Wednesday, August 19, 2009

WOW! Words of Wisdom from "Between the Times"

If you only have time to read one blog (after you finish mine, of course) that blog almost certainly should be "Between the Times." I read something by Bruce Ashford on that blog today that was classic. He was talking about Christian Bookstores (I use the term loosely). Talking about Augustine, he said,

Another reason might be that the local bookstores don’t even have an Augustine section (True, Barnes & Noble and Borders carry books by Augustine, but Christian bookstores rarely do. The Christian stores are up to their necks in sales of Precious Moments figurines, tester tubes of anointing oil, boxes of Test-a-mints, and tee-shirts with inscriptions like “I’m Cross-Eyed.”)

Wow! Christian bookstores sell more Christian junk than they do serious books. Probably says something abou the tastes of modern Christians, right?

5 comments:

CB Scott said...

Dave,

I just caught the Red Sox win over the Yankees. 14-1. Rough day, huh. :-)

Dave Miller said...

That's cold, CB.

CB Scott said...

They should never have let the great Torrey go.

Bill said...

My wife and friends think I am crazy, but nothing oppresses me like going into a Christian bookstore. For sheer, unadulterated bilge, useless junk, and downright sacrilegious paraphernalia, nothing beats a Christian bookstore. 99% of it is what I call Jesus junk. I cannot in my wildest dreams imagine any serious Christian of the previous 19 centuries spending money on this stuff, and yet modern Christians plunk down hard earned money without a thought on Tommy Hellfighter tee shirts and think they are doing evangelism.

Sometimes the world doesn't take us seriously because of the Name and message we bear. Sometimes though, it is because we are ridiculous.

PS: I am a non-gloating Red Sox fan. Any Red Sox fan who isn't humble hasn't been one long enough. I do experience a little schadenfreude when the Yankees lose. I'll repent of it later.

actionsub said...

Try working in one if you want some good old fashioned spiritual oppression.
Try being told that it really is serving Christ to coerce a customer to send just five dollars more for a clearance item...and get reprimanded if your percentage is too low.
By the time I walked out, I was going home at night asking myself "Jesus died for THIS?"