Bad Movies for Boys
Looking for a good movie to show a boy about what it means to be a man? Try these ones out. You might want to check the rating on a couple of these. You should also consider the worldview of each but overall these movies present some key lessons for boys to learn. I say we need more movies like these.
Jumanji (1995)
Not the dumb remakes. This is a fun tale of magic and adventure around a mysterious board game. The adventure is set in the midst of a breakdown between a father and son who get angry at each other. At the end of the adventure the father and son reconcile with each other. The son specifically apologizes to his father. I will note that the son apologizes first. The father also apologizes. But the example of a son apologizing to a father is a rare occurrence in movies. This is a great example for young boys to see.
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Ify Nsoha // Different
On the way back from church recently, my 17 year old asks, “Can we please turn the Ify songs back on?“
Ify is a rapper. And yes, we turned the songs back on.
Ify Nsoha is a Nigerian musician who has lived his life in the Czech Republic. His sound can be heard loud in our car speakers, and his tweets are often read out loud in our conversations. Here’s a recent one:
“PSA is nearly always strawmanned by its detractors and they often ignore the scriptures which clearly teach it, like Colossians 2:13-14”
– ifffster, @ifffster – 1:55 PM · Aug 3, 2022
“PSA,” by the way, means “Penal Substitutionary Atonement.” So, this is the kind of rapper I’m talking about – the kind that defends PSA on twitter.
Here’s another recent gem:
“Next time a Unitarian decides to start wisecracking make him look up the reference of Romans 10:13 in the Hebrew.”
ifffster, @ifffster – 2:11 AM · Aug 2, 2022
His point is that Paul quotes Joel who says ‘everyone who calls on the name of the Lord shall be saved’ and when Joel says it in Hebrew, it is ‘Yhwh’, and Paul quotes this verse about Yhwh about Jesus. Bam!
So if you want to listen to a rapper with a thing for soteriology and Trinitarianism…. try out Ify.
Ify has a new album out: ‘Different‘. Here’s the Kuyperian interview:
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Kuyperian: Ify, how old are you, and how long have you been performing in any context?
Ify: I’m 22 years old. I’ve been writing and messing around with rap music for years, but haven’t put anything out till now. I’ve always had a massive love for music. I was in choir in highschool and have done worship leading for the last five years. This was just one way I could use my gift to glorify God.
Kuyperian: What brought your family to Czechia?
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Occasional Speech
A man has joy by the answer of his mouth, and a word in its time, how good!
~Proverbs 15.23
Communication is an art. We all begin as three-year-old finger painters with little control over our minds and bodies so the art we produce, though appropriate for a young age, reveals that we have a long way to go to become da Vinci. As we grow we move to the paint-by-numbers pictures where everything is laid out neat and tidy. The predetermined outline is sketched out and only needs to be filled in with the colors in the spaces matching each number. If you follow the detailed directions, your finished project will look a great deal like the picture on the box in which your canvas was purchased.
Developing skills to paint freehand takes a great deal of time, effort, and training from masters (mixed, of course, with natural talent). To look at an image and reproduce it on canvas or imagine an image and bring it to life through various colors and shades is not the skill of a toddler. It is the mature fruit of perseverance in learning the craft.
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Woke Is No Joke
We live in a chronically anxious society. With the confluence of Draconian COVID lockdowns and the maturation of Critical Theories (Critical Race Theory, Queer Theory, Intersectionality, etc.), the tension in our society hangs in the air like gasoline fumes ready to explode at the slightest spark. Edwin Friedman, in his book The Failure of Nerve, describes what characterizes chronic anxiety in societies large and small, from the family to the nation. Herding: moving everyone to adapt to the least mature and/or most dysfunctional members. Blame Displacement: becoming victims instead of taking responsibility for one’s own well-being and destiny. Quick Fix Mentality: Constantly seeking symptom relief rather than a willingness to fundamentally change. Lack of Self-Differentiated Leadership: leaders who become part of the problem instead of leading from outside of the problem. Finally, Reactivity: vicious cycles of intense reactions of each member to events and one another and the loss of the capacity for playfulness.
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Book Review: All That God Cares About by Richard Mouw
Richard Mouw is a big name in Kuyperian circles. He regularly writes about neo-Calvinism and Kuyper’s vision of Common Grace. His latest book, All that God Cares About (available June 16, 2020), continues that work. I will admit that this is my first look at Mouw’s work so I am behind in the conversation but I think it is worth jumping in here since Mouw says that this book is an update on his previous work on common grace.
For those new to the discussion, common grace is the term theologians use to describe the work that God does in restraining unregenerate men from doing evil continually and instead enables them to do limited good in the world. This teaching comes from key passages in the Bible as well as John Calvin and other reformers. It is closely related to the doctrine of total depravity: fallen man is dead in his sin and is incapable of redemption apart from God quickening him. In teaching total depravity, Calvin and others acknowledge the Bible’s teaching that unregenerate Man is not absolutely evil in all actions but in fact often does real positive good in the world.
In considering common grace, the primary question Mouw considers is how God can both bless non-Christians with artistic skills and also allow them to go to Hell. At one point, Mouw points to ancient Chinese pottery and asks: “What does God think of those pots and vases? I don’t think the production of these works of art is explainable simply in terms of the providential restraint of sin. My sense is that the Lord took delight in the talents of the artists themselves in crafting this pottery and wants us to delight in them as well” (Kindle Location 905). In this example, Mouw is pushing back on the frequent description of common grace as merely a restraint on evildoers and instead Mouw suggests that in some way God actually delights in these gifts that he gives to non-Christians.
I appreciate much of Mouw’s discussion in this book and it was edifying to read about other theologians who have talked about this issue: Cornelius VanTil, Klaas Schilder, and Herman Hoeksema. I do have some concerns about this book but I will discuss one key appreciation first.
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The Goddesses of the Super Bowl Half-Time
Superbowl Sunday is becoming a mixed blessing in society. We could argue that it takes away from Sabbath rest and worship especially for those churches that continue the tradition of evening services. But that is an argument for another time. On the other hand, it is an event that gathers the good of food, the blessing of fellowship and the rest of entertainment.
But, again, as with any mixed blessing, the bad often outweighs the good. Whereas there is plenty to praise in the great athleticism, the strategizing, and the comeback spirit, we, fans of good entertainment, are now doing overtime with our discernment antennas. An event that once could safely include the presence of children now requires a background check into the newest commercials and the halftime spectacle which can range from the sublime U2 performance in 2002 to the seductive performance last night from two middle-aged women.
It is clear that what we are seeing is a combination of theatrics and vile art. Abraham Kuyper once noted that “Anything that cannot be put into an image or onto a canvas without demanding the sacrifice of modesty or injuring shame must simply be eschewed.” If we view last night as a form of art, then Americans are eschewing only modesty.
The Superbowl knows its audience. They provide a service to a population trained to desire the obscene. It’s a seduction show for young men who are seeking rest from their labors and will find it through a medium that is vastly dominated by a male audience. Young men will seek refuge in a Superbowl game only to be rewarded by partial nudity. And if young men associate rest with the reward of partial nudity, they will embrace full nudity often and will find themselves comfortable with partial nudity at the public square. Their discernment capabilities will diminish with each passing day.
When virtue is gone, what is left is body parts to show; the awakening in a society that our culture’s feast is an altar with goddesses surrounded by children and an adoring crowd of spectators cheering them on as icons. When a culture runs out of ideas, they give you their leftovers. When people forsake the truth, all that is available is the embodiment of lies. And what better way than two grown women to show a younger generation that the body is not the temple of the Spirit, but the possession of principalities and powers: the leftovers of a society who once prided in novelty and virtuous imagination?
Some may wish to boycott them next year and give them a taste of their own medicine. But I believe we can, rather, keep mentioning this exploitation and raise hell every year, and disciple our young men every year, and teach young ladies that they are valuable in God’s eyes and that their bodies are temples, not possessions of powerful men. My own thought is that if the Superbowl continues this trend, they will go into oblivion. Evil cannot prosper in the sight of a godly witness. The lesson, in my estimation, is to stand firm and fight the good fight. A mixed blessing is not the Christian’s reward or rest.
Kuyper’s Lectures on Calvinism: Calvinism and Art
This is the fifth part of a six part article series on Abraham Kuyper’s Lectures on Calvinism. He gave these lectures at Princeton Theological Seminary over a series of days in October 1898. Happy International Abraham Kuyper Month!
Kuyper begins this lecture acknowledging the terrible idol that Art has become. He says, “Genuflection before an almost fanatical worship of art, such as our time fosters, should little harmonize with the high seriousness of life, for which Calvinism has pleaded, and which it has sealed, not with the pencil or the chisel in the studio, but with its best blood at the stake and in the field of battle” (p 142). Kuyper is reminding us to to see the vast difference between the artists in the art shop and the faithful men and women who sealed their confession with their very blood. While art does make an impact on culture and society, those who have died for the faith have the greater victory.
Kuyper then says, “Moreover the love of art which is so broadly on the increase in our times should not blind our eyes, but ought to be soberly and critically examined” (p 142). We should not create art for the sake of art, nor should we enjoy it for itself. We must do art for God’s sake and glory. This means a high and serious examination of all art in order to bring it in submission to God.
International Abraham Kuyper Month
Happy International Abraham Kuyper Month!
October is the month to celebrate all things Kuyperian. If you are not familiar with Kuyper, let me suggest that you get familiar with this important man. As a place to start, here is a quick introduction to his life and work. If you are familiar with Kuyper, then this is a great month to go deeper and learn more from him.
A brief biography
Abraham Kuyper was born on October 29, 1837 in the Netherlands. He grew up in the Dutch Reformed church and his father was a minister in that denomination. His father educated him when he was young and then Abraham went on to study philosophy, theology, and literature at the university level, graduating summa cum laude.
He became a minister in the Dutch Reformed church but he saw growing corruption there and led a reforming movement and encouraged the separation of the church from the power of the state.
He was elected to parliament in 1874 and began a successful career in politics. He was Prime Minister of Netherlands from 1901 to 1905.
In his work, Kuyper encouraged a strong antithesis between Christianity and other worldly philosophies, especially Modernism and Liberal theology. He also promoted Calvinism and helped develop a deeper understanding of sphere sovereignty for the church, state, and family.
In 1898, Abraham Kuyper was invited by B.B. Warfield to give a series of lectures at Princeton Theological seminary, called the Stone Lectures. In October of that year, Kuyper gave six lectures on Calvinism as a life-system.
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Interview with musician Smith Leithart of Iron Effigy
Iron Effigy is the musical alias of Smith Leithart, based in Birmingham, Alabama. His 6-song EP, Pieces of Me, was released in March 2019. I corresponded with Smith and asked some questions about his music. Read the exchange below and check out Iron Effigy on Spotify and all streaming platforms.
McIntosh: Explain your musical background. When did you discover your love of music and when did you start writing your own music?
Leithart: I grew up listening to film scores. As a kid, I’d mow the lawn listening to music from Star Wars, Gladiator, Blood Diamond, etc. My mom said I wasn’t allowed to listen to music with words, so film scores and classical music were pretty much my only options.
