Prince Caspian: Many Reviews

I have not seen Disney's depiction of C.S. Lewis' Prince Caspian yet. Movie going falls outside of my budget. However, many respectable people have viewed the film and written some nice reviews on it. Here are some that caught my eye.

1. Stand to Reason blog: "Prince Caspian: Good Film that Misses the Mark."
2. John Mark Reynolds: "Prince Caspian: Better than the Book, Wonderful Film."
3. Frederica Mathewes-Green: "Movie Trumps Book."
4. Gender blog: "C.S. Lewis, Prince Caspian, and Women in Combat Part 1" and "Part 2."

Also, check out the Christianity Today interview with the director, Andrew Adamson, and Leland Ryken's "The Imagination of C.S. Lewis."

Easy Mac vs. Diligence

I ate Easy Mac today. I really didn't want to make anything too complicated. How bad could it be?

I was shocked at how terrible it was compared to regular mac 'n' cheese. All to save 5-10 minutes. Disgusting.

"The soul of the sluggard craves and gets nothing,
while the soul of the diligent is richly supplied." 

-Proverbs 13:4

What a profound Biblical truth. When I crave the Word of God but my laziness wins out, I get nothing. But my soul is saturated with all it needs and more when I spend diligent time in Scripture.

What do I desire more? The pool of Easy Mac I am wallowing in or an infinite God who provides for all of my needs all of the time and is entirely satisfying without fail from before time began to eternity? I hope that it is the latter.

"Indeed, if we consider the unblushing promises of reward and the staggering nature of the rewards promised in the Gospels, it would seem that Our Lord finds our desires, not too strong, but too weak. We are half-hearted creatures, fooling about with drink and sex and ambition when infinite joy is offered us, like an ignorant child who wants to go on making mud pies in a slum because he cannot imagine what is meant by the offer of a holiday at the sea. We are far too easily pleased."

-C.S. Lewis

Lord, I pray that I will desire that which satisfies me the most.

Tree of the Week (5.20.08)

Churches, Do Not Abandon Downtown

I have lived if Fargo for nearly four years now and I have observed several things.

1. People run stoplights and stop signs like they don't even exist.
2. The restaurant to person ratio is approximately 7 to 1.
3. Apartment complexes are being built at an astronomical rate. And yet I see many neon-colored signs in front of the 10 year old complexes because they can't rent out all their units.
   
4. When shopping at Wal-Mart, the average wait time in line is 15 minutes. Three blocks away at Sunmart, the average wait time in line is .15 minutes.
5. There are a million one acre parks. I wish there was a one million acre park.
6. Everyone goes to lunch at noon. The line at Subway does not exist at 11:55, but at noon it's out the door.
   
7. In addition to number 6, everyone gets done with work at between 4 and 4:30 making traffic ridiculous for a half hour every day.
8. If a Fargo driver is on a street with more than one lane and has to turn right in 3 miles, that driver will make sure and be in the right lane the whole time no matter how many cars are already in that lane or how slow traffic is going in that lane. This creates quite a large amount of congestion, but only in one lane. The other lanes are usually empty.
9. Fargo is one big suburb with no urban area.
10. Number ten is the one I want to discuss in short. While number nine is true, according to my observation this is about to change. Here is number ten: many churches in Fargo, that have seen a significant amount of growth the past few years, are moving south.

Why do I want to focus on number ten? Because as Fargo develops more and more of an urban area, there is going to be a larger call on churches to participate in urban affairs. This is an exciting time for the Fargo community. Along with urbanization comes new and exciting cultures as well as a heightened sense of community. So why are some churches vacating the downtown area?

I understand that part of the issues is space. Churches that grow need more of it. What I hope is that their relocation is not out of fear. I want to scream when I hear people say that with urban areas are cesspools of crime and drug culture. That kind of thinking is a blatant subscription to unwarranted stereotypes and needs to be removed. And while it might be a while before we see a large urban area in Fargo, churches need to be present during the urbanization process. Churches that run for the suburbs when a neighborhood gets a little tough need to reassess their mission. If churches stuck around before the bad times hit and invested in their immediate community, maybe the crime and drug culture would not become as predominate.

I pray that Fargo churches would not dash for the outskirts of town. If it's space that is needed plant a church or start a new campus. If it's funds that are needed, trust God to provide.

Urban areas allow for a mighty impact.

Churches, do not abandon downtown.

Five Reasons Why Today Was A Good Day

1. This morning's sermon was about hope. Hope is the desired end, not absence of trouble. Good reminder.
   
2. I had a wonderful meal with my almost in-laws.
3. It was absolutely beautiful outside. Nice days mean a lot in Fargo because often the wind blows 40 mph and the last of the snow just melted.
   
4. I disc golfed.
5. I know that tomorrow God's mercies are new. His faithfulness is great.
   

Pursuing Joy

Taken from Profiting from the Scriptures by AW Pink

"The ungodly are ever seeking after joy, but they do not find it: they busy and weary themselves in the pursuit of it, yet all in vain. Their hearts being turned from the Lord, they look downward for joy, where it is not; rejecting the substance, they diligently run after the shadow, only to be mocked by it. It is the sovereign decree of heaven that nothing can make sinners truly happy but God in Christ; but this they will not believe, and therefore they go from creature to creature, from one broken cistern to another, inquiring where the best joy is to be found. Each worldly thing which attracts them says, It is found in me; but soon it disappoints. Nevertheless, they go on seeking it afresh today in the very thing which deceived them yesterday. If after many trials they discover the emptiness of one creature comfort, then they turn to another, only to verify our Lord’s word,

'Whosoever drinketh of this water shall thirst again' (John 4:13).

Going now to the other extreme: there are some Christians who suppose it to be sinful to rejoice. No doubt many of our readers will be surprised to hear this but let them be thankful they have been brought up in sunnier surroundings, and bear with us while we labor with those less favored. Some have been taught—largely by implication and example, rather than by plain inculcation—that it is their duty to be gloomy. They imagine that feelings of joy are produced by the Devil appearing as an angel of light. They conclude that it is well-nigh a species of wickedness to be happy in such a world of sin as we are in. They think it presumptuous to rejoice in the knowledge of sins forgiven, and if they see young Christians so doing they tell them it will not be long before they are floundering in the Slough of Despond.

'Rejoice evermore' (1 Thessalonians 5:16). It surely cannot be unsafe to do what God has commanded us. The Lord has placed no embargo on rejoicing. No, it is Satan who strives to make us hang up our harps. There is no precept in Scripture bidding us 'Grieve in the Lord always: and again I say, Grieve'; but there is an exhortation which bids us,

'Rejoice in the Lord, O ye righteous: for praise is comely for the upright' (Psalm 33:1).

Reader, if you are a real Christian (and it is high time you tested yourself by Scripture and made sure of this point), then Christ is yours, all that is in Him is yours."

Me + No Job = Photoshop

A Two Cent Quatrain

For those of us who just finished our college career many brutal questions pose themselves. Uncertainty is the turkey on the thanksgiving day table of the college graduate. Will someone please put this into perspective?

Enter my fellow NDSU grad, Jordan:

Freedom, in Grace

Where to live?
Where I can work.
Why work,
When I can live?

Sorry 'Bout That

Yesterday I got on my soapbox and told everyone how and why they should subscribe to blogs in my entry entitled, RSS: An Untapped Resource.

Little did I know that the RSS icon that shows up in the URL field was set to send you to an unknown feed. Smooth.

Well, the problem has been fixed. If you tried to subscribe using that icon in the URL field and were unsuccessful, just try doing it again. It works now. Promise.

Subscribe away.

Delight Yourself in the Lord

"Delight yourself in the LORD, and he will give you the desires of your heart." 

-Psalm 37:4

If I delight myself in the Lord, I will be delighting in what I desire.

If I desire the Lord, I will be desiring what I delight in.

The Lord is my heart's desire. And He will give me more of Himself.

Satisfying...

RSS: An Untapped Resource

More than 90% of the world's internet users do not subscribe to blogs or newsfeeds or anything. Why? It's a mystery to me. But if you read a blog or news online, I urge you to check out RSS (Real Simple Syndication).

Subscribing to feeds is about the easiest, simplest thing in the world. Just look for the . Not subscribing is like swimming from California to Hawaii. Subscribing is like swimming across the kiddie pool. It makes things that easy. This is not an exaggeration! (Well, maybe a little)

Maybe people just don't know about subscribing to blogs or news. Here is a helpful video in understanding why it's a good idea to make use of RSS.



The main point is that you do not have to visit every blog or news site directly in order to read it. You can simply subscribe to your favorite blog on your reader and concentrate on reading, not on searching.

Recently, there was a post entitled A Step by Step Guide to Google Reader on the Desiring God Blog. Check it out. It is a great resource in understanding Google Reader and the importance of making use of RSS.

Also check out the official RSS Day website. It discusses the benefits of RSS and how it can help you.

Subscribing lets me know that you are reading my blog and enjoying it and making use of RSS is free and you do not have to give out any personal information.

This is my plea to you to subscribe to my blog and to others. I am not the only blogger in the world who likes to see that people are reading his or her material. Subscribing to blogs builds the bloggers credibility and gives us more of a reason to continue blogging. Read Abraham Piper's "22 Reasons to Subscribe" on his blog, 22 Words.

So, using RSS is simple and beneficial to both the reader and the blogger. You can always subscribe to as many blogs or news feeds that you like and unsubscribe to them whenever you like.

If you are still confused about subscribing, leave a remark! I would be more than willing to help you out.

I would love to have you subscribe to my blog!

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Thank You, Rebekah

About a month ago my lovely bride-to-be wrote me a poem. What a blessing she has been!

Psalm 25:15, For Caleb

All Grace is given to the sinful soul
From Jesus – the atoning sacrifice.
Oh! How His brokenness will make you whole,
His mercies are new after every night.
The child with feet all tangled in the net
Must only fix his gaze above his plight.
For Jesus will be seen and he’ll be met
Cut free from bondage – carried by His might.
Why is all grace given at such expense
That Christ – who knew no sin became as such?
It’s for His Father’s sake and nothing hence
Will mar His Glory; Jesus made it much.
He will not leave us in our broken state,
His desire for God’s Glory is too great.

I love this poem for three reasons:

1. It references one of the most encouraging verses in Scripture: "My eyes are ever toward the Lord, for he will pluck my feet out of the net." -Psalm 25:15
2. Christ is the primary actor and the subject of the poem. Man is being acted upon and is secondary.
   
3. The final couplet states "He will not leave us in our broken state/His desire for God's Glory is too great." Christ was completely subservient and obedient to the Father because He knew that it was for the Glory of God. By Grace we become the beneficiaries of this wonderful truth.

Thank you, Rebekah!