Sesame Street - Mixed Messages

Sesame Street recently got a lot of feedback this week from a test spot they ran on YouTube. The spot featured Katy Perry on a play date with the character, Elmo. Sounds like no problem, right? Sesame Street is known for their invites to famous people and their mixing of humor and entertainment for both adults & children.

The only problem is that Katy Perry is a firestorm of controversy in the adult world. She wore a revealing outfit and the tune she and Elmo sung to, and played to was her own hit tune, Hot & Cold. Here are some of the lyrics: 
You change your mind
Like a girl changes clothes
Yeah you, PMS
Like a b_i_h
I would know

And you over think
Always speak
Cryptically

I should know
That you're no good for me

[CHORUS]
Cause you're hot then you're cold
You're yes then you're no
You're in then you're out
You're up then you're down
You're wrong when it's right
It's black and it's white
We fight, we break up
We kiss, we make up
(you) You don't really want to stay, no
(but you) But you don't really want to go-o

I have heard the song, and it is a catchy little tune. It really is a toe-tapping TUNE and i can just hear it in all the high school dances. However, the tune does not a song make. Lyrics are what drives a song. And lyrics are the only thing that make a "Christian song" Christian. Just a bit of parental research and you find out there is more to Katy Perry than catchy tunes. and there is a whole lot less material in her clothing.

I think this hits me square in the face since my wife and i have 3 girls - we are trying to train them to be godly, young women. They watch Sesame Street - and I do not want them listening to Katy Perry. I don't want them even interested in her. So, I don't want her on Sesame Street.

Obviously, I wasn't alone. The Street got lots of feedback; negative feedback; from Parents. Carol-Lynn Parente, the executive producer of Sesame Street was quoted on ABC's Good Morning America, "We would never produce anything we thought was inappropriate. We were surprised not only by the amount of feedback, but how fast it came in. It was a lot."

I smiled when I read that. I don't check Sesame Street's YouTube channel. I never have as a matter of fact. But some people do - and the backlash from the parents who do check it tells me that there are still some conservative efforts out there and that people do care about values. If you are one of those - Here, Here. I applaude you for ANY efforts you make to stand your ground and do what God would have you to do.

Katy Perry probably got the gig by claiming once again that she is a "preacher's kid" and having been raised on values. I guess we can look at this in one of two ways: Sesame Street may have taken a step toward being another conservative venue that lost its way - or this may be a good reminder of what can happen when Godly like-minded people come together for a good purpose.

We all have a purpose - you can find it Matthew 28:18-20, ¹⁸Then Jesus came to them and said, "All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. ¹⁹Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in^[a] the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, ²⁰and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you." 

Love ya, Elmo! But I don't like the company you are keeping.  

Do it Yourself?

Jessica and i took on a project this past week. One of those projects where you have the materials all gathered for weeks before you actually find the time to do it. Our project? Tiling a foyer in our Dining Room. The project started months ago when we found a leak in the back door, which ruined the wood floor. The Door was replaced with something newer and more secure, and then the wood was pulled up - then the glue residue was CHISELED away. And finally, the site was ready to tile; which keep in mind was the original purpose.

As i write, i am still thinking about a conversation with a couple that is getting married soon. They are in the site prep stage. They will be married in a Church, and they profess to be believers. So, they are prayerfully moving things, finding leaks, and asking the Lord to chisel away the residue of unneeded things that don't need to come into their marriage. I am trying to offer tools that they can use the rest of their lives to keep God in the center and the word divorce removed from their vocabulary.

God does the same with us. Our lives are living sacrifices, and our hearts temples of the Holy Spirit. God is into Home Improvement. He lives in us, and wants His home to be fit for the KING.

He uses all sorts of tools. Sometimes marriage is one of the ways He chisels us more to His image. Sometimes He uses the circumstances around us to prepare the site - whatever He uses, He is always working. And once Christ starts working - You will never be the same!


2 Corinthians 5:17
Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has gone, the new has come!


When Christ is the homeowner - expect renovation!