This is the work of my friend M. Dale Prins. For years, I thought his sense of humor was his greatest gift. I was wrong.
Spread the word. And stock up on copies for Christmas gifts: http://www.emmanuelshall.com/
At U.S. News and World Report, Bill Hybels is talking about Bono.
Hybels is the founder of Willow Creek Community Church outside of Chicago, the fourth largest congregation in the country. He says:
Nearly two weeks ago, I stood before 7,000 people—and an additional 60,000 connected via satellite feed—who gathered for the Willow Creek Association’s annual two-day conference the Global Leadership Summit to hear from diverse faculty on the subject of how to get better at leading whatever it is that we lead. Part of the assortment this year included Bono, who agreed to a follow-up discussion to our 2006 interview, during which he called out the local church for being inexcusably late to the game of fighting extreme poverty and treatable disease.
The evangelical church has taken a lot of justifiable heat in recent years for being vocal about the things we hate while staying silent about some of the most pressing needs in our world. There are times when I believe the church should be the conscience of our culture, but to Bono’s point, a reframing must occur, one where the divisiveness that once defined us as people of faith gets edged out by a unity around great societal causes. And what has to unite us in this day and age is the fight against poverty and disease. Faith leaders the world over expected this day would come. What we didn’t expect was that it would take an Irish rock star to demand the dawn.
As leaders, there are so many things we must get better at: casting vision, building teams, solving problems, enforcing values, and building the next generation of leaders. But if we excel in those areas and still neglect to use our leadership octane to address God’s clear mandate to serve the poor, what have we really gained?
And that is good news.
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Let’s just be clear. These Narnia movies aren’t supposed to be based on the books. They’re supposed to be based on the filmmakers’ *memories* of the books, which they might not have read since childhood. Because, you know, those memories will be so much better than the books. And who could expect a busy filmmaker to actually read the novel he’s adapting?
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I’ve been told more than once now that because the Scriptures contain stories of violent revenge and conquest, and since Christ is going to come again to unleash bloody justice upon unbelievers, that perhaps I should question my objections to a movie that invites us to find pleasure in the onscreen disfigurement, dismemberment, and destruction of Nazis.
So, here’s my pitch for Tarantino’s next movie:
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You must read Daniel Mendelsohn - ‘Inglourious Basterds’: When Jews Attack
I’ve read a lot of writing about Quentin Tarantino’s new film. Some folks seem to be having a lot of fun at the movie. I wish I’d had fun. Mendelsohn sounds like he saw the same movie I saw – the film that made me feel sad and a little sick – and not the joyride that so many other people seem to have enjoyed.
I’d encourage you to read it… read all of it… before you go any farther in this post.
Okay…
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I’m intrigued.
The Browser: News & links to raise your eyebrows & furrow your brow. New headlines may be added as the day goes on. Stay tuned.
Hi ho, Jeffrey the Recovering Storyteller here.
It’s my first real day off since completing Raven’s Ladder. I plan to rest. Write reviews. And see movies. 500 Days of Summer and District 9, to be specific. My friend, painter Laura Lasworth, loved the first one, and blogger Mark Shea, who I encountered in the grocery store parking lot yesterday, was very impressed by the second. Can’t wait to see them both.
But first, some notes… (more…)