The Red Balloon just got released on DVD.



I remember watching this movie as a kid...in school. They put up a screen, and a film projector and we watched it... a lot. When it was raining at recess, "Red Balloon". When it was the end of the semester or a friday afternoon with no curriculum, "Red Balloon". When the teachers needed a break, "Red balloon". When Field Day was over, and they needed to kill 30 minutes, "Red balloon".

Oh the agony. Is there anyone out there who knows why we had to watch this thing? Are there any schoolteachers out there who taught during the 70's and 80's? Why did you make us watch this?

I always figured that grown-ups saw something in it they thought kids would appreciate. Whoops, you were wrong on that one.

Man was I ever thrilled the rainy day our 7th grade science teacher brought Star Trek: The Trouble With Tribbles. Of course, even "It's alright to cry" was better than "Red Balloon".

(Our second most common film was the Donald Duck mathematics cartoon.)

What movies were you forced to watch over and over in school?

We will soon start at Element a new series called Coffee Shop Theology, in which we're going to answer submitted questions and address submitted topics (similar to Mark Driscoll's recent "Ask Anything" series, although we had our idea before we knew about his). We received nearly 40 submissions, which our leadership team narrowed down to 13 options for voting.

Voting is open to the public. If you're reading this, this means you.

Go to www.elementnashville.org/coffeeshop and vote for the question/topic that most interests you. The top 8 vote getters will be messages in the Coffee Shop Theology series.

If you can figure out how, vote as often as you'd like for one topic or for several.

Go vote!

Do you have any phrases that you say within your family or significant relationships that wouldn't make any sense to anyone on the "outside"? Please leave them in the comments.

Here's the way this works: Leave the phrase, and translate it (in other words, what meaning does it convey), but don't tell us where it came from. I know there's a "story" behind each of these (at least for ours there is), but save that for later; don't give it away. Does that make sense?

Here are a few from our family.

"Stop at the Mothers" - translation: "I know the information that I just gave you was completely last minute, and you have to act on it NOW, and I don't have time to explain why or how".

"I like alcoholics?" - translation: "I'm pretending to like something, not because I really do but because I think you think I should." The word "alcoholics" can be substituted for other things. The tenor of your voice and the exaggerated questioning nature of the phrase is the important part.

"Helloooooooooo" - translation: "Hi", but often "Um, you're missing the obvious". Should be said in a fake English accent, at a low pitch.

"Sweeeeet" - translation: "This is great!" - the word "sweet" has to be drawn out and said at a very high pitch.

"Pull the Levah!!!" - translation: "Please pull the lock-down lever on the convertible top" - The important part here is to say it like Isma from The Emperor's New Groove. This can be used more generally when you need someone to pull anything.

We've got more, but I'll save them for the comments. Do you have any? Let us know.

I admit that when I read a word, and never hear a word pronounced, I don't always get it right.

I've been reading entertainment articles for years, and I think I just realized that I've been pronouncing "biopic" wrong.

I've been pronouncing it "BYE-ah-PICK". It just dawned on me it should probably be "bye-OH-pic" as in Bio-Pic, not bi-opic. I already knew what it meant. So it's meaning should have been a clue, but not to me. No, I'm too dense.

It reminds me of when I was in the fourth grade, reading a Hardy Boys book, and it dawned on me that "idiot" was pronounce "ID-EEEE-ought". I knew that word. But I thought "idiot" was pronounced "EYE-DOT". Hey, you phonics people, how do you sound "io" anyway? I just figured the "i" was silent, and it took a while for it to occur to me that the word I heard as "idiot" and what I pronounced as "Eye-dot" were the same word! (Yes, those in my life who know this story will occasionally call me an "eye-dot". Now you can too!)

OK, that's my embarassing confession. Now it's your turn.

What words did you pronounce incorrectly in your head as you were reading them? I'm guessing this usually happens with words you often read, but no one ever says. (I've never heard ANYONE ever say "biopic" out loud. Have you?)

Confess under comments.

Related question: what words do you read often but never hear spoken aloud?

. . . or if you've ever done this to someone else. From Stuff Christians Like:

When I was in college in Birmingham, I used to attend a church called Brook Hills. One Monday in the lunch room I noticed a kid that had sung a great song at church. I approached him by the cereal and said, "That was a really good song you sang yesterday, did you write it?" He looked at me with unexpected disdain and replied, "No, God did." And then he walked away.

I felt like such a heathen. At that point in my life I felt like God had gone silent. I wasn't getting any word from him. He wasn't even sending me fortune cookie length messages and this guy was co-writing songs with him? I couldn't get God to send me a postcard with, "wish you were here" on it and he was having a Hall and Oates moment with the Alpha and Omega. I felt hopeless.

Bam!

I once wrote about this topic, ages ago. I thought I'd reprint part of that old post here (if I can be so ironic as to hawk an old post of mine on the subject of humility):

And what, then, is humility? Surely Peter is not referring to the image that many of us conjure in our minds when we hear that word - false modesty, the refusal to accept a compliment, the constant putting down of oneself. We've all been there before. For instance, have you ever had this experience? In church someone has sung a song beautifully that has inspired you to worship God. Seeking to bless and encourage them, and, frankly, to thank them for using their talents in this way, you offer a compliment:

You: "Thank you so much for that song! You sang beautifully and it really touched me and led me into worship."

Them: "Oh, please, don't praise me. Praise God."

When what would have been far more edifying (and, frankly, a whole lot simpler) would have been the following exchange:

You: "Thank you so much for that song! You sang beautifully and it really touched me and led me into worship."

Them: "Thanks."

Many of us have actually been on both sides of that exchange. I'm particularly bad about accepting compliments myself. And that isn't humility. Neither pride nor false modesty equate to humility, because they both are attitudes of the heart that have self as their first concern.

I've started exploring some other areas of the Blogosphere recently - driving around amongst the dark-clad, soul-patched denizens of the Emerging section for instance - as I explore the subject of Balance (which I've written on recently over at my other place).

One of the things I keep reading is that we, as Christians, are to stand up against "globalization".

Honest, no-agenda question here: what is globalization?

Why is it bad?

How come I'm so ignorant and sheltered that I don't know what it is?

Help?

where would you be now?

Does anybody out there have any suggestions for funny, clean YouTube videos? Brandi and I are always up for a laugh, but I never want to wade through all the crapola to get to something good.

When faced with early heresies like Marcionism and Arianism, the early church employed a double-edged sword to combat the assault -- the New Testament Canon and the Nicene Creed.

Since 325 AD, the Nicene Creed has been virtually universally accepted among Christians as the authoritative interpretation of New Testament orthodoxy. Even supposedly non-creedal protestant denominations (like the Southern Baptists) are Nicene in their beliefs, though they don't openly embrace and recite the creed.

I suspect that, if polled, your average Baptist wouldn't even know what the Nicene Creed is, much less what it did to stem the tide of heresy that threatened to overwhelm the faith in the third and fourth centuries.

I wonder, then, is the Nicene Creed still the litmus test for orthodoxy?

In the past couple of centuries in America, certain cults have sprouted, claiming a new revelation from God, and denying the Nicene Creed, and, consequently, the doctrines of the orthodox faith. Most notably among those cults are the Mormons and Jehova's Witnesses. Their beliefs are so radically different from historic Christianity that church historian Justo Gonzalez rightly calls them "other religions."

But what about the other belief systems that while perhaps not heretical, are at least heterodox in their understanding of fundamental tenets of Christianity?

Take for example, the United Pentecostal Church (UPC). In his classic writing, Systematic Theology, Wayne Grudem contends that it's debatable whether or not the UPC should be considered Christian at all. For example, the UPC clearly denies the orthodox doctrine of The Trinity and certainly does not affirm the Nicene Creed (though they do use the same New Testament Canon as other Christians).

While my ecumenical preferences make it difficult for me to pass judgment on heterodox organizations like the UPC, I do think the Nicene Creed is still the authoritative interpretation for all New Testament believers.

The Canon and the Creed is still the Church Universal's double-edged sword.

I'm in serious need of some new, pithy sites to add to my web-reading.

Not blogs. I read too many of those.

But are there any good sites out there that are somewhat offbeat, and that have new content daily, that you can recommend?

Currently I'm pretty stuck. I read Thinklings, of course, and the Bloogroll Posts link over at Out of the Bloo (which is a good aggregator of the latest writings by the posters in my Bloogroll). I'll also check out National Review online on occasion. Once Lost starts up, I'm sure I'll be reading forums and stuff.

But until then, I'm a bit bored with my web routines.

Let me know if there's a cool site or two out there that you can recommend.

Also, appropos of nothing, you should definitely check out this video. This is beautiful and simply amazing (thanks to Jen for pointing me to this one).

I wonder if that'll be the title of a book one day. I fear -- unless he's keeping meticulous records -- all of his correspondences will one day be lost.

Seriously.

On the other hand, it's not just him I wonder about (although he's the most likely Thinkling to reach fame through his writing), but I wonder about everyone's missives these days.

When was the last time you actually wrote a letter, sealed an envelope, and dropped it in the mail? If you're like most people I know, you don't do that. You email instead. You blog instead.

I guess it all comes down to whether or not you take the time to archive your digital files, and whether or not those digital files will be easily accessible twenty, thirty, fifty years down the road.

I'd love to peruse some of the emails Jared and I zipped back and forth to each other during our college days. But I didn't save them ...

Did you, Jared?

A quick question: for those of you who do ministry - and I am not referring exclusively to full-time ministry. This is also for Bible study leaders, volunteers, etc. - are you encouraged or discouraged right now?

If you're encouraged, tell us about what's going well, so we can rejoice with you.

If you're discouraged, tell us about it. You'll feel better for having vented, and we can pray with you.

Maybe you're a little of both. That's good too. Tell us about it.

Leave your answer in the comments.

On August 1, 1521 - Martin Luther wrote in a letter:

'Be a sinner and sin boldly, but believe and rejoice in Christ even more boldly, for He is victorious over sin, death, and the world.'

What does that mean?

Oh, and this isn't one of those "I know the answer, but I'm just testing you, and I'm going to come back later and tell you and look all smart" type questions.

I really have no idea.

Hello Lord, it's me your child
I have a few things on my mind
Right now I'm faced with big decisions
And I'm wondering if you have a minute, cuz
Right now I don't hear so well
And I was wondering if you could speak up

I know that you tore the veil
So I could sit with you in person
And hear what you're saying but
Right now, I just can't hear you.

I don't doubt your sovereignty
I doubt my own ability to
Hear what you're saying
And to do the right thing
And I desperately want to do the right thing
But right now I don't hear so well
And I was wondering if you could speak up

I know that you tore the veil
So I could sit with you in person
And hear what you're saying but
Right now, I just can't hear you.

And somewhere in the back of my mind
I think you are telling me to wait
And though patience has never been mine
Lord, I will wait to hear from you
Oh Lord, I'm waiting on you

Right now I don't hear so well
And I was wondering if you could speak up

I know that you tore the veil
So I could sit with you in person
And hear what you're saying but
Right now, I think you're whispering
--Hello Lord by Sara Groves

The Family De is about to join the twenty-first century and get cable TV. We're not looking for lots of channels. What we'd like is a basic package (local stations, Disney channel, Nicolodean, History/Discovery channel), plus a sports package so we can get Fox Soccer Channel and regional sports.

We're also open to bundling high speed internet with this (although we currently have DSL and are good with it).

Any Houstonians out there who are happy with their cable (and potentially internet) service and have a recommendation for us?

(p.s. - money is definitely an object).

Thanks!

HELP!

A few weeks ago at my parents' house my iTunes did something weird. It took forever to load up and it said something like it's "transferring the library" or something, and, anyway, it said the file was corrupted and I didn't have access privilege anymore. When I rebooted the system it all seemed to be working perfectly.

Fast-forward to last night. It did the same thing: took forever to load, said it was "transferring the library" or "importing" or whatever, and then it flaked and said the file was corrupt and I didn't have access privilege.

After that I went into the MP3s individually and tried playing them on iTunes and Media Player. Nothing worked. The tunes did not play.

The funny thing is I just tried playing the MP3s right now and they all play normally from what I can tell. What gives? My iTunes Library, though, is completely wiped out so I guess I have to import all the MP3s again to iTunes.

Any ideas on what's up?

Freaking technology!

Question: How do you see yourself?

For instance, when you look in the mirror, do you like what you see?

What's your reaction when you see a picture of yourself?

How do you picture yourself in your mind?

I've often wondered about this. Here are my experiences (and, for context, I'm in my low forties):

When I look in the mirror I think "OK". But I'm convinced that many of us condition ourselves to adopt the exact right facial expression when looking in the mirror. I've been told that I make a "cool face" when I look in the mirror, for instance. I also think certain body and head postures are adjusted when looking in the mirror that make me look less heavy.

My reaction, almost universally, when seeing recent pictures of myself is something akin to shock. I generally appear ten pounds heavier in pictures than I do when I look at myself in the mirror. I look older. Goofier. Definitely less cool. I have never seen a picture of myself in which I'm wearing my "cool face".

On a side note, when I look at pictures of myself from years ago I always think "I looked a lot better back then than I thought I did". I wonder if I'll feel the same way in ten years when I look at pictures taken of me today?

Finally, I've found that the image I have in my head of myself is of a younger me. In other words, sometimes as I'm going through my day or talking to someone (and you may also do this), I picture the scene in my head. Invariably, the me in the scene is a younger me. Which adds to my shock and sense of disconnect when I then look at an actual photograph of the scene.

Am I the only one who does this?

I also tend to think of myself as younger than I am (I "feel" young, too).

On the encouraging side of things, two people who recently found out either my age or how many kids I have said "No way! You look so young". I think they're crazy, but it was cool to hear anyway.