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Wednesday, November 30, 2005

Anne Rice's Website

If you have been reading Anne Rice's novel, Christ the Lord : Out of Egypt or if you have been reading about it, you might also be interested to discover that she has a website. Go here.

I don't share Ms. Rice's political views. And since she is Roman Catholic, I'm sure we'd disagree in certain areas of religious dogma. But I am listing reasons below that she and her writings are important for you to know about:

  • She is a huge force in American pop culture. She has millions of fans. She's written dozens of best-selling horror novels, selling close to 100 million copies. Several of her books have been made into blockbuster movies and plays.

  • She is a popular author because she is a skilled writer and storyteller. We must not underestimate the power which storytellers wield over a society.

  • She has undergone a very publicized re-commitent to the Roman Catholic Church. Many of the fans of her horror books and the erotica she's penned are unhappy about this.

  • Now she has written a book about the childhood of Jesus Christ. This was a bold undertaking since the canon of Christian scripture says next to nothing about this period of the Savior's life.

  • Undaunted by the risks, Ms. Rice has produced what I consider to be a vivid portrait of the life and ways of first-century Palestinian Judaism, a background which greatly illuminates the Gospels.

  • I would have made some different choices were I the author of Christ the Lord, but Ms. Rice has written a book that is orthodox, entertaining, and insightful.

  • Think of the millions of people who would perhaps never ever pick up to read a book about Jesus who will now read this, simply because of the author's fame. I believe that many people who are otherwise religiously indifferent could become captivated by the figure of Jesus and possibly, oh please, recieve a new or renewed faith.

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Tuesday, November 29, 2005

New Modified Template

If you've visited here before, you may notice that I'm tinkering with my template. Right now, it looks fine to me, but please alert me if anything does not appear right on your browser.

Let me draw your attention to a new feature. In the left side-bar, scrolling down about half way, you'll see a section of links called "Classic Burr." There I will regularly rotate old posts of mine that I personally like and want to sort of resurrect.

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Monday, November 28, 2005

"Christ the Lord" by Anne Rice

I have been reading the new novel by Vampire Chronicler Anne Rice. Newly re-committed to her Roman Catholic faith, Ms. Rice has written an intriguing book told in the first person by a 7 year old Jesus. She has clearly done her research and presents her subject in a remarkably reverent, orthodox and interesting way. It is an enjoyable read. And believe me, I approached this with great skepticism.

Rather than writing a full review, I recommend you read what Dr. Gene Veith has written here at his Cranach Blog. He nails it on the head. He points out the perils inherent in trying to novelize the childhood of Christ the Lord.

My remaining criticism of the book is that Rice borrows slightly from ancient non-canonical tales of Jesus' youth. But as Veith points out, she does de-gnosticize them. Still, she does have Jesus performing occasional miracles.

It says in John 2:11, after the water-into-wine episode: "This, the first of his miraculous signs, Jesus performed in Cana of Galilee." My understanding of that passage is that Jesus performed no miracles prior to the wedding of Cana.

I do recommend Anne Rice's book.

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Friday, November 25, 2005

Joel Osteen or Jesus










Joel Osteen is pastor of the fast-growing Lakewood Church in Houston, Texas. He promotes a prosperity gospel which is no gospel at all. His is the gospel of self-esteem. The Christian Research Journal published a helpful article, which you can find here, about his latest book. To sum it up, Osteen is a false prophet who fails to preach Christ crucified.

The letters in the above picture lapel pin stand for "I Watch Joel Osteen." To be fair, it should be stated that this pin is not being sold by Pastor Osteen or his church, but by a misguided devotee.

The fish symbol has been used since ancient times by Christians to identify themselves to one another. This is how it works. The Greek word for fish is ichthus. Ancient believers used each letter of the Greek word for fish as the beginning of another word spelling out this early confession of faith: Jesus Christ, Son of God, Savior.










The makers of the Joel Osteen fish pin claim that they are trying to help people share their faith. Supposedly if someone asks you about the IWJO, you get to tell them about Joel Osteen and then they'll watch him too and get saved. But honestly, if the goal is to share one's faith, why not stick with the original so that instead of telling your friend about Osteen, you'll be talking about the Savior Himself?

It is offensive and possibly blasphemous for someone to take a universally recognized Christian symbol and remove the name of Jesus, replacing it with the name of a mere man. Now this would be bad enough, but it adds injury to insult (intended) when the man whose name you substitute doesn't even preach the correct message.

Hat Tip: Orthodixie

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Pirates of the Caribbean 2, preview

Go here for the new Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest trailer. It appears that Captain Jack is back.


Thanks to Jeffrey Overstreet.

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Wednesday, November 23, 2005

Happy Turkey Day Eve

Hello all you ingrates. You are ungrateful, aren't you? Sure you are. So am I. You don't really pause to offer thanks for the blessings you have from God, do you? Not like you should. No, it's much more likely that you complain, you whine, and you feel sorry for yourself. So do I. When good thing happen to you, you may remember to say a cursory "thank God" in your prayers, but you really think that you had it coming. And when bad things happen to you, you act all surprised. You say it's unfair. At least you think it. When bad things happen to you, you see-saw back and forth between self-pity and outrage. That's because in your heart of hearts, you believe that YOU should be immune from suffering. You don't deserve to bear God's wrath or the effects of your sins. And when bad things do happen, you don't give thanks. You are not thankful in all things as Scripture exhorts. No, you not only expect God to alter your circumstances but you expect Him to do it right away. And any delay at all is seen, by you, as a flaw on the part of God. Admit it. It's true for me and I'm willing to bet it's true for you.

And the kicker in all this is that you have sooooo much to be thankful for. First off, you are alive. You live. You exist. And secondly, you continue to live. God gave you life and still preserves it. And certainly, above all we should be thankful for the gift of new abundant life in the Savior Jesus Christ.

But I don't want to clobber you, using the grace of God as a club to make you feel bad. You should feel bad. But the Holy Spirit can take that feeling of guilt and worthlessness and use it to drive you to seek forgiveness at the foot of the cross. Did I hit a nerve up above? Good. But don't tune out. Let me tell you about Jesus of Nazareth who paid for your ingratitude. Are you selfish? Christ died for you. Are you a complainer? Christ died for you. Do you feel like the world owes you and that you are entitled to happiness? Well, Christ died for that too. You have been pardoned. Now go eat your turkey with a clear conscience.

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Tuesday, November 22, 2005

New Lutheran Carnival

No, it's not an ocean cruise. Lutheran blog carnival XI is at Necessary Roughness. Check it out.

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Monday, November 21, 2005

Voluntary Human Extinction Movement

Do you believe that the planet earth is becoming over-populated? Do you worry that there may not be enough resources to sustain the burgeoning population? Then you may be interested to know about the Voluntary Human Extinction Movement. This movement does not advocate murder, forced-sterilization, suicide or genocide. But it does encourage people simply to stop having babies. Why? So that the planet earth can return to health. But allow me to be as clear as possible. They do not promote reducing or stopping population growth. They literally promote the extinction of the human race.

You absolutely MUST download this video from their website. If you still use dial-up, this could take a while, but it's worth the wait. It's a 4.5 minute animation comparing the human race to a cancerous tumor metastasizing and killing mother earth.

On the other hand, if you would like to see some sane statistics and research about population growth, go here.

Thanks to Weapons of Mass Distraction for the tip.

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Saturday, November 19, 2005

The Kingdom of Heaven - Worst Movie on Earth

Yesterday, we watched Ridley Scott's Kingdom of Heaven and, in spite of the director's angelic last name, it was terrible. The worst movie on earth. Maybe on Mars there are worse movies. Or maybe there is a worse piece of celluloid toilet-paper in the astral plane between heaven and earth, but this is the worst one here on terra firma, at least from 2005. I'd say it's a piece of rubbish, but that would be unfair to actual pieces of rubbish. Of course, I'm intentionally exaggerating in order to make a point. Do you get my point?

Here are just a few of the reasons I hated this film:

  • It was boring. Too many anachronistic speeches given by agnostics about the supreme virtue of post-modernism: tolerance.

  • Orlando Bloom was terrible. Never has a role been so poorly cast. He simply does not possess enough IT to pull this off. Liam Neeson could have done it. Russell Crowe would have been terrific. Even Stan Laurel would've done a better job. Sure, Orlando did fine as a fairy in The Lord of the Rings. But his only other cinematic claim to fame is that he was completely overshadowed by Keith Richards. . . oop, I mean Johnny Depp, as Captain Jack Sparrow in Pirates of the Caribbean.

  • Kingdom of Heaven is supposed to be set during the period of the Crusades, but naturally, it is historically inaccurate in every scene. Just about the only accurate piece of information in the film is that there actually is a city named Jerusalem and people live there. Beyond that, it's pretty shaky as a historical drama.

  • Ridley Scott has made a piece of propaganda, pure and simple. Christians are bad. Europeans are bad. Muslims are noble.

  • Big Brother director employs double-speak and double-think. In real life, Muslim armies conquered and took Jerusalem from Christian inhabitants. In real life, Muslim armies attacked and conquered Spain and occupied it for 700 years. In real life, Muslim armies tried to invade France and were repelled by that nation's one and only military hero, Charles Martel. In real life, it is Muslim warriors who behead innocents. In real life, it is Islam which cries that it is no sin to kill infidels and martyrdom is a free ticket to paradise. But in the movie, everything is reversed.

  • The anti-clericalism is so thick, I nearly gagged. What kind of parish priest says, "God has abandoned you." Or do we think the Patriarch of Jerusalem was so ignorant of Christian dogma that he would object to cremating human remains saying, "You can't do that. Then they won't be resurrected until Judgment Day." OK, I'm sure he would've opposed cremation, but not because he expected people to be resurrected before Judgment Day. Duh. Everyone will be resurrected on Judgment Day, cremated or ingested by maggots. I'm pretty sure that, no matter his flaws, he knew the Nicene Creed.
Wikipedia has this nugget: Historians such as Jonathan Riley-Smith called the film "rubbish," "ridiculous," "complete fiction" and "dangerous to Arab relations." Fellow crusade historians Jonathan Phillips and Amin Maalouf also spoke against the film.

Thomas Madden, Crusades expert and chairman of the history department at St. Louis University has this to say at National Review Online.

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Friday, November 18, 2005

Veith on Veggie Tales

Over at the Cranach blog, Dr. Gene Veith offers a few good thoughts on current trends in Christian videos for children. See here. Since we recently covered new Veggie Tales products here on the Burr, I thought I'd chime in.

Dr. Veith reviews a few of the current products and then ends with what I consider a piercing insight. He says:

The message of all of these DVDs is essentially moralistic. Yes, children need moral instruction. But would it kill any of these "Christian products" to say something about Christ?

Here following is the comment I posted on his blog:

I agree with Dr. Veith 100%. We are SUPPOSED to teach morals to our kids. Where else are they supposed to pick it up?

But if the teaching of morals is the sole (or even chief) objective, then I am much happier with the animations that stay away from the bible stories. Teaching morality is not the central purpose of Scripture. Pointing to Christ the Savior is the central purpose of Scripture. To use the bible only as a story-book showing us proper behavior is to misuse God's Holy Word.

If our cute little videos lead our children (parents too) to think that the Bible is essentially about how to improve your behavior, we are leading them away from Christ, not toward Him. When the Bible is seen as a mere morality tale, and an oppressive one at that, people will turn in despair away from the very source which offers them life.

Dr. Veith sagely asks, "would it kill any of these "Christian products" to say something about Christ?" And I say, "NO, but it will kill the viewers if they don't." And not in the good way.

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Zombie Survival Guide

A must-have, especially for those of us who are at particular risk.



Buy it NOW.


Recent reports have indicated that my own fair city is highly vulnerable.

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Thursday, November 17, 2005

Christian Thanksgiving Book for Kids



You may or may not know that my wife is an up-and-coming children's book author. We went out to dinner this evening and stopped to look around Barnes & Noble. We were delighted to see that her thanksgiving book was on sale there. Most of the other books on sale were about pilgrims and native americans and turkeys. Julie writes about that stuff too, but her's is a Christ-centered book. All good things come from God the Father, by and through Christ our Lord.

Julie is too modest to promote her works, but I am very proud of her. This book would be great for kids 5-9 years old. Show the bookdealers that distinctly Christian books will sell. And next Thursday, in between bites, remember your Creator. And maybe instead of stuffing your own gullet until you burst, share from your abundance with someone in need.

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Wednesday, November 16, 2005

Swedish Pastor May Be Jailed for Sermon

According to this news report, a pastor in Sweden was arrested, tried and convicted for preaching this sermon. Unless he wins the appeal, he could face up to two years behind bars. What was wrong with the sermon? He stated (correctly) the biblical teaching that homosexuality is a sin. Do you think it'd ever be possible for that to happen in the U.S.?

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Tuesday, November 15, 2005

Is Philip Pullman the Most Dangerous Writer in Britain?

Peter Hitchens wrote an article for the Mail on Sunday in 2002 in which he criticizes Philip Pullman as the most dangerous author in Britain.

Philip Pullman, the author of the His Dark Materials Trilogy and outspoken hater of C.S. Lewis's The Chronicles of Narnia. His books, aimed at young readers, portray the church as thoroughly evil and God literally as a feeble-minded dolt who eventually dies.

There are many fantasy books series that portray concepts and values which support the Christian worldview. There are many that serve as entertainments and will not undermine the Christian perspective. But Pullman's books set out with the intention of attacking Christianity, the Church and God Himself.

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Monday, November 14, 2005

C.S. Lewis vs. Philip Pullman

The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe , C.S. Lewis's classic novel, is the first of seven installments of his The Chronicles of Narnia . These are outstanding children's books that communicate the Christian story and Christian dogma via myth and fairy tale. I've long been a fan of these books and was elated when I found out they are being made into major motion pictures. L,W,W is scheduled to be released on December 9, 2005.

The secularist harpies who hated Mel Gibson's The Passion of the Christ and love everything base are now emerging to mock and slander everything C.S. Lewis. Of course.

A few weeks ago, I wrote a post against writer Philip Pullman's attack on Lewis. And my post attracted a couple of spirited atheist/agnostics to comment. A brief but invigorating discussion ensued. Go here to check that out.

But I would also like to draw your attention to some of the blurbs Dr. Gene Veith has been posting over on the Cranach blog about the criticism of Lewis.

See here, and here, and here.

He has also written a newly published book on Lewis and Narnia, The Soul of The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe.

If you are at all interested in the present culture wars between the secularists and those with a Christian worldview, you need to look into this.

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Sunday, November 13, 2005



adopt your own virtual pet!

Shout out to Rev. McCain.

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Have You Seen This Girl?

AMBER ALERT

Police are looking for 14 year old Kara Beth Borden who was abducted at gunpoint from her home this morning. Both her parents were found shot to death. Kara is from Warwick Township, Pa, about 60 miles west of Philadelphia.

Police are looking for Kara's 18 year old secret boyfriend, David G. Ludwig, as their suspect. Read about it.



11/15/05 UPDATE HERE

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Additions to the Blogroll

Note these newly added Lutheran blogs. They're worth your notice.

Bloghardt's Reflector

Intolerant Elle

Katie's Beer

Madre's Missives

Necessary Roughness

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Saturday, November 12, 2005

My Pop Culture Diet This Week

Movie - Hotel Rwanda
Some are calling this the Schindler's List for of Africa. It's a grim and violent story of corruption, attempted genocide, and the incompetence of the UN. Not to mention the harsh indifference most Americans and Europeans have towards Africa. But more than that it's a story of courage. Don Cheadle - always a favorite - was excellent. And seeing the people and the setting made me anxious to return to Africa sometime soon.

Book - Fight Club: A Novel
Author Chuck Palahniuk pulls no punches, so to speak. This is a tale of urban terrorism spawned from male frustration with contemporary culture. A culture of boys raised by women, without strong male role models. A culture that wants to feminize the men and masculinize the women. A culture that tells you that you are your name; you are your family; you are your possessions; you are your job. Tyler Durden wants to hunt for elk through the misty mossy canyons of Manhattan. His vision is apocalyptic. It's Hegelian. Let's light this corrupted world on fire so that something purer can rise from its ashes.

Palahniuk uses lots of bad words and intentionally tries to shock his reader. It is brutal and darkly hilarious. His abrupt and choppy writing style, angry and sentimental, is full of testosterone. As is so often the case, a contemporary artist keenly diagnoses many of the ailments of the human condition but is unable to offering a truly helpful response. And yet beneath all the vulgarity is just enough insight to make this a most interesting read.

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Friday, November 11, 2005

Christian SEX Book

Has anyone read Lauren Winner's book, Real Sex: The Naked Truth About Chastity? Go here at Raging Rabbits to learn more about it. It is refreshing to hear of a young, articulate, Christian, urban, professional defending chastity with a little more sophistication than "just say no."

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Thursday, November 10, 2005

Macabre Website Tells Teen How to Commit Suicide

Some days I just think we'd be better off with a benevolent dictator to govern us. Or as Plato advised, a philosopher king. Why do I utter such weirdness? Because it is so aggravating to read stories like this one. A poor, clearly troubled, young girl surfs the net and finds a web forum with all sorts of information about how to "check yourself out" so to speak. Someone will witlessly defend this monstrous website on the basis of free speech. Freedom is a wonderful thing. But it will only work so long as the populace are first self-governed by internalized precepts of virtue. Otherwise, freedoms - such as we enjoy - will lead to debauchery, moral chaos and death. Or in other words, without a more firmly established social contract, our lives will become solitary, poor, nasty, brutish and short (cf. Thomas Hobbes in The Leviathan). My opinion is that the American Experiment is failing precisely for this reason. A society formed and informed by clear ethical guidance can do well when given extensive liberties. But a society that largely and increasingly rejects all objective standards of goodness will become quite unsafe. To sum it up, the majority of Americans are not "good" enough to handle the freedoms they are given. Forced to choose, I'd rather live under tyranny than anarchy.

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My New Thing

I have decided that from this day forward I will only refer to pizza by the last two letters: za. Let it be spoken. Let it be done.

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Fish Ice Cream, the New Rage

And I thought fish tacos sounded bad. Now I'm reading about fish ice cream in Taiwan. Some of the popular flavors are: pineapple shrimp, wasabi cuttlefish, strawberry tuna and mango seaweed, all in stark colors from orange to green to black. Now, I enjoy eating ethnic foods and trying new things, but this just is not right.

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Wednesday, November 09, 2005

Our New Parking Lot















Well, we're almost finished with what has been a long and involved process. But one more layer of asphalt and painting the lines and then we have a new, more level and much larger parking lot for our church. Thanks to God. And to the dedicated lay people who labored many hours to plan this.

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Tuesday, November 08, 2005

Luther on What To Do in Case of Avian Flu

The World Health Organization - not that they know everything - is stating that an avian flu pandemic that could kill millions of people is inevitable. It's a matter of when, not if.

Of course, Martin Luther, writing 450 years ago, did not address the bird flu specifically. But he did write a pamphlet on whether Christians ought to flee the bubonic plague when it came to town. In short, the answer is, "It depends." He clearly states that pastors, local officials, and doctors, for instance, must not flee but tend to the their duties for the sake of those inflicted. One of these individuals might possibly flee to safety if his services are honestly not needed. But the general citizen is also obliged to stay to serve his neighbor. To care for the orphans and nurse the sick. If this is already being adequately provided for and one is not needed, one may go. Luther says that if you see a drowning man and do nothing to help save him when it is within your power to do so, you are guilty of murder. Likewise, abandoning your sick neighbor who has no one else to care for him is a sin.

Along the same lines, a Christian cannot neglect to help his neighbor out of fear that doing so might inconvenience him, disrupt his plans, or even result in him being harmed. That is simply a risk that MUST be taken. Luther writes:

He will always reckon with the possibility that doing so will bring some disadvantage and damage, danger and loss. No neighbor can live alongside another without risk to his safety, property, wife, or child. He must run the risk that fire or some other accident will start in the neighbor’s house and destroy him bodily or deprive him of his goods, wife, children, and all he has.

Anyone who does not do that for his neighbor, but forsakes him and leaves him to his misfortune, becomes a murderer in the sight of God...
If you would like to read all of Luther's pamphlet, and I suggest that you do, go to Beggar's All where they have kindly provided it.

The U.S. Department of Defense now has a webpage devoted to bird flu.

Check out the Wall Street Journal's Avian Flu News Tracker here.

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U2, the Pope, George W. Bush, Tony Blair & Oprah

I do not intend this, in any way, as a political statement. I just thought it was cute.

HT: The Crazy Rants of Samantha Burns

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Monday, November 07, 2005

California Judge Tells Parents to Butt Out of Their Children's Sex Education

In California, a school district decided to administer a 79 question survey to their elementary school children. Ten of the 79 questions related to sex. Some parents objected and took the school district to court. Now the federal court of appeals has ruled against the parents. The Judges believe that . . . well, let me just show you the quote:

"We ... hold that there is no fundamental right of parents to be the exclusive provider of information regarding sexual matters to their children ...."

Parents have no due process or privacy right to override the determinations of public schools as to the information to which their children will be exposed while enrolled as students."

Judge Stephen Reinhardt, Ninth U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals


You see, this is why I hate all that "It Takes a Village to Raise a Child" baloney. Yeah, if by village you mean the child's parents and an orthodox Christian Church. But in fact, what is usually meant is the government or the state, including the public schools. Here it is plain as day. A federal court stating that parents do not have the right to prevent their children from being exposed to whatever sexual material the school may decide to present.

My son goes to a public school and is receiving a fine education. His teachers have been exemplary. I know many excellent dedicated Christian public school teachers. I am not making blanket criticisms.

But when the public schools decide to present sexual material to my child, particularly to an elementary school child, and tell me to mind my own business, we not happy.

You see, here is my concern. I'm not worried about my child learning the biology involved. His parents have had these conversations with him along the way. I'm worried by the values that may be communicated to him. I will teach my son to treat members of the opposite sex with respect. And to honor his own body as a temple of the Holy Spirit. I will teach him that sex outside of marriage is sinful and displeasing to God. I will teach him that it is wrong to lust after a woman in his heart and that he must learn self-control. I will teach him that homosexuality is a sin. I will teach him about God's Law and I will also teach him about the forgiveness available to all who repent.

What kind of monster do you have to be to tell parents that they do not have the right to determine what their children learn about sex or when?

Go here.

And check out this Touchstone commentary.

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New Lutheran Blog Carnival

The Lutheran Carnival X- All Saints Edition is now up and running. Go and check out some fine stuff.

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Sunday, November 06, 2005

Praying Off Center

Centering Prayer is a method of contemplative prayer that began in some Roman Catholic monasteries and is now becoming more widespread in ecumenical circles. Even some pastors in my own denomination (The Lutheran Church - Missouri Synod) are now advocating it.

Essentially, it is just a form of self-hypnosis. It utilizes breathing techniques, mantras and emptying the mind in order to find God within. Oh, various Christians are trying to bring it more in line with their doctrine, but it doesn't take a rocket surgeon to see how thin these attempts really are.

OK, so I read this book called Journey Back to Eden: My Life and Times Among the Desert Fathers by Mark Gruber. The author is a Benedictine monk and professor who spent a year living in Egypt observing Coptic Christianity, particularly in the desert monasteries. Fascinating book, by the way.

At one point, he is attending a meeting of Coptic monks from around the world including some from the U.S. Some of the other monks were very curious to ask the Americans about stuff they'd heard about monasticism in the West. Here is the quote:


"The wondered about the Oriental practices that have been entering into Western Churches, such as meditation, breathing, and stretching exercises, which are designed to "center" a person. The Coptic Orthodox monks didn't like the idea of being centered by techniques, and even if that were possible, they thought it couldn't be as efficacious or important as being centered by faith in the Paschal Mysteries of Christ."
EXACTLY!! That's what I'm saying. Maybe every Lutheran pastor should be required to live in a Coptic monastery for at least one year before being given a parish. Maybe 12 months sleeping on the ground, eating sheep cheese and praying the entire psalter (all of it) every morning would clear out some debris.

All I have to say is, "Where is the discernment?"

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Saturday, November 05, 2005

Some DVDs I've Been Enjoying


This is not to be confused with the awful James Spader movie of the same name. This movie has some offensive language and situations. But it is the best film I have ever seen that deals with racism from all angles. It's not what you might expect. I highly recommend it.


A WWII drama set in a Japanese prison camp. Inspired by true events. The screenplay was written by Brian Godawa whose book Hollywood Worldviews is an outstanding read. This excellent film starring Kiefer Sutherland is one of the best film presentations of the gospel I have ever seen without being preachy.


I just love this little known film. Ed Harris is great. See if you can discern what the third miracle is.


A bit too scary at parts for the little ones, but an excellent entertainment. Johnny Depp is brilliant. Do I detect him channelling a bit of Keith Richards here? Funny and exciting.

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Some Music I Recommend

Here are some CDs I've been listening to recently. I'm particularly obsessing over the Fiona Apple and Mindy Smith CDs right now.

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Friday, November 04, 2005

The Vampire Chronicler on Jesus

Anne Rice is best known for her erotic vampire thrillers beginning with Interview with the Vampire which was later made into a successful film. I've read a couple of her vamp novels and seen the film. As a writer, there is no question that Rice is highly skilled. Her stories are filled with lush detail, romantic atmosphere and hypnotic characters. She expertly recreates exotic locales and times past with brilliant clarity. Her stories are also typically filled with sex and gore. And gory sex. You get the idea.

So you can imagine my skepticism when I first heard that she was writing a novel about Jesus Christ. All this world needs is another libidinous occultist opining on the Savior. (Note that I'm also trying to use as many 3-4 syllable words as I can.) But I'm going to reserve final judgment until I've actually read her newest book, Christ the Lord : Out of Egypt.

A few years ago, Rice recommitted herself to the Roman Catholic faith of her upbringing. As far as I could say, she is sincere in her dedication to the dogmas and practices of Rome. Insofar as I am delighted to see anyone becoming serious about Christianity, I commend her.

Though Christian orthodoxy was not exactly prevalent in her earlier writings, even her vampire books were filled with Christian-esque spiritual themes: sacrifice, atonement, immortality and damnation. The Bible says that the life of the flesh is in the blood (Leviticus 17:11) and without the shedding of blood there is no forgiveness (Hebrews (9:22). Somehow I think those ideas never left her. And perhaps after her soul became tired of exotic experimentation with those themes, the Holy Spirit brought her back to the base of the gory cross of the God-man.

Based on what little I've read (here and here) about Christ the Lord: Out of Egypt, it's mostly fictional. History simply tells us next to nothing about the years the Holy Family spent in Egypt. My understanding is that Rice does draw somewhat from apocryphal legends about the childhood of Jesus. This troubles me because the sources of these tales tend to be gnostic pseudapigrapha. Knowing her style, however, I also imagine the book to be filled with thoroughly researched historical accuracy regarding the times depicted. The author states that she wanted to deal with the subject with reverance and authenticity, as a sincere believer. She derides liberal demytholigization characteristic of the charlatans in the Jesus Seminar. And that, in my eyes, earns her a hearing.

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Thursday, November 03, 2005

It's a Good Thing They're Pacifists

So I read this article about a bunch of anti-Bush protesters in San Francisco. One of them threw a molotov cocktail and lit up a police officer.

Actually, my title is inaccurate. These protesters are definitely not pacifists. In fact, it's kind of appropriate for them to be throwing molotov cocktails since the organization behind the protest, "World Can't Wait," is a revolutionary agency, founded by avowed communists. And by "revolutionary," I don't mean, "they're really innovative and cutting edge." I mean r-e-v-o-l-u-t-i-o-n. Revolt. Read their own FAQ page. If you don't smell the Leninism, you aren't paying attention. They admit that they want to stir upset in society in order to wake the rest of us up. They state that they intend to further polarize the nation because that will be necessary for making progress. Hmmmm... Georg Wilhelm Friedrich Hegel anyone? Where've we heard this type of talk before?

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Wednesday, November 02, 2005

Veggie Tales Jesus

If you aren't aware, Veggie Tales are popular cartoons that re-tell Bible stories with all the characters represented as talking vegetables. The quality of the animation and humor is pretty good and they have a stong moral emphasis.

Rev. Paul McCain, over at Cyberbrethren brought the product pictured above to our attention recently.

I have two points I'd like to make. The first one having to do with the Veggie Tales Nativity scene here. And the second point regards Veggie Tales in general.

First, this nativity scene is very cute, I admit. I'm sure they'll sell a bunch of them. And sometimes I really get tired of being a curmudgeon. But this is just too goofy folks. We are talking about turning the Almighty Son of God, the eternal Creator of all things, into a carrot. Would you think it disrespectful of God if we made a cartoon of the life of Jesus and represented our Lord as a radish? Or maybe the cartoons would use animals instead. Would you think it appropriate to have a nativity scene with a puppy in the manger? Or maybe Jesus as a frog nailed to the cross. What's next? A Mr. Potatoehead Holy Ghost?

Why is it that we equate cute with harmless? This Veggie Tales scene is cute, but not harmless. I have no doubt that the real baby Jesus was adorable. Aren't all babies? Well, almost, right? But the shepherds came to worship him. The scene of Christ's birth should be more than just sweet and cute. It should inspire awe and reverance and holy fear. Thanks Veggie Tales for undermining the birth of the Savior.

And secondly, on Veggie Tales in general. I have a son who is now 10 years old. When he was little, we bought and played Veggie Tales videos for him. And some of my orthodox confreres might want to poison my beer after I say this, but in a way I kinda like them. I have absolutely nothing against moralizing to children. We should moralize to our children. Only negligent irresponsible parents fail to moralize to their children.

HOWEVER, I'm still not thrilled with portraying the great biblical saints as produce. Please do not honor me (not that I'm in the ranking with the biblical saints) by painting me as a turnip. But my chief concern with Veggie Tales is the moralizing. Now, I know what I just wrote above. I'm not contradicting myself. I am in favor of moralizing, I just don't think that is the chief purpose of the Holy Scriptures. When we tell the story of God, the point is not "be moral" or "be good" and certainly not "be nice." The point of the plot of the bible is Jesus Christ, Savior of sinners. If that is not the point of telling the bible story, then you have not spoken the Word of God, no matter where you got your script.

If you want to moralize your children - and you should - use Aesop's fables. There's a lot of good natural law morality there. Or use the Bible, but if you use the Bible and fail to end with the cross, you may as well stick with Aesop.

And by the way, Veggie Tales, a tomato is a fruit.

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Tuesday, November 01, 2005

Well, Aren't I Special!

Hey all,
I just noticed that I've been given two very prestigious blogging pats on the back.

First, I was notified that one of my recent posts received the Golden Aardvark Aaward by Aardvark Alley.

And then I saw that I've been named the very first Lutheran Blog of the week.

First of all - and I'll keep this short maestro - I'd like to thank all my fans. It's all for you!!! And I want to thank my wife who puts up with a lot of *&$#@ from me, I'm sad to say. And finally, I'd like to thank myself because I couldn't have done it without me.

You may now all address me as Excellency please.

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Ghosts on Film

My darling niece in Colorado sent us a Halloween e-mail with a pretty creepy vid attachment. I've found it on the net and link to it. I don't believe in ghosts and I'll maybe explain that in a future post. But I do believe in evil spirits who may very well masquerade as spirits of the dead to deceive us.

Well anyway, some car company was making a commercial and caught something really bizarre on their film. Watch closely as the car winds down the road for a faint misty figure. As the car pulls out from behind a grove of trees, an odd mist figure appears to be following the car. Is it only a natural mist or something supernatural? I'll let you decide.

And make sure your sound is turned on because you can faintly hear the cameraman muttering about the phenomena.

Here's the link.

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New Curriculum at Concordia Theological Seminary