Philpott Inside :: Dec 2003
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Mon, 01 Dec 2003
Dec 01, 2003, 14:38
[top/family_news/youth]
Truth Quest - Asking Tough Questions
By Matthew Collins
The Quest for truth is a new series that was produced as an outreach tool by Image X Media with Youth for Christ, Vancouver. It was created so that any student ministry could use it. It began as the dream of Phil Cann who wanted to create a cutting edge tool that ministries could use-not to do the work for them, but to assist them in reaching the lost. It was in essence an Alpha for students.
In the late summer I sat down with five other youth pastors in our area intending to partner together to use the Quest series as a tool to reach into the community of Hamilton. So with a little bit of hesitation, and a lot of prayer, we went forward. We launched Quest in mid October and over the next six weeks met every Tuesday here in our gym.
The set up was simple: open with loud music, and lots of videos. From there we played a number of “whacked-out” games that got the students up out of their chairs and interacting with new people. Then it was into the series.
Each tape began the same way, with Phil hosting us from several sites including Toronto, London, England, Las Vegas, New York and L.A.
Within each session were a number of questions designed to get the students discussing these ideas around their tables. The questions probed the students’ hearts to reveal their thoughts on the world around them, the reality of Christ, and more.
Through all of this we saw one of our own students make a commitment to Christ for the first time. As well, several others are asking some tough questions. The great part about the series is that it doesn’t ask people to make a decision for Christ ‘on the spot,’ but rather, it challenges them to think it through very carefully. This decision includes a great cost- the cost of discipleship.
For some, it is now up to the friend that brought them to ask the ‘big’ question. I hope that you will continue to pray for our students as a number of them right now are on their own journey, their own Quest for truth.
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Dec 01, 2003, 14:38
[top/reviews/movies]
Cat In The Hat Not So Funny
Review excerpt from Plugged In, Focus on the Family
Conrad is a rambunctious 12-year-old boy who tends to make huge messes in the process of entertaining himself. By contrast, his younger sister, Sally, isn’t at all spontaneous or fun-loving. She’s controlling, and obsessively organized. Their single mom tries to juggle parenting, and a career, among other things.
One day, Conrad and Sally are left in the “care” of a rotund, bespectacled babysitter named Mrs. Kwan, who can’t seem to stay awake. That’s when they’re visited by the Cat in the Hat. With the help of impish whirlwinds Thing 1 and Thing 2, the Cat proceeds to make jokes and turn a spotless house into a disaster area. Can the kids get their home back in order before mother’s important business party?
Anyone who has read the classic children’s book by Dr. Seuss knows that everything is back in place when Mom sets foot in the door. Even so, this film has a number of off-color surprises. Families with young children might find themselves echoing a character from the book who said, “I do not like the way that they play. If mother could see this, oh what would she say!”
The family’s pet fish provides a moral conscience, though it’s debatable whether the movie buys into it. For example, he calls the Cat’s wild tricks “MTV-style flash at the expense of content and moral values.” That’s a pointed, accurate assessment of MTV, but the kids side with the Cat, implying that substance and morality can’t trump something that’s a lot of fun. Still, the Fish makes a good point.
Sexual nuances and violence abound in this movie. The Cat cuts off his own tail with a meat cleaver. Quinn plummets from a great height and lands in a sea of purple ooze. The Cat gets treated like a piñata by children at a birthday party who wail on him with bats. One rather large boy wallops him in the groin. Other physical gags involve children getting batted about by the Cat’s tail, a snoozing Mrs. Kwan being ridden down stairs like a toboggan, the Cat punching an unseen elephant, and a fracas among politicians on TV.
The Cat in the Hat is a good-looking film. It should be since it was helmed by acclaimed production designer Bo Welch (Edward Scissorhands, Men in Black II, Batman Returns, Beetlejuice). Welch does an excellent job of recreating the cheery pastel universe and Salvador Dali-esque accessories of Dr. Seuss.
Unfortunately, that’s as interesting as it gets. The plot draws from the books, but even then it’s a pretty thin story for anyone over 10: spotless home gets trashed; cat cleans up; family ends up better off than it started. That would be fine if the jokes were restrained enough for the grade-schoolers Seuss had in mind- not so risqué.
Sometimes it’s clever, but I felt like I was watching a sketch comic hiding behind feline makeup while trying to impersonate the Genie from Aladdin. Without a compelling story to back up his antics, that act gets old quickly. Furthermore, barely veiled profanities and subtle humor involving sex, porn, urination and vomiting will unnerve parents wondering what rule Myers will break next in his tireless pursuit of “fun.”
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Dec 01, 2003, 14:38
[top/cute_stories]
The ‘W’ in Christmas
Author Unknown
Each December, I vowed to make Christmas a calm and peaceful experience. I had cut back on nonessential obligations - extensive card writing, endless baking, decorating, and even overspending. Yet still, I found myself exhausted, unable to appreciate the precious family moments, and of course, the true meaning of Christmas.
My son, was in kindergarten that year, and in his school’s “Winter Pageant.” Around the room during the day of rehearsals, I saw several other parents quietly seating themselves. As we waited, the students were led into the room. Each class, accompanied by their teacher, sat cross- legged on the floor. Then, each group, one by one, rose to perform their song.
Because the public school system had long stopped referring to the holiday as “Christmas,” I didn’t expect anything other than fun, commercial entertainment - songs of reindeer, Santa Claus, snowflakes and good cheer. So, when my son’s class rose to sing, “Christmas Love,” I was slightly taken aback by its bold title.
Those children in the front row, center stage, held up large letters one by one. They were to spell out the title of the song. As the class would sing “C is for Christmas,” a child would hold up the letter C. Then, “H is for Happy,” and on and on, until each child holding up his portion had presented the complete message, “Christmas Love.”
The performance was going smoothly, until we noticed her; a small, quiet, girl in the front row holding the letter “M” upside down - totally unaware her letter “M” appeared as a “W”. The student audience of 1st through 6th graders snickered at this little one’s mistake. But she had no idea they were laughing at her, so she stood tall, proudly holding her “W”.
Although many teachers tried to shush the children, the laughter continued until the last letter was raised…then we all saw it together. A hush came over the audience and eyes began to widen. In that instant, we understood the reason we were there, why we celebrated the holiday in the first place, why even in the chaos, there was a purpose for our festivities. For when the last letter was held high, the message read loud and clear:
“CHRISTWAS LOVE”
He still is.
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Dec 01, 2003, 14:38
[top/reviews]
New Book from John Attridge
By Jason Silver
Every familiy has secrets lost to time. Everyone knows the phrase, “skeleton’s in our closet”, but how many of us know what those skeletons are?
One of the most interesting aspects of reading John Attridge’s new book, “From Unknown to Known” is this sense of discovery. He takes us along as fellow detectives and we discover together mysteries lost to time.
As I read, I was often impacted with a sense of the divine as well. God’s plan is often not perceived in the here and now. Usually it is only from looking back over the years that we can see the mark of his hand.
I recommend you purchase or borrow a copy of this family story. It’s an easy read and very enjoyable. You may even find yourself motivated to research your own family history!
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Dec 01, 2003, 14:38
[top/staff_editorials]
It’s a Pluralistic Christmas
By lane Fusilier
Each year, the awkwardness of Christmas grows stronger. Governments in the west become more stringent in their requirements to remove all religious symbolism from the celebration. Our own culture is caught up in a politically-correct obsession, wanting to make sure that no one is offended by anyone else’s truth-claims. Forgetting his Christian motivations, many embrace Santa Claus as a safe stand-in for Jesus Christ.
Ironically, tolerance is a Christian virtue. Evangelicals should make the very best Canadian citizens! Of course, Christian tolerance is not the same species as the secular variety. Christian tolerance declares that all people have value, made in the image of God, and must be respected. Even their disparate opinions must be weighed and treated with consideration, not because those opinions are all true, but because the opinionated have great value. On the other hand, secular tolerance affirms the equal stature of each person’s opinion: all religions are equal, all truth-claims are the same.
This confusion of ideas and those who hold them leads to great offenses. An orthodox Christian, Muslim, or Jew, for example, would insist that the truth-claims of their religion are exclusive. Each one would object to the principle that ‘all religions are the same.’ Very few religious people would long hold onto their faith if they thought that faith was just a personal opinion and made no claim on reality. That’s not tolerance at all; it is demeaning and ultimately intolerant.
So, what about Christmas? Can there be a pluralistic Christmas? Should we care?
First, all should care about history. Santa Claus did not start Christmas and is no stand-in for Jesus. When we confuse history, we endanger our future.
Second, we cannot demand that our government affirm our spiritual heritage, but we must insist that this heritage not be denied.
Third, the Gospel of Jesus Christ is centred on his royalty. We are preparing for his return as Lord of all. Don’t get too upset over decisions made by a temporal governor; the true Governor will soon appear.
Oops! Does that sound a little offensive? Just remember that the motivation of Christians is not to conquer other religions or other people. Instead, we are driven by joy, and the hope that all might know that joy. Joy is never belligerent, but always contagious. Let it flow…let it flow… let it flow…
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Dec 01, 2003, 14:38
[top/staff_editorials]
We Three? Kings?…
By Bryan Wylie
We three(?) kings(?) from Orient (maybe) are bearing gifts (yes!)
Lamenting the commercialism of Christmas is a common pastime on the part of believers as well as non-believers. A more profitable pastime might be to lament the way that fiction has almost completely overtaken the biblical account of that first Christmas over 2000 years ago.
We have all lived through “the Sunday School Christmas pageant” ; some of us have even tried to come up with some novel approach to keep young performer and mature audience (I resisted the urge to use the adjective “reluctant” with one or both of these constituents) focused on the task at hand. In 1857, a similarly challenged American minister, John Henry Hopkins Jr., wrote the carol “We Three Kings” for use in such a Christmas pageant. And so was written another chapter in the fictitious overthrow of the biblical version of Christmas.
Because there were 3 gifts (Matt. 2:11) presented to the newborn babe, it is quite understandable that one would assume there were three kings. However, there is no such mention of any number in the gospel accounts. I went to a mixed baby shower once where an almost entire teaching staff pitched in and presented a gift certificate for an interior decorator to completely redo the new arrival’s bedroom: one gift, 50 people. So, 3 gifts, 3 people? It ain’t necessarily so! But such is the tradition that we automatically picture the gift bearers as a crowned trio (on camels, of course - another myth). Not only that, the 8th century saint, the Venerable Bede, named and described them: the white-haired long-bearded Melchior; the more youthful and beardless Gaspar; and, the black and bearded Baltasar. And costume designers ever since had their models. Their bodies are even said to have been buried in the stately cathedral in Cologne, Germany, having been brought there by Frederick Barbarossa in 1162 (who got them from Milan, after they were brought to Constantinople by Constantine’s mother, the Empress Helen).
And film directors as well have been influenced by the fiction. The Civil War general, Lew Wallace, came to faith out of shame for his ignorance of the story of Christ, after being questioned by an atheist about certain things in a Wallace short story concerning the birth of Christ. The general’s research took him into a study of the Bible. Not only did he convert but he produced one of the all-time best-selling novels, Ben Hur, A Story of the Christ, the block-busting movie version of which opens with …. you guessed it: 3 kings, 2 bearded, one black, riding camels visiting the babe in the manager.
Which brings us to another piece of fiction. Matt. 2: 11 clearly states that the wise men came “into the house,” not the stable, and they saw a “young child,” not a newborn. According to Luke 2, it was shepherds, not wise men, who visited the infant Jesus in the manger.
Which lead us to another anomaly: wise men or kings? Despite the familiar lyrics of the carol, no biblical source depicts the three wise men as kings. They were most likely learned men, perhaps astrologers. Again, in Matt. 2:1, they are referred to as “magi” (the plural of magus), from the Persian “magu”, meaning magician.
Of one thing we are certain: they were men! I’m sure there is some group, somewhere, who would like to change even that fact. Now , there’s an interesting thought: what would have happened, you may ask, if it had been three wise WOMEN instead of three wise men? They would have asked for directions, arrived on time, helped deliver the baby, cleaned the stable, made a casserole and brought practical gifts!
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Dec 01, 2003, 14:38
[top]
A Time to Give
By Jason Silver
Christmas is a time of year filled with feelings of joy and happiness. It’s a time to remember all that God has done for us. As we give gifts to one another we call to mind the greatest gift ever given.
Or do we?
What usually happens can be quite different. More often we forget to celebrate the birth of our Saviour and instead focus on satisfying our own needs. This is materialism: what we want, what our kids want; even where we’ll go, and who we visit takes front role as we vainly seek satisfaction in things we can touch, and ignore the true Source of seasonal bliss.
For example, my wife spoke to the lady at the bank this week about Christmas buying. This lady said her friends couldn’t believe it, but she had cut spending right down this year. She proudly announced to Joanne that her family had agreed to make changes and simplify. From now on, no more lavish expenditures. They decided sacrificially on a $500 limit per child!
Apparently her friends were shocked- which shocks me! No wonder depression is so high during the holidays! Not only do we bury ourselves in immense debt, but this is when we all become the most aware that satisfaction cannot be found in things.
If our eggs are all in that basket, we can expect scrambled brains for breakfast.
I don’t want to sound critical-I’m as much to blame as anyone else. Our culture is so wrapped up in materialism that I don’t even recognize it; and when I do, it’s only because I’m looking at someone else, not at myself. But we’re all guilty, me included. It’s the plight of our culture: never-ceasing discontent.
I think that we, as people of faith, must behave differently. I believe we need to resist the urge to complain, or entertain dissatisfaction with what God has given us. When things seem to go wrong we can stop ourselves from grumbling like those ill-fated Israelites wandering in the desert, and thank God for all we do have.
Of course, we need to see advertising for what it is, and to teach our children as well. We are not primarily consumers meant to line the pockets of merchants; like cattle lined up for slaughter. We are souls created to spread love and life to those around us.
What can you do? How can you change our culture? It seems daunting; but change will happen if even one person begins. Join me in being different.
Let’s give our gifts to Jesus- after all, it’s his birthday.
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