The Golden Compass

The onslaught of mystical, magical, super-fantastical cinematic adventures based on hit kidlit continues. Next up in the "let's cash in on Harry's box office" parade: His Dark Materials: The Golden Compass (releasing Dec. 7).

Based on the first of a trilogy of books by Philip Pullman, the film reportedly alters significant aspects of the tale. Pullman is an atheist and secularist who told an Australian newspaper, "My books are about killing God." I haven't read the popular series, but here's one description from a ChristianPost article:

In the story, a malevolent governing body called "the Church,” which answers to the "Vatican Council," is known to kidnap children for experimentation. With the help of a golden compass that reveals a coded answer to any question asked by the user, Lyra, by the trilogy’s end, gets to the bottom of the missing children and kills a character called “God."

Worried that such outright attacks on religion, Catholicism, and Christianity might hurt ticket sales, New Line Cinema purged those awkward ideas from the film version. Now, the Compass-carrier must stand not against "the Church," but "the Magisterium." (Not to be confused with Mr. Magorium's Wonder Emporium releasing Nov. 16.)

You might have guessed that some Christian groups are warning parents away from the films and books (yes you can believe that forwarded e-mail), but my favorite quote is from this outraged anti-religionist:

“It was clear right from the start that the makers of this film intended to take out the anti-religious elements of Pullman's book. In doing that they are taking the heart out of it, losing the point of it, castrating it,” said Terry Sanderson, president of the National Secular Society, a British organization that promotes secularism and which Pullman is an honorary associate of.

“It seems that religion has now completely conquered America's cultural life and it is much the poorer for it," she said in The Guardian newspaper earlier this month. "What a shame that we have to endure such censorship here too.”

What a silly thing to say. Ms. Sanderson has clearly never been to America. What has completely conquered America's cultural life is money, not religion. New Line "censored" the film version of Mr. Pullman's book for the sake of Christian dollars, not Christian values.

Meanwhile, Mr. Pullman will continue to follow the tradition of great British writers like C.S. Lewis by using fantastical kid's fiction to teach his spiritual beliefs (anti-beliefs?) to a new generation. Not that he's a fan of Lewis:

"I loathe the 'Narnia' books," Pullman has said in previous press interviews. "I hate them with a deep and bitter passion."

As always, we hope you're not just devouring your entertainment without chewing it first. Do you hear what your books, movies, and music are teaching about life, truth, and God? Are you talking back?

ZipSkinny

Jesus said the second greatest command is for us to love our neighbors as we love ourselves, but surprisingly few of us even know our neighbors. Just stumbled across this little site that can help you get to know them better, statistically speaking.

ZipSkinny.com uses U.S. Census data to break down your hood by all kinds of demographic factors: age, education, income, etc. Interesting stuff, especially if you're looking for ways for your youth group to reach out to people in a particular community.

Of course, it's no substitute for a plate of homemade cookies -- or helping someone beaten by bandits and left by the side of the road. Both proven outreach techniques.

$5000 Scholarship

The Youth Transition Network cares a lot about helping Christian students plug into Christian groups on college campuses and find Christian roommates. It's a big enough deal to them to give away a $5000 scholarship just to get your attention.

We hope it works. We know way too many Christians who stood strong for what they believed in high school and then got sucked into the party scene at college -- or just ended up fading into a group of friends who didn't care anything about following God. The point of hooking up with a campus ministry is NOT to protect you from having all kinds of different friends and experiences. The point is to give Christian students a support base of other believers to help you keep living by what you say you believe while you're mixing it up with people from all over the spiritual map.

Check out the video and head over to LiveAbove.com to see how to enter for the scholarship.

90 Seconds: Spread of World Religions

Very cool animated map from mapsofwar.com showing the spread of the major world religions in just 90 seconds. Some might argue about the specifics here, but this gives a great overview. I think it also shows the value of missions in spreading the Good News of Jesus around the globe.

Ask God to send workers into the harvest. (Matthew 9:35-38)

(HT: the always awesome Between Two Worlds blog)

Dumbledore is Gay?

By now, you Potter fans have heard the odd news that Harry's headmaster Albus Dumbledore has been pronounced gay by author J.K. Rowling.

After reading an excerpt from the seventh installment of her series, "Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows," one young fan asked if Dumbledore had ever loved anyone.

"Dumbledore is gay, actually," replied Rowling.

She was initially met with a surprised silence but ultimately the audience erupted in cheers for several minutes prompting Rowling to add, "I would have told you earlier if I knew it would make you so happy."

Does this strike anyone else as odd? Of course, an author can do whatever she wants with the characters of her own story. I don't begrudge Rowling for deciding that Dubledore is gay, extraterrestrial or made completely of banana pudding, if she likes. It's her book. What bothers me is that if that's an important element of Dumbledore's character, she should have put it in the books. It's not like she was trying to keep the word count down.

This announcement about a character at a public reading after the books have been completed feels like a bit of a cheat. And it gives the news a whiff of fan fiction, even if it's coming from the author. What's next? "Oh, and Harry had six toes! And, Hermione -- she smoked a lot of weed. Did I not mention that?"

Tour Kickoff!

It's ba-ack! Our brand new PlanetWisdom Tour kicks off this weekend in Chicagoland, and we can't wait to get the gang back on the road. Chances are, we're coming to a city not too far from you before the school year ends. Check out the schedule for yourself on the Tour page.

This year's theme is "Become More . . ." and it's all about learning to let God mold us into something He can use. You'll also get Mark and the Skit Guys and the Addison Road and the Sean McDowell and the students from all over your area coming together to go a little nuts.

I guarantee if you miss the Tour, you'll one day wake up in a cold sweat wondering if that was the weekend that would have changed your life . . . forever. Okay, maybe not. But as this small video clearly shows, it's a weekend worth catching. Don't not be there.

Chess Boxing

My favorite new sport: chess boxing. It's a real thing. Really. The rules (via a really long article on ESPN.com):

Two competitors face each other in 11 alternating rounds, six of chess, five of boxing. A bout begins with chess, which is played on a board placed directly in the middle of the ring. Each round of chess lasts four minutes. After each chess round, the bell sounds, and workmen remove the chessboard for a two-minute round of boxing, the gloves go back on, the punching recommences. Participants win by way of knockout, checkmate, referee's decision, or if his opponent exceeds the allotted total of 12 minutes for an entire match on the chessboard.

Here's my first question: Since you'd need to be good at both, would it be harder for a good boxer to get good at chess -- or for a decent chess player to get good at boxing?

Second question: What other sports not normally associated with like skills could be combined to increase viewer interest? Snow skiing and rifle play? Oh, that's already a thing. How about Ultimate Fighting and Taboo? Or Sumo wrestling and soccer? Or competitive eating and synchronized swimming?

Now that's some Olympics I could get into. Your ideas?

Be Kind

"Be kind, for everyone you meet is fighting a great battle."

—Philo of Alexandria

How to Make a Pop-up Photograph

Here's one for all you artsy/craftsy types that I've never seen before. As the dad of a wee pre-schooler, I've learned to enjoy the pop-up books all over again. This page from wikiHow gives detailed step-by-step instructs (w/ pix) on how to turn you own photos into pop-up photos.

If you try it, send us a digital photo of your actual physical 3D photo made out of your own printed out digital photos.

I love the future.

5 B.C. - A.D. 33 (and beyond)

Interesting little article about possible dates for Jesus' birth and crucifixion. Nothing to stake a doctrine on, but I like seeing the detective work that goes into coming up with a best guess for these kinds of details. It's also a good reminder that Jesus and the New Testament exist in history. It all happened in a place and time -- not just on the pages of the Book.

God is Punishing Me

Have you spent much time in our Thought Cafe? If so, we hope you've enjoyed our caffeinated beverages, our rich-wooded ambiance, and the hip-but-not-trendy tunes playing over the sound system. Honestly, though, most folks come for the conversation. And I must say, you'll find some insightful words flowing from the regulars in response to a surprising mix of lively conversation starters.

Take this one, for example. It's worth the read to hear a variety of ideas about how God deals with disobedient kids on this side of heaven. Not sure anyone is getting it right? Then step in and share your two cents. Or leave a follow-up question. (I'm waiting for someone to mention Romans 8:1.)

Of course, some conversations are less appetizing, and there's plenty of silliness and non-sequiturizing. All the sugar and caffeine gets to people after a while.

We hope you'll stop by, have a pastry, and make friends with some of the coolest posters on the Webernet. Jonathan runs a groovy joint, and he'd love to see you there.

Not Crazy About Christians

It used to be that even people who would not label themselves as “Christian” tended to respect Christians. Most thought of Christians as good people. According to a new Barna survey reported on ChristianPost.com, that’s changing among younger people.

Only 16 percent of non-Christians aged 16 to 29 years old said they have a "good impression" of Christianity, according to a report released Monday by The Barna Group. A decade ago, the vast majority of Americans outside the Christian faith, including young people, felt favorably toward Christianity’s role in society,

Young people have an even lesser positive impression of evangelicals. Only 3 percent of 16- to 29-year-olds who are not of the Christian faith express favorable views of evangelicals. In the previous generation, 25 percent of young people had positive associations toward evangelicals.

If you read the whole thing, you’ll see that even younger Christians aren’t all that crazy about Christians. While that’s a little confusing, it should also tell us something is broken in the church. No, we can’t take all the blame for the tendency of the world to see us in a bad light. Jesus warned His followers not to be surprised if the world hates us as much as it hated Him. (Matthew 15:18-19)

But I know myself (and some of you) too well to think our slide in the polls has everything to do with hatred of Jesus. Some of it clearly has to do with our human knack for being sinful jerks to each other. Paul said we must do better if we expect anyone to care about the answer we offer to the questions of our time:

“Do everything without complaining or arguing, so that you may become blameless and pure, children of God without fault in a crooked and depraved generation, in which you shine like stars in the universe as you hold out the word of life.” (Philippians 2:14-16)

Peter wrote to a group of people so unpopular they were being persecuted as Christians in really ugly ways. His instruction: do good and be hopeful. Eventually, they’ll ask what’s up with you. Then:

“Always be prepared to give an answer to everyone who asks you to give the reason for the hope that you have. But do this with gentleness and respect, keeping a clear conscience, so that those who speak maliciously against your good behavior in Christ may be ashamed of their slander. It is better, if it is God's will, to suffer for doing good than for doing evil.” (1 Peter 3:15-16)

We’re not here, of course, to win popularity contests. But we are here to show the world how the love of our God can change even the most broken, ugly people (us) into people who can’t stop loving and hoping and doing good. How well are we representing that love?