A kind of creepy thing happened today in church. A man gave a plug for the Mel Gibson film. (It is still really hard for me to say "Passion" in church). He had been to a special screening and the pastor aske him to plug it.

While he plugged, he cited the Rick Warren book, as "Chapter 30 of the Purpose Driven Life says..." I know ole Rick is really popular right now, but I prefer a quote from the Bible, thank you very much.

It really reminded me of a speech I went to in the psychology department at college. The speaker was a disciple of B. F. Skinner. He held a copy of "Beyond Walden Pond" in his hand like a New Testament. I managed a peek at the book, and large sections were underlined or highlighted just like a Bible student would do. I thought it telling.

I am probably overreacting, but it the popularity of TPDL makes me a bit nervous. I am all for it spurring people on to discipleship and evangelism. Hopefully it will not become a cult.

What would a Rick Warren cult look like? Would we all have to wear flowery shirts and no socks? I hate not wearing socks. It makes my feet sweat and my shoes stick to the bottom of my fee. Eventually the whole thing smells like the Dallas Mavericks locker room after blowing a large lead and losing the game.

Even those guys who wore black Nikes and killed themselves to get to the space ship wore socks.

That is also one good thing about that Nation of Islam bunch. They dress really nice. They wear suits and bowties and starched shirts. Only now they are shilling for Michael Jackson. I sure it is all very sweet and charming. They do not seem to have much in common. He dresses like he has a Sargeant Pepper complex. Maybe he thinks he is Billy Shears.

Anyway, Brandon tells me he goes to a Purpose Driven Church in New York. Do they wear socks there since it is cold?