Movies are from the Devil, right?

I feel like I have had many discussions based around the subject of "Christian" movies versus "non-Christian" movies. Let's compare a little bit here. Christian movies are light-hearted, overtly talk about God or Jesus in every scene, and are terribly acted, and non-Christian movies are full of violence, sex, drugs, alcohol, and Hollywood names, right? Oh. My. Goodness....
Not only is it frustrating when this is supported, but it is saddening. It's like Christians are forcing themselves to actually be narrow-minded and naive. It seems that these Christians are blind siding themselves to so many positive messages that could be known to them if they learned how to look beyond what is being immediately presented to them and look for further truths or Truth (yes, with a capital "t"). The world has been filled with promiscuity and violence since the beginning. The Bible itself is filled with stories of such. If one reads those stories without looking deeper, it's easy to pass off as just another story. But take and really look at the stories being presented! Sex and violence are everywhere. Christians need to challenge themselves in what they can take out of it that could make them stronger when watching these movies. Whether it be knowing that certain things really are against what they believe, or whether it be in realizing that there are more ways in telling people about Christ than throwing it at them the easy way. People need to challenge themselves. This really is just scraping the surface to what I could say about this subject.

Also, Schultze talks about how ministers in the mid-1900's claimed "movies portrayed lasciviousness, generated sexual arousal, modeled criminal activity, glorified smoking and drinking, and even taught teenagers how to make out."
O Lord help us all when teenagers learn how to make out...

satans_lair.net or churchy_things.org

Church isn't solely defined as Christians gathering in a certain building. Church is a body of believers. Church can be wherever you feel that you are connecting with a body of believers in Christ. Last year, I felt that my church was in the gym with my basketball team. A group of believers sharing, supporting, trusting, and keeping each other accountable. Some people may find that in groups online. How does one have the right to tell someone that they can't worship here or there? I think it's great to see people that are following different religions come together to discuss one thing they have in common: Christ. After all, should our focus not be on being followers of Christ rather than restricting ourselves to a certain religion? On the other hand, Schultze tells us about how some people have completely stopped attending church (the building form, that is) and have become members of online churches. I realize that you need to feel comfortable in the church you associate yourself with, but is there not something to be said about the real physical connection you have with a community? People are physical beings. Having that physical connection with another person is something that cyberspace, internet, or whatever you want to call it, cannot replace. Hopefully, the people who have chosen an online church have a community in their lives that they can nurture their spiritual lives with that actual physical connection. Crying on a shoulder seems much more appealing to me than crying on a keyboard.

Downside of online Evangelizing? Apparently, some sort of committee got together to decide that if you don't forward those "Jesus Loves You!" emails, you don't love Him back. Shoot...guess I missed the memo that God'll be the judge of that...

Here's a thought...

Just about a month ago I turned the radio on to CHVN, a Christian radio station, in search of the new single out from a friend I went to high school with. Truth be told, I wasn't all too pumped to have to go to the Christian station and simply listen in hopes of maybe hearing a song that would be played not too often. Anything for high school friends, right? I lasted two days. I could not do it. I went in search of his myspace page instead.
I am still an avid listener to the radio. I enjoy the variety I get in music genres to listening to certain people in a radio show to finding out what the weather's supposed to be like for the day. I would consider myself still a member of the young audience, so I suppose I go against what Schultze says in his book about young audiences not tuning into radio. I do, however, have my select stations that I am loyal to. CHVN not being one of them. As one of the few religious stations in our area, you'd think a young Christian such as myself would enjoy it and appreciate how it continues on evangelising about Christ openly. I do, though. I applaud the station for its efforts in keeping the gospel alive on the airwaves, but it's getting old. That time last month that I was listening for my friends single, I heard the same songs being played as I heard when I was a loyal listener in my pre-teens. Needless to say, musical tastes change over time, and people are beings of change. I don't really know of many people from my generation that listen to the same songs as they did when they were children. Yes, every so often it's nice to take a stroll down memory lane, but let's be serious.
If a radio station expects to continue to keep their listeners and is striving for more, they are constantly needing to change and evolve into something that snaps up the audiences attention.

Here's the kicker: I heard a more powerful statement about Christ on a "secular" radio station that has impacted me more than anything I have heard on a religious station.