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your response
THANK
YOU!
Subject:
Newsletter 27
The Good Old Days
Date: Tue, 31 Jul 2001
From: Andy Milliken
Wonderful
Job as always Dave, you hit the nail on the head of not isolating
ourselves off from the world. I'm a college student majoring in
evanglism at Moody Bible Institute in Chicago and i both agree
and appreciated your website and thoughts. I believe we need to
know and understand people and culture in order to be able to
minster to them/it and that's extremely hard if we put ourselves
in our nice little christian bubbles or houses. Your work and
website our excellent and i throughly support and appreicate your
work. Keep up the good work and don't the critics get you down,
thier not who you answer to in the end.
Andy Milliken
DISENGAGEMENT!
Subject:
Newsletter 27
great Date: Tue, 31 Jul 2001
From: Tony Whittaker
Dear Dave
Very thought-provoking comments in the newsletter, and very valuable.
The quotes I put in the Web Evangelism Bulletin are I think applicable
(you may not have had time to notice them) and also tie in with
your comments - I'll add them below.
Of course,
and I know you'd agree, I think that Christians need guidance
in attempting to understand the culture around them and how to
offer a response to it. The issue is not just whether they go
and see certain films or books, but whether they can learn how
to analyse what is going on. Eg. use the sorts of insights that
you, or www.damaris.org.uk
are offering. I think it is worth noting the comment that Francis
Schaeffer made to an audience, when asked 'Do you mean we should
all go and watch dirty films', he said, 'No, but some of you should.'
I think as
a younger Christian (and younger male), it would have been unwise
for me to watch certain stuff then, that maybe I could now view
more analytically.
Thanks as ever for all your thoughts.
Blessings Tony
ADDRESSING
THE CULTURE Two thought-provoking extracts from recent articles
in Christian Herald [ http://www.christianherald.org.uk
]: "Imagine that someone buys a manual to find out more about
his Japanese car; then, because the book itself is very exciting,
he becomes engrossed in it. He pores over every phrase, learns
it cover to cover, knows the instruction bits by heart, defends
it against all critics, has technical arguments with other devotees,
studies Japanese to read it in the original language, yet never
uses it to drive the car."
- Elaine Storkey
"Draw three
large boats in relation to the sea: the first a submarine under
the sea, the second a hovercraft above the sea, and the third
a ship cutting through the sea. Imagine the sea is the culture
that surrounds us and that the three boats represent three relationships
Christians can have with culture. There are those who are submerged
in it, those who hover above it, and those that are in it but
not of it. Which boat most represents your relationship to the
culture that surrounds you?"
- Matt Bird, taken from Joshua Generation discipleship course,
Part 6.
Joshua Generation is a team which partners with churches and organizations
around the world to help them understand, engage, and develop
the next generation: http://www.joshgen.org
IDOLS
OUT OF FAMILIES!
Subject:
Newsletter 27
Date: Wed, 1 Aug 2001
From: "Dennis Brown"
Great insight.
Evangelical churches many times make idols of family and comfort
and control. I'm convinced that is one of the reasons for the
popularity of Kinkade's work among evangelicals. Barna has pointed
out the lack of distinctiveness between Christians and the rest
of the culture. We largely preach a Gospel for me; a Savior whose
principal purpose is to meet "my" felt needs. Matthew refers consistently
to the "gospel of the kingdom". Unhappily, in the evangelical
church we have often divorced gospel from kingdom. I've seen the
evidences in my own life and been called to some fresh repentance.
Dennis Brown
Springton Lake Presbyterian Church
A
POINT OF VIEW SIMILAR TO MINE!
Subject:
Newsletter 27
Date: Tue, 31 Jul 2001
From: Sharon
Hi there.
I have been reading your newsletters and looking at your website
for a long time now. I want to thank you so much for your views
on things. It is really refreshing to get a point of view that
is similar to mine. I often get really frustrated with Christianity,
and how unrealistic it often is. I am sometimes ridiculed by my
Christian friends because I hardly ever listen to Christian music,
read Christian books all that often, or live your typical "Christian
life" if there even is one. I hardly ever listen to Christian
music because it all is too gooey and does not challenge me in
the way non-Christian music does. If you really listen to what
some of the artists out there are saying, it's pretty amazing.
It is very encouraging to hear that you are challenging others
to live outside of the "Leave it to Beaver" lifestyle. Please
keep up the good work. Your newsletters always challenge me, and
encourage me to be living in a way that is not stagnant, and is
constantly questioning and seeking out the real truth.
Thank you so much.
Sharon Bentall. <>< :)
WEARING
BLINDERS
Subject:
Newsletter 27
Date: Tue, 31 Jul 2001
From: Milena
I applaud
you on your insight given so generously. You don't try to make
anything pretty, gift wrap any of your messages. It's very refreshing.
I agree wholeheartedly on the Kinkade dilemma. While Kinkade paintings
are beautiful, I always felt a little uncomfortable when people
referred to him as if he had painted Christianity on his canvas'.
Now I know why. I honestly don't think that God intended us to
wear blinders over our eyes to block the world around us. That
doesn't sound like witnessing to me. Neither does making Christian
music and suing if it is played on a secular radio station or
MTV. Or making a Christian video and only allowing it to be shown
in church. Or writing sermons for the lost, and only giving them
to the Christian community which you have known for most of your
life. I look up to you as my teacher and greatly enjoy hearing
from you every month.
Thank you. ~Milena
KINKADE
THOUGHTS
Subject:
Newsletter 27
Date: Tue, 31 Jul 2001
From: GEA
To me the
light in the windows represent Jesus since He is the light of
the world. The cottages do not represent so much the idyllic happy
family home that most people never lived in so much as they represent
more to me a home our heart can have. I think that the absence
of people in his paintings exists so each person can visualize
their heart as Christ's home. Just my thoughts..
DAVID,
YOU ROCK!
Subject:
Newsletter 27
Date: Tue, 31 Jul 2001
From: Leslie Grimes
Dear David:
Thank you for beginning a discussion about the Kinkade Dilemma,
and for articulating a small-mindedness that frustrates so many
people and me. I hope that you do not receive as many angry emails
as you mentioned that you might - I hope and pray that something
of the truth of our short-sightedness as Christians is revealed
to us all, and that a transformation begins to take place within
the body of Christ.
Do you know
of St. Augustine's description of the sacred and the secular?
He points out that creation belongs to God, and that our human
and sinful use of objects, actions, time, thoughts, etc. makes
them either holy to God or not. In a similar way, I appreciate
Mr. Kinkade's success, and his faithfulness to making art that
is beautiful by his standards. I appreciate that he is so generous
with his earnings, and appears to be committed to righteousness
before God. Yet, I fear that as you said, his art has been embraced
by the Christian sub-culture in a way that reveals our true motives
and true selves to be small and unwilling to welcome anything
new or challenging. That true self is ugly, and I would say that
it shows how we are afraid of following Christ. This is sin, and
it blinds us to a life of more richness than we could imagine
for ourselves. I would propose that in embracing Mr. Kinkade's
art as the only "good art" in the world today that we are not
just dismissing any other art, but also rejecting Christ. In this
way, I see Thomas Kinkade's art being used in way that is more
secular than sacred - if you will allow me to over-simplify the
issue!
I do not offer
that Jesus is exclusively modern art, but I do fear that rejecting
the struggles and the suffering of this world is in its own way
dishonesty to truth, God's truth. David presents that, based on
the responses to Mr. Kinkade's art, Christians actually want and
prefer a life of retreat, of ease and of perfect family. I do
agree that this is a lot of what is happening as Christians delight
in Mr. Kinkade's paintings. I also say that if these are the lenses
that we are using to view the world, then as a committed follower
of Jesus Christ, I feel embarrassed and pitiful for the church.
What a small way to live! Christ came to release us from the trappings
of our sin and to let us know that He has prepared a place for
us in heaven. I truly believe this, and know that this may be
Mr. Kinkade's purpose in painting: to remind us of Heaven. But
these paintings do reveal our tendency to hide, rather than to
"fight the good fight" (I Timothy 6:12).
Mr. Kinkade's
work is good for reminding us of Heaven. While he is reminding
us, however, we have embraced it as a NOW image, and forgotten
the world around us for which Christ died. I fear that these paintings,
and how they have been embraced by the Christian sub-culture (the
fact that a Christian sub-culture exists is grounds for a whole
other discussion) reveals a powerful truth about the shortsightedness
of the American Church today. While I believe that Christ sees
this shortsightedness, yet also loves us, I also believe we can
offer Him more. We can offer Him an attitude of gratefulness and
of service that extends a cup of cold water to the needy, to the
unbeautiful.
I cannot say
that I am absolutely right and that lovers of Mr. Kinkade's art
are wrong - I know there is much good in those paintings, and
in the desires of the painter to honor God through making them.
But it is lamentable that all modern artists are grandly dismissed
as bad artists and that many Christians define "good art" as that
which depicts life in Christ as a blind and dishonest utopia (Mr.
Kinkade's paintings). When we hide from the world after being
given the full power of God to fight sin, we are miserably failing
God. Sometimes I am afraid that I value retreat from the world
more than life in Christ. Is that really what we want? The world
will only resent us for pulling away from pain and from reality.
We cripple our testimony by not reflecting the real pain of the
world Christ asks us to love on His behalf. I do not think that
generating this kind of hate from the world is what Christ meant
when He said in the beatitudes:
"Blessed are
those who are persecuted because of righteousness, for theirs
is the kingdom of heaven. Blessed are you when people insult you,
persecute you and falsely say all kinds of evil against you because
of me. Rejoice and be glad, because great is your reward in heaven,
for in the same way they persecuted the prophets who were before
you" (Matthew 5: 10-12).
I fear that
Mr. Kinkade's paintings show how we are skipping the righteousness
and demanding God to "skip to the end", as Prince Humperdink demanded
of the Impressive Clergyman in The Princess Bride. Do we desire
dessert, but not the meal? Are we rejecting Christ in this way?
I think it's
possible to see Thomas Kinkade's paintings as beautiful. But I
think it is also true that they are problematic, because they
have revealed the sin of Christians, and not just the Christians
who adore Kinkade's paintings. I know we could learn from this
truth being revealed, but will we change our hearts and lives
to match?
Leslie Grimes
Arlington, VA
WHAT
DILEMMA?
Subject:
Newsletter 27
Date: Tue, 31 Jul 2001
From: Linda Johnson
I'm not necessarily
a Kinkade fan, nor did I especially care for the works of Norman
Rockwell. But there are many ways of being and many forms of expression.
Why beat up on Kinkade in particular? Personally, I don't care
for "gaggy" Christian art forms, from music to painting to movies
- and as for TV - well, "Touched by an Angel"? Let's not even
go there. (Or if we must, let me first dose myself with a tablespoon
or two of Emetrol).
But really
... what harm is any of this stuff? I don't have to watch "Touched
by an Angel" (thank God), and I don't have to buy Kinkade posters.
Thank God we live in a country where there's something for everyone.
MARS
HILL COMMENTARY
Subject:
Newsletter 27
Date: Tue, 31 Jul 2001
From: Linda Johnson
I heard a
commentary on "Mars Hill Audio" (which features discussions of
important theological, philosophical, sociological, and aesthetic
questions from a Christian perspective) about Thomas Kinkade.
The point that stuck with me most strongly is that the brilliant
light casts no shadow, so it seems to represent grace with no
price; a world without sin. And yes, a decidedly isolationist
perspective.
Linda Johnson
WORSHIP
MUSIC AND KINKADE PICTURES
Subject:
Newsletter 27
Date: Tue, 31 Jul 2001
From: Doug
The Kinkade
dilemma reminds me of a similar issue. I had a radio program for
awhile called "Banquet of Praise" that "celebrated the diversity
of music written for and performed in the church." I would invite
community groups to perform on this live program, whether or not
they were "Christian". It quickly became apparent that, to most
people, music for the church had to fit one style - usually slow
and based upon hymns. It was hard to get groups to understand
the wide diversity of music appropriate for worship and to get
them to play that wide diversity. Many people still have an expectation
for worship music to sound like those Kinkade pictures - sweet,
sentimental, and completely out of touch with the world around
them.
I am a classical
musician - I am not involved in the contemporary Christian or
rock scenes - but I have discovered people love diversity of music
in worship and I include many styles in worship - except that
I almost never use contemporary Christian music because it tends
to be superficial like the Kinkade pictures. There are thinking
groups and thinking artists out there, but they are usually "secular"
artists, not those who have presented themselves as "Christian".
I had a friend
in North Carolina who always wanted me to play hymns slowly and
gently and fussed at me for playing with energy. I have discovered
that many Christians want a sound that is passive and wimpy -
and boring!
Theologically,
my church talks about the controversy going on between God and
Satan over control of this earth. When you think that there are
spiritual battles going on in the spirit world around us, that
doesn't suggest passive music, but suggests music full of energy,
courage, conflict, challenge, etc.
The above all applies to movies as well.
A
POINT IN FACT
Subject:
Newsletter 27
Date: Tue, 31 Jul 2001
From: Kit
Dear David,
thanks for your usual candid thoughts. This side of the Atlantic
there are some very good christian artists who are not at all
like your Kinkade (whose work I have never seen but can easily
imagine)Chief amongst these is Sieger Koder. I think he is Catholic
rather than Evangelical but it is realistic, moving and can be
very frightening.www.cpo-online.org has some of his work.
Blessings, Kit
WHIPLASH
FROM NODDING
Subject:
Newsletter 27
Date: Tue, 31 Jul 2001
From: Gord
Right on.
I was nodding my head in agreement with your comments so much
that I think I've given myself whiplash. It hit home on so many
points that my mind was running off in all sorts of directions.
I have never
felt at home as a christian, in the "christian" sub-culture of
North America. It's plastic-saccharine world is so unappealing,
that it sometimes truly angers me and I am loathe to be lumped
into that milieu. I angers me that something so deep and so profound
has been reduced (debased) into something so trite and shallow.
I try to listen and watch things that are well done and/or thoughtful
and almost without fail these will not be "christian".
As to the
past that never was: I am always amazed when people talk about
how these must be the end times, because of how bad things have
gotten. I have always wondered what has changed? What is new under
the sun? When exactly was the golden age? Seems to me, that historically
people have always been people. That things were never really
much different, barring some technological changes, that life
has always included the beautiful and the ugly. One has to be
incredibly selective and blind not see that any time there was
more than enough ugliness and brutality to eliminate the possibility
of a golden era.
Well I've
rambled on enough. Thanks for the thought provoking newsletter.
It is good to know that one is not alone in thinking something
is terribly amiss in the "christian" world.
Gord
COONTZ'S
ATTEMPT AT REVISION
Subject:
Newsletter 27
Date: Tue, 31 Jul 2001
From: Dave Haynes Sioux City, IA
Stephanie
Coontz's book points out many statistics that prove that American
culture was not the way someone? always used to think it was.
While humans have always been and will always be real, real sexual,
one thing about "the good old days" that cannot be argued away
is that human life had greater value and more people believed
in personal responsibility. While many people were engaging in
pre-marital sex way back in the day, they weren't murdering the
evidence at a rate of 1.25 million per year. And alot of those
teenaged mothers were married before the birth of that child as
couples attempted to do what was thought to be right (it was!)
in the face of their sin. Times were different and so were our
values and standards and Stephanie Coontz's agenda cannot change
the truth. Does she lie in her book? No! Does she miss the point
completely? Yes! Heather may have two mommies now but no amount
of revision can make Heather better off!
Best Regards, Dave Haynes Sioux City, IA
PRECIOUS
MAN BUT NOT AN ARTIST
Subject:
Newsletter 27
kinkade/disengagement
Date: Tue, 31 Jul 2001
From: randy
Good got you..cheers..Kinkade
isn't an artist even in the broadest sense of the term and good
for you for telling it like it is. I too agree that he is a precious
man,devoted father, etc..but art? No way. disengagement...another
pat on the back for you. You are just telling it like it is. Thanks
Randy
WOW!
Subject:
Newsletter 27
Date: Tue, 31 Jul 2001
From: "Peg Peters"
Your piece
on the Kincade art was amazing! I am an evangelical pastor in
Vancouver Canada trying to get my people out into the real world
through movies and film. Your commentary hit the issue right on
the head. Thank you so much for articulating a real Christian
vision for the 21st Century. I love it!
PS Moulin
Rouge was one of the most creative movies I have seen! thanks
so much for encouraging me in my lonely struggle amidst a Kincade-type
church
Pastor Peg Peters
REVISIONIST
HISTORY OF THE POP CULTURE WORSHIPPERS
Subject:
Newsletter 27
Date: Tue, 31 Jul 2001
From: David Haynes Sioux City, IA
David, While
I am unable to dispute some of the statistics you quoted from
various era's of our nations history, I am struck by a burning
question in response to your assesments: What is your ultimate
point? The point of 1950's television was not that everyone lived
like the Cleavers or the Nelsons. It was that the vast majority
of us agreed that The Nelsons and the Cleavers lived the way we
should all aspire to live. There values should be our values.
That notion came under assault but hung in there in the sixties.
Were there drunk absentee fathers in the 50's? Of course! Were
there single mom's beating there brains out to make a living in
the 50's? Absolutely! My grandma was one of them. Were there teenage
mothers (lots of teenagers got married back in the day!) and out
of wedlock births? You bet! But as a culture we pretty much all
agreed that those life choices SUCKED!!!! Now in our modern and
enlightened age we have convinced ourselves that any life choice
or cultural reality is as good and desireable as the next. BULL-loney!!
Besides technology, all American culture has gottten better at
is LYING TO ITSELF - patting itself on the head - affirming itself
with all the intellectual gravitas of a Stuart Smalley."I'm good
enough, I'm smart enough and doggone it, our culture is great!"
Your comments
on the art of Thomas Kinkade are insightful and for the most part
right on. However, to buy into the Leftist cultural elite's argument
that America was never good is choose to overlook the truth. The
goodness of America resides in what our standards are or have
been at any given time in our history. There has always been sin
and always will be. AMerica used to have much more lofty standards
and when we did, we were great! Now we suck! Everything is okay.
Nothing is evil accept the attempt to maintain standards of morality;
you know making absolute statements like "Fornication is wrong"
or "Abortion is murder" because that might make someone feel bad
and that in the end is the worst sin in America today.
David Haynes Sioux City, IA
THANK
YOU FOR YOUR WORDS!
Subject:
Newsletter 27
Date: Tue, 31 Jul 2001
From: Douglas
David - Thank
you for your well thought out and researched words about "hiding
from culture." All too often Christians take on the "not of the
world" mentality and it seems contrary to the Gospel. Christians
hide behind the safe confines of Christian music, Christian films,
and Christian TV. I am always far more touched by non-Christian
music that address faith questions. I am challenged far more by
non-Christian films that probe Christian issues. If Christ were
physically present today where would he most likely visit first...
a Christian Family Center filled with the Cleavers or a Harley
Bar filled with the rebels of society?
WARM
AND COZY GAG REFLEX
Subject:
Newsletter 27
Date: Tue, 31 Jul 2001
From: Mike_Bernard
David i am
sure you will probably get a lot of mail from Cristians screaming
bloody murder and asking for your head on a platter for the things
you wrote about Thomas Kindade. let me be the first one to say
that i agree with you 150%. you hit the nail right on the head
with your comments about his art and movies in general. i echo
your thoughts completely regarding the way Christians view this
world. why does everything created in the name of Christianity
have to be watered down? why is all the art and movies produced
filled with quaint pleasent images that make us feel warm and
cozy all over (actually it envokes a gag reflex in me)? that stuff
isnt real. I believe that it actually does a disservice to spreading
the gospel. non-Christians see that and run from the church. they
dont want to be associated with medoicre things or in some cases
even complete and utter crap. we as Chistians need to be a little
more like the non-Christians of the world if we have any chance
of witnessing to them. the church in America suffers from too
much close-mindedness, too much reliance on tradition and the
way things have always been, and not enough of a passion to really
reach the unsaved. Bob Dylan said it best when he pened the lines
"people are crazy and times have changed". it is just as true
today as it was in the 60's when he first wrote it. until more
people allow their minds expand and take off their worldly blinders
the church will loose more and more potential believers each and
every day. maybe the church should heed Lawrence Fishburns advice
in The Matrix and "Take the red pill and see how deep the rabit
hole goes" not continue to live in a fairy tale state. keep up
the good work. i love your website and your insight on American
culture, especially concerning religion, is dead on. you have
at least one person behind you!!!!
Mike Bernard
MY
DIMES WORTH
Subject:
Newsletter 27
Date: Tue, 31 Jul 2001
From: Chrissy
Dear David-
I would like to commend on what you said about Christians in today's
world. As you know I am a Catholic-and a Christian. I feel there
is too much violence on television and not even quality family
programming. I think that if a television show or a movie shows
a lot of blood, then it will be a bigger hit whereas a television
show or movie shows something that is respectful to today's society
it doesn't get great reviews. I recently saw America's Sweethearts
and I must say from a critical point of view the movie stunk.
It wasn't a comedy though it was supposed to be and it talks about
two people who wanted to get married but were seeing other people
in the process. Maybe I went off the subject a bit-but I feel
like you said that there is no such thing as a good movie or television
program. I used to watch the program "Higher Ground" on the Fox
Family Channel. It has since gone off the air because it talked
about real life issues within the family. It had no violence no
blood no sex. It just discussed family life. Well that is my dimes
worth of your recent newsletter. Take care and God Bless.
Best Wishes- Chrissy
BUNCH
OF BULL
Subject:
Newsletter 27
Date: Mon, 30 Jul 2001
From: frankie
Bunch of Bull.
Your are readfing things into the art that isn't there. Leave
the man alone, must everything good, and theres not a lot of it
, be attacked today?
GENERALLY
AGREE
Subject: Newsletter 27
Date: Tue, 31 Jul 2001
From: "Rev. Marlene Yanik"
I generally
agree with just about everything you write -- and mostly agree
with your "disengagement" thoughts. As a Presbyterian minister,
I can hardly be classified as "right wing conservative," but I
have two beefs with the movie (and TV) industries (and, with your
letting them off the hook on these issues). I am not afraid of
"R" rated movies, nor adult themes -- but I'm sick and tired of
the excessive raw language (much of the time, gratuitous) -- as
if "everyone" speaks that way all the time. True, there are worse
things than the "F" word, etc.-- but our language has become debased
-- and I think much of it comes from movies. I do not have tender
ears, and have been known to let loose with a salty word or two
upon occasion. I taught in the barrios of East L.A. -- and worked
in the inner city areas of both L.A. and Kansas City, and of course,
heard a lot of "language," -- but the movies outdo most of what
I've heard. For example, I was driven to distraction in "Good
Will Hunting" -- but it had an effect on me (in addition to its
good message). After seeing the movie, the next day (while driving)
I had to slam on my brakes to avoid an accident -- and what do
you know -- out popped my favorite word! If an adult minister
is so affected, what about more impressionable kids? That is just
one example. Secondly -- the "flesh" issue -- (usually female,
of course). What a denigration of women! -- just a continuation
of objectifying the female body. I do not mind a tasteful or necessary-to-the-story
bit of nudity -- but "puhleeze," we cannot in good conscience
approve or "wink" at the constant stream of blatant, gratuitous
(again, usually female -- how many men have we seen "bouncing"
around recently?) soft porn! I know from first hand counseling
experiences that soft porn often leads to hard porn, and then
disrespect and even violence. I really don't want to sound like
Jerry Falwell and his ilk, but there must be some middle ground
somewhere! Thanks for letting me vent! As I said earlier, I think
you're mostly right -- and (by the way) agree with your Thomas
Kinkade assessment! I really do like your site! Keep up your good
work!
Marlene Yanik
Response:
I agree with you in terms of personal taste. I too, wish screen
writers and movie producers would be more gentle to the ears and
eyes. As you know, I stick to the largely overlooked spiritual
(biblical) connections and leave the flesh and language issues
to other critics. Side note: I do not use foul language, nor do
I sleep around. Films have never changed that fact for me. Film
is part of the language of our culture, therefore, important.
Thank you for the kind and encouraging words. -David
AGREE
Subject: Newsletter 27
ate: Tue, 31 Jul 2001
From: Danial Panzella
David,
I totally agree with you.
Danial Panzella
A
NO PROBLEM WORLD?
Subject: Kinkade Newsletter 27
Date: Tue, 31 Jul 2001
From: Vicky
David: I agree
with your assessment of Kinkade. I have Christian friends who
seem to want and think it is very Christian to want a trouble
free world with people who have no problems.
THANKS
Subject: Newsletter 27
Date: Tue, 31 Jul 2001
From: Kenna
David,
Just wanted to thank you for the time and effort you put into
the newsletter. I don't have any real response yet, but you make
me think...
Kenna
Reponse:
You are welcome. And thank you for the kind words. I try. -David
WOW!
Subject: Newsletter 27
Date: Tue, 31 Jul 2001
From: Pastor Naugle
Thanks
for your thoughts. I've been thinking more and more about our
church ministry and how to reach out to those without the love
of God. Yet as a pastor, I just seem to have trouble making the
leap to advocating R rated movies. I watch them ocassionally,
especially with my finger on the fast forward button. A side from
the book you quoted from, what would you suggest that could help
an almost 50 evangelical pastor who wants to move in the right
direction?
Pastor Naugle
 Response:
Without question this is the book to get. Bill is a friend of
mine, we see each other each year at the City of Angeles Film
Festival, and he teaches at Calvin College. He is an incredible
thinker and fluent with pop culture. He will help you with the
issues you raise. I highly recommend this book to you. Publisher
note: "Grounded in Christian principles, this accessible
and engaging book offers an informed and fascinating approach
to popular culture. William Romanowski provides affectionate yet
astute analysis of familiar, well-loved movies and television
characters from Pretty Woman to Homer Simpson. He speaks with
expertise on films from Titanic to Casablanca and music from Mozart
to Springsteen, bringing sources as diverse as Shakespeare and
Allan Bloom into the discussion."Eyes
Wide Open : Looking for God in Popular Culture by William
D. Romanowski
CORN
SYRUP
Subject: Kinkade
Date: Tue, 31 Jul 2001
From: Don
I have, for
a long time now, thought that such sentimentality is nothing but
"corn syrup" -- too corny and sickeningly sweet, not to mention
artificial. I don't remember reading anything about Jesus maintaining
such a "safe" lifestyle. Quite the opposite was true. If getting
dirty with the masses was good enough for Christ, then it should
be good enough for all of the rest of us.
-Don
Response:
He's a good artist and a wonderful human being, just not realistic.
I agree with you.
I
LIKE KINKADE
Subject: Kinkade
Date: Tue, 31 Jul 2001
From: Jill
Hey David,
ya gotta point. I do like the art. But, I see your point. I must
say few people in our church are active with secular groups, or
any sort of community outreach. Perhaps we should change our images.
It's just that I have spent about $3,400 on all of the Kinkade
paintings on my walls. What am I do do. Why did I spend that money
in that way?
-Jill
Response:
It is a dilemma. Thank you for being open to new thinking. -David
End
of comments
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