Was It Real--or Faked?--or "Enhanced?"

Does it matter if what you see is real--or electronically spruced up?  You may have missed the flap over Beyonce's singing at the inauguration last week--was she singing in real-time, or did she lip-sync?  And does anyone really care?  Here is an interesting article about how people prefer--at least we think--things to be more perfect than they could ever be in "reality," and whether reality can measure up to "enhanced" reality--whether it is pictures of people, or advertising, or singing.
Or--worship.  Think about it: What if the musicians in worship thought they could do a "better" job by pre-recording their music, then lip-(and instrument-)syncing during worship?  And what if a preacher decided he could do a "better" job by pre-recording the sermon, and lip-syncing?  What would be lost?
Or--here's another angle on this.  One current phenomenon is churches with multi-site worship services, where the sermon is preached at one site, and broadcast at all the other sites.  So that if you are at another site, you do not get to "see" the preaching live, but only broadcast.  What do you think?  Is there not something to live, in-person preaching--the interaction, non-verbally, between the pastor and the congregation--that is taken away (I do think so--what do you think)?  And then, can a pastor really act as shepherd (the word "pastor" comes from a root word meaning "shepherd") for a congregation that he only knows "remotely?"  Is hearing preaching merely a matter of taking in information--or is there more going on?  Let me know what you think.

Why We Need Confessions

When it comes to confessions of faith, many Christians are like Groucho Marx here:


Well, the February edition of New Horizons has an excellent cover article, by Carl Trueman, on why Christians (and churches) need confessions of faith--even lengthy ones, like the Westminster Confession of Faith, and Catechisms.  It's not online yet, but as soon as it is, I will post a link.

Something from an Unexpected Source

Follow this link for a list of "25 Danger Signs" for Christians.  It comes from an unexpected place, and yet, if you look down the list, it will be remarkably similar for us in our place.  Ponder, for example, number 7 (among others!).