Posted using ShareThis

A picture by my friend Nick Wasch

This is a polaroid taken by my friend Nick Wasch. He is a seminary student in Boston at Gordon Conwell Theological Seminary… you should check out his photography blog http://catchlife.wordpress.com

This song functions as a fairly pointed critique of our culture. If you don’t know David Bazan or Pedro the Lion get acquainted.

Will Smith as Robert Neville in "I Am Legend"

I have heard it said by some film enthusiasts that every film has a Christ/messiah figure somewhere in the story, and though at times I find it hard to identify that character in some comtemporary films, the 2007 release “I Am Legend” is not one of them. This surreal dramatic thriller directed by Francis Lawrence graphically displays of the aftermath of a world devastated by a deadly virus which has turned humanity into a race of bloodthirsty monsters. The film’s messiah figure comes in the form of Will Smith’s character Robert Neville, a government scientist who finds himself immune to the epidemic. He has given himself to the tireless search for a cure and other unaffected survivors.

Christian themes, specifically those related to salvation, readily flow through the film’s story line as Neville struggles with his own desire and seeming inability to save the human race. Immediate connections between the story of “I Am Legend” and the Gospel emerges as the viewer observes that even story’s outwardly minor elements emphasize the parallels. One of the more obvious features that deserves mention and receives strong emphasis, by virtue of the film’s title, are the scattered “I am” statements throughout the film. This is only one of the corollaries that links the story to themes that permeate John’s Gospel. In symbolic fashion the film opens three years into the tragedy, which the viewer learns has now destroyed the majority of mankind and left nature to reclaim the urban centers. From the outset the story is filled with the Johannine themes of darkness and light (John 1:5, 3:19; 8:12; 12:35, 46), death and life (John 5:24, 8:52), the presence of sin and its devastating effects (John 8:21, 64), salvation (John 3:17, 5:34) and flirts it with ideas of messianic identity especially in regard to the “I am” sayings (John 5:17; 6:35, 48, 51; 8:12, 8:23, 28, 58; 9:5; 10:7, 14, 36, 38, 11:25). Of course, as with any analogy, at many point this one breaks down, yet as one watches the film, in light of the above-mentioned texts, the Christological and soteriological parallels are not easily missed throughout the story. The two most prominent themes that emerge are that of darkness and light and messianic identity. Everything about the way the movie was made seems to highlight these two concepts. The dialogue certainly plays a role in the their prominence with lines like “Light up the darkness” or Neville’s emphatic “I’m not going to let this happen;” however, the more powerful elements that elevate these themes may come from the film’s eerie setting, the shadow filled camera shots, the soundtrack selections and the hatred of light that is a major symptom of the diseased dehumanized masses. Neville’s insatiable desire to be the savior of his race and his brokenness over their condition serves to intensify the parallel one observes between his character and the person of Christ, and whether intentional or not, the dramatic ending only further serves to encourage this parallel.

However, if the story does hint at Christian symbolism the film’s behind the scenes interviews do not let on; rather, the actors seem to emphasize that the story’s overarching theme is hope. Yet, this again is one of the great themes found in Scripture, so the parallel is once again strengthened. The actors may prefer the word “hope,” but it seems that more specifically “I Am Legend” is a story of redemption. Thus, it may be said that whether or not the Christological and soteriological themes where intended to be seen in a purely Christian light, the dominant symbolism within the film holds thought provoking content for both the believer and non-believer alike.

Lawerence, Francis. “I Am Legend.” 100 mins. USA: Warner Bros., 2007.

A couple of weeks ago I saw Andy Zipf in concert for the first time down in Deep Ellum. Honestly, I had not heard of him before the show, but I really enjoyed his music. Hopefully he will be back in the Dallas soon. Right now you can download his new ep from his website ( http://www.andyzipf.com/ ) and pay whatever you think it’s worth.

In today’s world Christians are bombarded with books that claim to change, inspire, encourage, renew, invigorate and strengthen a person’s spiritual walk; however, it seems that few meet the mark to the degree promised. Sadly, many of their pages are cover with lines of fluffy spirituality leaving the reader safely at the shallow end of the spiritual pool. Richard Foster’s Streams of Living Water carefully avoids this stereotype, enabling the reader to push past the superficial in order that they themselves might experience the streams of spiritual depth of which he is writing. Many readers know him for his popular classic on essential spiritual exercises of the Christian faith on which writes in the Celebration of Discipline. Foster is not only a popular author on spirituality, but he is also one of the most well known Quakers in the world. In 1993 his book entitled Prayer: Finding the Hearts True Home was named Christianity Today’s Book of the Year. In his later work Streams of Living Water Foster explores six traditions of spirituality that play formative roles in the greater Christian tradition. As Foster examines each of these individual traditions he carefully unpacks their significance through telling the stories of people whose lives powerfully illustrate their effect.

Foster’s goal in writing Streams does not seem to be aimed helping Christians find the particular stream or tradition into which they fit; rather, most readers will probably find points of identification and spiritual hunger in every tradition discussed. This is certainly part of Foster’s ultimate desire, because in exploring each individual tradition he not only highlights their necessity but also the fact that they all flow out of one main stream that being the life of Jesus Christ.

The question that Foster poses to the reader is simply, “How can we imitate the life of Christ in our day and age?” And that is a really good question.

“Again, actively considered, it either denotes in the temper a design for the bringing about of the special end of temptation, namely, a leading into evil; so it is said,  that ‘God tempts no man,’ James i.3, with a design for sin as such;–or the general nature and end [emphasis mine] of temptation, which is trial; so ‘God tempted Abraham,’ Gen. xxii. 1. And he proveth or tempteth by false prophets, Deut. xiii. 3″  (Owen, Of Temptation, Works vol. 6, 93).

Prior to this Owen argues that one must consider what is said about temptation in James 1.2-3 “Count it all joy, my brothers, when you meet trials of various kinds, for you know that the testing of your faith produces steadfastness” (ESV). I have often heard people teach that we know that God never tempts and that any temptation obviously cannot be seen as coming from Him because of what we read in James 1.13-15. However, as I thought about this issue this morning I did some checking and found that the same Greek word used for temptation in a negative sense in James 1.13-15 is rendered as “trail” in James 1.2-3 where it is used in a positive sense. So, for me two questions boil to the surface (1) is there more than one kind of temptation? (2) and if there are what distinguishes one kind from another?

First, is there more than one kind of temptation? Owen, certainly argues that there is more than one kind of temptation, and one can see these clearly in the first chapter of James. The first is a temptation (testing, trial) that leads to “steadfastness” (1.2-3) and the second is seen later in the chapter and leads to “death” (1.13-15). So, if the answer to the first question is yes there are in fact two kinds of temptation talked about, then one must consider the second question: what distinguishes one kind from the other? And here is where the whole of idea of end becomes extremely important. A particular kind of temptation is distinguished by the end it produces, thus the end of the first kind of temptation is “steadfastness” and the end of the second kind is “death.” Hopefully, the contrast between these two outcomes is as stark to you as it is to me. So, when James writes “God cannot be tempted with evil, and he himself tempts no one.” The key word that should highlight for us that there is no contradiction present between this statement and other portions of Scripture is evil.  Another words this negative brand of temptation (James 1.13-15) is one that is rooted in evil and leads to death. Conversely, the temptation which Owen argues that God is active in is that which we see plainly in the testing (or tempting) of Abraham (Gen 22.1) and of Hezekiah (2 Chron 32.31). It is a temptation that is a “testing of faith” with a desired end in steadfastness, maturity, and growth.

So, perhaps we need to stop making blanket statements about how no temptation ever comes from God, and instead start observing the nature of the temptation in the end that it produces. Of course, my thoughts on this subject to don’t set the record strait, but hopefully they do cause further rumination on the subject.

Check out John Owen’s Of Temptation: The Nature and Power of It, in The Works of John Owen, vol. 6, published by Banner of Truth Trust

A rather hansom Puritan.

In his book, A Quest For Godliness: A Puritan Vision of the Christian Life, J. I. Packer writes,“California’s Redwoods make me think of England’s Puritans, another breed of giants who in our time have begun to be newly appreciated… As the Redwoods attract the eye, because they overtop other trees, so the mature holiness and seasoned fortitude of the Puritans shine before us as a kind of beacon light, overtopping the stature of the majority of Christians in most eras, and certainly so in this age of crushing urban collectivism, when Western Christians sometimes feel and often look like ants in an anthill and puppets on a string.” Concerning John Owen Packer adds, “he is greatest among the Puritan theologians.” In essence Packer is arguing that Owen is to be held as one of the greatest theologians who has ever lived. ”For solidity, profundity, massiveness and majesty in exhibiting from Scripture God’s ways with sinful mankind there is no one to touch him.”

John Owen lived from 1616-1683. The same year Owen was born Shakespeare died and the pilgrims set sail for the New World. During his ministry in England he would hold the posts of country preacher, army chaplain, dean of Christ’s Church College in Oxford and later Vice-Chancellor, chaplain to Oliver Cromwell before rising as a leader among the persecuted Nonconformists, and in the midst of it all he managed to publish thousands of pages that are still worth reading. It is certain that Owen possessed a rare gift in both intellect and influence, and that influence extends into the present day with all of this major work still in print through Banner of Truth Trust. Concerning Owen’s written work Sinclair Ferguson commented, “To read John Owen is to enter a rare world. Whenever I return to one of his works I find myself asking ‘Why do I spend time reading lesser literature?’”

Owen’s writing spanned from theologically polemic to profoundly devotional, and the extraordinary thing is that though reading four hundred year old documents you find yourself taken back by their relevance. I have found in reading Owen salt is poured down my throat causing my thirst for depth and truth to be radically intensified, and that is precisely why the title of this entry says part 1.

I am currently reading The Death of Death (The Works, vol. 10).