Observing the Interweb: Strange Planets, Praise Bands, Presidential Faith and more…

Strange Planets – As technology is advancing, our universe is shrinking, and the amount that we know about outer space is continually growing. This is a look at some of the most unique planets out of the hundreds of now confirmed planets that we have discovered. The heavens are telling the glory of God, and as we encounter more of the heavens, our wonder at the majesty of God continues to expand.

Tempted by Facebook? – Here’s a helpful post about the dangerous and pervasive sins that can be perpetuated by unchecked social media use:

With our use of social media, we risk slighting the gospel by losing our identity. Whether we forget who we are or lie about who we are, we are misplacing our identity in Christ.

Presidential Faith – This is an interesting one, a brief discussion of the the life of faith in our two most beloved and revered presidents, Washington and Lincoln. The findings of this particular writer are very intriguing, and help shed some light on the relationships that these men had with their Creator.

An Open Letter to Praise Bands – If you lead worship on Sundays or Tuesdays or whenever, you should read this post. If you gather to be led in worship by a pop/rock style band of some sort, you should read this post. It’s a bit harsh, but it’s a good reminder that gathering to sing is serious business and there are ways in which bands who lead can hinder the worship of the body.

Roughhousing With the Kids – There are few things sweeter than being attacked by your two toddlers while you’r playing with them on the floor. This post from the good people at Art of Manliness lay out why roughhousing is not only sweet, but essential in the life and growth of healthy children.

And for those of you into, interested in, or intrigued by Christian Hip-Hop, here is a candid discussion between some of the most talented artists in that genre. It’s a bit long, but very enjoyable and encouraging.

The Chopping Block:

Observing the Interweb: Cormac McCarthy, Victoria’s Secret, Hymns, and more…

Cormac McCarthy – If you’re not familiar with Cormac McCarthy, you should be. He’s a contemporary American author with a particularly keen understanding of the nature of man and the problem of evil. His novel’s include No Country for Old Men, The Road, and many more. This article is a fascinating look into the importance of his work and why Christians should read him.

Role “Model” – You may have heard this story already, but it was the only one I could find without an inappropriate picture. Kylie Bisutti is a former Victoria’s Secret model who has quit the modeling industry out of respect for her body, her husband, and her Savior. She is someone worthy of respect.

Discipling a New Believer – Bay Area Pastor Justin Buzzard offers some great insights into the needs of new believers, and how seasoned CHristians can care for them. Let’s continue to pray that those who come to faith in Christ are surrounded by saints who will lead them into deeper communion with the Lord.

Here’s a great video discussion about the place of Hymns in the church. Enjoy:

Old Hymns for Our Day from The Gospel Coalition on Vimeo.

One more video. We showed this one last night at Axis, our church youth group, it’s a great picture of the overall storyline of the Bible, and God’s plan for the salvation of His people:

The Descendants: A Review

I’m pretty sure I just watched this year’s Oscar winner for best picture.

The Descendants is a familiar film. It does not tread over too-worn territory or repackage plots of past successes, but it is eminently recognizable. Like watching real life. Not your life, but someone’s.

The Descendants is about a man named Matt King. Matt, played by George Clooney at his most vulnerable, is a man weighed down by the trials of life. He is trying to put his family together after a tragic boating accident left his wife in a coma from which she will never wake. He is the sole proprietor of a massive piece of virgin Hawaiian land, the fate of which is of great interest to both his extended family and the whole state of Hawaii. His daughters are disrespectful and rebellious. And on top of all this he discovers that his wife was committing adultery before the accident, and planned to leave him.

With a plot like this, it may be difficult to see how The Descendants could seem so familiar.

But plot has little to do with it.

At its heart, The Descendants is about the most basic elements of human interaction: love, loss, death, betrayal, forgiveness, and reconciliation. It’s a movie about the human condition. And it is one of the most honest depictions I have seen.

The brilliance of The Descendants begins with writer/director Alexander Payne. His understanding of humanity, and of men in particular, is on full display in this film. He never forces an emotion or baits the audience with the sappy cliches that fill so many family dramas. He paints a vivid picture and invites the audience to enter in.

So for 115 minutes, we live these difficult days along with Matt King, experiencing the pain of discovering that someone you’re about to lose has been lost to you for years, agonizing over a business decision about which millions of people have an opinion, and wandering through fatherhood with little understanding of how to lead and love daughters whom you barely know.

It’s a heavy film, but unlike most dramas, The Descendants does not take itself too seriously. As I said, it never forces a moment to be more than it is. One of the most endearing elements of the film is how much humor is present. In every dark and difficult moment, there is relief. There is no wallowing in self pity or excessive sentimentality. Life is full of laughter in the midst of pain, and the Descendants keeps this tension well throughout the film, leaving us feeling good about the future of this wounded family.

The most satisfying and uplifting element of the film is the theme of forgiveness, which is not a very popular theme today. We flock to movies about revenge and retribution. Rarely do we see a movie that so unashamedly and freely offers forgiveness to undeserving characters.

Forgiveness cuts the legs out of hatred. It allows for healing from the most scarring wounds. It immediately dissolves barriers of shame and guilt, and makes friends of bitter enemies.

This what God the Father has done for the world through Jesus isn’t it? The world hates God. We have rebelled against His rule as our good and perfect King. We have committed adultery against Him by selling ourselves to lesser gods. And we mocked Him by killing His Son. But that very Son whom we killed became God’s means of forgiving us. For in the death of Jesus, our sins, our hatred, our adultery, our rebellion was paid for. Forgiven. Washed away. So that God can once again look on the people He created for Himself with love and care.

This is the heart of The Descendants forgiveness that comes through sacrifice. The main thread of the plot, which I won’t give away, follows this path, and its climax is beautiful, heartbreaking, and so sweet.

Because of the language and subject matter, this is not a movie for the whole family. However, this is a movie that I think every adult should see. It’s an important film. Not because it tells the story of some great historical revolution or triumph of the human will, but because it is a rare thing for a hollywood film to embrace central gospel themes in such a captivating and honest fashion.

Observing the Interweb: Missions, Manhood, Ministry Burnout, and More Reason to Respect Tim Tebow…

Loving Your City – This is a convicting and encouraging post from the guys over at the Resurgence blog. There are many ways that we as the church can reach our cities and neighborhoods for the glory of God, and they give some great practical suggestions for doing just that.

Joshua Project – If you haven’t heard of Joshua Project, you should absolutely check them out. There is no other organization that I know of that is doing what they are doing. They provide a comprehensive, global perspective on the state of the thousands of unreached people groups of the world. They are concerned about the great commission on the global scale, and we should be too.

Desiring God Conference for Pastors – There are few conferences that I have looked forward to more than this one, the 2012 Desiring God Conference for Pastors: God, Manhood, and Ministry: Building Men for the Body of Christ. I can’t wait to listen to the audio from this conference. And men, I suggest you check it out.

Burning Out? – We talk a lot about ministry burn out in the church and this post tackles the issue well. If you’re struggling with burn out or counseling someone who is, you should check this out.

Tim Tebow cancels an appearance to speak at a prominent prosperity gospel preacher’s event and Joe Carter at the Gospel Coalition tells us why it matters.

Green or Greed? I found this article to be thoroughly interesting. It reminds me of the movie Wall-E. We make everything more efficient in an attempt to be green, but we end up with the same problem: we’re still addicted to consuming. Here’s a quote:

We may believe that we care about the world’s deepening environmental challenges and are merely waiting for scientists, environmentalists, politicians and others to come to their senses and implement effective solutions. But we already know more than enough, and we have for a long time. We just don’t like the answers.

Give Us Rest

One of the sweetest truths in Scripture is that God will give us rest. He promised it to Israel in Exodus 33:14:

My presence will go with you, and I will give you rest.

And Jesus promises it in Matthew 11:28:

Come to me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.

What I love about these two verses is the difference between the type of rest that is promised. In Exodus 33, God promises that He will go with them and give them rest in the place they go. An amazing promise to be sure. But Jesus, in Matthew, calls people to come to Him and find their rest in Him.

The Promised Land was a place of temporary rest for the people of God, but Jesus is the place of permanent rest. He is the one that invites us into the eternal rest of God. And He calls all who are weary and heavy laden. Our only requirement is that we be totally helpless and unable to find rest on our own.

So when the world presses in around us, Jesus offers a rest that outlasts all our troubles and trials. He offers rest that endures forever, because He endures forever.

New Music: All Sons and Daughters

If the Civil Wars made a praise album, it would sound like All Sons and Daughters.

Desperate cries for God’s presence.
Humble adoration of the glory of Christ.
Sweet harmonies.
Minor chords.

All things that make for an excellent and very current sounding modern worship offering from St. Louis based singer/songwriter duo, All Sons and Daughters. All Sons and Daughters emerged late in 2011 from Journey Church in St. Louis Missouri, where the two lead singers/songwriters, David Leonard and Leslie Jordan, serve as part of the Creative Arts Ministry.

Both Leonard and Jordan exude talent. Their voices are sweet and very easy on the ears. Their songs are thoughtfully written. And their arrangements are refreshingly devoid of the over production that plagues so much of Christian music.

They have produced two EP’s for sale on itunes and Amazon, Brokenness Aside and Reason to Sing as well as a free three song EP over at noisetrade, which happens to be where I discovered them.

I haven’t listened long enough to pick a favorite from among their songs, but I can tell you that I;ve listened to Oh Our Lord from their second EP, Reason to Sing, at least ten times in the last two weeks.

The one thing I really love about them is that they emote so genuinely through their songs. Often, artists sacrifice emotion for theology, or the other way around. But All Sons And Daughters rides the balance well. Excellently even. I find myself easily engaging with the truths about which they’re singing and encouraged to do so with my head and heart.

I’m looking forward to watching this duo carve out a place for themselves among the Christian artists of today. It’s a much deserved place, and I highly recommend you check out everything that All Sons and Daughters are doing.

Observing the Interweb: Real Marriage, Race Issues, the Super Bowl and more

Real Marriage – In a CNN article, Pastor Mark Driscoll responds to the criticism of his book Real Marriage. Let’s pray that this helpful post will turn more people on to the beauty of a God glorifying marriage, and more importantly, would the book lead them to discover the infinite beauty of the great Bridegroom who laid down His life for His Bride.

Are Proverbs Promises? – I’ve spent a lot of time reflecting on God’s promises in Scripture and this post from the guys at Desiring God ministries offer a helpful check and balance on how to read the proverbs without falling into the trap of prosperity theology or disappointments in parenting.

It Don’t Matter if You’re Black or White? – There are few national pastors that I respect more than Thabiti Anyabwile. I especially appreciate his perspective on race and ethnic issues. Here he explains what makes someone “black” or “white” and whether labels like that really matter.

The Most Important Article about the 2012 SuperBowl – I had a lighthearted Superbowl post ready to go but after reading this one by Justin Holcomb of Mars Hill Church I decided it was infinitely more important. This is an eye-opening look into the evil underbelly of the Superbowl, a world fueled by sex-trafficking and underage prostitution. This is a hard read, but it’s incredibly important.

No “Buts” about it – This is a great reminder for parents of the impact that small words like “but” and “so” have in our parenting. Grammar has Gospel importance in the young lives of children. This is a good one.