Justified worries?

Don't know if any of you have had the chance to see "The Golden Compass" yet. I've been reading with great curiosity all the reviews, especially the reviews from Christian telling other Christians not to see it. I even heard some prominent local pastors speak out against the movie (I wonder if they actually saw it.) I haven't seen it yet and after reading this review am considering it.

I'd love to hear your thoughts on either this review and/or the movie. Is this one of those movies that is a stretch to find a good theological message?









"The Golden Compass" prompted pandemic paranoia among Christians who see the movie as an elaborate vehicle for the atheist message of its writer, Philip Pullman. However, a careful review of the film reveals its attacks are on the abuse of power, not the love of God. The movie casts an unflattering light on the “Magisterium,” a church body that strives to control thought and manipulate free will. By trying to censor the movie because of its anti-Christian overtones, overzealous Christians feed into Pullman’s stereotype.
Pullman is not against Christianity when it's properly executed. Rather, he opposes organized religions that persecute people who do not fall in line with their belief system. He and Christians are on the same side of this fight; they just arrive there from contrasting places. "The Golden Compass" is the least religiously motivated installment in Pullman’s three-part series, "His Dark Materials." Even in the controversial final installment, "The Amber Spyglass," Pullman does not purport to kill the God of Christianity. Instead, it attacks a vindictive and judgmental deity that motivates the persecution of non-followers.Pullman’s stories will not erode the faith of young moviegoers. If anything, they will raise questions that Christian parents should use as an opportunity to solidify their children’s understanding of their faith. God granted free will so that His people would choose to follow Him; eliminating all non-Christian perspectives renders that privilege moot.Christian parents are often reluctant to expose their children to fantastical works of magic and wizardry. But what is the harm in permitting such ventures into the realm of imagination? Will children exchange a life of faith for a life of sorcery? Will they rebel against the church and start jumping off rooftops with broomsticks between their legs? The reason that billions of Christian parents raise their children to believe in Santa Claus and the Easter Bunny is that imagination is a pivotal element of childhood. If parents teach their children the real meaning of the holidays—or the real intent of the church—then neither Santa Claus nor the Golden Compass can do any harm. -Michael Lombardo

Gettin' groovy with the new camera phone

Hoping to make this a nice gift for the annual Bus club Christmas party tomorrow night. Ideally it will end up varnished on a nice piece of wood.

BTW, that's my 1960 Bus in Sepia mode, or whatever it's called.

What a great story

This story speaks for itself, very cool and quite amazing.

Big Wave Session - Maui Hawaii
Outer Spreks,Maui Hawaii3 December 2007
Laird Hamilton rescues companion in 80-foot Hawaii wave
Surfersvillage Global Surf News, 5 December, 2007 : - - WAILUKU, Maui —

Ever in search of the 100-foot wave, extreme surfing star Laird Hamilton came to the aid of a fellow surfer off Maui. Brett Lickle, who was rescued by Hamilton, said of his dramatic rescue "the most intense thing I've been through."
Lickle said Hamilton stripped naked so he could tie his surf trunks into a tourniquet after Lickle suffered a huge gash on his leg in a wipeout on what he said was an 80-foot ocean wave. Lickle, 47, was recovering Wednesday at home in Haiku.
In the incident Monday at a tow-in surf spot called Outer Spreks, Lickle says he was cut by the fin of a board on the Honda AquaTrax watercraft he and Hamilton had used to get to the spot where the waves were breaking. He says he was trying to stay ahead of the monster wave, but it crashed down on him.
Hamilton is among extreme surfers who have pioneered in the riding of superwaves that ordinary surfers don't tackle. He and fellow big-waver Dave Kalama premiered a short film, "All Aboard the Crazy Train," on tow-in surfing in 2005, warning that it wasn't a sport for the inexperienced. Hamilton also was among surfers performing in feature-length films highlighting the sport, "Step Into Liquid" and "Riding Giants."
The outer reef off Spreckelsville is a big challenge for big-wave surfers. "If ever you're going to find a 100-footer, it's there," said Lickle. He and Hamilton had surfed the area in the morning and then returned in the afternoon when the accident occurred. He said only one other tow-in team was on the waves at the time.
Lickle said he was trying to outrun the looming water wall in the watercraft when it caught him. Hamilton was in tow. "I'm in big trouble," he said he told himself. After the wave crashed down on them, he reunited with Hamilton about three quarters of a mile offshore. One fear, Lickle said, was the blood from his wound would attract tiger sharks that hover around the Maui shoreline.
He said that after tying the tourniquet, Hamilton swam "like a bat out of hell" for about a half mile to recover the watercraft. Surfers said ocean conditions on Monday created waves of historic size. "There were the biggest waves that any of us have seen," said Buzzy Kerbox, another Maui big-wave surfer who saw the Outer Spreks waves but chose to taken on another surf spot.

http://www.lairdhamilton.com

Very thankful

We've just passed a big one on the holiday calendar, Thanksgiving. I hope you all had a great day with your family and/or friends.

We managed to eat a great Thanksgiving meal without overstuffing ourselves. A lot of that had to do with the fact that only 3 out of the 7 in the Lauer household really enjoys the traditional Thanksgiving spread. The other 4 are too little to appreciate all that fancy food (compared to say, hot dogs, pizza or a bottle).

It is my prayer that as we enter this holiday season that we'll keep Jesus first as we enjoy all the other craziness that accompanies Christmas.

What are you thankful for this year?

A Chargers win or a Colts loss?

For all you football fans out there who happened to watch the Sunday night Chargers/Colts game, pretty crazy huh? Thanks to the kindness and generosity of a man in our church, I got to go to that game! That was only the second Chargers game I’ve ever been to, and what a great game to pick. I do have to agree with many of the sports writers though that the Chargers didn’t so much win that game as the Colts lost it.

The emotions in the stadium that night were all over the chart. We all went nuts on the opening kick-off touchdown return by Darren Sprouls. We all cringed as our offense continually sputtered and Payton Manning moved his team up and down the field so easy in the second half. And believe me, everyone in that stadium held their collective breath on that final field goal attempt by Adam Vinatieri. From where we were sitting it looked like he made it. It took a few seconds for the noise to make it around the stadium and for us to figure out he missed. At that moment it was pandemonium, a Chargers love-fest with everyone hugging and slapping high-fives. It was a crazy-fun event and my voice is still hoarse today.

One thing we did comment to each other on the way out in the midst of all the happiness, hooting and hollering and “Go Chargers” chants was, “Imagine if even half the people in this stadium were this excited about Jesus.” As Vinatieri was lining up that final field goal and I was preparing for the Chargers to lose, I started to think about what was most important in my life. And I’m telling you, I could easily think of at least two things that were at the top of my list, God and my family. I mentioned in closing at church on Sunday, that even though I’m pretty sure God doesn’t really care about who wins a football game, maybe, just maybe our prayers were answered as the Chargers squeaked out a win. It certainly was a miracle win, a football miracle that is, not a divine miracle.

Movie theology

One of the fun things about watching movies is discovering the theology presented. Sometimes it's intentional, sometimes it's hidden. Sometimes it's confusing, sometimes it's clearly promoting a religion. It seems like the basic theological themes of Christianity often turn up in movies. In fact, I believe that some of the movies that best portray Christian themes of love, grace, forgiveness, sin, evil and goodness are the movies that are not "Christian" movies.

All that to say, I enjoying trying to find good solid Christian theology in movies. It's like discovering a hidden gem. The trick is to not somehow justify a certain movie just because it seems like there is a faint hint of the Christian movie. As this comic reminds us, we shouldn't be getting our main theological training from the movies. That, my friends, needs to come from the Bible. (In order to read this comic, try clicking on it and it should take you to a bigger view.)

The Kingdom

I'm curious to see if anyone else I know saw this movie. The actions scenes were great and fun to watch, just as I had expected. However, I was surprised at the plot and deep thought inducing role this movie took, at least for me.

One thing the move did for me, was allow me to get a glimpse into how war affects everyone, man woman, boy and girl from both sides that are fighting.

I know war is an ugly reality in the history of our world, but sometimes we forget that even the "bad guys" have families too and that death is death and war is war no matter who is fighting.

I know for me, I stopped and prayed at the end of the movie and asked God to forgive us wicked human beings for slaughtering each other in the name of whatever cause or God we are fighting for.