In case you didn’t watch the opening ceremonies or haven’t heard, they encouraged three-way sex, featured a nude man covered only by a strategically placed vine who emerged from under the cover of a giant meat tray on a table many are saying mocked Leonardo Da Vinci’s “The Last Supper.”

Ironically, the Olympics Charter states, “No kind of demonstration or political, religious or racial propaganda is permitted in any Olympic sites, venues or other areas.” Thomas Jolly, artistic director of the opening ceremonies, denies that his choreography was inspired by the Last Supper or Da Vinci’s masterpiece, saying, “The idea was to do a big pagan party linked to the gods of Olympus.” There is a painting with a similar setting in a painting, “The Feast of the Gods” by Jan van Bijert, in which Apollo has light shining behind his head, but it’s nothing like the halo worn by the woman, Barbara Butch, in the opening ceremonies, which is much more similar to halos of saints and deity in classical paintings. Among those flanking Butch were drag queens and a little girl, watching it all.

Even if Jolly is honest about his inspiration, depicting “a big pagan party linked to the gods of Olympus,” is honoring and inviting ancient demons to the games. Catholic Bishop Robert Barron, from the U.S., posted a video in which he said:

It’s not just Christians who are offended According to a poll taken by the U.K.’s Daily Mail online publication, 73% of their readers found the opening ceremony to be “grossly offensive.” Only 13% voted no, and 14% didn’t watch. There’s been so much backlash that the International Olympic Committee and NBC removed the opening ceremonies from their online platforms and YouTube.

The IOC has only retained broadcasting rights in certain global markets. Specifically, the IOC does not have rights in Europe and the UK, among others. As a result, images from official Olympic venues and areas are geo-blocked for these markets, which is why the videos cannot be viewed. They have not been removed.

Apology? The Olympics made a statement about the opening ceremony, but it didn’t sound like an apology. A spokesperson said this at a news conference: “Clearly, there was never an intention to show disrespect to any religious group. The opening ceremony tried to celebrate community tolerance. We believe this ambition was achieved. If people have taken any offense, we are really sorry.”

When I performed here in 2005 my performance was shut down because between dramas I was sharing my personal faith in a public place. According to Worldometer and the National Council of Evangelical Christians, by 2023 the Evangelical presence had risen to 1.15%. That might not sound like much, but that’s a 15-fold increase since 1950. The Plasters remember when they could count on two hands the number of French Evangelical Churches in Paris. Now, Rob Plaster estimates there are more than 50. Take a moment to praise the Lord for this move in the right direction!

Thank you LookingUp, and godservant.