I’m not much of an outdoorsman. Don’t get me wrong – I enjoy being outside, I’m just not the type that spends time thinking about the next time I’ll go fishing, hunting, or camping. I’m much more likely to marvel at the beautifully rendered landscapes in The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion than I am to spend time sleeping in the real versions of said landscapes.

However, on Friday I went camping in Carrolton, KY with four friends, and found the experience to be fantastic. I’ve always found it easy to marvel at God’s glory in creation, but I’ve usually mentally tied that glory to “big” experiences – the immense beauty of the ocean, the rush of hiking at Mt. Rainier, etc. Yet after spending time sleeping by a dried creekbed in the woods next to a cow pasture, I saw God’s glory made plain in what we take for granted as – well, plain. As we sat, cooking brats over an open fire, listening to nothing but birds and bugs and the crackle of the flames, feeling a perfectly temperate breeze pass by, I couldn’t help but feel a sense of appreciation for the wonder of God’s creation. I learned firsthand that not only are the heavens declaring the glory of God, but unspectacular rural Kentucky is too. I won’t be trading in my Xbox 360 for a fishing pole anytime soon (God’s glory is also made manifest by the immense creativity he has given to humanity) – but I will be much more likely to power down everything and spend a night under the stars again very soon.

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, we looked at Jesus’ questioning by Pilate in John 18:28-40. Pilate is an interesting figure in the Bible – he’s often seen as simultaneously a villain (for his hand in the execution of Christ) and as a sympathetic character (for having his decision-making hijacked by the hateful Pharisees, who just wanted to see Christ dead). We look at the poor decision Pilate made, and though we see it as bad, we don’t see him to be as bad as the Pharisees. Last night, we took a closer look, and saw in Pilate a man whose actions reveal an attitude toward Christ every bit as insulting as the Pharisees – and much more subtle, to the point that we can see the same attitudes in our friends, our neighbors, and sometimes even ourselves.

The Pharisees take Jesus to Pilate (the Roman governor of Judea) for one reason and one reason only – they want him dead, and the Romans were the only way to make that happen. Make no mistake, the Jews hated their Roman oppressors with a vitriol that we might feel if Canada conquered us, taxed us, and told us how to live. John reminds us that the Pharisees’ disdain for Gentiles (and their concern for legalistic righteousness) was so great that they wouldn’t even enter Pilate’s house. They’re not concerned with charges or justice, only with an execution. Pilate realizes early in the game that something is up, and when he asks why they don’t just deal with this themselves their goal comes out – they didn’t have legal authority to execute anyone, and thus they wanted Pilate to order exactly that.

Having seen the vitriol of the Pharisees, we are now presented with the encounter between Jesus and Pilate. Pilate shows none of the animosity that the Pharisees did, but to cast him as the good guy would be a big mistake. Pilate is also concerned with one thing and one thing only – his own life. His questioning was designed to quickly evaluate if Jesus was a threat to him. The claim in question was Jesus’ claim of kingship. If Christ was claiming political power, then he could incite a rebellion that would be trouble for Caesar and thus trouble for Pilate. He asks straightforward questions, and when Jesus responds by asking a question of his own, Pilate’s response is the equivalent of “I don’t give a rip. Your people brought you to me, so I want to know if you’re a problem for me.” Pilate is consumed by his own interests and sees Jesus as little more than an annoyance to be dealt with. Sound like anyone you know?

Christ answers Pilate’s question, but he does it in a way Pilate surely didn’t expect. Jesus delivers the famous line, “My kingdom is not of this world.” He’s telling Pilate that he is indeed a king, but not in the sense Pilate is worried about. However, Jesus is claiming a kingdom that transcends all, and an authority over Pilate that far exceeds what Pilate is concerned about. In essence, he’s focusing Pilate’s attention upward and calling him to focus on something greater. Pilate, however, wants none of it, essentially responding, “Is that a yes, then?” Jesus continues to explain his purpose – to bear witness to the light of God, to reveal the truth to all mankind. To Pilate, however, he might as well be speaking Japanese. He doesn’t understand at all, and dismissively says, “What is truth?” He doesn’t care at all about what Jesus has to say. At this point, he’s determined that this man isn’t a threat – maybe crazy, but not a threat, and he’s ready to get this situation out of his hair.

He takes Jesus outside, and the Pharisees start screaming for blood again, even demanding the release of a notorious killer so Christ can be executed. Our focus tends to turn to them again. What bad guys they are, right? I may not care about following about Christ, we think, but at least I don’t hate him. People in our culture like to think that they’re neutral to Christ, not taking a side one way or the other as if this makes things okay. Ask yourself the question, though – is Pilate’s lack of concern any better than the Pharisees’ hatred. Think of it this way – if I were to proclaim that I hated my wife and daughter, people who know me would be morally outraged, and rightly so. But would it be any better if I proclaimed that I don’t hate them, I just don’t care about them. I don’t give a rip. Would that be any better? Of course not! Why? Because apathy is insulting in the face of someone or something of great value. Anything less than love and devotion to my wife and baby girl is horrible, and it is infinitely more so with Christ. He demands our all, and he has given himself for our redemption. To view his perfect sacrifice for sin with indifference is every bit as antagonistic as outright hatred. There is no middle ground. That’s Pilate’s dangerous warning to us – apathy to Christ is a temptation that we are all prone to, but when we see him for the incredible savior that he is, apathy is inexcusable. This week, see Christ for the infinite source of joy he is, and follow him with your entire being.

I’m not really a big David Crowder Band fan, but I’ve gotta give them props for attempting what surely must be the first ever cover of the mega-hit “Jesus is My Friend.”

HT: Vitamin Z

What a difference 42 years makes.

Last night, I just finished playing through Mass Effect for the Xbox 360, a game that I had looked forward to for over a year and that lived up to (and shattered) my expectations in every way. The game blurs the line between movie and game by telling a fantastic story through beautifully rendered graphics, great voice talent, and a dialog system that makes you feel like you are driving the story forward based on your decisions. If you have a 360 (or a good gaming PC for that matter) you simply must check this one out. Here’s a look…

As one who all-too-easily falls into the trap of being consumed by the day-to-day and losing sight of the eternal, let me encourage you to read this passage on perhaps even a daily basis…

Never forget for a moment – that is your destiny in Christ and the truth that makes life worth living. Without that, then all of this is just carnival rides while we wait for the end to come.

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 Legend of Bagger Vance

With the Ryder Cup in Louisville this weekend, I’ve got golf on the brain – which means that this week’s Friday’s Featured Film will be my favorite golf movie (I’ve got power outages on the brain, too, but I couldn’t think of a great power outage movie). Quick, name the golf movie that Will Smith was in! Can you do it? Of course you can, since you’ve already read the title and looked at the poster. But suppose I’d asked that question before you read this post, could you have named it? The Legend of Bagger Vance is one of Smith’s lesser known movies, and that’s a shame – because it’s also one of his best.

The movie is set in Savannah, Georgia in the 1920’s. Rannulph Junuh (Matt Damon) was a young golfer who had it all – fame, talent, and the love of the beautiful Adele Invergordon (Charlize Theron). However, Junuh goes off to fight in World War I and returns a broken shell of a man, living as a drunken loner on the outskirts of town. Years later, Adele (now estranged from Junuh) organizes a golf match between the two greatest players of the day, Bobby Jones (Joel Gretsch) and Walter Hagen (Bruce McGill) to try an recoup her family’s losses from the stock market crash, and she needs a local talent to generate interest. She implores Junuh to play, and that very night he is visited by a mysterious traveler named Bagger Vance (Smith), who strangely offers to be his caddy. Intrigued by the man, Junuh accepts the offer and soon discovers that his time in the war caused him to lose much more than his golf swing, and he begins to find redemption in unlikely places.

The sport-as-metaphor-for-life motif has been basically played to death in films, but here’s one instance where it doesn’t feel stale in the least. One could easily mistake the plot setup for just another underdog story, but the movie is actually more of a tale of personal redemption with golf as merely the vehicle. Robert Redford skillfully weaves a story that tugs at the emotions without ever feeling fake or schmaltzy. The cast is good, and Smith is excellent as always, but it’s the names that you don’t recognize that really stand out. In particular McGill, the consummate journeyman, takes a character that we suspect from the outset will be a cardboard cutout and turns him into one we actually can connect with. The film is beautiful to look at, and Rachel Portman’s score compliments the visuals perfectly. It’s a quiet film, and not nearly as commercial as Smith’s other fare, but check it out tonight and I think you’ll find that it’s every bit as good.

The Legend of Bagger Vance is rated PG-13 for some sexual content.

Well, after an eventful week, it’s an exciting time to live in Louisville. Today through Sunday the city plays host to the 2008 Ryder Cup, the golf equivalent of the Olympics where the USA squares off against Europe in team match play. Even if you’re not a golfer, I’d encourage you to check out NBC’s coverage this weekend for what always proves to be an exciting tournament. For more details about how the event works, you can check out my “Ryder Cup 101″ guest post over at About.com: Louisville.

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.

We had a small crowd last night (due to half the city still being without power), but we continued our trek through the gospel of John, studying the account of Peter’s denial of Christ from John 18:15-27. It’s a familiar story, and one that we often deride Peter for – after all, how can he deny knowing Christ three times after being told that he was going to do so? Yet, while we rain down the judgment on Peter, we miss the fact that our own failings are eerily similar. We’ve all been paralyzed by fear in our Christian walk from time to time. I shared a story last night about how, on the day our senior pastor resigned, I felt an unusual urge to put my hand on his shoulder and pray for him before he got up to preach. I didn’t, due to a silly fear of whether anyone would think it were strange. I knew full well what I should have done, but fear kept me from actually following through with it. I’m sure you’ve been down the same road. The question thus is, since we’ve all been (and likely will be) in the same boat as Peter, what do we learn from his great mistake?

The first thing that we should notice is his commitment to Christ. Yes, you heard me right. One of the things that makes it easy for us to slam Peter is the “otherness” of his actions. “I never would flat out deny that I know Christ,” we think. Immediately, we feel a little safer in our faith. At least we’re trying to follow Christ, Peter was denying that he even knew him to begin with! In our zeal for self-assurance we often miss the fact that Peter was even there to screw up to begin with. After the garden, 9 of the 11 remaining disciples bolt, not to be heard from until the resurrection. Only Peter and John are described by Scripture as sticking around, following Christ’s trial and travels from a distance (and in John’s case, from the foot of the cross). Peter didn’t run away, and he was at least halfway committed to sticking by his master. Here, we find him able to view and hear Jesus’ interrogation from the courtyard (see Luke 22:60-62). So, when we’re tempted to think that our intention to follow Christ safeguards us from Peter’s mistake, we make a very dangerous and false assumption. Peter was halfway committed to following Christ.

The problem is that half a commitment is no commitment at all. Peter was willing to follow from a distance, but when the time came to identify with Christ on a personal level he suddenly was a stranger. Because of fear about how those around him would react (reasonable fear, considering one of his questioners was related to the guy whose ear Peter had hacked off a couple hours earlier), he denied that Jesus meant anything to him. Are we not often in the same boat? Sure, we don’t care if anyone knows that we go to church (and for those of you out there who are with me in the ministry, we sure don’t mind the cultural respect that being a member of the clergy still somehow retains), but when people’s eyes turn angry and suspicious toward Christ and his teachings we often quietly backpedal away – sometimes verbally, sometimes by simply trying to fit in by ignoring the commands we’ve received from our savior.

The denial that we see from Peter is so common to us. It happens despite our best intentions, it starts out slow and easy and can quickly build into an ugly crescendo. Take this example as an opportunity to examine your own life. In what areas has fear stopped you from doing the things you know Christ is calling you to do? At what level of your Christian commitment does fear often derail you? Realize that these failings are no less serious than Peter’s betrayal in the courtyard, but also realize that Peter’s story does not end here. Christ brings him back and restores him by his mercy and grace, and that same grace is extended to us. Our standing before God is not dependant on how well we perform under pressure, but it is completely dependant on the finished work of Christ on the cross, and as such unchangeable. Guard your heart against making Peter’s mistake, and if you do find yourself weeping under the gaze of Christ, broken because of your betrayal, cling to the grace and mercy that Jesus gave to Peter – and freely gives today.

Um…wow.