What’s Eating Gilbert Grape

One of my new favorite movies.  Awesome!  A young Johnny Depp, young Leonardo DiCaprio and Julliete Lewis and Mary Steenburgen.  I have never been a big fan of DiCaprio, but now I am.  His acting here is absolutely incredible, and Depp is awesome as always.  These two are both young and deliver performances of far more experienced actors.  Not only that, but the story is fantastic.  A bit slow at times, but like a crock-pot, the final product is spectacular in the end.  The ending is incredibly satisfying, though upredictable.  How have I missed this movie since 1993?

Definitely recommended.  It takes some engagement to stay with the story, but well worth the effort.

Prodigal God

The Prodigal God, Recovering the Heart of the Christian Faith, by Timothy Keller.  Dutton, 2008.

This book is an expansion of his best and most popular sermon.  It contains more explanation, more illustrations and more applications, but not much new.  It is all his best illustrations, quite valuable for a preacher and learner alike (I am both).  It is 140 small pages with (fairly) large print and lots of white space on each page.  Easy to read, even for non-readers, I would think . . . though Keller’s style will appeal more to people well-read.

What can I say?  I’m a huge fan of Keller, and this is one of the best books available in print right now.  I might buy a pile of them to give away at Christmas.

His Dark Materials

His Dark Materials Trilogy, by Philip Pullman, Scholastic Point, 1995-2000.

What a great trilogy.  Pullman was clearly trying to undermine what he understands to be the church, and by most accounts, I’m happy that he’s doing it because his conception of the church is not intended by Christ, either.  The first two books are quite vague on this point, but the third is quite explicit and even attacks the concept of grace fairly vigorously.  Pullman himself  said, “My books are about killing God” in a 2003 interview.  Nonetheless, this fantasy world is fascinating, enjoyable, believable and emotionally satisfying.  Not quite as good as Harry Potter, but pretty darn close in parts.

Well worth the time, if you like fantasy.  Sorry, Pullman, but I’m a Christian minister and you did nothing but bolster my faith in Jesus Christ with these books.  The God you’re destroying is easily destroyed, but he’s not my God.  You may have him mixed up with someone else.  So, thanks!

How People Change

How People Change, Timothy S. Lane and Paul David Tripp, New Growth Press, 2006

What a terrific and challenging book!

The structure was (and still is) hard for me to understand, but this is the best I’ve ever read on the practical working of the gospel to change people’s lives . . . with so many examples of real stories to illustrate the points already well-made, and clearly demonstrated from the Bible.  Great work, brothers.

I cannot recommend this book highly enough.  It will be the one I talk about for a while, and maybe I’ll make my staff read it.  It will certainly fuel my teaching and preaching for a long time to come.

From page 99,

I had an epiphany one Wednesday evening in the middle of our small group meeting.  People were sharing prayer requests, but it was the same old grocery list of situational, self-protective prayer requests masquerading as openness and self-disclosure.  I found myself thinking, Why did we all feel the need to clean up our prayer requests before giving them?  Why were we all so skilled at editing ourselves out of our prayer requests?  Why were we so good at sharing the difficult circumstances we faced, yet so afraid of talking about our struggles in the middle of them? Did we really care more abou what people thought than we did about getting help?  Did we really think that God would be repulsed by our sins and weakness? I wondered who we thought we were fooling.  It was as if we had all agreed upon an unspoken set of rules, a conspiracy of silence.  I looked around the room.  These were people I thought I knew well.  I did know what many of them were facing, yet I knew little of the wars going on inside them.

Iron Man

Iron Man, 2008

Special effects, action sequences, design — awesome!

Story, character, dialogue, acting — ??

I didn’t care about the main character.  He’s stuck up . . . a rich bully who can magically build weapons but cannot think about the consequences of any of his actions.  Even when confronted by his friends regarding his poor choices, he refuses to think for himself.  Instead, brute force is the answer.  Unfortunately, the movie ends that way . . . he never changes, really.

I know lots of guys (and a few girls) who loved this movie . . . I don’t see it.  I compare it to Prequel Star Wars.  Eye popping special effects, I hope the hero dies!

Ice Cream as a Clue to the Meaning of the Universe

Ice Cream as a Clue to the Meaning of the Universe, by Billy Sprague, Harvest House, 2000.

My pastor, Worth Carson, gave me this book for my birthday last week.  I know some of Billy Sprague’s folk Christian Contemporary music from my CCM days in college . . . he was a close friend of Rich Mullins.  I didn’t know Sprague wrote books.

Anyway, this one reminds me of Don Miller, but much older and more realistic.  The writing is mostly reflections and stories on different topics, with the purpose  and meaning bringing them all together in a few short paragraphs at the end of each chapter.  However, much of the content of his stories fit with a much older audience than Miller.  Sprague grew up in the 60s and he talks a lot about the Andy Griffith Show and Leave it to Beaver.  He is ahead of his time.  Unfortunately, those who don’t remember “nostalgia TV” before Nick-at-Nite (young people) might have difficulty identifying with his content.  And most who do will have trouble with his Ecclesiastes-oriented, life-is-pain struggles.

Sprague sprinkles his own poetry liberally, and reflects on life in a postmodern way, using a presuppositional apologetic.

Excellent book.  Highly recommended.  Thanks, Worth

What is a Healthy Church Member?

What is a Healthy Church Member?, by Thabiti M. Anyabwile, Crossway, 2008

Part of Mark Dever’s 9 Marks Series.  Written for a very specific audience, I think.  It will be very helpful for groups (not individuals so much) who are asking the question, “How can I be a healthy church member?”  Unfortunately, my experience tells me that very few people are asking this question.  Am I too cynical?

Anyabwile’s work is concise, compelling and complete.  Easy to read . . . he packs a huge punch in just a few short paragraphs.  This book is only 120 small pages long, but if every member of my church read it thoughtfully, we would have a very different church.  There is nothing new or profound, but rather it is filled with plain, easy-to-understand teaching on church membership.  A pastor’s dream.

Breaking the Idols of Your Heart

Breaking the Idols of Your Heart, by Dan Allender and Tremper Longman, IVP, 1998.

A non-traditional Bible Study of the book of Ecclesiastes.  The OT Duo team up again for this non-traditional Bible Study of the book of Ecclesiastes.  About a third of each chapter is a story which illustrates the idol featured in that chapter.  The stories from each chapter read well together . . . it is one long story, actually.  Then, each chapter provides traditional exposition of a portion of Ecclesiastes, with a very little gospel application near the end of each chapter.  This should better be titled, “Seeing the Idols of Your Heart.”  Helpful questions at the end of each chapter.  With my new title, this is a much better book, but it wouldn’t sell.  If you (or someone you know) is struggling to see the concept of idolatry as metaphor for sin, this is a great book.  A great balance between real-world application and the good grounding of biblical exegesis.

For those interested, the authors take the view that the book is a dialogue between the Teacher and a younger more godly man, who mostly agrees with the Teacher, but would like to supplement his view on life.

Recommended

Run, Fatboy, Run

I really like Simon Pegg’s other work, especially, Shaun of the Dead and Hot Fuzz.  He co-wrote this one, too, but it was terrible.  Perhaps it was the rookie direction of David Schwimmer which is to blame.  How can you cast Hank Azaria and not use him at all?  I don’t understand.  I did not turn it off, hoping for the best, but I’ll be much more discerning about Simon Pegg in the future.  This one tried to be like Dead and Fuzz, but fell way short.

Public Faith, Bringing Personal Faith to Public Issues

“We often make the mistake of running to God for answers before we have allowed him to teach us how best to frame our questions. We come with our wrongheaded agenda when what we need is a radical transformation of perspective. As a protection against this tendency, I have written (for the most part) expositionally rather than topically. We want to be patient rather than impatient children — gathering quietly in the Father’s study to hear him out, rather than dragging him by the hand to and from the rooms of our choosing.” From the introduction.

Excellent primer on how to think about faith and politics. Thanks, Charles Drew. Second and third readings will be beneficial.