Hollywood's brainwashing techniques

I'm going out on a bit of a limb here but I think that the subject is one that any mature thinking individual should consider in light of the fact that every person in North America has already been affected by it. I'm not going to quote directly from the myriad of studies already done in this area but I saw something on the news that really struck me and now that I'm not as angry as I was at the time I thought I'd express a view point. The movie Project X was a cheaply made fast produced film by a novice director which portrays a wild party that gets out of hand resulting in mass destruction and mayhem for which the three perpetrators come out unpunished to any real degree. Back to the real world we are now seeing copycat parties that result in millions of dollars in real estate damage, injury and in Austen Texas, death. Think about this if you don't think you've been brainwashed. In the fifties and sixties a hero was a person who protected the weak, had a strong moral stance regarding right and wrong and did nothing violent unless they were forced to often for the sake of others. Today we cheer for good guys who are basically violent criminals with substance abuse problems and who our children try to emulate. Movies portray lifestyles that even when we know better we assimulate them in our mindsets and world views as normal. Remember the movie Jackass. How many kids hurt themselves doing stupid stunts like that? If a movie comes out, portraying some meme that is new, there will be people changed by it.
Media changes the world. Comic books were one of the leading propaganda techniques used to introduce communism to China. They turned children against their parents and resulted in the overthrow of China in a few short years. How many special interest groups have used media to change our world views. Women's groups, Gay rights, Animal rights, Green groups and even the government over smoking not for our good but to reduce health care expense. The interesting thing is that real penalties have developed for people who publish media opposed to some of these things. If you speak out against certain causes or even defend your own viewpoint when it disagrees with some of these causes, you can be punished. The legal mechanisms are in place to punish for example a Christian printer who refused to print a tract for a certain group because it was essentially hate literature and offended his Christian faith.
In California a number of pastors are in jail for speaking against gay life styles and yet movie producers can make movies that undermine basic and essential values and propagate societal destruction with clearly documented costs including death, and they go without punishment. In fact they are rewarded.
The creators of Project X need to stand in front of the dead children's parents and the property owners and explain themselves. Then they need to go to jail for a period long enough to get a message to the media mongols that they have a responsibility to promote and not destroy our society.
-The above is just my opinion but do look around you!

sorry for this one.

I was thinking today. Sometimes that happens but now that I'm semi-retired and only working on my wife's home renovation project I find that the mind wanders through some odd corners of memory. I don't claim any particular merit for my Christian life. I should probably spend most of my time in apologizing rather than apologetics but I was thinking of business I have done or almost done with brothers and It seems to me that the world may view Christian business people, at least many I have encountered or heard of, as flaky or even creepy. I think God wanted me to recognize that my attitude toward some of these people is wrong and needs to change and that's good for me if I get a handle on my wrong attitude. Unfortunately for the folks out there that don't claim the faith as their own or perhaps not to any depth, then some of these business people must surely turn them off. Transparency is so important for Christians and does not mean making sure everyone knows we are Christian so much as everyone should presume from our integrity and total reliability that we are. I know a few like that. They deal with you as if Jesus were not only there in the Spirit but like He was physically present and visible. To them it is the same and they are a pleasure to spend time with.

preachers

I was watching Charles Price the other day and was greatly blessed by his ministry. I had heard that years ago a local church had a chance to have him as it's pastor but that it didn't work out. Toronto's People's Church are no doubt glad for that. Perhaps it is well that he ended up elsewhere. We may well have destroyed his work as we have done to so many other pastors. I have encountered people in two distinct fields, multiple examples in each who have expressed the opinion that something is wrong in Brantford. One is the medical field. Outside of Brantford the BGH is known as the death hospital and personal experience has taught be two things. One is that the name may well be deserved and two, don't question this because you will be beaten down. The other field is faith. Brantford is looked on as a black hole for pastors which kills any real callings and grinds them down and again don't question this. In a vision about Brantford during a time of intercession a huge black tower stronghold was seen in the midst of the city. I trust this source. I have sat in intercessory prayer meetings elsewhere and never do I hear actual warfare prayer for this city and the biblical spiritual needs of the church. Not long after the tower vision, that particular group was broken up, not suprisingly, by other sincere Christians who toe the local social gospel line.
I mention two areas but others spring to mind. Politics,education,law and others. Main areas that shape society for this city. The church is called to be the salt. In Brantford is this true?

thinking about the future

I was just laid off at ITML and will be at my leisure until August unless the company changes plans. This isn't a bad thing since I have a few physical issues to work out. I was waiting today for a service guy to show up (he didn't)and I got to looking around the web at retirement businesses and sites that cover such topics and I found one by Steve Pavoloni (I think) where he suggests a method of finding your real calling. The thing you really have a passion for. I got into the exercise for about 20 or 30 minutes and found no surprises but the process of articulating what I would like to do was encouraging and thought provoking. An idea which emerged was some sort of place where perhaps a business (not a coffee shop) but perhaps a co-work centre or media/book store might operate but be a place where open conversations might happen and lead to networking for edification,exhortation,encouragement in faith, business ventures,sort of a christian clearing house for life improvement which isn't tied to a particular church but can build ties to all of them without fear.

salvation thoughts

I think it was Ravi Zacharius that said once in a conversation with Bruxy Cavey and I apologize if I'm mistaken, but he pointed out that one of the very special things about Christianity is that unlike any other religion in the world, we don't become more accomplished as we progress in the faith. At the moment of salvation, we are fully saved, full heirs and can never become more Christian. That work was done for us by Christ. The mistake we make is in "working out our salvation" and thinking that this is a value added situation rather than a labor of love for the One who has already given us all. Our labor doesn't gain us any advantage in Heaven other than a deeper relationship with Jesus who uses our work to teach us His nature and to sense His presence in others. The relationship is everything but it is a privilege from the start and not a path to greater privilege.
Other faiths work hard for a hope at the end while we receive ours at the start.

Follow the money

I received a call today which was in fact for my son Michael. It seems that some time ago he was button holed by a rep for the group that raises funds for Sick Kids and being a good hearted person he set up a monthly donation. Now they won't quit phoning. The same happened to my daughter with James Robison's work. She felt bad after seeing the little children on TV and made a donation and now the mail is full of solicitations for more money. I realize that these organizations do good work. For years I have had regular donations taken off my pay for the United Way but the thing that bothers me about the charities is that the fund raising has nothing to do with the actual charity. Fund raising is a huge "for profit" business and only a portion of your donation ever gets past the sticky fingers of the organization and reaches the actual charity who then have to cover their costs before the hungry kids get to eat.
Many charities don't publish how much of every dollar actual buys food or medicine but I think it would be a shock to find the truth.
One of the problems I have with our churches and in fact with Christians themselves is the baggage that surrounds the core of Jesus. Our faith is about Christ and His indwelling and transformation of us but every where I go I see a lot of misdirection that dresses private and corporate agendas up to look like faith but are actually meant to benifit the person or organization rather than creating real venues of faith. If charities are Christian why did they hire money lenders to push growth beyond what faith would provide? Why do faith teachers want to be paid for their prosperity teaching? Doesn't God provide all their needs?
On the rare occasion that I encounter a genuine Godly Christian, usually older and careworn but full of His real peace, it is a conversation to treasure. Even their silence breathes life into your spirit.

tablet

Hey,
just checking to see if I can blog from my tablet.