2008-04-29 02:06:00

GENERATING FEAR: Cloverfield and Emergent Christians

Filed under: 9/11, Faith, Film
Posted by: Craig

The ruckus on the blogosphere about the Emerging church started to disturb me. So the release of CLOVERFIELD on DVD brings it all to the surface. Some of my more random musings on faith and culture have generated heated remarks at Out of Ur. Read the second half of my post on Cloverfield and emerging Christians.

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2008-04-29 00:11:28

WHEATON COLLEGE: THE 99 and THE ONE

Filed under: Faith, Film
Posted by: Craig

Jesus told a parable about a shepherd who practiced “the new math.” Christ suggested, “If someone has a hundred sheep and one of them wanders off, doesn’t he leave the ninety-nine and go after the one? And if he finds it, doesn’t he make far more over it than over the ninety-nine who stay put? Your Father in heaven feels the same way.” At Wheaton College, John Marks was the one standing out amidst the ninety-nine. He may not have liked those odds. But the conferencees extended a warm embrace to both of us.

We were honored to present Purple State of Mind at Wheaton, the leading light of evangelical education in America. Wheaton is a highly selective liberal arts college, located in suburban Chicago. The college’s position as a bulwark of enduring truth is symbolized by the castle that occupies the center of campus. They also have a stylish, new Wade Center, which houses the acclaimed works of C. S. Lewis, Dorothy Sayers and J.R.R. Tolkien. Wade Center director Chris Mitchell even gave me an opportunity to see the wardrobe which inspired C.S. Lewis and his Narnia series.

Wheaton’s renowned alumni include Congressman Jim McDermott, Speaker of the House Dennis Hastert, church historian Nathan Hatch, and the missionaries featured in the movie, End of the Spear. Leading pastors from Wheaton include John Ortberg, John Piper and Rob Bell. Their student center honors Todd Beamer, who exclaimed, “Let’s roll” on United Flight 93. They may not claim grads like New Testament critic Bart Ehrman and horror film meister Wes Craven. By far, Wheaton’s most famous graduate remains Dr. Billy Graham.

Wheaton’s Billy Graham Center houses all the papers, photos and archives from his remarkable global ministry. The massive columns outside nearly connect heaven and earth. The Center hosted a conference on “The Gospel and the Imagination” and invited John Marks and me to present our film and our thoughts. We heard from esteemed scholars like Ralph Wood from Baylor, Kevin Van Hoozer on Theo-Drama, and Trevor Hart from the Institute of Theology, Imagination and the Arts at St. Andrews, Scotland. What was I doing here, talking about postmodern movies and their meaning? Wheaton prof Rick Richardson and his committee assembled an impressive array of thoughtful presentations (mine withstanding…).

Before the movie, I outed John as the only non-believer in a room full of evangelists. I even invited the audience to try some of the most effective communication strategies on my skeptical friend. John was thoroughly impressed by the warm reception accorded to our film and especially to him.

The post-screening conversation was broad and wide-ranging. Great questions about how we edited the film, waht we decided to keep and cut. People wondered if there might be any particular evidence that would compel John to embrace Jesus. They asked thoughtful questions of historicity, authority, and friendship. Afterwards, I was glad to connect with the family of one of my sharpest Biola students, Jason Lee.

The next day, Ralph Wood noted how G. K. Chesteron was sharpened in his thinking by befriending George Bernard Shaw. The director of the Billy Graham Center, Lon Allison, drew comparisons to the historic friendship between skeptic Ben Franklin and evangelist George Whitfield. People of faith must listen carefully to the questions that agnostics and atheists ask in earnest.

Wheaton offered a prime opportunity to reconnect with friends like Christine Danforth and my ace editor at Baker Books, Bob Hosack. I was also grateful for the hospitality of Read Schuchardt as he hosted Bob Davidson, David Swanson, and my new friend, Tom.

What do we take away from Wheaton? Thanks so much to Paul Larsen for his vision and Jean Bilang for her hospitality. Lon and Rick and Chris and Read were all great hosts. We could have easily been lost in the crowd. And yet, Wheaton made John Marks feel like the most important person in the room. In this case, it was good to be the one.

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2008-04-25 02:03:40

IOWA PUBLIC RADIO: THE PURPLE STATE EXCHANGE

Filed under: Books, Faith, Film
Posted by: Craig

We were also honored to be interviewed by Ben Kieffer from Iowa Public Radio. Ben is the sharp host of The Exchange. His thoughtful questions demonstrated that he actually watched the film and read John’s book—imagine such responsible preparation! Such quality puts NPR at the top.

The questions from callers all across the state demonstrated their hunger for a new kind of conversation. I especially empathized with the Lutheran pastor who felt like her congregation had been hoodwinked by the Left Behind series. Listen to the streaming conversation on WSUI here.

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