The Sunday Seven

March 11, 2012

Welcome to this week’s edition of “The Sunday Seven.”  As always, this post is all about sharing some of the more interesting news and insights that I have encountered throughout the week.  What’s more, it also includes one of the funnier videos I’ve seen in quite some time.  Hopefully, there’s a little something here that will peak your interest and give you pause to think.   Enjoy!

Pastor Tim Keller on Creation and Evolution …

Creation, Evolution and Christian Lay People – Part 2.  Last week, I posted the first of a six-part series that Tim Keller is doing over at the Bio Logos site.  You may not agree with Keller’s take on creation/evolution, but even if you disagree, the nuggets of wisdom he sprinkles throughout the discussion are priceless.  Take for instance this week’s discussion on whether we can interpret some passages of Scripture literally while interpreting others in a non-literal fashion.  Keller has the gift of C.S. Lewis in terms of translating the seemingly-complex into the simply-profound.

Are persecuted Christians the “biggest human rights scandal of our generation?”

100 Million Christians persecuted says British group.  For those of us that live in the historically “Christianized” West, this is a great reminder that many around the globe are facing open persecution because of their faith in Jesus the Christ.

I’m not sure I would want this information.  You?

Mapping of the human genome declines to $100o per person.  As the cost of mapping the human genome continues to decline, we are approaching a time when we will possess the ability to predict our susceptibility to certain diseases.

What’s driving this trend?

Divorce rate for couples over 50 doubles over past two decades.  Though the national divorce rate has been on the decline since its all-time peak in the 1980s, “gray divorce” continues to rise, raising questions as to what is driving this trend.

From the Files of the Colossally Stupid …

I’m not telling you anything about this clip.  Just watch and enjoy.

The biggest trade in the history of the NFL?

Washington Redskins Trade for the Number Two Draft pick.  Can’t decide if this is good news or bad news for the Dallas Cowboys.  Either way, an unprecedented move in NFL history.

And back by popular demand, our friend, the Philosoraptor …

 

“Divided” (2011): A One-Minute Film Review

Let’s be clear.  Divided is not the sort of film I typically review on this site.  For starters, it is a documentary, which greatly reduces the likelihood that it will have any measurable impact on the greater society as a whole.  Even the best, Oscar-winning documentaries barely move the needle on the cultural Richter scale.  Secondly, and perhaps more importantly, Divided is a documentary that calls into question one of the most sacred cows of contemporary Christian culture: youth ministry.  So while certain church leaders may be prone to watch for the sake of gleaning a few truths, the chances that this might be seen by large segments of the Church body are infinitesimally small.

Nevertheless, is Divided worth seeing?  Sadly, I have to offer a bit of a mixed review.  On the upside, the documentarian, Philip Leclerc, is asking a set of questions that desperately need to be asked in light of the sobering statistics related to young adults abandoning the church.  There is a clearly a problem in the way that many within the church are approaching youth ministry.  In their fervor to retain the kids, it would seem that many are more interested in creating a carnival atmosphere with hipster pastors than they are in teaching the time-honored truths of Scripture to a generation that is desperately famished for spiritual nourishment.  So for the courage it takes to question this contemporary methodology, I applaud Leclerc for his stand.  Moreover, I applaud him for some of the counter-cultural conclusions he reaches, as they are worthy of consideration.

Having said that, it would seem that Philip Leclerc has seen a few too many Michael Moore style documentaries.  And what I mean by that is that he in no way attempts to present this issue in a fair and balanced manor.  In support of his seemingly pre-ordained conclusions, he lines up a cadre of notable leaders such as: Ken Hamm, Voddie Bauchman, and Scott Brown.  As their counterparts, he offers up a motley assortment of teenagers including a multi-pierced girl whose mohawk won’t stay up because she’s been in the “mosh pit” at a local Christian rock concert.  And it’s this pervasive sense of imbalance that ultimately prevents this documentary from being a truly noteworthy look into this critical issue.

This film, which can be viewed for free by clicking on this link, has not been rated by the Motion Picture Association of America.

 

“The Tree of Life” (2011): A One-Minute Film Review

How to explain a Terence Malick film to someone who has never seen one?  All at once, they are poetic, rapturous, maddening, illuminating, and even, perhaps, in a few choice moments, a bit pretentious. But one thing is for sure.  No matter what else you one might be tempted to say about a film by this man, you can never say that it is … expected. Enter Malick’s latest offering: The Tree of Life.  Lacking anything that could be conventionally described as a clear or linear storyline, the director, instead, seems utterly content to film a visual meditation on the themes of creation and evolution, fathers and sons, faith and doubt.  It is a story about a particular family rooted in a particular culture, but it’s larger than that, more ambitious in its reach.  Perhaps the best way to say it is to say that while this is the story of a family set in the 1950s, it is also the timeless story of humanity and its’ God.

In his book entitled Faith of the Fatherless: The Psychology of Atheism, psychologist Paul Vitz puts forth an argument in which he suggests that severe disappointment with one’s biological father often leads to an individual rejecting the concept of a heavenly Father.  Tracing both the histories of prominent atheists as well as prominent theists, Vitz turns Freud’s projection theory of religion on its head, as he makes a compelling case for a correlation between our willingness to conceive of a God that cares and our experiences with fathers that may or may not.

In many ways, The Tree of Life is an almost prayerful examination of Vitz’s central thesis, filled with wondrous moments of staggering beauty and wrenching snapshots of belittling pain.  And in the end, you can almost hear the words of the Apostle Paul echoing through the narrated voiceover:  “There are two ways in life: the way of nature and the way of grace.  You have to choose which one you’ll follow.”

I highly recommend The Tree of Life as one of the most audacious and profound films released in this new millennium.

This film has been rated PG-13 for thematic material and brief language.