Desert Island Discs

I'm a big fan of Christianity Today's Movies website - which includes subscribing to their weekly e-newsletter, CT at the Movies. (Unlike many "religious" sites that rate movies, CT does a very good job of reviewing movies as movies and not simply as "attacks on Christianity." At the same time, they don't shy away from critiquing shoddy theology - or shoddy filmmaking.)

This last week, they challenged me (and a whole lot of other people) with:

So … let's play the Desert Island Disc game! You know how it goes: You're stranded all alone on a desert island, but you've got a DVD player and screen. (Hey, it's a desert island with perks, OK? Just play along, all right?) What ten movies do you want with you, and why? For the purpose of counting, I'm just talking about individual movies. So, even though I'm planning to take my Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King extended edition—and all four of its discs—it still only counts as one movie.

So, in no particular order, my 10 Desert Island Discs.

1-3) Lord of the Rings: Extended Versions. Yep. All three of 'em. I figure I'll finally have time to watch 'em straight through. And then time to watch them with the audio commentary tracks turned on. And then time to watch all the documentary stuff. And then time to actually look through & enjoy the galleries. If a rescue boat can't reach me by then, it ain't coming. The cast of ABC's Lost needs a DVD player, stat.

4) The Princess Bride: Special Edition. Because there is no possible way you can watch this movie too many times. (And it's a movie that should NOT work - a Frankstein-like combination of an Errol Flynn swashbuckler crossed with a Monty Python film, cast by an eclectic mix of neophytes, Broadway musical stars, independent film faves, and a legendary wrestler, and directed by the guy whose main credits up to that point were playing Meathead on All in the Family and directing This Is Spinal Tap. Yet it does - brilliantly.)

5) Singing In The Rain: Special Edition. I defy anyone (even people who hate musicals, because, to quote Dana Whitaker on Sports Night, "They often contain hoedowns") to resist the charms of this movie. (Another moment in How Did They Get Away This? movie history: the 15 minute "Lullaby of Broadway" sequence which has ABSOLUTELY NOTHING to do with the plot, but still manages to be incredibly enjoyable.)

6) Raising Arizona. I don't think there's a special edition set for this movie (there should be), but that won't stop me from taking it with me. I find myself laughing harder & harder at this film each time I see it. The offbeat humor has wormed it's way into my heart.

7) Still Breathing. I don't even know if this movie is out on DVD. (I know, I know, I could check, but that would take time I could be wasting playing games on Brettspielwelt.) A very quirky romantic comedy about redemption and forgiveness... and a film that isn't in a rush to tell it's story or reveal it's charms. It makes me peaceful and more in love with my wife every time I see it.

8-9) Toy Story/Toy Story 2 3-Disc Set. Again, I'll have plenty of time before the rescue boat shows up to really enjoy the extras on these discs. Besides, I cry EVERY TIME I see Toy Story 2's "Jesse being thrown away" sequence - and want to go find Puppy (my first cuddly animal) and beg forgiveness for putting him in the trash can because I was in my 20's and he looked like he'd been run over by multiple cars.

10) Sabrina (the Harrison Ford/Greg Kinnear/Julia Ormond version from 1995). OK, I know it's some kind of cinema buff heresy to prefer the modern remake to the classic Humphrey Bogart/Audrey Hepburn film, but the fact that Audrey is so embarassed that she tries to kill herself with automobile exhaust just rubs me the wrong way. Besides, Julia Ormond is stunning & sweet & adorable, Greg Kinnear is swarmy & likeable, and Harrison Ford manages to play the Professor part of the Indiana Jones role for a whole two hours and make it work.

Well, that's it. Other things just missed the cut (the Star Wars films, Disney's Beauty & The Beast and The Hunchback of Notre Dame, the classic con movie The Sting and others... but I figure the 10 I chose would keep me busy & happy.

My 25 Cent Rant About DST

It's official. I hate Daylight Savings Time.

Well, I guess I need to be specific. I hate the "Spring Forward" part of Daylight Savings Time - as it steals my sleep and messes with my biorhythms and all that jazz. The "Fall Back" thing is OK, though. I'm always up for an extra hour of shut-eye.

BTW, does anyone really follow the whole biorhythms thing anymore? I still remember "charting" my biorhythms back in high school (which would make this the late 70's/early 80's). So, with that kind of timing, biorhythms are from roughly the same era as mood rings & pet rocks.

I'm not sure Daylight Savings Time makes a huge difference for a lot of people - unless, for example, you've got a job in which Sunday is a work day. Which may explain my irritation. I can think of at least three times in which I've shown up early (or late) for church due to D.S.T. Thankfully, no worship services - just Sunday School [at the traditional churches I've served] or load-in [at the church plant I pastored].

So, I guess that's enough whining for one moring. Go read Dilbert (which is actually funny today).

Forward, Christian Soldiers

We all get the stuff - forwarded across e-mail from one friend to another. Sometimes it's a touching story or a collection of inspirational pictures & sayings or a pithy sermon illustration. Sometimes it's heartwarming, other times just smarmy & irritating.

Unfortunately, way too many of these forwards end with a line or two that sounds something like this:

"Pass this message to 7 people except you and me. You will receive a miracle tomorrow. Don't ignore and God will bless you."

or:

"If you're not ashamed of Jesus, forward this on to 10 other people."

(Those of you who've read a good bit of what I've written know what's about to happen. I'm gonna drag out my soapbox and climb up on top of it and commence to preaching.)

I just have to ask: what in the world do we think we are doing when we send stuff like this out!? Has spiritual encouragement become so impoverished in our world that we are forced to use emotional blackmail to get people to say nice things to each other?

Because what the "not ashamed of Jesus" line implies is that if I refuse to forward the e-mail, I am ashamed of Jesus. It has an element of pride in it - because, of course, the person who sent is obviously not ashamed.

Hogwash. If the test for being a devoted follower of Christ is whether I can hit the "reply to all" button on Outlook Express, then faithfulness has been majorly devalued. In the classic illustration of the carrot & the stick (two ways to get a donkey to move), this is the "stick" methodology.

In the same vein, the promise of a miracle and/or blessing is just as big of a theological problem. This is the "carrot" approach to inspiring people to forward the e-mail... in other words, "send this on and you'll get paid off by God for your good behavior."

Now, God clearly promises to bless us and that we will experience miracles (things beyond natural explanation)... but nowhere in Scripture is that tied to chain mail. Nor is it a formula: "if A, then B". Saying it another way, "If I do this for God, He has to do that for me." We cannot obligate God to perform for us!

Yes, the Bible clearly says that if we ask anything in His name, He will do it. But take a close look at that passage:

I tell you the truth, anyone who has faith in me will do what I have been doing. He will do even greater things than these, because I am going to the Father. And I will do whatever you ask in my name, so that the Son may bring glory to the Father. You may ask me for anything in my name, and I will do it.

John 14:12-14 (NIV)

The purpose of giving us what we ask for Jesus to bring glory to the Father... not to make our lives easier or our health better or our bank account fatter. If those things happen, well & good! Give God thanks... but when we ask Jesus for things "in His name", we must not use his name like a magical incantation.

Let me draw that out a bit... when we view God as someone we can 'force' to do our bidding by our behavior, it's as if we turn the prayer, "Jesus, please heal my son" into "Abracadabra, heal my son!" And that's not any different than "God's gotta give me something good if I hit 'reply to all.'"

(OK, I'm climbing down off the soapbox now... sort of.)

Here's what I do. When I receive a forward with one of those lines or something similar on the bottom, I delete it. Nuke it. Zap it. Consign to Deleted Items Folder for all of eternity. And I do that regardless of the quality of the rest of the e-mail.

One last thought: seems kind of nutty that I've gone off like a Roman candle about this, doesn't it? I mean, it's "just e-mail."

Well, here's something for you to chew on: I "went off" not because forwards are irritating but because the underlying theology is bad. This week, try and look carefully for the underlying theology of some things you take for granted in your life: what you watch on TV; a magazine article you're reading, a discussion you have around the water cooler at work. All part of that "taking thoughts captive" thing, right?

Right.

This article originally appeared in 3/30/05 issue of "the Grapevine", the weekly newsletter of NewLife Community Church.

Welcome, Welcome Friends...

...to the show that never ends. (Extra points for everyone who can complete the obscure reference to ELP... and no fair Googling your answer.)

Well, at least I hope the "show" won't end any time soon. A number of people have been after me to start blogging (hi, Paul, hug Harrison & JuJuBee for me) and a recent article in Leadership Journal on "Pastoring By Blog" finally pushed me over the edge. (The article hasn't been posted there yet, but Leadership Journal has a web presence.)

So, I'm going to start slow. My goal is to post 3 times a week - one post on gaming (naturally!), one post on being a pastor, and one post on something else. (I'm thinking the "something else" topic may well be my attempt to prove I have a life.)

I really have 3 goals for "aka pastor guy":

1. Meta número uno: to sharpen my writing skills. Someday, I'm going to write something besides youth ministry curriculum and an offbeat website about board gaming. Blogging seems like a good way to hone my abilities.
2. Ziel Nr. zwei: to expand my ministry. Over the years, I've discovered that I "pastor" a whole lote more people than are in my congregation. (The e-newsletter I write on an almost weekly basis goes out to over 200 folks.) Blogging is just another way to continue doing what I do in that weekly newsletter.
3. but numéro trois: to have fun. Writing is fun - really. Being a smart aleck is fun. Talking about Jesus is fun. Being a minister is fun - well, most of the time. Sharing that with other folks is fun, too

So, "come inside, come inside"... and enjoy the show.

Oh, yeah - I forgot that I was going to explain the "aka pastor guy" name for the blog. It's not really a terribly great story (not like the time I got kicked out of Disneyland or the time we poured beer on burning bus brakes in Arkansas, but we'll get to those later.)

It's just that when I'm being lazy and don't want to type:

mark jackson

pastor

NewLife Community Church

Easton, CA

I type:

mark jackson

aka pastor guy

So, there you have it.