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Poker chips with religious messages? Golf balls with scripture passages? Dead Sea Bath Salts?

Christians are selling their faith, from coffee mugs to games to scripture mints. Retailers like Wal-Mart are welcoming them and pushing their merchandise.

But not all Christians are happy about it. Why, they ask, did Jesus tell the rich man to give away everything he owned? Is it not easier for a camel to pass through the eye of a needle than a rich man to gain heaven?

The proposals, meant for the pope to consider in a future document on the Eucharist, also dealt with whether Communion should be denied to Catholic politicians who support laws that contradict church teaching, such as the right to abortion, as well as the plight of Catholics who divorce and remarry without getting an annulment.

Some liberal Catholics and church reform groups say more men would join the priesthood if they were allowed to marry, and several bishops at the synod raised the issue of whether so-called "viri probati" or married men of proven virtue could be ordained

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Police said 53 protesters were arrested as people hurled stones, smashed windows and tried to storm St. George Church. Protesters also set a police car on fire and wrecked eight other cars, the Interior Ministry said in a statement.

The Interior Ministry described the protesters as "fanatic elements" who "escalated a negative reaction to a play." The ministry said about 5,000 Muslims marched to the church after Friday noon prayers at mosques.

The riot was sparked by the distribution of a DVD of a play that was performed at the church two years ago. The play, "I Was Blind But Now I Can See," tells the story of a young Christian who converts to Islam and becomes disillusioned.

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Abraham climbing the hill with his son at Moriah, Job scratching his boils under the hot sun, David hiding in a cave, Elijah moping in a desert, Moses, pleading for a new job description  all these heroes experienced crisis moments that sorely tempted them to judge God as uncaring, powerless, or even hostile. Confused and in the dark, they face a turning point: whether to turn away embittered or step forward in faith. In the end, all chose the path of trust, and for this reason we remember them as giants of the faith.

From Reaching for the Invisible God by Philip Yancey, page 54

I've often remarked that Sears needs a makeover. Not because it is a bad thing that they are positioned to serve the Boomers, it's just because that demographic will be declining, not increasing. If they want long term sustainability, they need to be able to serve people of all generations.

Much like the church.

With that confession, 63-year-old Karl Clemens became the first priest in Canada to openly declare his homosexuality.

Clemens - a priest for 33 years who retired from the Kingston diocese seven years ago - now lives in Toronto, calling Church Street in the city's gay village his parish.

"I don't have a parish," Clemens told 360 Vision in a documentary that aired last night on VisionTV. "My parish is the street - the highways, the byways, the bars."

The soft-spoken priest said he refuses to worry about the consequences of coming out, adding a friend advised him this may be the time to do it.

"There's probably something more that God's got for you to do that you can't do if you don't do this first," Clemens said.

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Bill Anderson, president of the 2,200-member Christian Booksellers Association, said sales of Christian books, music, DVDs, apparel and gifts now exceed $4 billion a year. "More and more, churches have become gathering places that offer a panoply of services, and one of them is retail," he said.

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In the temple courts he found men selling cattle, sheep and doves, and others sitting at tables exchanging money. So he made a whip out of cords, and drove all from the temple area, both sheep and cattle; he scattered the coins of the money changers and overturned their tables. To those who sold doves he said, "Get these out of here! How dare you turn my Father's house into a market (John 2:14-16 NIV)!

Here's your discussion starter:
"Imagine that there's no hell - would you still be here tonite?" - talk amongst yourselves.

Hope all goes well!

Via

Commentary, Jasmyne Cannick,
New America Media, Oct 11, 2005

Editor's Note: The new black church is marked by its superstar pastors, multi-million dollar budgets and newfound affinity for the Republican Party.

"We're not just a church, we're an international corporation. We're not just a bumbling bunch of preachers who can't talk and all we're doing is baptizing babies. I deal with the White House. I deal with Tony Blair. I deal with presidents around this world. I pastor a multimillion-dollar congregation. You've got to put me on a different scale than the little black preacher sitting over there that's supposed to be just getting by because the people are suffering."
--Bishop Eddie Long, New Birth Missionary Church, Lithonia, Ga., August 2005.

The sad thing is, he's right.

Today's New Black Church is the offspring of the civil rights era, but can easily be identified by its debatable and sometimes laughable theology, superficiality, greed, materialism, heavy involvement in politics, tricked-out arena sized church, 10,000 or more member congregation and of course its superstar pastor.

Plainly put, today's black church is not your grandma's church.