by Jason Joyner | Aug 11, 2008 | Blog, ministry, missions, Olympics, prayer, world events
If your house is like ours, the Olympics will be on television frequently over the next few weeks. I’ve been critical on this blog about China and its human rights record and the way Christians especially are treated. However, I view the Olympics at this point as an opportunity. I am disappointed that China continues to clamp down on its people and expression, as evidenced by various news stories in the last couple of weeks, but I don’t expect a tiger to change its stripes without divine intervention.
That is the opportunity presented to all of us enjoying the Olympics. I think Christians can take this chance to really pray and intercede for China and the other nations mentioned during the Olympics. I am very globally minded, but I understand that people in general aren’t thinking about various countries around the world. Use the Olympics as inspiration to pray for countries as you see events happen. A swimmer from Zimbabwe? A Brazilian beach volleyball player? A Sudanese track star? If the Holy Spirit stirs your heart, take time to pray for these nations. A great resource is Operation World, which has a nation a day for prayer. Of course it has very good information on China. We can especially pray for China while it is highlighted over the next weeks. If Beijing wanted to showcase itself and the country to the world, let’s pray that the Light of the world will illuminate the nation and touch the needy souls.
If you want to find a particular country on Operation World, just google the country’s name along with Operation World and it should come up easily.
Take this great opportunity presented to the church, to send prayer on behalf of other countries and peoples around the world from wherever we are!
by Jason Joyner | Aug 11, 2008 | Blog, ministry, missions, Olympics, prayer, world events
If your house is like ours, the Olympics will be on television frequently over the next few weeks. I’ve been critical on this blog about China and its human rights record and the way Christians especially are treated. However, I view the Olympics at this point as an opportunity. I am disappointed that China continues to clamp down on its people and expression, as evidenced by various news stories in the last couple of weeks, but I don’t expect a tiger to change its stripes without divine intervention.
That is the opportunity presented to all of us enjoying the Olympics. I think Christians can take this chance to really pray and intercede for China and the other nations mentioned during the Olympics. I am very globally minded, but I understand that people in general aren’t thinking about various countries around the world. Use the Olympics as inspiration to pray for countries as you see events happen. A swimmer from Zimbabwe? A Brazilian beach volleyball player? A Sudanese track star? If the Holy Spirit stirs your heart, take time to pray for these nations. A great resource is Operation World, which has a nation a day for prayer. Of course it has very good information on China. We can especially pray for China while it is highlighted over the next weeks. If Beijing wanted to showcase itself and the country to the world, let’s pray that the Light of the world will illuminate the nation and touch the needy souls.
If you want to find a particular country on Operation World, just google the country’s name along with Operation World and it should come up easily.
Take this great opportunity presented to the church, to send prayer on behalf of other countries and peoples around the world from wherever we are!
by Jason Joyner | Aug 5, 2008 | Blog, CBA, christian fiction, fantasy, speculative fiction, Stephenie Meyer, vampires
Two weeks ago the Christian Sci-fi and Fantasy blog tour featured DragonLight by Donita K. Paul. The question was raised if dragons were an acceptable subject matter for Christian fiction authors. I had some good response, and everyone seemed to agree that dragons could be used as good or evil depending on context and not contradicting something clear in the Bible.
My question of the week plays off of this topic and the hot book for the weekend – the fourth book in the Twilight series by Stephenie Meyer, Breaking Dawn. For those who have been in a cave recently, the Twilight series is the hottest thing in youth fiction that has crossed boundaries into all ages. It features a love story between teens Bella and Edward. Bella is a clumsy, ordinary girl, while Edward is a typical hero – fantastically beautiful, pleasantly scented, and he’s a vampire. Oh, that last part may not be so typical…
The question: Can vampires or related creatures (werewolves, etc.) be a viable component of Christian fiction? Specifically, can vampires be considered good? Would it be acceptable to have “Christian” vampires?
Is there a conflict with vampires generally considered from an evil origin? If they are undead, how can they fit in a worldview that entails heaven and hell?
I didn’t realize until searching Amazon for this post how many vampire novels are out there. I know of one considered Christian: Never Ceese, by Sue Dent, who had werewolf and vampire leads. I didn’t read it when it was featured for a blog tour, I just posted the promotional info. Apparently there is a sequel (Forever Richard) coming out soon.
What say you? I just started reading Twilight, so I am far from knowing what Meyer does with the characters, and I haven’t really thought about this before. Can it be done? Should it be done? Fantasy has the advantage of being able to re-write rules when world-building, but are there rules for Christian fiction that shouldn’t be crossed, other than heresy and explicit depictions of sin?
(BTW, my wife happened to be at our local Barnes and Noble on Friday night when the release party for Breaking Dawn was going on. Wow. There were a ton of folks, with many girls and young women decked out in prom outfits or Gothic/black clothing, along with the scattered classic vampire. For sleepy Idaho Falls, there was a lot of interest. Quite the stir caused by a stay-at-home mom in Arizona!)
by Jason Joyner | Aug 5, 2008 | Blog, CBA, christian fiction, fantasy, speculative fiction, Stephenie Meyer, vampires
Two weeks ago the Christian Sci-fi and Fantasy blog tour featured DragonLight by Donita K. Paul. The question was raised if dragons were an acceptable subject matter for Christian fiction authors. I had some good response, and everyone seemed to agree that dragons could be used as good or evil depending on context and not contradicting something clear in the Bible.
My question of the week plays off of this topic and the hot book for the weekend – the fourth book in the Twilight series by Stephenie Meyer, Breaking Dawn. For those who have been in a cave recently, the Twilight series is the hottest thing in youth fiction that has crossed boundaries into all ages. It features a love story between teens Bella and Edward. Bella is a clumsy, ordinary girl, while Edward is a typical hero – fantastically beautiful, pleasantly scented, and he’s a vampire. Oh, that last part may not be so typical…
The question: Can vampires or related creatures (werewolves, etc.) be a viable component of Christian fiction? Specifically, can vampires be considered good? Would it be acceptable to have “Christian” vampires?
Is there a conflict with vampires generally considered from an evil origin? If they are undead, how can they fit in a worldview that entails heaven and hell?
I didn’t realize until searching Amazon for this post how many vampire novels are out there. I know of one considered Christian: Never Ceese, by Sue Dent, who had werewolf and vampire leads. I didn’t read it when it was featured for a blog tour, I just posted the promotional info. Apparently there is a sequel (Forever Richard) coming out soon.
What say you? I just started reading Twilight, so I am far from knowing what Meyer does with the characters, and I haven’t really thought about this before. Can it be done? Should it be done? Fantasy has the advantage of being able to re-write rules when world-building, but are there rules for Christian fiction that shouldn’t be crossed, other than heresy and explicit depictions of sin?
(BTW, my wife happened to be at our local Barnes and Noble on Friday night when the release party for Breaking Dawn was going on. Wow. There were a ton of folks, with many girls and young women decked out in prom outfits or Gothic/black clothing, along with the scattered classic vampire. For sleepy Idaho Falls, there was a lot of interest. Quite the stir caused by a stay-at-home mom in Arizona!)
by Jason Joyner | Aug 2, 2008 | Beijing, Blog, China, Olympics, world events
I am so shocked.
Beijing has had trouble with keeping its promise about human rights improvements during the Olympic Games:
“By continuing to persecute and punish those who speak out for human rights, the Chinese authorities have lost sight of the promises they made when they were granted the Games seven years ago,” said Roseann Rife, Amnesty’s Asia-Pacific deputy director.
Read more in this MSNBC story. Really, it is amazing.
