It’s Friday (Almost Saturday), But Sunday’s Coming

Last weekend, I had the opportunity to take my lovely bride out for the evening. One of the things that we got to do was to watch the movie Fireproof. I think we were the last ones standing who had not seen the movie.

I agree that it was a good movie. What I especially liked was the way you had someone live out Philippians 2:1-8. Just like Paul admonished, this person put someone else's needs above his own. You had a husband who made the decision to serve his wife before he served himself.

There was debate on whether or not this was an act of love. It may not have started out that way, but the attitude definitely evolved to one that was loving. I believe that this is a great example, yet again, of how love is more of an act of the will, than a sentiment, emotion, or feeling. According to Paul, it is almost a ruthless determination to behave like Jesus.

I confessed to my church last Sunday that I have an addiction. It is very similar to addictions to alcohol, drugs, work, or whatever other addiction you can think of.

Frankly, the realization came to me last Sunday morning before the assembly. I began to think about how many people I have tried to help battle addictions. At some point, everyone hears a voice that compels them to continue in the addiction, even those who ultimately overcome. They may be receiving data encouraging them to cease with the addiction, but they blindly interpret it as a green light to go on. It is so frustrating when you watch this from the outside.

Last Sunday morning, I realized that I did the same thing with my addiction. My addiction is to -- my self. So often I act in a way that is self centered and neglectful or even harmful to others. I even, at times, receive input telling me my behavior is hurtful. However, my mind is so distorted, I interpret those "voices" as telling me to continue in my addiction.

Paul’s words out of the THE MESSAGE have special meaning. “Put yourself aside, and help others get ahead. Don't be obsessed with getting your own advantage. Forget yourselves long enough to lend a helping hand” (Phil. 2:3-4). He goes on to say this is precisely what Jesus did.

All of this is counterintuitive. I do believe I , and anyone like me, who is addicted to self, can break out of this addiction with God's power. It will not be easy. It is precisely at the point that we are breaking free we will hear the loudest “voices” telling us to stay as we are.

The extent of joy that we will experience in our lives will be in direct proportion to our willingness to break free from the addiction to self.

“Honey, I’m headed out to the bar.”

"Honey, I'm going down to the local bar and meeting up with some friends." This is a phrase that a lot of wives don’t want to hear. Another phrase they don't want to hear is this, "Honey, I'm going down to the local Gentleman's Club." For my wife, the dreaded words are these, "Honey, there's a book sale today. I think I'll go and see what they have."

I love book sales. That's how I have stocked the majority of my library. One example. I have Anchor Bible Commentaries (the Rolls Royce of biblical commentaries that often cost in excess of $50 apiece new), in hardback, that I have purchased for a quarter apiece.

I have been doing this now for almost 30 years. Before that, I had a number of books that either I bought for myself or my parents bought for me while I was growing up. I still have most of those.

The problem is, I am running out of space. Before I took this job here in Tyler, I asked if the office that I would inhabit could be fitted with more bookshelves. I am grateful that the answer was “yes.” Now, there is no more room in my office. We do have room for bookshelves in our home. Strangely enough, Judy thinks our money should go to the purchase of a vehicle instead of bookshelves.

Some of you may be thinking that this sounds vaguely familiar and that I wrote about this two weeks ago. However, what I wrote about then was my collection of VIDEOTAPES. This is different. Books cannot be downloaded into DVDs.

Which brings me to the Kindle. Have you heard about the Kindle? Amazon is selling it. It is a reading device that has the width of a magazine and weighs about half a pound. If you hear of a book you want to buy, all you have to do is download it onto your Kindle. It takes about 60 seconds. It is supposed to hold over 1500 books. These books cost less than your typical hardback. If the legal difficulties can be worked out, I anticipate that for a higher fee, one will be able to download a read-aloud feature for any book in the future.

I can tell that I am getting old. I used to be innovative electronically. I started recording videotapes on my dad's VCR back in 1980. Now, I just can't pull the trigger and buy a Kindle. Then again, I guess I'm always willing to the innovative when it is someone else's money, like my dad's!

I guess I'll wait awhile. But if you buy one, let me know what you think.

Spring Break and Movies

This week has been spring break week in Tyler. Our oldest daughter, Haleigh, has been participating in a mission trip to St. Louis. But I have taken this opportunity to watch a couple of movies with our next oldest daughter, Abby. Both were recommended to us for her to see by some older women at our church.

The first was the movie, Changeling. This was the one with Angelina Jolie, where she plays Christine Collins. Christine Collins was a mother in the 20s, who lived in Los Angeles. Her son disappeared. She alerted police but they were not helpful in the search. Come to find out, the Los Angeles police department was a very corrupt organization in the 20s. With the help of a Presbyterian minister, played by John Malkovich, Christine Collins seeks to alert the public and the city government of the truth.

This movie is based on a true story. I cannot say that I enjoyed the movie. This is not a movie to enjoy. However, it was an enthralling movie that drew us in. There were times that I felt very angry over the extent that human beings can act in an evil way, and I felt that way about the LA Police Department, not to mention the perpetrators of the kidnapping.

It was interesting seeing Malkovich play a good guy, since I have so often seen him play bad guys. It was also interesting to see both Collins and the preacher portrayed as noble people, yet not glorified in an over-the-top way as heroes.

I found this story so compelling, that I had to do some research on my own about the real-life story. With the Internet, there is much out there that you can read about concerning this event.

A second movie that I saw with Abby was the movie, Taken. Are you seeing a theme here? I think the women were trying to drive into my daughter’s head this thought, "Be careful. Be very, very careful." I had wanted to see this movie, but I was willing to wait until it came out on DVD. Judy however thought that it was a good idea to take Abby to the theater to see it.

In this movie, Liam Neeson portrays a retired CIA agent who has a daughter. She was kidnapped while spending a summer in Europe. I imagine that you have seen the commercial for this movie. Neeson becomes a CIA version of Indiana Jones, as he pursues the bad guys.

Spoiler alert! If you do not want further details of this movie revealed, skip the rest of this topic and go on to the next section.

At first, I have to admit I enjoyed watching Neeson inflict the wrath of God on the bad guys. However, I thought he went too far when he SHOT the wife of one of his old acquaintances, who happened to have worked in the French government's version of the CIA. Now, I know the guy was French. And, I know that the injury was more or less a flesh wound. Still, did he have to shoot at the wife? That seemed to bother me.

Another thing that bothered me was the lack of explanation of just how it was that Liam Neeson could fly back home to the United States from France. I mean, the guy has just wreaked more havoc on France than anyone since Adolf Hitler. I'm thinking, the French government is never going to allow him to leave. I'm wondering if they may revert back to death by guillotine. Instead, one minute he's killing the bodyguards of some Middle Eastern prince, the next minute he's walking through LAX! I'm supposing that this prince's country is going to war over this.

Hey, wait, maybe this is laying the groundwork for a sequel….

Correction

My daughter informed me that the mountain we climbed last summer is actually called “French Mountain,” instead of Mount France. Well, excuuuse me. Management regrets its error.

Five things I think I think (a tip of the hat to Peter King for this idea)

1. I like the way American Idol gives respect to its Christian participants.

2. The “Special Features” on Fireproof, Facing the Giants, and Flywheel are even more inspiring than the movies. Members of Sherwood Baptist Church in Albany, Georgia, the church that has produced these movies, have embodied their teachings more than characters in their movies.

3. Derek Russell, a friend who is studying to be a medical doctor at UT Galveston, emailed me Monday and told me about a book someone recommended to him. It’s called The Eighth Day, Why Christianity and Science Need to Dialog to Make Sense of the Creation. I ordered it and it arrived yesterday. I think it looks good; I want to read it soon.

4. Too many players turning pro early has removed the aura of March Madness.

5. Felix Jones’ good health is essential for the Cowboys.

Have a great weekend!