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The New HIT of Reality TV... Cage Fighting!

Coming soon on your local CBS television station... (These quotes from this Reuter's news article explain the situation better than I can.)

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - CBS is bringing mixed martial arts, the bone-crunching combat sport popularly known as "cage fighting," to prime-time television this spring, the U.S. network said on Thursday.

Branded as barbaric by critics in the 1990s for its lack of rules, mixed martial arts, or MMA, has evolved into a more mainstream sport that bars biting, eye-gouging, head-butting and strikes to the groin.

But fierce punching, kicking, karate, judo and wrestling moves -- with no protective gear -- are still very much a part of the sport.

Beginning in April or May, CBS plans to broadcast four MMA events each year as two-hour live specials airing on Saturday nights, a time period once reserved for such family fare as "The Mary Tyler Moore Show," "The Bob Newhart" and "The Carol Burnett Show."

Kahl said CBS would broadcast its MMA matches as they are already presented on Showtime, with no special rules or alterations to tone down the level of violence.

"It is a sport, and it has violent elements. So does football, so does hockey," Kahl said. "If an injury does happen, we'll try to treat it as tactfully and tastefully as we can. But it's not something we're going to hype."

As if there is not enough graphic make believe violence on our local television stations, now we get to look forward to hearing "stay tuned for your local 11 o'clock news following Cage Fighter 4."

So in your opinion, where is this all headed? What content will be on our local TV stations 10 or 20 years from now? What are the next boundaries that will be crossed?

Less is the new more!

I read this article in the USA Today online. It talks about the weakening economy and people cutting back- but also emphasizes that after years of lavish living people are starting to realize the excess in their life and desire a more minimalist life. No more bottled water, Folgers at home instead of $5 Starbucks, and Netflix at home rather than going to the movies. The article also mentions that it is harder for people to give up their small luxuries than it is top give up there dreams of having a fancy car or house.

I have to say that I think I am a total minimalist (which is in constant conflict with my better half). That is not to say that I do not indulge on small luxuries every once in a while, but being the one paying the bills means I realize how quickly an evening of entertainment out with the family can drain a budget.

Is less really the new more? Are people everywhere starting to cut back and realize there excess living? Is this a result of the whole "global warning" hysteria and people wanting to "reduce their impact on the earth- or are people just running out of money?

So I have 2 questions: is the "pending recession" having any impact on your spending habits and have you personally felt any "conviction" about the excesses in your life and made a effort to cut back? And if so, what are the first luxuries to go?

CC

It's the end of the world as we know, and I still have veggies!

Remember Y2K? Did you know people who stored water and food in their house anticipated the riots and carnage to come? The house we bought in 2001 still had the Y2K supplies stored under the basement steps. Anyway, global scientists are preparing for life after the apocalypse by storing plant seeds from all over the world in a really big freezer in Norway.

Do you really think this is practical? All the doomsday prophets have such a high view of themselves, they think that we can harm the earth and then later fix it by pulling leftovers out of the freezer! I wonder how much this cost...

CC

No Shoes, No Socks, Yes Smoking!

There are many different ways that we as Americans can show our displeasure with our government. Some of them lawful like a sit-in or a march. They become unlawful when they disrupt, cause damage or harm. And than you have people who think totally out of the box as written about in this news article coming out of Southern Illinois.

It seems that one Mr. Jon Hemminghous owner of the Wounded Rig, a boat repair shop, is taking the law into his own hands... or fingers. In protest of a no smoking law that Illinois lawmakers recently passed and went into effect on January 1st, Mr Hemminghous is having a good old fashion "Smoke In."

I have set with my family in enough smokey eating establishments to be grateful that smoking has been banned in many places - unfortunantly not where we currently live but that is another blog for another day. But I am not blind to the possible negative impact these bands have on places that a large number of it's clientele are smokers. What makes this article amusing - besides the nature of his protest - is that this guy owns a boat repair shop! How many customers are going to start going to another boat repair shop that accepts smokers??

Well, anyway, good luck and I hope the law takes it easy on you!

The "Christian Oscars"...

Here is an article I read about the Christian Oscars...it lists the top 10 "family" movies and the top 10 movies for "mature audiences". I have a couple of comments on this:

• Do we really need to further separate ourselves from society by creating a list of movies that Christians view as good? I fear this provides no value except making us look lame. It seems like we want to be part of show, just cover our eyes during the bad parts. I really enjoyed movies like "The Passion of the Christ"- they were made for a broad audience and they showed Jesus is a very "non-religious" way. I guess what I am saying is that Jesus salvation and God, and religion is corny and lame.


• Who determines what is "Christian" and what is not? To my knowledge NONE of these films have any christian content with the exception of "Amazing Grace". Also, I do not think I would want to kids watching all the movies on the family list...and sometimes the cartoons can be the sneakiest about adult subjects/humor.


• WHO CARES!!!

CC

Can You Imagine How Big the "To Go" Box Is??!!!!

Who needs the Big Mac when you can have this 135 pound burger from Mallie's Sports Bar and Grill in Detroit, Michigan! It'll only cost you $350 but imagine how many meals the leftovers will replace.

Of course, unlike the Big Mac which you can eat within 5 minutes of ordering, please call 24 hours ahead for this burger.

The Rock and Roll Episcopals starring the U2 Eucharist...

Here is an old article that I found on the Internet. I cannot find the original source, so you cannot go look it up for yourself...but take my word for it. It is long, but read it and let me know if you think this is a good idea or not. Personally I think this is pouring new wine into old wineskins, to use a biblical reference. It appear this church/denomination is trying to become relevant to younger unchurched people by playing pseudo-spiritual/christian music. Anything to draw a crowd. This is the thing that gets me...just share the message of the Good News of the Gospel of Jesus Christ, and the Holy Spirit will draw people to himself. I suspect that the message is not going out with boldness and people see a weak unstable message and avoid it. I LOVE U2, but these people seem so misguided. CC Foxy


Episcopal Churches Turn to U2 to Pack Pews- Fri Apr 14, 8:14 AM ET

As the electric guitar in the U2 anthem "Pride (In the Name of Love)" faded from four speakers, the Rev. Robert Brooks welcomed worshippers to Grace Episcopal Church with an unusual suggestion: He warned them to protect their hearing.
"If the sound's an issue, we do have earplugs available," he said.
Ushers handed out earplugs and fluorescent glow sticks for the "U2 Eucharist," a communion service punctuated by the Irish rock band's music. Episcopal parishes from California to Maine have hosted similar events, weaving U2's tunes laced with biblical references into the liturgy.
Streamers flew over worshippers' heads at the recent gathering in Providence. Children danced by the altar. Plasma-screen TVs illuminated the gothic sanctuary. Some people sang and clapped, while a few looked puzzled.
Brooks said the evening was designed to invigorate his once-aging congregation attracting young people and those interested in social activism. "We absolutely need to grow in order to survive," he said.
ADVERTISEMENT Weeks before the service, church members conducted what Brooks called "guerrilla marketing," posting fliers at coffee and sandwich shops, bars and colleges. About 130 people showed up for the Friday night service, roughly the same turnout as a Sunday morning. The event included an offering for local charities and enlisted volunteers for the One Campaign, an effort to alleviate global poverty backed by U2's lead singer, Bono.
A similar U2 Eucharist in November proved popular at All Saints' Church in Atlanta. Organizer Laurie Haynes Burlington said she and her husband planned on 300 worshippers. About 500 showed up.
No one tracks how many parishes have hosted similar events, but the service in Providence was based on a playlist created by the Rev. Paige Blair, a parish priest in York Harbor, Maine.
Her format has spread by word-of-mouth and on clergy e-mail lists. She's received calls from more than a dozen interested churches and helped put on the service in Providence. (Episcopal parishes seem to be the only ones that have latched on to U2 in such an organized way).
Christian Scharen, 39, a Lutheran pastor and professor at Yale Divinity School, said he's often argued to older colleagues that U2 is heavily influenced by Christianity. He wrote a book on the subject, "One Step Closer: Why U2 Matters to Those Seeking God," and says it doesn't surprise him that some congregations have caught on.

"People who have these liturgical resonances in their bones, they go to a U2 concert and they just get it," Scharen said.
Bono, meanwhile, has told interviewers that he worships God through music. He once belonged to an ascetic Christian community, and in February, he spoke at the National Prayer Breakfast. The band's early tapes were sold in religious bookstores.
Still, the band members are traditional rock 'n' rollers they swear, drink and sing about sex. It's also not known whether U2 endorses the services using their songs: Blair said she received permission from U2's publishing company to use the group's music, but never talked to the band. Representatives for U2 did not return phone calls seeking comment.
In Providence, Blair delivered a homily to pitch the One Campaign, which the Episcopal Church supports. She ticked off statistics about poverty and infant mortality in Africa, underscoring her points with equal parts Bono and Bible.
"If you're a Bono fan, you know the next line: Where you live should not determine whether you live or die," she said, then reminding worshippers of a Gospel passage warning that taking care of the needy is what will separate the good from the bad at the final judgment.
The opening hymn was "Pride (In the Name of Love)," an early hit. As the music played, pictures of famous believers including Harriet Tubman, Rosa Parks and the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. flashed on a 10-by-14 foot screen set up behind the church's altar.
Several songs included in the service sound more like angry lamentations than hymns of praise. "Peace on Earth," inspired by a deadly bombing in Northern Ireland, questions why God won't halt human suffering.
"Jesus can you take the time to throw a drowning man a line," Bono sings.
Some Christians might not be able to relate to the shades of doubt and anger, but Blair said that struggle is evident in the Bible.
For example, Bono echoes the 40th Psalm in the opening lines of the band's song "40," belting out, "I waited patiently for the Lord. He inclined and heard my cry."

Getting "the sex talk" from your pastor...

If you have not seen this article yet..you really need to check it out. A pastor at a church near Tampa, Fla, the Relevant church, has issued a challenge to his congregation: If you are not married STOP having sex for 30 days, and if you are married START having sex for 30 days.

The pastor is trying to show that habits are formed in 30 days or less, and that God's plan for sex is not being followed today. Sex helps strengthen marriages, and many marriages end because of a lack of intimacy between a man and a wife, intimacy that was designed by God. On the other hand, sex outside of marriage places intimacy in a context where there is no commitment, and that leads to hurt and pain.

To quote the pastor, "for far too long the church has remained silent of the subject, leading many people to believe God is against sex, which is completely counter to what the Bible teaches". The pastor said the married people are far more fearful than the single people...that is crazy.

I say, PREACH IT PASTOR, HALLELJAH!!!

CC

One Super Loss is Another's Super Gain

It's been a little over 2 weeks since the Super Bowl was played and for many sports fans in the United States, our attention has turned to college basketball's upcoming March Madness, the NBA All-Star Game or baseball's spring training.

In our era of mass consumption and instant gratification... the images that pass through our mind of the closing seconds of the Giants incredible upset of the Patriots includes grafiti raining from the sky as fans hold up the front page of the newspaper that declare "Giant Upset!" while players put on their New York Giant Super Bowl hats and shirts.

I believe that it would be safe to assume that for every one of those t-shirts or hats that those players and team officials put on that day, another thousand were already printed for fans to purchase the next day (if not later that night!). All for a team that wasn't suppose to sniff victory. Can you now imagine how many t-shirts, hats and other apparel were printed for the "Super Bowl Champion" New England Patriots?

For the past several years I have spent the third weekend following the Super Bowl participating in World Vision's 30 Hour Famine with our church's youth group. During 30 Hours our group and thousands of groups around the nation and the world fast for 30 hours while they raise money to eradicate 3rd world hunger. Millions of dollars have been raised by youth over the years! Millions and millions of people are alive today because of World Vision and the participants of the 30 Hour Famine.

So, by now you are probably wondering "what does the Super Bowl have anything to do with the 30 Hour Famine?" Well, according to this article World Vision, in cooperation with the NFL, has been giving the Patriot's "winning" Super Bowl t-shirts to poor children in Nicaragua.

The children are the winners," said Miriam Diaz, of World Vision, a Christian humanitarian organization.

What may be considered as waste and useless in our eyes is warmth and love in anothers. Let us pray that our eyes are opened so that He may use all things for His Glory...

Looking good for Jesus- Sacreligion gone wild

I saw this article on Fox News today. Besides these products being ridiculous it seems to be making light of our God and Savior. Then I was wondering if it was in fact making fun of Jesus or Jesus' followers who seem to have obscure thoughts and priorities at times.

Question: do we Christians have a thick enough skin to see something like this and not think that the world is making fun of us? Maybe the world really is making fun of us and we deserve it? A fresh perspective may help us to see how we appear to the world around us.

I know that in many parts of the country and in many churches it is unacceptable to come to church unless you are dressed nicer than normal, kinda "looking good for Jesus", if you will. I have actually heard, "don't you want to give your best to God by dressing nice for church?" (Reminds me of the whole concept of Lent, but that is another discussion for another time.) There was no discussion of going to church for Christian fellowship, the building together of the body of Christ or learning more of God's Word...only that we need to look nice for each other. How foolish. Jesus always saved his harshest criticism for the religious, as we can see in Matthew 23:25-28. The Pharisees were so concerned about the outside, the external appearance, that they neglected the inside, which is where our heart and soul are located. We could be full of hatred and envy in our hearts, but if we dress nice and smile maybe no one will notice. Do we really think that we are fooling anyone? I think this is part of what has made Christianity so repulsive to so many people, superficial Christians that are more concerned about the external that the heart and soul of man.

Being a representative for Christ is about looking at the inside, the heart and soul of ourselves and others and, and not walking around making judgments based on appearances...anyone else stone cold guilty of this in their own way?

CC

AM Static Presidential Endorsement

Like the lingering thirst after eating a salty pretzel, America has reached a moment in time when she thirsts for a new and different direction. This election year has shown that many of our politicians know how to make promises, they just don't know how to fulfill their promises and that is really the most important part, the fulfilling. Anybody can just make promises.

Every 4 years a new man (or woman) seemingly comes through the door, saying hello and telling us how they can change America, the world and seemingly the cosmos. But is this a lane, a road or a course that we want to take? They run after your vote like Tom chases Jerry but your vote matters and you can be on George Washington's grave that we will not endorse any average candidate.

As we sit around and wait to see which politician can hold out the longest in the contest, it is becoming obvious that none of them come off as refreshing as say, a Junior Mint. Many of our current candidates just act as they want to be President but to us they may as well be pretending to be an architect or marine biologist.

We need a President who is real, honest and has a good sense of humor. A person who is just as comfortable advising a Pakistani in the restraunt business as he is talking to the parents of a bubble boy about how they share the TV remote. A President who is well aware of the importance of cleanliness and good hygien. A man who can see the value in nothing and make it into something. A man who will stand by his commitments, even if it means wearing an occasional puffy shirt.

Who is our Presidential Endorsement? Sorry Hillary Clinton. Wait another 4 Barack Obama. Head back south Mike Huckabee. It's time to retire John McCain. We are going 3rd Party!

Ladies and Gentlemen, I present to you our endorsement to be the next President of the United States... Jerry Seinfeld

End the Drama!

This is a big weekend for us - our daughter's 4th birthday party. Today is my day off and I have been given strict instructions that it should be spent cleaning the house. So what am I doing? 10 minute cleaning sprints followed by 10 minutes of updates on ESPN and the internet to check on the latest Eric Bedard trade.

I had hoped to refrain on many posts on the Orioles, Ravens or Terps but at some point it becomes necessary to vent built up frustrations or joy when it comes to our home town teams. I am sure I will post a nice blog when the Terps beat the Dukies or NC or when the Ravens thrash the Steelers. Unfortunantly, there just isn't really anything nice to say about the O's - at least not in the past 10 years.

The rumors that the Bedard trade is on the verge of completion have been running wild for almost 2 weeks now. The Orioles are once again the topic of ridicule from the national media.

Part of the problem is the O's unwillingness to come out and update the fans as to what is happening. The Baltimore Sun's Roch Kubatko does a great job of expressing the frustrations us fans are having with this whole process.

In my humble opinion, the best way for the O's to compete in the future is to trade Eric Bedard and Brian Roberts now. We may royaly stink in the near future, but watch out in 2010! However, it's time to either complete the trade or send it to the trash heap and trade Bedard later in the year. End the drama, please!

Update: On February 7th the Orioles officially traded Bedard to the Mariners for 5 players. YEE HAW!!!

Ever Wonder What God Smells Like?

Christian products and marketing never fails to amaze me. We have everything from our own bookstores, coffee shops, diets, apparel, mints and now perfume.

Introducing Virtue.

"Based upon an inspired Biblical formula, the perfume is designed to be a reminder of God, Christ, spiritual self and soul."

The fragance consists of a blend of apricot (which through research they determined was the real apple that Adam and Eve ate), pomegranate and fig as well as other smells found in the Bible.

Why a perfume? Because according to the makers of Virtue, Jesus and all the saints gave off a fragrance "attributed to their virtue." I guess we common folk need to purchase a 1.7 fluid ounce of Virtue for $80 in order to get that same smell?

Super Bowl & evangelism- What's good for the goose is...

So after years of hearing that Christian holidays such as Christmas and Easter are being secularized by the greedy commercialistic American culture here is an article in the Washington Post talking about local churches using the Super Bowl, the most secular of all American holidays, for Jesus-purposes. What better way to reach out to our community than to watch the Superbowl together?

The actual point of the article is that the NFL doesn't like churches showing the games on big-screen TV's, but I think it shows a heart to reach out and engage the community for Christ. Churches are offering food, fellowship and fun for no cost to reach out. I like it. I do have to admit though, that I am attending a Superbowl party with lots of friends from my church at a friends house, and the thought never entered my selfish little mind to invite some unbelievers. This is another problem with most of us believers and I am the biggest culpit- forming a nice little cliche and not being "in the world".

Do you think it is a good idea for churches to gather together, even instead of a church service, and watch the Superbowl together?

CC out...