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Tivo Tyranny and Preaching to Consumers

I just read about the latest form of oppression: Tivo Tyranny. It's the burden of having recorded too many TV shows, and now finding there's no way you're going to be able to watch them all.

Tivo has a feature that automatically records preselected shows week after week, or day after day, and that's created for some people a backlog that they'll never get through. The convenience of easily recording something now for viewing later has produced it's own overstuffed feeling.

It's just the latest example that, yes, we live in a "consumer culture." And whenever we consume, whether goods, products, or services, we're inclined to overindulge. And each new convenience, promising new kinds of freedom, can lead to its own form of bondage.

How can preachers effectively address people who are surrounded and saturated by their consumer culture?

Next week, this will be the topic as Leadership hosts a live interview at the National Pastors Convention in San Diego. And you can pose questions to the panelists, ...

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