means, but certainly a spiritual death to the point that we give up and turn from all of the things that would cause us to not be like Jesus. Just as Jesus was able to raise from the dead, he is able to bring people together that have minor points of theological difference. He can bring us together and hold us together to accomplish the things that God desires for this world. A world where we care for the poor and needy, provide hope to the hopeless, homes to the homeless, food to the hungry, rehabilitation to the prisoner and on and on. The things Jesus desires for this world are illustrated in the way he led his life and in the life of those he touched.

Questions:
1. Why is it important that Jesus went to Hell?
2. Why is it important that Jesus went to Heaven?
3. Do you think the gifts listed are the only gifts?
4. Why or Why not would there be other gifts that Christ might give?
5. What would some of those gifts be?
6. How can you become more like Jesus?
7. How do you determine who you listen to and learn from regarding religious things?
8. How do you determine if a teaching is true or false?
9. Why would some teachers trick us into accepting their teachings?
10. What does it mean for you to become like Jesus?

The Old Life and the New Life
(17) As a follower of the Lord, I order you to stop living like stupid, godless people. (18) Their minds are in the dark, and they are stubborn and ignorant and have missed out on the life that comes from God. They no longer have any feelings about what is right, (19) and they are so greedy that they do all kinds of indecent things.
(20-21) But that isn't what you were taught about Jesus Christ. He is the truth, and you heard about him and learned about him. (22) You were told that your foolish desires will destroy you and that you must give up your old way of life with all its bad habits. (23) Let the Spirit change your way of thinking (24) and make you into a new person. You were created to be like God, and so you must please him and be truly holy.

Paul takes a step out of the norm here, he recognizes that there are those who don't accept God who are stupid and godless. He talks about how they are stubborn, ignorant and have missed out on all that comes from God. Paul also makes several other negative comments here towards the non follower of Christ. I will note here, I can't deny what he is saying, but we need to remember, he isn't trying to per say point out the wrongs of the non follower of Jesus, but reminding people who are followers of Christ as to what their lives used to be like. These individuals already know the truth. One of the concerns I have here, is that people would use this passage to address any non follower of Jesus in this way. From Paul's actions around others, in the way he reached out to them I don't think this is Paul's intent. I think his intent is to make clear to the Christians, in essence he is saying "You used to live this way, now quit."

Notice the second part of the passage starts out talking about how the church was taught about how to act, they were taught about Jesus. Paul really hits this topic hard. One has to look at these verses in their entirety to have an understanding of what Paul is trying to say. Yes, after the fact, we all did some stupid, godless, ignorant things. Yet we have been taught about Jesus and the time for change is now. There comes a point in time that we have to change our ways. Now I firmly believe that God is involved in that, God helps people know when that time is. In fact, most people don't like who they are, they want to change, often times they don’t know how. I think one reason Paul may be addressing this is that he wants the people who follow Jesus to act different. They need to be examples to others as to the correct way to act and behave.

Now on this point, notice there is a difference between again, the way I believe Paul addresses Christians and non Christians, here he is speaking specifically to Christians, it isn't the non Christians he is speaking to making these comments to. It is Christians. Some have again confused my own expectations of Christians in the things they do and don't do. It is a difficult area, I know an area I have at times failed myself. It is difficult because we have to distinguish between cultural issues, and legitimate spiritual issues. We have difficulty and we all base our views on our own interpretation of the Bible. Likely the closest to taking a pure Biblical approach is people like the Amish, yet I don't think that is the answer either. I think becoming holy, means doing things that brings us closer to God as opposed to pushing him further away from us. Within this area, there are certainly the clear sinful things, wrong things like stealing, murder and so forth. But there are other things that may be sinful for some and not others, things like drinking a beer, or going to a movie. That is where Romans 14 comes into play. It all comes down to in part, following through with that maturity thing, listening to the directives Paul is giving, using your gifts, serving others and so forth.

Last note here, in support of my position, notice who it is that makes the change. We don't by the name calling, the confrontation and so forth make people change. It is the Holy Spirit that brings about change in people. It is only through the Holy Spirit that we will become more like God, which is more in tune with what God wants for each of us.

Questions:
1. Notice Paul starts off addressing this to those who are a follower of the Lord, who are followers of the Lord?
2. What types of stupid, ignorant, godless things have you done before?
3. Are there any of those things that you need to break away from and quit doing?
4. Who is the model we pattern our lives after?
5. Who is the one responsible for helping us change our ways?

Rules for the New Life
(25) We are part of the same body. Stop lying and start telling each other the truth. (26) Don't get so angry that you sin. Don't go to bed angry (27) and don't give the devil a chance.
(28) If you are a thief, quit stealing. Be honest and work hard, so you will have something to give to people in need.

(29) Stop all your dirty talk. Say the right thing at the right time and help others by what you say.

(30) Don't make God's Spirit sad. The Spirit makes you sure that someday you will be free from your sins.

(31) Stop being bitter and angry and mad at others. Don't yell at one another or curse each other or ever be rude. (32) Instead, be kind and merciful, and forgive others, just as God forgave you because of Christ.

Paul before closing this section, talks about the rules for the new life we now have once we have accepted Jesus as our Leader and Forgiver. We have to stop lying, lying is a way to make ourselves look better, it really isn't about doing or making God look better. It seems as if Christians are in that sense of competition I spoke about earlier as much as anyone. We get to the point we have to prove our point, and when someone disagrees, we get angry. Notice Paul don't say don't get angry, he says don't get so angry that we sin. There is room for what I call a controlled anger, especially if over theological issues, but don't let that anger dwell within you, especially to the point that you are wishing ill on the person you are angry at.

Paul also starts to address specific areas, he addresses theft, which is really self explanatory. We could talk about theft from employers by spending too much time on the internet, or lying about the day off and other forms of theft, but the Holy Spirit will make those areas clear to you when you need clarity.

Then there is the section of dirty talk. I really believe here, that many have misinterpreted what this means. Language, especially cultural language is not what I think Paul is addressing, I have some indication of that from other writings in the Bible, but also here. Notice here, the follow up is talking about what you do for other, how you build others up. I think that dirty talk is in reference more about how we treat others and by honoring our word. I could do a whole series on this topic, but think about hit.

When we do wrong, when we ignore what God wants us to do, we make the Spirit sad. I have to admit, I have done this and I know that every single person reading this has done this. The question is, do we keep doing it? I honestly believe that as we get older, as we mature, as we use our gifts, as we serve, then, we get to the place where we sin less. I know that to be a fact in my own life. It is why I strongly encourage you to think about, read, reread, and apply the truths you get out of this teaching today.

Paul is closing this passage, really talking more about relationship than anything. How do we get along? How do we show love to each other? It all comes down to actions. Are we kind to others? What does that kindness mean? Do we show others compassion and mercy? What does that mean? Do we forgive others? What does that mean? I know that I am as guilty of not doing some of these things as the next guy or gal. That is not an excuse to keep on with that type of action or behavior though.

As we come to know and become more like Jesus after we ask him to come into our lives and be our forgiver an leader, we will realize that he has something special for us. Christ loves each of us enough to give us gifts. As we receive those gifts, it is expected that we use them to serve and help others. As we do that, we become more and more like Jesus, in our attitudes, and in our life walk. I guess the question here is, "Where are we in that process?"

Questions:
1. What does it mean when it says we are a part of the same body?
2. How should we treat each other?
3. What are ways you have made God's Spirit sad?
4. How can you make God's Spirit happy?

Now for those that do not know, make sure you check out the numerous articles and blogs by checking out the archives. If visiting The Virtual Pew or MySpace they are archived on the left hand side of the page. Scroll down to where you see newer or older listed under archives and then click there. There are numerous postings, and you will have to go into the archives to see the 100 plus postings over the last months.

Now I also want to remind you that you can visit http://www.thevirtualpew.com/ and on the front page scroll down to the left hand side of the page where you sill see our store. Your purchases through our Amazon store provides needed funds to The Virtual Pew. If you do not see something on the page to buy, you can click on the search engine for the store, (do not put anything in the search box at this time) and you will then be taken to Amazon where you can search for anything you desire. Hopefully you will consider a gift to The Virtual Pew and/or at the very least shop our store. The items on the store page are highly recommended.

Contact and Giving Information

Oh Yea, here is that contact information again.

The Virtual Pew
P.O. Box 17731
Wichita, KS 67217

Or you can give on line via Pay Pal at: http://www.furches.org/donations/index.html

To become a part of The Virtual Pew, visit, http://www.thevirtualpew.com/ To learn more about me visit http://www.furches.org/ I am also active on MySpace at: http://www.myspace.com/mikefurches I have another blog at http://blog.myspace.com/mikefurches To visit the Hollywood Jesus group at MySpace with membership by numerous Hollywood Jesus reviewers visit: http://groups.myspace.com/hollywoodjesus For a more in depth weekly study and conversation you an visit: http://virtualpewsermon.blogspot.com/ where you can access deeper teaching and ultimately videos for viewing and teaching. You can also subscribe to the newsletter at http://www.thevirtualpew.com/ or see the newsletter on line at http://thevirtualpewnews.blogspot.com/ You can also sign up for the free newsletter from The Virtual Pew by visiting the main page for The Virtual Pew, or you can see the newsletters online by visiting this web site: http://thevirtualpewnews.blogspot.com/ You can contact me via email at mike@furches.org or mike@thevirtualpew.com For those interested in knowing more about my own story, contact me for a free e-copy of my book The Keystone Kid in pre-edit form.

Thr3e Review

Reviews by Mike Furches — Tue, 09 Jan 2007 14:54:00 +0000

I can't think of a movie I have anticipated seeing as much as I anticipated seeing Ted Dekker's Thr3e. Thr3e is a story based off of the book by Dekker that has done extremely well in the fiction world. If you aren't familiar with Dekker you can read about him in the interview I did in 2004 by clicking on this the link: In that interview we talk about Thr3e, his thematic style of writing, and the future of his books becoming movies. As of this writing, there are three other books slated to become movies, most scheduled with the new Fox Company, Fox Faith. In that interview we spoke of his initial meetings with Fox and their excitement of turning his novels into movies.

The Christian market hasn't seen an author like Ted Dekker with the possible exception of Frank Paretti, he is the closest thing to a Christian Stephen King or Dean Koontz there is out there. In some ways I suspect he gets offended at the label of a "Christian" writer, he is instead an author who is a Christian and is instead painting images and stories with a Christian World View. In fact, one would be hard pressed to tell the difference between Dekker and many other authors who are not Christian. In that regard, Thr3e is a pleasant surprise. It is a movie, which I as a Christian would have no trouble taking my non Christian friends to see. That being said, it has to be compared to the non Christian movie market and world. While I wouldn't hesitate taking my friends, I also know that compared to this form of movie being released by non Christian companies, that while good, it wouldn't be quite up to par.

The concept behind the story in Thr3e is a serial bomber and killer is apparently after Kevin Parson a young seminary student. Kevin later at the aid of childhood friend Samantha and policewoman Jennifer Peters seek to solve this murder mystery before Kevin and those closest to him suffer the consequences of the killer and stalker. What we end up with is a mystery, suspense, thriller that has the viewer guessing from one suspect to the other. It is a different style of mystery, there are enough clues to figure everything out on screen but most are shocked when they eventually get to the end. There are enough suspects that the viewer often changes their mind and thankfully, the movie follows the storyline of the book. There are only a few very minor changes and we see the potential of a movie to faithfully follow the storyline of the book it is based on. Thr3e shows promise of future Dekker novels that are slated for the big screen.

Unfortunately, and this as a fan, with the exception of some minor characters in the movie, I was disappointed. While the story of Dekker is great, the movie falls far short in other areas. First is the acting. While Marc Blucas in the lead role of Kevin Parson actually looks a lot like the author Ted Dekker, his performance as Kevin falls flat. There are a number of subtle ways that I was disappointed in the portrayal here. I unfortunately can't mention some of those as it would relate to my past experience and one of the central themes of the movie. It wasn't just his role though, the majority of the cast was weak and were not very convincing.

There is an exception to this, and the exception is with who I will refer to as the Devil's Rejects crowd. Several characters, using actors from Rob Zombie's movie The Devil's Rejects largely resemble the roles they played in the Zombie movie. The characters were as fun on screen in Thr3e as they were in The Devil's Rejects. Those roles include, Bill Moseley who plays the part of Slater and Priscilla Barns playing the part of Belinda Parson. There is also Tom Bower playing the part of Eugene Parson, and Jeffrey Lee Hollis playing the part of Bob Parson. If you haven't caught my drift yet, the Parson family was fascinating and well played out in this movie. I would have loved to see the whole movie revolve around this family as they are sickly strange, and definitely evil. Yet, outside of the Barnes family, most every other character falls short.

There were other disappointing aspects of the movie, including the editing and direction. There are frequent choppy editing sequences and on occasion key flash back episodes where the direction is not clean enough as to give a clear indication as to what is going on. Thankfully I had read the book and was able to explain things to my wife and son who were there watching the movie with me. After awhile they got an idea as to what was going on and was able to follow along. I could also talk about the disappointing score but will simply say, in the places where we needed background, we didn't have it, and in the places where there was background, the movie unfortunately followed too many horror and thriller stereotypes.

The last complaints of the movie have to deal with the special effects and the violence of the movie being toned down. This movie really cries for a legitimate pg-13 rating if not an R rating. I have a hard time understanding how the movie got a pg-13 rating as there is very little in the movie to justify that rating. The special effects were week, and in a movie where a little blood, and gore would have added to the horror of what was going on, it is virtually non existent. One of the things I was impressed with Dekker in my interview with him some years ago was his understanding of the need to paint evil with a very dark brush. I agree, but it is almost as if the movie toned down the evil in order to appeal to the Christian audience. A very serious mistake as a well done Thr3e would have appealed to a mass audience, including those who follow and like Dekker. Now what would have really been fun would have been to have Rob Zombie direct this tale. I can see it with the cast and the beautiful portrayal it would have been.

I want to finish this review on a positive note, and again, the positive is the story. Not only do we have a Mystery, Thriller, Suspense story, we have a story that has teeth to its message. I love the exploration of evil the movie takes. It takes it on in a non preachy, thought provoking way. Dekker is onto something here, as he has been for a number of years. The thought provoking message, and great storytelling, despite the flaws, makes the movie worth viewing. My hopes are that Dekker continues on and that Fox Faith Films learns a lesson to not lesson the dramatic impact of his stories to appeal to a "Christian" audience. to continue to do that is a mistake and a shame if it continues on. I honestly can think of few that want to see the stories of Ted Dekker succeed in film as much as I. But Fox Faith Films need to get on board people who have an understanding of how to do that. An understanding of the crowds and masses that Dekker's stories appeal to is essential to make the stories successful. If they do that, they won't have an okay movie on their hands that Dekker's Christian fans will see, they will instead have on their hands, a blockbuster that could make a company a success. I only hope and pray that the next go around they will do just that. To do otherwise would be, well, would be just evil.

On a Scale of 1-10 for a perfect 10 - 3 and a great story, a somewhat lackluster 7

Now for those that do not know, make sure you check out the numerous articles and blogs by checking out the archives. If visiting The Virtual Pew or MySpace they are archived on the left hand side of the page. Scroll down to where you see newer or older listed under archives and then click there. There are numerous postings, and you will have to go into the archives to see the 100 plus postings over the last months.

Now I also want to remind you that you can visit http://www.thevirtualpew.com/ and on the front page scroll down to the left hand side of the page where you sill see our store. Your purchases through our Amazon store provides needed funds to The Virtual Pew. If you do not see something on the page to buy, you can click on the search engine for the store, (do not put anything in the search box at this time) and you will then be taken to Amazon where you can search for anything you desire. Hopefully you will consider a gift to The Virtual Pew and/or at the very least shop our store. The items on the store page are highly recommended.

Contact and Giving Information

Oh Yea, here is that contact information again.

The Virtual Pew
P.O. Box 17731
Wichita, KS 67217

Or you van give on line via Pay Pal at: http://www.furches.org/donations/index.html

To become a part of The Virtual Pew, visit, http://www.thevirtualpew.com/ To learn more about me visit http://www.furches.org/ I am also active on MySpace at: http://www.myspace.com/mikefurches I have another blog at http://blog.myspace.com/mikefurches To visit the Hollywood Jesus group at MySpace with membership by numerous Hollywood Jesus reviewers visit: http://groups.myspace.com/hollywoodjesus For a more in depth weekly study and conversation you an visit: http://virtualpewsermon.blogspot.com/ where you can access deeper teaching and ultimately videos for viewing and teaching. You can also subscribe to the newsletter at http://www.thevirtualpew.com/ or see the newsletter on line at http://thevirtualpewnews.blogspot.com/ You can also sign up for the free newsletter from The Virtual Pew by visiting the main page for The Virtual Pew, or you can see the newsletters online by visiting this web site: http://thevirtualpewnews.blogspot.com/ You can contact me via email at mike@furches.org or mike@thevirtualpew.com For those interested in knowing more about my own story, contact me for a free e-copy of my book The Keystone Kid in pre-edit form.

Clips from Thr3e

Evil:

Movie Trailer:

Unoffical Trailer:

Interview with Ted Dekker, Author of Thr3e

Reviews by Mike Furches — Mon, 08 Jan 2007 23:04:00 +0000

Interview with Ted Dekker
by Mike Furches

I did this interview in 2004, with the recent theatrical release of Thr3E I thought it appropriate to repost this. Enjoy and notice how many of the things have come to be. The new movie Thr3e was released this last Friday by Fox Faith Films, the new division of Fox. It has opened with mixed reviews and my review will be posted shortly along with a reposting of review of Dekker. For the Dekker fans, you will love this interview, it is one of the most comprehensive interviews I have seen with him. For those not familiar with this popular author, enjoy, and if inspired, check out the movie or at the very least purchase a copy of one of his books and enjoy the ride you will take.

Transcript
Phone Call: Phone Rings

Ted Dekker: This is Ted.

Mike Furches: Yes, Ted Dekker?

Ted Dekker: Yea, Ted Dekker.

Mike Furches: Ted Dekker, this is Mike Furches in Wichita Kansas.

Ted Dekker: Yea, how you doing man?

Mike Furches: I'm doing great how are you doing?

Ted Dekker: Where do you live?

Mike Furches: Wichita, Kansas.

Ted Dekker: Yea, Wichita, somehow I had in mind that you were in L.A. but it was probably from Hollywood Jesus.

Mike Furches: Yea, Hollywood Jesus is actually based out of L.A. but David Bruce the web site administrator, the guy that actually owns the site he actually lived there for awhile. He actually has everything based out of Oregon now and he has a number of writers that lives all over North America.

Ted Dekker: How in the world do they get like 2 million hits a day out of that thing?

Mike Furches: They are getting about 3 million now.

Ted Dekker: That's incredible. Where do they come from?

Mike Furches: Well, initially there was just that many people looking for movie reviews.

Ted Dekker: Right,

Mike Furches: And over the years it has just grown and developed. We were averaging probably about 3 million hits a week up until about 6 months before the release of The Passion.

Ted Dekker: Right.

Mike Furches: And after the release of that particular movie we started getting all kinds of hits and they have kept growing. I wish I could explain it.

Ted Dekker: It's incredible. I was trying to explain to my publicist out of New York We were blown away by those numbers.

Mike Furches: Yea, it is fairly phenomenal. Part of David's story is that he lived in Chicago for awhile. I don't know if your are familiar with Jesus People USA or not?

Ted Dekker: Yea, I used to live in Chicago.

Mike Furches: Really?

Ted Dekker: Yea.

Mike Furches: I lived at JPUSA for a long time.

Ted Dekker: Yea, I was only there for a year. I lived in North Chicago actually.

Mike Furches: Well David was there and had done a lot of work up there and he had gone to a Billy Graham Campaign and Billy Graham had challenged the people at the crusade to begin using the internet for some form of evangelism or to find some innovative ways to use it for evangelism. David had looked at the number of things on the internet related to Christianity and I think he said something like 95, 96 percent of it was being used more for informational types of material.

Ted Dekker: Yea.

Mike Furches: And there was very little that was being done for evangelism. And, that was something that he took off and started doing. It is amazing at what happened and I know it's hard for me to believe it.

I started actually posting on some of the bulletin boards or message boards on movies.

Ted Dekker: Yea.

Mike Furches: A number of years ago and he asked me to start doing movie reviews, which has been unreal.

Ted Dekker: That's cool. So what do you do with the rest of your time?

Mike Furches: I actually pastor an inner city church.

Ted Dekker: That's right, that's right, yea.

Mike Furches: It's a trip. Most of our members are from gangs, and they come out of drugs and alcoholism, substance abuse. We even have a number of people who have come out of prostitution. We have one girl that six months ago she was still stripping and all at strip bars but finally she's quit that.

Ted Dekker: Right.

Mike Furches: As far as the stripping part. It's a different kind of church. We're trying to reach folks that the normal church doesn't reach.

Ted Dekker: Yea.

Mike Furches: Are you familiar with World Impact at all?

Ted Dekker: A, World Impact?

Mike Furches: Yea.

Ted Dekker: I don't think so.

Mike Furches: World Impact started in the Watts in California, or South Central Los Angeles.

Ted Dekker: Right.

Mike Furches: South Central L.A.. There primary purpose was to help with the inner city and they are starting now to plant inner city churches. Jack Hayford's on the board of Directors there as well as Andre Crouch and a few other folks.

Ted Dekker: Yea, Jack's a good guy.

Mike Furches: Yea. Jack's a real good guy. I just came back from a conference at his church where he used to pastor at Church on the Way in Van Nuys.

Ted Dekker: Very cool.

Mike Furches: Yea, well it's a treat to get to talk to you. I've actually got you on speaker phone and I'm recording it. That way I make sure that I get everything right.

Ted Dekker: Yea, no problem.

Mike Furches: Okay and..

Ted Dekker: Feel free to a, well I'll just ramble.

Mike Furches: Okay, that's fine.

Ted Dekker: Don't use me verbatim. Feel free to make me sound somewhat intelligent. (laughter)

Mike Furches: (laughter) That wil., I'll have to do that more for myself than I do for you probably.

Ted Dekker: Anyway, I think it is great what you are doing so.

Mike Furches: Well thank you. I'm excited about it. What happened, well it was actually a number of months ago. I was in the bookstore and I was looking for something and actually saw the book Thr3e. It was the first book of yours that I saw and I thought this is kind of interesting and I picked it up. And to be honest about it, it reminded me after reading the jacket of, it kind of reminded me a little bit of the movie Phone Booth.

Ted Dekker: Yea.

Mike Furches: So I picked the book up and read it and was just blown away because I had turned away from just about any kind of Christian Fiction. The last few things I read were really just pretty miserable to be honest about it. So I was just blown away and since then I've read everything now that is out except for the new release of, I guess it's Red that is yet to come out yet and I've not read White yet.

Ted Dekker: Right.

Mike Furches: So, to do that in about Three or four months for myself is not normal

Ted Dekker: Wow man, you've had your dose. Do you understand? Very few people read that much of one author in that short a period of time. So, that's a lot. I'm sure by now you have a pretty good idea of where I come from.

Mike Furches: Pretty good, that's one of the reasons I wanted to do the story because I think, at least the impression I'm getting of where you're coming from is fairly unique in Christians

Ted Dekker: What did you think of When Heaven Weeps?

Mike Furches: I really liked it. I was kind of curious. In one of your emails that you sent me you said that you thought I'd really enjoy that and I was kind of curious as to why you said that.

Ted Dekker: Well, it could have been just a guess but from reading your posts and stuff. When Heaven Weeps, at least the way I look at When Heaven Weeps is that it is a hard hitting novel. It kind of grabs the whole issue of love and sacrifice and all by the throat. It deals with somebody who is in substance abuse. But essentially, it's this incredible love story which is what Christianity really is. This incredible passion play between the forces that draw us one way or the other. Helen really represents all of us. I was just thinking that with you from the inner city and knowing or having read that, that I thought you would see some things there with someone that was relatively close to you. We are all Helen but you see, at least I think of Helen with a kind of addictive personality who is finally won over by sacrificial love. In one degree or another we're all essentially out of that same experience. I don't know, I just thought you would connect with that.

Mike Furches: Yea, one of the things that's different is that our church is different. I've not been a pastor very long and before that I was actually an Executive Director for a mental health agency. I was blessed in that whole bit as far as recognition and all that kind of stuff. But I always had a dream of going in and working in the ministry. I actually did that for awhile with Christian bands. A long story made short is that our church is real different. One of the things we did for example this last weekend was actually did a Fear Factor.

Ted Dekker: Right.

Mike Furches: I had been doing a series called, well actually on Community and the message was Evangelism, The Heart of Community. So, what we did was a Fear Factor for actually about 35 minutes of the service. It was like a legitimate Fear Factor with people eating bugs, and grubs, holding rats, snakes.

Ted Dekker: Oh! (laughter)

Mike Furches: So what I did was after at the end for the message I just shared a passage out of the last part of Mark there where Jesus confronts the disciples. As a part of that I wanted to challenge the people with, here we are we say we love Christ, we say we do all of these things and the reality of it is that we'll eat bugs, we'll do all kinds of crazy stuff but when it comes down to sharing the Gospel and showing people love we don't do that.

Ted Dekker: You know it's funny. It reminds me of a time I did something very similar with our youth group where I took a little fish, a bait fish you know?

Mike Furches: Ah huh.

Ted Dekker: You know you go buy them for bait, or people do. I got a little bag and I had them give it a name. It was a tiny little cute fish swimming around in there and we gave it a name and connected with it. I was talking or teaching out of the story of Lazarus and everyone felt great and I dumped the water out and dropped the fish on the floor. And we all sat there and watched it flop and I mean it died. Everyone just started crying and there parents that was there was really upset. This was like 10 years ago. So here we are crying and all over this one little fish who's dying and here we don't give a rip about the fish in the world who are dying in their sins. We pass them by everyday and we don't even give them a second glance. Someone says, "Okay that's enough, you've made your point, put it back, you've made your point." And I said, "okay." And I dumped it back in not knowing what would happen and it revived. It was cool because I was teaching out of Lazarus or I think it was out of Luke.

Mike Furches: One quick thing, when I was doing the message I gave the story of Jan and Helen and made mention of the story from When Heaven Weeps.

Ted Dekker: You did?

Mike Furches: It is a real challenge that we have to do is because a part of what I got from this story is that it's not just what would we do if forced with making a decision, but do we love someone enough to challenge them in their decision and in what they would say. Let me go ahead and get started on these questions because I have a number of them and I doubt that I'll get all of them done.

There is a lot of people who is reading Dekker right now. The lady at the bookstore was telling me that your stuff is just flying off the shelves here. Tell us something about Ted Dekker that a lot of folks maybe don't know or don't understand.

Ted Dekker: Well I'm definitely a person who is out of the box here in the United States because I grew up overseas. My parents were missionaries and what that meant for me as a little kid growing up was that I grew up in a culture of which I really didn't belong. Everyone there had a different skin color than me, spoke a different language and I learned their language, I tried to fit in and I learned their language. I was always in one way or another ostracized. I came back to the United States every four years as a missionary kid and I was ostracized from this group too because I was too strange to fit in here. So I became what is called a third cultured kid which is basically somebody who is ostracized from any particular group of people and you develop your own identity. Now many people can identify with that here in the United States for many different reasons but my story is probably a little more intense than most. It is from that perspective and some of that background that I became an astute observer of culture, people, faith and of what makes us work as human beings. It is basically out of that perspective that I write. So I get things out of my writing that people don't normally think about and so it is really nothing magical it's just a different perspective on the same kind of issues that we all face. Does that make sense?

Mike Furches: Yea. It makes sense. It seems like one of the things I've noticed is that there are a lot of authors who seems to find their genera. They'll find a specific style or a specific mode of writing.

Ted Dekker: Okay

Mike Furches: Your novels seem to be different in that you can read Black for example and it is almost a sci-fi, fantasy world but then you read Thr3e which is totally different.

Ted Dekker: Right.

Mike Furches: Where do you come up with your stories?

Ted Dekker: I'll tell you what, my writing is definitely what is called cross genera, much like Dean Koontz, or even Stephen King. Those are probably the two closest writers, Dean Koontz comes the closest to me in the ABA world, American Book Sellers Association as opposed to CBA, Christian Book Sellers Association. My voice is the same in all of my stories. My stories are about a great confrontation between good and evil within a number of different generas. You're always going to get a story, but all stories. Like in When Heaven Weeps, you could almost classify it as almost like a romance, it is a love story in one sense but it's really a thriller. So there all thrillers but that's kind of where the genera thing ends. My stories come from my passion to discover, and explore this struggle that we all have. That we all find ourselves engaging between good and evil and I write essentially modern day parables where I take the struggles and I put them on the canvas in big, bright, bold, colors. Those colors can be life and in really sensational ways it accentuates the struggle that we have in an ideal way. In those ideals with both the good and I characterize them in terms of ideally. For example in Blessed Child, there is the story of a noble savage, well there is no such a thing. You can't find a Caleb, he doesn't exist. But in the context of the story, he comes to life and we can examine good as it really could be. In the same way Jesus taught, he said; "If your eye causes you to sin, pluck it out." Well he didn't actually want us to walk around plucking out our eyes. He is talking in ideal terms. He is using hyperbole to make a point and he used parables in the same way. That's essentially what I am doing, I am characterizing good and evil in a very extreme way as I can do it without offending people or to drive away readers. So, my stories are born out of that desire and all of my stories will deal in one way or another with that common theme. What does good and evil really look like? Not the way where Stephen King casts it where there is no redemptive message in the end at all, there's no redemption. Where good doesn't conquer evil. I'll take someone through the valley, and I am going to bring them up to the mountain top and have them look back and be able to say, "Yea, though I walk through that valley of evil, and death, I will fear no evil." That's kind of my mission in writing. Here I am rambling again, I'm rambling. So you'll have to edit. You'll edit this down, right?

Mike Furches: I'll do a little bit.

Ted Dekker: (laughter)

Mike Furches: I actually like Koontz and I think King can tell a great story, I just wish he knew how to end it.

Ted Dekker: Yea, I agree. That's exactly right. Koontz has got a much better spiritual compass in my opinion.

Mike Furches: One of the questions down the line is about that. It actually brings in Koontz. So I'll get to that in a second.

Of all the novels you've written which one would you say represents Ted Dekker or maybe has more of you in it than any of the others? Any of them?

Ted Dekker: Yea, I can answer that. It is the novel I am writing now which happens to be called Storytellers which doesnn't come out until 2006. (laughter)

Mike Furches: So we'll have to wait awhile?

Ted Dekker: (still laughing) It's always the novel I'm working on now. You know what I'm saying?

Mike Furches: Yea.

Ted Dekker: I can't say that, it's just that I'm in love with the novel that I'm writing now and when I'm finished with it, in some strange, artistic way, junk. I need to move on, you know what I'm saying? It's not junk, it's like, "Okay, I've got to do better." "I've got to move on to the next project." "I've got to find a new way to do it that's even better." It's, "more, more, always more." We are creatures created to obsess and I am obsessive about this task.

Mike Furches: Do you have one that is in print currently that is a favorite?

Ted Dekker: I can't do that man.

Mike Furches: Okay, didn't think you would but I've got to ask. (laughter)

Ted Dekker: (laughter)

Mike Furches: I looked everywhere about this and I was amazed that I could find nothing on it, maybe there's a reason for it and if there is that's fine. But one of the things I was impressed with was the work you did with Bill Bright on Blessed Child and A Man Called Blessed.

Ted Dekker: Yea.

Mike Furches: You got to work with a man that's considered an icon in Christian ministry.

Ted Dekker: The experience was incredible.

Mike Furches: Tell me something about it because I want to make sure that for me, out of respect to Bill Bright that there is something in print somewhere that says something about that.

Ted Dekker: There was actually a Time Magazine article written about, as a feature about him and me as well but I was more of a side bar. The focus was on him and his ministry. Those novels, actually, he had little to do with them. I just wrote them and he blessed me with his, well we co authored them but you know how that works?

Mike Furches: Yea.

Ted Dekker: So for me it was just, my greatest struggle was spending time with him and getting to know his heart. He was a very genuine follower of Christ who really, I think, more than most people. I mean, very few Christians have an honest desire to meet their destiny beyond this life. You know what I'm saying? To realize the joy that waits. In fact I have a proposal now to do a non fiction book on that very subject on the subject of Heaven and what waits for us behind the Vail. Which is a common thread actually in a lot of my books. I am fascinated by that hope that awaits us. Right now it is only something that resides in our imagination and in our faith. We need to quicken that imagination and bring it into the front of our minds because that imagination will motivate our faith. I've wrote a whole thing on that and Bill Bright is a person that for me personified that, a real living human being in a very unique way. He had that kind of child like faith that was delightful to witness, to watch.

Mike Furches: Bringing up Caleb from A Blessed Child and A Man Called Blessed, is there ever going to be the potential for him to come back or return?

Ted Dekker: Caleb?

Mike Furches: Yea.

Ted Dekker: I'm thinking about using him as a cameo in a book I have called Showdown. So, yea, it's possible.

Mike Furches: There's a chance. You seem to have written a lot about Muslim culture in some of your novels, obviously in Blink that's the case. What's your thoughts or attitudes regarding the attitudes and relationships right now in America between Christians and Muslims, especially with the terrorism threats and everything since 9/11? Any thoughts on that or things that we as Christians should be aware of?

Ted Dekker: I did like 50 radio interviews on that when Blink came out and that was always the question because I grew up in a Muslim country and I understand certain elements of Islam very well. I'll tell you that, that is a whole can of worms man. (laughter) It really is, it is a whole separate, it is a whole article. The bottom line is that Islam and Christianity really should be judged by their founders, Jesus and Mohammad. There is very little similarity between the two, Jesus and Mohammad. Okay, they're totally different faiths, they really are, they're very different faiths. Really, in Islam, if you look, any Muslim who is true to the teachings of Mohammad, will in the end hate Christians because Mohammad teaches in the later part of his life, in a system of progressive revelation where all of the revelations in the later part of his life superceded those in the first part of his life. So the revelation like the war, the revelation that he originally gave which urged Muslims to go to war defend their Islam, I mean that came at the end of his life and they superceded his teachings on peace. This is what Osama Ben Laden understands. This is what the true, what many Imams and Clerics understand which is why they can't speak out against terrorism. They can say we're for peace, peace, peace, but they can't say we're not for war. It is very difficult for them to say unless they vacate the teachings of Mohammad himself because Mohammad at the end of his life led wars, battles, killed many Jews, Christians and so it is very difficult. Now having said that, Islam itself is in total, is in total, well there is no way to bring Islam and Christianity together. You can bring Muslims and Christians together, and we should work very hard at doing this because many Muslims don't even understand their own religion. Just like many Christians don't understand their religion. You hear what I'm saying?

Mike Furches: Yea.

Ted Dekker: We should love Muslims, we should be willing to die for Muslims, you know? Jesus did! Jesus is a revered prophet of Islam but you can't pretend that Islam and Christianity, let me back up, you can't pretend that the teachings of Mohammad and the teachings of Jesus Christ are even remotely similar in the end.

Mike Furches: Okay. I just finished the Martyr's Song Series, where did you get your inspiration for that?

Ted Dekker: My brother's death. My brother died at the age of 33. He died suddenly, overnight from viral meningitis. And a, it was so unexpected and it crushed me. He was by far the best friend I ever had and it was a surprising experience, surprised me with people. It got me to examine, you know, life after death from that.

Mike Furches: Any potential future books in the Martyr's Song Series?

Ted Dekker: There's a project coming out next fall which I'm very excited about. It's called the Dance of the Dead unless they rename it to something a little softer. It's a Novella it's a retelling of the Bosnia story with Korosic and Janovic come down into the village and kill the priest. It's that story only with a whole new wrap around where it starts off in a contemporary setting with a teenager who is suicidal. I think you would like that too because of anywhere where there is harsh realities if you've lived through those realities you'll identify with these kinds of themes. But that is being done as a Novella and also with a music CD and also in conjunction with several organizations, it's in the process now of all being put together. That will kind of be the reintroduction to the Martyr's Song Series. Because that's where the story says a whole lot.

Mike Furches: I think you know that I was involved in Christian Music for a long time and some of the stuff we were doing really kind of set the groundwork for some of the Christians involved in music and some have been able to succeed. Bob Hay said that we were the first Christian Band to successfully go into the non-Christian world. But, in that whole process I became a little bit disillusioned with the business, I guess you could say. You seem to in Heaven Weeps, at least in my reading of that, to make a little bit of commentary towards how the "Christian Business" works. There was some discussion in the way that the book company deals with some things. As far as Christian movies, Christian media and the business end of it, what's driven your opinions on those things, or have I just totally misread the fact that you've noticed that there's some things that has the business there?

Ted Dekker: Excuse me, I think is very difficult to put labels on things like "Christian Business." There's, Christians that are in business peddling all kinds of wares and it doesn't mean their followers of Christ. It doesn't mean they have any favorites wherever that really acts as a guideline for the way they behave. They're just humans, whatever their personal faith really is, for the most part is secretive. So, what does it mean to be a Christian? I don't even like the word Christian Fiction. I really don't because I'm not quite sure what it means. You know, where I grew up, or, I like have a friend who lives in Beirut and I visit him and there, Christian is something I certainly wouldn't want to be. I mean, Christian for most people in the Middle East is someone who kills Muslim babies. You know, and it's not someone who follows Christ, no not at all. That's not the way they think, when they think of Christian they don't think that. So the word means different things in different parts of the world. I'm not quite sure what Christian Fiction means. However, that is a label that is very popular now and if it's a necessary label, that's fine. That's the same thing from the Christian Business man. So as someone who is a Christian and I'm in business, it means very little. That's me.

Mike Furches: Okay

Ted Dekker: So I mean it is really the same thing with Christian Bands. The same thing with Christian Authors and in general, just, you know you can't read a book by it's cover they say, so there you go.

Mike Furches: And I want to include this comment in there, but thanks for the comment there. The reason for that is that this is one of those things that, just for years the same thing of "Christian" and "Secular." It was just a real struggle for years, while we can't just be Christians who happen to be involved in writing fiction or singing music, and if we have a legitimate relationship with Christ, that relationship will come through at some point.

Ted Dekker: Yea. You know that's one of the things that I teach. You know Arthur Alms was a professor at Wheaton College in your backyard there. He had a book called; All Truth is God's Truth, which is one of the books that I studied 20 years ago. He took the things that was very true and that I've always learned by and that is that really a false dichotomy between the fake and the secular. You know, everything is sacred, everything is secular, but that's kind of what you're saying. We use the term sacred and secular as convenient boxes. So that we can label things and put them in places that make us feel comfortable. They have very little bearing on the truth.

Mike Furches: Next one, next question here; I loved thr3e, it was the first book I read. I remember it like it was yesterday; I'm laying in the bed, I'm finishing it up because I can't put the book down because I'm guessing here and I'm guessing there, trying to figure out what in the world is going on. I get about 40 pages from the end and my wife's almost asleep and I yell out, "Ah ha! I've got it figured out." She says, "What? What? What?" (laughter) I said, "I've got this stupid book figured out." Long story made short, I get up and go to the YMCA the next day, I'm riding the exercise bike, I spend about an hour and half or two hours a day there, an hour in the morning an hour in the afternoon. I'm reading it that next morning and I'm finishing up those last few pages and I get to the place where it is like, "dad gum it!" (laughter) "I didn't have it figured out." Where did you get the idea for that book? That book probably has more plot twists than anything I think I have ever read. Where did you get your idea for Thr3e?

Ted Dekker: Again, again, first of all, it came from the passion I have to characterize the battle between good and evil in a very unique way, and the good that I would which is not that which I do not do. That is a battle that resides in all of us or is waged within all of us. I told my agent, I said, "I want to write a story about a serial killer that will be embraced by Christians." "Ha!" he said, "You can never do it." I said, "You know what? We all have a little serial killer in us. There is a way to do it." So I started thinking of a way to write a story in which we are in essence serial killers. But instead of a killer we are going to show a bomber who is a quite nasty slayer. From there then came the idea.

(Mike Furches notes: Out of respect of Ted, and the book Thr3e, I am leaving out some of the comments here to not give the book away. I will promise you after reading the book for the first time you will be glad I did. I am also deleting these comments from the audio version of the interview.) Now if you start talking about this you will ruin the book.

Mike Furches: Yea, I will delete that segment.

Ted Dekker: (laughter)

(Conversation deleted from tape interview and print interview. I will say this, there is a great deal of wonderful conversation around the issues addressed by this book at this point. )

Ted Dekker: To answer the question, that story came out of my driving desire to characterize the battle that we all face everyday in a very real way.

Mike Furches: Well it was a good way to do it too, so least I thought because it is something we can all use to look at our own inner struggles.

Ted Dekker: Right.

Mike Furches: I appreciate it. As a matter of fact, my daughter's boyfriend is reading it now.

A lot of people make comments that your books would make great movies. Any plans in that area that you can talk about?

Ted Dekker: Well I cold tell you that Ralph Winters has optioned Thr3e, and it will be distributed by Fox Studios. In fact I just met, as I was telling you, this last, week before last I was out there. It was kind of cool, I went to Fox Studios and they ushered me through the back and I had dinner with the president of Fox Home Entertainment and the national sales manager, any way it was very, very cool. These guys , they're distributing The Passion of the Christ by the way.

Mike Furches: Okay.

Ted Dekker: It just got released to them. But they, the national sales managers, they're Christians. I forgot his name suddenly, but he is a very cool guy and so is Ralph Winter but you probably know that.

Mike Furches: Any discussion as to the book optioned?

Ted Dekker: The book, Thr3e, and we are in discussions about Black, Red, White, but on a whole different scale. Of course Generation Entertainment optioned, Blessed Child, and A Man Called Blessed. I was intrigued by that.

Mike Furches: What's your opinion about spirituality, the discussion of spirituality in a contemporary media? Of course, that includes books, but also movies and music. We see a lot of discussion, you see a lot of movies now that seems to address spiritual issues in some way, your thoughts on that?

Ted Dekker: Well I think that most of the movies have come out totally flat and dry from my perspective. They make an attempt, what I find is that many people really aren't in tune with their spiritual natures are addressing or tend to address spiritual issues because that is kind of the hot button. They do it in such a way to where it's good until the last act so often in which it all just completely falls flat and it ends up undermining the true value of spirituality, for the true spiritual man. You know what I'm saying? In other words if you were to view it kind of like a falls issue, kind of like a pseudo spirituality. Very rarely do you have a movie that comes out and really honors and embraces this spiritual man, and then very, very rarely do they do it in a way that honors, or in any way kind of triumphs the teachings of Christ. For some reasons the teachings of Christ, and Jesus Christ himself has become the bastard child of the spiritual world. At least as far as the Western spiritual world. Does that make sense?

Mike Furches: Yea, yea.

Ted Dekker: I don't know if I would put them in the same sentence.

Mike Furches: As far as the movies that do come out, and obviously with Hollywood Jesus we do movie reviews, I'm encouraging them to run this and they are doing that, what are some of your favorite movies be and or recording artists, musicians, bands and that type of thing?

Ted Dekker: Well, my favorite movie of all time is Moulin Rouge. It is a passion play, it's like a story of, when I watched that movie I see a representation of the love between all of us and God. You have Ewen McGregor who's a Christ figure, you have, what's her name, Nicole Kidman. Have you ever seen the movie?

Mike Furches: Oh yea, I've got the review on Hollywood Jesus of it.

Ted Dekker: Oh really?

Mike Furches: Yea, go ahead though. Satine is her name.

Ted Dekker: Yea, yea, exactly. Satine who is the, I'm sorry I should use characters names. Satine who is the harlot and it tells her story. It is kind of like in one sense one has a thing or someone following her and what you have, that one song for me is the most emotional, wonderful song where it plays Roxanne and their dancing, dancing, away and he walks and says, "No!" and he starts singing to his own tune and he walks right past them. I just love that scene. I could just, me and my kids we sit there and we watch that and I say, "Here it is, this is Jesus and that's us. Now look at his love, look at the way he loves her." You know, we sit there and we watch that and we all get teary eyed, that's just incredible man. That's beautiful movie making. I have no idea if Baz knew what he was doing. True love stories is the story of love, or is the story of God because God is love. So in essence any great love story, even Romeo and Juliet, any great love story, is going to pluck certain spiritual chords in us. It draws us to it, that's why we're saps for love. Not teeny bopper love stories, those aren't true love stories.

Mike Furches: That is one of my favorite movies too.

Ted Dekker: That's cool!

Mike Furches: Yea, it's a good one. Do you have the DVD of it?

Ted Dekker: Oh yea!

Mike Furches: Yea, you want to make sure because the extended version of Roxanne is great.

Ted Dekker: Yea, no I have the DVD. I like any movie of great sacrifice or movies like that, you know Schindler's List is a great story as I'm sure you know, The Pianist, and I like The Abyss. I like X-Men 2, it's a cool movie, it's not fantastic but it's pretty cool, better than the first one. You know I love going out to the movies. I watch tons of movies. I'm a movie fanatic. Cause our culture is really mussed or is become programmed now to engage during these two hour segments. I write my stories, I try to write my stories in a way that addresses that culture. It effects the ways that I pace my stories, and I address a culture that's used to now engaging story in a short period or time frame, and in a very visual way. So I write very cinematically . That is a point being made all the time to me and I'm grateful for that because I work hard at it.

Mike Furches: One of the things I'll say, is that I know that I'm supposed to be impartial in an interview, not be editorializing and all that but, I'll do it anyway. One of the reasons I like you is because of, well, for folks that will be reading the article. You do a better job at that than anyone I've read, bar none.

Ted Dekker: Well thanks man.

Mike Furches: I love movies as well, but I also love literature because of the ability to escape. It helps pass the time away when I'm exercising or just doing nothing around the house.

Ted Dekker: I appreciate that because I work hard at it. I think Red and White, I gotta say that if I do pick one of my favorite books today it would have to be between Red and White. Those two books of the one's I've actually written. Red when you get the depiction of, well I can't give the story away, but it is very powerful. Visualizing or bringing into the mind, old, musty, dusty, truths and making them come alive again, in a whole new way, so the reader goes, "I never thought of it that way. That's what I want." I want everyone to say, five or six times, in every book, in every time they read one of my books, at five or six different points that, "You know I thought that but I've never thought of it that way. It is so cool!" I want them to connect and I want that truth to come alive in them in some sense, in some real way. That's why visualization is so critical. I have a whole thing on the imagination and the quickening of the imagination. You can actually do that sometimes better in a book than you can a movie. But, movies are the product of the imagination, books are more the inspiration of imagination.

Mike Furches: One of the contemporary writers that the world seems to have hit on is Stephen King. I don't know how well his movies have translated from his novels. Another one where there doesn't seem to be a lot of movies made on their writings is Dean Koontz.

Ted Dekker: Right

Mike Furches: To me, my personal opinion is that Dean Koontz does a much better job than does Stephen King. They both have a niche to tell a great story. It seems that just as of recent Christians have gotten to the place to where it is becoming more popular to tell good stories and those stories are attracting Christians and non-Christians. Why has it taken so long to get there?

Ted Dekker: Well I think because of limitations placed on writers by what are called the gatekeepers. In Hollywood you have the gatekeepers, right?

Mike Furches: Right.

Ted Dekker: Well in the CBA you have the same thing. You know, gatekeepers who think, who are people who basically control the commerce, the business side of it. Only now are they starting to realize that the church, that Christians, believers, real believers, in a real society and real culture, warrant and benefit from real literature, not just Christianized stories, real stories that explore the truth. The true struggle that we all face on a day-to-day basis, which requires writing about both the light, and about darkness because in one sense they define each other. It's very important to have. One thing I like saying is that if you paint evil with anything less than a truly black brush, you try to use a gray brush with evil in characterizing evil, you in essence are deceiving your reader by saying it is not as black as it really is here, it is actually a little gray. In essence, you are being complicit with evil because evil's greatest objective is to hide itself. Right? So, who are we as writers to compromise the true nature of evil? To whitewash it with a little bit of white, to turn it into a gray mess when it really is black? Let's call it what it is, especially evil! I can understand a person without faith doing that, but we, Christian writers painting evil with anything less than the blackest of brushes. How dare we! It's sad. (laughter)

Mike Furches: Do you see any dangers in Christians who maybe become successful in the non-Christian world? Christian authors?

Ted Dekker: Well, there is a danger. The danger is that for a Christian to become popular in a non-Christian world, the danger that he gains his popularity on the back of a compromise. So, in other words, he becomes popular in the non-Christian world by becoming non-Christian. I'd really characterize it this way; he becomes popular among those that avoid a faith by stripping away his own faith. That's the danger! Otherwise, no, there's no danger if he can keep his faith. It's like you, if you can keep your moral compass true, if you can keep your passion for God alive is there any danger for you ministering to people who you know who are rebels? You know, yea, the danger is perhaps to your own faith, that's the danger. Otherwise, the rest is kind of just smoke and mirrors.

Mike Furches: Have time for a couple more questions?

Ted Dekker: Yea, we have ten minutes.

Mike Furches: Okay. Who do you read? Who does Ted Dekker read?

Ted Dekker: I read mostly newer, current best sellers. Dean Koontz, you know, all secular fiction. Only because, really, ultimately that's the audience that I'm looking for. You know I want freedom. I'm not looking for non-Christians only, most Christians read secular fiction. Right?

Mike Furches: Right.

Ted Dekker: They go to, they watch X-Men. (laughter) Just like me. You know, they don't watch a, well there aren't really any Christian movies. Anyway, so I write for that audience and I write, and then I read a lot of non-fiction to feed my writing. Some of my favorite writers would be Dallas Willard, would be Philip Yancey, Thomas Mertin. Then others I like John Piper, Mike Dickle, a lot of really quite radical for writers, has done well with some people within Christendom.

Mike Furches: One of the things, is that in a lot of ways, the church around the world seems to be growing but in America the numbers involved in the church seems to be declining. It is almost as if there is a disinterest in the church. Why do you think that's the case in America?

Ted Dekker: Because I think the church in America puts a lot more emphasis on form than on faith. It turns out even though many of us in the country, many people in other countries tends to be dense when it comes to a lot of issues, when it comes to a matter of faith they can smell that. They can smell a genuine, they can sense, because we are all spiritual people. We can sense the genuineness of any man. You know what I'm saying? Regardless of their ideology, they at least know and that they mean it. You know what I'm saying? It's easier to do that than it is agree on ideology. It's easier to at least appreciate honesty. A lot of people say George W. Bush, they may hate his ideology, they may have a real difficult time even believing that he's telling the truth but for them for the most part, even if they find themselves in that camp, they're like "Neaa, he's a pretty straight shooter, he aint stupid but he's pretty...." I don't believe that but honesty and integrity is something that is easier to identify. I think that's what happened with the church. There is a lot of fakers out there.

Mike Furches: There is a lot of folks that are saying that Ted Dekker is one of the most important Christian writers to come around in a long time. How do you respond to comments like that?

Ted Dekker: I say, the teachings of Christ when characterized in real life settings, characterized in stories which represent real life. They are the most important thing to reenergize in our culture in a long, long time. I just happen to be one person who is doing it. We need many, many more. We need many more. I'm certainly not the best, I'm certainly not the first, the last or, I'm just one person doing it in an interesting way. It may not even be that great of a way. I'm just doing it and that alone is unique. And so, what is important is what I'm writing about, not me.

Mike Furches: One of the things I've always tried to do is to give tribute to some extent to the people who have laid the groundwork. To me, two people that come to mind right off the bat as far as doing things that are very similar to you are obviously, Frank Peretti and Flannery O'Conner. Some people may not categorize Flannery O'Conner there but I do. They both laid the ground for a lot of Christians to be successful in contemporary literature. What are some of your thoughts about some of the forerunners of your style, or your efforts? If that makes sense?

Ted Dekker: Well, style wise I am not sure there are any. I mean, I try to create my own style. I have great respect for Frank. He's a good friend of mine, just a genuine guy who wrote about a subject that really fascinated him and low and behold found millions of others who are fascinated by the same spiritual struggle. Essentially that is the thing, I mean for people that are true to that, that true spiritual struggle that we all face. You know stories that really connect with that particular struggle, have a unique way of connecting with readers and then you have avid readers. Then you have avid readers who go, "You've gotta read this!" You see it's knowing the story, it's connected, it's an unfair advantage. We will do that as an unfair advantage because we're writing not just stories that we try to make great, but stories that connect with the person in a very unique way, by reaching into their innermost being and plucking those spiritual chords. It gives them an experience that is satisfying or disturbing, depending on which side you come from, beyond their norm. That's why horror stories are so popular, that's why Anne Rice is so popular, that's why Stephen King is so popular. He is plucking spiritual chords. He may not define it, he has a unique way of, we all have a unique way of reaching in and plucking those spiritual chords. So, that is what is unique and people like Frank Peretti and if you look back at those people that's what they are doing and they were among the first to be allowed to do that. Actually, they were the first to be allowed to do that but the first whose writings were publicized and published and made, or marketed across a broad spectrum.

Mike Furches: Two questions left. One is, one of the beautiful things about Hollywood Jesus is that it actually has a great deal of traffic to the website of individuals who are seeking spiritual answers. A lot of people who have no idea who Jesus is, what he stands for, they're just looking for some type of spiritual truth. That is actually who the website is targeted for, more for non-Christians if you want to put it in that terminology. If someone were to ask for someone looking for spiritual truth; "Man here's this writer and he writes some great stuff and it's not going to offend you." What would you recommend that maybe that person pick up read for the first time if they are picking up a Ted Dekker book?

Ted Dekker: I'd say Thr3e.

Mike Furches: Thr3e?

Ted Dekker: Um Hm.

Mike Furches: Okay. Any reason for that?

Ted Dekker: Well I think Thr3e is probably the most enjoyable. You're talking about someone who's not a Christian? Right? Is that right?

Mike Furches: Yea.

Ted Dekker: Okay, I'd say Thr3e because Thr3e is a very clear personification of the struggle between good and evil. And the recognition of that struggle is the first step towards dealing with it in any way.

Mike Furches: Any different recommendations for someone who maybe is a Christian?

Ted Dekker: For someone who is a Christian, I would want to hit them over the head with When Heaven Weeps.

Mike Furches: Okay

Ted Dekker: There is a good chance they would throw it across the room. It's amazing at the number of Christians who hate When Heaven Weeps. Which tells me where they come from, but anyways, they just can't stand the fact that I'm dealing with drugs. It's amazing, I mean in other people, for example, a lot of people on the boards on my website, their favorite really is When Heaven Weeps. They are just passionate about that story. That depends where they're coming from. I'd say When Heaven Weeps, you know what I'd say it's tough. It's tough to characterize or pick one book. They're so different, they're about different topics. Blessed Child has it's own unique, they're all different, but I'd say for a non-Christian, if you want to start, if you're young, if you're young, if you're under the age of 30 or 40, if you're under the age of 40, I'd give them Thr3e.

Mike Furches: Okay. One thing I've always tried to do out of respect is that I realize that a lot of times individuals maybe have always wanted to say something in an interview or something of that nature and have never had the chance. Just leave a wide open question. Is there anything that you've always wanted to say that you would like to say now? That you've never had the chance to share in an interview?

Ted Dekker: I'd say that we writers, I don't know about other writers but I'd just die in my basement writing. Okay, and I've been blessed with the opportunity to mine my own experience in this world and to mine the teachings of Jesus Christ and faith. Then we walk in because of those teachings, and to put them on paper in a very, in a unique way in treating these stories. But, let's make no mistake about it, it's ultimately the discovery of faith that's very cool in every one of my novels. Do you hear what I'm saying? Or, the exploration of faith is very cool, and not me as a celebrity, or me as a, you know, I mean I'll play that role because that's what our society does. The attempt, I can, I'll play whatever, I'll just play along, but it really has nothing to do with me. It has to do with the story. You know, I am subservient to the story. Does that make sense?

Mike Furches: Yea.

Ted Dekker: Okay.

Mike Furches: The last thing I want to say Ted is just thanks. The reason I say that is that I didn't grow up in the best of neighborhoods or the best of environments and one of the things that has always meant something to me is that it is really nice to have the reminders of the importance of focusing on the simple things. Your writings have brought me to a place to where as an adult, I can find those mountain tops again. I appreciate your work and I wanted to make sure I told you that.

Ted Dekker: And I write for people like you. Because, you know I am writing for my self. I'm writing about my own journey, my own struggles, and my own exploration bound of reaching out beyond myself for something greater than I am. That's what it is all about. We are created to do that and so all of the people who read me are identifying with my journey, my characters journey. We're all in the same boat. We're all doing the same thing, I'm writing, you're reading but it is the same experience.

Mike Furches: Well I really appreciate it. The Lord's touched me through your work and I, well you're probably the first person I've ever said that to and I just want to thank you.

Ted Dekker: Listen, I am so honored, I really am so honored that you are doing this, that you are writing this article. I mean there is so little written about what we're doing. It's becoming more popular now in certain respects but very few Christian writers who really have profound beliefs like you do who are writing about this to non-Christians. Yea, you can do a feature in New Man Magazine or Charisma. That's one thing, but to do what you're doing, and to put it on a web site like this. You know what, I applaud you. You know, I'm more excited about this, this interview, and this web site and what you guys are doing than probably anything I've done.

Mike Furches: I appreciate it, because I'm confident, I'm sure of the fact that you're one who needs to be pushed and promoted because your stuff is not just speaking truth, it is written with quality. That's something that we've lost out on for a long time. You'll love my opening paragraph on the review.

Ted Dekker: Cool man.

Now for those that do not know, make sure you check out the numerous articles and blogs by checking out the archives. If visiting The Virtual Pew or MySpace they are archived on the left hand side of the page. Scroll down to where you see newer or older listed under archives and then click there. There are numerous postings, and you will have to go into the archives to see the 100 plus postings over the last months.

Now I also want to remind you that you can visit www.thevirtualpew.com and on the front page scroll down to the left hand side of the page where you sill see our store. Your purchases through our Amazon store provides needed funds to The Virtual Pew. If you do not see something on the page to buy, you can click on the search engine for the store, (do not put anything in the search box at this time) and you will then be taken to Amazon where you can search for anything you desire. Hopefully you will consider a gift to The Virtual Pew and/or at the very least shop our store. The items on the store page are highly recommended.

Yea, here is that contact information again.

The Virtual Pew

P.O. Box 17731

Wichita, KS 67217

Or you van give on line via Pay Pal at: http://www.furches.org/donations/index.html

Oh Boy Do I Get Myself Into Trouble

Reviews by Mike Furches — Sun, 07 Jan 2007 14:38:00 +0000

The truth is, I never fancied myself as a very good writer, in fact, when it came to the grammatical aspect, I consider myself a pretty poor writer. I am just now learning the times I should use were instead of where, and to from too. Fact is, without a spell and grammar check on the word processor, I would be in all kinds of trouble. For some of the publications I submit to, I can't tell you how grateful I am for editors.

Now on the other hand, I do think I have a knack for telling stories, and coming up with different ideas. I have had numerous people talk about my originality and things like that. I hadn't thought much about it until recently I started getting more responses regarding some of the things I have written, some written with artistic liberty, others written while using metaphor or allegory. I guess I am developing though because a recent comment that at least someone actually took one of my postings as literal got me to think about the intent of at least this one posting and blog/article.

I received an email from a dear friend this morning that someone had contacted them regarding the fact that I had been arrested for sex crimes and stealing when in fact I had not. It had to do with a blog I had written which you can view by clicking here, or you can click here for the MySpace blog where you can see some of the responses to that particular blog. You will also see the new tag at the front of the story describing it is a figurative blog. I didn't want to originally do the tag because one of the things I have been told is I am decent at is getting people to feel and relate to what I write. Sometimes, the shock value, more of a physical inclination, is beneficial to get people to understand aspects of the words on the page. It is a tricky and sometimes dangerous place, as is indicated in this particular instance because it is difficult to find a place where people can distinguish truth from fiction. This is a difficulty song writers often experience as people think their songs are all true, when in reality, they are often not.

In this case it was a figurative story illustrating we all do wrong and need to be careful how we relate to others. It was done from a mock press release type of form that uses Chapters 1 - 3 from the book of Romans in the Bible. I thought it would be clear I was writing the story from a figurative sense, but apparently to at least some, they thought it was true. I'm not upset how people received it, but am kind of surprised some didn't know what the intent of the blog/article was. By the way, I should mention why I use the term's "blog" intertwined with "article." I actually write what I consider a regular article for the web site The Virtual Pew. I use all of those on the various forms of The Virtual Pew and then blog them onto my MySpace account. Thus it is an article used as a blog. Hope this all makes sense but I know the difference between the two, and in this instance the two definitions intertwine with each other. Now back to point.

The truth is, I try to write in as much of a non religious perspective in both content and style as possible. Some ask why? The reason, at least in my own mind is clear. I am not writing for a "religious" culture. I am writing for a culture that for whatever reason has been burned out on religion, rejected religion, or just don't understand religion. It is a concept that many within Christianity have spoken about for years, yet not applied in their day to day lives. For example, we talk about how Christianity is not a religion but a relationship, then we go back to being "religious." I do believe, it is possible with some effort, to divorce the concept of religion with a relationship with Jesus Christ. In fact, in some ways, I find it is critically essential that we do so. Now this is a theological concept here and I won't spend more time than this on this point, but, that is a basic explanation of what I am attempting to do with The Virtual Pew. A reminder to those having questions here as to what is stated on the front page of The Virtual Pew which also includes our Mission Statement:

"Welcome to theVirtualPew.com. For one reason or another, many of us find ourselves without a home church or place of worship. Some feel disillusioned with overly "religious" experiences, while others simply may not have felt accepted. We're not alone, and together, we can follow Christ and find fulfilling fellowship on the Web."

"Our mission is to help make fully committed disciples of Christ out of all people, regardless of background or circumstance by building a community of faith on the Web."

As a part of that mission, as a part of our intent, is to do everything possible to make the non religious, the non believer welcome. I will not compromise my beliefs in the person of Jesus Christ. It saddens me when I read of the mockery towards Christians, the Church, and other Christian groups, but I have chosen as a direction of this ministry to be different. I want the gang member, drug addict, prostitute, alcoholic, and every other person who either rejects Christianity, has issues with their own wrongs, to know, at least at this one place, they can experience love, and see people who follow Jesus that believes in sharing the love of Jesus with them by really loving them. That is not to say we reject other ministries that focus more on punishment, hell, sin and the like, but just as the Bible illustrates different methods of reaching and teaching people, I know the road this ministry has chosen to take, one of love, where we hope to be more illustrative of Christ. Showing love to humanity, and speaking out against systems, including religious, that would do an injustice to those they come into contact with. I firmly believe, it is not my job to make others feel guilty of the wrongs they have done. That is between them and God.

Now the truth of it, the mission and route I have taken has caused controversy and difficulty at times. I am okay with that, but for those we seek to reach out to, realize there is a cost a cost where many within the religious community don't accept what we do, appreciate it, or support it. I am aware of that, it is one of the reasons I firmly believe The Virtual Pew is broke now, in other words have no money. It is why I have to find odd jobs here or there, to keep this thing afloat. The sad thing is, I know of the impact of what this ministry has had. It is dramatic, no doubt about it. Many thousands of people have responded in a very favorable way to the ministries offered by The Virtual Pew. Daily interactions with people seeking help, from emails, phone calls, face to face visits and on and on. People who have been clear about the impact of this ministry on their lives, clear about the fact they had turned from God, and now have hope that they can have a relationship with Christ. The Bible says we will know who is, and is not believers or followers of Jesus by their fruit, or by the evidence of them touching and helping others. I will gladly say about this ministry, anytime anyone wants to do any fruit inspections, let me know, I will be glad to show you. Despite this evidence though, despite the success, there are still few that support what we do financially. Even sadder, is the number of religioius groups who does not try to understand. I am honored that many have considered the work I have done in Cultural Evangelism to be on the forefront of what has been done around the world. I was among the first to use movies to find spiritual messages, and focus on cultural evangelism. Yet, this new approach, of using the internet and trying to not be religious, while catching some notice, just has not been widely accepted as of yet by many within the church. At this point I am reminded of the words in the Bible, my rewards are not of this earth, they are waiting for me in Heaven.

It is not with selfish intent I do the things I do, let me be clear. I do them out of a love for the person of Jesus Christ and the love he showed me. I know what my life was like before I was a Christian, I know what it is like now. I will not trade it, and I love others enough to show them of the love and rescue that Jesus provided me. I hope people know, in that regard, when I say I love the opportunity to help and share with others, it is not just words, but a reality. It is difficult sometimes, for example, those phone calls cost, I am at the point that a pay by the minute service is not worth it, we are easily using $100 a month on those phone calls now, just related to The Virtual Pew. There are other charges, it takes time to do the articles, spend face to face time, provide services to people needing help, on and on, but I do it, and thankfully have a family that sacrifices financially and from a time perspective, because we realize the need to share Jesus with people who otherwise wouldn't hear that message.

Now to the jest of what started all of this, for the religious folks out there, as was the intent of my last posting which caused some controversy, we have all done so much wrong, that God can't accept us without Jesus advocating for us. We need to remember that when we start being so judgmental of people we say we want to reach or find ways to condemn for some reason. I am reminded here of a story told by Chuck Girrard formerly with the band years ago Love Song. Churck told this story on a video series talking about the early days of Contemporary Christian Music. Chuck at the time was with the band Love Song and they had all come out of the hippie movement, the same movement that I personally come out of, at least the tail end of it. Chuck was telling the story about one time playing in a church and this little old lady comes up and tells him, "Young man, it is so good to see what God has done with the inside of you. I can't wait to see what he is going to do once he changes the outside of you."

Some will see the above comment as a compliment, I and others, see it is a complaint and slap in the face. Here is the point; many recognize that God always changes the inside, he changes the attitude, the heart, the person. The other thing we realize is that the outside is a cultural component that God may or may not change. Sometimes God might even prefer that the outside stay the same. Christians understand this concept so well when it comes to sending people to do foreign missions. Unfortunately we don't realize or practice the same concepts where we live among our own people. As a result, we see Christianity flourishing around the world, and in America, at a decline, we don't know how to reach our own people. On a global perspective, that approach, has begin to spread and thus a need for a ministry like The Virtual Pew that has the potential to bring people together.

In closing today:

To the follower of Jesus, realize the wrongs we have done, we cannot afford to see ourselves in any way as better than anyone else. The best thing we can do is love them in the same way that God loved us.

To the non follower of Jesus, realize this, Christ loves you just as you are, there are others among us who do as well. Don't worry about the outside, consider Jesus for the changes he can bring to the inside.

Now to do something I haven't closed with before, the words from Paul in the Bible where he was writing to a young preacher friend named Timothy, and then the words form an old hymn that used to be sung in churches. Its words are still good reminders to all of us.

1 Timothy 1: 15 – 17: (15) "Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners." This saying is true, and it can be trusted. I was the worst sinner of all! (16) But since I was worse than anyone else, God had mercy on me and let me be an example of the endless patience of Christ Jesus. He did this so that others would put their faith in Christ and have eternal life. (17) I pray that honor and glory will always be given to the only God, who lives forever and is the invisible and eternal King! Amen.

Chief of Sinners

Chief of sinners though I be,
Jesus shed His blood for me;
Died that I might live on high,
Died that I might never die;
As the branch is to the vine,
I am His, and He is mine.

O the height of Jesus' love!
Higher than the heav'n above,
Deeper than the deepest sea,
Lasting as eternity;
Love that found me-wondrous thought!
Found me when I sought Him not!

Chief of sinners though I be,
Christ is all in all to me;
All my wants to Him are known,
All my sorrows are His own;
Safe with Him from earthly strife,
He sustains the hidden life.

Now for those that do not know, make sure you check out the numerous articles and blogs by checking out the archives. If visiting The Virtual Pew or MySpace they are archived on the left hand side of the page. Scroll down to where you see newer or older listed under archives and then click there. There are numerous postings, and you will have to go into the archives to see the 100 plus postings over the last months.

Now I also want to remind you that you can visit http://www.thevirtualpew.com/ and on the front page scroll down to the left hand side of the page where you sill see our store. Your purchases through our Amazon store provides needed funds to The Virtual Pew. If you do not see something on the page to buy, you can click on the search engine for the store, (do not put anything in the search box at this time) and you will then be taken to Amazon where you can search for anything you desire. Hopefully you will consider a gift to The Virtual Pew and/or at the very least shop our store. The items on the store page are highly recommended.

Contact and Giving InformationOh Yea, here is that contact information again.

The Virtual Pew
P.O. Box 17731
Wichita, KS 67217

Or you van give on line via Pay Pal at: http://www.furches.org/donations/index.html

To become a part of The Virtual Pew, visit, http://www.thevirtualpew.com/ To learn more about me visit http://www.furches.org/ I am also active on MySpace at: http://www.myspace.com/mikefurches I have another blog at http://blog.myspace.com/mikefurches To visit the Hollywood Jesus group at MySpace with membership by numerous Hollywood Jesus reviewers visit: http://groups.myspace.com/hollywoodjesus For a more in depth weekly study and conversation you an visit: http://virtualpewsermon.blogspot.com/ where you can access deeper teaching and ultimately videos for viewing and teaching. You can also subscribe to the newsletter at http://www.thevirtualpew.com/ or see the newsletter on line at http://thevirtualpewnews.blogspot.com/ You can also sign up for the free newsletter from The Virtual Pew by visiting the main page for The Virtual Pew, or you can see the newsletters online by visiting this web site: http://thevirtualpewnews.blogspot.com/ You can contact me via email at mike@furches.org or mike@thevirtualpew.com For those interested in knowing more about my own story, contact me for a free e-copy of my book The Keystone Kid in pre-edit form.

Mike Furches Online Pastor Busted for Various Crimes

Reviews by Mike Furches — Thu, 04 Jan 2007 14:47:00 +0000

After an email from a dear friend, and the response that possibly some are reading this thinking that I actually was arrested, please note, this is a figurative story. I wasn't arrested, haven't been in any trouble, and the video is actually not me, but one I found on YouTube. I thought the figurative nature of the story was clear enough, but the intent is to show that all people, including me, sin, we are all sinners. The primary intent in this is that we can all come to a realization that our responsibility is to love others because outside of Christ we are no better than they. Don't worry, now I will say, we as Christians need to take seriously Jesus own words. He took the aspect of adultery, and murder to the next level. Paul builds on that in the letter to the Romans here, he makes it clear that we are all in sin, whether that sin be gossip, or anger which Jesus states is equivalent to murder. Read, think and if you want to see what a lot of other folks have said Press Release: From The Virtual Pew
Regarding: Online Pastor Mike Furches Busted
Date: 1/4/07

The Virtual Pew, an online ministry recently had its pastor Mike Furches Busted for various crimes. Please see attached photograph of the mug shot obtained shortly after the arrest of Pastor Furches.

The Virtual Pew is sad to announce that its pastor is not perfect, in fact it hopes to use the failings of Pastor Furches as a means to educate others as to every individuals short comings. Crimes associated with Pastor Furches vary but in the initial response regarding the arrest he replied: "I know I have no excuse, God even stated so himself in Romans 1:20-23 that none of us have an excuse for what we have done. (20) God's eternal power and character cannot be seen. But from the beginning of creation, God has shown what these are like by all he has made. That's why those people don't have any excuse. (21) They know about God, but they don't honor him or even thank him. Their thoughts are useless, and their stupid minds are in the dark. (22) They claim to be wise, but they are fools. (23) They don't worship the glorious and eternal God. Instead, they worship idols that are made to look like humans who cannot live forever, and like birds, animals, and reptiles."

Furches responded that he knew there had been times he had not sincerely looked for the truth behind the existence of God. He stated that he felt no different than many others who had simply taken the word for others. He knew this was wrong from the passage because it was clear to him that God had revealed himself in various ways. Instead of looking for the truth behind the existence of God though, he had spent more time around the television, the internet, and other various forms of entertainment including reading suspense novels and watching movies. He realized that as a professing Christian, he was as guilty of this as those who denied Christianity from both an Atheistic and Agnostic perspective. "To claim to know the truth, and then not live the truth is something I realize many have issue with." Furches stated. "I know many see this as hypocritical, and I guess it is. I realize that I have and can become so obsessed with other things that I forget about an all powerful, all knowing, and loving God."

Pastor Furches was also found guilty of sexual sin in the recent events. "I realize the seriousness of Jesus words when he said that if I have looked at a female and lusted or wanted her that it was as if I had actually committed adultery." Furches stated after being involved in this sin. "It is so hard though, I mean from sexy accounts and photos at MySpace to all of the pop up ads. It does not end there though, I get so many emails that seem innocent, but then when I open them up it is a porn site. It is so easy to get caught into that trap."

The Virtual Pew is reminded of the passage of Romans speaks about this. Romans 1: 24-31 is the passage that states: (24) So God let these people go their own way. They did what they wanted to do, and their filthy thoughts made them do shameful things with their bodies. (25) They gave up the truth about God for a lie, and they worshiped God's creation instead of God, who will be praised forever. Amen.

(26) God let them follow their own evil desires. Women no longer wanted to have sex in a natural way, and they did things with each other that were not natural. (27) Men behaved in the same way. They stopped wanting to have sex with women and had strong desires for sex with other men. They did shameful things with each other, and what has happened to them is punishment for their foolish deeds.

(28) Since these people refused even to think about God, he let their useless minds rule over them. That's why they do all sorts of indecent things. (29) They are evil, wicked, and greedy, as well as mean in every possible way. They want what others have, and they murder, argue, cheat, and are hard to get along with. They gossip, (30) say cruel things about others, and hate God. They are proud, conceited, and boastful, always thinking up new ways to do evil.

These people don't respect their parents. (31) They are stupid, unreliable, and don't have any love or pity for others. (32) They know God has said that anyone who acts this way deserves to die. But they keep on doing evil things, and they even encourage others to do them.

When confronted about the punishment at hand, Pastor Furches responded that he knew from what he had read in the Bible that Gods punishment would be fair. He cited Romans 2:1-16. (1) Some of you accuse others of doing wrong. But there is no excuse for what you do. When you judge others, you condemn yourselves, because you are guilty of doing the very same things. (2) We know that God is right to judge everyone who behaves in this way. (3) Do you really think God won't punish you, when you behave exactly like the people you accuse? (4) You surely don't think much of God's wonderful goodness or of his patience and willingness to put up with you. Don't you know that the reason God is good to you is because he wants you to turn to him?

(5) But you are stubborn and refuse to turn to God. So you are making things even worse for yourselves on that day when he will show how angry he is and will judge the world with fairness. (6) God will reward each of us for what we have done. (7) He will give eternal life to everyone who has patiently done what is good in the hope of receiving glory, honor, and life that lasts forever. (8) But he will show how angry and furious he can be with every selfish person who rejects the truth and wants to do evil. (9) All who are wicked will be punished with trouble and suffering. It doesn't matter if they are Jews or Gentiles. (10) But all who do right will be rewarded with glory, honor, and peace, whether they are Jews or Gentiles. (11) God doesn't have any favorites!

(12) Those people who don't know about God's Law will still be punished for what they do wrong. And the Law will be used to judge everyone who knows what it says. (13) God accepts those who obey his Law, but not those who simply hear it.

(14) Some people naturally obey the Law's commands, even though they don't have the Law. (15) This proves that the conscience is like a law written in the human heart. And it will show whether we are forgiven or condemned, 16when God appoints Jesus Christ to judge everyone's secret thoughts, just as my message says.

In looking at the seriousness of the crimes against Pastor Furches, including lying, stealing, pride, theft, hatred, anger, and more The Virtual Pew felt the need to make it clear of the need to illustrate grace for Pastor Furches, just as grace should be offered every individual who does wrong. Illustrating the need to do this The Virtual Pew references Romans 3:21-31. (21) Now we see how God does make us acceptable to him. The Law and the Prophets tell how we become acceptable, and it isn't by obeying the Law of Moses. (22) God treats everyone alike. He accepts people only because they have faith in Jesus Christ. (23) All of us have sinned and fallen short of God's glory. (24) But God treats us much better than we deserve, and because of Christ Jesus, he freely accepts us and sets us free from our sins. (25-26) God sent Christ to be our sacrifice. Christ offered his life's blood, so that by faith in him we could come to God. And God did this to show that in the past he was right to be patient and forgive sinners. This also shows that God is right when he accepts people who have faith in Jesus. (27) What is left for us to brag about? Not a thing! Is it because we obeyed some law? No! It is because of faith. (28) We see that people are acceptable to God because they have faith, and not because they obey the Law. (29) Does God belong only to the Jews? Isn't he also the God of the Gentiles? Yes, he is! (30) There is only one God, and he accepts Gentiles as well as Jews, simply because of their faith. (31) Do we destroy the Law by our faith? Not at all! We make it even more powerful.

When asked about this willingness to forgive, work with, and love, Pastor Furches responded. "I realize that I am guilty of a lot of sin in my life. My life has been far from perfect, but I know I have Jesus in my life to be my substitute when I go before God. Jesus will speak up for me, and even though I have failed in the past, and will fail again in the future, I am blessed and honored to know that Jesus calls me his friend as I try to do the things he has instructed me to. I know I will make mistakes but the love of Christ is perfect, it is perfect in every way, and thankfully that is what God will see when he sees me face to face."

When asked about what types of lessons he had learned from his mistakes, Pastor Furches responded; "I know how important it is to be careful about loving others instead of judging them. I realize that God will ultimately judge, but I am as guilty of sin as are the people who does not know God. The only difference is that Christ is there to provide a sense of salvation for me. It is like I was drowning and he jumped in and became the life guard. I had to accept the help he was offering, and I did. As I accept that, thankfully he isn't always confronting me with my individual sin, but with his ultimate love. I guess my responsibility to others, and the lesson I have learned is that I need to respond to others with that same measure of love. Enough to go in after the, offer a hand of help and love, and then let God be the one who judges. I think if we could all realize that we are no better than non Christians we would be better off. Of course our hope is better, our future is better, but not because of what we have done, but what Jesus has done for us. I only hope I can share that love with others in the way it has been shared with me."

Pastor Furches, and The Virtual Pew has indicated that anyone who wants to know how to be forgiven for their crimes and fine hope for the future may contact them via pm's, by posting here, or contacting them through the contact information provided.

Now for those that do not know, make sure you check out the numerous articles and blogs by checking out the archives. If visiting The Virtual Pew or MySpace they are archived on the left hand side of the page. Scroll down to where you see newer or older listed under archives and then click there. There are numerous postings, and you will have to go into the archives to see the 100 plus postings over the last months.

Now I also want to remind you that you can visit www.thevirtualpew.com and on the front page scroll down to the left hand side of the page where you sill see our store. Your purchases through our Amazon store provides needed funds to The Virtual Pew. If you do not see something on the page to buy, you can click on the search engine for the store, (do not put anything in the search box at this time) and you will then be taken to Amazon where you can search for anything you desire. Hopefully you will consider a gift to The Virtual Pew and/or at the very least shop our store. The items on the store page are highly recommended. Even if just giving a buck or two, it all ads up and is appreciated

Contact and Giving Information

Oh Yea, here is that contact information again.

The Virtual Pew
P.O. Box 17731
Wichita, KS 67217

Or you van give on line via Pay Pal at: http://www.furches.org/donations/index.html

To become a part of The Virtual Pew, visit, http://www.thevirtualpew.com/ To learn more about me visit http://www.furches.org/ I am also active on MySpace at: http://www.myspace.com/mikefurches I have another blog at http://blog.myspace.com/mikefurches To visit the Hollywood Jesus group at MySpace with membership by numerous Hollywood Jesus reviewers visit: http://groups.myspace.com/hollywoodjesus For a more in depth weekly study and conversation you an visit: http://virtualpewsermon.blogspot.com/ where you can access deeper teaching and ultimately videos for viewing and teaching. You can also subscribe to the newsletter at www.thevirtualpew.com or see the newsletter on line at http://thevirtualpewnews.blogspot.com/ You can also sign up for the free newsletter from The Virtual Pew by visiting the main page for The Virtual Pew, or you can see the newsletters online by visiting this web site: http://thevirtualpewnews.blogspot.com/ You can contact me via email at mike@furches.org or mike@thevirtualpew.com For those interested in knowing more about my own story, contact me for a free e-copy of my book The Keystone Kid in pre-edit form.

The Wonderful Gift, Our Son

Reviews by Mike Furches — Wed, 27 Dec 2006 16:25:00 +0000

17 years ago today, to the day in fact, my life and the life of my family changed forever. It is a day we still recognize and honor as a continuation of Christmas, but before I get too far ahead of the story, I need to go back to the beginning, the beginning of why it is all so important. But be forewarned, the story is not a short one, but it is one worth the read, and one that will let you know of the power of love, especially during this, or any other Christmas Season.

Growing up the way I did, I always knew I wanted a large family. Of course I never got that wish but I got what God gave us. My daughter Marathana was our first gift from God. We had our daughter after we had been married going on two years. I wrote about her in another blog, but wanted to designate the blog today to our gift some 17 years ago. My wife and I knew we would want other children, but with college and everything else we did not know how that would happen.

My daughter was approaching 3 or 4 years of age and we lived in Hillsboro Kansas where I attended Tabor College. We decided, after not having another child for some time that we would consider adopting a child. During this time we began our efforts of trying to adopt with The Villages Inc., an adoption agency for needy children. We were so excited, there was one little girl we were interested in. She was beautiful with shoulder length brown hair and wore glasses. She was older than our daughter and while it was a different way of growing a family it was one we pursued.

It was a pursuit we ended up regretting because the agency drug the procedure on for over a year, never telling us after they had shown us the little girl as to why the adoption procedure was not moving on. It was some time later that my wife and I that learned it was because of my background of being an abused child. There was believed an abused child would become an abusive parent. This hurt as much as the abuse I received as a child. Not only had I been mistreated by people who were supposed to love me, now I was being treated by a system and policy that assumed guilt without the checking out facts. My wife and I were so upset we put off the possibility of adopting or having children for several years.

It was now some years later and we lived in Greenville South Carolina. I had a great job I loved at Gateway House and the future looked promising. It was during this time my wife and I decided to begin the pursuit of adoption again. We went to an agency called Bethany Christian Services that handled adoption of children across the country. They had an office in Greenville and we thought we should again make the effort to adopt.

This time, with this agency, things were much different. We were assured that while we would have background checks done on us, that if I had indeed become a new person from my youth, we would be able to adopt a child. We were also assured that cost would not be a factor for our family as the agency would work with us. We learned a lot of other things regarding adoption though; we learned about the difficulty, we learned about the children, the number of children not adopted and a whole host of other things. We had hope.

One of the things we learned early on was that if adopting a white child that the process could be quite expensive, and last for some time. We were told some families have to wait over 10 years when requesting a white male child, a little less for a female. My wife and I, along with our daughter, had spent a great deal of time talking about this and we knew we were going to adopt a "Special Needs Child" or a child having difficulty being placed for one reason or another. In our research we discovered children of black and white backgrounds were among the most difficult to adopt. There were other issues within the Special Needs category; it could be a child with medical issues, an older child not yet placed, or any other number of variables. We requested from the agency though, a child having among the most difficulty to place, and age was not a factor. We were even willing to adopt an HIV/Aids baby. We specifically stated, we want the child hardest to place, and we know that is often a mulatto child and we are willing to accept a child like that.

That process of initial applications, interviews and so forth lasted a couple of weeks. We were given assurance we would likely have no trouble adopting a child, we were asked to come up with $500 if we did adopt to handle the court costs, and the church we were attending had gladly agreed to cover this. We did not know how long it would be, but we thought; "There is hope."

Time moved on and we were approaching the first year after the application process. We had heard nothing and assumed the adoption was likely not going to happen, just like the previous adoption had not happened. God had a Christmas miracle in store for us though; we just did not know it yet.

I had continued working at Gateway house when one day I received a phone call from a social worker at Bethany Christian Services. I will never forget that call. The phone call came in on Friday December 15, 1989. On the phone was a social worker, I can almost remember to this day the conversation, word by word.

"Mr. Furches, this is Nancy with Bethany, you had done an application at our agency for an adoption." She would state.

"Yes Mam, it was close to a year ago but my wife and I did do a request for an adoption." I replied, my heart pounding, not knowing if she was calling to deny, or to move ahead, or what.

"Well Mr. Furches, we wanted to know if we could schedule a home visit with you as soon as possible. We need to come by the house, check out everything and meet again with your wife and daughter. Would that be possible?"

"Yes Mam." I replied, starting to stumble a little with words because I knew the bad options had gone out the window. "When would you like to schedule it?" I asked, fully expecting she would reply sometime over the course of the next month.

"Well Mr. Furches," she responded, "Would it be possible to come by your house tomorrow?"

At this time I was more than nervous, I was ready to hit the floor. I knew the house was not up to our approval, as most any family we wanted to make sure everything was ready, so I asked, "Would it be possible to do that on Monday? I have to call my wife and I know she will want to clean up the house a little."

"Sure Monday will be fine, will say, 7:00 be okay?" She asked

"Yes Mam, that will be fine." I answered

"Fine, see you on Monday, December 18 at your house; are you still living at the address on Fernleaf Drive?" She asked.

"Yes Mam, that is correct." I responded,

"Great" she replied, "I'll see you Monday."

We ended the conversation and I had to almost run to my supervisor at the time, Donny Smith and ask if it was okay for me to call my wife. He stated fine, that I needed to make sure I did that and so I called. I think as I recalled the story to her, she was as dumbfounded as I.

I can't think of a slower weekend in my life than that particular weekend. It seemed as if Monday afternoon was going to ever arrive, but it eventually did.

Nancy arrived on time, at first things were different than I expected but the meeting went on. The meeting was at our house, a split level in a community just outside of Greenville called Travelers Rest. Our family had worked diligently on the house over the weekend including Marathana who was excited about the possibility of a new brother and/or sister. Nancy began to ask questions, questions I didn't fully understand as to why she was asking. Many were questions asked before in previous interviews at the agency. Yet, she continued to ask some of those same questions, questions about my background, our family's involvement with church, about our faith and on and on. None of them were offensive or upsetting, just strange to see repeated.

After about an hour Nancy indicated the meeting was about over, my wife and I, somewhat confused, asked the question; "so are we being considered for a child?" Nancy’s response was something that would last with us for a long time.

"Yes you are, we actually have a child, and I am not supposed to tell you this, but a small infant boy born on November 28. The situation surrounding his birth is somewhat difficult. I know you had stated in your initial interview that you would be willing to adopt a special needs child. Well this child was born at home. We know his birth mother was 15 or so when she got raped by two young black men. The story is she was delivering beer to the brothers, and was raped; she isn't sure which one is the father. The young lady had actually gone in to obtain information regarding obtaining an abortion and went into Bethany who talked her into having the baby and taking care of all of the costs associated with the pregnancy. The agency has tried to identify the father via testing and both deny the episode of the events. That doesn't surprise us though because of the nature of the pregnancy. We know the child was born at the girls' home, in the bathroom. Apparently the mother of the girl didn't know she was pregnant until the delivery. Everything related to the birth tested out fine with the infant tests. The paramedics arrived at the home and the baby boy was in great health. We would like to do placement as soon as possible. How soon do you think you can have a nursery ready?"

My wife and I were between shock, and excitement. We did not know what to expect or say at this point but I still tried to answer Nancy's question. "I don’t know when do we need a nursery ready?" I asked.

"Could you have one ready as soon as tomorrow?" She asked back.

At this point, my wife and I had gone through close to a year not hearing anything back, and all along the while assuming our effort to adopt a child would be as our last effort, something good we desired that just would not happen. Yet, feeling this and knowing my wife Mary Jane felt the same thing by observing her body movement and eyes, I responded. "I don't know about tomorrow, but we could have a nursery ready by Thursday." I realized this was Monday night; Christmas was one week away. The last thing we expected with this short of a notice was the gift of a new child into our family. It was totally unexpected. We didn't have paint, a crib, nothing for a newborn. Nancy was great and very pleasant with her response.

"I think Thursday will be fine. Expect to hear from me in the next couple of days but I really don't expect any problems. Just get the nursery ready, it looks like you are going to have the opportunity to have a baby boy for Christmas."

We prayed, and that night, my family was in shock, we couldn't believe what had just happened.

As the week went on we had not heard from Nancy, I was starting to get a little worried again, as was my wife so I decided to call Nancy on Thursday while at work. As I called I found out we indeed did have the chance to go and look at and adopt this little infant boy. She asked if we would be willing to wait until the Tuesday after Christmas, December 26 because the foster parents wanted the opportunity to have the baby with them over Christmas. The infant was called Jake by the foster family, he did not have an official name yet. I stated we could wait until Tuesday and made plans to meet at the Adoption agency.

To be honest, I do not know what Christmas day was like that year. In less than a week, we had gone from a 3 member family to suddenly getting ready to likely have a fourth member and a son at that. We were open to either a son or a daughter, but to be honest, as I had told the agency, it would be great to have a son. It was as if from one Christmas to the other, God had heard our prayers, our requests, and answered them. God was getting ready to give our family a Christmas we would never forget.

The following Tuesday finally arrived. We arrived at Bethany Christian Services around 9:00 AM. We realized and fully knew this little boy would be of milado (black/white) heritage and we were fully expecting a dark skinned little boy with nappy hair. We had been told in the past that sometimes one of the biggest shocks to families adopting mulatto children is that they were light skinned. We had thought about that and while skin tone did not matter, it was something that was still a surprise when we first saw baby Jake.

We went into a private room to get information on the baby, and to meet with the foster parents. We had never done anything like this. The excitement and electricity filled the air. One of the first things we noticed was the curly hair on the baby, and the fact that his skin was more olive color than dark brown or black as we had expected. We also noticed the baby was very small. Even at nearly a month in age, the child weighed less than 9 pounds. Our daughter when born weighed over 9 pounds and was approaching 11 pounds at one month of age. We were not used to a baby this small. The meeting went on for about an hour and a half. We knew we wanted the boy.

At the conclusion of the meeting, the staff at Bethany, including Nancy informed us we could go home and think about this adoption over a couple of days. We replied we did not need to think about it, we wanted our son. After a few moments of discussion, they encouraged us as to at least go eat lunch, then decide if we wanted the child. We stated we would and that lunch meeting lasted all of thirty seconds.

Across the street from Bethany was a Burger King Restaurant. My wife and I went in, and to be honest, I do not recall if I ate anything or not. I sat down across from Mary Jane, and asked her, "What do we need to talk about?"

"I don't know" She responded, "I want the baby."

"Yea, me to," I replied emphatically. I think that was the jest of our conversation, we waited around at Burger King for about an hour talking about our new son and how God had met our dreams, and then went back to Bethany. Upon our return, we met again with the Foster Family, and the administrators at Bethany. After a few questions, filling out some paper work. We were literally handed a child to be our own. It was a feeling I will never forget.

When asked about deciding on a name for the child, we knew right off the bat what the name would be as we had discussed it when we first started the adoption process some years before. In fact, Mary Jane and I had discussed child names even before getting married for both a boy and a girl. We had always wanted to name a son Nathaniel Seth if we had one and my grandfather had recently passed. His name was William and we decided on the name Nathaniel William Seth Furches. It was not long afterward we learned the name meant, Anointed Gift of God. Nathan for our family would always be a reminder to the goodness and love offered by God to our family, even when things at times seem tough.

The first couple of years were not easy. Nathan had gone through some fairly serious health issues that had required surgery, and one of those health issues was a life threatening event. We struggled during those times early in that first year, and the subsequent years to come. He lived his first years in South and North Carolina, he was born in Charleston South Carolina, but would end up growing up in Oklahoma and Kansas.

For 17 years now, we have had a celebration in our family that concludes on December 26. On that day we keep back one present for each member of the family from Christmas and open it as a family. As I type this, we are going to my daughters' house in Newton Kansas to celebrate the day. It is a reminder of the day Nathan came to our family, and a reminder of the day God completed our family. We are also reminded of the gift God gave to earth for all of humanity.

A lot has happened over those 17 years, some good, and some bad. Among the greatest joys of that time is being there to hold my sons hand as he prayed the prayer to receive Christ into his life. It was at a Power Team presentation and we only went because he had ring worm and was unable to wrestle at an AAU National Championship tournament in Tulsa. Then there was the time I had the honor of baptizing him at our church in Owasso Oklahoma. We have had other things happen most of the enjoyable ones were related to spiritual accomplishments, and family.

Nathan has not only been a blessing to me and my family, but to many whom he has come to know. His story has appeared in various publications and he has had feature articles written about him in various magazines. I still say, he is a child of God, and a gift from God. He has turned into a fine young man among many other things. I am honored to call him son, but even more honored that God was willing to give my family an incredible gift, at Christmas on that Christmas 17 years ago.

Today is the last blog/article in the Christmas series. I thank those of you for reading them. I also appreciate the prayers and support for our family over the course of the next year. We value this ministry, we know God has blessed us and we hope we can share more about his love over the course of the year than ever before. If we know how to give each other good gifts, how much more does our father in heaven know how to give each of us good gifts. I have experienced that blessing in life. It is my hope that the ministry of The Virtual Pew can help you see and experience those same blessings.

Now before we get to the videos today, hopefully everyone will remember to pass the blogs along to your friends. The Christmas Special blogs from TVP can help a lot of people. You can show them what we are doing by Clicking Here at this Link. They can also get in the Christmas Spirit by Clicking Here and reading about The Virtual Pew and our Christmas giving options.

Now for those that do not know, make sure you check out the numerous articles and blogs by checking out the archives. If visiting The Virtual Pew or MySpace they are archived on the left hand side of the page. Scroll down to where you see newer or older listed under archives and then click there. There are numerous postings, and you will have to go into the archives to see the 100 plus postings over the last months.

Now I also want to remind you that you can visit www.thevirtualpew.com and on the front page scroll down to the left hand side of the page where you sill see our store. Your purchases through our Amazon store provides needed funds to The Virtual Pew. If you do not see something on the page to buy, you can click on the search engine for the store, (do not put anything in the search box at this time) and you will then be taken to Amazon where you can search for anything you desire. Hopefully as you shop for Christmas you will consider a gift to The Virtual Pew and/or at the very least shop our store. The items on the store page are highly recommended.

Now prior to checking out the videos for the day, here is that information, contact and contribution information regarding The Virtual Pew. Again, thanks for visiting, have a Merry Christmas or whatever holiday you celebrate. Just remember though, from The Virtual Pew, we wish you a Merry Christmas and a Happy Blessed New Year.

Contact and Giving Information

Oh Yea, here is that contact information again.

The Virtual Pew
P.O. Box 17731
Wichita, KS 67217

Or you van give on line via Pay Pal at: http://www.furches.org/donations/index.html

To become a part of The Virtual Pew, visit, http://www.thevirtualpew.com/ To learn more about me visit http://www.furches.org/ I am also active on MySpace at: http://www.myspace.com/mikefurches I have another blog at http://blog.myspace.com/mikefurches To visit the Hollywood Jesus group at MySpace with membership by numerous Hollywood Jesus reviewers visit: http://groups.myspace.com/hollywoodjesus For a more in depth weekly study and conversation you an visit: http://virtualpewsermon.blogspot.com/ where you can access deeper teaching and ultimately videos for viewing and teaching. You can also subscribe to the newsletter at www.thevirtualpew.com or see the newsletter on line at http://thevirtualpewnews.blogspot.com/ You can also sign up for the free newsletter from The Virtual Pew by visiting the main page for The Virtual Pew, or you can see the newsletters online by visiting this web site: http://thevirtualpewnews.blogspot.com/ You can contact me via email at mike@furches.org or mike@thevirtualpew.com For those interested in knowing more about my own story, contact me for a free e-copy of my book The Keystone Kid in pre-edit form.

Reliant K Be My Escape

Three Stooges Christmas

Mad TV Bowling for Christmas

Charlotte Church O Holy Night

Names of Jesus

The Coors Merry Christmas War Is Over White House

David Hasselhoff Silent Night in German

Lola Lebowitz Sings Santa Baby

Ms Prissy Response Mr Grinch

George Winston’s Holly and the Ivy

ELP I Believe in Father Christmas

Christmas is All Around Billy Mack

Yolanda Adams O Holy Night

Davy Jones Bill Nighy Christmas is All Around Us

The Ramones Merry Christmas

Billy Squire Christmas is the Time to Say I Love You

Bob Rivers 12 Pains of Christmas

Eric B Pimp My Sleigh

Dogs Sing a Christmas Song

Silent Night With Lighthouses

John Mellencamp I Saw Mommy Kissing Santa Clause

Flaming Lips Christmas At The Zoo

The Christmas Story

Reviews by Mike Furches — Mon, 25 Dec 2006 01:41:00 +0000

Here it is in the Midwest around 8:00 PM on Christmas Eve. The day has been hectic, likely that way for a large number of us. What does one say for a blog at this hour? It was actually quite easy to decide. I'll share The Christmas Story from my favorite Bible translation to read and think about, The Contemporary Engllish Version.

Luke Chapter 1 - Chapter 2 Verse 40

Luke 1
(1) Many people have tried to tell the story of what God has done among us. (2) They wrote what we had been told by the ones who were there in the beginning and saw what happened. (3) So I made a careful study of everything and then decided to write and tell you exactly what took place. Honorable Theophilus, (4) I have done this to let you know the truth about what you have heard.
An Angel Tells about the Birth of John
(5) When Herod was king of Judea, there was a priest by the name of Zechariah from the priestly group of Abijah. His wife Elizabeth was from the family of Aaron. (6) Both of them were good people and pleased the Lord God by obeying all that he had commanded. (7) But they did not have children. Elizabeth could not have any, and both Zechariah and Elizabeth were already old. (8) One day Zechariah's group of priests were on duty, and he was serving God as a priest. (9) According to the custom of the priests, he had been chosen to go into the Lord's temple that day and to burn incense, (10) while the people stood outside praying. (11) All at once an angel from the Lord appeared to Zechariah at the right side of the altar. (12) Zechariah was confused and afraid when he saw the angel. (13) But the angel told him:
Don't be afraid, Zechariah! God has heard your prayers. Your wife Elizabeth will have a son, and you must name him John. (14) His birth will make you very happy, and many people will be glad. (15) Your son will be a great servant of the Lord. He must never drink wine or beer, and the power of the Holy Spirit will be with him from the time he is born.

(16) John will lead many people in Israel to turn back to the Lord their God. (17) He will go ahead of the Lord with the same power and spirit that Elijah had. And because of John, parents will be more thoughtful of their children. And people who now disobey God will begin to think as they ought to. That is how John will get people ready for the Lord. (18) Zechariah said to the angel, "How will I know this is going to happen? My wife and I are both very old."

(19) The angel answered, "I am Gabriel, God's servant, and I was sent to tell you this good news.(20) You have not believed what I have said. So you will not be able to say a thing until all this happens. But everything will take place when it is supposed to."

(21) The crowd was waiting for Zechariah and kept wondering why he was staying so long in the temple. (22) When he did come out, he could not speak, and they knew he had seen a vision. He motioned to them with his hands, but did not say a thing.

(23) When Zechariah's time of service in the temple was over, he went home. (24) Soon after that, his wife was expecting a baby, and for five months she did not leave the house. She said to herself, (25) "What the Lord has done for me will keep people from looking down on me."

An Angel Tells about the Birth of Jesus
(26) One month later God sent the angel Gabriel to the town of Nazareth in Galilee (27) with a message for a virgin named Mary. She was engaged to Joseph from the family of King David. (28) The angel greeted Mary and said, "You are truly blessed! The Lord is with you."
(29) Mary was confused by the angel's words and wondered what they meant. (30) Then the angel told Mary, "Don't be afraid! God is pleased with you, (31) and you will have a son. His name will be Jesus. (32) He will be great and will be called the Son of God Most High. The Lord God will make him king, as his ancestor David was. (33) He will rule the people of Israel forever, and his kingdom will never end."

(34) Mary asked the angel, "How can this happen? I am not married!"

(35) The angel answered, "The Holy Spirit will come down to you, and God's power will come over you. So your child will be called the holy Son of God. (36) Your relative Elizabeth is also going to have a son, even though she is old. No one thought she could ever have a baby, but in three months she will have a son. (37) Nothing is impossible for God!"

(38) Mary said, "I am the Lord's servant! Let it happen as you have said." And the angel left her.

Mary Visits Elizabeth
(39) A short time later Mary hurried to a town in the hill country of Judea. (40) She went into Zechariah's home, where she greeted Elizabeth. (41) When Elizabeth heard Mary's greeting, her baby moved within her.
The Holy Spirit came upon Elizabeth. (42) Then in a loud voice she said to Mary:

God has blessed you more than any other woman! He has also blessed the child you will have. (43) Why should the mother of my Lord come to me? (44) As soon as I heard your greeting, my baby became happy and moved within me. (45) The Lord has blessed you because you believed that he will keep his promise.

Mary's Song of Praise
(46) Mary said:
With all my heart

I praise the Lord,

(47) and I am glad

because of God my Savior.

48He cares for me,

his humble servant.

From now on,

all people will say

God has blessed me.

(49) God All-Powerful has done

great things for me,

and his name is holy.

(50) He always shows mercy

to everyone

who worships him.

(51) The Lord has used

his powerful arm

to scatter those

who are proud.

(52) He drags strong rulers

from their thrones

and puts humble people

in places of power.

(53) God gives the hungry

good things to eat,

and sends the rich away

with nothing.

(54) He helps his servant Israel

and is always merciful

to his people.

(55) The Lord made this promise

to our ancestors,

to Abraham and his family

forever!

(56) Mary stayed with Elizabeth about three months. Then she went back home.

The Birth of John the Baptist
(57) When Elizabeth's son was born, 58her neighbors and relatives heard how kind the Lord had been to her, and they too were glad.
(59) Eight days later they did for the child what the Law of Moses commands. They were going to name him Zechariah, after his father. (60) But Elizabeth said, "No! His name is John." (61) The people argued, "No one in your family has ever been named John." (62) So they motioned to Zechariah to find out what he wanted to name his son.

(63) Zechariah asked for a writing tablet. Then he wrote, "His name is John." Everyone was amazed. (64) Right away, Zechariah started speaking and praising God.

(65) All the neighbors were frightened because of what had happened, and everywhere in the hill country people kept talking about these things. (66) Everyone who heard about this wondered what this child would grow up to be. They knew that the Lord was with him.

Zechariah Praises the Lord
(67) The Holy Spirit came upon Zechariah, and he began to speak:
(68) Praise the Lord,

the God of Israel!

He has come

to save his people.

(69) Our God has given us

a mighty Savior from the family

of David his servant.

(70) Long ago the Lord promised

by the words

of his holy prophets

(71) to save us from our enemies

and from everyone

who hates us.

(72) God said he would be kind

to our people

and keep

his sacred promise.

(73) He told our ancestor Abraham

(74) that he would rescue us

from our enemies.

Then we could serve him

without fear,

(75) by being holy and good

as long as we live.

(76) You, my son, will be called

a prophet of God

in heaven above.

You will go ahead of the Lord

to get everything ready

for him.

(77) You will tell his people

that they can be saved

when their sins

are forgiven.

(78) God's love and kindness

will shine upon us

like the sun that rises

in the sky. (79) On us who live

in the dark shadow

of death

this light will shine

to guide us

into a life of peace.

(80) As John grew up, God's Spirit gave him great power. John lived in the desert until the time he was sent to the people of Israel.

Luke 2
The Birth of Jesus
(Matthew 1.18-25)
(1) About that time Emperor Augustus gave orders for the names of all the people to be listed in record books. (2) These first records were made when Quirinius was governor of Syria. (3) Everyone had to go to their own hometown to be listed. (4) So Joseph had to leave Nazareth in Galilee and go to Bethlehem in Judea. Long ago Bethlehem had been King David's hometown, and Joseph went there because he was from David's family.
(5) Mary was engaged to Joseph and traveled with him to Bethlehem. She was soon going to have a baby, (6) and while they were there, (7) she gave birth to her first-born son. She dressed him in baby clothes and laid him on a bed of hay, because there was no room for them in the inn.

The Shepherds
(8) That night in the fields near Bethlehem some shepherds were guarding their sheep. (9) All at once an angel came down to them from the Lord, and the brightness of the Lord's glory flashed around them. The shepherds were frightened. (10) But the angel said, "Don't be afraid! I have good news for you, which will make everyone happy. (11) This very day in King David's hometown a Savior was born for you. He is Christ the Lord. (12) You will know who he is, because you will find him dressed in baby clothes and lying on a bed of hay."
(13) Suddenly many other angels came down from heaven and joined in praising God. They said:

(14) "Praise God in heaven!

Peace on earth to everyone

who pleases God."

(15) After the angels had left and gone back to heaven, the shepherds said to each other, "Let's go to Bethlehem and see what the Lord has told us about." (16) They hurried off and found Mary and Joseph, and they saw the baby lying on a bed of hay.

(17) When the shepherds saw Jesus, they told his parents what the angel had said about him. (18) Everyone listened and was surprised. (19) But Mary kept thinking about all this and wondering what it meant.

(20) As the shepherds returned to their sheep, they were praising God and saying wonderful things about him. Everything they had seen and heard was just as the angel had said.

(21) Eight days later Jesus' parents did for him what the Law of Moses commands. And they named him Jesus, just as the angel had told Mary when he promised she would have a baby.

Simeon Praises the Lord
(22) The time came for Mary and Joseph to do what the Law of Moses says a mother is supposed to do after her baby is born. They took Jesus to the temple in Jerusalem and presented him to the Lord, (23) just as the Law of the Lord says, "Each first-born baby boy belongs to the Lord." (24) The Law of the Lord also says that parents have to offer a sacrifice, giving at least a pair of doves or two young pigeons. So that is what Mary and Joseph did. (25) At this time a man named Simeon was living in Jerusalem. Simeon was a good man. He loved God and was waiting for God to save the people of Israel. God's Spirit came to him (26) and told him that he would not die until he had seen Christ the Lord.
(27) When Mary and Joseph brought Jesus to the temple to do what the Law of Moses says should be done for a new baby, the Spirit told Simeon to go into the temple. (28) Simeon took the baby Jesus in his arms and praised God,

(29) "Lord, I am your servant,

and now I can die in peace,

because you have kept

your promise to me.

(30) With my own eyes I have seen

what you have done

to save your people,

(31) and foreign nations

will also see this.

(32) Your mighty power is a light

for all nations,

and it will bring honor

to your people Israel."

(33) Jesus' parents were surprised at what Simeon had said. (34) Then he blessed them and told Mary, "This child of yours will cause many people in Israel to fall and others to stand. The child will be like a warning sign. Many people will reject him, (35) and you, Mary, will suffer as though you had been stabbed by a dagger. But all this will show what people are really thinking."

Anna Speaks about the Child Jesus
(36) The prophet Anna was also there in the temple. She was the daughter of Phanuel from the tribe of Asher, and she was very old. In her youth she had been married for seven years, but her husband died. (37) And now she was eighty-four years old. Night and day she served God in the temple by praying and often going without eating. (38) At that time Anna came in and praised God. She spoke about the child Jesus to everyone who hoped for Jerusalem to be set free.

The Return to Nazareth
(39) After Joseph and Mary had done everything that the Law of the Lord commands, they returned home to Nazareth in Galilee. (40) The child Jesus grew. He became strong and wise, and God blessed him.

Now before we get to the videos today, hopefully everyone will remember to pass the blogs along to your friends. The Christmas Special blogs from TVP can help a lot of people. You can show them what we are doing by Clicking Here at this Link. They can also get in the Christmas Spirit by Clicking Here and reading about The Virtual Pew and our Christmas giving options. Also be on the lookout for my story of The Best Christmas Ever, which will be posted around Christmas Day. It is a heart tugging story, and a true testament to the power of Christmas and God. I am really looking forward to retelling this story that is true, and happened to me and my family. It has been published across the world, and I will redo the story, just for The Virtual Pew.

Now for those that do not know, make sure you check out the numerous articles and blogs by checking out the archives. If visiting The Virtual Pew or MySpace they are archived on the left hand side of the page. Scroll down to where you see newer or older listed under archives and then click there. There are numerous postings, and you will have to go into the archives to see the 100 plus postings over the last months.

Now I also want to remind you that you can visit http://www.thevirtualpew.com/ and on the front page scroll down to the left hand side of the page where you sill see our store. Your purchases through our Amazon store provides needed funds to The Virtual Pew. If you do not see something on the page to buy, you can click on the search engine for the store, (do not put anything in the search box at this time) and you will then be taken to Amazon where you can search for anything you desire. Hopefully as you shop for Christmas you will consider a gift to The Virtual Pew and/or at the very least shop our store. The items on the store page are highly recommended.

Now prior to checking out the videos for the day, here is that information, contact and contribution information regarding The Virtual Pew. Again, thanks for visiting, have a Merry Christmas or whatever holiday you celebrate. Just remember though, from The Virtual Pew, we wish you a Merry Christmas.

Contact and Giving InformationOh Yea, here is that contact information again.

The Virtual Pew

P.O. Box 17731

Wichita, KS 67217

Or you van give on line via Pay Pal at: http://www.furches.org/donations/index.html

To become a part of The Virtual Pew, visit, http://www.thevirtualpew.com/ To learn more about me visit http://www.furches.org/ I am also active on MySpace at: http://www.myspace.com/mikefurches I have another blog at http://blog.myspace.com/mikefurches To visit the Hollywood Jesus group at MySpace with membership by numerous Hollywood Jesus reviewers visit: http://groups.myspace.com/hollywoodjesus For a more in depth weekly study and conversation you an visit: http://virtualpewsermon.blogspot.com/ where you can access deeper teaching and ultimately videos for viewing and teaching. You can also subscribe to the newsletter at http://www.thevirtualpew.com/ or see the newsletter on line at http://thevirtualpewnews.blogspot.com/ You can also sign up for the free newsletter from The Virtual Pew by visiting the main page for The Virtual Pew, or you can see the newsletters online by visiting this web site: http://thevirtualpewnews.blogspot.com/ You can contact me via email at mike@furches.org or mike@thevirtualpew.com For those interested in knowing more about my own story, contact me for a free e-copy of my book The Keystone Kid in pre-edit form.

Boys 2 Men Christmas Acapella This Christmas

The Mr. Bean Christmas Party

Clintons Accoustic Christmas Special and Spoof

Amy Grant Breath of Heaven

Mary Did You Know Photo Montage

Gaither Vocal Band The Christmas Song

Cliff Richard Sweet Little Jesus Boy We're All One

Mary Did You Know

Go Fish, It's About The Cross

Away In A Manger Amber Thompson Kelly Nelon

Angela Lansbury Story of Jesus

Christmas Begins with Christ

Walking in the Light African Childrens Choir

Pipers Night Before Christmas Mark Lowery

Kathy Mattea Mary Did You Know

Don't Cross Christ Out of Christmas Dwight Mallory

Peace Child O Come Emmanuel The Normals

A Christmas Song Dave Matthews

Avalon We Are The Reason

Amy Grant Little Town of Bethlehem

Mogwai Christmas Steps Live

The Monkeys Christmas Medeley With Michael Nesmith

Christmas with the Kelly Family 1994

Anime Christmas Special

Chip & Dale Christmas

Zack Kim First Noel

Joan Crawford Christmas

Darlene Love on Letterman Baby Please Come Home

New Edition Christmas All Around The World

Mario Lanza O Holy Night

Traditions

Reviews by Mike Furches — Sun, 24 Dec 2006 12:55:00 +0000

Here it is Christmas Eve and for many, the traditions will end tonight, and for others, they will start. It seems as if we all have some level of traditions we go through during the Christmas season. I know that for my family we do. Tonight my daughter will arrive at the house with her husband. We will load up in the van, drive around the area to check out Christmas lights while listening to a variety of Christmas music, from Bing Crosby to John Rivers, from sacred to sacrilegious, we will listen to it all while checking out the lights and getting into the Christmas spirit.

After seeing the lights, we return home to continue a tradition we started in our family some years ago. You see, I knew that between my wife's families and mine they had their own traditions, for some, those traditions involved us. We knew though, especially with our families, and with the route we had chosen in life, it was going to be important to start our own traditions. So early on we did just that. We started with the traditions that have carried on now for almost 28 years.

Each Christmas Eve night we start with the reading of the Christmas story from the Gospel of Luke. We read from the angel telling Zechariah and Elisabeth about the upcoming birth of John to the point where Simeon holds the baby Jesus in the temple. We say a prayer of thanks for and to Christ, and in the early days before children, would watch a movie, then go to bed.

After we had children it seemed as if only a few things would change. We would continue with the car trip of going to see Christmas lights, listening to music, reading the story, but after the birth of our daughter we added a couple of things. My wife and I read to our daughter all of the time, year round, from a very early age. Her love of reading is likely why she did so well in school, and later obtained a vocation of crafting words, she is much better than I and I know it.

One of the things that changed was our purchase of the book Santa are you for Real from one of the local Christian book stores. We purchased this wonderful Children's book that told the story of the real St. Nicholas. It was one of the books that inspired me some years later to spend a great deal of time researching and checking out the Real St. Nick. In this family tradition, from a very early age, we begin to teach our daughter the correlation between Santa Claus, and the Real St. Nicholas. We never taught the existence of a Santa Claus, just the historical person of Saint Nicholas and what he believed. Now don't get me wrong. We would play, and use Santa Claus as a reminder of who the Real St. Nicholas was, but we knew from the outset, including my daughter, that we were playing. The tradition of reading this book has carried on in our family for years, and will continue tonight. Some ask if not teaching our daughter about St. Nicholas deprived her of any childhood joys? I don't think so, it at least in our minds, better allowed us to be honest with her. As she grew older she didn't have to distinguish about the reality of Jesus, we have never denied that story. She also knew that her parents wouldn't trick her. In fact, she got into trouble once for sharing the truth about the real St. Nicholas at school, that is okay though, we have sense made sure to teach our son, and subsequently our daughter, that it is best if each individual family teaches their own families their own traditions. You can click on the book image to read the story of Santa are you for Real.

Another tradition that started with our daughter was she was allowed to open one present from her Aunt Sissy, my sister on Christmas Eve. I think I can say in all honesty, my wife and I have never opened a present on Christmas Eve. We have had friends give us presents, from work or other places, but even there, just like last night in fact, I ask, can I wait to open this on Christmas day? If they say no open it now, we honor them with their request, but really like it when they say, yea go ahead and wait. While I think everyone makes those types of decisions, we knew our family would understand the value of Christmas Day by saving the presents to open on the day Christ was born. Many other families, just as mentioned later have a different tradition, many will open their presents tonight, that is fine, it is up to them but these are the ones our family honors.

The third and last tradition up until my son is that on Christmas day we have a Birthday Cake for Jesus and sing happy birthday to Jesus. It is if you will, part of our prayer on Christmas day to make sure we realize what the day is all about. Our family has enjoyed these traditions for some time, and they were a ritual in our family that stayed just like that up until the receipt of our son which I will share more about tomorrow when I share, The Ultimate Christmas Present.

Over the years some things change here and there, for almost 16 years of our life, we had homeless people, and mentally ill people spend Christmas with us. We loved this time, and to be honest, miss it a great deal. We still try to do it, but just don't have the accessibility and resources we once had. This was a real reminder of what it meant to give at Christmas, and to be honest, giving to them, took away the selfish desires we may have had for ourselves regarding getting presents.

It would be some years later and we incorporated another tradition to make Christmas last longer. It always seemed as if there was a let down right after opening the presents. What we started doing though was leaving one present behind to be opened on Christmas night. It made the excitement, and joy last longer through the day. We have sense added another present to be opened the day after Christmas, but more about that tomorrow. Our kids have taken turns handing out presents, and then the recipient gets to put now, two back, to be opened later.

The truth is, life goes on, we all in some ways, even if a part of someone else's tradition, develops and starts our own traditions. In fact, I personally encourage new families and even old ones if they haven't done so to start their own traditions. I tell them, "make them personal, make them special, but whatever you do, make sure you do something that will remind you of the birth of Christ, and of what Christ has done for you. Also celebrate family."

I think the lack of family celebrations as a child is what has made this day so special to me. I am pretty quirky about the day. I know it isn't the day that Jesus was actually born, it was likely at a later date and a later time, but it is a day when we can all come together, whether we realize it or not, accept it or not, and recognize the wonderful things that came to this earth through Christ birth, and ultimate crucifixion and resurrection.

This Christmas has been tough financially, but God has helped our family realize it isn’t about receiving or even for that matter, giving gifts, it is about celebrating the birth of Christ and what that gift brought to the planet. God is still good. True, we may not have as many gifts to open as we have in the past, we may not have had as many gifts to give as we have in the past, but we have done what we could for the people we love and because Christ loves us we have reason to celebrate. That is what matters.

As time goes on, new traditions start and things change. Just like Tevya in Fiddler on the Roof, we have to accept that fact. My daughter is grown now, married and someday, will have children of her own. I have encouraged her and her husband to start their own traditions, and in a way, they have. They will do Christmas Eve celebrations tonight including gift openings with her husbands' family. This Christmas will likely be a little better than last because last Christmas was the first Christmas without his mom. I suspect those things get a little easier, I don't know, I can't relate to that yet. I imagine it is still hard though. I cherish the willingness of my daughter to give this gift of love to her husband and her new family. I honor and respect that tradition. They will arrive at the house here late tonight. Then our traditions will start but we are thinking about checking out something we have never done before, we are thinking about going to a Midnight Mass. We are not Catholic, but thought, this could be something new. Don't know if it will be something we do again, if it will become a tradition, we haven't done it yet. We realize, trying something new don't constitute it becoming a tradition, doing it year, after year, after year does. With that being said, what traditions do you have? If you don't have any, are you willing to start? Merry Christmas and have a great day.

Just a reminder, there will be another blog today, this evening, and then the Ultimate Christmas Blog tomorrow. If you want to see how good God really is, how it is that he still gives gifts, you will want to check out the Christmas Day Blog.

Now before we get to the videos today, hopefully everyone will remember to pass the blogs along to your friends. The Christmas Special blogs from TVP can help a lot of people. You can show them what we are doing by Clicking Here at this Link. They can also get in the Christmas Spirit by Clicking Here and reading about The Virtual Pew and our Christmas giving options. Also be on the lookout for my story of The Best Christmas Ever, which will be posted around Christmas Day. It is a heart tugging story, and a true testament to the power of Christmas and God. I am really looking forward to retelling this story that is true, and happened to me and my family. It has been published across the world, and I will redo the story, just for The Virtual Pew.

Now for those that do not know, make sure you check out the numerous articles and blogs by checking out the archives. If visiting The Virtual Pew or MySpace they are archived on the left hand side of the page. Scroll down to where you see newer or older listed under archives and then click there. There are numerous postings, and you will have to go into the archives to see the 100 plus postings over the last months.

Now I also want to remind you that you can visit www.thevirtualpew.com and on the front page scroll down to the left hand side of the page where you sill see our store. Your purchases through our Amazon store provides needed funds to The Virtual Pew. If you do not see something on the page to buy, you can click on the search engine for the store, (do not put anything in the search box at this time) and you will then be taken to Amazon where you can search for anything you desire. Hopefully as you shop for Christmas you will consider a gift to The Virtual Pew and/or at the very least shop our store. The items on the store page are highly recommended.

Now prior to checking out the videos for the day, here is that information, contact and contribution information regarding The Virtual Pew. Again, thanks for visiting, have a Merry Christmas or whatever holiday you celebrate. Just remember though, from The Virtual Pew, we wish you a Merry Christmas.

Contact and Giving Information

Oh Yea, here is that contact information again.

The Virtual Pew
P.O. Box 17731
Wichita, KS 67217

Or you van give on line via Pay Pal at: http://www.furches.org/donations/index.html

To become a part of The Virtual Pew, visit, http://www.thevirtualpew.com/ To learn more about me visit http://www.furches.org/ I am also active on MySpace at: http://www.myspace.com/mikefurches I have another blog at http://blog.myspace.com/mikefurches To visit the Hollywood Jesus group at MySpace with membership by numerous Hollywood Jesus reviewers visit: http://groups.myspace.com/hollywoodjesus For a more in depth weekly study and conversation you an visit: http://virtualpewsermon.blogspot.com/ where you can access deeper teaching and ultimately videos for viewing and teaching. You can also subscribe to the newsletter at www.thevirtualpew.com or see the newsletter on line at http://thevirtualpewnews.blogspot.com/ You can also sign up for the free newsletter from The Virtual Pew by visiting the main page for The Virtual Pew, or you can see the newsletters online by visiting this web site: http://thevirtualpewnews.blogspot.com/ You can contact me via email at mike@furches.org or mike@thevirtualpew.com For those interested in knowing more about my own story, contact me for a free e-copy of my book The Keystone Kid in pre-edit form.

Donald Fagen Snowbound

Jump 5 Nick At Night Christmas Special

New Christmas Light display 2006 TSO

War Is Over Drum Corps Cover, Verry Good

DBSK Singinging Magic Castle, Santa Claus is Coming to Town

The Night Santa Went Crazy

Frosty The Snowman 1965

One Piece Utae! Jingle Bells

Flanders is a Jerk, The Ned Flanders Christmas Carol - The Simpsons

Newsong Christmas Shoes

Regine Velasquez All I Want For Christmas is You

Christmas Toys 2006 Music Video Aqua Be Happy

Dreams The Coors Christmas Live BBC

Lewis Black Christmas

Aire De Navidad 1973

All I Want For Christmas is You Hayden

Christmas Wrapping The Waitresses

Crazy Christmas Lights 5 TSO

We Three Kings, Hugh Jackman, David Hobson and Peter Cousen

Slade Merry Christmas Everybody TOTP 1973

Taylor Hicks White Christmas

Michael W. Smith Place In This World

The Christmas Song, Guitar & Sync Great Photos

Boney M. Mary's Boy Child, Oh My Lord

Clay Aiken Christmas Show A Christmas Song

Winter Wonderland Madison Park

Heather Martin, When Are You Coming Home - (WOW is all I can say. This one made me tear up)

Heather Martin News Features

Enya Silent Night In Irish

Sims 2 I Saw Mommy Kissing Santa Clause

Amadeaus Chamber Choir O Holy Night

Merry Christmas?

Reviews by Mike Furches — Fri, 22 Dec 2006 23:39:00 +0000

There are always special television shows during the Christmas season. From music, to variety shows, and from animation to sitcoms, Christmas means enough to the industry to make sure they address it in their programming. Over the last weeks I have posted a variety of program features and today I am posting the last of the series programs. Do not take that the wrong way, there are still quite a few videos to be posted but I am wrapping up the segmented program videos. As I was doing this I begin to think; "What do the people involved in this programming think of Christmas?" "Do they really care for the holiday?" "Do they realize what the holiday is all about?" I guess in a lot of ways, those questions not only apply towards the people making the shows, they apply towards those of us watching.

People often look at the holiday and see if for something other than what it is. They forget the root of Christmas, is Christ, and the root of Holiday is Holy. When we say Merry Christmas, we reference Christ birthday whether we realize it or not. When we say Happy Holidays we are saying have a Happy Holy Day whether we realize it or not. I guess a question I could ask is; "Do we make a regular habit of speaking meaningless words?"

The sad truth is that more often than not this is exactly what we do. When asked; "How are you doing?" The general response is a simple, an often time's dishonest answer of fine. I know in my own life when asked this question, I have found out who cares and who does not by honestly answering it. It becomes clear, when not doing well, and telling someone I am not doing well when asked the question, they become uncomfortable because they were not expecting honesty. I do not know who that says more about, the person asking questions not wanting honest answers, or the person answering them and not being honest.

One of my favorite books of the Bible is James, it is a short book and anyone can read it in less than 30 minutes. One of the things people notice, especially if thinking about what they are reading, is how upfront the Bible is about our words having integrity, and the need to speak truth. James is not the only part of the Bible that talks about this, Jesus spoke it, Paul taught it, and many others talk about the value of words. With this strong admonition in the Bible, we still take this issue lightly. Then we wonder why we do not have the results or the relationships we desire.

I guess I could close with the question; "What do we want out of Christmas?" Are we like those people in the sitcoms, just going through the actions, pretending everything is wonderful and we really understand what the Christmas about? Or, do we speak with truth and integrity? Do we see value in what we do, and really try to apply the concepts from the Bible to our life? I guess I refer to the Bible because if we are going to celebrate and pretend to recognize what this day of Christmas is all about, doesn’t it make sense we would look to the book that tells about the one who is Holy, God, and about the one who the holiday is named after, Jesus Christ?

Maybe I am just trying to be too rationale. Maybe I am taking things too seriously. I don’t know, am I? Maybe we should be okay with being pawns in a society who is satisfied with loneliness, poor relationships, and broken families. Then again, maybe some of us want more we want all Christmas has to offer, not just the presents but a real understanding of the Prince of Peace, The Wonderful Counselor, The Giver of all Gifts, The Star of Bethlehem, The Son of God. I guess that can be the thing to think about with the videos we conclude with today. Are you like the actors or are you wanting to be different? After all, I hope life is just as Shakespeare described, you know the old saying; "Life is more than just an act."

Now before we get to the videos today, hopefully everyone will remember to pass the blogs along to your friends. The Christmas Special blogs from TVP can help a lot of people. You can show them what we are doing by Clicking Here at this Link. They can also get in the Christmas Spirit by Clicking Here and reading about The Virtual Pew and our Christmas giving options. Also be on the lookout for my story of The Best Christmas Ever, which will be posted around Christmas Day. It is a heart tugging story, and a true testament to the power of Christmas and God. I am really looking forward to retelling this story that is true, and happened to me and my family. It has been published across the world, and I will redo the story, just for The Virtual Pew.

Now for those that do not know, make sure you check out the numerous articles and blogs by checking out the archives. If visiting The Virtual Pew or MySpace they are archived on the left hand side of the page. Scroll down to where you see newer or older listed under archives and then click there. There are numerous postings, and you will have to go into the archives to see the 100 plus postings over the last months.

Now I also want to remind you that you can visit www.thevirtualpew.com and on the front page scroll down to the left hand side of the page where you sill see our store. Your purchases through our Amazon store provides needed funds to The Virtual Pew. If you do not see something on the page to buy, you can click on the search engine for the store, (do not put anything in the search box at this time) and you will then be taken to Amazon where you can search for anything you desire. Hopefully as you shop for Christmas you will consider a gift to The Virtual Pew and/or at the very least shop our store. The items on the store page are highly recommended.

Now prior to checking out the videos for the day, here is that information, contact and contribution information regarding The Virtual Pew. Again, thanks for visiting, have a Merry Christmas or whatever holiday you celebrate. Just remember though, from The Virtual Pew, we wish you a Merry Christmas.

Contact and Giving Information

Oh Yea, here is that contact information again.

The Virtual Pew
P.O. Box 17731
Wichita, KS 67217

Or you van give on line via Pay Pal at: http://www.furches.org/donations/index.html

To become a part of The Virtual Pew, visit, http://www.thevirtualpew.com/ To learn more about me visit http://www.furches.org/ I am also active on MySpace at: http://www.myspace.com/mikefurches I have another blog at http://blog.myspace.com/mikefurches To visit the Hollywood Jesus group at MySpace with membership by numerous Hollywood Jesus reviewers visit: http://groups.myspace.com/hollywoodjesus For a more in depth weekly study and conversation you an visit: http://virtualpewsermon.blogspot.com/ where you can access deeper teaching and ultimately videos for viewing and teaching. You can also subscribe to the newsletter at www.thevirtualpew.com or see the newsletter on line at http://thevirtualpewnews.blogspot.com/ You can also sign up for the free newsletter from The Virtual Pew by visiting the main page for The Virtual Pew, or you can see the newsletters online by visiting this web site: http://thevirtualpewnews.blogspot.com/ You can contact me via email at mike@furches.org or mike@thevirtualpew.com For those interested in knowing more about my own story, contact me for a free e-copy of my book The Keystone Kid in pre-edit form.

The Simpsons Christmas Stories 1/3

The Simpsons Christmas Stories 2/3

The Simpsons Christmas Stories 3/3

Jerry Garcia and Bob Weir Christmas Concert 1/4

Jerry Garcia and Bob Weir Christmas Concert 2/4

Jerry Garcia and Bob Weir Christmas Concert 3/4

Jerry Garcia and Bob Weir Christmas Concert 4/4

Full House Our First Christmas Show 1/3

Full House Our First Christmas Show 2/3

Full House Our First Christmas Show 3/3

Full House Christmas Episode 1

Full House Christmas Episode 2

Christmas Alone?

Reviews by Mike Furches — Fri, 22 Dec 2006 14:38:00 +0000

I cannot think of many things worse than Christmas alone. There are many people who because of their circumstance have to do this. Maybe their family is gone and they have not developed relationships with others, or maybe they choose to. There are others who spend Christmas alone because they do not take full advantage of the relationships and friendships they have. Whatever the reason, it is hard to imagine a happy Christmas alone.

Many times we are at home, living with family, and yet, for all practical purposes we are still alone. Maybe depression has set in; maybe we are so caught up in activities that we do not give the people we love the time of day. I have to admit, this is a serious mistake I have made in the past. This is especially easy to do when one is involved in "ministry" or work similar to what I do. I and many others have forgotten that our first ministry is to our families, and those we are close to. I have a lot to learn in this area, I know that, I only pray God will continue to teach me the things I need.

Here is a thought for each of us as we get one day closer to Christmas. Take time away from shopping, take time away from the hustle and bustle of the holiday, and spend time with family. I have noticed my own need to do that. Today I am taking my half a day off and taking my son out to do some shopping for some good friends of ours. I also went out of the way with my son to think of something special I could give him. I decided a date with his girlfriend, using the family van would be something he would enjoy. I actually got a smile out of him this morning when I mentioned that. I am pleased he has friendships where he enjoys giving to others, it is important that I as a parent provides opportunities where he can give to others, on a more regular basis.

Here is my challenge with today's thought, think of ways you can take some of your time and give it to the very people you love. If you have not figured out yet, many of the videos I have been posting have nothing to do with the blogs, others do. One thing that has been a constant though is that the last video of the blog has something to do with the blog, and is placed as a last thought to get you to think about what I have shared. There are other videos to enjoy along the way, and there will be close to 500 videos you can look at in the archives.

Now before the weekend officially starts, go to a loved one, tell them that you love them and want to spend some time with them. Hopefully you are not at the place of the character in the Harry Chapin song Cats in a Cradle. Hopefully you can salvage the relationships you have by realizing they can only be built on love, love that requires spending time with each other.

Now before we get to the videos today, hopefully everyone will remember to pass the blogs along to your friends. The Christmas Special blogs from TVP can help a lot of people. You can show them what we are doing by Clicking Here at this Link. They can also get in the Christmas Spirit by Clicking Here and reading about The Virtual Pew and our Christmas giving options. Also be on the lookout for my story of The Best Christmas Ever, which will be posted around Christmas Day. It is a heart tugging story, and a true testament to the power of Christmas and God. I am really looking forward to retelling this story that is true, and happened to me and my family. It has been published across the world, and I will redo the story, just for The Virtual Pew.

Now for those that do not know, make sure you check out the numerous articles and blogs by checking out the archives. If visiting The Virtual Pew or MySpace they are archived on the left hand side of the page. Scroll down to where you see newer or older listed under archives and then click there. There are numerous postings, and you will have to go into the archives to see the 100 plus postings over the last months.

Now I also want to remind you that you can visit www.thevirtualpew.com and on the front page scroll down to the left hand side of the page where you sill see our store. Your purchases through our Amazon store provides needed funds to The Virtual Pew. If you do not see something on the page to buy, you can click on the search engine for the store, (do not put anything in the search box at this time) and you will then be taken to Amazon where you can search for anything you desire. Hopefully as you shop for Christmas you will consider a gift to The Virtual Pew and/or at the very least shop our store. The items on the store page are highly recommended.

Now prior to checking out the videos for the day, here is that information, contact and contribution information regarding The Virtual Pew. Again, thanks for visiting, have a Merry Christmas or whatever holiday you celebrate. Just remember though, from The Virtual Pew, we wish you a Merry Christmas.

Contact and Giving Information

Oh Yea, here is that contact information again.

The Virtual Pew
P.O. Box 17731
Wichita, KS 67217

Or you van give on line via Pay Pal at: http://www.furches.org/donations/index.html

To become a part of The Virtual Pew, visit, http://www.thevirtualpew.com/ To learn more about me visit http://www.furches.org/ I am also active on MySpace at: http://www.myspace.com/mikefurches I have another blog at http://blog.myspace.com/mikefurches To visit the Hollywood Jesus group at MySpace with membership by numerous Hollywood Jesus reviewers visit: http://groups.myspace.com/hollywoodjesus For a more in depth weekly study and conversation you an visit: http://virtualpewsermon.blogspot.com/ where you can access deeper teaching and ultimately videos for viewing and teaching. You can also subscribe to the newsletter at www.thevirtualpew.com or see the newsletter on line at http://thevirtualpewnews.blogspot.com/ You can also sign up for the free newsletter from The Virtual Pew by visiting the main page for The Virtual Pew, or you can see the newsletters online by visiting this web site: http://thevirtualpewnews.blogspot.com/ You can contact me via email at mike@furches.org or mike@thevirtualpew.com For those interested in knowing more about my own story, contact me for a free e-copy of my book The Keystone Kid in pre-edit form.

Robbie Williams on Ant and December at Christmas

Elvis Here Comes Santa Claus

andt Merry Christmas
Ryuichi Sakamoto Merry Christmas Mr. Lawrence Live 1994

John Lennon Happy Christmas War is Over

Shining Time Station Part 1 With Ringo Star Tis A Gift

Shining Time Station Part 2 With Ringo Star Tis A Gift

Shining Time Station Part 3 With Ringo Star Tis A Gift

Shining Time Station Part 4 With Ringo Star Tis A Gift

Shining Time Station Part 5 With Ringo Star Tis A Gift

Shining Time Station Part 6 With Ringo Star Tis A Gift

Matrix Christmas With TSO

Spike Jones All I Want for Christmas

Vienna Boys Choir Silent Night

Blink 182 A Christmas Song

Mr. Grinch Hero Yuy

Kim Wilde and Mel Smith Rockin Around The Christmas Tree

O Holy Night Alred Jones

Claymation Christmas We Three Kings

Josh Groban Cinema Paradiso

Peabo Bryson Born This Day

Modern Talking It's Christmas

Cliff Richard Mistletoe and Wine

Gordon Giltrap and Rick Wakeman Fast Approaching

Brian Adams Christmas Time

A Scooby Doo Christmas Part 1

A Scooby Doo Christmas Part 2

A Scooby Doo Christmas Part 3

A Pink Panther Christmas 1978 Part 1

A Pink Panther Christmas 1978 Part 2

A Pink Panther Christmas 1978 Part 3

A Pink Panther Christmas 1978 Part 4

A Pink Panther Christmas 1978 Part 5

Bruce Springsteen and Steven Van Zandt Merry Christmas

The Carpenters Merry Christmas Darling

Michael McDonald on Christmas Morning Live

A Christmas Wish

Let It Snow

Reviews by Mike Furches — Thu, 21 Dec 2006 21:05:00 +0000

In some parts of the country, things are great, wonderful as usual. In other parts life is hectic. I guess I am aware of travel during the holidays because I used to get the opportunity to travel home, be with family and friends. I don't get that chance much anymore, but that is okay, it is a life I have chosen so I best not complain. A lot of the times when I would travel I would travel via air. In those days seemed faster, more reliable and it got me where I was going. Of course there were times I would drive, and now, I actually prefer driving as opposed to flying, of course both have their draw backs.

One of my favorite Christmas songs during the season is Let it Snow, of course if one is used to flying by plane or driving in certain parts of the country, snow, even during the Christmas season can be a pain. As I type this, people driving in northern Kansas on Interstate 70 west towards Colorado are among those that can tell you of the pains associated with snow. Those are not the only travelers complaining about snow though, today, airport travel all across the country is at a stand still because of the snow in Denver, a major hub to many cities across the country. The unfortunate thing is, you may be flying from Nashville to Miami and still have air delays based on the snow in Denver. That is especially the case if connecting flights involve planes that may have been tied to the Denver airport. Most all air travel is interconnected. I realize there are many people stranded at airports, especially where the snow is hitting who had plans for Christmas. It kind of reminds me of the old movie with John Candy, Plains, Trains, and Automobiles. There, John Candy and Steve Martin are stranded and have to hitch a ride with a polka band in the back of a shipping truck in order to get to Chicago. I imagine there are travelers looking for the same types of arrangements to get home for the holidays this weekend.

Some questions I have are, if you and/or I were stranded at an airport, unable to get home for Christmas or any other important day, what kind of day would we have? Would we still be able to have a "Merry Christmas" while stranded at a truck stop or airport because of the snow? For myself, it would depend, if with my primary family, wife, children, I think I could, if not, I honestly do not know.

I do not know if that is a good thing or bad thing. I think it is one of those things where there is no right or wrong answer. I know how important family is. I also think that family is important enough that God would understand if it was not the most joyful of days or times. Of course, there are opportunities and ways we could have good times; we would just have to exercise some innovative practices.

I am reminded of a time I was traveling with my uncle Larry who was a truck driver. I think we were up someplace in Virginia and we got stranded for a couple of days at a truck stop because of snow. Actually, it was more like a gas station but being stuck was a pain. My uncle Larry, thankfully, was never stuck up, still is not, in fact one might say he never met someone who was not a friend. I remember him talking to the other travelers. There were times being stuck was tough on him, but he found ways to bring others into conversations. As I look back on it, it was a time that was one of life's most memorable experiences.

I guess I learned more from my uncle Larry than I realized. My kids tell me they have noticed how easy it is for me to start a conversation with a stranger. "Papa has never met a stranger," my daughter has told others. "Papa can meet anyone, anyplace, and start talking about anything," my son has told his friends. I guess if I learned that, I learned that from my uncle Larry, the man my kids call Papaw Larry. Now I'll be sending this to Larry, so I know he will see it, so Larry thanks for teaching me how to have good times in tough situations. Now as the thousands of people read this, realize you taught me, so I can teach others, they can have a great time, even in tough situations.

That is the point you can have a great time, no matter the situation you are in. That is not to say all situations have to be fun, Lord knows I know they are not, but even in a tough situation, if looking, you can find ways to have a great time. This Christmas season, no matter how bad things get and in fact are, I know there is something positive to focus on. Sometimes you just have to look.

The last couple of days have been days I had to look for the positives. These have also been days I have failed, been a jerk around my kids, not appreciative towards my wife, and I could go on. Yet, I found a way to find purpose and make my Christmas much better. I have communicated with friends who I know care and wish me the best. Those individuals, Melinda, Swayz, Curtis, Rick, and I could go on, thank you. Then there are movies I have seen. The Nativity Story reminded me of the real meaning of Christmas the sacrifices Mary and Joseph went through in order to be obedient to God. Then there is Rocky Balboa that has reminded me to never give up, never quit loving, and never quit being the witness to others Christ wants me to. There are reminders all around us if we look.

Today, as we approach Christmas Eve and Christmas Day, be reminded that no matter how tough times are, you can still experience a wonderful and joyful Christmas. Often, Christmas blessings are not in things, they are in experiences. The experiences of loving a stranger, talking to a family member, seeing a movie that reminds us of things we need, or in any number of other things. We are all different, we all have different needs, but I bet God knows what it is that will help you. Look for it, enjoy it, and experience a wonderful day.

Now before we get to the videos today, hopefully everyone will remember to pass the blogs along to your friends. The Christmas Special blogs from TVP can help a lot of people. You can show them what we are doing by Clicking Here at this Link. They can also get in the Christmas Spirit by Clicking Here and reading about The Virtual Pew and our Christmas giving options. Also be on the lookout for my story of The Best Christmas Ever, which will be posted around Christmas Day. It is a heart tugging story, and a true testament to the power of Christmas and God. I am really looking forward to retelling this story that is true, and happened to me and my family. It has been published across the world, and I will redo the story, just for The Virtual Pew.

Now for those that do not know, make sure you check out the numerous articles and blogs by checking out the archives. If visiting The Virtual Pew or MySpace they are archived on the left hand side of the page. Scroll down to where you see newer or older listed under archives and then click there. There are numerous postings, and you will have to go into the archives to see the 100 plus postings over the last months.

Now I also want to remind you that you can visit www.thevirtualpew.com and on the front page scroll down to the left hand side of the page where you sill see our store. Your purchases through our Amazon store provides needed funds to The Virtual Pew. If you do not see something on the page to buy, you can click on the search engine for the store, (do not put anything in the search box at this time) and you will then be taken to Amazon where you can search for anything you desire. Hopefully as you shop for Christmas you will consider a gift to The Virtual Pew and/or at the very least shop our store. The items on the store page are highly recommended.

Now prior to checking out the videos for the day, here is that information, contact and contribution information regarding The Virtual Pew. Again, thanks for visiting, have a Merry Christmas or whatever holiday you celebrate. Just remember though, from The Virtual Pew, we wish you a Merry Christmas.

Contact and Giving Information

Oh Yea, here is that contact information again.

The Virtual Pew
P.O. Box 17731
Wichita, KS 67217

Or you van give on line via Pay Pal at: http://www.furches.org/donations/index.html

To become a part of The Virtual Pew, visit, http://www.thevirtualpew.com/ To learn more about me visit http://www.furches.org/ I am also active on MySpace at: http://www.myspace.com/mikefurches I have another blog at http://blog.myspace.com/mikefurches To visit the Hollywood Jesus group at MySpace with membership by numerous Hollywood Jesus reviewers visit: http://groups.myspace.com/hollywoodjesus For a more in depth weekly study and conversation you an visit: http://virtualpewsermon.blogspot.com/ where you can access deeper teaching and ultimately videos for viewing and teaching. You can also subscribe to the newsletter at www.thevirtualpew.com or see the newsletter on line at http://thevirtualpewnews.blogspot.com/ You can also sign up for the free newsletter from The Virtual Pew by visiting the main page for The Virtual Pew, or you can see the newsletters online by visiting this web site: http://thevirtualpewnews.blogspot.com/ You can contact me via email at mike@furches.org or mike@thevirtualpew.com For those interested in knowing more about my own story, contact me for a free e-copy of my book The Keystone Kid in pre-edit form.

Polar Express Suite from the Polar Express

Fantasia Peace On Earth

The Christmas Song

Jessica and Ashley Simpson The Little Drummer Boy

Christmas Carol A Musical

Judy Garland Silent Night

Billy Gilman & Jessica Andrews White Christmas

Billy Gilman O Holy Night

Mariah Carey Hark The Herald Angels Sing

McFly Christmas

Elvis Presley Blue Christmas

Peter Paul & Mary A-Soalin

Elton John Step Into Christmas

White Christmas Sisters

Amy Diamond I Wish It Could Be Christmas Everyday

The Polar Express Believe

Trinity I Need Your Love for Christmas

Albert Lee Country Boy

Kelly Rowland Do You Hear What I Hear

Hillary Duff Jingle Bell Rock

B5 Someday At Christmas

Ted Green Have Yourself A Merry Little Christmas

A Christmas Story Santa Slide

Bruce Springsteen Merry Christmas Baby

Luscious Jacskon Let it Snow

Mandy Moore & Usher Santa Claus Is Coming To Town

Phil Spector White Christmas

Jag Music Video O Holy Night

Elvis Presley Blue Christmas

Lara Fabian White Christmas

Dean Martin Christmas Blues

Brian Brink Carol of the Bells

McFly Let it Snow

The Nativity Story

Reviews by Mike Furches — Wed, 20 Dec 2006 15:12:00 +0000

Sometimes I realize I am a little late, sometimes a little early. Today I realize as I write this, that at least for me, I am right on time. I also realize that my timing may not be what is best for everyone. Last night, realizing I needed a shot in the arm to get into the Christmas Spirit, I went to see The Nativity Story. While the movie has been out for sometime, I really believe the movie deserves a shot in the arm during the last weekend of Christmas. I also expect the movie will get a bump in the numbers despite the release of several expected blockbusters. It certainly deserves that shot in the arm, and my personal belief is that it would make a great Christmas Eve movie.

In some ways the movie moved me more than I expected. I know of all of the controversy surrounding the movies young star, Keisha Castle-Hughes. Frankly that controversy does not bother me. I do not know when the last time I expected a dose of morality from Hollywood, and for many within the Hollywood industry to be making such a huge deal over young Castle-Hughes real pregnancy is in my opinion hypocrisy at its worst.

For me the power of the movie was the ability to reflect on what the pregnancy of Mary meant for those around her, especially Joseph. I have heard the stories for most of my life,but I never really thought of the consequences like I did until after watching the film. In many ways, especially for the religious readers, if anything movies like The Passion and now The Nativity Story show the power of film, the power to take the persons thoughts past what they had already perceived. I believe that if truth is involved in film, no matter what type of film, we can use that truth to point others towards the realities of God.

The story focuses on various aspects, including the relationship between Mary and Elizabeth, the story and search of the wise men, and King Herrod's obsession with power and much more. The real power of the movie though has to do with the developing relationship between Mary and Joseph, and of Joseph's undying love for Mary. Wee see the willingness of the two of them to follow God's will and direction as the script plays out. Oscar Isaac does a wonderful job playing Joseph, and for me, Joseph's story becomes the focus of the movie. I thought this was likely because I was a guy, but after speaking to my wife after the movie she felt the same way.

My family was also moved by the underlying theme in the movie as to the purpose of Jesus' birth and of the power and love he had for the poor. The theme of being for the oppressed and poor is strongly presented throughout the movie; it is concluded with the narration of Mary's Magnificat where we hear about the purpose of Jesus coming to redeem the poor, and to set the captives free.

For many of us, we often get caught up in the Christmas materialism that surrounds us. Sometimes we need a reminder of what Christmas was all about, and especially what it must have been like during that first Christmas. The Christmas Nativity does a wonderful job of opening our eyes to that story. We see the story like few times before, and while the action is not great, the special effects just hardly exist, the story is intact. I promise that if seeing this movie, it is likely you will see Christmas a little differently this year, and in a much better way. I can recommend it with no hesitation and hope that for those who have not seen it, you will, I know if you do, you will have a very wonderful and Merry Christmas, because you will have a better understanding of Christmas.

On a scale of 1 - 10 I give a heartfelt 8

Now for those reading the blogs today, enjoy the videos. I am including a number of others here from different formats, but I challenge you, that despite the fact that the videos are sometimes funny, sometimes based on different themes, that the truth is, none of the videos wouldn’t exist without the birth of Christ, because without the birth of Christ, we just wouldn’t have Christmas. Now enjoy the videos, and make plans to go to the movies this week.

Now before we get to the videos today, hopefully everyone will remember to pass the blogs along to your friends. The Christmas Special blogs from TVP can help a lot of people. You can show them what we are doing by Clicking Here at this Link. They can also get in the Christmas Spirit by Clicking Here and reading about The Virtual Pew and our Christmas giving options. Also be on the lookout for my story of The Best Christmas Ever, which will be posted around Christmas Day. It is a heart tugging story, and a true testament to the power of Christmas and God. I am really looking forward to retelling this story that is true, and happened to me and my family. It has been published across the world, and I will redo the story, just for The Virtual Pew.

Now for those that do not know, make sure you check out the numerous articles and blogs by checking out the archives. If visiting The Virtual Pew or MySpace they are archived on the left hand side of the page. Scroll down to where you see newer or older listed under archives and then click there. There are numerous postings, and you will have to go into the archives to see the 100 plus postings over the last months.

Now I also want to remind you that you can visit www.thevirtualpew.com and on the front page scroll down to the left hand side of the page where you sill see our store. Your purchases through our Amazon store provides needed funds to The Virtual Pew. If you do not see something on the page to buy, you can click on the search engine for the store, (do not put anything in the search box at this time) and you will then be taken to Amazon where you can search for anything you desire. Hopefully as you shop for Christmas you will consider a gift to The Virtual Pew and/or at the very least shop our store. The items on the store page are highly recommended.

Now prior to checking out the videos for the day, here is that information, contact and contribution information regarding The Virtual Pew. Again, thanks for visiting, have a Merry Christmas or whatever holiday you celebrate. Just remember though, from The Virtual Pew, we wish you a Merry Christmas.

Contact and Giving Information

Oh Yea, here is that contact information again.

The Virtual Pew
P.O. Box 17731
Wichita, KS 67217

Or you van give on line via Pay Pal at: http://www.furches.org/donations/index.html

To become a part of The Virtual Pew, visit, http://www.thevirtualpew.com/ To learn more about me visit http://www.furches.org/ I am also active on MySpace at: http://www.myspace.com/mikefurches I have another blog at http://blog.myspace.com/mikefurches To visit the Hollywood Jesus group at MySpace with membership by numerous Hollywood Jesus reviewers visit: http://groups.myspace.com/hollywoodjesus For a more in depth weekly study and conversation you an visit: http://virtualpewsermon.blogspot.com/ where you can access deeper teaching and ultimately videos for viewing and teaching. You can also subscribe to the newsletter at www.thevirtualpew.com or see the newsletter on line at http://thevirtualpewnews.blogspot.com/ You can also sign up for the free newsletter from The Virtual Pew by visiting the main page for The Virtual Pew, or you can see the newsletters online by visiting this web site: http://thevirtualpewnews.blogspot.com/ You can contact me via email at mike@furches.org or mike@thevirtualpew.com For those interested in knowing more about my own story, contact me for a free e-copy of my book The Keystone Kid in pre-edit form.

Carol of the Bells by Claymation Christmas Special

Twisted Sister Christmas Preview

Captain Spaulding Christmas Commercial

Celine Dion The Christmas Song

Christina Aguilera David Letterman Merry Christmas Baby

WorldofWarCraft Crazy Christmas

Gordon Lightfoot Song for a Winters Night

Dave Matthews and Tim Reynolds Christmas Song

Bon Jovi Please Come Home For Christmas

Elvis Presley Christmas Santa Claus

Jaci Valasquez Let It Snow

Pogues and Kiristy MaColl Fairytale of New York

Tarja Turunen White Christmas

George Winston Arrangement Carol of the Bells

Hilary Duff Santa Claus Lane

John Denver Little Drummer Boy

The Little Drummer Boy Television Special

A Little Drummer Boy, Slide Show Fan Video

Karen Carpenter John Denver

Norah Jones Don't Miss You At All

American Juniors Christmas

Jose Maria Chan Christmas Songs

Polar Express When Christmas Comes to Town

Silent Night Gackt & Ayumi

Are You Dreaming of a White Christmas?

Reviews by Mike Furches — Tue, 19 Dec 2006 20:24:00 +0000

Has anyone ever wondered how it is we get all excited about a white Christmas? I have. I think it has to do with the concept of Santa coming in during the mid of winter on his sled. This character seems to have contributed a lot to the way we in North America celebrate Christmas, that is of course unless you live in South Florida, Southern California, The tip of Texas or Hawaii. If someone lives anyplace else it seems as if there is the hope and dreams of a white Christmas.

I am not sure where the desires started. I have heard that in other parts of the world Santa travels in a different way, in Holland I know he is portrayed as traveling on a boat. I have seen photos of him on a surfboard in Hawaii, and I know that in parts of Europe he travels on the back of a donkey. So I know the concept of Santa on a sled is not the sole reason for the white Christmas wishes we seem to have in North America.

I think part of the reason has to do with the success of certain movies, movies such as White Christmas. Our society is heavily influenced by things like movies, books and the arts in general. This is a sad thing to think about with the cut backs to the arts in recent history.

Many people do not realize how much their perceptions have been influenced by others. Whether commercials, or movies, the news media, or books, we have all had outside sources influence our perceptions. I guess the question I have, is how much have our perceptions of Christmas been influenced by these outside sources. The real meaning of Christmas is found in various books of The New Testament when we read about the birth of Jesus and the events that surrounded it. It doesn't take much of an effort to refocus out thoughts about Christmas. All we have to do is turn to the pages of the Bible and take a read that will last no longer than 30 minutes.

I have heard that the new movie The Nativity does a pretty good job of painting the images of the Bible onto the screen. I plan on seeing the movie prior to Christmas day and hope those stories are true. I know I need the reminder as to the real meaning of Christmas, and I tend to focus on it with my vocation.

If I tend to focus on a daily basis on the real meaning of Christmas and need reminders, how much of a reminder do those that never focus on the purpose need a reminder? I am not trying to chastise anyone with this thought, just ask the question that I assume we can all answer. The challenge for today, as you watch the videos is to take the time to read the Christmas story in the Bible. I prefer the Luke story but there are other places to read about the birth of Jesus. Take a read, enjoy the story, and think about the true meaning. Then refocus for a little while during this Christmas season on what the season is really all about.

Now before we get to the videos today, hopefully everyone will remember to pass the blogs along to your friends. The Christmas Special blogs from TVP can help a lot of people. You can show them what we are doing by Clicking Here at this Link. They can also get in the Christmas Spirit by http://thevirtualpewnews.blogspot.com/2006/11/virtual-pew-news-7-christmas-giving.html and on the front page scroll down to the left hand side of the page where you sill see our store. Your purchases through our Amazon store provides needed funds to The Virtual Pew. If you do not see something on the page to buy, you can click on the search engine for the store, (do not put anything in the search box at this time) and you will then be taken to Amazon where you can search for anything you desire. Hopefully as you shop for Christmas you will consider a gift to The Virtual Pew and/or at the very least shop our store. The items on the store page are highly recommended.

Now prior to checking out the videos for the day, here is that information, contact and contribution information regarding The Virtual Pew. Again, thanks for visiting, have a Merry Christmas or whatever holiday you celebrate. Just remember though, from The Virtual Pew, we wish you a Merry Christmas.

Contact and Giving Information

Oh Yea, here is that contact information again.

The Virtual Pew
P.O. Box 17731
Wichita, KS 67217

Or you van give on line via Pay Pal at: http://www.furches.org/donations/index.html

To become a part of The Virtual Pew, visit, http://www.thevirtualpew.com/ To learn more about me visit http://www.furches.org/ I am also active on MySpace at: http://www.myspace.com/mikefurches I have another blog at http://blog.myspace.com/mikefurches To visit the Hollywood Jesus group at MySpace with membership by numerous Hollywood Jesus reviewers visit: http://groups.myspace.com/hollywoodjesus For a more in depth weekly study and conversation you an visit: http://virtualpewsermon.blogspot.com/ where you can access deeper teaching and ultimately videos for viewing and teaching. You can also subscribe to the newsletter at www.thevirtualpew.com or see the newsletter on line at http://thevirtualpewnews.blogspot.com/ You can also sign up for the free newsletter from The Virtual Pew by visiting the main page for The Virtual Pew, or you can see the newsletters online by visiting this web site: http://thevirtualpewnews.blogspot.com/ You can contact me via email at mike@furches.org or mike@thevirtualpew.com For those interested in knowing more about my own story, contact me for a free e-copy of my book The Keystone Kid in pre-edit form.

Carrie Underwood Have Yourself A Merry Little Christmas

Ali Lohan Rockin Around The Christmas Tree

Sugababies White Christmas

Christina Aguilera The Christmas Song

Mad TV Vancome Lady Christmas Play

Beauty and the Beast As Long There's Christmas

A Boondocks Christmas

Twas The Day Before Christmas

Rockos Christmas Part 1

Rockos Christmas Part 2

Rockos Christmas Part 3

Ed Grimley The Fella Who Couldn't Wait for Christmas

Sesame Street Have Yourself A Merry Little Christmas

Christmas Magic Ali Lohan

A Christmas Vacation Funny Lines

Christina Aguilera & Brian McNight Merry Little Christmas

Mary Did You Know

Mandy Moore Winter Wonderland

Christmas 2005 ABFAB Special

Bruce Springsteen Santa Claus Is Coming To Town

U2 It's Christmas Baby Please Come Home

Jessica Simpson O Holy Night

Take 6 Live Joy To The World/Christmas Meley

Melanie C Have Yourself A Merry Little Christmas

Band Aid 1984 Do They Know It's Christmas

O Holy Night David Phelps

The Ultimate Busted!

Reviews by Mike Furches — Mon, 18 Dec 2006 21:06:00 +0000

After 2 days of trying to get the ultimate video list to upload, it just is not going to work. The reason is quite simple. The list is so large the memory at the host site and at MySpace just can not handle the size of the video. So far I have uploaded around 200 videos and have another 250 to go. In other words, there are almost 500 videos with a Christmas theme I have downloaded to post. Sometimes, things just don't go the way we plan it and we have to make revisions.

That is the way life is and one of the reminders of the Christmas season. How many people set plans, have ideas, and things happen to where what they were wanting just does not happen? We go shopping, and the item we were going to buy is gone, we plan on a job, only to find out someone else has been hired, we plan to pay certain bills, and realize the car tags or something else unexpected is due. Things do not always happen like we plan.

Life often throws you a curve ball. What is not a given is how we respond to those situations that unexpectedly come our way. I challenge it is not that adversity happens it is how we deal with adversity that matters. How I will deal with the reality that there is no way I can post almost 500 videos at once is a reality for me. I can give up, quit or find a way to adjust my plans. We can say the same about any of the challenges life throws us.

I love my faith. One of the things people do not always realize is that for the Christian, our hope and understanding is not in the here and now, it is in the future. Paul addresses this in some of his writings, while we have hope for the future, there is no guarantee that the future the Bible speaks about is in the here and now. It is the hope in the future, in our after life, in other words, for the Christian; the hope is for Heaven and the eternity in Heaven. When looking at things from that perspective, I have come to the conclusion that Scripture provides long term, permanent hope.

I realize that not everyone reading this has that long term hope, yet, hope and the promises are available. I sincerely believe the hope I have in Christ, and the hope I have in eternal life provides me the motivation I need to overcome the obstacles in life, whether financial, addictions, debt, or whatever. I may have to go through some effort to resolve those difficulties, but I challenge, there is a reason that a follower of Christ can feel joy and a sense of freedom. It is not because they are crazy, but because they understand the real power of Christ.

Now please do not take me wrong, I have always cringed at someone who says things like, "Praise God I just broke my leg," or things of that nature. I believe it is perfectly natural to feel and experience pain in difficult times. Yet, it is also natural that we can find strength, and endure through those times.

This experience can be used as an illustration that sometimes life is tough and we face obstacles. In those situations, endure, but, do not just endure, be careful not to put ourselves in those situations. Truth is, sometimes the reason for difficulty is no ones fault but our own. While God will still be there to help, we need to understand there are natural consequences for natural actions.

Jesus came to give us life and then as a result of receiving the life he offers we can experience eternity. We can live life now in a more abundant way. Not necessarily in a material sense, but certainly in a spiritual sense. That gift God offered through his son Jesus is a free gift, but just as any other gift, we have to accept it, and open it. What you choose to do with that gift is up to you. If leaving it wrapped and not accepting it, it really will not do you, or those around you much good. Good luck on your decision.

Now before we get to the videos today, hopefully everyone will remember to pass the blogs along to your friends. The Christmas Special blogs from TVP can help a lot of people. You can show them what we are doing by Clicking Here at this Link. They can also get in the Christmas Spirit by Clicking Here and reading about The Virtual Pew and our Christmas giving options. Also be on the lookout for my story of The Best Christmas Ever, which will be posted around Christmas Day. It is a heart tugging story, and a true testament to the power of Christmas and God. I am really looking forward to retelling this story that is true, and happened to me and my family. It has been published across the world, and I will redo the story, just for The Virtual Pew.

Now for those that do not know, make sure you check out the numerous articles and blogs by checking out the archives. If visiting The Virtual Pew or MySpace they are archived on the left hand side of the page. Scroll down to where you see newer or older listed under archives and then click there. There are numerous postings, and you will have to go into the archives to see the 100 plus postings over the last months.

Now I also want to remind you that you can visit http://www.thevirtualpew.com/ and on the front page scroll down to the left hand side of the page where you sill see our store. Your purchases through our Amazon store provides needed funds to The Virtual Pew. If you do not see something on the page to buy, you can click on the search engine for the store, (do not put anything in the search box at this time) and you will then be taken to Amazon where you can search for anything you desire. Hopefully as you shop for Christmas you will consider a gift to The Virtual Pew and/or at the very least shop our store. The items on the store page are highly recommended.

Now prior to checking out the videos for the day, here is that information, contact and contribution information regarding The Virtual Pew. Again, thanks for visiting, have a Merry Christmas or whatever holiday you celebrate. Just remember though, from The Virtual Pew, we wish you a Merry Christmas.

Contact and Giving Information

Oh Yea, here is that contact information again.

The Virtual Pew

P.O. Box 17731

Wichita, KS 67217

Or you van give on line via Pay Pal at: http://www.furches.org/donations/index.html

To become a part of The Virtual Pew, visit, http://www.thevirtualpew.com/ To learn more about me visit http://www.furches.org/ I am also active on MySpace at: http://www.myspace.com/mikefurches I have another blog at http://blog.myspace.com/mikefurches To visit the Hollywood Jesus group at MySpace with membership by numerous Hollywood Jesus reviewers visit: http://groups.myspace.com/hollywoodjesus For a more in depth weekly study and conversation you an visit: http://virtualpewsermon.blogspot.com/ where you can access deeper teaching and ultimately videos for viewing and teaching. You can also subscribe to the newsletter at http://www.thevirtualpew.com/ or see the newsletter on line at http://thevirtualpewnews.blogspot.com/ You can also sign up for the free newsletter from The Virtual Pew by visiting the main page for The Virtual Pew, or you can see the newsletters online by visiting this web site: http://thevirtualpewnews.blogspot.com/ You can contact me via email at mike@furches.org or mike@thevirtualpew.com For those interested in knowing more about my own story, contact me for a free e-copy of my book The Keystone Kid in pre-edit form.

Garfield Christmas 1/2

Garfield Christmas 2/2

A Snowman's Best Friend

A Charlie Brown Christmas

Donny Phantom The Fright Before Christmas

NKOTB Funky Christmas

Bing Crosby White Christmas

The Clark Sisters O Come Emmanuel

Nsync Merry Christmas Happy Holidays

Carrie Underwood O Holy Night

Amy Diamond Rockin Around The Christmas Tree

Sponge Bob The Very First Christmas To Me

Christmas Rose Online Hark The Herald

Nat King Cole Chestnuts

Boys II Men Let it Snow

Elvis Presley Blue Christmas

Silent Night Fingerstyle Guitar

Disney Christmas Song

Linus & Lucy Theme by Vince Guaraldi

Paul McCartney & Wings Wonderful Christmas Time

Cliff Richard The Christmas Song

He Still Moves Stars

Reviews by Mike Furches — Sat, 16 Dec 2006 21:06:00 +0000

Over the years there have been people who have been moved by Christmas. They are not people who sat back and did not make a difference; many of them were world changers. I have to ask myself the question, what would inspire a world changing musician, actor, or performer to make such a valuable contribution to society? It would have to be something they realized was greater than them. From that perspective, many entertainers over the years have contributed during the holidays because they realize the attitudes and spirit of Christmas is greater than they.

It is kind of strange, we always want to know more about those we idolize, but sometimes we do not take seriously what it is that drives their convictions. I challenge in this short thought for today, think about the impact that the birth of Jesus had and in fact, still has on society. Not only does it drive the date we write on a check, it drives a society and its performers, entertainers, and voices of justice to do something special with their talent during the holiday season. There are many examples of that which we can observe and think about. Hopefully, we realize we can be an example to the power of Jesus birth in our own lives, whether working at a factory on an assembly line, teaching in a classroom, studying in a class, or working at a department store. Whatever we do, we can realize there is something special about the birth of Christ that can move us to have an impact on those we come into contact with.

Now before we get to the videos today, hopefully everyone will remember to pass the blogs along to your friends. The Christmas Special blogs from TVP can help a lot of people. You can show them what we are doing by Clicking Here at this Link. They can see various topics and see about the ultimate video blog that will be posted this weekend. I have most of the work done on those and will be posting them all, likely the largest single collection of Christmas videos in one place, on one page, on the internet. It will take a while for these to download once you get them, but if you take all of the videos I have posted so far, put them all together, you do not have half of the videos in their entirety. They can also get in the Christmas Spirit by Clicking Here and reading about The Virtual Pew and our Christmas giving options. Also be on the lookout for my story of The Best Christmas Ever, which will be posted around Christmas Day. It is a heart tugging story, and a true testament to the power of Christmas and God. I am really looking forward to retelling this story that is true, and happened to me and my family. It has been published across the world, and I will redo the story, just for The Virtual Pew.

Now for those that do not know, make sure you check out the numerous articles and blogs by checking out the archives. If visiting The Virtual Pew or MySpace they are archived on the left hand side of the page. Scroll down to where you see newer or older listed under archives and then click there. There are numerous postings, and you will have to go into the archives to see the 100 plus postings over the last months.

Now I also want to remind you that you can visit http://www.thevirtualpew.com/ and on the front page scroll down to the left hand side of the page where you sill see our store. Your purchases through our Amazon store provides needed funds to The Virtual Pew. If you do not see something on the page to buy, you can click on the search engine for the store, (do not put anything in the search box at this time) and you will then be taken to Amazon where you can search for anything you desire. Hopefully as you shop for Christmas you will consider a gift to The Virtual Pew and/or at the very least shop our store. The items on the store page are highly recommended.

Now prior to checking out the videos for the day, here is that information, contact and contribution information regarding The Virtual Pew. Again, thanks for visiting, have a Merry Christmas or whatever holiday you celebrate. Just remember though, from The Virtual Pew, we wish you a Merry Christmas.

Contact and Giving InformationOh Yea, here is that contact information again.The Virtual PewP.O. Box 17731Wichita, KS 67217Or you van give on line via Pay Pal at: http://www.furches.org/donations/index.htmlTo become a part of The Virtual Pew, visit, http://www.thevirtualpew.com/ To learn more about me visit http://www.furches.org/ I am also active on MySpace at: http://www.myspace.com/mikefurches I have another blog at http://blog.myspace.com/mikefurches To visit the Hollywood Jesus group at MySpace with membership by numerous Hollywood Jesus reviewers visit: http://groups.myspace.com/hollywoodjesus For a more in depth weekly study and conversation you an visit: http://virtualpewsermon.blogspot.com/ where you can access deeper teaching and ultimately videos for viewing and teaching. You can also subscribe to the newsletter at http://www.thevirtualpew.com/ or see the newsletter on line at http://thevirtualpewnews.blogspot.com/ You can also sign up for the free newsletter from The Virtual Pew by visiting the main page for The Virtual Pew, or you can see the newsletters online by visiting this web site: http://thevirtualpewnews.blogspot.com/ You can contact me via email at mike@furches.org or mike@thevirtualpew.com For those interested in knowing more about my own story, contact me for a free e-copy of my book The Keystone Kid in pre-edit form.

Mariah Carey All I Want For Christmas

Nsync O Holy Night

Olivia Newton John Silent Night

Josh Groban O Holy Night

Boys II Men & Mariah Carey One Sweet Day

Mariah Carey 1994 Joy To The World

James Taylor Have Yourself A Merry Little Christmas

Bruce Springsteen Run Run Rudolph

98 Degrees This Gift

The Slackers Little Drummer Boy

Merry Christmas War is Over Celine Dion and Gloria Estefan

Ernest Love Thy Neighbor Christmas Commercial

George Burns Gracie Allen Christmas Show 1/3

George Burns Gracie Allen Christmas Show 2/3

George Burns Gracie Allen Christmas Show 3/3

A Different Cookie

Reviews by Mike Furches — Fri, 15 Dec 2006 23:14:00 +0000

Sometimes I think I am out there, let me rephrase that, sometimes I know I am out there, well, one more time, most of the time I know I am out there. Truth is, I know I am unique. In fact we are all unique, we are all different. But isn't that a good thing? At least I think it is. I would not want a world full of boring difficult, all the same kind of people. It is kind of sad that many of us reflect on others and make assumptions that because someone belongs to a certain group, has their hair a certain way, or dresses in certain clothes that they are all the same.

One thing my experiences have taught me is it really is dangerous to make assumptions about people. Just because a person for example may follow Goth tendencies, does not mean they are not compassionate, or do not think about some of the same things, in the same ways we do. Or just because a person may be an Atheist does not mean they are not intelligent or have not given religion a thought. Of course the same can be said in the reverse. Just because a person dresses in a suit does not mean they are not a little rebellious, or just because a person is a Christian does not mean they have not thought through the complicated aspects of their faith. It is sad, but we all make assumptions based on a persons associations, looks, practices and so forth.

I would challenge that one of the most misunderstood individuals in all of history is Jesus Christ. You only have to look as far as the yellow pages to see all of the different denominations among churches, or type in Christian in a search engine at MySpace, Xanga or any other group like them and you will see such a variety of people. While I understand part of that, I do not always understand the extent some take those associations and beliefs.

Here is a simple truth of God as I see it, he loved us all enough to send his son so that through the acceptance of his son we can all have a relationship with God, and have the hope of eternal life. That is living for ever, in what I believe is Heaven, with God. The other truth is that that relationship starts on earth; it is not something we wait for. When we decide to follow Jesus and accept him as our leader and forgiver we can then have a relationship with God. Sure there are things to work on, they are included in the Bible, the ultimate love letter or instruction manual from God, but God knows we are not perfect. The book is not a book of punishment, but a book that gives us advice which will help us be joyful when things are tough, and forgiving when people do us wrong among other things.

Truth is, Jesus was also different. He loved and reached out to people who did not go to church, did not fit the norm of what religion was all about. In fact, Jesus was kind of like James Dean in his attitude, except while James Dean was a Rebel without a Cause, Jesus had the cause, he had the cause of loving us and providing a relationship with us that would last forever.

As we look at the Christmas videos today, realize, these videos are different. They can be a reminder that not only was Jesus different from what many expected, we can be different. It does not matter so much what some religious person, or some religious group says about you, it is what Jesus says to God about you. Know he loves you, cares for you, and accepts you, just as you are, different.

Now before we get to the videos today, hopefully everyone will remember to pass the blogs along to your friends. The Christmas Special blogs from TVP can help a lot of people. You can show them what we are doing by Clicking Here at this Link. They can see various topics and see about the ultimate video blog that will be posted this weekend. I have most of the work done on those and will be posting them all, likely the largest single collection of Christmas videos in one place, on one page, on the internet. It will take a while for these to download once you get them, but if you take all of the videos I have posted so far, put them all together, you do not have half of the videos in their entirety. They can also get in the Christmas Spirit by Clicking Here and reading about The Virtual Pew and our Christmas giving options. Also be on the lookout for my story of The Best Christmas Ever, which will be posted around Christmas Day. It is a heart tugging story, and a true testament to the power of Christmas and God. I am really looking forward to retelling this story that is true, and happened to me and my family. It has been published across the world, and I will redo the story, just for The Virtual Pew.

Now for those that do not know, make sure you check out the numerous articles and blogs by checking out the archives. If visiting The Virtual Pew or MySpace they are archived on the left hand side of the page. Scroll down to where you see newer or older listed under archives and then click there. There are numerous postings, and you will have to go into the archives to see the 100 plus postings over the last months.

Now I also want to remind you that you can visit www.thevirtualpew.com and on the front page scroll down to the left hand side of the page where you sill see our store. Your purchases through our Amazon store provides needed funds to The Virtual Pew. If you do not see something on the page to buy, you can click on the search engine for the store, (do not put anything in the search box at this time) and you will then be taken to Amazon where you can search for anything you desire. Hopefully as you shop for Christmas you will consider a gift to The Virtual Pew and/or at the very least shop our store. The items on the store page are highly recommended.

Now prior to checking out the videos for the day, here is that information, contact and contribution information regarding The Virtual Pew. Again, thanks for visiting, have a Merry Christmas or whatever holiday you celebrate. Just remember though, from The Virtual Pew, we wish you a Merry Christmas.

Contact and Giving Information

Oh Yea, here is that contact information again.

The Virtual Pew
P.O. Box 17731
Wichita, KS 67217

Or you van give on line via Pay Pal at: http://www.furches.org/donations/index.html

To become a part of The Virtual Pew, visit, http://www.thevirtualpew.com/ To learn more about me visit http://www.furches.org/ I am also active on MySpace at: http://www.myspace.com/mikefurches I have another blog at http://blog.myspace.com/mikefurches To visit the Hollywood Jesus group at MySpace with membership by numerous Hollywood Jesus reviewers visit: http://groups.myspace.com/hollywoodjesus For a more in depth weekly study and conversation you an visit: http://virtualpewsermon.blogspot.com/ where you can access deeper teaching and ultimately videos for viewing and teaching. You can also subscribe to the newsletter at www.thevirtualpew.com or see the newsletter on line at http://thevirtualpewnews.blogspot.com/ You can also sign up for the free newsletter from The Virtual Pew by visiting the main page for The Virtual Pew, or you can see the newsletters online by visiting this web site: http://thevirtualpewnews.blogspot.com/ You can contact me via email at mike@furches.org or mike@thevirtualpew.com For those interested in knowing more about my own story, contact me for a free e-copy of my book The Keystone Kid in pre-edit form.

The Christmas Present

Sponge Bob Christmas Song

Veggie Tales Because It's Christmas

Madagascar Penguins A Christmas Caper

David Bowie Bing Crosby Peace On Earth Little Drummer Boy

Frosty The Snowman Original

Scared of Santa Claus

12 Days of Christmas South Park

Hugh Jackman Christmas Kangaroo

The Lobo ParaMilitary Christmas Special

Hanson Christmas Special

Believe A Harry Potter Christmas Video

Disney The Night Before Christmas

Christmas With William Shatner

Another Christmas At War

Reviews by Mike Furches — Thu, 14 Dec 2006 11:25:00 +0000

This morning I was up at 3:00 AM working on today's blog. I was getting everything ready, going through a couple hundred more videos and I came across a treasure. For those that know me, you know I can be long winded. Not today. As I watched this, I reflected not on just this little girl's family, but the families of all of those in the armed services during this time of year. I reflected on the cause of the war, the purpose and so much more. No matter what political side you take, no matter what your position is on this war, there are families that are torn apart and going through some really tough times. This video reflects that. Due to the nature of the video, I'm not even putting up The Virtual Pew ads and support info today. If you want to see those things, and I encourage you to, check out the archives. In fact this is the first ever video I have ever posted, or blog I have written, where this material was not included. The video and song moved me so much that I don't want you to be distracted. I will post the words to the song after the video. When reflecting about things this Christmas, reflect on life, the lives that are lost, and the lives that are wounded as a result of war. Then say a prayer, say a prayer for people like Heather, and people like Shaun.

Heather Martin When Are You Coming Home

News Feature on the Song

Lyrics:

6 year old Heather Martin sings a song that her mother wrote for her Brother Shaun who is serving in Iraq. The song is written from Heather's point of view.

Lyrics

You were almost sixteen when I came into the world.
Mom and Dad had you first then 3 more boys I'm the baby girl.
I sure have a lot to look up to in you, you're really smart and funny with a big heart too.
After one year of college you knew what you had to do.
It's just like you wanting to help with the war.
So you joined the army when I was only 4.
This time of year we talk of big plans but you're over seas in some distant land.
You can't be here for Christmas, I don't understand.
Chorus:
When are you coming home, Shaun?
When are you coming home?!
We lit up the house like we always do but it doesn't seem bright 'cause we can't have you.
In my prayers I ask God to keep you safe.
And I'm trying to be really brave.
Tell me that the fighting's through.
Come home!
I really miss you.

It's hard to enjoy the holidays without you.
But we're so proud of you and all the red white and blue.
Remember that Jesus is your best friend,
And someday our families will be together again.
Wow! You know we'll have a great big party then.

Chorus

I want to show you how tall I've grown and introduce you to my new friends at school.
Maybe we could go and get some ice cream together but I really don't care what we do.

Chorus

Come on Now Smile!

Reviews by Mike Furches — Wed, 13 Dec 2006 18:22:00 +0000

One of the things people who only know me from the internet often think, or say to me via email, is that it seems as if I am serious all of the time. Truth is they do not know me all that well. I will admit that I take certain things seriously, I might even as some say, wear my emotions on my sleeve but that is not who I am in its entirety. In fact, I have a number of good friends, including at least one professional comic, who has encouraged me at times to go into comedy. I think for those that knew me in my youth, they would tell you I was the class clown. .

Christmas is a time of year, which despite the seriousness of it, and despite the high rate of depression, it is also brings about joy for some. I do not quite understand why there are the extremes of emotion, but I suspect there are legitimate theories. I expect part of it has to do with the focus on the commercial aspects of Christmas, the stress of finance and so forth.

Yesterday while at one of the local shopping establishments I heard several people talking on their cell phones. One in particular was talking to who I suspect was her husband, asking about charging on a credit card verses taking money out of savings. There was a present they wanted to buy a child but did not have the money to purchase it outside one of these two methods. This lady was in short, purchasing items she did not have money for. She ended up reasoning that she could spend it on the credit card, and then pay back the card, without interest with what they had anticipated getting from her husbands Christmas bonus. At this point, I could not help but think of Chevy Chase in A Christmas Vacation where he did not get the bonus he thought he was going to get. This family, like so many seemed to have their joy wrapped up in what they could buy for others.

I have to admit on this point; I have fallen into that same trap this Christmas. I have based my joy on the commercial aspects of Christmas. I need to be reminded as do we all, that our joy is not based on a material thing, but on a spiritual thing. God loved the world so much that he gave his only son to provide a way of salvation for us. The worlds focus on Christmas, either by Christians celebrating it or condemning it, and by non Christians focus on the holiday, tells us all there has to be something special about this day, about the birth of Jesus that makes the day special. I challenge it is that God would love us to the magnitude he did giving the ultimate gift. For those of us who know how bad we are, how undeserving we are of this type of love, we can find joy. In that joy comes laughter and celebration.

I challenge that today we look at the videos and recognize the laughter that can come about. There will be some that is reverent, some irreverent, but all with a focus on Christmas and the real reminder that Jesus can provide joy. There are some you can watch with your children, others you shouldn't let children see. This is a reminder that we can all find joy in our own way, we can all find ways to celebrate the truth of what Christmas is with others, in our own way. For those that aren't Christians, that is okay that you view and watch as well, but be careful about throwing all of the stiff, no sense of humor Christians in the same boat. Truth is, we aren't in the same boat, but the other truth is, we all have reason to celebrate and be thankful for the birth of Christ. Even if you don't believe in the party which we celebrate, thanks for coming along and doing what you do, that is if you observe Christmas in any way.

Now before we get to the videos, hopefully everyone will remember to pass the blogs along to your friends. The Christmas Special blogs from TVP can help a lot of people. You can show them what we are doing by Clicking Here at this Link. They can see various topics and see about the ultimate video blog that will be posted later in the week, certainly prior to the first of next week. They can also get in the Christmas Spirit by Clicking Here and reading about The Virtual Pew and our Christmas giving options.

Now for those that don't know, make sure you check out the numerous articles and blogs by checking out the archives. If visiting The Virtual Pew they will be on the left hand side of the page. If visiting MySpace they are archived on the left hand side of the page. Scroll down to where you see newer or older listed under archives and then click there.

Now we also want to remind you that you can visit www.thevirtualpew.com and on the front page scroll down to the left hand side of the page where you sill see our store. Your purchases through our Amazon store provides needed funds to The Virtual Pew. If you don't see something on the page to buy, you can click on the search engine for the store, (don't put anything in the search box at this time) and you will then be taken to Amazon where you can search for anything you desire. Hopefully as you shop for Christmas you will consider a gift to The Virtual Pew and/or at the very least shop our store. The items on the store page are highly recommended.

Now prior to checking out the videos for the day, here is that information, contact and contribution information regarding The Virtual Pew. Again, thanks for visiting, have a Merry Christmas or whatever holiday you celebrate. Just remember though, from The Virtual Pew, we wish you a Merry Christmas.

Contact and Giving Information

Oh Yea, here is that contact information again.

The Virtual Pew
P.O. Box 17731
Wichita, KS 67217

Or you van give on line via Pay Pal at: http://www.furches.org/donations/index.html

To become a part of The Virtual Pew, visit, http://www.thevirtualpew.com/
To learn more about me visit http://www.furches.org/ I am also active on MySpace at: http://www.myspace.com/mikefurches I have another blog at http://blog.myspace.com/mikefurches To visit the Hollywood Jesus group at MySpace with membership by numerous Hollywood Jesus reviewers visit: http://groups.myspace.com/hollywoodjesus For a more in depth weekly study and conversation you an visit: http://virtualpewsermon.blogspot.com/ where you can access deeper teaching and ultimately videos for viewing and teaching. You can also subscribe to the newsletter at www.thevirtualpew.com or see the newsletter on line at http://thevirtualpewnews.blogspot.com/ You can also sign up for the free newsletter from The Virtual Pew by visiting the main page for The Virtual Pew, or you can see the newsletters online by visiting this web site: http://thevirtualpewnews.blogspot.com/ You can contact me via email at mike@furches.org or mike@thevirtualpew.com For those interested in knowing more about my own story, contact me for a free e-copy of my book The Keystone Kid in pre-edit form.

The Kinks That 70's Show Father Christmas

Michael McDonald Chipmunk Christmas Song Live

Chuckie Finster Christmas

Mad TV Antonia and Christmas

Whose Line Is It Anyway Santa SFX

A Muppet Family Christmas 1/4

A Muppet Family Christmas Part 2/4

A Muppet Family Christmas Part ¾

A Muppet Family Christmas Part 4/4

Manic Street Preachers Last Christmas

Grinchellica

Stupid Christmas Bob Engvall

BOA Rudolph The Red Nosed Reindeer

The California Raisins Rudolf The Red Nosed Reindeer

A Tiny Toons Christmas 1/3

A Tiny Toons Christmas 2/3

A Tiny Toons Christmas 3/3

Operation Naughty Christmas Special

I Hate Christmas from Christmas Eve On Sesame Street

Dave Chaepella Nat King Cole Note this is Dave Chaepella, it is not for kids or even some adults

A Muppet Family Christmas Santa Claus is Coming To Town

Santa Takes the A Train

Run DMC Christmas in Hollis

Avatar Chipmunks Christmas Son

Chipmunks Christmas Great Fan Video

John Denver & The Muppets Christmas Together

True Blue Miracle from Christmas Eve on Sesame Street

South Park The Spirit of Christmas First Ever South Park Worse than most South Parks

The Virtual Pew News # 8 A Christmas Gift For You

Reviews by Mike Furches — Tue, 12 Dec 2006 22:27:00 +0000

This issue of The Virtual Pew News will be much shorter than usual. It will be shorter because I value your time during this busy time of year. I could say much about the happenings at The Virtual Pew, but will leave that for the future. I will say, the ministry and the effectiveness continue. The ministry continues as does the needs of this ministry. I continue to hear from individuals ranging from the non religious to pastors as to the impact this ministry is having. I know because of first hand experience with those receiving ministry. I also know our needs continue on in a greater way than ever before.

This issue is about giving back, giving back in such a way that shows to some extent the ministry of The Virtual Pew. This issue will also give back by providing you links that will help you reach out to your friends, family, coworkers and others with the message of Jesus Christ. This issue is unique, yet it has also proven to be effective in the work we are doing.

Since the first of December, I have been doing daily blogs that provides a brief, nonconfrontive devotional along with numerous videos. These are on various themes and all of the videos have a Christmas season focus. From Walt Disney to the Trans Siberian Orchestra, videos from YouTube have been used in these postings that have as of now been seen by hundreds of thousands on both MySpace and The Virtual Pew Blog sites.

There has also been the ongoing interaction with numerous individuals including interactions such as, a family with serious issues where divorce, and suicide prevention has been needed, troops in Iraq, and individuals struggling with alcoholism, and Christians facing issues of isolation from churches. We are still dealing with the real life, difficult situations that many face.

Prior to going on to the postings just an update to let you know that I am also providing the link to the previous newsletter which gave some giving updates for The Virtual Pew. Those giving needs are still present and while some has given to help provide gifts for others, we still have many others to provide assistance to. This weekend I am going to be distributing some clothes to the homeless in the Wichita area, and we have had money designated for the wrestling ministry we are involved in. Finances also took a hit as two paying jobs canceled this month, one wrestling related and another speaking related. Those things make it difficult, but we continue on.

I encourage you to visit the daily postings with The Virtual Pew at both MySpace and The Virtual Pew. You will see a much different layout with the pages at The Virtual Pew’s blog pages. One addition will be the addition of advertisements on the pages. We continue to seek ways to bring in additional funds so are trying the google addsense pages.

Enough for now, visit some of the links that are provided here. I think you will be pleased and see the type of ministry we are having. Until next time, here is our Christmas gift to you. Enjoy the hundreds of videos alongside messages surrounding the Christmas season.

Now before we get to the videos, hopefully everyone will remember to pass the blogs along to your friends. The Christmas Special blogs from TVP can help a lot of people. You can show them what we are doing by forwarding them this newsletter. They can see various topics and see about the ultimate video blog that will be linked below. They can also get in the Christmas Spirit by clicking on and reading about The Virtual Pew and our Christmas giving options.

Now for those that don’t know, make sure you check out the numerous articles and blogs by checking out the archives. If visiting The Virtual Pew at http://www.hollywoodjesus.com/comments/virtualpew/blog.html they will be on the left hand side of the page. If visiting MySpace at http://blog.myspace.com/mikefurches they are archived on the left hand side of the page. Scroll down to where you see newer or older listed under archives and then click there.

Now we also want to remind you that you can visit http://www.thevirtualpew.com/ and on the front page scroll down to the left hand side of the page where you sill see our store at the following link, http://www.thevirtualpew.com/store.html . Your purchases through our Amazon store provides needed funds to The Virtual Pew. If you don’t see something on the page to buy, you can click on the search engine for the store, (don’t put anything in the search box at this time) and you will then be taken to Amazon where you can search for anything you desire. Hopefully as you shop for Christmas you will consider a gift to The Virtual Pew and/or at the very least shop our store. The items on the store page are highly recommended.

Now prior to checking out the videos here is that information, contact and contribution information regarding The Virtual Pew. Again, thanks for reading, have a Merry Christmas or whatever holiday you celebrate. Just remember though, from The Virtual Pew, we wish you a Merry Christmas.

Contact and Giving InformationOh Yea, here is that contact information again.The Virtual PewP.O. Box 17731Wichita, KS 67217Or you van give on line via Pay Pal at: http://www.furches.org/donations/index.htmlTo become a part of The Virtual Pew, visit, http://www.thevirtualpew.com/ To learn more about me visit http://www.furches.org/ I am also active on MySpace at: http://www.myspace.com/mikefurches I have another blog at http://blog.myspace.com/mikefurches To visit the Hollywood Jesus group at MySpace with membership by numerous Hollywood Jesus reviewers visit: http://groups.myspace.com/hollywoodjesus For a more in depth weekly study and conversation you an visit: http://virtualpewsermon.blogspot.com/ where you can access deeper teaching and ultimately videos for viewing and teaching. You can also subscribe to the newsletter at http://www.thevirtualpew.com/ or see the newsletter on line at http://thevirtualpewnews.blogspot.com/ You can also sign up for the free newsletter from The Virtual Pew by visiting the main page for The Virtual Pew, or you can see the newsletters online by visiting this web site: http://thevirtualpewnews.blogspot.com/ You can contact me via email at mike@furches.org or mike@thevirtualpew.com For those interested in knowing more about my own story, contact me for a free e-copy of my book The Keystone Kid in pre-edit form.

A Country Christmas
http://www.hollywoodjesus.com/comments/virtualpew/2006/12/country-christmas.html

Christmas in a New Way with Trans Siberian Orchestra
http://www.hollywoodjesus.com/comments/virtualpew/2006/12/christmas-in-new-way-with-trans.html

Approaching a Milestone
http://www.hollywoodjesus.com/comments/virtualpew/2006/12/approaching-milestone.html

Christmas, not just for Kids
http://www.hollywoodjesus.com/comments/virtualpew/2006/12/christmas-not-just-for-kids.html

Those Darned Christmas Carols
http://www.hollywoodjesus.com/comments/virtualpew/2006/12/those-darned-christmas-car_116559968898049432.html

How Dare They Ruin Christmas!
http://www.hollywoodjesus.com/comments/virtualpew/2006/12/how-dare-they-ruin-christmas.html

Christmas Memories, Goodbye Dear Friends
http://www.hollywoodjesus.com/comments/virtualpew/2006/12/christmas-memories-goodbye-dear.html

A Disney Christmas with Ebenezer and Mickey
http://www.hollywoodjesus.com/comments/virtualpew/2006/12/disney-christmas-with-ebenezer-scrooge.html

Last Christmas I got Whammed
http://www.hollywoodjesus.com/comments/virtualpew/2006/12/last-christmas-i-got-whammed.html

Christmas with Larry the Cable Guy, Bob Rivers & Mr. Bean
http://www.hollywoodjesus.com/comments/virtualpew/2006/12/christmas-with-larry-cable-guy-bob.html

An Old Fashioned Saturday Morning Cartoon Tom & Jerry Christmas
http://www.hollywoodjesus.com/comments/virtualpew/2006/12/old-fashioned-saturday-morning.html

The Christmas Shoes
http://www.hollywoodjesus.com/comments/virtualpew/2006/12/christmas-shoes.html

The Ultimate Christmas Collection Coming Soon How The Grinch Stole Christmas
http://www.hollywoodjesus.com/comments/virtualpew/2006/11/ultimate-christmas-collection-coming.html

The Virtual Pew News # 7 Christmas Giving
http://www.hollywoodjesus.com/comments/virtualpew/2006/11/virtual-pew-news-7-christmas-giving.html

To All of Those Visiting The Virtual Pew This Season

A Very Blessed Christmas from

The Furches Family

And

The Virtual Pew

A Country Christmas

Reviews by Mike Furches — Tue, 12 Dec 2006 20:46:00 +0000

I think every year I dream about spending Christmas in one of two locations. Either at the ocean with family, or better yet, in a small town, in a mountainous location with lots of snow and that Christmas spirit we see in the Rockwell tradition.

You know the photos of that tradition don't you, snow covered scenes, horse drawn carriages, and Christmas decorations every place you turn. I don't know why this appeals to me, but from the number of photographs, and movies where I have seen this scene, I know I am not the only one.

Despite the desire to see and spend Christmas in a location like this, I am reminded by the fact that Jesus was born in an inner city, among the poorest of the poor while his family was in Bethlehem filling out the census for the Roman Empire. That association with the city, and the poor would never leave Jesus.

Jesus had a deep appealing love for the city and the poor. In fact, the majority of his ministry was within this area. There are lessons we can learn from that association as we look at the birth of the Savior during this Holiday Season.

While we long to escape from the cities, and the turmoil of life to celebrate Christ's birth, there are many who will have no escape except for the seasonal meal or seasonal gift that someone or some organization may provide. The sad thing is, that for the majority of those living in poverty within the cities across America, Christmas ends on Christmas morning because the joyful spirit of giving is gone. Up next is a refocus on the new year and with that comes alcohol consumption and a refocus on the selfish nature that many have.

Yet, Jesus Christ lived a life among the people that many considered untouchable. He gave, and gave, and loved to the point of death. It is that Savior that came to be born as a babe, to give and love, even those who were considered by society as unlovable. He forwent personal pleasure to make sacrifice and offers of love.

What can we learn from the example of Jesus? I would hope that we all learn the importance of at least taking time to love those whom Jesus loved, not just at Christmas but all year round. To give and show what we consider love one time a year is in fact not love, it is a tease. This is a tease to the poor and needy that in reality does far more harm than good. If the intent of that one time a year gift is for good, rethink the position. Find a ministry like The Virtual Pew that attempts to do good. Realize though, that even here, we have our own specialized area. There are other ministries that do more in certain areas than we do. I say that because who you give to and who you support is among you and God. I will say though, that it isn't just money that organizations need, it is acts of service and volunteerism.

Today's videos are going to look at some of the old fashioned Christmas ideas that are associated with nature, i.e. location in particular. It may be a Yogi Bear Christmas because of the nature and mountains, it may be a song that brings back Christmas memories. In all of that though, reflect on the Christmases and birthdays that Jesus lived. Think about who he served, and then find a way to live that life and celebrate its meanings this Christmas

Now before we get to the videos today, hopefully everyone will remember to pass the blogs along to your friends. The Christmas Special blogs from TVP can help a lot of people. You can show them what we are doing by Clicking Here at this Link. They can see various topics and see about the ultimate video blog that will be posted later in the week, certainly prior to the first of next week. They can also get in the Christmas Spirit by Clicking Here and reading about The Virtual Pew and our Christmas giving options.

Now for those that don't know, make sure you check out the numerous articles and blogs by checking out the archives. If visiting The Virtual Pew they will be on the right hand side of the page. If visiting MySpace they are archived on the left hand side of the page. Scroll down to where you see newer or older listed under archives and then click there.

Now we also want to remind you that you can visit http://www.thevirtualpew.com/ and on the front page scroll down to the left hand side of the page where you sill see our store. Your purchases through our Amazon store provides needed funds to The Virtual Pew. If you don't see something on the page to buy, you can click on the search engine for the store, (don't put anything in the search box at this time) and you will then be taken to Amazon where you can search for anything you desire. Hopefully as you shop for Christmas you will consider a gift to The Virtual Pew and/or at the very least shop our store. The items on the store page are highly recommended.

Now prior to checking out the videos for the day, here is that information, contact and contribution information regarding The Virtual Pew. Again, thanks for visiting, have a Merry Christmas or whatever holiday you celebrate. Just remember though, from The Virtual Pew, we wish you a Merry Christmas.

Contact and Giving InformationOh Yea, here is that contact information again.

The Virtual Pew

P.O. Box 17731

Wichita, KS 67217

Or you van give on line via Pay Pal at: http://www.furches.org/donations/index.html

To become a part of The Virtual Pew, visit, http://www.thevirtualpew.com/ To learn more about me visit http://www.furches.org/ I am also active on MySpace at: http://www.myspace.com/mikefurches I have another blog at http://blog.myspace.com/mikefurches To visit the Hollywood Jesus group at MySpace with membership by numerous Hollywood Jesus reviewers visit: http://groups.myspace.com/hollywoodjesus For a more in depth weekly study and conversation you an visit: http://virtualpewsermon.blogspot.com/ where you can access deeper teaching and ultimately videos for viewing and teaching. You can also subscribe to the newsletter at http://www.thevirtualpew.com/ or see the newsletter on line at http://thevirtualpewnews.blogspot.com/ You can also sign up for the free newsletter from The Virtual Pew by visiting the main page for The Virtual Pew, or you can see the newsletters online by visiting this web site: http://thevirtualpewnews.blogspot.com/ You can contact me via email at mike@furches.org or mike@thevirtualpew.com For those interested in knowing more about my own story, contact me for a free e-copy of my book The Keystone Kid in pre-edit form.

Kenny G Have Yourself A Merry Little Christmas

Celine Dion I Met an Angel on Christmas Day

The Country Bear Christmas Special

Rascal Flats Mary Did You Know

Aretha Franklin & Frankie Valli That's Life

Sting Gabriel's Message

An Emerald Christmas With The Horde

Friends TOW Christmas In Tulsa 1/3

Friends Tow Christmas in Tulsa 2/3

Friends TOW Christmas in Tulsa 3/3

Emmet Otters Jug Band

Celine Dion and Rosey O'Donnell The Magic of Christmas Day

Clay Aiken My Grown Up Christmas List

Simple Plan Christmas List

Do They Know It's Christmas Live Aid 1985

Greatest Time of Year Aly & AJ

Happy Christmas War is Over John Lennon

Band Aid 20 Do They Know It's Christmas

Faith Hill Where Are You Christmas Grinch

It's A Wonderful Life Ending