Christian Studio Explains Hiring of Gay Actor - Christianity Today Movies

Christian Studio Explains Hiring of Gay Actor - Christianity Today Movies:

Here is Steve Saint's defense of the hiring:
"But Saint had already decided to keep Allen on board. He said he had been praying about it, and that God clearly revealed the answer in a dream.

In the dream, Saint says he was 'being chased by a mob of Christians who were angry with me for having desecrated 'their story.' The answer to their hostility was easy: Just ask Chad to remove himself. But as quickly as this thought came to me, I found myself standing before God. His look was not as compassionate as I had expected. God said, 'Steve, you of all people should know that I love all of my children.With regard to Chad Allen, I went to great lengths to orchestrate an opportunity for him to see what it would be like for him to walk the trail that I marked for him. Why did you mess with my plans for him?'

'I was fully awake by the end of this sleepy mind play. I knew that there would be a price to pay for any position I would take on this issue, regardless of the fact that I had not wanted to be involved. I knew one thing for sure: I would rather face the anger and even hatred of people who feel I have let them down, than to take any chance of having to stand before my Savior and have to answer for messing up his plans for Chad.'"

Later on, he adds:
"I am sorry for any pain that this issue might cause anyone," Saint wrote. "But, I would not change what is happening any more than I would change what happened to my dad. Mincaye, who is sitting beside me as I write this, is proof that 'God works in mysterious ways, his wonders to perform.'"

It seems rather obvious that Mr. Saint doesn't share the same kind of theological clarity of William Cowper, author of the hymn he quotes. Unfortunately, this article only seems to verify that the five missionaries' story was not in the hands of the theologically-informed from the get-go.

God Moves in a Mysterious Way
God moves in a mysterious way, His wonders to perform;
He plants His footsteps in the sea and rides upon the storm.

Deep in unfathomable mines of never failing skill
He treasures up His bright designs and works His sovereign will.

Ye fearful saints, fresh courage take; the clouds ye so much dread
Are big with mercy and shall break in blessings on your head.

Judge not the Lord by feeble sense, but trust Him for His grace;
Behind a frowning providence He hides a smiling face.

His purposes will ripen fast, unfolding every hour;
The bud may have a bitter taste, but sweet will be the flower.

Blind unbelief is sure to err and scan His work in vain;
God is His own interpreter, and He will make it plain.

Words: William Cowper, 1774.

HT: to JT for CT interview... (see JT and Challies exchange here)

Running Well: Ten Books

Running Well: Ten Books

My friend Darrin Brooker has a list of his top ten books... not too shabby!
Wondering what to stock your library with? Here is some excellent cold winter night in Canada reading!

(1/28: Now if only we can convince Darrin to WRITE in those books!!)

Write (IN) Your Book!

I love it!
Mortimer Adler writes an excellent essay on why you should underline, note, star, scribble, and write an index in your books... right on those pristine pages!
An old seminary prof forced me to do this and I resisted at first... but once you jump the initial hurdle of marking a clean page, you will never stop.

HT: Justin Taylor at Between Two Worlds

Because I Know You're Dying to Know!

Well, we made it to Montreal and back again!
Thanks to a free flight from WestJet (since I share the same name as our newly-defeated Prime Minister), Mrs. Martin and I jetted off to Montreal for lunch yesterday.
“It was lovely, dahling!” he said, in his best Mr. Howell voice [hint: think Gilligan’s Island).
WestJet has some nice planes – leather seats, seat-back TV monitors with a cool link that tracks your current flight speed and altitude on a Google map.
“Let’s get this Boeing going,” said the Flight Attendant, who really should have had a job at Yuk Yuk’s or something. (For example: “In the event the cabin pressure should drop during the flight, $100 bills will drop from the overhead compartment.”) So, off we went.
I wish the cabin pressure had dropped.
The taxi to downtown from Dorval – Pierre Elliot Trudeau Airport ("P.E.T." as the Quebecers call it in their humorous way... ask someone who speaks French) cost $35. Our particular driver did not speak English and I didn’t try to speak French – this was for the sake of National unity. We made it anyway.
Once in the old city we walked all over.
Is it just me, or is Montreal the quietest city on the planet. You could hear people speaking in normal conversational tones two blocks away! It was oppressive! I felt like we were in the movie Truman or something. Anyway, lots of nice old buildings.
We ate at a little spot called "a propos..." and it was! Perfect lunch – smoked salmon on bagel with cream cheese... don’t ask me to write it in French.
After lunch we walked up to Rue St. Catherine, then McGill University, then some other street that I don’t remember. We peeked into a few nice hotels like the Ritz Carlton... they were nice, but give me the Royal York downtown Toronto any day.
Dinner was the highlight.
Even though we were only one of two couples in the entire restaurant, I had the best pasta I have ever eaten in my whole life (with apologies to all of the nice people that have served me pasta in their homes before!!). I mean, I cannot even describe to you how wonderful this was. It made me wonder about food in heaven...
By this point, our legs were getting tired, so we stayed in the lobby of the hotel where the restaurant was and sat by the fire. A calm ending to the day. The nice fellow at the hotel flagged us a cab which ended up being a limo which was really nice. That ride went too fast! The driver even shared his chocolates with us – okay, that was a little odd.
We got to the airport, boarded, waited for a new flight plan due to the inclement weather, taxied to the de-icing spot, and turned around and went back to the airport. The drunk on the back of the plane had vomited all over and was causing a fuss. Pleasant! So, they brought in two security dudes, two paramedics, one cop and a clean up crew. Then we de-iced, re-fueled, re-taxied, took off and landed in Toronto exactly two hours late.
But who cares (besides JLF81 the babysitter).... I was with my bride! My most favoritest person in the world.
Such is the life of the jet-set crowd!

P.S. Clicking on the pictures will give you a better viewing... except for the one with me in it!

Michael Haykin on the Upcoming Canadian Federal Election

Historia ecclesiastica: THE LIBERAL PARTY'S SCARE TACTICS EVALUATED:

"I have purposely resisted blogging on this upcoming election, but I found this piece of literature so utterly typical of Liberal tactics just before Canadian voters go to the polls on Monday that I became convinced I had to say something."

MGH has a very excellent synopsis of what so much of this campaign has been about.

Also, Darrin Brooker over at Running Well had a link to this rather humorous site on Canadian-style scare tactics!