127 Hours and Our Real Problem

127 Hours is a film based on the true story of Aron Ralston and his New York Times bestselling book, Between a Rock and a Hard Place (Atria Books, 2004).

Disclaimer: I’ll try to explain the film without giving too much away, but consider this your “Spoiler Alert.”

While exploring a remote area near Canyonlands National Park in Utah, Aron Ralston (played by Academy Nominated James Franco) gets stuck in a crevasse with his right arm pinned against the wall by a boulder. The film explores the thoughts, emotions and challenges facing Ralston while he is stuck in the cave for 127 hours.  The film – and Franco in particular – do a good job of exploring both the realization of the problem and the process of solving that problem.
The original lure of the film is watching how this man will survive. I had assumed that the climax of the film would be when Ralston finally gets free from the boulder that trapped him. However, the filmmakers surprised me with where they placed the climax. The story takes an unexpected turn when it identifies the actual “problem” facing our hero.

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Why is marriage important?

Why is marriage important? Googling this question resulted in 87,600,000 sites. YIKES! Could there really be that many reasons?

So you don’t have to stay up all night reading this blog, I’m going to focus on the main reason marriage is important (at least what I think the main reason is, but you can tell me later if you agree).

I believe God designed marriage to develop our understanding for and participation in Jesus’ relationship with his bride, the church. Think through this short historical overview with me.

1. First, the Genesis creation account establishes marriage as God’s idea and plan for humanity (Genesis 1-2).
2. Then, God commends marriage throughout the Old Testament period, and even uses marriage as a metaphor for how he sees his relationship with the nation of Israel (Isaiah 54:5; 62:5; Hosea 2:19).

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I have a confession to make…

I have a confession to make…I love auctions!  There is nothing like finding something that you really must have and then having someone else want it too.  In my mind I set a limit that is usually reached very quickly but I can’t let the other guy have it so I bid higher and higher and then sometimes win!  I was at a local auction a few years ago and stayed until the very end when most people have gone and only junk is left.  Anyway, they started to auction off an office chair that I hadn’t even seen.  It turned out that I actually needed an office chair so when no one bid and the auctioneer said that the first dollar gets it, I pounced on it.  An office chair for a buck.  What a deal!  Of course, I hadn’t yet actually seen the chair up close and when I did, I realized that there was no way my wife would let me bring the chair into our house (and no way I even wanted to sit in it), so I took it right to the dump where it cost me $3 to drop it off!  Not the brightest move, but lesson learned.  

Because I tend to buy stuff that I don’t really need at auctions, I rarely go anymore. BUT, I found some tv shows that show auctions and now I can see other people’s purchases!  Ever watch “Auction Kings”?  It’s very exciting to watch people bring stuff in and put a value on it and then see if the auction brings anything close to that!  Recently, I discovered the “Barrett-Jackson Auction” which is high end cars that are auctioned off.  Cars regularly get auctioned off for $100,000 to $200,000!!!  Can you imagine the “whoosh” (remember Jeff’s sermon), that those buyers must get?  Can you imagine spending that kind of money on a car that they are probably not going to drive?  Most of the cars are added to existing collections of cars that these people have! 

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Just Children?

I find it curious that when there is some sort of catastrophe and a child is involved the newscast reads:  4 injured, including a child.  Why is that?  What is the reason behind the fact that when a child is involved an added comment is merited?  Do we intrinsically feel that a child’s life is of special value, perhaps even of more significance than the adults present in the accident?  Are we saddened to think that a vulnerable, innocent life had been affected by the carelessness of an adult? (Surely the child was not at fault.)  Do we as a society actually suffer by the potential lost when a child is hurt or killed at the hand of another?

Why do I find this curious?  It’s because of the way we, at other times, express our feelings towards children.  We all have heard the phrase:  “just a child” in our casual conversations.  “Yes, there will be six for dinner, but one is just a child.”  Oh, well, we can be late for the game … he’s just a child, he won’t care.”  “Don’t worry, I can meet with you – I was just supposed to take my kid to lunch.”  How about … “We won’t go to the church service this week because it’s just the children.”  And then there are the horrible, degrading bumper stickers that I will not quote … but please remove them from your car!

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Women and the Eldership Question. Again.

I have been approached by a few people over the last few months asking for some resources on the question of the Bible’s teaching on the role of women in church leadership. This, of course, is one of the most contentious issues in today’s church so I understand the urgency of the question when it it posed to me. I thought it might be a good idea to link to a number of articles and books that outline the position I think is most Biblically defensible. So, here goes…

(All the books mentioned below are available in the Northview Online Bookstore under the subheading of “Women & The Eldership Question”)

Kevin DeYoung, Freedom and Boundaries.

DeYoung’s book is great mostly because it is accessible. If you want a concise presentation of the complementarian view on this issue (which is the view I believe the Bible teaches), this is a great place to start. He’s also an excellent writer with a good sense of humor.

Wayne Grudem, Evangelical Feminism and Biblical Truth.
Wayne Grudem, Countering the Claims of Evangelical Feminism.

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