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A La Carte (8/11)
- 08/11/10
- 19
Caedmon’s Call - Fans of Caedmon’s Call will want to know that there is a new album on the way…and that those who order now can download it right away.
A History of Phone Etiquette - It is interesting to peer back into history a little bit to see how telephone etiquette took time to develop. That’s something to think about next time you’re on a bus and someone is yacking (very loudly) into his cell phone.
An Admonition to Workaholics - Here’s a good word for those of us who are prone to work too hard and too long.
Chivalry Is Dead - This is not this young guy’s finest moment. “A young female Astros fan got a painful lesson in chivalry Monday night at Minute Maid Park. The woman, identified only as Sarah, was struck on the right arm by a foul ball off the bat of Chris Johnson in the fourth inning while sitting down the left-field line — a ball that she didn’t see coming because her boyfriend ducked out of the way at the last second.”
Be Discerning About Twilight - Mark Driscoll discusses Twilight and has some good things to say. He very nearly blows up as he looks at the books that are popular among young girls today.
I am a follower of Jesus Christ, a husband to Aileen and a father to three young children. I worship and serve as a pastor at 
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Comments (19)
(Excerpted from comments I have written elsewhere about Driscoll and Twilight — I like how he whispers the name.)
Most of Driscoll’s mocks are deserving. And many of his concerns are warranted, especially if these titles really are on Amazon’s recommended-reading list for teen girls.
But I wonder if Driscoll’s overdoing the whole demon thing.
Even if demons do originate or spread lies in a particular instance, God has not revealed that to us. I argue He likely would not, given the sufficiency of Scripture to make discerning choices.
So Christians who choose to avoid Twilight or its many teen-vamp clone books should do that to glorify God, not just to Avoid Demons.
In my view Driscoll is doing damage to his credibility with these film/book rants. I’ve never read Twilight, so am not sticking up for them, but I get the impression his “discerning” is inconsistent. Fair enough if you want to say Christians shouldn’t watch films with vampire/magic themes, but what about films with themes which glorify violence? (I’ve heard him talk about the series 24 in a positive light) What about films which positively promote extra-marital sex (not necessarily graphically), or dishonesty, or drunkenness, or hedonistic living… I’m not giving the green light to not be discerning about any of these issues, but if we maintain that films which contain one particular theme should be boycotted, then surely we should be boycotting 99% of Hollywood’s output, and selling our TV’s? I would have respect for someone who came to this decision, but Driscoll’s position seems to be inconsistent.
Sure he gets himself lots of publicity from these videos, but more as a laughing stock than a serious minister of God’s word, which is a shame - as he has a lot to offer the world.
The video ends while he’s still speaking. Is there any way to see the rest?
My son just got in trouble for bolting through a door ahead of everyone, right after I told him to let his mom and his sister (and all other ladies) go in front of him. I hope my boy will grow into a man the will dive in front of all threatening projectiles for his woman, lights or no lights!
Lori,
The clip was from a recent sermon. The entire sermon can be found here….
http://www.marshillchurch.org/media/luke/jesus-heals-a-demonized-boy
Mr. Burnett,
Regarding #3:As you stated, Paul writes in 1 Cor. that an idol has no existance, but he also writes this, which clarifies further:
1 Cor. 10.19-22: 19 “What do I imply then? That food sacrificed to idols is anything, or that an idol is anything? 20 No, I imply that what pagans sacrifice, they sacrifice to demons and not to God. I do not want you to be partners with demons. 21 You cannot drink the cup of the Lord and the cup of demons. You cannot partake of the table of the Lord and the table of demons. 22 Or are we provoking the Lord to jealousy?”
My understanding is that the idols are nothing and meaningless, as they do not signify any sort of real god (ref: 1 Cor 8: there is but one God), yet there are real demons behind the idols. Not gods, demons. So, while the idol isn’t anything, the demons are real. I think, tThat theme is all throughout the OT and in the book of Acts as well.
I completely agree Ian! I can’t say it any better than you have! I happen to enjoy Twilight and Harry Potter too. Some Christians I know really judge me for this. But guess what? I do not own a TV, and have not since 1997. (Not primarily for morality reasons either… I just don’t like to sit and watch. I’d rather “do” something. I am very active in life.) My point?? These people who criticize me because I enjoy Twilight/Potter, also spend several hours a night watching TV shows filled with immorality of all types! I just sordof scratch my head at the inconsistency!! Twilight and Potter are evil! But violence or sex filled TV shows are fine! Huh?!
I believe the phone etiquette article is overly optimistic. The difference between the era in which telephones were developed and now is that than, a critical mass of people were willing to conform to mannerisms out of consideration for others. I fear that now, personal convenience and self-will trump that for enough people that no real “tradition” of cell phone etiquette can take hold. After all, everyone KNOWS (and has known for years) that most people hate loud, public cell phone conversations full of personal detail, but it is way too common to be regarded as a faux pas when it happens. There is no social cost to it, the way there is to people who, for example, call you up and ask who’s speaking.
If you think Mark Driscoll is exaggerating, here is Amazon’s top 25 recommended Summer Reading List for Teens/Pre-Teens:
Pretty Little Liars #8: Wanted
Linger (Wolves of Mercy Falls, Book 2)
Pretty Little Liars #7: Heartless
The Necromancer (The Secrets of the Immortal Nicholas Flamel)
Spirit Bound (Vampire Academy, Book 5)
Shiver (“A lyrical tale of alienated werewolves and first love”)
Dark Flame (The Immortals)
Eclipse (The Twilight Saga)
The Sorceress (The Secrets of the Immortal Nicholas Flamel)
The Carrie Diaries (aka Carrie Bradshaw of Sex in the City. This is the story of her teen life: a slightly milder portrayl of partying, drinking, smoking cigarettes and dope, sex, and shoplifting)
Brisingr (Inheritance) (magic)
Love Bites (Vampire Kisses, Book 7)
Glimmerglass (Faeriewalker, Book 1)
The Demonata #10: Hell’s Heroes
The Prince of Mist (he’s a demon)
Runaway (Airhead)
Movers & Fakers (Alphas)
Spells (Aprilynne Pike)
Before I Fall (“At first being dead has its advantages…”)
The Enemy (everyone over 16 is dead, except flesh-eating monsters preying on the children left behind)
Early to Death, Early to Rise (Madison Avery, Book 2)
Ship Breaker (very explicit language)
Sorta Like a Rock Star
Eclipse Collector’s Edition (The Twilight Saga)
“In my view Driscoll is doing damage to his credibility….”
Funny!
Caedmon’s Call — tried one album, nearly lost consciousness within three bars, expected all subsequent albums to be released DTE (Direct To Elevator).
Deb — great points, and I certainly do not want to commit the opposite error and act as if Satan, or demons, are not very real forces in the world, or even that they certainly have the ability (and surely do) to generate false religions.
But it seems that, unlike Paul (who only spoke about demons behind idols in general terms anyway), Christians ought not claim something the Bible doesn’t specifically back up, such as that a particular cult leader, or even fiction author, was inspired by a demon. What if Joseph Smith was lying about the angel “Moroni” (he was quite able to!). What if Meyer made up the whole “vampires in a dream” story, or what if she really did have the dream and it was just a dream? Shall we blame potential human-only sins on demons? The Devil just might legitimately plead innocent here (at least of the idea’s origin — certainly he’s behind promoting it now).
Meanwhile, Paul in the passage you cited is discussing a slightly different scenario than simply eating meat that had been previously offered to an idol in a pagan ceremony.
Instead, he is talking specifically about the pagan ceremony itself. His reference to the actual sacrifices, and “the table of demons” as contrasted with the table of Communion, describes actual, overt, intentional religious ceremonies and devotion to pagan gods.
Where Christians (including myself!) might overcorrect one way or the other, Paul lands right in the middle. First he makes it clear (verses 18-20) that some things are totally pointless, and are indeed participating with demons:
Consider the people of Israel: are not those who eat the sacrifices participants in the altar? What do I imply then? That food offered to idols is anything, or that an idol is anything? No, I imply that what pagans sacrifice they offer to demons and not to God. I do not want you to be participants with demons.
Then next, echoing Romans 14 and 1 Corinthians 8, Paul says that although we must be careful about offending other believers’ conscience in public, we should not worry about being corrupted by the same kind of meat, sold later.
“All things are lawful,” but not all things are helpful. “All things are lawful,” but not all things build up. Let no one seek his own good, but the good of his neighbor. Eat whatever is sold in the meat market without raising any question on the ground of conscience. For “the earth is the Lord’s, and the fullness thereof.”
So, while this principle can also be abused, I take that and realize that I could read Harry Potter books or watch those films (which I do), or even enjoy the Twilight stuff (which I don’t — ugh — but that’s my own dislike) without committing an actual sin.
Either of those authors may have indeed offered their wares as “sacrifices” to actual demons — or indeed, anything done apart from faith is sin, right?
Yet although I could turn anything into sin, if I read these and don’t, they are okay. If I do, it’s my fault, not a Thing’s.
I’ve written a little bit more about this (mostly material I echoed in my first comment here) at Demons, Driscoll and discerning ‘Twilight’.
Finally, let me disclose that I not one of Those “It’s Only Entertainment” Christians, who barely discern at all. Like Driscoll himself, apparently, it’s just that I see watching a show like “24,” or reading Harry Potter or yes, even (cringe) Twilight as issues of Christian freedom.
However, with younger readers (such as teenagers) it could be different. Parents must exercise their own loving and Biblically informed choice in guiding their children’s media habits. Still, if we’re to come up with reasons to avoid Twilight and all this other questionable stuff (clones, mostly), let’s avoid arguments that sound more like pantheism (this or that Thing is possessed by a demon) and instead talk about pleasing the Savior Whose blood redeems us from our own sin.
Amen!
Thank you, Mr. Burnett.
I think Mr. Driscoll could have left Joseph Smith and the Mormons out of the book discussion. I am not LDS by the way. When he talked about Joseph Smith thinking all the Christians are wrong so he should start a new religion or new church…I’ve read …Reformission Rev. Driscoll in that book talks about how all the churches in Seattle were wrong or failing so he just had to start his own church. Sounds a lot like Joseph Smith to me.
I, too, find Driscoll to be inconsistent in his advocating discernment in our entertainment choices(be it books, TVs, Movies, etc) consumption. One only need to look at a tweet from Driscoll today:
“PastorMark Cage fighter knocks out guy who knocked out girl. http://bit.ly/cjRf9H ”
Driscoll is a self professed UFC/MMA fan. One could argue that Christians should be very discerning in entertaining themselves by watching brutal violence. And this tweet is like an implicit endorsement from Driscoll about a MMA fighter beating up someone who hit a woman. Also, on the Resurgence website/blog you will often fing various staff members reviewing R rated movies and trying to “redeem” them in a sense by proclaiming they are full of biblical thems:
http://bit.ly/abULit
I am not against Christians watching “R” rated movies because I believe we are free to do so but I find it inconsistent that the strong warnings of discernment are called for in books but not in movies.
AND, I find it quite ironic that Driscoll criticizes Joseph Smith for proclaiming extra biblical revelation when Driscoll on occasion has said he received a Word from God or God told him to talk to a certain young lady. Driscoll is a self proclaimed charismatic with a seat belt and often times he claims extra biblical revelation as well.
I agree that there is a fair amount of inconsistency in Driscoll’s preaching.
Tim, I liked it better how you wrote in your tweet that Driscoll talks about Twilight .and “nearly bursts a blood vessel!” Lol. Why did you feel it necessary to tone down the language for the A La Carte?
Having worked in the telecom industry for ten years now, I found the brief history of phone and technology etiquette history absolutely fascinating (and hilarious). Thanks, Tim!
Mark Driscoll doesn’t seem to understand the genre of fantasy. Was Lord of the Rings evil because it described fantastical evil forces? Is that any reason not to read the series?
I think the issue is one of maturity. I might be able to pick up Harry Potter and read it in a discerning way, dealing with the underlying themes and worldview. But can my preteen daughter do the same? There is a difference between engaging culture and letting it wash over you, which I think is why books are easier to be discerning about than TV, because most people let their brains check out when they turn on the tube.
Driscoll is not saying “THOU SHALT NOT READ TWILIGHT”… he’s just encouraging discernment in the face of the obvious: the fact that the entire catalog of popular teen literature has been influenced by these kinds of books. And it’s an encouragement for parenting, not for adult viewing. Mars Hill actually watched and discussed Twilight during one of their film and theology nights.