My friend Richard Mark Lee at First Baptist Sugar Hill, GA, (“The Family Church”) lit it up yesterday with a message seeking forgiveness from those in society for the church’s judgmental attitude. It was called, “We’re Sorry, Really.”
You can read about it here, from Joe Westbury of the Christian Index, or listen here.
Great job, Richard!
JOURNEYS: Transitioning Churches To Relevance is now in stock at your local LifeWay store. With the Minister Discount card it can be had for $11.99 +tax. Many thanks to the hundreds of folks who have already purchased through Missional Press, Amazon.com, and Barnes and Noble.com and from Todd and me personally.
The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford stars Brad Pitt and Casey Affleck based on the novel of the same name by Ron Hansen. Amazon lists the book at 320 pages and I’m sure the movie was at least that many hours.
The story centers on the last few months of James’ life, from September 7, 1881 through April 3, 1882, the date of his death. The adjective “assassination” is used rather than “murder” or “shooting” due to the notoriety that the outlaw had received following his 20+ bank and train robberies (with brother, Frank, and the “James Gang”) and his self-proclaimed 17 murders.
The movie uses, not effectively in my estimation, a lot of narration that is supposed to sound old and western but really just sounds uninteresting. Pitt is believable as the weary warrior, who at the age of 34 is already well along the down side of life. He does a good job of avoiding the smirks of his Ocean’s series character so you never get the feeling that he’s just collecting a paycheck on this one, and he does admirable work portraying James at times of overwhelming mental stress, anxiety and paranoia and as the family man forever hidden under the alias Tom Howard.
Affleck, who was honored with a Best Supporting Actor Nomination for his portrayal of the young, conflicted, fame seeking Robert “Bob” Ford, has moments of sheer brilliance but the disjointedness of the story telling works against his overall performance, IMO. After his initial appearance, which is extended, there was one point where I thought, “Where is Casey Affleck? Isn’t he in this movie?” I always felt that the best actors could carry or change a scene with their eyes, facial muscles and vocal tones–he pulls this off well especially early when both Frank and Jesse seem to put him down as too young (he was only 19 at the time of the Blue Cut train robbery). A particularly good scene features Ford, with some amount of embarrassment, recounting the ways that he as a youngster had likened himself to James. I really felt empathy for this character who sought so desperately to be liked by the one he admired, but never earned that respect.
(As good as Affleck’s performance is it does not come close to the astonishing, screen filling turn of Daniel Day-Lewis in There Will Be Blood and there were actually a couple of times early in the movie when the silly grin of “Bob” Ford reminded me of Ernest T. Bass more than a real gunslinger. Of course, that may have well been the intent as, initially, that is rather how Ford appeared to those around him.)
Ultimately Ford is about making a name for himself and, as the gang begins to implode, Jesse James’ continued patronizing of and veiled threats toward the younger outlaw brings him to a point that no man had dared go: the betrayal and killing of the man he once admired as a hero. By the time the titular scene arrives, however, it is all one can do to stay awake. This movie is really long, 160 minutes worth and the last 30 minutes or so are a record of the self-aggrandizement of Ford after reaching his desired celebrity. It is stated in the narration that not long after the killing, Robert Ford was recognized by a greater percentage of Americans than the president of the United States and was “more renowned at twenty than Jesse James after fourteen years of grand larceny.”
The killing itself is most bizarre. It is as if Ford is the uncertain tool of assassination under the direction of a choreographer who was Jesse James himself. I have no idea as to its historical accuracy.
Unless you are a fan of every western ever made or you desire a lot of action in that genre, or simply enjoy movies that move very slowly you might want to steer clear of this one. It is a talkie.
The primary strength of this movie is its cinematography. Filmed in both Winnipeg, Manitoba and Calgary, Alberta, Canada (the latter of which boasts some of the most gorgeous scenery on earth) the setting passes easily for the midwestern US in both summer and winter. The snow scenes are tremendous.
The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford is rated “R” for typical gun violence, a dozen or so swear words (but I wasn’t counting). There is no nudity or sexuality but there are a couple of brief sexually oriented conversations.
A California District Court handed down a ruling this week declaring home schooling in the state to be unconstitutional. From the article:
“California courts have held that … parents do not have a constitutional right to homeschool their children,” Justice H. Walter Croskey said in the 3-0 ruling issued on Feb. 28. “Parents have a legal duty to see to their children’s schooling under the provisions of these laws.”[…]
The ruling was applauded by a director for the state’s largest teachers union.
“We’re happy,” said Lloyd Porter, who is on the California Teachers Association board of directors. “We always think students should be taught by credentialed teachers, no matter what the setting.”
Of course, Lloyd.
Our three children have never been in a public school for classroom instruction. When our oldest was about nine, she was invited to be the guest of a neighbor child by doing the reading time for his class. The teacher was shocked at how well she did. Of course, she’d been reading the newspaper since she was 5.
Our middle child, Timothy, recently opted to try for the GED. On his evaluation test he scored as a high school graduate in each section. When we sat down with the instructor for the explanation, he began with the reading scores first saying, “I always start with the reading scores first. Unfortunately, we still have people go through high school who are functionally illiterate.” Astoundingly, functional illiteracy does not seem to be a problem with home schooled students.
Our youngest probably reads 300 books a year (no exaggeration), most of which have to do with some aspect of world and US history. She usually greets each new section of history with, “Oh yeah, I read about that in ______________.”
Like most kids, each of them have areas in which they have excelled and each of them have had areas where they have struggled. They weren’t (and aren’t) perfect as students, nor are we as teachers.
Though many homeschoolers can be virulent and even insolent about their position, most that I have encountered came to the decision after lots of thought and prayer. Most do not claim Deuteronomy 6 as their basis, but simply what is best for the family in a given situation or distinct period of time. Our original decision was made because we had two options for our kindergartener: drive 40 miles cumulative daily taking her ourselves or put her on a K-5 through 12th grade bus at 7:15 am and let her be dropped off at 5:00 pm. Neither situation was right for us, so we opted to homeschool.
Most homeschoolers do not get a tax break for purchasing their own textbooks, workbooks, study guides, tests, beakers, bunson burners, modeling clay and the rest. At the same time, most pay property taxes to furnish everyone else’s child with all the same equipment. We pay for the public system and yet receive no compensation for our homeschool expenses. It is an inequity that most willingly accept for the option of making sure their kids are not overwhelmed by a 180-day a year education that ignores or mocks the existence of the biblical God.
Another statement from the judge is equally as troublesome. Citing a 1961 case, Judge Proskey wrote:
“A primary purpose of the educational system is to train school children in good citizenship, patriotism and loyalty to the state and the nation as a means of protecting the public welfare.”
Uhm…educating children is not on the menu? The educational system in the United States of America, circa 2008, has absolutely nothing to do with “protecting the public welfare.” It has to do with getting the almighty tax dollars allocated to the various states and school districts via the No Child Left Behind legislation. The 1961 ruling could surely have been updated to reflect the new reality that “The primary purpose of the educational system is to brainwash school children in bad philosophy, materialism and subservience to the state and nation as a means of prolonging the public fealty.”
The U. S. government educational experiment has been (with some exceptions) a dismal failure and (as my Momma used to say), “Anyone with one eye and half-sense can see that.” I hope that California parents are successful in getting this ruling overturned either through lawsuit or legislation. I also hope that the U.S. supremes, if given the opportunity, leave it as an issue for the states to decide rather than pulling another Roe v Wade.
Ah, California. The state likely to let a parent kill a child, but will not let them educate it once it is born.
I am under no illusion about my preaching prowess, so I do not post this because I think I am the second coming of (fill in the name of your favorite speaker here), but because the subject matter is of vital importance to small to medium churches all over.
This past Sunday, I preached on the subject of “New Testament Church Leadership,” which was an overview of the offices of pastor and deacon. If you think it might be beneficial to you or someone you know, you can listen to the podcast here. If you get insomnia, you can download or subscribe to my other podcasts at newbethany.org/podcasts.
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 3.0 United States License.
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