Category: Popular Media

I said today we could return to the topic of the Trinity unless something happened.

Well, it did.

I heard a program today talking about Susan Boyle, this lady who blew away an audience that was entirely cynical so I thought I’d go and give a lesson. Now I consider myself one with a tin ear and some of my favorite words to hear in church are “You may be seated.” Thus, I’m not expecting something. I figure I’ll listen and say “Eh. That was nice.” Then I’d go on with my day.

Well, if you’re like that, take a look and see what you think. 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9lp0IWv8QZY

Something I love about this is that Susan Boyle is an underdog. Everyone I’ve shown this video to who hasn’t seen it has been entirely cynical just like the audience was. When you see it, they start rolling their eyes. It’s unbelievable it seems to think that this frumpy lady will actually have any musical talent at all.

Within 10 seconds of her singing, the tune had changed incredibly.

Soon, the mocking whistling was turned into whistling of cheers. Soon, the eyes were no longer rolling but were standing there mesmerized. Soon, the smiles were not smiles of playfully humoring Miss Boyle, but of intense delight at what was being witnessed before them.

Susan Boyle has blown a hole into the cynicism of our age. Everyone else in the world had been passing up this lady. Now I understand she sang karaoke at local bars and was singing in the church choir so her village knew about her talent, but was there any chance of her making it on a national scene? None at all. Take a look at her. You think she can do anything?

Well yes. Yes I do.

And I will confess I am quite sure I would have been just as cynical had I not known.

And I pause when I think about that to wonder what a crazy connection. Why is it I am thinking physical appearance somehow has something to do with musical talent?

How many people have we rejected? I emailed a friend of mine to tell him about this and he replied that he’d been doing Bible Studies and had just got to the passage where it talks about man looking on the outside but the Lord looks at the heart.

How many years has Susan Boyle been overlooked?

But notice what she says? She knows when she goes out onto that stage that she is going to rock that audience. At the same time, one sees a great humility in her. She is so stunned when she hears how much she is being praised and is hesitant to admit what Simon says that we all recognize, Susan Boyle is a little tiger.

I see Susan’s talent as also further evidence of objective beauty. Sorry to all you people out there who think beauty is in the eye of the beholder, or in this case, the ear. If you hear this and do not think that her singing is beautiful, you are wrong. Yes. There is truth content to statements about beauty and the audience knew it. This has been one of the most hit YouTube videos and as I was on Facebook today, I saw that she already had 89,000+ fans. I wouldn’t be surprised if by now that number is past 100,000.

Because everyone knows beauty when they see it even if they can’t define it.

Susan Boyle reminds me of the transcendent. She enables me to reach a place outside myself it seems. While I described myself as having a tin ear, I get near to teary-eyed listening to this lady sing. Something about her moves me dearly.

In calling to describe it to my mother who had seen her on some of the TV programs, she said something that I had considered. I can probably get great joy out of this lady because like many of you out there, I can relate to her.

Many of us are seen as the underdogs in this world. When I was preparing to go off to Bible College, a group was funding me for disability and was telling me to not go into ministry. I could not handle preaching. I wish they had been there when I did my senior sermon before my entire student body. Today, I am where I am not because of a disability, but in spite of it. I have worked and read and studied to be where I am.

Yet I know what it’s like to be overlooked as I worked at a job for over three years I didn’t like with people just assuming less of me when they saw me. Finally, I have a chance and I’m somewhere where my ability is being recognized. People judged by appearance alone when appearance had nothing to do with my ability. I’m suspecting my story can be quite similar to many of your stories.

For all of us who go on in spite of the opposition reaching for our dreams, Susan Boyle is an inspiration. I thank God that there are women out there like that who reach for their dreams and inspire the rest of us to do so.

Susan Boyle. I don’t know if you’ll ever read this. I’d be honored if you did. Let me say this to you. May God richly bless you in your continuing career. You have been a voice for many of us as well in our own paths. Since you sing at church, I assume you’re a Christian, and I wonder what it will be like after this life to get to hear that beautiful voice of yours in the heavenlies. We may not be able to hear that yet, but you can rest assured your performance on “Britain’s Got Talent” brought some of Heaven to us.

Last night, I went with a friend of mine to see a movie called Push. Now if you’re planning on seeing this soon, you might want to wait until after you see it before you read this blog. I generally try to avoid giving spoilers out as much as I can, but sometimes it’s hard to help. If you keep going on past this point, you’ve been warned.

Push is set in modern times with the story being that some people with psychic powers were tested by the Nazis in an attempt to create a super army. The Nazis were defeated of course, but their plan was not as numerous countries set up government centers to do the same thing. In America, the center is called “Division.”

There are a number of kinds of gifted individuals. Watchers are people that have the ability to see the future. Movers have telekinetic powers. Pushers can implant thoughts into people’s minds that they will believe are true. Sniffers can tell where someone is by sniffing an item. Shades can keep other people from being detected by sniffers. Shifts can alter physical objects for a temporary time. There are others such as shriekers who can make deadly sound waves with a scream and one called a stitch who seems to be able to move bones.

The story involves a chase to track down one girl who is the first to survive an experimental drug that is supposed to up a psychic’s power. She’s a pusher. After she survives, she goes on the run and now Division is looking for her as well as the heroes of the story and another group with their own agenda which I won’t share.

An odd aspect is that Division has numerous people with powers working for them. This is a theme that happens throughout the movie. Why are psychics working for Division? You’re never really told. As I was pondering this, I was working on trying to figure out the worldview that the author or authors come from.

After pondering on it for a bit, I became convinced that I was watching a postmodern story. Of course, that’s kind of a contradiction. A postmodern is presenting a story and wanting it to be seen as a true story. How does that make sense in a postmodern universe? Of course, I figured that’s probably why much of what went on in the movie didn’t make sense.

One clue that leads me to this conclusion is that the watchers can often be wrong. For the story, the future is constantly changing and when something is done, there is a new future developed. It makes one wonder what good the gift is if what you’re seeing doesn’t stay the way it’s supposed to. What good does it do to have sight in a world where everything is in constant flux?

Also, the many powers all had to do with altering reality. With a shift, you cannot trust the substance of physical reality. A shade gives one like a sniff a false view of reality. Pushers are the ones I’d think the most dangerous as they alter what people believe to be true. How do you know you’re thinking something true instead of having the pushing of a push?

The whole message would seem to be then that you cannot really know reality. The shade is hiding what is really there. The watcher cannot tell you what they are watching. You cannot even trust your own thoughts as they could be thoughts that are implanted in you by another.

When you reach the end, you don’t have a lot of questions answered. In fact, you have more questions. Sometimes, that’s good. In a story though, that’s not often the case. The story should sum up many of the questions. It doesn’t. Instead, you wonder about pieces of the plot that didn’t fit which makes you reach the point where you consider “maybe they weren’t supposed to fit.”

As far as other matters go, they were okay, but frankly, I wasn’t too impressed sitting through this one and I can’t think of one really memorable scene. Of course, that makes sense if my analysis is correct and I’ve seen a postmodern film.  That’s something about stories that do come from a more theistic perspective. Consider a story like Lord of the Rings or the Chronicles of Narnia. In those, you are engaged. I know some Christians might balk at this, but I’d consider the Harry Potter stories in the same light and I do believe they come from a Christian perspective. 

My overall conclusion? Wait till the DVD in this case if you really must or go see a matinee. Of course, I got to spend time with my friend and I think get some looks into the postmodern culture, so I don’t consider that a waste. However, the action and sci-fi type genre has much better to offer.

I know I said I’d write about the Trinity some more tonight, but one of my friends invited me to go see “Taken,” and as a movie fan who loves spending time with my friends. I took him up on his offer. If you’re thinking of seeing the movie, keep this one in mind as while I try to not give spoilers in a review, sometimes it might inevitably happen. You might just want to mark this one down and read it later. (And please do make sure to read it later.)

Liam Neeson is the star of this one. He’s divorced and his only daughter stays with his mother and her stepfather and he emphasizes that he is her real father. We see early on that he’s got some fighting skills and later realize that he once had a job with a government as what he describes as, “a preventer.”

His daughter, Kim, wants to go on a trip abroad with a friend and needs his signature for permission and he does not sign it immediately. At this point I’m thinking, “Way to go!” It’s about time we had a father who didn’t give into his child’s every desire and the reason is the best one he could have. He is not comfortable with two youngsters being alone overseas. 

He does sign though and gives her three conditions to follow. Unfortunately, she doesn’t do well. The next time he talks to her, she’s witnessing men breaking into the apartment of her and her friend and kidnapping her friend. Her Dad, Brian, tells her that she’s going to be kidnapped next, but that he will come for her. He hears her screaming into the phone as she’s kidnapped and shouts for someone else to answer and when a man answers he tells him that he will pay anything to get her back and not let her go, but if they don’t want to pay, he gives the ultimatum of  “I will come, I will find you, and I will kill you.” The voice on the other end says “Good luck.”

Bad choice of words….

The next hour involves Brian going overseas and fighting everyone who tries to stop him to find his daughter and save her from being sold into a prostitution ring. I would say it is about an hour because this is a short movie and frankly, I had no desire to look at my watch. The action is intense and seeing Brian take out the villains is intensely gratifying.

And I’m thinking, “It’s about time a Dad got to be a Dad again.”

This is something that we need in the world again. Men need to step up and be men and be willing to fight for their families. This time around, the Dad was the hero. He was the one who was willing to go overseas to save her and seeing as it took place in France said that he’d tear down the Eiffel Tower if he had to to save her.

How can you not love that?

As I saw this, I kept thinking, “How far will a father go to save the one he loves?” In this case, it’s his daughter. In our case, we have a Father who was willing to do whatever it took to save us even while we were still enemies. Brian is willing to tear down the Eiffel Tower to save his daughter. God is willing to send his Son to save us and I believe eventually do a total re-working of the creation to show his glory in saving us. 

As I thought about the prostitution aspect also I pondered, “How far will a father go to make sure the one he loves is pure?” Brian was willing. As the one scene where someone gets the best of Brian shows up, I heard someone in the theater say “Oh no.” I think that’s revealing. What if the father cannot save his daughter? What then?

Fortunately, a loving father will face anything just for the one he loves. We as Christians should know this, and we should realize how powerfully the ending speaks to us when his daughter is saved. As Brian rescues her, he holds her as she sobs and she says “You came for me. You came for me.” To which he replies, “I said I would.”

And one day we’ll get to eternity and be able to embrace the one who saved us and can we not picture the conversation going the same way?

“You came for me. You came for me.”

“I said I would.”

I was on the forum I work at last night with someone who was asking about music and wanting vocals. I recommended the Final Fantasy vocals with such songs as “Eyes On Me”, “Melodies of Life”, “Otherworld”, “Real Emotion”, and “1,000 Words.” 

For those interested in listening to the awesomeness of Final Fantasy Music, I recommend this site: http://rgonots-sylph.net/radio/playing.html It’s my understanding, and if I’m wrong I apologize, that the guy behind it is a Christian as well.

So getting back to my story, my friend was a bit surprised so the first thing I did was link her to “Eyes On Me” on YouTube, which was the main song in Final Fantasy VIII. After a few more songs, she was stunned at what she’d been missing.

She even said that these games are works of art, and I agree. Video games are modern stories that are interactive. Some of them are more detailed and beautiful than others. You probably won’t find the poetry in Super Mario Brothers on the original Nintendo that you find in a game like Final Fantasy IX for instance. 

I noted to my friend that I find Final Fantasy music very moving. The vocals are songs that I can carry with me and their connection to the story makes them even more powerful. I can picture the battles of Zidane for his love Garnet as I hear “Melodies of Life.” I can picture taking on darkness to save the world if I hear “Otherworld” from Final Fantasy X. (And heck, I used to turn on my PS2 every morning just to watch the intro to Final Fantasy X-2 that had “Real Emotion” being sung. Anyone who watches that video will immediately know why.)

This goes for even the instrumental music alone. The battle music has a way of sparking my soul for action. If you ever see me humming some tune you don’t recognize, it could be from a video game. It’s a way of me reminding myself of the adventure of life. Imagination is the portal that allows me to step into a reality beyond myself.

That’s what got me to where I told this friend the stories of the games. It is my conclusion that in some way, each of the main villains in Final Fantasy wants to be God or at least take on one of his attributes. In Final Fantasy VIII for instance, Ultimecia wants to compress time into one moment making her the only being in existence. In many other games, it’s the drive for power or immortality. In the very first one, the main villain uses the four fiends of elements in order to create a loop so he will live forever.

Now I don’t approve of everything in the Final Fantasy games, but I said they draw me into something beyond myself for a good reason. I’m a guy and like most guys, I like action and adventure. Take the mildest guy you can find and somewhere in him, I believe there is someone who is wanting to fight, someone who is wanting to be the hero, someone who wants to make a difference in the world.

The Final Fantasy series though seeks to tell the stories and while I cannot agree with the answers normally, I am thankful that at least the questions are being asked. In the world of Final Fantasy, naturalism is the odd worldview out. It is a wonder where right beside great technology of the time, one can find magic and wonderful creatures. These two aren’t seen as contradictory. The soldiers with guns and with swords both must be prepared to deal with flames firing from a wizard’s hands. 

The world would be more from a pagan worldview, and yet, I consider that a good thing. C.S. Lewis was once told by a friend that this friend feared England was returning to paganism. C.S. Lewis gave an answer that he certainly hoped it was. When secularism is in charge, there is no opening for the supernatural. The pagan, however, is essentially pre-Christian as pagans were the ones reached with the gospel in Gentile territory.

The worldview of Final Fantasy at least believes that there is such a thing as good and evil. There may be hard times deciding which side something falls on, but the reality is not questioned. There is also the belief that good will triumph, but that man is incapable of fighting that battle on his own. He will need more powerful help usually from creatures more powerful than himself. 

That is where I get into that idea of something beyond onesself. Every hero in Final Fantasy knows he’s caught in a battle bigger than he or she is. They are simply ordinary people usually who are out to make a difference. Now you’ll find some unusual abilities and gifts and legends amongst the heroes at times, but by and large, they’re the simple who are out there using their abilities to make a difference.

Isn’t that what many of us want? We want to go out and make a difference and if we cannot go out and do so now, we at least get an idea of what that could consist of. We may not be able to fly to a place like England today, but if we were to read stories about England, we could easily imagine what it would be like to be there and when we get there realize that it’s better than our imagination thought. (And I hope it is when I make it there someday.)

So do I love the Final Fantasy games? Yep. I have less time for them now, but I am thankful that I can sometimes get time to think about what it means to really make a difference in the world, but all the while realize that the game of my life that I play in hoping to make a difference every day, is far more exciting than any story that somebody else could write.

I’ve been a fan of the Transporter movies ever since the first one came out and when this one came out, I knew I wanted to see it as soon as I could. Thus, tonight I went to see it and as my loyal blog readers know, when I go and see a new movie, I always write a review of it. Of course, I try to avoid giving too much information about the movie realizing that many of my readers haven’t seen it yet.

For action and awesome driving scenes, this one is up there. I didn’t think it had as much action as Transporter 2, but it definitely had a lot more driving in it. The story line wasn’t the best though. One was left wondering what was going on and when it was found out, it seemed way too basic instead of the huge conspiracies that are usually involved in Transporter movies. 

One question kept coming to me though about the Transporter, who is Frank Martin in the series. It could be that I had just been reading C.S. Lewis’s essay, “Christianity and Culture,” in “Christian Reflections.” In it, Lewis spoke of second-rate type goods that we often put on the level of essential goods.

Take for instance cleanliness. We can often raise it up so that it becomes something holy in itself. Is there anything immoral though in physical dirt? No. However, most of us would readily agree that we don’t want physical dirt on our carpet.

The problem is when we raise those second-level goods up to the level of primary goods and think that just because the second-level goods are there, the rest will follow. As a fan of the Monk TV series though, am I obligated to think that Monk is a holy man just because he values cleanliness and keeps his apartment neat? On the other hand, because I can tend to be messy at home, is it to be assumed that I am a less holy man for that reason?

When we see Frank Martin, we see a man of rules. He’s quite clear about each of his rules and is quite stoic in his regard to them. They are his god in a sense. They are what helps to keep order in his universe. When he goes against the rules, things go wrong. Of course, he always corrects those things that go wrong, but they go wrong nonetheless. The rules are almost treated the way that superstitions are treated.

Many of us probably have such rituals though and we must keep that in mind before we condemn Frank. This can even happen with religious habits. If you don’t read your Bible in the morning, for instance, then you’re going to suffer throughout the day. There are some nights I’ll go to bed and realize I didn’t read the Scriptures that evening. I go on to sleep anyway. Reading the Bible is important to me, but it should not be treated as a magic charm to avoid evil. (Note this is what Israel did in 1 Samuel in bringing the Ark of the Covenant into battle.)

Many things Frank does could be considered immoral though. For instance, his having sexual intercourse with women he’s not married to. However, we could say that many things that we do are immoral as well. In fact, if we don’t think we’re doing anything immoral, we’re probably thinking too highly of ourselves and need to talk to friends and family who could tell us otherwise.

But is Frank good? That is still the question I ponder. Christ himself spoke, as we saw in our recent look at the Sermon on the Mount, on people who are evil and know how to give good gifts to their children. This was even said to the general populace of Israel, and we’d hardly find the scum of the Earth there.

Which tells me we should not equate the doing of good with the being of good. Of course, that doesn’t mean we need to be totally ambivalent about who is good or not either. Goodness though will be found to be an overall look I believe at someone’s life rather than what they do.

I do believe we see this in Frank. Why does he break his rules? They bring order to his universe, but I think he realizes that there is something higher than his rules. At this point, could it be that Frank is in some way reaching for a concept of deity even if it is a deity that he knows not? I’m not saying we can expect to find Frank at our next church service. I’m saying he’s realizing that there are greater things out there than his rules and there is a higher order in the universe even than that. We even find this in episodes of Monk when Monk will do something like go into a sewer to chase a bad guy because he realizes there is a higher good than what he values as good.

When I say that even, I wish to be clear with the caveat. I am not denying that Frank should have his rules. I do not think they are inherently immoral in themselves. I do believe many of the deliveries he makes can be, but the problem is not with having rules. In the same way as said earlier, the problem is not with wanting cleanliness. The problem is thinking those are the highest good. Our lesser goods must conform to the greater good that is out there. 

Also, I’m not condemning violence as well. Frank does do a lot of action and as a guy, I love the action scenes. However, that is done for a greater good. Sadly, we live in a world where force is sometimes necessary and not everyone is going to sit down to peace talks. Violence is not good for the sake of violence though. It must always bow to a greater good. Violence simply for the sake of being violent is wrong.

Is Frank good then? My answer is that I really don’t think we have enough information. I do think he has that moral law in him which points to a greater good beyond himself in that he’s willing to sacrifice his life and his rules for that, and in some cases, some might consider it a greater sacrifice to sacrifice rules than life.

Does that mean even if he isn’t good that he can’t do good and be a hero? Not at all. In fact, he is only truly being a hero when he does conform to that moral law that is outside of him. Having someone live up to their own rules doesn’t make them a hero or good. It’s living to the concept of the good ultimately that makes them good. While Frank is fictional, we can be sure there are real people out there who are trying to do good and seeking a good beyond themselves. Let us pray for them and seek to point them to Christ so they can truly be good through the one who is good.

I went to see the new Bond movie tonight so if you haven’t gone to see it, you might want to save off on this blog until you do go see it. I try to not give many spoilers out anyway, but some are inevitable for a review unfortunately. 

This Bond movie continues the story behind Casino Royale with Bond still suffering from the loss of the girl that he loved. This is quite different from what we normally see of Bond who is generally just a playboy going around from girl to girl and not forming any commitment whatsoever to them. The girl in the last Bond before this was different and the loss of her was all the harder.

While normally, Bond is cool and stoic, and in this one he is in many scenes, one still sees something in him that is anger. There is a drive for revenge in this one. The quest is personal as he is seeking something. It is not just answers. This is a case where it seems more information will not help him out. He wants more.

In my conclusion, this movie is about forgiveness.

I have heard that Philo once said, “Be kind, because everyone you meet is fighting a harder battle.” I wonder how much we consider that. I wonder how much I consider that. Each person that you meet each day is having their own struggles. There are things even close friends can be hesitant to reveal to one another. Some things you just don’t want to bring up.

One of those involves forgiveness. There is a story where in a town once someone wired a message to twelve of the most important people in town one evening that said “All is revealed! Flee now!” By the time morning had come, half of them had left town. What if you got such a message? Would it send a shiver up your spine?

Forgiveness is an odd thing. It doesn’t come cheap, as it cost the blood of the Son of God, but at the same time, it comes easily. Picture if someone sold all they had to give you one thing. Giving that one thing to you could be an easy act, but that easy act comes at a great cost. I believe that forgiveness is really easy for God. In fact, it’s a delight for him. He wants us to know how gracious and loving he is. It comes at a great cost though.

It’s not that God won’t forgive us. Many of us know deep down he has.

It’s that we don’t forgive ourselves.

If we can’t forgive ourselves, part of us thinks God doesn’t.

I wonder how it would be if we could just pause and finally realize one day that God has indeed forgiven us. 

This Bond movie had a lot of the normal characteristics of Bond movies. It had the explosions and the bullets and the stabs and the beautiful women, but it was quite different. Bond leaves the final villain to be eliminated by those he has betrayed. There is one Bond girl in the movie who you expect to see it happen as it always does to a Bond girl, but it doesn’t. This is the one time I remember that he doesn’t sleep with the Bond girl. She even says she wishes she could set him free.

Biblically, we know the truth will set us free.

What is that truth?

Forgiveness.

What is a quantum? There are many definitions in the dictionary, but I think the one that we are to go for is that which refers to a quantity. Solace would refer to the peace. Bond is one in this movie who isn’t sleeping well. He has no peace. At the end, M asks him if he found what he was looking for and he says yes.

He found that quantum of solace.

He found that forgiveness.

Now we Christians realize that true forgiveness comes from God and without that, any self-forgiving is useless, but we can still take that valuable message from the movie. We can’t let the past control us. We can’t put together broken eggs. There’s no sense crying over spilled milk. We cannot live in the past and in the present both. It must be one or the other.

We too must find our quantum of solace.

For us, it truly is in God. The question is, have we truly realized it?

I know I’ll probably lose some readers at this one. These are the readers that I hope will stick around to see what I have to say. I am devoted to my love of Christ and my enjoyment of Christian Apologetics. I am also a great fan of the Harry Potter series.

<> I have a friend also in ministry. However, we are diametrically opposed on this one. It seems a shock to him that someone like myself would like Harry Potter since that “teaches the children witchcraft” and is a lure of Satan. It is things of this nature. From what I understand, it has been said that I MIGHT make it to Heaven.

<> Don’t get me wrong. I like my friend. I really do. I just don’t understand this one and frankly, neither does most anyone else who speaks to us. It seems that he will allow Lord of the Rings, Narnia, Raiders of the Lost Ark, Star Wars, Warcraft, and anything else. All of these can be explained away. If all magic is wrong though, then so is Lord of the Rings and Narnia. If however it isn’t, then you have no problem with the genre. Stop acting like that’s an issue.

<> Why do I like them though? I have a vivid imagination. The Potter stories touch with my story, which is why we like any story. Somehow, we can all connect. I can connect with Harry Potter  on the story level. Maybe someone else can connect with Hermoine or Ron or someone else. Maybe you connect with parts. How many of us would like to have an Albus Dumbledore in our lives?

I also recognize that this is fantasy. The truth is, so do other children. If someone starts thinking this is real, they had other psychological issues to begin with. People look at Dungeons and Dragons the same way not realizing how many other kids had other issues and they just choose to focus on one thing in their lives and blame it all on that.

<> I also believe the world has more wonder than we realize. This is a magical world. When I speak, I communicate my thoughts to another person. As I push buttons here, words are showing up on my screen and before too long, all of you will be able to read them. I find technology simply marvelous, but let’s not forget that there are greater things in Heaven and Earth than are dreamt of in our philosophies.

<> We need a return to fantasy because we are seeking that which is fantastic. This world is not our home. We are made for a world where dreams come true. We believe in dark powers, but we also believe in light powers that will fight them and we believe that while the angels are in this war, they often seem to encourage soldiers on the side of the light to fight for the cause as well.

Yes. I’m wild about Harry. It doesn’t shake my Christian faith at all. In fact, I thank God for the gift of great imagination.