# PCUSA nuttiness



## ericfromcowtown (Dec 16, 2009)

My wife saw this video of a PCUSA Christmas pageant. I don't know what to say. It's so inappropriate on so many levels. 

I guess that a bunch of kids having a dance party inspired nativity rave and thrusting a doll intended to be Jesus in the air is a 2nd commandment violation, so watch this nuttiness at your own risk:


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## Rich Koster (Dec 16, 2009)

In the beginning of the video, the guy tossed the scripture away........and there lies the problem with the whole event.


OOPS... I forgot this:


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## BJClark (Dec 16, 2009)

he looked rather frustrated too didn't he???


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## jawyman (Dec 16, 2009)

I watched the whole video and I am offended on so many levels, I am left speechless. The offence to the Gospel and children exposed to this leaves me wanting to cry. Truly a travesty.


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## Bengibor (Dec 16, 2009)

That's Chris Brown's song 'Forever'. It made the news on CNN earlier this year as it was used as wedding hymn at a Lutheran wedding in Mid West with performance very similar to this one, although with more decency and taste.

The guy on this video starts reading St.Luke 2 and then abruptly throws off the sheets with Scripture text and the party may begin. Obviously he considers the Scripture a trash.

BUT, what do you expect from mainline ultra liberal 'progressive' Christianity? PCUSA has been steadily going down the hill for decades


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## Reformed Thomist (Dec 16, 2009)

Yep. _This_ is what'll keep the youth of today coming back.


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## DMcFadden (Dec 16, 2009)

Wow! That other thread is right . . . "Presbyterians" can be rearranged to form "Britney Spears"


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## Grillsy (Dec 16, 2009)

The worst part is that it has a 4 1/2 star rating.

Okay, that is not the WORST part but still very disheartening.


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## Reformed Thomist (Dec 16, 2009)

DMcFadden said:


> Wow! That other thread is right . . . "Presbyterians" can be rearranged to form "Britney Spears"



Haha. So it can!


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## Rich Koster (Dec 16, 2009)

Grillsy said:


> The worst part is that it has a 4 1/2 star rating.
> 
> Okay, that is not the WORST part but still very disheartening.



Maybe the 2 guys in the sound booth rated it


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## awretchsavedbygrace (Dec 16, 2009)

As I was watching this at work, my computer froze and I was unable to move the mouse. I had to restart the computer, all my work is gone. I guess, I should of listened to the disclaimer " watch at your own risk".


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## Reformed Thomist (Dec 16, 2009)

Grillsy said:


> The worst part is that it has a 4 1/2 star rating.
> 
> Okay, that is not the WORST part but still very disheartening.



Secularists and liberals generally love this kind of thing. It shows a church casting aside its ugly, intolerant, repressive nature and 'opening itself up to the world'... secularizing itself. This makes it non-threatening, unlike real churches.


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## Claudiu (Dec 16, 2009)

Was this planned...? From what it looks like it was but idk. Can't imagine people actually sitting around making plans on doing this.


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## Marrow Man (Dec 16, 2009)

This could just as easily happen in an average "evangelical" church, not just a mainline. Any place where more contemporary means of displaying the "gospel" in place of the sufficient Scriptures could just as easily churn out this kind of garbage.

The message seems to be: the story in Luke is boring and we've heard it a million times before, so let's jazz it up a bit so that it's cool.


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## Claudiu (Dec 16, 2009)

Reformed Thomist said:


> Grillsy said:
> 
> 
> > The worst part is that it has a 4 1/2 star rating.
> ...


 
What these churches are doing is like what Big Dan T did..."its all about the money boys"...in order to get more people to come, to get more money. 

at 3:15
[video=youtube;ZDd_ryixqyA]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZDd_ryixqyA&feature=PlayList&p=F85D5C8DDD275076&playnext=1&playnext_from=PL&index=69[/video]


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## Edward (Dec 16, 2009)

No, the saddest thing is that Highland Park Presbyterian is one of the best churches left in the PCUSA.


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## Scott1 (Dec 16, 2009)

> http://www.layman.org/News.aspx?article=26604
> 
> HPPC's 'Nativity Dance' goes viral
> 
> ...


.


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## DMcFadden (Dec 16, 2009)

Marrow Man said:


> This could just as easily happen in an average "evangelical" church, not just a mainline. Any place where more contemporary means of displaying the "gospel" in place of the sufficient Scriptures could just as easily churn out this kind of garbage.
> 
> The message seems to be: the story in Luke is boring and we've heard it a million times before, so let's jazz it up a bit so that it's cool.



Tim is on target. Actually, it is difficult to think of this in any venue other than a broad evangelical church "youth ministry."


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## JoyFullMom (Dec 16, 2009)

I am astounded.


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## Marrow Man (Dec 16, 2009)

Edward said:


> No, the saddest thing is that Highland Park Presbyterian is one of the best churches left in the PCUSA.


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## py3ak (Dec 16, 2009)

The "Wedding Entrance" dance is already so lame it's been spoofed by _The Office_. Using popular culture as the seasoning or vehicle for your message is not a good idea even when your message is basic, noncontroversial consumerism, let alone eternal realities. And this for several reasons:
1. Trying to be cool is never cool. The essence of being cool is to pull it off effortlessly (which, ironically, means that those estimated as being the coolest are merely the ones with most time and money to put into feigning indifference stylishly).
2. Popular culture moves quickly. It's a nimble marketing department indeed that can keep up. And if you don't keep up, your effort backfires and you're exposed as a desperate and incompetent wannabe, than which there is nothing lamer.
3. The world can always offer higher quality worldliness than the church. In the worldliness department, the church can only offer the intellectual equivalents of margarine or aspartame.
4. Dignity still has a commanding authority; but there can be no dignity where the chariot of the eternal word is harnessed to the vaporous horses of viral web phenomena.
5. It's probably the case more often than not that the seasoning or vehicle of pop culture is fundamentally inconsistent with the truth. Relating the Gospel to pop culture usually involves doing something completely irrelevant, or straining and twisting to extract some minuscule moral platitude from whatever ephemeral buzz-generator impressed you.


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## Claudiu (Dec 16, 2009)

py3ak said:


> The "Wedding Entrance" dance is already so lame it's been spoofed by _The Office_. Using popular culture as the seasoning or vehicle for your message is not a good idea even when your message is basic, noncontroversial consumerism, let alone eternal realities.



Oh yeah I remember that. I remember I felt weird after seeing it.


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## Herald (Dec 16, 2009)

*MODERATOR NOTE:

*I watched the whole video while holding my nose. When the dancing Mary came in, carrying the baby Jesus, I had enough. That's a 2nd commandment violation, and thus, I deleted the video.


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## Berean (Dec 16, 2009)

Rich Koster said:


> In the beginning of the video, the guy tossed the scripture away........



Isn't that what the PC(USA) decided to do?


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## Turtle (Dec 16, 2009)

All the presenters traveled through a dimly lit room with dark sunglasses over their eyes, and moved their hands and arms as though they groped. I'm wondering if there was a moral somewhere in that after all...


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## BJClark (Dec 17, 2009)

I for one will not be passing the video along, no need to share that garbage w/ anyone else..and make them more 'popular'


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## Andres (Dec 17, 2009)

Edward said:


> No, the saddest thing is that Highland Park Presbyterian is one of the best churches left in the PCUSA.



Correction: _*Was *_one of the best churches left.


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## Rich Koster (Dec 17, 2009)

Berean said:


> Rich Koster said:
> 
> 
> > In the beginning of the video, the guy tossed the scripture away........
> ...



I wouldn't pick on the PCUSA as a solo defector. The "entertain the crowd" mentality has infected all too many meetinghouses in the USA (and possibly elsewhere too).


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