AT-AT Awesomeness

There's nothing better than a creative video with some Star Wars sprinkled in.

AT-AT day afternoon from Patrick Boivin on Vimeo.

Christians and the Oil Spill

No one disagrees that the events taking place in the Gulf of Mexico are horrible. And yet the peripheral issues are complex.

Therefore, as Christians, we have to ask ourselves questions about our role in the environment and consult the Bible for answers. Dr. Russell Moore began to explore some of the many questions on NPR's Weekend Edition this past Sunday:

Considering these things, I have to ask: why are Evangelicals are so reactionary? Does it take a catastrophe of eco-system threatening proportions to spark our concern about the environment? Shouldn't biblical commands concerning stewardship be enough?

Still, some people argue that environmental issues are a page out of the liberal agenda. Dr. Moore disagrees. In a recent blog post, he writes, "Some conservatives, and some conservative evangelicals, act as though 'environmentalism' is by definition 'liberal' or even just downright silly. Witness a lot of the evangelical rhetoric across social media on Earth Day a while back: mostly Al Gore jokes and wisecracks about cutting down trees or eating endangered species as a means of celebration.... There’s nothing conservative though, and nothing 'evangelical,' about dismissing the conservation of the natural environment. And the accelerating Gulf crisis reminds us something of what’s at stake."

Let's examine what Scripture says about our role in environmental issues and begin taking necessary action.

Stop Taking Cues From The World

When are Christians going to stop taking their cues from the world?

No. I am serious.

Everything is garbage compared to knowing Christ. It's crap. Paul said that. Preachers call out from the pulpit that what the world offers is garbage and during the last song, while the offering is being taken, tweet from their iPhone "something, something, something, great service; praise the Lord." That's crap.

When Paul said everything, I am sure that he meant everything. Paul didn't mince his words.

So, give your stuff away. Stop justifying buying nice things because "Zacchaeus only gave away half his stuff when he repented. That means he still had half his stuff." That's not the point. The point is that your possessions are crap in comparison to knowing Christ.

Your righteousness is not tied up in what you have or what you don't have. The world says that it is.

Christians, stop taking cues from the world.

52 Books in 52 Weeks: May Report

Alright. I read seven books in May. They were:

Gilead by Marilynne Robinson












Frankenstein by Mary Shelley












A Sweet and Bitter Providence by John Piper












Stuff Christians Like by Jonathan Acuff














The Practice of Godliness by Jerry Bridges











The Screwtape Letters by C.S. Lewis












Paradise Lost by John Milton












Let's go in order. Gilead was a fantastic book. Set in Iowa, John Ames is an elderly pastor writing an account of his life so that he can pass it on to his very young son. Ames married a much younger woman late in life as his first wife died in child-birth many years before. He knows that he will have little opportunity to spend time with his son, so he writes out both current and past events for his son to glean from in the future. I cannot reccommend this book enough; it is magnificently written and uncommonly real.

Mary Shelley's Frankenstein is a classic. I need not recommend classics. Time has written a much better recommendation.

A Sweet and Bitter Providence was a great read. Although very short, it offered a great deal of insight into the book of Ruth as Piper meditates on the God's providence as displayed in a Moabite's life. It would make an excellent companion to a study on Ruth.

Jonathan Acuff has a funny blog called Stuff Christians Like. It's free to read. The book was nothing more that the blog regurgitated. Leave this one on the shelf at the book store (Sorry, Jonathan).

The Practice of Godliness is a great book about just what the title says: practicing godliness. God has commanded Christians to be godly, and you don't become something unless you practice. Bridges discusses practical ways to foster godliness in one's life ultimately being driven by a devotion to God.

C.S. Lewis' The Screwtape Letters is so fantastically creative. I loved reading it. And it really caused me to think about the reality of the straight and narrow path. On one side you have blantant sin and unrepentance, but on the other you have self-righteouness and unbridled religiosity. In his letters to Wormwood, Screwtape is not picky about which the patient succumbs to. And as always, Lewis is an utter delight to read.

Paradise Lost: I must admit this was not a thorough read, but I really wanted to refamiliarize myself with Milton's work as Mary Shelley cited it as her primary inspiration for Frankenstein. And of course it is fantastic literature that is referrenced thousands of times in thousands of works.

Ok, so I am up to nineteen for the year I believe. My earlier reads include:

• Biblical Interpretation by Gerald Bray
• How to Read a Book by Mortimer J. Adler and Charles Van Doren
• The How and Why of Love by Michael Hill
• Evangelical Ethics by John Jefferson Davis
• Desiring God by John Piper
• Jesus and the Gospels by Craig Blomberg
• Jesus the Messiah by Bob Stein
• Pilgrim's Progress by John Bunyan
• George Mueller: Delighted in God by Roger Steer
• A Quest for Godliness by J.I. Packer
• Spiritual Disciplines for the Christian Life by Donald Whitney
• Deep Exegesis by Peter Leithart

Slightly Creepy, Utterly Excellent

Feast on this tasty, digital morsel.

Support Artists

"If we, citizens, do not support our artists, then we sacrifice our imagination on the alter of crude reality and we end up believing in nothing and having worthless dreams."

-Yann Martel

'Author's Note'

Life of Pi