Damned If Ya Do Damned If Ya don't

Don't See, Don't Buy...

With so much junk and minutia being passed off as "entertainment" for what is seeming like forever one would think that people, in particular Christians would be happy to see projects coming out that have anything to do with the bible. Surprisingly though it seems to be the total opposite.

Ironically Christians seem to be the first ones to jump on the "boycott" wagon starting virtual internet crusades for people (meaning Good Christians) to not see a particular project. We've all seen them bombarding our Facebook news feeds where this organization or that one is on a mission spread the word to make sure something tanks. I find this not only silly but also hypocritical.

You would think that after things like oh let me see where shall I begin?... Beyonce's Super Bowl halftime show where she pranced around dressed like a 1920's hooker dancing like a stripper on a pole in front of millions of people including children. Lets not forget Miley's twerking escapades, I know I know she is only "expressing herself" (remember when Madonna did that? oh to go back to the days when Madonna was being "Shocking"). We also have the gay agenda being shoved down the throats of every man woman and child in this country (personally I don't care what people do in their bedrooms but don't call me hateful because I believe "marriage" is between one man and one woman). Then there's Islam Ignorance, you know that "peaceful religion" which in reality is a sick twisted violent and barbaric cult being not only tolerated but promoted all over the country. Meanwhile Christians are silenced as being hateful and bigoted. God out of the workplace, out of schools, out of government, and what do we have? Chaos. Watching all this happen right in front of our very eyes one would think that a Christian would be happy, not just happy but giddy to see some form of entertainment coming out whether it be a film, TV miniseries, music artist, heck even a preacher on TV, something, anything that has to do with the bible and not a half naked person, violence, or foul language being passed off as "art".

So to me when I see crusades for people to boycott a film, artist, or preacher it makes me laugh inside. First thing... this is to all the "Super Christians" of the world, get off your moral high horse. The only perfect person ever was Jesus. We're saved by Grace that can't be earned. Not one of us was there when the bible was written. Second it was written by whom? Man, which is what? Human. Therefore not perfect, and it has been translated how many times? In how many languages? My point is, arguing over potato vs. potato-to kind of things is silly and very counter productive. We have one job as followers of Christ, that is to go and spread the "Good News" period! Jesus was clear when he gave us The Great Commission. In Matthew 28:19-20 (NIV)

"Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.”

Reading that I don't see Jesus telling them to: go around poking your nose in other Christians business to make sure they are living right according to your standards of interpretation of the bible, or to judge every book, film, TV program to see if it is "biblically accurate". Do you? Yet so many Christians get so wrapped in judging other Christians life and work, rather than spending their time much more fruitfully by working to reach souls for the Kingdom. Working instead to reach the people of the world who do not know the peace that passes all understanding, the love above all other loves, found only in one place... Jesus.

The thing the haters are missing is, you are not going to reach people by walking in and slapping them in the face. So many people in todays world are so lost, hurting so bad, and have been so judged, they are simply not going to respond to that kind of message, they just aren't. So in a modern world, when an artist takes a different approach to telling a story or to open the dialogue we shouldn't be working against them. Now if someone is putting out a film that has blatant fabrications like I don't know saying something like Jesus was married or something like that then of course that is something to not support or be a part of. However when someone is mad because a good looking actor is cast in a movie or miniseries as Jesus, to me that signals something off with the accuser.

For films like Noah where everyone is losing their minds about the portrayal of God as angry and it being made by a non Christian film maker, again all I can say is HELLO it's HOLLYWOOD. It was never portrayed or promoted to be a learning tool for a bible study. It's a Hollywood Film, and should be taken as such, entertainment. Christians should know the bible well enough to discern what is entertainment. For some who worry that non believers who would be watching the film might walk away from a Hollywood film with that being their only and final idea about God, again is silly and small minded.

Any Christian who has accepted Jesus into their heart knows they responded to his knock. He knocks, and knocks, and over time some shorter, some longer than others, but every person who accepts him into their heart does so in response to his knocking, him initiating it. He comes to us, he died for us. To the non believer watching that film, it just opens the door, it opens the door to faith. It opens the door even with all of it's "biblical errors" as one might be concerned about, it still opens the door to a belief in a creator, in something that is bigger than yourself. That's the point the haters are missing, even if the film maker didn't intend it to.

It's the same with what I like to call "Pastor Derangement Syndrome" that so many Christians of today seem to be infected with. So many people are quick to watch an edited "snipit" of an interview or sermon and believe the point the editor made it to have. Yet will not sit through and entire episode or sermon of said pastor or evangelist to see the truth of what they really preach. The thing is everyone responds differently to different people. We are all different. If X,Y, or Z pastor is on TV and reaches one just one soul for Christ and turns that soul around, who am I, you are the next guy to criticize them? I certainly don't want to be standing before God explaining why I spent so much time badmouthing people sharing the gospel.

My ultimate point is with the Miracle of Easter coming, it saddens me to see so many "Christians" slamming so many other Christians or projects that could really help to change what we see in pop culture. We all know that pop culture is a total mess. Everywhere we turn it's sex, sex and more sex. Want to sell toothpaste? Sex. Want to sell a car? Sex. Want to sell a house? Sex. For crying out loud we have a TV Show called "Dance Moms" where people are dressing up their five to seven year old little girls in red lipstick and fish net stockings and false eye lashes, spending obscene amounts of time and money to ensure their child leave the competition with a trophy? Good grief!

I just think we have far more important things to worry about than to complain because "The Bible", "Son Of God" movie or miniseries or films like "Noah" are out. Christians are not complaining about things like "Dance Moms", "American Idol" (um hello look at the second word in that title please), "Secret Lives of Nashville Wives", and the list goes on. Christians will boycott "The Bible" miniseries yet not any of the above mentioned items. In my mind it's time to do a gut check about what we spend our time doing and or working against. Kudos when people stand up for Duck Dynasty and films like God's Not Dead, but we have a lot more standing up to do. That is unless you're perfectly happy with the status quo and the decline in the moral fabric of our society. On the other hand if you want to see more half naked Beyonce, Katy Perry, twerking, no consequences and losing your freedoms more by the day. Then by all means, boycott away... just sayin.

Blessings, Love & Music ~
Ava :D xo
www.avaaston.com

Son Of God

I give it a Thumbs Up.

Having watched "The Bible" miniseries last year leading up to Easter and very much enjoying it I'm sure it will come as no surprise that I have been super excited to see the film "Son Of God". In fact I had been waiting with baited breath to see it and went opening day, Friday night.

Then it happened, I made the mistake of looking at my phone and just as it did last year, the hate started to consume my newsfeed on Facebook. Before I knew it the internet was full of it. Full of what you might be wondering? Super Christians bashing a film, in many cases some had not even taken the time to see yet before proceeding to write a scathing review about how "biblically Incorrect" it is.

I had already experienced many of these same "Super Christians" bashing "The Bible" miniseries before and it irked me so much that I blogged about it last year (read that blog here) Seeing these people bash the film in particular when it is "Christians" doing the bashing is beyond silly if you ask me. In my opinion they are just as bad as the Pharisees who killed Jesus. It is totally counter productive and further in my opinion actually disrespectful to Jesus to bash and or nit pick these things to death. It is one thing if someone is preaching a false doctrine, however some Christians seem to get some sort of satisfaction from super judging. Anyhow this is what I thought about the film.

The thing is as bad as it is today in our country and around the world politically... Jesus is bigger than politics. We are all called to go and spread the good news to all of creation and to be the light. Unfortunately most of us myself included get far too distracted with things that ultimately do not matter in the end. Yes there was a lot of hoopla made in the media about the editing out of the "Devil" character. It didn't bother me that they took the devil out of it, after all it's about the Gospel of Jesus, not the gospel of the devil. The film starts with Jesus coming into Galilee so it's focused on Jesus and his message and his time with the disciples up until his death so it makes sense that they took it out anyway.

Now regarding the "theologically correct" part that people seem to be losing their minds about... the point of the film and mini series as I understand it from seeing them in interviews talking about it, was to bring the message of salvation and Jesus Christ to people in a way that will reach them in "todays world". To reach people and change hearts with the love of Jesus. For people (Christians in particular) to nit pick every single little thing in my opinion is just as bad as the Pharisees who killed Jesus because he did not come "the way they thought a king should". Why... because they were too wrapped up in their own "religiosity" to see him "The Son of Man" standing right there in front of their faces.

No one was around when the scriptures were written and they have been translated how many times? The important thing is the message being correct and in that vein it was correct. What annoyed the fire out of me was seeing people last year saying they were boycotting the bible miniseries at Easter because thus and such and then at the same time not having any problem with Beyonce and the Superbowl debacle and then being obsessed with shows like American Idol, along with engaging in things that totally contradict their supposed ideology.... which is a total hypocrisy.

Jesus instructed us to go and spread the "good news", further to GO and preach the message of salvation (the gospel) to every corner and to every creature and to love one another and to be the light. Far too often Christians spend too much time pointing out the speck in others eyes while walking around with a giamungo plank in their own eyes.

When a hollywood power couple spends their time and resources to produce a film about Christianity in a modern way to try to cut through to pop culture which is a total mess btw and then Christians sit around bashing their efforts because thus and such pastor i.e. "Joel Osteen" was a consultant on the film is ridiculously unproductive if you ask me. I do not think Jesus would be happy about that kind of behavior. Just my opinion of course one can take it or leave it.

Some have said the film is blasphemous and changes the scripture and all kinds of other outrageous things. Some have even made these claims with out even seeing the film mind you. Newsflash to these Debbie Downers: the bible in English is inaccurate.... since they actually spoke Aramaic. So that would make the King James, NIV, Message, NAS, Amplified, and all other bible versions  outside of Aramaic, Greek or Hebrew inaccurate. They have been translated how many times? And by whom? Yes that's right, by "man" whom is imperfect. The Greek and Hebrew are the only languages that are the traditional language of the bible from the time of Jesus and the disciples since no one is really running around speaking Aramaic anymore. Need I remind these same naysayers the pharasies said many things along those same lines about Jesus because they were worshipping their "words and traditions" and not seeing with their eyes of faith or their spirits. Not only missing out on but killing Jesus because it was not word for word what they had in their minds. A sad yet familiar pattern with Religion. People can forget Jesus came for us to have a "relationship" with him not a Religion.

So say what you will but the fact that Jesus and the message of salvation through him with a modern perspective is on the big screen is far more important than "Super Christians" sitting around pointing fingers from lofty places. That does not win souls for the kingdom - Shame on anyone who would try to stop that message from reaching people.

I loved the film. I left there feeling my heart very filled with love for Jesus and what he did for all of humanity. So in my opinion I think they did their job well, thumbs up... in my humble greek girl opinion that is.

Blessings, Love & Music ~
Ava xo
www.avaaston.com

The Bible

The Greatest Story is not just a story it's who we are and what makes us so.

So I was all excited to settle down tonight with a hot cup of Dunkin' Donut's (decaf of course) and a few Pekingese to snuggle up with and watch History Channel's "The Bible" by Mark Burnett and Roma Downey.  Now, I know it's the second week of the 5-part series, and yes I did watch last week.  That's why I was so excited to get to watch it this week.  In case you haven't tuned in, which I can't imagine why you wouldn't, this is a really neat and one of a kind production.  Instead of a full length film about one character from the Bible we are getting to see and meet the main characters throughout the entire Bible.  It's actually pretty cool to see it like this.

Now, because I 'love' Roma Downey from Touched By an Angel and I used to watch that show whenever I could, I am not surprised she is a Christian and would want to produce this project.  What I did not know is that Mark Burnett was a Christian and would also be involved in making this project.  So for that, I say Kudos! That's Greek for "two-thumbs up" in case you didn't know.  What is even more interesting was that after reading about the production aspect of the mini-series, I learned the crew insisted on having prayer-circles and really dedicating the production to the guidance of God's hand in making it come to life.  One other thing I didn't know but find interesting is that when they produced it they wanted it to be engaging from the perspective of both those who are of the faith and for those who may not know the Bible story and therefore find it interesting.  So instead of making it over-dramatic with an overtly religious tone they insisted on it being made as a tool to minister to those who would possibly come to know Jesus and God through the Bible mini-series.

But then during the commercial break I made a mistake.  I opened my facebook to read my thread only to be completely disappointed.  If any of you know anything about me you would know how much it upsets me that our society is going down the drain with all the Beyonce, Housewife of Whatevertown, Lady Gaga and the idolized overpaid criminal gangster athletes leading the way.  So like I was saying, all I see in my newsfeed is a bunch of Christians complaining about how bad The Bible mini-series is and how it's so inaccurate. Some people were saying how they should be ashamed and that they can't watch it because it was blasphemous or whatever.

Let's just say, this kind of attitude really irked Greek Girl.  I was a bit perturbed to say the least.  Here I am thinking, "Isn't this great, we have a Hollywood Powerhouse couple making an effort to impact society through producing Godly Christian content in the mainstream arena and it falls in line with my ideals.  Meanwhile a whole bunch of miserable Christians are bashing it as if it were Beyonce flashing the Illuminati sign while half-naked during the Super Bowl.  Ironically, most people didn't even complain nearly as much about that as they did about The Bible mini-series.

So, I just have to ask, "What in the heck in the world is wrong with some people?"  Seriously, if we have any desire to change the way people act and behave in society and the direction of where we are taking, we have to start somewhere.  I tip my hat off to Burnett and Downey for taking a risk and trying to connect with both believers and no-believers alike while trying to honor the message and story of God and Jesus at the same time.  Here's my Greek Girl suggestion, instead of "bashing" what others are doing about spreading God's message of love and faith why not embrace it and promote it for what it is and encourage more content like it to be produced.  By doing so, we just might actually start to see this country begin to slowly turn around and just maybe we can start seeing morals and values come back "into fashion"...  Just a thought.

Blessings, Love & Music~
Ava xo
www.avaaston.com

Thou Shalt Not Judge

Lest you be judged with the same measure you use...

We all do it.  The minute we walk into a store, friends home, a new restaurant, the DMV, we are judging.  Sometimes we're doing it before we even get inside.  We even judge the road that we traveled down to get to the place.  The crazy thing is we have no idea if when we get inside if we'll like it, but we go just the same.  Once inside it's the smell, the squeak of the door, the dust in the air, the flourescent lights or the people in line or the even linens on the table.  In nano-seconds we are immediately emersed in the emotional battle of determining if it's safe, if it's clean, if we like it or don't and so on.

Why do we do this?  Why do we judge?  The bible warns us and even tells us not to do it.  In certain situations though we have no choice.  We have to judge whether what we are about to engage in or who we will encounter will end up being a good or bad experience.  If we don't we can end up in a really bad situation or choosing to engage in a bad choice. Kind of like I did when I ordered from the "picture" in the menu and later learned the small print below read, "images not of actual food." ;D

So what do we do about it?  Can we change this behavior? Should we change it or just alter it slightly?  Maybe in life when we see a situation or are faced with circumstances we may not have full knowledge of we should step back and evaluate.  Learn to take everything in before we make a full judgement.  I know it's a radical idea.  But we don't. We are creatures of habbit.  Instead, we keep on judging and jumping to conclusions.  We automatically assume the worst and hope for the best or expect the best and can be drastically let down.

It's kind of like what is going on everyday in society.  Take for instance the Trayvon Martin case.  If you don't know what I am talking about you are either my sister who doesn't watch TV or you are sitting with my other sister who doesn't have a TV.  (Not sure why she doesn't have a TV either.) Regardless, the Trayvon Martin case as devistating as it is, has been so unfortunately blown out of proportion and due to this very issue.

It is a terrible tragedy that Trayvon lost his life that night and that his family lost their child.  However, what no-one is considering is what is and has been happening because of this tragedy.  Trayvon was not the only person who lost their life that night.  So did George Zimmerman.

Now, hear the Greek Girl out.  I'm not trying to make light of the situation but there is so much that can be learned here.  Take what Spike Lee did that endangered the lives of other innocent people not involved in the case by recklessly tweeting the wrong address for the "Zimmerman family".  Causing a totally innocent family to flee for their lives and be erroneously hunted down.

The amount of hate being spewed by the Black Panthers & political activists who aim to cause division in our streets rather than address the crimes in the streets amongst what they call, "their own people".  So much to the point that they even put out a "bounty" on the head of not only him, but his family?... Seriously?  First off isn't that a crime to put out a murder for hire in public no less?  Hello what are we living in the dark ages in a middle eastern village for Goodness sake? Good grief what's next a public stoning?  Sorry, but check me if I am wrong, but aren't we all "God's" people? All of us, black, white, green, yellow, blue, purple, we are "people".  Why isn't this being viewed as a terrible tragedy that two "human beings" were engaged in?  No one knows what happened, because none of us were there.

I can not imagine that God is happy with this situation.  However, in light of it all God can bring something wonderful out of this tragedy.  He always does.  His word says, "All things work together for the glory of God for those who are called to his purpose."  Yet instead of trying to use this tragedy as a way of bringing people together, the very opposite is happening.

A judgement that was fueled out of hatred and a deep desire to stir up strife for political and monetary gain.  Gain for the usual suspect race baiters...  Jessie Jackson, Al Sharpton, the Black Panthers, and so on.  Every single day in our country there are young blacks killing other blacks, whites killing whites, and even blacks killing whites, which are all tragedies.  Yet they don't make the headlines because there is no political or monetary gain.

After months of hate, hate mongering, race baiting, discourse in the streets and downright disgusting behavior, it appears that a lot of information is coming to light in this case.  The bottom line is, no one knows what happened, period. We can assume, we can judge, but at the end of the day, no one but George Zimmerman, Trayvon Martin and God know.  Personally I think it is best to leave it in his capable hands, and in the hands of the Justice System.

A person lost his life, a human being, one of God's wonderfully made creations ~ this is a terrible tragedy.  Another is quite possibly about to lose his life, and I for one am not viewing the situation through tinted lenses.  I see two "people" who had a terrible misunderstanding.  I am not going to get dragged into the political mud slinging and muckery.  My thoughts and prayers go out to both of the families involved in this heart wrenching situation.

Blessings ~
Ava xox

Apocalypse Now in New York

Why is our Doggie Mama building an Ark?

We're just like other packs of dogs.  We think a good belly scratch cures most ailments, peanut butter and rawhides are super foods, a good roll in the mud never hurt anyone and we don't mind a little rain here or there. However, today in New York the rain has been anything but there...it's been all here! Listen folks, we're not talking about a little sprinkle, it's been rainin' so flipping hard, little BoBo stepped in a poodle. Stepped in a poodle. Hello, can anyone hear us? hello, (tap, tap) is this thing on? We're using our "A' material here.

This wicked rainy weather normally wouldn't have even bothered us enough to get up from our naps to investigate, let alone worry about it. However something's not right here in the Aston house. Yes, that's not very easy to say when you have Ava Aston as your Doggie Mama, with her messed up Greek noggin and all. There is always some sort of muckery going on here. But for reals, this time something is really wrong.  And you know we are really good at predicting earthquakes and full moons. But not so good at predicting an upset stomach in time to get outside or which pair of sneakers we should chew on and not chew on. Our bad. So with our canine senses wound up as tightly as Ava's sinuses from her allergies, we feel that there is something going on. There has also been other several clues:

Clue #1

The other day when it started raining so hard our Doggie Mama was going around the house singing , "It's Hammer time, It's Hammer time." At first we just thought she was having a bad VH1 flashback or something. But Punkin said it was secret code for "It's time to build an Ark." Punkin is so smart.

Clue #2

On the calendar hanging in the kitchen Ava took a red felt pen and drew a giant red circle around May 21. She said it was for her concerts in Pennsylvania that day.  Oh really? What a convenient cover story. Those Greeks are so coy.

Clue #3

We were reading some of Ava's blogs from the past week and realized she had posted this:Judgement Day is May 21

Clue #4

We overheard Mr. Bricks tell our Doggie Mama that this rain was nothing, he was once in a really big flood when he was much younger.  We know Mr. Bricks is old because Ava calls him Old Man Bricks and were just trying to figure out if the flood he is talking about was about 7,000 years ago. Coincidence? We think not.

Hello, look at the calendar people it's almost May 21rst. Is there something Ava doesn't want to tell us? We're not stupid we're dogs, not cats! So, not only is it almost May 21rst, it's raining really bad and we think Ava singing "It's Hammer time" is all part of a secret plot for something more sinister, like perhaps the end of the world.

Here's our conundrum, we think the rules of an ark are that Ava will only be allowed to bring two of us on board. I guess it's written down like that in the "good book"or something. Can we just say that's messed up? We realize that even if our Doggie Mama's life depended on it she couldn't decide to choose between the four of us. There is no way she could decide as to which two of us would go on a boat ride with her.

See, part of the problem is that she tells each one of us that we are the #1 dog of the Aston pack.  She does this by secretly whispering into each of our mite-free little furry ears and says that we are her #1 doggie. It's the old Greek bait and switch routine. Between you and us, she's not as good of an actress as she thinks she is, because we know how she is playing one of us against the other.

We love each other and we want to stay together.  We're such a good little pack Cesar Millan would be proud of us.  We don't want the world to end. We don't want to be split up where two of us would go on the boat with Ava and the other two of us would be left behind.

Are we reading too much into these clues?

Woof  Woof,

Punkin, Itty Bitty, BoBo and Pookie
(left to right) :D 

xox