new thread
After moving to Delaware, I was able to get Verizon FIOS internet and TV service. I came upon a Christian network that was not available with Comcast where I lived in MD. It is called JC-TV (Jesus Christ TeleVision) The founder and creative force behind JC-TV is Brandon Crouch, the grandson of Paul Sr and Jan Crouch, founders of TBN (Trinity Broadcasting Network). Brandon grew up in an Evangelical Christian household, but has become somewhat of a radical in his young adulthood. As a teen, he had the typical "clean-cut" image expected of Evangelicals, but as an adult he chose to grow his hair out. Brandon's grandfather Paul Crouch Sr, always had a vision of creating programming relevant to today's youth and young adult audience. Brandon brought that vision into a reality. He is a dynamic and personable young man with his finger clearly on the pulse of today's youth and young adult culture.
Not only does Brandon have long hair, the network features many athletes and musicians who also have long hair. One of Brandon's visions is to change the attitudes of his grandparents generation towards the current generation; the preference for spiked, extreme-styled and long hair, piercings, tattoos, rock music and extreme sports. He's teaching them that if you put constraints on personal appearance and music choices, the young generation will give a deaf ear to any message you might have. He started with his grandparents first, and they are supporting him immersing himself in the culture of his peers in order to minister to them.
The TBN and Crouch family have a lot of influence, so I see this as a very good thing, and Brandon is quite capable of defending his choice to have long hair, from a Biblical standpoint. Evangelicals have been expressing a growing acceptance of the choices of others to wear their hair long, get tattoos, and wear piercings. It's the Fundamentalists that are still holding out, along with Traditionalists Catholics, Mormons and Jehovah's Witnesses, and a few others.
The picture is Brandon as he looked when graduating high school. I will post additional posts with more pics below this one, including on of a regular from one of JC-TV's regular programs.
Here is a picture of Brandon with his hair loose, he's been growing it since about 2006.
Brandon's hair today is longer than pictured here, it's approximately mid-back length currently. I couldn't find a more recent pic.
Brandon with his hair pulled back, he tends to either tail it or wear a low bun; this picture doesn't show which way he's wearing it here.
Ooops! Pic didn't show up, trying again.
Thats great Carol- he seems like a great kid good for him!! I knoe Jesus would never have judge anyone for their appearance---When people make a smart remark of my hair I always respond to them...Well, Jesus had long hair...And, they don't know what to say after that.
He had hair like wool, he wasnt caucasion, James
This is DJ, age 22, a regular on the show Ultimate Choice on JC-TV. He usually wears his hair loose as pictured, but sometimes tails it. DJ is an amazing all-around cool and crazy guy. He is a waiter at Red Lobster and a volunteer for Project SOS where he mentors youth in high school and in youth detention centers. He does have a few tats and pierced ears as well.
He says he's all about love; and when he goes to the detention centers to visit incarcerated youth, he shows them unconditional love and does not judge them. The youth he mentors in turn find him approachable, he says he loves doing what he does with Project SOS and troubled kids more than anything. Watching him on Ultimate Choice, I can see how he is able to effectively mentor teens. He has another job promoting music by going amongst the crowds and dropping sampler CD's by national artists randomly, he has a very outgoing and friendly personality.
You can't help but like DJ. Like Brandon Crouch, he's changing the attitude of Christians towards long hair. He doesn't just talk the Talk, he walks the Walk; and he does it all while sporting long locks, earrings and tattoos! It is Christians like him and Brandon Crouch, choosing to grow their hair and challenging the incorrect interpretations of scripture, that will change attitudes among Christians towards men with long hair.
My former church back in Maryland had quite a growing number of youth and young adults with long hair, even some older men in attendance were choosing to grow their hair long. The Catholic college had students with long hair; including students from Father Groechel's Franciscan Friars of the Renewal attending the seminary there, with long hair in ponytails and full beards along with their Franciscan robes/habits. Future long hair Catholic priests, the particular house they reside at is a community made up entirely of longhaired men.
There is also a music video VJ named T-Bone who has a seriously long (waist-length) thick sectioned tail. He is a regular who hosts a show where they show music videos and conduct artists interviews. Another show called Cruise with a Cause featured Chad, a longhair who got his hair braided in cornrows during the show. Lot's of longhairs om JC-TV; youth and young adults and the older adults who serve as mentors, pastors and musicians.
Praise be indeed!
It's nice to see people from all walks of live having longhair and certainly some great example of great looking heads of hair.
I know a kid leafing through one of the best selling works of fiction, they were depicted having longhair in those times. But it's not the time to open the debate whether certain people did have longhair or not.
Cheers,
John.B
It's really nice seeing long-haired male Christians, when they have notoriously been known for being anti-longhair. Brandon and DJ do have great hair, and hopefully even better as they continue growing it. As for debating, the jury is out about Jesus; but according to Jewish Historian Josephus, Jesus was an Esssene, and they traditionally had long hair that was plaited on the ends. Ironically, the Shroud of Turin (alleged to be His burial garment) pictures a man with long hair.
That's a great and inspirational story of someone who threw off the shackles and became his true self.
I don't hold out much hope for these groups particularly the JWs. They believe God is willing and capable of killing people because of their hair length.
I don't hold out much hope either, I have personally encountered these Traditionalists Catholics. Christendon College in Front Royal Virginia is associated with them, this college has a dress code (shirts and ties for men), and dictates that male students must keep their hair trimmed regularly and not allow it to touch their shirt collars. :/ You can not change these people, they are hung on a pre-Vatican II Catholic Church where clericalism (the idea that the priest was untouchable and god-like, a big problem in the early part of the 20th century, which led to Vatican II) runs rampant, women wear head coverings in church and men must be "clean-cut" and not have anything remotely close to long hair. The clericalism movement, is what led to the rampant abuse by priests. The good thing is that these groups are in the minority, the Evangelicals are no longer among them, thanks to young Christian men like the two I posted about.
I was watching a program that Brandon Crouch was hosting, and he introduced himself as "Hi, this is Brandon Crouch, your host with the ridiculously long hair (with which he reached back and flipped his hair with his hand), and the crazy beard, and this is JC-TV and you are watching (name of show)". He does this same intro when doing speaking engagements to youth and in prisons, and accompanies it with an engaging smile. It's almost like he is flaunting it, or seeing what reaction he gets. From the videos I have seen of his talks, the audience usually giggles or laughs when he does this. They get the joke (he pokes fun at his non-traditional appearance)and the message he's conveying; you CAN be a long haired man, and a Christian.
We can't hope for change everywhere, Jason, but I do see some pretty big strides being taken. Evangelicals are a large segment if Christians, that's a big group who's views towards men and long hair is being changed. For the Crouch family to support their son and grandson with his decision to grow out his hair, the doors have been opened for others to do the same. This family is very influential among Christians, due to their decades of ministry to the Church. There isn't a day that I turn on JC-TV and not see at least a dozen young and sometimes older, men with long hair. A show I watched last night featured a middle-aged itinerant minister who has long blond hair that he wore in a ponytail, he looked positively awesome btw. Brandon Crouch, JC-TV and it's programming are spreading the message that long hair is perfectly acceptable for the Christian male, as are piercings and tattoos. God doesn't look at appearances, He never did! People with agendas spoke as though He does.
BTW, Liberty University, founded by Fundamentalist Jerry Falwell, has NO restrictions on hair length. Male students are free to wear their hair long if they wish. This change happened when the University went under the care of his son, Jerry Falwell, Jr. JC-TV carries programming from Liberty University, and you can see quite a number of young men on campus with anything but the "clean-cut" look. Proving even the fundies can change.
It's the Fundamentalists that are still holding out, along with Traditionalists Catholics, Mormons and Jehovah's Witnesses, and a few others.
Hey JustCarol.
I'm a Catholic priest. I'd like to get in contact with Brandon.
Raymond
Brandon has a Facebook account, and a website. He's a busy young man, so he doesn't have personal contact info available. The only email address I am aware of, is the contact one for booking for speaking engagements on his website, which probably goes to team members who work for and with him in scheduling, and not him personally. He is one very busy 27 yo, runs JC-TV, ministers to youth and prisoners, and plays a lot of extreme sports: and he recently got engaged and is preparing for his wedding. JC-TV has a contact form on it's webpage, which might be a means of establishing contact with Brandon. The Crouch family has contact info through the website for TBN.
How you attempt to contact him, all depends on the purpose. Facebook seems to be the best for leaving messages. I don't know if I can be of much help, as I don't know of any direct means of contacting him outside of posting on Facebook. I'm a newbie to the whole Facebook thing and still trying to figure it out.
Being that you are a priest, you might want to steer your young adult and teenagers you know towards checking out JC-TV, It is totally non-denominational, and if your local cable service doesn't carry it (it's free for satellite users), you can request that they do. You might also find some of the resources for youth pastors/ministers to be of benefit in your own work as well.
On side note to you: I'm Roman catholic too, but struggling with possibly leaving after 50 years and being a cradle-Catholic because I feel that I have no place in the Church, and it has pretty much abandoned me, so why should I be loyal to it? Worse, I can't find anybody who cares to listen, let alone care to do anything. I can't get into it all here, but if you might be willing to listen off the board, and share some insight, I would like that. Because right now I honestly don't think anybody in the Church really cares...
Hey JustCarol,
You've found a willing ear. I do care; how do you want to communicate?
Raymond
Will send you contact info through the hyperboard contact page, look for my message in your email. Thanks!
Carol
That's a great and inspirational post Carol! Here's to hoping that more Christians like this guy come out of the woodwork. I feel that fundamentalist pharisee Christians get too much media play and it turns me right off wanting anything to do with them or their churches. Just hoping that this young fellow helps improve relations with a new trend towards Christianity with love instead of hate and intolerance!
Duncan
Being that Brandon ministers to Gen Y, and they are our future, I'd like to think he's started a trend for the better. He's preaching that long hair is perfectly acceptable for the Christian male, and young people such as DJ that I mentioned and pictured are helping spread that message. I'd love to have been a fly on the wall when he told his conservative Evangelical parents and grandparents that he was deciding to grown his hair long, and did it. I like his philosophy on changing his grandparents generation to be more accepting of choices such as men growing their hair long. Glad you found the story so inspirational. I like some of Brandon's more radical views because I share many of them, Jesus after all was quite a radical himself.
I occasionally get questioned by my religious, Christian relatives about my hair, and it's always a question about when I'm going to cut it. I always respond with, "Have you seen a picture of Jesus? I'll cut mine when he does." I have yet to get a followup response to that one.
I am a student of history and from what i have studied about the population uf judea and around nazareth where jesus supposedly grew up. he and his tribe probably didnt look like the light skinned blue eyed blond haired photo i was lied to about most of my young life. here is a photo rendering of what hos facial makeup might have been. sincerely James
I have to agree with you that the real Jesus in person would highly unlikely look like the blond, blue-eyed version seen on the walls of churches in the western world. If he came back today he would more then likely be mistaken for a true semite, ie a palestinian in appearance with tanned skin, dark hair and dark eyes.
Duncan
It still works to stop the negative comments.
I bet your relatives know who Trinity Broadcasting Networks founders Jan and Paul Crouch Sr are. Show the relatives a picture of their grandson Brandon that I posted, and point out the hair to them.
My Evangelical Bible Church pastor in Montana still thinks I'm weird to have long hair, yet his daughters wear theirs waistlength as I do. Sometimes he'll mention my long hair randomly without any prodding. I don't get what his hang up is on this issue? Perhaps maybe he's interested in trying it himself and refuses to admit it?
See my reply to Michael's post just below yours, except replace "relatives" with your pastor. It certainty couldn't hurt! :)