We're back baby...

Just a note of congratulations to the 2008 Western Conference Champs Los Angeles Lakers. And to all of you conspiracy theorists who think the NBA is rigged, well, you are probably right, but who cares!!!!! The Lakers are back baby!!!...bring on the Celtics.

7 reasons why Narnia "failed"

Prince Caspian, from the Chronicles of Narnia by C.S. Lewis, opened this weekend in some 4000 movie theaters around the country. It had absolutely zero opening day competition and was riding the wave of The Lion The Witch and The Wardrobe, which grossed upward of 745 million worldwide.

Caspian ended up grossing 55 million in the opening weekend, a great opening for 99% of movies but a severe disappointment for those involved with the film. It was not near the disaster of Speed Racer, which will ultimately go down as one of the biggest flops in history. Still, it has to be disappointing to Disney and Walden Media, especially considering they are currently filming Voyage of the Dawn Treader and have the rights to the other 4 films after that.

While I enjoyed the film and thought is was an upgrade from the previous one, here are 7 reasons why I think Narnia did not perform well:

1. While the Narnia series are popular books, aside from The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe, they do not have the same popularity as the LOTR or Harry Potter.

2. This movie didn't really know who its audience was. I took 15 junior high students to see it and they all thought it was "good" but that the action was lacking because it was so bloodless (there was high action but no blood or gore). Nonetheless, it was an intense movie and not one that I would not openly recommend for a 7 year old. The older kids thought it was too "PC" or "Churchy" while the little kids will get scared.

3. Ironman kicks major butt and I think everyone was so amped on that movie that a fantasy adventure to a magical place called Narnia was not really working. What looked like amazing timing on release date really didn't work.

4. Indiana Jones comes out next week. Many adults who still consider Indy as a mentor and father figure are thinking of no other movies but the Crystal Skull. I can't blame them. I wanted to cry at the previews.

5. The 4 kids in the movie, while decent actors, do not carry with them any emotional ties with the audience. Aragorn, Frodo, Legolas, Gimli, etc... were what made LOTR such a great ride. It wasn't the action as much as what will happen to everyone on the journey to Mordor. Narnia has failed to introduce a character that mesmerizes audiences. Note- I think Aslan fills this role, He is incredible but he has such limited screen time that you don't get a chance to connect with him.

6. C.S. Lewis is such a brilliant writer that it seems extremely difficult to bring his words to life on the screen. He is so poetic and implores such imagery that much of the magic of the books in lost on the big screen. Harry Potter, on the other hand, has made an easy transition to screen and I think is actually boring if you have read the books. Caspian, by the way, is one of the more exciting of the books in terms of action. I don't know how they are going to make The Silver Chair or The Magician's Nephew into a full length feature.

7. The Christian Coalition is still watching reruns of The Passion and failed to show up for this movie, or maybe they are saving money to secretly go watch Harry Potter. Sinners!

The book of Jacob

Ἰάκωβος - James, Jacob
Noun Nominative Singular Masculine
Strongs # 2385 - (Iákōbos) - Jacobus, the name of three Israelites.');">Ἰάκωβος - this is the Greek name for James. It actually has two meanings, James or Jacob, and based on its spelling sounds more like Jacob than James. Supposedly the translators of the King James named the epistle James after King James of England. Jacob was robbed.

For the next 5 weeks in the High School and Junior High group we are studying the book of Jacob (James). It is an amazingly practical book and a great intro read for someone who hasn't spent much time in church or in scripture. I asked a group of high school students if they ever were confused about where and how to begin in reading their bibles. Almost all of them raised their hands. Then I proceeded to ask how many practice the "random flip" when reading. This method, which entails flipping open to a random verse,reading it and then moving on to something else, seems to be a popular study tool for many people. I think this reflects poorly on the pastors and leaders in the church. We oftentimes do such a bad job of teaching people how to read scripture, instead focusing on our great biblical insight and application, which every person goes home and meditates on immediately after the service (yeah right). We have no problem passionately telling people they need to read, read, read their bibles but rarely to we focus on the hermeneutical aspect of digesting scripture. In this postmodern age, it feels like we are swinging back in history to the time when there were no bibles in modern languages and priests read the scriptures to the people. How many churchgoers rely on the words of the pastor to give them the encouragement they need to "make it through" the week until the next Sunday. A normal schedule looks like this: fill up (Sunday morning), deplete with the realities of this world (Sunday afternoon - Saturday night), fill up again (Sunday morning). We wonder why the church is struggling to transform communities.

I am really excited to walk with these students over the next 5 weeks. I have challenged them to read the same chapter every day that we are studying. My prayer is that they would develop a passion and a fire to know scripture and not be content to just flip, read, close, forget.