» FaithWorld: Some U.S. atheists seem to be confused, Pew survey shows

There seems to be some confusion among self-described U.S. atheists, at least according to the second part of the Pew Forum on Religion & Public Life's monumental "U.S. Religious Landscape Survey" that was issued today.

It found that 92 percent of Americans believe in God or a universal spirit, with 71 percent of those surveyed saying they were "absolutely certain" on this score.

Curiously, more than one fifth -- 21 percent -- of those who counted themselves as atheists said they believed in God while eight percent expressed absolute certainty about this state of affairs.

I'm not sure which side of this is most comical to me: that 8% of atheists are absolutely certain that there's a God, or that the rest are sorta on the fence about it while still describing themselves as atheists.

Granted, I don't think the bulk of the pollable public really invests a lot of time in wrestling with the deeper philosophical aspects of the terminology that the poll-ees often ask of them.

Just fiddling with a new toy to see what happens to my content when dumped into tag-cloud format. Hey, it's at least an interesting time killer for me.

I know, I know ... not one full day after I vow to be a better blogger, I get bogged down with still more work. For what it's worth, though ... that bit of work turned out very nicely and now I get the thrill of dealing with the even more work that it generates to follow up on. Cycle of life for ya.

I'll eventually (as in, today/eventually) get around to posting Clayton Ring's special from the weekend. If you're in a rush, though, it's the same song he performed back in November.

On a completely different note, however, I happened to leave the TV on a rerun of 60 Minutes' segment on Joel. One huge difference, though. This time around, the reporter closed the segment by adding that Joel is in negotiations "to anchor a primetime reality series based on the inspirational themes of his Sunday sermons. The show will originate from Lakewood Church and tell the stories of ordinary people meeting extraordinary challenges." Just a hunch, but I suspect they'll have a little something in common with the Thanksgiving segments (example here). If anyone knows anything more about this, I'm sure there's at least a few zillion others who wouldn't mind them sharing.

And still one more point to prove I haven't taken up residence under a rock, I managed to catch up a bit on my sermon podcasts during the weekend, There's apparently a ministry under Rich Nathan's Vineyard Church called Joshua House ... and the recent sermons they've got listed compelled me to download them just in case I found some extra time. Can't recommend them enough, especially the latest (as of press time) "Losing My Religion" (mp3). I guess that's one good thing to get from a little added work ... more time to chill in front of the PC and crank my own podcast church.

On a serious note, among the prayers to keep in mind might be for some of our missionaries who landed in Peru only to be greeted by an earthquake. It doesn't seem to have been too damaging - by no means as bad as the one to hit there last August. Among the missionaries there are Lakewood's own Todd Hull and Tower of Hope Ministries. Here's hoping the rest of their time there is safe and enjoyable.

At the risk of devolving to the status of "bad blogger," I thought I'd save my status by poking in here briefly to note my recent dearth of blogging. Two faults for this. One, the usual ... work. Two, not-so-usual ... picked up a good book to pick apart at the other blog.

One sidenote from Bill Bishop's "The Big Sort" that's relevant here is this. The central premise of the book is that we are all "sorting" ourselves into like-minded communities that think alike, look alike, and vote alike. While I see a lot of merit in some of the supporting points Bishop makes in the book, I disagree pretty strongly with his overall premise. Where it gets pertinent to this blog is that the examples he offers in a chapter on religion use rather selective examples to prove his point. Namely, he offers a certain Houston church that is large, demographically homogeneous, and prototypically Republican-leaning. That church, of course, is not Lakewood ... which is large, demographically all over the map, and who's pastor notably keeps politics off the pulpit in recognition that the congregation is politically diverse.

And, of course, Lakewood doesn't fit into the overall narrative that we're all sorting outselves into the communities that Bishop describes. There's a point to be made about whether Lakewood is the exception or the trend, I realize. But even if it's an outlier, it's a notable one that doesn't even get mentioned in the book as such.

There is some interesting background on the church-growth movement and some of the parallel writing for overseas missionaries. I may or may not get to that topic as I try and catch up a bit on some of the stuff I've missed in the past two weeks with this blog. For now, just accept my humble apologies for the recent quietude. The usual assortment of rattle and hum that I normally offer will likely pick up within days.

Among other items on the agenda ... I'm in need of a good book. The quest never ends.

Man, I hate to be a bearer of bad news like this, but ...

» Steven Curtis Chapman's daughter killed by car in driveway

Steven Curtis Chapman's youngest child died Wednesday evening after being struck by a car driven by her teenage brother in the driveway of the family's Williamson County home.

Maria, one of the Christian singer's six children, was taken by LifeFlight to Vanderbilt Hospital, which confirmed the death, according to Laura McPherson, a spokeswoman for the Tennessee Highway Patrol.

The 5-year-old was hit by an SUV driven by her teenage brother, she said. Police did not give the driver's name.

The teen was driving a Toyota Land Cruiser down the driveway of the rural home at about 5:30 p.m. and several children were playing in the area, McPherson said. He did not see Maria in the driveway before the vehicle struck her, she said.

"It appears to be a terrible accident,'' McPherson said.

» DMN: Obituary: Richard Towne 'Dick' Sutcliffe

Richard Towne "Dick" Sutcliffe had the inspiration for the stop-action animated children's television show Davey and Goliath.

Working with the creators of the animated Gumby show, Mr. Sutcliffe led his team to develop a Sunday morning series that offered a simple message of faith "without being preachy."

In 2004, nearly 45 years after the first episode aired, Mr. Sutcliffe and his team received the Luther Institute's Wittenberg Award for outstanding service to church and society.

Mr. Sutcliffe, 90, died May 11 at Baylor University Medical Center at Dallas of complications from a stroke.

A memorial service will be at 2 p.m. May 31 in the chapel at St. Mark's School of Texas.

I'm not sure when & where I first stumbled onto these shows as a kid. But then again, I also don't remember ever changing a channel when it was on.

This is awesome ...

I need to start my collection of these. It's been a while since I've updated my B-movie collection with some "new" material.

» NYT: The Queen of the New Age (Mark Oppenheimer)

Interesting read over the weekend about Louise Hay, founder of Hay House, a publisher of numerous new age books. Apparently both the business and founder have done quite well over the years. So much so that they're now stealing away mainstream authors such as Suze Orman and Ben Stein in order to expand their reach.

While the article itself focuses primarily on the growth of the new age movement in a business context, there's one tangent the story takes in dealing with Hay's involvement with AIDS patients:

WITHOUT THE AIDS EPIDEMIC, Hay House wouldn't exist. Louise Hay would be another workshop leader taking predominantly middle-class white women on retreats where they recite affirmations, short statements meant to bring a new, desired reality to fruition. (Examples include "I now create a wonderful new job" and "I live in the perfect space.") There are hundreds of these workshop leaders and authors; their seminars are advertised in New Age publications, on the Internet and on the bulletin boards in health-food stores and at yoga studios. Most of them never become rich. Like the aspiring motivational speaker played by Greg Kinnear in "Little Miss Sunshine," they work a minor-league circuit, trying to develop a following and maybe land a book deal. AIDS gave Louise Hay a following.

Hay moved to Los Angeles around 1980 and began seeing private clients for spiritual counseling. "I had several gay men in my practice," Hay told me. "One day, one of them called me up and said, 'Louise, do you think you could start a group for gay men with AIDS?' A few men came for dinner one night, and I said: 'I have no idea what we're doing, but I know what we're not going to do. We're not going to play 'Ain't it awful.' So we talked and did affirmations and ended with a song. The next day, one of them called me and said, 'Last night was the first time I slept in three weeks.' The next week we had 90 men, and soon someone gave us a space in a gym in West Hollywood. For two years we met, but we outgrew the gymnasium in a month and a half." The city of West Hollywood gave the Hay Rides, as they were soon known, a bigger space. "Soon we had 850 people every Wednesday night. We had mothers who came, and whenever a mother came we gave them a standing ovation, because so many mothers weren't speaking to their sons." Her eyes teared up noticeably. "The fathers almost never came -- they couldn't forgive." Hay often presided at the men's funerals. "Who else was going to do it?" she asked me. "Religions wouldn't touch them."

That last sentence ought to sting a little. Well, actually it should sting a lot.

Listening to Rob Bell's message from last weekend sent me to Googling his name for an event he mentioned his participation in, along with Bishop Desmond Tutu and the Dalai Lama. Mission accomplished.

But I also ran across another article profiling Bell. Dunno how it slipped under my radar, but it's been a busy stretch of time at the dayjob. Whether you know anything about Bell or not, I think it's worth the read.

» Religion News Service: Up-and-coming pastor tries to stay grounded (Terri Finch Hamilton)

His speaking tours sell out, and a new speaking request comes in about every 10 minutes. But he'd rather talk about how billions of people have no safe drinking water and how you can help.

Bell is geeky-hip, with his black plastic glasses and skinny black jeans. He loves British transvestite comedian Eddie Izzard and U2 and rents vintage Rolling Stones concerts from Netflix and on his day off.

Bell embraces mystery. He asks questions. It goes back to his childhood, he said.

"My parents were intellectually rigorous," he said. "Ask questions, explore, don't take things at face value. Stretch. I've always been interested in the thing behind the thing."

He has become the kind of famous that breeds autograph seekers and stalkers and people who flock to him figuring he must hold the meaning of life. Like the pregnant woman in Louisville - in labor - who wouldn't leave until she got his autograph.

"There are dimensions to my life that have become surreal," Bell said, sitting in an office at Mars Hill. "The Time magazine thing ..."

He shakes his head.

Like I said, though ... read the whole thing.

Just a brief insight into the mind of Greg here. Friday night is another Movie Night that I get the privilege of facilitating. My reasons for offering for the gig were as follows: it strikes me as a shame that there wasn't a group that met close to town (all the others were way out in the periphery of what I like to call "civilization"); and secondly that it might push me out to catch a movie on a semi-regular basis.

The challenge for yours truly has been that, to my way of thinking, movies always look better from a distance than they do on decision night with a $9 ticket to be procured. So it's not unusual that I'll see a preview or trailer that really looks good to me, start investigating the movie a bit ... and then talk myself out of seeing it. It may not sound like a terribly entertaining way to catch new movies, but the cost savings are great!

Note: I usually pick a day knowing that there'll be at least one release out that I can justify the effort for. In this case, the date was picked due to it being the release date for the second "Harold & Kumar" movie. For those of you trying to raise your kids right ... don't let 'em go see it. It almost always happens that whatever movie I target, the showtimes are never convenient for a 7pm dinner meetup. Theoretically, the crowd starts getting itchy for a movie around 8:30 or so. Invariably, my choice has a 10pm showtime or thereabouts. So here's what I have to look forward to tonight, with a brief note on what goes through my own mind when I see this offering.

21 ... tempting, but I really wish they made something a little closer to the reality of the backstory on this movie rather than an overdramatized glitz & glamor flick.

88 Minutes ... Alicia Witt is a key selling point. The storyline - not so much.

Baby Mama ... a good laugh; Tina Fey; Amy Poehler. Easily a contender for my time and dollar.

The Bank Job ... dunno much about this one. Might be swayed after some YouTube investigation and checking on showtime in comparison with other contenders.

Deception ... the movie description on Yahoo begins with "An accounting consultant ...". What more do I need to say?

Dr. Seuss' Horton Hears a Who! ... not opposed to seeing it. Just opposed to paying top dollar for seeing it.

Expelled: No Intelligence Allowed ... Just saw Ben Stein on one of the late night talkshows. Pass.

The Forbidden Kingdom ... Jet Li & Jackie Chan. Automatic "No" in my book. To each their own.

Forgetting Sarah Marshall ... moderately tempting just for the cheap laugh and familiarity with the writing crew.

Harold and Kumar Escape From Guantanamo Bay ... precisely the type of movie I would think of going to see for a cheap laugh. And for encouraging my fellow churchgoers to pray for my soul. Leading contender. I don't know what else to tell ya.

Leatherheads ... mildly tempting. That rarely gets $9 out of my pocket, though.

Nim's Island ... I never quite got into this genre of movies. Then again, I did recently laugh all the way through "The Neverending Story." Maybe if I just pretended they were supposed to be comedies, I'd see more merit in them.

Prom Night ... another cinematic vice of mine - I love a good, scary flick. The previews of this one are tempting, but I think I've done scary movies the last two movie nights in a row. Not opposed to seeing this one, but it goes to the backburner.

Smart People ... I hate to sound cruel here, but Sarah Michelle Gellar hasn't done much that I've appreciated since "Square Pegs." Don't get me wrong, I think that's enough to have her warrant a claim to fame. Just that I'm one of five people in this world that see things that way. Pass.

Street Kings ... see above. Replace SMG with Keanu Reeves and "Square Pegs" with "Bill and Ted's Excellent Adventure." Pass.

Tyler Perry's Meet the Browns ... I love Tyler Perry, just maybe not enough to plunk down top dollar at the theater for one of his movies.

Vantage Point ... this is still in theaters? Seen the previews, saw the cinematic approach done better with "Cloverfield," not a fan of the adventure/thriller genre. Pass.

So after all of that, I'm down to the following decision-set for movie night:

Contenders:
- Harold & Kumar
- Baby Mama

A three-hour wait from dinner to movie. That's rarely something to look forward to.

Definite Maybe:
- Forgetting Sarah Marshall

Optimal showtime (8:50), just have to justify in my mind why I wouldn't go see one of the other two.

Maybe/Maybe Not:
- Leatherheads
- The Bank Job
- 21

Decent showtime on "Leatherheads" probably bumps it up a notch for consideration. Who knows, maybe I'll hit dinner in a mood for a sports movie. "Bank Job" requires a bit more investigation on my part. It'd have to look darned good to move up the list, though.

CODA: "Leatherheads" won out in the interest of time. Loads of work on my plate for the weekend, so there was enough of a premium to nudge me to catch an earlier show with moderate appeal to yours truly.

By way of a mini-review ... it was so-so. Not bad, not great. Maybe justifiable for a $9.50 ticket depending on what $9.50 means to ya. I'm not exactly regretting the choice since I happen to like Rene Zellweger and the guy from The Office. (Clooney, I'm indifferent to). The storyline seemed like every bit the throwback that the movie tried to be - as if someone might try a Capra-esque approach to a modern movie based in the 20s. Not to say this one strives for Capra's style, but they clearly weren't going for an overly complex storyline. At least that's how it struck me.

All that aside, between "Baby Mama" and "Harold & Kumar", I've got one more movie to take in sometime soon.

That Stranger In the Pew has a pretty sweet gig visiting church after church if you ask me. I'd contemplated doing a form of what he does with my then-free Sundays. My loss, his gain. His recent post is a recap of his visit to Second Baptist. Many of us Saturday nighters at Lakewood probably know quite a few folks who spend their Sundays there, among other churches. Doesn't quite sound like many Baptist churches I knew as a kid.

I've never been to Second Baptist, so I'm more than a little intrigued by SitP's observations. His review of Lakewood is from a ways back.

Didya know there was a convention going on over at Lakewood? Neither did I. Congrats to Lakewood bookstore manager, Ted Terry, for getting some love in the program lineup.

(h/t - Phil Cooke)

Another minor time-killer here: Bible Version Selector Tool

I've been a rather long-time user of the NIV version, so I'm sure my preferences from it prejudice the outcome for me. But the top five versions it selected given my criteria were:

New English Translation
Jewish Publication Society Tanakh
New International Version
New Jerusalem Bible
New American Bible

The Message, which I've been increasingly fond of since picking it up, came in third to last. Odd. And I have to confess to never having heard of the JPS before, but looking it over on Amazon (and being a fan of Rob Bell's teaching style), I have to admit I'm a little intrigued.

I'm really not sure which of the following reasons makes Greg Boyd's blog so darned entertaining to read:

1. A lengthy blog post on Old Testament violence,
2. An update from his small group that Boyd is in the hospital and that they've messed with his chart, or
3. Boyd's exciting tale of how an offending toe-wiggle nearly cost him a Saturday sermon.

In other news, Boyd is also making his way through Claiborne's "Jesus for President." Can't wait for that.

Ed Young ... blogger.

This looks worth checking out and since I managed to miss yet another Cruse Family Reunion Concert last night, I might be planning on this free screening ....

Double-feature Premiere Forgive Me & Director's Cut

Come meet the director (Clayton Miller)
and the local talent that made it happen ~~~

"Forgive Me" - Travis Ammons, Michael Roy, Sara Gaston,
Tracy L. Baldwin, Rob Powers, John R. Snavely, Monique Miller,
Teddy Hallaron, Joe Grisaffi, Autie McVicker, Scott Ratchinsky &
Chris Vander Kaay

"Director's Cut" - Lori Gail White, Joe Grisaffi, Jill Carter, Dustin
Price (and the same great crew as above)

For more info: www.filmsofvision.com

* Get there early...Admission is free for everyone!
Please see below for a special invitation from the director...

Thursday, February 28th, 2008
7:00 - 9:00 p.m.
River Oaks Theatre
2009 West Gray, Houston, TX 77019

You can take in the trailer for "Forgive Me" here.

I just have to note this one weird occurrence of the week. Those Lakewoodians among the readers here obviously have some awareness that Phil Munsey preached this past weekend instead of Joel. But for the first time that I'm aware of, every sermon that I take in during the course of a week has been done by a substitute.

Instead of Greg Boyd, Scott Abbott. Instead of Joel Hunter, Steve Brown. And instead of Rob Bell, Kent Dobson.

Net result ... all four sermons done by substitutes. I still have yet to listen to Dobson's. But I should note that I have a tendency to feel somewhat of a letdown when it's not one of the usuals that I get to listen to. There are reasons why I listen to them, after all. And one of those reasons tends to be that the audio medium just works really well for them. But this current lineup has been pretty well received even though I'm overworked as usual.

Apologies for the light blogging of late (not to be confused with the light blogging right before then). In my defense, being sick stinks. Even worse, it rarely feels like I'm entirely out of it ... just a slight cough at times, worse at others. Weather, my own self-enforced work schedule, and I'm sure a host of other factors are kicking me on this one. But no more excuses.

I made it out to Wednesday's service, sat amongst a crowd, and probably shared that illness more than I care to admit. So Saturday, I contemplated getting to church just for Koinonia. Weather didn't seem like it would have that. So I get there at a normal early hour and basically play hooky up on the 4th floor, tweak the video stuff I've got to do for Koinonia, help out where I can with the sound crew (don't be too impressed, we're talking minimal level of "help" here), listen to Ryan Bell warm up before his gig at Koinonia, run into my favorite sheep-tossing administrative assistant at Lakewood, catch a little bit of Phil Munsey's sermon via the webcast, and otherwise just try to make sure that nobody else catches a cold because of me.

I'm sure there's a certain level of spiritual punishment for confessing this ... but it was actually kindofa fun way to spend the night. I learn a thing or two from the sound crew. I get to work on my timing for running lyrics to Ryan's music via MediaShout (still needs a little work). I discover that there's actually a minor audience for viewing the sermons upstairs. Oh yeah, and there's also the usual assortment of fun that goes along with working with thousands of dollars worth of AV gizmos. And it probably ought to amaze me more that the sound guys trust me to mess with the board at all when everything is set after a soundcheck. Hint: Don't mess with anything other than "PC Audio" and "CD."

Still, at some point, I need to add in a little live praise & worship with the big band. And Marcos is back on Wednesday night. Here's hoping this cold is over sooner rather than later. The Ryan Bell trio was a good substitute considering the circumstances. Still need to find a little time to do some CD reviewing, don't I?

Some end of the week reminders for ya ...

Tomorrow is the Voices of Lakewood auditions. I'm thinking you might want to register today if you haven't already.

This weekend, we've got Phil Munsey preaching. I didn't get all of the Wednesday service recorded, but I may be able to capture it from TBN's version of events later on. On the whole, it was pretty interesting. Difficult to get into the swing of praise & worship with so many interruptions, but that's a small price to pay to open up the viewing of something close to what we actually do every week. Well, minus all the interviewing and with a bit more of a continuous music thing going on.

Next Sunday is also the Cruse Family Reunion down in Rosenberg.

And later today is a small irregular movie night gathering at the Edwards Cinema near Lakewood.

If you thought this past weekend's Koinonia video was a bit risque, I'm thinking there's some folks in Allen who are feeling like they're seeing worse.

Just in time for the Super Bowl, Beliefnet puts out their Top 12 list of Christian athletes in sports today. Maybe I'm not sufficiently supportive of the home team since I've only found myself rooting for any of the people on the list. Maybe not the greatest tie-in with today's game since none of the people listed are taking part in the Super Bowl.

How busy have I been? Too busy to realize that Paul & Jennifer Osteen are blogging up a storm from Kenya.