James Bond 007 Ultimate Edition DVD Set

December 30, 2006 @ 12:21 pm by Pressed

For Christmas I recieved the James Bond 007 Ultimate Edition set, volumes 1 through 3. I guess I will have to go out and buy volume 4 for myself, but I’ll cross that bridge when I get there. For now I am starting at the beginning and watching each DVD and all the special features that come with each movie. Before the DVD set came out I have never seen a James Bond movie other than the ones that Pierce Brosnan starred in. I have wanted to go back and watch some of the older ones with Sean Connery, Roger Moore, and Timothy Dalton. Now I get to watch all 20 bond movies (21 counting the movie that just hit theaters a few months ago).

Each volume contains 5 of the bond movies:

James Bond 007 Volume 1 includes Goldfinger, Diamonds are Forever, The Man with the Golden Gun, The Living Daylights, and The World is Not Enough.

James Bond 007 Volume 2 includes Thunderball, The Spy who Loved Me, A View to a Kill, Licence to Kill, and Die Another Day.

James Bond 007 Volume 3 includes From Russia with Love, On Her Majesty’s Secret Service, Live and Let Die, For Your Eyes Only, and Goldeneye.

James Bond 007 Volume 4 includes Dr. No, You Only Live Twice, Moonraker, Octopussy, and Tomorrow Never Dies.

I’m pretty excited about watching all of the Bond series. My plan is to post about each of the movies after I watch them and to give them my own personal rating. These boxed sets of Bond come with little booklets with information about each movie, and each movie comes with an additional DVD that contains special features, deleted scenes, interviews, and loads of information. Each of the DVD’s have been digitally remastered. Even the older ones from the 60’s look great. If you are a Bond fan and can spare the cash, I don’t think you’ll be dissapointed.

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Archaeology and the Bible

July 26, 2006 @ 12:46 am by Pressed

Today I read a book called Archaeology and the Bible written by John C. H. Laughlin. I have decided that Laughlin should change the name of his book from Archaeology and the Bible to Archaeology that changes the Bible. That is really what he is proposing in this book. It is obvious that he is a huge supporter of Dever and of the idea that Archaeology and Biblical Studies should be separate disciplines that simply talk together. People should be trained in both disciplines to reach a wider group of people.

He also believes that anyone who is entering into professional ministry of the church should be trained in Archaeology, as do I, but the reasons for his belief is staunchly different than mine. Laughlin believes that students of the Bible should be trained in Archaeology because of the “latest evaluation of the history and culture out of which the Bible came” (2000:12). This new evaluation that he speaks of is the idea that recent Archaeological discoveries have essentially proved that the Bible does not contain inerrant history and that sometimes the claims of the Bible must be rejected in view of Archaeological evidence. He is making the claim that if true Biblical students studied Archaeology, and if they are “honest thinkers” (2000:15), they will reject many of the biblical accounts of history.

Laughlin approaches this subject with the idea that in regards to Archaeology and the Bible that sometimes you have to either modify your belief or reject things all together when new evidence arises. He understands that Archaeology is not an exact science and that there are many limitations to it’s usefulness and yet at the same time he tends to always choose the Archaeological evidence over the Biblical account. He claims that Archaeology does not prove or disprove the Bible and on the same page he says that Archaeology makes it “crystal clear” that the bible is not a book of inerrant history or science (2000:15). Apparently Archaeology has something to prove after all!

Archaeology is not an inerrant science. In fact, time and time again Archaeologist have drawn conclusions that have later been proven false. Assumptions are made off of little evidence and Archaeology is a human process that is done by fallible humans who are bound to mess something up. Laughlin takes this fallible evidence and uses it as if it is exact science to prove (though he wouldn’t use that term) that what the Bible says is incorrect. He warns Christians to not rewrite the history of the Near East to fit their preconceptions of the bible, when he is actually using inconclusive evidence of the past to rewrite the bible to fit his own preconceptions. Isn’t it ironic that he uses this quote from Joseph Callaway “we need to be careful lest we make up in imagination what we lack in knowledge.”

While I disagree with Laughlin on many theological levels, one of my biggest problem with his book is his over-generalized statements of supposed fact that he brings out of no where without proof or any substantial evidence whatsoever. He claims that “it is now known that human beings lived in Palestine over a million years ago in what is called the ‘paleolithic’ period” (2000:33). He doesn’t give any proof or any clue as to where the statement comes from, he simply declares it as fact.

Archaeology and the Bible is a book written for beginners. The history of Archaeology, the description of fieldwork, and the explanation of the different ages of civilization are detailed and helpful to anyone with the desire to learn more about Archaeology. Unfortunately this book is filled with more than a simple overview of the history, methods, and implications of Archaeological discoveries. It comes complete with an agenda set forth by the author to disconnect Biblical truth from Archaeology.

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The Stones Cry Out

July 25, 2006 @ 12:17 am by Pressed

Today I read the book The Stones Cry Out: What Archaeology Reveals About the Truth of the Bible by Randall Price. This is actually an excellent book that I would recommend for any Christian, not just those interested in Archaeology. Even Price admits at the beginning of the book that he is writing to the “nonspecialists”.

Price does an excellent job opening up the mind of the believer to the historical world of Christianity and to the rich beauty of Archaeology within the Christian world. There are several things that have shaped my own view of the Bible simply by reading the book and hearing about several of the Archaeological sites and artifacts that have been found. It’s also increased my desire to learn more.

If you’ve every wondered about discoveries that have been made such as the Dead Sea Scrolls, the Hittites, the discoveries on the Temple Mound, and so many others then this is a good introductory book to turn to. Price does an excellent job at making Archaeology and the Bible come alive. He relates the discoveries and the material findings in life to so many of the Biblical accounts that it gives a whole new perspective on many of the Biblical stories.

I borrowed this book from someone just to read it for the critical book review that I have to do, but now I will be purchasing a copy of this book for myself. It’s that good, and there are numerous references, maps, and other guides that are also helpful for a greater understanding of the Scripture and for a better knowledge of where we are in Archaeology today.

Ok, thats my commercial for today. To bad I don’t get paid for this…

P.S. Speaking of advertising. In the process of looking up this book, I came across a blog of the same name. Check it out: Stones Cry Out

**UPDATE** While most readers will agree with Price and believe that there is much we can learn from Archaeology to fill in the history that we do not know, his lack of detail about Archaeology itself leaves the reader disappointed and lacking. After reading the book the reader is left with some knowledge of specific Archaeological finds and very little knowledge of Archaeology itself, the fieldwork involved, how it is done, the big names involved, the ages of civilization, the history of it, and the details about Archaeology itself. While prices does claim that he is writing to non-specials, it becomes obvious that this was an understatement. This book does not make a good introduction to Archaeology. However, for those who know some introductory information about the field, the book does make an interesting read for those whose interests lie with Biblical Archaeology.

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The Pixar Showdown

June 28, 2006 @ 8:41 am by Pressed

Over at WhatinTarnation!? Christopher decided to start a little something by listing what he thinks the order of Pixar movies should be ranked. I disagreed with his ranking and believe that the ranking of Pixar movies should be as follows:

Finding Nemo
Monsters, Inc
The Incredibles
Toy Story 2
Cars
Toy Story 1
A Bug’s Life

First of all, Finding Nemo was one of the greatest stories and movies produced by Pixar and will be hard to beat. Monsters, Inc and Incredibles are really a tie for me, so they are interchangeable. If you want to put one second and the other third or switch them around, it doesn’t matter, its all the same. For me Toy Story 2 and Cars comes in at almost a tie. I liked Toy Story 2 better than the first Toy Story and it matches cars in its humor and originality. However I am just slightly more sold on the Toy Story characters than the characters that are in cars. Next comes Toy Story 1 which would be on the bottom had a Bug’s Life not been produced. Not that any of them are horrible, I like all of the stories… this is just how I would rank them.

How would you rank the Pixar movies?

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Through the Storm

October 21, 2005 @ 12:18 am by Pressed

I’ve just finished reading a book called Through the Storm by Dr. Dan Gerdes. The book is not one that I was familiar with, but it was only 70 pages long and thus I made it through fairly quickly. I am taking a class called pastoral care & counceling which required me to get the book and come up with 5 lesson plans from it. It wasn’t that easy to get a hold of and the seminary had to have Gerdes drop off some of the books himself just so the class would have them. While I am not sure how easy it would be for you to get a copy, this is a book that I think you should read if you have a chance.

Through the Storm is a true story about the life of the author who went through some rough storms in life when him and his wife lost a child. The first chapter begins with the loss of their little boy (Ryan) and then the rest of the book deals with how they felt, what they did, and how God lead them through it all. I didn’t realize what this book was about until I read the first chapter and then when I noticed that the book came with a bookmark that was dedicated to Ryan with his picture on it, my heart was broken and I have to admit I took some time to cry for this family. The power of this book comes not in the story of loss, but in the suprizing story of gain. God was there for Dr. Gerdes and his wife, he lead them through this storm in their life and God used it to bring them closer to Him as they relied on Him fully.

“There are three kinds of people: Those who are in the middle of a storm, those who are emerging from a storm, and those who will soon be in one.”

The truth is, everyone will experience storms in their life. Times of great loss and pain will come to us all and there is no one that is immune to this. If anything, how God worked in the life of this family is a great encouragment to all of us. They experienced the same questions, doubts, pain and sorrow that all of us will experience when we go through struggles in life and this book is a powerful testimony of their reliance on God and evidence of Him guiding them through it all. “He transforms the darkness into morning in our lives, and others will see it and be amazed… Considering what we’ve been through, what’s not to love about God?” - Dan Gerdes

Lord thank you that you carry us through the storms of life! This book also reminds me of what I talked to our teenagers about during our youth service last Wednesday. We discussed Matthew 7:24-27:

“Everyone then who hears these words of mine and does them will be like a wise man who built his house on the rock. And the rain fell, and the floods came, and the winds blew and beat on that house, but it did not fall, because it had been founded on the rock. And everyone who hears these words of mine and does not do them will be like a foolish man who built his house on the sand. And the rain fell, and the floods came, and the winds blew and beat against that house, and it fell, and great was the fall of it.” - Matthew 7:24-27 - ESV

There are several interesting things brought out in this passage. The first thing that I found significant is that both houses, regardless of the foundation, experienced storms that brought rain, floods, and winds that beat against them. Jesus never promised that Christians would have a “suffer free” life, he never said it would be easy. Whether your foundation is in Christ or not, you will experience the storms of life. The other thing I found to be significant in this passage is that both men listened, but only one of them took the advise to heart.

The man who hears God’s words and puts them into practice builds a strong foundation and when the storms of life come that man will be able to stand up under it, because he is rooted strongly in Christ. The Bible doesn’t say that the house wasn’t damaged, it just says it didn’t fall. We will experience pain, and hurt and we will be damaged, but in Christ we will not crumble and fall. However, the man who hears God’s words and does not put them into practice has a foundation as weak as sinking sand and when the storms of life come that man will not be able to stand up. He is not only damaged; the Bible says that he will fall and not just any fall, it will be a great fall.

A powerful message that is revealed to us in Scripture and given as evidence in the life of Dr. Gerdes and his family. Scripture always proves true when it comes to real life. Which house will you be when the storms of life come your way?

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