Something that I recently started to think about is the many statues that flag this great state (more specifically the MU campus).  It seems to me we see the statues and yet do not know the stories behind them.  Does anybody else ever feel this way?

Some examples from the MU campus are the following two:





But do you know why they are on campus?  Even new students scratch their heads as to why we have a statue of Thomas Jefferson looking over North Quad or why Beetle Bailey sits outside the Alumni Center.

This morning at 12:01 AM Forum Theaters played The Dark Knight.  I was all kinds of excited for the movie... I mean, the trailers made it look dark and amazing.  After sitting in the second row of seats for two hours, my neck was a little sore thanks to having to stare upward at the giant Batman and his foe for round two, The Joker.  Overall it far surpassed the expectations I had for the film.  A lot of hype came around for the film due to the passing of Heath Ledger.  I never really considered seeing the film for that reason, more for the reason that it was Batman and I had a perfect excuse to be up until 3 AM.

A lot of the early reviews I heard for Dark Knight were applauding Ledger for his work as the twisted villian Joker.  I thank he did an outstanding job, but Aaron Eckhart did an amazing portral of District Attorney Harvent Dent as well.  In my opinion, both Ledger and Eckhart should be nominated for supporting actor for the film.  They both brought a power and originality to the roles that past incarnations of the caped crusader and villians have not done before.

Overall, it was amazing with the special effects and acting... but one thing was slightly disappointing.  I suppose the one area I found disappointing does help if Chris Nolan and Christian Bale decide to return to the Batman franchise at least one more time... time will only tell

I give it the following: / 5 Smileys

Next superhero movie must-see:  Watchmen

Below are some random quotes from Batman Begins that I enjoy:

Lucius Fox: Well, what is it today? More spelunking?
Bruce Wayne: No. Today it's BASE-jumping.
Lucius Fox: BASE-jumping. That like parachuting?
Bruce Wayne: Kinda.

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Henri Ducard: Men fear most what they cannot see.

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Alfred Pennyworth: When you told me your grand plan for saving Gotham, the only thing that stopped me from calling the men in white coats was when you said that it wasn't about thrill-seeking.
Bruce Wayne: It's not.
Alfred Pennyworth: What would you call *that*?
[points to a TV news report showing a helicopter shot of the Batmobile being chased down the freeway by police cars]
Bruce Wayne: [as he fixes his tie] Damn good television.

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Henri Ducard: Your compassion is a weakness your enemies will not share.
Bruce Wayne: That's why it's so important. It separates us from them.

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Bruce Wayne: Gotham isn't beyond saving.

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Alfred Pennyworth: Why do we fall, sir? So that we might learn to pick ourselves up.

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Rachel Dawes: What chance does Gotham have when the good people do nothing?

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Henri Ducard: What are you seeking?
Bruce Wayne: I seek the means to fight injustice, to turn fear against those who prey on the fearful.

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[Bruce is refusing to demonstrate his commitment to justice by executing a criminal]
Ra's Al Ghul: You cannot lead these men unless you are prepared to do what is necessary to defeat evil.
Bruce Wayne: And where would I be leading these men?
Ra's Al Ghul: Gotham. As Gotham's favored son you will be ideally placed to strike at the heart of criminality.
Bruce Wayne: How?
Ra's Al Ghul: Gotham's time has come. Like Constantinople or Rome before it the city has become a breeding ground for suffering and injustice. It is beyond saving and must be allowed to die. This is the most important function of the League of Shadows. It is one we've performed for centuries. Gotham... must be destroyed.

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What great passages will come from Dark Knight?  We shall find out in less than a week!

Yesterday was the 232nd anniversary of America declaring its independence from England.  I was driving around, I wanted to listen to some American patriotic music (you know, to address the mood of the day a little bit better).  When I started to listen to classic favorites of this nation (like God Bless America and God Bless The U.S.A.), I started to feel sick to my stomach.  Maybe the two are not related, but I am going to say they are.  In a coming post, I want to explore the idea of national patriotism and where I feel God's Kingdom should be. 

This may seem like what Scott talked about this past Tuesday at Summer Chi Alpha, and it is.  But I want to pull from some resources that I currently either own or have checked out from the library (and the Bible as well).  I am hoping that the two of us can open the gates of conversation on this subject and re-examine American patriotism and the phrase "In God We Trust."

This year, so far, has been massive year for the movie industry.  Below are some of the highlights (and some of the movies that I and others are looking forward to):

- Cloverfield: All that I can really say is, Godzilla meets September 11, 2001

- Iron Man: I have heard that this is a great movie.  Since I do not know a lot about Iron Man, I do not really have a lot to comment about when it comes to looking forward to when it comes to this movie.

- Speed Racer: Awesome!

- The Chronicles of Narnia - Prince Caspian: Some people say that it is better for than it's prequel, but I do not if I feel that way.  Caspian seemed at times as if it were over the heads of younger kids, yet shallow enough action wise for them to understand it.

- Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull: I prefer this one over the only other Indiana Jones movie that I have seen, Raiders of the Lost Ark.

- The Incredible Hulk: A little less on the back story than it's predecessor, The Hulk, but if you are looking forward to an action movie, then go see it!

- Get Smart: It looks like another success with Steve Carell!

- The Dark Knight: Darker than Batman Begins, which makes it look amazing!

- Kung Fu Panda: Umm... Jack Black as a panda... enough said.

- Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince: Movie six in an eight movie franchise based on seven books!

- Hancock: Yeah, this looks kind of lame, yet kind of cool.

- Hell Boy 2: It seems as if Hell Boy meets Pan's Labyrinth

Can 2009 top this year?

The following is from desiringgod.org:

Pacifism Is Harmful

To let someone murder when it is in your power to stop them is completely contrary to our moral sentiments. If a Hitler is on the move and seeking to bind the world in tyranny and destroy entire ethnic groups, it would seem very clearly wrong not to oppose him with force. It is true that war itself is harmful and tragic; but pacifism would result in even more harm to the world because it would give wicked people virtually free reign. We of course must be open to letting the Bible transform our moral sentiments, but this observation should at least cause us to pause and reflect more deeply before concluding that Jesus is intending to teach pacifism.

That paragraph was from a paper entitled "Did Jesus Teach Pacifism?"  For those people that may not know, Desiring God Ministries is John Piper's ministry and you can read more of the article at the link provided below:

http://www.desiringgod.org/resourcelibrary/topicindex/114_War/1450_Did_Jesus_teach_pacifism/

I really want to focus on this paragraph for a second.  It seems to me that the person or people that wrote this article seem to have confused pacifism with passivism.  From how I understand passivism, it would be the act of doing nothing no matter what the circumstances are, and in an earlier post I defined pacifism as creative non-violence (which would allow somebody to do something, just not acting in a violent manner).  I can see the confusion due to the words being alike, but thier definitions are not the same.

When Scott and company comeback from vacation I might comment further on the article, but I really want to ask a question now: If Jesus did not teach pacifism, where in the New Testament does it quote Jesus saying that fighting is okay?

One of the benefits of helping with The Crossing Kids this summer is that they are going through the ten commandments.  It seems to me that as modern Christians we sometimes over look the commandments since the reside in the Old Testament, but lately one of the ten has been hitting me deep.

Observe the Sabbath day, to keep it holy. Work six days and do everything you need to do. But the seventh day is a Sabbath to God, your God. Don't do any work—not you, nor your son, nor your daughter, nor your servant, nor your maid, nor your animals, not even the foreign guest visiting in your town. For in six days God made Heaven, Earth, and sea, and everything in them; he rested on the seventh day. Therefore God blessed the Sabbath day; he set it apart as a holy day (Exodus 20:8-11, The Message).

JR said the following a couple of Sundays ago and it has been added to my conviction about the Sabbath: "As Christians we are glad that we don't have to work on Sundays, yet we are perfectly content with people working for us."

I work at the local Chrisitan store and we are open on Sundays.  The longer that I have worked there the more and more convicted that maybe we should not be open.  It is the slowest day of the week and we do not enough business to keep us in the black for the day.  The people that come shopping are coming in right after church... why is that exactly?  How can people go from worshipping God at church to buying stuff at the Christian store?

Starting today, I am going to try my best to not eat out or go shopping on Sundays.  I realize that it could exclude me from fellowship with other Christians (especially when they go out to eat).  But like I said, I am going to try... I am far from perfect so I cannot say that I am never going to go out to eat or go shopping... but I am going to try.

Where does this commandment about the Sabbath fall for you and what you do on Sundays?

Since Saturday I have been reading Shane Claiborne's second book Jesus For President and I have to admit that I am big fan of the book.  I really liked Claiborne's first book The Irresistible Revolution.  I personally recommend both books for some summer reading.

This is the first post in a series of posts that deal with Jesus For President.

The first section of Jesus For President deals with the Old Testament.  Claiborne states that in order to really understand Jesus' teaching and death in context, you have to understand what happened before... or what makes up the Old Testament in the Bible.  Here is something Claiborne placed in the book that has made me think about sin and how it seems to start so easily:

"It's the beautiful things that get us.  Perhaps the greatest seduction is not the anti-God, but the almost God.  Poisonous fruit can look pretty tasty.  Thats what is so dangerous about ideas like freedom, peace, and justice.  They are  all seductive qualities, close to the heart of God.  After all, it's the beautiful things we kill anddie for.  And it's the beautiful we market, brand, and counterfeit.
"We find ourselves possessed by our possessions... and enslaved by the pursuit of freedom.  Nations fighting for peace and up perpetuating the very violence they seek to destroy.  Serpents are a slippery and slimy things.

"Most of the ugliness in the human narrative comes from a distorted quest to possess beauty.  Coveting begins with appreciating blessings.  Murder begins with a hunger for justice.  Lust begins with a recognition of beauty.  Gluttony begins when our enjoyment of the delectable gifts of God starts to consume us.  Idolatry begins when our seeing a reflection of God in something beautiful leads to our thinking that the beautiful image bearer is worthy of worship" (Jesus For President, pg. 26).

What I find interesting about this particular passage is that it starts with an analogy that I take as meaning, sin looks like it could be fun (Satan has a way of making it look that way), yet the pretty outside is covering the ugliness inside.  In American culture is appears that we have a lust for objects of this world (to which I point myself out for this), so it would seem we forget that the goal is above with God.  In Matthew, Jesus puts it this way, "For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also" (Matthew 6:21).

Looking at that verse in Matthew, wouldn't it seem that Jesus was trying to point out that if we invest so much into this life on Earth and lose sight of the life with Him afterward that we could become lost within the here-and-now?

One of the later examples from the Bible of people trying not to fit into conventional norms is soon after Pentecost in Acts 2. "And all the believers met together in one place and shared everything they had.  They sold their property and possessions and shared the money with those in need.  They worshiped together at the Temple each day, met in homes for the Lord’s Supper, and shared their meals with great joy and generosity all the while praising God and enjoying the goodwill of all the people. And each day the Lord added to their fellowship those who were being saved" (Acts 2:44-47, NLT).

In the here-and-now it seems that this train of thought is hopelessly abandoned.  Places like New York City are obsessed with fast paced/ self-centered thinking that induces a person to a coma for anybody but themselves.  How can Christians get trapped in participating in this way of thinking?

One of the luxuries about having friends from different parts of the US and the world is the amount of diversity that I come across on a daily basis.  With that diversity comes this feeling that God could use anyone of these people to relay aspects of the Gospel into my life a little differently.  Lately, Scott has been doing that with the help of Sarah and Jazmin, and what I find really cool is that they want to embrace a certain Acts 2 kind of life.  Even though they get fed the idea over and over again that they should not do it, they should be independent entities of the world, they want to bring it back to the Bible.  Taking life back to the Bible, isn't that what every Christian should be doing?  If so, then how can we achieve this when we all understand the Bible differently?

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More to come soon!