Posts

Posted on

When Technology Gets Too Smart?

We cannot quite know what will happen if a machine exceeds our own intelligence, so we can’t know if we’ll be infinitely helped by it, or ignored by it and sidelined, or conceivably destroyed by it.  — Stephen Hawking

Are we in love with how smart we are? Today, there are technology companies that have a much larger “cult following” than any religious organization. And there are millions upon millions of Americans that freely confess that they “believe in science” instead of God.

So what does this say about us? Does it say that we have discarded ancient “superstitions” and instead have embraced logic and reason?

Sadly, in most cases the truth is that we have simply traded one form of religion for another. Scientists and technology gurus have become most peoples new high priests, and most of us blindly follow whatever they tell us. But in the end, just like with so many   organizations, it is all about the money. Those with the money determine what the science is going to say, who the high priests are going to be, and what messages are conveyed to the public. For example, once upon a time the big tobacco companies had armies of doctors and scientists that swore up and down that smoking cigarettes was not harmful. In fact, many doctors and dentists in America once personally endorsed specific brands of cigarettes. Of course millions of Americans were getting sick and dying, but this was dismissed as “anecdotal evidence”. And over in Germany, “science” was once used to prove that the Germans were the master race.

We look back in horror now, but at the time the best “science” in the world was used as justification to promote some horrible untruths. And of course the same thing is happening today. We are told over and over that “the  science  is settled” regarding genetically-modified food, climate change and vaccine safety, and yet those of us that think for ourselves know that isn’t the case at all. But if you do not believe in the “official story”, you don’t get to be part of the “scientific establishment”. By definition, the only people that get to be “scientific experts” are the ones that embrace the “doctrine” of those that control the big corporations, that fund the research studies at the major universities and that own the big media outlets.

Everyone else is not permitted to be part of the discussion. (Story by Michael Snyder, republished from  EndOftheAmericanDream.com.)

Posted on

What’s Trending on Godinterest, Popular Articles Offers a Comment Free-Look

Finding the most popular articles just got a bit simpler. Godinterest recently confirmed the global rollout of a new feature called Top Articles, which creates a list of the most talked-about posts on the social media platform.

Popular Articles is a new section inside Godinterest’s search menu.  The articles included in the section will vary a bit based on the user — the section features articles that are most popular among other users that you follow.

Curating the most popular articles is also popular within third-party apps, like ifttt.

News

Get Involved

  • Tell a  friend:  Help us grow our  community by inviting all of your friends  and  family to  sign-up at:  https://godinterest.com

Around the Community

Ready to see what’s happening on Godinterest?

Sign up today at Godinterest.com

Posted on

Godinterest (the Christian Pinterest)

Godinterest

Godinterest is a photo-driven Christian social media site that allows you to share cool things that you find across the web.

Godinterest is presently being used for organising ideas including Church events, travel planning, inspirational quotes, home decorating ideas, meal planning and advice, wedding or event planning and activities for children.

Godinterest also allows businesses to create profile pages aimed at promoting their businesses online.

Sign-up:  https://godinterest.com

Posted on

Faith’s Object: Jesus Christ

Trust ye in the Lord for ever: for in the Lord Jehovah is everlasting strength. Isaiah 26:4  

His is the greatness, the power, the glory, the victory and the majesty. Let us not limit the Holy One of Israel.

What a source to which we can look in all times of trouble; the heart can have no misgivings! Man is erring, stubborn, rebellious, and defiant even against God; but the Lord is kind and patient and of tender compassion. He has heaven and earth at His command, and He knows just what we need even before we present our necessities and desires before Him.

We can see only a little way before us;

“but all things are naked and opened unto the eyes of Him with whom we have to do.”

He never becomes confused. He sits above the confusion and distractions of the earth, and all things are opened to His divine survey; and from His great and calm He can order that which His #providence sees is best.

If we were left to ourselves to plan, we should make mistakes. Our #prejudices, our weaknesses, our self-deceptions, and our ignorances would be manifest in many ways. But the work is the #Lord’s, the cause is His; He never leaves His workmen without divine directions.

Whatever burdens lay #heavily, cast them on the Lord. He that keepeth Israel neither slumbers nor sleeps. Repose in . He is kept in perfect peace whose mind is stayed on .

At times it will seem that you cannot take another step. Well, wait and know that “I am God.”

“Be strong and of a good courage; be not afraid, neither be thou dismayed: for the Lord thy God is with thee whithersoever thou goest.” …

We need to cherish faith.

You must learn the simple art of taking God at His word; then you have solid ground beneath your feet.

Posted on

Let’s Talk About Being Gracious

Let’s Talk About Being Gracious

Merriam-Webster says that to be gracious is to be “marked by kindness, courtesy, tact, and delicacy”. The gracious person is characterized by “a generosity of spirit.” Plainly, we see that the word gracious is related to grace; a term God’s redeemed people are fully familiar with. From the point of salvation we have been experiencing the grace of God day in and day out; and as recipients of innumerable favors from the hand of a gracious God, we ought to extend the same graciousness to others. This generosity of spirit is modeled to us on a daily basis. It is only fitting for God’s children to imitate Him in that same way.

Gracious To a Fault

Ephesians 4:2 explains how to be gracious to a fault. It says, “Be patient with each other, making allowance for each other’s faults.” When we make an allowance for a fault, we accept the other person’s humanity. We accept that no one is perfect. We accept that people make mistakes. We realize that we also make mistakes. We can’t always be and live right. We can never perfectly keep the standard of rightness and we know nobody else can. With this in proper view, we remind ourselves of the reality that other people will hurt our feelings and fail to meet our expectations.   And when that time comes, we are ready and able to be gracious to a fault.

It is wrong to be so hard on others when they do something wrong especially when the wrong deed was unintentional. Remember the parable of the unmerciful servant? His master forgave him of his great debt, yet he could not forgive what little debt one person had towards him. If God could be immeasurably gracious with us, how can we not extend some grace towards another?

Sometimes we become victims of repetitive abuse, where someone hurts us over and over again. Discernment must be exercised. Wisdom must be sought from God so that you may know when to exercise tough love, right love. Grace makes allowances for faults but it never condones or tolerates habitual sin.

Gracious In Speech

Colossians 4:6 says, “Let your conversation [speech] be gracious [with kindness] and attractive so that you will have the right response for everyone.” At times we are unable to keep our emotions in check. We get hurt so we lash out in anger. We’ve been treated unfairly so we retaliate with harsh words. We get frustrated so we blurt out demeaning words. Scriptures say it shouldn’t be so. The verse just mentioned puts it so well. Our speech should remain attractive. Attractive words draw people in, not repel them. Attractive words don’t refer to sugar-coated words that make little of or camouflage other people’s sins. Attractive words are right responses that have better chances of leading people to listen and accept the words being shared even if they are words of rebuke.

Sometimes we become victims of verbal abuse. The natural response is to likewise be verbally abusive or to rebuke without grace. In the exchange of hurtful, wounding words, there is rarely any profit. Things don’t get resolved; rather, they escalate. Not one is helped. The situation is not made better. Ephesians 4:29 encourages us to respond in the right way. It says, “Don’t use foul or abusive language. Let everything you say be good and helpful so that your words will be an encouragement to those who hear them.” In some situations, that can be quite hard to do. Pray for enablement. Pray for strength to remain silent while you gather your thoughts. Then, when you speak, your words will be purposeful.

Posted on

Jesus! We Can Help You Share Him Online.

Share Jesus Without Fear  

Do you want to share Jesus without fear? Perhaps the thought of sharing your faith in Jesus Christ causes feelings of fear and guilt in your heart.

Matthew 28:19-20 says, “Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.”

This command illustrates God’s desire to include us in His wonderful plan to redeem mankind.

“We believe that the Gospel and social media should go together like peanut butter and jelly. The purpose of this site is to help YOU.”

With so many people in the world connected online, the Godinterest website aim is to help Christians share their faith in Jesus. People can then engage with the  content you post  and have  an opportunity to become a follower of Jesus.

This means that whenever you post meaningful content about Jesus on Godinterest you provide an  opportunity for others to be part of the greatest story on earth.

 

Rethink Sharing Your Faith

Everyone who interacts with  the  content you post will be presented with an opportunity to engage with the gospel.

This Is Just The Beginning

Interact with those who response to the media you post.

Start the conversation about what it means to be a follower of Jesus and if it’s appropriate, try to  help  connect them with either your church or a local church group in their area.

Also encourage them to use Godinterest  to share the really great news about Jesus with their friends.

Note: If this seems overwhelming, don’t stress! You don’t have to do everything at once, and you don’t have to be perfect. Try sharing existing content with Friends and Family.  

Question: What avenues have you discovered to share Jesus with the online world? What have you found challenging in doing so?

Posted on

Hashtags: Why, Where, When?

The other day, when I was browsing my Godinterest, we noticed a post from a person that contained a frankly ridiculous number of hashtags. The post looked silly, unprofessional and the company in question seemed to be using hashtags because, you know, it’s social media and you use ! Now we’re not saying that they don’t have their uses, but it seems they have become so synonymous with social media that people have started to use them but don’t appear to know why?  

Why?

At their core, hashtags are essentially a way of indexing or grouping together posts on the same topic. They’re a way of reaching people outside of your own following, but within a particular subset of people you’re trying to target. And clearly, if you manage to get your content in front of the right people then your engagement rates should rise, which then leads to more followers and eventually  more traffic to your site. But clearly, this approach only works on certain platforms.

  • People use the hashtag symbol  #  before a relevant keyword or phrase (no spaces) in their posts  to categorize those posts and help them show more easily in Godinterest Search.
  • Clicking on a hashtagged word in any message shows you all other posts marked with that keyword.
  • Hashtags can occur anywhere in the post body – at the beginning, middle, or end.
  • Hashtagged words that become very popular are often Trending Topics.

Example:  In the section below,

Ready to see what’s happening on Godinterest?

Sign up today at Godinterest.com

 

Posted on

Exodus: Gods and Kings’ Bold and Compromising Re-enactment’

 

After Darren Aronofsky’s bible story re-imagining, Noah, became one of the most divisive films of 2014 – ruffling the feathers of both religious viewers and hardcore cinephiles alike – the release of 20th Century Fox and director Ridley Scott’s Moses movie, Exodus: Gods and Kings, was destined to carry another wave of controversy into theaters.

Ridley Scott’s version of the Exodus story focuses on the tenuous rivalry between Moses and Ramses.

“You have to work awfully hard to make a hash of the Moses story.  Yet that’s what director Ridley Scott did with “Exodus: Gods and Kings,” the Biblical tale most memorably put on film in Cecil B. DeMille’s 1956 version, “The Ten Commandments.” (There was a silent film by DeMille, and subsequent TV movies and an animated retelling.)”

Though Exodus: Gods and Kings doesn’t have the art-house edge or in-your-face craziness of Darren Aronfosky’s Noah, it still won’t be an easy sell for by-the-book evangelicals.

A lot of Christians have completely dismissed the film from the outset because of the films many deviations from the narrative in Exodus 1-14.  Moses wields a sword but not a staff; Moses is chatty but Aaron has almost no lines; Moses kills lots of people and fights in the Egyptian army; no “staff-to-snake” scene; no repeated utterances of “let my people go”; no “baby Moses in the Nile” scene.

“Getting past the obvious issues that Scott willfully to decided to cast white actors in the roles of Egyptians for no good reason, this movie’s problems go beyond that. But at least the plagues are good.”

Scott willfully to decided to cast white actors as Egyptians and non-white actors as slaves/servants, and an inexplicable preponderance of British accents.

With an atheist as its director and a lead actor who regrettably suggested Moses could be seen as “schizophrenic” and “barbaric,” the film more than invites skepticism from biblically faithful filmgoers. The hardhearted “Ramses” approach is thus the expected response from dubious Christian audiences. Is another approach is possible?

Worse, “Exodus” is ultimately undone by its horrible script, credited to four people. The movie’s technical achievements can’t drown out 21/2 hours of awfulness.  I walked out as I watched Moses chisel the tablets of stone while some creepy little boy poured tea. Need I say more?

“The only way this gets a positive rating is if it’s NOT compared to the classic “Ten Commandments”, otherwise it’s a shameful, waste of a remake. I barely got halfway through it before pulling the plug on its awfulness.”

In the end, should “Exodus: Gods and Kings” just be ignored? As Ramses said in the ’56 version: “So let it be written, so let it be done.

Posted on

Proper Church Fashions? Find Tips On Godinterest

Woman s Fashion Godinterest

This  is a guest post by Paula Mooney. It first appeared in LuckMag and is published here with permission of Paula  to whom we are grateful.

The other day I was thinking about the time when I was in the basement of my old church attending some sort of training session for us “leaders,” as churches are apt to call volunteers who are led like sheep to the slaughter into ministry work. I had donned my favorite white sweater, one composed of yarn that was knitted or crocheted into a pattern that allowed small rectangular spacing in between each section. I wasn’t crazy – I knew I’d be spending time around some holier-rolling-than-thou saints – therefore, I probably wore some kind of tank top underneath. (Unlike the time I wore the same sweater to my former job in California with just a bra underneath, and my female boss at the time kept glancing down during our conversation.)

Woman s Fashion Godinterest2

But back to the church basement. All of a sudden, this older geezer of a man sidled up next to me and chimed, “Are you cold? Are you cold?” Before I could even open my mouth to begin to formulate an answer, he responded for me to his own inquiry. “The reasons you’re cold we’ve already discussed,” he said, proudly referring to a discussion the teacher had just had with us members about appropriate church attire. I couldn’t tell if his statement reflected genuine grandfatherly concern for his “sister in Christ” or a kind of Pharisee-like creepiness.

Either way, I probably could’ve found some guidance for dressing in the fashion section for women on Godinterest.com, if the site would’ve existed back then. Years later, at a different church, I’d find myself being admonished a bit more gently and less directly in another ministry meeting, all because my cute white t-shirt with the “blinged-out” bedazzled cross on the front was apparently a little too fitted.

Ah well”¦church fashions may always be a point of controversy, especially in light of all the hubbub surrounding famous Christians like Erica Campbell and Meagan Good lately, two beautiful women whom I believe dress just fine for the entertainment industry. Besides, I hate it when some places of worship go overboard with talk about women “tempting their brothers to fall.” At least some are progressive enough to ban the men from wearing muscle shirts. At least they realize that some of the men’s Christian fashions we uncover can be just as provocative:

Men s Fashion Godinterest10

Okay, back from that trip to muscle-land.

My main point is that I’ve learned that dressing for church might have evolved over the years, but no matter what, just because you wear a skirt down to your ankles doesn’t mean you’re not a sinner in need of saving, and simply because a bit of dcolletage shows doesn’t mean you’re in a hand basket heading to hell.

Following the unction of the Holy Spirit guides us into what’s really proper attire for us to wear – whether it’s for a Sunday morning service, a Saturday night contemporary celebration, or any other day of the week. In the same way that God looks upon the heart, it’s more important to start there in gleaning where a person’s coming from, and not sum them up in one judgment based solely on their wardrobe.

Posted on

5 films that will make 2014 ‘the year of the Bible’

 

Paramount’s “Noah” and “God’s Not Dead” are among the top four films at the American Box Office.    And with a slate of Christian-centric films on Hollywood’s agenda, 2014 has been dubbed by industry press as the year of biblical movies.

“Son of God” | 20th Century Fox (February 2014)
In the Holy Land, the Roman occupation has produced a cauldron of oppression, anxiety and excessive taxes levied upon the Jewish people. Fearing the wrath of Roman governor Pontius Pilate (Greg Hicks), Jewish high priest Caiaphas (Adrian Schiller) tries to keep control of his people. That control is  threatened when Jesus arrives in Jerusalem, performing miracles and spreading messages of love and hope. Those who fear that Jesus will inspire a revolution decide that he must die.

“Noah” | Regency Enterprises (November 2014)
When God decides that mankind has become too sinful and must be wiped off the Earth, he chooses Noah (Russell Crowe), a pious man, for a great task. Noah must build an ark large enough to hold his wife (Jennifer Connelly), adopted daughter (Emma Watson), sons (Logan Lerman, Douglas Booth, Leo McHugh  Carroll) and their wives — plus breeding pairs of every animal. When the task is completed, Noah and his family witness God’s wrath in the form of an apocalyptic flood.

“Heaven is For Real” | Sony Pictures (April 2014)
Small-town businessman, pastor and volunteer firefighter Todd Burpo (Greg Kinnear) and his wife, Sonja (Kelly Reilly), are struggling to make ends meet during a tough year. After their young son, Colton (Connor Corum), undergoes emergency surgery, Todd and Sonja are overjoyed at the child’s miraculous recovery. However, the Burpos are unprepared for what happens next — Colton says that he went to heaven and back, and tells his parents things that he couldn’t possibly know.

“Exodus” | 20th Century Fox (December 2014)
Twentieth Century Fox has kept a tight lid on Ridley Scott’s “Exodus.” All we know is that the film is an adaptation of the biblical story of the ancient Israelite people’s liberation from Egypt. Christian Bale will star as Moses, and Sigourney Weaver will co-star. Critics won’t be able to help themselves from comparing the film to the 1956 movie “The Ten Commandments” starring Charlton Heston. The question will be whether this film can duplicate the classic’s box office success.

“Mary, Mother of Christ” | Lionsgate Films (December 2014)  
The long awaited prequel to “The Passion of The Christ” is scheduled to arrive before Christmas after a long set of delays. Under the reign of terror of Herod the Great and against all odds, Mary and Joseph survive as young parents in one of the most treacherous times in history. From Mary’s youth to her struggles as a young mother caring for her child, Jesus, up to the age of four years old. We will peer into Mary’s life at ages 8, 15, 19 and 27. (Written by Aloe Entertainment) We are determined to make the familiar story new to our eyes and our hearts. It’s as if in the past we were taught to love this family, rather than sharing their lives in big and small ways and letting a natural empathy develop. One of the visual leitmotifs we are intent on is seeing the tiny fragile element of Mary who is essentially up against doubters who want to stone her to death, a fallen angel trying to harness all his persuasive power to try and get her to doubt her faith, and a mad King named Herod who will unleash rivers of blood in his intent in finding and killing her son. We must think of Mary as this very young, very vulnerable warrior. For the first time we will see how she has to stand on her own to protect her assignment in a way that reflects the legendary courage mothers are known for protecting their own.

The increase in biblical movies is a testament to the ongoing power of those ancient narratives to capture the hearts and minds of the masses. And it also reminds us that Hollywood is driven by money more than by agendas.

The film industry is a mirror reflecting what society desires: sex, violence, and great stories with a touch of God in the mix.  

The Bible’s stories are an enduring draw, so Hollywood is doing what it has always done best—turning a buck by giving audiences what they want.

 

Posted on

How To Promote Your Christian Game Via Social Media

Blessedly, if you type the word “Christian” into the iTunes App Store, you’ll receive a boatload of results to choose from. While many of the offerings represent different versions of the Bible, there are also plenty of apps that fall into the games category that arise also, such as a very well reviewed game called “Bible Trivia” that helps people get their Jesus quotes straight and memorize verses in an interesting manner. With the popularity of TV shows like The American Bible Challenge, it’s no wonder people are taking to their iPhones and iPads to continue the fun and test their biblical acumen using mobile device games.

Apparently, the success of that “Bible Trivia” app – with its in-app purchases – along with others like it, proves that the buying public is willing to shell out hard-earned cash in order to beef up on their study of Scripture. This is great news for makers of Christian games, and if you’ve decided your calling is to use this exciting type of medium that is the gaming industry to spread God’s word all over the world, you might be wondering how to actually use social media to help bring about buzz for your new game.

Read more:  http://venturebeat.com/2014/07/12/how-to-promote-your-christian-game-via-social-media/

Sign-up:  https://godinterest.com

Posted on

Facebook Has More People than Any Major Religion Except Christianity

Written by  Michael J. Coren

The number of Facebook monthly users has surpassed the followers of Islam, and is closing in on the most numerous religion, Christianity. The Pew Research Center reports that Christianity counts 2.3 billion people among its adherents, followed by Islam with about 1.8 billion. By comparison, Facebook reports it now has 1.32 billion daily active users and 2.01 billion monthly active users as of June 2017—all supported by a staff of just 20,658 people.

Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg believes his platform could fill the void left behind by the decline of religious and civil communities in the US. Americans are becoming less religious, join fewer community groups, and report record low levels of trust in their fellow citizens. “That’s a lot of people who now need to find a sense of purpose and support somewhere else,” he said this June at a Chicago rally for creators of Facebook groups.

Zuckerberg has even approvingly cited religions role in society, perhaps implying a similar goal for Facebook. “People who go to church are more likely to volunteer and give to charity—not just because they’re religious, but because they’re part of a community,” he said in June. “A church doesn’t just come together. It has a pastor who cares for the well-being of their congregation, makes sure they have food and shelter. A little league team has a coach who motivates the kids and helps them hit better. Leaders set the culture, inspire us, give us a safety net, and look out for us.”

Facebook is growing at an order of magnitude faster than any established denomination. No major religion is expected to grow faster than 1.4% per year (Islam) over the next two decades, predicts Pew. Yet Facebook, despite rivaling them in size, has steadily grown its global user base by about 22% each year. Of course, Facebook’s expansion will slow as it increases in size (see the “law of large numbers“), but even a drastic drop in this pace means Facebook users will exceed the number of Christians before the decade is out.

As it grows, Facebook has gone so far as to change its mission statement from its focus on making “the world more open and connected” to “bring[ing] the world closer together,” Zuckerberg said in an interview with CNN Tech this June. The company’s CEO has ramped up his campaign to portray Facebook as a force for harmony, rather than division, in public life after an election season which saw the social network accelerate the spread of inaccurate news and conspiracy theories. The CEO not known for public outreach announced a 50-state US tour in January to “get out and talk to more people about how they’re living, working and thinking about the future.”

Facebook already owns three of the five largest online communities in the world: its own network, WhatsApp, and Instagram. The other two, Chinese services WeChat and TenCent, have about 2 billion users between them. To fuel this growth, Facebook has gone on a relentless acquisition spree of any platform where it sees its future audience heading next. For now, that means Facebook can sustain meteoric growth while counting about a quarter of the world’s population as its users. It shows no signs of stopping.

Godinterest is a work in progress. We do hope we get it right, and we firmly believe that getting it right means using our voice online, even on controversial topics. The Christian voice is important, and silence does no one any good. It’s worth the trouble to figure out how to do this, even if it means stumbling along the way.

We must no longer be children, tossed to and fro and blown about by every wind of doctrine, by people’s trickery, by their craftiness in deceitful scheming. But speaking the truth in love, we must grow up in every way into him who is the head, into Christ, from whom the whole body, joined and knit together by every ligament with which it is equipped, as each part is working properly, promotes the body’s growth in building itself up in love. (Ephesians 4:14-16)

 

Posted on

Anti-Christian Bigotry on the Rise, Godinterest Attacked!

war-on-christians

LONDON, ENGLAND – Hackers attempted unsuccessfully to disrupt Godinterest.com from April – August 2014 with a series of attacks that continued over a period of 4 months. The hackers used a  denial-of-service (DDoS) attack using multiple systems to flood the bandwidth or resources of Godinterest. Flooding our system with traffic and successfully  took the website offline for half an hour each time.

The attack, while achieving nothing significant, was the most successful attack against the Godinterest website since being featured in the Huffington Post, Evening Standard, Washington Times, Jezebel  and Wikipedia. Previously, the website’s mail system was hacked which resulted in the loss of user data.

Godinterest places a premium on security, which protects the site and its data, but the website is under constant attack. Hackers often attempt to bring down the news, prayers, and Bible portions of Godinterest, presumably because they are opposed to the mission.Among those who work for the organization, the evidence is clear. The forces of evil are hard at work against all those who share the Catholic message. From Pope Francis and the Vatican, to our bishops, to Catholic Online itself, evil works tirelessly to destroy good.

Evil is enjoying some success online as Godinterest faces increasing censorship of its news and Bible readings.

What is happening is deeply upsetting and is a result of the growing trend to suppress Christian speech across the internet and on social media.

Christians who value Godinterest and freedom of speech are encouraged to support religious freedom.

Godinterest is a work in progress. We do hope we get it right, and we firmly believe that getting it right means using our voice online, even on controversial topics. The Christian voice is important, and silence does no one any good. It’s worth the trouble to figure out how to do this, even if it means stumbling along the way.

We must no longer be children, tossed to and fro and blown about by every wind of doctrine, by people’s trickery, by their craftiness in deceitful scheming. But speaking the truth in love, we must grow up in every way into him who is the head, into Christ, from whom the whole body, joined and knit together by every ligament with which it is equipped, as each part is working properly, promotes the body’s growth in building itself up in love. (Ephesians 4:14-16)

 

 

Posted on

Teaching Christianity in Christian Schools Is ‘Extremist’?

Updated October 28th 2007 –   A Christian organisation has been banned from a church-run primary school following complaints by non Christian parents who claim their children were being “exposed to potentially damaging ideology”   and “extremist” views about sin.

Some parents apparently complained that their children were told that if they don’t believe in God, “they would not go to a good place when they died.”

Wayne Harris, national director of the Christian charity Crossteach, denies these allegations and said;

 “Wherever possible we work in partnership with local churches and we reflect their teaching, always aiming to be sensitive to the local context, and recognizing that churches vary. We teach mainstream Christianity,” Wayne Harris, national director of the Christian charity Crossteach.”

“In 16 years of Christian schools work no teacher has ever raised a concern that something has been said that could be interpreted as in any way ‘hateful’ or ‘extremist’ and we strongly refute this current parental allegation. On the contrary, schools have consistently expressed appreciation for the contribution that Crossteach has made and for the quality of the work,” Harris added.

As  The London Telegraph  reported that another parent who wasn’t named said,

“I do know some of the children have been upset by what they have heard. No one minds Nativity plays and Bible stories but considering most of the parents at the school aren’t practicing Christians, I think the feeling is that it’s all too much.”

Furthermore the  The Guardian  reported:

“We recognize and respect the school’s Christian values but think there is a brand of Christianity that is abusing that respect. The basis of [our] complaint relates purely to concerns over the welfare and safeguarding of children who we believe are being exposed to potentially damaging ideology.”

The headmaster of the school said that he is “deeply saddened” to be cutting ties with the Crossteach Christian group, but that however.

“I do not believe Crossteach has done anything wrong,” Turvey added. “They do not deserve the tarnishing of their good name and allegations of extremism that have taken place over the last few months.”

Although the faith school St. Johns has a mandate to promote the Church of England and Christianity, it’s still has an obligation to follow Department for Education DfE guidelines when it comes to non-discrimination and respect and tolerance for other faiths, The Guardian noted, which in this case presumably superseded the Christian groups biblical bible teachings.

Conservative Christian parents have also clashed with Church of England schools. Nigel and Sally Rowe said last month that they’re considering taking legal actions against a school in Portsmouth after officials  dismissed their concerns  regarding allowing transgender children.

The Rowes have said that their son was left confused after a boy in his class began wearing a dress to school.

“Our children first said ‘they’re a boy and they’re my friend, and now I’ve got [to] say she instead of he,'” the couple explained.

The school said it must follow guidelines and “acknowledge a transgendered person’s [so-called] true gender”.

The Rowe’s stated that officials “should have provided support for the transgender child in a more discrete way with people who are trained professionals.

Posted on

Use Your Sense of Style to Launch a Big Fashion Career

LuckyMag.comLuck Mag |  by Paula  Neal Mooney

Back in the 1970s, my mother took a sense of pride in being able to use her Singer sewing machine to sew the Tartan plaid school uniform skirts that my sister and I were required to wear for attendance at St. Edmund’s Parochial Elementary School. All these years later, I still remember how she would purchase special labels from Jerome’s – a fabric store on the south side of Chicago – that read special little things like, “Sewn with love for you.”

Mommy obviously had a special knack and talent for selecting fabrics, laying them against precut patterns or even her own designs, pinning and cutting them out and sewing them until they became beautiful clothes that could rival the structure of many garments we see in retail stores today. Yet and still, as many hours as she spent in that back room creating everything from play clothes to school uniforms to our prom dresses, my mother seemed to never reach her apex in terms of that specific styling talent.

How to launch your own fashion career

Therefore, if you are reading this article and something about it piques your interest, perhaps you too embody a specific styling talent or possess designer skills that could be brought to the world at large and help you launch your own successful fashion career.

Even if you don’t sew your own clothes, you might have a knack for sketching designs and could potentially launch a career that allows others to do the dirty sewing work. Or, you may prefer to purchase ready made clothes from various retail locations and put them together in stunning outfits that look great on various body types. If so, thankfully you could become a stylist, and it’s a good thing that celebrity stylists are very popular these days.

The best news is that living in the Information Age is quite the blessing, at least compared to what it could’ve been like as a 1950s-era housewife living in Boise, Idaho. Just imagine trying to launch a fashion career when you only have snail mail or dead tree media or an automobile at your disposal for getting the word out about your fashion. These days, you can use sites like Pinterest or even its Christian cousin,  Godinterest, to upload photos of your own fashions or outfits that you styled to try and bring attention to your designs.

Read more here!

Godinterest

Sharing the life changing Gospel message found in Jesus Christ

Skip to content ↓

 

As seen on