True Grit

Second attempt at this post...my laptop is throwing me off the web...
I have to talk again about True Grit, the new version of the classic western with John Wayne.  I talked about it a lot at church last week, and even based my message on themes from the movie, but I have to say a few things more.
I went and saw it a week and a half ago with my dad and mom, and ended up going again to see it yesterday with my dad and son this time.  I probably enjoyed it even more, and was able to look for other thing since I had already seen it before.
The movie shocks you as a Christian from the get-go because it begins with a Scripture passage from Proverbs, followed by a piano rendition of Leaning on the Everlasting Arms as the opening scene comes into focus.  I can't properly describe it, but this opening somewhat reminds me of the opening of The Searchers, my all-time favorite, in the way it so effectively sets the tone and the theme of the movie, all done in a minimalist fashion.
The main character/narrator then describes the scene, including her pronouncement that the only thing that is free in life is the Grace of God.  At this point I couldn't believe this movie was happening.  Much of the story is seen through the lens of Mattie Ross' Christian viewpoint, and follows her morals of true Christian grit.  Once again, I wholeheartedly recommend this movie.

I told our congregation that this movie isn't for young children, because of a little salty language, some hangings, some shootings and a scene that includes a character chopping off another character's fingers then stabbing him.  The beauty of the movie, though, comes through even in that scene, because the dying young man then asks the marshal, Rooster Cogburn, to inform his brother, who is a Methodist circuit rider minister, that he will walk with him on the streets of gold.

The climactic scene of the movie, a rescue in a life-and-death situation, is extremely moving and shows a true transformation of character, a change of heart much like I talk about at church quite often.  The movie is an amazing thing.  The story itself--I want to read the book now--the filmmaking, the acting, the music, it's all amazing.  I will own this one when it comes out on DVD, but unfortunately I won't be able to show it at Drennon due to its saltier content.

This weekend I am going to offer John Wayne a chance at rebuttal.  Last week I had a couple of big John Wayne fans--and I am a HUGE one--tell me there was no way Jeff Bridge could pull off this movie after the Duke had already done it.  Well, Jeff Bridges was in a better movie than John Wayne, in this case.  So...this Sunday I am going to focus on The Searchers and give John Wayne a chance to shine too.

Pastor's Study

A big thanks goes out to Dean & Alice Baugh, Harriet & JR Beatty and Eleanor Jones Sharp for making the new "Pastor's Study" possible. 

If you don't know what I'm talking about here, the board voted to allow me to transform the old storage room on the balcony into an office.  In previous years, Drennon Church has hosted many student pastors who have had to occasionally stay the night at the church because of weather or other reasons.  The church set aside the back of the fellowship hall top floor as an office, with a sofa bed for the pastor and his family, if he had one to bring with him.

When my family arrived last summer, we put a lot of older furniture out into the fellowship hall in order to host our Andy Griffith Bible Study, including the sofa bed.  Folks use that furniture for our meal and study most Wednesdays, and we have a great time.  The office area, though, became little more than a storage room and a location for my son and his friends to play XBOX while we were studying.

The new area, though, in the sanctuary building, will allow us to have an area for small church meetings, for my middle/high school Sunday School class, and especially for pastoral counseling.  We were at the church Wednesday till about 1:30 or so, then went to Eleanor's to drop off some items she has graciously agreed to store, and then my family went back to the church with some furniture.

Be sure to come by and look around--it's pretty exciting for us to have a more official meeting space.

At the Church

My family is meeting tomorrow morning with a couple of dedicated Drennon folks to clean out some of our storage and sort of create me an office in the middle balcony room. Hopefully this will serve me as both an office as well as another Sunday School location. It'll be great for counseling meetings, too. I'm pretty excited about this new opportunity.

Candlelight Service

Folks had a great time at our Candlelight Communion Service, or so it seemed.  We were blessed by musical interpretations of old-time hymns by Rachel and Sidney Bush, as well as Abigail Brothers and Harriet Beatty.  I felt that focusing on our young folks for the musical entertainment made everything much more meaningful and special.

We also were blessed as a family to attend the Christmas Eve Service at LaGrange Christian, one of our previous church families and in fact our most recent before Drennon.  There we were able to experience Communion by intinction, to hear a great message by Pastor Don Naftz, and enjoy music from various folks.  It was another great part of our Christmas.

Now my family is trying to enjoy the week between Christmas and New Year's by celebrating the fact that, since we work in schools, my wife and I are off work and we can be at home!  It's hard to go back, but I guess we're just spoiled.

Getting Ready for Christmas

Here's my first attempt at having a blog for our congregation, or anybody else for that matter...

I've already typed this about three or four times, but keep messing up for some reason.  It keeps disappearing.  Maybe that's a sign, maybe it's just my not doing a very good job.  We shall see.

I'm sort of trying to work on our Candlelight Service right now, for Wednesday night.  Last year's service was basically from the Chalice Worship book, a Disciples resource book that has proven very valuable to me in my first year and a half of ministry.  I received it from my mentor pastor, Don Naftz, of LaGrange Christian Church.

This year I want the service to somehow be different.  I don't yet know how that will turn out, but I do know we're adding some special music this year.  That should liven things up a bit.  I want this service, as well as our Sunday services tomorrow and next week, to really put the congregation in thoughtful prayer and meditation about Our Lord and Savior.  Quite the task indeed...