Call me anti-progress, but I’m not sure I’m comfortable with any scientific experiment that has the possible side effect of blowing up the world.

New movies are usually released to theaters every Friday, but who’s got 10 bucks these days to drop on a movie that may well be a load of crap? Given those odds, each Friday I offer an alternative on DVD that you can rent at your local video store (or in some cases, avoid at all costs). Some will be new releases, others you may have to hunt for, but all of them are available to light up your small screen should it be a lazy Friday night.

The film wastes little time with introductions and very literally cuts right to the chase. At the outset, we’re introduced to Gideon (Pierce Brosnan), a man camping on his own in the mountains who is suddenly shot at and pursued by a man named Carver (Liam Neeson), apparently because of some longstanding grudge Carver holds against him. The movie provides no more exposition than that at the outset, and so neither will I. The reasons driving the chase are explained throughout the film in flashback as Carver pursues Gideon across breathtaking and desolate landscapes and among several interesting characters – among them a hard nosed railroader (Xander Berkely), a kind and joyful minister (Tom Noonan), a wise old Indian (Wes Studi) and a mysterious gypsy (Anjelica Huston).

The way the movie handles exposition is actually one of its strongest suits. Everyone’s motivations are eventually laid bare for the audience and these characters are well portrayed and developed by the two actors, but we spend a great deal of the movie wondering which of the two men, if either, is the villain. We begin to sympathize with them both and see the sins of both as well, making it all the more interesting when the nature of the conflict is revealed near the picture’s end. This setup wouldn’t work if the two lead actors were anything short of excellent, and Neeson and especially Brosnan turn in some of the finest work of their careers. To anyone who has mentally typecast Brosnan as nothing more than the suave, witty characters he portrayed in the James Bond films, The Thomas Crown Affair and The Tailor of Panama, it’s time to re-evaluate your opinion. Brosnan plays a grizzled, broken man (both physically and emotionally) and gives Gideon a simultaneous hard edge and sympathetic humanity. Neeson, though not quite as good as Brosnan, is similarly solid. The two-man focus of the film reminded me somewhat of 2002’s The Hunted, a great gem of a chase film that while different in pace and style closely mirrors Seraphim Falls’ focus and spirit. John Toll’s cinematography is beautiful in its desolation, and while rookie director David Von Ancken’s oversight could have been a little more polished and tight, he still turns in a very good effort for a director who’s most prestigious previous credit is five episodes of CSI: New York. By the time all the cards are laid on the table, we are treated to a profound look at the lives of two broken men forever linked by a moment in time. The ending, with its almost mythical overtones, may feel out of place to some, but for me it seemed strangely fitting, if not entirely inevitable. This may not be one for the masses (in the interest of full disclosure, Heather found it ploddingly paced and too long), but if you’re a fan of westerns, chase movies, character dramas, or Neeson and Brosnan, you’d do well to check this one out. – **** (out of 4)

Seraphim Falls is rated R for violence and brief language.

While one could argue that a team that finished 32-50 last year has a whole lot of needs, my Charlotte Bobcats really had two big ones: a point guard to compete with Raymond Felton and a big presence down low to complement Emeka Okafor. Time will ultimately be the judge, but at least on paper the ‘Cats addressed both needs in last night’s NBA Draft.

With the ninth pick, team president Michael Jordan and new coach Larry Brown made the difficult decision to pass on Stanford 7-footer Brook Lopez (who unexpectedly was still available) and pulled the trigger on Texas PG D.J. Augustin. Augustin is small (6-foot even), but he’s a great passer and floor-leader who will provide stiff competition to Felton, who is more of a scorer at the point. Coach Brown is notoriously tough on his point guards, and he apparently couldn’t pass up the opportunity to take the guy widely considered to be the second-best PG in the draft behind #1 overall pick Derrick Rose. The Bobcats followed that pick by using next year’s first-rounder to trade back into the bottom of the first round (a bit of a trend among Charlotte pro teams this year) and select 7-foot French center Alexis Ajinca. Ajinca is lean and very raw, but Brown and Jordan were very impressed by his workout earlier this month and decided that he was worth the investment. Having not really seen Ajinca in action here in the U.S., I don’t really know what to think of the pick, but I trust that a championship-winning coach like Brown knows what he’s doing.

The ‘Cats added a tough defender in Washington State guard Kyle Weaver in the second round to round out an encouraging, but not blockbuster, night at the draft. At least Gerald Wallace is still on the roster. Jordan confirmed that a trade of Wallace for Toronto PG T.J. Ford was being considered at the start of the night, but eventually fell through and saw Ford instead dealt to Indiana. Ford’s a good player, but I’ll take Augustin and Wallace together over him any day. Perhaps this is the year the Bobcats finally crack the playoffs for the first time. Any other NBA fans out there? What do you think of your team’s draft last night?

When we think about God’s glory being declared by his creation, we usually think of supernovas, the Grand Canyon, or the beauty of an ocean sunrise – big, spectacular things. However, watch the following video and consider how beauty is present in even the most mundane of things and actions. Even in the laws of physics that we dismiss as boring or forget entirely, God has woven his beauty and splendor.

HT: The Blazing Center

This week is Vacation Bible School week at church, which means our youth group will not be meeting this evening, though most of the students will be helping out with VBS. Thus, there will be no Sola5 recap this week. After a terrific and busy week, I’m looking forward to getting back in the swing of things next Wednesday!

For all you husbands out there, here’s a great video to help you increase your marital peace – with just the right amount of early-90′s flare.

HT: Denny Burk

I hope you all can forgive me for not posting a Friday’s Featured Film this week. I was a little busy… Welcome to the world, Jordan River Williams.

This weekly topic is an effort to recap the Wednesday night Bible study I teach at Sola5, my youth group. I hope it serves to help us all in contemplating the ceaseless riches of God’s grace as revealed through the Scriptures.

Last night was a different night, a challenging night, and a very rewarding night at Sola5. During our first hour (which is normally our game and fellowship hour) we packed up the van and headed a couple blocks down the road to Iroquois Homes, a large government housing project in our neighborhood. Our students spent an hour hanging out with the 30 or so kids who came out to see what was going on – painting their faces, blowing bubbles, and playing a spirited game of kickball. At the end of the hour, we gave out snacks and one of our students, Jeff, taught the story of Jesus raising Lazarus from the dead to whatever kids would sit and listen. Many of the kids we interacted with were Somali immigrants, so some of them didn’t speak any English and many more were disallowed by their Muslim parents from listening to any Bible stories. Nonetheless, a few kids listened, with one boy asking many questions of Jeff about Jesus and why we believe in him. All-in-all, the night was a great chance for our teens to get out into our community and experience the missions opportunities available to them. In our neighborhood, the world is quite literally at our doorstep. Pray for the kids we interacted with, and pray for those who heard about Christ for the first time last night. May God take our feeble efforts and draw people to himself.

When we arrived back at Hazelwood, we continued our summer Q&A series “You Asked For It” by taking a brief look at the question, “What do we do when our faith upsets those in legitimate authority over us?” We know we’ve been called by Christ to take the gospel to all the world, but how do we respond when our families or government tell us to stop? To answer the question, we looked at Acts 4:1-22, an instance in Scripture where Peter and John faced exactly this dilemma.

In the passage, Peter and John will reject the authority that the governing counsel tries to exert over them. So, after talking about the biblically mandated authorities (parents, government, elders in the church), in the first four verses we sought to answer the question, “Why?” What was at stake that caused these men to rebel against the authorities? The answer is the gospel. They were preaching the good news about Jesus, and the people were believing and following in large numbers. This greatly angered the Jewish religious and political authorities, sparking a standoff. It’s important to establish right from the start why this happened and what was worth rejecting earthly authority for – the gospel of Jesus.

We then began to examine the response that Peter and John gave to the questions of the counsel, who essentially ask them in verse 7, “By whose authority do you challenge ours?” It is here that the disciples give voice to their rejection of the council’s authority, but perhaps the most important thing for us to take note of here is not that they rebelled, but how they did so. The first thing we see is them giving respect to the authorities. They address them formally, acknowledging the rightful positions of authority that they held. They don’t respond angrily or hurl insults, but they respond with reasonable discourse. We took a side trek to Romans 13:1-7 and 1 Timothy 2:1-2 to see the high calling that we have as Christians to respect and pray for our governing authorities, even those we don’t like (as the Roman Empire was hardly friendly to the early church). Yet notice that while the disciples address the authorities with respect, they also do so with boldness. They pull no punches. At every opportunity they have to soften their message to their hearers’ sensibilities, they take the other road – reminding the council of their condemnation of Jesus, of the prophecy of the psalmist of the cornerstone being rejected by the builders, and stating the exclusivity of the gospel while closing every foreseeable loophole. They realize that they do their hearers no favors by altering their message, since, in the words of James Montgomery Boice, “what you win them with is what you win them to.” A soft, palatable gospel is useless to us – the hope of Christ must first show us the ugly reality of our sin before it can display the hope of the cross. The disciples knew that, and they gave us a strong example of how to proclaim the truth in love.

Finally, we looked at why we should rebel. What reasoning do the disciples give for their rejection of the council’s commands? They respond that they answer to a higher authority, that they must obey God rather than men. They also point out that they are deeply compelled to talk about Christ – they can do nothing else. These were men who had been so completely changed and captivated by Christ that silence was not an option. That is the only type of faith that will have the courage and conviction to stand in the face of fierce opposition. The question to ask is whether we’re displaying that type of faith now. If we don’t have that love for God when times are easy, we won’t be able to conjure it out of thin air when persecution comes. Dig into God’s Word this week with ferocity and pray fervently for a deeper love for him and passion for his glory. If we are leading lives like that, then when opposition comes to our faith we’ll have the courage to reject all authority save the one who is with us always, even to the end of the age.

Take a look at this great post from Zach Nielsen about a lesson in forgiveness from his 5-year-old son. As one about to become a father for the first time, this one hit me very hard.

HT: Vitamin Z