The New Wave of Televangelism

Televangelism is a frown-worthy word for a lot of people. Who can forget, thanks to the scandals of the 80s, the image branded in our minds of televangelists? Yet for all the negative associations, UPCI had a very close vote on the issue of using TV for evangelistic broadcasting in 2004. Ninteyandnine readers expressed opinions, of course, and the issue itself could be debated infinitely.

The Times, They Are a Changing
But instead of that, I want to share this article on yet another new phase of evangelistic broadcasting: webcasting. It’s become an accepted way to make the message available. According to the article:

Ministries are taking faith to computer users, allowing them to attend cyberchurch anywhere, any time. Analysts say it is the biggest revolution in Christian media since the rapid proliferation of televangelists in the late 20th century. It has the potential to bring thousands of ministries, particularly those that cannot afford expensive television broadcasts, to prime time, cyber style.

Technology Makes TV Obsolete?
Cyberspace offers boundless, global opportunities that TV can’t approach. And for whatever reason, the A/P community does not seem as threatened by the Internet as we are by TV. So is it possible that we can just skip the TV issue altogether and move on with this new medium that we all seem to accept? Can we hereby consider the televangelism issue closed and blast full-speed ahead with webcasting?

Bill Gates Inspires 3 Year Plan

Bill Gates Transitions Out of Daily Grind
Big new today that the Microsoft mogul will move out of his day-to-day role 2 years from now. He will spend his new time on charity. I was super impressed with this statement in CNN's article:

"I believe with great wealth comes great responsibility - the responsibility to give back to society and make sure those resources are given back in the best possible way, to those in need," he said. Gates added, "It's not a retirement, it's a reordering of my priorities."

You would think that the word responsibility wouldn't apply to a man like Gates. He's earned his place at the top of the food chain and could easily enjoy a life of ease and never lift a finger or give the slightest thought to fellow humans for the rest of his life. But his commitment to the greater good speaks well of his character.

I'm Motivated
All this talk has me insipred to rethink my work life. I decided today that I needed to revise my master plan. I like all this talk about retirement. Stay in pajamas all day, fish whenever you want, and wake up at 8 a.m. on Mondays just to laugh mercilessly at the poor little commuters before falling back asleep. Not a bad gig.

So it took a little doing, but I've devised a workable 3 year plan with three posible options to reach grand ole retirement at the ripe age of 30.

The 3 Year Plan

For the Love of Books and Summer Reading

Summer Reading
Did you enjoy ninetyandnine’s Summer Reading: The Ultimate List as much as I did? It was neat to see what everyone is reading. If you haven’t checked it out, you should. You might get some ideas for your summer reading picks.

My Progress
As I confessed, the last few months have found me with little time for reading. (What’s new?) But I read one book last week, and the minute I post this blog, I’m starting Love in the Time of Cholera by Gabriel Garcia Marquez. It feels so good to be reading again!

Still Looking?
As I was desperately trying to find just the right book to award my precious reading time, I ran across several book lists you may find useful:

Christianity Today 2006 Award-Winning Books – 240 Christian books were nominated this year. Isn’t it good to know that many Christian titles went into print and were recognized by their publishers as worthy?

Slate: Favorite Beach Books – On the opposite end of the spectrum, but interesting to see what popular fiction authors are reading….

Big Books of Summer (MSN’s List) – This is really just a top 5 compilation from all the big boys like NYTimes, etc.

Best American Fiction of the Last 25 Years (NYTimes) – If you really want to get literary….

The Long and the Short of It
When it was all said and done, I’d ran up the credit card on Amazon, but was left with the joy of feeling super-literate…. I’ve worried that the end of independent booksellers is near because of megabookstores. Do you ever wonder if Internet booksellers will eliminate the need for bookstores and libraries as well?

Conservative vs. Reactionary

I've recently contemplated the notion of conservative, liberal, progressive, and reactionary. It's something we've probably all thought about before. Because the nature of our A/P faith places a premium on Biblical concepts that the mainstream church world by and large doesn't value, the degree to which we cling to our original tenets and the way we address change is a topic close to all our hearts.

Close to Home
Ninetyandnine has certainly seen its share of concerns voiced because the zine publishes a wide array of articles, interviews, etc. Fortunately the open forum gives us all a voice, no matter which side of the spectrum.

Me and Mine
I, like many of you, live in an area with churches on both ends of the progressive/conservative spectrum. The middle ground I think to occupy is a precarious place because to conservatives it seems too progressive; to progressives, too conservative; and never the twain shall meet.

A New One Thrown in the Mix
I get progressive vs. conservative, but lately I've been trying to wrap my brain around a new stance: reactionary. I may be too presumptuous in my description, but I see a reactionary as someone who blows up at every potential new issue and inherently thinks of all change as bad without giving ear to discussion.

The Bottom Line?
Let's take controversial standards as a case in point. I'm all for an open-ended strive for the ultimate in holiness. I think, however, that if not careful, we can turn it into an unending "who can be the holiest" contest. In our day and age, we'll never run short on controversial standards. If it's not TV, there'll be something else we all disagree about. At some point we have to pray and trust everyone to make their own decisions in response to their convictions. Of course, by saying that, you're branded a hopeless liberal and you revert back to the unending holiest competition. At some point it's not even about holiness, it's just competition and having something to be pessimistic about. And that happens on both sides of the fence. Just as I've seen extremists in our ranks try to prove how unholy our movement is, I've seen the other extremists in our ranks get their kicks out of trying to prove how hopelessly backwards/judgemental/unprogressive our movement is.

It seems the trick is to pray for wisdom and unity and not get distracted by the fray. I realize there will be extremes on any stance. You'd like to see people use their concerns in a positive way and not misjudge or make blanket assumptions. I respect anyone and any attempt ultimately aimed at getting closer to God. Hopefully that's our motive in any case. And hopefully we can do it in a considerate and Christian way.

T.D. Jakes and World Cup Fan Wannabes

Breaking News
Have you checked Ninetyandnine's cover this week: Pentecost Sunday Jubiliation with Bishop T.D. Jakes? Exciting news from New York. In stark contrast to the many who did not recognize Pentecost Sunday, Brooklyn's New Life Tabernacle held a Holy Ghost crusade with tag-team preaching from Rev. Doug Klinedinst and Bishop T.D. Jakes. Approximately 500 people received the Holy Ghost!

Professional... Fan?
Northern Neighbor spotted a fun story of a regular joe who has turned being a fan into a career. Because of his extreme exuberance and talent at working a crowd, Cameron Hughes makes a living as a professional fan. He is hired by sports teams to turn into a cheering machine and get the crowd into games.

I found it interesting that Hughes is turning profit on something that he admits to having no emotional connection to. I couldn't help but think of the crazed World Cup fans Bradley notes in his coverage at Collideoscope. In deference to Bradley's re-engineered version of soccer, I vote that a special fan contest be created. Match up the most passionate of the world's soccer fans against the so-called professional fan, and let's so who can get the craziest. Bonus points to any fan who can work duct tape into their cheering routine.