Saying Goodbye to "Hello Barbie"
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Thursday, July 16, 2015 | |
If Barbie dolls bother you, get ready to be really bothered. The iconic American doll, first introduced in 1959, has achieved mega status on a global scale. More than a billion Barbies have been sold in 150 countries. In a toy career spanning 56 years, Barbie has survived seas of stormy controversy for being too sexy, too blond, and too inappropriate for young children. But get ready for a new wave of controversy. The latest generation of Barbies will be equipped with Wi-Fi and speech recognition. Meaning little girls (who have always talked to their dollies) will now be able to have them talk back. Intelligently. According to Mattel, the doll’s maker, “Hello Barbie” uses speech recognition and over time, actually learns a child’s preferences. Pushing a button on Barbie’s belt buckle records the conversation and sends it over Wi-Fi. At a toy fair in New York City a spokeswoman asked Barbie, “What should I be when I grow up?" The response related to an earlier part of their conversation: "Well, you told me you like being on stage, so maybe a dancer?" In theory, it’s all harmless fun. But I agree with Susan Linn, Director of the Campaign for a Commercial-Free Childhood. "Kids using 'Hello Barbie' aren't only talking to a doll; they are talking directly to a toy conglomerate whose only interest in them is financial." Then, too, there’s my own observation of Barbie’s demonstrated history of valuing cuteness over character. Not to worry, says a Mattel spokesperson. The company is only giving girls what they have always asked for: having a conversation with Barbie. Yet in a Christ-centered world view, giving girls or boys what they want—just because they want it—has never been wise. Or biblical. Besides—shouldn’t we be teaching them more about having a conversation with God? When it comes to “Hello Barbie,” I think it’s time we said goodbye. |
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Concerned About Theology
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Thursday, July 09, 2015 | |
I am concerned about the theology being taught in today's evangelical churches. Notice I am not complaining about our poorly attended prayer meeting services. I am not expressing concern about worship music that glorifies the musicians, or outreaches that never mention the gospel. I am not attacking our youth groups that are increasingly as much about pizza as they are biblical truth. Nor am I bemoaning the death of the Sunday evening service. No, I am concerned about the theology being taught in today's evangelical churches. Exhibit One Exhibit Two Exhibit Three Increasingly, 1 Peter 4:17 stands out as it reminds us judgement must indeed, “begin with the household of God.” And we haven't even touched on Christian books. Like a devotional I've seen that doesn't even mention God until more than 30 pages into the book. Or a major publisher's biography of a Christian missionary that never ever mentions a thing about conversions. I have not gone out of my way to find these troubling experiences. But they are here. They are not good. They are, I fear, the tip of the ice berg.
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A Hero Remembered--Wally Volkman
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Thursday, July 02, 2015 | |
Their mission was over. The plane, racing away after bombing oil refineries in Blech hammer, Germany, had just one final obstacle to clear—a lone flak gun in Hungary. It was not to be. When a piece of shrapnel severed a critical fuel line, Wally Volkman remembered hoping the plane could make it to the Yugoslavian border. The captain finally gave the order to bail and Wally jolted out the door of the bomber at 20,000 feet. When his parachute failed to open Wally began to panic. “Time goes slower than you’d think,” he told me. “I remember pondering how I would soon be in heaven, that I would never get to marry my sweetheart, June.” At about 1000 feet--at the very last possible moment--the chute finally opened, gently landing Wally between two trees. The dramatic dive may have sacred him half to death, but it likely also prevented his death. The Copilot who jumped out just after Wally was fatally shot out of the sky as his parachute—an easy target—floated downward. Pondering his options, Wally hid himself in a mound of roadside brush until a friendly partisan discovered him that night, offering to secretly transport him in a wooden wagon piled high with hay. He was reunited with his surviving crew members—after enduring a pitchfork search of the hay wagon by German soldiers. For six weeks, Wally and his crew worked their way through Yugoslavia, traveling 300 miles on foot—mostly at night. Finally, they met up with Allied forces at the Adriatic Sea. Wally reflects, “I’m thankful to my mother who prayed for me all the time. The ironic thing was, at the same thing, my brother—a paratrooper—went missing at the Battle of the Bulge. He, too, survived and went on to become a minister.” In the years since I interviewed Wally, he has passed away. But I'm convinced there's a lot more to his story. And because this World War 2 vet loved Jesus even more than he loved his country, I'm looking forward to getting all the details when time shall be no more. Until then, here is my salute to First Lieutenant Wally Volkman—an America Hero. |
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Dying--The Art of Reading
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Thursday, June 25, 2015 | |
People who read are a dying breed. Fact is, if you read much of anything, you are in a distinct minority in America....just because you read. |
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Praying to the Real God
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Thursday, June 18, 2015 | |
Have you met my crazy friend, Jack? Rides in lots of taxis. Has a passion for witnessing to Muslims. He told me about his latest encounter.
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