I love this quote from the new J.J. Abrams show (Alias, Lost), Fringe
“I want to take a shower from the inside out”
– Fringe, FBI Agent Olivia Dunham
Doesn’t that describe guilt and sin well?
I’ve been watching a lot of TV lately since I’ve sorta been on vacation with a newborn. Logan is officially a month old tomorrow. Can’t believe it’s been a month. How convenient does this coincide with all the new season premieres.
Related Posts:
J.J. Abrams on Mystery
First of all, I love Stephen Colbert. It has become a nightly ritual for me and the missus to watch The Colbert Report in our zombie-like state before we haul ourselves up a flight of stairs to our bedroom.
Colbert with sharp wit portrays an ultra-conservative pundit. He has great guests as well. Tonight, NT Wright, the Bishop of Durham who served as the Canon Theologian of Westminster Abbey. He talked about his new book, “Surprised by Hope, Rethinking Heaven, the Resurrection, and the Mission of the Church.” Colbert made this comment that Hillary Clinton was thinking along the same lines for her next book also… I was rolling. Yesterday I was delightfully surprised by Wright’s appearance. But the whole episode was one of the best Colbert reports ever.
Wright is one of the most important theologians of the 21st Century and he is funny. His new book really addresses having a truncated eschatology particularly in the Western church a theme we’ve been trying to wrestle through in my message series, “Heaven On Earth.” Most Christians have an inadequate and incomplete view of heaven, that it’s merely a future happening or simply what happens after you die. That deeply affects the way we live out the mission of the church as well. Wright’s response is that heaven is God’s “kingdom” that has already been inaugurated by Jesus and that the Church needs to live the resurrection now joining God in his re-creative work.
Links
Check out the full streaming episode here.
Episodes are available the day after they air.
Jake Bouma has posted the entire transcript of the interview on his well-designed site.
Next week (June 27) Nicktoons will premiere “Three Delivery“, a cartoon about three Chinese teenagers saving Chinatown from evil one delivery at a time…
I don’t know about this one.
Is three delivery a play on “free delivery”?
Why do Chinese always have to be associated with take-out and kung fu?
The artwork is somewhat nice. The clips off the site were so-so. Not as funny as The Notorious MSG. It hasn’t grabbed me. I’m still a little taken back by how it all seems very backwards in these times. We’ve come so far from this image.
Please, just don’t suck.
Links
Three Delivery.com
Official Nicktoons Site
Also check out…Why is TV so White? Entertainment Weekly pulls out a very interesting article on the topic of why there is such a lack of diversity on TV.
Related Posts:
Chinese in the Mainstream: Learning from Kai-Lan
I sat down to watch a few DVR days worth of Nick Jr’s “Ni Hao Kai-Lan” with my virusy family. It made it’s debut on Chinese New Year. (btw Xin Nian Kuai Le! 農曆新年) Jayden’s picked up more Chinese in one week than he has since he was born. The show is an interesting venture capitalizing on the bilingualism of Dora the Explorer and the play along think along techniques of Blues Clues. What’s more interesting to me is the emotional intelligence that Kai-Lan teaches. During the middle of the episode a character demonstrates some issue and Kai-Lan encourages kids to figure out why they acted in that way and find a solution. I can appreciate that and the Mandarin lessons.
The NYTimes has a good article on the show and its creator, Karen Chau. I found her relationship with her dad quite amusing and all too familiar.
Kai-Lan is timely. Kids are more influenced by Asian culture than ever before getting beyond Kung-Fu and Moo-Shu Pork of my childhood experience. Makes me think of all those years of Chinese school. To think, my parents were cutting edge then. It’s essential now to learn Chinese in American schools in order to prepare for a global economy.
throughout the month of may, new york’s channel thirteen is presenting “due east” covering a range of topics regarding asian america. i’ve always enjoyed lazy saturdays where i’ve accidentally stumbled upon an asian american presentation on that network. if you’ve the time or tivo:
The Asian-American population grew sevenfold from 1970 to 2000, rising from 1.4 to 11.9 million (4 percent of the American population). With some 30 national-origin groups, the larger Asian Pacific American community is one of glorious variety. Asian culture is changing mainstream America as it becomes more pervasive and the acclimation of Asians more complete than that of other immigrants, according to a 2004 article published by the American Sociological Association.
“Change is good, especially when we consider the countless contributions the Asian Pacific American community has made to the United States over many years,” said Kathy Dobkin, senior producer and programmer for Thirteen. “Because this community is such an integral and vital part of America’s shared culture and history, Thirteen’s annual DUE EAST celebration of Asian Pacific American heritage is really a celebration for all of us, regardless of our ethnic or cultural background.”
here’s some links:
http://www.thirteen.org/homepage/promos/due_east.html
http://www.thirteen.org/pressroom/release.php?get=2431
another great resource:
becoming american – the chinese experience
season finales. 24…ugh. greys anatomy…argh!!! izzie…wut da? o meredith why? ok that was all too much for one single night of television…and nonetheless delayed by the presidential address.
the drama that is my life. dismal unpredictable weather. jayden growing up before thine eyes. and yes, the apple blues. how much can my heart take?
apple has shocked and awed. my technolust rages on. the new macbooks are the real thing. sleek and sexy. i really have to write more about my experiences of the gospel of apple one of these days.
i’m really ultra sad that i can’t make the grand event for the opening of our fifth avenue store in nyc. someone pick up a shirt for me….pleeeeeeeeze? sigh. if you’re in the city. hit it up. it’s going to be…so. clutch.
if you’re looking for a retreat/conference to attend this summer, let me suggest a couple that i will be at. not that my being there should incite you to go…uh you should go for you. for God. for something else but if you must, sure, for me…
1) new york summer conference. i’ll be giving a workshop on pop culture. hit it up. check out my updated bio. i’m such a dork.
2) i’ll be speaking for the chinese bible church of maryland next week. so i look forward to hanging with some of you guys there.
3) also in august i’ll be speaking at the familykeepers conference at messiah college
so yeah, lots definitely going on and keeping me busy. i most covet your prayers faithful friends.
some of you have want to know what’s been going on in my life. so here’s a brief sketch of what it is that i’ve been up to. the past year has been a real defining time for me filled with lots of firsts and neverfailing to be one heck of a roller coaster ride. but all in all – soul searching. i’ve been seaching for my soul. searching for my humanity. searching for some simple goodness that i can do for many many years. some of you know, i’ve been searching for a new home – a new church home. it’s been a year since i’ve graduated seminary. so what do i do with a mdiv? i don’t know still but yet God is still incredibly faithful and truly sovereign. he has perfect timing. more recently i’ve been looking at different churches and looking for God to grow my heart. some opportunities have opened and some have closed. i guess i’ll be “candidating” or “courting” some churches this season. it’s almost like speed dating but not. this has been a very grueling process already. my palms are sweaty and my knees rattle. i’m short of breath. today i scheduled a full marathon interview weekend with a church. a full three days of getting to know yous, theological grillings and so forth. i know some of you may attend this particular church. i will withhold names of churches for now. but dear friends, pray for me. bless your heart.
btw. new jayden video is up on youtube. i want to see my videos get viral!
and the award goes to ::.
this weekend has been all about awards. we drove down to good ol’ blue for just a day so that lauren would make her presence available to be inducted into the pennsylvania volleyball coaches association hall of fame. that is like – whoah. she is now a hall of famer. still, she never makes anything of her great achievements or skill. others gladly do that for her. i’ll do it here. there are boxes of awards and recognitions that will probably remain in the dark for years. but at the mention of her name in these circles a physical reminder is not needed. she has earned respect and admiration for her contribution to the sport as well as who she is. a legacy is what others will say about you and the continuing influence you leave even when you have moved on.
we were able to catch the grammys tonight. it surely was one of the best grammy presentations in a long time. at first we turned on just in time to catch U2 beautifully perform ‘sometimes you can’t make it on your own’ — i’m still shuddering over that song. jlo and her man wasn’t all that. kanye really was. his jesus walks performance was a vibrant expression of faith couched in rich culture and history. it’s always good to see joss stone and she dropped it hard with a bald melissa etheridge…uh…electrifying. but the show belonged to one man’s legacy. it truly was ray’s night.
all in all, as it is valentine’s day or singles awareness day, i do want my lovely wife, lauren, to be recognized today as the treasure in my life. for being married to me, she is automatically granted with a lifetime achievement award. we do have our share of struggles and incredible moments of glory. it’s a miracle for two totally different individuals to have entered into this gift of companionship for a lifetime, this mystery of oneness. praise God for making lauren, simply lauren. how i want to be a better man every morning and find satisfaction in the daily task of bringing greater joy to my wife. my success is marked by a sparkle in her eye and enduring warmth in sweet embracement. ~ a house doesn’t make a home ~
recently, she tried to get me U2 concert tickets. all i can say is wow. what a cool wife even tho she wasn’t able to get them. sigh.
my return after a long hiatus filled with weddings, exams, conventions, and just plain life. there’s a feeling.
courtelyous road
vertigo ::. laughter and light have returned in mine eyes. a little more grey now. they rest in the horizon on my drive home. a glimpse of salvation. maranatha. december has been vertigo. my mind and heart are at a place i wish not. exuberant joyous moments are entangled by a feeling that all is not right in the world. these truly are nervous times. his love is still teaching me…teaching me to kneel.
inspired viewing ::
extreme makeover: home edition
this past sunday’s episode (the vardon family) was truly remarkable. in his final words, ty pennington reflected on the whole encounter with the vardon family(the parents are both deaf and the son is not just blind but autistic)
and as a tear ran down his own cheek (with perfect timing no less – man, i’m so cynical about that), he said:
“You know, it’s somewhat of a battle during the week. Lots of people arguing about what’s right for this, or what’s right for that, or do we have time for that. Well, it’s just a lot of pressure to try and not only meet a deadline, but to meet a goal. And then when you see the family in their new backyard, and they see their youngest son finally in that happy place, there’s this moment… it’s like this state of grace when you know everything’s aligning, and we all did the right thing. I feel like I’m just helping reflect the light, man.”
ty got it right. dang. tru. tru. i dug around some more and found that this is all the real deal – the family and the effort put forth by ty and his team are pretty well represented.
stumbling ::.
we stumbled onto one tree hill last night and was captivated by this one scene – regarding pornography. it resonates with my heart.
[ haley ] :: it’s bad enough with all the girls in school and what, now i have to compete with porn stars as well?
[ nathan ] :: i’m a guy, it’s what guys do.
[ haley ] :: dont be a guy nathan. be a man.
i was pretty surprised. i dont usually watch it but i’m more interested now. at least, in this episode, haley’s really got it going on. she further mentioned that the issue is ultimately about protecting her heart. go GIRL.
::. mandy moore’s new upcoming movie, saved! looks like a whole lot of fun. the trailer rocks, lots of good laughs showing how silly sometimes the church does look from the outside. it’s got a really interesting premise, taking place in “american” christian high school (mandy’s got a great knack for this kinda stuff), and some real twists. macaulay culkin is in it too, all grown up but playing a high school student. it’s too weird to see him back. mandy, however, plays a sorta…pharisee..of pharisees. she even used that famous southern baptist word…”backsliding”… it demonstrates further the idea that just because folk go to church, youth group, and even a christian high school doesn’t mean they know how to really deal with the realities of being human and are living the xian life. the group of characters try to navigate through a xian high school together and hopefully in the end find out what it really means to be saved…dunno how this movie will play out true faith but looks like it’s worth checking out. it seems like someone’s noticing an interesting phenom in america worth exploring on the big screen and cash in…
abcpastor 
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