I might just be in the wrong line of work...

I  was watching TV last night when an ad for the Christian dating site, Christian Mingle, aired. Sure. I've seen these ads from time to time without much thought, but what intrigued me last night was the ad was actually on The Science Channel. Not GodTV, TBN or the Osteen Channel (if there is such a thing).

So I'm sitting there watching Morgan Freeman* spew some nonsense about the fabric of time and how one day soon humans will be zipping around the universe by ripping holes in this fabric and doubling back something another when I suddenly see this commercial showing single Christians running around on the beach looking for love.

Perplexing.

My guess is all of the atheist/agnostic types watching and hanging on every word of Freeman were pretty ticked. How dare they interrupt the very proof  that I am not in fact delusional?! This stuff is science!  Whatever Thomas Dolby.

(Side bar: I find it ironic that the very actor who played the role of the Almighty so elegantly in Bruce Almighty and Evan Almighty is selling this crap...but that's just me.)

Now the fact that an ad showing single Christians (or actors playing such) frolicking around and having a good time might actually irritate an atheist brought a smile to me face. No. I know that's not very WWJD. I'm working on it.

The commercial made me realize that, as a whole, Christians don't do a lot of advertising for our faith. Why? Are we worried about being politically correct or sensitive? Bah! Nonsense. Are we falling into some type of kumbaya let's all coexist mentality? Don't even get me started on that...again. Actually, I think we've, Christians that is,  just become complacent and lazy. Commercial advertising is a powerful force in our society. How else can you  explain the commercial success of all that junk Ronco sold for years? Pocket Fishman and Veg-O-Matic...come on!

I started thinking about targeted venues that would be perfect for Christian advertisements on just how wonderful a relationship with Jesus can actually be and the overall awesomeness of God, creator of all things. Since we don't won't the proverbial preaching to the choir scenario, the intended audience would need to be mostly comprised of non-believers, backsliders and the theologically confused. Here's just a few possibilities...

1.  Popular beach destinations. No brainer. Practically the Sodom and Gomorrah's of modern days. People are half naked, all those pineapple filled drinks with the little umbrellas, and the misconception that God doesn't like hot weather. Nothing would remind people faster that God doesn't take vacations, He's still everywhere than looking up and seeing that messaged being pulled behind an airplane while you're sunbathing. Brilliant!

2.  The Disney Channel/Cartoon Network. Look at the success the tobacco industry has had getting customers started young. They've build lifetime loyalty. Albeit often shortened lifetimes, but hey...a sale's a sale...get it while you can. There's potential here for a two birds, one stone kill too. Maybe the kids will take hold of the message and minister to the very parents who neglect them by allowing them to watch too much television. Brilliant!

3. NASCAR. Whoa Nelly... wait, wrong sport...Boogity Boogity, Boogity! While Darrell Waltrip is famous for those words, he's also very outspoken about his Christian faith. NASCAR has a number of pious participants I'm glad to say, so why doesn't the Church (notice the capitalization please) sponsor a car? I can't think of a more cost effective means of advertising our faith than putting the message on a stock car going around in a circle in front of a captivated, often intoxicated, crowd of 100K plus...not to mention the millions of TV viewers. Now that's...Brilliant!

That just scratches the surface of the numerous opportunities ripe for the Christian advertising taking. Have an idea? Be sure to leave it in the comments section. I'll make sure you get credit when your idea becomes the next "Where's the beef?!"  success story. Hey...it's the WWJD thing to do.


*I confess to watching these type of shows so I can heckle and berate them out loud. I just didn't want you to think I was strange or something. 

HOLY WEEK HIATUS

In honor of the week leading up to Easter Sunday, I won't be posting on Tony C Today. May your week be blessed as we remember the most scared events in the history of mankind.

Curtis James Forbes- Man of God...rest in peace.

Curtis James Forbes

Born in Charleston, SC on Jun. 29, 1967
Departed on Jan. 29, 2011 and resided in Gastonia, NC


What's missing from those coldly straightforward and factual words are what really tell the story...

Curtis James Forbes
Man of God 





I never met my brother Curtis face-to-face. The blessing of coming to know him is courtesy of David Johndrow (Fire & Grace), another true friend God placed in my path via the internet. But the fact I never shook my friend's hand or gave him one of those 'man hugs' I often declare to find awkward is completely a moot point. Fact is...I wish I could hug him today, but God called him home last Saturday morning.

For the past half year or little more, I've been in regular contact with my friend Curtis via cell phone calls or text messages. We also often exchanged Facebook messages too. My friend Curtis died from cancer. It was one of the trials in his life that the Apostle Paul wrote about building our Christian character and leading us to the ultimate hope in God's promise. Curtis had tremendous character. He leaves behind a wife and four children all under the age of 18. He also leaves behind a solid testimony from a man who lived what he claimed to believe. I have no doubt his lasting influence will have an astounding effect not just on his family, but also his church family, his friends...and people like me who only got to see glimpses of God's love through him from a distance.

I prayed for Curtis daily. I will continue to pray for his family and ask humbly that you join me. This lost world is filled with pain and suffering, but if you are a Christian, you are not alone. God gave us one another to lift  up and encourage, to watch after each other, lend a helping hand when needed and join together in a single accord of worship and praise for His glory.

Today, we can communicate with one another in ways completely unimaginable five decades ago, and I believe that is a gift to us from God that we should use for His glory. Sure, there's plenty of opportunity for Christian fellowship right in the shadows of our home church steeples. No doubt. I thank God for that fact. But what a blessing it is to be able to reach literally around the world and find brothers and sisters in Christ that have far more in common with us than they do cultural, social and economic differences.

Thank you Curtis for being my friend and, more importantly, for being a Godly influence in my life...if but for a short while. I look forward to meeting you on the other side brother...and I promise not to hesitate or flinch when giving you a big bear hug when we do.

Showing God's love is just at your fingertips...

I love you guys...and yes I mean you.

God has blessed me with a loving family, terrific friends and a wonderful church family. He has also blessed me with numerous Christian brothers and sisters that I've never met face to face...people I only know via blogging or as Facebook friends...people like some of you.

A lot of people think the internet is good for nothing but trouble...an inherent place of evil and evil doers. I beg to differ. I believe the world wide web is bursting with opportunities for God, but as Christians, we have to make that happen...lead the charge. Parents all the time express distress to me about the unknown activities of their teenagers on the internet. My answer to them, without reservation, is to get out there and see what they are doing. Be proactive. Set boundaries and expectations. I blogged about this in December (see I can do anything you can do better...).  Christians should neither shun nor fear the internet, blogs or social networking. Let me give a very personal reason why... 

On Friday, yours truly had to have a heart catheterization. Several recent heart test were saying something might be wrong with Tony C's ticker, and my cardiologist wanted to take a closer look. A heart cath is a scary procedure, so I requested prayer with my church family and a prayer group I've recently joined on Facebook via invitation.

Like I stated, I'm blessed with great family and friends. I received a number of calls, texts, emails and words of encouragement from a lot of them, and I know the one's I didn't hear from who knew about the procedure were bathing me in prayer. On Friday, my wife and parents were with me. My pastor and a youth leader from church were the first to visit me afterwards. Many prayed for me, and I could feel their concerns. I'm very reluctant to say things about health issues, but I've gotten better since beating cancer 5 years ago. I now completely understand the power of God's people to intervene on my behalf with prayer. I have been greatly blessed by each gesture of Christian love shown through this time.

One in particular, however, has stood out to me as a shining example of how internet fellowship is as real and meaningful as the fellowship we have as Christians meeting together on Sundays. I told you I had recently joined a Facebook prayer group by invitation and had been receiving prayer request almost daily. A fellow blogger had pointed me in the direction of this particular prayer group. Most of the Christians in the group live hundreds of miles from me, yet we collectively use the awesome gift of prayer to lift each other up to God.

The fellow blogger, David, writes Fire and Grace, and we exchange blurbs and comments on each other's blogs and on Facebook. David is both a talented writer and deep thinker...and a kindred soul in the humor department. I enjoy his post and always find myself challenged by his muse. Last Thursday, the day before my procedure, David requested prayer because he had lost his job that very afternoon. I noted even in his prayer request, David seemed so upbeat and confident in the fact that God is in control and he would be okay.

The messages of encouragement poured in on Thursday, as I said, and each was a tremendous blessing. Around 8:30, I was chilling on the couch, and my wife was busy preparing for the next day. We were gearing up for 'date night' which, until the season finale Thursday night, revolved around Grey's Anatomy (don't judge...as Lula would say). My phone beeped to let me know I had a text message. I opened it to read the following message:

Tony. Lord be with you tomorrow. I'm praying. David

I can't begin to describe the overwhelming feeling of God's love that blanketed me that very instant. Wow! This man had just on this day lost his job in very troubling economic times, and yet he thought enough of a fellow Christian to send me words of encouragement and reassurance. A man I've never met, a man I've never spoken to on the phone...a man that truly understands the love and selflessness of Christ. I believe God was letting me know everything would be okay through David's thoughtfulness.

God is on the internet and His people should be too. I know there are a lot of temptations also on the internet, but those same threats surround us in every day life too. We need to take Satan head on in this fight. By making a connection of fellowship with other Christians around the world, we are better positioned to lift each other up to God in times of trouble, to encourage one another, and even be better equipped with knowledge and understanding...we are stronger for God.

My test results showed no blockage around my heart...but my heart is definitely bigger because of the ordeal. Thank you God for the blessing and may it be returned to my brothers and sisters in You...and Lord...I pray that my brother David finds a great job soon.

Joseph wasn't wearing Under Armour...

These guys didn't make the cut this year.

We completed a successful Live Nativity Drive Thru at church this past Sunday night. Although our main focus was bringing glory to God through our efforts, I want to add we had some real troopers this year. The weather took a nasty turn Saturday from mild and damp to windy and frigid. Temperatures plummeted into the upper teens by sundown with windchill in single digits. Ouch. Folks, it was cold in Tennessee!

A wonderful team effort brought everything together rather hastily on Saturday and Sunday afternoons after days of rain. We even managed a real miniature horse, playing a donkey, in the Mary and Joseph travelling scene. Academy Award winning stuff by Apple Jack.

There were 6 scenes in all with the grand finale being the manger scene (wow, am I a producer/director or what...genius!). Cookies and hot chocolate/coffee finished the tour for each car load with an invite to our candlelight service tonight and Sunday morning worship service. Several 'long-missing' church members driving through said they'd try to make it (eye roll).

The fellowship was tremendous, the experience a real blessing. Very few times did I even realize it was so cold. I don't deserve the gift God gave me over 2000 years ago. Shoot, I don't even deserve the church family he blesses me with today...but I'm most thankful for both.

BTW...there were no riots. We must have done something wrong...maybe next year.

Merry Christmas everyone...may God's smile fill your heart with warmth.

Stop, children. What's that sound?

You have to love Red State Update. Jackie and Dunlap manage to expose (through satire) just how ridiculously blasphemous we are at times, especially when it comes to politics.

All of these groups claimed to be God loving. Hmmmm. It's funny yet deeply saddening at the same time.

Sorry for the foul language in the video.

Mt Everest? Sure, I can do that!

This is a repost of a blog I wrote over a year ago for the Stick with Jesus website no longer active. I wanted it to be a part of this blog because the subject matter is so important to me.

Music is such an important part of most people's lives today. It can lift our spirits, mellow us out, fire us up, drag us down…it pretty much always invokes an emotional response when we listen on one level or another.

Today while driving home from work, I experienced one of those emotions in a major way. You see, I was driving along in my own little private world of thoughts and images, where the sky is always Dodger blue and the mailbox is only filled with birthday cards. Yeah, and you always have ice cream in the freezer that has never been opened before…anyway…that's when Josh Groban's tenor voice filled my car with a very familiar song.

When I am down and oh my soul so weary
When troubles come and my heart burdens me
Then I am still and wait here in the silence
Until you come and sit a while with me

You raise me up so I can stand on mountains
You raise me to walk on stormy seas
I am strong when I am on your shoulders
You raise me up to more than I can be

My eyes filled with tears as I drove along heading directly for the person that embodies that very song for me. She will be waiting for me, glad to see me once again…wait a minute…she? That's a Christian song about Jesus isn't it?

There was a very difficult time in my life when that precise thought, about that very song, confused me. You see, I was separated from her, but she, just like my Savior, stood by me and kept me strong, faithful and focused. I would hear Josh Groban and feel equally emotional about the lyrics that described what both meant to me. So much…so strong.

Guilt would then lead to prayer and study in God's word about why I was confusing the two, when one day in reading I came across Ephesians 5:25:

Husbands love your wives, just as Christ loved the church…

That's when I clearly came to the understanding that I'm supposed to love her, yes my beautiful wife and soul mate, just as strong as Jesus loves me…meaning only He comes before her in my heart and soul. A wonderful peace came over me. I felt that peace today again on the way home to be with her.

Marriage is an important bond to God. He gave us so much in His word about what He expects in our marriages. I'm so glad I have a marriage built on the foundation of God. I'm most appreciative He blessed me with a wonderful woman who is only second to Him. She lifts me up…just like Jesus.

My wish is that God blesses you, as He has me, with an amazing spouse….or maybe He has already. Amen.

Is It Just Me? I Kinda Doubt It...

For several years on my website http://www.stickwithjesus.com/ (no longer operating), I've blogged about numerous personal experiences and observations that stayed within 'religiously correct' parameters to avoid confusing or offending any Christian who might read them. I'm a God-fearing, Jesus-loving Christian myself, but I often feel confined by the etiquette Christians are posed to adhere to when discussing personal views on religious theology and modern politics.

No more! I have a personal conviction for young people today who struggle with the normalcy of doubt and confusion surrounding their Christian faith. Or, the non-believer who is repulsed at the splintered factions Christianity has become but still feels the tug of a risen Savior on the heart. The one who loves the beautiful story of promise and hope in the life of Jesus Christ but can't always see the message in His followers today.

How about religion and politics? The perplexed Christian whose political views are far from Republican and feels alienated by a two-party all-or-nothing system of governing that leaves them as well as millions of others struggling to find an identity in the current U.S. political process. Or, the revisionist history of our country that has become nearly as fractured as Christianity and caused several generations now to lose faith in the founding principles our great nation was forged.

Let's discuss them all...and much more. I love God, and I love my country. But, I also understand that God is much, much bigger than any nation, denomination, race or generation. In an open, respectful forum, I hope to bring to light a number of politically and religiously avoided topics that Christians should think about and challenge. In doing so, maybe we can expose the message of Jesus as the truth it was actually meant to be. The true message of love and acceptance the way He practiced it in His life on Earth over 2000 years ago.

Keep an open heart and mind as you read.