Movies, Lids, and the Imagination of God

Hey everybody,

If you hadn't noticed. I discovered the power of youTube recently. As one of my internet friends, Shannon Smith, said recently, "technology, I think it is here to stay." In the past month, we have been able to do some pretty amazing things with new technology- talk to our missionary friends in Portugal and my sister and brother n law face to face through IChat, download videos at a click of a button, create websites to get out information, and send pictures to family all over the country. Pretty cool stuff that we could not even have imagined when I was born.

I posted that last video about the Flea Circus because I think it is a great thought-provoker about how we choose to live and the limits we set for ourselves in many different arenas of life. We've been watching a lot of movies recently, and this has been a theme I've picked up from Gattica, Stranger than Fiction, Cinderella 3 (that's right, I've got two daughters now and there is more where that came from for me), and Amazing Grace which I saw last night (and the button from Lost of course). In their own ways, each of these movies challenges the limits that we as individuals and the societies, structures, and cultures around us set for ourselves. In stranger than Fiction, Will Ferrell is the paradigm of a controlled, secure, and efficient life until he starts hearing this voice inside of his head that is narrating his life for him. At one point in his quest to figure out who is talking to him, he realizes that all of his controls in his life have kept him from really living life- no dreams, no passion, no significant relationships, no risk, no real meaning, and he was the only one imposing that on himself.

In Gattica, there is a striking contrast between one person who has been completely marginalized by the futurist society and one person who has every privelege and adavantage in the world. It was striking to me that the advanantaged one was suiscidal and depressed while the marginalized one became the hero by overcoming his obstacles and pursuing his dream by making great sacrifices and taking great risks. In the end, life was not worth living for one, but incredibly rich for the other.

Last night, we saw Amazing Grace and it was as inspirational as I thought it would be. (yes me and wife got to go on a date thanks to David and Vicki Paxton) William Wilberforce fought for twenty years through incredible pressure from outside forces and internal struggles, but persevered to end the dehumanizing slave trade in England. His actions had ripple effects throughout the world that eventually led to the end of slavery in America and the rest of Europe.

The one point in the movie that stuck with me came closer to the beginning of the movie after Wilberforce had a profound experience with God and contemplated leaving the parliament to join the ministry. His good friend, William Pitt, came to him and said: are you going to praise the Lord or change the world? This mindset is what stirrs fire inside of my soul. We cannot praise the Lord without being willing to follow Him to change the world. This is really the point of the movie that I loved: it showed how being a follower of Jesus and sacrificing to change the world is one and the same thing.

Each of these movies showed someone removing the lids of the particular situation and living for more than the status quo around them. We live in a culture when imagination has created great technology and great movies, but I wonder what lids need to be lifted in our lives to pursue the imagination of God?

In Ephesians 1-2 Paul reminds us that God's imagination dreamed each of us up before the world began to bring His goodness and hope to people on this earth in creative and imaginative ways. When we connect to God and others through Christ, we let loose the divine imagination in the world. I love how the church in so many places is asking questions based on the application of a redemptive imagination in our world rather than just trying to get more people in the church and present an abstract message about God. I think Paul would be very sad to think of us settling for entertaining ourselves with good movies and teachings and maintaining the status quo, but very excited to hear about us dreaming about how we can use the unique gifts, resources, and creativity as communities to bring restoration and hope to our world around us.

Let's take the lid off life (that was my little e-sermon)

Peace

Corey

Is your life like a Flea Circus?

What's your lid?

More Pics of the Family

How Braveheart Should Have Ended

Very funny

Must See New Movie

I just found out about this new movie that is coming out about the story of William Wilberforce's fight to end the slave trade in England. I'm really looking forward to seeing it.

It reminds me that the difference between idealism and faith is action, and that one person of faith can change the world.

I still can't believe that people used the Bible to justify slavery and that just less than 150 years ago this still existed in our country. I wonder what people will say about our generation and the disparity of wealth that exists between the West and the rest of the world?

Peace

What do you think of this guy?

CNN.com Video

I think this guy actually raises a pretty important question: how do you distinguish between a healthy faith community and an unhealthy one? how do you know who you can trust with so many different messages out there about God?

I am really interested in what people think about this. If you haven't noticed, religion is weird and often very destructive. Even within one religion like Christianity, there are so many voices with drastically different messages that say they believe basically the same thing (jesus, bible, etc). How do you discern what is true? what is real?

This is a question I have been wrestling through and continue to for some time and am interested in knowing what you think. I'll post on it later.

Shiloah's First Week!

I am already amazed at how different my two little girls are, and we are thankful they came in this order. Here's a brief comparision:

Let's just say Hannah was not the most quiet baby, whereas Shiloah barely makes a peep. Hannah cried whenever she was unhappy, Shiloah crys when she is hungry. Wow. Shiloah has Danielle's features (looks just like her as a baby)- has long legs, really fine muscles, long fingers and toes; Hannah has Paxton features (head shape, block finger and toes like the flinstones). They are both beautifully happy little girls, but it is really exciting to already see their uniqueness.

I am getting to know more that God is very creative. The more I get to the know the differences in the people I meet with all their unique gifts and personalities and backgrounds and challenges, the more imagination I think God has. I think the uniqueness of humanity is the one of the biggest signs of God in our world. I look forward to getting to know my little girls more and seeing what new people God brings into our family's life everyday.

Here's some pics of Shiloah and Hannah:

Shiloah Nicole Paxton Arrives!

Hey everyone

Here are some pics of Shiloah. She is another precious little girl!













Let the Adventures of Shiloah and Hannah begin!

The Reign of Hannah is Coming to a Close...

Tomorrow, little miss Hannah Victoria will be sharing the throne of the house with her new sister, Shiloah Nichole. We will be waking up bright and early and heading over the hospital at 5am. We are really excited now, but it still doesn't feel completely real.

I remember when Hannah's little foot just squirted out of danielle's belly and then watching the doctors frantically pulling this slimy little girl out, and then my heart just melting. I love my girls so much. I really can't explain how love just continues to expand for them and I am really looking forward to meet Shiloah tomorrow.

The reign of Hannah has been a good one. Here's some recent pics for you as the era of Shiloah begins tomorrow

Peace

Anyone Else Excited Lost is Starting?

Two long anticipated moments in my life is happening this week. I'm having a baby, Shiloah Nichole on Saturday, and Lost is starting back up. You may be thinking, how can he right these two things in the same sentence? Well, I'll be honest with you, I'm excited about them in different ways, and have mixed emotions about both.

Last season, Lost was like a confused toddler, running here and there, with seemingly no purpose. While I love my toddler and think she is very funny, Lost lived up to its name and it was driving me crazy. I am hoping for redemption this season. I'm am excited, but we have to wait and see.

As for Shiloah Nichole, I've been experiencing a lot of mixed emotions about my second girl. I've been telling people I'm excited the whole time, but not really feeling excited. When Hannah was born, everything was new and fresh. I went to almost every doctors appointment with Danielle, stayed up talking to her belly, asked a lot of questions about "What to Expect when she is expecting." This time around, it's been a little different. I haven't been to the doctors appointment (I am watching Hannah), I pretty much crash at the end of the day (taking care of Hannah), and sadly haven't talked to Shiloah very much in the belly. Also, been feeling the tension of moving from "Dad" to "Father." I feel like it is a big difference in responsibility level going from one kid to two kid in which I officially earn the name Father. I have actually found for some kind of weird reason, I have more anxious feelings this time around than last time around. Over the last week, I have genuinely become excited about Shiloah coming, but it's definetly been different.

Okay, that's enough of my inner monologue. Maybe this is why I like Lost so much, because life just doesn't always make sense.

(for those of you who read this, you can not tell Shiloah that I compared my excitement for her and lost in the same sentence; traci, I am now starting to understand your plight even more)

Peace

Corey