Another list (that I allegedly hate):

» Reading (online): Mars Hill sermon guides for their Sermon on the Mount series

» Reading (offline): "Flickering Pixels: How Technology Shapes Your Faith" by Shane Hipps

» Fixin' to Read (offline): "Messy Faith" by AJ Gregory

» Listening: Catching up on sermons by Greg Boyd and Rob Bell

» Singing Along To: ... a little bit of everything

» Working: See below.

First things first (in this case, I suppose ... second). Last week was a curious tale of a lost weekend. Saturday started off fairly well, but two things happened to throw a monkey wrench into that day. First, I had a massive case of cell phone fail. It seems that G1s get a bit clunky after a year or so of actively confusing the memory indexing. So my phone was stuck in boot mode for most of the time I was supposed to be enjoying the service. So, naturally, what follows made perfectly clear sense: the Loft was graced with the presence of a particularly chatty individual. Maybe it's because I'm just an introvert, but I really do not see how it is humanly possible to talk for two hours straight. Just my opinion, but I think that at some point, it helps to breathe. OK, enough with the ranting.

Due to the phone thing, there's no alarm to wake me up on Sunday. So biology takes over and wakes me up in the early afternoon. So no Sunday services online, no heading to the office to catch up on work. I opt to sulk my worries in a bit of catch-up reading, an ounce or two of work from home, and a relaxing dinner. At this point, I'm finding it much easier to be grateful than I was 24 hours ago.

Now, to add to all of this, the rather simple list from last week - which looked so easy to accomplish - mocks me. There's no mobile site for the blog because by the time I looked at the new code for updating the machine that runs this show, I have to say I wasn't impressed with it. So I'm taking the technologically heretical notion of switching software for the blog. This should mean absolutely nothing to a normal person, but it's enough for me to break out in hives. Short version of this very boring, techie story is that there's no point in going through the hassle of doing a mobile site design for the blog if I switch to the new code since that one comes with a ready-made plug-in for mobile layout. So I'm giving the decision another day or two. For now, though, nothing changes.

In more upbeat news, I've balanced my proverbial checkbook and have nothing but good things to sing about the personal finances this year. What better way to reward that situation than to go shopping for a guitar. I did this last year with some bonus money egging me on. But last year's endeavor was to shop for a starter guitar that would just make practicing a bit easier than my clunky, cheap pawn shop guitar that I really dislike. Bottom line: I can shop around for a better guitar than I could last year and given the options available ... I don't think there's an excuse to talk myself out of one this time around.

Last year, I was pretty finicky about what I wanted: a Kramer Striker 110. It's the mass-produced version of the Eddie Van Halen guitar from the mid-80s. They sell for a reasonable price on eBay, but you have to look long and hard to find one that's been maintained well for 25+ years. Add on the fact that I'm very well skilled at talking myself out of buying things, and you'd find me guitar-less one year later.

This time around, I'm eyeing a Charvel San Dimas model if I can get one for the right price. If not, then there's a few Ibanez and Jackson models that intrigue me. Yes, I'm heavily influenced by the musical culture of the 80s. Such is my cross to bear.

So that's the stuff I'm really excited about this week. With any luck, before the year is out, I'll be adding my "joyful noise" to the blog if I can regain any of my chops. If not ... well, the neighbors will have to tell you all about it ;-)

Elsewhere, reading through Shane Hipp's "Flickering Pixels" is a real treat. I'd recommend it even for someone not interested in how technology and different mediums pertain to faith since much of the book is about how those things impact the broader culture around us as well. Expect an outtake or two, as well as some more extended observations about this book. It's really good stuff. I dived into it at the same time I cracked open my first AJ Gregory book and it now occupies a more focused place on my reading list for the week.

I'm hoping to pick up AJ Gregory again tomorrow and maybe have her two books finished by the end of the week. They're both very accessibly written, quick reads, and incredibly encouraging books. "Messy Faith" might mean more to the female set than the male set, but I don't necessarily consider it to be exclusive to demography. She's definitely coming from a place that a lot of other writers aren't and that makes it a refreshing read.

Alrighty now ... back to work. More this week, hopefully.

I hate lists. To-Do lists, Top 10 lists, Best Guitarist lists. You name it. And yet ... on the agenda for this week:

» Reading (online): 6 ways technology has changed religion

» Reading (offline): "The Seekers" by Daniel Boorstin

» Fixin' to Read (offline): "Flickering Pixels: How Technology Shapes Your Faith" by Shane Hipps

» Listening: Jesse Rice interviewed by Steve Brown

» Singing Along To: Jonathan Salas

» Working: Developing a mobile version of this blog.

Ironic that after I've spelled out a fairly ambitious reading list for the first quarter of the year, I'm adding to it with the Shane Hipps book already. Actually, I'm ordering it along with the two books by AJ Gregory mentioned previously.

I've heard Shane Hipps preaching before via an appearance or two at Rob Bell's Mars Hill Church. It took me a while to click with what he was saying. But I seem to enjoy it more as I read what he has to say. One of the goals of kick-starting the blogging habit here is to enhance it as a community for whoever the heck stops by for a read. While I hope to always be at some point on the path where I have no idea what I'm doing in that regard, I'm obviously hopeful that Shane has a few words of wisdom to impart along the way.

Among the topics I'm really looking forward to diving deeper into this year is how different churches are using their websites. So, in addition to seeing how much I can improve this little blog, I'm likely to dig around and seek out some best practices around the world and see if this little pixel factory can assist a church or two out there looking to reach out a bit more. I've been in the web business for slightly over a decade and there are periods where changes look appealing and unappealing to me. The current move to more mobile web use and using richer media and content along the way ... all very appealing to me.

In other matters of "starting the new year off right," I've gone through the usual ritual of filling in a new notebook to track sermons with, note whatever scripture is screaming most loudly to me, or drop whatever thoughts are in need of writing down. I've written before on my challenges & struggles of maintaining this habit and it's probably a huge enough surprise to me that it persists as a habit no matter how poorly executed.

This year's game plan is to simplify my commitment list to tracking the four churches I listen to the most: Lakewood, Woodland Hills (Greg Boyd), Mars Hill (Rob Bell), and Northland (Joel Hunter). As much as I love the others, I'm going to have to be a bit more honest in how I get around to listening to them. These four will probably happen on a quasi-religious weekly basis. The others ... might or might not be playing on a regular basis. I do tend to catch up, but it sometimes means listening to 4-5 sermons in a row on a quiet evening at home (which is not half-bad, I maintain). I think I spent more time feeling miserable that I was falling behind in my routine of listening to about 7 services over the course of a busier-than-average week in the past year.

Anyways ... it's Monday. Off to work I go. Look for the mobile version of this site on your iPhone or other smartphone sometime later this week.

» NY Times: Oral Roberts, Fiery Preacher, Dies at 91
» Newsweek: An American Original
» Time: Death of a Faith Healer: Oral Roberts

Whatever one thought of Oral Roberts, he definitely had an influence on the faith of millions. By the time I was born again, the televangelist phenomenon was at a low tide due to scandals and false prophecies. If there's anything I've learned since then, it's that God uses even those ministries I (or others) may not quite get. Watching Roberts back in the day, there was a very evident earnestness in his faith that came across regardless to how receptive I might have been to his style. Seeing the legacy he leaves behind, it's hard to argue that God hasn't used him for a great deal of good in his 91 years.

Joel Osteen's statement:

For more than 50 years, Oral Roberts was a dear family friend and we are deeply saddened by his passing.

He was a great hero of faith whose legacy will live on in the hearts of millions of believers worldwide. He profoundly affected all of us through his strong faith in Jesus Christ, and his deep compassion and love for his fellow man.

On behalf of the members of Lakewood Church and the Osteen family, Victoria and I send our heartfelt prayers and deepest condolences to the entire Roberts family and to all the students and staff of Oral Roberts University.

I make some mention of a career switch over at the other blog. The readership of that and this blog don't intersect very much, I'll point out. But the significance of the switch is that the other blog will be taking a hiatus through November 2010, while this blog will continue on. In fact, I may finally have found a way to spend more time blogging here.

One nice benefit of the previous job was that my weekends were mostly free. As a matter of practice, I'd spend most Saturday's taking something akin to a sabbath before heading over to church. Sundays, meanwhile, were spent doing a mix of "personal" tech work and "work" tech work at the office, where I would be able to record and clip video of the Sunday services. The day-to-day workload gets a bit magnified now, so it's still up to me to sort out where I find time in the day to do the video editing that you may have gotten accustomed to here. It'll return ... just give me a little while to adjust.

There's a fairly sizable list of things I'd love to get around to blogging here, but just never had time to do with time already spent with the previous gig, the other blog, something loosely approximating a life, and a news junkie habit in need of far more than 12 steps to cure. I'm optimistic that I'll be able to make a dent in that list and that the result will be a brighter burning light for others to see out of this little corner of the internet.

» NY Times: The Days May Be Grim, but Here's a Good Word to Put in Your Pocket

Great read on a simple art project for the New York Metro transit card. Or, another indicator that Joel's latest New York visit really did rub off on the town ...

On the back of seven million MetroCards distributed this fall is a single printed word: "optimism." Composed in clean, bold, sans-serif letters, it floats in a sea of white just beneath the boilerplate fine print. Another seven million are on the way early next year.

At first glance, the word appears simple and unassuming, a non sequitur easily overlooked amid the blur of travel in the city. Even its creators acknowledge that many subway and bus riders may never see it.

But as unemployment in the city reaches a 16-year high, as corporations close and deficits mount, optimism has become a scarce commodity, aboveground and below. New York, it seems, could use a chance to restock.

...

Indeed, not all that the "optimism" project suggests is, well, optimistic. The word on the card can be read as an encouragement, a command, a taunt, an aspiration.

"I like that people can digest it in any way they choose," Mr. Seifer, 36, said. "I accept all praise and criticism. I love artwork in which people perceive things beyond the intention of the artist."

Somewhere in the world, Barbara Ehrenreich has to be feeling very uncomfortable about this.

I tend to read Andrew Sullivan throughout the day for a steady current events fix. I'm accustomed to agreeing with him about as much as I disagree with him. This post from his departure of Waco after an event is well worth reading and appreciating.

Just go read the whole thing.

Apologies for the lack of video in a timely manner. The workload and birthday festivities have been a bit time-consuming ... even with one of them cancelled!

I will have a nice clip of Darlene from the Spanish service posted soon, assuming it turns out nicely. And with a little luck, I'll go back in time and clip the Janet Dokes special from the week before.

In other news, I'm slowly wading through Joel's latest book. Of the three books, they've both been very different for me to soak in. The first was based on sermons delivered before I had ever attended Lakewood. The second was based on sermons delivered while I was taking rather attentive notes of each sermon. I particularly enjoyed the second book since it was a brisk read and a great reminder of a lot of material that I thoroughly enjoyed.

The latest book is based on sermons delivered while I've been hanging back a bit, sometimes to the point of taking in other distractions around church on Saturdays. I've also broadened my range of other sermons to listen to from points elsewhere. All the material has been heard since I've usually gotten three doses of each sermon. But reading them is a bit fresher this time and it's great reading them in a way to maximize the attention span on Joel's message.

With a little luck, I'll get around to some blog posts on the book.

Congrats to the web team of Joel Osteen Ministries for winning the Web Marketing Association's WebAward for web team in the faith-based category.

» Chron: Tweeting during church services gets blessing of pastors (Purva Patel)

The Chron piggybacks on the national trend of covering how churches view, and even incorporate, twitter into their services. Seattle's Mars Hill had a writeup about their usage in March. Time magazine spotted the trend in May. So now it's our time.

The catalyst for the story is how The Woodlands' Kerry Shook incorporates twitter into his messages. Their use definitely sounds like an idea that might work for Lakewood on a Wednesday night. I'm definitely guilty of a tweet or two during service, as it is.

» Christianity Today: The Art of Cyber Church (Sarah Pulliam)

I should start with my bias: I love listening to Joel Hunter's sermons and I think his public actions and statements (both the ones I agree with and disagree with) indicate that he's got a good heart for extending the reach of God's kingdom into this world.

That said, this is an uneven read that starts off about Northland Church's Joel Hunter and then segues into some he-said/she-said coverage over the pros and cons of online worship. For better or worse, roughly half of the article is spent on the latter. Not one word is given to the online minister's recent travel through the country to see how other worshipers use the online minisitry. Instead, we're offered a glimpse of him sitting on the sofa as the band trickles in to dine on waffles. Had the New York Times offered this type of coverage, I'd expect howls of outrage. Instead, it's Christianity Today. Amazing how the differences get narrower when reality intrudes.

Among the issues offered regarding online worship, the most resonant is that service tends to follow from the personality of the preacher, rather than a desire to be a part of a worshiping and serving community. I see the argument quite a bit in my reading and occasionally hear it in person ... usually as an objection to setting foot in a large church. But I don't see much of a difference in how smaller churches appeal to potential congregants. From my own past, I'm reminded of the time that mom found an Episcopal church for us after we moved back to Houston. Her decision criteria was that she had found one with a female pastor.

Pulliam's article mentions the objections of Bob Hyatt, who pastors the Evergreen Community in Portland. It's not clear that his objection is to Joel Hunter's specific means of expanding Northland, but given his objection to "celebrity-driven church cultures," it does pose an interesting discussion topic as to what really distinguishes Joel Hunter's means of growth from that of Hyatt's. Hyatt blogs, has a website for his church (with message board), and offers podcasts of messages. The line between that and what Joel Hunter does seems awfully thin to me.

I appreciate that Hyatt is looking to build covenant communities that are formed on solid ground within each believer. What I've come across of his work is definitely very positive. But I also think Joel Hunter's online ministry is, as well too. Likewise, Lakewood's television ministry is.

I guess I just don't see it as a problem that we try multiple approaches to bring other believers into community. I'm not as convinced that there's one best way, or a few really awful ways that deserve to be blacklisted (well ... save for maybe this and this). Trying a lot of different ways and bringing in different types of people that respond to different stimuli seems to be a positive.

Unfortunately, this article doesn't go into enough depth on the differences between the Hunter/Northland approach and the Hyatt/Evergreen approach. Maybe that's just as well since the difference may not be all that much when discussed more fully. Amazing how the differences get narrower when reality intrudes.

» USA Today: Biggest U.S. churches 'contemporary, evangelical'

In the wake of the ... um, challenges ... with Church Report's old lists, Outreach Magazine sticks to some hard math in coming up with their annual report on church attendance. As it turns out, our count is the same as last year's.

Leading the list, as in 2008, is Joel Osteen's Lakewood Church, Houston; 43,500 attend weekend worship.

Lakewood could almost swallow the second and third place megachurches in one gulp.

But the newest trend in church growth is exemplified by the No. 2 ranked church's cross-country reach. Lifechurch.tv transmits pastor Craig Groeschel's worship services from the church's studio home in Edmond, Okla., to 13 locations, reaching 26,776 people in average weekend worship attendance.

"Multiple sites are the new normal for fast-growing and large churches. Lakewood is the exception. The next 10 all have multiple sites," says Ed Stetzer, director of LifeWay. "They're contemporary, aggressively evangelistic and evangelical and they're moving beyond the 'big box' megachurch model. The best churches have very intentional systems to move people from sitting in rows to sitting in circles (in small groups) to going out and making a difference in the world."

I'll offer a few other thoughts after posting something on Christianity Today's feature on Joel Hunter's use of the internet for his church. But for now, I'll definitely say that the model employed by Hunter's Northland and Groeschel's Lifechurch is commendable. I usually take in a Northland sermon on Sunday during downtime between Lakewood services and there's a lot I think they do right in developing an online ministry.

Back in 2005, the Texas Monthly feature on Joel Osteen had some mention of what was then a possibility of developing a Lakewood Church in other major cities. Possibly, this was in line with what we see Hillsong doing internationally over the past decade or so. I'm not sure how feasible that approach is, but if there's one church that could pull it off, I suppose it would be Lakewood. It'll be interesting to see whether that goal is still on the list of things to do down the road, or if the newer model of online outreach is something being considered.

Today, this little blog celebrates four years of existence. Well ... as much as any inanimate object can really "celebrate." I guess, in reality, what it will amount to is that I'll spend some quality time enjoying the latest Elms release, shaming myself into catching up on some reading and crossing my fingers for some time to review a trio of sermons that are really resonating quite strongly these day - the latest from Greg Boyd and two recent ones from Mars Hill Church by Tim Keel and Ruth Haley Barton. I suppose if I really wanted to go nuts, I could polish off a draft post of two previous Rob Bell sermons that I wanted to talk about, also. For now, baby steps.

Thanks to all of you who read and watch the snippets of video that I post on this stretch of the internet. It amazes me that even while I complain to myself of the lack of time I get to devote to this project, there still seems to be a group of people that come here for whatever reasons they may have for material both old and new. If there's a reminder that any good to come of this doesn't derive from me, but from Him, I suppose that's as good as any.

» Paul Graham: Maker's Schedule, Manager's Schedule

This could also be subtitled, "Why Greg's blogging here is more sporadic than he wishes."

There are two types of schedule, which I'll call the manager's schedule and the maker's schedule. The manager's schedule is for bosses. It's embodied in the traditional appointment book, with each day cut into one hour intervals. You can block off several hours for a single task if you need to, but by default you change what you're doing every hour.

When you use time that way, it's merely a practical problem to meet with someone. Find an open slot in your schedule, book them, and you're done.

Most powerful people are on the manager's schedule. It's the schedule of command. But there's another way of using time that's common among people who make things, like programmers and writers. They generally prefer to use time in units of half a day at least. You can't write or program well in units of an hour. That's barely enough time to get started.

I tend to do better on blogging current events because I read a lot more along those lines and it's easy to pick out a few examples during the day to just riff on. Typically, it's not as if I need a lot of time to formulate an opinion or a reaction. And when I commit the thought to pixelated form, it doesn't take a great deal of time to go from reading a news item to blogging about it. Every once in a while, I'll want to dive deeper into something, but that doesn't have to happen every day. Generally, it's for much of the same reasons that Graham writes: interruptions, meetings, assorted daily annoyances, etc ....

Here, my preferred blogging method is aimed at being a bit more introspective and tackling a thought in some minor degree of depth. That means I generally need more free time for what little blogging I get done here. Lacking that, there's always some cool video to post of either a really great moment from Lakewood or from something else that captures my attention.

Reminds me ... I still have an excerpt from NT Wright's "The New Testament and the People of God" that's overdue for here. Very different process of reading a book knowing that I'm giving myself a year to work through it. I'm a lot less unnerved by having to re-read sections of the book. And this one is more academic than I usually prefer to read. Already, I'm suddenly have a need to do some googling and learn about Rudolf Bultmann just to fully comprehend the second half of one chapter. Definitely makes the reading a bit more of a gradual process, but it's proven to be worthwhile so far.

If you're reading this, I'm upgrading the blog software. If you see anything weird going on, that's the explanation. If you aren't reading this, then ... well ... everything should be fine & dandy!

UPDATE: It would appear that all has gone smoothly. Continue as you were ...

One item left over from the weekend .... it was Lakewood's fourth anniversary in the current location this past weekend. Of course, I'm always reminded of that mark in time because it also corresponds to my own "Lakewood-iversary." I usually like to take such moments to reflect on my own spiritual growth at such moments. The last three posts can be read here, here, and here.

It is perhaps entirely fitting that I've found myself swamped during this year's mark. That's kinda been the trend this past year. But I vow to correct matters tonight.

ADD-ON: By "tonight," I mean late tonight ... I am hoping to make it back to Lakewood for a volunteer celebration thingy tonight. Yeah, so about the cluttered schedule getting the better of me, again ...

» Chron: Berkman reaches 10-year mark of major league career

Interesting sidenote to this story that celebrates Lance Berkman's 10-yr anniversary with the Astros ...

As often as not, though, college also can be where religious faith wanes rather than waxes. Berkman is grateful his time at Rice strengthened his beliefs in that regard.

"I had a buddy who was a strong Christian and lived his life in accordance with that," he said. "This guy was different, and the more that I was around him, I realized that I was a guy who claimed to be a Christian, yet my life didn't look any different from someone who didn't claim Christianity.

"That was my Damascus road experience, where God said either you're in or you're out. If you're going to claim to be a Christian, you'd better demonstrate that. Otherwise, don't even bother."

» NY Times: Our Father, Lead Us to Tweet, and Forgive the Trespassers

"If total control is what you want, social media will frustrate you," he said, reprising his advice to the clergy. "But the trade-off is the ability to hear and learn, reach out in new directions." Many clerics, desperate to connect with young people, have been like radio dispatchers using the wrong bandwidth, he said. "The young don't do e-mail anymore," he said. "They do Facebook."

Evangelical Christian ministers were among the earliest Web networkers, and today, popular preachers like Rick Warren and Joel Osteen have thousands of followers on Twitter. At Christ Tabernacle Church in Queens, Pastor Adam Durso and his brother Chris, the youth director, keep in contact with their flock, sometimes hourly, on a half-dozen social media sites.

Leaders in other faiths are catching on, but moving slowly, said Monique Cuvelier, a Web consultant in Boston who attributes some of the resistance to the conservatism of any established institution, and some to a sense of privacy: Gossiping about the rabbi's wife may be common in temple parking lots, "but having it end up on the Internet -- that freaks some people out," she said.

There's some interesting tidbits in this story about how people of other faiths view the openness of social media like twitter. It definitely seems as if evangelical Christianity is more inclined to take a favorable view towards it. And (possibly) not just due to some notable individuals using twitter.

I'm on twitter, but I don't claim to be enamored with it. Something about limiting myself to 140 characters just seems so ... limiting. Besides, I prefer to think in paragraph form. In short, don't expect any grand twittering on my part. If I'm in a groove with the keyboard, the blog is always my preferred medium.

Twitter's use to me is the ability to keep dibs on a few hundred things at a time. And if the world blows up, chances are that I'll not go hours without knowing about it. Or, in the case of last night, seeing Duncan Dodds tweeting from Australia and being reminded by Joel's tweet-team to watch the service.

I'm not sure what to make of the more adventurous twitter usage by other churches. I remember when television shows started experimenting with a crawling feed of user comments from the internet in the late 90s. It wasn't pretty then and one of the examples in this Times story serves as a reminder of that. Time'll tell, I suppose, whether there's useful and productive fit for it in ministry use.

Sidenote: The Lakewood Church twitter experiment is still a work in progress it seems.

» NYT Magazine: G.M., Detroit and the Fall of the Black Middle Class

This week's cover story for the New York Times Sunday Magazine covers a lot of territory - everything from the downward socioeconomic trends of urban Detroit to the more lingering concerns of still-employed middle class African-Americans in the Detroit suburbs. But the main focus of the story is that of Marvin Powell, who's faith is a big part of how he's dealing with the uncertainty of working at General Motors these days.

Powell's positive outlook is largely a product of the life he leads outside the plant at the Greater Grace Temple, one of Detroit's largest, best-known churches. Among its claims to fame is that in the fall of 2005, more than 4,000 people, including former President Clinton, Aretha Franklin and an Illinois senator named Barack Obama, packed its pews for the funeral for the transplanted Detroiter Rosa Parks. (Parks came to Detroit in 1957, not long after famously refusing to vacate her bus seat, joining her brother, an auto-assembly-line worker who migrated North years earlier.)

...

Powell delivers the same message in his Bible class at the plant. Recently he has returned repeatedly to Isaiah 6:1, in which Isaiah recounts how the death of King Uzziah inspired him to join the prophetic ministry: "In the year that King Uzziah died, I saw the Lord sitting on a throne, high and lifted up, and his train filled the temple." Powell tells his co-workers that G.M. is just like King Uzziah, an earthly entity whom people put their trust in but who ultimately failed them. "In the year King Uzziah died I saw the Lord -- my focus shifted to the Lord," Powell says. "In the year G.M. became a bankrupt company, my focus shifted to the Lord."

The church hasn't been a stranger to NY Times reporters, thanks to their attention-getting service with SUVs on the pulpit and prayers for a recovery in the local economy. The more defined focus on Powell and his extended family in this more recent story adds some interesting context.

The Stoning of Soraya M. opens today in theaters. I had the good fortune of catching a preview of the movie back on 5/21. There's decent odds that any church-going network of friends will have the movie title come up in conversation, possibly even that there will be church outings to the theater or a related message from the occasional pulpit.

I didn't leave convinced that the movie really fit the same market as Passion or even Amazing Grace. But it is definitely interesting to see the movie appeal to a far broader range of opinion than either of those. In the case of Stoning, there are political conservatives who view the movie as a means of casting Islam in a negative light; while from the politically liberal end of the spectrum, the movie strikes a chord for those desiring greater emphasis on women's rights. If you chose to do so, you could view this as an all-inclusive appeal. I'll argue here that it's a bit more of a cacophony of appeals.

First things first, however, there were many elements of the movie that I greatly enjoyed. As a geography nut, the scenery was wonderful. And, at times, I think the movie dealt with some of the complexity of attitudes toward Islam and shariah law very well. It's definitely a very well acted and well produced movie. And in an era where the production of "Christian movies" sometimes still relates to secular movies in a way that "Christian music" related to secular music in the '80s, there is a lot to be appreciated by the fact that this film is either at-par or better with anything else on the market. On the whole, I did like a lot about this movie and would probably recommend it with a bit of caution.

The question marks I left with in the preview, however, were as follows:

- Character-wise, it seemed as if Soraya's character was a bit too shoe-horned into a parallel of Jesus. I haven't read the book that movie is based on and it should be emphasized here that this is based on a true story. I'm not sure how stark the relatively sinful husband and somewhat pure Soraya contrast in that version, but it seemed overdone in the film. At times, this took away from the movie's otherwise great production - watch the husband do donuts in his car with prostitutes in a town square that seems made up of a 24-square-foot sound stage and tell me I'm wrong.

- The movie's depiction of Islam. The movie allows a viewer to make a conclusion of Islam and shariah law that don't entirely line up with reality. Wikipedia has a nickel version here on how the law is interpreted in Iran. Given that Christian audiences are a primary target for the movie, this is more than a little grating.

- Mimicking The Passion and Amazing Grace. True to this movie's title, there is a stoning scene. I hardly think this qualifies as a spoiler. If it is a spoiler, then I'm willing to bet you'll thank anyone who spoils it for you. Because the scene has gotten ample press for it's duration and perceived gratuitousness. That lends an obvious nod to The Passion. The fact that the movie is tied with a "call to action" is the homage to Amazing Grace. As one who's seen a number of "Class of Nuke 'em High" sequels, I can attest to the fact that there are worse formulas to abide by. Still, when you've got a good story to tell, a quality cast, good production value, etc ... it seems like a bit of a loss to end up copying another gameplan for marketing the movie.

- About that marketing plan. I've mentioned that the movie is being pitched to church groups. What I haven't mentioned is that you're in store for three moments of coarse language (not talking about a heck or a darn, either). The movie is rated R, primarily for the bloodiness of the final scene. The language is designed to show how the men in the film are viewing Soraya's character as inhuman - in and of itself a vital ingredient, I think. The nuns at the preview stuck around till the end and I'm hardly the biggest prude in the world. But I don't think the language they included was necessary and you should definitely evaluate the sensitivity of the group you're going to the movie with.

- About that call to action. Possibly the most confusing item for me. The film's website does call for online "signatures" to be sent to a variety of obvious organizations, plus a lengthy list of groups combating both the specific practice of stoning, or dealing with human rights in more general ways. I may be getting old and cynical, but an e-petition doesn't strike me as a particularly strong call to action. Then again, Facebook groups don't either. It isn't likely that you'll see an active call to send missionaries to the Middle East. And one more confusing element of the movie is that while such calls to action are aimed at national laws, the particular story of this stoning seems to involve a local instance (which may or may not have a connection to national law). While many nations where stoning takes place, the national governments are generally quick to point out the very low number of instances where the practice of stoning occurs. The real problem, it seems, is that the practice seems to occur more in rural, self-governed areas. While that doesn't absolve the allowability of the law on national books, it does raise a very serious question about what the best way to end the practice really is.

Despite all the positive that the movie has going for it, I'm not sure it really answers that. Reading through several of the interviews with those involved in the movie, however, it seems as if the intent is to suggest that we have that answer within us if we'll only be bold and brave enough to do .... um ... something.

Bottom line result, for my own taste is this: This is a good movie and could very well stand a test of time and look very good in 10-20 years ... well after the marketing of the movie fades away. Catch it on the big screen if you can, though. The scenery is good enough to warrant that. If you're as big a wuss as I am with bloody scenes, stare at the floor for that part.

Reviews & Inteviews: Houston Chronicle, NY Times, LA Times, A/V Club, Huffington Post, Beliefnet, Acton Institute

Two items to make your head spin today:

1. Samuel Wurzelbacher (aka "Joe the Plumber") is interviewed in Christianity Today. For the life of me, I have no idea why.

2. Apparently, Thomas Nelson Publishers will release "The Patriot's Bible." For the life of me, I have no idea why. At least in this instance, Greg Boyd looks ready to blog this one to death. Can't wait for the short version of his case in an upcoming Out of Ur posting.

Apparently my recording of Sunday is missing ... but I still have the Spanish service. Time for some video surgery.