May 2013
3 posts
The Olympic Plazas and Futility
I have been reading the book of Ecclesiastes lately about the futility of everything we do under the sun without Christ and this article reminded me of that.
There are millions of people who love the Olympics. Some train their whole lives to get there. Then years pass and what is left? Not much.
What good (in the long term) is a godless life?
...
Gatsby on the Big Screen
Anyone else confused about what to think about the new Gatsby movie? I’m a fan of F. Scott Fitzgerald’s writing for sure. Can the movie top a book as well written as that?
Also, I’ve been considering the themes of the novel lately. Can I really go out and support a film that’s about a man trying to steal another man’s wife?
I know it’s not healthy to watch...
5 tags
Nahum and Advance Warning
Don’t you just love the book of Nahum?
Chances are that if you’ve ever heard of Nahum, you don’t know anything about it. If you do remember a few nuggets, they’re probably not anything good. Nahum is the book that contains gems like:
“There is no relief for your breakdown, your wound is incurable.” (3:19)
“And I will lift up your skirts over your face,...
April 2013
3 posts
Biblical vs. The Bible
There is an interesting term floating around out there: “biblical”. Have you heard it? I hear it all of the time in sermons and read it in books. It’s a buzz word right now, and it’s used to justify a lot of stuff.
Listen for it in conversations with your Christian friends, or on radio talk shows. You’ll hear it.
So, what’s my beef with it?
Glad you asked.
Like a lot of trendy words out there...
5 tags
What is the Purpose of Church Membership?
I am not a “member” of my church.
I teach Sunday school, help at AWANA, and attend every week. I regularly pray for our pastors, the staff, and people who come to our Bible study.
But I am not a member.
The topic has been coming up a lot lately, so I have been polling friends to find out if they are members of their churches and why. Here is what Ron wrote on my Facebook page when I...
March 2013
7 posts
3 tags
What is the Purpose of Church Membership?
I’d love to know what you all think about membership in the modern Church. By church membership I am referring to the class, meeting with the elders, etc that many churches use with people new to the congregation. Is the process necessary? Why does it exist? Are you a member of your local church?
What do you think?
5 tags
Life Is Messy: Steps to Make Ministry Easier
Ministry is messy. It often means getting involved in the lives of others. And it doesn’t take too long to realize that most people out there have real problems.
We love to relate the fact that Jesus spent a lot of time with sinners, but do we do it ourselves?
Some of my recent experiences have disrupted my “perfect world”. God may open the doors for you to speak into...
3 tags
Market to Me: What Marketing Says About Christians
I just saw an advertisement for the American Bible Challenge. If you haven’t seen the program, it’s a gameshow where contestants are asked questions from the Bible. It’s a fun, though somewhat slow, program. It’s actually kind of interesting to quiz yourself and see how much you know.
What caught my eye is that the advertisement sold the show as being the best...
What a Week on Your Back Will Get You
Well… I’m getting old.
I’ve been laying on my back for the last 5 days because my back went out. No good. I went right from a job interview to the library to prepare for the new job. While I was there the pain crept in and I almost couldn’t walk home.
Then the walking stopped entirely.
But the good news is that I am well rested and have gotten to know my chiropractor...
1 tag
Prayer Meeting Recap
Last night was one of the top events of the year.
Here’s the order of events:
15 minutes: Discussion about how we can prepare ourselves for revival. The answer: repentance.
45 minutes: Prayer as a group
45 minutes: Prayer as individuals (we had a bunch of rooms open so people could be alone)
15 minutes: Discussion
45 minutes: Prayer in groups of 2-3
45 minutes: Prayer walk
The most...
2 tags
Prayer Group Meeting Tonight
In my last post I talked about how revival is going to cost us something.
And it will.
And it has.
Tonight we’re praying. We’ve organized a rag-tag group of people from as many churches as I know of in town and we’re going to pray for revival, first in ourselves, then in our town and nation.
It’s a big step. Our church has a weekly prayer meeting, but it meets just as...
February 2013
4 posts
Revival Will Cost Me Something
2 Samuel 24:18 is an amazing story that I’ll bet you’ve never heard before, but it’s one of my favorites. For reasons that we don’t have time to get into, King David wants to acquire a plot of land to dedicate it to The Lord. The man who owns the land wants to give it to David for free, but David refuses. He could take it. He is the king! But David says one of my favorite...
Genesis Contest
I just entered my first novel into the ACFW Genesis contest. If all goes well it will get in front of some very important eyes. Lord, bless this manuscript…
Where are the Wounded?
I went on a mens retreat this last weekend and one of the speakers posed and interesting question: where are the wounded in our churches?
You see, we try so hard to look all clean and tidy at church and we forget that Christ called us to die to ourselves. Not cover up our sins, not be “holier than thou”, but to die to ourselves. Since we do such a good job of looking good, we often...
Moral Dilemmas
I tell you this to to toot my own horn, but to illustrate a point:
Today I had two different confrontations with the truth. At one moment I had to decide between helping a friend or costing my employer. At the other I was being asked to go against my standards because someone was nice to me (for two weeks out of a year of trouble).
Here is the rub, gang. Are we going to do what is right all...
January 2013
10 posts
3 tags
Big Questions: The Slide
I asked my readers what you think the most pressing issues are in Christianity and Alice responded. Her post boils down to two questions:
1) What can we do to slow the slide towards accepting sins in the church? 2) Do we need to change the way we preach from the pulpit by using cuss words, etc?
Lets answer the first question by way of another: will we change the Bible to fit our views, or will...
5 tags
Big Questions: The "Little" Things We Ignore
I recently asked for your thoughts on big questions facing Christianity. While I wait for the emails to flood in, I’ll offer one of my own:
In what ways are we ignoring God’s blessings by turning a blind eye to “small” things in His Word?
For example: The Bible says that it is a gift to be single. But we push marriage hard in the church. I have been to churches where they...
Money Where My Mouth Is
Sitting at my computer, working and re-working this novel, I have asked myself if I would buy a book like mine. Certainly I would get it from the library. Absolutely. But in a culture where so much is available for free, am I willing to spend money to support arts that I like?
It’s a big question. If you’re just looking at my buying history the answer is no. I don’t support...
Questions: The Big Questions
Your turn! What are the big questions facing Christianity these days, and how should we address them?
1 tag
Do You Need a College Degree?
The short answer: yes (in my opinion).
The long answer: maybe.
I just came across an interesting article by Adam Davidson of the Planet Money podcast discussing whether or not a college degree is important in this job market. He argues that to get a good job you need some kind of special skill to put you above the rest.
I think he has a point. The last full-time job I had (I’ve taken a...
3 tags
Can We Learn from the Christian Science Monitor?
Think about it: when was the last time you heard a reference to the Christian Science Monitor in a secular news article? If you are a news hound, chances are it was pretty recently.
Which raises an interesting question: why do we go to a newspaper with a particular religious worldview for news?
Here’s what I see: an need being filled. With newsrooms cutting reporters there is a massive...
3 tags
Hobby Lobby and Healthcare
There is a petition going around asking the government to reconsider its stance forcing employers to provide coverage for abortion-causing drugs. Hobby Lobby is at the forefront of this debate.
In effort to sound “not crazy” I won’t go into this much. But I do feel strongly that companies should have the right to choose not to go against their moral beliefs. This is especially...
3 tags
Poverty Pitfalls #2 - A Bank Account
A sign that you are ready to work towards financial freedom: a bank account. This may seem like something silly, but a bank account means you have a place to save your money. For a lot of us it is harder to spend money that is not physically in our hands. I know that when I have cash in my wallet I am more likely to spend.
Here is another big tip: start early. Get your kids a savings account and...
December 2012
9 posts
Poverty Pitfalls #1 - Unnecessary Bills
When you get into issues of poverty it is easy to step on toes. Let me preface by saying that I have earned close to the poverty line my entire working life. If not for the grace of God and some solid budgeting I would really be in some serious debt. But it has come to my attention that a good many people I know do not know how to manage their money. So I thought (with your help) we might put...
2 tags
Christmas Joke
A guy walks into a diner and orders eggs benedict served on a hubcap.
“A hubcap?” asks the waitress in shock. “Why a hubcap?”
To which he replied in song, “there’s no plate like chrome for the hollandaise.”
You’re welcome.
1 tag
2 tags
Nobody Can Be There All the Time
Sometimes its the simple revelations that make the biggest impact.
When I used to volunteer with high schoolers (I have since switched to AWANA age), especially those with emotional needs, I became aware of this desire the teens had for someone to be on-call. 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. As a mentor I really wanted to be that person for them. I thought that if I could do that then it would stop...
To Those Who Stay in One Place
In our culture it is often the person who travels who gets all of the praise. Those who go on missions trips, those who see the world… but what about the person who stays in one place and does the work on the ground?
I want to take a moment to tip my hat to the folks who are brave enough to stay put. Any more, ministry is done not in short bursts but in long, hard, steady stability. We all...
3 tags
The Testament of Mary and Possible Danger in...
Note to the future: “The Testament of Mary” is fiction. You have been warned.
There is no doubt that humans are creative people. We learn something and we want to take it and make something else out of it. Who hasn’t dreamed of writing a time travel story or Indiana Jones rip-off?
The same goes for works of religious nature. Folks like myself try to incorporate our faith in our...
3 tags
A Sane Person and the Mark of the Beast
I just want to speak to the non-Christians out there for a moment. I come with respect and understanding. I can see where you’re coming from. I ask you to do the same thing for me, a Bible-believing Christian.
Two thousand years ago there was a prophesy that said it would be required for all people to get a mark on their hands or foreheads. If people don’t get it, there are serious...
5 tags
Mayor Booker's Food Challenge
Cory Booker, the mayor of Newark, New Jersey has taken up the challenge. This week he is living off of $4 a day for food, which is the average amount that food stamp recipients get in New Jersey. First of all, let me express my thanks to people like Booker for caring about the needs of others.
Second, I should say that I have been living on less than that for years.
It is actually pretty easy...
November 2012
7 posts
1 tag
99% Invisible: Episode 66- Kowloon Walled City →
I have not mentioned it before, but this 99% Invisible is one of the best podcasts out there. Back when we did our podcast we really tried to be this good. Really. We tried. But producer Roman Mars is just on fire with this series.
This episode is really cool because it takes an oddity in the human world (Kowloon) and makes it real for us. Oh yeah.
Enjoy!
-Chris
99percentinvisible:
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Is There A Good Time to Talk About the End Times?
In our small group we have been covering the book of Daniel through most of the summer up until now. Tomorrow morning I hope to speak about Daniel 12, the final chapter in our really long study. It has raised a lot of interesting questions in my mind over these past few months. One of them is, “is there ever a good time to talk about the end times?”
My buddy sent me a video today...
1 tag
Playing With My Own Money
When we were still actively making movies (I got sidetracked by my novels), we were sometimes challenged by other filmmakers to get investors on our projects. More investors meant more money which, presumably, would make the movies better.
And we did start out trying to get investors. Bringing up Bobby and Between the Walls were mostly funded by the life savings of two guys in their early...
5 tags
The Real Reason Jesus Spoke in Parables?
It is hip to speak in parables. Totally trendy! So many folks I have talked to over the years want to write books and make movies that speak to people in parables. The goal is usually to get across some greater truth. The logic goes that maybe, by hinting at the gospel, people will come to it. A kernel of truth will call them to the Truth.
But is that why Jesus Himself talked in parables?
...
Parable Pole
Quick question: what do you think was the purpose of Jesus’ parables? What was His goal in using stories?
October 2012
8 posts
4 tags
How Will We Respond to Criticism?
I am currently engaged in reading Salman Rushdie’s autobiographical Joseph Anton. Rushdie was forced to go into hiding after one of this books sparked a great deal of controversy in the Middle East. His book had many parallels to Islam and Mohammad, though it was not directly about either of those things.
In response to his writing (and due to a bunch of politics where Iran needed a...
dascyik asked: Pertaining to your post intended to "spark conversation" are you aware of the theory of natural selection? Where evolution isn't necessarily an organism "developing" some mutation to accommodate it surroundings, but more of a " if you don't got the right genes producing the needed traits, you dead. And if you dead you can't procreate. And the ones that do...
7 tags
Disease as Evolution: The Ethics of Medical Aid
Okay… I’m just trying to spark conversation.
Eventually I would like to write a novel that poses this question: if a person really believes in evolution, is there any justification in seeking medical treatment? Allow me to explain.
If you track with the theory of evolution, you would believe that every living thing on Earth came from one source. We all mutated away from that one...
2 tags
ACFW recap -- The Big Conference
I have been called “cheap” before. Sometimes I stand in the canned food aisle and stare at cans of pineapple and put them back because I am not sure that pineapple fits in my budget.
So when It came to signing up for the American Christian Fiction Writers Conference AND flying all the way to Dallas, I was hesitant to go. But boy am I glad that I did.
As you may know, I am in...
4 tags
Will We Learn from Our TV Mistakes?
I was a big fan of House. The Fox TV show was a medical mystery show that always ended with Dr. House coming up with some wacky medical issue in order to explain a bunch of (seemingly) unrelated symptoms. Most folks I know who were into the show watched it to see what Dr. House would do next. I watched it for its morality tales.
House, at its core, explored a lot of deep theological, moral, and...
4 tags
Voting and Other Great Tools
I went to my very first city council/mayoral debate tonight. I think the that means I get my concerned voter stamp of approval.
Yes, ma’am.
Now I will not get into the specifics of our particular debate, but I will say what an honor it is to live in a country where people can still go to these debates and not feel threatened or forced to vote one way or the other.
I went to this debate...
3 tags
Reflections on Bringing up Bobby
While we didn’t get rich (we would have made more money working at Taco Bell), Bringing up Bobby, to me, is a success story. Now that the movie is streaming on Netflix, I have had the opportunity to reflect on how far this film has gone.
In the process of making the films we had a lot of people encourage us to stop making explicitly evangelistic films and go for clean, moral driven projects. Yes,...
