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By Andy, June 25, 2009 9:56 pm

I was 6 years old, just 3 months shy of my 7th birthday, and my family and I were on a vacation down the central California coast to check out Hearst Castle.  We were driving from our home in San Francisco in our 1969 Buick Skylark coupe, listening to the AM band, when the news came over the radio that Elvis had died.

The quintessential pop icon of my parents’ generation had gone.

Twenty years later, over Labor Day weekend, I was in Las Vegas with Will and a cast of other young twenty-something men for a bachelor party weekend.  We had piled into 2 cars that Saturday morning to tour Hoover Dam, and upon our return, after a dinner at a nearby In ‘N Out Burger joint, we got ready for a night of gaming at the Hard Rock Hotel.  Television tuned to CNN, we saw the breaking news…Princess Diana had been killed in an auto accident.

The princess who’d had the storybook royal wedding when I was 10 years old had gone.

Twelve years later, sitting in a cubicle high above downtown San Francisco, I learned that Farrah Fawcett, one of the blonde bombshells whose beauty marked my childhood and adolescence, passed on after a battle with cancer.

Jill Munroe, an original Angel, had gone.

And on that same day, sitting in that same cubicle high above downtown San Francisco, following the Twitter feed of a couple of friends, I learned that the King of Pop, Michael Jackson had died.

The “Thriller” will thrill no more.

Four pop icons, whose lives have left their mark on global pop culture, have passed within a 32 year span.  Who could forget the royal wedding in 1981?  Who could forget Jill, Sabrina, Kelly, and later Kris, in various syndicated repeats?  Who could forget the moonwalk, the lighted sidewalk in the Billie Jean video, the Eddie Van Halen solo in Beat It?

A large piece of my generation’s pop culture history passed today.

Farewell.

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By Andy, June 23, 2009 11:56 pm

I admit it.

I watched it on Monday night.

In fact, it’s been a show that our family has watched, on and off, since it first aired.

My kids, in particular, have enjoyed watching the antics of the sextuplets as they’ve grown up from crawling babies to curious 5 year olds.  But now…all we feel for the sextuplets and their twin older sisters, is nothing but sadness.

For all the flaunting of their Christian faith in the early years of their reality show (they took a trip sans kids to speak to a large church in Fresno, and Kate’s book tour last year took her to a variety of churches across the country, nevermind that their book was published by a major Christian publisher and can be found in the Christian book section), the fact is that it appears, at least from the 30 minute episodes we’ve seen, that it wasn’t as large a part of their life as we’d been led to believe.  Admittedly, some of that is editing, of course, but the pattern of behavior that we’ve seen on the show between the two parents has not been healthy for a long time. On Monday night, Jon, the father, admitted as much when he shared that he had allowed his wife to boss him around while he reacted passively (although I would argue rather passive aggressively) and that he’d finally had enough.  There was truth in that statement, as we could see that pattern throughout the life of the show.  We saw a time when Kate flipped out when Jon dressed the kids in clothes other than what she set out (because they matched) rather than accept the fact that he got them dressed and out the door for a family outing (which is what would happen in most healthy marriages).  The level of criticism she has leveled at her husband, on screen, to his face, during those love seat interviews, probably wasn’t fair much of the time.  And he should have stepped up to work through those rather than accept them the way he did.

That said, he’s a coward.  For all the criticism that I can level at the wife, I reserve my harshest for him - because as a father and a husband, he is called to more.  If he truly believed in his vow of marriage, if he truly loved his wife the way he is supposed to, he would have stepped up - would “man up” - and be the Ephesians 5 husband that God has called all husbands to be.

25-28Husbands, go all out in your love for your wives, exactly as Christ did for the church—a love marked by giving, not getting. Christ’s love makes the church whole. His words evoke her beauty. Everything he does and says is designed to bring the best out of her, dressing her in dazzling white silk, radiant with holiness. And that is how husbands ought to love their wives. They’re really doing themselves a favor—since they’re already “one” in marriage.

Ephesians 5:25-28 The Message

Unfortunately Jon’s actions in recent months, clubbing with another woman, is worse than anything that his wife might have done to him in the past. He should be loving his wife, faults and all, the way Jesus loves us - the sacrifical love, the love that brings the best out of us.  As a husband that’s what I want to do, to love my wife in such a way so as to bring the best out of her.  I don’t always succeed, but I’m not about to take the “easy” route and run away from the problem.  Besides, doesn’t it make sense that it would be easier for the wife to respect her husband when he is loving her the way that Jesus loves His church?

There is so much more that could be said, including the materialism that both parents seem to enjoy from the income from the show, but that’s a discussion for another day.  The sad truth is that eight more children will become victims of divorce, victims of two selfish parents, one of whom has a highly critical streak in her personality, and one who is unable to rise up to the challenge of becoming a real man…a man who should be loving sacrificially, the way Jesus loves us, the way that He commanded us to love.

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By Andy, September 13, 2007 12:30 am

After a couple of “heavy” posts the past couple of days, my mind needs a break.  So…in the interest of community and pure pop culture fun…

…what television shows, movies, books, music, etcetera are you anticipating the most this coming fall?

For me, it’s the return of Heroes in a couple of weeks, and I must admit to a curiosity in the reimagining of the Bionic Woman.   And of course, I’d be remiss in not mentioning the return of the NFL and college football, especially since the Cal Bears are ranked 8th in the nation after a 2-0 start that included beating Tennessee.  I also can’t forget the upcoming baseball playoffs and the World Series, even without my beloved Giants…

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By Andy, July 20, 2007 6:33 am

Given that the weekend is nearly upon us, oftentimes we think about what it is that we would like to do on these 2 days in which we place our professions on hold so that we may rest. Alas, on occasion we may be required to put in a few hours at our place of employment, but most of the time we have time to spend with the family.

While my upcoming Saturday may be filled with a morning breakfast with our men’s group and an afternoon family Cub Scout meeting, there is still plenty of time left throughout to relax with a book or a movie.

A couple of weeks ago, for my wife and I, that movie was Ushpizin, an Israeli film about a married Orthodox Jewish couple living in an Orthodox Jewish neighborhood of Jerusalem, set in the current day. It is almost Sukkot, but the couple has insufficient funds to celebrate the holiday properly, unable to afford the food for the feast, much less the hut.

However, after placing faith in God, praying for a blessing and a miracle, the couple receives a gift, and are suddenly able to afford both the hut and the food. They even accept guests - 2 convicts who recently broke out of prison, one of whom was an adolescent friend of the husband, prior to his conversion to Orthodox Judaism. What transpires next is a story that includes comedy, spiritual refinement and testing, and a brilliant look into a world that 21st Century American Christianity, in particular, will find educational and necessary, seeing the parallels of the Jewish faith within our own faith.

I highly recommend this film. Line it up in your Netflix queue. Now.

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By Andy, July 18, 2007 5:37 am

You might have noticed articles in your local papers around July 7th of this year discussing the surge in weddings on that particular Saturday, since it was 7/7/07 that day.

The lucky sevens…which have never appeared on any slot machine I’ve played (and if so, I’d likely be blogging about the prosperity Gospel - wink, wink).

The article that ran in the San Francisco Chronicle also discussed how next year’s “lucky” day, August 8, 2008 (8/8/08), will be the lucky day in Chinese culture, since the Chinese consider “8″ to be a very fortunate number, given that the Chinese pronunciation of that number sounds remarkably similar to the word “prosper” or “fortune” or “wealth”. In fact, the Beijing Olympics will begin on 8/8/08 at 8:08:08 pm. (Hmmm…I wonder how many athletes will be on the Chinese team…888?)

Lest you think I am attempting to cause racial strife on this blog, let me remind you that I’m Asian. Specifically, I am Chinese-Indonesian, but born and raised in San Francisco. My parents immigrated to the US in the late ’60s from Indonesia, although my family ancestry goes back to China, from both sides of the family. They are also Christians, having attended a Dutch Reformed church back in Indonesia back then and finding a home in a Presbyterian church in San Francisco (and are now active members of a similar church in Oregon).

So I find it rather strange that my Christian parents would have a vehicle with personalized license plates that incorporate three “8’s” in it. Certainly I understand it from a cultural aspect, yet as Christians, should we play into such cultural superstitions? Why subscribe to the luckiness or unluckiness of a number when we have already received the gift of grace from Jesus’ death and resurrection? And in subscribing to the perceived luckiness of the number, is the cultural value of the number being placed above faith in Christ - leading to a form of idolatry of the number?

Personally, I find it rather dumb. The numbers seven or eight or thirteen are just numbers to me, and I only find meaning in them when I am reconciling a bank statement or a general ledger account. Such is the accountant in me.

On the other hand, I don’t want to be legalistic about this either - because I can have fun with the pop cultural aspect of these numbers as much as the next person (”Of course the Giants lost to the Dodgers - it was Friday the 13th!)

I guess the upside to all this is that with a date like 7/7/07 or 8/8/08, the husbands are less likely to forget their anniversary dates…

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By Andy, July 8, 2007 6:31 am

18″If the world hates you, keep in mind that it hated me first. 19If you belonged to the world, it would love you as its own. As it is, you do not belong to the world, but I have chosen you out of the world. That is why the world hates you. 20Remember the words I spoke to you: ‘No servant is greater than his master.’[b] If they persecuted me, they will persecute you also. If they obeyed my teaching, they will obey yours also. 21They will treat you this way because of my name, for they do not know the One who sent me. 22If I had not come and spoken to them, they would not be guilty of sin. Now, however, they have no excuse for their sin. 23He who hates me hates my Father as well. 24If I had not done among them what no one else did, they would not be guilty of sin. But now they have seen these miracles, and yet they have hated both me and my Father. 25But this is to fulfill what is written in their Law: ‘They hated me without reason.’

John 15: 18-25 (NIV)

It may have only received 23% of the “fresh” rating on Rotten Tomatoes, and only 9% of the cream of the crop reviewers, but my family and I still went to see Evan Almighty this weekend. And I must say…of all the “Christian” themed films that I have seen in recent months, it is perhaps the best executed and likely will reach the broadest audience, unlike films such as Facing the Giants or The Chronicles of Narnia.

Admittedly, the film is not without its problems, particularly with regard to the characters’ reactions to the changes in Evan’s physical appearance (and attitude) - these reactions were not sufficiently realistic given the changes he was undergoing. However, I can overlook a flaw such as thing in light of the bigger picture of the film and its thematic content, which can be summarized in 6 words:

Doing God’s Will.

And…

God loves us.

The film is packed with theology - simplified, in some ways - with some punch in others - yet underlying it is the message that in an effort to refine us, God will challenge us, God will take us out of our comfort zone, and God will be persistent in letting us know He has a specific task for us. Such is what He does with Evan’s character in this film, particularly early with the incessant references to “614″ (as in Genesis 6:14). And if that wasn’t enough, God begins to send animals to follow Evan…in pairs.

It gets uncomfortable for Evan, who is just beginning his career as a congressman, focused on his career (and not on his family), aware of the image he must project to his colleagues and the public - and God, of course, will have none of that, telling him that he must build the ark while Evan thinks it’s nuts.

Yet he builds it - exhibits obedience to God in the same way the patriarchs did in the OT. In a very powerful scene, God tells him, “When someone prays for courage, do you think God gives them courage, or does he give them a moment to be courageous? When someone prays for the family to be closer, does he sprinkle around happiness, or does he give them an opportunity to be closer?”

God was reminding Evan that he was refining him to be the man He wants him to be. And in that same line, God was reminding us that He always answers prayer - He just doesn’t always give us the answer WE expect.

See this film - whether in the theaters this summer or on DVD or pay per view or on a pay cable channel this fall. Frankly, I was expecting to be disappointed by this film, figuring I’d enjoy Steve Carell’s antics. But I walked out having enjoyed this film for the joy it gave my family this cool San Francisco afternoon and for the positive characterization of God that it employed.

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By Andy, June 8, 2007 2:25 pm

The front headline, above the paper’s masthead, reads: “Whacked?”

Without seeing the photograph associated with it, one could assume this might have to do with the war in Iraq, or some local crime scheme.

No.

It is an article about the end of “The Sopranos” on Sunday. This was on the front page of today’s San Francisco Chronicle.

I have watched this show from the very beginning. It is a very good television show, and the theological lessons that can be gleaned from the program are quite many, beginning with the fact that we can relate to the lead character (not from the crime boss aspect) but because his life is a reflection of ours, trapped in our sinful nature, often succumbing to the temptations that are prevalent in life. We don’t see a black and white world in Tony’s world, and unfortunately, our world is very much the same way. He is a bad guy, yet he is a family man struggling to do the right thing for his family. This is a television show that is a reflection of the postmodern age in which we live, with many shades of gray.

But as good as this program is, as much of an impact it has made on American pop culture, should this really be front page news of daily newspaper in a large American city? What does this say about our culture - that the headline ABOVE the masthead is for the series finale of a pay cable television show?

Have we become that vacuous so as to place entertainment above the reality of our world? (After all, on the same front page is a teaser graphic for an article about the home confinement of a certain hotel chain heiress.) Or are we really looking for an escape from the trappings of our world because we are so disillusioned by our world - eventhough the world into which we are escaping is a mirror of our own?

I don’t know the answer.

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By Andy, May 15, 2007 5:33 am

41″Watch and pray so that you will not fall into temptation. The spirit is willing, but the body is weak.”

Matthew 26: 41 (NIV)

This passage came into play during the season finale of…”Survivor”. Late this season, one of the contestants, Yau-Man, cut a deal with Dreamz (great names, eh?) after he (Yau) won a pickup truck after a challenge. He told Dreamz (who grew up on the street and does not own a vehicle) that he would give him the truck in exchange for the immunity idol if:

1) Both of them are in the final four.

AND

2) Dreamz wins the immunity challenge at the final four.

Dreamz agrees, and both know full well that while this deal has been struck (in front of several cameras, 4 fellow contestants, and the show’s host), there is no way to enforce it within the context of the game, other than through peer pressure and the valuation of one’s own integrity balanced in the context of a game in which the management of deception is critical to advancement in the game.

So the final four rolls around, and both Yau and Dreamz are part of the final four. Dreamz goes on to win the immunity idol at the final four…so it is assumed by the remaining 3 contestants that he will give Yau the idol because of the deal struck.

At tribal council, this does not happen, and Yau is voted out to become the final member of the jury that will select the winner of the game.

The next night, at the final tribal council in which the final 3 contestants are grilled by the remaining members of the jury, jury member Boo (yet another great name) comes up and calls out Dreamz on his faith as a Christian. (Now having seen the entire season, I do not recall Boo or Dreamz speaking of their faith - but such is the power of editing…)

Boo calls out Dreamz for not holding true to his word, telling him “I still believe in you, but I still believe you’re an immature Christian, and I hope that one day, you will be a strong Christian man and be able to tell the devil, ‘Dangle all the money you want in front of me; this Christian is not for sale.’”

Boo recognized his Christian brother as having fallen into temptation. He called out his brother for his transgression, but then heeded the words of the apostle Paul in the letter to the Galatians (chapter 6, verse 1 and 2): Brothers, if someone is caught in a sin, you who are spiritual should restore him gently. But watch yourself, or you also may be tempted. Carry each other’s burdens, and in this way you will fulfill the law of Christ.

While it certainly was a moment made for entertaining TV viewing, it was also an excellent example of a brother gently restoring a fellow brother the way we as Christians are to gently restore those who have fallen in our Christian community. As we live under the law of Christ, we may also call out our fellow Christian brothers and sisters who err under that same law.

It was a Christian teaching moment that played out on national TV.

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By Andy, May 4, 2007 7:08 am

Keeping it light for this Friday…

::

Can anyone tell me where the Golden State Warriors play? Yeah, I agree it’s got perhaps the worst geographical name for a team, but it does play across the Bay from me, in Oakland…the team that last won an NBA title in 1975 when it was the San Francisco Warriors. They really need to drop that “Golden State” moniker and simply go by “Oakland”. Or they can do the Angels’ thing and become the Golden State Warriors of Oakland.

::

“Lost” fans…please speak up! Are the 815ers dead or not? Are they in “hell” or some sort of purgatory, or is it all just misinformation? Perhaps this is a version of C.S. Lewis’ “The Great Divorce”…

In any case, it’s all one big Jeopardy question, with answers coming in the form of questions.

::

Speaking of TV…”Heroes” anyone? Much as I look forward to watching Spidey 3 in the theaters in the next week (or so I hope), the NBC show has got the best live action take on super powered folks since…well quite possibly ever, silver screen or TV screen.

::

And just because it’s been a long time…any prayer requests out there?

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By Andy, April 30, 2007 6:37 am

Or Why I’ll Eat A Little Crow

I love movies. Always have, always will. I will watch a movie for a variety of reasons, whether for escapism (the most common reason for me), for entertainment (typically hand-in-hand with escapism), for keeping up with pop culture, for education, and even for inspiration.

I’ll watch the gamut of films, too, whether classic (The Sound of Music, Casablanca, and West Side Story) or sci-fi (Star Wars), or fantasy (Lord of the Rings), or even guilty pleasures (Talladega Nights, Dude-Where’s My Car).

But when it comes to religious films, specifically those with Biblical and Christian themes, my own reaction to them have been mixed, at best. I have always enjoyed Charleton Heston in The Ten Commandments, a film that I consider to be both a classic piece of epic filmmaking and a film of unintentional camp. I also enjoyed Dreamworks Animation’s The Prince of Egypt (though it seemed to be a Reader’s Digest Condensed version of Heston’s film). Mel Gibson’s The Passion of the Christ was fantastic, if gory, but it is a reminder of the pain experienced by this Man in the effort to save us from our sins. And lest I forget, The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe followed CS Lewis’ book well, nicely showing the sacrificial and redemptive analogy of Aslan to Christ.

But for the good quality of these big budget films, there are the lower brow Christian films…such as the direct-to-video Left Behind films, predominantly vehicles for woe-begone former TV child stars to have one last shot at a film career, films filled with third rate special effects, seemingly recycled sets, poor dialogue, and stiff acting. Given the source material, it isn’t a stretch to see that the films are as clunky as they are.

So it was with much trepidation that I viewed Facing the Giants this evening. As you may be aware, this film was produced, written, and acted by members of a church in Georgia, and distributed for wide release by a major film distributor. The film cost only $100,000 to make, with the majority of the work done by volunteers from the church who felt the call to ministry by participating in this endeavor.

I found it impressive that this church was able to produce this film for wide release, but I could not help but cringe at the thought of amateurs making this film in an effort to spread the Gospel. As I popped in the DVD and the family and I settled in to view this film, I was ready to quietly hop online and put up a blog post while the wife and kids watched the film. This film needed to hook me early if I was going to stick around and watch it. I was ready to be disappointed, and I was ready to trash the film.

The first 20 minutes were, quite frankly, excruciating. The dialogue was clunky. The delivery of the dialogue was wooden and stiff - it was as if the actors were being fed their lines into an earpiece. I bit my lower lip, ready to run back to the bedroom and catch the score of the Warriors/Mavericks playoff game. But I didn’t, because I wanted to see the rest of this train wreck occur.

Yet as the film progressed, I found myself transfixed by the story. I knew how the film was going to end - stories of underdog teams who come from behind to win are common in film - and while I found the parable to be simplistic, I knew as I watched, that I was not the intended audience for this film. I kept glancing at my 8 year old daughter and 6 year son, who were thoroughly engrossed in the film, cheering for the Shiloh Academy football team, and I could see that they “got” the film’s message.

I was reminded, once again, that it’s not about me. While I may enjoy reading works by notable theological writers (as evidenced from my assorted quotes of such writers here) and formulate my own thoughts on faith through my Scripture readings with supplementation by those writings, others, such as my children, may very well get their theological messages from a film like Facing the Giants - a film that in simple terms, shows practical application of Scripture in daily life, beginning with the individual heart that opens to Christ’s love.

Is it a well-acted film? Not by a long shot.

Is the dialogue tenable? Even die-hard Christians will wish a good screenwriter could have scrubbed the lines some more.

Is it a well-made film? The football cinematography was on-par with other football films I’ve seen.

Most importantly, though, will God speak to an individual heart using this film?

Absolutely. And for that reason alone this film gets a thumbs up from “The Beach.”