Hotel in England Replaces Gideon Bibles With Fifty Shades of Gey

Jonathan Denby, the owner of the Damson Dene Hotel in Bowness-on –Windermere, England, has decided to replace the Gideon’s Bibles in his forty guest rooms with the soft porn novel, Fifty Shades of Grey.  Denby says the move is in response to guest requests and that few, if any, read the Bibles.  Fifty Shades of Grey has a sado-masochistic theme.

Denby says that “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.”  How nice.

The fact that the Gideons place their Bibles in hotels for free and that Denby has had to buy his copies of Fifty Shades of Grey shows that the replacement was an intentional choice.  Denby bought the hotel facilities from a Methodist group about ten years ago. 

http://www.damsondene.co.uk/

http://www.tripadvisor.co.uk/Hotel_Review-g186330-d504383-Reviews-Damson_Dene_Hotel-Windermere_Lake_District_Cumbria_England.html

http://abcnews.go.com/Travel/fifty-shades-grey-replaces-bible-british-hotel/story?id=16853389

http://www.neatorama.com/2012/07/25/hotel-replaces-bible-with-fifty-shades-of-grey/

http://www.cnngo.com/explorations/life/fifty-shades-grey-replaces-bible-hotel-rooms-366510

http://travel.usatoday.com/hotels/post/2012/07/british-hotel-replaces-bibles-with-fifty-shades-of-grey/811553/1

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/07/24/fifty-shades-of-grey-replaces-bible_n_1699665.html

http://www.expedia.com/Cumbria-Hotels-Damson-Dene-Hotel.h1595721.Hotel-Information?icmdtl=Vm120731JtTWIhvABjQkzsSbo83-JwAAg.1595721.ENLOADw.T.BOT.504383.sa.0.186330.en_UK..&icmcid=TRIPA.Expedia_US-EH_B1.10568.T&eapid=21187-1&rm1=a2& 

248 Lives Discarded as Trash

Vladimir Legoida , Chairman of the Synodal Information  Department of the Moscow Patriarchate of the Russian Orthodox Church has re-affirmed the church’s firm opposition to abortion after 248 fetuses were found in a forest in the Sverdlovsk region..  The fetuses were found, preserved in formaldehyde, in four metal drums dumped beside a highway between Yekaterinburg and Nizhny Tagil.

   

http://abcnews.go.com/International/wireStory/248-human-fetuses-found-russian-forest-16842305

This occurred in Russia, but it is not just a Russian problem.  Worldwide, millions of human lives are discarded each year.

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!”

(Some videos will not play properly when you click on the triangle.  Instead,  click on the title line in the picture and the video will begin .  When the video is completed, close the You Tube pop-up window to return to this blog.)

Youth Involvement

"The best way to get most youth more involved in and serious about their faith communities is to get their parents more involved in and serious about their faith communities."  Christian Smith and Melinda Denton

Jesus in the Snow

We’ve all laughed (or felt disgusted) at people seeing the face of Jesus on toast, in a water stain on a door, or in a clump of kudzu hanging from a telephone pole.  Many people see the face of Jesus in the photograph displayed on the web pages below.   The story behind the photograph may or may not have actually happened; it is likely to be merely an urban legend.  Some never see the face, just blobs of black and white.  One person pointed out that this is the way the world is: Jesus is always here among us, some see Him, some never will.  Once you see Him, you will always see Him.

http://www.rejesus.co.uk/site/module/unexpected_faces/P7/

http://jestkidding.com/kids-corner/jesus-in-the-snow/

Another story of the origin of this picture:

http://ireport.cnn.com/docs/DOC-173272

Playing With Matches

"Translating the gospel for young people amounts to entrusting them with matches, for it gives then access to holy fire, which puts the church at risk; what if young people ignite the church?" Kenda Creasy Dean, university professor, Presbyterian youth minister.

Some links talking about this idea:

http://www.firelighters.org.uk/history.php

http://www.elca.org/What-We-Believe/Social-Issues/Journal-of-Lutheran-Ethics/Issues/January-2004/Beyond-Platitudes-ReIgniting-the-Churchs-Vision-for-Children-and-Youth.aspx

http://www.christianstudy.com/data/nt/acts_c02_v13a.html
http://www.christiantoday.com/article/church.must.educate.young.people.in.leadership/29849.htm 

Definition: Sanhedrin

In yesterday’s post on the Rich Young Ruler I said the it was possible that he was a member of the Sanhedrin.  The word is often translated as “council,” and when presented as “Sanhedrin” is a direct transliteration of the Aramaic word and the Greek word synedrion.  The word seems to have begun in Greek and then passed into Aramiac and, in Greek, means “together” and “seat,” so, “to sit together.” The Greek speaking Jews called it the gerousia, “the Assembly of the Ancients.”

The Sanhedrin was a council of judges who ruled in matters of a strictly Jewish nature.  The Romans held all real political power.

Jewish tradition says that the Sanhedrin began with Moses and his council of seventy elder (Numbers 11:16) but the first undisputed mention of the gerousia is in The Antiquities of the Jews, (XII, iii, 3) by Josephus, in his discussion of the reign of Antiochus the Great (223-187 B.C.).