Ghosts of Cité Soleil
I just read about a documentary from Haiti called Ghosts of Cité Soleil, an account of the lives of two brothers and gang leaders in “the most dangerous place on earth” and the poorest part of the poorest country in the western hemisphere. Ghosts is dated 2006 but seems to be heading for release in the UK (and hopefully the US) in July. On our missions trips to Haiti, we caught glimpses of Cité Soleil as we drove through Port au Prince, but for the most part, our Haitian experiences were in the countryside.
Check out Ghosts at Rotten Tomatoes and IMDb.
Sunday Seven
- A Bible without verses. Out of Ur published a two-part article by someone who thinks that depending on chapters and verses ruins our experience of God’s word. An interesting and partially compelling idea.
- Creation museum opens near Cincinnati. Young earth creationists rejoice, others mock. This Christianity Today item contains links to both reactions.
- Four hours up front, then re-evaluate. Signal vs. Noise, which is always useful and/or intriguing, suggests that when you’re starting a new project, you need to put a few hours in before you can properly measure its value…but not so many that you can’t abandon it.
- Narcissistic blog disorder. Does someone you love have it? This Wired column, which lists several other Internet maladies, is meant to be ironic. Of course I didn’t need to tell you that.
- Livin’ and dyin’ baseball. A minor-league fan’s strange and fitting funeral. From ESPN.
- Your inkjet printer lies to you. It tells you to buy ink when you have lots left. I knew this about MY printer, but if it’s this widespread, it sounds like a scam. From Ars Technica via Slashdot.
- Steampunk. If you like high tech and 19th century kitsch, you’ll love these designs. From Wired.
Sermon: Jesus and justice
Series: Luxury, Poverty and the Kingdom of God
Sermon 6 of 8 - 6.24.7: Jesus and Justice
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Evan help us
Not since The Passion have I seen such an intense marketing campaign aimed at Christians as I’ve seen the past few weeks for Evan Almighty.
I first saw the trailer for Evan’s predecessor Bruce Almighty as I sat waiting for one of the Lord of the Rings movies. It struck me as blasphemous at the time, but our youth minister wondered if maybe it might have some good lessons about God’s rule and human limits. Boy, was he right. Bruce Almighty has become a favorite of mine. Though flawed, it’s funny and makes a good statement about sacrificial love.
But I’m surprised at the push for Evan Almighty. First, I got a pastors’ invite to attend a screening in Atlanta several weeks ago (I didn’t go). Then I received an email ad last week asking me to download free clips from the movie to use as sermon illustrations. And Christianity Today Movies has been writing articles on Evan all week, leading up to their review, as well as running paid ads.
According to CT’s review, Evan is a cleaned-up family film (especially compared to Bruce) with a positive message or two. I’ll probably see it, and I wouldn’t be surprised if I like it and recommend it to friends.
But why on earth would I want to help sell tickets in church?
Shane Claiborne’s The Simple Way burns
A fire today has destroyed The Simple Way home that Shane Claiborne writes about in his book The Irresistible Revolution. Many other neighborhood homes have been destroyed as well. Visit The Simple Way website to learn more and even to donate to a relief fund. Via Relevant.
Reading the red
This week as I prepare for my sermon on Jesus and poverty, I’m reading though all the red text in my red-letter edition of the Gospels. If you’ve never tried reading only the actual words of Jesus, I recommend it as an occasional discipline.
I’m tempted to say that if I had to choose a small portion of Scripture to sustain me for the rest of my life, I’d choose the red letters, the words of Jesus. What could be better than constantly re-reading the things Jesus actually said? But today’s reading through Matthew and Mark reveals a problem with that.
Today I was looking for the things Jesus said about the poor. While he did SAY some profound things (Matthew 25:31-46, the Sheep and the Goats is hard to miss), the lessons from his actions are at least as important. If I didn’t already know what the black letters say about who Jesus spent his time with and who he ministered to, the red letters would be disembodied truth, sayings divorced from real life. Like me, his words are made meaningful by his actions.
So if I had to choose only a small portion? I’d choose Luke. What about you?
Sunday Seven
Who would have thought of making art out of shadows cast by piles of trash? Someone did, and it’s amazing. From the New Shelton wet/dry via Signal vs. Noise.- Exhibition basketball game raises rim to 11 ft. If this catches on, I’ll never make another basket. From ESPN.
- Find nearby mailboxes and pick-up times. Handy tool from Mailbox Map via Lifehacker.
- Ruth Graham dies at 87. I was impressed with Ruth Bell Graham when I read her biography several years ago. This Christianity Today article contains a brief sketch of her life and some of her wittiest quips.
- Serve God AND save the planet. A review of three books by Christians on going green. At Books and Culture (the review is by one of my favorite writers, Andy Crouch).
- Lifehacker’s Top 10 body hacks. I’ve cured warts with duct tape (#2). Or have I? #10 will help you know if I’m lying.
- Google gets more powerful and knows more about you. From Wired.
Sermon: Things my dad taught me about fatherhood
Sermon: Things my dad taught me about fatherhood
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Why can’t I sleep, why can’t I write?
Up at 4:30a. Why can’t I sleep?
Sleeping often means conversations with Dad in my dreams, conversations where he tells me his death makes sense and I say, “But wait, wait! Listen to ME!”
Sleeping also means wrestling between dreams with church problems - conflicts with people, the difficulty of getting things done, the frustrations of having the same conversations month-by-month, the pressures of money, the loss (or temporary departure?) of my idealism.
Why can’t I write? Because right now I tend to see only two topics: 1) Ordinary life, which tastes like ashes on my tongue, and 2) Death/grief, which, well, what is there to say, you know?
Sunday Seven
- Suddenly, the paranoids don’t seem so paranoid anymore. A Wired article about how easily we surrender our privacy.
- How do you put your heart into something dull? Signal vs. Noise has a great anecdote about that very problem, from author Hillman Curtis.
- New taxes for the internet are coming. States seek to replace lost sales taxes AND collect fees wherever they can. From CNET via Slashdot.
- Getting your essential info together. Recent events have reminded me how important to have a small number of very important papers in good order for your family. This Lifehacker post gives you a good rundown on how to do it.
- Success covers a multitude of sins. Here’s a short post from Out of Ur about how pastoral leadership is often measured in a worldly way…success at what you trumps major character problems.
- Pulling the pieces apart. Jessica Friesen served at MHCC last summer with Group Work Camps. Now she’s in Malawi for the next six months. This is her blog, and it’s worth reading.
- Finally, a joke I heard on NPR: A Buddhist walks up to a hot dog vendor and says: “Make me one with everything”.
