Everything That's On My Mind

As you can see (unless you're using an RSS reader), I've finally gotten around to redesigning the site. I consider this a live beta at this point and I'm certainly open to comments and suggestions. I envisioned a more interesting background for the masthead, but while I'm handy with computer graphics software I'm not an artist. I'd be happy to take suggestions/submissions from artsy types.

Please let me know if you have any problems viewing the new design. I've tested it in IE7, Firefox2, and Safari, but I may have missed something along the way.

P.S. If you are using an RSS reader and the upgrade caused a deluge of posts on the feed, I apologize.

I would like to buy $3 worth of God, please - not enough to explode my soul or disturb my sleep, but just enough to equal a cup of warm milk or a snooze in the sunshine. I don't want enough of him to make me love a foreigner or pick beets with a migrant worker. I want ecstasy, not transformation; I want the warmth of a womb, not a new birth. I want a pound of the Eternal in a paper sack. I'd like to buy $3 worth of God, please.

~Wilbur Rees

HT: Ben Witherington

How would you react if a freak accident took your entire family from you in an instant? If you're anything like me, your honest answer would be...not very well. Especially if that accident is what some people call an "act of God". That's exactly what happened to my friend Robert Rogers almost five years ago. His story is summarized in an article in the current issue of Charisma Magazine. Robert and I were good friends in college at Anderson University. He was kind enough to come all the way up from Cincinnati when I married Lori and I was honored to be in attendance when he married Melissa. I haven't stayed in close touch with him over the years, just Christmas cards and such, but he remains an inspiration to me. Whenever circumstances begin to weigh me down, I try to remember the faith Robert has exhibited despite this tragedy and my troubles seem insignificant.

Robert now devotes himself full-time to ministry and to his Mighty in the Land Foundation. The foundation's goal is to sponsor orphanages around the world. You can support this foundation through donations or by buying Robert's CDs. (He's the most talented pianist I've ever known, and I've known quite a few talented pianists.) He's also recently published a book, Into the Deep, that tells his story. It's a great reminder that no matter what happens to us, God's grace is sufficient.

What, you may ask, are the Felix Awards? Well, I don't see enough movies to voice an opinion on the Oscars, so the Felix Awards are my votes for film awards based on the movies I actually have seen this year. May I have the envelopes please?

Best Screenplay: Diablo Cody - Juno

Juno is a wonderful story of an uncommon teen with an all-too-common problem. Diablo Cody's screenplay is laugh-out-loud funny without (for the most part) being crude, sensitive without being sappy, and poignant without being melodramatic. I especially appreciated her portrayal of Juno's parents as honest, involved, and caring rather than the typical caricature. I hope she's not a one hit wonder.

Runner-up: Ben Affleck and Aaron Stockard - Gone Baby Gone

Best Actor: Tie between Tommy Lee Jones and Javier Bardem - No Country for Old Men
(I'm not going to bother with the lead vs. supporting distinction on the next two awards.)

Javier Bardem has created one of the great movie villains/monsters of all time. The scene In No Country for Old Men where Chigurh asks a confused gas station attendant to call a coin toss that, unbeknownst to him, will determine whether he lives or dies is utterly terrifying. Not since Anthony Hopkins' Hannibal Lecter have I seen pure evil personified so effectively. At the same time, Tommy Lee Jones' portrayal of the world-weary and increasingly despondent Sheriff Tom Bell was equally powerful.

Runner-up: Johnny Depp - Sweeney Todd

Best Actress: Ellen Page - Juno

Any actor with any experience at all will tell you that comedy is much harder than drama. Because of the highly stylistic dialog, the role of Juno MacGuff is particularly fraught with peril. It could so easily have been turned into a silly caricature. Ellen Page walked the tightrope like a Wallenda. The transformation of her character was so subtle, yet so real. I totally believed every moment of her performance. That may be hard for some people to grasp but if you've ever spent time with my daughter, you understand. Kids as intelligent, witty, quirky, and random as Juno really do exist.

Runner-up: Amy Ryan - Gone Baby Gone

Best Director: Joel and Ethan Cohen - No Country for Old Men

The Cohen's are amazingly skilled. Their movies are consistently original and artistically powerful. Unfortunately, in this case, those skills served a depressing story. No Country for Old Men is marvelous filmmaking. You just can't take your eyes off the screen, even when you want to. It is a hopeless, nihilistic story but their skill in telling it is undeniable. It's perhaps the best pure horror film since The Shining.

Runner-up: Jason Reitman - Juno

Best Picture: Juno

Based on the reviews, I went into this movie expecting to like it. I was wrong. I loved it. Juno works on so many levels. A great screenplay, effective soundtrack, and fantastic performances from J.K. Simmons, Jennifer Garner, Allison Janney, and most of all Ellen Page. It's rare you find a comedy with this kind of depth and rich, multi-dimensional characters.

Runner-up: No Country for Old Men

And now for a few silly categories:

Best Hero: Jason Bourne - The Bourne Ultimatum

Here's hoping that the CIA never wise up and leave him alone.

Best Villain: Anton Chigurh - No Country for Old Men

I'm not sure who I'd rather meet in a dark alley, Anton Chigurh or Hannibal Lecter. I'm leaning toward Lecter.

Best Movie That Could Have Been: I Am Legend

Boy, this could have been a great movie, but someone forgot to write a decent ending...like, for example, the one in the original book. Dumbing down the story for a nice, Disney ending just killed this movie. A really good performance by Will Smith was wasted here.

Worst Movie: Pirates of the Caribbean - At World's End

My daughter will argue with me all day and all night on this one, but this movie is just bad, bad, bad. Only Johnny Depp's performance makes it watchable at all.

Most Unexpected Laugh: How To Hook Up Your Home Theater (animated short before National Treasure: Book of Secrets)

This Disney short starring Goofy was a great surprise. Honestly, I may have enjoyed it more than the feature. I hope this is a trend toward the return of the classic short film before features. Probably not, though.

Movies I'm Sorry I Missed (but hope to see eventually):

The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford
Atonement
August Rush
Charlie Wilson's War
Michael Clayton
3:10 to Yuma
There Will Be Blood

...another political season. Tonight, Iowans meet in caucuses to anoint two presidential nominees. On Tuesday the people of New Hampshire will do their part, then we Michiganders join the fray the following Tuesday.

[General political ranting redacted.]

I tried to write this post a few different times, but each time it sounded angry and/or sarcastic. I'm a bit jaded when it comes to politics. Scratch that...I'm very jaded, but I still believe it is our responsibility as Americans and as Christians to participate in the process. I have no illusions about the process. It's hopelessly flawed and corrupt. That makes it difficult to get motivated, and that's probably one of the reasons the USA has such pitiful voter turnout numbers compared to the rest of the democratic world.

For me, voting is more of a personal spiritual discipline: to prayerfully and thoughtfully determine how I should cast my vote. I don't really care who wins or loses. If I'm backing a losing horse, so be it. My responsibility, especially in presidential elections, is to vote for the person I truly believe would be the best leader for our country, regardless of whether he's "electable". That doesn't make the decision easier, but it does allow me to avoid some compromises.

Both Keith Schooley and Ben Witherington have recently posted good lists of suggestions for primary voters. I can't really add anything useful to what they've written, but I can provide a few resources for research. The League of Women Voters generally provides good, non-partisan information regarding the candidates, although they are sometimes a bit limited in the questions they ask. You may also consult their Michigan and Oakland County branches for more local information when the time comes. I've recently found OnTheIssues.org to be a good resource for information on candidates as well. Finally, FactCheck.org applies a healthy dose of truth serum to political advertising.

So my advice is to do some research, do some praying, vote for the best man (or woman) you see on the list and don't worry who wins or loses. No matter who lives at 1600 Pennsylvania Boulevard, God's still on the throne.

Well, 6+" of snow overnight with more still coming down coupled with high winds led to canceling service this morning. That's Michigan for you. It does, however, give me a unique opportunity to post a summarized version of what I was going to preach as a blog entry. I don't generally write my sermons as some preachers do. I preach from a simple outline and rely on the inspiration of the Holy Spirit to take it from there. So that makes this an interesting exercise, at least for me.

Why do we give gifts at Christmas? Most Christians would answer "To remember the gift of Jesus that God gave us." That's not a bad answer, but I wonder if that's really true. Do we really give gifts to remember or honor the gift of Jesus, or do we do it for other reasons?

How do we honor a person or an event? For example, if I truly wanted to honor my grandfather and the time he spent with me as a child, I'd need to do something that connected to him and what he did for me. I could say, "I'm playing this round of golf in honor of my grandfather" but it really wouldn't mean anything. My grandfather never played a round of golf in his life. Now, if I were to go bowling in his honor, that would be better. My grandfather took me bowling at least once a week my entire childhood. If our Christmas gifts are to remember and honor the gift of Jesus, then our gifts should somehow reflect that. To that end, I want to highlight one important characteristic of the gift of Jesus that I think we've forgotten. As the angels announce the shepherd in Luke 2:8-14, the gift was "good news of great joy that will be for all people" (emphasis mine, of course). So why then do we primarily (or perhaps solely) give gifts to those we know and love, or perhaps more accurately, to those who already love us?

We've been taking some cues this Christmas from Charles Dickens' classic book "A Christmas Carol". One of Dickens' main themes within the book is a call to a return to charity and brotherly love, especially at Christmas. When asked for a donation for the poor, Scrooge responds that public welfare services should take care of the poor, he shouldn't be bothered. The Ghost of Christmas Present rebukes Scrooge for his cold-hearted attitude, and perhaps we should hearken to his rebuke as well. Care for our fellow man has always been part of God's call to His people. Time and again in the Old Testament, the Israelites are commanded to care for "the alien, the fatherless, and the widow." Deuteronomy 24:17 is just one example. In Jeremiah 22, God rebukes Shallum (King Jehoahaz) for not following his father's example:

"Does it make you a king to have more and more cedar? Did not your father have food and drink? He did what was right and just, so all went well with him. He defended the cause of the poor and needy, and so all went well. Is that not what it means to know me?" declares the LORD.

Jeremiah 22:15-16 (NIV)

The Apostle John brings this same thought into the New Testament canon in 1 John 3:16-18 where he boldly states that if we don't care for those in need, the love of God is not in us.

In "A Christmas Carol" the Ghost of Christmas Present shows Scrooge "the children of men", a boy and a girl named Ignorance and Want. These children still exist today. Those involved in foreign missions have always recognized this. That is why overseas missionary endeavors are so often tied to schools, hospitals, and orphanages. Missionaries understand that the gospel of Jesus is not just a message of forgiveness, but a holistic message of restoration. Scot McNight highlights this very effectively in his new book "A Community Called Atonement". Jesus' miracles of healing were not just a way to prove His identity, they were an expression of God's love for mankind and His desire to see mankind restored from all the effects of the Fall. They were an integral part of the mission of the Messiah and the meaning of the Gospel. The forgiveness and salvation we have received is not just for our benefit, but "so that we can comfort those in any trouble with the comfort we ourselves have received from God." (2 Corinthians 1:3-5)

I'm certainly not advocating an end to gift-giving at Christmas. I think it is a fine way to remember and honor the gift of Jesus. To truly honor the gift of Jesus, however, I think we need to look at how we're giving and to whom we're giving them. Jesus was given not just to the righteous but to all mankind. He was given to those who loved God and to those who were opposed to God. To truly honor the gift of Jesus, perhaps we need to broaden our gift list. Our "Giving Tree" project is certainly a step in the right direction for our church, but I think it's only the beginning. I think the folks at the Advent Conspiracy have some pretty good ideas about spending less and giving more, to cut back on what we're spending on those who love us so that we can give more to those in need. To truly honor the gift of Jesus, our giving should more closely reflect the love of the Giver and the universality of the Gift.

I'll close with another passage from "A Christmas Carol", where Dickens subtly rebukes the church for offering judgement and condemnation without offering mercy and justice:

`Spirit,' said Scrooge, after a moment's thought, `I wonder you, of all the beings in the many worlds about us, should desire to cramp these people's opportunities of innocent enjoyment.'

`I?' cried the Spirit.

`You would deprive them of their means of dining every seventh day, often the only day on which they can be said to dine at all,' said Scrooge. `Wouldn't you?'

`I?' cried the Spirit.

`You seek to close these places on the Seventh Day,' said Scrooge. `And it comes to the same thing!'

`I seek?' exclaimed the Spirit.

`Forgive me if I am wrong. It has been done in your name, or at least in that of your family,' said Scrooge.

`There are some upon this earth of yours,' returned the Spirit, `who lay claim to know us, and who do their deeds of passion, pride, ill-will, hatred, envy, bigotry, and selfishness in our name, who are as strange to us and all our kith and kin, as if they had never lived. Remember that, and charge their doings on themselves, not us.'

...or better yet, with Jesus' own words:

"Then he will say to those on his left, 'Depart from me, you who are cursed, into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels. For I was hungry and you gave me nothing to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me nothing to drink, I was a stranger and you did not invite me in, I needed clothes and you did not clothe me, I was sick and in prison and you did not look after me.'

"They also will answer, 'Lord, when did we see you hungry or thirsty or a stranger or needing clothes or sick or in prison, and did not help you?'

"He will reply, 'I tell you the truth, whatever you did not do for one of the least of these, you did not do for me.'"

Matthew 25:41-45 (NIV)

P.S. Don't miss Keith Schooley's excellent blog post on Christmas gifts.

Whoever, therefore, thinks that he understands the divine Scriptures or any part of them so that it does not build the double love of God and of our neighbor does not understand it at all. Whoever finds a lesson there useful to the building up of charity, even though he has not said what the author may be show to have intended in that place, has not been deceived, nor is he lying in any way...However...if he is deceived in an interpretation which builds up charity...he is deceived in the same way as a man who leaves a road by mistake but passes through a field to the same place toward which the road itself leads.

~ Augustine

HT: A Community Called Atonement

Skye Jethani has a great post on Christmas over at the Out of Ur blog. He identifies two primary obstacles to truly celebrating Christmas as we should: Busyness and materialism. I think most of us will readily admit we suffer from busyness. Materialism, on the other hand, is something no one likes to admit but all of us suffer from to some degree. As I've mentioned on Sundays this month materialism isn't just "wanting more stuff". You can have very few "things" and still be materialistic if your focus is on your "things" or your focus is on all the "things" you don't have. It takes great discipline to avoid both these traps, but when it comes to materialism we have to start at step 1: Admit we have a problem. Skye has some good suggestions on avoiding the traps of busyness and materialism, click on over and see.

May we all truly focus on Christ this Christmas.