Diary of a Young Pastor

I had the pleasure of going to see The Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspain with my brothers today, and I want to share my thoughts on the movie by sharing my likes and dislikes.

Likes:

• First, I liked the fact that this film was quite a bit more gritty and dark than the first.  This, in my opinion, made the story seem more “real”.
• I liked the fact that this movie dealt with the nature of humanity and incorporated fantasy, instead of dealing with fantasy and incorporating humanity.  Does that make sense?  It could just be the differences in the subject matter of the books.
• I liked the fact that this movie is based on one of the “non-defining” books.  Meaning, The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe is the defining classic of all things Narnia.  Fans of the series (me) know that book from front to back.  Its story is legendary in our minds - and as a result, you are not allowed (in the minds of the fans) to mess with it.  During L,W&W, I cringed every time the story deviated from the story line in the book.  But in Caspian, I was much more tolerant and forgiving of the liberties taken in the story.  I can only assume that this is because the story is not as cemented in my brain.  It was enjoyable to be able to think, “Well, that wasn’t in the book….but I can see why they put it in the movie,” instead of, “WHY DID THEY DO THAT!!”
• The three older Pevensie’s were allowed to act more grown up.  In L,W&W, Skandar Keynes grew up a lot from the beginning of production to the end, but his character (Edmund) wasn’t allowed to.  There were some scenes where it was obvious that we were watching an older Keynes playing a younger Edmund.  In Caspian, his character was allowed to be older, which made the acting much more believable.
• I applaud Andrew Adamson’s decision to give Susan a much more active role in the movie.  Her character was tough, and to re-use some adjectives, gritty and “real”.  This may be my “Wesleyan-ness” coming out.

Dislikes:

• Caspian’s character development could have been better.  This is a Disney movie, after all, and don’t they like to play up characters whose parents have died (see: Cinderella, Bambi, Nemo & every other movie…).
• The “Lucy sees Aslan” scenario was always vital for me in the book.  I feel like they severely underplayed that part.
• William Moseley looks freakishly like Keira Knightley.  That was a bit of a distraction.

Conclusion:

In my opinion, the likes dramatically outweighed the dislikes.  I really, really enjoyed Caspian and left with a completely different feeling than when I left L,W&W.

Your thoughts?

~Pastor Matt

Ok… I’m going to say it…

I have never liked church signs.  Yeah, my church has one - and no, I don’t like it.

Why?  Because they are dangerous.  They are the only window through which our community outside the door sees us.  They have become the statements of who we are as a church - and what do we choose to do with them?  Either put up some kind of cheesy saying like, “Where do you prefer to sit in eternity?  Smoking or Non,” or we do something stupid, hurtful, derogatory, and even immoral.  In my opinion, church signs make us look like fools.

I came across one such fool of a church on digg.com earlier today.  Pastor Roger Byrd of the Jonesville Church of God in Jonesville, SC put up this wonderful little ditty earlier last week:

Foolishness!

What opinion do people now have of a church that calls its self a “Church of God”?

Somewhere, sometime, someone had the bright idea that a lettered sign could be useful to a church…and at that same moment, 10,000 people had the idiotic idea that the sign should make a statement of who we are as a church.

Pastors, if you’re reading this and you, like me, have a church sign — be careful.  And in my opinion, if you don’t have anything useful to say to your community (ie, an announcement that is beneficial to them, service times, etc.)…

just leave it blank!

P.S. - read the thoughts of the digg users here. Warning though…may contain foul language.

Just so you know, if you get tired of seeing nothing new on this blog, you can always check out the other places I reside on the internet.

All my worth-while pictures go to Flickr.com - you can find my account at http://www.flickr.com/photos/94853758@N00/ . I’m not the greatest photographer, but I like to take some shots now and then and you can find them all - including the one above - at Flickr.

Also, if I ever make a movie that I feel is worth saving, it goes to Viddler.com - you can find my account at http://www.viddler.com/explore/crashingtothese .

And, contrary to some people feeling that it is pointless (Tony…Dvorak…), I like to micro blog using Twitter.com - you can find my account and follow me at http://twitter.com/crashingtothese . Twitter has quickly becoming one of my favorite things to update, so check it often!

The past few days have been super busy, and I’m afraid that the next few weeks will be the same way. I’ll try to keep up.

~Pastor Matt

So, just when I’m getting ready to write some long blog posts about the past couple weeks, my connection to my site starts acting up. Go figure.

I’m having to proxy into the site right now - which is, in my opinion, less than safe. But oh well…life will go on, and hopefully I’ll be back to fully operational status soon.

Here are some things to look forward to:

And now, I leave you with this lovely photo from our trip titled, Cherry Blossoms: They make you sneeze.

Ok.  Confession time.  I frequent digg.com.  Say what you will, but I find it interesting to see what the internet culture thinks is noteworthy.  Everything from funny pictures, breaking news, interesting movies, Apple rumors, political drama to - yes - spirituality makes it to the front page of digg.  And while I could spend a lot of time speaking on any one of these topics, what I really intend to do is ask a question.  A question of gargantuan proportions:  When did guys stop wearing hats?  

Guys, remember being young?  Remember tying a shoestring to a small stick and using it as a bull-whip?  Remember always being on the lookout for that hat - you know the one -  the one that would make Henry Jones Jr. proud?  I do.  And quite honestly, not much has changed since then.  Inside, every one of us wants one.  So why don’t we wear them?  I have a couple of theories:  We’re uneducated on where to get them and if we were to find one, we fear public ridicule.

Men, it’s time to put the fear aside, get educated, and wear the hat - and I’m not the only one who thinks so.  A few days ago, this story made it to the front page of digg:  Bring Back the Hat.  It is an article from the blog, “The Art of Manliness” (what a name!).  But most importantly, there are over 2,500 guys who agree - it’s time to bring back the hat - and not just the Akubra Adventurer, but dress hats of all kinds - and we’re not talking baseball, scull, or any other silly kind of cap.

Finding out that there was a movement of men who believed in the revival of the hat struck a personal chord within me.  As I said earlier, there are a couple of reasons we men are afraid of hats.  But for me - there are one other reasons I have yet to find my perfect hat.  A reason that is far more terrifying than public humiliation.  For me, dear reader…my biggest obstacle to overcome is not fear, knowledge, or even lack of funds - my biggest obstacle is sitting next to me, even as I write this.  My dear wife.

For the past month I’ve been “in the market” for an ivy cap.  Simple, versatile & handsome…but not in the eyes of my better half.  When told of my desire, her reply was swift & cutting: “You’re not serious.  You’ll look like an old man.”  

My reply was something like a gentle puppy, “Please?”

“No.”

I’d put the shame behind me.  I’d conquered my fears & researched the hat.  But there is no overcoming the firm rebuke of my wife. “No.”

I’m not angry or bitter, and yet I do tend to waft into daydreams - imagining myself walking my dog, wearing my Ivy Cap and being kept warm in my Members Only jacket… 

A man can dream.

 ~Pastor Matt