Treasure in Heaven....by way of these plastic buckets.

The Intuitive celebrated his 8th birthday about a week ago. He had decided that he wanted to go to a Christian concert that was being held nearby on his birthday. It was a major event and had several prominent CCM bands playing.

Winterjam--is what they called it.

The kids had fun and, more importantly, The Intuitive was excited and happy to be able to see "rock stars". The Intuitive's musical tastes lean toward metal/alternative/very loud.....and yes, he's only 8. I foresee this becoming an issue later. ;-)

Anyway....the kids were happy and thought the whole thing was awesome.

I held my tongue and later told DH that I was done attending Christian concerts. I just can't watch them anymore without cringing on the inside.

The weird combination of 40 year old men writhing on stages and trying to pump up the crowd and then attempting to make it a "God" thing.....I don't know....it's just become too much for me to handle and process without becoming sick.

The entrance fee was $10 per person. The venue it was held in can typically hold up to 21,000 people. I would say that 90% of the stadium was packed. 19,000 people in attendance=$190,000. Add in the VIP section that cost $50 a pop=another $5,000.

Add in the hawking of CD's by the emcee in between each band 1,000 CD's at about $10 each=$10,000.

Add in concert T-shirt sales...conservatively....1,000 at $20 each=$20,000

So, let's see....that puts the revenue at around $225,000....and that's probably a conservative number.

Imagine my shock when halfway through the concert the emcee announces that they going to taking up a "love offering" to defray expenses for meeting at this venue, which is larger than the venue they were at last year. He announces that he thinks that about $5 per person isn't an overly high expectation, but if someone could give more....like $20, $30, $50, or even $100 that would be awesome.

19,000 x $5=$95,000...+$225,000=$320,000

$320,000.....in one night....with constant hounding and guilt and manipulation.

$320,000 x 40 concert dates=$12,800,000.....that's almost 13 million dollars....and it's just a rough estimate.

Keep in mind that in between sets, "commercials" are being played promoting things like Camp Electric, a music camp for youth to train with CCM artists.....to the tune of $749-$799. According to the registration info that $749 gets a camper a room with three other campers. 4 kids in one room at $749=$2996 per room.

That doesn't cover airfare and transportation to the camp.

If Camp Electric isn't your style.....maybe you could take a cruise with other CCM groups to the tune of $1062-$6831 per person.

Perhaps it's obvious why I was feeling sick by the end of WinterJam.

There was a time when I would have thought something like WinterJam was incredible. I would have rocked out to the music and Amen'ed the manipulative speaker who WinterJam uses as their "pastor".

I would have thought it was all very cool and spiritual and motivating.

Now, it makes me want to punch someone in the eye.

While part of my frustration could be chalked up to simply being older, I think most of it comes from the sheer contrast of talk about God being mixed up in a never-ending, self-promoting, capitalistic push to sell CD's and concert tickets and worship camps.

Oh ...and speakers who use phrases like "that's wack" or "got hooked up" in an effort to seem cool annoy me. Plus.....those phrases are about a decade past being relevant. Teenagers don't use them anymore. And...if you're a middle-aged white guy....quit trying to appropriate urban, hip-hop lingo.

It's sad....really, really sad.

How Do I Look?

I had learned through PBS a few years back that there had been a female Pharaoh in Egypt. Her name was Queen Hatshepsut. She reigned for 21 years. Once she died, great efforts were made to erase her from history by destroying anything that mentioned her. Hieroglyphs were chiseled clean of her name.

Egypt has just confirmed that they have identified a mummy as being Queen Hatshepsut. There was great excitement and intrigue about this unique person in Egyptian history.

Do you know what ABC used as their quote from Dr. Zahi Hawass in their nightly news program?

"Well, she wasn't a pretty woman.."

um...OK...thanks for that scientific and cultural insight

Uncharacteristic Rant

I do it so seldomly...I should be allowed one once in awhile.

So, I'm surfing through a blog, which I had first commented on a few days ago, and come across a post about how a godly wife is supposed to act and react to disagreement.

I knew from the title that it's not my kind of thing, but hey..what's life without a little danger? I read it. I barely kept my head from exploding.

First of all, why do men think that they are the ones who should be giving women advice on how to be godly wives? They have no experience at it. They have no time-tested tips to pass along. They have no understanding of the emotion attached to such statements. Plus, it seems a little self-serving to make sure that your wife is lining up with your opinions by playing the "God" card and reminding women on how they "ought" to behave.

Secondly, it has been my experience that churches that spend so much time focused on delineating specific gender roles are usually missing the bigger picture. It becomes such a heated and drawn-out issue that seeking Jesus tends to get lost in the fray. Or worse yet, a picture of what a "godly" wife looks like takes on a life of its own and begins to determine clothing, hairstyles, and hobbies.

How about we teach people how to love one another and forgive each other, harboring no ill will towards others. Better yet, how about we teach people how to follow Jesus with all of their being. Even better, why don't we focus on evangelism and reaching others for Christ?

Then, once we get some of the basics down, let's revisit the topic of submission.

That's my contribution to off-the-cuff ranting in the blogosphere. Enjoy.

Petty Pet Peeve

Pet peeve: People who don't return shopping carts to the front of the store, or in one of the MANY shopping cart return corrals.

true story:

The other day the kids and I were unloading some things from Wal-Mart into the car. I finished filling the trunk of the car, and we walked to the row of cars behind us, putting the cart into the return corral. At the same time, a family of four grown-ups finished loading their car and looked around for a place to put the empty cart. Their SUV was parked right next to the empty cart return. It was literally 12 inches from the side of their car. I watched in wonder as the man looked around, intensely searching for a place to put the cart. Seeing a grassy median between parking rows, already overflowing with abandoned carts which were randomly shoved onto it, the man walks 20 feet from where he is, rather than use the cart return that is in the SPACE RIGHT NEXT TO HIM!

Was he confused? Did he think the unlabeled, grassy area was the real cart return, and the one with all the bars and the giant sign with a picture of a cart on it was some sort of government trick? When he saw me put our cart in the cart return RIGHT NEXT TO HIM, did he think that I was an idiot for putting it there?.....because obviously there only 3 carts in the cart return, whereas the median had about 20. Was I some sort of anarchist going against the current of popular culture in his eyes?

Obviously, everyone else who was too lazy to walk 20 feet to the VERY CLOSE BY cart return, had left their carts on the grassy median, but I am assuming that it was at least closer to them. Although, what do I know? Maybe there is a whole class of people out there who is more interested in working harder to do things the wrong way, than in seizing the opportunity to do the right thing with ease.

I worry for our future! :-