National Treasure

OK, so we are way behind on movies. But we have 2 kids under age 3 so I think we have a good excuse.

Last night we saw National Treasure, with Nicholas Cage. You know, that's the one where he finds a treasure map behind the Declaration of Independence. Honestly, I loved the movie! I am complete sucker for hidden-treasure-map-movies, and this was a great one. Like Goonies for grown-ups. Fun fun fun.

You can't have church without a waterfall

The cynical part of me really finds this disturbing:

Lakewood Church opens

Honestly, it's astonishing to me that a church could take over a sports arena. That's amazing growth. I guess that's good. I think. I mean, more people coming to Christ is a great thing. And there's some enormous potential for growth and development and outreach etc. But then again, that's almost too many people. And what kind of impact are they really having on their community? Like the article says, in a supersize society it's no surprise we have supersized church also.

And waterfalls? In church? I'm sure it's beautiful and tasteful etc. but aren't those more appropriate for a mall or a hotel lobby or something? I wish I could find a photo online somewhere but no luck yet.

But all that said, I can't rip on them too much since just yesterday morning I was reading Philippians 1:15-18:

It is true that some preach Christ out of envy and rivalry, but others out of goodwill. The latter do so in love, knowing that I am put here for the defense of the gospel. The former preach Christ out of selfish ambition, not sincerely, supposing that they can stir up trouble for me while I am in chains. But what does it matter? The important thing is that in every way, whether from false motives or true, Christ is preached. And because of this I rejoice.

I am looking forward to studying this passage in more depth this fall because if you think about it, it's kind of confusing. Is Paul really saying that it's ok if some guy is preaching Christ because he wants more money and power and prestige?

Geek humor: Iraq

Well, it's happened. I'm officially a computer geek. Why? Because this cracks me up:

The War on Terror

(If you think the Bourne shell has something to do with a movie starring Matt Damon, then this will be over your head)

An interesting song by Tupac

Interesting song I heard yesterday on the radio, called "Changes", from "A Tribute to Tupac Shakur". I was stuck in traffic for 1.5 hours and ended up listening to a hip-hop station that was playing this song. Of course, I love the original version by Bruce Hornsby, which is a pretty incredible combination of great music and great lyrics, such as:

Standing in line marking time--
Waiting for the welfare dime
’cause they can’t buy a job
The man in the silk suit hurries by
As he catches the poor old ladies’ eyes
Just for fun he says, "get a job"

So the Tupac version keeps the same melody but uses different lyrics (with a similar message):

Come on come on
I see no changes wake up in the morning and I ask myself
is life worth living should I blast myself?
I'm tired of bein' poor & even worse I'm black
my stomach hurts so I'm lookin' for a purse to snatch
Cops give a damn about a negro
pull the trigger kill a nigga he's a hero
Give the crack to the kids who the hell cares
one less hungry mouth on the welfare
First ship 'em dope & let 'em deal the brothers
give 'em guns step back watch 'em kill each other
It's time to fight back that's what Huey said
2 shots in the dark now Huey's dead
I got love for my brother but we can never go nowhere
unless we share with each other
We gotta start makin' changes
learn to see me as a brother instead of 2 distant strangers
and that's how it's supposed to be
How can the Devil take a brother if he's close to me?
I'd love to go back to when we played as kids
but things changed, and that's the way it is

Check it out over on iTunes. I'd say it's worth 99 cents. I never thought I'd want to buy or listen to anything associated with Tupac Shakur, but what do you know. Never say never.

By the way, this doesn't necessarily mean I agree with everything he says in the song, I'm just saying it's thought provoking and musically enjoyable.

I think that "Huey" refers to Huey Newton, founder of the Black Panthers. What do you think? (I'm pretty sure he doesn't mean Huey Lewis).

Why history matters

I've never been a fan of history. Honestly, it has always bored me to tears. I have these horrible memories of stuffy old teachers droning on and on about people, places and events that have no connection to anything at all. We were forced to memorize endless dates and facts, and then take stupid multiple-choice tests that were specifically designed to confuse us. Was that 450,000 men killed in the battle of 1454 in Bass-sous-le-change? Or 540,000 men killed in the battle of 1544 in Bras-sur-le-change? Who knows? Who cares?

I avoided all history classes in college, so you can imagine my dismay when I discovered that I would have to take at least one, and maybe more, Christian history classes at seminary. I feel sleep coming on just thinking about it.

BUT

Then I read this article by a history prof over at Bethel, and it changed my attitude entirely. Basically, he says that theology without action is dead, and history is where we see theology put into action, where we see and read and learn about real faith acted out in real ways by real people. And that’s where meaning, purpose and understanding come from.

I’m still a bit hesitant about taking history classes again, but I can see some good reasons for doing so now.

Homesick

I am having a really hard time adjusting to our new surroundings here in the mid-west. Unlike my friend Dave who is enjoying a paradisical vacation in the heartland of America, my experiences up here in Wheaton are a little different, and I feel like ranting.

First of all, this heat is ridiculous. Sure, Wheaton has nothing on Phoenix. The mercury hasn't gone over about 96 here, but the HUMIDITY is a nightmare. I can't believe what an enormous difference it makes. It's like someone is smothering me with a heavy wet blanket. Every time I step outside it's like someone is sucking the life out of me. It gets to the point where I don't even want to go outside.

What were the settlers thinking when they were headed west? Maybe it wasn't intentional to stop in Chicago after all...the humidity just stopped them dead in their tracks and they couldn't muster up the energy to keep going. That's the secret history of how the mid-west was really settled.

You know things are bad when you are watching an episode of American Chopper from January, and there's a couple of feet of snow on the ground, and everyone is complaining about how cold it is, and yet you find yourself wishing you were there...

But I can’t even enjoy the fringe benefits of a mid-west summer because Chicago is in the middle of a drought right now! So, no thunderstorms, no rain, no green grass, no lightning bugs. Everything is dry and brown and yellow. The sky taunts and teases us with clouds, but no rain. The only places that are green are where obsessive home-owners have been watering their yards day and night.

It’s depressing.

Hot, humid, and yellow.

I miss my home. I miss my friends. I want to go home now.

Moving

Well, we made it. San Jose, CA to Wheaton, IL. With two young children and the entire contents of a 3 bed, 2 bath house.

Praise God.

And I don’t mean that irreverently. It’s an amazing feat, and not something we could have done without God’s protection and guidance. Not to mention the support and generosity of many friends and family members. In particular, I want to highlight…

Dave, the greatest co-pilot ever. You housed me when our house was packed up, you fed me when I was too tired and stressed out to be able to think about cooking, you helped pack our truck, and then re-pack our truck when I realized we had forgotten a lot of stuff, you drove with me in a non air-conditioned car through some of the hottest parts of the country in the middle of the summer, and you endured my negativity and snappy, crabby behavior at one of the most stressful times of my life. You are an amazing friend and I really appreciate everything you did for me and for us as a family. Could not have done this without you buddy.

By the numbers: Moving

9,435 = lbs weight of all our stuff, according to the trucking company
1,512 = cubic feet we used on the moving truck
2,258 = miles from our house in San Jose to Kari’s parents’ house in Wheaton
3 = drivers who piloted our Volvo at some point on the trip
3 = kids involved with the move (our 2 + Justus)
118 = degrees Fahrenheit, as recorded at a Utah rest area
30 = Liters of water consumed en route
12 = bottles of Starbucks Frappuccino coffee drinks downed to stay awake
2 = iPods used
11 = number of highway patrol speed traps that we slowed down for just in time
0 = number of tickets as a result of our judicious use of the brake pedal
4 = people sad to leave their home and friends :-(