Taking a Stand

Well, he’s certainly gotten people talking.  This past week actor Angus T. Jones made headlines after his video condemnation of the television show that has made him a very wealthy teen-ager.  Depending on your perspective he was either taking a courageous stand for his faith or he was joining in former co-star Charlie Sheen in being a complete kook.  

If you missed it, Jones who played the ½ in 2 ½ men asked people to stop watching the show “and filling your head with filth.”  It seems that the actor has recently connected with God and has come to the conclusion that “You cannot be a true God-fearing person and be on a television show like that”, and he wants out.

In the past 12 months, Jones has made approximately $8,000,000.00 from the show, and it seems that he willing to give that up for his convictions.  But really, the important issue isn’t whether Angus T. Jones walks away from his $350,000.00 per episode contract because of his Christian faith, but whether his words will have any impact on the television watching habits of Christians.  I wonder how many Christians who applaud his stand will still watch the show or shows just like it?    Have a great week and remember: To see what is really possible, you will have to attempt the impossible. 

They don't have a prayer

So, Kim Kardashian had to apologize for comments that she made on Twitter.  And you might be thinking, “ and this is worthy of a Penn?”  Well yeah, because of what she had tweeted.  It appears that Kardashian had the audacity to post “Praying for everyone in Israel,” and she followed that with, “Praying for everyone in Palestine and across the world!”  The reaction from her almost 17 million followers (which could be a whole Penn on its own) was overwhelmingly negative. 

It seems that the reality TV show star can talk about fashion and what she has for breakfast but that she stepped over the line with her comments about her prayer life.  Ms.  Kardashian not only received negative, obscenity laced responses but also had several death threats.  I don’t know if it was because she was planning on praying for Israel or for Palestine.  Wow!  She probably should take the threats serious, after all, it was teaching like Matthew 5:44 “But I tell you: Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you” that got Jesus killed.

And as Christ Followers we are still supposed to love our enemies and pray for those who persecute us and maybe even tweet about it.     Have a great week and remember: To see what is really possible, you will have to attempt the impossible. 

Caught!  He got caught.  The fact that a high ranking government official was caught cheating on his wife really shouldn’t be a newsworthy item.  We’ve seen it happen with mayors, senators, governors and Presidents.  That doesn’t make it right, it just makes it common.  But this guy was supposed to be able to keep secrets.  Last week David Petraeus stepped down as director of the CIA (That’s the Central Intelligence Agency, just to be clear) after having admitted to an extramarital affair.

As in most cases, Petraeus didn’t admit to cheating on his wife of 37 years out of guilt or remorse, he did it because he got caught.  Had he not been caught, the 60 year old, 4 star general would have kept right on cheating. 

In a letter explaining his decision the director wrote “After being married for over 37 years, I showed extremely poor judgment by engaging in an extramarital affair. Such behavior is unacceptable, both as a husband and as the leader of an organization such as ours.”   Which roughly translated means, he was sorry he was caught. 

But, it was inevitable, even for the director of the CIA.  God’s word tells us “You may be sure that your sin will find you out.”  Have a great week and remember: To see what is really possible, you will have to attempt the impossible. 

What is in a name?

She was proud of the name she carried and tried to her best to add to the legacy of that name.  Most of us heard the tragic  news of the sinking of the HMS Bounty this past week. What you may not know is that the crewmember whose body was recovered was Claudene Christian.  Does her name ring a bell?  It should, her great-great-great-great-great-grandfather was Fletcher Christian and he was the chief mate who led the Mutiny on the Bounty in 1789.  Now think about predicting that Buzz Aldrin’s great-great-great-great-great-grandchild would die in an accident involving a working replica of Apollo 11. Mind boggling isn’t it?

42 year old Christian, joined the Bounty in May and spoke on several occasions about the pride she felt following in the footsteps of her mutineer ancestor.

As “Christians”, we follow in another’s steps and the name we carry isn’t that of a mutineer but instead it is the name of the Saviour of the world.  And while most of the world didn’t know about Claudene’s heritage until her death, we proclaim our heritage through our lives.    I hope that we will be as proud and as conscious of the name Jesus Christ as Claudene Christian was of the name Fletcher Christian.   

 Have a great week and remember: To see what is really possible, you will have to attempt the impossible.