Last week the family sat down together and watched The Tale of Despereaux. It’s a great story. I love this mouse. He has so many traits that I lack and hope to develop in my warped little soul. He is gentle, kind, chivalric, brave, smart, selfless and noble. I’m not saying that I’m none of those things, but I guess I’m not enough of those things.

Despereaux is born with a different heart than other mice. He lives life on the edge. He enjoys stealing cheese from mouse traps. He is un-self conscious. When he meets Princess Pea, she asks,

“Are you a rat?”

“No!” he replied.

“Well are you a mouse?”

He blinks and declares, “I’m a gentleman.”

When his parents sent him off to school, the teacher flashed a picture of a carving knife and the entire class cowered, but not Despereaux. The teacher said,

“You didn’t cower.”

“It looks like a sword.”

“It’s a carving knife.”

“It’s beautiful!”

The Principal called Despereaux’s parents in for a conference. He told them, “He wouldn’t cower. Wouldn’t cower, wouldn’t scurry . . . He drew pictures of cats in his notebook.” Eventually, because Despereaux will not conform, he is banished to the dungeon. There’s an interesting line in the written version of this tale, “Reader, you must know that an interesting fate (sometimes involving rats, sometimes not) awaits almost everyone, mouse or man, who does not conform.”

You see this is truly the nature of life. If you will not conform, you will be an outcast. If you don’t think what others want you to think, fear what others think you should fear, if you live in freedom when others embrace bondage, because it is the safe way to live; if you wont accept the “cats” that are in the world and go along with their tyranny—you my friend are in for a very interesting fate indeed; sometimes involving rats!

I wont tell you the story or how it ends, I encourage you to watch the movie (or better yet, read the book.) Become in your own little soul, like Despereaux. Be a gentle person, brave and noble, don’t ever cower and watch out for the rats!

telemicus out

The boldness of righteousness intrigues me. I don’t mean the morally faultless; I mean the pure of heart. I’m amazed at the way God treats boldness in his servants. Abraham recognized it was a bold move to bargain with the Lord for the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah. The prophet Jonah, when asked by the Lord, “Do you have a right to be angry?” shot back, “I do! I am angry enough to die!” Very bold. David, spoke boldly of his own righteousness and called on God to do all manner of harm to his enemies. Beyond that, he boldly declares his trust in the Lord to support him against his enemies. Fascinating.

Let’s consider two aspects of this, the boldness of righteousness and boldness in approaching God. In recent weeks, Miss California captured more than her fifteen minutes of fame because she answered a loaded question from an agenda driven miscreant judge concerning gay marriage. Without prejudice, she said boldly that she believed in the traditional view of marriage. For her boldness, she is both honored and vilified.

Being bold is not being willing to argue with everyone we meet about our view of righteousness. Boldness is being without fear when we face an enemy. It’s also standing firm when we are afraid. It is speaking the truth regardless of the consequence. It is walking with integrity of the soul that will not compromise our faith. It is standing with and defending the cause of the oppressed when we have no power to wield. It is confidence in cause over capability and it is risk with no certainty of reward.

In the Old Book David says, “When I called, you answered me; you made me bold and stouthearted” (Psalm 138:3). In the movie, Return of the King, as they made plans for a diversion to give Frodo a chance to complete his mission, Gimli said, “Certainty of death, small chance of success… What are we waiting for?”

The Lord makes us bold and stouthearted. To be honest, I’ve been more stout-headed than stouthearted in my life. I want to be bolder for the Lord—not in my convictions, but in my actions. I think we need more boldness for the cause of righteousness. I suppose we will need a greater hunger for it in our lives. Boldness is not arrogance or confidence in ourselves, boldness is a reckless confidence in the Lord and His Presence in our lives—“you made me bold and stouthearted” well then, what are we waiting for?

telemicus out

In the movie, Passion of the Christ, Jesus falls and Mary comes and kneels down beside him. Jesus looks at her and says, “See mother, I’m making everything new.” This phrase is from Revelation 21:5. This Sunday is Easter. As I was thinking about what I should speak about this week to our church the Word came to me, “Tell them I’m making everything NEW!” No, I didn’t hear a voice, but I heard it loud and clear.

The book of Hebrews is partly about the ways in which Christ is better than anything that came before him. He is better than Moses, He is a better High Priest, He is a better sacrifice, He is better than angels. He is better than the Law and provides a better covenant. He grants better access to the Father and offers a better rest. Jesus death on the cross gave all of humanity something better.

But beyond the elements of our religion, Jesus gives us the opportunity to live new lives. On that Sunday morning when the stone rolled away like the doors at the Target store and he walked out a free man, everything changed for us who belong to Him. “Yet to all who received him, to those who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God” (John 1:12).

When we enter into relationship with him, He forgives us, for everything, for good. We enjoy the depth of His teachings. We mature in Him. We walk in and with Him by the Spirit. We have the capacity for holiness. We are no longer slaves but free! We are not under law, but grace. We are not illegitimate, but adopted into the family of God. We are not under the curse, but the blessing. We have peace with God. We have comfort in sorrows. We have family by faith. Because of Him, we can face the horrible, forgive the unforgivable, believe the impossible, endure the unbearable and overcome the insurmountable.

The Old Book says, “His divine power has given us everything we need for life and godliness through our knowledge of him who called us by his own glory and goodness” (2 Peter 1:3). Oh He truly does make everything New! The thing that is most incredible to me about all of this is when a person allows Christ to change their heart. When the heart of stone becomes soft and teachable, when bitter becomes forgiving, when closed becomes open, when wounded becomes healed, when anger becomes happy, when hateful becomes loving—this is Him making us new.

telemicus out

In the movie, Leatherheads, there is a scene where the Duluth Bulldogs are playing a “Mud Bowl” type game against Chicago. It’s the end of the game and Duluth has to have a trick play to win. So Dodge Conner (George Clooney) uses one play to take out one of Chicago’s players, and trades places with him as they carry him off the field. Because mud covered every player on both teams, no one notices. This means that Dodge is covering his own man. The perfect distraction—Duluth wins!

Distractions can be good. We all need something to take our minds off the dragons that have us in turmoil or tangled in details. But, when there is a pressing matter that needs our attention, distractions can render us ineffective and waste our opportunities.

In Mark chapter 9, Jesus spent some time on a mountain with Moses and Elijah. Peter, James and John were also at this meeting and as they returned to the town, they found the other nine Apostles engaged in an argument with the teachers of the Law. Jesus says, “What are you arguing about?” Out of the crowd a man speaks up and says, “Teacher, I brought you my son, who is possessed by an evil spirit . . . I asked your disciples to drive out the spirit, but they could not” (Mark 9:17-18).

There you have it. The father brings his son, tormented by an evil spirit and because the Apostles were not spiritually prepared to face this evil spirit, they could not cast it out. Instead of dealing with their own spiritual weakness, taking the boy to a private place to minister to him, taking him to Jesus so that He could cast it out, instead of any other course of action, they got into a shouting match with the teachers of the Law about the fact that they couldn’t cast out this evil spirit.

And the Enemy wins.

What frustrated Jesus here is not the evil spirit. You can see that by the way he dealt with it that is was not a giant battle for him. No, what frustrated Jesus was the unbelief and the lack of preparedness in his own followers. For while his disciples argued about their own efficacy and power, a boy still was being tortured.

We see this in politics, where those we elect go and fight with one another on Capitol Hill and the talk shows, while ignoring the real people who need help. They say their fighting for us, but it’s rarely about us. It happens in churches too. While people need to know the love and forgiveness of God, “leaders” argue about what they want or don’t want to happen. I wonder . . . if Jesus walked into our building or attended one of our meetings, would he say, “Keep up the good work?” or “What are you arguing about?”

telemicus out

In the 2001 remake of Planet of the Apes, there is a surly character named Limbo. He is sort of a slave trader dealing in humans. While making a sale of a human child he issues one of the most memorable lines from the film…

“The young ones make great pets. Just make sure you kill them before they mature. Believe me, the last thing you want is a human teenager running around your house.”

In earlier times, teens were really kids forced into adulthood by life. However, with prosperity came time and “disposable income” (what a ridiculous phrase). With income came stuff and well… you know, here we are. Dude! I am not one of those who is down on the youth and their culture—totally.

Teens drive the social fabric and economic engine of our country. They determine what clothes are in style. They direct the music industry, (I’m not altogether pleased about that.) They have a verbal language of their own. And now they “TEXT” in an augmented English that resembles a sort of code—(imo). [For the uninformed or un-cool “imo” means “in my opinion” – unless you’re talking about the people that are "Imo" and that is a different thing altogether.] As in every decade since any can remember, teens determine what is cool.

Well, for the third time, in a third decade we have a teenager living at our house. He is like most of them. He likes food, likes stuff, likes rock n’ roll, likes the opposite sex, likes clutter, likes video games, and I’m good with all of that. But the thing I like most about having teenagers is where mine, and many that I’ve worked with over the years, are unlike the culture.

Everyone should have teens like we have had. Our kids have been free to choose their friends and they’ve chosen wisely – usually. They’ve been free to disagree with their parents, but have done so within the bounds of respect – usually. They’ve been free to seek and find the Lord, they’ve come to Him on His terms at their own pace and time. They follow Him in faith – usually.

I love teens. I love listening to them talk, watching how they act and interact. I love their sense of justice. Their out of balance drama is the germ of reality TV. The one draw back that I see in teen-hood is when people move to adulthood and bring their teenager mentality with them. There is a time to put away the teen years, but as John said, “Hold on to 16 as long as you can; changes come around real soon—make us women and men.” Even though Caleb is a teen, we’ve decided to keep him - at least for a while.

telemicus out

In a preview clip from the new Daniel Craig film DEFIANCE, there is a line that has sort of hung on to me since I saw it. The movie is the true story of four brothers who defied the Nazi army during World War II. The Bielski family live in the area called Belarus. When their parents and other family members are killed, Tuvia Bielski (Daniel Craig) and his brothers hid in the forest.

In time, a small group of Jewish refugees joins them in hiding. This little band of resistors survives as best they can and the group continues to grow. The Bielski Partisans become a significant pain for the Nazi’s. The regime offered 100,000 Riechmarks for assistance in capturing Tuvia. The Bielski group lived in the forest for more than 2 years and at the end, the little group numbered more than 1200.

I want to take my son to see this film. He needs to hear the stories of those who stand against tyranny, oppression and hate. We live in a time when some people think that you can talk and reason with irrational hate filled people who have no agenda beyond the destruction of their enemies. The Bielski Partisans were lovers of freedom. They didn’t want to fight, but fight they did.

Caleb mentioned a few days ago, that he had a friend that was “anti-war”. I took the opportunity to explain that everyone should be anti-war. But there are times when wars must be fought. Evil exists and it doesn’t listen to reason and compromise. When a thing is evil, (racism, violence against innocence, lawlessness, etc.) then we must face it and defeat it. We cannot make deals with it.

So what was the great line that so grabbed me? Tuvia is addressing the people in the forest and he says to them. “Everyday that we live in freedom is an act of faith.” This is true in the political sense of course. But it is also true spiritually. The message of Christ and the gospel is a message of freedom.

The Old Book says, “It is for freedom that Christ has set us free. Stand firm, then, and do not let yourselves be burdened again by a yoke of slavery” (Galatians 5:1). He set us free from sin, death, self-justification, law and the judgment of others. Does sin still attack us, does death still claim our loved ones, do we still get caught up in “doing enough” to be worthy, do we still become rule focused, do others still try to convince us that we don’t measure up? Of course, but we are free from it all in Christ and he wants us to live free… Every day that we live in freedom is an act of faith.

telemicus out

Two weeks ago, I took my daughter to see the movie, Australia. Despite what the critics had to say, we thought it was a great movie. I encourage you to set aside three hours and go see it. The primary characters are Lady Ashley (Sarah), an aristocratic English woman, Drover an Australian cowboy and Nullah a half white, half Aborigines boy.

The story line is that Lady Ashley’s husband has gone to Australia to work a cattle ranch he bought. After not hearing from him, she leaves England to find her husband with intentions of selling the ranch and returning home. The boy, Nullah lives on the ranch with his mother. Drover works as a cowboy on the ranch.

The boy spends time with his grandfather, a native called King George. The grandfather teaches him the customs and ways of the Aborigines. Nullah lives in two worlds. During this time, boys who were mixed breeds were gathered together and sent to Missions where they were taught Christianity and had the savage “bled” out of them. Nullah often “made himself invisible” in order to prevent capture.

Lady Ashley’s husband is killed before she arrives. She hires Drover to help her deliver the cattle. Nullah also serves as a cowboy. Eventually Nullah and Lady Ashley grow close, but in time he explains that the time is coming for his “Walkabout”. Lady Ashley forbids it, but King George beckons. Drover explains that Nullah has to go. It is the Walkabout that gives an Aborigines male his identity, his purpose. He tells her, “If he doesn’t go he will never know who he really is. He wont belong in the white mans world and he wont belong in theirs. He won’t have his dreams. He won’t know his story.”

The Walkabout is a spiritual journey to a “belonging place”. It is where the young males connect spiritually to the land, it is here that they learn the songs that lead them, and it gives him his dreams and his voice in the world. It is the path to a belonging place.

Should 2009 to be the year of your Walkabout? It seems we will invest time and money in improving our golf game, dance steps, physical fitness, nails, hair and psyche, but will we invest time and money in the spiritual journey of discovering our “belonging place?” I have a goal to take some time, perhaps several days for solitude and to walk. I need to discover my dreams again, to learn the songs of direction and to reconnect to the Earth. I want to find my voice in the world, to recapture my story. I need to find my belonging place.

The Old Book says that Jesus often stayed in lonely places and prayed. Make 2009 the year of your Walkabout. Take the Lord Jesus along because wherever the Walkabout may take us, it’s in Him that we discover our voice, learn our songs, write our stories and connect to what truly matters. He is our Belonging Place.

telemicus out

Last summer they showed up looking scary and vicious. They have reddish-brown wings, black bodies with yellow stripes. We thought they were hornets, but they are Cicada Killer Wasps. Last year, they were a nuisance, this year they were a plague of not quite biblical proportions. The male of the species cannot sting. The females are twice the size of the male and they have a wicked sting. They build nests in dirt. We have a deck in the back yard and they opened the North Texas Cicada Killer Wasp University in our back yard.  We couldn’t go out in the back and cook on the grill. The dogs wouldn’t go out and . . . well – you know. I decided it was time to deal with these things. I started first by covering my deck with plastic. I dressed for war - even tied one of those Rambo things on my head. I decided I would gas them. So I pulled the plug on a couple of fogger bombs. They seemed only annoyed by my first assault. 

I talked to my nephew (a professional exterminator) and he explained how they nest and how to get rid of them. The next step for me was to take the top of the deck off and find the hole that indicates the entrance to their nest. I found it on the first night. I sprayed an entire can of foaming wasp killer inside the hole. The next morning – they were still swarming! I took more of the deck top off and found two more nests. I bombed them as well and the next morning – still swarming! Now I have had enough. I walked into the back yard and did the normal Saturday drill, pick up the dog. . . well – you know. Next, trim along the fence and around the deck. All the while, the wasps are all around me. A few got too close and I tried to do the Light Saber bit with the weed whacker, but it’s too cumbersome to be an effective weapon. But it gave me an idea. 

I again dressed for battle. I found my racquetball racquet in the garage and I went to war. It took a little while to get the feel for it, but for over an hour I did hand to wing combat with the swarm of Cicada Killer Wasps. In the spirit of Luke Skywalker, I swatted the attacking hordes down with my Jedi skills. They continued to show up throughout the day. Like a soldier of Nehemiah, I worked with a screw gun in one hand and my racquet in the other. I struck down the enemy while my family safely watched in hysteria safely from inside the house.  I’m sure it looked ridiculous to the neighbors, but it had to be done. I was tired of talk, smoke and foam. I needed results. What are the Killer Wasps in your life? Are there habits, people or places that you need to eradicate from your scene? Stop doing things that wont work. Do you need to get serious about a new job or new relationships? Do you need to get your body in shape and your health on track? It may be time for you to get your Skywalker on and go to war. May the Force be with You. telemicus out

I love the movie, The Postman. It got a bad rap. The year is 2013; there is no government and no communication. There are militias that rule over various territories. The Postman (Costner) is a drifter trying to survive. He finds a bag of mail and a skeleton wearing a postal workers uniform. He assumes the identity of the Postman to get a meal. Then he made up a story that the United States have reorganized and a new President has been elected named Starky. He tells the people, “Starky has this thing he always says, ‘Things are getting better.’” He gave them hope. 

Guess what. . . these are NOT bad times. These are challenging for some, difficult for others, but they are not bad. We live in a time of opportunity. We are free, strong, prosperous and resourceful people. Unemployment is low, interest rates are still very low, outside of the fake price of oil driving the cost of fuel and goods higher, the economy is stable. We are winning in the war against the fascist enemies.  

It is here that we teach our kids balance. We “keep our heads when everyone around us is losing theirs,” it is in these times that we display strength and confidence in God and country. It’s now that we teach trust in God, to believe what is good, to stand on principle and refuse to buy into the panic and fear that the media promote every day.  

No, I’m not unaware of the price of gas, the condition of the economy, the financial institutions, the price of food or the mortgage crises. But the truth of all this is that every entity that exists in the context of abuses requires correction. This is true in small business, sports teams, churches, government, corporations and even families. Those that don’t make corrections fail – every time. 

Failure is sometimes the right thing. The government (we the people) shouldn’t bail out failing businesses. If they fail, it is on them. The day will come when these oil companies will be asking for help because they are failing. Their abuses will be visited back upon them. Just as the savings and loans in the 80s, the over valued dot-coms of the 90s, and all the other failures we’ve seen when wisdom is abandoned and abuse is tolerated. I’m not without compassion. I know that when an organization fails it hurts people. I’ve been in businesses and churches that failed because of foolishness and abuse.  

So, here is my advice. Don’t wait on the government to fix things. They only know how to mess things up. Turn up your thermostat (if you need to), drive less (if you want to), be wise, look for solutions and opportunities to change your life. Dream big! Take risks! Believe in the gifts that God gave you and don’t buy into the Chicken Little panic that you hear blasting from your radio and T.V. We are the children of God. We live in the greatest country on the face of the Earth. We stand firm with American resolve and confident faith. Things are getting better. 

telemicus out

We saw, I Am Legend at the theater when it came out. It was alright, but I wasn’t pleased with how it ended. So when it came out on video, we gave it another try. I liked it better, but still not as much as I hoped. The Boy gave me fits about wanting to see the alternate ending, but you had to buy the movie to see it. I finally relented. On Monday, we watched the movie with the alternate ending and new scenes added. It is WAY better. (IMO) 

Many bloggers have written about the movie, many talking about the allusion of the virus to sin and its horrible impact on the world. There is definitely a spiritual vein in the story. One of the most prominent is the influence of the music of Bob Marley. I’m sure Bob Marley was a gifted man, but he was also very misguided. Many of the things he said in terms of philosophy were versions of the words of our Master. And while he believed in some version of God, he was in no way a Christian. His penchant for the herb is well known and it fogs the value of many of his words. 

Robert Neville (Will Smith) quotes Marley in one scene and says, “Light up the darkness.” Marley’s reason for this statement was the hope of uniting mankind through love and music. These are not bad things. However, it was Jesus who first spoke of lighting up the darkness when he said, “In the same way, let your light shine before men, that they may see your good deeds and praise your Father in heaven.” (Matthew 5:16) Jesus purpose for lighting the darkness was that the praise of the Father. When man seeks to lift himself, God is set aside. As we praise God, He lifts us up. 

When John Lennon’s Imagine came out, like most people, I loved the song. A man at my church, who I really admired, tried to show me the shortcoming of Lennon’s words. It was Marley’s contention that music and love could change the hearts of men. It is the influence of God through the character of Christ and the work of the Spirit that changes people. There are many things that inspire us to change, but at the end of the day, only God can change us.  

Jesus said, “I am the light of the world.” He also said, “You are the light of the world.” Of course, we must let our light shine. Expose the deeds of darkness. We need to be good and noble people who make a difference in the world, but not for the praise of man, not for the glory of the world, rather for the praise of our Father. 

telemicus out