Daily Archives: February 15, 2012

Book Review: Speaking To Teenagers

Speaking To Teenagers
Doug Fields and Duffy Robbins

Summary:
Like a soldier’s manual in the heat of battle, Speaking To Teenagers is a resource for both the newly graduated seminarian and the burnt out veteran. It might have better been called Speaking Well since it delivers such practical wisdom for preachers who were taught all exegesis and no communication. While overly pragmatic in spots, this will help to unlock much of the preacher’s block.

Review:
Doug Fields, pastor of Saddleback Church, and Duffy Robbins, a professor of youth ministry, dive into the daunting topic of communicating to the youth. Though they write as one voice, it can be easy to tell who is speaking: Doug offers the relational tips and Duffy is more systematic, detailed, and doctrinal. Using a method called S.T.I.C.K., their methodology pulls from both traditional and contemporary teaching, pulling the best of both worlds. Mostly this works and at times it does not.

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Honestly, Half The Time I Have No Idea What I’m Doing

I always thought my parents and these grown-ups had a super-secret system for organizing their life and making Huge Forever-Changing Decisions. Writing checks and doing taxes and paying the rent was like second nature to them. Me in my little kid boots, a sore neck from looking up all the time: it was daunting to think of being a grown-up.

It turns out, they were guessing most of the time.

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Movies That Christians Should See: Apollo 13


Apollo 13 (1995)

Summary:
Some spoilers ahead.

Three men are sent into space by NASA in 1970 when the space industry begins to lose its luster, and suddenly an expedition to the moon becomes a rescue mission back to earth. The journey is cut short when faulty equipment explodes and these three men, with the resourcefulness of the control center on the ground, use everything at their disposal to make it safely home.

Starring Tom Hanks, Kevin Bacon, Bill Paxton, Ed Harris, and Gary Sinise. Directed by Ron Howard.

Questionable Content:
Intense scenes of distress and anxiety in a spaceshuttle, plenty of well-deserved yelling, some coarse language, and a woman taking a shower loses her wedding ring (no nudity).

Why You Should See It:
The indelible words of Astronaut Jim Lovell are embedded in our culture: Houston, we have a problem. The problem is more or less a mechanical failure that would hardly make sense to us ordinary laymen, but the film slows down to present these historic trials piece by agonizing piece: leaking oxygen, low battery, rising CO2 levels, freezing temperatures, possible heat damage and disintegration, and a horrifying scene where the broken shuttle must make a perfectly timed burst for 39 seconds in one direction.

We know they survived in the true story, but it does not make it any less tense. The flight director Gene Kranz, played by a brilliant Ed Harris in the best performance of the movie, passionately breaks down each problem with the crew like a math puzzle: except the stakes are human lives. Hope drives them to relentless measures. No one sleeps. You’ll never hear “insurmountable odds” quite the same way again.

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Quote: Community


The Christian community is one of the few places on earth where those who represent the full scope of human life, literally from the cradle to the grave, come together with a singular motive and mission. The church is (or should be) a place of racial, gender, socioeconomic, and cultural reconciliation — because Jesus commanded that our love would be the telltale sign of our devotion to him (John 13:35) — as well as a community where various age demographics genuinely love each other and work together with unity and respect.

– David Kinnaman