Heaven may have just gotten funnier

LifeChurch.tv has done it again.

It started with their church franchise. With more than 10 locations everyone is guaranteed to get "powerful worship and a life-changing message."

Then came their revolutionary "money-back guarantee." If you tithe to LifeChurch.tv for 3 months, and "God doesn’t hold true to His promises of blessings", they will refund your money.

Then LifeChurch.tv began saving virtual souls when they built a church in Second Life. Earlier this year they began worshiping and teaching to the avatar community.

Now, LifeChurch.tv is making history once again, with a first step toward saving the animated community.

It began when LifeChurch.tv received information from God, via a multimillion dollar marketing campaign, that The Simpsons Movie would be a huge cultural phenomenon.

"We were watching the Simpsons, trying to figure out what we could use for a message series when it hit us," said Hugh Jass, a member of the LifeChurch.tv creative team. "Springfield is totally undeserved by the church community."

And that is when plans first started being made to reach the animated community by putting a LifeChurch.tv church in the fictional town of Springfield.

The first thing LifeChurch.tv did was hire an animated Teaching Pastor.

"I was very excited when I got the call from LifeChurch.tv,"said animated Teaching Pastor, I.P. Freely. "The current church serving Springfield is really outdated. Most of the residents in Springfield are what we would call 'seekers', but the church is not very 'seeker friendly'. They sing outdated hyms to organ music. The pastor wears a robe. And where is the powerpoint and the IMAG [image magnification]?"

LifeChurch.tv's approach will be totally different. Not only will the service include updated worship music, but the teaching will be relevant to the community.

"It is obvious that the community of Springfield needs teaching that is going to meet their needs. They need messages about marriage, parenting and sex. These are the kind of things that bring people to church," said Mr. Freely. "And the worship will rock. Because we are an animated church we won't just perform David Crowder songs, but we can have an animated David Crowder singing David Crowder songs. The next week, Mercy Me. I don't think there will be a better worship set in any animated, virtual or real church in this country."

And LifeChurch.tv thinks they will draw people not just from Springfield, but from surrounding communities like Shelbyville, Salem, and Burlington.

"This is just the beginning," said LifeChurch.tv representative Maya Buttreeks. "Most cartoons die without hearing the Gospel message. Some live in purgatory [reruns] but there are many more than can still be reached. When we put a LifeChurch.tv in Bikini Bottom, then we will be making real progress."

Chris Rice once asked, "What if cartoons got saved?" Thanks to LifeChurch.tv it's not a matter of "what if" but a matter of "when."

This article reprinted, with permission, from my imagination.

i need a hobby

Thanks to Audra I spent too much time today simpsonizing my family. Now I will be up all night doing it to famous people and other family.

on parenting

"Parents are often so busy with the physical rearing of children that they miss the glory of parenthood, just as the grandeur of the trees is lost when raking leaves."
        Marcelene Cox

i could stop whenever i wanted

58%How Addicted to Blogging Are You?

a little prayer

I don't usually put personal prayer request up on my blog, but today I am.

My name is Chad, and I am a dentalphobe.

Today I have a two hour dental appointment. From 2-4 I will be at the dentist. I considered the full sedation dentistry, but Val wasn't comfortable with the way that worked (giving you a pill at home before the visit) and we didn't find any very close, plus our dentist have been very good to us, so today I will bite the bullet (sort of speak) and finally get things taken care of. I hope you are doing something better this afternoon.

for what it's worth

Here are a couple of things from around other blogs I found interesting.

Idolatry of Excellence? from Mary

Sure, we spouted it off as some grand way to honor the Lord with the best of everything, but it’s quite possible that the truer motive was to appear great in the eyes of man. We wanted excellent children’s ministry programs, excellent dramas, excellent retreats, excellent guest speakers, excellent ministries, excellent decorations, excellent messages, and, of course, very excellent worship music. Why? So more people would come? So we could have entertaining alternatives to theater and rock concerts? So we could pat ourselves on the backs because of how much we have it all together now (God must be pleased)?

(HT: grace)

How to Survive Church from Matt

I am very conscious that although much has been written on emerging churches, and a moderate amount has been written on churchless Christians who forsake community altogether, very little has been written about those of you who don’t fit conventional church but choose, for whatever reason, to stay within it. I think a significant reason for this is that the emerging church conversation is heavily weighed towards Missional ecclesiology. We mavericks simply don’t have as much to offer in that area do we? Other than an ecclesiology of endurance!

(HT: cindy)

Here's to Nothing! from Brant

Turns out, when you have time to do what, culturally-speaking, is "nothing" (like walking the baby around, chatting with neighbors, letting the kids play together) neighbors get to know each other. It doesn't happen when everyone's at breakneck speed and, when home, exhausted.

selling your (dead) body

$4290.00The Cadaver Calculator - Find out how much your body is worth. From Mingle2 - Free Online Dating

gone fish'n

Today Cooper went fishing for the firs time ever with Grandpa and Granpa's friend Claudie.

on vacation

chasing Lincoln

Today we took a trip to Springfiled, Illinois. We visited Lincoln's home. Then we out to Lincoln's tomb.

Lastly we went to The Abraham Lincoln Presidential Library and Museum.

The museum is amazing. I could spend a whole day there. I would love to go back sometime when I didn't have the kids in tow and spend some more time at the museum. If you are ever near Springfield and have any interest in Abraham Lincoln or the civil war it is worth stopping by.

It is amazing to think about those events in history and try to imagine the thoughts and emotions that these people must have had. It was a touching and wonderful experience. Our Lincoln got a little confused by all the people using his name. Someday he will be able to go back and understand what happened. Know more about the man who he is named after.



Thank you Mr. Lincoln.

7 books

Well, I don't really read seven books at once, but I decided to try to my best to participate in Grace's 7 books I'm reading

So here it goes.

1.bought on vacation - Stealing Lincoln's Body by Thomas J. Craughwell

I bought this book at the gift shop at Lincoln's home in Springfield, IL. I just started reading it. So far it has been very interesting about the assasination of Lincoln, the history of counterfeiting in America and the birth of the Secret Service.

2. recently loaned out - The Forgotten Ways by Alan Hirsch.

This book help me put words around some of my feelings and gave me insight into what others are doing to be the church. It read somewhat like a text book at times, which actually worked for me, but for someone not really interested in the subject I think it would be a tough read.

3. just finished - How (Not) to Speak of God by Peter Rollins

I thought this book was great. It really stretched me and opened my thinking of God, the Church and spirituatliy.

4. on order from Amazon - Jesus Has Left the Building by Paul Vieira

I had some money from a Amazon gift from my birthday and spent a lot of time looking at what book I might order. Settled on this one. Should get it when we return home from vacation.

5. in the kids bathroom - Inconsolable: How I Threw My Mental Health Out With the Diapers by Marrit Ingman

This is a book my wife had read and said, "you need to read this." The chapter about the Picture People is worth the read. I keep in the kids bathroom and read some durring bathtime.

6. hidden treasure - A History of the World in 6 Glasses by Tom Standage

Take an extrodinary trip through history based on the predominate beverage. Beer, Wine, Spirits, Coffee, Tea, Cola.

7. one of my favorites - Messy Spirituality by Mike Yaconelli

This is one of those books I still like to go back and read from time to time. When I first got it I could not put it down and read it in one sitting, I had no idea how much this book would speak to me. Every once in a while you need a reminder that despite how messed up you might be, God still loves you.