Giving Unleashed: vanity

Showing posts with label vanity. Show all posts

Friday, April 13, 2012

So Let Me Get This Straight: Episode 1

This is going to be the first in a sporadic series of blog posts where I highlight absurd misuses of financial resources in Christian churches. I'm not necessarily posting this as spiteful rebuke, but more as a chronicle of symptoms of an embarrassing disconnect between the simple but effective activities of the First Century Church and the ridiculous extravagances of some modern churches.

I invite anyone reading this to submit links and other stories for this series. I'll be posting some of these from time to time if I think the suggestion warrants a spot on the "Let Me Get This Straight" series.

Alabaster, Alabama.

Laguna Hills, California.

Houston, Texas.

Over Easter weekend, churches in these three cities, along with so many others around the United States, engaged in an event that is so far beyond any logical explanation.

The Helicopter Egg Drop.

In most of these cases, a helicopter is hired to fly in to drop tens of thousands of plastic Easter eggs for throngs of adoring children. Now, I know that these churches claim that these events draw hundreds, if not thousands, of men, women and children who would not normally darken the doors of a church. In one news story, the pastor of one of these churches praised the event as catalyst for eleven Salvations on Easter Sunday.

And while I firmly believe that we do what we have to do to reach people for Christ, I find myself raising a couple of issues about these events:

1. These types of events, with the bravado of a rented helicopter flying in to drop these eggs has a certain air of showiness to it. Almost "bragadocious". I don't get the whole hey-look-at-us-we-rented-a-helicopter-to-drop-eggs-for-kids as a vehicle for portraying the love, compassion and humility of Christ. In fact, I don't think humility and helicopters are necessarily compatible uttered in the same breath.

2. I don't know how much a helicopter rental costs, but I can't imagine this is the kind of activity that Christ had in mind when he gave the disciples the Great Commission. But whatever it costs, I can say with almost 100% certainty that there have to be better ways to utilize financial resources than a helicopter rental.

Jesse S. Greever is the CEO of 3G Publishing, a digital publisher for Christian authors. If you are a Christian author and have a manuscript that you think is worthy of publication, check out the submission guidelines and follow the directions for manuscript submissions. Greever is also a co-author of the book, Learning to Give in a Getting World, and numerous fiction titles from Untreed Reads publishing.

You can become a fan of 3G Publishing on FaceBook: http://www.facebook.com/3GPublishing

You can follow 3GPublishing on Twitter (@3GPublishing): https://twitter.com/#!/3GPublishing

Learning to Give in a Getting World, by Marc Farnell and Jesse Greever, is available as both a paperback and eBook at the following locations:

CreateSpace (paperback, $13.99)

Amazon.com (paperback, $13.99; eBook, $8.99)

It is also available to Amazon Prime members as a free eBook download as a part of the Kindle Lending Library. Pastors and church administrators can contact me directly at jesse@accidental-author.com to find out about discounts available for churches that wish to use this for teaching and small group curriculum.

You can also become a fan of the book at www.facebook.com/LearningToGive.

Follow me on Twitter: https://twitter.com/#!/JesseSGreever

Wednesday, April 4, 2012

Safe for the Whole Family?

Hello,

First of all, let me say that I have enjoyed listening to your station for quite some time. However, I have noticed recently the increasing number of paid sponsors that fall into the "worldly vanity" category, and I find this personally troubling.

For a top Christian station like KLTY to broadcast commercials that are promoting plastic surgical procedures like "Mommy Makeovers" is really crossing a line. It is one thing for me, a father of two little girls, to expect to have to explain things about vanity and poor body image when it comes across the airwaves from secular sources. But it is absurd for me to have to field comments when they come over the airwaves from a source that is supposedly "safe for the whole family".

I have made a point today to get the word out through social networking and my blog to other Christians in the area to do as I have done: stop listening to KLTY in favor of other stations such as 89.7 and 90.9 who do not allow such garbage to be broadcast on their airwaves. I would encourage you strongly to reconsider allowing advertisers to fund you so that they can prattle on about their services that seek to cater to the sin of vanity. Plastic surgery, laser hair removal...it all speaks to a society that has placed so much emphasis on the outer, and none of this seeks to build up the listener with positive messages of what God truly treasures: the heart of the believer.

I don't know if or how many people have contacted you today as a result of my postings. But I can assure you one thing: for every one person who has contacted you, there are likely hundreds more who feel the same way.

I urge you to go to my blog and read my post "An Open Letter to KLTY", located at http://givingunleashed.blogspot.com/2012/04/open-letter-to-klty.html For a small time blogger like myself to have 250 unique visitors to that post alone in less than a 24 hour period is quite dramatic. I intend to continue to direct people to that blog post and take the actions described therein. I also intend to push this to the point where it becomes viral if necessary.

Let me be perfectly clear. I do not wish to "bring down" KLTY, nor do I have any delusions of having any such power. What I am asking is that you be held accountable for the decisions that your advertising department makes in terms of what is acceptable to endorse as a Christian radio station. And lest you think I'm being overly dramatic, by allowing these companies air time, that is EXACTLY what you are doing: endorsing them.

I sincerely hope that you will take this seriously. You have such an incredible platform to do so much good for Christ-followers in DFW and in this nation. I humbly request that you reconsider allowing industries that prey on people's poor body image to advertise on your station.

Humbly,

Jesse S. Greever

Greever is also a co-author of the book, Learning to Give in a Getting World, and numerous fiction titles from Untreed Reads publishing.

You can become a fan of 3G Publishing on FaceBook: http://www.facebook.com/3GPublishing

You can follow 3GPublishing on Twitter (@3GPublishing): https://twitter.com/#!/3GPublishing

Learning to Give in a Getting World, by Marc Farnell and Jesse Greever, is available as both a paperback and eBook at the following locations:

CreateSpace (paperback, $13.99)

Amazon.com (paperback, $13.99; eBook, $8.99)

You can also become a fan of the book at www.facebook.com/LearningToGive.

Follow me on Twitter: https://twitter.com/#!/JesseSGreever

Tuesday, April 3, 2012

An Open Letter to KLTY

Dear KLTY,

I would like to formally announce that as of today, April 3, 2012, I will no longer be listening to your radio station. Considering that you are the #1 Christian Radio Station in America, I realize that losing my listenership will have ZERO impact on your continued success, but I would really hope that you will pause for just a moment to read these comments.

These are difficult economic times for the general populace, and I'm sure that organizations such as KLTY must also be watching the bottom line very closely. I can appreciate that. I also realize that during difficult economic times, people and companies must also decide to take some extraordinary measures in order to survive. (My family has ditched cable in favor of "over-the-air" signal to watch TV, which doesn't sound like much, but it has been an adjustment.) That being said, those of us who proclaim ourselves to be Christ-followers, in spite of our sometimes difficult financial situations, should still live above reproach. A Christian family struggling to pay the bills should not, for instance, go out and knock over a 7 Eleven or commit identity theft just to have the money to pay the bills. In fact, most Christian families that I know who are faithful stewards of the money that God has given them have always had their needs met (not necessarily their wants, but God always takes care of needs).

A Christian radio station should be absolutely no different. As a beacon of Christian music in the United States, KLTY reaches MILLIONS of people. So why do these faithful listeners have to hear advertisements for a plastic surgeon who is promoting "Mommy Makeovers" during the morning show? Are you telling me that you are SO desperate for sponsors that the only alternative you had was to allow someone promoting "sinful vanity" (which I have NO hesitation saying) to promote their goods and services on your station? I ground my teeth when you promoted a laser hair removal service, but I was willing to let that pass. Now that you are actively promoting cosmetic surgery for mothers who want to look better, I think we've crossed a line.

Let me be clear. I am all for taking care of the bodies that God gave us. I think that is a necessary aspect of stewardship. Fitness is a virtue that we should all practice. However, when we promote things like plastic surgery (aside from therapeutic/reconstructive surgery), we are playing into the world's view that looking good is of ultimate importance. That's complete garbage, and a lie straight from the pit of Hell.

I am the father of two little girls, and it is a challenge to raise them in this world when they are constantly bombarded by unwholesome words and images. And yet, here I am on a Tuesday morning, driving my daughter to school listening to KLTY prattle on about plastic surgery that exists for no other reason than to promote a false body-image that is in line with the constant barrage of images that tells women and girls that they should fight wrinkles, bags under the eyes, sagging anything at ALL costs. If I were a woman, I would feel angry and manipulated by this. As it stands, I'm furious that the source of this tripe is America's #1 Christian Radio Station.

So, why did I write this? Because you have a tremendous platform, one that allows you to reach SO many people for the cause of Christ. I would like to hold you accountable. I want you to reconsider allowing companies that promote vanity to take up precious airtime on your station. I would also ask those of you who are reading this who are KLTY listeners to consider doing any one of the following:

1. Call KLTY at (972) 870-9949 to let them know that you will no longer listen to their station until they agree to stop allowing companies that promote sinful attitudes to advertise on their station. Alternatively, you can use their email form HERE to contact them electronically and let them know how you feel about this (please make sure and choose VP/General Manager from the drop-down list).

2. If you are in the Dallas/Fort Worth area, switch over to 89.7 Power FM (which is a Christian Rock station that is mainly listener supported) or 90.9 The Word. If you live elsewhere, I am sure that there are other choices in your market. And if you are at work or at home, you can always listen online to any number of other Christian radio stations from around the country.

3. Share a link to this open letter on your FaceBook or Twitter page (there are buttons down below that should allow you to share it easily). You can also post the following link in your FaceBook status and post a short comment. http://givingunleashed.blogspot.com/2012/04/open-letter-to-klty.html

Let's not stand for this. I believe if KLTY is faithful and decides to not accept advertising dollars from questionable sources, God will be faithful in providing for their operational needs. It works for families who are faithful with their finances.

Why wouldn't it work for them?

Respectfully disappointed,

Jesse S. Greever

You can become a fan of 3G Publishing on FaceBook: http://www.facebook.com/3GPublishing

You can follow 3GPublishing on Twitter (@3GPublishing): https://twitter.com/#!/3GPublishing

Learning to Give in a Getting World, by Marc Farnell and Jesse Greever, is available as both a paperback and eBook at the following locations:

CreateSpace (paperback, $13.99)

Amazon.com (paperback, $13.99; eBook, $8.99)

You can also become a fan of the book at www.facebook.com/LearningToGive.

Follow me on Twitter: https://twitter.com/#!/JesseSGreever