essays

[Rick Warren's Ministry Toolbox, October 20, 2005]

When news came out that the first of C. S. Lewis' Chronicles of Narnia, "The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe," was being made into major motion picture, Christians were understandably delighted. We have loved these stories for a long time. They're the "bed-time stories" of evangelical Christianity. Most of us in pastoral ministry have read these seven short novels, maybe more than once. We've shared them with our children, and found more than one sermon illustration in their pages.

Click to read more ...

[NationalReview Online, October 18, 2005]

You had me at "Spasmotica."

Cameron Crowe, director of "Elizabethtown," has a knack for the perfect detail. In "Elizabethtown," one of them comes along at the start: a billion dollars' worth of high-end athletic shoes are being returned to the factory, and on each box the ultra-hip name reads "Spasmotica." With two dots over the first "a".

Click to read more ...

[National Review Online, October 11, 2005]

About midway through "In Her Shoes" we see Rose Feller (Toni Collette, always a delight), semi-professional dogwalker, being yanked down the streets of Philadelphia by a team of mismatched pooches. It's a good metaphor for this film, which is propelled by several different stories at once, and some are livelier than others.

That's an eye-of-the-beholder thing, of course, and there were many in the audience who were happy-teary puddles by the end of the film. A great majority of that audience segment was female, and many of them were wearing red hats. If you don't fit that category, approach with caution.

Click to read more ...