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Tammy Faye, Unique Magazine, Hillary, Mitt, Twitter and More!
So much stuff... so little time. Today, I share about a Gay magazine turning Christian; Tammy Faye (of Heritage USA fame); how New Life Church is doing five months after the Haggard scandal broke, Imus, Hillary and Mitt, and even how to use Twitter for ministry...
Gay Magazine Turns Christian
Here’s an interesting story… Venus Magazine, a publication that for 13 years targeted the Black gay and lesbian community, is now a voice for the ex-gay movement. Its publisher, Charlene Cothran, recently announced that she has been “redeemed”; is no longer a lesbian; and is changing the mission and direction of the magazine. On the Web site she writes, “As the publisher of a 13-year-old periodical [ that ] targets Black gays and lesbians, I have had the opportunity to publicly address thousands, influencing closeted people to ‘come out’ and stand up for them selves, which is particularly difficult in the African-American community. “But now, I must come out of the closet again. I have recently experienced the power of change that came over me once I completely surrendered to the teachings of Jesus Christ. As a believe of the word of God, I fully accept and have always known that same-sex relationships are not what God intended for us.” More here...
Tammy Faye in Hospice
From her website: Please forgive my delay in writing. I have been really ill the past few months, in fact, most of the time has been spent in bed, too ill to eat or even go up and down the stairs. Hospice comes to our house. What a wonderful group of people! Keeps me from having to drive to the doctor’s office. Thank you for your continued prayers, but please may I ask you to include someone else in your prayers when you pray for me. I believe without a shadow of a doubt, that God is healing me, and now he wants us to add more people to our prayer list! God is good and we thank him every day for all his blessings!
How’s New Life Church Doing Five Months After the Haggard Scandal?
“Weekly attendance has dipped a bit since the dismissal of pastor Haggard but the bottom has not fallen out and we have had a comparatively smaller drop in revenue..."We recognized quickly that the church was not about one man or a building,” said associate pastor Rob Brendle. Here’s a complete article from Reuters.
Remember Imus?
Do you remember the whole Don Imus fiasco? You hear nothing about it this week because of the shooting at Virginia Tech. My feeling is that if the whole Don Imus thing would’ve broken a week later, Imus would still have a job. What do you think?
What’s up With the Hillary and Mitt?
I don’t want to get overly political, but it’s frustrating what I hear reported. First Hillary Clinton openly condemns Don Imus for his unforgiveable behavior, all the while taking a few hundred thousand dollars in donations from a big Rap music producer that promotes the same type of language she condemns. And the other side is not any better. What’s up with Mitt Romney joining the NRA and saying he’s always been an avid hunter? (Turns out that a reporter checked out his story and found that Romney had never been issued a hunting license anywhere he’s ever lived). I heard both of these stories in passing… anybody have any more information on these (or, a better explanation for their seemingly two-faced actions).
Using Twitter for Ministry
Bobby Gruenewald has an interesting piece over at the LifeChurch.tv Swerve blog. Never heard of Twitter? You need to check it out… it’s really hot right now; and Bobby has some ideas as to how to use it for ministry purposes. Read it here...
OK… that should be a wide enough range of things to share today. Yesterday, my link in-box of things to share was down to 172. Today it’s down to 174. (I keep adding more than I write about!) I hate that.
Have a great day!
Todd
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This post has been viewed 759 times and was added on April 18, 2007 by Todd Rhoades. Filed under: Miscellaneous Personal Items from Todd Share this post with a friend right now! View reactions to this post at other blogs... You can really help us out by subscribing to our free RSS feed with your favorite feed reader, or here at Bloglines. Also, you can add us to your favorites at Technorati.
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My name is Todd Rhoades, the 'behind the scenes' guy here at MMI. I'm also on the team at Leadership Network (although that doesn't mean that they endorse everything I write here). In my past life, I was the developer of a of a website called ChurchStaffing.com. I hope you'll enjoy your time here and tell all your colleagues about MMI! 
MondayMorningInsight.com | PO Box 446 | Bryan, OH 43506 |
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Wednesday, April 18, 2007 at 9:46 AM
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Posted by David Russell
Wednesday, April 18, 2007 at 10:14 AM
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Posted by RevJeff
Wednesday, April 18, 2007 at 11:29 AM
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Posted by Todd Rhoades
Thursday, April 19, 2007 at 8:08 AM
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Posted by
Friday, April 20, 2007 at 8:00 AM
Post Your Comments:Todd,
Thanks for your blog. I log on to your blog almost every morning. It is one of the places that I go to hear from other brothers and sisters in Christ who are of a different background and possibly culture/race. It is very informative and insightful. Keep up the good work.
I must say over the past few weeks it has been interesting to read comments from the Christian community regarding the whole Imus racial slur issue. I have much to say about this, but I will try and keep it short (I will just have to comment in spurts). In essence let me just say that Don Imus’ comments about the African-American women on the Rutgers’ basketball team was unacceptable. Period. We have to remember that we here in America have a history. A history in which many white men and women spoke badly of us blacks by using many words of which the “N” word was one.
This does not excuse our use of these words in our music or in any other form of communication. As you may or may not have noticed, we are doing something to eradicate them from within our own communities (Oprah just recently dedicated two shows to continue to deal with this very issue). But it is not an easy hurdle to overcome. We all know how difficult it can be to change something that has become in a way a cultural norm.
There are words, jargon, or sayings that people use in various races and subcultures that if spoken by someone who doesn’t belong or who has had a history of using those same words in a racist, negative tone would be seen as offensive.
I guess my admonition to us (Blacks, Whites, etc.) who bear the name of Jesus is that when it comes to cultural sensitive issues, we should tread carefully and lovingly. It is easy to criticize something from the outside and make judgments about things that we have no idea about. I pray that my white (or any other non-black race) brothers and sisters in Christ would remember that the use of these words - the “N” word in particular, in many Black/Urban communities (particularly those in the hip-hop arena) has unfortunately become an acceptable thing. Generally speaking, when it is spoken by someone from those communities and of the Black race, it is not seen as offensive. But because of America’s long history of racism (and I am not just speaking of the time of the Civil Rights movement or earlier because it is still happening today - just look back to recent incidences like the killing in Jasper, TX), when that word is used by a white person it generally does not go over well.
Okay last thing because this has already become too much. Just because people in a certain white subculture call each other poor white tr… doesn’t give me the right to use or justify my use of those same words to speak negatively towards whites in private or in public.
I look forward to your comments and dialogue.
Todd: Have you ever considered using a social bookmarking service like del.icio.us or ma.gnolia to organize the links of interest? Unless your current system of organizing those marks is bulletproof, it might be worth your consideration.
Like the headlines from a supermarket tabloid “I HAD TO CLICK ON THIS ARTICLE!!!!” Tammy Faye… Haggard .... IMUS and politics in one headline.... WHEW.
Keep digging Todd, it is one of my daily doses to see what you are thinking.
Yes, David… I have… I just haven’t switched over yet.
Todd
On Imus...I believe it is all about timing. Imus’ enemies were fortunate that no other major news item pre-empted their attack on first amendment rights. The shooting gave an opportunity for certain groups to attack the second amendment. Imus would have survived if another tragedy useful to the media had come along. I have am not an Imus fan, only have heard about him recently, and put him in the same category as the rappers (who I don’t listen to). Imus is not the only “shock jock” out there.
What really bugs me is that the same crew that lynched Imus is given a free pass for their comments about nine months ago over the Duke Lacrosse players.
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