What I'm Reading

I've got way too many reading projects going on right now (thanks to my Kindle), but they're all good. For enrichment as a church leader I'm reading Leading Change by John Kotter and Made To Stick by the Heath brothers. For personal devotions I'm reading through the Bible using the NIV One Year Bible, along with a daily reading from Sarah Young's Jesus Calling (and if you've never heard of that, it's not just for women and it ministers well to the soul).

For ministry enrichment I'm into David Platt's popular book Radical. A friend and I are working through John Frame's Salvation Belongs to the Lord. And for pure pleasure I'm reading Growing Up Amish by Ira Wagler and Stephen King's 11/22/63.

Speaking of that last book, I've never read anything by Stephen King. You'd normally think of him as a writer of horror stories, and I'm not particularly into horror stories. But 11/22/63 is not a horror story (at least not yet). Here's a synopsis: A high school teacher stumbles upon a "doorway" into the past and returns to 1958. He wants to find Lee Harvey Oswald, kill him before he has a chance to assassinate JFK, and change history for the better. But as you might guess, he runs into all sorts of surprises along the way that make his mission difficult. I'm only about a third of the way into the book and it runs nearly 850 pages. So don't tell me what happens.

Blue Like Jazz

Soon after Donald Miller's book, Blue Like Jazz, came out in '03 or whenever it was, I read it and was captured by its honesty, humor, and gutsy message to Christians. Miller is a great writer and one of the funniest storytellers around.

Then a couple years ago I heard the book was going to be turned into a movie. That made absolutely no sense. How could a random collection of essays and reflections become a movie with any kind of plot? Well, the movie was just released and I saw it today. I wish I could recommend it as heartily as the book, but I can't. In the words of Randy Jackson, it was just alright for me.

It's an indie, low-budget movie, so I wasn't expecting a big Hollywood production. But the humor and creativity of the book just doesn't come through. In fact I suggest you not compare the movie to the book, and you'll probably like it better than I. Some of the same people (Don, the Pope, Penny, etc.) and the same place (Reed College) are there, along with the same bits of commentary on Christian smugness and self-righteousness. But IMHO the real Donald Miller's heart does not show up. On that score it was rather disappointing. The one scene that came close was at the end, when "Don" sits as Pope in the confessional booth and confesses his own sins. In the book, that's what an entire Portland church does at an outdoor Reed College festival. Church members take turns manning the confessional and asking people for forgiveness for the sins of Christians. (I want UPC to do that one of these days.)

On a personal level, I especially wanted to see Blue Like Jazz because I know the woman represented by the Penny character. Her real name is Penny, and she and I were in the same small group at a workshop I attended in 2009 at Seattle's Mars Hill Graduate School (now the Seattle School of Theology & Psychology). At the time I didn't know she was a friend of Donald Miller or the inspiration behind his spiritual breakthrough at Reed College. But she's a delightful person and every bit as compassionate and courageous as she is portrayed in the movie.

Even though I'm not crazy about the movie, it says things we in the church need to hear. The early scene where a pastor gives a stupid children's sermon while Don (wearing the "armor of God") splits open a cross-shaped pinata with the "sword of the Spirit" is very sad - because all too suggestive of the me-centered philosophy that drives many churches today. Also, the movie brings out how ill-equipped and unwilling most Christians are to take the gospel to places where it is unwelcome. Don's disappointment with the church is, unfortunately, something that is shared by countless young people today. I appreciated the positive portrayal of not only Penny but a Catholic priest and a Christian apologist, both of whom stay true to their convictions while being people of compassion.

So all in all, I find myself agreeing with the opinion of a Christianity Today reviewer, who writes:

"...the entire film builds toward a spiritual epiphany that is anything but satisfying. Christian moviegoers will find much to challenge them, to be sure—but those hoping Don's journey leads him to a clear understanding of the gospel might find 'Blue Like Jazz' a bit unsatisfying."

Day of Prayer

I've begun a new practice.

I hesitate to claim a lot of success, because I'm only two months into this. But on the third Tuesday of each month I get away from the office and the house and spend the day praying, reading, reflecting, and writing. Both times so far I drove an hour or so to Cocoa Beach, where I hung out at a picnic table in a park. Both days were beautiful, but the park was practically deserted. The weather was just perfect.

At this park there's a boardwalk to the beach. So after several hours alone at the picnic table I walked the beach and prayed. I found it a perfect retreat for prayer and solitude. The ocean reminds me of God's vast grace and power - the perfect incentive to prayer. As the summer approaches the beach will be too crowded and hot, so I'll have to find another place to spend the day.

The Company Men

The Company Men is a decent movie. Not great, but decent and worth renting. It's rated R for some crude language.

Ben Affleck plays Bobby Walker, a successful Boston (where else?) executive who suddenly finds himself without a job when his employer, GTX Corporation, downsizes. Thousands of GTX employees around the country are laid off. Eventually Walker's boss, played by the great Tommie Lee Jones, gets the axe too. So does Phil Woodward, played well by Chris Cooper (shown in photo), only he can't cope with being out of work in his 60s and, sadly, ends up taking his own life.

The movie is written, produced, and directed by John Wells, who up to this point mostly worked in television. It kind of shows. I didn't quite feel the angst of the characters. It seemed a little like a TV movie.

Nevertheless, The Company Men sends an important message. When the bottom falls out, you need to have invested sufficiently in your family so you can weather the storm together. And you need some friends. And you need to somehow be able to keep moving forward. And, although he's conspicuously absent here, you need God.

While Bobby Walker hangs on to his family, friends, and fortitude, his colleague Phil Woodward has none of those props. He is the shell of a man who, as they say, spent his life climbing the ladder of success only to find (too late) that it had been leaning against the wrong wall. He is like the rich fool of Luke 12:16-21 who stored up things for himself but was not rich toward God. He is Edwin Arlington Robinson's Richard Cory. In the end, when Phil lost his job he lost everything.

Bobby, on the other hand, has loved his wife well. There are touching scenes of them leaning on each other as a husband and wife should. It seems, however, Bobby had been slowly growing apart from his teenage son. Bobby's loss of a job turns out to be an invitation to get reacquainted with his son, and that's a good thing. Bobby Walker reminds us that home is not necessarily a house.

As Jesus said, the rain will come, the streams will rise, and the winds of affliction will blow against the houses we build (Matthew 7:24-27). It's not a matter of if, but when. If your house is not built on the Rock, it won't stand.

"On Christ, the solid Rock, I stand; all other ground is sinking sand."

Unleashed

It occurred to me while walking my dog Dabo the other day, that living in this fallen world is a lot like being on a leash. Dabo loves to take walks, but I can see it's frustrating for him to be tethered to me. He wants to be free - to run in circles if he wants to, to chase the ducks sitting by the pond, to run after other dogs with not a care in the world. But no...he has to be on a leash. He has to be restrained, held back, forced to deny his passions and impulses.

Now from my viewpoint, of course, the leash is protecting Dabo. He doesn't have the good sense not to run out in front of a car, so the leash is potentially keeping him alive. But not from Dabo's point of view. To him, the leash is a kind of death. He's been created to run loose, not to be pulled this way and that against his will. He's been made for freedom, for fun and games, for joy. The leash is a curse.

Similarly, we were created as God's vice-regents to rule the world with freedom and joy, to be fully alive and human, to explore the universe without restraint or compulsion. But sin ruined that picture. Sure, we still bear God's image, and in our better moments we still create, explore, celebrate, worship, and love. But we never get very far away from the curse. Pain in childbirth, work made oppressive, hiding in shame, blaming our problems on others, misplaced affections - all are the leash we must tolerate this side of heaven. Not to mention loss, sickness, death, and the constant temptations of the world, flesh, and devil.

Whenever I take Dabo on a walk, we always go past this lake in our subdivision. Actually it's a retention pond. But there's a huge expanse of grass beside this lake that belongs to no homeowner. It's sitting there just begging for dogs to run around and play in it. So I always take Dabo off his leash by that lake, and we run around in a big circle. Sometimes he sees a big bird or a family of ducks at the shore, and he takes off after them, imagining himself the Vicious Lake Bouncer of Eastwood. We have the best time...for a short time. Then it's back on the leash for Dabo, and the slow, restrained walk home.

The last time Dabo and I did the lake routine, I thought of my friends Fran and Christie. They both passed away last weekend. They were faithful men, true servants of Christ. In this life they'd been tethered to this fallen, sin-sick world. When they breathed their last, off came the leash. They were in Paradise.

Run free, Fran. Run free, Christie. And await with joy that great day when we will be finally and fully set free to run and play upon the new earth.

Prayer for the New Year

Count Nicolaus Ludwig von Zinzendorf (1700-1760) is one of my heroes. If for no other reason, I just love his name. But more than that, Zinzendorf was a German evangelical reformer and bishop of the Moravian church. He founded Herrnhut, a Moravian village that became a center of Christian renewal and mission. Zinzendorf himself was a missionary. He traveled to America, the West Indies, Switzerland, Holland, England, and Livonia with the gospel.

But another contribution Zinzendorf made to the kingdom of God was writing some great hymns. My favorite is "Jesus, Thy Blood and Righteousness." Another is "Jesus, Still Lead On." This one makes a very good prayer as we turn the calendar to 2012. Here is an 1846 translation by Jane Borthwick:

Jesus, still lead on,
Till our rest be won;
And although the way be cheerless,
We will follow, calm and fearless,
Guide us by Thy hand
To our fatherland.

If the way be drear,
If the foe be near,
Let not faithless fears o'ertake us,
Let not faith and hope forsake us;
For through many a foe
To our home we go.

When we seek relief
From a long-felt grief,
When temptations come alluring,
Make us patient and enduring;
Show us that bright shore
Where we weep no more.

Jesus, still lead on,
Till our rest be won;
Heavenly Leader, still direct us,
Still support, console, protect us,
Till we safely stand
In our fatherland.

Kindle

Shortly before I went to Japan on our church's mission trip I bought a Kindle. I knew I'd be sitting in a plane for 13 hours each way but didn't want to take a lot of books in my backpack. Kindle has changed my life! I am reading now more than ever - especially books that I wouldn't otherwise read. Here are a few of the books I'm reading...

• The Girl on the Stairs: My Search for a Missing Witness to the Assassination of John F. Kennedy, by Barry Ernest - I'm hopelessly addicted to documentaries and writings about the death of JFK
  
• Switch: How to Change Things When Change Is Hard, by Chip and Dan Heath - a good read for leaders
• Let the Nations Be Glad!, by John Piper - a motivating book about missions and why we can be confident in the church's Spirit-given ability to finish the Great Commission
• The Hunger Games, by Suzanne Collins - Right, I jumped on the bandwagon.
• Bonhoeffer: Pastor, Martyr, Prophet, Spy, by Eric Metaxas - very detailed but inspiring biography
  
• Why I Am Not an Arminian, by Robert Peterson and Michael Williams - an excellent summary and recommended for anyone wanting to understand what the Bible says about predestination

I originally bought the Kindle Keyboard model, but found it laborious to use the keyboard for typing notes and searching for books. So I traded up for a Kindle Touch. I like it much better. The touch screen makes it a lot easier to type. And even though the screen is the standard size it's overall smaller than the older version. I also bought a Kindle Touch cover with light that is really cool.

So thanks Kindle!

Favorite Christmas memories

As a child, I lived in Mayberry. Ozzie and Harriet were my next door neighbors. Father knew best, and my best friends were Mike, Robbie, and Chip.

Well, not really. None of those things were true. But growing up in the small rural town of Union, SC, in the 1950s and '60s was like living in those insulated, idealized TV towns - at least until you peeled off the veneer of racism, class envy, poverty, illiteracy, sexism, crime, discrimination, etc.

One upside to my upbringing in a small southern town is that I have some very warm memories of Christmas. And I'm genuinely thankful for them.

Such as...

• Going with my Dad to the "country" to cut down a Christmas tree
• Popcorn balls and pecan pie
• Waffles cooked with pecans on Christmas morning - Dad's specialty
• Totally believing in Santa Claus, for an embarrassingly long time of my life
  
• Leaving cookies in the den for Santa Claus
• Thinking I really heard Santa Claus on the rooftop
• Staring with wonder at the Santa and reindeer set that my parents put out on the living room coffee table
  
• (OK, you get the idea; Santa was a big deal)
• Keeping a fire going in the fireplace
• Impatiently waiting for the grandmothers to arrive so we could begin opening presents
• A new bike almost every year (complete with banana seat, raised handlebars, etc.)
• Wishing for a white Christmas that never came (it seemed to rain every year)
• Watching tons of corny Christmas TV specials with my parents (Andy Williams, Mitch Miller, Sonny and Cher... sheesh!)
  
• The annual Christmas service at our First Presbyterian Church (here's a shout-out to Mr. Nabors, our faithful organist)
• Walking the neighborhood and looking at everyone's Christmas decorations (our neighborhood gave prizes for the best exhibits, and Dad entered something creative every year)
• Seeing Main Street decked out in lights
• The annual Christmas parade, which featured my Cub Scout troop, Miss Union High, the Shriners, the marching band from the "black" high school - oh, and Santa always brought up the rear

My parents are both gone now, but I'll say a belated thank-you anyway for all they did to create special Christmas memories.

My Week with Marilyn

That's a movie title, by the way... I didn't spend a week with anyone named Marilyn, I promise.

My Week with Marilyn is a really good but sad movie. You'll enjoy it if you like true (or mostly true) stories about people who changed our world. Marilyn Monroe did that. Yet as this movie shows, she was a desperately lonely, unhappy person looking for love and being used by people for whom love was a means to power.

Michelle Williams plays Marilyn at the peak of her film star career (at age 30 or 31). The setting is the production of The Prince and the Showgirl in London in 1957. That movie also starred Sir Laurence Olivier, played here by Kenneth Branagh, one of my favorite actors. Eddie Redmayne plays Colin Clark, a 23-year old film student who got a job working for Olivier and became the inspiration for Marilyn to finish her role as Elsie the showgirl. Clark's diary and books about his week-long experience with Monroe (The Prince, the Showgirl, and Me, followed by My Week with Marilyn) were the source for this movie.

I was eight years old when Marilyn Monroe died at the age of 36. So I remember all the photos and gossip about her in the late '50s and '60s. I saw a couple of her movies, including Some Like It Hot (1958), and had the typical boyhood crush on her. What I didn't know at the time, and what I suppose was watered down for the public, was how difficult she was to work with, how she struggled with depression and alcohol/drug abuse, and how unhappy was her childhood. This movie brings all those things up to the surface. In the hands of Michelle Williams, Marilyn becomes the grown-up who never grew up, the victim of abandonment.

I've read that Colin Clark's memoirs about his week with Marilyn are not to be trusted. That may be so. But this movie tells an important story nonetheless. It says that you never really know people. The most successful person out there may be the most insecure and unhappiest. Appearances deceive. A confident, beautiful Marilyn Monroe on the outside may be a frightened, abused waif on the inside. One of Christianity's main beliefs is that God sees the heart. This means more than simply "it's what's on the inside that counts." It means that God knows us at the very deepest level. There is no hiding from him. This is a truth both scary and comforting at the same time. Scary if you've never repented and trusted in Jesus. Comforting if you have - because all your sins and failures are gone. Christians are people who can be their most true selves, because they've been freed from the need to establish a record of their own based on being "good enough." Jesus is good enough for us. Christians also ought to be the people who free others up to be their truest selves. Unfortunately, we often fail in that department. Church is sometimes the place where it's most dangerous to be real.

My Week with Marilyn also illustrates the importance of family. At one point Marilyn says to Colin, "Little girls shouldn't be told how pretty they are. They should grow up knowing how much their mother loves them." Good parenting certainly cannot prevent all problems from occurring, but it sure makes a big difference. We don't have to be perfect parents. That will never happen. But what we can be is PRESENT in the lives of our kids. Marilyn Monroe didn't receive that gift, and she struggled her entire life.