The Gospel in TV shows

I recently started watching the first season of Lost whilst I run on the ol' treadmill in the basement. I'm not sure why I didn't get into it the when it first aired. I think it must have been on while we were at XStream.

I'm loving it!

Almost every week there's something that connects with me. Jack dealing with his dad saying, "You don't have what it takes." Locke coming to grips with a new set of legs and a new perspective on life, speaking words of life to almost everyone he meets. Charlie's faith-loss of faith-rebirth...

I haven't been into 24, either, but there's a great article by Mark McGuire (no, not that one--a different one) thinking through the similarities between Jack Bauer and Jesus. Read it here.

It's pretty cool to see the tie-ins to the gospel in these shows. I wonder if people see the tie-ins so clearly in me...

Watch out! Jesus might get angry...

Just read this today and ran across the words: he looked around at them in anger.

So Jesus got angry.

I know that he was compassionate, tender, funny, cryptic, thoughtful, wise, obedient, radical, a lover of God and people...and angry.

I struggle with anger from time to time.

Hm...apparently, Jesus did, too. Jesus never sinned, though. I guess that's the difference.

I've never cursed a fig tree and caused it's death, either. That's another difference...

When Christ calls a man, He bids him come and die

I was looking for a quote from Dietrich Bonheoffer (found it) when I ran across Boundless Webzine. Again. Turns out that I had it bookmarked, but never got back to it.

There's a lot of good stuff there. I imagine that I'll spend some time digging around the articles. I am enjoying the mental poke that I'm getting.

My life group was talking last night about giving God space and silence, so that we can hear him speak. Doug Fields has a book out (little book, big price tag, imho), and we're reading it together. The last 2 chapters are worth the price. I got reminded that NOISE gets in the way of me hearing God. Something like this:












That's a trap I fall into so easily. But I am taking steps to steer clear, and trying to build some margins into my life so that I can stay connected to God.

Some Football Thoughts, or Not

This was supposed to be a post full of witty observations about Nick Saban, Bill Cowher, Dwayne Jarrett, and Brett Favre.

I spent some time this morning drafting this, then got the blue screen of death.

I may re-work the post, but until then, be satisfied with this:

A New Year

I've not been the kind of guy to make New Year's Resolutions. I do usually spend some time reviewing the places where we've seen God at work. There have been some "blow-us-out-of-the-water" moments, and some places that were surprisingly disappointing. But if I were pressed, I have a resolution--a change that I want to see in my life.

Since high school, I've wanted to be a pray-er. I remember writing the words

I will be a Man of Prayer

in my journal. I don't think that I've arrived at that place. But this year I will be doing things differently.

Most resolutions die on the vine because good intentions + doing things the same way = no change.

So what am I going to do differently? You'll have to ask me...