Buy Black Experiment

Blowing the dust off this place to link to an article on MSNBC, and hopefully spark some discussion. I got the link from a blogger in my home state of Wisconsin, about a couple in Chicago who made a commitment at the beginning of the year to buy only from black-owned businesses. Now, as a white person, if I made the commitment to buy from only white-owned businesses, I'd be called a racist and a bigot, and probably rightfully so. But what I'm wondering is, how is this any different than the commitment so many in the church make to buy only from Christian-owned businesses? We have Christian business directories in many cities around the country (including Milwaukee, where I live), and I know from firsthand experience that some Christian owned businesses will only spend radio advertising dollars on the local Christian station. To some extent, I can understand that; Christian radio stations don't take ads from just anyone, and Christian businesses see it as a win-win for them, but the question still exists; how is this different than believers buying only from believers?

Your thoughts are welcome and appreciated.

40 Inspirational Speeches in 2 Minutes

Hat tip to ysmarko for the video and the transcript, to which I only added the first bit. The video below is inspirational speeches from 40 different movies, all edited together into one two-minute speech. See how many you can recognize! Transcript is below.



Shame on you. This could be the greatest night of our lives, but you’re going to let it be the worst. And I guarantee a week won’t go by in your life you won’t regret walking out, letting them get the best of you. Well, I’m not going home. We’ve come too far! And I’m going to stay right here and fight for this lost cause. A day may come when the courage of men fails… but it is not THIS day. The line must be drawn HERE. This far, no further! I’m not saying it’s going to be easy. You’re going to work harder than you ever worked before. But that’s fine, we’ll just get tougher with it! If a person grits his teeth and shows real determination, failure is not an option. That’s how winning is done! Believe me when I say we can break this army here, and win just one for the Gipper. But I say to you what every warrior has known since the beginning of time: you’ve got to get mad. I mean plum mad dog mean. If you would be free men, then you must fight to fulfill that promise! Let us cut out their living guts one inch at a time, and they will know what we can do! Let no man forget how menacing we are. We are lions! You’re like a big bear, man! This is YOUR time! Seize the day, never surrender, victory or death… that’s the Chicago Way! Who’s with me? Clap! Clap! Don’t let Tink die! Clap! Alright! Let’s fly! And gentlemen in England now abed shall know my name is the Lord when I tell our enemies that they may take our lives, but they’ll never take our Independence Day!

A Red, White and Blue Christmas

The White House Website is featuring the ornaments sent in by all 50 states to adorn the 2008 White House Christmas Tree. The link above will take you to the list by state, where you can click through to view each state's contribution. I particularly like the eagle ornament sent in from Wisconsin's 8th district.

Hat tip Rightyblog.

Boldly Protecting Christmas!

Hat tip and link to The Dave Casper Experience for this week's (slightly early) Friday Funny.

The Bible or The Bard?

The Bible or The Bard? Score: 80% (8 out of 10)

Twitter

Just in case anyone wants to follow me on twitter, I'm wannabenewsboy on there.

UPDATE: You can now see my latest tweets on the sidebar.

Ray Boltz "Comes Out"

I was saddened to see in my feed reader this morning a post from Slice with a link to this article from The Washington Blade, a gay newspaper. Yep, Ray Boltz, famous for such songs as "Watch the Lamb," "Thank You," and others, came out to his family almost four years ago, the same day of the deadly tsunami in the Indian ocean. While I'm not a fan of Ray's music, I am saddened by this, but I must take issue with a few things.

First and foremost, Ingrid turns this into an indictment against the CCM industry as a whole, especially the incidences of Christian and gospel singers coming out as either gay or having committed other infidelities. I don't think that's fair. Yes, there is a lot of emotion in CCM, but there is a lot of emotion in all music. If there wasn't emotion, it wouldn't be music; it would just be noise. Even the great hymns of the past and present appeal to our emotions, to the very nature of who we are (for lack of a better term), and speak to us on a deeper level.

Next, I have to take issue with the Blade's conclusions about CCM. They publish a quote from Joe Hogue, a former CCM producer who found himself with no job offers after he came out, who says that there are "a lot of closeted people in Christian music," and yet nothing is offered to back this up. Forgive me, but with no evidence, I find that hard to believe. They also hit on the allegations against some prominent figures in the Christian world, who have been questioned about being gay because they are still single, such as Mark Lowry, although they did admit it's not fair to assume such people are gay just because they're still single. Not all of us get married, and not all of us intend to or have the desire to. That doesn't make it a sin. Jesus Himself addressed this in Matthew 19:12.

In the end, I do think it's sad that Ray Boltz chose this path. And yes, I do think it is a choice. He could have gotten help, and he chose to simply push this under the rug and let it fester for years. That's never a good choice to make. And, now, we've seen where it's led him. Pray for Ray, pray for his family (he and his wife split amicably, and are still on good terms), and pray for those who will be affected by this announcement.