Hot off the Press!

Since I know very little about the tv stations on my cable dial above the 100 mark, i was suprised to find out that the The Sundance Channel is not in fact a "Christian Programing" cable network. As some of you sigh an aggravated "duh", I was actually tunning in the other night to see this brand new show "One Punk Under God". Catchy title you might say, but an even more interesting show. If you can remember back in the 80s Jim Bakker has a big fall out with the church. i won't really visit that topic except to say that through that hurricane of events, his "victimized" son, Jay Bakker, went wayward in rebellion for what happened to his family. After coming out of his "backsliddin" years(and i hate the term "backsliddin"), he decides to start the first Revolution church to which he is also the pastor. What does this have to do with the Sundance Channel you might ask?

He is the "star" in this new show One Punk Under God. It's a documentary show that follows his day to day life and the issues/struggles he faces in his personal life and in the life of his ministry.
I was able to watch it for the first time last night, and I must say that i was impressed. It's boarderline reality TV, but they approach issues in a way that are not usually seen on the lower teir cable channels.

If you're expecting you're typical G Rated cheesy christian programing, you will be suprised....but in a good way i hope, and you don't have to agree or disagree with the content of the show to benifit. If i could offer some criticism, it is well produced, but with anything where you are cutting out the boring parts, things could be taken out of context. Watch out for single clips that are inserted throughout the show soley intended to add drama.

Without diving any further into the content, I recomend this show to christians and non-christians alike. scene kids and preps. rednecks and thugs. Give it a view and even if you don't like it, try to learn something about life or atleast yourself in the process.


Adam’s thoughts on the topic:
1. I remember reading about Jay Bakker back when his first book came out, and I remember that there were several people who went to LU who where from ATL and took part in the Revolution Church meetings, and I remember at the time thinking hey that's a good idea... there are people who for whatever reason feel like they cant fit in here or there and so they are just looking for a place where odd balls can fit in and Jay took the initiative to show that Christians should be the ones accepting those people.

2. After reading the discussion boards on the website I think it is strange that so many people are so hard on him... some people’s complaint is that he is not really a punk... right there are not many real punks to begin with so lets just drop that whole judgmental thing... its just a catchy title to draw attention to the program. Then people said he was a sell out for doing a show and that he was capitalizing monetarily on Christian Faith... Once again why is it that Christians get called judgmental and then people start doing the very thing they accuse Christians of when they want to put Christians down. Finally I saw a lot of people who just hate Christians for whatever reason and I thought it ironic that a guy like bakker who had all the reasons in the world to hate Christians and then turns that around to show other people the love of Christ, but they still have hardened their hearts... I think that goes to prove that the sinful nature of man is as complex as man himself.

3. I have not actually seen the show so I cant be so discerning, however, I think it is always a positive when the media (even if it is the Sundance Channel) shows different aspects of faith and culture out side of what NBC ABC and CBS normally stick too.