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Grace Church Houston At 14505 Gulf Fwy.


sheeats

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Well, looks like Sagemont beat em to it - 170 ft cross (originally to be 190 ft) is at the corner of 45 and 8.

In the article, Booth was quoted as well:

"With all these billboards and adult entertainment places out here, we at Grace Community decided a cross would be perfect for Houstonians," Pastor Garrett Booth said.

:unsure:

http://www.click2houston.com/news/18695333/detail.html#-

258tnqa.jpg

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That was meant to be tongue in cheek, but in all seriousness, there are probably tens of thousands more people who will go to a mega church than go to high-concept club and drink $18 martinis. And then after church, they'll want to eat. And even poor Lidz can get in the game by doing customized mega-church lidz! A win-win!

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I don't mind the visual blight. Monuments to things are interesting. What bothers me is that this church decided that it was better to spend tons of money on this rather than feeding or clothing some poor people. Let's me know what that group is really all about.

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Well, looks like Sagemont beat em to it - 170 ft cross (originally to be 190 ft) is at the corner of 45 and 8.

In the article, Booth was quoted as well:

"With all these billboards and adult entertainment places out here, we at Grace Community decided a cross would be perfect for Houstonians," Pastor Garrett Booth said.

:unsure:

http://www.click2houston.com/news/18695333/detail.html#-

258tnqa.jpg

Oh my. :blink:

The renderings early in this topic included a kind of visitors pavilion and giant globe at the base! Where'd they go? These things really do need observation platforms on top.

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Oh my. :blink:

The renderings early in this topic included a kind of visitors pavilion and giant globe at the base! Where'd they go? These things really do need observation platforms on top.

This is a DIFFERENT church with a DIFFERENT cross. Grace still wants to build their TWO crosses...no doubt taller than 170 feet.

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I don't mind the visual blight. Monuments to things are interesting. What bothers me is that this church decided that it was better to spend tons of money on this rather than feeding or clothing some poor people. Let's me know what that group is really all about.

Because it's a business. A tax free one at that.

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the issue of huge crosses to "mark" houston for jesus cracks me up. in the early eighties i was at oral roberts university. there were tv evangelists sending out crosses as a "point of contact" a "reminder" of who you were. many of these ministries were built by good people with small world views.

i'm reminded of a couple songs by daniel amos, a subversive christian band who railed against "symbolism over substance" and the inherent narcissism in most christian ministries through satire.

building huge crosses is about advertising how "christian" grace community church is rather than actual ministry. not much has changed (since the eighties) for many of these folks.

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Regardless of whether you like the crosses, that statement is just wrong.

sorry, i must disagree. if the christian community wants to cheapen their faith by ridiculous symbols over substance, ridicule and cheap shots should be expected. like begets like. cheesy crosses require ugly responses. if god's work is nothing more than a symbol of "marked territory", no one should be amazed that people of little faith disregard these "symbols". good intentions are not action. building a symbol of christ's death does nothing for the person dying of cancer or losing their career. loving one's neighbor as one loves their own family does more for the soul than a hundred big ass crosses. work where you are. love those near to you. quit building pagan symbols that have nothing to do with real spirituality.

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sorry, i must disagree. if the christian community wants to cheapen their faith by ridiculous symbols over substance, ridicule and cheap shots should be expected. like begets like. cheesy crosses require ugly responses. if god's work is nothing more than a symbol of "marked territory", no one should be amazed that people of little faith disregard these "symbols". good intentions are not action. building a symbol of christ's death does nothing for the person dying of cancer or losing their career. loving one's neighbor as one loves their own family does more for the soul than a hundred big ass crosses. stupid, dumb ass, christians. work where you are. love those near to you. quit building pagan symbols that have nothing to do with real spirituality.

This used to be my line of reasoning... until I drove by it. They built it in a day (or two at most), quickly. And probably didn't spend that much, compared to their budget, to build it. Had it taken months of slave labor, building to the sky a monument of stone, hand chiseled, so high that airplanes flying into Hobby were forced to fly around it... you could argue many of your points.

But they built it in a day, using inexpensive methods/materials. And it looks better than the AMC 30. I don't know what else to say. It "goes" with their church.

My disagreement with Christianity is not so much the symbols of it... but the teachings/beliefs/blind/ignorant followers hypocritical leaders. That's where the problem is, for many (not all) Christian denominations.

Kinda like this man:

art.td.jakes.jpg

Look familiar? You've probably seen him on TV. His 29-year old son was caught in a have-sex-in-the-park police sting, up in Dallas. http://www.dallasvoice.com/artman/publish/article_10636.php. Not that I agree with those entrapment stings... but anyway...

Edited by BryanS
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But they built it in a day, using inexpensive methods/materials. And it looks better than the AMC 30. I don't know what else to say. It "goes" with their church.

Thou shalt construct for me an idol to My Greatness, and thou shalt ensure that it rivals the greatness of the local cineplexes. The comparative height of thy idol to local businesses shall determine thy rank in Heaven. I sent my Son to Earth to live in poverty and preach My message that thou might learn My lessons and construct decadent monuments to My Greatness. Remember, much like taking the punishment for your sin the Son practiced humility so that you don't have to!

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This used to be my line of reasoning... until I drove by it. They built it in a day (or two at most), quickly. And probably didn't spend that much, compared to their budget, to build it. Had it taken months of slave labor, building to the sky a monument of stone, hand chiseled, so high that airplanes flying into Hobby were forced to fly around it... you could argue many of your points.

But they built it in a day, using inexpensive methods/materials. And it looks better than the AMC 30. I don't know what else to say. It "goes" with their church.

The cheapness of the monument makes it OK? Is this what happens to one's logic when they've bought one too many cheap plastic items from Walmart?

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The cheapness of the monument makes it OK? Is this what happens to one's logic when they've bought one too many cheap plastic items from Walmart?

There's a difference between cheap and inexpensive. I didn't say cheap. I said inexpensive. Target has inexpensive items. Wal-mart has cheap items.

It would be hard for them to defend spending millions of dollars on a monument and not supporting charities, and giving, helping heal the world, etc. They're still doing that... and had enough left over to build a cross for their church.

Also... even though 170 to 200 feet seems "big" ... not as big as you think. As I said, it would be different story had they made it out of granite, towering 500 feet into the air, forcing air traffic diversions... but that's not what they did...

Drive by it. I did. I told myself: "I'm supposed to be angry at this! .... " but I just didn't feel anger. I don't know what else to say.

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