Saturday, May 24, 2008

Links, movies, I'm a lazy bum, etc.

A happy Memorial Day weekend to you all. (That is, you Americans.) I have today off from work, which, since it is Saturday, is unusual for me. And so far I’m finding it hard to get up and do anything.

I just got done adding a few new links in the side bar to your left, as well as removing some dead links. In new links, I have added Pastor John Barach’s blog. I’ve learned a lot from reading his blog over the past few years, and have often thought of linking him, though I’ve always forgotten when I got around to updating my links. As it turns out, he linked me before I got a chance to link him. Hits have increased on this page a fair bit over the past few weeks, and I can only figure that it must be because he linked me. So many thanks to Pastor Barach for that. His blog also has a great links section. I try to keep a handful of links on this page, but he has a number I would add if I was willing to take the time. But I’m not. Yes, folks, that’s internet laziness. Sad, isn’t it?

I also added The Rabbit Room to the blog links. It is a page featuring the ruminations of a number of Christian artists, and is headed by Andrew Peterson, one of the few Contemporary Christian musicians I’ll listen to anymore. But I’ll save that rabbit trail for another time (snicker).

In the general links section, I’ve added a link to Kemper Crabb’s website. Kemper is a musician and an ordained Episcopal priest. He plays for a Prog-rock band called Atomic Opera (who, I must confess, I’ve never heard. I’m working on it.), played with King’s X in years past, and has even sat in with Caedmon’s Call a few times. He has a number of solo recordings, including his classic The Vigil. He is very influenced by Early Music (pre-Baroque), hence my being drawn to it. Check him out.

I’ve added a link to the page dedicated to the teaching of N. T. Wright, theologian, Bible scholar, and Bishop of Durham in the Church of England. There are other pages featuring his work, but this page both links to those other sites and has things not otherwise available on the web. His work is indispensable for those seeking to understand the Bible better.

Lastly, I’ve added a link to Athanasius Press, a publishing house affiliated with Auburn Avenue Presbyterian Church. They’re a small publisher, but offer a number of fantastic books, as well as audio and video teaching series.

I just received James Jordan’s teaching series on Numbers through Judges from Athanasius Press, and began listening to it as I was writing this. One doesn’t retain a whole lot when trying to write and listening to a lecture at the same time (at least, I don’t), but I did pick up on one interesting thing in Scripture I hadn’t noticed before in the story of Joseph. In Genesis 40, the King James Version tells us that Joseph is put in prison with the “butler” and the baker of the king of Egypt. In fact, as later translations such as the English Standard Version tell us, the “butler” was in fact the king’s cupbearer (Genesis 40:1). So we have the baker and the cupbearer, corresponding to bread and wine, that is, the Eucharist. It was a passing comment, and Jordan doesn’t expound on the passage any further. Knowing his thought, I would expect he would explain how there is a movement from bread to wine in the passage, as well as in Joseph’s life more broadly, and that this is noted partly in the fact that the king puts the baker to death whereas the cupbearer is allowed to live. The movement from bread to wine symbolizes the movement from immaturity to maturity, and so the order of partaking that Christ established isn’t merely accidental, but intentional. I would expect Jordan would say something like that. But I’m not Jordan, so that’s mere speculation. And I should probably leave this kind of deep thought to the theologians and exegetes anyway.

This evening, I am planning to meet some friends to see Prince Caspian. I have resisted reading any reviews of it, though some friends tipped me off about the many changes made to the story from the book. After the Tolkien films and the last Narnia film, I tend to go in with low expectations from the moviemakers anyway. I just finished reading the Narnia series a couple of months ago, and the book I enjoyed the most was, in fact, Prince Caspian. But it’s been a couple of years since I read it, and I haven’t had a chance to reread it in preparation to see the film, so maybe I won’t get too bent out of shape. I’m sure I’ll be offering my thoughts here later on. I had hoped to go see Indiana Jones today too, but though my body is awake, my motivation appears to still be in bed. I’m a sad case.

As a side note, I just learned that Robert Downey Jr., in the role of Tony Stark (aka Iron Man), will be making an appearance in the upcoming Incredible Hulk movie as a tie-in to the Iron Man movie. Could this be all leading to the Avengers movie I predicted? Only time will tell.

That’s all for now. Y’all have a blessed Sabbath, and a good Memorial Day.

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