Sermon: The storm at the center of God’s will

Series: Christmas - God Remembers to be Merciful

Sermon: The storm at the center of God’s will - Matthew 2:13-23

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December 30, 2007 · Filed Under Sermons

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Sermon: Strangers in the house of the Lord

Series: Christmas - God Remembers to be Merciful

Sermon: Strangers in the house of the Lord - Matthew 2:1-12

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AND here’s the meditation from the Candlelight Communion service…
God’s easily-overpowered message of love

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December 23, 2007 · Filed Under Sermons

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I Sold My Soul on eBay

sold Yesterday I began reading Hemant Mehta’s book I Sold My Soul on eBay. Mehta is a young atheist who, wanting to study religion up close, offered his time for sale on eBay. The winning bidder would get to choose which worship services Mehta would attend. If you think it crass that someone would actually offer up his soul for auction, so does Mehta, and he never did that. The soul-selling angle was added to this story by the press as news of the auction spread.

Several things make this book interesting. First, I Sold My Soul is published by a Christian publisher* and has a forward by Rob Bell. That’s because Mehta’s assignment, as determined by auction-winner Jim Henderson, was to visit churches and report on faith as seen through an atheist’s eyes. This is incredibly valuable market research for churches.

The second thing that makes this book so interesting is Mehta’s account in the first five chapters of how he moved from the faith of his youth (Jainism) to atheism, and his description of atheism and atheists. Any Christian who is seeking a reasonable faith will find a lot in common with Mehta and other atheists. As Rob Bell says in the introduction, “…the god they rejected is a god I’ve rejected”.

Anyway, I’m just getting into the chapters that describe his church visits, so, more later…

*Waterbrook Press is a Christian publishing division of Random House

December 18, 2007 · Filed Under Books

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Sermon: A revolution begins…

Series: Christmas - God Remembers to be Merciful

Sermon: A revolution begins - Luke 1:46-80

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December 16, 2007 · Filed Under Sermons

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My thoughts on The Golden Compass

I had never heard of The Golden Compass until four weeks ago when several people sent me email warnings about its atheistic message (Narnia for atheists!). Since then, this fantasy novel and movie have received lots of press. I decided to read the books (The Golden Compass is the first of a trilogy) and see the film. Here are some observations:

Philip Pullman is a talented writer. He has created a compelling story and a fascinating fantasy universe (universes actually - the trilogy is built on the idea of multiple parallel universes).
The movie and the first book are not very controversial. The series doesn’t get too theological until book two, and the movie tries its best to make the villains generic.
Pullman really hates religion. (You might say that Jesus did too). The villainous church in the books is all about power, control, and persecution, which certainly are some of our more noteworthy sins. It would be hard to exaggerate Philip Pullman’s hostility toward the church and toward God. His heroes are on a quest to destroy both. But something is missing…
There is no Jesus in Pullman’s church. The church he describes isn’t the one I know. His church has no good news, no grace, no Jesus or Mother Teresa or Shane Claiborne. No one is drilling wells for the thirsty, feeding the hungry, or setting up medical clinics in poor countries. Pullman’s church is a caricature.
The movie is pretty average. Too many details are crammed into too tight a time frame and some key events from the book are rearranged. The lead actress is good and the CGI is great. Sam Elliott always makes me want to trim my mustache.
Pullman gets quite preachy in the later books, which probably hurts his ability to persuade. He hates The Chronicles of Narnia, but he mimics C. S. Lewis in that both authors put forth a blatant world view in their books. Pullman dislikes The Lord of the Rings too, but both Gandalf and Saruman made it into The Golden Compass movie.