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In training and preparation for my personal goal of running a half-marathon for the first time, I have been trying to remember the victims of the Oklahoma City bombing for which the race is dedicated. In the aftermath of the tragedy in Boston, I find further motivation.
Running, like any activity, is always at its finest when attached to a purpose. In our image-driven society, exercise efforts are too often undertaken for largely self-absorbed reasons, such as looking better in the mirror.
The Apostle Paul, meanwhile, tells us that bodily exercise profits some (1 Timothy 4:8), but spiritual well-being is the higher goal. Even when embarking on a good task, like jogging, we would do well to tie it to a purpose.
The purposes, of course, do not always need to be grand. Instead of a run on a treadmill, you could jog to the post office near your house to deliver mail. Or you could meet a friend or family member to jog and have fellowship. Or you could prayerwalk in your neighborhood.
While there are bound to be times we do activity to merely edify our bodies, I recommend we actively look for ways to do it with an added and higher purpose.
Certainly when I, Lord willing, line up to run later this month with thousands of others, we will be running to remember the fallen in 1995 and from this week in Boston. May God continue to have His hand on our country in this difficult stretch of miles ahead.
I hope you have been able to read the introduction, defense and first installment in the Chronicles of Narnia blog posts on Word Slingers. It is my pleasure now to review the second book in the classic series by C.S. Lewis, Prince Caspian.
In 2008, Disney teamed up with the original Narnia makers to present a likeable, though somewhat inaccurate film portrayal of the classic. For those who have not read the book or even seen the movie, I want to provide a brief summary of the book then provide comment.
Summary
The four Penvensie children from the Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe are back in England. It has been some time, perhaps a year, since their adventures in Narnia and they wish to go back. They are magically transported back when they are standing at a railway station.
They soon realize that things are different in Narnia. They discover that many centuries have gone by since their last trip, and as Houston Baptist University and C.S. Lewis expert Louis Markos says, Narnia has fallen on hard times.
The whole land has been taken over by the Telmarines through a usurper named Miraz, Prince Caspian’s uncle. Young Caspian learns about Narnia’s past and is fascinated. He escapes the castle when he learns his uncle has had a son and may want to kill Caspian. Amid his escape, he comes across talking animals, dwarves and mythic creatures. He, along with the Pevensie children, rally together and take on the Telmarines and try to win back Narnia.
Analysis
True to form, Lewis weaves an interesting story together with important thoughts about the important things. By making Narnia age centuries while the Pevensie’s were gone only a year, Lewis gives Narnia a history—a rather medieval one—where chivalry and honor are real concepts.
In Prince Caspian, we meet some wonderful characters. My favorites include Reepicheep, a swashbuckling talking mouse whose knightly qualities uplift your soul. There is also Trumpkin, a dwarf who doubts Aslan’s (recall he is the Great Lion, the Christ figure) existence but later believes. There is also Doctor Cornelius, Caspian’s tutor, who embodies wisdom and belief.
In this all-important installment in the Narnia series, the stage is set for future books. Moreover, we get a good understand of the driving desire for power that mankind has, and the unspeakable evil that can be done.
There is one really important scene from a theological perspective in which Lucy, who is the most faithful of the Pevensies, meets Aslan again for the first time since being back. She says, in effect, “Aslan, you look bigger.” He explains that he has not grown larger but that, “Child, as you grow older, I will appear larger.” What a powerful thought to make us ponder Christ’s awesomeness!
Also worth noting, this is last time High King Peter and Queen Susan go back to Narnia (though it is not the last time we hear of them). There are several scenes in which Lucy and the three siblings exemplify the dilemmas and doubts we all go through.
Lewis’ Prince Caspian is one of the faster moving, thrilling books in the Narnia series. Children, especially those 10 to 14 years old, will revel in the story and find admirable qualities in the characters—such as duty, honor, faith, love and forgiveness—that could propel them on a good path. For these reasons and more, I recommend reading Prince Caspian.
“A nation that is arguing about whether to privatize lighthouses will not socialize medicine.” So argued the late William F. Buckley, Jr.
Buckley’s point was simply this: if a democracy is arguing about good ideas, it is more likely to avoid bad ones. Today, America is arguing whether to recognize so-called same-sex “marriage.” The very fact this is the central debate is a disadvantage to conservative Christians. Proponents of same-sex “marriage” typically use broad terms and ideals, such as “equality” to advance their position.
People often forget we already have marriage equality. Everyone can marry anyone, as long as the person is of the opposite sex, is not a relative and is not a minor. What is being demanded is a special right, a newly invented one at that.
The U.S. Supreme Court is hearing two landmark cases that could change marriage policy in America. While Southern Baptists are hopeful the Supreme Court will do the right thing and uphold the biblical, historical understanding of marriage, we recognize that no government leaders—even the highest court in the land—can redefine what God Himself has established.
Why are Christians unwilling to change on the issue? Here are three reasons:
The Scriptures
No one throughout time spoke with more authority than Jesus Christ, and no one has spoken so clearly on marriage. Performing His first miracle at a wedding, Jesus often addressed marriage.
Quoting Genesis, Jesus said, “For this cause shall a man leave his father and mother, and cleave to his wife” (Mark 10:7). Notice Christ did not say “man… cleave to his husband.” He also did not say “wives” (plural). In other places, the New Testament speaks clearly to God’s unchanging meaning of marriage (for example, Eph. 5).
Jesus walked among Rome where polygamy was widely accepted, to a culture that had made friends with divorce and cohabitation, and a civilization that was influenced by Ancient Greece which knew homosexuality well. In other words, Jesus and the Apostles spoke in a day not unlike our own.
So it is not that Southern Baptists are not willing to redefine marriage, it is that we cannot. Our consciences are captive to the revealed Word of God.
Nature
It does not take a biology expert to know the sexual union of a man and a woman leads to offspring and procreation, while homosexual acts do not. The primary purpose of marriage is the proliferation of the human race. Somewhere along the line, Christians forfeited that ideal, and today we are reaping a bitter harvest for it.
Building a home, let alone a society, on the notions of romantic love or attraction is like building a house on shifting sands. Much like the basic purposes of eating is nutrition, with good taste as an added pleasure given by God, the main purpose of sex is procreation, with pleasure and bonding as added benefits given by God.
The government has no public or practical interest in homosexual unions any more than they do in friendships. In other words, marriage, from the government’s viewpoint, is all about children.
Legal
One of the cases on which the Supreme Court will rule is Proposition 8, a California law passed by voters that defined, for California, marriage is between one man and one woman. Traditionally, marriage laws have been left up to the states. However, the nine justices could attempt to make Oklahoma (which has a marriage protection law of its own, passed in 2004) have our policy dictated by, say, Vermont or New York.
Even so, we Christians recognize that marriage is not something defined, it is something we observe. No state or sub-division of government has a right to redefine what God Himself has set in place.
The Supreme Court rulings reportedly will not be handed down until the summer. In the meanwhile, America will continue to argue this issue. As Christians, let’s make sure our side does so with gentleness, compassion and respect. After all, we do not just want to win the argument. We want to win the people.
While few Christians may have read all seven books in C.S. Lewis’ Chronicles of Narnia, a vast majority are familiar with the second book in the series.
The Lion, the Witch & the Wardrobe. What an interesting name to those who may not have heard it before. I will not spend much time summarizing the plot of this fairy tale, which has threads of Christian theology throughout. It tells the tale of four siblings—Peter, Susan, Edmund and Lucy– who leave for the English countryside during air raids in London during WWII. They stay at the large house of a distinguished professor and find a magic wardrobe during a game of hide-and-seek that leads them to another world, the world of Narnia.
Narnia is a magical world, with fauns, talking animals and centaurs and a white witch holding the whole of the realm under her dictatorship. The white which, who represents Satan, tricks the young boy Edmund into betraying his siblings and all of what is good in Narnia. In the story, there is a lion named Aslan (who represents Christ) who comes to save Edmund—and all of Narnia–from the clutches of the white witch.
There is no way to capture the power of the story without reading it. Even theatrical and movie depictions cannot do justice to the way Lewis brings the character of Christ to life, as well as the meaning of his atoning death.
In an age that admires non-Christian fantasy books, parents, children and people of any age would do better to read this first installment of the Narnia series. Not only is it well written, it turns our hearts to eternal matters. Skeptics who have their guard up against any preaching or ordinary ministry may find that they can best hear God’s voice where they least expected to – in a children’s book.
With four children under the age of 10 in our household, the VeggieTales movies are a somewhat a staple of our entertainment diet. The series was begun in 1993 by Phil Vischer and Mike Nawrocki (who provide some of the voices for the characters).
VeggieTales is popular with Christian families because they have no bad language. My favorite character is Larry the Cucumber, and my favorite movie has to be Larry Boy (a Batman spin-off). My favorite silly song is Pizza Angel.
Some Christians, however, say VeggieTales teach Bible stories the wrong way, which is a valid concern to raise. Some critics, such as writer Cathy Mickels over at the Christian Post, have even stronger words concerning the movies’ potentially corrosive effect on kids and biblical accuracy in general.
While VeggieTales creators feel at liberty to take creative license with biblical stories and add a “creative twist,” parents cannot take a chance that their children can discern the difference. Because of this reason, we typically stick to the episodes that are spoofs other movies or storylines, such as Indiana Jones (Minnesota Cucumber) and Lord of the Rings (Lord of the Beans). Parents whose children watch the Bible story episodes would need to make sure the children know that Gideon’s band did not drink “slurpies” and that David did not take someone’s rubber duckie but his wife.
Be that as it may, one advantage to VeggieTales is that it is entertainment for the whole family. There are references in the movies that are subtle that parents can understand and enjoy, but they are not gross or inappropriate. VeggieTales offers a light hearted way for families to laugh together.
I simply would admonish the creators of VeggieTales to keep focused on the Bible’s values and Jesus Christ Himself. While entertainment for families is good, we all need the Gospel in the end, not just a good laugh. I, for one, continue to be a fan in large part and hope the next 20 years of creative work is as good as the first.
