Two New Bibles Preach A Hip, Eco-Friendly Gospel

What's your opinion on this topic? Two New Bibles Preach A Hip, Eco-Friendly Gospel by Lynn Neary Two new Bibles targeting a young, hip — even secular — audience are hitting bookstores. One is a slick, illustrated version of the New Testament; the other is an environmentally friendly edition that takes advantage of the popularity of the green movement. A Peek Inside 'The Book' First, the flashy coffee-table Bible: Dag Soderberg, a secular Swedish advertising executive wondered why so few people actually read the "good book," so he set out to make it more appealing, with glossy photos and magazine packaging. The resulting publication is an illustrated version of the New Testament called Bible Illuminated: The Book. "A coffee-table magazine is read by the many everyday, everywhere," explains Soderberg. "This is a way to make [the Bible] as available as any other magazine." If you didn't know this was a Bible you might think The Book was a "goth" magazine, or perhaps something you'd find in a doctor's office. The front cover is a close-up of a translucent green eye, caked with black makeup and staring eerily from the page. On the back is a photo of a faceless figure wearing a black hooded sweat shirt. Inside, photos of celebrities like Angelina Jolie, Bono and John Lennon are interspersed with pictures of heroic figures like Nelson Mandela, Mother Teresa and Martin Luther King, Jr. A veil-covered African woman holding a young child illustrates the story of Mary and Jesus. Images taken from the news — both jarring and poignant — radiate a message of social justice. United Methodist minister and Hacking Christianity blogger Jeremy Smith says The Book is meant to provoke discussion. Smith points to the series of images that run in conjunction with a quote from the Book of Revelation. The quote reads: "The whole earth was amazed and followed the beast ..." The photographs show post-Katrina New Orleans, a four-page spread of an animal slaughterhouse in Nigeria and, finally, a picture of a man pumping gas. "They are interpreting this with some very political and edgy and — honestly — some disorienting imagery," says Smith. Follow the link to learn more above.

Wow Christmas is here!

Houses, and shopping centers are all covered up with Red, Green and White decorations. Since childhood, Christmas has been my favorite fest. Even during the time that I was in exile, my parents especially dad, always made sure that we had a Christmas dinner, shared gifts, and visit Church. I want to pass this traditional ritual to my children. Last year I cooked, and tried a lot of recipes for Christmas. This year we plan to stay home and have a marry Christmas at home.

Does your hair style tells who you are?

I came across people who think that just because you have rocks, you smoke some wwwwdss. Not very funny. One afternoon while I was out with my son, a young American man came and joined us, he greeted us nicely, and then turned on his Ipod. 10 minutes latter, another young man came and joined him. While my son and I were busy enjoying our cold drinks, and appreciating the last heat for the year, these two guys took out some cigarettes, and started inhaling the polluted air. I grabbed my young man B, and moved to a near by place. We were still close to them, but far enough not to inhale the cigarette smell. One of the guys, looked at me funny and asked, "What's wrong, did we do anything wrong," I smiled, and responded, "Yep, I can't stand your cigarettes." He smiled and said, "Why, does our cigarettes smell cheap or something." I said no, I just hate the way cigarette smells, beside don't you have sense not to smoke right in front of a child? "You mean you don't smoke cigarettes" the young man asked. I said, "NOPE." Then he asked again "Not even wds" I said nope. Then he looked at me funny and said, "You don't know what you're missing." Daaaah if he kinda knew what he was putting in his system he wouldn't say that. Well hello world, just because I have rocks does not mean I smoke wwwwds. I don't smoke because smoke make me cough, plus I believe it's not healthy. I'm not against people who smoke, but I think if you smoke, please don't do it right in front of the people who don't. I was so happy when Columbus banned smoking in clubs and restaurant about four years ago. I hope the rest of the world do the same.