New Life'n

Not spearing back

When I found out about it my first thought was that's not very smart--surely they didn't do that on purpose...what were they thinking?...

But then I thought, isn't there a bigger difference between Jim Caviezel playing Jesus in The Passion than between Chad Allen playing Nate Saint?  I didn't reject a feeble human playing the role of the divine Jesus...

Then I thought, the movie is about people who wouldn't reject killers of their family members--they actually embraced them; should I then reject an actor who has done nothing like murder?

How Chad Allen got into End of the Spear...

Allen told Christianity Today Movies that he didn't tell End of the Spear's filmmakers about his sexuality until after they had offered him the job in late 2003. The filmmakers also say they didn't know about Allen's lifestyle until after they offered him a contract, but they felt obliged to honor it even though it had not yet been signed...

Allen didn't meet Steve Saint until about three months after he was hired, when shooting began in January 2004 in Panama. When they finally met, Allen says he told Saint, "If you don't want me to do this movie, because I respect you and your family so much and I respect this story so much, I will walk away from this—contract or no contract, even if that means I'm liable for breaking the contract."

But Saint had already decided to keep Allen on board. He said he had been praying about it, and that God clearly revealed the answer in a dream..."God planned the death of his own Son. I believe he planned the death of my dad and his four dear friends. Now, I believe God is at work again. I don't pretend to know what God is going to do with this controversy, but I am confident that he is behind this."

So the truth does matter

Some say the same thing about another best-seller--it's irrelevant if the stories really happened...what matters is that the essence of it is true...the underlying message of redemption is what resonates...what's important is being moved by the story and connecting to it and having your life changed...  That's what Oprah said on Larry King. 

That's not what she says now.  What she says now is...

• emotional truth does not matter more than facts
• the truth does matter--the underlying message of redemption is not more important than the truth
• if you say it happened--that it's true--then it had to have happened
• if you say it happened and it didn't then it's a lie.  Why lie?  If this is a lie here, then what else is a lie?
• it's not enough that the characters existed--what you say happened to them had to actually have happened

I couldn't believe what I was hearing.  It was one of the best defenses of the importance of the whole truth of the Bible that I've ever heard--the people had to be real, the stories had to have happened, the facts have to be true...and she didn't even know she was doing it.

"Will we learn nothing from Peter?"

"When 'compassion' is Satanic"  Yikes!

Online ABC's

Let the kids hear the letters and watch them turn into what they spell.

Creation vs. evolution

"What our children need to know and how parents can teach them." 

His heart's gone out

Warren Barfield and his bride Megan leave the New Life 91.9 studios after joining the morning show this morning.  They've moved from Charlotte to Nashville, but promise to stay Panthers fans and never to be seen on the sidelines of a Tennessee Titans game! Warren proposed to Megan on stage (of course!) and even had a special song he wrote to sing to her asking her to marry him.  They've been married 4 years and were looking thru The Charlotte Observer classifieds for Yorkie pups.  Warren's dad is a pastor and as a kid Warren was "expected to believe" but faked it for a bunch of years, until the real thing got hold of him. 

January guarantee

Brenda noticed this tree yesterday when we were in Greensboro.  Is it confused?  Is it normal for January 22?  Makes me think of this.

Hugs, fudge and cellphones

Twenty-four hours a day.  260,927 so far.   

Betty Buckingham and her husband, John have met planes at all hours. "It brings such a warm feeling to your heart," Ms. Buckingham says. "Once you do it once, it's habit forming."

Saw End of the Spear tonight

Disclaimer: We're not  big movie-go-ers.  Maybe 2-3 a year in theaters.  Saw Narnia last week--it was ok.  Really liked the first Lord of the Rings.  Lots of kids movies on DVD--Incredibles, Nemo, Shrek--the usual, all great.  The Passion really made me think. 

And End of the Spear?...

The theater was about half-full for the 4:10 show.  Afterwards, we got in the car before we asked each other what we thought.  Usually, I have no big opinion & want to know what she thinks first.  Not this time; I thought it was one of the best movies I've ever seen.  I couldn't take my eyes off the screen.  Brenda; Me too.  But I had to close my eyes a couple times.  I feel like I can finally breathe.  We both liked it better than Narnia.

I had expected it to be decent.  After the first two minutes of narration, I thought this could be good.  I kept waiting for long conversations and character development, but it really didn't do it the usual Hollywood way (that's not a complaint).  It's all about the story, and it keeps it up the whole movie.  I was surprised when it ended, again, because it hadn't done things the Hollywood way and now I realized it wasn't going to.  It seemed way shorter than a 1:50 movie. 

When the women went into the jungle to meet the killers of their husbands, it made me think of the firemen who went into the WTC on 9/11.  I would've been giving up and getting out of there, not going in.  And they had the kids with them!  It was like they were going to finish this, no matter what.

I liked that it gave the audience some credit--it didn't shout, Hey this is a movie about Christianity!  It's more like reading the book of Esther, where it's not God's name that is heard, but his footprints that are seen. The only Christian terminology I remember was the word pray 2-3 times.  It let the story tell the story, and it did; they were speared but they didn't spear back. 

Don't rush out at the end--during the credits there's some nifty clips from the real-life documentary on the same story.  And, for us, it's way too intense for kids.