Yael Naim

If you have seen the latest commercial from Apple, you already know Yael Naim. With her catchy song "New Soul" blowing up all over the world, it should also be made known that Yael's entire CD is also a magical piece of art. She was born in Paris, grew up in Israel, and is now pursuing a musical career back in Paris. Half of her songs are in Hebrew, but similar to Sigur Ros, doesn't slow down the power of the music for people who only speak English. I think that a fair and weighty evaluation of her will land her in a similar category to Sufjan Stevens. They both have a playful way about their performance, and both also tap into a mysteriously spiritual space of tone. Please check her out if you get a chance.

NEW SOUL


PUPPET


TOXIC

Carrie Underwood's Latest

PAINFUL

Apocalypse Now and "The 12"

Okay... So I have been a procrastinator when it comes to viewing old films... I have heard the phrase, "For every new book that one reads, one should read two classics." This makes sense to me on a literary level... But movies??? After watching 2001: Space Odyssey, and now having viewed Apocalypse Now last night... It may be true. What if we watched two classics for every new release that we watch? How would this change our lives? Maybe it comes down to this...

There were probably 12 movies this year that I watched that were paradigm altering in my life, and in the life of the communities that I participate within. There are probably about that many movies every year... Give or take a couple... That have the flesh and blood to change our lives. Now... I probably watched a movie every other night in 2007. That means that I watched probably 150 movies that were anywhere from entertaining, to thought provoking, to a waste of two hours of my life. What if instead of watching those 150 movies (that will never affect the way that I think/live), I would have instead participated within the 12 paradigm changing movies of 1954 or 1967 or 1978 or 1988 or 1994... I think that you get the idea. I wonder how our world would be different if we all focused on the 12 of years past, rather than wasting our time swimming on the latest 2 hour Michael Bay pile of ______? I bet things would change.

2001 Space Odyssey

Whitney and I watched a classic movie lsat night as we baked bread (an emerging interest in our lives!). Stanley Kubrick's 2001: A Space Odyssey is a film now hailed as a classic. Wikipedia summed up the movie by saying...

"2001: A Space Odyssey is a 1968 science fiction film directed by Stanley Kubrick, written by Kubrick and Arthur C. Clarke. The film deals with thematic elements of human evolution, technology, artificial intelligence, and extraterrestrial life, and is notable for its scientific realism, pioneering special effects, and provocatively ambiguous and often surreal imagery, sound in place of traditional narrative techniques and a very minimal use of dialogue.
Despite receiving mixed reviews upon release, 2001: A Space Odyssey is today recognized by critics as one of the greatest films ever made; the 2002 Sight & Sound poll of critics ranked it among the top ten films of all time.[1] It was nominated for four Academy Awards, and received one for visual effects. In 1991, it was deemed "culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant" by the United States Library of Congress and selected for preservation in their National Film Registry.
The film set a new standard for science fiction special effects for both film and television."

I was surprised by two facts that appeared on the outside out the Netflix envelope in which we received the DVD. Firstly, I couldn't believe that the film was made in 1968. Shooting began for the film in 1965, and was released before we landed on the moon. I would imagine that the progressive film captured audiences in new ways (visual and audio) when it first came out 40 years ago. I was also surprised when the film received a G rating. No doubt, the most stunning G movie ever!

After the movie was finished, Whitney and I looked at each other and tried to interpret the film. Well, we did no get very far. So I researched a quote from Kubrick

"You're free to speculate as you wish about the philosophical and allegorical meaning of the film—and such speculation is one indication that it has succeeded in gripping the audience at a deep level—but I don't want to spell out a verbal road map for 2001 that every viewer will feel obligated to pursue or else fear he's missed the point."

We enjoyed the film and will enjoy viewing it again in the near future.

Smiling Addiction

I am in a media class right now with Craig Detweiler at Fuller and was inspired by this simple and short music video/film. Three simple acts... an ever intensifying second act... and a tragic third act/ending. Simple and brilliant.

Fuller Pride

While we may not have a football team, or a rugby team, we (Fuller Seminary) do have an American Gladiator... And he just took the lead for the best time in the Eliminator for the hottest (overrated) show in America!!!...

http://www.nbc.com/American_Gladiators/contestants/andy_konigsmark.shtml

121

121:1 shiyr lamma`aloth 'esâ' `êynay 'el-hehâriym mê'ayinyâbho' `ezriy

121:2 `ezriy mê`im Adonay `osêh shâmayim vâ'ârets

121:3 'al-yittên lammoth raghlekha 'al-yânum shomerekha

121:4 hinnêh lo'-yânumvelo' yiyshân shomêr yisrâ'êl

121:5 Adonay shomerekha Adonaytsillekha `al-yadh yemiynekha

121:6 yomâm hashemesh lo'-yakkekkâhveyârêach ballâyelâh

121:7 Adonay yishmârekha mikkol-râ` yishmor'eth-naphshekha

121:8 Adonay yishmâr-tsê'thkha ubho'ekha mê`attâhve`adh-`olâm



Psa. 121:1 I lift up my eyes to the mountains—
where does my help come from?
Psa. 121:2 My help comes from the LORD,
the Maker of heaven and earth.

Psa. 121:3 He will not let your foot slip—
he who watches over you will not slumber;
Psa. 121:4 indeed, he who watches over Israel
will neither slumber nor sleep.

Psa. 121:5 The LORD watches over you—
the LORD is your shade at your right hand;
Psa. 121:6 the sun will not harm you by day,
nor the moon by night.

Psa. 121:7 The LORD will keep you from all harm—
he will watch over your life;
Psa. 121:8 the LORD will watch over your coming and going
both now and forevermore.

Aguilera's New Song

Who is she singing to?



It's not so easy loving me
It gets so complicated
All the things you've gotta be
Everything's changin
But you're the truth
I'm amazed by all your patience
Everything I put you through

When I'm about to fall
Somehow you're always waitin
with your open arms to catch me
You're gonna save me from myself
from myself, yes
You're gonna save me from myself

My love is tainted by your touch
Cuz some guys have shown me aces
But you've got that royal flush
I know it's crazy everyday
Well tomorrow may be shaky
But you never turn away

Don't ask me why I'm cryin
Cuz when I start to crumble
You know how to keep me smilin
You always save me from myself
from myself, myself
You're gonna save me from myself

I know it's hard, it's hard
But you've broken all my walls
You've been my strength, so strong

And don't ask me why I love you
It's obvious your tenderness
Is what I need to make me
a better woman to myself
to myself, myself
You're gonna save me from myself

In the middle of the mundane of studying Hebrew yesterday (my primary school work for the next 9 weeks) I was captured and taken in by a favorite and sometimes forgotten artist. Lauryn Hill. Check out this performance at 6:00 minutes in...



The conquering lion shall break every chain
The conquering lion shall break every chain
Give him the victory again and again and again and again
Give him the victory
The conquering lion shall break every chain
The conquering lion shall break every chain
Give him victory again and again and again and again and again and again
Give us some victory ya, oh, ya
The Conquering Lion shall break every chain, every chain, every chain
Conquering Lion shall break every chain
Give us some victory we need some victory, we need some victory
Again and Again and Again and Again, give give give some victory
Oh, Oh,the conquering lion he'll break every chain, everyone of your chains,
everyone of your chains
The conquering lion he's gonna break all of those chains if you just let him
Give Give him the victory again and again and again and again…
Oh, give him the victory

Aging Optics

I postponed it for as long as I could, but the the optometrist finally forced me behind lens'!

Slavery in Security

When Israel was delivered from Egypt, they experienced freedom. Yet, they did not encounter freedom for "freedom's" sake. (Paul Pace) Donald Bloesch writes it best.

“Freedom is not the antithesis of obedience, but the means by which we realize obedience. We become free as we decide to obey, and in obedience we discover our freedom. Bultmann upheld not a freedom from authority, as in the Resaissance conception, but a freedom under authority- that which is realized in obedience. Bultmann insisted that genuine freedom involves responsible decision. It “is always freedom gained in responsibility and decision, and therefore it is freedom in insecurity. To be a free person means to let out self-contrived sercurities and cling only to the promise of the divine mercy that is apprehended solely by faith. To be free is to be ourselves- to be true to the destiny appointed to us by God.”

Israel was freed from slavery in order that they might be free to be slaves to Yahweh.

With this in mind, I have been reflecting upon American slavery today. In the land of "freedom", where is our liberty oppressed? Many angles could be taken upon this question, but one has recently stood out to me.

Security.

More than a trillion dollars are spent in the world every year on security and you guessed it, the United States is leading the way. Americans spend more on security that any other country in the history of humankind. In fact, if countries number 2 through 25 on security spending are all added together, they still don't add up to what America spends on securing our nation every year.

What does this mean?

Outside of the fact that ten percent of what the United States spends on security could meet all of the world’s needs, or 100 million dollars a day is spent in the USA keeping bombs ready to blow, I think that Martin Luther King was on to something with this quote.

“A nation that continues year after year to spend more money on military defense than on programs of social uplift is approaching spiritual doom.”

With all of the money that we spend on securing our freedom, are we actually enslaving ourselves to the ideal of being safe?

Is our obsession with safety a clue that we are ultimately driven by fear?

Can a drive from fear lead to Good?

Who are the scary ones? An interesting question to ask humanity outside of the United States. (Or to those living in cave systems in Afghanistan.)

Why are Americans driven by such a fear?

Psa. 20:7 Some trust in chariots and some in horses, but we trust in the name of the LORD our God.

Jeremiah 34:15-17(a) Recently you repented and did what is right in my sight: Each of you proclaimed freedom to your own people. You even made a covenant before me in the house that bears my Name. But now you have turned around and profaned my name; each of you has taken back the male and female slaves you had set free to go where they wished. You have forced them to become your slaves again. “Therefore, this is what the LORD says: You have not obeyed me; you have not proclaimed freedom to your own people. So I now proclaim ‘freedom’ for you, declares the LORD—‘freedom’ to fall by the sword, plague and famine.

Gal. 5:13 You, my brothers and sisters, were called to be free. But do not use your freedom to indulge the sinful natured; rather, serve one another humbly in love.”

James 1:25 But those who look intently into the perfect law that gives freedom and continue in it—not forgetting what they have heard but doing it—they will be blessed in what they do.

1Pet. 2:16 Live as free people, but do not use your freedom as a cover–up for evil; live as God’s slaves.

We are destined to be free people. Fully ourselves. Fully in the grasp of our Creator. In our individualistic sense of American freedom, we, as a country, have become slaves to "self serving security". We are sleeping with an idol, and the inward preserving nature of this idol is harming us and others throughout the world.

Ultimately, we become what we follow. What might a reshaping of out policies on safety mean for us? Mean for the world? Mean for the Kingdom of God?

Top Ten of the Holidays

Quality craftsmanship on a new bookshelf that I built.















Golfing 36 holes at Lantana.
Spending quality time with family and friends in Texas.
















Time to pray.
The Great Debaters. (Don't miss this film.)
The Rose Bowl Parade.

A Michigan victory over Florida.
Kinetic Christmas Party.
















The 1st Annual Warnes Christgiving Party.
















Spending quality time with Whitney.





















Our next quarter at Fuller begins on Monday and the craziness will once again begin. Intensive Hebrew and a Media and Ministry class. Both should be intriguing. We will also be moving forward at GPC as I have decided to accept their invitation to stay at the church. It should be a fun ten weeks!