Nuke's Blog
Periodic ramblings by an old geek…

Stargate Atlantis: Season 5 (2008)

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I didn’t realize this was the final season of SG: Atlantis until after watching the final episode and wondering how the series picked up next.  What I did find out was that there might be some direct-to-DVD movie(s) produced to continue and/or finish off the story.  Guess I’ll have to continue to get my SG fix through SG: Universe, which I enjoy better than this version anyway (it’s a bit more serious).

 

The Book of Eli (2010)

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I have to admit to watching this twice before really catching how good it was.  The first time I simply wasn’t paying enough attention, and missed some of the best content while watching in my peripheral vision.  This is a well-done post-apocalyptic movie, and Denzel plays his part very well.

 

The Road (2009)

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While I think this was an incredibly well-done post-apocalyptic movie as well, it was simply not fun.  It was quite graphic and far too depressing to enjoy by the end.  In other words, a fairly realistic look at what a post-apocalyptic world would be like is simply too much to take.  Viggo played his part well, by the way.  If you like this kind of thing, and don’t mind being depressed, this might garner an easy 5-star rating.

 

The Karate Kid (2010)

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This remake of the 1984 Pat Morita/Ralph Macchio classic would better be named The Kung-Fu Kid, though I imagine it wouldn’t have sold as well.  It roughly follows most of the plot from the original, and tends to be just as fun as I remember.  Jackie Chan causes several good laughs, making a great replacement for Pat.  However, what really dragged it down for me was the “romance” between the two 12-year old’s (Will Smith’s kid and some other girl), and they even looked younger than that.  I think it would have been a far better movie if the kids were in their late teens like the original.

 

The Men Who Stare at Goats (2009)

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Well, this seemed to have some awesome potential, getting quirkier and funnier by the minute (even though one of my least-favorite actors, George Clooney, is on-screen too much).  However, as the movie progressed closer and closer to the end, it eventually became apparent that it wasn’t going to go anywhere at all… and it came through on that in spades.  Oh man, was I so annoyed as the credits rolled.

 

The Sorcerer’s Apprentice (2010)

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This was really, really close to a 5-star movie.  I simply had to hold back to not insult those other flicks I’ve given that rating to.  Also, though it was quite neat to see the homage paid to the Disney cartoon in the middle of the movie (yes, there are dancing mops), it took up too much time and was just too dorky.  Speaking of dorky, the actor playing the apprentice made a perfect geek-turned-magician.  This movie is laugh-out-loud funny, and is a definite must see, even if you can’t normally stand Nicolas Cage anymore.

 

Edge of Darkness (2009)

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I definitely got my hopes up too much, getting excited to watch another thriller/action flick with Mel Gibson at the helm.  Within the first few minutes of the movie, his daughter is murdered so abruptly and in such a disgustingly violent manner that I ended up going back to doing something else while it continued to play.  I simply couldn’t pay attention to it anymore and should have just shut it off.  Oh, and his accent was quite annoying, no matter how little I was paying attention.

 

Alice in Wonderland (2010)

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The family ended up watching this twice the weekend we had it, so it definitely passed the “T and kids” test.  I enjoyed it as well… the animation was great, the story had a new, fresh feel to it, but what holds it back for me is Johnny Depp’s presence on the screen.  He’s been playing the same quirky character in far too many movies lately, and I simply can’t take it anymore.

 

Letters to God (2010)

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Produced by the same folks as Fireproof and Facing the Giants, this is another fairly well-done Christian-based film.  It has a good message based somewhat on a true story, and walks us through another set of folks as they come to faith or are bolstered in their faith.  Check it out if you enjoy these types of movies.

 

The Twilight Saga: New Moon (2009)

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Thanks to Brian for loaning me the sequel to the first flick.  I haven’t read the books, and I don’t plan to, but I understand pretty much every girl out there loves them.  The movies are fairly well-done themselves, especially if you get a kick out of vampire and/or werewolf action.  While that’s not one of my favorite genres, I still enjoy these enough to keep watching.

 

The Red Baron (2008)

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This was more enjoyable and felt possibly more accurate than the recent Flyboys version of the early days of aviation fighting during WWI.  I haven’t gone down the rabbit hole to find out how many things are totally wrong, and I guess this time I don’t care.  Perhaps I’m finally growing out of my obsession with rabbit holes?  Oh man, I just realized I reviewed Alice in Wonderland up above and didn’t mention anything about rabbit holes.  Can’t believe I forgot to do that.  I’m losing my edge.

 

Whip It (2009)

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What could be more fun that watching two hours of roller derby?  I can think of lots of things, now that I’ve sat through it.  It seemed like such a great idea back when I added it to my Netflix queue.  Silly me.  I must have added this sometime after watching Ellen Page in Juno, which was far more fun to sit through.

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Several weeks ago, during our Bible study, we were listening in class to an online lecture by Dr. James Grier.  I forget exactly which one it was, but he spoke of the “Overarching Chiasmus of the Bible.”  He explained the meaning during the lecture, but I still had to look up the meaning of the word chiasmus later that night.  For those of you who don’t mind a bit of extra reading, you can find a decent description on Wikipedia.  However, for those who don’t like reading assignments, here’s the basic concept.  There are various events all throughout the Bible that work themselves out in a criss-cross fashion as you study them.  For example, a simple one would be this, from Matthew 19:30 (KJV):

1. "But many that are first 
    2. shall be last; 
    2’. and the last
1’. shall be first."

While there are several of these throughout the Bible, there is one that is the main event, or the “overarching” one (as you can find in Dr. Grier’s slides).  He calls these the “bookends of the Bible”.

1.Creation/Perfection –Genesis 1 & 2
    2. Sin/Judgment –Genesis 3 & 4
        3. Old Covenant Redemptive Event
        3′. New Covenant Redemptive Event
    2′. Judgment/Removal of Sin –Rev. 18-20

1′. Consummation/Perfection –Rev. 21-22

The reason I bring this up, other than it would be a fun rabbit hole to go down during further study (how many more could we find?), is that while reviewing the Logos Bible software blog I went down another rabbit hole starting at one of their employee’s blogs, eventually ending up on the website of someone else who creates visualizations.  If you don’t know what those are, a person takes a huge collection of data and creates some sort of graphic detailing all the data in a really cool way, helping you to wrap your head around it, or even examine it in a new light.  The first one I saw on Chris Harrison’s website immediately reminded me of the Dr. Grier lecture.

 

 

Chris and another guy, Christoph Römhild, took a set of data containing over 63,000 cross references throughout the Bible and turned it into the stunning visualization above.  Here is how he summarizes it:

The bar graph that runs along the bottom represents all of the chapters in the Bible. Books alternate in color between white and light gray. The length of each bar denotes the number of verses in the chapter. Each of the 63,779 cross references found in the Bible is depicted by a single arc – the color corresponds to the distance between the two chapters, creating a rainbow-like effect.

If you want to see more detail, head over to his website and check out this visualization in larger file sizes, among the other cool ones he’s created.

 

What better way to see the “Overarching Chiasmus of the Bible”?  Even more, what better way to see how coupled the entirety of Scripture is within itself?  Do you still see a hodge-podge of disjointed books by random authors, or can you see God behind a single book written over more than a thousand years?

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I’m such a slow learner.  Every time I think I’ve “finally got it,” God demonstrates to me that I still have more to learn.  What a silly thought to think I’ve finally got it, but I seem to come to that conclusion every few weeks before being broad-sided by something else I realize I’ve had wrong all this time.

 

I’ve been having a heck of a time sleeping for the past several months.  I simply can’t make it through the night anymore without waking up in pain and tossing and turning, hoping to finally get back to sleep again.  Not just once in the middle of the night, but most nights it’s an hourly thing.  I try to stay up until 1am most nights, not because I want to stay up for fun, but because I want to spend as little time in bed as possible.  I’ve become completely exhausted.  I thought that wasn’t supposed to happen until I was in my 60s or something and my bladder started being a problem.  So much for that hope. ;)

 

Anyway, a couple weeks ago I woke up from a dream and immediately realized God had something to tell me through it.  I won’t go into the details of the dream itself (partially because I forget several of them), but the important thing was it had to do with God’s sovereignty.  Night time has become such a chore to get through with my disease (or whatever you want to call it) lately that I was having another bout of not being able to deal with it.  I wasn’t passing it on to God and relying on His help to make it through.  I also felt like I needed to put it back in the hands of doctors again, even though I could tell the Spirit wasn’t leading me there.  As with another dream I’ve mentioned before, I awoke with such a start that I knew God had another lesson for me.  So, I sat there pondering the dream, trying to understand each thing He wanted to teach me.

 

Just when I thought I had decomposed the dream and had it all together, and that I understood His message of sovereignty, it hit me.  No, it wasn’t another idea.  It was severe stomach cramps.  I thought “argh, come on God… does it seriously have to be any harder to sleep?!”  I started right into a pity party, wondering if I would ever make it out of my bed fast enough (it’s a couple minute ordeal these days).  And then I wondered how much more sleep I would lose throughout the night, etc., but before I knew, it hit me.  No, not worse stomach cramps.  It was an idea.  A different realization.  “God, you just gave me that stomach flu, didn’t you.  You aren’t sovereign over just the big things.  You’re sovereign over the small things as well.”

 

So I simply sat there and remained calm as the pain continued, recalling a simple passage from Proverbs.

The lot is cast into the lap, but its every decision is from the LORD.

(Proverbs 16:33)

Every decision?  Really?  Isn’t that something hard to wrap your head around?  Obviously it was causing me some problems understanding, or maybe God wouldn’t have had to take such an interesting approach with me.  You see, I pondered that verse (and some others I could think of at the time), and realized I hadn’t quite heard the full message He had for me.  I concluded God really had to be sovereign over everything, or He wouldn’t be infinite, would he?  I understood right then and there that God had full control over my condition and had a reason for it.  So what else could I do but admit His complete sovereignty over things big and small, acknowledge His message was received and say to Him “thank you for this stomach flu and the lesson, and by the way, could you please take it right away as quick as you gave it to me?”

 

And wouldn’t you know it, it was simply gone and I slept like a baby until morning.  And here it’s taken me a couple weeks to get around to writing this.  Perhaps he wanted me to hold this message around in my head until you needed to read it.  Are you ready to admit God is sovereign over everything?  What does it mean in your life once you realize that’s true?  He certainly has pointed it out several times in Scripture.  I’ll share just a couple of my favorites before I close.

25 “Therefore I tell you, do not be anxious about your life, what you will eat or what you will drink, nor about your body, what you will put on. Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothing? 26 Look at the birds of the air: they neither sow nor reap nor gather into barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not of more value than they? 27 And which of you by being anxious can add a single hour to his span of life? 28 And why are you anxious about clothing? Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow: they neither toil nor spin, 29 yet I tell you, even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these. 30 But if God so clothes the grass of the field, which today is alive and tomorrow is thrown into the oven, will he not much more clothe you, O you of little faith? 31 Therefore do not be anxious, saying, ‘What shall we eat?’ or ‘What shall we drink?’ or ‘What shall we wear?’ 32 For the Gentiles seek after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them all. 33 But seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be added to you. 34 “Therefore do not be anxious about tomorrow, for tomorrow will be anxious for itself. Sufficient for the day is its own trouble.

(Matthew 6:24-34)

Once we understand God’s sovereignty, and work hard not to forget it, how can we worry about anything?  How can we worry about what’s happening in the world around us?  We can certainly see things are wrong in the world, and want to know what we can do about it, and take actions as we’re able, but we can relax more when we realize God’s plans, regardless of what Satan or humans do against Him, will be accomplished.  We can rest in that.

12 And when he was in distress, he entreated the favor of the LORD his God and humbled himself greatly before the God of his fathers. 13 He prayed to him, and God was moved by his entreaty and heard his plea and brought him again to Jerusalem into his kingdom. Then Manasseh knew that the LORD was God.

(2 Chronicles 33:12-13)

Read those last few words again.  “Then Manasseh knew that the LORD was God.”  Before the other night, did I really know “that the LORD was God”?  I sure thought I did, but I guess it took yet another lesson to point out that maybe I didn’t have the complete picture.

 

And, I learned something else.  This disease I have?  There’s a reason it’s still with me.  There’s a reason doctors haven’t been able to cure it and make it worse every time they mess around with me.  I don’t know what that reason is, but it’s under God’s control.  He’ll let us all know why when the time comes.  And, if it’s His will, He’ll cure it just as easily as He gave me stomach flu and took it right away the other night.

28 And we know that for those who love God all things work together for good, for those who are called according to his purpose.

(Romans 8:28)

Yes, Father, I “know” it now.  Errrr… at least I think I do, until the next lesson You have for me. :)

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Though this may seem like a bunch of reviews, notice the date range… I’m continuing to slow down watching movies.  Seems there are less and less remotely decent movies left out there, which is probably not a bad thing… less time for me to waste.

 

Red Cliff (2008)

Rating:  

Quick quiz… what is the last movie I gave five stars?  Hint: it was last summer.  It really doesn’t happen very often.  Of the 4000-some movies I’ve recorded ratings for so far, I’ve reserved that highest achievement for only 68 of them.  This movie was absolutely beautiful.  Some of the battle scenes are simply awe-inspiring.  The historical plot, based on the Battle of Red Cliffs initiating the period of the Three Kingdoms in China, flowed seamlessly.  Of course, this isn’t for everyone… you probably have to appreciate samurai flicks to enjoy it.  If that’s you, and you can deal with subtitles, you must watch this immediately.  Why two pics above, you might ask?  There is a 148min US-theatrical version and an epic International version twice as long.  I’ve watched both now, and can honestly say the shorter version is the way to go first, and if you don’t like it you can skip the epic masterpiece.  Oh, and in case you haven’t already guessed, that movie last summer was Star Trek.

 

A Perfect Getaway (2009)

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This is one of those freaky movies where you can see the train wreck coming, and coming, and coming, and you just can’t look away for a minute.  The less you know the better.  If you like freaky thrillers that keep you on the edge of your seat, definitely check it out.  I think I’ll go ahead and push my tropical paradise vacation out another year or two after seeing this.  Yikes.

 

The Guild: Season 1 & 2 (2007)

The Guild: Season 3 (2009)

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This is a very quirky little show that I enjoyed immensely due to it tracking a “guild” of folks playing an online role playing game, much as I used to do (granted, they appear FAR more addicted to the game than I ever was ;).  If you ever played one of those games, you should see this.  It’s great comedy, but is not for kids at all, by the way… too much adult language, etc.  Oh, and each season is really just a short movie in length.

 

Flywheel (2003)

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I ended up adding this to my Netflix queue after finding out it was the first picture put together for a few thousand dollars by the folks who made Facing the Giants and Fireproof (both great Christian movies).  Even though the production quality is fairly low (as expected), this was a really well done story of a slimy-car-salesman-turned-good-man and how God can work great change in our lives if we let Him.

 

2012 (2009)

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So much for thinking I was the only nerd around who knew the Mayan calendar “ends” in 2012, prophesying either another cycle of the earth, or complete and utter destruction.  This movie definitely goes with the latter, over and over again.  Is there any international location or landmark left undestroyed?  Not really.  I find it interesting how secular movies like this one can’t help themselves but return to Judeo-Christian history: the world sets out to save themselves by building arks.  They need to read more than Genesis, though… God said the earth will not end with a flood, but with fire.

1 This is now the second letter that I am writing to you, beloved. In both of them I am stirring up your sincere mind by way of reminder, 2 that you should remember the predictions of the holy prophets and the commandment of the Lord and Savior through your apostles, 3 knowing this first of all, that scoffers will come in the last days with scoffing, following their own sinful desires. 4 They will say, “Where is the promise of his coming? For ever since the fathers fell asleep, all things are continuing as they were from the beginning of creation.” 5 For they deliberately overlook this fact, that the heavens existed long ago, and the earth was formed out of water and through water by the word of God, 6 and that by means of these the world that then existed was deluged with water and perished. 7 But by the same word the heavens and earth that now exist are stored up for fire, being kept until the day of judgment and destruction of the ungodly. 8 But do not overlook this one fact, beloved, that with the Lord one day is as a thousand years, and a thousand years as one day. 9 The Lord is not slow to fulfill his promise as some count slowness, but is patient toward you, not wishing that any should perish, but that all should reach repentance. 10 But the day of the Lord will come like a thief, and then the heavens will pass away with a roar, and the heavenly bodies will be burned up and dissolved, and the earth and the works that are done on it will be exposed. 11 Since all these things are thus to be dissolved, what sort of people ought you to be in lives of holiness and godliness, 12 waiting for and hastening the coming of the day of God, because of which the heavens will be set on fire and dissolved, and the heavenly bodies will melt as they burn! 13 But according to his promise we are waiting for new heavens and a new earth in which righteousness dwells.

(2 Peter 3: 1-13)

I wouldn’t bother building an ark over the next couple years.  By the way, the plot, dialogue and action sequences are quite laughable throughout, but the special effects are outstanding enough to raise it to a three-star movie.

 

(500) Days of Summer (2009)

Rating:  

Quirky little romance flick that ultimately drags on far too long.  The concept of flashing around through the sequence of the 500 days is cool along the way, but like I said, it eventually just threw me into a fit of boredom.  Go find something else to watch.

 

 

The Hurt Locker (2008)

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I had no idea this won the Academy Award for best picture this year before watching it.  This was really intense.  It was hard to believe how tense you could get just viewing a guy walking out into the middle of who-knows-what-is-lurking-in-the-shadows to defuse a bomb.  I’ll tell you what… you’ll very quickly find out what you’re in for at the beginning of the movie.  I had to watch the first couple minutes a second time just to convince myself I just saw what I thought I saw.  Just plain great film-making.

 

The Ugly Truth (2009)

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I’ve become a fan of most anything Gerard Butler shows up in, so figured I would at least give him one shot at a romantic comedy.  I can safely say I don’t need to bother with that again.  While he certainly played an interesting character here, I will gladly stick with his action flicks from now on.  Yet another chick flick chock full of infidelity; not sure why I expected anything more.

 

Ong Bak 2: The Beginning (2008)

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These martial arts flicks are fairly well done.  Tony Jaa is pretty impressive, and the scenery is great as always.  I enjoyed the first Ong Bak a while back (sorry ;), so figured the second was a slam dunk to watch when it showed up on Netflix instant viewing.  I think I can easily say I’ll check out the inevitable third when it shows up.

 

Smallville: Season 8 (2008)

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This show continues to keep my attention for the most part, but it has really dragged on too long.  Enough already with the Clark Kent who can’t fly unless he’s whacked out due to red kryptonite or some other random effect.  I actually decided to stop watching the show after Season 7, but I found out that next season (yes, Season 10) will be the final one.  Guess I’m close enough to the finish line now.

 

Brothers at War (2009)

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This is a very interesting film made by a guy with brothers actively serving in the Middle East.  He actually got himself embedded with one of them for a while, until his brother was sent off somewhere else.  Anyway, it seemed to be a fairly unbiased look at what’s going on with the troops over there, and you sure get to see a perspective you might not from other propaganda pieces out there today.  Good stuff.

 

Warehouse 13: Season 1 (2009)

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I finally found a somewhat dorky investigation-based show that I enjoy (read: better than Psych).  In a similar vein to The Librarian series, we have a secret warehouse that houses legendary artifacts, or artifacts you’ve never heard of created by or for legendary figures.  Every time another artifact shows up in an episode is a fun surprise.  It’s quite fun to see what they come up with each time, and I’m looking forward to watching season 2 on hulu.com throughout the year.

 

Riverworld (2010)

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Considering they attempted to condense all five of Philip Jose Farmer’s sci-fi classic Riverworld series into a single movie, they did a fairly decent job.  However, it is so much better in book form.  Basically there is an alien race that resurrects everyone throughout earth’s history onto a world snaked by a single planet-wide river.  Oh, and being killed by anyone results in the person being resurrected again randomly somewhere else along the river.  It’s a fascinating concept if you ever have the chance to read the books, even if you stick with just the first one, To Your Scattered Bodies Go. 

 

Law Abiding Citizen (2009)

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Chalk up a second Gerard Butler movie this month that I didn’t like.  It’s interesting to see how Gerard continues to outwit Jamie Foxx’s character in his quest to enact revenge on those involved with murdering his wife and daughter.  However, some of the things Gerard did were just plain nasty and disgusting (yes, I know his revenge shouldn’t be glorified, but come on), and the ending was absolutely annoying.  Enough said.

 

Surrogates (2009)

Rating:  

Based on the reviews out there for this, I really expected to hate it right out of the gate.  However, I found myself enjoying most of the movie.  I tend to find these futuristic movies pretty decent, especially if they are smartly done.  This one certainly had its flaws, but the concept of people inhabiting “fake” bodies to makeup an entire society was portrayed quite well.

 

A Serious Man (2009)

Rating:  

I’m still trying to figure out exactly why I thought this would be any good.  I suppose it must have been due to seeing it was created by the Coen Brothers, and I enjoy most of the films I’ve seen from them.  There were a few bright spots in the movie, but it ultimately wasn’t as funny as I was hoping.  It was simply depressing most of the time.

 

Ride in the Whirlwind (1965)

Rating:  

This western written by Jack Nicholson (can you believe that??) was claimed to be as good as the Sergio Leone/Clint Eastwood spaghetti westerns when it showed up on Netflix instant watch.  It even has a sequel, The Shooting, that went on instant watch as well, so figured it would be a slam dunk for me.  I was misled.  Just stay away.

 

13 Rue Madeleine (1947)

Rating:  

This WWII espionage thriller starring James Cagney has some good moments, but it really isn’t that thrilling.  It’s hard to see Cagney seriously after watching too many of his films, and as the main good guy, no less.  His roles as the sarcastic bad guy in other flicks fit him far better.  Watch this only if you can’t get enough of him.

 

Justice League: Crisis on Two Earths (2010)

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So here’s about the point where I wonder if anyone is actually still reading through these.  If anyone actually makes it this far, it’s probably Jake scrolling down fast through them to see if there’s anything he actually cares about.  In fact, I watched this one just for his benefit.  It’s better than I expected… fun to see an alternate universe with a “bad” version of the Justice League, though it seems the bad guys should have been more powerful.

 

Batman: Mask of the Phantasm (1993)

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Netflix recommended I watch this after rating the Justice League movie, but it simply wasn’t that good.  Some “back story” for Batman, if that’s what it was, was slightly interesting, but actually turned out to make the movie slow and just plain boring.  I’ll shy away from animated comic book movies for a while, I think.

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Been a while since I reviewed some books.  I’m just not reading as fast as I would like.

 

How to Train Your Dragon (by Hiccup Horrendous Haddock III) (Cressida Cowell)

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If you know nothing about this book, it follows a complete wimp of a Viking child who has to train a dragon as a rite of passage to gain full rights in the clan.  Even worse than being a complete wimp, Hiccup is the chief’s son, so the pressure on him is quite intense.  This was quite a fun little read, for a kids book.  However, I would recommend you don’t even bother with the book and skip right on to the movie version.  Having now read the book, I see I didn’t really miss anything before jumping into the movie earlier this year.  Though aspects of the book are present in the film, the plots aren’t even really close at all, and the movie is so much better for it.  Which is not something I would normally say… I tend to prefer book versions of stories, but this time the movie blows the book out of the water.

 

The Father Connection (Josh McDowell)

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We attended a weekend parenting conference with Josh McDowell several months ago, and I picked this book up as a result.  Josh puts together a fairly quick read describing several areas where we fathers can make some dramatic, or even simple, changes in our relationships with our children.  The summary questions at the end of each short chapter do well to reinforce all his ideas for us.  The premise is presented by him through various scary statistics demonstrating how important it is for us men to be positive, and present, role models for our kids.  While there doesn’t seem to be any possibility to implement everything Josh advises, I’m so glad to have these ideas planted in my head now.  Oh, and as I mentioned in a previous post, my first major action was a blast for both me and J.

 

Archaeological Study Bible: An Illustrated Walk Through Biblical History and Culture (Zondervan, Duane Garrett)

Rating:  

I really don’t think I can say enough about this copy of the Bible, which is definitely one of the favorites in my collection.  The version, the NIV, is not my current favorite (the ESV is), but it is definitely one of the most prevalent out there that you see quoted in churches and elsewhere.  What makes this copy so great is not only how sharp each page looks, or the quality of the paper it’s printed on, but all the notes and articles relating God’s Word to archaeology.  Every couple pages you find half-page or full-page articles detailing some finds related to those Bible passages, or articles placing the passages into full context of ancient times.  Even the little footnotes throughout each chapter are great, bringing verse after verse into context in history.  It even does a fair job noting differences in the thoughts of scholars on various passages when they are not in agreement on dates, locations, events, etc., and most times simply reminds us there is no reason to not accept the Bible at its word, especially considering archaeological finds have yet to contradict the Bible.  It’s hard to do it justice in such a short summary.  You really have to see it for yourself.  But brace yourself… if you want to read everything, including every single footnote, it may take you quite some time.  I was at it for months, but it was well worth the study.

 

Percy Jackson and the Olympians (Rick Riordan)

Book Two: The Sea of Monsters

Book Three: The Titan’s Curse

Book Four: The Battle of the Labyrinth

Book Five: The Last Olympian

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First off, I have to admit that I did not personally read through the entirety of the final four books in the Percy Jackson series.  T and the kids were so addicted to blasting through the series that I simply had to miss a chapter here and there.  That’s what I get for reading the first book myself and approving it for the rest of them to forge ahead. :)  I can definitely say that the story remained as good throughout the entire series, in both intensity as well as humor.  And it turned out to be the humor I loved the most, especially if I dare to compare the series with the Harry Potter books.  Harry Potter simply got dark and depressing in several ways throughout the last few books in the series.  In this series, though the half-blood kids were certainly going through progressively darker times, the level of humor remained all the way through and simply exploded at the end of the last book… we were laughing almost non-stop over at least one of the final chapters this weekend.  In the end, I still enjoyed the Harry Potter series more, but that’s just me… I enjoy darker, more serious stories.  I can’t recommend this enough for the rest of you, though.  I’m pretty sure the rest of the family would rate the series six stars.  On a random note, I finally watched the movie version of Book 1: The Lightning Thief, which was very different in plot line than the book, and in this case (as opposed to How to Train Your Dragon above), the movie was so much worse than the book.  More on that in a future movie review post.

 

The Hole in Our Gospel: What does God expect of Us?  The Answer that Changed my Life and Might Just Change the World (Richard Stearns)

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I snatched this book up when I found out it was authored by the President of World Vision, one of our favorite charities.  I didn’t know his story at all, which he details over several chapters in the book… apparently he had climbed the corporate ladder to become CEO of Lenox, Inc., a luxury tableware company, and then left it all to join the charity organization.  Reading at times, you might think he would be a bit pretentious telling the rest of us why we have a “hole” in our Gospel, not helping out the poor, the orphan, or the widow in society, everywhere in the world.  But you will quickly find that Richard freely admits to his faults, and how so much of him doesn’t want to be doing what he’s doing for much less pay, with much more weighing on his heart, etc.  Richard uses Scripture and examples throughout his travels overseas to poverty-stricken places to clearly demonstrate to us there is more we can all be doing to “walk the talk” of the Christian life.  Perhaps we can step outside the comfort zone of our air-conditioned churches with java shops, and really listen to the Spirit guiding us and to what God’s Word commands us to do.

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Coworker and friend, mediocre coffee, sent me a great rebuttal, if you will, to my conclusion in my recent post series to answer this question.  After reading it, I see it as a far better way to explain why that bottom-right quadrant can say “easy” in comparison with the speaker’s flawed Scripture reference.  It also does a great job explaining why God’s way is better than ours, which is something I purposely glossed over in my series while instead focusing on demonstrating how God said His way would be a difficult one to follow.  Anyway, I’ll stop blabbing and let mediocre coffee speak for himself.

 

Mr. Nuclear, I understand your point about the diagram and I happen to agree with your thesis.  I believe the central idea is that God never declares in His Word that living life His Way will be easy.  However, I believe the diagram still works as shown.  I have a few points supporting how the diagram does work.  I felt that this rebuttal was long enough that it should not clog up the comments column in your blog.  However, being an expert in writing 20 page academic papers and a novice in the blogosphere I will try to keep this somewhat short and perhaps even capricious.  Basically, I am stating my excuse to use sweeping statements and backing them with fleeting examples. Ha!

 

 

The first thing I would like to show is why the diagram in question is adequate.  The diagram does not make any sense if the fourth quadrant changes from “Easy” to “Hard” which you propose to do.  That would be like stating God views our way exactly as difficult as His Way.  Why then would a God encourage us to follow His Way if there is no end benefit that surpasses the immediate cost?  Here is some text from Deuteronomy 8:2-7.

“Remember how the LORD your God led you all the way in the desert these forty years, to humble you and to test you in order to know what was in your heart, whether or not you would keep his commands. He humbled you, causing you to hunger and then feeding you with manna, which neither you nor your fathers had known, to teach you that man does not live on bread alone but on every word that comes from the mouth of the LORD. Your clothes did not wear out and your feet did not swell during these forty years. Know then in your heart that as a man disciplines his son, so the LORD your God disciplines you. Observe the commands of the LORD your God, walking in his ways and revering him. For the LORD your God is bringing you into a good land…”

The Israelites thought many times that God was making them wander in the desert for no reason.  They thought the “discipline” of the Lord was too hard and pointless.  What they forgot is that, they experienced miracles on a daily basis while they were in the desert (manna, clothes that lasted 40 years, etc.).  After God saw them through the “hard” desert part, He also gave them an “easy” land that was more plentiful than they had ever seen.

 

You gave a few examples of people who suffered for Christ.  Consider also Jonah, who tried to go his own way and was swallowed by a whale.  Then he decided to follow God and spoke the message that saved the entire city of Nineveh.  Also, didn’t Paul state all of his accolades and things that he had accomplished, however after seeing things God’s Way he considered them as rubbish (Philippians 3:1-11) because they encouraged his pride and discouraged his following Christ.  Look at the parable of the prodigal son (Luke 15:11-32).  The Son that went his own way did so because it seemed easier, but later found out that it was actually harder than originally thought.  He also realized that his Fathers way was easier and better than how he had been living.

 

I believe this is also a valid diagram because it describes why a person becomes a Christ follower.  I am going to assume (and let you further research on your own to see if this is a correct assumption or not, Matthew 7:11 perhaps) that every man has a perspective that can be described as short-term and selfish.  In contrast, I am going to assume that God’s perspective is eternal and holistic.  For each of the payoff squares above, isn’t each square just a cost/benefit analysis?  Then it comes down to which view has the most information or the correct information to discern which view is correct.  There is a parable in Matthew 13:44 that tells how a man sold everything he had to buy an unknown & unwanted field.  We would call that a bad decision because the cost outweighs the benefit.  However, he knew something that we did not.  He knew there were riches buried in the field.  So in truth, the benefits of buying the field outweighed the cost.  Now the Bible declared Jesus as the Way, the Truth, and the Life (John 14:6).  If God’s perspective is full of truth and our perspective is made up of partial-truths and biases, then God’s perspective is the correct one, no matter how ludicrous it seems to us humans at the time.  Proverbs 3:6 says “In all your ways acknowledge Him and He will make your paths straight.”  God doesn’t promise to change any situation (whether the situation is fun, boring, difficult or easy) to make it “easier”. However God does promise to guide our steps to the best possible outcome in each situation.  Imagine a round of golf.  The golf course does not change.  It may be an “easier” or “harder” golf course, but more important is every decision the player makes on the course and leading up to the round of golf.  These decisions will actually determine how “easy” or “hard” the course plays.  So it is with life, there are many situations that we have no control over.  But we do control how we play the situation, using ‘our way’ or ‘HIS WAY’.

 

In conclusion, this is the heart of becoming and remaining “Christian”, a word which originally means Christ-follower.  At some point in life, and probably at multiple points, you will face a situation or a consequence in which you realize that doing things your way is not as easy as you thought.  In fact, you will see your way as the most difficult way because of the circumstances created by your actions.  At that moment, you will be able to see the truth.  You will have a glimpse of the world from God’s perspective.  Eventually you will learn, as I have learned and other Christ-followers have learned: God’s way may not be the easiest way from our perspective, but we can have confidence that it is and will be the best way.  And also the easiest over the course of time.

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Our school threw together a new promo this year, and figured I ought to share it with you.  They really did a great job with it.  Check it out.

 

 

By the way, you can also check out a previous one that I had helped a bit with (minor editing) a couple years ago.

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Yes, this is definitely a sad day.  Today at work I was told by a coworker and friend that Captain Obvious was no longer allowed on the premises.  I know he’s right, but I’m still struggling dealing with it. 

 

I’m at a lost for words.

 

Yep, I really got nothing.

 

Is he allowed where you work?

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Iron Man 2 (2010)

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Saw this in the theater with friends a couple weeks ago.  I loved the first one, and felt pretty much the same this time around, though I was really disappointed in the anticlimactic final fight.  Robert Downey, Jr. played the overly-arrogant role very well, as did Sam Rockwell.  The guy playing the Senator grilling Tony Stark throughout the movie seemed to perfectly portray all of my least-favorite politicians combined into a single character.

 

The Hangover (2009)

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This would be one star if there weren’t so many times I tried really hard not to laugh and simply couldn’t stop myself.  This movie was so full of disgusting humor that I watched it entirely in double-speed just to get through it.  Would have probably been five stars if I was still 18 years old.

 

Legend of the Seeker: Season 2 (2009)

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I really enjoyed the second season of this fantasy-world TV show, even more than the first one.  There were a couple rough spots during the season, but overall was very well done – great sword-fighting action throughout.  I’m a bit sad to see it go, but I probably need less TV shows to track on Hulu.com anyway

 

Leap Year (2009)

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Cute, and relatively clean chick flick, which is actually pretty hard to find these days… well, the “clean” part.  Turned out to be fairly tedious though, so I have to recommend you don’t bother with it.

 

9 (2009)

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I suppose if I rated this on graphics alone, it would be 3-4 stars.  However, the plot is way too simple to be that enjoyable, even if it’s only about 70 minutes in length.  It’s really just a bunch of rag dolls running all over the place the entire time, for no obvious reason other than things chasing them (well, unless maybe you spend a bunch of time analyzing it at the end, which I’m not going to bother doing).

 

Fist of Legend (1994)

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I’ve become a Jet Li fan after the last several flicks I’ve seen him in.  Actually, I probably started as one the first time I saw him, in Lethal Weapon 4, as he kicked the tar out of Riggs and Murtaugh.  Anyway, this is apparently a remake of Bruce Lee’s Fists of Fury, but I haven’t seen it so can’t really say how they compare.  Jet’s pretty awesome in this, as always.  If you aren’t an insane martial arts film fan, though, there are so many better ones to watch first.

 

Stargate Universe: Season 1 (2009)

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This is so completely different from Stargate: SG-1 and Stargate Atlantis that I don’t think they can even be compared.  They basically took the Stargate universe and turned it into a fairly serious character study.  There are still characters around for comic relief, but it’s a darker story and they don’t have as much screen time as they would in the other series.  Which all basically adds up to be my favorite version of Stargate to date.  It’s almost Stargate: SG-1 meets Battlestar Galactica, if that makes any sense.  I’m definitely looking forward to more seasons.

 

Lie to Me: Season 1 (2009)

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Jake mentioned this show to me a while back, so I finally gave it a try after noticing it was available on Netflix instant watching.  I loved this show from the pilot episode, which can be a rare event these days (usually it takes 2-3 episodes to get a good feel to judge if I’ll like a show).  Anyway, it continued to surprise me how riveting a show based on “micro-expressions” could be.  Random thought: I knew I had seen Tim Roth (the main actor) somewhere back in time… turned out it was The Musketeer, a fun sword-fighting movie if you ever have the chance to watch it.

 

Extract (2009)

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Jason Bateman played his typical role well – the regular, sane guy in the middle of a bunch of insane people.  But Ben Affleck was present, which always brings down a movie.  I’m still just enough of a fan of Mike Judge that I had to force my way through the entire movie.  Here’s to hoping he has another hit someday.

 

Up (2009)

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We’ve owned this movie for quite some time, and I finally remembered to check it out.  It’s got almost everything you would expect in a film from Pixar, including at least one character voiced by John Ratzenberger (Cheers’ Cliff Clavin).  The beginning trek through the old man’s childhood through adulthood was emotional, but was the best part of the film.  I think it simply went downhill from there… it really lost the beauty of that story.

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So why did I go down this rabbit hole?  I guess God placed it on my heart the second I saw that diagram at the conference.  I wasn’t hearing the truth – I was hearing a watered-down version I couldn’t compare with my own experience in life.  If you’ll recall, the verse the speaker pointed to for briefly backing up his statement was in Matthew.

28 Come to me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. 29 Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. 30 For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.”

(Matthew 11:28-30)

Jesus says His yoke is easy, not ours, so was this speaker right about God saying His way was easy?  As I’ve demonstrated over the past ten posts, obviously things won’t be easy in this life, especially the more we walk in His ways as a disciple.  However, He promises here to give us rest.  Is it rest from the world?  Is it rest from the pain?  Look at who Jesus was really talking about…

1 Then Jesus said to the crowds and to his disciples, 2 “The scribes and the Pharisees sit on Moses’ seat, 3 so practice and observe whatever they tell you—but not what they do. For they preach, but do not practice. 4 They tie up heavy burdens, hard to bear, and lay them on people’s shoulders, but they themselves are not willing to move them with their finger.

(Matthew 23:1-4)

…it was the Pharisees, laying all these heavy burdens on the people through their rules.  They weren’t helping the people obey God – they were beating them down, while not following their own demands.  Remember how Jesus rebuked them earlier in Matthew.

1 Then Pharisees and scribes came to Jesus from Jerusalem and said, 2 “Why do your disciples break the tradition of the elders? For they do not wash their hands when they eat.” 3 He answered them, “And why do you break the commandment of God for the sake of your tradition? 4 For God commanded, ‘Honor your father and your mother,’ and, ‘Whoever reviles father or mother must surely die.’ 5 But you say, ‘If anyone tells his father or his mother, “What you would have gained from me is given to God,” 6 he need not honor his father.’ So for the sake of your tradition you have made void the word of God. 7 You hypocrites! Well did Isaiah prophesy of you, when he said: 8 “ ‘This people honors me with their lips, but their heart is far from me; 9 in vain do they worship me, teaching as doctrines the commandments of men.’ ”

(Matthew 15:1-9)

This is what Jesus meant by His yoke being easy.  Not that we’d have no struggles in life, but that He would free us from the strangling rules of the Pharisees, from the strangling rules you find in whatever place you are.  Yes, even from the strangling rules those in the church today inevitably set up.  Peter was already witness to this during the first days of the church.

10 Now, therefore, why are you putting God to the test by placing a yoke on the neck of the disciples that neither our fathers nor we have been able to bear? 11 But we believe that we will be saved through the grace of the Lord Jesus, just as they will.”

(Acts 15:1-11)

Think we’re immune to those things occurring today?  I don’t believe that.  So how does Jesus give us rest from all this?  We are aware of our sins, and when we repent of them, Jesus clears our conscience and we have rest.  John sums this up in his letter.

3 For this is the love of God, that we keep his commandments. And his commandments are not burdensome. 4 For everyone who has been born of God overcomes the world. And this is the victory that has overcome the world—our faith. 5 Who is it that overcomes the world except the one who believes that Jesus is the Son of God?

(1 John 5:3-5)

The Bible says we will suffer, but we have hope…

8 We are afflicted in every way, but not crushed; perplexed, but not driven to despair; 9 persecuted, but not forsaken; struck down, but not destroyed.

(2 Corinthians 4:8-9)

…and our hope is in God.

28 Have you not known? Have you not heard? The LORD is the everlasting God, the Creator of the ends of the earth. He does not faint or grow weary; his understanding is unsearchable. 29 He gives power to the faint, and to him who has no might he increases strength. 30 Even youths shall faint and be weary, and young men shall fall exhausted; 31 but they who wait for the LORD shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings like eagles; they shall run and not be weary; they shall walk and not faint.

(Isaiah 40:28-31)

John also says we will overcome the world.  We will one day have that rest forever – it won’t be a temporary thing.

4 He will wipe away every tear from their eyes, and death shall be no more, neither shall there be mourning, nor crying, nor pain anymore, for the former things have passed away.”
5 And he who was seated on the throne said, “Behold, I am making all things new.” Also he said, “Write this down, for these words are trustworthy and true.” 6 And he said to me, “It is done! I am the Alpha and the Omega, the beginning and the end. To the thirsty I will give from the spring of the water of life without payment. 7 The one who conquers will have this heritage, and I will be his God and he will be my son.

(Revelation 21:4-7)

One of my favorite songs these days flows from this passage (There Will Be a Day by Jeremy Camp).  I, for one, look forward to that day with no pain.

 

 

Before I leave you today, I’d like to return to the beginning of this post… that I went down this rabbit hole because I felt God’s message was being misstated.  Peter knew that many would try to distort God’s message, by the way.

14 Therefore, beloved, since you are waiting for these, be diligent to be found by him without spot or blemish, and at peace. 15 And count the patience of our Lord as salvation, just as our beloved brother Paul also wrote to you according to the wisdom given him, 16 as he does in all his letters when he speaks in them of these matters. There are some things in them that are hard to understand, which the ignorant and unstable twist to their own destruction, as they do the other Scriptures. 17 You therefore, beloved, knowing this beforehand, take care that you are not carried away with the error of lawless people and lose your own stability. 18 But grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. To him be the glory both now and to the day of eternity. Amen.

(2 Peter 3:14-18)

Let us not fall into the traps of this world.  You see, I think this conference speaker fell into one of these traps when simplifying God’s view of His way.  Perhaps he thought it would make the path of discipleship sound more palatable to us.  But it wasn’t the truth of God’s Word.  As the Bereans did with Paul and Silas…

10 The brothers immediately sent Paul and Silas away by night to Berea, and when they arrived they went into the Jewish synagogue. 11 Now these Jews were more noble than those in Thessalonica; they received the word with all eagerness, examining the Scriptures daily to see if these things were so.

(Acts 17:10-11)

…and as Paul directed us in his first letter to the Thessalonians…

21 but test everything; hold fast what is good.

(1 Thessalonians 5:21)

…I’ve attempted to test one of the speaker’s statements, holding on to what was good from the rest of the conference, yet throwing out what God’s Word tells me is false.  Of course, you’ve got to do the same for anything I’ve written as well.  But, that’s your rabbit hole to go down now, not mine. ;)

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