Normal Rockstar

CMT in Canada

For those of you who are new to my blog (meaning you're first visit was AFTER April 2006) this will be the first CMT post you've seen. I started a series a while back bemoaning the way so many churches use their marquees out front to post really cheesy, usually lame slogans that either outright insulted those driving by who weren't privy to the language ("Christianese") or simply made them shake their head on the way by and mutter under their breath, "If that's what church is like I don't want anything to do with it!"

Well, my brother is on staff at a church up in Canada, and he recently took over the responsibility of the church marquee. He and I are in agreement on this issue, and so he's made it his personal agenda to use the sign as a tool to connect with the community, even hoping to get a chuckle out of the non-churched folks driving by. Here's his most recent work (I guess it's been pretty hot up there as of late)... Needless to say, I have yet another reason to be proud of my little brother. Way to represent, Steve!

Technorati Tags: church, CMT, humor, theology

CMT Series #3

It's been a while since I've had a new installment in my "Christian Marquee Theology" series - however, when I came upon this sign last week, it was too good to pass up. Not only was it blog worthy, but we were able to have a little fun with it - it took us all of 30 seconds to realize the opportunity before us and did a little rearranging in order to spice the message up a little (thanks to my good friend Dave for the creative pose).

CMT Series #2

I saw a new one this morning - it was in a great location, right beside a main highway where everyone crawls by during morning rush hour. Here's what it said:

Abortion is the worse form of child abuse.

Now, I don't necessarily have an issue with the message - I am a pro-life supporter. My issue with today's installment is the poor grammar. Now people who may already be pro-choice and looking for reasons to lump pro-life church-goers in with abortion clinic bombers can also add "stupid" or "uneducated" to their long list of "reasons why church people should not be taken seriously." No wonder we as the church have such a hard road to travel here in America - we have far too many divisions of our "army" that do more damage than good! And I will risk repeating myself here: what about this statement says to non-church goers, "Please - come join us on Sunday morning. We will welcome you with open arms and would love to shower you with grace. Have you had an abortion? That's okay - let us help you work through that. Jesus still loves you, and so do we"? Nothing! How frustrating...

The CMT Series (CMT stands for Christian Marquee Theology) exists to help point out the futility of cheesy slogans posted on church marquees across America.

CMT Series: Christian Marquee Theology

It's official: Today marks the beginning of an ongoing series through which I will vent my frustrations and utter disbelief regarding the cheesiest, sometimes disturbing, and almost always embarassing slogans found on church marquees across the country. I don't have any pictures today, but I will make an attempt to get a picture of the marquees I quote here - minus any identifying markings (i.e. church names, etc.) as I don't want my good friend Shaun to get into trouble for vandalizing church property (check out his comment on a previous post).

Here are two that my wife and I came across yesterday. And get this: they were on the same marquee, just different sides!! Unbelievable...

"Forbidden fruit creates many jams."

"God called us to be witnesses, not lawyers or judges."

Again, I beg you: is there anything about either of these that make you want to go check out the church?!? Stay tuned for sporadic installments of my new CMT series...

UPDATE: I just Googled "church marquees" - this should provide you with some good entertainment.

UPDATE: I just pulled the above picture off the cover of a book providing slogans for church marquees - there are books out there for this stuff! Lord, give me patience and grace...