The new album from Manchester Orchestra is out today and it's called Cope. I listen to their previous albums regularly: Mean Everything To Nothing & Simple Math. They have a great mix of thoughtful lyrics and tempered melodies followed by the sounds of heavy, grind-it-out rock anthems. A very enjoyable mix for me. Check out "Cope" from Letterman...
My family saw Noah on Friday. Didn't plan on it, but decided last minute to take it in. I just wanted to get out of the house after a week of illness. It was a good decision.
A lot has already been said and a lot more will be said about Darren Aronofsky's new film. I recommend you check out Greg Thornbury's take, which is my favorite so far. I won't rehash most of what Thornbury has already said so well. Ben Witherington's post is worth reading too.
I'm going to keep this simple.
As a whole, I'm pretty disappointed with the way Christians are viewing the film. The whole of the conversation is in the wrong place. We are talking about Aronofsky's fidelity to the biblical story and all of its pieces. Wrong, wrong, wrong. It's not wrong to bring up that he takes liberties, makes some changes, etc. But it's wrong to stay there and make that the issue. Making a film is not teaching a Sunday School class. We aren't merely critiquing his sermon. Yes, films have meanings and make points. But we should be talking more about what Aronofsky's saying and less about what we should want him to say. If you want to go make your own Noah film, feel free. This one isn't yours and we should ask ourselves as we view it what he's trying to say to us. You don't look at a painting and say, I wish she would have used more yellow, or narrower strokes. You say, what is she saying?
Now, if you saw the movie and don't like it, ok. Whatever. I'm not saying it's the best movie ever. I'm not saying it changed my life. I have no dog in this fight other than my experience with the movie, which was a very good one. I want more folks to watch it, discuss it, talk about art and truth and film. We need to do a better job understanding and talking about art.
So here's my simple point. Don't miss it.
There's a key to watching this film. I found it very naturally. But the ridicule it's receiving tells me not everyone is. So I'm going to just put it out there and change the way you see everything in Noah. The key to watching, enjoying, understanding, and loving Noah is the Rock People.
Mind blown, I know.
If you don't know who the Rock People are, stop reading. All reading and no watching makes Johnny a dull film critic. And Christendom seems to be blooming film critics with every drop of rain who have a lot to say about the film they didn't see.
Aronofsky has found something Tolkienian (Treebeardian) to help his story. I don't know what he intended to do with the Rock People other than to bring some role to the Nephilim. But primarily through the Rock People (as well as other touches of the magical and fantastical) Aronofsky shows that he is blending the true story with a stylized film. He isn't merely telling of a time before the flood when the world was different. He's telling of no time in particular. He is also telling of all times and all places for all people. He's creating a fiction aggressively borrowed from a biblical text and it has enough meat to make us think about real truth and enough magic to make us not sit and steam with our arms crossed.
What the Rock People do is say to the viewer, You thought this might be merely an historical film, but it's a lot more about thinking about life in general so I'm going to throw something unbelievable and otherworldly at you so you can suspend your disbelief enjoy to enjoy Aronofsky's version without recoiling over differences with the biblical version.
By the way, the Rock People are actually interesting ideas for characters. They aren't Jar Jar. Don't miss the forest for the, uh, rocks.
Aronofsky has done us a solid. He not only has made an interesting and provocative movie, he's opened up this opportunity to talk about the movie, his vision and message and art and our vision and message and art, with our neighbors. As long as we cluck our tongues because he can't figure out Noah's sons had wives on the boat we will miss the depravity so dark, the wrath and justice of the flood, and the wonder at what it must have felt like to actually be there...in any of their shoes.
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One additional comment. The first half of the film, up to Noah telling the creation story on the ark, is the best half. I could go again and just stop at that point. The story he tells and the way it's shown on screen is a delight. I was on the edge of my seat. I like the second half too, but not nearly as much.
I recommend you go and see Noah. I loved it. Never has our family had so much enjoyable discussion after watching a film.
Lead singer of Manchester Orchestra, Andy Hull, says, "Our mission statement was to make a crazy-loud rock record." That right there is what's so compelling about Manchester Orchestra's previous albums and why I'm excited about this one. Would love to hear your take in the comments.
This may be the most interesting performance of a song that I've ever seen. I've seen some wacky performances, but there is an earnestness to this that's compelling to me. Future Islands new album, Singles, has released to great reviews. Their lead singer, Samuel Herring, performs his songs more than sings them. If I can be so bold, he preaches his songs. Enjoy.
If you don't believe me about Saintseneca, here's "Happy Alone"...
Check out $5 albums for March like Vampire Weekend, Explosions in the Sky, Elbow, & The National.
Several on sale in the "Perspectives" series ($3.49 each)
Above all other things that are worth doing in the world of music today, I hope you will STREAM FREE the new Champs album, Down Like Gold. Can't buy it in the U.S. yet, but I can't wait for it to get here!
There's yet another new list of $5 albums for the second half of March.
Miranda Dodson: Ascend EP -- This is getting a lot of play in my house. Really love "King Rise" as it takes us through the story of Jesus. It's streaming now. The album begins streaming tomorrow (Tuesday, March 18th).
Kristen Gilles: Parker's Mercy Brigade -- Kristen's new song "Chase Away My Unbelief" is a remarkable song about doubt and faith. While the background is tragic, the song is ultimately hopeful and comforting.
If you are like most people in America, you are still singing Frozen songs. One that I woke up singing today, "Love Is An Open Door," as someone performed in a van...
I really shouldn't have to say anything but thanks to Richard Bailey for making me aware this exists...
Here's an honest Frozen trailer. It's brilliant. If you love the movie and can't laugh at this, then you are a Blindy McBlinderson Frozen Over-Lover. And I say that as someone who enjoyed the movie.
I haven't used Logos until the newest version, Logos 5, came out. Completely new to me except for the time I saw Logos explained at a conference years ago.
I've experienced two main feelings as I've learned how to use Logos 5: overwhelmed & excited. First, I'm overwhelmed. The power of Logos sounds amazing and yet I didn't find it simple. But I'm learning more each time I use it and I'm finally getting to that place where I know what to do. I've not only learned how to use it in a basic way, but I'm also learning how to use a few more advanced features and realizing the potential of having a large library within Logos. That's why after a little work I'm really excited to own Logos. This may be the best tool not only for studying the Bible but for studying any number of topics in theology and even culture. I'm excited because with further investment it can be a significant replacement of much of the research section of my library, making those resources far more useful than when owned in paper.
Here's how I got started with Logos and a few things I've learned about this great tool.
Early Mistakes -- I've made two big mistakes starting out. First, in the last few years I've created two different Logos accounts. I didn't realize it since I only created them try out the free app. I was logged on to one account on my MacBook and the other on my mobile devices, which made my library available on mobile but not on my MacBook. But one call to Logos for help and they had it fixed quickly by merging my accounts. Helpful, personal service.
My second mistake was trying to "wing it" with Logos. I'm sure there are some who have learned to use it by just sitting down and figuring it out, but it wasn't working for me. I needed help.
Starting With Videos -- Logos offers a number of videos on YouTube, of which I've viewed several. Most are very short and to the point. There's also help on Logos community forums, which I've used a few times. But the best starting place for me and I assume for everyone is the 13 minute "Getting Started" video on the Logos website. I've watched it more than once. It's an overview of the program with what to do as well as what to do when you don't know what to do. Playing it and pausing to try out Logos worked well. Next for me will be watching Advanced Training videos.
Things I Love About Logos...
Basic Features -- I'm not going into this too much because there's so much I could talk about. Watch a Logos 5 introduction to get a better explanation than I can give. What I will say is that there is so much Logos can do. I'm still only scratching the surface. Because of the kind of preaching I do I've used the passage searches more than topical. But the topic guide is a nice feature.
I really like the Bible Timeline tool where you can see on a timeline what happened in history alongside biblical history, when biblical books were written, and so forth. What I'm usually scouring for in commentary introductions on one timeline.
Look at the most interesting and helpful features in Logos 5 here.
Resources -- There are many great resources available for Logos. The first four I searched for are Grudem's Systematic, IVP Essential Reference Library, Tyndale commentaries set, and the New International Dictionary of Old Testament Theology & Exegesis. All there. But Logos isn't just books converted to digital. You can also get resources like Tim Keller's library of sermons to search through. That's pretty amazing.
Bible Reading -- I've just started a Bible reading plan through Logos - 21 Days on Faith. Logos is one of the most complex and complete ways to study the Bible, as well as a way to read the Bible devotionally. There are adjustments than can be made to plans, they can be made into group plans, etc.
Important Questions & Concerns About Logos...
What's the Cost? -- I encourage you to look over the Logos 5 Base Packages. Logos as a whole isn't cheap and buying digital resources isn't like buying Kindle books, where you almost always can spend a few dollars less (sometimes far less) for a digital book. Not the same for individual books on Logos. The paper and Kindle copies of Grudem's Systematic are both under $30 and Logos lists for $40. Yet I've seen some sets that are significantly cheaper to get as a whole on Logos (49 Tyndale commentaries for $225). The question is really how you will use these resources and what makes the best use of them.
I thought about Logos like I thought about most Bible study software, that I'm paying for the ability to study the texts, original languages, etc. It's much more than that and the costs I believe are worth it. I'll say more about that in a little bit.
Let me add that Logos gives away a book every month and regularly has other giveaways. I just entered one today. There's also community pricing, pre-pub specials, and more.
Logos is Slow? -- I've seen people say (and at times felt myself) that Logos is slow. And to be sure...upgrades, downloads, and indexing take some time. But every moment of "slow" is speeding up something else. You get to search those books and have more resources to use in less time than it takes to look up each paper book. Those things that take time are necessary to create one place to conduct one search and have every resource listed. You can always pause indexing and such for a time when it works better for you. The tradeoff is one of the best tools you could have for Bible study. I'll take that tradeoff.
Paper vs Screen? -- I'm a huge fan of paper books. I'm also a big (and growing) fan of iPad and Kindle for books. While I don't ever see me replacing paper books completely, the helpfulness of being able to search a library is too good to pass up. Sure if I want to read a book from start to finish I'll often get paper or Kindle. But I can already see doing the majority of any prep work for teaching on Logos and the need to begin adding collections to my base package of resources.
I have a big personal library with many physical resources for sermon prep and Bible study and I just can't search through every book I'd like to for every sermon. I can see replacing large sections of my library with Logos. It makes each resources much more useful.
Logos vs Other Digital Books? -- The crucial difference between Logos and other searchable, digital formats is that Logos indexes your books for one big search of your whole library. This is why a Logos book is worth more. You will use books more and at times you may not consider its usefulness because searches will find things you will never think of looking up in a number of your resources. It's hard to explain the full value of this.
Let me put it this way: Every book you own (paper, Kindle) is searchable by you. Paper using an index, table of contents, looking up highlights, or oven using a filing system by which you record helpful passages by topic. With Kindle you can search for words. But with Logos its one search through every resource at once, do more complex searches, etc. It's not even comparable as far as ease of use, time consumption, or getting best use of a resource. With my 2,400 volume library I essentially have 2,400 books I can search individually. Now imagine one search through 500 or 1,000 of the most key resources with one results list. I can imagine it, and I want it. I've only gotten started.
Conclusion -- I'm a big fan of what Logos is doing and what it can do as I continue to add resources. I encourage you to look deeper at Logos. Compare cost to things like time, fuller usefulness of resources, and similar judgments and I think it's well worth the money. I love paper books too, and how they feel in my hands and how they smell. But what I like best about books is the content and Logos makes the most of it. See more at Logos.com.
Crossway offers a nice list of really cheap Kindle books on salvation, atonement, resurrection...
Gladwell and others...
Also check out other Kindle sale books here.
One of the best experiences of my Christian life was Soma School. I've talked about it before. Jeff Vanderstelt has become someone I trust at a high level as a teacher. After spending time with him at Soma School he also became someone I deeply trust as a disciple of Jesus, a man, a pastor, a husband, and a father. If he had 50 books on Amazon, those would be the next 50 I'd buy. If I was forced to pack up today and choose another church to belong to for the rest of my life, Soma (Tacoma, WA) is in my top two. They aren't perfect. Far from it. But I've rarely been around a group of people that made me want to follow Jesus in everyday life, to know His Word, and to follow His Holy Spirit.
I say all that to say that Soma has now put Soma School teaching videos online. 1. Go to Soma School. Seriously. Highly recommend it. 2. In the mean time, watch these videos. The videos can't replace actually going and being immersed in the life of Soma. But they are a great start. I've put them all in this post for you to watch. If you need a short introduction to Soma, check out the last video extra. It's not a part of this video series, but it a helpful starting place to understand Soma.
1. What Is The Church -- Gospel Foundation
2. What Is The Church? -- Gospel Identity Pt 1
3. What Is The Church? -- Gospel Identity Pt 2
4. What Is The Church? -- Gospel Rhythms Pt 1
5. What Is The Church? -- Gospel Rhythms Pt 2
6. Building A Missional Community Pt 1
7. Building A Missional Community Pt 2
Extra: What Does A Missional Community Look Like?
Beards make me want to journal!
Adam Feldman's new book, Journaling: Catalyzing Spiritual Growth Through Reflection, may be just what you need to spark a new discipline of journaling. Or maybe your love for journaling has grown cold and this book can be a refresher for you. Either way, Journaling is only $0.99 for Kindle right now and I want to encourage you to check it out. Simple with lots of tips and ideas and questions to prompt you on.
I've found journaling difficult, but I'm eager to press on. I bought the book before it got this cheap! From the book...
You can expect journaling to be difficult for many reasons. For instance, journaling takes a chunk of time, so you may initially resist letting go of something in order to start journaling. Journaling is also highly reflective, and this may bring up some difficult or disturbing thoughts that you have previously been afraid to acknowledge. Journaling is also a means to catalyze spiritual growth, so you can expect the enemy, Satan and his emissaries, to throw every kind of distraction at you and to whisper every sort of “reasonable” excuse for why you “cannot” journal today.
Just sit down and start writing.
Get Journaling.
The soil in which the prayer of faith takes root is a life of unbroken communion with God, a life in which the windows of the soul are always open toward the City of Rest. We do not know the true potency of prayer until our hearts are so intently fixed on God that our thoughts turn to Him whenever they are set free from the consideration of earthly things.
The Hidden Life of Prayer (Kindle) by David M'Intyre, pg 29.
$5 Albums for March. Here are the ones I recommend...
I have yet to figure out how to buy and enjoy a St. Vincent album. But she (Annie Clark) is continually getting rave reviews, so I keep paying attention. Part of the reason for her art-rocker genius is that she is thinking a little deeper than many. Follow along as sings on The Colbert Report. The song is "Digital Witness" from her new self-titled album, St. Vincent.
Digital Witnesses
What's the point of even sleeping?
If I can't show it, you can't see me
What's the point of doing anything?
This is no time for confessing
I want all of your mind.
People turn the TV only looks just like a window
Yah..
People turn the TV on, it looks just like a window
Yah..
The Colbert Report
Get More: Colbert Report Full Episodes,Video Archive
Trust me. Click play.
Last week I was in a conversation with a church member I got to thinking about how John Piper's books are somewhat unique for me among the many books I've read. As I talked it out here's what I discovered but never really verbalized before.
When I read a John Piper book I come away with memorable sentences like I don't get from most other books. For example...
God is most glorified in us when we are most satisfied in Him. (Desiring God)
Missions exists because worship doesn't. (Let the Nations Be Glad)
The chief end of man is to glorify God BY enjoying Him forever. (Desiring God)
"This much, O God, I want you." (A Hunger for God)
I read these books well over a decade ago and these sentences have been a part of me since. I couldn't shake them off if I wanted to. Notice that none of Piper's statements are cheap, cute, or clever. Piper's aim is the sharpness of the quote, not the cuteness. It's not that Piper is somehow a better guy, but he simply understands the importance of sharp, memorable sentences. Elsewhere Piper wrote...
I have often said, “Books don’t change people, paragraphs do — sometimes sentences.”
This may not be fair to books, since paragraphs find their way to us through books, and they often gain their peculiar power because of the context they have in the book. But the point remains: One sentence or paragraph may lodge itself so powerfully in our mind that its effect is enormous when all else is forgotten.
One lesson I learned from a few influential preachers like Mark Dever and Herschel York (as well as in preaching books) is to be able to boil down a sermon's point to one sentence. If I can't say the sermon in one sentence I'm not ready to preach it. At least, that's the idea. It's a similar principle.
For all who desire to change hearts, convince minds, to influence and teach, it would be good to consider the example of John Piper and his memorable sentences, with sharp barbs that lock them deep into our minds and hearts. We don't need to make every sentence memorable. But the rest of our sentences should serve our best sentences. It takes more work, but it deepens our impact.
"Afterlife" is one of my favorite songs from Arcade Fire's newest album, Reflektor. Enjoy their performance from The Tonight Show with Jimmy Fallon. What a great way to start the weekend! Crank it up.
