Gospel.com Blog

Summer’s over, and the school year is back in session… including at Virginia Tech, the site of a horrifying shooting spree earlier this year. The Virginia Tech InterVarsity group, called 180, met recently for the first meeting of the new school year. The question of how to approach the issue of the shootings–still fresh on the minds of students and faculty–was a big one. Here’s a report on the way Virginia Tech’s InterVarsity group approached the issue, neither avoiding the topic or obsessing on it, but focusing on the hope that Jesus offers.

This week’s film roundup from Past the Popcorn:

This week’s big release is the much-anticipated Western remake 3:10 to Yuma from award-winning director James Mangold (Walk the Line) — and starring Christian Bale and Russell Crowe. Bullets fly copiously in this one, from start to finish, even while the heart of the story is a father’s struggle for his son’s respect. Though worthy themes are explored, says Greg Wright, the film’s script is weak. “I seriously doubt that Yuma will turn a new generation of filmgoers on to what makes the Western a great genre,” he says. “As meandering and narratively disjointed a chase as Seraphim Falls earlier this year, this Western just seems too much like Neo Goes West. Lots of weapons, shooting bullets. Big deal.”

Wright is even less enthusiastic about Shoot ‘em Up, an “action” movie about thugs out to kill an infant. The hyper-efficient killer who defends the child with the help of a hooker wetnurse is played by Clive Owen (yes, whose character in Children of Men had a similar task). But this film, which is rated R, should easily have been rated NC-17, says Wright. The violence is all played for laughs, and the sexuality includes, among other things, a villain who fondles corpses. “I rarely see a film that causes me to re-evaluate my previously high opinion of specific films,” says Wright, “much less the entire body of work of certain actors.”

The other major release this week, The Brothers Solomon, gets a rather better review from Kathy Bledsoe. The R-rated comedy “could satisfactorily define cheesiness in any dictionary in any language,” says Bledsoe. “The amazing thing is that this seems to be the writer’s unabashed intention.” That may work for some audiences, she says.

Meanwhile, Henry Jaglom’s low-budget Hollywood Dreams “is just well-informed enough, and just loving enough,” says Greg Wright, “to either make one laugh gleefully at how satirically sharp Hollywood is here skewered” — or confirm one’s worst fears about the decadence of the place. The bottom line, though, is that the film is too much the exponent of the weakness of improvisational filmmaking.”

On the upside, you might be interested to learn about next week’s release of the indie film Chalk. Mike Brunk talked this week with the film’s director, Mike Akel.

In the past several years, Wikipedia has become a popular source of information on everything from higher mathematics to your favorite TV shows. TechMission hopes to bring the spirit of collaboration which makes Wikipedia a success into the realm of Christian community ministry, with their Encyclopedia of Urban Ministry wiki.

The wiki is intended to be a constantly-expanding resource, covering four main topics: how to run a Christian community computer center, addiction recovery (especially from pornography), urban youth ministry, and short-term missions and volunteer management.

If you’re looking for youth technology curricula, information on discerning your calling, or tips on how to protect yourself and your family from internet dangers, the Encyclopedia of Urban Ministry may prove quite helpful. Since it’s a wiki, you’re invited not simply to learn, but to share your knowledge. If you’ve got something to contribute on one of the topics, stop by and share your knowledge–and help the Body of Christ profit from the diverse gifts of its members!

Ever been frustrated when your spouse made a major mistake–wrecked the family car, botched the monthly budget? Have you ever made such a mistake yourself, and found yourself faced with the painful challenge of asking forgiveness? It’s all part and parcel of marriage, and in a recent column at Winning at Home, Dan Seaborn talks about the importance of seeking forgiveness after your inevitable goof-ups. (And he relates a cringe-inducing anecdote from his own marriage to illustrate.) If you’re frustrated with your spouse over a mistake–or if you’re trying to figure out how to ask forgiveness for a mistake that you made–Dan’s observations are worth reading.

The name “God” carries with it a lot of preconceptions. When you think of God, do you think of a loving Creator? An angry judge sitting on his throne in faraway heaven? What does that title mean to you?

There’s much more to God can be encompassed in a single name or title–so you might be surprised at the huge variety of names that are applied to God throughout the Bible. In an article at StudentSoul.org, Scott Harris introduces us to several of the unique names for God used in the Bible–names like Pater, Yahweh, El Shaddai, and Kyrios–and explains what each name teaches us about God. If you’ve only ever thought of the Divine Being as “God,” take a few minutes to learn some of his other names!

Why would you want to outline the Bible? Does the very thought give you unpleasant flashbacks to high school grammar class?

Well, for pastors and teachers, choosing a Biblical topic or passage and creating an outline of it can be an excellent way to organize your thoughts and the Bible’s teachings. Into Thy Word has a thorough article explaining how to outline Scripture, complete with full examples of different types of outline. Outlining is a practice that will be most helpful to pastors, teachers, and writers, but could also be useful to anybody who wants to delve deeply into a specific passage of the Bible. And if you’re not a pastor, learning to outline will give you a glimpse at the in-depth study and preparation that goes into the writing of a sermon.