On Dec. 16, at 2:00 PM at the Liberty 12 Cinema, we were rent out a movie and go see "The Nativity Story" for an outreach event. Last year we did this with the Narnia film, and we had 100 members and 80 visitors go. Several came to worship with us that next Sunday, and some are still with us today. Praise God!
This ia a great opportunity to come and invite a friend. Tickets are $6 for members and $2 for guests. Let us know how many tickets you want.
This ia a great opportunity to come and invite a friend. Tickets are $6 for members and $2 for guests. Let us know how many tickets you want.
This outreach will include a three week follow-up preaching series on Christ's birth. Interestingly, this series will actually meld will into the Exiles preaching series we have been doing.
Fox News had a recent headline that said: "Chicago Christmas Festival Nixes 'Nativity Story' Ads Over Fears of Offending Non-Christians" Part of the story is below.
CHICAGO — A public Christmas festival is no place for the Christmas story, the city says. Officials have asked organizers of a downtown Christmas festival, the German Christkindlmarket, to reconsider using a movie studio as a sponsor because it is worried ads for its film "The Nativity Story" might offend non-Christians.
New Line Cinema, which said it was dropped, had planned to play a loop of the new film on televisions at the event. The decision had both the studio and a prominent Christian group shaking their heads. Read the full story at http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,232239,00.html.
---------------------------------------
Unbelievable, huh? The Christ story is offensive to America. Just another piece of evidence that we are a people "living in exile." What do you think this ban says about our nation?
Posts
3 comments:
A couple thoughts...I remember reading this article and thinking "might be offended...might be offended!!!" Politicians and media crack me up, nobody has actually been offended, I don't hear any public outcry or even whispers, but these "non-christians" need to be protected because they might be offended. When something offends my family or me we simply don't participate, spend our money, or otherwise acknowledge whatever it is or they are. My question to the "city" officials would be would it make a difference if a non-christian said "I'm not offended, but I choose not to participate"?
It is impossible to please everyone and we will fail if we try, make the best dicision with the infomation you have and move forward. So, it seem reasonable to me and dare I say I think most people that a Christmas Festival would have Christmas Themes as would a Jewish, Muslim, Kawanza, or any other similar group.
The other thought is the picture studio needs the contraversy to generate more revenue.
The comments above were mine.
Thanks for contributing! I too think that the "offending someone" objection has reached ridiculous proportions. There is hardly anything that we or anyone else could do that wouldn't risk offending someone. And the amazing thing about this story is that Muslims and other faiths aren't even mentioned or hinted at in the movie. There is nothing offensive about it (I've seen it).
What sadly is offensive to some people is any faith claim. We should live in a country where different viewpoints are allowed to be expressed, even those that we disagree with. I certainly would not object to a movie about Islam during Rhammadah. Let people decide whether to believe or not believe.
Controversy does sell. Gibson was a master of this with The Passion of the Christ. I just saw a news piece that showed how various stars said controversial things right before a movie of theirs was to be released. Even bad publicity is good publicity as far as sales go.
Thanks for the thoughts.
Post a Comment