the red pill

Yesterday I took some time to witness for myself what is being described in some places as “Disney’s biggest flop”, the movie John Carter. Let me start by saying that I went with a friend, and we saw this as two guys who’ve been working a bit too hard recently, and needed something entertaining and not terribly challenging ( Tree of Life sits on my desk and mocks me for not finding time yet....). John Carter was perfect for us, lots of action, lots of effects and nothing too troubling in terms of plot. Taylor Kitsch plays the title role, and seems to be reprising some of his Gambit role from X-Men Origins: Wolverine . Battle-weary, and tired of serving others, this civil war veteran finds himself transported to Mars (a planet the locals call Barsoome) and becomes embroiled in a struggle for the future of the planet. It’s not a totally vacuous movie as some have claimed. There are interesting spiritual themes (a Goddess called Issus plays with Isis and Jesus metaphors, quotes from...

I’m someone who likes to thrash ideas out in a conversation. It’s in the cut and thrust of a good challenging discussion that I best formulate ideas and opinions. I like to test aloud how something sounds, hold an idea in the midst of the debate and examine it from many angles. The writer of Proverbs says, as iron sharpens iron, so one person sharpens another. So, blogging can be an unusual way to express opinions for folks like me. Yes, sometimes it can lead to a good conversation in the comments section, but often it hangs in the ether, like a written statement, instead of an invitation to conversation. With those thoughts in mind, I want to share some of my thinking around the current debate regarding marriage for same-sex couples, and how the church could respond. My first comment is that I don’t think it is the role of the state to dictate to communities of faith the meaning of a sacrament.  We would be rightfully outraged if the government sought to dictate to the Church h...

This is the reason #stopkony is trending worldwide, it's a 30 min video, but really worth a watch. Maybe more relevant (in terms of the actions they are looking for) for US viewers. but ought to serve as a prompt for people worldwide to ask their governments what they are doing. Make War Criminals famous is an interesting strategy, I pray it works.

From time to time I get asked or emailed the question, am I on Twitter? Yes, I am, and you can follow me @baptistjon This blog post will be syndicated to my FB and Twitter feeds, so if you're reading this from Twitter, you're already following.... If you leave your @ in the comments section, I'll look you up.