Violence in movies is ok

Jon Acuff posted a bit ago, commenting on the fact that Christians were allowed to watch 18-rated movies so long as they were filled to the brim with violence (as opposed to nudity).

However a good Christian friend of mine said she couldn’t enjoy some movies because, as a Christian, she couldn’t bring herself to ‘enjoy’ the gratuitous violence in them.

I’ve always thought that violence in movies is fine! My reasoning was that at the time of the New Testament being written, gladiatorial combat was popular – the Bible’s clear lack of any teaching around this leads me to believe that it doesn’t really matter what you think!

But then I read another point of view:

I have a high tolerance for violence, high tolerance for bad language, and zero tolerance for nudity. There is a reason for these differences. The violence is make-believe. They don’t really mean those bad words. But that lady is really naked, and I am really watching. And somewhere she has a brokenhearted father.

I’ll put it bluntly. The only nude female body a guy should ever lay his eyes on is his wife’s. The few exceptions include doctors, morticians, and fathers changing diapers.

The full post is here. It’s not too long, and I think it’s worth reading all the way through.

How old is the earth really?

Tim Challies posted his notes on a sermon he heard a bit ago, about why the universe looks so old when a first look at the Bible wouldn’t suggest that’s what it says. His post is interesting, but the conclusion is pretty straightforward:

When it comes to the confrontation of evolutionary theory and the gospel we have a head-on collision. It is our responsibility to give an answer to this question of why the universe looks old, but the most natural understanding comes to this: the universe looks old because the Creator made it whole. When he made Adam, Adam was not a fetus but a man. By our understanding this would have required time. But for God it did not. He put Adam in the garden, which was not merely seeds, but a fertile, mature garden. God creates and makes things whole. And secondly, it looks old because it bears the effects of sin, the flood, catastrophe. Creation is groaning and in its groaning it looks old and worn, giving us empirical evidence of the reality of sin.

We encounter a big problem when we look at ‘evidence’ and use this to guide our understanding of God, because if we do that then what are we meant to do with the Bible’s accounts of the resurrection, to name only one?

God had the first word, he will have the last word, and he is the Word. I’m choosing to trust him on this one.

Sex, Romance and the Glory of God by CJ Mahaney

I’d previously known about, and been recommended, this book so was grateful for the chance to borrow it from a friend. In it CJ Mahaney presents his thoughts on the Song of Songs and how husbands can respond. It’s definitely for husbands not boyfriends, and while part of it is written by CJ’s wife to wives, the majority of this is written only for husbands.

The book can basically be summed up in one sentence: touch her mind and heart before you touch her body. It will not necessarily, as CJ points out, ‘turn your every sexual encounter with your wife into a sweating, shouting frenzy’, but rather it should ‘improve any couple’s sex life significantly’.

I’d definitely recommend it – it’s biblical, it’s funny, it’s practical. Anna read the bit to wives, and she’d recommend it too.

Hey. Be happy. That’s an order.

On Saturday I had the privilege of hearing John Piper, one of my heroes, speak about leadership. One of his many points was that God commands our happiness. Here’s just one example:

Rejoice in the Lord always; again I will say, rejoice. (Philippians 4:4)

So if you’re not being happy all the time, you’re disobeying God.

Discuss.

Wife vs. Car

Anna, my wife, had her first driving lesson yesterday. Today I read this:

When the new car was side-swiped on a trip to the supermarket, Mary stopped and tearfully fumbled in the glove compartment for the insurance papers. Attached to them she found an envelope with her name on it in her husband’s handwriting. ‘Dear Mary,’ it said, ‘when you need these papers, remember it’s you I love, not the car.’

Man, I wish I were that inventive. I’m buying an envelope.

Interior Castle by St. Teresa of Avila (audio)

In this book St. Teresa presents an idea that the human soul is a castle containing many mansions, and that the Holy Spirit lives in the central mansion. As a result, she leads us through the outer mansions one at a time, eventually looking to truly discover God.

I can’t make up my mind about this book. Teresa states clearly throughout that the journey is enabled through the gift of prayer, and that the ability to understand that gift is a gift in itself. Her understanding of God’s grace is clearly communicated, that we deserve nothing but that God blesses us anyway.

However, the very concept of the book seems to be contradictory. The idea of looking further inside oneself to find God, rather than looking outside of creation, leads the reader to focus on themself rather than on God. She seems to think that the only way to understand God is to go deep into oneself, and I don’t think that’s spiritually healthy so can’t bring myself to recommend it.

The other thing that concerned me was the sheer number of times that Teresa quoted a Bible verse or idea while qualifying that she wasn’t sure if she’d quoted it right! This might be just me, but I’d rather she had done some research to make sure she’d got it right, rather than potentially teaching heresy.

Finally, the book was originally written for a very specific audience: nuns. Not being a nun, and actually having very little in common with nuns, quite a bit of effort was needed to apply what was being communicated.

This audio version was read and recorded well – the narrator speaks clearly and communicates well Teresa’s style of writing.

So, I’d recommend this book to nuns with good biblical knowledge. If you’re a new believer, a non-Christian, or if you don’t know the Bible very well, I think this could mislead unintentionally. And if you’re not a nun, you might have to work quite hard to apply the lessons.

I got this audiobook for free from christianaudio.com‘s reviewer programme. I’m not required to give a positive review.

The Prophecy Answer Book by Dr. David Jeremiah

It always feels dangerous when you pick up a book called ‘the…answer book’ because there’s the hidden claim that there’s not another answer book out there, so I approached this with caution. In this work Dr. Jeremiah takes us on a journey, answering a lot of questions about the end times with short, easy-to-digest answers – hence the title.

This book is God-centred, and has a key focus on preaching the gospel with the aim of seeing the lost saved. I like that. But, unfortunately, there are many parts of this book that I don’t like that much.

The attitude expressed in the title, that this work is the ultimate answer to Bible prophecy, is reflected throughout. On many occasions I caught the author presenting a bold statement as fact, with no grounding – particularly with no biblical grounding. For topics like this one, I’d have needed far more of that. In particular, the book seems to labour the idea that Russia are the enemy a little too much without any biblical backing.

I’ve only read one other book by Dr. Jeremiah, and in it I picked up that he had a bit of an unhealthy focus on premillennialism and Israel – that criticism is multiplied with this book. Around a half of the book is taken up with just talking about Israel and the millennium. I wouldn’t mind, but, again, the author gives no real reason for disregarding the other points of view, e.g. that the Church is Israel (‘those of faith are the sons of Abraham’).

So primarily because of these points, and partly because of the typos throughout, I’m afraid I can’t really recommend this. There are good moments throughout but it’s like picking out a favourite colour sweet so if you’re really looking for a book on the end times I’d look somewhere else I’m afraid.

I got this book for free from BookSneeze. I’m not required to give a positive review.

What is humility?

First of all, I’m a proud man. I don’t like it, and I’m doing my best to grow in humility, but this is not an area of great strength in my life.

But I’m able to spot pride when I see it. I write articles here each week, and there’s an opportunity for readers to give the articles a star rating. Of course, my ego is only massaged as I see the five stars roll in week upon week (as if!), but for the first time this week I spotted that someone had given my article just one measly star!

Now, my initial reaction was something along the lines of, ‘well, they obviously don’t know anything’ – my own pride reared up! So I went to look back at the article to check that it wasn’t absolutely shocking.

The article talks about the requirement for Christians to submit wholeheartedly to God’s commands. I wrote that if you’re a Christian, you have no real excuse for sinning – not only do you know better now, you’re filled with the Holy Spirit who helps you in your weakness.

Obviously my reader didn’t think that, and thought the appropriate response was to give one star. I wonder where on the humble-proud scale that sits – someone tells you to act according to what you believe, and you tell them it’s rubbish.

I expect that all sounds quite judgmental – it’s not meant to be, just a little overflow of my thoughts!

By the way, if you are the reader who gave me one star please make yourself known with some pointers so I can do better next time!

Just for fun

I like Kevin DeYoung. Recently he posted a funny blog post which included the phrase:

Morgan Freeman looks like Nelson Mandela and Matt Damon likes to take his shirt off.

Any post with that sentence needs reading – you can find it here.

Ransomed Dreams by Sally John

Quick synopsis: Sheridan is married to Eliot, but they’re estranged due to his physical and emotional disabilities he received after he was shot. She discovers something about her hated father which opens up a journey of forgiveness and reconciliation.

I found myself drawn into this book. Sally John writes well – she inspires laughter and tears, develops believable stories, and puts in enough deep material to encourage the reader to think. This is particularly good thanks to the group discussion questions which are presented in an appendix.

That said, I spent a good two-thirds of the book not really empathising with the main character. The reasons for the relationship breakdown aren’t really explained until way later on, so at the start it seemed to me like a wife who was eternally grumpy with her disabled husband, and a husband who was ungrateful for her care and efforts. Only once the lifestyle was described in more detail did I understand what was going on.

The ‘spiritual’ message behind the book is reasonably clear – trust in God through trials, and be willing to forgive others. But exactly why remains a mystery. In short, if you’re looking for a theological message in a book this one’s ok, but not great.

So, an enjoyable, light-hearted read so long as you stick with it. I’d read others by the same author.

I got this book for free as part of Tyndale‘s blogger review network. I’m not required to give a positive review.