Den of Robbers

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Really? Are these products necessary?

Here’s the product description of this Bible designed to dumb down and trivialize God’s Word for kids.

Let this family of adorable bruins introduce your little cubs to God’s Word!Color pages featuring favorite Berenstain Bears characters * Complete NIrV written at third grade level * Book introductions * Dictionary * Reading plan * Presentation page * For early readers ages 4 to 7 * Size: 5.5″ x 8.5″ x 1.75″ * 2048 pages, hardcover from Zonderkidz

I wonder how kids ever learned the Bible for the past two thousand years before the Berenstain Bears came along.

And after your little ones grow up (in age, not in godly maturity) you can ween them off Bible stories told by silly bears as you introduce them to r father n hvn: up 2 d8 txts frm d bible.

Here’s the product description:

“T8st & C dat d Lord is good! Psalm 34:8.” Message your friends with these cryptic biblical texts. Includes a dictionary of abbreviations and symbols; brief summaries of books of the Bible; insights into the Ten Commandments and the Beatitudes; and more. 144 pages, softcover from Westminster John Knox.

And here is how the publisher describes the book:

Ride the next wave of electronic communication! This book is a collection of “up 2 d8 txts frm d bible,” guaranteed to get you and your text-messaging friends laughing as well as reflecting on “d word” as never before Included are text messages sent from around the world to the ship-of-fools.com website and complemented throughout by Simon Jenkins’ witty cartoons.

Do you still ponder what’s wrong with the church in the West?

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Guitar Praise: Another attempt at mimicking the fleeting fads of the world.

Only in an environment of prolonged comfort, safety, security, and prosperity could this be possible. I wonder if our Christian brothers and sisters being tortured in prisons around the world are secretly coveting this latest installment from the Den of Robbers. I also wonder if this is being marketed to the underground Church in Communist countries.

Warning: At just under 1 minute into the three minute video, they advertise the nomanclature of the product using a well endowed woman wearing a tight V-neck shirt. I’m sure it was not intentional; no one selling a cheap toy exploiting Christianity would ever use worldly marketing tactics . . . no, never.

Those viewers who seek modesty and purity may want to SKIP past that part.

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“Disciple Shades” spammed the wrong blog.

DefCon oftentimes deals with the shameless marketing of Christianity. In fact we have a whole category devoted to this foolishness entitled Den of Robbers.

What makes this one so special, though, is the irony behind it. I discovered these despicable Disciple Shades because the company actually sent their product advertisement to me via the DefCon e-mail!

Apparently they didn’t take the time to read how DefCon views their shameless marketing of Christianity. But what more would you expect from a company who links to TBN and the Crystal Cathedral on their links page? Apparently they didn’t take the time to read how DefCon views TBN and Robert Schuller.

Here’s a picture from their website:

disciple-shades

What exactly is this supposed to be depicting? Does it remind you of anything? Perhaps an event that transpired in the third chapter of Genesis?

But I digress.

Here’s part of what their e-mail to DefCon said:

For those who desire to dwell on their devotion and stay focused on their faith, Disciple Shades is pleased to offer the first and only collection of Christian-based reading and sunglasses with different meaningful biblical verses on the inside of every style. Created as simple reminders, our glasses provide a unique way to keep our attention on what is truly important – our faith and spirituality.

Then if you go to their Good Works Brigade page you will learn all about their good works brigade, but there’s not one mention of Jesus Christ nor His Gospel. The following is an excerpt from that web page:

Doing “good” is about being the best you can be and giving the most you can—to yourself, your friends, your community, and our world. Wherever you live on this big, beautiful planet, whether you wear a beret or a burkha, a serape or sweats, we’re all part of one universal family. Committing a single act of kindness can set the stage for inspiring the next person—and the next person and the next person and the next—to follow suit. It’s in this spirit of keeping that connection going and growing that we created our Good Works Brigade web forum.

We know your good deeds come from the heart and that you don’t expect material recompense. (You know your ultimate reward comes after this lifetime!) But Disciple Shades nonetheless wants to give you a big pat on the back—and a t-shirt to go with it. Yep, we’ll send you a free t-shirt with the Disciple Shades logo on the back and, on the front, our Works Brigade slogan: Think Heavenly, Act Locally.

What kind of universalist drivel was all that? “We know your good deeds come from the heart“? They do? Apparently they know nothing about man’s total depravity and that the heart is deceitful and desperately wicked (Jeremiah 17:9).

So how can you too take advantage of the weak minded like these den of robbers? Here’s how simple it is: Find something mundane like a pair of sunglasses; smack a feel-good (usually out of context) Bible verse on it (in a place where no one can see it); slap a cross or dove on it in a place where people can see it, and then market it to shallow professing Christians. The same also works with shoe inserts & socks and tight-fitting “Christian” jeans with stilettos.

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The “My Nativity Sandbox.”

Christmas is exactly two months away and we already have this year’s wares being peddled by the den of thieves of Christian marketing. Here is their latest debacle: the Nativity Sandbox.

“Reenact the birth of Jesus – with a fun sandbox twist. A 10″-square box holds ten figures plus a tiny stable and the appropriate tools for reverential sand grooming.”