Joaquin Phoenix is My Man

I already liked Joaquin before and always enjoyed his brother's work but what he is doing right now has skyrocketed him into Fave 5 territory.

You are by now correctly guessing that I think his new bizarre persona is a big act for his personal "documentary" that is being filmed by Casey Affleck. I think he is pulling the wool over our eyes and I am going to sit back and enjoy the ride.

If you saw his recent Late Show interview then you know of which I speak. It was wild and wacky fun and Letterman was clearly in on the joke. It reminded me of the sort of crazy stuff Crispin Glover would do on the show in the 80s.

Think about it: this guy has pulled off a lot of acting roles. Am I to believe he can almost perfectly mimic Johnny Cash but the best he can muster in a rap performance is falling off a stage?

Only time will tell but I am eagerly anticipating the 2010 release of the film, be I right or wrong.

The Difference Between Men and Women - Part 1 in an 82 Part Series

Men will often resort to sports analogies when having discussions with each other on the topic of dating.

Women will not.

This has been Part 1 in an 82 part series on "The Difference Between Men and Women."

The Return of the Blog and Gordy Dark

After a 3 month hiatus I now announce my return. In the next few weeks I plan to blog at least twice.

Consider this blog #1. My only goal is to announce and welcome the exciting return of Adam "Gordy" Dark to the Atlanta area.

That's right, ladies. Adam will soon be finished with Lifeway and will be back in the A in early August. THE LEGEND OF ADAM DARK continues in full force right in your neighborhood, which for those of you in Marietta will mean right in your back yard.

Up next: Jimmy Drew - Fashion Legend and why you should care about the poor. I'll save you 2,500 words - God does.

Random Potentially Helpful Post...

I decided to toss the contents of an e-mail on here that I wrote to my friends on "The Forum," an e-mail group I am in. This is from March 4th. There was a discussion going on about a bunch of different topics, including the resurrection, the authority of Scripture and how it relates to feeling/experiencing God and whether or not Jesus was attracted to women. I jumped in and knocked out a little response. Jill Sims thought it was helpful so maybe you will, too. It's in quotes below. Also, I should say that I haven't read what I wrote since early March. I suppose I probably still agree with everything I wrote but I'm too lazy to review it.

Any thoughts, Kelli? You know I have a complicated syntax.

"There are really too many things going on at once here. Issues like creation, Noah's Ark, Yam Suph are things that can be studied and understood in a non-fundamentalist way. Genre of writing is important to consider but doesn't mean the events didn't happen. Either way, the resurrection was what started this whole thing and that's a pretty non-compromisable point if you're going to be a Christian. If it didn't happen, we are still followers of Christ but we're just another religion with a book we claim is from God.

Scripture is God-breathed and there is a sense that God guided the development of the 66 books compiled into a closed canon that we now consider the authority and final check point for our faith.

Interpretation is the goal of exegesis and I don't see any problem with this not always being an easy process. Augustine said of scripture that there is enough easy stuff for all to understand and enough tough stuff to keep the brightest scholars wrestling for decades. One of my NT professors said that exegesis requires more spiritual maturity than just about anything because of the humility and high calling of the task. While translation is not perfect, read the preface sometime to your Bibles on how they were interpreted. This isn't something done by one person overnight. God can honor and use faithful scholars for the understanding of Scripture by all and His Spirit ( i.e. still God - try deconstructing God - the Trinity makes it tough) can guide and instruct those reading the words whether or not they are fluent in Hebrew, Greek or Aramaic.

Regarding "feeling," I think Christian is trying to discuss conversion. There are human emotions associated with everything we do on earth and God's work in a person's life is one of those areas. However, feelings are not authoritative like core truth. I think, all in all, it's a bit more of a fluid process than one preceding the other. As a clarifying point, the Bible presents conversion (born again) as flowing out of repentance and faith in the person and work of Christ - God became flesh and dwelt among us (John 1:14). It's a journey that begins with being made right in God's eyes that may not begin with overwhelming "feeling" but there will be plenty of feelings along the way as you are made whole in Christ. Salvation is a healing process and means you are part of a new kingdom.

Final note: let's not make the same mistake we make with pastors when talking about seminarians. People who go there are, well, people. Andrew, James-Michael, Greg, whoever - we aren't magical beings. We're people. A good seminary, by my estimation, is not just an academic institution. It should be a place that strives to be a fairly comprehensive but non-exhaustive (we're always in school) training ground for those who sense God's call to fill an office of ministry and/or leadership in His kingdom.

By that measure, plenty of people who go to seminary are not called. Some are. Some just aren't sure. Perhaps one of the reasons people are led astray at some of the more academic focused seminaries is because the seminary has long since lost its mission to do what God wants it to do.

Christ, in the great mystery of fully man/fully God, probably saw the aesthetic beauty of a woman but viewed her as God's (His!) creation not to be lusted after but seen as a daughter/potential daughter in His kingdom. God (Him!) created sexuality to be fulfilling and properly experienced in the bond of marriage. Christ would have fully exemplified these tenets in His sinless life, not lusting sexually after a woman in singleness and properly honoring her beauty as a complement to man.

Maybe it's a cultural thing, but I'm willing to bet Christ didn't have much struggle with lust regarding a woman's ankles."

Brief Reflections

1. For reasons not interesting enough to post here, I have been without cell phone for the past 2 days. In some ways, it has been a refreshing "out of pocket" break from the norm. All that to say, I haven't been ignoring you if you've tried to call me the past two days.

2. I haven't yet claimed a tree, but I echo Annie's sentiment on the new Riverstone building. My prayer is that of the staff - that the church won't settle into a "we're another nice church in the area" mold. It'll be tempting. It'll be easy. Let's be dangerous. Let's be adventurous. Let's keep Community Transformation as the mission before us. Really, let's let God be God through seasons both good and challenging. Everything else will flow from this wellspring. I just wrote wellspring.

3. I've been doing a lot of reflection lately on a variety of life issues. One of these involves where I was a year ago and where I am today. A year ago, I was still at Asbury Seminary going through an unprecedented amount and series of life challenges. I was returning from the Russ Mills wedding where I had an amazingly fun time with great friends old and new (A Night to Remember!!!). I was gearing up for a graduation and move that was both desired yet kind of sad as another life chapter was closing behind me.

I now find myself back in Atlanta. I've come a long way but also feel like I'm just now finally finding my place back home. The transition out of seminary is one difficult to explain so I won't try. I guess it's just good to be home. As much as I feel that I'm kind of at a plateau spot at the moment, which is mildly frustrating, I can't complain. God is good.

And I almost forgot...SAN DIMAS HIGH SCHOOL FOOTBALL RULES!!!

Spring is Upon Us

I'm kicking back, listening to some Interpol and enjoying the weather. If talking about the weather on a day like this is wrong, then I don't want to be right.

Shortest blog ever. Off to do some yard work. Next: Mate finding advice from a former professor that you won't want to miss. Almost as simple as looking under your pillow!

Soul Train and a Romantic Comedy Idea

I was excited tonight when I discovered a local TV station is showing vintage episodes of "Soul Train" Saturdays at 1 AM.

It may surprise you to learn this was one of my favorite shows growing up as a kid in Florida. It was always the fitting conclusion to a morning of cartoon watching and signaled another Saturday morning was near its end.

I have no idea what this says about my character so it isn't really a good answer to a cell group ice breaker question. Just thought I'd throw it out there.

Other programs or movies you may be surprised to know I enjoy are (but certainly not limited to): Anne of Green Gables, Bridge to Terabithia (haven't seen the new one) and Legally Blonde I and II. I also saw an episode of Gilmore Girls once and thought it was surprisingly well done.

As a side and final note, I've always secretly wanted to write a romantic comedy because I don't think it would be that difficult and I could write sappy things for my own personal enjoyment like, "I think our love can do anything we want it to" and "I wanted it to be you. I wanted it to be you so badly" or even "What do you want to be married to me for, anyhow? So I can kiss you anytime I want." It would also make theatres full of grown women weep and I could take the cash I make from the royalties and use it for missions work and church planting.

Now that I think about it, I've found a solid premise for such a film. It comes from an Annie Downs quote I saw on Caren Dilts's Facebook profile. The verbatim cut and paste version is, "Why don't we just wake up the day we turn 21 with our husband's name underneath our pillow? Why doesn't God think that's a good idea?" Seriously - this could be developed into at least 95 minutes of romantic comedy heaven. There are so many ways this could be taken and they could actually be fairly thought provoking, unlike several romantic comedies I won't name.

For example, is this something someone would ultimately really want? Would it ruin the romance, mystery and fun of meeting someone and having it develop through whatever trials and fun times God may allow? What if it's a name of someone the girl has never heard of? What if it is the name of someone the girl at first doesn't really want to be with or has objections to? What would knowing anything about our future do to our present? Why DOESN'T God think that's a good idea? Again, a lot of potential here. I could easily fit in a line like, "I learned love isn't meant to be lived just around the corner when it's right in front of me today" or "Some pillows weren't meant to be turned over." Ok, that last line sucks but you get the point.

I really don't know how I went from Soul Train to this.