Ice Age 2: The Meltdown Review

We were given some tickets to go see an advanced screening of Ice Age 2: The Meltdown last night. We took the kids and had a great time.

In case you are wanting to go see it, and wondering if it's worth your time, here are my thoughts. We laughed a lot - which is a good thing. Scrat is back and of course still struggling to get that acorn. Sid, Diego, and Manti are all back too and doing their usual quibblings, etc. There are also some new characters that add excitement and a few good laughs to the mix.

The Good: Well animated, it seemed to have more detail then the previous one and was very enjoyable to watch. The movie as stated before was funny on a number of levels. Often something would be said that would make the kids laugh but would make s laugh on another level. The theme of the movie - largely consistent with the first - that cooperation is essential for the "herd" is also there and well done. There were a number of great clips that could illustrate sermons, small group times, etc. Particularly at the very end, where.... haha. I wouldn't do that.

The Bad: I really enjoyed the movie. My only complaint is that it was rated PG and the reason it was rated PG. I imagine some of that rating was because of some "innuendos" that went well over my kid's head. This isn't uncommon for animated movies and increases enjoyment for s. However, some of it was a little too close. Especially the CUSSING!!! "What?" you say, "Cussing in a kids movie?" I kid you not. I really don't appreciate movies that are designed for my kids that include bad words. This starts with things like, "shut up" and "stupid" but for this movie they actually use the words "crap," "ass," and "damn." Now it's actually pretty funny (in a junior highish kind of way when they do it). Some dung beetles pushing their usual load say, "Why are we taking this crap with us?" In another part, Manti is telling a story about a little donkey "a burro." And a character says that the proper thing to call it is an "ass." A huge chunk of ice falls off of a dam and a beaver looks at it and says "damn." So if I'm in junior high - this would be great fun. The problem is my 6 and 4 year old saw it and sooner or later they pick up words like that from a movie and repeat them. I'd rather them not repeat some of the bickering, name-calling, and especially language this movie references.

My conclusion - In one sitting I don't think my kids connected to the bad language. My son's favorite part: "when the squirrel does karate and kicks the guy!" Hence, I'm not sorry we spent the evening watching the movie. We had a great time together as a family before, during and after the movie. However, I won't be buying the DVD even though I found much of it very funny. I don't want my kids hearing words like that regularly if I can help it. The bad language just ruined it as far as I'm concerned.

Does God Change His Mind?

Maybe my senioritis isn't so bad after all. :-) Here's a thought from class...

What is the significance of Biblical passages that seem to indicate God changes his mind? For instance in Jonah, when Ninevah repents, God relents (Heb. – “naham”) from his wrath. Perhaps a stronger example is Exodus 32, when the people of Israel apostatize in the wilderness, God announces that he will destroy Israel and make Moses the father of a new nation However Moses intercedes and asks God to “turn” (Heb – “shub”) from his anger and “relent” (Heb. – “naham”) from this disaster. In response to Moses, Ex 32:14 states that God “relented” (“naham”) from this disaster.

What impact do passages like these have on our understanding of doctrine like the “immutability” of God? Is it accurate to say God “changes his mind?”

"Manhood" Plan

I just finished my manhood plan. Really it's probably better understood as my "life" plan. But I guess since I'm a man and this is for a men's group, "manhood" is a bit more specific. Of course, then the question arises, "If I don't have this plan do I lose my manhood?"

Anyways, I only spent a few hours working on it, but found it very helpful. I spent time addressing 1) the past - what from my past both good and bad impacts me now? 2) the present - what from my present do I need to develop / focus on? 3) the future - what do I want to achieve / accomplish by the time I die?

Nothing particularly fancy about that. My "discoveries" really weren't surprising either. I already had a basic idea about all the areas I focused on. Still, I was surprised by the impact it had on me personally. As I sat and worked on things, just putting certain things on paper that I knew I needed to work on was good - maybe therapeutic. Things like, "What will my lasting impression be on my kids?"

Wow. I highly recommend - men or women - to do something like this. It seems to me at times that I live some of life by default - either what I have to do or what I immediately want to do. Yet often, default doesn't get to what I really want to do or be in the long run.

Senioritis

I really have it now. Senioritis has afflicted me completely. I just have no interest in my classes at all anymore. Last night and this morning in class were the worst. I was totally zoned out.

I know my classes are good and contain vital information that I'll desperately need at some point in the future, but I just don't care at all. I'm too interested in where I'm going to be next.

Sad isn't it?

Thesis Out for Proofing

My thesis is now basically finished. I finished my last few tweaks this morning and just sent it out to those who said they'd proof it for me.

It's a learning process I'd recommend to anyone, but don't ask me if I'd do it again.

6% of the World Visited

That's not really true. I have, however visited 6% of the world's countries.



create your own visited countries map
or vertaling Duits Nederlands

What really bothered me was that I suddenly realized I had never been to either South America or Africa - or mainland Asia for that matter.

Thesis Proofreaders Wanted

Senior sermon is done! Thanks for those of you who were praying for that. I think PsALM 3 (vs PS3 - thanks Brian) was impactful on my life and on my classmates.

In other news, I am finishing up my thesis. Only minor tweaking now and I should be done by the end of today. So.....

I am now welcoming all takers who would like to proofread my thesis. Those of you who are especially picky or familiar with Turabian format have a talent I greatly covet right now!

Senior Sermon

My senior sermon is tomorrow morning. I feel really good about the text I'm using (Ps 3) and the outline and introduction I've developed. However, I'm scrambling right now to finish my manuscript by the noon deadline today.

Junk Food

My mom told me today that since I'm under a lot of stress I need to avoid junk food and late night eating.

Unfortunately I'm sitting here right now at 8:00 pm during a break in class and eating some Cheez-it's and drinking a Pepsi.

Sorry, Mom.

Cafe Brazil

I’m now at my new favorite restaurant. It’s this sweet little place called “Café Brazil” near University and 75. I kid you not, they have a lineup of SEVEN different regular/decaf flavors to enjoy. They have free Wi-Fi. They have decent food. They're open 24/7. What's not to like?

Right now I’m sipping on some chocolate razzberry swirl while trying to knock out my thesis. Yum. Not only that, but $2.39 gets you a “ cup of coffee" in a comfortable ceramic mug. Beat that, Starbucks!

Thesis/Job Work

The absence of posting is due to 1) my sending out of job applications and 2) actual thesis work.

However, I do intend to let you in on my big project for the month. I will update more later, but I am attempting to toilet train our cat.

Evangelical Dysfunction

Last week I heard about a pastor who had been fired by his church. This was a church where he had been a major contributor in its growth.

Apparently he had been struggling with some issues from his past. This apparently took the form of a ual struggle. No affair or anything like that but I think there was some ography involved.

He realized at some point last year that this was a serious problem and confessed to his wife. He even went so far as to take a sabbatical from ministry and took some major personal steps to deal with this issue. Also at some point he told the elders of his struggle in these areas. And that's when things got ugly.

Apparently his strong leadership style had grated on certain people in the church. When he took his sabbatical they decided they kind of liked him being gone. Essentially, they used this issue as leverage against him. When he came back they gave him six months severance and asked him to leave.

This was not a guy caught in his problem who was unwilling to address it. Rather he caught himself and was proactive in addressing it. And he got fired for it!

Now, I know none of this firsthand, so I could be wrong on a few details. But it illustrates something I have felt and seen in the Evangelical church in general. It is this: When it comes to dealing with sinful struggles (depravity) in people's lives, we do a great deal of talking about its reality and a really lousy job of helping people deal with it.

Word gets around. People in that church, more or less, will know why the pastor lost his job. What lesson does this teach the people of that church - especially the guys? Humm... "If I struggle ually, what do I do about it? I hide it! Because bad things happen when you tell."

I speak mostly of my personal Evangelical experience here, but where is our room for struggle with sin - particularly taboo sin? When will we learn that struggle with sin and hurt and pain is the rule, not the exception, in the Christian life? When are we going to allow our leaders to be humans in the journey - not deified saviors?

This sort of thing certainly draws me to church structures that I think do much better in this area. The Orthodox church and Emergent church come to mind.

Kreider on Dispensationalism, Labels, and "Tired Head"

Dr. Kreider (thanks perhaps to your helpful goading) finally posted some excellent thoughts on the differences between dispensationalism and covenant theology.

With his permission, I am reposting them here as the original topic is down the page somewhat. For the original context of his post check out the original blog article and comments here. Roy, I am also copying your comment and Kreider's follow-up in the comments of this post so the conversation can continue here.

Kreider's comment:

Two comments.

1. That there are similarities between dispensationalists and covenantalists is not surprising. Both are Christians. So, that I hold a lot of things in common with Roman Catholics (Trinity, virgin birth, substitutionary atonement, etc.) doesn't make me Catholic. But even this is not that shocking, since I also share a lot of beliefs in common with non-Christians. That I believe in "family values" doesn't make me Mormon. That I believe in taking care of the environment doesn't make me a Democrat (not that there's anything wrong with that!!)

For people who have liked nice categories (usually they boil down to us vs. them) the edges are usually overstated and overlaps are often ignored. That is what has often happened in the "conversations" about dispensationalism vs. covenantalism.

2. I don't find the proliferation of labels very helpful. We now have classic, revised, essentialist, normative, non-normative, progressive, etc. dispensationalism. It gives me tired head.

As to the difference between dispensationalism and covenantalism, maybe it has something to do with whether or not the covenant or something else is the organizing motif, the center of the metanarrative. In my reading of the biblical story, I see that covenants are a concession to the unbelief of the creatures, not the "primary" way the Creator relates to his creatures, and this fits better into a dispensational scheme than a covenantal one.

Diversity in the Church

I had a great discussion with some DTS classmates last Friday on diversity in the church. It was one of those conversations that you are really glad you had. This is a bit of a topic switch from last week - and I intend to get back to thinking on those topics - but I can't pass it up.

My thought is this: Should the church be racially diverse? Clearly we currently have a distinct racial divide in most churches. However if Christ truly came to destroy walls of division and hostility (i.e. Jew and Greek - Eph 2:11-22), and create a new community of unity (i.e. Gal 3:28), then should this divide be something that we focus on eliminating? If so, to what extent should we be taking steps to do something here. It seems that most churches theme their "culture" towards a certain racial demographic which by default excludes others. Should this be changed?