Keith Green Story (Part 2)

The Keith Green Story pt 3/7

Keith Green had a major impact on me back in 1978 when I first heard him. Here is his story below:

Spiritual Conversion

 

Keith had a Jewish and Christian Science background, but grew up reading the New Testament. He called it “an odd combination” that left him open minded but deeply unsatisfied. His journey led him to drugs, South Asian mysticism, and “free love.” After experiencing what Green described as a “bad trip,” he abandoned drug use and became bitter towards philosophy and theology in general. Green would later state, however, that in the midst of his skepticism, he felt that God “broke through calloused heart,” and he became a born-again Christian. Soon afterward, Keith’s wife Melody (whom he had married on Christmas Day 1973) also became a born-again Christian. It was during this time that the newlyweds became involved with the Vineyard Christian Fellowship in Southern California.

 

Ministry

 

In 1975, the Greens began an outreach program in the suburbs of Los Angeles, California, in the San Fernando Valley. Purchasing the home next door to their own and renting an additional five in the same neighborhood, Keith and Melody provided a environment of Christian teaching for a group of young adults, the majority of whom were of college age. Much to the consternation of neighbors, those living in the Green’s homes included former drug addicts, the homeless and even some prostitutes who had been referred to the Greens by other ministries and shelters. In 1977, the Greens outreach was officially named Last Days Ministries.

 

Keith Green’s initial tone of ministry was largely influenced by Leonard Ravenhill, who pointed Keith to Charles Finney, a nineteenth century revivalist preacher who preached the law of God to provoke conviction in his hearers.  During his concerts he would often exhort his listeners to repent and commit themselves more wholly to following Christ.  Green later softened his approach, and this transition is evident in his music beginning with So You Wanna Go Back To Egypt in 1980.
Recording

Green was signed to Contemporary Christian music label Sparrow Records in 1976 and worked on the album Firewind (1976) with Christian artists 2nd Chapter of Acts, Terry Talbot, John Michael Talbot, and Barry McGuire. His first solo project, For Him Who Has Ears to Hear, was released in 1977 and his second solo release, No Compromise, followed in 1978.

 

In 1979, after negotiating a release from his contract with Sparrow, Green initiated a new policy of refusing to charge money for concerts or albums. Keith and Melody mortgaged their home to privately finance Green’s next album, So You Wanna Go Back To Egypt. The album, which featured a guest appearance by Bob Dylan, was offered through mail-order and at concerts for a price determined by the purchaser. As of May 1982, Green had shipped out more than 200,000 units of his album ? 61,000 for free. Subsequent albums included The Keith Green Collection (1981) and Songs For The Shepherd (1982).

 

When his music was carried by Christian bookstores, a second cassette was included free of charge for every cassette purchased to give away to a friend to help spread the Gospel.

January 19, 2012 – 12:20 am Categories: Current Events | Post a comment

Mike Wallace 1958 interview of Salvador Dali (Part 1)

There was a very interesting interview with Dali by Mike Wallace. Here are the video clips and transcript below:

Salvador Dali – Mike Wallace interview 1958 – Part 1/2

THE MIKE WALLACE INTERVIEW
Guest: Salvador Dali
4/19/58WALLACE: Good evening…Tonight we go after the story of an extraordinary personality. He’s Salvador Dali, the great surrealist painter who sees the world through surrealist eyes. If you’re curious to hear Salvador Dali talk about decadence, death and immortality, about his surrealist art, his politics and his existence before he was born,we’ll go after those stories in just a moment. My name is Mike Wallace, the cigarette is Parliament.

(COMMERCIAL)

WALLACE: And now to our story. Salvador Dali is a self-confessed genius with an ingenious flair for publicity. An internationally renowned modern artist, he’s also designed fur lined bathtubs, he’s lectured with his head enclosed in a diving helmet and he claims that at the basis of his ideas are, as he puts it, cauliflowers and rhinoceros horns.

WALLACE: He paints like this, here you see perhaps his most famous work. It’s called “Persistence of Memory”. In contrast to this dream like picture, here is Dali’s surrealistic commentary on the horrors of war. It’s called “The Face of War”. And now an example of Dali’s latest phase, “The Crucifixion” showing his current preoccupation with religious subjects. Now let’s try to find out some more about the enigma of Salvador Dali.

WALLACE: Dali, first of all let me ask you this, you’re a remarkable painter and you’ve dedicated your life to art, in view of this, why do you behave the way that you do? For instance, you have been known to drive in a car filled to the roof with cauliflowers. You lectured, as I mentioned, once with your head enclosed in a diving helmet and you almost suffocated. You issue bizarre statements about your love for rhinoceros horns and so on. You’re a dedicated artist, why do you or why must you do these things?

DALI: Because for this kind of eccentricities correspond with more important and the more tragical part of my life.

WALLACE: The more important and the more tragical part. I don’t understand.

DALI: The more philosophical.

WALLACE: Well, what is philosophical about driving in a car full of cauliflowers or lecturing inside a diving helmet?

DALI: Because discover and make one tremendous speech, a most scientific in the Sorbonne in Paris… of what my discovering of the logarithmic curve of cauliflower.

WALLACE: The what?

DALI: logarithmic curve of cauliflower.

WALLACE : Oh yes, the “logarithmic curve”… yes…

DALI: And if in time the logarithmic curve in the horns of rhinoceros — in this time discover, this is a symbol of chastity, one of the most powerful symbols of modern times.

WALLACE: Chastity is one of the most powerful symbols of modern times?

DALI: In my opinion it is the more… urgent and the more dramatic because the chastity represents the force of spirit…. chaste in any religion, you know because of promiscuity, the people make love, there is no more the spiritual strength, no more the spiritual thoughts.

WALLACE: Well, we’ll get to your spirituality your increasing spirituality over the years in just a moment. About lecturing with your head enclosed in a diving helmet, why? why?

DALI: Because I think there is nothing like it. The audience understand Dali when penetrate in the bottom of the sea…

WALLACE: What’s that?

DALI: Penetrate.

WALLACE: Penetrate ?

DALI: In the bottom of subconscient mean… sea… In– inside the sea.

WALLACE: Yes, down in the sea?

DALI: In the depth of the sub-conscious.

WALLACE: In the depth of the sub-conscious?

DALI: Exactly. The sea is one very clear symbol for arriving this stage of…

WALLACE: We try to understand in all seriousness…We try to understand you and you try to explain but earlier this week you told our reporter, “I like to be a clown, a buffoon, I like to spread complete confusion.” Before we were on the air, you said to me. “Ask embarrassing questions, ask embarrassing questions”. Why?

DALI: Because incidentally, make one movie in France, only it is movie of myself dance Charleston and my friends look this piece of movie at all, Dali in this part is much better than Charlie Chaplin. For me is very interesting…

WALLACE: Well are you…

DALI: …because you see in Dali is one marvelous painter, in living time is one marvelous clown… much more interesting for everybody

WALLACE: You want to be a marvelous clown as well as a marvelous painter?

DALI: If it is possible, live two together is very good, you know. Charlie Chaplin is one genial clown but never painted like Dali, Charlie Chaplin’s living times paint masterpieces. Or is thousand times much more important to Charlie Chaplin.

WALLACE: Well now wait. Wait. Despite your hi-jinks, time and again you have called yourself a genius and you’re very serious about this. Now you want to be evidently, you want to be a genius in two fields. First of all, you have called yourself a genius?

DALI: In many different fields, you know.

WALLACE: You?

DALI: Yes.

WALLACE: What else besides an artist?

DALI: The most important in my life, modern clown, modern painting, modern draftsmanship is my personality.

WALLACE: Draftsmanship?

DALI: My personality?

WALLACE: Oh yes.

DALI: My personality is more important than any of these little facets of my activities.

WALLACE: In other words, what is most important to you…

DALI: Is my personality.

WALLACE: …..is expressing Dali, not the painting, not the clowning, nothing but…

DALI: The painting, the clowning, the showmanship, the technique – everything is only one manner for express the total personality of Dali.

WALLACE: I see, I see. Let’s take a look at one of your major paintings, Dali. It’s called “Sleep”. There it is now on the monitor. What’s the point of this picture? Is there any point?

DALI: This is very important because myself work constantly in the moment of sleep… Every of my best ideas coming through my dreams and the more Dalian activity consists in this moment of sleep.

WALLACE: In other words, you conceive a good deal of your…

DALI: The most important things happen in the moment of myself in sleep…

WALLACE: I was going to ask if there was any major theme, any powerful idea which inspires all your work, could you tell us what it was? Evidently what it is, is simply an expression of Dali, period. There is nothing more in it or am I wrong?

DALI: No, Dali. Of course, the cosmogony of Dali.

WALLACE: The what?

DALI: Cosmogony of Dali.

WALLACE: What is the cosmogony of Dali? What does that mean?

DALI: This is in advance of a new nuclear physics, because every of my paintings, everybody laugh in the moment of look for the first time but almost after twelve years every scientific people recognize the area of this painting is one real prophecy in the moment of painting my soft watches, the more rigid object for everybody, and myself paint these watches in the soft Camembert– everybody laugh. The last development of nuclear physics proved to a new conception of space-time is completely flexible. Now it is in microphysics the time brought in reverse and this proved that this object of completely surrealistic approach of soft watches for what is completely true and scientific…

WALLACE: Dali, I must confess, you lost me about half way through and I’m not sure I’m not sure that we can let me try it another way.

What does a painter, what does any painter contribute to the world and to his fellowmen? Any painter, not just Dali. What does a painter contribute?

DALI: Every painter paints the cosmogony of himself.

WALLACE: Of himself, and it’s as simple as that? Which contains…..

DALI: Raphael paint because of the cosmogony of Raphael. Raphael is the Renaissance period. Dali paint the atomic age and the Freudian age nuclear things and psychologic things.

WALLACE: Which contemporary painters, if any, do you admire?

DALI: First Dali, after Dali, Picasso, after this, no others.

WALLACE: Of these, Dali and Picasso are the only two that really excite you?

DALI: The two geniuses of modern painting.

WALLACE: The two geniuses of modern times are Dali and Picasso? In your autobiography, you wrote this, you said, “I adore three things, weakness, old age and luxury”. Why?

DALI: Because luxury is one product of monarchy, and myself every day becoming more monarchy, not in a political way because never is Dali interested in political… but…

WALLACE: In politics.

DALI: In the philosophical and cosmological…

WALLACE: Way?

DALI: Yes, because in the modern sense, the new discoveries of chromosomes and physics and biology, everything through the monarchy is the most luxurious things in life…

WALLACE: The most luxurious, all right. Now, old age…

DALI: …..and the most perfect.

WALLACE: And the most perfect? And old age? Why do you adore old age?

DALI: Because the little young peoples completely stupid, you know.

WALLACE: Young people are stupid?

DALI: They all only believe geniuses are old people (like) Leonardo de Vinci or arrive at some real achievement.

WALLACE: And weakness, why do you adore weakness?

DALI: Because in the modern physics everything is weak, every proton and neutron is surrounded of weakness, of nothing. In this moment the most fantastic thing in physics is le anti-matter. Every new physician talk about anti-matter, and Dali paint, 20 years ago, le first anti-matter angels.

WALLACE: You write in your biography that death is beautiful. What’s beautiful about death? Why is death beautiful?

DALI: This is one feeling everything is erotic in my opinion.

WALLACE: Everything is what?

DALI: Erotic.

WALLACE: Erotic?

DALI: …is ugly, in the middle of everything ugly so arrive the feeling of death, everything becomes noble and sublime.

WALLACE: Oh, in other words, life is erotic and therefore ugly. Death is not erotic but sublime, therefore beautiful?

DALI: And beautiful. You know for instance, you, Micky Wallace, now is you a little good pay, a little handsome, but essentially, you becoming death, everybody tips his chapeau to you, you become fantastic man, everybody respects you a thousand times much better.

WALLACE: Is this by way of a suggestion?

DALI: Exactly. See you make one strip tease, you become ugly in one second.

WALLACE: Oh, I agree, I agree. Tell me this, what do you think will happen to you when you die?

DALI: myself not believe in my death.

WALLACE: You will not die?

DALI: No, no believe in general in death but in the death of Dali absolutely not. Believe in my death becoming very — almost impossible.

WALLACE: You fear death?

DALI: Yes.

WALLACE: Death is beautiful but you fear death?

DALI: Exactly……because Dali is contradictory and paradoxical man.

WALLACE: Well yes indeed, Dali is paradoxical and contradictory but why — why this fear of death? What do you fear in death?

DALI: Because there is no sufficient convenience of my faith in religion. In the moment of myself believe more ?

WALLACE: You’re not sufficiently convinced of your faith….

DALI: Exactly.

January 18, 2012 – 4:31 pm Categories: Current Events | Post a comment

The nation of Israel and Genesis 12:3 (Series on Israel part 1)

The Birth Of Israel (2008) – Part 1/8

I can’t say I agree with every word from Chuck Colson’s words below but it is a good article though.

Covenant and Conflict

Israel’s Place in the World Today

By Chuck Colson|Published Date: February 18, 2003

When our BreakPoint Managing Editor Jim Tonkowich returned from this year’s National Religious Broadcasters convention, he told me that what struck him most was the emphasis on Israel. The Israeli tourist bureau had the largest booth at the trade show. Menorahs, Sabbath candles, and ram horns were being marketed to Christians. And unswerving political support for the contemporary state of Israel was trumpeted.

Ariel Sharon was repeatedly called a “hero.” All the land, they said, belongs to the Jews, and the Palestinians don’t belong at all. One speaker at a pro-Israel press conference told the cheering audience that the first question to ask any candidate running for any office is, “What do you think of Israel?” Somehow God’s covenant with Abraham in Genesis 12:3 has become a carte blanche for Ariel Sharon and his government. And what’s more, some Christians have been arguing that we should never evangelize Jews since they are already a covenant people and, thus, saved.

As a Christian and believer in the Abrahamic covenant, I’m a strong supporter of Israel and the Jewish people. I take Genesis 12:3 literally. I also believe that Jesus will return and rule the earth for one thousand years from Jerusalem — a pre-millennial perspective on the second coming. I believe that God has a special plan for the Jewish people and the land of Israel.

But I think it is problematic to relate prophecy to current events unfolding in the nation-state of Israel. There may be some relationship, of course. Only God knows. But the secular state of Israel created in 1948 is not, in my understanding, identical with the Jewish people as God’s chosen and called-out covenant people.

God clearly has a distinct plan for the Jewish people that the secular state of Israel helps carry out. I don’t rule that out, of course. And I strongly support Israel because it is a haven for persecuted Jews — not because I think it fulfills biblical prophecy.

I also support a Palestinian state both from historical and prudential considerations. Given the state of affairs in the Middle East, a Palestinian state is the only practicable solution for peace.

By that, I do not mean a Palestinian state headed by Yasser Arafat, who is a terrorist and continues to allow — or at least refuses to discourage — brutal, vicious, unprincipled attacks on Israeli citizens. Instead we need an independent, self-governing Palestinian state living in peace alongside Israel. Prison Fellowship has a ministry with Palestinian Christians living in Israel who are working for peace and justice, and I’ve met many of them. They are beautiful brothers and sisters.

We need to remember that even God’s covenant people — a people to whom we in the Church belong — sin. And even if we could equate the covenant people of God with the state of Israel, we could be sure that like all states, churches, and people, it would be filled with sin. Human rights violations and violence occur on both sides of the Palestinian/Israeli conflict. And all sinners, Jews included, need repentance and faith in Christ in order to enjoy full membership in God’s covenant.

Israel is a free nation, the only democracy in the Middle East, and a reliable ally. Politically, we stand with them. But our true hope for peace lies only in the warring parties’ turning to the one, true Prince of peace.

For further reading:Caryle Murphy, “Evangelical Leaders Ask Bush to Adopt Balanced Mideast Policy,” Washington Post, 27 July 2002.

“The First Freedom of the Soul,” remarks by President George W. Bush to the American Jewish Committee, White House Office of the Press Secretary, 3 May 2001.

J. Budziszewski, “Loaded Questions,” Boundless, 12 September 2002 (see “Jerusalem, Jerusalem”).

Philip Jenkins, The Next Christendom: The Coming of Global Christianity (Oxford University Press, 2002).
January 18, 2012 – 12:47 pm Categories: Current Events | Post a comment

Romney must embrace some of Ron Paul’s ideas or take Rand as VP

There is no other way around this problem for Romney. If he wins the Republican Nomination for President then the must embrace some of Paul’s ideas (as suggested below by Senator Demint) or get Rand Paul to be the VP candidate.

GOP Should Heed Ron Paul

by Michael D. Tanner

Michael Tanner is a senior fellow at the Cato Institute and author of Leviathan on the Right: How Big-Government Conservatism Brought Down the Republican Revolution.

Added to cato.org on January 18, 2012

This article appeared in National Review (Online) on January 18, 2012.

The warnings are coming from the unlikeliest of places.

First Sarah Palin tells Fox News that “the worst thing that the GOP establishment can do is marginalize Ron Paul and his supporters.” Then that sentiment was echoed by Sen. Jim DeMint, speaking on The Laura Ingraham Show, when he warned that it would be to the party’s detriment to ignore Paul and his supporters. DeMint even gave permission for Paul to use the senator’s voice in a radio ad.

In the two Republican contests so far, Paul consistently won about 20 percent of the vote. Polls show that even in South Carolina, which is not considered hospitable territory for the Texas congressman, he is expected to take about one-sixth of the vote. It is very likely that he will reach the Republican convention with the second-highest number of delegates.

What can Republicans do to keep Paul’s supporters in the tent?

Yet, large portions of the Republican party seem torn somewhere between reading him out of the party entirely and hoping that Paul and his supporters will quietly fade away.

Many of Paul’s detractors belittle his vote totals by pointing out that much of his support has come from non-Republicans. It is true that Paul won in both Iowa and New Hampshire among independents and people who had never before voted in a Republican primary. In New Hampshire, for example, roughly 63.5 percent of his vote came from independents.

But why is that a bad thing? Given that just 35 percent of voters are registered Republicans, it stands to reason that any GOP candidate is going to have to attract the votes of independents and possibly even disaffected Democrats. Moreover, at a time when many Republican voters are holding their nose in the voting booth, Paul’s supporters are nothing if not enthusiastic. Furthermore, Paul is probably the only Republican candidate who can eat into President Obama’s hold on the youth vote.

But that enthusiasm and those votes are not going to be easily transferred to the eventual Republican standard bearer. Worse, a potential Paul third-party candidacy, while unlikely, would almost certainly guarantee Obama’s reelection.

Paul is unlikely to be bought off with a prime-time speaking spot at the Republican convention. And neither he nor his son Rand is realistically going to end up as the vice-presidential candidate. What then can Republicans do to keep Paul’s supporters in the tent?

Well, to start with, instead of deriding Paul as a RINO or some sort of a crank, and hoping his supporters go away, they might begin to take some of his ideas seriously.

As Senator DeMint says:

I don’t agree with him on everything, but he is right about the out-of-control and unaccountable Federal Reserve. He’s right about the need for limited constitutional government and the importance of individual liberty. And I really think the Republican who is going to win this thing — if they capture some of what Ron Paul’s been talking about for years. And more and more we can see that what he’s been talking about is true. Again, you don’t have to agree with everything he’s saying, but if the other candidates miss the wisdom in what he’s been saying about our monetary policy and limited government, then I think we will see it’s to their detriment because the 20 percent or 25 percent or so that are supporting him are people that we need in the Republican party. A lot of them are libertarians, but they’re our natural base. We shouldn’t ignore them.

That would mean putting forward detailed plans to reduce the size, cost, and intrusiveness of government. It would mean the candidates explaining in detail how they would reform entitlement spending and dismantle Obamacare. It would mean talking about how they will reduce the authority of unelected bureaucracies, including the Fed. It would mean ending corporate welfare, farm supports, ethanol subsidies, and bailouts. It would mean recognizing that, as Sarah Palin noted, “Americans are war-weary,” before proposing the next intervention overseas. It would mean that protecting individual liberty is important, even in an age of terrorism.

For years, Republican candidates have worried that if they didn’t hew to the hardest line possible on social issues, religious conservatives would stay home on Election Day. Economic conservatives, libertarians, and believers in smaller, constitutional government were never given similar deference. The result was a Republican party that drifted ever further away from its Goldwater-Reagan roots.

But that may be about to change. If not, Republicans can’t say they weren’t warned.

Mitt Romney Needs Rand Paul on His Ticket

By CHQ Staff | 1/18/12

The CHQ Poll suggests that is the only way he can win over supporters of Ron Paul if he gets the GOP nomination.  And Ron Paul is the second-biggest vote-getter in the GOP race.

We asked you:  “Yesterday we asked if you would want Ron Paul to run for president as an independent, knowing that would throw the race to President Obama.  How would you vote, however, if Mitt Romney was the nominee and he picked Ron Paul’s son, Senator Rand Paul, as his vice presidential running mate?  Assuming that Ron Paul would not run against his son, how would you vote?”

Here is how you responded:

45%  I would vote for Romney-Paul.

30%  I would vote for some third-party candidate, or write in someone’s name.

16%  I am undecided.

8%  I would not vote.

1%  I would vote for Obama-Biden (or Clinton).

Given that previously 59% of our poll respondents said they would vote for Ron Paul as an independent candidate, this is an improvement for a Mitt Romney candidacy.  But he still would have a lot of convincing to do to win over the remainder of Ron Paul’s supporters

January 18, 2012 – 10:10 am Categories: Cato Institute | Post a comment

Stephen C. Meyer:Does morality presuppose God’s existence?

Morality Presupposes Theism (1 of 4)

Uploaded by on Oct 15, 2010

Dr. Stephen C. Meyer argues that in order to make sense of morality you must presuppose the existence of God. Table of Contents: http://www.youtube.com/view_play_list?p=B324A88301858151

____________________________

 

Below is more on the bio of Stephen C. Meyer:

Dr. Stephen C. Meyer

Dr. Stephen C. Meyer

Stephen C. Meyer is director of the Discovery Institute’s Center for Science and Culture (CSC) and a founder both of the intelligent design movement and of the CSC, intelligent design’s primary intellectual and scientific headquarters. Dr. Meyer is a Cambridge University-trained philosopher of science, the author of peer-reviewed publications in technical, scientific, philosophical and other books and journals. His signal contribution to ID theory is given most fully in Signature in the Cell: DNA and the Evidence for Intelligent Design, published by HarperOne in June 2009.

[…]Graduating from Whitworth College in Spokane, Washington, in 1981 with a degree in physics and earth science, he later became a geophysicist with Atlantic Richfield Company (ARCO) in Dallas, Texas. From 1981 to 1985, he worked for ARCO in digital signal processing and seismic survey interpretation. As a Rotary International Scholar, he received his training in the history and philosophy of science at Cambridge University, earning a PhD in 1991. His thesis offered a methodological interpretation of origin-of-life research.

[…]Prior to the publication of Signature in the Cell, the piece of writing for which Meyer was best known was an August 2004 review essay in the Smithsonian Institution-affiliated peer-reviewed biology journal Proceedings of the Biological Society of Washington. The article laid out the evidential case for intelligent design, that certain features of living organisms–such as the miniature machines and complex circuits within cells–are better explained by an unspecified designing intelligence than by an undirected natural process like random mutation and natural selection.

[…]Meyer’s many other publications include a contribution to, and the editing of, the peer-reviewed volume Darwinism, Design and Public Education (Michigan State University Press, 2004) and the innovative textbook Explore Evolution (Hill House Publishers, 2007).

Meyer has been widely featured in media appearance on CNN, MSNBC, NBC, ABC, CBS, Fox News, PBS, and the BBC. In 2008, he appeared with Ben Stein in Expelled: No Intelligence Allowed.  He’s also featured prominently in two other science documentaries, Icons of Evolution and Unlocking The Mystery of Life.

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Arkansas Times Blogger says Communists were not atheistic, but they were and they believed “might made right” jh48

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Atheists confronted: How I confronted Carl Sagan the year before he died jh47

In today’s news you will read about Kirk Cameron taking on the atheist Stephen Hawking over some recent assertions he made concerning the existence of heaven. Back in December of 1995 I had the opportunity to correspond with Carl Sagan about a year before his untimely death. Sarah Anne Hughes in her article,”Kirk Cameron criticizes […]

January 18, 2012 – 8:43 am Categories: Current Events | Post a comment

“Midnight in Paris” has become Woody Allen’s most successful movie at box office (Woody Wednesdays)

The dvd sales of “Midnight in Paris” which went on sale in December have gone through the roof (look at the bottom of this post) and this summer we learned this fact below:

Paris: The Luminous Years

‘Midnight in Paris’ becomes Woody Allen’s all-time biggest hit. How the heck did that happen?

woody-allenImage Credit: Everett Collection; Roger Arpajou

It turns out that Owen Wilson, playing the last herringbone-jacketed screenwriter in Hollywood, wasn’t the only one who wanted to go back in time to meet the great expatriate writers and artists of the 1920s. This weekend, Midnight in Paris, Woody Allen’s time-machine-of-high-culchah trifle, crossed the line to become the filmmaker’s all-time biggest hit, surpassing the $40.1 million mark set 25 years ago by Hannah and Her Sisters. That movie made its money in two separate releases one year apart, so perhaps Allen’s real erstwhile biggest hit should be considered Manhattan. And, of course, if you factor in inflation, Midnight in Paris wouldn’t be number one by a long shot. That said, movie-land accountants don’t tend to do a lot of adjusting for inflation (they look at the raw numbers), and so the inescapable fact is that the top of Allen’s box-office track record will now look like this:

1. Midnight in Paris ($41.8 million, probably heading toward $50 million)

2. Hannah and Her Sisters ($40.1 million)

3. Manhattan ($39.9 million)

Summer Movies: Get the latest news, photos, and more

4. Annie Hall ($38.2 million)

Quick, can you say: “One of these things just doesn’t belong here?”

I’m never one to begrudge anyone a hit, and certainly not Woody Allen, who has always found a way to make a movie a year (forget the couch — making movies is his therapy), though not, in recent years, without jumping through a few hoops. His movies, when viewed next to the clattering roller-coasters of Hollywood, are almost legendarily “small,” which is why he has been forced to go to Europe for financing, and to set most of his recent pictures there, a trend that began with Match Point (2005), the nimble, devious, midnight-dark, Woody-meets-Hitchcock thriller that, to me, should have become his new all-time biggest hit.

Creatively, it’s been a good run for him, even if the novelty of Allen’s Euro-movies, at least in my eyes, has begun to wear off. To get that novelty back, here’s a suggestion: He should now set a comedy in Berlin, starring Ryan Gosling as a visiting American professor of Holocaust Studies torn between his devoted French Jewish girlfriend, played by Mélanie Laurent, and the 18-year-old goth German temptress, played by Emma Stone with a Marlene Dietrich accent, who turns out to be the great-granddaughter of a member of the SS. Talk about having your Nazi jokes, love-vs.-lust triangle, and moral ambiguity at the same time.

But I digress. Up until now, the movies that crossed over from Woody Allen’s core audience to become his major hits were also his greatest films. (That’s true even if you go back to his Early, Funny Films. The cathartically hilarious Borscht Belt-surrealist comedies that planted Allen on the cultural map were crowd-pleasers that raked in substantial amounts of money, from Everything You Always Wanted to Know About Sex, at $18 million, to Love and Death, at $20 million.) I’m well aware that Midnight in Paris is a movie that a lot of people seem to love, or at least like a lot. But to me it’s a minor shock that this movie, with its one-note flippancy and its Great Artist caricatures who seem to have walked in out of an old Saturday Night Live sketch, has gotten such a hold on audiences. The movie may on some level be charming, and it’s got that Paris-in-the-rain, summer-travelogue-from-heaven factor, but, I’m sorry, its slightly daffy la vie de bohème nostalgia is so, so thin. Which is why its all-time-biggest-hit status for Woody looms as quite a paradox in his career.

All you have to do is to say the titles of the three movies in Woody’s neurotic-romantic New York trilogy — Annie Hall, Manhattan, Hannah and Her Sisters — to conjure a spirit of filmmaking that, in addition to being immortally funny, is richly observant and psychological and dramatic. Those movies may have come out a long time ago, but they have never left us, and it was largely because of them that the phrase “Woody Allen movie” came to symbolize something so special. They were some of the most soulful comedies ever made.

Over time, however, the phrase “Woody Allen movie” has undergone a chemical change. For decades, Allen griped about what he saw as the clanking superficiality of contemporary Hollywood movies. His inspiration always came from somewhere else — from the art-house giants (Bergman, Fellini) he famously revered, or from the winsome sublimity of the silent clowns. Yet I would argue that the Hollywood brand of moviemaking that Woody Allen has always looked askance at is defined, more than anything, by its psychological thinness. And in that light, Midnight in Paris, while it certainly has the pleading earnest hero, the opening credits with the white-on-black Windsor EF-Elongated lettering, and the name-dropping cultural-studies chitchat, is less a classic “Woody Allen movie” than a comedy that masquerades as highbrow while delivering high concept. It’s the rare Woody Allen movie that’s not so much great enough to be a smash as slender-and-lite enough to be a smash.

So what did you think of Midnight in Paris? Are you surprised that it’s such a big hit? Do you think it deserves to be Allen’s new number one?

______________________________

Below are the top dvd sales and you can see that “Midnight in Paris” is in the top ten.

US DVD Sales Chart for Week Ending Dec 25, 2011

Rank Prev. Rank Title Units this Week % Change Total Units Sales this Week Total Sales Weeks in Release
1 (4) The Hangover Part II 756,287 11.6% 2,614,760 $7,555,307 $35,386,701 3
2 (3) The Help 725,959 -15.2% 3,185,006 $12,384,861 $54,592,230 3
3 (-) Dolphin Tale 715,371 -.-% 715,371 $10,723,411 $10,723,411 1
4 (2) Kung Fu Panda 2 670,070 -24.4% 1,556,157 $9,374,279 $24,942,828 2
5 (1) Rise of the Planet of the Apes 557,308 -39.5% 1,478,876 $9,708,305 $27,033,784 2
6 (5) Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, Part 2 480,242 10.1% 5,828,243 $4,797,618 $81,291,915 7
7 (-) Straw Dogs 404,386 -.-% 404,386 $6,235,632 $6,235,632 1
8 (6) The Smurfs 298,053 -7.1% 1,688,442 $5,063,920 $28,962,595 4
9 (20) Harry Potter: The Complete 8-Film Collection 295,081 170.7% 891,380 $14,456,018 $43,864,439 7
10 (-) Midnight in Paris 288,372 -.-% 288,372 $4,899,440 $4,899,440 1
11 (11) Bridesmaids 279,902 56.1% 3,873,255 $3,955,015 $52,753,009 14
12 (9) Mr. Popper’s Penguins 230,592 2.4% 974,854 $3,456,574 $16,295,205 3
13 (7) Cowboys and Aliens 209,643 -23.7% 1,012,645 $3,742,128 $17,385,132 3
14 (21) Super 8 193,761 96.7% 932,216 $2,613,836 $14,566,587 5
15 (-) Colombiana 192,475 -.-% 192,475 $2,885,200 $2,885,200 1
16 (12) Friends with Benefits 191,415 11.5% 764,804 $3,703,880 $13,919,240 4
17 (8) Cars 2 188,920 -25.3% 4,405,462 $2,994,382 $73,121,010 8
18 (10) Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, Part 1 186,803 -3.2% 7,066,706 $864,898 $85,930,362 37
19 (22) Crazy, Stupid, Love 178,966 94.4% 1,159,868 $1,698,387 $15,389,604 8
20 (13) The Lion King 168,954 5.4% – $2,292,841 – 878
21 (-) Warrior 152,392 -.-% 152,392 $1,979,572 $1,979,572 1
22 (-) Horrible Bosses 147,098 -.-% 1,194,516 $1,416,554 $16,762,368 11
23 (19) The Change-up 137,127 24.3% 754,747 $1,853,957 $12,448,104 7
24 (14) Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides 121,989 -12.3% 1,009,722 $1,645,632 $17,862,153 10
25 (25) Captain America: The First Avenger 100,284 25.5% 1,434,346 $1,503,257 $25,091,268 9
26 (-) Love Actually 98,439 -.-% – $681,198 – 400
27 (23) 30 Minutes or Less 93,958 5.3% 421,308 $1,766,410 $7,607,485 4
28 (27) Our Idiot Brother 93,676 47.1% 332,788 $1,444,484 $5,105,182 4
29 (-) The Debt 89,393 -.-% 201,584 $1,518,787 $3,424,912 3
30 (-) Green Lantern 81,981 -.-% 1,194,507 $818,990 $16,890,705 11
<<< Previous Week

Other posts with Woody Allen:

The Characters referenced in Woody Allen’s “Midnight in Paris” (Part 15, Luis Bunuel)

Belle de Jour Presentation In a film class my partner and I did a video presentation on the film Belle de Jour and the filmmaker Luis Bunuel. Bunuel was a surrealist, so if the video doesn’t quite makes sense, its not supposed to. ___________________________________________________ I am presently going through the characters referenced in Woody Allen’s […]

The Characters referenced in Woody Allen’s “Midnight in Paris” (Part 14, Henri Matisse)

I am currently going through the characters referenced in the Woody Allen movie “Midnight in Paris.” Today I am looking at Henri Matisse. Below is a press release from a museum in San Francisco:  the steins were known for their saturday evening salons, where artists, writers, musicians, intellectuals, and collectors gathered to discuss contemporary art, […]

The Characters referenced in Woody Allen’s “Midnight in Paris” (Part 13, Amedeo Modigliani)

Adriana and Gil are seen above walking together in the movie “Midnight in Paris.” Adriana was a fictional character who was Picasso’s mistress in the film. Earlier she had been Modigliani’s mistress and later Georges Braque’s mistress before moving on to Picasso according to the film story line. Actually Picasso had taken girls from others […]

The characters referenced in Woody Allen’s “Midnight in Paris” (Part 12, Gabrielle “Coco” Chanel)

An article from Biography.com below. I am currently going through all the personalities mentioned in Woody Allen’s movie “Midnight in Paris.” Today I am spending time on Coco Chanel. By the way, I know that some of you are wondering how many posts I will have before I am finished. Right now I have plans […]

The characters referenced in Woody Allen’s “Midnight in Paris” (Part 11, Rodin)

The Thinker (1879–1889) is among the most recognized works in all of sculpture. In fact, below you can see Paul who constantly is showing up Gil with his knowledge about these pieces of art. He shows off while describing Rodin’s life story when all four of them are taking in “The Thinker.” However, he is […]

The Characters referenced in Woody Allen’s “Midnight in Paris” (Part 10 Salvador Dali)

Artists and bohemians inspired Woody Allen for ‘Midnight in Paris I love the movie “Midnight in Paris” by Woody Allen and I am going through the whole list of famous writers and artists that he included in the movie. Today we will look at Salvador Dali. In this clip below you will see when Picasso […]

The Characters referenced in Woody Allen’s “Midnight in Paris” (Part 9, Georges Braque)

2011 Roger Arpajou / Sony Pictures Classics Lea Seydoux as Gabrielle in “Midnight in Paris.” Adriana and Gil are seen above walking together in the movie “Midnight in Paris.” Adriana was a fictional character who was Picasso’s mistress in the film. Earlier she had been Georges Braque’s mistress before moving on to Picasso according to […]

The Characters referenced in Woody Allen’s “Midnight in Paris” (Part 8, Henri Toulouse Lautrec)

How Should We Then Live 7#3 2011 Roger Arpajou / Sony Pictures Classics Owen Wilson as Gil in “Midnight in Paris.” Paul Gauguin and Henri Toulouse Lautrec were the greatest painters of the post-impressionists. They are pictured together in 1890 in Paris in Woody Allen’s new movie “Midnight in Paris.” My favorite philosopher Francis Schaeffer […]

The Characters referenced in Woody Allen’s “Midnight in Paris” (Part 7 Paul Gauguin)

How Should We Then Live 7#1 Dr. Francis Schaeffer examines the Age of Non-Reason and he mentions the work of Paul Gauguin. 2011 Roger Arpajou / Sony Pictures Classics Kurt Fuller as John and Mimi Kennedy as Helen in “Midnight in Paris.” I love the movie “Midnight in Paris” by Woody Allen and I am […]

The Characters referenced in Woody Allen’s “Midnight in Paris” (Part 6 Gertrude Stein)

Midnight In Paris – SPOILER Discussion by What The Flick?! Associated Press Gertrude Stein and Alice B. Toklas in 1934 This video clip below discusses Gertrude Stein’s friendship with Pablo Picasso: I love the movie “Midnight in Paris” by Woody Allen and I am going through the whole list of famous writers and artists that […]

The Characters referenced in Woody Allen’s “Midnight in Paris” (Part 5 Juan Belmonte)

2011 Roger Arpajou / Sony Pictures Classics Gad Elmaleh as Detective Tisserant in “Midnight in Paris.” I love the movie “Midnight in Paris” by Woody Allen and I am going through the whole list of famous writers and artists that he included in the movie. Juan Belmonte was the most famous bullfighter of the time […]

The Characters referenced in Woody Allen’s “Midnight in Paris” (Part 4 Ernest Heminingway)

  Woody Allen explores fantasy world with “Midnight in Paris” 2011 Roger Arpajou / Sony Pictures Classics Corey Stoll as Ernest Hemingway in “Midnight in Paris.” The New York Times Ernest Hemingway, around 1937 I love the movie “Midnight in Paris” by Woody Allen and I am going through the whole list of famous writers […]

The Characters referenced in Woody Allen’s “Midnight in Paris” (Part 3 Scott and Zelda Fitzgerald)

What The Flick?!: Midnight In Paris – Review by What The Flick?! 2011 Roger Arpajou / Sony Pictures Classics Alison Pill as Zelda Fitzgerald and Tom Hiddleston as F. Scott Fitzgerald in “Midnight in Paris.” 2011 Roger Arpajou / Sony Pictures Classics Owen Wilson as Gil in “Midnight in Paris.” 2011 Roger Arpajou / Sony […]

The Characters referenced in Woody Allen’s “Midnight in Paris” (Part 2 Cole Porter)

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The Characters referenced in Woody Allen’s “Midnight in Paris” (Part 1 William Faulkner)

Photo by Phill Mullen The only known photograph of William Faulkner (right) with his eldest brother, John, was taken in 1949. Like his brother, John Faulkner was also a writer, though their writing styles differed considerably. My grandfather, John Murphey, (born 1910) grew up in Oxford, Mississippi and knew both Johncy and “Bill” Faulkner. He […]

I love Woody Allen’s latest movie “Midnight in Paris”

I love the movie “Midnight in Paris” was so good that I will be doing a series on it. My favorite Woody Allen movie is Crimes and Misdemeanors and I will provide links to my earlier posts on that great movie. Movie Guide the Christian website had the following review: MIDNIGHT IN PARIS is the […]

Solomon, Woody Allen, Coldplay and Kansas (Coldplay’s spiritual search Part 6)

Here is an article I wrote a couple of years ago: Solomon, Woody Allen, Coldplay and Kansas What does King Solomon, the movie director Woody Allen and the modern rock bands Coldplay and Kansas have in common? All four took on the issues surrounding death, the meaning of life and a possible afterlife, although they all came up with their own conclusions on […]

January 18, 2012 – 7:23 am Categories: Current Events | Post a comment

RC Sproul and Stephen C. Meyer discuss evolution

RC Sproul Interviews Stephen Meyer, Part 1 of 5

Uploaded by on Mar 2, 2010

RC Sproul sits down with Stephen Meyer, author of the book, “Signature in the Cell”, and they discuss philosophy, evolution, education, Intelligent Design, and more.

Below is more on the bio of Stephen C. Meyer:

Dr. Stephen C. Meyer

Dr. Stephen C. Meyer

Stephen C. Meyer is director of the Discovery Institute’s Center for Science and Culture (CSC) and a founder both of the intelligent design movement and of the CSC, intelligent design’s primary intellectual and scientific headquarters. Dr. Meyer is a Cambridge University-trained philosopher of science, the author of peer-reviewed publications in technical, scientific, philosophical and other books and journals. His signal contribution to ID theory is given most fully in Signature in the Cell: DNA and the Evidence for Intelligent Design, published by HarperOne in June 2009.

[…]Graduating from Whitworth College in Spokane, Washington, in 1981 with a degree in physics and earth science, he later became a geophysicist with Atlantic Richfield Company (ARCO) in Dallas, Texas. From 1981 to 1985, he worked for ARCO in digital signal processing and seismic survey interpretation. As a Rotary International Scholar, he received his training in the history and philosophy of science at Cambridge University, earning a PhD in 1991. His thesis offered a methodological interpretation of origin-of-life research.

[…]Prior to the publication of Signature in the Cell, the piece of writing for which Meyer was best known was an August 2004 review essay in the Smithsonian Institution-affiliated peer-reviewed biology journal Proceedings of the Biological Society of Washington. The article laid out the evidential case for intelligent design, that certain features of living organisms–such as the miniature machines and complex circuits within cells–are better explained by an unspecified designing intelligence than by an undirected natural process like random mutation and natural selection.

[…]Meyer’s many other publications include a contribution to, and the editing of, the peer-reviewed volume Darwinism, Design and Public Education (Michigan State University Press, 2004) and the innovative textbook Explore Evolution (Hill House Publishers, 2007).

Meyer has been widely featured in media appearance on CNN, MSNBC, NBC, ABC, CBS, Fox News, PBS, and the BBC. In 2008, he appeared with Ben Stein in Expelled: No Intelligence Allowed.  He’s also featured prominently in two other science documentaries, Icons of Evolution and Unlocking The Mystery of Life.

R.C. Sproul Interviews Author of “Darwin’s Doubt” on Evolution, Intelligent Design

By LAUREN LEIGH NOSKE ( [email protected] ) Aug 05, 2013 03:41 AM EDT

Renowned theologian, author, and pastor R. C. Sproul interviewed Stephen Meyers, author of “Darwin’s Doubt: The Explosive Origin of Animal Life and the Case for Intelligent Design,” about his research on neo-Darwinian evolution and evidence for Intelligent Design. Sproul says that Meyer’s book is the most detailed analysis on the inconsistencies in evolution that he has ever seen.

Believers in neo-Darwinism think that creation was a result of natural selection acting on random genetic mutations; that all of life adapted from one “kind” to another, although there are no observable evidences of this. In his book, Meyers explains how Charles Darwin left one large question unanswered: he was puzzled by the abrupt appearance of animals in the fossil record known as the “Cambrian explosion” as opposed to small, incremental changes over a long period of time. “Within the ranks of evolutionary biology itself, there is now a tremendous skepticism being expressed about the creative power of the mutation-selection mechanism – the standard mechanism that is part of modern neo-Darwinian theory,” he said.

In “The Origin of Species,” Darwin himself admitted that the Cambrian explosion proposed “a valid objection to the views here entertained.” Meyers argues that it could not have been simply a “burst” of physical matter, but would also have had to produce reams of intricate genetic information that would be the basis of creation. What’s more, he believes that modern study of DNA reveals its intricate complexities and create much doubt – even among non-believers – that the evolutionary process could have formed something as complex as an animal.

Sproul had predicted that the theory of Darwinian Evolution would eventually be deconstructed by secular scientists because of its vast inconsistencies, and attested that neo-Darwinian macro-evolution presents “wild violations of the fundamental principles of the laws of immediate inference” in science. He argues that creating something out of nothing is “absolute absurdity … everything [coming from] nothing is the great magic [trick] –it’s the rabbit out of the hat, without a hat, without a rabbit, and without a magician.”

Intelligent Design is the concept that there is purposive intelligence behind all of creation – that a mind has intricately shaped all of the matter and genetic code that exists. It is based on the scientific method, and Meyers believes that it has significant theistic implications. While one does not have to be a Christian in order to agree with Intelligent Design, it presents a “powerful evidence of the activity of purposive intelligence acting in the history of life,” says Meyers. Macro-evolutionists may conclude that species have a common ancestor because of commonalities in the way their structures are designed, but Meyers argues that commonalities are instead evidence for a common Creator.

Many scientists feel as though they must limit their scientific conclusions to the material realm. Meyers called this pre-conceived idea a closed circle that by which some feel bound, “excluding from consideration the very explanation that makes most sense in light of our cause-and-effect experience of the world.” Excluding the immaterial from the possible set of solutions for the existence of the universe creates a “sub-rational historical biology” by refusing to consider one possible true answer, he said.

Meyers wants to encourage Christians to not be intimidated by the “alleged ‘indisputable body of facts’” that evolutionists present, because there is so much scientific evidence now that supports the idea of a Creator. He agreed with Sproul that Intelligent Design is consistent with God’s word, and quoted Psalm 104:24:

“O LORD, how manifold are Your works! In wisdom have You made them all; the earth is full of Your creatures” (English Standard Version).

Ligonier Ministries is currently offering “Darwin’s Doubt” for a donation of any amount.

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Review of Carl Sagan book (Part 4 of series on Evolution)jh68

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Arkansas Times Blogger says Communists were not atheistic, but they were and they believed “might made right” jh48

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January 17, 2012 – 8:26 am Categories: Current Events | Post a comment

Freedom compared in Canada, UK, USA and World

Another great chart from the Heritage Foundation:

(The USA average is Red, UK is orange, Canada is blue and the World ave is black)

Rob Bluey

January 15, 2012 at 11:23 am

Heritage and the Wall Street Journal released the 2012 Index of Economic Freedom on Thursday, ranking 179 countries on 10 benchmarks that gauge their economic success. This year Heritage introduced a new interactive feature that gives you the opportunity to create a comparative graph.

This week’s chart shows how the United States stacks up against Canada and the United Kingdom. As recently as 2009, the United States led both countries in economic freedom. But after four years of decline, the United States is heading in the wrong direction. This year it fell to 10th in the Index of Economic Freedom.

For the 18th straight year, Hong Kong and Singapore finished first and second in the rankings, followed this year by Australia, New Zealand and Switzerland. North Korea was at the bottom of the rankings. All contents of the book are available online.

A few notable developments in this year’s Index:

The Index of Economic Freedom was first released in 1995 by the Wall Street Journal and Heritage to measure economist Adam Smith’s theories about liberty, prosperity and economic freedom among countries today.

Uploaded by on Jan 6, 2012

According to the 2012 Index of Economic Freedom, a joint publication of The Heritage Foundation and The Wall Street Journal, global economic freedom has declined over the past year. But what does this mean for America and the world?

Economic freedom empowers ordinary people with greater opportunity and individual choice, and it lets people decide for themselves how best to achieve their highest aspirations. From the amount a government spends, to the individual property rights extended to its citizens, a nation’s economic freedom is closely tied to key values like the elimination of poverty and freedom from corruption.

To learn more about economic freedom and view the 2012 Index country rankings, visit us online at heritage.org/Index

Freedom abundant in the USA? I got this info below from the Heritage Foundation:

January 17, 2012 – 7:19 am Categories: Current Events | Post a comment

“Tip Tuesday” is an advice column intended for Gene Simmons concerning his relationship with women

Gene-Simmons-tvae-23.jpg

Gene Simmons Family Jewels, Shannon Tweed, 54 yrs old, has been with Gene Simmons 27 years and raised two children with him.

The series I have been doing on “Advice to Gene Simmons” that I am starting what I am calling “Tip Tuesday.” For the next few months we will be looking at the Simmons family.

The Sacrificing Husband (John MacArthur)

Uploaded by  on Sep 8, 2010

http://www.gty.org/Blog …The world tells husbands, “Don’t let anyone tell you what to do. Be a macho man. Grab the gusto. Live for the moment.” The Bible’s message to husbands is exactly the opposite—”Crucify yourself.” Here’s how Paul put it in Ephesians 5:25, “Husbands, love your wives, just as Christ also loved the church, and gave himself up for her.” That raises a question: Even a great Christian husband, on his best day, can’t match Christ’s loving sacrifice for the church. What does Paul expect? John MacArthur answers…

_____________________________

In his therapy session with Dr. Ann Wexler, Gene continued to make the point that his behavior is defensible because his meeting was, at the end of the day, something that would result in more money in the bank.

Dr. Wexler saw it differently.

“I think that lots of times when you do things when you’re not considering her or other people, you use making money as an excuse. As a defense.  It’s like, if you’re making money then a lot of your behavior is excused.

And I don’t think making money excuses a lot of your behavior.”

“You don’t?” asks Gene in disbelief.

_________________________________

What is going on here with Gene Simmons is very clear. He goes on tours and is guilty of having affairs and he justifies it because he is keeping up the hard rock image that he has always had. This brings in money and that is why he keeps pointing that out and trying to say that by bringing in the money he is showing his love toward his family. However, the truth is that he is using as an excuse to have affairs.

Now it seems his whole world is caving in on him because his wife has left him and his kids have condemned him for not doing the right thing.

On these tours he is putting himself in a position that makes it easy for him to fall morally. That should be avoided at all costs. My former pastor Adrian Rogers used to have a sign on his desk which said, “If you don’t want to fall then don’t walk in slippery places.”

Brandon Barnard, who is a teaching pastor at Fellowship Bible Church here in Little Rock in his message on July 24, 2011 made the point that we should WORK TO ELIMINATE EXPOSURE TO SEXUAL PRESSURES AND INCREASINGLY EMBRACE THE PROMISES OF GOD.

Then Brandon read through the following scriptures.

Philippians 4:8-9

English Standard Version (ESV)

 8Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is commendable, if there is any excellence, if there is anything worthy of praise, think about these things. 9What you have learned and received and heard and seen in me—practice these things, and the God of peace will be with you.

Matthew 5:27-30

English Standard Version (ESV)

 27 “You have heard that it was said, ‘You shall not commit adultery.’ 28But I say to you that everyone who looks at a woman with lustful intent has already committed adultery with her in his heart. 29 If your right eye causes you to sin, tear it out and throw it away. For it is better that you lose one of your members than that your whole body be thrown into hell. 30 And if your right hand causes you to sin, cut it off and throw it away. For it is better that you lose one of your members than that your whole body go into hell.

Job 31:1

Amplified Bible (AMP)

Job 31

1I DICTATED a covenant (an agreement) to my eyes; how then could I look [lustfully] upon a girl?

Psalm 101:3

English Standard Version (ESV)

3I will not set before my eyes
anything that is worthless.
I hate the work of those who fall away;
it shall not cling to me.

Matthew 5:8

English Standard Version (ESV)

 8“Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God.

Romans 8:6

English Standard Version (ESV)

6For to set the mind on the flesh is death, but to set the mind on the Spirit is life and peace.

January 17, 2012 – 12:55 am Categories: Current Events | Post a comment

Keith Green Story (Part 1)

The Keith Green Story pt 1/7

Keith Green had a major impact on me when I first heard him in 1978. Here is his story below:

Keith Gordon Green (, 1953 ? , 1982) was an American gospel singer, songwriter, musician, and Contemporary Christian Music artist originally from Sheepshead Bay, New York. Green is best known for his strong devotion to Christian evangelism and encouraging others to the same. Notable songs written by Green and/or his wife, Melody Green, include “Your Love Broke Through,” “You Put This Love In My Heart,” and “Asleep In The Light,” as well as the popular modern hymns “O Lord, You’re Beautiful” and “There Is A Redeemer.”

 

Early life

 

Keith took to music at a young age, beginning with the ukulele at age three, the guitar at five, and the piano at seven years of age. His talents were noted by a major newspaper by the time he was only eight years old. Following a performance of Arthur Laurents’ The Time of the Cuckoo, a local review by the Los Angeles Times wrote that “roguish-looking, eight-year-old Keith Green gave a winning portrayal” as “the little Italian street urchin, Mauro”; another review commented that he “stole the show”. The show was Keith’s first appearance in live theater, which was held in Chatsworth, California, in September 1962. According to the LA Times, Keith had already “done a number of television commercials and…made a TV pilot.”

 

At 10 years old, Green went on to play the role of “Kurt von Trapp” in a local community theatre production of The Sound of Music at the Valley Music Theater in Woodland Hills, California.
Keith Green’s first disc release. The other side has the song The Way I Used To Be.

In February 1965, with forty original songs already under his belt, Green and his father Harvey signed a five-year contract with Decca Records with Harvey as business manager. The first song released on disc was The Way I Used to Be in May 1965 (produced by Gary Usher), which he had earlier composed and published before signing on with Decca. Upon publication of this song, Green became the youngest person ever to sign with the American Society of Composers, Authors and Publishers (ASCAP).

 

Decca Records planned to make Green a teen idol, regularly getting the young pre-teenager featured in fanzines like Teen Scene and on popular television shows like The Jack Benny Show and The Steve Allen Show. The television game show I’ve Got a Secret made an exception to his age of eleven and hosted him on the show (May 3, 1965) with his secret, “I just signed a five-year contract as a rock-‘n’-roll singer,” and ended his segment with a live performance of We’ll Do a Lot of Things Together.

 

By the time Green was twelve, he had written ten more songs, and Time magazine ran a short piece about Green in an article about aspiring young rock-‘n’-roll singers, referring to him as Decca Records’ “prepubescent dreamboat”. However, after national attention envisioned by Decca Records failed to materialize for Keith, Donny Osmond captured the attention of pre-teens and teenagers, eclipsing Keith’s newfound stardom, and Keith was quickly forgotten by the public.

 

Spiritual Conversion

 

Keith had a Jewish and Christian Science background, but grew up reading the New Testament. He called it “an odd combination” that left him open minded but deeply unsatisfied. His journey led him to drugs, South Asian mysticism, and “free love.” After experiencing what Green described as a “bad trip,” he abandoned drug use and became bitter towards philosophy and theology in general. Green would later state, however, that in the midst of his skepticism, he felt that God “broke through calloused heart,” and he became a born-again Christian. Soon afterward, Keith’s wife Melody (whom he had married on Christmas Day 1973) also became a born-again Christian. It was during this time that the newlyweds became involved with the Vineyard Christian Fellowship in Southern California.

The Keith Green Story pt 2/7

 

January 17, 2012 – 12:13 am Categories: Current Events | Post a comment