Yes, Ed, I'll definitely be me -- not you.

That was too cool! :)

mmm ... as my friend Nancy used to say, "There's a lid for every pot ..."

Is being ourselves and being original really the goal? I thought it was to be like Christ.

/facepalm

Sometimes...its just best to leave some things to the world.

I'm just saying.

Man... that's even more painful in light of Ed's ironically titled "Creative Pastors.com" where you can (for a mere $10) download a sermon manuscript or whole series complete with background slides and occasionally even Ed's "handwritten" marginalia notes. UBU... IBRICH!

if he really meant that, he's stop selling his crummy sermons for pastors to plagiarize.

cool, i like tihs man :)

Kevin, your comment is spot on I'd say! I think of where the Apostle Paul said "imitate me as I imitate Christ." On the other hand, if we look through the stories of the great heroes of the faith, no two are exactly alike. The thing is I don't think their focus was on trying to "be themselves," but to be faithful to the will of God and to speaking the truth as it was delivered to them. I am turned off by the "performance" and gimmick aspect (demonstrated in this video) that has overtaken so much of this contemporary Christian subculture. Are Christian leaders trying to make up in "creativity" what they lack in real experience of (and faith in) the Spirit's power? I contrast our market driven, "seeker sensitive" culturally accommodated churches with the words of St. Paul in 1 Corinthians 2:1-5. I don't want to be entertained in church. I want to encounter the living God.

oh, come on people lighten up... UBU is about not imitating others and imitating Christ...geez. I like that Young uses a rap video (something he isn't) to illustrate us being what God has made us.

Important message for all Christians. So many times we try to imitate others and lose our identity in the process. Churches as a whole can be guilty of doing this when they assume if something worked well for another church, it will most certainly work well for them. So, they go out, purchase programs or embark on building campaigns or make other major changes in their ministries thinking that this new thing will be the magic bullet for their church. When, like Ed says, God wants you to be you. After all, that's who He created each of us to be.

Isn't this the CEO who pockets more personal income than 99.5% of his "flock?" ($1.24M per yr). And something about a 10,000 s.f. $1.5M home?

As reported by WFAA in Dallas: http://www.wfaa.com/news/investigates/Prominent-Pastor-Linked-to-Luxury-83600192.html

Gotta be frank.. this video brings to mind words like sycophantic, narcissism, and megalomania. A mutual admiration society of giant religious egos.

Americans eat this stuff up. We love Hollywood actors and celebrities. We love to be entertained, and pay handsomely for it. Wake up church.

I think there are far better ways to say what he's trying to say.

You are the Church!
Robert Angison

uggh...just watched the investigative video posted by john and ed looks like he's justifying him being him which doesn't look anything like Jesus.

I'm really trying, but I just don't get his point. Maybe I was lost in the thought that "Bill Hybels started the revival from the Bible" and "Acts 2 tells you what to do." Perhaps it was the thought that "Pentecostal, the Gospel, a Calvinistic, Baptistic, legalistic - call it what you want, it's pessimistic." Really???

What I read about his lifestyle and priorities is troubling enough, but listening to the self-help blather he calls "sermons" and nonsense like this makes one wonder just who he's kidding. His followers make like him, but that doesn't make him worth following - or even noticing. Does he really think that this is (a) appropriate for a minister of the Gospel (b) doctrinally sound (or even helpful) or even (c) entertaining? Without fidelity to the Gospel and a word from God, this guy just looks like another self-promoting clown in the growing Evangelical Circus movement.

John and Wes, I'm totally with you. This video is really, really sad.

People who read my writing a lot tend to appreciate the amount of nuance that I bring to examining a particular situation.

Today, nuance takes a break.

This video is DUMB.

REALLY, REALLY DUMB.

I'm saying this as a practitioner of hip-hop as well as a music minister and preacher of the gospel.

Marginally decent idea, HORRIBLY executed. And for anyone who says in response, "well that's the point, he's illustrating how bad it is to blah blah blah" I'm just saying.

Ironic or not, it's dumb.

oh boy, I just believe that whiteboydj.com has some competition now

DJ Ed-Pac

First it was the metrosexual look with the fake Australian accent. Now, DJ Ed-Pac want to go "gospa gangsta" on us? Lord Help IS

I say lighten up people. Ed Young is an outstanding pastor and he brings about alot of creativity to his messages and the life of the church. People need to quit taking things so seriously and give the guy some credit. He's created a niche for himself in the world of evangelists and as long as he's pointing people to Christ in a way that speaks biblical truth into the lives of people then I say let the man do his thang! Quit drinking the hatorade!

thanks a lot.

I really enjoy Mr. Young. He helps a lot of people so if his style is'nt right for you that's okay. It seems good to get the message out in different ways.