Don Miller preached a sermon called Our Father in Heaven this past weekend at Imago Dei.

Warning: This post is heavy with spoilers, so don’t read it if you haven’t yet seen the movie and still intend to.

My wife and I took advantage of the built-in babysitting that comes with having the in-laws in town for a visit this weekend. We stole away for a few hours to see Batman Begins. I’d heard many good things, and I was not disappointed. This was my favorite of all the Batman films. It has a little more of a serious tone to it than the others, which is evident even by the lack of a marquee pop artist with a featured song on the soundtrack.

Early in the film, we see Bruce Wayne (Christian Bale) coming of age with the help of his new mentor Henri Ducard (Liam Neeson). As the final test to prove his maturity, Bruce is told he must kill a man who is a local thief. Henri believes that the only way to do away with evil is to show zero tolerance. So, in order to fight evil, Bruce must show no mercy.

Everything within me wanted him to not kill that man. Something deep inside told me that was not the right course of action for him to take. Of course, he didn’t. He chose to go the route of compassion, even though Ducard told him that would be his weakness. Ultimately, a grand fight ensues, and Bruce chooses to save Ducard’s life, leaving him unconscious with a local villager. Even as that happens, you know this will not be the end of Ducard…

Later in the movie, Bruce is fighting the evil of Gotham as Batman. He still senses that their is good in the city, and hopes that his example can rally the good people to rise to action. Ducard reappears with a sinister plan to destory the whole city. He believes it is lost, and there is no hope. The intriguing thing about all this is that there are two ‘good’ guys fighting against evil. It just seems that the way of our hero seems more correct and moral than the way of Ducard. It made for an interesting plot development.

I was reflecting on this after the movie while waiting for my very pregnant wife outside the ladies’ room. I was trying to figure out why the concept of two goods, but one seeming to be so much better, was so appealing. Finally it struck me — Law and Grace. Ducard was the Law of the Old Testament, and Batman and his compassion represented the Grace of the New Testament.

The work of those who follow Jesus is to bring the Shalom/Kingdom of God to this earth. That can never be done by simply destroying evil through restrictive legalism, or even by brushing evil under the proverbial rug to pretend it’s not there. It is a work of seeing the good that still exists in this world — seeing the imprint of God’s image in every human, and pointing to the way of Christ to rally people to be who God truly created them to be and to settle for nothing less.

Bono will be on Meet the Press tomorrow morning. Set your Tivo’s if you’ve got ‘em.

Thanks to Brian Bailey for the heads up.

Inspired by so many things to do in this area, I’ve started a new blog: SeattleDayTrips.com. I hope that this won’t really be my blog, but a community effort to catalog and share experiences of what there is to do near the Seattle metro area. This blog is open to anyone to contribute to, so if you live in the area, or have visited, feel free to help create content.

This is a very intriguing article to me: The Megachurch That’s Reinventing Itself. Having lived in the Phoenix metro area for over a decade, I was quite familiar with Community Church of Joy and various impressions people had of it. I’m interested to see how well some of the transitions they are trying to make will go.

We are in our new house now. It’s been most traumatic. I’ve been without broadband for the last week, and couldn’t even get online through the 3 or 4 wifi connections available in our neighborhood. We got up and running today…it’s good to be back!

I got a copy of Mealtime Habits of the Messiah, by Conrad Gempf a few weeks ago. I’m about halfway through it, and I’m really enjoying it. Here’s a few reasons why:

• After looking through it, I decided to use it as a daily read/devotional. I’m not sure if this is how Conrad intended it to be read, but it is working out great that way for me. Each of the 40 chapters is four pages long, with a Scripture followed by some comments about it. At the end of each chapter are some “Suggestions for Further Thought”.
• Conrad is a scholar who writes for the masses. He does not seem interested in impressing everyone with his knowledge as much as he is interested in helping us understand the text. One of my passions is to teach people in a way that they fully understand the original meaning and context of a passage, and then through that are able to see how that passage has meaning for them today. I think this is something Conrad does very well. The readability of this book prompted Andrew Jones to suggest that this book would be good for church youth groups. I agree, but I would hate to see this pegged as a youth group book. (Besides, if it really starts selling well, perhaps Conrad can sprinkle the word “Dude” in the book a few times, along with some clip art, and repackage it as Mealtime Habits of the Messiah for Teens.)
• I really enjoy the humor in it. I’m quite certain the phrase “‘Go Maccabees!’ lunch box” has never been found in print before this book, but it works for me.
• Because of thoughts like this: “I’ve learned a lot of things about the Bible in general and Jesus’ teaching in particular. One of the most important things is very simple but very neglected: you shouldn’t focus on those passages in the Bible that contain answers you resonate with. Instead, focus on passages that address situations that resonate with your situation. So it’s not, ‘Are there any biblical characters who received the kind of message I want to hear?’ but rather, ‘What doe the Bible say to characters who are in a similar situation to my own?’

Get yourself a copy, and while you are at it, pick up his first book: Jesus Asked. It also combines great readability with solid scholarship, and I’ve recommended it to many.

Exactly four months ago today, I promised to post a link to the audio from the Mars Hill/Acts 29 Boot Camp that Dean and I went to. Well, today I finally noticed links to the audio on the Acts 29 website. I know that the number of people who read that post and have held their breath waiting for that link is most probably zero, but at least my conscience is now clear and I can finally sleep again tonight.

Here’s an article from today’s Seattle Times about a recent trip by Bono to Washington, DC.

I ran across this in the first chapter of To Be Told, by Dan Allender, and I think it’s worth passing along:

I don’t believe God is so concerned that we build ministries–or companies, families, or any other human legacy–to his glory. His glory is grown when we simply live out the calling he has given us. We give him much greater glory when we are aware of our calling, live intentionally, and live with passion. That’s how we coauthor our own story.

I have often thought that we spend too much time in church services trying to make people feel welcome. It’s not that we don’t want people to feel welcome, we certainly do. However, all these attempts to make people feel welcome create a division of sorts. And this division creates a consumer mindset for those who are attending the church. Here’s some examples of things that I have noticed as we’ve been visiting different churches lately:

• As we were walking out of church today, several people were standing outside saying “Thanks for coming.” What that subtly communicatas is, “Thanks for consuming the services that we had to offer you today.” It is as if there are a select group of people who represent the church itself, and all the rest of us are just there to receive what they offer.
• Sometimes churches have select people with nametags, and they say or print things such as “If you have a need or prayer concern, find someone with a nametag. We’re here for you.” Again, this creates a customer service minded approach where those who are attending the church are there to be served by those who are really in at the church — consumerism.
• People are often given opportunities to fill out cards with their contact information, along with places to comment, or even check a box that says “Please have a pastor call me.”

I don’t think any of these things are inherently wrong, and we may perhaps even use variations of some or all of them at Pathways. However, there is a danger in what they subtly communicate that we have to think through. Even to those who regularly attend, it creates a perception that there is a select group of people that is there to provide for them. How can we make people fell like they are genuinely welcomed in the community without communicating that they are consumers who are there to receive the services and good we have to offer them? How can we connect them not just on a consumer level, but on a community level?

This is part of the Truth and Culture series. Previous posts: Intro, Focus Outward, Beautiful Origins.

Up until this morning, I have only thought Postmodern Children’s Ministry to be a so-so and somewhat generic book. However, the chapter on the Bible (chapter 7) has made this book completely worthwhile. Below are a few different thoughts that I underlined. I will let them speak for themselves:

• The Bible was not created as the practical guide to the Christian life. It is not a self-help book. The Bible is a collection of ancient stories in which an ieffable, powerful, and enigmatic God is the main character. The Bible reveals a God who is just as relevant today as 8,000 years ago — and just as powerful and just as mysterious. - pg 125
• We don’t need the Bible to teach children moral lessons. We need the Bible to introduce children to God, God’s story, and God’s ways. But I believe that most published Sunday school curricula are more focused on teaching children to be kind, obey their parents, and tell the truth (not bad things at all, by the way) than on helping children know God better. We use Bible stories with children as if they are moral fables give to us to teach a moral lesson! - pg 126-7
• By pulling stories about Bible characters out of the Biblical text–which gives them no historical, cultural, or theological context–and by dwelling only on the exploits of the characters, we fail to give children the big picture of God’s story in the Bible. We fail to help them see that the pieces of the Bible fit together in a wonderful tapestry of God’s love and care for humanity and the rest of creation. - pg. 128
• The truth is that those holding a postmodern worldview are not all that interested in being told waht the Bible means for them. They are not eager to hear the three-point application of a Bible passage, reread the notes when they get hom, and then act on it. (How moch do those notes ever really get acted on, anyway?) Postmoderns want to know what the Bible says and then decide for themselves what they want to do with it. They want an open system of Bible study, not a close one. - pg 132