Merry Christmas

I would just like to take time to say Merry Christmas to everyone. I will not be blogging for the next couple of weeks (big surprise, huh) because I will be suffering down in Florida as I help at a youth conference, and take some nice vacation time. Nonetheless have a great Christmas and New Year.

The Golden Compass (Movie)

So, just on Friday I had the opportunity to see The Golden Compass at the theater here in Marion, IN. To my liking there were no signs of a boycott or angry maliciousness from moviegoers. All in all it was a good experience.

As far as the movie goes it was a great movie for entertainment. I had a friend come along with me that discussed some of it afterwards, which was quite enjoyable. The movie though was done very well with the graphics, acting, and making it an entertaining movie. As suspected they attempted to hide/take out/water down, the religious elements of this movie. Although they tried they must not have tried very hard, with all the publicity about the religious nature of this story an infant could have picked up on the religious undertones of this movie.

The story line followed the book fairly well, except the movie ran along so quickly that it seemed they tried to cram everything into the film that it was like running for 2 hours at a full sprint. The ending was very strategic, for in the book the ending is where Lyra finds out the true intentions of her father and the "Dust" where she decides to make sure that the dust is open and good for everyone, in the movie this was left out. If you thought this was bad the next two movies in this trilogy are going to be even more subversive than the first.

Overall an entertaining movie, it was very subtle and very much geared for kids to be interested. Albeit the books were written for adolescents the movie was blatant in this for the obvious main character being a young girl, and the vast majority of her supporting cast being children and their "daemons", which usually were cute little fuzzy creatures. The movie has some obvious religious elements that are there and if you don't pick up on them then you might want to watch it again after you read your Bible. Ultimately this movie will draw kids to the books and when that happens they have great potential to confuse them and possibly lead them astray. This potential is even greater now that The Golden Compass topped the Box Office charts @ $26 million. I wouldn't spend the money to go see this again, but was glad I did.

Nonetheless this doesn't give us as Christians the right to be attacking Pullman's integrity or his views. Yes they may be wrong and yes they may confuse some of our kids. Rather than attacking him, why not sit down and read the Bible with your kids, teach them, lead them to God's throne. Allow Scripture to sink into their hearts and have that help them make decisions.

The Golden Compass (attempted review)

It is official; I have finished reading The Golden Compass by Philip Pullman. I will attempt to give a fair review of this book but at the end I will give what I truly think about this book and all the craziness it has cultivated among Christians. I will attempt to give what may seem to be two reviews, (1) as a reader, (2) as a Christian.

(1) This book is written for young adolescents, as this is how the local library had it listed in their directory. I was thoroughly pleased with Pullman’s writing and the descriptions that he gave of the events taking place in the life of Lyra, the main character. The story is based in a world that is “much like ours,” as Pullman says. The main plot of this book is based around Lyra’s adventures, and her discovery of what ‘dust’ is.

The dust is what spurred on most if not all of the events in this book. The dust is something that can be seen through a special camera lens, looking like little light particles resting around a person. In this world the “Church” is the ruler of the world and controls the coming and going of everyone, except for the bears and witches. This dust is something that the church is so utterly afraid of and conspires to eliminate it from the world. Done so by separating a child from its Daemon, a shape shifting creature that follows the children and express many of the emotions and expressions of the child by changing into different animals, which could easily be compared to the soul of the people in this world given to them by God.

The story is weaved so carefully and intricately around the dust that it drives the reader through page after page seeking to answer the question. “What is dust?” Pullman uses that so well throughout the book that it isn’t truly revealed until the last three chapters. The story was done so well that I liked reading it and getting engrossed in to the story of Lyra and the Dust. The ending was done extremely well and set the reader up for the next book superbly. I will eventually read the next two, in time.

(2) This is the part where my true being comes out. While this book is a great and easy read, there are some qualms that I have with what is portrayed in this book. Realize this that while I read the book, I do not and will not agree with Pullman, and at the same time I am not purporting a boycott of any of his materials (books, short stories, movies, etc.). I am merely giving you my view from what I have read.

Pullman is not as clear in putting his view of God out there as I had expected but nonetheless his philosophies do emanate from his writing. What he is very clear at is his portrayal of the church, and it is obvious that there is some angst toward “organized religion”. From the beginning of the story all the way to the end the story portrays the church as the bad guy or the antagonist. Pullman describes the church in such a way that reminded me of the church during the Crusades, where it was a know all, do all, approve all type of organization. This is obviously not the “true” church as we know it, and this portrayal could potentially be very confusing. Mainly his view of the church through this book is that it is manipulative and corrupt; it is a church that is run more like the central government of a country rather than a ministry, which tends to be very confusing and off the wall.

The other issue I have is this dust that Pullman describes as original sin. His idea is that this dust only collects/falls on a person when they reach adulthood, and then right on the last few pages Lyra the protagonist of the story decides that she wants to stop the church from eliminating the dust and make it freely open to everyone of every age. The issue here is that one original sin is on us at the time of birth into this world; something that we have inherited directly from Adam & Eve, a problem also with his view is that he uses inserts of Scripture but adds his own words to fit the story. He then willingly puts the idea on the page for the reader that original sin is not a bad issue in a person’s life.

Ultimately Pullman is a claimed Atheist and one that deeply despises Organized Religion; he is quoted on his website saying this about God and organized religion.

I don't know whether there's a God or not. Nobody does, no matter what they say. I think it's perfectly possible to explain how the universe came about without bringing God into it, but I don't know everything, and there may well be a God somewhere, hiding away.

Actually, if he is keeping out of sight, it's because he's ashamed of his followers and all the cruelty and ignorance they're responsible for promoting in his name. If I were him, I'd want nothing to do with them. (philippullman.com)

The man is against the church and against God; his books could potentially be confusing for a young mind. I would strongly recommend that as parents not letting your kids read these books unless you are ready to combat it with some good teaching. As for the movie, I really don’t know what to tell you about that I haven’t seen it yet (obviously), but boycotting and cursing this man is not going to accomplish anything at all except bolster his view of Christians. You just need to ask yourself is this movie going to be worse in spiritual content, than Evan Almighty (that had some major Biblical issues), or maybe even the DaVinci code (which was always claimed as fiction). You all know your children better than I do, but you can’t always protect them from everything there needs to be some opportunistic teaching in kids lives, don’t just let the children’s pastor do all the work for you.

Ridiculous

So recently there has been a lot of craziness going around about an upcoming movie, no I'm not talking about Mr. Magorium's Wonder Emporium. The movie is The Golden Compass, trailer here, a movie taken from a book trilogy, of which only the first is published. These books are written for adolescents, and the first is catching a lot of flak from many a evangelical.

I will give them this, Phillip Pullman is an atheist that claims to hate The Chronicles of Narnia. After this news started to spread some people gained an interest in his book, but not to read, rather to find a problem in it and crucify the man for his writings. Many have said that his book portrays the killing of God. Desiring it see what everything is all about and this craziness that is being caused by leaders of the church I went and picked up the book at the local library. Now being almost 200 pages into a 389 page book I have found no idea of killing God. There are some references to the church and it's power over the people. Basically what I'm trying to say is that we are being a little ridiculous about this, we complain that this man hates Narnia, yet we let our kids watch all of these magic shows with eastern mysticism engulfing our children's mind, we complain about Bush and the war and all the death, yet in his place we would put someone that would legalize and encourage abortion; that all seems a little backwards. We complain about problems and let another slip right under our nose and ignore it. With these books would it be better to tell our kids that this man is a God hating heathen that might burn in the fires of hell, or would it be better to go through this with them and prove to them the wrong in this book if there be any, because after 200 pages I have found none. Here is another article that brings about the same idea feelings just likely more eloquently. There will be somewhat of a review after I finish the book.

Hopefully you realize that this is more of an opportunity than a time to crucify someone about their views, we should be praying for God to send someone into Mr. Pullman's life to share truly what God is about.

25 Questions for Mary

These are from Max Lucado's book God Came Near. I found them very interesting and thought provoking and really brought back to my mind how real and how much of a man Jesus was at the same time as being God.

1. What was it like watching him pray?
2. How did he respond when he saw other kids giggling during the service at the synagogue?
3. When he saw a rainbow, did he ever mention a flood?
4. Did you ever feel awkward teaching him how he created the world?
5. When he saw a lamb being led to the slaughter, did he act differently?
6. Did you ever see him with a distant look on his face as if he were listening to someone you couldn't hear?
7. How did he act at funerals?
8. Did the thought ever occur to you that the God to whom you were praying was asleep under your own roof?
9. Did you ever try to count the stars with him....and succeed?
10. Did he ever come home with a black eye?
11. How did he act when he got his first haircut?
12. Did he have any friend by the name of Judas?
13. Did he do well in school?
14. Did you ever scold him?
15. Did he ever have to ask a question about Scripture?
16. What do you think he thought when he saw a prostitute offering to the highest bidder the body he made?
17. Did he ever get angry when someone was dishonest with him?
18. did you ever catch him pensively looking at the flesh on his own arm while holding a clod of dirt?
19. Did he ever wake up afraid?
20. Who was hi best friend?
21. When someone referred to Satan, how did he act?
22. Did you ever accidentally call him Father?
23. What did he and his cousin John talk about as kids?
24. Did his brothers and sisters understand what was happening?
25. Did you ever think, That's God eating my soup?

Enjoy, just thought I would share these with you all, have a great weekend.

State Rankings

By far I am not the most environmental person on the planet, but I try and reform my ways so that I don't trash the world around me. Recently I came across a website that has rankings for states and their "green" or not so "green" air, water and carbon footprint. This is pretty interesting because of the continued attempts by people to be more environmental and "green", also because just recently the Wesleyan Life magazine published an article, which can be found here, that really looks into the issue of taking care of the environment and creation and where the Wesleyan Church really stands on this issue. Here then is the website that has all of the 50 states ranked and even some of them have a link with an explanation about the ranking and what is good or bad in each state. Enjoy.

I must be old

Just last week I had a great opportunity to do something that I had been missing out on for at least 3 years if not more. A great friend of my moved back into Marion. (probably because he missed me) It has truly been a great thing seeing him as much as I do, but one of the greatest things so far has been the opportunity to go Disc Golfing, or as we affectionately call it "Tossing the Bee", out at Mississinewa Reservoir.
This was a past time of ours and the rest of our college RA staff my Junior year @ IWU. The great part about this story is I'm a whole lot better at this type of Golf rather than traditional golf. While there I was flooded with some great memories of all the times that we came out to get away from campus and RA training. In fact one week alone we went out there five times at least cramming six sometimes seven people in to a 5 passenger car. That was always interesting. Not to mention the times that people walked out in front of the group and got hit by a disc.
Remembering times like that makes me feel a little old and crazy at times. Then I remember all the great times that we had out there and don't feel so crazy anymore.

I'm Tired

This past Sunday was a rarity. I had the opportunity to preach on a Sunday morning, something which has only happened 3 times now. I always enjoy it but am also glad that I don't do this every week. That could be summed up as the joy of being a Staff Pastor. This Sunday was a little different. About 2-3 months of planning and writing went into this sermon, and getting insight from other pastors and friends about the things I was saying and how I was going to say it with tact.
This wasn't only a risky message and very direct, it was one of those messages that after being preached the reaction from the congregation could go one of two ways, horrified and angry or appreciative and glad for the message that was preached, thankfully it was the latter. If you didn't know what was so special about yesterday from any other Sunday, don't feel bad. All across the nation yesterday it was National Porn Sunday. A day dedicated to preaching out against porn and the subsequent addictions, and also the affects on families and life in general that porn has on a person.
It was by far the most tiring and stressful messages that I have ever preached in my short experience with preaching. Oddly enough I was tired throughout the rest of the day and couldn't concentrate on a single thing that was put in front of me, I was essentially in cruise control for the rest of the day. Thank the Lord He carried me through that day and sermon, along with my wife who played a huge part in the preaching of this message. All in all it had to be God carrying us through this because Stephanie hates speaking in front of people but she did an amazing job of presenting her points and guidelines.

If at all you are interested in listening it can be found here

Something Interesting

Ran across something that really piqued my interest. Those of you that know me won't be too surprised that it is about movies and lots of them. A little background on the link I am going to put on here. A story came out on multiple reliable websites is that there will be a strike hitting the screen actors guild unless things get straightened out, and quick. What does this mean well it is direly important for studios and movie moguls that want to get movies out by next summer and even in the fall of 2008. A couple of these movies that have been put on a "fast track" to be filmed, The Silver Chair, The Voyage of the Dawn Treader.

Those are just two of the movies on the list there are multiple movies on there (i mean nearing 100 if not more). This means that we will likely be inundated by movies releases, previews, commercials and tons of interviews with Matt Lauer, to me this is kind of exciting. Hopefully this won't mean that these movies will be done sub-par because of the big rush (especially the two listed). Click here for the website.

Lions Overcome Adversity; Take OT Win

It happened again, believe it or not. I honestly can't remember the last time this happened, I mean 2 wins, in the same year, come on. Who are these guys?

Did you See by Carl Wunsch


Did you see the mud-staind, fly-infested man

Babeling quietly by the wall?

Did you see the hardened, youthful menace

Glaring out at the world with hate filled eyes?

Did you see the strungout, poisoned addict

Shaking, pleading for a chemical assist?


Did you see the rail-thin young man

Pleading for a cure, through tear stained eyes?

Did you see the painted, street-corner maniquine

Asking everyone about a “good time”?

Did you see the little boy with bloated belly

Watching the world with empty eyes?

Did you see the pillar of your community

Staring at the forbidden, late into the night?

Did you see ...

And just stroll by with irritated eyes?

Lions Finish Strong to Beat Raiders 36-21

Thats the title from the Lions fan site, I just have to share my sheer excitement that they actually won a game this early in the season, even though it did come over the Raiders. So this might not have actually counted as a win, per say. I'll just let the score books prove this one. Apparently they learned to tackle too.

Jerry

About every two months or so I go down to the county rescue mission in downtown Marion, and preach for the evening service. This time was a little different because instead of just 5 or 6 guys there, we had nearly 30 guys that attended that night. This is good and bad all at the same time because it shows that there are "at least" this many families living in poverty (but obviously more), on the good side is that they are on a regular basis having the Gospel taught to them and given choices that pertain to their soul's well being.

The day after I was back down at the Mission picking up some things for our food pantry, joking around with the guys and picking on a few of them trying to build a relationship in whatever way I possibly could. While there I met a man by the name of Jerry, a very kind man, humble and affable, not exactly who we would generally think of living at the mission. Well as I was getting ready to leave Jerry approached me and asked if I would remember him in my prayers because he had sinned, and he needed forgiveness for what he did. I of course prayed with him and had a quick talk about what had happened and tried to encourage him.

On the way back to the church I continued to think about what he had asked me to do. He wanted me to pray for his forgiveness! I then proceeded to think about whether God would forgive another person through my prayers. There is also the problem that Jerry seems to have because of the corrupted nature we have that it makes us feel like we are closed off from God and not able to carry anything to Him. So many things that get in our way, and oddly enough the night before I had talked exactly about taking our cares, concerns, problems, anger, sin, everything to Jesus.

Sabbath Reality

When it comes to being a pastor there are many gray areas and oddities that if looked at with a microscope would make a pastor out to be a rule "breaker" if not "bender". Specifically speaking, a pastor does not receive the same opportunity on Sunday to corporately observe Sabbath. Obviously the Pastor is the one taking care of last minute preparations, making sure the ushers are on the same page, the sound is taken care of, all announcements are made and many other duties that all just happen to appear 5 minutes before service. So what is a pastor supposed to do when it comes down to observing a Sabbath day of rest.
I have a friend that is a bi-vocational pastor, technically tri-vocational, at a small independent church here in Indiana. We meet every other week to encourage each other and hopefully sharpen each other spiritually. When it comes down to it he is regularly tired and worn out frustrated because he can't spend more time for the church. So what is his Sabbath like, well he never truly has a day when he is not working. He balances his week between his three different obligations, while making time to study for a sermon, visit people, make necessary calls, and Saturday is usually (except in rare cases) when he writes his sermon, because there is no time during the week to do otherwise. Sunday than is like any other pastor of a small church you have known, he teaches Sunday School,Preaches and greets. So where is his Sabbath? What is a Pastor supposed to do?
In Mark 2 Jesus is seen walking with the disciples through a field, as they do so they casually reach down and pull the grain from the plants of the field. Of course the Pharisees are watching every move they make and approach in an accusatory tone and attempt to condemn the actions of Jesus and the disciples. These words sum up the thought of this passage, "Sabbath was made for man, not man for the Sabbath." While the Pharisees were condemning Jesus because of the reaping that was being done by him and the disciples there is still something in this for us to think about. What is the Sabbath supposed to be for a pastor?
Personally I am greatly blessed when it comes to having a Sabbath time for me to rest. Unlike my friend above I am blessed with one day off each week to replace time in my week for the time that I do not receive on Sundays as those that I minister to receive. So when it comes to that day I turn down any church ministry that I would normally be involved in with my position/responsibilities. I do this so drastically to set a precedent for those that know me and that I minister to, so they know when I am off, and also the example I hope to set for taking a Sabbath. As a pastor it is hard for me to say for someone not to work on Sunday or anything of that sort if I myself do not take that day off, for I then would be the guilty one.
I write these things just as thoughts, mainly because yesterday was my day off and it was glorious. Also as a pastor it is hard to change my habitual thoughts that only Sunday is the Sabbath for me, if that were true than I am knowingly committing sin every time I'm in the pulpit/or in the church on Sunday. To you that are lay people in the church, make sure that your pastor has a day off and that you support him taking this time for his spirit and health. If your church doesn't offer that for your pastor then there is something that should be changed.

Fun in the Midst

Even though I have been busy I haven't failed to enjoy life and every day that the Lord blesses me with. like fishing at 3am for 20lb Salmon.

Culture

I know this is a long and age old argument, but something I read today brought it out in me again. For more on that go here

We as Christians especially evangelical Christians, which the majority of Southern Baptists will claim to be a part of, are called to go out into the world as we all know. This story that I linked above is an example of exactly the opposite and exactly what we can never do. I'm not trying to preach a Wesleyan objective or call Baptists evil, and I'm not saying that Private Schools are wrong, heck I went to one for my Bachelors. Do we actually realize what this separation does to our children, and the voice that we do have in the public schools because of our beliefs?
Christians get so enraged about the recent push that Muslims are making in America, logic would tell me that they are going to be starting in the educational institutions to make their impact. Think with me. If we pull our influence out of this world and get into our Holy Huddles and that is it, what happens to the world when we weren't there to hold ground in God's name.
If it was ok for God's only son to walk around in a Hellenistic world with rampant sex and murder and everything that goes against His teachings then it's ok for our children to be hardened in their faith by fire. If it was ok for Wesley to use bar songs and converse with the frequent singers of these songs to build a relationship with them that opened their hearts for the Gospel then it is ok for kids to be in the public schools. If it was ok and life changing for Jonathon Edwards to read every book about current culture and beliefs to better relate to the crowds he preached to it's ok for kids to be in the public schools.
Maybe the problem isn't the teachings of the schools and the subjects that are raised everyday in a child/teens life. The problem starts at home with the exposure that takes place there from conversations with parents, or lack there of, from the time in front of the TV watching "trash" and hearing words that feed the conversations everyday. Maybe it starts with what the parents aren't teaching their offspring about God, the power of His Word, and helping them think critically about life, and culture.

4 months

So it's been four months since that last post...sorry. I have been urged by others to post on something. Honestly I have been slacking on keeping up with the ever-changing culture of the world, and i'm a little lazy. Until now. So I will do my best to keep up on this and make it a point to either let you know what is going on or what I'm thinking. thanks for the nudge (you know who you are).

Praise the Lord!!!!

This is the most amazing thing that I have experienced. As you know I am the Outreach pastor here at Brookhaven, part of that is being in charge of the food pantry and being here to speak with and pray with the people as they come in for assistance. Well today a lady came in with a friend for assistance. I had the opportunity to sit with her and speak with her about the Lord.
Well she wasn't pulling any punches she gave it to me straight and started talking about how she didn't understand the Trinity and how three separate beings cam be one in the same...thanks St. Patrick for a great example of the Trinity, and Dr. Bounds for the education. I was able to help her understand this aspect of Christianity and because she opened the door to the Salvation story I ran right through.
Praise be to God for using my words this afternoon, and being faithful. I just 15 minutes ago led this lady through a prayer to accept Jesus into her life and asking Christ to forgive her. How AMAZING IS THAT? PRAISE GOD!!

sweet

This is definitely what I need at my house...my wife would probably appreciate me doing the laundry more. we'll see about that!!

Tough times

You will remember that I told you about Stephanie's Grandpa and the pancreatic cancer that they discovered. Well all went really well, and they were able to remove all the cancer from his pancreas and that area. About a week or so after the surgery, the biopsy came back and they now discovered that there is cancer in his Lymph Nodes now, they said it spread through his blood stream, and is now inoperable. This hit us like a ton of bricks when we heard this...the doctor gave him anywhere from 5-10 years with medication and all the therapy, without that 6 months tops. They started the therapy immediately.

Just this last weekend I took some vacation time and went to Detroit to celebrate my grandma's 92 birthday. She is a great little lady, by little I mean 4'8". Before I even got up there I was a little iffy about going up there because there has always been tension between our families, it stems back to my parents early years, because all of our relatives are Catholic and disagree with almost everything we do.

Well this time I go up and during the whole weekend I am fielding these questions about what it's like to be a minister and work at a church. This floored me because I have never seen such interest in anything about this from them. So I went with it and started explaining our beliefs and values to them, telling them what it's all about. One of my Uncles started to pick on me about always wearing a "halo" and was wondering when I would take it off, because they wanted me to drink with them. Eventually he asked how he could get one, that opened the door for me to tell him that he has to meet this guy named Jesus, and ask for forgiveness. "Well how do you do that," he asked me? Right before I got to explain it all to him I was interrupted by a new round of shots for the party... and that was the last of that. So please pray for my Uncle Marty, that he might come into a relationship with our Savior.

Telesale

So last night I had the great opportunity to be a part of the Phone Bank in the Telesale @ IWU. This was quite enjoyable because I was sitting around lots of people that I knew from either church or school, but the best thing about it was the times when we were off camera throwing wads of paper at each other and especially at the people that were on camera.

Either way it was a whole lot of fun getting to take calls from people bidding on some neat items. The best part was that we didn't have to call them to try and get them to bid on stuff. If that was the case I would have likely done a whole lot more paper throwing than anything else.

New Look

So now I've got a new look, nothing amazing but hey it's new... and of course it's original just like everyone else's just like it.

Lately things have been crazy for me and Steph. We had the opportunity to go down the The Gathering 07' in Orlando, FL. That was such a sacrifice. We made the decision a while before that we would be driving down and switched cars with my mom, because we also decided that we wanted to make it to Orlando. the fun part of all this was that two days after we got back the semester started for Steph. Needless to say we have been non-stop since then with her crazy schedule and mine too. The weekends have become a very welcome safe haven for us.

Lately though the Lord has truly blessed us and given us the strength and patience that we need in life. Here at Brookhaven the Holy Spirit has been so evident lately, that we all feel that God is trying desperately to move through us in new ways. I thank everyone for the prayers and friendship that has been offered up to us in the past few months.