Got a (Half) Minute?

If you had 30 seconds to communicate a message to the world, how would you use it? What would be the essence of that message? A church in Southern California answered that question by producing a 30-second commercial and then approached the local movie theater about buying space on its screens to run it prior to the films. It features a number of phrases that people have used throughout the years to try and debunk the story of the resurrection, then invites people to the church to find out the truth. Here's the video, produced by Compass Bible Church:

The theater would not allow this 30-second video to be shown prior to its films, which I would dare say would probably, in most instances, contain more offensive content than this ad.  The Christian Examiner had this piece on the controversy.

Here we have another instance where a media company has chosen to ban the message of the gospel, saying that it was offensive. Sound familiar? I think back on the proposal that Birmingham's Fixed Point Foundation made to Fox television about running a message during the Super Bowl. It merely encouraged people to "look up" the verse whose reference had been seen in the stands at football games, and even in a player's eye-black. This video introduced Fixed Point's "Look Up 3:16" campaign:

Fox told Fixed Point that the commercial could not air during the Super Bowl because of the nature of its content. I like what Fixed Point head Larry Taunton had to say about the 30-second opportunity on this video:

So...you have 30 seconds, roughly 75 words if you were to read straight copy, a handful of images on a screen - Would you want to communicate a message of hope? What would you say? Or, how would you depict it visually? 30 seconds - could you, would you, help change the world?

Ephesians 5:16..."Redeeming the time, because the days are evil.

I Heart New Words

When does a word become official? Perhaps it's when it makes the Oxford English Dictionary, which just added some 900 new words and meanings to its ever-growing stable of terms, which now has surpassed the 45,000 mark. Even sets of initials that have become so common have now been added, such as LOL (laugh out loud), BFF (best friends forever), and one of my least favorites, OMG (Oh, my G-- or gosh) are part of this ever-growing lexicon. These are common shortcuts that are used in the text and e-mail world.

The Associated Press has the scoop.

The newest edition also uses the word, "heart" as a verb, presumably as in, "I heart so-and-so", instead of the word, "love".

Words are powerful tools, and can communicate a variety of facts and emotions. And, it's important to freshen up our vocabulary. But, as Christians, we are cautioned to use our words wisely. James 3:2 says," For we all stumble in many ways. If anyone does not stumble in what he says, he is a perfect man, able to bridle the whole body as well."

Jesus said that improper thoughts and emotions negatively influence the words we speak - perhaps there are negative words that flow from areas in our hearts that need to be dealt with. Choosing words wisely and eliminating idle or useless words from our vocabulary can be helpful as we seek to comply with the Scriptural admonition to speak the truth in love. What are we adding to, or subtracting from, our vocabulary that can bring us in greater conformity to Christ?