Remonstrance

Much like an Old Testament prophet whose message was ignored or scorned, Joesnake spoke long ago about Spiderman 3 and its spiritual impact. I confess I was one of the skeptics throwing a few jocular pebbles at the ludicrous proposition of a Spiderman-inspired spirituality. (So Marvel Comics is the MTV-generation alternative to a robust Inductive Study?) Despite the jocularity, Joesnake stuck to his Spidey-position with the tenacity of the old web-head himself.

Like the despised prophets of old, but still holding on.

And Joe was right.

What can I say? I thought of apologizing, but how is it possible without jocularity despoiling any semblance of sincerity? So I wrote this blog instead.

I watched Spiderman 3 for the first time last night with Sean and Connor (that youngster asked how I got it a week before the DVD’s release, which posited ethical conundrums…). But just as Joesnake forebode, and much to my delightful surprise, here was a movie from beginning to end depicting the freedom of forgiveness juxtaposed with the depravity of resentment, and all the struggles of vacillating heart-rage!

Watching a movie with Sean and Connor is like Joe’s Bedford football games with interminable loudspeaker commentary. It drives poor Darlene crazy. But a movie means non-stop relating for us. What a joy! I cherish these moments forever. (Parents do that, you know, but kids don’t as much, being love-takers.) I pray Connor remembers the Spiderman Love Ethics we talked about when he sinks into that dark hole called Junior High and emerges a young man. Oh, how I will miss that happy, high kid-voice!

It’s an fascination fact that anger starts out feeling bad but then feels so good because endorphins are triggered similar to physical exercise, research shows. I believe it. I’ve often embellished in a good bout of anger, even if people around me don’t enjoy it as much. This is what happens to Peter Parker and he devours anger in a smorgasbord of self-indulgent blood-revenge, ravaging his ability to love and steam-rolling good people in his life. What follows are some of the life-lessons the movie’s commentators observed in Spiderman’s life.

Lessons in Anger

Venom courses through his veins…

All these points and more were graphically depicted in the latest Spiderman movie:

[Read more →]

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Tags: bitterness, movies, reviews

Does the love of God make any difference in today’s world?

That’s the question Howard Snyder addresses in this radical book about the radical John Wesley, arguably the preeminent revolutionary of authentic Christianity in the West. He was despised and persecuted in his day for bringing the message of God’s love to the teeming masses of England’s poor and disenfranchised. Still today he remains an object of attack from rabid defenders of institutionalism. This recent posting at Christianity Today magazine site is a classic attack on Wesley’s Love Ethics (from Christianity Today’s Web site):

From: Dr. Michael A. Smith Posted: November 21, 2007 8:21 AM As something of a Wesley scholar, I believe that much of what we view as truth about Wesley has come from a revision of history re-written by the Methodist church. I have tried and failed to look at Wesley from the standpoint of his being an Enlightenment thinker. As a contemporary of Newton and others he fought against intellectual freedom and advanced the sola scriptura (the Bible as the only source of truth). While we exhaust the Bible, we must guard ourselves from the tempation of worshipping the Bible as the ultimate truth. In effect, Wesley was an early fundamentalist who denied the doctrines of the Reformation such as election and predestination and purported the heretical teachings of Jacob Arminius. The Council of Dort declared Arminius to be a heretic. His teachings take away the very characteristics that make God to be God. Wesley was a dictatorial leader and very unbending in church discipline. While his life had purpose, he had little or no balance.

Somewhat miffed, I offered Mr. Smith some food for thought:

From: Keith McCallum Posted: November 25, 2007 12:14 AM Despite Dr. Smith’s derogatory words about Wesley, the fact remains that he is one of the most influential voices in biblical Christianity, with spiritual fruit unparalleled by anyone of his era, or since. I find it incredulous anyone could consider themselves a scholar of Wesley and miss the obvious import of his life or disregard the tens of thousands of poor, suffering, orphaned and disenfranchised whose lives were salvaged by Wesley. If Wesley “took away the very characteristics that make God to be God,” then it’s certainly fair to say God would love to see more such men Smith would label as having “little or no balance.” Wesley was one with the “Pure and undefiled religion in the sight of our God and Father is this: to visit orphans and widows in their distress, and to keep oneself unstained by the world. James 1:27 (NASB)

Wesley’s enemies have never been able to quell the overwhelming impact of God’s love poured out through this man’s life and Bible teachings. Snyder extrapolates powerful insights into this man’s Love Ethics which are directly applicable to the effort here in northeast Ohio Xenos, and it’s a book well-worth every dollar paid.

From a review from Amazon.com:

Howard Snyder’s third book in his series regardng renewed church life (The Problem of Wineskins and Community of the King) focuses on the contribution of John Wesley to the renewal of existing church patterns. After first giving a brief history of the conversion of Wesley and the growth of the Methodists, Snyder then brings Wesley face to face with today’s church.

The fundamental issues at stake in Snyder’s arguements are:

1) How do you renew the church without destroying it?

2) How do you gain an apreciation for the apostolic faith in a contemporary context?

3) How do you touch people that the current tradition of the church doesn’t touch?

Beautifully, Wesley addresses all of these. It is amazing that Wesley’s voice is as fresh today as it was two centuries ago. In Radical Wesley, Snyder brings this voice out with clairty and alacrity to our current situation. I heartily recommend this to those who are searching to address the gospel in light of post-moderism.

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Tags: american church, books, magazines, radical christianity, reviews

PBS.ORG recently aired a 3-part infomercial on the virtues of the religion of atheism, which the producer calls “disbelief” because:

“I’m reluctant to use the word atheist to describe my disbelief, giving that conviction a special title which dignifies that which I deny… This series is a tribute to those who’ve won the right to stand up and be counted.”

He declares all this with the snobbish disdain of the English Gentry (hey, I can do that too). Without the pretentious airs and refined English accents, A Brief History of Disbelief is little more than another profane infomercial from “the Colonies”. (Does he snort Snuff?) In the spirit of such low-budget, late-night dramas, he surrounds himself with a self-congratulating, adoring cast noticeably absent of skeptics or naysayers. He then presumes to speak for Christianity, then dismantles his depictions with the erudite ease of a superior intellect. Ironically, he censures Christianity for censorship while he censors all Christian response.

He launched this series in response to 9/11, a tragedy which depicts “the danger inherently present in the world’s three monotheistic faiths: Judaism, Christianity and Islam,” he claims. But then he launches a three-hour diatribe exclusively against Christianity. How very droll, I daresay! How did we get here again? 9/11 suicide bombers and Christianity…? It is an odd connection.

[Read more →]

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Tags: apologetics, atheism, best of, documentaries, reviews, television

An Ominous ‘Revolution’

Know this: George Barna’s latest book on the future of Christianity depicts a nightmare. It’s a future already in full-swing all around us. It’s Laodicean Christianity with a smile. Barna calls this population of compromised Christians “Revolutionaries” and has written a book ominously warning the rest of us to quit criticizing the “Revolution” — else get left behind in the stampede dust of those quitting the church!

Know this: just as the prophets of old were unwelcome in their own hometown, so are Revolutionaries looked at askance by even their closest friends and family members…

Be forewarned: just as Jesus Christ, the ultimate lover of humanity was scorned, misunderstood, persecuted, and eventually murdered for His extreme love, goodness, compassion, humility, wisdom, and grace, so are Revolutionaries abused by a culture that is itself in crisis. The mere presence of Revolutionaries makes the typical American citizen—yes, even the typical churchgoer—uncomfortable.” – Revolution, p.16

The only substantial revolution in this book is with the Barna Group’s quality control before printing the book. It is an embarrassment to this heretofore respectable research institute known for its surveys and polls. [Read more →]

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Apparently R.E.M. is “coming out” now. As one industry pundit said, “while their recent albums were a bit insular, Accelerate sounds as if it were made with the audience in mind.” So R.E.M. is “coming out” as the more extroverted band we loved in the 80’s. But Stipe is also “coming out” and acknowledging he’s gay, too. A coincidence?

Has anyone heard the new R.E.M. album? Is it any good? Leave a comment, let me know!

But what’s fascinating and potentially useful for those of us interested in word-craft is Michael Azerrad’s article about Stipe in Spin magazine. It’s Web-writing at its best, and worth studying. Web-writing is surely the next-generation of sweet prose, no doubt. As a lifelong aficionado of writing style and an OSU journalism grad, I’ve studied the sweeping changes in articulate style in the last two centuries, and this new Web-writing style deserves careful consideration. You see it in blogs, in a crude way, but it’s obviously reaching higher places, and English style is undergoing evolutionary change. I wonder if they teach the mechanics of this style in journalism or anywhere.

Azerrad’s style is economical. There’s no fat, not a single word. He conjures a whirlwind of fast-paced pictures like the MTV music videos, but Azerrad uses clipped word-pictures. Fascinating, somewhat disjointed, and reflective of the American psyche.

Anyway, the R.E.M. interview is a worthwhile read.

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It’s been on the “Best Seller” list for the New York times now for weeks. It’s forbidden to be read by Mark Driscoll (my fundy-hero). It’s a modern-day “Pilgrim’s Progress” …

What do you think about it? Have you heard about it? I’m interested to get some feedback on it. Read the USA Today article. If you’re dealing with Christianity, you’ll be asked about it, I’ll bet.

All the controversy is caused by this crazy little book, “The Shack”, where God is depicted as a black woman, and according to Christianity Today it poses a “Modalist View” of the Trinity (Modalism views the Trinity as one person who takes three different “forms” or “modes”, and it was denounced as heresy at Nicene and other church councils.)

Says Mark Driscoll of Mars Hill Church in Seattle: “If you haven’t read The Shack, don’t!” According to USA Today:

Driscoll, whose multi-campus non-denominational church is packed with 6,000 people each weekend in the least-churched corner of the nation, says he is “horrified” by Young’s book. He says “it misrepresents God. Young misses the big E on the eye chart.” – USA Today article.

Anyone come across other reviews about the book? Let me know!

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Tags: reviews, theology