There were several different subjects of the show, a Christian couple in their late 20s (they had never even kissed), a 35 year old man who is a virgin not by choice, and three Canadian female roommates about 30 years old who are virgins. (Actually two were virgins and one was a reclaimed virgin or recommitted virgin or something, she confused me) Here are the messages I got from the show. There is a naturally uncomfortable reality to life as a virgin, especially if you tell people that you have never had sex. Double the amount of uncomfortable silence if you tell this to someone on a first date. If you haven’t had sex then you probably have some seriously misguided notions of sex. From Shanna the bride whose enthusiasm for getting married and having sex was matched only by the creepiness of her father talking about it, to the roommates who were waiting until a character from Disney movie showed up to take them away to a magical new life there seemed to just be a disconnect from normalcy, reality (see I told you this isn’t a reality show) and wholeness.

So why am I blogging about it? Well it seems that in my time as a pastor speaking to teenagers and adults about sex, offering marital and premarital counseling, and hearing a multitude of stories about sexuality that there was far too much reality in that reality show for my liking. This is especially true for the church. There seems to be two extremes in the evangelical church in regards to sex. There is the super-conservative group represented by people like couple from the show who are so weird about their sexuality, both in regards to how they talk about and how they express it, that they leave you shaking your head and unsure of what you should think. Seriously watch this preview for the show and see their first kiss. (Try not to watch it with a full stomach)

On the other end of the spectrum are the seeming majority of Christians whose sexual practices are exactly like the worlds. As a pastor do you have any idea how rare it is for a couple to ask me to marry them who isn’t already living together? The majority of people who have asked me to marry them in the past three years already had at least one child together as well. Beyond that, however, is the reality that differentiating Christians from the world based on sexual practices and attitudes is very difficult. What I am proposing is that it is possible to stand out from the world in regards to our attitudes about sex and our practices without going to either extreme. I believe God calls us to, get this, a HOLY SEX LIFE. That deserves its own post, so maybe tomorrow or Thursday I will write some more. (It is also getting its own chapter in my book)

Until then I would love to hear your thoughts about how our sexual attitudes and practices should stand out in the world and how we can do that without awkward creepiness.

So on this, our five year blogiversary (and Happy Valentine’s Day) let me simply ramble.

I promise not to obsess in my writing on P90X over the next three months, but after one week I need to offer some observations. First of all, a week in I have no question this routine works. If you are dedicated enough to do this for 90 days your body will be transformed. In one week my stomach is smaller, my whole body feels tighter and I can notice a difference when I play basketball. My clothes fit better and all the stretching and flexibility components have helped my joints.

That being said, this is so hard. When I sneeze my entire midsection revolts. For two days I couldn’t put anything in the microwave above the stove because my arms wouldn’t go that high. The sneaky hardest workout for me was the 90 minute yoga workout. The first 45 minutes were torturous. That was worse than the hour of squat jumps on day two.

Regime change in Egypt has such potential for good, but that is far from a guarantee. Regime change didn’t help Iran. We must saturate the people of Egypt with prayer. There are an estimated 8 million Coptic Christians in Egypt whose lives will be very effected by the new government. There are also plenty of other Egyptians who long for more freedom and justice. May God’s will be done on earth as it is in heaven.

This week I have been chewing on Spousonomics: Using Economics to Master Love, Marriage and Dirty Dishes. Already having a mind bent towards economics, applying some of these principles to marriage is fascinating. This isn’t a Christian book, but the potential to combine these ideas with servant love is potent. I will offer more insight in further blogs, but if you are looking for an interesting read on marriage I highly recommend it.

The University of Maryland is on the verge of landing former Miami head coach Randy Shannon as its defensive coordinator. Randy ran a great program at Miami that turned around a culture at that school. He didn’t win enough games, but he is a first class coach and individual. Adding Shannon to Edsall will give Maryland a fantastic foundation moving forward.

The most underrated show on TV is How I Met Your Mother. It isn’t recommended viewership for everyone, but for those with my sense of humor it is amazing. The ability of the show to carry on inside jokes from other seasons and episodes to a different level of completion is outstanding. Gretchen and I were Friends addicts during its heyday but I think HIMYM is far superior in writing and creativity.

Well those are all the ramblings I have time for today. Have a great Monday/Valentines Day/Blogiversary. I am sorry I forgot to get you a present.

Welcome to the DMS Family

November 04, 5:55 PM

I would like to say hello and God bless to all the new clients I met at Church of the Angels. You made the right decision by choosing Dunder Mifflin Sabre as your paper supplier. Might I remind you that the world’s #1 bestseller, The Bible, is printed on paper. What’s the oldest book in that paper bible? Job. What good deed are you completing by teaming up with DMS? You’re helping 40-plus local paper employees keep their jobs (pronounced differently, but still – it comes full circle). Not only is Dunder Mifflin Sabre Paper Company efficient and economical, it’s also made up of a bunch of hearty workers. Let me give you a little background. Jim and Pam Halpert, my desk mates (happily married couple), almost had their firstborn child at Dunder Mifflin, attempting to recreate a real live manger scene in consequence of their undying love for the company. Erin Hannon, humble receptionist, is friends with a number of nuns and orphans.  And Creed Bratton, Quality Assurance, claims to have once died and spoken with The Good Shepherd himself. These people are warm and real, and I can honestly tell you I don’t hate them. You do not want to be doing business with a bunch of superstore corporate Lucifers who hold extravagant Ivy League educations, you want DMS salesmen Phyllis and Stanley — a couple of jolly simpletons who think with their hearts, not their brains. Welcome to the Dunder Mifflin Sabre family. If you weren’t already members of a church, you just may start to worship us.

Having lived in NC for five years you would think that humidity in a place like Indiana would barely be noticed, but let me tell you it is humid. It is so humid I have to squeegee my windows in the morning to drive. But all this humidity does make me feel at home. So while I am trying to stop from sweating an hour after my shower this morning, let’s do some rambling.

God’s Top Ten

Yesterday I started preaching our summer sermon series on the Ten Commandments. I began by talking about the ongoing debate within our country about whether or not the Ten Commandments should be publicly displayed.

I did a straw poll of people in the congregation to see how many though we should display them publicly. All but about 7 people raised their hands. One person raised their hand against and six said they didn’t really care. (For the record I am probably more towards the side of the one person against, but it isn’t that big of an issue for me). Of those who raised their hands, however, I asked how many had displays of the Ten Commandments in their homes. A few hands went up. I asked how many went to a church that displayed them. None of them could raise their hand because we don’t in our church.

Out of all the people gathered I asked how many could confidently say they could name all ten. About 10 people had the guts to raise their hands then. As a group we managed to name them all pretty easily.

One thing we all agreed on. Most of us like the idea of the Ten Commandments a lot more than the reality of them. We love the idea of these laws, but the reorienting of our life to accommodate them is not so easy. So we are spending the summer at DCC really trying to see the life God paints for us with these commands. They aren’t just laws, they are markers of transformation.

One thing we did yesterday, that I read about from Martin Luther, is we used the first commandment as a prayer guide. Luther would pray the commandments. First he would pray for an understanding of the commandment. Second, he would give thanksgiving for the message of the commandment. Third, he would offer a prayer of confession around it. Fourth, he would pray for God to enable him to follow it better. This is a great spiritual practice to help guide us through a study of the Ten Commandments.

Around the World/Web

We took Sophie to see Toy Story 3 this weekend. It was fabulous. It was one of the best films I have seen all year. It may be the best animated film I have ever seen. It was funny, really funny, creative, emotional, had a great story and even some great cameos. Totally impressed. We didn’t catch it in 3D, however, because Sophie didn’t want to. Anyone see it in 3D? Did it make a difference?

We lost Senator Robert Byrd today. At 92 he was the longest serving Congressman ever. He served for the State of West Virginia for over 50 years. His career is so interesting and he certainly shaped many moments of our congress for the past half century. What he may be most remembered for, however, is bacon. He knew how to bring home the bacon, in the form of perks for his state. The man certainly did his best to help WV in all the ways he could. He brought countless billions of federal dollars into his impoverished state. What an interesting figure. Goodbye Senator Byrd, rest in peace.

Utah’s Attorney General drew a lot of criticism last week for tweeting during an execution. His play by play of the execution brings to mind so many questions about what are the appropriate uses and boundaries for our technology. Twittering a death, especially as an official from the state at an execution, is so far over the line that the line looks like a tiny dot. So where is the line? A birth announcement seems appropriate via social media. There have been several stories lately of people pulling out their iPhones and updating their Facebook status or firing of a tweet after getting married. But where are the boundaries? There are certain moments in life that are sacred and need space to be appreciated. Tweets during worship are inappropriate. Tweets during an execution are inappropriate. Tweets while preaching…. now there is an idea…

The Wizards indeed took my new favorite point guard, John Wall, with their first pick on Thursday night. As for the rest of their draft, what were they thinking? We take on Hinrich and his 17 million dollar deal over two years just for the right to draft a French power forward no one has ever heard of? We trade two picks to move up and draft a 6’7″ power forward from Clemson that MD never struggled with? Booker would have been available at 30 and we could have gotten another useful player at 35. Even on a huge night for our franchise we are still the Wizards.

Well live and die together you did passengers of Oceanic 815. Wow, that is all I can say about the LOST final last night. Am I the only one who really got emotional watching that last night? It answered some questions, left a bunch more, but felt right and joyful and finished none the less. So here are my reflections on the finale, the series, and some of the theology of Lost.

First the End

Heaven is LA or was that purgatory in LA? I always thought LA was closer to Hell. Regardless according to the other theology of LOST, the ending seemed consistent with its vague hope of an eternity with ones you love, spent your time with, and want to be surrounded by in some sort of beautiful light filled world. That is LOST to the end.

I don’t have Christian expectations for LOST in regards to its theology and certainly it is Sci/Fi and New Age influenced with its vision for eternity, but there were several interesting points from how they handled the end. First, I am intrigued by Linus and his decision not to go into the church. He was still working on something there in LA, maybe penitence, maybe an understanding of himself, who knows, but his decision to stay and wait was well done. Intriguing to say the least.

The second part about the ending that I found interesting was that everyone was able to embrace one another, regardless of their pasts, to offer forgiveness, to accept what had happened as simply part of their lives together, and to embrace one another as they moved on to whatever they were moving on to. Community at its best, perhaps?

The other reflection from the ending was how well done the flash sideways was handled. With all the time travel it was well conceived to have this alternate reality be outside of time and to have the characters all drawn together in the midst of it no matter when they died. I appreciate the consistency within the LOST paradigm of this ending.

The Theology of LOST

Of course there was an awful lot of theology in LOST as well, so I have to comment on that.

You have to love the fact that they were guided into eternity by Christian Shephard. Nothing accidental about that. His talk with Jack had a very pastoral feel about what matters, how to make sense of life, and what was awaiting him.

Of course the whole time they are having the talk in front of a stain glass window that has the symbols of every world religion on it. Have to be completely non-committal with their eternity after all.

The island served in many ways as the Garden of Eden. From the first season with the discovery of Adam and Eve in the cave, to the ending with the light at the center of the island that offered immortality, there were heavy Biblical themes about the island. Those were always offset with Egyptian style hieroglyphics and idols, but there have been ample Biblical themes none the less.

The continual balance between Faith and Reason was perhaps the most important driving force in the storyline of LOST. In the end everyone found faith, not by abandoning reason, but by submitting themselves to the forces at work around them. They decision making processes of the characters was especially interesting when compared with our lives of faith. Their belief in a higher goal or calling often led to self sacrifice and for risk. That is very Christian.

Their commitment to each other required sacrifice, loyalty that worked across the span of time itself, and the willingness to forgive and to look below the surface. LOST certainly had the most diverse cast and storyline of any show I can think of. They crossed beyond many stereotypes and showed a true cross cultural community of people thrown together and discovering a new purpose. That had a lot of connections to the image of the church.

I could go on and on about the theology of LOST, but in the end what I appreciated about the show the most was its consistent challenge of its characters to discover a bigger and better life than the one they had been living. The actual lives they discovered doesn’t matter much to me, it was the challenge of the situations I appreciated. By the end of their journey all of them were simply more human. That was beautiful.

***Update****

I forgot to talk about my favorite theological imagery from the last couple of episodes, the introduction of sacraments! When Jack is taking from Jacob the mantel of protectorate for the island and then when Hurley takes it from Jack there is this beautiful drinking of the cup standing in the river, baptism/Eucharist thing that takes place. It was beautiful and carried with it all sorts of Biblical imagery about drinking the cup that I will drink, the sacrifice of leadership, and the passing of the burden of following the path. The best was the line that each leader offered the next one to take the cup, “Now you and I are the same.” Sounds Christlike, with the idea of taking the came making us one with Christ. It was sweet.

Tying up some loose ends

Here are some of my favorites from LOST.

Favorite Character: Sawyer. This one isn’t even close for me, as much as I loved the others. Sawyers wit, acceptance of his flaws, great nicknames for Hurley, and bad boy who wants to be good personality always drew me in. If I were an actor on LOST I would have wanted to be Sawyer.

Best nicknames he gave Hugo: Jumbotron, Stay Puft, Babar, Deepdish, Rerun and Grimace

Character Most Like Me: All of us compare ourselves to characters on LOST, come on you know it. I think I would be a weird mix of Hurley with his ability to bring fun and enjoyment to most any situation, Jack with his always trying to do the right thing work ethic, and Bernard. I don’t know why I just always related to Bernard.

Favorite Plot Twist: My favorite twist in the history of TV was the first flash forward with Jack and Kate. One of the greatest moments in TV ever.

Least Favorite Character: Michael. I never liked Michael, he did awful things and well he was pretty unlikable quite a bit of the time.

Favorite Dialogue: Scene between Sawyer and Kate when they are exploring their friendship with benefits:

I started blogging on February 14, 2006 and in the almost four years since I have now written 500 blog entries. That equates out to 125 a year or one about every three days. That is more discipline and consistency that my life has usually known, so for that I am celebrating. In honor of this momentous occasion here is a mega post with a massive amount of ramblings to celebrate. If you make it all the way to the end I will be impressed.

When I set out to start writing four years ago my goal was simply to offer thoughts on what it means to serve God and to live a holy life. It has expanded beyond that in humorous and soul stretching ways, but at the core that is still my desire for this blog. I can say that regardless of the impact on anyone else the discipline of writing and the subjects I have worked to write on have certainly taught me about holiness in many ways.

I wonder, however, as to how long this discipline will stay a part of my life. With blogging being such a recent phenomenon I have to stop and think about whether or not I will be doing it five years from now. Who knows, if I am I hope I will still have something to say.

One thing this blog has proven is that the burning questions of people’s lives are, “Who is the greatest lead singer in rock history”, “What is the greatest TV Show ever”, and “What is the greatest rock song ever”. I hope I have helped people find the answers that they are looking for.

LOST Thoughts

After the LOST premier last night I have to say that LOST has almost evened up to The Wire for my vote on the greatest TV show ever.

The smoke monster is that mysterious dude with no name? Jacob is dead? Is Jacob the one who keeps appearing as Christian? Are we onto parallel universes now? Is that what happened? Did any see them adding a whole new layer to the island with another group of mysterious Others? Those dudes are awesome.

The actor who plays Sawyer has really come into his own. The emotional gambit he showed last night was amazing. He is so good, how come I have never seen him in anything else?

They handled Jack so well in that episode. Did you notice how warn down and aged he looked by the end of the show? The time travel, explosions, violence and pressure of their fight for their lives can all be seen as lines in his face.

Did Jacob come back to life as Sayid to battle the smoke monster masquerading as Locke? That would be awesome.

How soon before Sawyer tries to get over Juliet by sleeping with Kate?

These are the questions burning my head now!

Book Recomendations

Here are the books I have read in the last six months I would recommend.

Non-Fiction

Switch by Chip and Dan Heath

The Monkey and the Fish by Dave Gibbons

The New Evangelicalism by Soong-Chan Rah

What the Dog Saw by Malcolm Gladwell

Deep Church by Tim Belcher

The Teachings of the Twelve by Tony Jones

Novels

Gone Tomorrow by Lee Child (Jack Reacher Series)

The Defector by Daniel Silva (Gabriel Allon Series)

The Hunger Games and Catching Fire by Suzanne Collins

Movie Recommendations

On a five star scale here are some recent views that deserve a consideration

District 9 – 4.5

Avatar – 4

Angels and Demons – 3

Sherlock Holmes – 4

Up in the Air 4.5

Star Trek – 5

Julie and Julia – 3.5

Once – 3.5

Away We Go – 4

For my friends in random countries I have no idea how to find without Google

After blogging for four years I can say that weirdest part is looking at the map of where my site visits come from. In the last six months here are the countries that people have visited me from. So a big shout out to my friend in Djibouti!

Sorry to hear about Patrick Swayze’s death last week. My top five so bad you have to love them Swayze films are… (in descending orders of bad/watchable ratio) 5. Ghost, 4. Red Dawn, 3. Dirty Dancing, 2. Point Break, 1. Roadhouse

I am a visual learner and I take pride in the ability to turn a phrase or two, thus my surprising joy at the Visual Thesaurus

It is amazing, but after the first two weeks, if the Redskins find a way to lose to the 0 for their last 19 games, Detroit Lions this Sunday, Jim Zorn can go ahead and put a for sale sign up in front of his house.

Delonte West was arrested with two hand guns and a shotgun in a guitar case on his back, while he was riding his three wheel motorcycle on I95 in Maryland. Part of me isn’t surprised, Delonte graduated from my high school and he grew up in PG Country, so in all fairness, the guns weren’t that crazy of an idea in PG County. But, as an NBA player you have to be a bit smarter than that. If you need to roll like Gibson in Mad Max, why not stay home or simply not travel through PG County, that would seem the better choice.

I have had several conversations with people about their eschatology as of late. It seems that most Christians I meet are by default premillenial pretribulation dispensationalists. Do people even know there are other options? Let’s find out, take three seconds and try out the poll below.

This just in, none of us have been selected for the Genius Grant this year. But check out the list of the award recipients, it is a really creatively interesting process and list. Something to aim towards for next year.

Finally have gotten around to watching the HBO series, John Adams that I got for Christmas. It is absolutely top notch. If you are any sort of historian, or have a love or fascination with government and its leaders, this is a must watch. I am a little shocked that Paul Giamatti has eclipsed his father in greatness.

I watched a bit of the Prime Time Emmys and I appreciate the fact that it seems far less pretentious than the Oscars. They at least try to be funny. Neil Patrick Harris was adequate but not as funny as I thought he would be. There were plenty of Kayne West jokes. One award recipient said, “I will keep my speech short, less a rapper or a politician interrupt me.”

I was demonstrating surprisingly contagious behavior for my sermon on Sunday and I showed this clip. I dare you to watch it and not laugh.

Familiarity Breads Contempt

I was preaching out of Mark 6 yesterday, the stunning passage where Jesus goes home and finds out that indeed a prophet has no honor in his hometown. This is the only place in the gospels where we are told Jesus is amazed. And what is he amazed at? Their lack of faith amazes him. This passage really sat with me this week, that those closest to Jesus could somehow miss his true identity. I thought about all the churches I have been in that have proclaimed the name of Jesus but done little to show they actually know him.

It is a disturbing thought, that we who claim to know Jesus so well, could be those who amaze Jesus with our lack of faith. It is so easy to grow comfortable with our knowledge of Jesus and our understanding of the Gospel, but comfort really isn’t a word that should define our faith. We can be assured in our faith and salvation, but not comfortable. We need to be energized, amazed, set on fire, filled with zeal, and always seeking to better understand the remarkable truth of the gospel. I just pray we will learn to amaze Jesus with something other than our lack of faith.

Health Care

I wish I had an informed opinion on the proposed health care reform before Congress, but it is so large that I don’t feel like any of us really understand the ramifications of the legislation. That in and of itself makes me really concerned. Our health care system needs to improve. It is ridiculously expensive and I believe strongly in the institutional evil that is prevalent in the system, but how can we know if this will help it? Increasing debt doesn’t sound fun to me. Anything close to what Canadians experience doesn’t get me going, but this is not a truly nationalized health care we are talking about. Does anyone have good (as little partisanship as possible) resources that actually discuss the legislation? I would love to understand the fallout from this better.

Good for Lance, but I don’t really care

Lance Armstrong’s performance in the Tour de France was impressive for a guy who hasn’t raced in three years but I found myself without any part that cared. Lance’s story of over coming cancer, determination in a grueling sport, and competitive nature are truly amazing, but hasn’t this guy gotten somewhat of a free pass? It is as if because he had cancer no one ever talks about him leaving his wife and kids just as he got famous, his selfish behavior as a teammate or anything else negative about him. Great for Lance, way to go, but I have  a hard time embracing this guy and I wonder why no one ever scrutinizes him?

Quick Hit on Films

With no new shows this summer, I have been working Netflix and Redbox hard at night. Here are my recommendations of interesting watching from a summer of working too hard.

The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford – This is a slow western, but Brad Pitt and Casey Affleck are both amazing. Pitt’s performance as Jesse James is outstanding. This may bore some, but the craftsmanship is excellent

Hamlet 2 – This movie can and will offend many, but it is hysterical. The humor is cutting and true and has some great performances. You will be singing the song “Rock me sexy Jesus” but the end.

Seven Pounds – a bit formulaic, has some good sermon illustrations, pretty good performance from Will Smith. I enjoyed it but never want to see it again.

The Wrestler – Powerful, gritty, very raw (read profane) and gripping. This is not a film for everyone, but Mickey Rourke is amazing.

Rock N Rolla – This really made me laugh in a violence is funny for British mobsters sort of way. Surprising.

Appaloosa – Also a slow western, well acted, but not all that gripping. Vigo is very enjoyable. A realistic Western, closer to Open Range than 3:10 to Yuma

First there is the ridiculousness of Jon and Kate. What started out as a cute show about how a normal family tries to handle having 8 young children became an exercise at pimping out a family to gain fame and fortune. Now of course their marriage is over. They of course have been hailed as great examples for Christian families everywhere. Guess what, whether or not you proclaim Jesus as Lord, if you chase money and fame and love of self in your marriage, it will absolutely fail.

Then there was Nevada Senator John Ensign admitting to an affair. He of course was being hailed as a great conservator leader and a real darling of the GOP.

Now there is the bizarre news today, from South Carolina Governor Mark Sanford, the chairman of the Republican Governors Association and potential 2012 Presidential nominee, that he too had an affair. Sanford really dug himself a huge hole on this one by lying to his staff and the state about where he was and hopping a plane to Argentina to conduct his affair. Don’t tell people you are hiking the AT and then go to Argentina if you want to be governor. As a matter of fact, if you are married and love your spouse don’t do it at all!

Everywhere we look conservative leaders and even Christian in the public spotlight are showing why marriages are failing in our country. It is not because of the debate over homosexual rights and marriage, it is because we do not take seriously how hard it is to be married. We aren’t in our marriages to last. We are in them as a matter of personal convenience. We choose to be together so long as it suits us. Until we set aside our pursuit of self indulgence, fame, money, and a lack of maturity and exemplify the servant life of Christ in our marriages, they will continue to fail inside and outside of the church at an astonishing rate. It almost begs the question as to why the homosexual community is fighting so hard for the right to be married, especially when so many of us just don’t seem to care that we have the ability to anyways.

I have been racking my brain trying to come up with teachable moments in movies I have seen this year. Thus far some ideas I have are to use some of the following.

Movies I have some idea of how to use

The Dark Knight

Wall-E

Gran Torino

Seven Pounds

Madagascar 2

Iron Man

Movies I haven’t seen but seem like they may have moments

Slumdog Millionare

Yes Man

Frost/Nixon

Do you have any suggestions of movies and or teachable moments from any of the movies I have listed. This is your chance to shape worship! I need movies that are out on video so that I can actually show a clip. I would love the help.