I've updated some of the links on the sidebar; your site may be there! If it's not, let me know. Hit the "contact David" link to our immediate right and give me your site.
Be sure to check out and link one site in particular. John Frame and Vern Poythress have started a site. These two are among the clearest, most "berean"-esque thinkers around. You will be greatly helped.
31.1.06
27.1.06
The Little Woman With the Oven and Bun
I am terribly sorry. The posts have been so impersonal. What everyone in the western hemisphere really wants to know is how is Jenecia. How is Jenecia? For a young woman ONE WEEK AWAY FROM GIVING BIRTH she's more than marvelous. The young man, already named Solomon Edwin, weighs over eight pounds as I type. He grows every minute. We hope she goes a little early (like...now!). But she's not due for another week. We are very excited. I can't tell you the sort of quivers I get thinking of the little cheese loaf soon to be inhabiting our house with us. And, of course, this means that Pat Griffiths will be a grandfather!
26.1.06
Miscellaneous Movie Shorts
Just because I haven't been reviewing them doesn't mean I've been abstaining entirely. I thought I'd just give a two-cent opinion review for the following movies:
I Am David-Another great movie coming out of Walden Media. Don't be decieved: Jim Caviezel plays a minor visual part of the story, though a dynamic and important emotional part. If you're a movie connoisseur and don't mind feeling good you'll like this movie. The kid does a great job and the story is engaging and heart rending/warming.
Basic- A Travolta/ Samuel L. action movie? No. A twisty-turny military detective movie. Unfortunately it twists so much I think the writer got out of sorts and didn't wrap things up in an intellectually sufficient manner. Rent something else.
Anchorman- Funny. Very inappropriate.
The Longest Yard- Sandler plays another morally complex character (I never thought I'd say the word "complex" and "Sandler" in the same sentence). Here he is a total reprobate in many ways, but makes hard right choices throughout. Right and wrong are clearly stated as are the consequences for choosing either. An inordinate amount of drag queens in the prison. Yeck.
Pride and Prejudice- I've not read the book, but I have seen the A five hour version. The great story is faithfully represented here. I enjoyed it. The feature length did not hurry the plot or squelch the story. Well done.
Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid- Four Academy awards for Cool. Interesting, sad, cool, funny, well done movie. Stronger than its PG rating, so beware.
That's it. In case you're lonely tonight and are going to watch a movie, I hope these help you decide.
I Am David-Another great movie coming out of Walden Media. Don't be decieved: Jim Caviezel plays a minor visual part of the story, though a dynamic and important emotional part. If you're a movie connoisseur and don't mind feeling good you'll like this movie. The kid does a great job and the story is engaging and heart rending/warming.
Basic- A Travolta/ Samuel L. action movie? No. A twisty-turny military detective movie. Unfortunately it twists so much I think the writer got out of sorts and didn't wrap things up in an intellectually sufficient manner. Rent something else.
Anchorman- Funny. Very inappropriate.
The Longest Yard- Sandler plays another morally complex character (I never thought I'd say the word "complex" and "Sandler" in the same sentence). Here he is a total reprobate in many ways, but makes hard right choices throughout. Right and wrong are clearly stated as are the consequences for choosing either. An inordinate amount of drag queens in the prison. Yeck.
Pride and Prejudice- I've not read the book, but I have seen the A five hour version. The great story is faithfully represented here. I enjoyed it. The feature length did not hurry the plot or squelch the story. Well done.
Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid- Four Academy awards for Cool. Interesting, sad, cool, funny, well done movie. Stronger than its PG rating, so beware.
That's it. In case you're lonely tonight and are going to watch a movie, I hope these help you decide.
Take and Read
Augustine's conversion, in his own words, shores up my confidence in the power of the bare Word. It is never bare; it never goes forth alone but the Spirit accompanies it and works the will of God for the glory of Christ in every heart it touches. Amen.
25.1.06
Herman Ridderbos on John
I am still in the process of studying John with our teen group. Herman Ridderbos on John is a fabulous commentary. I've included the following quote in the hopes that it shows you some of the charm and insight and appeal of this volume: it is worship to read.
"It is from this latter point that this 'miracle story' derives its meaning in the series of encounters described by the Evangelist. Miracle belongs inseparably to Jesus' mission, as his witness to the Father..., as the sign of salvation represented by him..., and hence as the means of leading people to faith...But Jesus is more than the miracles he performs, more than the bread he distributes, and more than the child he restores to its father...He is himself the miracle from above; it is therefore also himself he imparts in his miracles, the bread of life..., the resurrection and the life..., the light of the world...The faith he demands is therefore more than faith in (his power to do) miracles; it is faith in him as the gift of God come down from heaven."
Ridderbos stays free of sticky Johanine issues and only references them to show how little they matter in a honest reading of the text. His fascination with the beauty of the Gospel, the glory of Christ, as well as his attention to detail and his humor make this the commentary all commentaries should be.
20.1.06
Triumph From Tragedy
Dr. David M. Howard Jr., a Bethlehem Member and professor at Bethel Seminary in Minneapolis, wrote today in the OpEd section of the Wall Street Journal. His article summarizes the whole Through Gates of Splendor story from a God-centered worldview.
19.1.06
If We're Aslan's Roar, What Must Aslan Be Like?
I stumbled on this scathing review of "Music inspired by The Chronicles of Narnia":
If studios can earn a buck off of a collection of boring modern rock songs that are supposedly "inspired by" the largely secular world of Marvel comics' derived films like "Spiderman" and Daredevil, then it seems entirely logical that the non-secular world of C.S. Lewis' "Chronicles of Narnia" should be exploited as well. That the CCM community would jump at an opportunity to celebrate the "Lion,the Witch and the Wardrobe" is no surprise, but the producers--like those behind the aforementioned comic adaptations--have missed a
wonderful opportunity to create a mirrored work of "creativity" instead of a bullet to the wallet of the "videoless" MTV generation. With such an established book, why relegate a companion audio work to generic,mid-tempo CCM acts like Jars of Clay and Stephen Curtis Chapman? There's a whole new generation of young faith-based indie rock bands,composers and instrumentalists who not only take chances, but also would have jumped at the chance to provide Aslan (the Lion) with a thunderous roar. To be narrow is one thing, but to do it in the shape-shifting milieu of rock and roll is not only dull, it's spiritless. What's kept this popular series of books so clearly in the populace is the subtlety of its' message; it's parable, not dogma. ~
James Christopher Monger, All Music Guide
The CD is probably pretty good, but he raises an interesting point. I especially like the call to all of us to give "Aslan" back his roar. We cannot serve two masters; we will surely love one and not the other. Has money got our tongue? Let's let God have our tongues and let Him take care of the consequences. He always seems to.
If studios can earn a buck off of a collection of boring modern rock songs that are supposedly "inspired by" the largely secular world of Marvel comics' derived films like "Spiderman" and Daredevil, then it seems entirely logical that the non-secular world of C.S. Lewis' "Chronicles of Narnia" should be exploited as well. That the CCM community would jump at an opportunity to celebrate the "Lion,the Witch and the Wardrobe" is no surprise, but the producers--like those behind the aforementioned comic adaptations--have missed a
wonderful opportunity to create a mirrored work of "creativity" instead of a bullet to the wallet of the "videoless" MTV generation. With such an established book, why relegate a companion audio work to generic,mid-tempo CCM acts like Jars of Clay and Stephen Curtis Chapman? There's a whole new generation of young faith-based indie rock bands,composers and instrumentalists who not only take chances, but also would have jumped at the chance to provide Aslan (the Lion) with a thunderous roar. To be narrow is one thing, but to do it in the shape-shifting milieu of rock and roll is not only dull, it's spiritless. What's kept this popular series of books so clearly in the populace is the subtlety of its' message; it's parable, not dogma. ~
James Christopher Monger, All Music Guide
The CD is probably pretty good, but he raises an interesting point. I especially like the call to all of us to give "Aslan" back his roar. We cannot serve two masters; we will surely love one and not the other. Has money got our tongue? Let's let God have our tongues and let Him take care of the consequences. He always seems to.
17.1.06
King Kong
As much as this greives me to say, Kong was a better movie that Narnia. Of course the stories don't compare; but the movie Kong was fabulous. Three Peter-Jacksonian hours of flawless special effects. He even wove in pointless scenes like pistons pumping, quoted poetry, and steady facial shots. But those scenes make a picture. A good picture takes time to make and unfold. By the end of the movie you are rooting for the romance between a thirty foot gorilla and a size 4 New Yorker! What happened!? A good picture happened. I give Kong 10 stars out of 7. LOTR size special effects.
What is Kong about though? Was it a commentary on slavery? Was it outrage at animal abuse? I don't know. Feel free to chime in.
Towards the end King Kong ends his rampage through New York when he sees his girl. They turn down a side road and stroll. He doesn't even bump a car. Just strolling. The girl is safe in the hands of King Kong, even though she's walking down a dark New York side street. Any other night of the week she'd be cautious and easily spooked. But not tonight. Tonight she's with a thirty foot silverback gorilla.
Of course she has nothing to fear. Whose going to mess with Kong? "Where does a three hundred pound gorilla sit on the subway?" "Anywhere he wants."
And how much bigger than Kong is our God. How much more powerful is the Spirit whom Christ has sent into our hearts? Sure it's not a body-sized leather hand backed with tons of fighting muscle, but nothing can separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus. How much peace can we have, no matter the situation? We have a giant of a God with us in Emmanuel. What boldness is ours with the King of Kings at our side?
The juxtaposition of Kong and a NY side road impressed upon me the practicality of the presence of God. No longer fear; God is with us in Jesus.
Joy to the World the Lord is come,
And He's much bigger than Kong.
What is Kong about though? Was it a commentary on slavery? Was it outrage at animal abuse? I don't know. Feel free to chime in.
Towards the end King Kong ends his rampage through New York when he sees his girl. They turn down a side road and stroll. He doesn't even bump a car. Just strolling. The girl is safe in the hands of King Kong, even though she's walking down a dark New York side street. Any other night of the week she'd be cautious and easily spooked. But not tonight. Tonight she's with a thirty foot silverback gorilla.
Of course she has nothing to fear. Whose going to mess with Kong? "Where does a three hundred pound gorilla sit on the subway?" "Anywhere he wants."
And how much bigger than Kong is our God. How much more powerful is the Spirit whom Christ has sent into our hearts? Sure it's not a body-sized leather hand backed with tons of fighting muscle, but nothing can separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus. How much peace can we have, no matter the situation? We have a giant of a God with us in Emmanuel. What boldness is ours with the King of Kings at our side?
The juxtaposition of Kong and a NY side road impressed upon me the practicality of the presence of God. No longer fear; God is with us in Jesus.
Joy to the World the Lord is come,
And He's much bigger than Kong.
13.1.06
New "Sola" Unearthed!
We have five solas: sola deo gloria, sola christo, sola scriptura, sola gratia, and sola fide. Each of these five wonderful, albeit latin, expressions of foundational orthodox Christianity deserves its lofty place in historical theology. But are they the only solas?
I'm about to begin teaching a Sunday school course on basic Christianity. We're using the solas as the structure for our discussion of salvation. But something is missing from them, isn't it. All the solas point to human inability, and the great grace of God. Christ is exalted as the sole foundation for salvation. But where is the third person of the trinity, who plays no small part in salvation and whose presence or absence in theological articulation certainly affects the orthodoxy of that statement? Where's the Holy Spirit?
Traditional explanations for not including the Spirit explicitly in this historical articulation of orthodoxy tend to focus on the Spirit's work of making much of God in Christ. I agree. The Spirit's work is to make much of God in Christ in everything He does. However, it does not logically follow that He should then be "assumed" in doctrinal articulation or "understood" to be present amidst our theology. As John Piper has noted, God does not like to be "assumed" or "understood." When we say we "assume" something, it usually means we practically ignore it. Many reformed theologians practically ignore the grace of God in the person of the Spirit. Perhaps His absence from the solas has encouraged this oversight.
Why included the Spirit in the solas? The Spirit is the agent for all of God's saving grace. Salvation is from the Lord, the Spirit. He did not purchase it, but He delivers it. Since we grant faith a sola as the primary human means of salvation, I think it is equally as just, if not demanded, that we be explicit about the Person of the Spirit and His necessary and exclusive work of communicating God's grace through Christ to us.
Finally, God is surely glorified when the Spirit is magnified: because the Spirit is God, and because the Spirit is sent from God. Thus the Giver gets the glory on both fronts. Praising the Spirit is praising God. We should also praise God the Father for the Spirit.
Thus I think we would be right to include in our basic understanding of Orthodoxy the final sola, sola spiritus (I'm unsure on the latin conjugation [in fact, I'm guessing], but you get the idea.).
I'm about to begin teaching a Sunday school course on basic Christianity. We're using the solas as the structure for our discussion of salvation. But something is missing from them, isn't it. All the solas point to human inability, and the great grace of God. Christ is exalted as the sole foundation for salvation. But where is the third person of the trinity, who plays no small part in salvation and whose presence or absence in theological articulation certainly affects the orthodoxy of that statement? Where's the Holy Spirit?
Traditional explanations for not including the Spirit explicitly in this historical articulation of orthodoxy tend to focus on the Spirit's work of making much of God in Christ. I agree. The Spirit's work is to make much of God in Christ in everything He does. However, it does not logically follow that He should then be "assumed" in doctrinal articulation or "understood" to be present amidst our theology. As John Piper has noted, God does not like to be "assumed" or "understood." When we say we "assume" something, it usually means we practically ignore it. Many reformed theologians practically ignore the grace of God in the person of the Spirit. Perhaps His absence from the solas has encouraged this oversight.
Why included the Spirit in the solas? The Spirit is the agent for all of God's saving grace. Salvation is from the Lord, the Spirit. He did not purchase it, but He delivers it. Since we grant faith a sola as the primary human means of salvation, I think it is equally as just, if not demanded, that we be explicit about the Person of the Spirit and His necessary and exclusive work of communicating God's grace through Christ to us.
Finally, God is surely glorified when the Spirit is magnified: because the Spirit is God, and because the Spirit is sent from God. Thus the Giver gets the glory on both fronts. Praising the Spirit is praising God. We should also praise God the Father for the Spirit.
Thus I think we would be right to include in our basic understanding of Orthodoxy the final sola, sola spiritus (I'm unsure on the latin conjugation [in fact, I'm guessing], but you get the idea.).
10.1.06
Television and mummification
Although there are currently no "scientifically proven" links between television and mummification I think this article points to the unsettling spiritual reality operating in America: our consciences and souls are slowly being embalmed by television.
9.1.06
"Suriving Christmas"
Movies are as much a Christmas tradition in America as anything. If it weren't for the fact that we worship television the other 364 days of the year, we'd probably bow down before her today, hang lights on her, and lift her praises in song to the glories of her radiance. I hate television. So we found a solution. We still like the occasional movie. Occasional... right.
Anyway, we watched the Bennifer Afflake show: Surviving Christmas. Honestly, 6 out of 3. Much better than I thought. Genuinely funny, suprisingly truthful and honest, a rarety today, and entertaining: an interesting movie. You could do worse.
Ben Affleck plays a million dollar advertising guru whose disfunctional past leaves him alone every Christmas. By ridiculous circumstances he ends up renting a family with which to spend the holidays. He wrecks their lives, it seems. But were they that great anyway? For that matter, in this picture everyone has issues. The message? We all have issues. The holidays seem to draw out the poisons in us. We cope for eleven months. Then we disentigrate. Red and green vipers, fully decked with frothy white trim.
Affleck is funny; Christina Applegate plays a normal adult on screen. A no name actor plays opposite Affleck. Correction, a no name actor with a nice beard who wears Carhartt. What's not to like? Suriving Christmas is, like most television and movie programming, a waste of time. But hey, it's Christmas.
Anyway, we watched the Bennifer Afflake show: Surviving Christmas. Honestly, 6 out of 3. Much better than I thought. Genuinely funny, suprisingly truthful and honest, a rarety today, and entertaining: an interesting movie. You could do worse.
Ben Affleck plays a million dollar advertising guru whose disfunctional past leaves him alone every Christmas. By ridiculous circumstances he ends up renting a family with which to spend the holidays. He wrecks their lives, it seems. But were they that great anyway? For that matter, in this picture everyone has issues. The message? We all have issues. The holidays seem to draw out the poisons in us. We cope for eleven months. Then we disentigrate. Red and green vipers, fully decked with frothy white trim.
Affleck is funny; Christina Applegate plays a normal adult on screen. A no name actor plays opposite Affleck. Correction, a no name actor with a nice beard who wears Carhartt. What's not to like? Suriving Christmas is, like most television and movie programming, a waste of time. But hey, it's Christmas.
Quake survivors brace for winter
I do not mean to belittle our problems, which are problems that we must give to the Lord. Yet, news of this sort silences many common American gripes.
6.1.06
Pray for John Piper
Justin Taylor, Pastor John's long time aid and a TBI grad, broke this heart breaking news to us today: Pastor John has prostate cancer. But, of course, we know that this too will work for the glory of God in the joy of all peoples through the exaltation of Jesus Christ, whether by life or by death.
5.1.06
NARNIA
Half a million reviews later, I'll weigh in on the movie version of one of my favorite books.
In third grade, rooting through my father's books in our Allen Park basement, I discovered the boxed set of the Chronicles of Narnia. I don't know if I even read them. Rather I turned the spigot and let this amazing world wash over me. Seven volumes? Seven dips in the river Narnia; and I was new. Those books awoke my mind. My imagination went spiraling into a new world, never to recover, never to return. In retrospect, finding Narnia in my own sort of wardrobe was a pivotal, identity-shaping experience.
It was a good movie. With hopes set so high, though, I'd have to give it a 7 or 8 out of 10.
Everyone has to weigh in on highlights and lowlights, and of course, Aslan. Aslan was marvelously done by Weta Worshops, but he wasn't scripted well. The story itself was a bit choppy: the sacrifice of Aslan, the battle, and the battle's close all felt too abrupt. The child actors did a great job.
But everything else was great. I could say more, but don't want too. It may be true, but I haven't the fiber to continue demeaning the production. So much more was wonderful.
Narnia is what we need. We go about living our modernist, or post-modernist life, concerned with dropping bombs, hiding away or fighting away, playing hide-and-go-seek. Then, suddenly, in Christ we step into a new world. Here there are prophecies we are a part of fulfilling. There are many lions in this land, some good, some bad. Flaming darts wizz past our helmeted heads. We must be conscious here of the strength of our grip on the Sword and the soundness of our Shield.
Lewis paints reality with different colors and we are enchanted. But this really is the world. We go to work, chat around the bubbler, nibble Christmas cookies, vote on Presidents; but at the same time a far more serious world exists right here in the middle of all this. In the middle of grocery shopping, pumping gas, waiting for our wives outside stores in the mall, right here there's imbedded another world that we must see. This was Lewis's gift: a mirror.
Lewis gave us a window by which to see ourselves and the world as it is: witches, minotaurs, helpful foxes, child-kings, Nazis, loss, greed, siblings, mothers, and all.
In third grade, rooting through my father's books in our Allen Park basement, I discovered the boxed set of the Chronicles of Narnia. I don't know if I even read them. Rather I turned the spigot and let this amazing world wash over me. Seven volumes? Seven dips in the river Narnia; and I was new. Those books awoke my mind. My imagination went spiraling into a new world, never to recover, never to return. In retrospect, finding Narnia in my own sort of wardrobe was a pivotal, identity-shaping experience.
It was a good movie. With hopes set so high, though, I'd have to give it a 7 or 8 out of 10.
Everyone has to weigh in on highlights and lowlights, and of course, Aslan. Aslan was marvelously done by Weta Worshops, but he wasn't scripted well. The story itself was a bit choppy: the sacrifice of Aslan, the battle, and the battle's close all felt too abrupt. The child actors did a great job.
But everything else was great. I could say more, but don't want too. It may be true, but I haven't the fiber to continue demeaning the production. So much more was wonderful.
Narnia is what we need. We go about living our modernist, or post-modernist life, concerned with dropping bombs, hiding away or fighting away, playing hide-and-go-seek. Then, suddenly, in Christ we step into a new world. Here there are prophecies we are a part of fulfilling. There are many lions in this land, some good, some bad. Flaming darts wizz past our helmeted heads. We must be conscious here of the strength of our grip on the Sword and the soundness of our Shield.
Lewis paints reality with different colors and we are enchanted. But this really is the world. We go to work, chat around the bubbler, nibble Christmas cookies, vote on Presidents; but at the same time a far more serious world exists right here in the middle of all this. In the middle of grocery shopping, pumping gas, waiting for our wives outside stores in the mall, right here there's imbedded another world that we must see. This was Lewis's gift: a mirror.
Lewis gave us a window by which to see ourselves and the world as it is: witches, minotaurs, helpful foxes, child-kings, Nazis, loss, greed, siblings, mothers, and all.
2.1.06
me on youth ministry
here's a little something I wrote on the topic of youth ministry for our church's website.
O Brother Where Art Thou
Several times I've been asked, "What is your favorite movie?" Lately, my answer: O Brother, Where Art Thou.
In addition to being a well done movie, with remarkable production, acting, script, and casting, "O Brother" delivers one of the best stories of all time. The plot uses Homer's "Odyssey" as the structure into which it weaves Southern United States mythology. Thus Cyclops becomes a one-eyed bible salesman, preying on the depressed people, hawking scripture. The Sirens become backwoods, poorly clad redneck traps equipped with moonshine. The Law is the devil himself, as Tommy Johnson tells us, "a white man with big, hollow eyes; he travels around with a mean hound." Revivalist religion, racism, the roots of rock and role, Southern politics, white suits, chain gangs, and pomade lace the almost timeless story of a man out to reclaim the greatest treasure he knows: the love of his wife and children. How could this movie not be loved by all?
That's a question I barely understand. Nonetheless, allow me to suggest some practical steps to enjoy the movie.
1. Read the "Odyssey." Understand the direction of the plot, the basis for the twists and turns, and pick up some culture while you're at it.
2. Watch the movie with someone who loves it. Do you and your silly friends sit around and talk about how "it doesn't go anywhere"? Time for new company. "Bad friends corrupt good manners."
3. Watch the whole movie. I don't know how many times I've heard someone say, "I started it." Commit to watching the whole movie, attentively.
4. Watch the whole movie three times. "O Brother" didn't come alive for us until the second or third viewing. Like any fine piece of art, more is present than can be got at the first pass. Watch it a few times; memorize the lines. "O Brother" will quickly become a favorite.
I hope this has been a helpful guide to enjoying this timeless work of art. I don't want to hear any comments till you've watched it at least two times.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
