Movies I’ve Seen #1

Some movies I’ve seen recently:

The Dark Knight – It’s not just fluff – Heath Ledger really IS an amazing Joker. The movie was epic, which means it was long.  Batman sort of felt like an afterthought in the flick, but I’m okay with that – I couldn’t handle his deep voice whenever he was suited up.  I understood the logic behind it, but it still made me laugh.  But the Joker… that was just creepy.  Creepy enough to make me want to see it again.

The Ruins – Rented this.  It’s really bad.  Don’t watch it.  But it IS a prime example of the depravity of the human spirit that chooses to rear its ugly head every now and then.  The “sense of life,” to borrow from Ayn Rand, of this film is nothing but death and chaos.  No redemptive value at all.

The Music Within – Amazing movie about a deaf guy who works to help disabled people get jobs.  Loved it.

The Last Legion – I love Arthurian lore.  I did not love this movie.  In fact, I didn’t even finish it.  Come on, Colin Firth.  What were you thinking?

The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford - LOVED this movie. The cinematography was great.  It’s long, but it’s worth it.

There Will Be Blood – Loved this as well.  Just a good film.

What have you seen lately?

The National “Worship Leader” Conference

I was in Texas for a week.

The first night I was a bit disoriented, I think from the long flight and having to go straight to the conference without any downtime.  Matt Redman played that night, and Skip Heitzig spoke.  I think that’s how you spell it.  But I was not vibing with the conference that night, and thought to myself that if this was how it was going to go, it was going to be a bad week. 

Luckily, things sweetened up.

The next morning I heard Leonard Sweet give a talk on metaphor in the church.  I had never heard of him.  They had his books there, and I bought “The Gospel According to Starbucks.”  I also went to his seminar “Summoned to Lead.” It was a great privilege to meet him. 

Then I went to the “Pastor as Storyteller” seminar, taught by Bishop Joseph Garlington, which was also a complete blessing, as well as “Into The Dark,” a seminar by Craig Detweiler.  

Needless to say, I came home with a lot of books.

Two things going on today that were featured at this conference are the Odes of Solomon and The Voice.

The Odes are early Christian hymns put to music, and I think they’re beautiful, and the Voice is a new “translation” of the scriptures, which I’m really excited about.  I got to meet Greg Garrett, the reteller of the gospel of Mark.  I think The Voice is going to be a great contribution to the church.

My time in Texas really did a lot to dig out some entrenched, judgmental attitudes and gave me the opportunity to meet really amazing followers of Jesus.

Things of note to sum up:

Riverbend Church: location of the conference, was quite an architectural feat.
Odes of Solomon: excellent tunes you need to check out.
Leonard Sweet: Cool dude, has things to say that the church needs to hear.
Craig Detweiler: Look into his film and books to see how the church can relate to the culture.
Joseph Garlington: Great speaker and teacher.
The Voice: New retelling of the Scriptures that you should definitely look into.
Lincoln Brewster, Tommy Walker:  Two cool musicians.

Dig it.

We Hate To See You Smile

The AFA, a “family-oriented” association, is choosing to boycott McDonald’s for donating money to a Gay and Lesbian organization.   The AFA is boycotting Mickey-D’s because they feel that McDonald’s should not take one side or the other in this “culture war.”

What I find absurd is that the AFA wishes some people to objectively rise above their squabble, while they themselves want to stay in the trenches.  If this “culture war” is about one side being right, and the other wrong, then shouldn’t everyone take sides, even fast food restaurants?

I guarantee you one thing, though: If McDonald’s had donated money to the AFA, the AFA would be applauding McD’s for choosing the right side and endorsing the God-sanctioned institution of marriage.

Once again, it’s not about the cause, it’s about the money, the politics, and the power.  I don’t think the AFA or anybody else concerned wants this “culture war” to end.  They’re all getting a lot of press that they otherwise wouldn’t get. 

But again, I guarantee you that if McD’s offered the money to the AFA, they wouldn’t have turned it down.  So their real objection should just be that the money wasn’t offered to them. 

A lot like the jaded kid in elementary school who didn’t get a tootsie roll like the kid beside him.

Stop your bitchin’, AFA.  Grow up. 

And buy a double-cheeseburger.

You know you want it.

Mmmm…

Saved!

I just re-watched the movie “Saved!”  When I first saw it, I was surprised at how much I liked it.  I thought it would be pretty lame, but it turned out quite differently. 

This movie has a lot to say about pop-Christianity and church culture.

And there’s a very deep insight towards the end, where the main character asks the question “What would Jesus do?”  and gives her own very honest and valid answer: “I don’t know.  But in the meantime, we’ll be trying to figure that out.  Together.”

Another time, the same girl says, “So everything that doesn’t fit into some stupid idea of what you think God wants you just try to hide or fix or get rid of? It’s just all too much to live up to. No one fits in one hundred percent of the time. Not even you.”

I think the church needs reminded of this point a lot. 

We think we all have it figured out.  We have this list of what to believe, and what to condemn, and life moves along just fine.

But it’s not that simple.

Is everything a shade of grey?

What do you think?

CvC Season 3

Are you ready? 

Season 3 of Culture vs. Christian is getting ready to hit the streets.  We’re single-handedly taking on the emergent church and declaring ourselves post-emergent, we’re thinking about bringing back the prophet beards, we’re less bitter, yet filling…..

It’s all happening!

Action Jackson

Did you hear what Jesse Jackson said when he thought his mic was off?  Ohhh, the things we say when we think our mic is off. 

But it shows you one thing:  For people like Jackson, Sharpton, and all those other political clowns (white, black, yellow, or red), it’s not about equality, hope, justice, or any other quaint word we can all believe in.

It’s about politics and power.  Special and personal interests. 

When Imus made a remark about black basketball players, he loses his show on MSNBC and is publicly chastised.  When Jesse Jackson makes off the cuff remarks, thinking his mic is off, he expects everyone to be okay with it. 

I am not okay with it.

He’s one of many individuals who spend their careers criticizing and judging other people when they make a verbal slip, but doesn’t want the heat when he himself makes one. 

Do you see how political this is?  We see what he really thinks of Obama when his mic is off.  But he’s asking us to ignore the candid remarks and listen to what he says when the makeup is on, the lights are ready, and the camera is rolling. 

It’s all politics, my friends. 

Not a person on the top really believes in what they’re doing.  They believe in more money, and more power.

They’re all as corrupt as you or me.

Ain’t one of ‘em got an ounce of hope, or change, that we could ever believe in.

Justice at “The Border”

From my friends at the Bridge:

Friends,

Most of you have surely heard of the tragic shooting of the young mother at our local Taco Bell Restaurant on Patrick Street this past Saturday.

Taco Bell management has allowed the store to remain closed until tomorrow, Thursday, at 10AM, in the interest of their employees.

Management invited several local pastors and counselors to meet with all of their employees yesterday. We spent much of the time with them as a group and also broke up for individual ministry. It was a powerful time that surely will aid the healing process in their lives.

The Patrick Street Taco Bell is going to contribute the total proceeds of Thursday’s sales toward the needs of the family of the young woman.

We are encouraging all who read this e-mail to purchase at least one meal there tomorrow, Thursday, July 10, 2008.

Please forward this message on to your local contacts and make a point to visit this restaurant tomorrow, even if you only buy a coke.

The management is to be commended for their interest in doing justice for their employees and for the family of the young woman.

Snarky Gas Stations

Some gas stations seem to be charging you more if you’re paying with your credit card.  They do this because credit card companies charge the gas station for each credit card transaction, so these stations have to do something to get their money back.  So what do they do?  They advertise slightly lower gas prices than their competitors, but sneak in those credit charges for plastic users. 

So watch your receipts, people.

We all appear to be on a downward spiral of technological, beaureaucratic damnation.  I hope we can pull ourselves out of it.  The free-market, capitalistic, industrial drive of America is really getting out of hand, going from a celebration of profit into the exploitation of the masses by the rich few.

Damn.  We’re in a tight spot.

Stardust

I watched “Stardust” last night, that movie based on Neil Gaiman’s story, and absolutely loved it.  I thought it was had a great interweaving of characters, making for a very complex and epic story.  It involved all things fantastic: pirates, swords, unicorns, kings, castles, witches, falling stars, tiny villages, broken hearts, feuding princes, the whole deal.

Great cast, too:  Robert DeNiro, Michelle Pfeiffer, Claire Danes…

It was honestly one of the best movies I have seen in a while.

Emerging?

I don’t want anyone to get the idea that I’m “emerging.”  In my previous blog, I talked about the term “christfollower.”  I don’t want to replace “christian” with that.  I’m just saying I happen to like the term “christfollower.”  I think a lot is implied in that term, like a person’s commitment to be a disciple of Jesus, not just to believe in because of some eternal reward, but to attempt to model your life after his every day – to take his teachings to heart, and walk in his footsteps.  To be a “little Christ.”

It’s up to each and every one of us to be the reflection of the Light that lights the world.  We are like the moon, the lesser light, which shines in the night and reflects the glory of the sun. 

I think “christfollower” implies that very well.

As for the “emergent” movement, I still don’t really like it.  I watched some youtube videos of the church village roadshow or whatever, and it still seems off key to me – not the singing, but just the general mood of the whole deal.  Doug Pagitt unnerves me.  And I watched Tony Jones’ responses to prior critical videos, and he was singing that song on every one.  I get the humor behind it.  And what he’s saying.  But it’s still off-key to me. 

Really, the only thing the emergent folks encourage me to do is to watch my tone, and the way I talk about people.  Jones’ response videos are, to me, disrespectful of the argument.  It is far from “rising above it.”  If people have genuine criticisms and concerns, how is it respecting them just to sing an old-timey song? 

But all emergent-types do encourage me to be more honest, sincere, and authentic in my own life.  Which can’t be a bad thing.

So blessings on us all, then.