Tag: Cultural

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Cultural Activities in the Capital City of Atlanta

Living in a large metropolitan area with rich cultural offerings is one of the greatest benefits of Atlanta that residents too often forget about until out of town guests come for a visit. Take advantage of all the fabulous and diverse options that one of the largest cities in the south has to offer. And though some offerings may come at a hefty price, many are quite reasonable if not complimentary.

  • The Atlanta Ballet has filled the city with grace and timeless performances of some of the best known ballets in the world, including The Nutcracker, Swan Lake and Don Quixote as well as less traditional performances such as Dracula. From its humble beginnings in 1929 which started in the garage of Dorothy Alexander, the Atlanta Ballet has grown into one of the nation’s premier professional ballet companies.
  • The Atlanta Symphony Orchestra celebrates its 65th anniversary and a special line-up of concert performances for the 2009 & 2010 season. The 2009/10 season’s guest artists and conductors include: Yo-Yo Ma, Lang Lang, Midori, Jean-Yves Thibaudet, Jon Kimura Parker, Leila Josefowicz, Garrick Ohlsson, Olli Mustonen, Robert Levin, Angela Brown, Kelley O’Connor, Vadim Repin, Ludovic Morlot, Roberto Abbado, Kristjan Jarvi, Hannu Lintu, Lathar Zagrosek and many more.
  • The High Museum of Art offers more than just a fabulous exhibit of art from around the world, it offers Family Fun Days, Monthly Jazz Nights and a romantic spot for a date among other special events. Through April 19, the High hosts once-in-a-lifetime exhibit, The First Emperor: China’s Terracota Army. The High also continues to host Louvre Atlanta: The Louvre and the Masterpiece through September 2009.
  • The Atlanta Botanical Garden continues to be a favorite escape for city dwellers. From the Fuqua Orchid Center and Conservancy hosting hundreds of tropical beauties to the outdoor walking pathways lined with annual art displays and the child’s garden filled with interactive play areas, the Atlanta Botanical Garden is sure to relax, inspire and entertain guests of all ages.
  • Zoo Atlanta welcomes yet another giant panda cub to the family! Cub Xi Lan is the second cub and first son to be born in Atlanta, big sister Mei Lan was born in 2006. From well-known native wildlife to critically endangered species on the brink of extinction, such as the giant pandas, the Zoo offers memorable close encounters with more than 800 animals from around the world.
  • The Georgia Aquarium is one of the city’s newest, yet most spectacular additions. As the world’s largest aquarium, the Georgia Aquarium features more animals than any other aquarium and more than eight million gallons of water.
  • Small scale, local productions are also popular attractions for Atlanta residents and guests alike. Other cultural opportunities include the Center for Puppetry Arts, Whole World Improv Theatre, Alliance Theatre and numerous music venues like Dad’s Garage, The Roxy and the Tabernacle.

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Living Above The Celebrity Culture

Most people are both messengers and victims of a celebrity culture that defines the spirit of this age. People envy the fame and money of celebrities and imitate them as role models. Fans today worship celebrities until they become parodies of themselves, and then the media turns them into cartoon characters. In reality, many celebrities live emotionally and spiritually destructive lives. With 24/7 media coverage and the need for young people to have role models, the celebrity lifestyle of glamour and thrills seems attractive to many. This dysfunctional view of life leads to dangerous behaviour. In spite of public emotional meltdowns, drug addiction and broken relationships, millions of young people still see celebrities as quintessential images of the good life. So many people today are led to believe that those moving images and glossy, airbrushed pictures that we see of them reflect success and happiness.

As a result of this ugly development, people throughout the society have become so in love with themselves that they are losing the ability to love others. The Bible however, helps us to navigate the traps of the dysfunctional celebrity culture. The exemplary lifestyle of the tribal men of Reuben, Gad and the half tribe of Manasseh tells us that:

– there is a Creator, God, whose standards are worth following
– God loves us and has a purpose for our lives
– The problems in life are a result of people not living the way God intended them to live.
– There is real good and evil, and there are terrible consequences for choosing evil, and
– Jesus Christ is the Saviour who died for our sins and helps us to live as God directs.

The word which Moses commanded these tribes in Joshua 1:12-18, refers to the agreement he reached with the eastern side of Jordan (Joshua 1:14-15; Deut. 3:16-20). It is an agreement to remain in faith, to maintain purity, to get to spiritual height and to get to heaven at last (see Rom. 14:13; 1 Cor. 8:7-13; Gal. 6:2-7). Actions and activities that cause offense should be avoided; we are to love one another (1 John 3:11-18). We must also be conscious of the fact that our actions in life, even in the place we are now, do not only affect us but others around, so every true believer in Christ should deliberately and carefully live his or her life to help others achieve heaven (Josh. 1:15; 7:1-4). As Joshua addressed these tribes, we are being addressed today not to go to rest until those taken captive by Satan are recovered and delivered (Jude 23; 2 Tim. 2:26).

To become the celebrities that God expects of us, we must willingly accept and practically demonstrate all the instructions of God and be ready to go anywhere with Him. Being a celebrity accepted by God is to show a high degree of obedience, submission and willingness to do God’s work. It is resolving to put to death the ugly acts of rebellion and insubordination, and finally killing the symptoms of our present day celebrity culture such as excessive fascination with worldly celebrities, obsession with wanting to dress or model the behaviour of a worldly celebrity, hyper-sexuality, dangerous behaviours like drug or alcohol abuse, and acting out wrong behaviours on the Internet.

Real success is rooted in a strong sense of identity as a child of God and living by His rules of life. Are you in any way in the business of celebrating evil rather than good? Now is the time to ask God to come into your life and forgive you for living a way based on a wrong viewpoint of how life works. Jesus is the way to good life and His teachings are there to show us the real, eternal ways to happiness and success. If you are one of His, then you are a CELEBRITY per excellence!