Football, You Bet!

I first learned of Jerry Bridges as a young Christian in the late '80s by picking up paperback versions of The Pursuit of Holiness and The Practice of Godliness. My favorite books of his are Transforming Grace: Living Confidently in God's Unfailing Love and Trusting God: Even When Life Hurts. The following video for the upcoming Desiring God National Conference seems like a good reminder for a Sunday afternoon as the first regular season NFL games are rapidly approaching.

Distractions - The Main Product of Vanity Fair

The following is a "Don't Waste Your Life" video featuring Randy Alcorn. Randy's topic is distractions, which is appropriate here given distractions are my normal subject matter. This is a good reminder for me (and probably you too) to keep the subjects of this blog in proper "orbit."



If you are not regularly viewing these videos, I would encourage you to subscribe on iTunes, visit the Don't Waste Your Life website, or check them out on You Tube.

Comics, TV Series, and Endings

Growing up I was a comic book geek. Spiderman, X-Men, Justice League, Batman, Superman, Captain America, etc. I wasn't even one of those cool comic book people who looked for independent titles either. Mainstream superhero books all the way. This continued into college and eventually I did get into some First comics like Jon Sable Freelance and American Flagg (there's a great quote about truth from GrimJack that I need to share sometime). I stopped buying comics in part due to the typical college reason for giving something up - beer money was more important.

But another factor was that comics were becoming soap operas. Which is to say there were these long drawn out story lines where nothing happened for a year. One of the appeals of comics had been you could get a story in a couple of issues at most. I picked them up again several years ago spurred by the death of Superman storyline, but the situation had only gotten worse.

These never ending stories, it seems, are an infectious disease. Look at a number of TV series today (case in point: Lost). Good series with great concepts, but in an attempt to hold on to viewers, they drag the plots out and don't resolve anything. On the surface, this may seem good because you keep drawing people back. But I think it backfires, sometimes sooner and sometimes later but it almost always backfires.

I think this is one reason crime dramas like Law and Order and CSI are so popular today. In general, while there are some backstories, the main plot of an episode is resolved that episode. One of the reasons that Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows sold so well is that it was the end of that story. I love short stories because in a single sitting you can get to the ending. Which is not to say that I don't like grand epics, like Harry Potter or Lord of the Rings, where you can have more characters and plot development. So, Stephen King not withstanding (eventually, if the Lord wills that I should live, I will get around to The Dark Tower), I'm convinced that most people like stories with endings.

The greatest story ever told has one. For some at least it is even a fairy tale ending - they lived happily ever after. If God, who I would argue is the greatest story-teller, has chosen to tell us the ending of the story of the universe in Revelation, then longing to know and arriving at an ending is not a bad thing.

Which is not to say the journey is unimportant. The journey is very significant because in some sense the journey is the story. Endings do not make sense apart from the story. Jesus in Revelation is the Lion and the Lamb. Try to make sense of that ending without Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, the Gospels, etc.

Sometimes with cliffhangers writers are too clever for their own good. Or they allow the people with the money to make too many decisions. Because stories without endings are not stories. God pronounces a blessing on those who read and hear the ending of His story. May that be each of us.

Prosperity Gospel

Or "Cash Cow"?



"I too was hypnotized by those big cow eyes the last time I uttered [uddered?] those three little words 'I deserve better.'"

Obsolete?

Letters in the Dirt

I love Chuck Brodsky's music. This is just one reason why.

The Boss and Christianity (Today)

Mark Moring has an article over at the Christianity Today website about Bruce Springsteen (aka "The Boss"). Mark's history with Bruce goes back a little farther than mine. I first heard of Mr. Springsteen while reading a review for a Meat Loaf album in the late 70's. Springsteen had been sidelined for some time after releasing Born to Run due to legal battles. He had just released Darkness on the Edge of Town and the reviewer of the Meat Loaf album said we didn't need Springsteen impersonator's now that the Boss was back.

Shortly thereafter, I heard Born to Run for the first time and I was hooked. The second concert I ever went to was Springsteen on The River tour. The only other artist I ever saw that even came close to matching Springsteen's energy was Garth Brooks. My initial reaction to Nebraska was poor, but I came to love the album. When the Born in the USA tour was rolling into town, the tickets were much harder to get, but I managed. I have continued to be a fan, but the albums following Nebraska have not captivated me like Springsteen's earlier efforts.

I have always attributed this to the fact that Springsteen has been, to me, a very secular writer. Compared to the quasi-spiritual writings of Jackson Browne ("The Fuse" or "Rock Me on the Water" come to mind immediately), Bruce seemed to reject religion outright as in "I'm no hero that's understood. All the redemption I can offer girl is beneath this dirty hood" from "Thunder Road."

I'll have to give a listen to the recent CD's and pray that what Mr. Moring sees is a true awakening in Mr. Springsteen's soul.

Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix

This is the fifth movie in the series, and is the first movie since the full return of Voldemort in Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire. If somehow you missed GoF, both the book and the movie, then you should know that it is the book where the series begins to take on a darker tone. The movies (especially, but even the books) are not for younger children. Parents are responsible for defining what "younger" is, but I would think no less than a teenager.

As the movie begins, Harry is having a run in with Dudley and some of Dudley's "friends." One could easily get the impression that Dudley's friends are like Voldemort's friends, merely partners in crime. Dementors show up and attack the two boys, and Harry is forced to defend them with his patronus (the dementors are one reason this movie is not appropriate for younger viewers - they are well done and could easily cause nightmares).

This leads Harry to be expelled from Hogwarts, to meet the Order of the Phoenix - Dumbledore's cadre to oppose Voldemort, and to undergo a trial at the Ministry of Magic. Through this Harry learns that the ministry is denying Voldemort's return and suspects Dumbledore of plotting to overtake the ministry. What follows is perhaps Harry's most difficult year at Hogwarts. Even many of his fellow Gryffindor's suspect him of lying about Voldemort.

Radcliffe, Watson, and Grint once again portray Harry, Hermione, and Ron with faithfulness to the books presentation of the characters. Ralph Fiennes and Jason Isaacs play Voldemort and Lucius Malfoy with the proper amount of malice and terror. Imelda Staunton's Dolores Umbridge reminded me of a cross between the worst traits of two of my grade school teachers, which nearly gave me nightmares.

This movie is a good addition to the series. While probably not the best in the series, it is a definite "see at the theater" movie.

1408

Have you stayed in room 1408 at the Dolphin? Of course not - it's fictional. First in a short story by Stephen King, now as a motion picture starring John Cusack. One of my favorite authors and one of my favorite actors. When I saw it roughly a week ago, I was hopeful that it would be that rare thing - a good adaptation of a Stephen King story - and was not disappointed.

King is not, by his own admission, a Christian so to try to compare his work with CS Lewis or J.R.R. Tolkien may seem unfair to some. My impression is that King would get a lower favorability rating than JK Rowling by most conservative Christians. But while he does not fall within the same religious foundation as a Lewis or Tolkien, King deals with a lot of the same themes. 1408 is about unbeliever confronted with true evil. It is not, though some may take it that way, a "ghost" story. It is more like Christine, or From a Buick 8, or Black House in that the room, a supposedly inanimate object, is the villain of the piece.

I'm sure over time I will have more to say here about Mr. King and his work. But if you like scary movies at all, I put 1408 in the "see at the theater" category. One other ranking criteria, though probably obvious for this film: it is not a "family" film. Do not take immature (you determine what that is for your) children.

Sidenote 1: When, on the occasion that I have seen a movie and chose to rank it, my rankings (high to low) will be:

1. See at the theater
2. Rent the DVD (or pay per view if that is your preference)
3. Catch it on a premium channel
4. Watch it on basic cable (you'll enjoy the breaks)
5. Don't waste your precious time

Sidenote 2: Many King stories don't translate well to cinema. Movies like Stand by Me and The Shawshank Redemption made the transition well, but many of the more stereotypical Stephen King stories have not faired so well (don't get me started on Hearts in Atlantis, which was actually a terrible version of "Low Men in Yellow Coats" and not "Hearts in Atlantis" proper at all). Why this is might be a good discussion topic for a future date.

The Boundary of Imagination

An off-hand comment tonight got me thinking about an old Twilight Zone episode called "Kick the Can" that was also included (as a remake) in the theatrical version of the show. If I had to list one TV show as my all-time favorite, The Twilight Zone (TWZ) would probably be it.

There are a number of reasons, not the least of which was the quality of most of the episodes. Like many TV shows, some episodes are better than others, and the disparity in TWZ episodes maybe more so than others. They covered a wide range of subjects and genres, unlike Rod Serling's follow on project, The Night Gallery, which was primarily a horror anthology. Even a comparison to the science fiction anthology The Outer Limits would not be appropriate.

TWZ had genuinely scary episodes, like "Twenty-Two" and "The Hitch-Hiker" but they were the minority. It also had some true science fiction episodes, like "Back There" (a time travel story starring the Professor - Russell Johnson - from Giligan's Island), "To Serve Man" (a first contact story), and "Number Twelve Looks Just Like You" (a look at life in the year 2000). Again, these are more the minority. The shows covered the fringes of horror and science fiction, focusing more on characters, surprise endings (who are the invaders in "The Invaders"), and the question of what it means to be human.

Some episodes, like "The Encounter" about a WWII soldier and a young American of Japenese descent (Sulu - George Takei - from the original Star Trek), were too controversial for repeat airings. "The Howling Man" deals with the reality of the Devil and "The Obsolete Man" deals with individual faith versus a totalitarian state atheism. A few were more or less comedies (e.g. "Hocus-Pocus and Frisby").

If you are going to watch television, and have never seen The Twilight Zone, I strongly recommend it to you. Whether you catch repeats on The Sci Fi channel or buy a DVD (just make sure you get the original series circa 1959-1964) it is arguably as good as TV gets.

A Persepective on Hollywood and Christians

Tim Challies has posted some thoughts on why Evan Almighty has flopped after being marketed to Christians. Tim's comments are sparked by an article on the FoxNews.com. That article concludes with the following:

Despite the bomb that was Evan Almighty, millions of devout Americans are still waiting to be invited into a theater to see a film that is entertaining, affirms their values and doesn't trivialize their deeply held religious beliefs. If Hollywood continues to create films like Evan Almighty, millions of traditionalists may grow to rue the day when Hollywood, with dollar signs in its eyes, began courting them with wilted flowers and stale chocolate.

Mixing religion and entertainment has been long avoided for a reason:

It's difficult to do well. But if the result of this grand new experiment is films that are neither faithful nor funny, millions of traditionalists will likely find less expensive ways to be entertained and inspired.

A Visit to Vanity Fair

A Visit to Vanity Fair is a book of essays by Alan Jacobs. Jacobs calls them moral essays, subtitling the book "Moral Essays on the Present Age." I recommend this book to you. The book, in my second listen through its audio form from Mars Hill Audio (near the bottom of the page), is the inspiration behind this blog.

While I'm not sure I will be writing what Jacobs' calls "moral essays" I will be providing some critique on the culture. By using "Vanity Fair" (Vanity is a town in John Bunyan's Pilgrim's Progress where a year long fair was held, hence the full title of "A Pilgrim in Vanity Fair") I am announcing a critical (or counter-cultural) spirit in examining the zeitgeist of early 21st century America.

If the blog has a tag line, it would probably be from Harry Chapin's "There Only Was One Choice" where Harry sings, "Harry, Can you honestly believe that the country's getting better when all you do is let her alone."

I'm not sure how frequently I will post here, or what all I will post on. One thought rattling around in my head is to start by touching on at least some of the essays in this blogs inspiration, but I've not committed to that yet.

I want to close with something that should go with out saying, but still needs to be said. The contents here are (generally - I will be posting quotes, etc. from time to time) my own rambling thoughts. Do not blame Alan Jacobs or anyone else for what I write. While the content will be very dependent on what I hear and learn from others, realize that it has been filtered through my brain which may or may not return faithful and/or agreed to conclusions from the source material.