Link of the Day :: MacArthur v. Driscoll v. Rhoades!

My buddies and I used to love watching ECW wrestling back in college.  They became famous for amazing matches with three competitors facing off against each other that they called a “Three Way Dance”.  They were great!

Well, it seems like we’ve got ourselves a good old fashioned three way dance going on in the Christian Blogosphere.

I introduced you to Todd Rhoades a couple of weeks ago (from MondayMorningInsight).  Well, apparently Todd commented about a little tiff that John MacArthur was having with Mark Driscoll about Driscoll using words that MacArthur thinks are a bit too dirty.

Next thing you know MacArthur’s on some radio show and Todd gets dragged into the middle of the fight.  Here’s a brief look at some of the transcript (the rest is available over at MMI)

PE:  …Todd Rhoades seems to be coming to the defense of what you had to say about Mark Driscoll.  He says, “Just a question… I’m assuming here that ‘grunge’ people need Jesus.  (I hope I’m correct).  Who will better reach them?  Mark Driscoll or John MacArthur?  Let’s take it a step further… who IS currently reaching them?  Driscoll or MacArthur?” Then he concludes by saying, “All I’m saying is… John, man…”, he’s talking directly to you.  I don’t know if you’ve read this, Dr. MacArthur…

JM:  No, I haven’t.  What’s his name again?

PE:  His name is Todd Rhoades.

JM:  OK

PE:  MondayMorningInsight.  I would never call you John as he’s doing, so please understand…

JM:  No, please do.

PE:  On, no, no, no… I’m just quoting from him… saying, “All I’m saying is, John, man… don’t make me choose.  Why does it have to be an either/or?” He says, “You work at the work God has given you; and let Mark reach the people God hasn’t gifted you in reaching.  And if a word slips out here or there, and yet a few more people make it into the Kingdom, I can accept that.” How do you respond to that?

If you go and read the post, John answer the question (kind of) that’s being posed by Todd.  I’m pretty sure that Todd had no intention of actually getting in the middle of this (and really he’s not…  I’m just embellishing it a bit) but it’s pretty great to read.  Just another reason to add Monday Morning Insight to your daily internet stops.

Teams I Don’t Like

1. The Yankees
2. The WhiteSox
(to be continued)

The Difference of a Week

This morning I was looking through some of the blogs that I read on a pretty regular basis and was struck by the difference between what was dominating the news a week ago and what’s top news today.

The Don Imus situation was truly horrible.  There is nothing that anyone can say to defend such words (including the idea that it was somehow grounded in comedy).  There is no doubt in my mind that the things he said come out of his heart in some way and even worse than that they condone others actions or feelings of racism.

What blows my mind is the way people (anyone with a microphone really, from journalists to politicians to “pastors”) responded to the words of Imus.  When covering or responding to the story it seemed as if the damage done by these words would take years to heal from (and they may, I’m not denying how harmful words can be), but what stood out to me today was that the same things are being said about this horrible tragedy in Virginia.

I am in no way defending the actions of Imus but what I am saying is that comparing the news coverage of the 2 weeks should bring some perspective to the way things are covered.  Imus probably did deserve to be fired for his actions, but that situation was NOTHING compared to what happened on Monday morning.

I’m not sure that many people are drawing these comparisons and even if they were I would not really expect any change in the future.  I remember on September 11 hearing Tom Brokaw talk about how EVERYTHING was going to change in America, how people would value each other more, the government would take more control of our daily lives, people would live with fear and we would NEVER FORGET.  The problem is that a couple of years after the most horrendous day for our country in my lifetime all that’s left is memories and everything else has returned to the way it always was.

Here’s to using our brains when we talk or think about current events and turning the channel when the TV doesn’t.