I am completely serious.
Sorry, by the way, for straying from my “altar call” posts, but this was too good to pass by.
According to Fox News, Lynne Spears (you got it – Britney’s mama) has signed on to write a self-help parenting book to be released next Mother’s Day.Christian publisher Thomas Nelson has confirmed the done deal for “Pop Culture Mom: Real Story of Fame and Family in a Tabloid World.” The book reportedly will have a religious element.
I’ll be nice. I’m not going to say what I’m thinking …
October 29, 2007 at 7:20 pm
April Fools Day is 5 months away! How far have we fallen when Britney’s mom will tell America how to raise a Christian child? Is it wrong to pray that it tanks?
October 29, 2007 at 7:49 pm
Terry,
Welcome to “Along the Shore.”
When it comes to the publishing company, I’m sort of scratching my head and wondering, “What were THEY thinking?’
October 30, 2007 at 8:18 am
i’ll be sure to buy that one for all the mom’s in my church. wink wink.
david:)
October 30, 2007 at 10:00 am
David,
Buy two!
October 30, 2007 at 1:28 pm
Heh. I’m with David. I’m buying copies and putting them back for all the moms for next Mother’s Day.
October 30, 2007 at 2:15 pm
Tony,
Maybe you should get an autographed copy.
October 30, 2007 at 2:46 pm
That has to be some kind of joke. She is the poster child for poor parenting!
October 30, 2007 at 3:00 pm
Lisa,
Welcome to “Along the Shore.” I don’t believe that we have “blog met” before. I’m glad you found your way to my quiet little beach in the blogosphere. How did you find me?
I don’t know what type of parent she was, really. The sad reality is that we don’t know what our kids are going to do when they’re grown and gone. Money, fame, and such are so corrupting.
But I still think it is a bad call on the part of the book company. Surely they don’t think there is really a market for this book.
October 30, 2007 at 3:01 pm
This post got you on the login page for wordpress and I found myself here purusing your blog. Great posts! Keep up the work you’re doing in the ministry. Have a blessed day!
October 30, 2007 at 3:04 pm
jtaylor,
Thanks for the visit and the kudos. Add me to your feeds and visit often. And don’t forget to check out my collaborative effort over at http://sbcimpact.net .
October 30, 2007 at 3:16 pm
First, hi Geoff… stumbled across the post via the WP frontpage.
Anyway, about the book, I’d give it a shot before I judge it. The test will be whether Mrs. Spears demonstrates an attitude of learning from mistakes.
I hope none of the above disparaging comments are from Christians. Why? Even amateur scholarship on venerable ol Solomon shows he was a criticism-silencing, oppressive, God-cheapening, affluence-favoring sorry-excuse-for-a-ruler. Yet he was canonized, and his book even falls into the “Wisdom Literature” section of the Bible.
I’m not saying I see the NYT Bestseller List in her future, but let’s give Mrs. Spears a chance.
October 30, 2007 at 3:31 pm
Russell,
Welcome! I hope you’ll come back often.
I quite agree. And that’s sort of what I said to Lisa. As a parent, all I can do is pour myself, my faith, and my values into my children. But, when they are in that moment of decision … when rubber meets the road in life … they make their own decisions. We can only hope and pray that they are good ones.
And that’s an excellent point on Solomon.
October 30, 2007 at 4:56 pm
Seriously? Lynne Spears writing a self-help parenting book. Hmmm. That’s almost as good as Lindsey Lohan’s mom doing a reality show.
October 30, 2007 at 5:19 pm
@Kyger:
Wow…
Chill. Think. Then write. Repeat as necessary.
(Geoff: Feel free to delete this comment if it’s too off-track. I normally don’t have side convos in comment threads, but I made an exception.)
Blessings-
RPD
October 30, 2007 at 6:04 pm
Kyger,
Welcome to “The Shore.” I haven’t heard about that show.
Russell,
No problem. Say your piece.
October 30, 2007 at 7:04 pm
Russell, Why would you insinuate that I’m not a Christian because I’m of the belief that Lynne Spears is not the best parenting role model around, given the outcome of her eldest child? And really, is it necessary to be rude to other commenters (“Chill. Think. Repeat”)? Is that Christ-like? Or is it judgemental and rude?
Chill. Think.
October 30, 2007 at 8:37 pm
Oh dear. Look what I’ve done. Lisa, I didn’t mean to be rude. I didn’t direct my comment at any one person. I didn’t make any judgment as to your specific belief system, nor did I judge how well you carry out whatever you do believe. We got off on the wrong foot here.
I just thought that the Christian response would be a little more sympathetic towards Mrs. Spears. You can still retain your Christian identity and disagree with her parenting. But Christians should be the most notorious givers of second chances, and the slowest to condemn a project like this.
As for Kyger… I just felt that there were too many disparaging comments, and Kyger’s happened to be one that prompted me to write something counterbalancing the cheap shots taken at Mrs. Spears. Cheap shots are borne of knee-jerk postings. None of the other comments had much to say about ‘maybe we don’t have the whole picture’ or ‘maybe we should let the book speak for itself’ or ‘maybe the best advice can come from the most public of failures’ … stuff like that usually doesn’t come to mind right away. I believe we should all (read, then) chill, think, & then write. I try to do so most of the time. I did it with the Solomon comment; posted that like 15 minutes after originally reading the post (not to toot my own horn, just an example). So if people would think about the situation instead of instantly calling the whole idea a joke, I wouldn’t think it necessary to add my comment about a slow, big-picture comment process.
Thanks for inadvertently prompting me to produce some clarification.
I apologize if I came off rude. It was not my intent. I do like to prod, and I can see where you’re coming from. Let’s let bygones be bygones…
October 31, 2007 at 7:39 am
Look, Russell, forgive me if thoughts of Solomon didn’t leap to mind while reading a post about a parenting book by Lynne Spears. And your friend, the original poster, said things like: “I am completely serious:” “I’ll be nice. I’m not going to say what I’m thinking” Are we to assume he was thinking that Lynne Spears would write a wonderful Christian parenting self help book? The whole point of the post, the way I see it, was to say= Can you believe this?? For you to come along and admonish his commenters for basically agreeing with him seems strange to me, and yes, rude. No clarification needed.
November 1, 2007 at 8:48 pm
As shocking as it may be, God has used people that the general population never thought possible to do His work. Take Jesus for example, a carpenter’s son at the time. He could do nothing in His town because the people “knew” who He was and where He “came” from. They missed out on miracles and the Word because of their “knowledge” and opinions about Jesus. How about Paul who used to persecute Christians and later became someone whom we have learned so much from? So what am I getting at?
As shocking and disturbing as it may be to have Britney Spears mom write a book with “religious elements”, I have learned to give everyone a chance and ask God to help me discern the truth once it is revealed. We as Christians need to remember what Luke 6:37 says 37″Do not judge, and you will not be judged. Do not condemn, and you will not be condemned. Forgive, and you will be forgiven.
I feel that God uses opportunities like this to see where we are in our Christian run (get it Geoff, not a walk, but a run!) to see if we have learned to accept His ways no matter how strange they may be. To me a true Christian will know the difference between truth and lies because the Holy Spirit will guide him/her as He always does. The key is for us to learn to listen to the Holy Spirit even when we don’t want to. If the book ends up not living up to its expectations, it will suffer the consequences. However, if the book ends up becoming a great tool that God uses to reach Hollywood and its followers, then why kill it before it is even published as Jesus’ town killed His efforts.
Even though my own personal feelings may be somewhat similar to those expressed in this forum, at the end of the day it is God’s Word and His plan that really matters. Last I checked He only asks for my obedience and not my opinion. I think at times we all get these two “o’s” mixed up!!
That being said, I will re-state what Pastor Geoff stated at the beginning, “I’ll be nice. I’m not going to say what I’m thinking…” Why, because what I think never really matters when it comes to God’s plan. He is going to act however He wants whether I like it or not. Now, what my actions are after God acts? That’s what really makes a difference!! For now I choose copy Elijah’s actions. I’ll just sit and wait until the book comes out and then take it from there. I’m sure that God will guide me in the right direction when the time comes.
In Christ,
Ivan
November 1, 2007 at 8:53 pm
Ivan,
Good words. I guess my real query in this thing is, “What was the publishing company thinking?”
November 2, 2007 at 5:55 am
My flesh says money because of the name of the author, but my spirit says that they may see a change and are possibly just trying to give her a chance to tell her story. What can I say, those two (flesh and spirit) just don’t get along!!
This is how I look at it. I don’t know this lady. I have heard about her kids through the media (and we know how truthful and honest the media is), but I don’t know her personally and therefore can’t form an opinion. I’m sure if it’s that big of a deal, we can always save this question for when we get to heaven and learn the big picture behind all of the happenings that we never seem to understand.
I feel that sometimes we just need to say, “ok Lord, I’ll go to Nineveh, but I won’t be happy about it.” We all know what happened there! I choose to welcome the possible opportunity rather than to sit on a hill side expecting fire and brimstone to rain from Heaven. I’m weird like that!!
Ivan
November 19, 2007 at 9:32 am
I think it’s only a matter of time before Britney runs over a photographer and kills ‘em. What happened to that sweet old Britney we used to know and love?
December 9, 2007 at 6:03 pm
What is wrong with people today? Do you not think that Christians have problems and children with problems? I do not know Lynne Spears heart and neither do any of you. If you do not want to buy the book that is fine, but for goodness sake, give the family and Britney a break. I am not and have never been a fan of Britney Spears but after all she is human and the shameless way people try to stomp on her when she is down shows that their are other people in this world who need to examine their own relationship with the creator.
December 19, 2007 at 10:45 pm
[...] They didn’t even come close to a ‘Sunday Christian’. I’m not claiming anything, Brit’s mom is: Britney Spears’ Mom to Write Christian Parenting Book Along the Shore If you’re planning to write a book about Christian parenting, perhaps it’d first be good to have [...]