david griffiths

"Mondays with My Old Pastor" by Jose Luis Navajo

2013-04-17T16:42:00.001-05:00

Mondays with My Old Pastor chronicles a young pastor's being pulled off the edge of ministry-burnout by the advice of the pastor he had when he was young.
What a fabulous idea! I was all set with my itch ready to be scratched. Lots of good reviews buttressed my expectations. Of course, you know what happened next: be careful of expecting too much.
Navajo works hard, does do a good job of crafting a coherent storyline, and creating sympathetic characters. Also--we must say this in his favor--Navajo brings us back to the foundations in ministry: scripture and prayer.

Here are some things that bothered me:
1. Over-written. Melodramatic depictions of ordinary scenes: someone's always crying, everyone's gaze is sincere or heartfelt, everyone's expression is pained or enraptured. Too much.
2. Under-Scriptured. Gobs of neat stories and funny-but-makes-you-think quotes from random people, but little Scripture. Little quoted, little contemplated: for a pastor who built his life on the Book, very little actual Book appears. (For example, in the last twenty pages, Khalil Gibran, Lebanese poet, gets two quotes; Scripture gets zero.) Of course, Scripture permeates the worldview and philosophy of the characters, etc.. But... well, It'd a been nice to hear it too.
3. Over-blown. He's got a symbolic thing with roses blooming, and then there's dreams, and then a hidden acrostic. Too much. And then there's the fifteen principles. Fifteen? Fifteen constitutes a shopping list, not key principles to live by. I'm not necessarily a minimalist, but you got to draw the line somewhere. Three points and a poem, anyone?

A worthy effort; I'm looking forward to more by Navajo. His heart's in the right place and he has a talented pen, now just to sharpen the latter to better express the former.

"Father Hunger" by Doug Wilson, short review

2012-07-05T20:29:00.002-05:00

Father Hunger
by Douglas Wilson

Wilson has done us all a great service. This was a phenomenal presentation of biblical reasons for men to be...drum roll, please...men.
Wilson makes it clear what that means: in short, to be wildly generous. This generosity includes generosity of strength, providing firmness, solidity, boundaries, obstacles, memorials. But this generosity is first and foremost, flat-out giving: radical sacrifice, bleeding one's life out, for others.
Where this generosity is absent, it creates problems. Indeed, many (most?) of the problems America faces are the result of fathers failing to do what they are to do.
Wilson pours theological footings and also nails on practical advice, and everything in between (maybe especially plumbing and electricity--while we're on this metaphor).
Listen friend: I'm going to go and buy a case of these. Not only does Wilson do a great job laying out the problems, the real problems, the solutions, and tips'n'tricks, he does it with...well, with what can only be described as "verve."
*Verve: the spirit and enthusiasm animating artistic composition or performance.*
That's Wilson alright! His prose leaps off the page; when he wants to smack you, he smacks you. But half the time he gets you laughing first. It was a joy to read and I could hardly put it down. I'm practically a professional book-putter-downer, but not this one.

Story Engineering: Mastering the 6 Core Competencies of Successful Writing by Larry Brooks

2011-10-05T14:31:00.002-05:00

Story Engineering: Mastering the 6 Core Competencies of Successful Writing
by Larry Brooks

The six core competencies of successful writing, according to Larry Brooks, are: concept, theme, character, structure, scenes, and voice. The first four are elemental components; the last two relate to execution.
And that was the summary this book needed. Honestly, I read this book and I had to search for a place in the book where the main point of it could be easily discovered. There are two helpful pages tucked at the end of the book (218-219). Otherwise? Good luck. This book does not seem heavily edited.
But first, the positives: Brooks has been immensely helpful in providing writers with an alternative model of story-writing other than "pantsing," as he calls it. Since Stephen King's memoir "On Writing," I've had this image of the writing process in my mind where you just feel your way forward, write the whole thing about three times, and hopefully discover a story along the way. That's pantsing: flying by the seat of your pants.
Brooks offers an alternative. In short, plan ahead. Sketch the story, all of it, from characters to scenes, ahead of time. That was phenomenally helpful. King and others give the impression that anything other than pantsing it is not true art. Brooks knocks that idea flat. It's about the story first; art second. It has to be a story before it can be art. Tell a good story; make good art.
Brooks' six competencies may also be helpful. I'll have to go back and think about it because they were drowned in a deluge of analogies and lists. Oh! the metaphors. Oh! the lists. What I'm about to say may sound like an exaggeration, but it is not: This book contained thousands of analogies/illustrations/examples/metaphors. I estimate an average of a dozen a page. Seriously. And lists. Lists sprouting all over the place! We start with six items, but each item grows a half dozen more items, which each grow sub-lists that appear to be in pairs or triplets and may even have list-offspring of their own! Lists and comparisons, in other words, drown out the genuine help Brook offers.
He says it is a presentation of a course he offers. It feels that way. I only wish it had been a distillation of that course as well.

*I received a copy of this book for review.

"Redistributing...chocolate bars and ice cream cones."

2011-08-09T10:10:00.000-05:00

Hilarious quote. Something truly profound lurking here:

"This is the uprising of the working class. We're redistributing the wealth," said Bryn Phillips, a 28-year-old self-described anarchist, as young people emerged from a store with chocolate bars and ice cream cones.

UK PM recalls Parliament for London riot crisis - Yahoo! News

Your joy

2011-06-25T09:19:00.000-05:00

"Every joy is deeply opposed."

from: "Know Your Deepest Opposition."

(who knew John Eldridge and John Piper had so much in common?)

They Did Not Give Up

2011-06-14T14:05:00.003-05:00

"They Did Not Give Up."

This collection of anecdotes and quotes captures a bit of the vision behind my "normal Christianity." That is, it's a commitment to following Jesus that embraces, as He does, our failures and sinfulness as opportunities. Opportunities to embrace His love afresh, to glorify His sacrifice, to receive the Spirit, to enter God's life, to etc. ad infinitum
There is a natural resilience in the human spirit, placed there by God no-doubt. But it pales in comparison to the supernatural resilience of the Faithful Spirit of God.

Art Project, powered by Google

2011-06-12T09:12:00.000-05:00

This is flat out one of the coolest things the internet has ever provided: Art Project by Google.

Winnie-the-Pooh quotes by A.A. Milne

2011-06-10T14:08:00.002-05:00

Some serious, seriously awesome, and funny quotes
from a bear Of Little Brains.
Winnie-the-Pooh quotes.

Favorites:
"If the person you are talking to doesn't appear to be listening, be patient. It may simply be that he has a small piece of fluff in his ear."
"Rivers know this: there is no hurry. We shall get there some day."
"Well," said Pooh, "what I like best," and then he had to stop and think. Because although Eating Honey was a very good thing to do, there was a moment just before you began to eat it which was better than when you were, but he didn't know what it was called."

Eyjafjallajökull Volcano Photo, Iceland Wallpaper – National Geographic Ph... - StumbleUpon

2011-06-08T10:00:00.000-05:00

Wow. Glory. at NatGeo.com.

review of: Max on Life, by Max Lucado

2011-04-21T09:52:00.002-05:00

In Max on Life, best-selling author and pastor Max Lucado addresses 172 questions from seven different areas of life. He writes with wit, graciousness, and clarity. And most important, he addresses each question with biblical wisdom. The message of Max on Life is that the Bible matters for life, for every area of our lives, for every question. From hard things to regular things, God's Word can help.
Max Lucado is an extremely gifted writer. He gets right to the point. He hones in on the heart issue. He does not flinch. And he does it all with sensitivity and humor.
Max knows his Bible. I am a pastor. I know my Bible. But Max...Max knows his Bible. And he answers the questions as only someone who knows their Bible can answer a question. If the Bible is not clear about something, Max does not make it clearer. If the Bible is clear about something, Max does not equivocate. Where the Bible offers differing perspectives, Max gives us its latitude.
Which highlights the fact that on every page, Max is writing to hearts. He hears hearts in the questions and writes to hearts with his answers. He is sensitive and careful. He writes with love. Again, as a pastor, I found each answer extremely helpful. I can only hope that the Spirit of God will help me answer these difficult questions with something like the humility, graciousness, and confidence that Max answers them.
Which brings up the final point of applause: Each answer is shorter than a page and a half. Most are less than a page. In other words, Max answers these questions--some quite difficult--with all the knowledge, all the finesse, all the pastoral wisdom described above, all in about one page.
When the biblical writers talk about the Spirit giving gifts, I do not think that they mean that the Spirit gives people gifts as much as the Spirit gives gifts through people. This book is a gift. Receive it and be glad.

*I received a copy of this book for review from 'booksneeze.com.'

2011-03-25T14:23:00.003-05:00

Is this true of us? It's not that we're lazy: we're working harder than ever. But like the hamster on his spinning wheel, we're not going anywhere.
What good are you? Be of good.

2011-03-05T08:37:00.002-06:00

update: I'd love to be blogging more these days. But alas, my writing time is swallowed up in other enterprises. However, I am reading a great deal. If you're looking for the best of the-web-that-doesn't-suck, subscribe to my GoogleReader Shared Items feed.
TTFN

The Liturgical Year by Joan Chittister

2011-02-04T15:47:00.002-06:00

The Liturgical Year by Joan Chittister

The subtitle of this book is: "the spiraling adventure of the spiritual life." This is a good summary of the best of this book. Chittister explains how the observing the liturgical calendar works as a spiral. The effect is not instantaneous or remarkable. But, over time, the participant discovers themselves to be increasingly aware of redemption history by their reenactment of it throughout the year. Of all the benefits Chittister argues for, this is the most persuasive.
The liturgical year itself gets scant attention in this book. Note: the first chapter to address an actual calendar item is chapter 9, on Advent. Then, chapter 12 on Christmas; chapter 17 on Lent; 18, Ash Wednesday; 22, Holy Thursday; 23, Good Friday; 24, Holy Saturday; 25, Easter; 27, Paschaltide; The Sanctoral Cycle and Marian Feasts in 31-32. So, about ten actual calendar items in thirty-three chapters. Chapters also include, "Joy," "Asceticism," "Suffering," "Celebration," "Fidelity," and "Models and Heroes." Better than half of the book is taken up with these loosely related essays.
In addition to offering us little information about the Liturgical Year, the book is difficult to read. Chittister's devotional thoughts are generic, introduced by unrelated stories; her prose reads like a series of spoken addresses that have escaped significant editing.
The book is light reading and offers some enjoyable moments for those willing to meander with Chittister through the high points of the Christian calendar… and related thoughts. Those seeking information about the Liturgical Year will be frustrated.

Disclosure of Material Connection: I received this book free from the publisher through the BookSneeze®.com book review bloggers program. I was not required to write a positive review. The opinions I have expressed are my own. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255 : “Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising.”

Batman: Knightfall

2011-02-01T15:48:00.000-06:00

I love Batman stuff. Found this Wikipedia article to be helpful and full of new, exciting paths in the Batman-myth-universe. Batman: Knightfall.

Internet Archive

2011-01-29T15:39:00.002-06:00

I posted about this before but recently had an opportunity to examine the list of live concerts available on the Internet Archive a bit more thoroughly. Here are some artists who caught my eye:

OnesIlike.
Derek Webb and Sandra McCracken
Red Sparowes
Pinback
Waterdeep
Matt Pond PA
The Decembrists

OnesImight.
Ancient Harmony
BreatheOwlBreathe
The Weepies
The Clarks
Jose Gonzalez

OnesWithCoolNames.
Gandalf Murphy and the Slambovian Circus of Dreams

Beethovens 7th-Alegretto

2011-01-26T09:10:00.002-06:00

One of my favorite pieces. This guy does it a bit faster than I prefer, but the beauty and power of the piece is inescapable. Give yourself a break and enjoy.

who spent what

2011-01-23T09:26:00.001-06:00

Very interesting graphic display of which companies spent the most in advertising in 2010: Paying for Your Eyeballs.
Here are a few observations:
1. GM spent 1.5 billion of OUR dollars to sell US products? (up 20%!) I don't know if there is a clearer example of government misuse of taxpayer dollars. Of course, I'm joking. There are hundreds of better examples. (NASA?)
2. Looking at the companies on the list, I wonder if we could make a direct connection between amount of money spend on advertisements and amount of stuff a company wants to divert our attention away from? It's not so much that the companies most excited about their products want to attract our attention, it's that the companies most interested in hiding things divert our attention with ads.
3. The above two observations help to solidify my theologically given view that whether it's capitalism or socialism, the bottom line is people wasting money in order to cover evil and stupidity. Bottom Line: you loose. Unless it's you wasting the money and doing the foolishness. In that case: you loose BIG TIME.

trick or treaters

2011-01-22T15:05:00.001-06:00

This comic made me laugh because I had the same idea. I suggested to wifey that we order pizza and put a slice in the bag of each kid. Other *great ideas included a cup of warm cider in each baggie.
Ha! What a funny guy I am.
Anyways, this is funny:

spring's coming

2011-01-21T09:07:00.003-06:00

It's 9degrees tomorrow, but spring's not far off.

On a side but related note: consider the suburban obsession with lawn care.
It's as if a large part of our moral concern and accompanying distribution of shame and social guilt got transferred mid-century to external appearances, i.e. lawn care. Since our neighbors were no longer known, we were only given access to each other's lives via facades. But we still had to judge each other, condemn, praise, etc., and assign moral values (read: make sense of our universes). But now we only have access to each others externals. Thus the importance of lawns.
It is only by happy chance (our movies tells us) that we discover the single elderly woman who doesn't keep her garden well isn't a witch. Who knew? Her lawn's shaggy. How were we to suspect anything different?

'Fasting' by Scot McKnight

2011-01-18T20:11:00.002-06:00

Fasting?
Why would I? What does it involve? Is it biblical?
To hear talk of fasting is, for most people, like being cast into a fog in a strange land. Unfortunately, many books that discuss fasting talk about in ethereal terms: sensations, mystical experiences; the Bible, and clear explanation, appears very little.
Scot McKnight offers a corrective to that problem and a prescriptive to all the above questions, and more. McKnight's thesis is simple: "Fasting is the natural, inevitable response of a person to a grievous sacred moment in life." He deals with what he calls an "instrumental" view of fasting, where fasting is a ploy attempting to get something instead of a response. McKnight thoroughly proves his thesis, from Scripture and from history; he also demonstrates how, in those cases where an instrumental view is taken, people can be harmed.
If anyone has a question about fasting, whether from a biblical passage, a historical anecdote, or a practical concern, McKnight addresses it. McKnight provides an A-Z, plain, simple, clear explanation of fasting. Those who read this book will have a solid footing—a clear, biblical understanding of fasting—from which to embark on a life that incorporates this practice.
In additional, McKnight’s style is simple and thoroughly readable. There is no jargon that he himself does not introduce and explain. He is used to writing for the common person. Easy to understand and always interesting, McKnight has provided the Church with a gift in 'Fasting.' Now pastors have something to recommend, and believers have a starting place from which to begin, when the question of fasting comes up.

[Disclosure of Material Connection: I received this book free from the publisher through the BookSneeze®.com book review bloggers program. I was not required to write a positive review. The opinions I have expressed are my own. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255 : “Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising.”]

one-sentence theology

2011-01-15T07:15:00.002-06:00

Dane Ortlund posts a series of responses to the question: What's the Message of the Bible in One Sentence?
Many very helpful responses in the bunch.
My favorite:

Doug Wilson:

Scripture tells us the story of how a Garden is transformed into a Garden City, but only after a dragon had turned that Garden into a howling wilderness, a haunt of owls and jackals, which lasted until an appointed warrior came to slay the dragon, giving up his life in the process, but with his blood effecting the transformation of the wilderness into the Garden City.

rethinking foolishness

2011-01-13T20:36:00.000-06:00

Some great stuff from StrongOdors today.
Loved this in particular:

To me foolishness is missing out on your children’s childhood because you’re too busy working for retirement… busting your butt for 40 years so you can sit on it for the last few you’ve got on earth.

SO YOU CAN SIT ON IT FOR THE LAST FEW
This may be the best summary of the basic operating religion we all come programmed with: Waste your youth on 'productivity' so you can waste your aged-ness on 'relaxation.'
(Is that what they call it when you have no relationships and no hope? Relaxation?)
Go through Hell; Get to Heaven. Game Over. SucksToBeYou.

Think on these things: Troublemaker.

Also:
try,
Don't Waste Your Retirement

'more of a big picture guy'

2011-01-12T10:55:00.000-06:00

peacemaking and children

2011-01-11T13:36:00.000-06:00

Ken Sande of Peacemakers hits it on the head.
We parents need to consider this closely:
Peacemaking: A Key to Socializing Children.

a long defeat

2011-01-09T13:15:00.002-06:00

"A Long Defeat"
I've been troubling over this phrase and attendant concept since it was introduced to me by Wesley. Originally from JRR.
Perhaps it will provide you with helpful questions as we embark on 2011. Once we pass 30 (I'm 30), we forever leave behind the idea of 'improvement.' I am not getting smarter, fitter, handsomer, etc. I am not getting nicer, cleaner, more resolute. My morality, like my tendons, is loosing its elasticity. Would it were not so.
But,...
Can I fight a long defeat?
I'll die. I'll do bad things. I'll say horrible, foolish words to people I love with my whole heart. I'll ignore pain in others. My neighbors will get their damned divorce. My friends will ruin their family's too. Our country will come to an end. Our culture will become more self-destructive. Our illusions will unexpectedly vanish.
It's true. We will be defeated.
But then, after the defeat... what comes next?
This is why fighting the long defeat is okay. It is an acceptable form of the victory we've been promised.
What comes next makes it okay.

Here's some other thoughts about and involving "The Long Defeat."
The American Scene: "The Long Defeat."
The Inklings: "The Long Defeat."