2008 February archive at isaac downing

Archive for February, 2008

28FebApocolypto.

Apocolypto

I finally watched Apocolypto last night.

I was anxious to see this film ever since I had first heard about it. On our honeymoon, Rachel & I visited the Mayan ruins at Chichen Itza. At the time, it was neat to see these old buildings and villages and temples and to imagine what life was like a few hundred years ago when they were being used and lived in.

Now that I’ve seen how these temples were built and then used, well… honestly, I’m a little freaked out. It’s flat-out terrifying to watch what actually took place on the exact spot I was standing.

Human sacrifices to Kukulkan aside, there were several lines and themes that reflected the state of our society during the movie. For example, the opening sequence starts with the quote:

A great civilization is not conquered from without until it is destroyed from within.

As I understand it, that’s a pretty good summation of the decline of the Mayan empire. And as Jaguar Paw, the lead character, is faced with each situation, you really start to see that it isn’t about the circumstances, but the fear inside of him that he has to overcome.

So, I guess you could summarize the movie as… An inspiring story of survival and sacrifice.

…hehe

I recommend checking it out. But keep in mind that there is plenty of violence to go around (think if Maximus met up with William Wallace and they were both Mayans and fought all of their battles in the jungle) and the images of Mayan women’s clothing (or lack thereof) could be considered “objectionable” to some.

Here’s the trailer to whet your movie-viewing appetite:

in Books & Film. 2 Comments

26FebR-E-S-P-E-C-T.

I’m finding that the longer I’m a dad, the lower my tolerance of others becomes.

For example, today a good friend walked up to me at work complaining of getting up at 3:30a to go shovel snow. I quickly pointed out that I was up at 1:30a… and I didn’t get paid. And I wasn’t shoveling snow… if you know what I mean.

Actually, I didn’t say anything about getting paid or about shoveling. I just mumbled something under my breath about 1:30am and walked away shaking my head.

It makes me wonder if all parents feel this way. Some non-parent complains about their lack of sleep and the already-a-parent looks at them and thinks to themselves…

“Someday you’ll grow up and realize the meaning of lack of sleep, young man. And on that day I will laugh at you.”

It makes me wonder how many already-a-parent’s are watching me drag myself through the day and are laughing to themselves at my expense.

in Family, Friends and Parenting. 7 Comments

11FebMark Driscoll, Part 1.

A week and a half ago I had the chance to hear Mark Driscoll speak at Riverside here in Peoria for the Related Leaders one day conference.

Ever since first hearing his podcast about two years ago and especially since reading Confessions of a Reformission Rev, Mark has been a hero of mine. I was just a tad excited to finally see him in person… like giggling-girl excited. No lie. I realize that’s going to set off some gaydar detectors…. but I digress…

I took a lot of random notes during his talks. This is from his Wednesday night message on the importance of having churches in cities.

The Role of the Church in the City.

Cities are not more important than suburban/rural areas… they are more strategic. By the year 2030, 60% of the world’s population will live in cities. Today, it’s already over 50%.

Culture flows from cities to the suburbs, to the rural areas. Pastors who are sick of picking the pollution out of the cultural river need to work at the source of the river - not the end.

Paul visited cities - not rural areas. Think of the letters he wrote - Galatians, Romans, Ephesians. And then the churches addressed in Revelation - Laodicia, Philadelphia… the focal point has always been a city.

By 300 AD, 50% of cities’ populations had become Christians, whereas only 10% of people in rural areas were believers. Today, we’ve inverted that statistic. We run away from cities, because we want to escape the influence of sin, and we’ve let the culture be directed by a non-Christian world view.

In our church, we are to be a city within a city. We need to be a city of light with our families & morals. That’s what everybody else wants anyway, they just don’t know how to do it.

One thing that’s really kept coming back to me is the idea he presented about there not being enough churches to care for the people in our own area. I’ve heard some estimates of just under 300 churches in town. We have roughly 350,000 in the metropolitan area, so if every church took in the same number of people (1,167), there literally wouldn’t be enough room for everyone. Most churches can’t seat more than 300 - let alone 1,200.

It amazes me how small-minded I can be. I look at Northwoods (4,000) and Riverside (1,800) and I think to myself, “…how great the church is doing in Peoria,” when we’ve barely scratched the surface.

More thoughts tomorrow…

in Christianity, Leadership and Ministry. 5 Comments

07FebAccording to Benjamin Franklin.

“Be always at war with your vices, at peace with your neighbors, and let each new year find you a better man.”

in Leadership and Random. 2 Comments

01FebIt’s Official… I’ve lost my mind.

This morning I registered for the 2008 Bank of America Chicago Marathon.

This is my first ever marathon and, not surprisingly, the longest distance I’ve ever attempted. The next-closest distance I’ve trained for was the Chicago Half Marathon, which I ended up missing thanks to a sprained ankle. But I at least know I can run mileages in the double digits… but 26.2 miles? That remains to be seen.

I’ve set a few goals for myself in anticipation of the race…

Goal #1: