Passion Pro-Semitic?

Most of the controversy about Mel Gibson’s The Passion of the Christ was predicated on the assumption that at worst it would provoke profound anti-semitism and at the best it would leave people unswayed (as regards the culpability of the Jewish people for the death of Jesus).

Looks like everyone was wrong–just ask the San Francisco Chronicle. The film seems to have nuanced people’s views and made them less willing to assign specific blame.

See a related article in the Washington Times download dive bomber movie .

Note: the survey was pretty small. Read the Chronicle story to get the scoop on the methodology.

Wild Parrots Roam San Francisco?

No baby yet.

Oneida Shen, a Chi Alpha intern in Arizona, just spent the last few days with us checking out campuses in Nor Cal and Nevada. She’s seriously considering coming to work alongside Paula and I here at Stanford. Pretty cool.

Also, apparently one of our alumni is currently in the Miss Universe Singapore finals (according to another Singaporean alumnus). How wild is that?

And I just learned one more really strange thing about the Bay Area–there are flocks of wild parrots that roam San Francisco. Seriously–there’s even a book about it. Apparently they just fly around the city. Read the FAQ. It reminds me of a chapter in the Life of Pi.

Relevant Network

I finally received the first installment of my subscription to Relevant Network this morning (I say finally because I expected it last week).

Anyway, I had wondered what I would get with my subscription, and now I know. I thought I’d pass it on in case your ministry is considering joining the network.

I got a magazine called Relevant Leader. It looks okay–it’s a guide to the resources in the kit (reviews, interviews with artists, etc) along with a handful of extra articles thrown in.

I got 5 copies of the most recent issue of Relevant Magazine. That was nice, but for some reason the magazine has always underwhelmed me. I’ve always felt that they try too hard. But then again, I tend to get annoyed at most things I’m supposed to find cool (like popular music and television programs), so that’s a clue that Relevant is hitting its demographic (for the record, I’m a NPR junkie. If there’s ever anything else on in the car it’s probably because Paula is driving).

I got 7 books (Red Moon Rising, The 250: Evangelism Ideas for Your Campus, Enjoying God, Enter the Worship Circle, Soul Survivor, What’s So Amazing About Grace — Visual Edition, and The Air I Breathe).

I got 2 study guides (one for Red Moon Rising and the other for Soul Survivor).

And I got 5 CDs (Anonymous: Accelerate in Slow Motion, Enter The Worship Circle: The Third Circle, Desperation, Anthony Skinner: Forever and a Day, and Telecast: The Beauty of Simplicity).

Not a bad deal. Not bad at all. I was worried I would be dismayed with my purchase, but I was actually quite satisfied.

I had hoped for some video clips (like the kind of stuff Highway Video puts out), but that wasn’t to be. Perhaps in future installments.

UPDATE: After a little more reflection, I realized that I was surprised at how few of the resources were actually ministry resources. Most were personal growth resources.

As I mentioned before, I was most anxious to receive tools (such as video clips) that would be useful in conducting worship services or planning outreaches or crafting sermons. Videos from Nooma, for example, would be really helpful. Two or three sermons on CD would be extremely useful. A bible study or two would be well-received.

I guess I’d prefer to see 50%+ of the resources be ministry tools and the minority be personal growth materials.

Just some thoughts.

Overall, it’s a great investment. The books and CDs I received were worth far more than I’m paying for the subscription.

Basketball, Baby!

I was on campus today and noticed a huge crowd in the Student Union–turns out that someone had set up a screen and a sound system and was showing the PAC 10 tournament.

We won our first game, by the way.

Anyway, it was interesting to watch how many students were engrossed in the game. It’s the week before finals here, and usually that means students are cramming like crazy.

I guess they just love dominating at a major sport.

Technical Glitch

For some strange reason, the MP3 encoding of last night’s message was completely blank. Not a single sound was captured.

Oh well, it wasn’t the best message I’ve ever preached anyway. It’s still frustrating.

We do have other messages for download, however.

On an unrelated note, is it just me or did everyone start wearing a lot less all of a sudden? I swear that some of the people on the Farm painted their outfits on, and didn’t use much paint in the process…

Great Week

Just a quick update. The wonderful folks at International Assembly of God up in Burlingame threw a baby shower for us Saturday evening. We got some amazing gifts and were truly blessed by their generosity. Unfortunately, I had to attend without Paula, as she was still on bed rest.

I did my best. I got really excited about the color pink and I didn’t throw away any bows. I think that’s what you’re supposed to do at a shower…

And my in-laws arrived for a month-long visit yesterday. They’ve already begun pampering Paula to death, but I think she likes it.

One more comment–I just learned that Supreme Court Justice Sandra Day O’Connor is going to be this year’s commencement speaker. Wow.

Side note–I just learned that she was in the same class as Chief Justice William Rhenquist. I bet the profs who taught that year are feeling pretty good about themselves.