chuckp3

New Blog Feed

2008-10-14T00:28:00.004-04:00

For those of you using a feed reader (Google Reader, NetNewsWire, Bloglines, etc.) you'll need to update the feed to my site. chuckp3.com's feed is now located at http:

//www.chuckp3.com/feed/

For those of you who click a bookmark, or just type in chuckp3.com you don't need to do anything different, just return to www.chuckp3.com

My Blog is Moving!

2008-09-20T00:11:00.002-04:00

I'm switching from to WordPress within the week. Be sure to check back at www.chuckp3.com to make sure your feed is still working. I should be able to continue posting to the same feed, so those of you using a reader should be alright... but just in case check back to make sure.

Talk Like a Pirate Day

2008-09-19T12:47:00.005-04:00

YAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAR matey! Avast me hearties, this be a verrry special day indeed. Today is the best holiday of the yearrrr, International Talk Like a Pirate Day. So dawn yer fanciest skull and crossbones and go scare some scallywags with yer swarthy pirate talk!

For the storrrrry of how this holiday began, rrread this article.

And here be an instructional video for ye scurvy dogs who know not how to speak like a pirate.

Voting for Narratives

2008-09-18T22:40:00.003-04:00

Brian McLaren recently posted his thoughts on voting, saying that the most important thing to him was what kind of a framing story each candidate lived by. In his book Everything Must Change, McLaren talks about the importance of the kind of framing story we live by. There are a few stories that keep popping up in human culture. Here are a few of the stories Brian mentioned when he visited the Bronx this year...

1. Domaination Story - legitimizes the powers that be.
2. Revolution Story - explains the situation for the oppressed and stirs them to revolt.
3. Scapegoating Story - explains the situation by blaming an outside party.
4. Withdrawl Story - justifies non-participation and isolation, rejecting other stories.

He said that in every one of these cases, Jesus offers a different story. For the domination story, Jesus subsitutes the story of humility and serving others. For the revolution story, Jesus subsitutes reconciliation and loving your enemies. For the scapegoating story Jesus subsitutes taking our own sin more seriously than the others. For the withdrawl story Jesus subsitutes incarnational love that isn't afraid to get it's hands dirty.

In Brian's post he suggests that John McCain is still living by an us/them story, much like the story of Domaination and the Scaptegoating story. In contrast Barack Obama is living out of a reconciliation narrative. Interesting thoughts. Check out the post, I think it's one of the most thoughtful endorsements of a candidate I've encountered.

Malawi and Clothes Dumping

2008-09-18T10:32:00.005-04:00

So I've been trying to think how to tackle blogging about my trip to Malawi and it keeps feeling way to big. So I'm just going to start blogging about little things that come to mind rather than wait for the "big profound post from the sky." Because let's be honest, that would mean I just never post about it.

One thing that struck me when we arrived in Malawi was the dress. Perhaps this just reveals my ignorance, but I had expected clothing much like what the Maasai tribe in Kenya wear. Instead the clothing, in both urban areas and out in the villages, was very western. With the exception of some of the women - they would wear long skirts and then wrap them in a layer of fabric called a cha-ten-gee. These pieces of fabric often had very colorful vibrant patterns that would be rare here in America. But aside from that, the clothing was very western.

In fact it's not a strech to say that most of their clothes had been worn by Americans at one point. Apparently most of the thrift-stores where we donate clothes pack it up in bulk and ship it off to other countries for dirt cheap. It's a practice called "clothes dumping" and while some say this offers clothes cheaply to those who are poor I can't help but wonder how it stifles the chance for local entrepreneurs to build a textile industry. The practice of clothes dumping has been outlawed by some countries like Indonesia and the Phillipines because they see it as a threat to local textie business. There's a healthy debate about whether or not clothes dumping is helpful or harmful to poor countries. I can't help but feel a little weird about it though. To think that the clothes I pack up and take to goodwill would end up being sold to someone in Africa is odd to me. I'm not sure how I feel about it. I guess part of me wishes that they had a uniquely African way of dressing and weren't wearing hand-me-down t-shirts with Denver Broncos logos on them (yes, I saw this). I just wonder if what I meant as generosity was twisted into something that makes it harder and harder for a seamstress in Malawi to feed her kids because she can't sell the clothes she makes for less than my used clothes are going for.

I'm not sure. I do think that it would go a long way, if I met the people I gave my used clothes to. This stuff seems to happen when there is some third party or institution mediating our generosity. When we give to the poor, but never meet them stuff like this seems to happen more easily. In his book The Irresistable Revolution, Shane Claiborne says that one of the subtle layers of insulation that separates the rich and the poor is charity. He goes on to say that "we can volunteer in a social program or distribute excess food and clothing through organizations and never have to open up our homes, our beds, our dinner tables." He goes on to say that he's not convinced that when we get to heaven Jesus will say "When I was naked, you donated clothes to the Salvation Army and they clothed me."

So Africa isn't just making me rethink how I love my neighbor all the way across the world, but how I'm called to love my neighbor here in New Jersey.

Mitt Romney's Speech

2008-09-03T23:11:00.010-04:00

So I've been on quite the blogging hiatus lately. I've been traveling quite a bit this summer, to the streets of Philadelphia with some amazing people for a weekend mission, to Kansas City for some youth ministry observation/spiritual retreat and of course to Malawi, Africa. Other than the travel I've tried to take it easy this summer and take some Sabbath before youth group kicks off again this Fall. I know that many of you have been waiting for me to blog about Africa, and believe me that's coming. I want to do it justice and be thoughtful in how I write those posts... so be patient, they're coming.

But that brings me to tonight's post. One thing I inherited from my parents was an intense interest in politics. And despite my intention to abstain from this election, I'm still watching a lot of political coverage and am interested in the race. Last week Kara and I watched Barack Obama's speech at the Democratic National Convention and were very impressed by it. Barack's vision for America is one that seems healthy for the country and fair to "the least of these." The last part of the speech where he spoke about moving beyond the partisan extremisim and towards a shared common purpose was SO GOOD.

And as a political junkie and one who is committed to being fair and non-partisan I tuned in tonight to see Sara Palin and others speak. I thought Huckabee's speech was fair and decent for the most part. Huckabee has been consistent and dependable in not getting into dirty politics and I respect him for it. Romney and Giuliani were another story. I felt like their speeches were the kind of dishonest partisan speeches that are more demonizing the opponent than speaking about what they're for... and I'm so tired of it. I'm tired of it when Democrats do it and I'm tired of it when Republicans do it. Because Romney's speech came first it's the one that I was the most upset with so I thought I'd just vent publicly a bit tonight. I'm including a few of his most troubling quotes and my responses to them here. His speech is in red and is indented.

Click here for the full text of Mitt Romney's speech.

Last week, the Democrats talked about change. But let me ask you - what do you think Washington is right now, liberal or conservative? Is a Supreme Court liberal or conservative that awards Guantanamo terrorists with constitution rights? It's liberal!

The people in Guantanamo Bay are HUMAN BEINGS. Human beings, who like Americans deserve the right to habeas corpus. How can we ever tell if those human beings are terrorists if they are never charged and are never allowed to see the evidence against them? Is Mitt Romney against trying suspected criminals? Does Mitt Romney think you are guilty as long as George W. Bush thinks you're guilty? Does he think that if you aren't born in the United States you should not be "rewarded" with basic human rights?

And I'll say this, YES, it IS liberal to extend all human beings basic human rights. It IS liberal to try suspected criminals instead of capturing people from all over the world and then locking them up indefinitely. Those are liberal principles. Principles the United States was founded on.

Is a Congress liberal or conservative that stops nuclear power plants and offshore drilling, making us more and more dependent on Middle East tyrants? It's liberal!

It seems to me that investing in renewable, green energy is the best way to break the addiction to foreign oil... and OIL in general. I don't see Republicans wanting to break the addiction to oil, just the addiction to oil from other places. Drilling offshore will only bring that oil online in TEN YEARS. It's a commitment to a dying form of energy in a time when we need to be moving towards the future of energy.

Is government spending - excluding inflation - liberal or conservative if it doubles since 1980? It's liberal!

Does spending billions and billions on invading foreign countries factor into government spending? Does spending 50% of the nation's budget on the military factor into government spending? Let's just be honest about the ENTIRE budget. If we weren't spending billions on new ways to kill people we'd have enough to pay teachers more AND lower taxes.

We need change all right - change from a liberal Washington to a conservative Washington! We have a prescription for every American who wants change in Washington - throw out the big government liberals and elect John McCain!

Who has been running all three branches of the government for 6 of the past 8 years? Hmmm, it's conservatives. Now they only have 2 of the 3 branches of government and they're complaining as if they were in exile!

They think we have the biggest and strongest economy in the world because of our government. They're wrong. America is strong because of the ingenuity and entrepreneurship and hard work of the American people.

Straw man argument. I've never heard a Democrat say that, and Mitt Romney is not a mind-reader.

We strengthen our people and our economy when we preserve and promote opportunity. Opportunity is what lets hope become reality.

Yes, when it's promoting opportunity for citizens. We don't need any more "opportunity" for Exxon.

Opportunity expands when there is excellence and choice in education, when taxes are lowered, when every citizen has affordable, portable health insurance, and when constitutional freedoms are preserved.

Constitutional freedoms? Like the ones Bush has trampled on?

Liberals would replace opportunity with dependency on government largesse. They grow government and raise taxes to put more people on Medicaid, to take work requirements out of welfare, and to grow the ranks of those who pay no taxes at all. Dependency is death to initiative, risk-taking and opportunity.

Straw man argument again. Obama has worked on programs moving people from welfare to work.

It's time for the party of big ideas, not the party of Big Brother!

Big Brother? Like wire-tapping? Sounds like Bush to me.

Did you hear any Democrats talk last week about the threat from radical, violent Jihad? Republicans believe that there is good and evil in the world. Ronald Reagan called-out the Evil Empire. George Bush labeled the terror-sponsor states the Axis of Evil.

Democrats talk about "fighting terrorism" but no, they don't use your unhelpful and ever evolving scare-tactic labels. Implying that Democrats don't talk about fighting terrorism just because they don't say "radical violent Jihad" or "extremist militant Islam" or whatever is misleading.

And at Saddleback, after Barack Obama dodged and ducked every direct question, John McCain hit the nail on the head: radical violent Islam is evil, and he will defeat it!

Dodging and ducking every direct question? More like being thoughtful and reflective... and humble. And seriously, John McCain is going to defeat a religious movement? Are you kidding me?

Republicans prefer straight talk to politically correct talk!

Then why does the Defense Department call dead Iraqi civilians "collateral damage?"

To this we are all dedicated and I firmly believe, by the providence of the Almighty, that we will succeed.

President McCain and Vice President Palin will keep America as it has always been - the hope of the world.

In the span of two sentences Romney invokes God and then says that America, this country at this point in time is the "hope of the world." (Which by the way Obama says too) That is just so wrong. The Kingdom of God is the hope of the world, and the Kingdom of God is NOT the United States. When Romney and others say this, they're worshiping themselves.

All this devotion to America and the flag is in effect a way to worship ourselves and worship what we stand for. It's idolatry.

Being a Christian in an Election Year

2008-07-30T10:55:00.001-04:00

It's election year and once again I find myself rethinking what it means to be Christian in the midst of presidential campaign season. But before I get into what I'm currently thinking I'd like to take just a moment to rewind and give you a quick history of me, my faith and presidential elections. I realize it's a short history but nonetheless...

2000
This was the first presidential election I was old enough to vote in. In the primary I was rooting for Dan Quayle and in the general election I voted for George W. Bush. And let me tell you, I voted FOR Bush. It wasn't an ambivalent vote or a "lesser of two evils" vote. I believed in George W. Bush. I thought he was going to be great. I had a big cut out of his head taped down in my CD case along with other pop-culture paraphernalia. While I never saw Al Gore as "unChristian" (he's Baptist) I definitely understood Bush to be the "Christian candidate." This was my freshman year in college and I was still deeply influenced by a fundamentalist understanding of Christianity. As I walked through the halls of the Christian ministry department at my college I saw that one professors had a Clinton/Gore bumper sticker on their door. It shocked me. I had never encountered a Christian who was "pro-Clinton." Another professor had a sign in his office saying "Jesus was a Liberal." At this point in my faith and in my college carreer such moments were logic-defying for me.

2004
My second go-round found me much less optimistic than before. My views on politics had changed drastically thanks to Christians like John Howard Yoder - a Mennonite pacifist, Stanley Hauerwas - a Methodist theologian, Dietrich Bonhoeffer - an underground Lutheran pastor in Nazi Germany... and many others. I no longer had any "hope" in the American government, I was becoming more and more enchanted with God's kingdom and God's restoration of creation and at the same time less and less impressed with the American kingdom and it's attempts at fixing the world by dominating it. During this election the driving issues for me were the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. I shrugged my shoulders and voted for Kerry. I didn't expect Kerry to buy into God's radical plan of change and shalom but he was the "lesser of two evils" from my perspective. So I half-heartedly tossed a vote his way in 2004. Just FYI, Nader wasn't on the ballot in Missouri.

2008
Here we go again, round three. As I've posted before, I don't plan on voting this time. Partly because I was getting really excited about Obama. I kept finding myself really hoping he would become president and bring some fundamental change to our country. It scared me. It was easy to get caught up in the hoopla of Obamania... and lose sight who I really believe will bring fundamental change in the world. Thanks to Obama's subtle shift to the right, I've become much more skeptical of him and am frustrated with enough that I no longer have such temptations. This kind of detached skepticism is where I would want to be as a Christian in the voting process, but at least this year I'm still planning to give away my vote to someone who is voiceless.

More and more I'm beginning to appreciate the political perspective of people like Dr. Martin Luther King. His idea was, don't endorse anybody. Endorsing a candidate just makes it easy for them to count you as a part of their base and then move on and ignore you. Instead, King advocated inviting politicians on both sides to endorse your movement, your platform and to do so all through the campaign and on through their time in office. I think this way guards us from the danger of getting yanked around by parties and also guards us against buying into their agenda as a compromise for the influence we think we have.

Shane Claiborne has a great article about this way of engaging politics as a Christian called "Advise Everyone, Endorse No One." Check it out here. I think Shane's take on it is a healthy blend of King's emphasis on being influential without being co-opted and with a robust skepticism of American politics in light of the Kingdom of God.

Zack Exley over at Revolution in Jesusland recently posted about McLaren and the Matthew 25 Network's endorsement of Obama. While I'm not one to champion Christian groups endorsing (I like Shane's approach better), this is the way to do it if they must.

Good Metaphors for Sin

2008-07-23T22:11:00.007-04:00

Over the years I've encountered several metaphors for sin and how it separates us from God. Here are two common ones.

Sin is a giant chasm that separates us from God.
Sin is a giant wall that separates us from God.

These metaphors are usually accompanied by commentary about how "God can't handle sin," or how "God just can't be in the same room as sin." While I understand the language of separation when talking about sin, I'm finding these metaphors really unhelpful because they limit God, and inevitably make sin the stronger force. I don't think any of us want to say that, but these metaphors imply that. As if to say that sin is something you could use to ward off God, or that sin is God's Kryptonite. I think what we really want to be saying is that sin cannot handle God, or that sin couldn't bear to be in the same room as God, etc.

In light of that, help me to think of some new metaphors that would speak of the separation caused by sin but still have a robust theology of God's dominion. What metaphor would you use?

mepersonally

2008-07-22T22:03:00.004-04:00

This is a rant I've stored up in my heart long enough that it finally had to come out.

What - is - the - deal... with everyone saying "mepersonally?"

We both know you're not a robot, or a gorilla. It's redundant and it just sounds dumb. So I'll confess, if you say it, I'm probably judging you for it.

My Time On the Raft

2008-07-01T18:47:00.007-04:00

(The raft in the middle of the lake, with tent readied for the night. above)

Sunday night at 7:30pm I stepped onto land. For the previous three days I had been residing on a 16'x16' raft with four other friends. Only weeks before our team, who has been praying about and planning for our upcoming trip to Malawi, came up with the idea of doing a big attention-getting fundraiser that would allow our local community to have an impact on and be a blessing to the community of Sakata, Malawi where we will be working.

There are several ways that this money will go directly to the Malawian people to be of assistance. Mosquito nets to help prevent contracting Malaria, building fish ponds for communities to be a sustainable food source as well as a source of income, and building a mission center and repairing a preschool. We were really hoping that we could somehow raise four or five thousand dollars in our efforts. The community's response was mind-blowing! We were so moved by the generosity of passersby, children and people who drove to Allentown just to donate after finding out about our cause from the media. Three kids came up to the booth and emptied their piggy-banks so that kids in Malawi will have a better chance to live. At the time of this post we have raised over $16,000!!!

Life on the raft was, well it was hot. We were fortunate enough to have a large shade canopy above our heads for the duration of our time on the raft. The sun was out for the majority of our time on the lake and we applied copious ammounts of sunscreen in response. We had many many visitors canoe out to us to talk, bring a meal to us, share a meal with us, play some card games or spend some time fishing. We were a floating hospitality barge for the large part of the three days.

But there was plenty of time to enjoy each others company as well. Of the five of us, four are confirmed for the trip to Africa. Our time on the raft together was an invaluable introduction to each other and how our personalities gel. Spending three uninterrupted days together will really tell you a lot about a person, and back on land I have so much more respect and admiration for my teammates. I am humbled by their passion for serving Christ. I am relieved that we are a group that prides itself on laughing at ourselves. I was also moved by a rather deep and controversial discussion we had on the raft about war and following Jesus where teammates with a radically different position than mine were able to have a friendly debate and never for a moment feel as though it would change our friendship or damage how we view each other.

Before the raft I was excited and anxious about going to Malawi and was looking forward to getting to know my teammates a bit better. Now I feel as though these people are family and I am grateful that we will be going on this mission together.

the Happening

2008-06-21T23:02:00.003-04:00

Tonight Kara and I went out to dinner and saw M. Night Shyamalan's new film - the Happening. I've been a big fan of Shyamalan's writing from day one. But I've tended to be drawn towards his less "successful" films. Unbreakable? Awesome! Lady in the Water? Loved it. The Sixth Sense? Yeah, that was alright. For some reason Shyamalan's skill at pulling off the twist ending has been like crack for audiences. They just want more. It's unfortunate, but he has quickly become typecast as the guy who does twist endings. And then he went out and made a wildly intelligent film like Lady in the Water and people were pissed! The same can be said for The Happening, people will not like this film and not because it's not a good film, but because it's not a "good Shyamalan film." Can we just judge him on the quality of his writing and not on whether or not he's still in the tiny box we found him in... 9 years ago!?!

If you take this film for what it is - a modern day paranoia suspense film - you can begin to appreciate it. If you just want to see the Sixth Sense again, then just go watch that film again. In fact, stay home, and keep watching it over and over again and stop going to Shyamalan movies and talking during them about how different they are than the Sixth Sense! Yes, dudes one row behind me, I'm talking to you!

[spoilers ahead!!!] The Happening is a paranoia film. Suspense from something so commonplace, so ordinary that it is inescapable. Ever see a little Hitchcock gem called The Birds? Suspense films don't have to be about insane serial killers, aliens from outer space, or ghosts... some of the most adrenaline inducing suspense films find their villans in the ordinary. And what could be more ordinary, what could be more inescapable than plants!? Or is it the plants? We don't know. Could it be? It seems like it might be. The questions about who or what is causing "the event" are nerve wracking. And then what happens to you once you are "infected" or whatever... you loose your survival instinct. In fact it is reversed! The thought that a chemical in the air could cause you to turn on yourself and willfully find a way to end your own life... now that's terror. And if that chemical came from some kind of a plant... well you'd have a hard time finding a safe place.

Why would plants do that? It's not even possible is it? "Whatever it was, it was some kind of act of nature and we'll never be able to explain it." I love that line. There's no need to explain what and why and how "the event" happened. First, because the characters in the film don't really know. They make some guesses, some hypothesis, but no one really knows. So we are left to wonder ourselves. And sure, in the midst of the suspense we might just stop to think about our impact on the environment. But if I was a little kid and I saw this film... I'd have a new "boogey man" to worry about...

the tree in my back yard...

the grass on my lawn...

the hanging plant in the hallway!!!

Going to Malawi

2008-06-17T15:34:00.005-04:00

Dear Friends and Family,

As some of you know, I will be joining a team from our church on a two-week mission trip to Malawi, Africa to provide assistance to poor and needy people in that country. Our goal is to develop a long-term partnership between the Allentown community (where I am a youth pastor) and a village/community in Malawi, where we would focus on comprehensive, sustainable development in an effort to raise the village out of poverty. I'm reaching out to my friends, family and blog readers to see if you would be willing to help support our efforts.

The Need: Malawi is located in the southeast quadrant of Africa, and is a country of breath-taking beauty, and back-breaking poverty. Malawi is considered to be one of the four poorest countries in the world, with unemployment estimated at 60% or more, nearly half the population surviving on less than $1/day, and more than 65% of the population living below the poverty line. The statistics about medical conditions are hard to fathom: the average life expectancy in Malawi is less than 40 years old, more than 13% of the children do not make it to the age of 5, and with HIV/AIDS rampant, there are a staggering number of orphans and child-led households. Throughout Africa, 3,000 people die from malaria every day (one every 30 seconds). These severe medical issues combined with the malnutrition and food insecurity caused by the severe economic conditions make it extremely difficult for Malawians to pull themselves out of poverty on their own.

Our Vision: As I mentioned, our vision is to partner with and adopt a village in Malawi and provide broad-based assistance designed to enable the village to lift itself out of poverty. We will be partnering with the Development Office of the Presbyterian Church in Malawi, and with them have identified a rural village an hour outside of the city of Blantyre, near the town of Zomba, which is currently not receiving outside assistance. Our intentions are to provide a variety of forms of aid, including (1) constructing a simple building as a mission center that will serve a preschool/feeding center for the youngest and most vulnerable orphans in the community and a training center for agricultural and other programs to enhance the food supply for the village; (2) purchasing and distributing mosquito nets to help prevent the spread of malaria, which is especially prevalent in the region; (3) providing funding for fertilizer and seed to enhance next year’s harvest, (4) purchasing needed materials and supplies for orphanages and the preschool; and (5) establishing programs for providing sustainable sources of food, such as the construction of fish ponds and providing livestock that will reproduce.

How You Can Help: I've agreed to the crazy idea of joining a couple of other members of the team in spending up to 72 hours on a raft in the middle of the Allentown Lake, as a way to raise awareness of and interest in the plight of those we seek to help. We are asking people to support our efforts by making a pledge to sponsor our time on the raft. Each of us has agreed to spend an hour on the raft for every $10 we individually raise, up to 72 hours. So, if I'm able to raise $720 or more, I will have to spend the full 72 hours on the raft. 100% of the funds raised will go directly to providing assistance to the people of Malawi. We have a competition amongst ourselves to see who can raise the most pledges (and thus be stuck on the raft for the longest!). The following gives you an idea of what your pledge would buy:

Item/Cost

Buy mosquito net/$10
Stock pond with fish to support 1 family/$10
Stock pond with fish to support 5 families/$50
Construct 20m x 10m fish pond/$200
Materials needed to build mission center/$4,000

If you feel moved to sponsor some of my time on the raft and make a pledge, or otherwise support our efforts, please let me know -- we will be launching the raft on the evening of Thursday, June 26. You can either give me the funds or a check (made out to "Allentown Presbyterian Church" with the notation "Africa mission" in the memo section) directly to me, or you can send it to me at home (101 Farber Rd 7B, Princeton, NJ 08540). I've never used the blog as a format to raise money before, but doing whatever I can to help our brothers and sisters in Malawi is something that I feel very passionate about. Any support you can provide -- even if it's only your thoughts and prayers for a safe and fruitful trip -- will be greatly appreciated. If you have any questions or want to learn more about our vision, please don't hesitate to ask.

For a peek into life in Malawi, be sure to check out the blog where our pastor and his family have been writing about their experiences during their year in Malawi at apcmalawi.blogspot.com.

Sincerely yours,

Charlie Lyons-Pardue

Plagiarism and Fox News

2008-06-16T23:50:00.000-04:00

Thank you Jon Stewart for this gem. And thank you Fox News for keeping the Daily Show supplied with plenty of comedy. Do they even know the meaning of plagiarism?

Smart ForTwo

2008-06-16T22:50:00.000-04:00

Smart ForTwo
Originally uploaded by Hawk Eyes

Oh how I would love to have one of these babies!

The Incredible Hulk

2008-06-15T22:05:00.004-04:00

I went and saw The Incredible Hulk tonight while Kara was at Starbucks studying. For my birthday she gave me two gift cards to my two favorite movie theaters loaded to the gills. So I've been able to indulge my summer movie cravings to my heart's content.

Even though I never followed the Hulk comics, I'm usually game for a comic book film. I felt like I was one of the few people who appreciated Ang Lee's attempt to bring the Hulkster to life on screen back in 2003. That one was so roundly disappointing to so many people I was surprised to see that they gave it another try. As it turns out, this is part of Marvel's coming out party. They have started their own studio and aren't relying on other producers to make their films anymore, and the first two films coming from Marvel Studios - Iron Man and Hulk. So think of this as Hulk (re)boot. Scratch Ang Lee's film and let's start again.

Normally this would have put me off a bit, with the whole "let's try again" mentality. I probably would have caught Hulk on DVD if it weren't for Ed Norton. Now, there's a casting job to pique my interest. Then add to that the supposed feud between Norton and Marvel over how the film should be cut and I was hooked.

I've gotta say, I was impressed. This Hulk brought so much more of the raw power and fury to bear in its action scenes. The tender hearted moments are all done by Norton and not by the CGI Hulk (good move). It was a rip-roaring summer action flick. But it makes me wonder, what did they cut that Norton thought would have made it a better film? Will there be an Ed Norton Special Edition of the DVD?

Iron Man

2008-06-12T15:40:00.000-04:00

I went out with one of the students from our church the other day to see Iron Man. I'd heard some great reviews and the buzz surrounding Iron Man was huge. Even with all the hype, Iron Man surpassed my expectations. I was pretty unfamiliar with the story line and had only recently overheard the "origin story" where Tony Stark, über-wealthy arms dealer, is captured by the enemies of America and is able to escape by building himself a robotic suit of armor. Fast-forward to 2008, update the enemies (Viet-cong to Afghani Terrorists) and we have today's Iron Man.

[spoilers ahead] I really enjoyed Robert Downey Jr.'s performance as the self-centered billionaire, Tony Stark. He brought the kind of "rough around the edges" persona needed for this character. It also makes Stark's conversion seem believable. And speaking of conversion, I was really surprised at some of the territory this film covered. There was a healthy dose of critique for the arms industry and Iron Man wasn't afraid to portray the United States for what we are, the largest and most indiscriminate arms dealer in the world. Stark learns this when he finds that his Afghani terrorist captors are using weapons that came from his own company. While it may be public knowledge that the United States armed both al Queda and Iraq... oh, and Iran, we don't often see that in the plot line of a blockbuster summer action flick. So to the writers with the gravitas to pull that one off... bravo.

Stark comes back from his captivity and has an incredible change of heart. As the president of the largest Arms Manufacturer in the world (Stark Industries), he holds a press conference and announces that Stark Industries will no longer be making weapons. The stock takes a 50 point nose dive and people begin to speculate if he is insane. Could you imagine if Lockheed Martin did something similar? Wow. Tony tries to steer the company towards more humanitarian pursuits while he begins to build the REAL version of his robotic suit of armor that got him out of Afghanistan. Don't get me wrong, this isn't a preachy Amnesty International film disguised as a superhero movie. It is still an action packed two-hours of eye candy... with a heart.

1 Year Anniversary

2008-06-12T12:25:00.002-04:00

Last week Kara and I celebrated our first anniversary. A lot has changed in the past year - I have a new roommate, live in a new state, finished seminary, found a great church and my first full-time job but most of all I'm now a husband. Being married has been great and I can't think of a better year of my life than the last. I love you Kara, here's to you being the love of my life and to many more years of happiness together.

Red Wings win 4th Cup in 11 Seasons

2008-06-05T10:44:00.005-04:00

Last night the Red Wings won the Stanley Cup! It was a great season and an even better playoff run. The Penguins lived up to their reputation as a solid defensive team with some amazing offensive players. After the first two games the Pens seemed to settle down and they became much more formidable. Marc-Andre Fleury was amazing during the series but just had to face so many shots that those goals were inevitable. Osgood's homecoming and second cup as the starting goalie was a great addition to this fourth Stanley Cup since I've been a Wing's fan.

The Wings are In!

2008-05-20T15:23:00.004-04:00

The last time the Red Wings were in the Stanley Cup Finals I was on a trip to Clovis, New Mexico watching my friend Rusty Brian get married and then I was on a plane to Mission Springs campground in Santa Cruz, CA where I was spending the summer as a High School camp counselor. I didn't see a single game of their 2002 Stanley Cup victory over Carolina. It's been a long 6 years. I know, when I... a Red Wings fan say "it's been a long 6 years" those of you from Chicago will cringe, thinking it's kinda like a Florida Marlins fan saying it's been a "long time" since they won the World Series. Hey sometimes it just stinks to be from Chicago (Blackhawks - 46 year Cup drought; Bears - 23 year SB drought; Cubs - 100 year WS drought). That being said... for a kid who became a Red Wings fan back in 1995, it's been a long time since we've been in the Stanley Cup. And this time, I'm not missing a game!

Movie Meme

2008-05-14T12:08:00.005-04:00

I saw this over at Wil's blog and couldn't resist doing it myself.

My movie meme

1. One movie that made you laugh
The Big Lebowski

2. One movie that made you cry
Field of Dreams.

3. One movie you loved when you were a child
The Empire Strikes Back

4. One movie you’ve seen more than once
Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade

5. One movie you loved, but were embarrassed to admit it
Bad Boys 2

6. One movie you hated
Open Water

7. One movie that scared you
The Descent

8. One movie that bored you
Doomsday

9. One movie that made you happy
The Goonies

10. One movie that made you miserable
Who Killed the Electric Car?

11. One movie you weren’t brave enough to see
Those sick torture movies that are popular now... Hostel, Saw, etc.

12. One movie character you’ve fallen in love with
Samwise Gamgee

13. The last movie you saw
Cloverfield

14. The next movie you hope to see
Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull

15. Your favorite movie
Donnie Darko (Directors Cut)... or Pan's Labyrinth

Cloverfield

2008-05-13T00:02:00.004-04:00

I had hoped to see Cloverfield in the theater back in January when it first came out but never got around to it. So while I was in Blockbuster the other day looking for another film I was using in a message at youth group I picked it up. I can't remember where, but I had been hearing some discouraging things about Cloverfield since it came out. Regardless of what people had been saying I was going to give it a shot, not the least bit because J.J. Abrams was involved in the project.

I loved it. And in retrospect I'm actually glad I had heard some negative reviews because I saw it without it having been over-hyped. To grossly oversimplify, Cloverfield is somewhere between Blair Witch and Godzilla. Some kind of creatures begin to attack Manhattan but we see everything from the point of view of a hand-held camcorder manned by one of the main characters. To paraphrase the filmmakers, there's this huge disaster happening on an enormous scale but we're looking at it through a soda straw. While the camera work made some moviegoers sick... literally, I found that it drew me right into a familiar (and by now, predictably boring) storyline - the disaster movie. The creative perspective given to this storyline in effect redefined the boundaries of a disaster movie and the result is anything but campy.

[spoilers ahead] Cloverfield just entirely abandons many of the staples of the disaster film. We don't get to sit in on any high-level military meetings on how to kill off the monsters. We don't get to see the the monsters arrive and brush by unsuspecting people before it all hits the fan, we don't really even see the "end" of the whole drama. Instead we simply get the hand-held camera view of what happens to 4 friends in the midst of this whole disaster. We know as much as they know. We are as in the dark as they are. There is no third person narrative, we experience the entire film from the first person point of view. As a horror technique I found this extremely effective because the anxiety that accompanies ignorance is so much greater than the fear from a well framed close up of some really well done digital creature. For much of the film we are really very ignorant of what is really happening. There is the tidbit of info from the random solider, but for the most part we walk through the film in the dark with the main characters.

The opening credits set the premise that the film we are watching isn't a film, it's just a tape that was found in the wreckage. There's no editing, there's no commentary, we're just going to watch what was on this tape. This would seem like it would significantly limit the ability to do any character development or deeper storytelling. However the filmmakers used the "this is just a tape" premise to their advantage in a move of brilliance. We find out pretty early on in the film that our videographer, Hud, didn't use a new tape, but he's taping over a pretty special video his best friend and our protagonist, Rob, had taken of a day he spent with longtime friend, Lily, who for that one day, became something more. Lily is trapped in an apartment and Rob, against all common sense is going in after her. We are able to get a little backstory and character development from some of the gaps between Hud's filming where the original tape isn't recorded over. Genius.

Nazbo Rap 2

2008-04-25T15:48:00.002-04:00

Nazbo pride. Love the video.
(Also love how everyone from the West Coast thinks that Kansas City is in Kansas and not Missouri.)

Chris Osgood... memories.

2008-04-24T23:43:00.001-04:00

Osgood was great tonight in net for the Wings. So in his honor I think it's time for some good old Avs/Wings nostalgia.

Brian McLaren visits Princeton

2008-04-16T01:01:00.005-04:00

Brian McLaren was in town last night speaking about his new book Everything Must Change: Jesus, Global Crises, and a Revolution of Hope. It was an excellent presentation, one of those "big idea" kinds of presentations that just build and build. I thought he did a great job of packing all of these concepts into a 1 1/2 hour presentation. While I felt like I was keeping up with him, tracking with where he was going, I still left with my head spinning. There was just so much that he covered and the implications are innumerable.

Later in the evening Brian joined us at the Princeton Emergent Cohort and we were also joined by the North Jersey Emergent Cohort. We packed 20+ people into a small corner of the Yankee Doodle Tap Room. It was a great time of informal conversation and we picked Brian's brain about Narrative Theology, Stanley Hauerwas, Radical Orthodoxy, global economies and local economic practices, Wendell Barry, Plato, eschatology, N.T. Wright, Andrew Perriman, terrorism, the presidential election, pastoral care, dealing with conflict in the local church and the writing process. It was a great conversation with a great thinker.

I've loved all of Brian's books that I've read so far but I had Everything Must Change on the backburner. No more. After last night I want to dig deeper into what Brian's getting at in this book because I think it's going to be incredibly important for the church as we quit playing "intramural games" as he put it, and start addressing how the Gospel frames and narrates our lives in such a way that we are sent into the world in a posture of serving, reconciling, compassion and healing.

If this stuff excites you like it does me, be sure to check out the Deep Shift tour. Brian will be in the Bronx May 2-3rd. If you can't make it to the tour be sure to check out everythingmustchange.org where people are contributing and dreaming of ways to change the world one act at a time.

Sex God

2008-04-11T14:15:00.006-04:00

As I've been preparing for an upcoming series on sexuality in our High School ministry I've been trying to read some fresh stuff that engages sexuality from a theological point of view with special attention towards discipleship. I've been pretty underwhelmed by so much of the church's teaching on sexuality for so long. I've used curriculum that I felt went straight for the "what's over the line" question and felt schizophrenic in it's mixture of guilt and affirmation of sex. As I teach on sex I wanted to really do an excellent job of engaging sexuality, theology and discipleship this time around. So two books immediately hit the top of my "must read" list. 1. Rob Bell's Sex God and 2. Lauren F. Winner's Real Sex. I've heard Winner speak on the topic of chastity in a break out session at Youth Specialties this past year and she was great.

I'm really glad I took the time to read Bell's book before engaging this subject with the youth at our church. Bell's style of writing is so conversational that it belies the deep theological work he's doing in this book. Bell's catch phrase quickly becomes "this is really about that." And over and over again he makes connections between sexuality and spirituality and about how "this" is really all about "that." Bell's definition of sexuality alone was extremely helpful.

"For many, sexuality is simply what happens between two people involving physical pleasure. But that's only a small percentage of what sexuality is. Our sexuality is all of the ways we strive to reconnect with our world, with each other, and with God (42)."

Hmm, sexuality is all the ways we try to reconnect? That means that even the celibate can practice and express their sexuality. And on the very next page Bell makes this point saying,

"Some of the most sexual people I know are celibate.

They sleep alone.

They have chosen to give themselves to lots of people, to serve and give and connect their lives with beautiful and worthy causes (43)."

Bell takes this understanding of sexuality to deconstruct our culture's definition of sexuality. Some of the most overt expressions of "sexuality" in our world are the exact opposite of real sexuality. To illustrate this Bell describes the infamous "Red Light District" in Amsterdam where women sit in store front windows advertising themselves for prostitution. The transaction that happens between a man who goes to one of these prostitutes and the woman herself is just that, a transaction. Physical sex happens, but there is no reconnection. Indeed this kind of sex only serves to further divide and isolate the two parties. The man uses the woman for his own physical gratification and the woman falls deeper into the darkness of her situation. This is the exact opposite of two human beings reconnecting, and we still call it sex.

Bell's treatment of pre-marital sex is good. As far as I remember he never even used the term "pre-marital sex." Instead Bell contrasts "taking your clothes off" and "getting naked." Anyone can take their clothes off and have sex, but in the end this is not true reconnection. Real reconnection happens in physical sex when both parties can be naked with one another. Being naked is about way more than taking off clothes, it's about trust, it's about security, it's about accepting the other person with all their faults and still loving them. It's about being willing to die for the other person and the promise to remain faithful. Getting naked requires the commitment of marriage, the commitment to serve one another as Christ did the church. As always, "this" is really about "that."

I could go on and on... needless to say, I thought it was a great book.