Around the Horn – 7.01.10

The Wild Faith of Bear Grylls
For Grylls, there was something about that simplicity—that purity of faith as a child that he longed to return to. “Christianity is not about religion,” Grylls says. “It’s about faith, about being held, about being forgiven. It’s about finding joy and finding home. We all want that, but nobody wants religion. Why do people turn away from faith? They’re not, they’re turning away from religion most of the time. I’ve yet to meet anyone who doesn’t want to be forgiven or held or find peace or joy in their life. We try loads of other stuff—we think booze or foxy women or whatever will fill it—but it doesn’t fill the hole.”

Toy Story 3: What We Can Learn From A Great Story
The reason I’m excited about this series is because the elements of a great story are also the elements of a great life. And when those elements are clearly defined, it’s hard for a story to go wrong.  If you’re leading or managing a team, I’m betting you can learn more from the movie Toy Story 3 than you can from a dozen books on business.

The Jesus Storybook Bible: A First Look
Rob Sturdy writes: On the way home we stopped at Barnes and Noble and were pleased to see that they carried the Jesus Story Book Bible.  Having received many good recommendations about this children’s Bible, I sat down and read a few of the stories and quickly determined to purchase it for David.  Let me just say before we get too far along, I’m very excited about this book, not only for David but also for myself and Stephanie.  As Dr. Tim Keller has said, “I would urge not just families with young children to get this book, but every Christian.”  This may sound like a bit of an exageration, but having read through it I must agree.  This is a great book for kids, but I’m ready to go ahead and go out on a limb, adults should purchase this book.  Seminarians should purchase this book.  Pastors should purchase this book.  And yes, it’s just a children’s Bible.  So what makes it so good?

Manute Bol’s Radical Christianity
From the Wall Street Journal: Manute Bol, who died last week at the age of 47, is one player who never achieved redemption in the eyes of sports journalists. His life embodied an older, Christian conception of redemption that has been badly obscured by its current usage.  Bol, a Christian Sudanese immigrant, believed his life was a gift from God to be used in the service of others. As he put it to Sports Illustrated in 2004: “God guided me to America and gave me a good job. But he also gave me a heart so I would look back.”

Shedding Some Light On Twilight
From Mary Kassian:  The question that I always ask, when I see something so grip the hearts and minds of women, is “Why?”.  And it was this question that was foremost in my mind when I finally sat down a couple weeks ago to watch and analyze the first two movies.  Personally, I could barely stomach the prolonged furtive glances, pained expressions, and shallow, banal dialogue that passed between Edward and Bella. But setting that aside, I think I understand the story’s attraction to young teen girls.  To begin, the saga portrays “traditional” roles for male and female at a time when it is highly counter-cultural to do so. Bella isn’t a male-kicking, karate-chopping, independent, domineering heroine.  She’s gentle, soft, and vulnerable. Her character flies in the face of the tough-girl image that’s portrayed by most contemporary movies.  I think young girls intuitively know that the prevalent portrayal of women as tough doesn’t match who they are. The average teen senses that she’s not wired that way. She longs to be the princess in a traditional fairy tale romance. She wants to be a woman. And she wants a man to be a man.

Rejection By The Silent Majority
The problem with most worship songs written today is NOT simplicity, it’s singability. Writing a good, singable song requires both artistry and servanthood. These qualities are difficult to balance, and unfortunately many of today’s worship writers are not doing a very good job of it.  Unique melodies and song structures are fun to listen to but when a congregation is subjected to it, more often than not the song is rejected by silent majority.

The Desacralization of Work
Susan and I started out on the New Jersey turnpike quoting Simon and Garfunkel: “I’m empty and aching and I don’t know why.”  I know one reason—or I think I do. The desacralization of work. The sense that the activity on which we spend the most time in life, next to sleeping, is meaningless. The desacralization of work means that its purpose is gone. It means thinking of work without consideration of calling. Other reasons for aching emptiness are also evident, but if we don’t get work right everything else gets distorted.