It seems that a funeral for Barbie may be in order (http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/13505377/).

 

I don't think I will be attending the funeral.  My family has explicit orders not to purchase my girls and Barbie dolls, so as a father of two girls, I might be contributing to her death.  She represents all that is wrong with the way that men view women and women view themselves.  Unless they are tall, slender, have a clear complexion, and (of course) are "well-endowed" then there is something wrong.  No woman can stack up to the Cosmopolitan image on the grocery check-out isle.

[added 12/4/07] I remember reading this article a year ago: http://www.almohler.com/blog_read.php?id=844.  I had to re-look into this as I now have a daughter who pays a lot of attention to Barbie.  She is four years old.  So young for such an adult concept.[end]

 

How does a woman know if she has value beyond her physical appearance?  Is she more than just a peace of meat for guys to hook up with?  The Bible tells us that women are created in the image of God.  They bear a beauty that comes from being His creation and shing forth His likeness.  Those who know Christ show forth his glory not in physcial appearance but by having a gentle and quiet character (1 Pet. 3:3-4).  This sort of gentleness and quietness comes when a woman is content knowing that she has significant value in God's sight, that appearance is secondary, and that Jesus saved her from all her sin.

 

Instead of Barbie or Bratz (which may be worse) let's teach our girls the value of motherhood over vanity.  Of giving one's life to serve others instead of demanding that everyone serve me.

 

Dear family, this Christmas, please not Bratz and no Barbie.  But Grace and Madeleine would love more dolls to mother.

If you have not seen the Free-Lance Star article about New Life in Christ member Judy Hinson, it is available if you (click here). 

 

Judy's creative talent was demonstrated powerfully in the production of the musical she wrote called Esther: For Such a Time as This.  As the article shows, Judy wrote a full-blown musical while raising two children and keeping a house.  When the show went to production her husband had been deployed to Iraq and was raising the children alone. 

 

I thoroughly enjoyed the Esther musical and am convinced that if any church wants an accurate, funny, and thoughtful retelling of the Esther story they would be wise to use Judy Hinson's script.

 

Though my words will fail to articulate the depth of appreciation and awe I have for what Judy accomplished, a few things strike me about Judy and the writing of the Esther musical.

 

First, I am especially amazed at our God who prepares and equips his people for service.  In Exodus 31 God says He especially prepared Bezalel and Ololiab to use their skills to create the beautiful objects fo the tabernacle.  Art is a vital part of the worship of God, of encouraging saints in the faith, and in telling the story to others.  Certainly God has blessed Judy and the other members of New Life with an amazing ability at art.  I especially want to mention Esther Servais who like a dictator (her own words) drove the cast to do things they didn't know they could do, Sarah Bond who showed us how to dance, Veronica Allison who kept the musicians and singers together on the same sound, Darren Perotto who satisfied the appetites of some 600 people, and Jonathan Allison who kept the whole show together.  We need to be nice to Jonathan or he might want to become a theater manager some day.

 

Second, I see an amazing sense of the number of gifts that can be used to honor our God.  We have a calling that we can fulfill right where we are.  Esther (the Jew) had a calling to protect her people while in neglect as a forgotten queen.  Whether it was Judy writing while she folded laundry, Esther painting backdrops through tired eyes, Jonathan finishing scores as orchestra members arriving, or actors practicing lines on the way to work, people used their gifts in the normal course of life in a way that honored God.  It cost them all a lot of time, but yet it was fulfilling to honor the Lord by doing it (or at least I found it to be fulfilling - I was a actor in a small part).  Every person has a gift that shows the goodness of God.  Are you using yours?

 

Even though the show is over a week from being closed I am still singing the songs of Persia - songs showing that hope is only found in God.

 

Here are some pictures of the show (Click Here)

And some video from the show (Click Here) - there will be a full DVD video available through the church in the future

Yet we do speak wisdom among those who are mature; a wisdom, however, not of this age not of the rulers of this age, who are passing away; but we speak God’s wisdom in a mystery the hidden wisdom which God predestined before the ages to our glory…  - 1 Corinthians 2:6-7

 

What is the message we speak by our lives?  Do we communicate to those around us that the church exists to teach people to be more moral?  Is morality the topic of our conversations with others that we speak most on America’s moral freefall, on the plight of families, on the sin of homosexuality, or other ‘big ticket’ issues.  When we speak about our own testimony do we focus on the things that we are doing or how well our family is doing?  What about our own kids, what is our focus with them?  Is it how to live moral lives?

 

Not that morality or ethics is an unimportant thing, but if we answered the above questions in the affirmative then we are missing the point of the gospel.  The point of the gospel is how God saves lost people.  Sure, often they don’t seem like they have an idea that they are lost, but at the core of their being there is something telling them that they are incomplete.

 

I was reminded the other day that we speak to help trapped people discover that there is a way of freedom that has been opened for them because of what Christ has done.  We don’t speak to them to show them how they can live better lives or become better people.  We speak to them to show how they can live a life of peace and reconciliation with their God.

 

This is important in our witness as a church.  If we find we are driving people off, we are probably being more legalistic, more moralistic in our approach.  Remember, these unsaved person don’t know Jesus and how no power for living rightly.  If faced with a demand that they live rightly without a desire to do so will leave the unbeliever angry and combative.

 

Yet, at the core of their being they know there is something wrong (they are lonely, discontent, and empty) and we hold the key of hope.  If we show how Jesus reconciles us with God and if we are reconciled with God we will learn how our greatest needs are satisfied in God.  We have been given a healing elixir that is foundational to all living.  Let us continue to focus on showing Jesus as the glorious hope for real life.

 

I resolved to know nothing but Christ and Him crucified...

Gordon Bought a Donkey (link)