don't waste your life

have you ever began reading a book for "fun" that eventually became a chore? have you started a book off fired up about what you may learn or take away from reading it only to find yourself struggling to get through the first 2 or 3 chapters? that's how i was with "don't waste your life" by john piper. usually the motivation for getting through a book like this becomes, "well i paid for it so i should finish reading it." that wasn't true with this once since i got it for free from the publisher's website. so i had to find my motivation elsewhere. it came from the contents of those first few chapters that were hard to get through. and it was worth getting through it.

the premise of the book is pretty simple. God has a higher calling for yourl ife, don't settle for the simple life of sleeping, working, eating, loving and laughing. His call for Christians is to live a life that shows our love for Him by making much of Him in everything that we do. piper goes into quite a bit of explanation of how we can make much of God in the very different things we do everyday. how do we make much of God both in our eating and in our working?

overall a good read with some cool quotes. piper's challenges in the last few chapters of how we use our time and money, to live a "war-time lifestyle" and the call to spread the gospel to lands where there is no access to it yet are huge and may be just what God is needing to challenge you with.

1984

i've always wanted to read 1984. i definitely wouldn't say it's for everyone but it's worth a read if you're into the poliitical societal plight of mankind kind of thing. it reminds me alot of aldous huxley's "brave new world". it's not action packed or a particularly easy read but it's definitely one that will make you think about society and government and where our world is headed.

luckily orwell didn't get the year right, though it's definitely conceivable that much of the reality in the book could become a part of our reality in the not too distant future.

IMHO.

thr3e

i haven't read much fiction in a long time. probably the last fiction work i read was 3 left behind books ago. however, i needed something to read in traveling home and back so i picked up thr3e. it's a murder mystery thriller that is nonstop from the first page.

dekker interweaves a Christian theme including some pretty thought provoking philosophizing on good & evil and man's struggle against himself and doing what he doesn't want to do (romans 7:15-25).

if you want a fun book that is a quick read, slightly thought provoking, full of action and with a very surprising plot twist then this is a great one to check out.

IMHO.

three approaches to abortion

this is an excellent book if you are looking for a way to argue your reasoning against abortion beyond that found in scripture. unfortunately, when discussing this controversial topic with non-Christians, quoting scripture or using God at all will not get you very far. this makes sense, though doesn't make it any easier to deal with. in this book kreeft takes three different routes.

chapter 1 : "the apple argument against abortion"
in chapter one he uses a very logical, philosophical argument starting with his first point "We know what an apple is" and ending up at "Abortion is wrong." makes sense, right? it is a somewhat technical argument in which he does a very good job explaining skepticism and relativism and why it just doesn't work. there's a very good chance that you will never be able to use this argument with anyone because there aren't very many people you come in contact with who will be able to follow the logic of the argument without a great deal of explanatiion. this is, of course, assuming that you can follow the logic and then regurgitate it on the fly.

chapter 2 : "why we fight: a pro-life motivational roadmap"
this chapter is more of an inspirational-i can't believe it's gotten this bad-what do you mean why does it matter-why aren't you doing more kind of chapter. it's informative and kinda give some insight into some pro-life motivations.

chapter 3 : "what happens when an irresistable force meets an immovable object? a typical pro-life/pro-choice dialogue"
this is probably the most interesting of all the chapters. it's just what it says, a dialogue between two people. at times they get frustrated with each other because the conversation becomes somewhat of a personal attack. that is the essence of the argument against abortion though. it's an incredibly personal conviction that a baby's life is worth saving.

this book is great no matter which side of the argument you stand on. the author is most definitely pro-life, but the information and arguments presented are there for anyone seeking the truth.

IMHO.

signs

i'm not a fan of spooky movies. mainly because of the way my imagination goes wild later on when i'm alone. signs isn't terribly spooky except in a couple of places. it didn't leave me with a "spooky" feeling but it didn't really leave me where i'd wished it would either.

the buildup to a "war of the worlds" and then there not being one, is kind of disappointing. i won't ruin the plot for you if you haven't seen it, but if you want a sci-fi thriller...this ain't it.

i found the father's struggle of faith and his search for the reason why things happen much more interesting. if you rent the dvd you should definitely watch the bonus scenes and hear some of m. night shymalan's inspirations and reasons for doing some of the things he did in the movie.

this one will definitely get you thinking about faith and "coincidences" so if you're into that it's good. it didn't really live up to the hype i heard from other people but it had an interesting plot and had some funny parts too.

IMHO.

pirates of the caribbean

this is a great movie. it's kind of long but it doesn't drag at all. it's been in theatres a long time so you'd better hurry if you haven't seen it yet. everyone told me the special effects in the sword fight at the end was the best part. they were right. excellent special effects, excellent plot and a couple of cool twists as well.

two weeks notice

typical chick flick but with some very funny parts. i'm not exactly sure how this ended up on my netflix rental queue but it came so i watched it.

IMHO.

xxx

i'm a little wary of posting this review because i know once the term "xxx" gets on my site that i'm gonna be attracting some interesting search referrals. xxx was a fun movie. lots of cool stunts, even an interesting plot. vin diesel basically caries the movie. it has it's funny parts and the ending is slightly less than suspenseful. but still, the idea behind the plot is cool and so were the stunts.

IMHO.

the bourne identity

another spy thriller that is great. matt damon is fished from the sea with two bullet holes in his back and no idea who he is or what's been going on for the last few years of his life. slowly he discovers more and more about his past but not before he becomes the target of assasins. lots of action and lots of great scenes that make you think.

IMHO.

monster's ball

ssssllllllllooooooowwwwww!!!! too much sex. not enough plot. not worth waiting on. i don't know what i thought monster's ball was...but i was obviously wrong.

i suppose there were some life lessons in there. the whole "racist white trash can have a change of heart but only if the black woman he's seducing looks like halle berry and throws herself on him" lesson. it's not entertaining at all and at most it will make you depressed.

IMHO.

the recruit

anything with al pacino has got to be good and "the recruit" is no exception. it has it's slow parts at the beginning as the new cia recruits get their training but even that has its twists and turns. the action really picks up about half way though when james (colin farrell) gets his first assignment to root out a mole in the cia. the twists and turns go from there as the spy games begin. i'd give it a slightly above average. it's worth renting but don't expect too much from it.

IMHO.

finding nemo

yes, i went to see pixar's newest film "finding nemo." it was great. i laughed out loud several times throughout the movie. there was only one part of the movie that didn't seem to fit quite right but it was short and sweet. the rest of the movie is hilarious. dory (ellen degeneres), the fish who suffers from short-term memory loss, carries the movie. her part alone is worth going to see.

IMHO.

the animatrix

if you're a fan of "the matrix" you should definitely rent this movie. yes, it's animated. yes, it's anime or japanimation. and usually i'm not a big fan of either, especially the latter. but the matrix fan in me won out.

it includes 9 visions, or short stories, that are prequels to "the matrix" or "the matrix reloaded". two include the story of what lead up to the war between the humans and machines and then the war itself. the one that most closely fits in with "the matrix reloaded" and also "enter the matrix" (the ps2 game) is "the final flight of the osiris", in which the crew of the osiris discovers the machines beginning their dig towards zion.

the rest of the stories are pretty much a waste of time. they feature strange animation and storylines that don't really seem to fit. maybe they will fit better after "the matrix revolutions", but somehow i doubt it.

IMHO.

the matrix reloaded

i was hoping to be pleasantly surprised, i wasn't. the special effects and the fight scenes lived up to their billing. neo's fight with 100 agent smith's was cool, though if you look closely at their faces it looks like a very good video game. my fears that the philosohpical issues would be lost in the action were unfounded. unfortunately, all of these good things were what killed the movie.

the fight scenes were too long and monotonous. how many times can one jump in the air, float and kick each attacker in the head and it sitll be exciting to watch? sometimes it seemed they slowed down to bullet time only because they wanted to prove they still knew how.

morpheus's, the oracle's and merovingian's (new in reloaded) rants about truth, choice, programs, backdoors, reality, fate and causality are ridiculously repetitive and unnecessarily inserted into scenes. the movie kept it's deep philosophical side...but you'll probably wish it hadn't.

for those that care about such things, it seems the wachowski brothers discovered profanity and sex sometime since the original and apparently neo and trinity don't get much time alone on board the nebuchadnezzar. unfortunately we get to watch their first night back in zion.

cut the fight scenes in half, the philosophical diatribes by more and remove the completely unnecessary sex and rave scene and the matrix reloaded would be great. the last 45 minutes or so is excellent though it seems to me they could have gotten to that part of the plot about an hour earlier than they did. the twists presented once neo reaches "the source" is very unexpected, though you'll have to pay very close attention to keep up with what "the architect" is telling him.

i would still suggest going to see it if only because the story is unique and you gotta see this to know the full story. just be sure you go to the early show and get plenty of sleep before you go. otherwise you might find yourself struggling through.

IMHO

jeremy camp: stay

if you like creed, lifehouse or third day you'll love jeremy camp. i discovered jeremy camp while looking for bands to play a concert i was organizing here in wichita. the deal with jeremy camp fell through but through that i've become a big fan of his music. he's on a nationwide tour right now so he's coming to somewhere near you i'd definitely recommend going to see him.

he has a pretty awsome testimony too. he proposed to and married his wife after she had already begun treatment for ovarian cancer. she died just a few months after they were married.

check out his site and read his story. then buy his music and see him in concert.

IMHO