Prince Caspian

I actually ponied up the $8 bucks to see "Prince Caspian" in the theatre on the weekend. Most everyone else was there to see Indiana Jones, but for me that can wait for DVD.

Caspian was good, even better than "The Lion, The Witch, and the Wardrobe", which I thought was better than average. But I've been in love with these stories since I was a kid, so I was pretty eager to see them. [My favorite part is when they finally meet Aslan at the river. His encounter with the dwarf reminds me of some things I've seen during 'hot' altar times in church or at camp!]

Anyway, Caspian was way, way better than "The Golden Compass". I happened to see that on a flight a while back and was curious as to what all the fuss was about. I'm always up for a good yarn, and while it started off intriguing, it fell flat about a third of the way through and never recovered. So much for the controversy. Bad movies are hard to get excited about. Here's a good article from Time that explains "Why Narnia Hits While Golden Compass Flops".

So now I get to wait for "The Voyage of the Dawn Treader", which was always my favorite story of the Chronicles. But May, 2010 seems a long ways away!

Courageous Leadership #2

What makes a church thrive and flourish? Location? Denomination? Great facilities?

How about great preaching? I've heard Bill Hybels preach. He's one of the best speakers I've ever heard - and being a guy who loves to preach and study preachers, I don't say that lightly.

So here is what Hybels says about trying to build a thriving church on great preaching: "Although many preaching-centered churches attract large crowds, their impact on the community is often negligible. The church is packed for an hour Sunday, but empty during the week. Sermon junkies tend to stay in their comfortable pews, growing ever more knowledgeable while becoming ever less involved in the surrounding community. Conversions are rare because their is little outreach. Community experience is shallow because there is no infrastructure of small groups. The body is being fed and satisfied in a corporate teaching setting, but that's about all that happens." [Courageous Leadership p.25]

He goes on to say that he doesn't mean to minimize the importance of effective teaching and preaching; the church withers without them. But it takes more than that.

Allow me to pick up on that... It takes more than great preaching. It takes more than a snappy worship band, a hot media or drama presentation, friendly greeters, or anything else that makes up a typical worship experience at a typical church that is trying to thrive and flourish.

Important stuff? I think so. I hope so. It seems most of my life is wrapped up in that stuff. But it's not the only stuff needed for a church to flourish.

So should it be the primary focus? Should it be the measuring stick we use to gauge our progress? How do we look past this to the important horizon beyond when it seems like for all our tireless [tiring!] effort, we can't seem to get it right to our satisfaction?

Lars and the Real Girl

Good movies seem to be few and far between. "Juno" was good, but a little crude in a gritty sort of way. "Dan in Real Life" is another of my recent favorites, mostly because it's about a Dad and his three girls and their relationship. I haven't seen too much of Steve Carrol's stuff, but he's actually very funny in this one - which wasn't my opinion of him in "Evan Almighty".

But... if you haven't seen "Lars and the Real Girl", go to the video store, pop some popcorn, and get comfy on the couch, 'cause it's well worth the watch. It's a hilarious, touching story of a family, church, and community that shows how we need to care for people. Everyone. Especially the special ones. In the words of Larry the Cucumber: "I laughed, I cried. It moved me, Bob."

Courageous Leadership

Bill Hybels is fond of saying “The local church is the hope of the world.” The post-modernity emergent church crowd have really dissed him for that. I guess when you’ve planted a church that has led the western world in a new paradigm and grown to 20,000 people, you’re an easy target. I remember reading one blog where the guy was practically screaming “The hope of the world is not the local church! The hope of the world is Jesus Christ!” I have to admit that I’ve spent some time chewing on that, and part of me agrees…but the real issue is that most critics probably don’t understand what Hybels is really saying.

He says “I believe that only one power exists on this sorry planet that can [transform the human heart]. It’s the power of the love of Jesus Christ, the love that conquers sin and wipes out shame and heals wounds and reconciles enemies and patches broken dreams and ultimately changes the world, one life at a time. And what grips my heart everyday is the knowledge that the radical message of that transforming love has been given to the church.” [Courageous Leadership. p.21]

Yeah, maybe you or I wouldn’t feel comfortable being part of a mega church, whether as a member or staff, and maybe the seeker friendly model isn’t your [or my] cup of tea. But can you really argue with the idea that the local church – the hands, feet, and voice of Jesus, is the hope of the world?

The Garden Gulag

I was concerned that Maryn's vegetables would try to escape, so I have imprisoned them. These veggies will just have to stay behind the fence until we eat them! [Actually, I'm just trying to keep the pesky neighborhood deer from beating us to them. Bunch of thugs...]

Nanaimo third-best in Canada for walking

Danielle Bell, Daily NewsPublished: Tuesday, May 13, 2008

Nanaimo has been judged as the third-best place in Canada to take a stroll. The Harbour City finished No. 3 overall, behind only Vancouver and Fredericton. The contest was open to the country's 100 most populous cities.

POPULAR WALKS:
1. Harbourfront Promenade
2. Westwood Lake
3. Neck Point
4. Jack Point
5. Piper's Lagoon
6. E&N Trail
7. Parkway Trail
8. Extension Ridge Trail
9. Colliery Dam
10. Chase River Estuary Trail

I've done at least part of 8 of the 10. And some of the them are amazing.

We get to share Dave with the whole country!

If you care about this, you undoubtedly already know, but let me add my 2 bits. Dave is an awesome guy and I'm super proud of him and excited about the gift he is to our PAOC Fellowship as our next General Superintendent. But...I'm sad because I probably won't get to hang around him so much. He is truly one of my favorite people who has had a profound impact on my life. So I've just decided to approach it this way: BC is not loosing Dave, we're just sharing him with the rest of the country.

Here's the scoop from the PAOC website.

From boring teenagers to wild animals

Okay, so his last point about escapism needs to be taken under advisment, but this 'bout says it all. You can read the whole article here.

From boring teenagers to wild animals
By YUKON JACK
VIDEO GAMES NOT TO BLAME

For the past week, virgins everywhere have been locked in their basements playing the biggest video game in history, Grand Theft Auto 4.

Soon, you'll be hearing about all the sales figures that it smashed, about how the video game industry is bigger than Hollywood and about how gaming isn't just for nerds anymore.

And now that the moms and dads and social watchdogs have had a chance to check out the content of Grand Theft Auto - the stealing, the shooting, the blowing up, the cop killing, the knife weilding, the bank robbing and, of course, the pimping and prostitution we're hearing Nancy Grace and the likes whining about how video games are responsible for the downfall of society.

"The rotting morals of our youth can be attributed to video games. Video games are to blame."

No they're not. You are to blame. Parents. Uninvolved, dis-interested, selfish, irresponsible parents. We ALL grew up with "bad" pop-culture influences. Maybe it was Cheech and Chong, NWA, Freddy Krueger, Porky's, 2 Live Crue, Black Sabbath, Southpark, Madonna, or The Simpsons.

Whatever it was, whenever it was, it didn't matter if your parents were involved in your life. If your parents were there to keep you grounded and make sure you knew the difference between fantasy and reality, then it was never a problem.

So, moms and dads, before you go pointing your fingers at the makers of video games, have a look at yourself first. 'Cause if you're a good, responsible parent, then your kids are probably equipped to handle a little escapism. I'd rather have my kid shooting up a schoolyard on my Playstation than shooting up a schoolyard. In the meantime ... I'll just shut my big yap.

Another Great Tune!

Great Tune!