Feeling blessed

Dash holding Evelyn Kay Cottongim for the 1st time

I know I should go straight to bed now, it's almost midnight and we are pouring 60 yards of concrete at 7:00 in the morning.  This past Friday evening, Tammy and I drove through the night arriving in Little Rock around 6:30 a.m., which meant we were up for over 24 hours.  We made it in plenty of time; Evelyn Kay Cottongim arrived healthy and whole Saturday at 5:32 p.m.  Today, I drove back home.  By time the week is out, I'll be needing to change the oil in our car again.

I'm tired, but I'm feeling rather blessed.  Being a grandparent is nothing new to mankind, but it surprising how joyful it is.  While Tammy and I took care of Dash for a little while this weekend, he told me to tickle him and he ran around their house giggling, wanting to be chased.  Evelyn is a beautiful baby girl, and thankfully Laura and Evelyn are both 100% healthy after a lonnnngggg labor.  And, I'm so proud of our son Drew, he's now going experience something I never have, raising a daughter.  I can't wait to see how this baby girl will transform our entire family.  

God is good.  We know God is good, but it's times like this as we celebrate a newborn's arrival that we are reminded of the gift of family, life, and love.  All I can really say is, I'm so thankful to be part of this -- so blessed to be able to see & experience this wonderful gift.  I could say so much more, but I think the picture above is worth more than a thousand words.

The Hunger Games MockingJay Part Two: why people flock to this type of story

Tonight, millions of fans around the world will flock to watch MockingJay part two.   I’ve thoroughly enjoyed reading stories within the same genre -- enduring stories like Orwell’s 1984, Bradbury’s Fahrenheit 451, Golding’s Lord of the Flies, and more recently, Lois Lowry's four-part series beginning with the Giver.  Why do we love dystopian stories?  

It seems strange to migrate towards these bleak stories, especially considering their settings are filled with Totalitarian regimes, the dehumanization of society, and they rarely have happy endings.  Furthermore, as dependent on technology as our culture is, interestingly technology rarely rescues anyone in these stories -- instead, tyrants hatch schemes to suppress people with technology.  

In such stories, many of our deepest fears take flight.  For example, computers conquer and enslave humans, dictators rule hawkishly, nature harshly turns her back on us, and the main characters are henpecked by peer pressure to conform to a decoy of civilization.

But then dystopian plots snare us with the old “battle of good vs. evil,” and as we become emotionally engaged, we eagerly root for the protagonists throughout their transformational character arc.  Even though the odds are stacked against the heroes & heroines, in a clutch they eventually soar past their enemies as they overcome with limited resources & a little grit, the strength of their community, and through a common determination to be free.  

If you were to raise a duckling in a desert wasteland, instinctually it would long for the wetlands.  Likewise, deep inside we know we are made for heavenly realms.  To some degree, existing east of Eden, we inhabit just the opposite of Utopia.  Since our world often has pockets of brutality & fanaticism and the dystopian genre confronts similar topics, we are drawn to these stories -- regardless of how much we might brood over them.

Basically, there’s enough reality within this intimidating genre to draw us in (along with the potential for these stories to actually happen), and we cherish freedom from bullies who seek to break the will of the masses.  We naturally long to be victorious over oppressive forces -- so maybe it’s not so cryptic that we enjoy these gloomy stories.

The dystopian genre isn’t a fledgling storyline, it’s been around ever since people have put quill to parchment, just take a gander at Scripture.  For example, in the opening of the book of Genesis we see disorder and chaos ruling over nature, “The earth was without form and void, and darkness was over the face of the deep. And the Spirit of God was hovering over the face of the waters.” (Genesis 1:2 ESV)

Something cataclysmic happened in between Gen 1:1 & 1:2, perhaps a great battle resulting in satan being cast to the earth -- he is after all already strutting around the Garden when we meet Adam & Eve.  Also, consider the crisis mankind faced in the antediluvian period before Noah’s voyage.  And, what of John’s Apocalypse...?

Is it hard to see a dystopian world when you read this passage? “Then I saw another beast rising out of the earth. It had two horns like a lamb and it spoke like a dragon.  It exercises all the authority of the first beast in its presence, and makes the earth and its inhabitants worship the first beast, whose mortal wound was healed.  It performs great signs, even making fire come down from heaven to earth in front of people, and by the signs that it is allowed to work in the presence of the beast it deceives those who dwell on earth, telling them to make an image for the beast that was wounded by the sword and yet lived.  And it was allowed to give breath to the image of the beast, so that the image of the beast might even speak and might cause those who would not worship the image of the beast to be slain.  Also it causes all, both small and great, both rich and poor, both free and slave, to be marked on the right hand or the forehead, so that no one can buy or sell unless he has the mark, that is, the name of the beast or the number of its name.  This calls for wisdom: let the one who has understanding calculate the number of the beast, for it is the number of a man, and his number is 666.” (Revelation 13:11-18 ESV)

Maybe in the end, the dystopian genre resonates with us because it’s a story-pattern as old as time itself -- with a niche lasting until the end of time.  So, if you are like us and you plan to see MockingJay part two this weekend, keep an eye out for Biblical principles such as good standing firm against evil even when it’s painful, the effect power has over us when we lose sight of goodness/compassion, and redemption.  Remember, many spiritual lessons can be learned from secular stories, since the story of humanity, created in God’s image but stained by sin, is so interwoven within them.   

Why boycotting Starbucks will backfire

We live in a time when people think inactivity is activity.  Such as the latest "christian" boycott of Starbucks over their bland holiday cup.  The thinking goes, if "we" don't purchase "their" goods, we'll show "them!"  But what really happens in a "culture-war" boycott?

People, in general, want to protect and rescue those who are being attacked.  So, when "christians" attack Starbucks over their red cup, the majority of people will naturally want to rescue Starbucks -- it's just the way we are wired.

What else happens?  People who boycott Starbucks over their red cups show their own inconsistencies are beyond measure.  Last time I checked, gas comes from oil and a lot of oil comes from the Middle East.  There are some people in the Middle East profiting from our oil consumption who really, authentically, hate Christians  -- and they don't use red cups to prove their point.  How come I've never heard of people boycotting gas stations over the ideologies of the nations producing the oil?

And, the old saying "There's no such thing as bad publicity" is true.  The more people rant about Starbucks, the more free advertising Starbucks receives.

Now, as far as I'm concerned, I could care less what Starbucks uses for their holiday cups.  We have two sons who work for Starbucks, and our sons have thrived with Starbucks.  We're very proud of our sons.  Our sons have had many opportunities to share their Christian faith & let their light shine by being engaged in our culture simply because they do work for Starbucks.  

It's highly inappropriate to assume the motives behind the red cup and many people are almost on the verge of slander with the claims they make.  All they really do by boycotting is reaffirm in the minds of people that Christians are hateful people who complain a lot.  Besides, if you want to change the culture, you engage it lovingly, you don't hide behind a paper cup.  

 

What is the "greatest" threat to the church?

Many are asking these days, “What is the greatest threat to the Church?”  Typical responses to this question may focus on recent cultural advances within the homosexual community, the breakdown in the family, modern-day Christian persecutions -- both physical and prejudicial, the residual results from the removal of prayer/Bible reading from our public schools, the misunderstandings around the actual purpose of “The Separation of Church & State,” and the perceived influences of Darwinism or secular science.  

If I were to single out our most dangerous threat, I think there’s an even more prevalent threat to the health of the church than any of the possibilities I just mentioned.  And, the actual threat I have in mind is growing daily in its influence over all of us.

It’s truly an exciting time we live in, having such easy access to information; advances in research and education and much personal growth have been made possible in recent years.  Make no mistake about it, humanity needs access to information & advances in knowledge.  Yet, we live in an unprecedented era of information overload and instantaneous communication.  One of the negative results of this constant bombardment of data is we are too easily distracted now.   

Basically, the biggest threat to the church we currently face is that we have lost our ability to pay attention for any period of time.  I think the theological term I’m searching for is “Space Cadets.”  

For example, if you watch Cable News you’ll notice how a talkinghead throws out questions to their guests, expecting an immediate answer from people who haven't had time to think through the issue or meditate over a good answer.  While their “expert” is cobbling together an incomplete answer based on the freshest news of the hour, across the bottom of the TV screen scrolls an endless stream of Stock Reports, weather updates, and miscellaneous news reports from the four corners of the world.  And for us, the audience, we get bored and distracted if the topic doesn’t change every 15 seconds.  Worse yet, a poor example has been set and now we too think we should have an instant opinion on every subject without taking the time to think about it.

In light of our shrinking attention span and our increasing appetite for the latest soundbite, the ancient Hebrew wisdom of Solomon is worth considering,  “All things are full of weariness; a man cannot utter it; the eye is not satisfied with seeing, nor the ear filled with hearing.  What has been is what will be, and what has been done is what will be done, and there is nothing new under the sun.  Is there a thing of which it is said,  “See, this is new”?  It has been already in the ages before us.” (Ecclesiastes 1:8-10 ESV)

How have our weakened attention spans affected the church?  Who reads their Bibles anymore?  Who takes the time to think through the deeper questions of meaning, purpose, life, or eternity?  Sermons lasting much more than 15 minutes, risk losing an entire audience.  Beyond this, believers have a hard time concentrating on spiritual realities.  We also have a hard time having a conversation with each other without checking our phones for Facebook updates or responding to text messages.  I know, because I struggle with this too!

Why does this lack of attention even matter?  It takes time to listen to God.  Many Biblical characters traveled far and wide and spent many years seeking God’s direction.  Spiritual maturity isn’t a microwaveable discipline, it’s more like crockpot cooking.  With our shortened attention spans, our tendencies to be bored, and our desire for instant information, it will become harder to hear and to obey the voice of God.

What can we do to face this threat to our spiritual maturity? Recognize our distractions will only increase; there’s no escaping the impact of information overload on us.  We also need to become comfortable saying, “I don’t know” and we need to allow ourselves space to say, “I need more time to think about this.”  

Also, we need to realize that old information isn’t worthless just because it isn’t modern.  I’m not saying doctors should go back to using leeches or we pretend to believe the earth is flat.  But, just because a book is five years, fifty years, or fifteen hundred years old, it doesn’t mean it’s out of touch.  Read and re-read the classics in Christian literature like the writings of C.S. Lewis, or going further back, Augustine.

Do yourself a huge favor, unplug periodically, take long walks with a loved one, set aside time to be contemplative, and read books written by people who are long gone -- books that are timeless and that can challenge you to live a life of substance.  And in all of this, strive to listen to God’s still, quiet voice, which is stronger & wiser than the thunderous waves we are used to surfing.

The "Intern" sells Success at what cost?

This past week I went to see the Intern with two of our sons.  It was a good movie, even though the underlying message which came through wasn't so great.  There were many worthwhile leadership/mentoring lessons in the movie, along with highlighting the need for intergenerational relationships, and the plot was well written.

De Niro's character is a retired widower who experienced a long career, goes to a lot of funerals, who after he has traveled the world in his retirement, he is so bored and unfulfilled he longs to be back (at age 70) in the office once more.  Hathaway's character is a Thirty-something career-driven mom, with a stay at home dad.  She neglects sleeping and eating, and her family.  

In the end, the Intern glosses over the sacrifices people make to achieve success, even though the damage to Hathaway's life isn't marginalized in the plot.  De Niro who "fathers" Hathaway and encourages her to eat well and sleep more, still tells her in the end she should pursue her path and not feel guilty about it or take the blame for the fallout in her marriage.  And there's the catch.

Had the screenplay been written with the roles reversed, or even if it portrayed an all male cast, people wouldn't have blinked an eye.  But, they placed Hathaway's role as a wife & mom who seeks to run a successful startup online company.  This was all done to disguise the movie's moral code.  In other words, the audience risks feeling sexist if we deny Hathaway her shot at glory.  But the point isn't about gender.

In reality, the trade off De Niro admires which Hathaway embraces -- where you sacrifice personal and more so family health for work, comes up short.  I believe in hard work, and having a strong work ethic.  On the surface, this movie seems to promote this too, claiming the seductive lure of hard work always leads to success.  

Really though, afterwards, I questioned the lack of valuing "balance" in the plot, that balance between work and life which helps us enjoy the fruit of our labors... and the need for our culture to redefine success.

A Review of The Martian: Cast Away meets Apollo 13

This afternoon we went to see "The Martian" staring Matt Damon, it's based on the book (which I've not read) by Andy Weir.  Let's get the big problem out of the way, most people watching the movie will think the planet Mars has such a thin atmosphere, the huge dust storm that's key to the plot wouldn't be possible.  Here's an image from the Hubble showing a dust storm on Mars:

So, Mars does have huge dust storms...

The plot to The Martian is surrounded by a lot of science but it's not dependent on science to be as good as it is.  The real depth of the plot is the human condition called community.  The story reemphasizes the intrinsic value of friendship and the fact that life as fragile as it is, is priceless.

After the huge dust storm separates Mark Watney (Matt Damon's character) from his crew, survival isn't the only crisis Watney faces.  Watney has to endure many months of separation from all human contact, he's not just alone, he can't even communicate for a long period of time.  When you think about it, separation is the harshest form of punishment we know of, from time-out for toddlers to solitary confinement for hardened prisoners.

As the plot develops, it doesn't take long for the movie to feel like two of Tom Hank's best movies, Cast Away and Apollo 13.  The solitude and the urgency of sustaining oneself physically, as the main character, along with some interesting ingenuity are both center stage.

What really helps the plot though isn't just Watney's condition, it's the entire team that tries to rescue him.  I won't spoil the plot and give away whether he's rescued or if he starves to death.  It's a slow moving plot, and appropriately so.  Watching The Martian, there are many times you empathize for Watney, feeling deep frustration or even anger over the bureaucracy of NASA and the political posturing of people who try to cover up the facts and save face.

The big take away though is the fact that life is too precious and valuable to just let someone die, even if you have to travel halfway across the solar system to try to save them.  There was only one reference to God in the movie.  Jeff Daniels's character asks another NASA administrator during an attempt to launch supplies to Mars if he believes in God.  The response is the other character's one parent was a Baptist, the other parent Hindu, so he guesses he has no choice but to believe.  Daniels's character then says, "We'll take all the help we can get."

But, as I watched that scene and the entire movie, I felt if human life is just a product of blind chance, survival of the fittest, and unguided nature, then one human life isn't worth one gallon of rocket fuel.  Therefore, The Martian shows once again the emptiness of nihilism, or of any philosophy that dehumanizes us, removes the divine from our meta-narrative, and loses sight of the holiness of life.

Confident people are less.... judgemental

Recently my wife and I went out for lunch, it was right after church and when we pulled in the restaurant parking lot, it was starting to fill up.  I dropped my wife off at the door to get in line to find a table for us.  It took a while for me to find a parking spot since the lunch rush was just about to explode, and all I could think of as I parked was how long it would take for us to be seated.

As I walked to the front door of the restaurant, I saw an elderly couple approaching too.  I hurried ahead of them and opened the door for them.  Even though I wanted to join my lovely wife as soon as possible, immediately I saw another couple walking up, so I held the door open for them.  Then a young family was walking to the door too, so I held the door open for them too.

I’m not bragging about being polite.  Trust me, normally I would hold the door open for an elderly couple anyday but then I would follow and simply walk on in.  I certainly didn’t plan to hold the door for that many people.  But it struck me as I held the door -- it’s easier to hold the door open for others when you know your seat is being secured.  Maybe that’s why Jesus tells us in John 14 He’s going to prepare a place for us, maybe it’s to help us feel secure, even confident.  

I don’t believe in the doctrine of “Once saved, always saved,” but here’s the spiritual overlap to holding the door open during the lunch rush -- when people are confident in their relationship with God, I think they feel less threatened by other people.  Whether it’s by new ideas or by doctrines they don’t agree with, when you are confidently close to God, you stop seeing other people as your competition.  And, overall, confident people are less judgmental.  When we trust God loves us and has forgiven us, we are free from the mental trap that God will accept me as long as I’m better than others or when I have a better understanding of the Bible than “they” do.  

There’s a problem with thinking your church/denomination is the only group of Christians going to heaven -- none of us are perfect in our knowledge or how we practice our faith.  Of course there are cults and yes there are groups who claim to know God, but really don’t.  Even so, with the imposters and the false teachers out there, this doesn't’ mean there’s no one else on the right path besides your tribe.

Even Jesus’ closest disciples seemed to wrestle with this.  I don’t know if they were overzealous, or if they were insecure.  But one thing is certain, even though they didn’t want other people to make claims on Jesus that they thought were theirs exclusively, Jesus didn’t agree with their position,  “38 John said to him, “Teacher, we saw someone casting out demons in your name, and we tried to stop him, because he was not following us.” 39 But Jesus said, “Do not stop him, for no one who does a mighty work in my name will be able soon afterward to speak evil of me. 40 For the one who is not against us is for us. 41 For truly, I say to you, whoever gives you a cup of water to drink because you belong to Christ will by no means lose his reward.””  (Mk 9:38-41)

It’s one thing to be blessed, it’s quite another to be blessed and to know it.  Those who are blessed but ignore the fact they are blessed are usually thought of as being snobbish or as whiners.  A lifetime of reading has filled my head with priceless treasures; having a great wife to share life with has filled my heart with immeasurable joy; serving a God who has set my heart on fire has brought me endless gratitude.  The more blessed I feel, the less worried I am.  And, the more blessed I am, the easier it is to smile when I see other people walking through open doors or pearly gates.