I have an mp3 player that I pretty much just use while doing yardwork. A few months ago I went to the dollar store looking for presents for the kids and bought them "the Wind in the Willows" on audio CD. They listen to it in bed while going to sleep. While there I bought "The War of The Worlds" by H.G. Wells on audio for myself. I've heard the Orson Wells radio broadcast, and I've seen the Tom Cruise movie, but that's it. I thought it would be cool to hear the original. It's been sitting in my desk drawer all this time.

So I finally put it on my mp3 player this morning. Only the file it was put in also had Megadeth's Greatest Hits. On the player each file started with a number. So chapter one was followed by Megadeth's song 1, and chapter 2 was followed by the next Megadeth song and so on. Chapter, megadeth song, chapter megadeth song...

IT WAS AWESOME!!!!

The end of each chapter is a kind of a cliffhanger...totally enhanced when you hear heavy metal music after final words like, "the second craft had landed" or "the missle was headed right for us". And me being weird like I am, I listened to parallels between the song and the chapter, and there almost always were some. (Songs like "Hangar 18" and "Holy Wars" for example.)

The chapters are VERY short. I'm thinking about doing a series here on the blog where I summarize a chapter, then share with you a few Megadeth lyrics that I heard, so you can experience what I experienced, sort of. (So far, I'm on chapter 7).

But who knows, I may never get around to it. I like the idea though.

Have any of you read "War of the Worlds"?

Have any of you read (or listened to) a book and created your own soundtrack for it?

Mine happened totally randomly but I still feel like the creator, kind of a mad scientist. (Cue loud guitar music here.)

As tonight showed, she's not out of it by any stretch. But her shape-shifting as a politician just seems to grow weirder by the minute. From the hippie feminist who made herself over to get back in the governor's mansion, the White House matron with the cookie recipe, the Chicago girl who supposedly grew up a Yankee fan, the Sopranos spoof video, to this latest transparent attempt at manipulation, I just don't see how anyone could take her seriously. While I don't favor any of the Democratic candidates, I can see how someone might want to believe Obama or Edwards. But Hillary?

I pronounce this the official thread to discuss last night's episode...especially the last 5 minutes. So for those of you who haven't seen it yet...Be Warned. Don't read the comments in this thread.

Did you folks expect that ending? Man, it's not safe to be a tailie. Bernard needs to watch his back.

Oh, and you gotta give props to any TV show that riffs on "Say Anything."

I just finished reading The Last Disciple over the weekend after I picked it up at a used bookstore. The Last Disciple is preterism's answer to the Left Behind series.

Since preterism takes the view that much of what was foretold by John in the book of Revelation took place around the time of the destruction of Jerusalem in AD 70, this book inserts some fictional characters into that setting, and tells a story that brings the history and exegesis behind the preterist position to life, much in the way the Left Behind series has for dispensational premillennialism.

I enjoyed the book. It was a tad bit disjointed, with a lot of different, and seemingly unconnected things going on at once. While it's not Umberto Eco or anything, it is complex, and I think that in a way not demanded by the plot. Maybe that's just me; I think I'm better at following an argument than following characters. I think it could have been thinned down some, but things do start to come together at the end.

It is intended as part of a series. The next book, The Last Sacrifice, just came out. Although I think I'll enjoy reading this series and recommending it to others, I think this diminishes much of the force of these books. Consider that dispensational premillennialism has a much greater following than preterism. The Left Behind series doesn't have to explain dispensationalism in a nutshell, since there's already a fairly widespread understanding of it. And its distinctive components (the rapture, tribulation, rise of AntiChrist, etc.) lend themselves to distinct volumes. But preterism is not well known. And it doesn't lend itself to a series of stories in that same way. I think a single volume would have better served to illuminate the essential features of preterism.

With all of that, I think you can probably see that this is a case where ideology drives the story. While that is generally a criticism, given that this was a response to the the Left Behind series, I don't have a problem with it. The afterward of a few pages discusses this basis of the series. This brings me to another point. Hank Hanegraff labels his version of preterism "exegetical eschatology." He has said, "I coined the phrase ' exegetical eschatology' to underscore the fact that above all else I am deeply committed to a proper method of biblical interpretation rather than to any particular model of eschatology." I'm sure he is, but somehow I find that label less than helpful. I don't think it would help the state of theology if R.C. Sproul decided to proclaim that he was a defender of "exegetical baptism," or James White announced his view as "exegetical soteriology," or . . . well, you get the idea. Whatever their flaws, dispensationalists certainly would demur to any suggestion that they derive their eschatology from a means other than exegesis.

I do have another criticism, but that acts as something of a spoiler, so I'll insert that in a comment below.

Have you ever wanted to get a handle on Cartesian metaphysics, probe the sermon "Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God" by Jonathan Edwards, and laugh your socks off, all at the same time?

Of course you have.

Here's your chance.

My wife gave birth this morning! We are now the proud parents of triplets!

Wow-eee. We had no idea. Three plus two makes five boys.

I guess now I can have the basketball team I always wanted. If only we were taller...

Have you ever read anything by him? Brouwer is a Christian novelist whose work rises above the genre. You know how so many Christian novels are formulaic? And most of them inject the obligatory "Christian shares the gospel" scene, where the conversation is more of an artificial sermon than anything that contributes to the story? Brouwer is far better. While you might categorize his work as "thrillers" or "mysteries", they are well-done works of fiction that are worth your time.

As I read his books, I have watched him grow as a novelist and as a Christian. Some of his early works are Christian westerns that can be safely ignored. I discovered Brouwer when I read Double Helix, a decent but mediocre thriller about cloning. Then he got a whole lot better with "Blood Ties", a serial killer story. (You will not figure it out. The ending is a definite surprise.) With that novel, I realized his tremendous potential. Then he wrote some young adult stuff.

After a trip to Israel and some Historical Jesus research, he wrote "The Weeping Chamber", a work of historical fiction about Jesus from the perspective of a relatively minor Gospel character. It's very well done and worth the read. At this point he was in a "Jesus" phase, so he did some coffee table books on Jesus that were OK.

Then he graduated. He switched from Word to Tyndale, and began a new series, following a character named Nick Barrett. The first book was called "Out of the Shadows" and is a character study/mystery and is a definite literary work. Second, he wrote "Crown of Thorns" which continues with the same setting (Charleston) and character. These two books should not be missed. This post just made me check Amazon. There's a third in the series entitled The Lies of the Saints. I'm off to buy it right now. I can't wait... I also just found out that he co-wrote a book with Hank Hanegraaf entitled The Last Disciple. It seems to be a novel about Biblical Prophecy/Revelation from -GASP- a preterist perspective. How cool is that? From Amazon-

What if the Antichrist has already been revealed? The first book in a gripping new series by best-selling authors Sigmund Brouwer and Hank Hanegraaff explores the lives of Christians who struggle to survive and spread the Gospel during the climactic turbulence of "the last days." With the enemy seeking to decipher the code of John's letter, Revelation, and destroy the church, believers must cling to the hope Revelation provides as they face the greatest of all persecutions. A spellbinding story of faith and fulfillment of prophecy. Discover the "code" of Revelation as you begin to see it through the eyes of the persecuted believers to whom it was written.

Update: Here is Sigmund Brouwer's Biography and Bibliography. Another mission of his is to encourage children to read. This is why he has written so many young adult fiction books. The sports series are intentionally aimed at non-readers. You got to admire a guy who tries so hard to turn non-readers into readers. He goes to schools and speaks on the subject. Check out hiswebsite - www.coolreading.com.

Sigmund's faith is also an integral part of his creative goals. Although an overt Christian agenda doesn't appear in his novels, an underpinning of morality and redemption make his books more than tools of escape. Not surprisingly, on of his greatest writing influences is C.S. Lewis. "C.S. Lewis is definitely one of the writers I admire most," Sigmund says, "He wrote as well as possible, knowing that the Truth would speak for itself. He always tried to be logical, and true, and never tried to inject things for the sake of putting them in there. He's the one who said, "There's no Christian way to write, just as there is no Christian way to boil an egg. Writers, whether they are Christian or Agnostic, have to follow good rules of writing and he did. And because of that, the Truth spoke for itself."

Read Brouwer and tell me what you think.