Category: culture

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The Idol of Celebrity

We are obsessed with celebrity. When it comes to newspapers, magazines, tv shows and websites, we are more interested in celebrity stories than serious and important issues such as the recent developments in Iraq or 3rd world poverty or the latest Asian natural disaster to claim 100,000 lives.

We are obsessed with the lives of celebrities: Brad and Angelina; Britney Spears; Tom and Kate; Nicole and Keith; David Beckham and Posh Spice; Lindsay Lohan; Prince Harry and Prince William; Paris Hilton; Delta Goodrum; and Leyton and Bec.

We are obsessed with the deaths of celebrities: I can remember where I was when I heard that Princess Diana, Steve Irwin and Heath Ledger had each died.

We make celebrities out of royalty, movie stars, TV stars, sports stars, musicians, maybe even other Christians!

Here are 3 reasons to turn from the idol of worshipping other people:

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2008 Beijing Olympic Games

While it’s not as important as the World Cup Football, the Olympic Games are the bomb! They start this Friday. Bring it! With no TV, I’ll be following the Games online. Here is the ABC website. It’s interesting to compare web design from the 2004 and 2000 games.

Above is a pic (click it for full glory) of fireworks exploding over the Bird’s Nest stadium in Beijing, during an opening ceremony rehearsal on August 2, 2008. Looking good. (taken from here)

What’s your fav event?

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Jesus Life Culture Design #8

I attended the 2008 Theology of Youth Ministry Conference on Thursday and Friday. It was very good. Three highlights: 1) Graham Stanton’s insights on the doctrine of “accommodation” in thinking through 1 Corinthians 9 and incarnational ministry. 2) Ian Fry – he smashed it to bits! 3) Hanging out some cool peeps. Stay tuned for more…

Latest delicious.com bookmarks. You can subscribe to them via RSS or just keep an eye out on the left sidebar. Here are the latest 20:

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Shopping Centres + Brothels

Pornography is bad. Brothels are bad. Duh. Every Christian would agree. I suggested in a recent talk that catalogues and TV commercials are just as dangerous as pornography and that walking through a shopping centre can be like walking through a brothel.

We don’t just lust after flesh but we are also prone to lust after material things and stuff. The great danger of shopping centres and catalogues is that we don’t realise that they are dangerous. It’s normal to see products and want them, it’s normal to hang out at the shops and buy stuff whenever we want stuff.

Only when we understand how much our culture is shaped by consumerism, materialism, affluenza and the desire to get stuff will we understand how easy it is to be personally shaped by this mindset.

5 tips for fighting the idol of stuff:

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