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.

Tom Hanks stars as Dr. Robert Langdon, a professor of religious symbology at Harvard. While in Paris giving a speech, Langdon is approached by the police. The curator at The Louvre, an acquaintance whom he was supposed to meet for lunch that afternoon, had turned up mysteriously murdered in the museum itself. As Langdon arrives at the scene, he quickly realizes, thanks to the curator’s granddaughter, officer Sophie Neveu (Audrey Tautou), that he is not being called in as a consultant, but as a suspect. Believing that her grandfather gave her his name to help crack the puzzle and find his killer, Sophie helps Langdon escape custody and the two begin a quest that will eventually lead them on a hunt for the fabled Holy Grail. However, (and I’m going to assume here that the cat’s out of the bag for just about everyone, so spoiler warning) after a conversation with one of Langdon’s old colleagues (Ian McKellen), they discover a shocking secret – the grail is not a cup, but the body of Mary Magdalene, who was actually Jesus’ wife and bore his daughter, starting a royal bloodline that continues to this day, protected by a secret society called the Priory of Sion and hunted ruthlessly by the Vatican.

Obviously, one can understand why that plotline would irk those of us who have placed our faith and trust in the Jesus of Scripture. Let me assure you, you’ve got nothing to fear here. The history cobbled together to form this conspiracy theory is at times laughable, a mishmash of exposed fraud, half-truth, fantastical interpretation of classical art, and just plain false details of church history. For one who claims a very factual backdrop for his novel, Brown is seriously lacking credibility as a historian. So really, the novel and the movie work on the fantasy-quest level of something like an Indiana Jones or National Treasure film, though unfortunately it doesn’t seem its own creator fully realizes that. So, taking it for the work of fiction that it is, it’s a well-crafted story, full of interesting characters, a solid pace, and a host of twists that will keep you guessing to the end. The problem with the film is that the story just isn’t as engaging visually as it is on the page. This isn’t an action-driven tale, but one where most of the “action” takes place in conversation and conspiracy, and it just doesn’t entirely work here. Though the adaptation is thus limited in its potential, Howard does a pretty good job at getting what he can out of it. I was never bored over the film’s nearly 2 ½ hour running time, a decent accomplishment considering that I already knew everything that was going to happen (and as best as I can recall, the film stuck to the book pretty faithfully). The story is well staged and paced, and it’s a testament to Brown’s narrative that his story remains engaging even in a medium it’s not entirely suited for. There are problems aplenty, though, none of them are too major. While McKellen turns in a great performance, Hanks just doesn’t really work in the title role. This is one of the first times I can ever recall him as coming off as wooden and stiff, but he does, and some key moments suffer for it. Some of the conversations that are heavy on the exposition side (I’m thinking in particular about the revelation at Teabing’s château of the big conspiracy) feel a bit forced and stilted, and they don’t flow quite as naturally as they did on the page. However, the story’s big plot twist in its final third is handled very well, and when the final credits rolled the film’s merits slightly outweighed its many problems for me. Its riding the strength of Brown’s narrative, but in the end that’s enough for a mildly compelling film. If you’re interested in checking out what the DaVinci fuss is all about, or want a pre-Angels & Demons primer, I’d suggest the book first – but if you’d rather spend a couple hours than a few days, the movie is serviceable and worth a rental. – *** (out of 4)

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.

So how do we reconcile these passages? The first step is to have a firm trust in Scripture. If we believe that the Bible is the very word of God, and God is trustworthy and true, then we will approach such difficult passages not seeing contradictions, but seeing passages that we are misunderstanding, and thus prompting further study and meditation. Once we have that foundation in place, the next step is to begin to examine the passage in context, both on the book level and the chapter level. So, we must ask the question – what is Hebrews about? In short, it’s a book written to a group of Jews who had been exposed to the gospel and now sat on the fence, tempted to simply go back to the comforts of Judaism. The author thus writes a letter which has as it’s basic premise the idea that Jesus and his new covenant is superior to Moses and his Old Covenant. He argues that the OT finds its fulfillment and true meaning in Jesus. Take a quick glance at the progression of the letter – chapter 1 begins by declaring the supremacy of Christ, chapter 3 speaks of him as superior to Moses, chapter 4 lauds him as our great high priest. The point of the author’s writing becomes abundantly clear. Secondly, we need to zero in on the immediate context of the passage, in this case examining chapters 5 and 6 together, since they constitute one unified argument. In chapter 5, the author says that he wants to draw a further comparison between Jesus and Melchizedek, but his audience is not ready for it, for thought they have heard the message of Christ enough to be teachers of it, they are still ignorant themselves. That reality sets the table for the warning that begins in chapter six.

Now, having seen the passage in its proper light, we are better ready to examine it in detail. In the first three verses, we see the author outlining the situation that the people faced. He tells them that it is time to leave the basics of the doctrine about Christ, not relaying their foundation. Why on earth would he talk like this, speaking so dismissively about the basics of the faith? This seems strange. If we examine his exhortation in the context of the book, though, the meaning becomes clearer. What are the “elementary doctrines” he’s talking about? They are the Old Testament law, which he’s just spent five chapters demonstrating points to and reveals Christ. He’s telling them to leave Judaism and their fascination with the law and move on to maturity by following Christ.

It’s here, then, that the meaning of the passage hangs. The author is not addressing Christians here, but Jews who have been exposed to the gospel message, have understood it, have been around Christians and witnessed the Spirit’s power firsthand, and still cling to the old covenant rather than embracing Jesus by faith. This gives the warning of verses 4-6 an entirely different thrust. Notice that in the descriptions given in verses 4-5 the author never uses terminology that is used of salvation (born again, filled with the spirit [he uses “partakers” instead, which in the Greek carries the connotation of an association with, not an indwelling], justified, redeemed, etc.). He is calling out to those who are on the fence, who are toeing the line, to believe in Jesus, for if they reject what they have been given it is impossible for them to be saved (note as well, that though many people will say that this passage teaches the possibility of losing salvation, almost none will say that it is impossible for the apostate to repent and return – a key inconsistency). Why? Because there is nothing left to see! If hearing and understanding the Gospel and witnessing the Spirit’s work is not enough to call them to faith, what else is left? This is why the author makes reference to them crucifying Christ. They are identifying with the mob that condemned him – a group of people that had listened to Jesus’ teaching and witnessed the miracles and power, but still rejected him.

This interpretation is further strengthened by the illustration used in verses 7-8, speaking of how the rain (which is a representation of the Gospel) falls on the ground, but while it produces good crops in one place in others it may produce only thorns and briars that are gathered up and burned. These people had soaked in the rain, but they were producing no fruit, because they had not been born again. In verse 9, the author expresses hope for better things for them – things that accompany salvation.

Here are a few pictures of our Memorial Day weekend trip to Lake James, NC with family.

Tonight, I start You Asked For It, my summer Q&A series, with my youth group. We’ll get things started by tackling a question submitted by one of my students about how to approach the Biblical passages about falling away. We’re going to dive in headfirst to one of the more difficult such passages – the warning of Hebrews 5-6. I’ll post a summary of the lesson tomorrow to give you my take, but I’d be curious to hear from any of you on how you approach this text.

Well, a fantastic season came to an end yesterday for the Hurricanes as they lost to Pittsburgh 4-1, completing a four-game sweep of the series for the Pens. I hate to see the year end on such a sour note, especially considering what Carolina accomplished this year. Back in December, this team was floundering around .500, had just fired their coach, and looked destined for their third straight season of post-Stanley Cup mediocrity. They turned things around, and over the last two months of the season were one of the hottest teams in the NHL, ironically, probably second only to Pittsburgh. Upset wins over New Jersey and top-seed Boston and a place in the NHL’s final four were more than anyone expected a few months ago. This team made a great run, and has a bright-looking future.

A Georiga congressman has asked President Obama to declare 2010 “The Year of the Bible.”

Leaving aside the question of what good this would even accomplish if it passed (as the video points out, Reagan did this in 1983, and I’m not aware of any mass revival it spawned), I have to say, I find this congressman’s reasoning deeply troubling. He basically presents the Bible as a treatise on political freedom and a tool for “making our nation great again.” While freedom is most certainly a primary theme of Scripture, it sure isn’t the red-white-and-blue variety. Rather than being respected, Scripture is acually degraded, as its message of freedom from personal sin through the death and resurrection of Christ is dumbed down to a message on fiscal conservatism. I’m very uncomfotable with the idea of promoting Scripture as a handbook to political health. With all due respect to Congressman Broun, who may well be well-intentioned, let’s let the government worry about how it spends our money and we’ll leave the teaching of Scripture to the church.

This weekend has been a great getaway with family at Lake James, NC. My parents rented a lake house for the weekend, and it’s been nice to relax with everybody. There’s not much nicer than reading Scripture and a good book (I’m currently enjoying Al Mohler’s He Is Not Silent) in the morning outside overlooking a lake and mountains in perfect silence. This morning, my brother Ryan and I took a canoe a couple miles across the lake to a small island at daybreak, which was a good workout and really fun. I’m looking forward to the rest of the weekend before we head back to Louisville tomorrow afternoon. I hope your holiday weekend is going as well as mine.

Well, it went from bad to worse for my Hurricanes last night, losing 6-2 to Pittsburgh in Raleigh to fall behind 3-0 in the series. They played defense more porous than a sponge and just never looked like they were on the Penguins’ level. To keep the season going, they’ll have to become just the third team in NHL history to climb out of a 3-0 hole. That gigantic effort starts Tuesday night in Game 4. I don’t like their chances – at all – but I’ve also watched this team enough to know that they’re never out of it until the final buzzer sounds. Come on, Canes!

Monday night, it was goalie Marc-Andre Fleury who turned in a superstar performance for the Penguins. Last night, it was Evgeni Malkin, who notched a hat trick and powered the Pens to a 7-4 Game 2 win over my Canes. His third and final goal midway through the third period that padded Pittsburgh’s lead to 2 left even me staring in awe. Malkin is simply amazing, and if Carolina’s going to stand a chance in Saturday’s now-pivotal Game 3, they’ve got to find a way to put a body on him and slow him down. Here’s hoping the RBC Center crowd in Raleigh will give the Canes a lift over the next two to even this series.

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 had our 17th and final lesson in Chasing After the Wind, our study in the book of Ecclesiastes. It’s been a great trip through the book, and one that had us asking the question last night, “What do we do with this now?” We’ve seen Solomon go to great lengths to get his point across, showing us that all the things people chase after in this world will never ultimately satisfy, and that nothing has any meaning whatsoever unless viewed through the lens of the God who created it. In chapter 12, he brings home his point with one final thrust, much like a student who closes a research paper by summarizing the force of his research. As we read this final charge, we looked at three specific ways that we can apply the book’s message to our lives, so that we can follow James’ charge to “be doers of the word, and not hearers only.”

First, in verses 1-8, we looked at the charge to live urgently. Solomon exhorts us to remember God in our youth, before life saps away our strength and desire. So often, we make the mistake of thinking that living for God’s glory is something that we’ll do later in life, once we take our time living for ourselves. What a mistake this is. As time marches on, many of the opportunities we are given to glorify God will fade, as Solomon illustrates in his reflections on time destroying our joy (verse 1), physical strength (verses 2-5), desire (verse 5), wealth (verse 6), and life itself (verses 6-7). If we are not taking advantage of every moment we’re given, we will come to the end of it all and see the meaninglessness of verse 8. I told my students last night that I don’t want to see them cruise through their teenage years and then look back at age 40 or 50 and see a wasted youth. Whatever your age or place in life, live every moment unto the glory of God and seize every opportunity he has blessed you with to do so. In it all, enjoy every breath as a gift from the God who has created all joy and pleasure.

Next, in verses 9-12, we looked at the need for us to seek wisdom and live it out. Notice Solomon’s summary of his own life’s work – not only did he seek out wisdom with all of his heart, but he taught it to the people, he sought to pass its benefits on. It affected the way that he lived his life (though, at some times more than others). The wisdom of God is never a static knowledge, but it affects the way we approach every area of life, from schoolwork and jobs to relationships with friends and family to romance to marriage and everything in between. In fact, verses 11 and 12 serve as a warning against the accumulation of knowledge for knowledge’s sake at the expense of seeking the true and perfect wisdom of God, which Solomon says is like a nail that fixes us firmly in place.

Finally, in verses 13 and 14, Solomon summarizes the whole point of the book, or as he calls it, “the end of the matter.” What is the meaning of life? What is the point of it all? These are questions that have puzzled people for ages. Ecclesiastes sums the answer up for us in a single sentence – “Fear God and keep his commandments, for this is the whole duty of man.” What should you do with your life? Develop a view of God that sees his glory, magnificence, holiness, justice, grace, mercy, and love, and let that view provoke in you a sense of reverence and awe that compels you to seek God and his ways with every breath. So often in America, we fall into the trap of seeing faith as just another compartment in our lives, right up there with relationships, school, work, hobbies and the like, rather than seeing it as supreme – as the lens through which we see and understand all those other things and by which they have their meaning. If knowing, treasuring and following God – which we now understand is done through knowing, treasuring, and following Christ and his cross – is truly everything, if it is the purpose of your existence, then does your life properly reflect that? Forget your words, does your life agree with the declaration of verse 13? Keep its truth always at the forefront of your mind and heart, and when you, like Solomon, come to the end of your life, you’ll find that far from a “vanity of vanities,” or a “chasing after the wind,” you have instead lived a life that was in no way wasted. May God give us grace and joy in that pursuit.