Who was Lydia?

 Lydia was the first gentile European convert to Christianity and was probably the richest commoner mentioned in the Bible. She was a merchant in Thyatira (in modern Turkiye) who sold purple cloth, an expensive luxury item which was only available to the very wealthy and especially to members of the royalty. The purple dye used was extracted from a special sea mollusk. Less well-off people used red dyes while most probably used no dyes at all. Lydia allowed Paul and Silas to use her home as a house church.

Acts 16:14-15.

Thousands of Images of Jesus

Good Salt identifies itself as “The world’s leading source of religious imagery,”  It licenses Christian art for publishing, church ministries, advertising, and websites.  The company was founded in 2000 by Lars and Kim Justinen, who are both illustrators.

http://www.goodsalt.com/search/jesus.html

Gideons International

Gideons International is an international organization which places free Bibles in hotel rooms worldwide.  The idea for the organization came in 1898 after two traveling businessmen in Wisconsin shared a hotel room due to their hotel being overbooked.  They discovered that they were both Christians and became friends.

In 1899, the two men and another businessman organized the Gideons in 1899 in Janesville, Wisconsin in a YMCA room.  The Gideons "Bible Project" began in 1908.  There are now Gideons in twenty- three countries/regions.  They never charge for the placement of their Bibles.

Hotel in England Replaces Gideon Bibles With Amazon Kindles

In yesterday’s post, I spoke of a hotel in England  which has replaced the Gideon’s Bibles in its rooms with a soft-core pornographic novel. The owner of the hotel insisted that the replacement was not out of hostile motives.  It was just a business decision, and besides ““I’ll keep a couple behind the reception desk so that if any guest whose preferred bedtime reading happens to be the Bible finds that they have forgotten to pack their copy, they’ll be pleased to read in the guest handbook that they can borrow a copy from the receptionist.” 

To the believing Christian, to be benignly ignored, to be dismissed with subtle derision (as in the hotel owner’s statement), or to be the subject of overt hostility, are all equally insulting.  As I have said before, they really do not understand.

Another hotel in England has also replaced the Gideon’s Bibles in their rooms, but this time, the move has the assent of the Gideons.  A Gideons International spokesman, Ken Stephens, told CNN.    “Anything to put  the Bible in people's hands is a good thing."

The Hotel Indigo , in Newcastle, has replaced their Gideon’s Bibles with Amazon Kindles pre-loaded with an electronic version of the Bible.  The Kindles are the full device and are capable of other uses than merely Bible reading.

I have stayed in an Indigo hotel before and can attest to the fact that they are very nice and ultra-modern.  The Kindles would be a nod to the high-technology feel of the hotels.  My only thought is that soon, shampoo, soap, and towels may not be the only things which routinely disappear from the hotel rooms. 

National Chick-fil-A Appreciation Day

Chick-fil-A (pronounced “chik fill-ay” as in the word “filet”) is a fast-food restaurant chain which sells fried chicken sandwiches and waffle style French-fried potatoes.  On 16 June 2012, the devout Christian president of the company, Dan Cathy, in a radio interview ignited a firestorm of criticism for saying this when asked a question about same-sex marriage.

"I think we are inviting God's judgment on our nation when we shake our fist at Him and say, 'We know better than you as to what constitutes a marriage'. I pray God's mercy on our generation that has such a prideful, arrogant attitude to think that we have the audacity to define what marriage is about.”

Supporters of same-sex marriage were outraged, leading Thomas Menino, the mayor of Boston, to declare that he would not allow the company to open franchises in his city.  Chicago Alderman Proco Moreno announced that he would work to block Chick-fil-A’s attempt to add any more stores in the city of Chicago.  The Mayor of Chicago, Rahm Emanuel, declared that “Chick-fil-A values are not Chicago values.”  The Mayor of San Francisco, Edwin M. Lee, also joined into the condemnation.

Many have called this an assault on Christians who uphold a traditional worldview and understanding of what is stated in Scripture. Ordained Southern Baptist minister and former Arkansas Governor Mike Huckabee called for a national Chick-fil-A appreciation Day for today.  The result: massive lines of people at Chick-fil-A stores nationwide!  As the Chick-fil-A mascot spotted cows say, “EAT MOR CHIKIN!”

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Two Christian Shopping Sites

Here are links to two Christian shopping sites.

www.christianhomegifts.com/ www.christianhomegifts.com/
www.christiantable.com/ www.christiantable.com/

Marketing Ministries

Marketing Ministries  is a full service Christian advertising agency which targets churches, Christian ministries, and businesses as customers.  They offer graphic design (logos, signs, posters, banners, etc), web design and support, audio and video production, print services (brochures and catalogs), advertising services, social media strategies, and business consulting.

Altar'd State

Altar'd State is a chain of Christian retail stores which are placed in shopping malls.  They sell clothing, accessories, shoes, home decor, gifts, music, and books.  Profits are shared with local charities.  The stores look like typical mall chain stores.

Film Comment: The Stuff

The Stuff (1985) is a science-fiction/horror/comedy directed by Larry Cohen, who has given the world God Told Me To! (see the Labels below for "film comments") and the particularly disturbing killer infant film, It's Alive! (What would you do if everyone, including the police, wanted to kill your newborn son because he used his claws and fangs to massacre everyone in the hospital delivery room immediately after his birth?)

In The Stuff, a corporation begins marketing a yogurt-like dessert called The Stuff and it quickly becomes a sensation.  People love it and quickly develop a missionary-like desire to get all their family, friends, and acquaintances to eat it, even if they have to force them to do so.  Devotees of the dessert call themselves Stuffies.  A television commercial presents the the snappy jingle, "I just can't get enough of the stuff!"

Enter an industrial spy, Mo Rutherford, who's trying to discover (steal) the secret of the dessert's popularity.  He discovers that it is not manufactured at all; it is siphoned from a hole in the ground and is alive and sentient.  One boy, who allies with Rutherford, ran away from home after he saw The Stuff move in his refrigerator and his Stuffie parents tried to force him to eat it.

Rutherford realizes to his horror that The Stuff is colonizing those who consume it, hollowing them out inside, making them empty.  He teams up with the young boy, a group of right-wing militiamen led by a possibly insane Colonel, and Chocolate Chip Charlie, a cookie manufacturer who has lost control of his company due to other's stock manipulations (think of Famous Amos ).  This odd conglomeration of people set out to do battle with the dessert.

This is a pointed social satire about our shallow and empty modern consumer society.  We jump on fads and trends and pursue them with gusto, even when they are clearly damaging to us.  Many of us put pressure on others to join us in our self-destructive ways.

Whatever we continually think about and do repeatedly becomes our God.

Always Look for the Sale!

Harwich Port (aka: Harwichport) is a "Census Designated Place" in the town of Harwich, Massachusetts.  According to the 2000 census, the population of Harwich Port is 1809.  The grieving widow of Jonathan Thompson had the following inscription placed on his grave in the Harwichport Cemetery:

Sacred To The Remains of

Jonathan Thompson

A Pious Christian and

Affectionate Husband.

His disconsolate widow

Continues to carry on

His grocery business

At the old stand on 

Main Street: Cheapest

and best prices in town.

Testamints

When I first saw this I thought it was a joke; an online Christian dollar store which sells Christian candy (including sugar-free candy) in Bible verse wrappers. They even sell chocolate crosses instead of chocolate Easter bunnies!

The Christian Dollar Store (http://www.christiandollarstore.com) sells Christian-related items much like the merchandise sold at Dollar Tree or Dollar General including the incredibly popular stretchy rubber bands which assume other shapes when they are not stretched.. The store offers t-shirts, clothing, etc and also sells novelties, seasonal items, and holiday gifts.

The site is run by the Ross family of Zanesville, Ohio.