A New Blog

Julie and I have begun a new blog with our thoughts about what we are going through now with our unborn little girl, Magdalena Grace. I have posted the link to the right (Noah and Julie's Blog). It can be extremely therapeutic to write from the heart during difficult times. Please feel free to read from it and leave comments for us. Thanks!

This One's for You, Baby

A couple months ago, Julie and I went to experience our first 3-D concert movie, Hannah Montana & Miley Cyrus: Best of Both Worlds Concert. Julie is a big fan of Hannah/Miley and I love seeing concerts, so we both figured it would be at least somewhat enjoyable and interesting. We weren't sure about investing $30 to go see a movie, but we knew we had no shot of ever seeing this show live and this was as close as we were going to get.

Walking in and being handed the goofy 3-D glasses reminded me of when I used to go see movies back in the 80's (yes, I am that old so feel free to insert old people jokes here) that were 3-D. I particularly remember Jaws III. Awesome!

As the movie got started, it took a while for me to get used to the 3-D as my eyes and brain needed to adjust. After adjusting, I was amazed at the effects of the camera work and how cleverly things were shot to give a fuller effect of being at a show. The movie gave many views of the show that could not have been seen in person. At times it was a bit dizzying, but overall it was very well done.

The movie also provided a good bit of behind-the-scenes footage. I found this to be the most interesting. I was impressed to see how much work goes into putting on a show of this size. Miley works very hard to rehearse well, promote her product, and perform with a tremendous amount of energy. It also showed Miley a bit nervous about a certain move and also showed her making mistakes here and there. Thinking about this later, I came to the conclusion that all of this is probably good for a lot of teens to see. They can see that what Miley is doing as a superstar requires a tremendous amount of work. Yes, she has some talent, but she also works very hard to put on a good show. It also shows that she is much more like them than they might realize and, hopefully, they can resist the temptation to worship her too much.

The funniest part of the movie was seeing clips of fathers dressed up like Miley with full make-up, wigs, and high heels and having to race each other to try to win tickets for their daughters to see the show live. It is amazing what fathers will go through for their children.

There were also some touching behind-the-scenes such as Miley teaching one of her songs to her father, Billy Ray, that she wrote for her grandfather who had passed away. We also got a short glimpse of Miley and Billy Ray practicing his hit, "Ready, Set, Don't Go", but I was disappointed that they didn't show them performing the whole song live. That is probably my favorite song of the Cyrus family (even more than "Achy Breaky Heart", if you can believe that).

I can't say that I am a big fan of Miley's music, but I did gain a bit more respect for her after seeing this show. She is a pretty good singer and will almost certainly get even better as she grows up a bit. She is also very energetic and actually puts on a pretty entertaining show, although it is clearly intended for young teens. I am impressed with her band who were very tight and did a few interesting things musically beyond what I had expected.

A part of the show included the extremely popular group called the Jonas Brothers. To me, this was the low point of the movie. I see them and think that they are just a poor version of Hanson. Hanson writes all their own music and performs it very well. I have actually seen them in concert and came away extremely impressed. The Jonas Brothers may help write some of the songs they perform, but they aren't anywhere near as musically talented as Hanson, from what I can tell. They play the crowd and the cameras well (at least two of them were actors on Broadway) but they don't play their instruments much and when they do, it isn't particularly impressive.

I really like the fact that Miley writes a lot of her own songs. That is, to me, a huge deal. Too many pop artists are simply fabrications of the enormous music industry who simply do as they are told and are promoted until they are famous. Miley is certainly promoted by Disney, but she had to earn her spot on the t.v. show that got her started, and a lot of her music has a lot of her own heart in it, as young and juvenile as it may seem to some of us.

Miley has also been a very good role model for kids today. She has kept her image clean for the most part (the Vanity Fair pictures were not nearly as scandalous as they were made out to be and she publicly apologized for the misperception) and seems to know where to draw lines. Her lyrics are not suggestive and it was refreshing to see her and her backup dancers do routines that were not oversexed, which is certainly against the trends of the day. So far, she has kept herself clean and classy, but we will have to see if she is shaving her head in a few years.

The concert movie was overall a delight. I did not feel that I wasted my money and I was certainly happy to be able to take my lovely wife to something that she would really enjoy. The movie wasn't long enough, but it was good while it lasted. Of course, for me, the best part of the whole movie was when the drummer hit his stick on the floor tom and made it bounce high in the air. The camera angle (in 3-D, mind you) was directly from above, and the stick coming right at me and then going back down right into his hand just in time to continue playing was amazing. If you or your (much) better half like Miley at all, I recommend the concert movie experience.

Edwards on Man's Pursuit

"Jesus knew that all mankind were in pursuit of happiness. He has directed them in the true way to it, and He tells them what they must become in order to be blessed and happy."

~Jonathan Edwards, "Blessed Are the Pure in Heart"

Thoughts on Worship and Adoration

I have been pondering what it means to worship recently and something occurred to me. I am trying to work through it myself, so I may misstep and find myself in need of correction, but I will try to put my thoughts down anyway.

It is very interesting that we are called to worship and adore God. Often in this world, these two things are somewhat distinct. It seems like it is hard to do both at the same time. For example, I love my wife. I adore her. She is wonderful and I try to honor her and lift her up (rather poorly, I am afraid), but I am not tempted to worship her. I know her too well. This means that I know her beauty, but I also know her sin. In all her beauty, she is simply a sinner saved by grace.

At the same time, I love going to concerts. I love to hear live music being performed well. There is something passionate and moving when a group of people get together and just play. My favorite group to see live is Dave Matthews Band. They are great musicians who put on a tremendous show. I am always amazed when I go see them. But there is a sadness that I feel deep in my heart when I am at one of their concerts. So many people that go to the shows appear to be in such awe of the band that it seems to border on worship, if not being outright worship. They hang on every word spoken or sung and they scream and raise their hands in full and eager support. I have even seen signs that say, "Carter is God." Carter is a very good drummer (certainly one of the best), but he is nothing compared to God . Even as a Christian, it can be very easy to get caught up in this atmosphere of worshipping the people on the stage performing something that we enjoy so much. We are hard-wired to deeply desire to worship something greater than ourselves. For some people, sadly, Dave Matthews Band fits the bill. But it seems to me that if we really got to know the band members personally and spent a good bit of time with them, we would see them more for who they really are and would soon lose the sense of awe and wonder that we so easily have for them. We would see far more of their human side with all their faults and be far less tempted to worship them.

Only God becomes more wondrous and awe-inspiring the more personally that we get to know Him. At the same time, our adoration of Him grows even more as we worship Him and delight in Him. Only with God do awe-inspiring worship and delightful adoration continue to grow because the more we know Him, the more we want of Him and the more our enjoyment of Him grows. What a wonderful God we have! I am so thankful that He has shown Himself in all His beauty and glory that I may spend the rest of my life (and hereafter) getting to know and worship Him rather than trying to satisfy my desire to worship on Dave Matthews Band or anything else that isn't God.

Southern Influence?

Clearly, my time living in the great state of Mississippi has affected me quite deeply. I have found myself speaking with a much stronger southern accent at times and I am using words that I have never used before such as "y'all's" instead of "your". But I truly felt the weight of the influence on me when the other day I started laughing to myself as I thought of this great little expression that certainly feels very southern, if not all out redneck. Please tell me if you have encountered it before because I may have made it up.

To tell somebody that you are very busy, you can say, "I feel like I'm in a butt-slappin' contest. The faster I go, the more behind I get!"

Thoughts, Emotions and the Fight of Faith

I recently had a conversation with my good friend, Larry Hornsby, in which I was telling him about the very difficult times that Julie and I are going through in regard to our unborn little girl, Magdalena. I told him that it is very hard for us knowing that we have several more months of dealing with the fact that our little baby will most likely either be stillborn or will die shortly after being born. This has made us very emotional with a lot of ups and downs. There are times when we are overcome with grief and we start crying at unlikely times as something reminds us of what we are going through. I quoted to Larry a line in a song by U2 which says that feelings are stronger than thoughts. Larry quickly told me that that is not true. Thoughts are ultimately stronger.

I think that Larry is right, but there is also some truth to what Bono says. Emotions hit us hard and seem to be less in our control than thoughts. Many emotions carry along with them a real physical response that only adds to their strength. However, for the most part, our emotions can be greatly influenced by how and what we think. I think this is why the Bible commands emotions all over the place and also why we have such a hard time accepting that God commands us to have certain emotions. I believe that right thinking about this world and particularly about God can greatly change the way that we feel about things.

Some emotions are almost always sinful. This is very difficult to truly understand if we feel that we have little or no control over our emotions. For example, jealousy is a very powerful emotion that starts in early childhood and, for many of us, continues right through adulthood. Often, it goes unchecked and can lead to a great many other sinful thoughts and behaviors. It is something that I certainly struggle with in all kinds of situations. But recently I have learned to battle jealousy through right thinking about God and his glorious promises to always take care of me. If I am willing to preach to myself that I am in his perfect hands and meditate on that fact, I can easily overcome that feeling of jealousy and turn it into feelings of joy and peace in God as my wondeful Father.

Another example is impatience. This one is extremely powerful, especially in our American culture. R.C. Sproul says that impatience is a direct attack against the sovereignty of God. I think that he is exactly right and that in that statement is the key to overcoming the sin of impatience. If I spend my time while I am stuck in traffic meditating on the fact that God is totally in control and that he put every one of those cars in my way at the very moment that I was in a hurry to get somewhere, the ugly feelings of impatience go back to wherever they came from and I find myself at peace in what could have been a very negative experience. I think this is very God-honoring.

The more I meditate on the fact that all things work together for good for those of us in Christ, the easier it is to deal with the grief of knowing that my first daughter will almost certainly pass away shortly after or before even being born. Also, knowing that His grace is sufficient and that His mercies are new every morning is wonderfully relaxing because I can rest in the fact that throughout the coming heartache, he will be there for me to strengthen and comfort me. This is what John Piper calls faith in future grace and I have found this understanding of God’s relationship to us profoundly life changing. This is also a daily battle that must be waged in prayer and meditation on God’s Word. This is what Paul calls the fight of faith. The battle is tremendously difficult at times, but the more we think and meditate on the great and glorious truths about God, the more we are able to experience the great peace and joy that are promised to us, even in the midst of great sadness.

Please pray that our thoughts and emotions will be greatly God-honoring and soul-satisfying in this very difficult time for us.

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