Nastiest Campaign Season Ever? Nope

At least one election year had this year beat... 210 years ago.

True Grit

Forty-one years after the Duke starred in the original, the Cohen brothers have set out to remake True Grit and it looks great. Even with the first installment of the final Harry Potter film coming out, I think I am more excited for this film than any other this holiday season.

If you have not read the novel, do it before you see the movie. I was pretty young when picked it up, but I think that it is the best Western I have ever read. Why? Rooster Cogburn, a fantastic anti-hero.

Here's the trailer:

Oh, and I'm not much of a Johnny Cash fan, but did you hear that song right at the end of the trailer? It might be my favorite of his work, God's Gonna Cut You Down, which is a rendition of an American folk song. Good stuff.

Hypocritical Povertery

If you read David Platt's Radical and want to pretend like it impacted you, these items are for you.

(Via)

Clash of the Titans: What Did You Expect?

I was sick today so I finally got around to seeing Clash of the Titans. I posted earlier here and here that I was excited for this film since I have a special place in my heart for the original.

I won't say a lot about it. There were some significant plot differences. If you're interested in reading about those, this article is helpful.

I was entertained by the film. Visually it was cool. And I really liked the cast. Here's a sampling:

Sam Worthington (Avatar) - Perseus

Liam Neeson (You know his work) - Zeus

Ralph Fiennes (Harry Potter) - Hades

Mads Mikkelsen (Casino Royale) - Draco

It wasn't the greatest film ever; I'll admit that. But there seemed to be a lot of haters out there. So, I have a question and then a follow up question.

Did you see the original? Because if you did I wouldn't think you would rip on the remake so much. The original story is not that intriguing, the dialogue is suspect, and the acting is so-so. And yet it was entertaining.

My follow up question is if you answered "yes" to the first question. What did you expect? If you knew that this was a remake did you expect the plot to magically transform into awesomeness?

This film followed in the tradition of the original while adding a little structure to the plot and way better visuals. I got what I asked for. What did you expect?

The Folly of Christian Celebrity

The information age has brought forth many excellent opportunities for Christian leaders to multiply their influence in a gospel-centered manner.

But recently I have become aware of a particular problem associated with the expanding impact of Christian leaders.

The issue here--if you haven't already guessed--is Christian celebrity.

Let me qualify what I mean by Christian celebrity really quickly: it is a Christian leader who has expanded their influence beyond the borders of their church or seminary or ministry and has gathered a national/international following to the point that followers are concerned as much about the Christian leader's personal life, his likes/dislikes, etc. as they are with his theology and his preaching/teaching.

There are several problems here as I'm sure you can guess.

First of all, consider allegiances. Paul was grateful that he did not baptize the believers in Corinth so that they would not hop his bandwagon or Apollos' bandwagon or Peter's bandwagon (1 Cor 1:10-17). He wanted the Corinthians to be unequivocally tied to Jesus Christ. A Christian leader is a Christian celebrity if he is not willing to say, when his new book has been published, to the particular region that he ministers in, "I am certainly glad that none of you have read my book because I don't want you to say I am of [insert Christian leader's name], but rather that you all are of Jesus Christ."

Secondly, consider the distinction between gleaning from and mimicking a Christian leader. If a Christian leader is gleaned from in the area of biblical truth, he does not become a Christian celebrity. The Holy Spirit uses the Christian leader as a means to an end; the end is the glory of God through preaching/teaching/writing. But if the Christian leader is mimicked in preaching/teaching/writing style or in likes/dislikes then the Christian leader becomes a Christian celebrity. There is a popular professor here at Southern who listens to secular music and has defended it. Others have used the simple fact that he, as a Christian leader, listens to secular music as a justification for their own endeavors. They have turned him into a Christian celebrity.

Finally, consider the Christian celebrity. By elevating some Christian leaders to celebrity status, we have put them in a difficult position. There are some that succumb to the temptation to act in particular ways because of the privilege that many Christians have led them to believe that they have. When we tie ourselves to the celebrity of a Christian leader and mimic them in our day to day actions and mimic them in our preaching/teaching/writing we have undermined a very important biblical principle that Paul also points out in 1 Corinthians 1:

"God chose what is foolish in the world to shame the wise; God chose what is weak in the world to shame the strong; God chose what is low and despised in the world, even things that are not, to bring to nothing things that are,"

Why?

"So that no human being might boast in the presence of God."

As Christians we should not give other Christians any inclination that they have the right to boast in the presence of God. None of us have the ability to do anything apart from God; not even Christian leaders who write gobs of books. We all wage war with the flesh; even the influential Christian leader who has been entrusted with the spiritual wellbeing of hundreds.

Now, more than ever, is a time where Christians can go online and read and listen to resources of hundreds if not thousands of doctrinally sound preachers and teachers. Please be aware that the things said and done that bear the mark of a particular Christian leader have the power to turn that individual into a Christian celebrity. And that is a precarious position for both the follower and the followed.

5 Twitter Accounts You Should Follow

I like Twitter. You can follow me if you like Twitter.

Here are 5 accounts that are fashionably followable.

1. Lord Voldemort (@Lord_Voldemort7)
   Sample 1: "For those watching the meteor shower tonight, if you happen to see a Dark Mark in the sky don't panic. Haha I'm kidding, definitely Panic."
   Sample 2: "False. RT @ItsTheTeenLife R.O.F.L.S.H.V.U.A.K.O.M.A.I.L- Rolling On Floor Laughing So Hard Voldemort Uses Avada Kedavra On Me And I Live."
2. Jimmy Jawa (@the_jawa)
   Sample 1: "Free Utinni for my 700th follower"
   Sample 2:  "Happy to announce the new Star Wars Blu Ray will have a Jawa commentary option. Utinnis all round"
3. Death Star PR (@DeathStarPR)
   Sample 1: "Having a Death Star means never having to say you're sorry. #Lucasized #starwars"
   Sample 2: "We just saw JERSEY SHORE. This is entertainment on Earth? Your classification has been upgraded from 'Mostly Harmless' to 'Mostly Stupid'."
4. Fake J.D. Greear (@FakeJDGreear)
   Sample 1: "I'm visiting the German Statue of Liberty. She's holding a beer and a bratwurst. That ain't kosher, or SBC."
   Sample 2: "It's 10:44:58 on 8/10/10. Gotta break out the end-times charts and see what that means."
5. XIANITY (@XIANITY)
   Sample 1: "LOCAL: Sunday service delayed after Pastor loses keys to "Church of the Open Door'"
   Sample 2: "EDUCATION: Tired of controversy and strong personalities, Liberty Seminary announces its next President, Lebron James"

Inception

This summer has been worthless when it comes to movies. But I think Inception could change that when it hits theaters tomorrow.

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.

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

Going Green in the 'Hood

This is a great story about one young man who has a dream about making a difference in the community that he loves. And it's not just about "going green"; it's about giving kids something positive to do who otherwise might be doing something negative.

Champ is only twenty-years-old, but he has a big vision. That is exactly what impoverished communities need: young men and women who rise up from inside the community and have a plan to change the negative aspects of their surroundings. These are the people that we affluent Americans need to identify and contribute to both with our time and resources.

Clash of the Titans

In November I posted the about the difference 29 years has made when it comes to film. My example was Clash of the Titans.

The remake (and I say that tentatively) comes out in a couple of weeks, so I thought I would put up the extended trailer for your viewing pleasure.

It's is rated PG-13, so hopefully there isn't anything too racy in it. I will post a review after it comes out...

Facebook Stalker

"Facebook stalker" is now a universal term used to describe people who look at all of the stuff that another person makes public on Facebook.

I am a little confused about this. Aren't you inviting people to look at your pictures, status updates, links, wall-to-walls, notes, events, friend additions, Farmville scores, groups, and other things when you post them on Facebook?

It's like saying, "I am going to make all of these things public, but you, you, and you can't spend more than five minutes looking at them or you are a stalker."

Stalkers want to find out private things about a person when that person does not wish to make those private things public. People who want to make things public can't really refer to those who browse things in the public domain as stalkers.

Am I missing something here? It seems a little unjust to call someone who looks at items made public by another a stalker.

Top Theological Stories of 2009

Colin Hanson at Christianity Today weighs in on what he feels are the top theological stories of 2009. The SBC and the ELCA are among notables as well as names such as Rob Bell and Rick Warren. Some of the listed events are encouraging while others are deeply disheartening.

Pray for 2010.

Amazon's Commentary on Culture

If you want to see a great commentary on our culture, take a look at Amazon's 100 Best Books of 2009: Customer Bestsellers.

Here are a few observations from the list:

• The largest genre of books are those concerning weight loss.
• Glenn Beck has two books in the top twenty.
• Pride and Prejudice and Zombies is number 13.
• Richard Dawkins' The Greatest Show on Earth is number 68.
• Bruce Metzger's successor, Bart Ehrman, managed to slip another irrelevant historical Jesus book onto the list at 82.
• Self-help books seem to still be popular. As long as people have problems, they will buy these by the truckload.
• Three Cups of Tea is probably the only book that I would read from this list, although I would probably not read the young reader's edition which is the only version that made the list.

Twenty-Nine Years Ago...

...this was pretty sweet.

But now we have this:

Oh, and P.S.: The same guy who plays Lord Voldemort in the Harry Potter films is Hades in this remake. Outstanding.

Perspectives on the Prosperity Gospel

Here are two videos that help with an understanding of the prosperity gospel. This corruption of the true gospel is alive and well in our backyard and is exploiting people in poor contexts across the world. Awareness of this false gospel should profoundly impact the Christian's missiological perspective. Take a look.

The Prosperity Gospel from The Global Conversation on Vimeo.

Branded

By resisting a brand, churches brand themselves. Here is an example from the belief statement on the website of Jacob's Well Church in Kansas City:

"The Apostles' Creed gives a summary of the doctrinal commitments of this community. However, we do not think the best way to know what we believe is to read it off a page. We believe the best way to determine what someone, or some group of people, believe is to watch them -- or better yet, join them and discover it from the inside. When we are handed a sheet of paper or click on a link with a list of statements, we believe that something vital is short-circuited. More than that, we become a brand: "Oh, you're 'that' kind of Christian/church." We are a brand culture. We don't want to be a brand church. We are a community of people seeking to follow Jesus in faith and freedom."

It doesn't take much of an imagination to figure out how this church--despite their objections to being branded--is branded.

Facebook Photo Album Titles

Titles of Facebook photo albums commonly exhibit these qualities:

• Excessive Punctuation: this usually is manifested in lots of exclamation points. For example: "Fun!!!" or "Wedding!!!" Less frequently, but not uncommon, is only punctuation with an occasional letter. Ex: ";) ;) ;)" or ":P :P :P"
• Country Music Songs: "Days Go By" seems to be used most frequently, but other titles like "Ring of Fire" and "Wide Open Spaces" can be stumbled upon.
• Loaded Words: "Amazing" and "Adventure" are used quite a bit. A quick perusal of the photos will indicate that the captured moments are neither amazing nor an adventure.
  
• Unorthodox Capital Letter Usage: this tactic is employed to spice up uncreative titles. For example: "hOMecoMiNg '09" or "iOWa TRiP."
• Uncatergorized: often times albums are labeled "Random" or "Misc," but upon further inspection they prove to be people taking 279 pictures of themselves and one or two other people sitting on a couch or lying on a bed making strange faces in celebration of the new digital camera they bought online and probably overpaid for. Usually people who are not actually in the photos are tagged because the photographer wants to subliminally say "wish you were here" without entirely offending the other parties in the photograph by making them think they are no fun. This often times leads to an escalating series of events in which the subjects submerge themselves in the morally relativistic culture and fall into the trap of naming future facebook albums using the aforementioned techniques.
  

Turn Off Your Cell Phones...

...or you may have Hugh Jackman and Daniel Craig telling you to pick up during their Broadway show, A Steady Rain.