2005 Term 2 Week 5 - The Gospel According to one of the guys - Part 2
This week we will have another volunteer describe some of the chaos in their lives and the group will start to apply some of the theory to the issues raised.
Monday, May 30, 2005
Monday, May 23, 2005
Monday, May 16, 2005
Monday, May 09, 2005
2005 Term 2 Week 2 – The Gospel According to Fairy Tales
My favourite fairy tale is Cinderella. I especially loved the movie Ever After. At the beginning the heroine is shown as a servant. She is dressed as servant and does the work of a servant. We are told that she is of noble descent, yet it is hard to believe when you look at her. In fact not even she believes it. She has become so used to her predicament that she believes it is true. And yet when the story has been told everything has been changed. She is no longer Cinderella, she is now the princess. Her true character has been revealed. And no one is in doubt as to who she is. So too with life. We long for the story to reach its conclusion when all is made known. When the good are seen as good and the bad as bad. Everyone’s true colours have been revealed.
We will also look at Bad Boys 2.
My favourite fairy tale is Cinderella. I especially loved the movie Ever After. At the beginning the heroine is shown as a servant. She is dressed as servant and does the work of a servant. We are told that she is of noble descent, yet it is hard to believe when you look at her. In fact not even she believes it. She has become so used to her predicament that she believes it is true. And yet when the story has been told everything has been changed. She is no longer Cinderella, she is now the princess. Her true character has been revealed. And no one is in doubt as to who she is. So too with life. We long for the story to reach its conclusion when all is made known. When the good are seen as good and the bad as bad. Everyone’s true colours have been revealed.
We will also look at Bad Boys 2.
Monday, May 02, 2005
2005 Term 2 Week 1 - The Gospel According to MTV
This term we will be looking at how the gospel story forms part of every story (given that it is well hidden at times). People are very good at "Sin spotting" (pointing out the bad in others/things). This term we will begin the discipline of "Glory spotting". This is when you look for the good in something and celebrate in that. Too often when a new music video appears the Christians seem to be looking for the things that are wrong with it (too violent, not enough clothing, etc). I am not saying that these things are unimportant or invalid. What I am saying is that this is only a portion of the whole. There is also good in there too. One of my presuppositions is that nothing is pure evil, evil is just a perversion of the good. Evil began with something good and made a mess of it (got this idea from C.S. Lewis - Mere Christianity). For example, a lie can be a Half-truth, and exaggeration of the truth, a colouring of the truth; ie a variation of the truth. So to with music videos. In some way they portray the gospel story. For the argumentative types, I acknowledge that some music videos don’t tell a story, obviously they are not the ones I am referring to. One more disclaimer, if the "bad" stuff in music videos disqualifies the "good" stuff from being used then I am in trouble because the bad stuff in my heart would disqualify any good stuff I have to offer.
Anyway, Glory spotting. Being able to see the gospel portrayed through music videos allows a whole new field of discussion with people that doesn’t involve them having to know the bible. Being able to say, "Did you notice the message of hope in that music video?" is more likely to produce a conversation than, "Did you notice the message of hope in the bible?" And even on a personal level, to be watching Video Hits and become aware of the gospel in a fresh way is a good thing. The director/choreographer may not have even realised that is what they were doing (telling the gospel story) and yet they still tell it. Every heart yearns for the gospel to be true and it leaks into the way they live their lives. G.K. Chesterton says the man who knocks on the door of the brothel is knocking for God. His very desires are a desire for the divine.
What I want to do is get the guys noticing glory on MTV (and movies, books, comics, etc) this term with the hope that it will set the foundation for looking for the glory in people. It is not intended to make them wear rose coloured glasses and think everyone is wonderful. It is intended to give a more holistic picture of the other person. Everyone notices the when someone is an idiot and tend to think it consciously, "What an idiot!" Very few people consciously notice when others are generous, "Wow, person A didn’t react to person B’s provocation". I would love for the guys to become fluent in the language of glory and would bless the socks off everyone they meet.
This week we will be looking at 2 music videos: Tina Cousins – Pray (MTV version) and Green Day – Boulevard of Broken Dreams (Tim Special version).
This term we will be looking at how the gospel story forms part of every story (given that it is well hidden at times). People are very good at "Sin spotting" (pointing out the bad in others/things). This term we will begin the discipline of "Glory spotting". This is when you look for the good in something and celebrate in that. Too often when a new music video appears the Christians seem to be looking for the things that are wrong with it (too violent, not enough clothing, etc). I am not saying that these things are unimportant or invalid. What I am saying is that this is only a portion of the whole. There is also good in there too. One of my presuppositions is that nothing is pure evil, evil is just a perversion of the good. Evil began with something good and made a mess of it (got this idea from C.S. Lewis - Mere Christianity). For example, a lie can be a Half-truth, and exaggeration of the truth, a colouring of the truth; ie a variation of the truth. So to with music videos. In some way they portray the gospel story. For the argumentative types, I acknowledge that some music videos don’t tell a story, obviously they are not the ones I am referring to. One more disclaimer, if the "bad" stuff in music videos disqualifies the "good" stuff from being used then I am in trouble because the bad stuff in my heart would disqualify any good stuff I have to offer.
Anyway, Glory spotting. Being able to see the gospel portrayed through music videos allows a whole new field of discussion with people that doesn’t involve them having to know the bible. Being able to say, "Did you notice the message of hope in that music video?" is more likely to produce a conversation than, "Did you notice the message of hope in the bible?" And even on a personal level, to be watching Video Hits and become aware of the gospel in a fresh way is a good thing. The director/choreographer may not have even realised that is what they were doing (telling the gospel story) and yet they still tell it. Every heart yearns for the gospel to be true and it leaks into the way they live their lives. G.K. Chesterton says the man who knocks on the door of the brothel is knocking for God. His very desires are a desire for the divine.
What I want to do is get the guys noticing glory on MTV (and movies, books, comics, etc) this term with the hope that it will set the foundation for looking for the glory in people. It is not intended to make them wear rose coloured glasses and think everyone is wonderful. It is intended to give a more holistic picture of the other person. Everyone notices the when someone is an idiot and tend to think it consciously, "What an idiot!" Very few people consciously notice when others are generous, "Wow, person A didn’t react to person B’s provocation". I would love for the guys to become fluent in the language of glory and would bless the socks off everyone they meet.
This week we will be looking at 2 music videos: Tina Cousins – Pray (MTV version) and Green Day – Boulevard of Broken Dreams (Tim Special version).
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