Long Drive Home, So I’ll Relax With Some More Re-Cuts

I just spent three hours driving home from Johannesburg. It’s only 38 miles, but there were a few accidents on the interstate, and as always, thousands of cars. Just imagine commuting from L.A. to San Diego. It’s really that bad.

So I’m watching some more re-cut trailers on YouTube to wind down.  Here was the best one:

Uncle Buck:

Re-Cut Movie Trailers

A very big thank you to my sister Amy for these videos.  If you haven’t seen the movies, you might not think they are funny, but hopefully you’ll catch the humor.

As I watched, I couldn’t help but think about how these re-cut trailers show the serious power that music has on our mental perception of images.  How else can Jack Torrance turn into Clark Griswold so easily?

Happy viewing!

. . .

The Ring becomes tear-jerker of the year:

Sleepless in Seattle is now a psychological drama (much like Fatal Attraction):

Mary Poppins turns into the horror film Scary Mary:

The Shining turns into family-friendly Shining:

God Loves Us Because He Loves Us

God’s heart is to carry us as a man carries his son (Deut. 1:31). Yet, despite God’s word, how often do we refuse him (Deut. 1:32)?  Still, how much more often does God say, “You transgressor! You stubborn of heart! You have no faith in me. You are running to everything else and whoring after idols! You are far from me, but nevertheless I will run to you. I will give you my righteousness. I will give you my salvation. You will be my glory. I’m doing this because I love you.”

Isaiah 46:12-13 says,

Listen to me, you stubborn of heart, you who are far from righteousness; I bring near my righteousness; it is not far off, and my salvation will not delay; I will put salvation in Zion, for Israel my glory.

Deuteronomy 7:6-8 says,

For you are a people holy to the LORD your God.  The LORD your God has chosen you to be a people for his treasured possession, out of all the peoples who are on the face of the earth.  It was not because you were more in number than any other people that the LORD set his love on you and chose you, for you were the fewest of all peoples, but it is because the LORD loves you and is keeping the oath that he swore to your fathers, that the LORD has brought you out with a mighty hand and redeemed you from the house of slavery, from the hand of Pharaoh king of Egypt.

And so God doesn’t just say, “I love you.”  He ends with, “And I love you because I love you. And I will love you until you obey me.”

That Guy Might Be a Father Someday

While walking on the University of Johannesburg campus today, I saw a male student wearing a t-shirt that said:

I’m Sotally Tober.

In case you missed the joke, it’s supposed to be a quote from a drunk guy saying, “I’m totally sober.”

I couldn’t help but say, “That guy is going to be a dad someday.  He might even be one already.   How sad.”  That’s what men in our society — not just American society — are like.  I’m in South Africa.  I’m talking the world’s society.

Most men are simply “males,” not real men.  They are typically good at getting drunk, looking at porn, avoiding hard work, and macking on women.  That’s sad.  And do you know what type of guy a person who wears a shirt like that becomes (unless God’s grace saves him)?

They become the guy at the rugby game I saw last week.  This guy is at the game with his wife and 6- or 7-year old son.  The “Bulls Babes” cheerleading team comes right in front of us (we are in row 7).  This guy stands his kid up on the seat and gives him a camera and tells him to take a picture of the cheerleaders (who weren’t dressed for the weather, if you follow me).

That was bad enough.  But it was magnified even more because his wife — the boy’s mom — was sitting right next to him.  I wanted to go up and grab his collar, get into his face, and say, “Why don’t you just punch your wife in the stomach?  Why don’t you spit in her face?  Why don’t you just mock her and say, ‘You aren’t pretty enough!  Why can’t you be a cheerleader?”

It was abuse in its most subtle form.  It was disgusting and disgraceful

And non-Christians say that men who love Jesus support the oppression of women.  Give me a break.

Never Thought I’d Have to Do This

I just added a commenting rules page.  There aren’t many, but if you are a first time commenter, you might want to take a look.

Most of you do a wonderful job, so this really doesn’t concern you.  I’m humbled that so many people stop by this blog and engage in discussion

Thank you!

“The Truth”

Artist Michael D’Antuono’s painting “The Truth” about Barack Obama.  Here’s an excerpt from the story:

“More than a presidential portrait,” writes D’Antuono on a website touting the painting, “‘The Truth’ is a politically, religiously and socially-charged statement on our nation’s current political climate and deep partisan divide that is sure to create a dialogue.”

Like others in the news who have depicted Obama in Christ-like imagery, D’Antuono insists he isn’t claiming the man is Messiah, but only inviting “individual interpretations.”

“‘The Truth,’ like beauty, is in the eyes of the beholder,” claims the exhibit’s press release.

Read the whole thing.

D’Antuono has encouraged viewers to email him and respond to the question, “What is your truth.”  I plan to work on my response sometime this weekend and then post it here on the blog.

Pitfalls in Communication: Differing Interpretive Filters

Pitfalls in Communication: View Series
Continued from Part 1

Cultural (Environmental) Filters
Everyone has their own culture.  Culture is a shared system of values, beliefs, attitudes, and norms.  Culture is not simply an ethnicity thing.  It’s not just “Irish” culture and “Indian” culture and “South African” culture.

I grew up in Omaha.  People from South Omaha (like me) have a different culture than people from North Omaha or West Omaha or Downtown Omaha.  Neighbors living on the same block can have completely different cultures.  “Come on over,” for one family means the door is literally always unlocked.  “Come on over,” for another family means, “Call before you come.”

We tend to communicate the way our culture has conditioned us to communicate.  This means we view time, relationships, contexts, privacy, and methods of communication (that is, direct or indirect) differently than other cultures.  When we talk to people using words or concepts about our particular values (that even might be ambiguous to someone in a different culture), we must be extremely intentional to define what we our meaning is.

Gender Filters
Let’s be honest here.  Men and women are different.  I’ve long said, “Men might not be from Venus, and women might not be from Mars, but they certainly could be from opposite sides of the earth.”  Now communicative rules concerning gender aren’t without exception, but for the most part, you know what I mean.  I won’t go into specifics because I don’t want to get an email that says, “That’s untrue!  We aren’t like that!” and then I get railed on.  (By the way, an email like that — from a man or a woman — might just prove my point.)

Nevertheless, when men and women communicate, whether in marriage, in a family, as friends, or in a work relationship, we must have it on the forefront of our minds that we are different from each other.  Men and women are created equal — no question about it.  But anyone who says we are the same has some serious issues.

MacArthur Finishes His Attack

John MacArthur has finished up his series on the Song of Solomon, and consequently, his berating of Mark Driscoll.

You can read parts two, three, and four on the Shepherd’s Fellowship site.

I already shared my thoughts on this discussion, but I will add a few more thoughts and observations:

1. The main sermon that MacArthur is discussing is one that Driscoll preached in Scotland a few years back.  Evidently, it was quite crass.  Driscoll was not aware that it was available online.  Driscoll offered an apology and said that the content has been removed from the internet.  MacArthur perhaps was unaware of this (I’m told he’s not that into the internet), however he could have been told by a GCC staffer.  Nevertheless, the discussion should have stopped with Driscoll’s apology.
2. I find it interesting that MacArthur’s series is called, “The Rape of Song of Solomon.”  On the first post, a female commenter wrote, “Brother MacArthur, I’m not going to address the rest of it (not worth my time) but I will say this. If you’d ever been raped, you wouldn’t use the term so casually.”
3. MacArthur obviously does not understand Driscoll’s humor in addressing preachers who teach Song of Solomon as a purely allegorical work.  It’s not blasphemous to say that Jesus would be gay if this book was strictly allegorical.  Let’s be honest: if the book was only allegory, it would put sexual connotations on Jesus’ relationship with the church.  That’s nonsense.  That’s disgusting.  And, to be sure, we would laugh at people who think that — because they are grossly wrong!  But that’s exactly what preachers (some very good ones!) have done in the past.  Driscoll is trying to show how senseless their interpretation is.
   
4. It seems as if MacArthur is calling for Driscoll’s resignation from the pastorate in a few of his posts because of his preaching style and delivery.  I’m sure you can guess what I think about that.
   

Don’t Be a Theoretical Theologian

I’m not very old.  I’m 24.  But the older I get and as I work with different people in ministry contexts, the understanding for my need of practical theology deepens.  I’m glad I’m learning this now and not when I’m 50.

We all know people who can argue about finer points of theology in regards to spiritual gifts, the atonement, justification, eschatology, etc.  However, when it comes to practical living, they fall flat on their face.  There are guys who can talk Calvinism all day, but do not know their wife’s favorite restaurant.  Perhaps you are one of those people.  I know I can be from time to time.

The people and students I work with know that I love doctrine.  And it is essential!  But if it’s only head knowledge and theory, what’s the point?

So many people are prepared to answer questions about the doctrines I mentioned above (or others).  That’s all well and good, but here’s the kind of questions I get from people (and some I’ll probably be asked once I pastor a church):

• Is it wrong to kiss my girlfriend?
• What can I do to stop eating so much?
• How can I get myself to read the Bible everyday?
• Why do I have a hard time getting out of bed in the morning?
• How can I love my parents better?
• Why am I so bad at communicating?
• Why isn’t God answering my prayers?
• How can I stop drinking so much?
• How do I stop procrastinating?

I assume that you get these questions, too.  Of course, there are those questions like, “What is irresistible grace?” and “What does Paul teach about the sanctification process?” and many other doctrinally oriented questions.  But if you merely answer a question, instead of responding to a person, you aren’t doing anyone any good.

Theology was made for man, not man for theology.  Take everything that the Holy Spirit teaches you — everything in the Scriptures, all the doctrines — and be intensely practical.  That’s what everyday life is all about.

I Speak American, Not English

Oxford has produced a dictionary of North American English, and its second edition has over 250,000 entries.  It’s called the “New Oxford American Dictionary.”  It’s a dictionary that has definitions for American words.

Here’s my point in that: I attended a rugby game here tonight in Pretoria, South Africa.  I was with Rylan, my fellow American teammate, as well as an Afrikaans friend.  As we talked about each of our country’s beloved sports, I couldn’t help but notice the difference in our vocabulary.  It took a sentence or two to describe what we meant; then we were square on our understanding of terms.

The problem was that he was speaking English.  I was speaking American.

If you are from America, you don’t speak English.  Let’s call it what it is.