by Jason Joyner | Dec 14, 2010 | 2010, Blog, judgment, lessons, life
Last week was the first time I totally whiffed on a Christian Sci-fi and Fantasy blog tour, featuring The Charlatan’s Boy by Jonathan Rogers. I felt bad about it, but some things were going on that took away any spare attention I had (aside from work and family), and I hadn’t read the book. Anyway, I heard good things about it, and should perhaps check it out.
One thing that came out of the events of last week: I learned an important lesson, and it made me think about other lessons I’ve learned through the year. Sounds like fertile ground for a series of blog posts!
Lesson #1 – We are quick to judge
There is a local case of some young men being charged with some crimes. Normally, I would shake my head and condemn such hooligans, and move on with life. In this case, I knew one of the men well, and was sure that he wouldn’t be party to such things. Through the week news started to trickle out that brought a question to many of the charges, especially why the one young man was even included in this event.
The reaction from the community has been ugly. Most people are doing what *I* would have done, namely condemning the men and slandering them with nasty comments. The internet doesn’t help things, between people leaving comments on articles from local news sites to Facebook. On one news site I posted a comment regarding people being innocent until proven guilty. That…didn’t go over well. I reiterated the point, and another reader wrote, “your position is admirable but not practical in our society.”
Is that sad, or what?
In this instance, I believe I have inside information that makes me see the case opposite of many people. I have been disheartened by the responses, but I have to confess I would be making similar judgments if not for my familiarity with one of the accused and the case.
Certainly victims of crimes should be treated with respect and taken seriously. I worry though that our instant culture has produced instant judgment. The due process of our judicial system isn’t given a chance to work. No matter what comes out later on in this case, there will be a taint on these men.
It makes me realize that I should slow down, consider both sides, and realize a couple of things:
1. I don’t have all the information.
2. I am not the final arbiter. Ultimately God is. He knows the hearts of the accusers, the accused, and me as I judge them all.
There is a corollary to this lesson, and I’ll share that in the next blog post.
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Lord, help me to judge not, lest I am judged. We are so quick with our opinion in this internet age, when it is easy to spread it out quickly and often without consequence as we hide behind “screen names.” Help me to see with Your perspective when I am presented with a judgment call, to know Your heart above all.
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by Jason Joyner | Dec 1, 2010 | Biblical worldview, Blog, holiness, movies, YWAM
“Surely you can’t be serious!”
“I am serious. And don’t call me Shirley.”
The Net was abuzz this week with the sad passing of Leslie Nielsen, the actor who defined the slapstick genre of movies with Airplane!, the Naked Gun series, and numerous other movie spoofs. What a great story. The guy was in the movie machine back in the 50’s as a standard handsome leading man, and then was able to find success in his love of comedy after Airplane! took off (groan) in 1980. My mom’s name was Shirley, so we always loved that joke and played off of it and the irony for her saying it.
A child of the 80’s, I really enjoyed these movies. The slapstick and play on of words were great, but there were lots of things I didn’t get watching them initially as a teenager (I was rather naive, thankfully). There’s a ton of sexual innuendo, but I didn’t understand much of it. I thought they were harmless movies.
In 1991 I went on a Discipleship Training School with YWAM. We had three months of training in Montana, learning about the character and ways of God, the Bible, prayer, evangelism, worship, etc. Then we had a two month practical outreach in Thailand. It was a such an investment for me to make, right out of high school. It really changed so much of my perspective, from learning so much about God and who He is, to seeing the bigger world and all the needs out there. Quite a perspective for this Idaho boy.
What does this have to do with Leslie Nielsen? It’s not a cheap attempt to draw search engine traffic here. On the flight back from Thailand the movie was The Naked Gun 2 1/2 (gotta love the 1/2!). I had watched it prior to the DTS and thought it was hilarious. Something was different this time. I saw so much that went against God’s standards and ways. It was like I had a different lens to look through, and there was so much junk in it. Maybe it was that my internal lenses were cleaned, and I could see garbage for what it was.
I didn’t enjoy it the second time, and I think I ended up not watching the rest of the movie.
Leslie Nielsen was a remarkable comedic actor, with great timing and funny faces galore. Still, those movies too quickly went for lowest common denominator humor. As an immature 17 year old, it was awesome. After spending 5 months pursuing the Lord in a concentrated manner every day, it was repulsive. The show didn’t change. I did.
I think of that experience sometimes when I see what goes on in popular culture. I wasn’t trying to be holier-than-thou about it, but it was a natural response after getting close to Him. I’m sad to say that I probably am not bothered by a lot of things I watch anymore, because I have to live in “real life” and don’t have the time to dedicate to Jesus like I did in those days. When you get to live like that, then your spiritual sensitivity naturally goes up.
I have no excuse for not being there now. I could do a lot better in my relationship with the Lord, even though the DTS was a special time that is hard to replicate in the day to day of living.
So strange as it may seem, when I think of Leslie Nielsen, I think of holiness. I am reminded of such a wonderful time in my life. And I think of Shirley. A laugh, a tear, and a sigh mixed together.
Thanks for the chuckles, Mr. Nielsen, and for the memories. Here’s hoping God’s grace finds you.
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by Jason Joyner | Dec 1, 2010 | Biblical worldview, Blog, holiness, movies, YWAM
“Surely you can’t be serious!”
“I am serious. And don’t call me Shirley.”
The Net was abuzz this week with the sad passing of Leslie Nielsen, the actor who defined the slapstick genre of movies with Airplane!, the Naked Gun series, and numerous other movie spoofs. What a great story. The guy was in the movie machine back in the 50’s as a standard handsome leading man, and then was able to find success in his love of comedy after Airplane! took off (groan) in 1980. My mom’s name was Shirley, so we always loved that joke and played off of it and the irony for her saying it.
A child of the 80’s, I really enjoyed these movies. The slapstick and play on of words were great, but there were lots of things I didn’t get watching them initially as a teenager (I was rather naive, thankfully). There’s a ton of sexual innuendo, but I didn’t understand much of it. I thought they were harmless movies.
In 1991 I went on a Discipleship Training School with YWAM. We had three months of training in Montana, learning about the character and ways of God, the Bible, prayer, evangelism, worship, etc. Then we had a two month practical outreach in Thailand. It was a such an investment for me to make, right out of high school. It really changed so much of my perspective, from learning so much about God and who He is, to seeing the bigger world and all the needs out there. Quite a perspective for this Idaho boy.
What does this have to do with Leslie Nielsen? It’s not a cheap attempt to draw search engine traffic here. On the flight back from Thailand the movie was The Naked Gun 2 1/2 (gotta love the 1/2!). I had watched it prior to the DTS and thought it was hilarious. Something was different this time. I saw so much that went against God’s standards and ways. It was like I had a different lens to look through, and there was so much junk in it. Maybe it was that my internal lenses were cleaned, and I could see garbage for what it was.
I didn’t enjoy it the second time, and I think I ended up not watching the rest of the movie.
Leslie Nielsen was a remarkable comedic actor, with great timing and funny faces galore. Still, those movies too quickly went for lowest common denominator humor. As an immature 17 year old, it was awesome. After spending 5 months pursuing the Lord in a concentrated manner every day, it was repulsive. The show didn’t change. I did.
I think of that experience sometimes when I see what goes on in popular culture. I wasn’t trying to be holier-than-thou about it, but it was a natural response after getting close to Him. I’m sad to say that I probably am not bothered by a lot of things I watch anymore, because I have to live in “real life” and don’t have the time to dedicate to Jesus like I did in those days. When you get to live like that, then your spiritual sensitivity naturally goes up.
I have no excuse for not being there now. I could do a lot better in my relationship with the Lord, even though the DTS was a special time that is hard to replicate in the day to day of living.
So strange as it may seem, when I think of Leslie Nielsen, I think of holiness. I am reminded of such a wonderful time in my life. And I think of Shirley. A laugh, a tear, and a sigh mixed together.
Thanks for the chuckles, Mr. Nielsen, and for the memories. Here’s hoping God’s grace finds you.
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by Jason Joyner | Nov 24, 2010 | Blog, CBA, decency, edgy, fiction, writing craft
Hello again. I’ve been trying to work more on my novel in progress, and have been dealing with a little blogger’s block. I’ve had a few thoughts, but haven’t known how to get them out. Time to get back on the horse!
So is it possible to have edgy AND decent fiction?
This has been a run-around topic for CBA fiction for a while. Christian fiction has been evolving over the last several years, perhaps not as fast as some would like, as there continues to be a debate about “edgy” Christian fiction. In fact, the term has become so loaded it is hard to define. For this post consider “edgy” as portraying real life without any filter on it (CBA is known for no cussing and no intimate scenes, not even between spouses).
By the way, I was partially inspired by Mike Duran’s blog deCOMPOSE because he offers a lot of thought-provoking content, usually about the state of Christian fiction. A recent post asks, “Am I responsible for what my characters say?” with the question being, “If my character says something mean, racist, sinful, etc., am I responsible or is the character responsible.” He also had a well-noticed post about “Christian fiction and the new edgy”. That post noted that some people’s edgy are other people’s obscene.
How can obscene be decent?
Perhaps “decent” is a loaded word too, considered a Puritan standard that isn’t realistic in our day and age. Maybe I’m looking at the word wrong, or using the wrong term. I’m thinking of decent as in the motivation one is using when writing something that may be edgy.
Much of our current pop culture fare comes with a shock value intended to gain notice. The edginess is just to catch people’s attention. Britney Spears continued a trend from Madonna, then Katy Perry picked up the baton with songs like “I Kissed a Girl,” and this was quickly followed by Lady Gaga and her wild antics. The motivation on doing something is, quite frankly, only to gain some kind of attention in our oversaturated world.
All media forms are subject to this, from movies, comics, books, TV…the list goes on. The motivation is caught between catching attention and/or flaunting old standards.
Is it possible to write something challenging, edgy, without leaving behind decency? I’d better use an example. I picture a story involving a rough-edged detective and a prostitute trapped in her circumstances that doesn’t pull punches showing the rawness of their lives. The point of the story is not to wallow in dirt, but to show the contrast of redemption against such bleak context. The motivation is good. The details are not used in a gratuitous manner, but to paint an accurate picture. The author keeps a standard of decency in their heart, writing things to serve the story rather than to shock, even if it means some cursing, a closer look into the prostitute’s life, or the violence on the streets.
Maybe I’m reaching with this. I don’t expect stardard CBA fare to embrace this of course. But is it possible to be honest with where the story needs to go, show just the details that are needed to establish credibility without wallowing in it, and keep a pure heart? I think so. I really believe a lot of what is done in pop culture is for the purpose of vulgarity alone, without adding value to the final product other than saying, “Look at me! I am worse than the last guy!”
I’m not even the guy that would want to read all of this. But as Mike has said before, showing someone violating God’s standards can be a powerful tool, even if it is uncomfortable reading about it.
Am I making sense? Am I out there on this one? Hey, your thoughts on this would be most appreciated!
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by Jason Joyner | Nov 24, 2010 | Blog, CBA, decency, edgy, fiction, writing craft
Hello again. I’ve been trying to work more on my novel in progress, and have been dealing with a little blogger’s block. I’ve had a few thoughts, but haven’t known how to get them out. Time to get back on the horse!
So is it possible to have edgy AND decent fiction?
This has been a run-around topic for CBA fiction for a while. Christian fiction has been evolving over the last several years, perhaps not as fast as some would like, as there continues to be a debate about “edgy” Christian fiction. In fact, the term has become so loaded it is hard to define. For this post consider “edgy” as portraying real life without any filter on it (CBA is known for no cussing and no intimate scenes, not even between spouses).
By the way, I was partially inspired by Mike Duran’s blog deCOMPOSE because he offers a lot of thought-provoking content, usually about the state of Christian fiction. A recent post asks, “Am I responsible for what my characters say?” with the question being, “If my character says something mean, racist, sinful, etc., am I responsible or is the character responsible.” He also had a well-noticed post about “Christian fiction and the new edgy”. That post noted that some people’s edgy are other people’s obscene.
How can obscene be decent?
Perhaps “decent” is a loaded word too, considered a Puritan standard that isn’t realistic in our day and age. Maybe I’m looking at the word wrong, or using the wrong term. I’m thinking of decent as in the motivation one is using when writing something that may be edgy.
Much of our current pop culture fare comes with a shock value intended to gain notice. The edginess is just to catch people’s attention. Britney Spears continued a trend from Madonna, then Katy Perry picked up the baton with songs like “I Kissed a Girl,” and this was quickly followed by Lady Gaga and her wild antics. The motivation on doing something is, quite frankly, only to gain some kind of attention in our oversaturated world.
All media forms are subject to this, from movies, comics, books, TV…the list goes on. The motivation is caught between catching attention and/or flaunting old standards.
Is it possible to write something challenging, edgy, without leaving behind decency? I’d better use an example. I picture a story involving a rough-edged detective and a prostitute trapped in her circumstances that doesn’t pull punches showing the rawness of their lives. The point of the story is not to wallow in dirt, but to show the contrast of redemption against such bleak context. The motivation is good. The details are not used in a gratuitous manner, but to paint an accurate picture. The author keeps a standard of decency in their heart, writing things to serve the story rather than to shock, even if it means some cursing, a closer look into the prostitute’s life, or the violence on the streets.
Maybe I’m reaching with this. I don’t expect stardard CBA fare to embrace this of course. But is it possible to be honest with where the story needs to go, show just the details that are needed to establish credibility without wallowing in it, and keep a pure heart? I think so. I really believe a lot of what is done in pop culture is for the purpose of vulgarity alone, without adding value to the final product other than saying, “Look at me! I am worse than the last guy!”
I’m not even the guy that would want to read all of this. But as Mike has said before, showing someone violating God’s standards can be a powerful tool, even if it is uncomfortable reading about it.
Am I making sense? Am I out there on this one? Hey, your thoughts on this would be most appreciated!
—
by Jason Joyner | Nov 3, 2010 | Blog, speculative fiction, Stephen Lawhead, The Skin Map
In Which The Blogger Finally Gets Around To Telling The Reader If The Book Is Any Good.
The CSFF Tour is featuring the latest from acclaimed author Stephen Lawhead, The Skin Map, first book of the Bright Empires series. Yesterday I gave a synopsis of the book, if you missed it. How does it stand up?
I’ve said here in the past that Stephen Lawhead is one of my favorite authors. For some reason, a couple of his books (usually the second or third in a series) have fallen flat for me. It’s almost if he’s a little streaky. Does The Skin Map strike hard or does it miss?
Thankfully, I can testify that Lawhead is on target with this first book. There’s wit, suspense, intrigue, and the Lawhead tradmark of making a setting come alive. You see some of this with the very first lines of the book:
Had he but known that before the day was over he would discover the hidden dimensions of the universe, Kit might have been better prepared. At least, he would have brought an umbrella.
(Best opening line I’ve read since, “The nun hit me in the mouth and said, ‘Get out of my house.'”)
Lawhead has stated on his website that he’s been writing this series in his head for the last 15 years or so, just now he has the skill to handle all of the complexity. I would believe it. He has numerous characters jumping from the Home World to different times and locales, and he brings the unique flavor of each place out. There’s enough characters and locations (and times!) that it almost gets confusing, but he keeps things moving forward. Many threads are started, and it may seem a little disconnected in the middle of the book. The beauty is that in the apparent chaos ensuing, it snaps together in the end, leaving the reader going “Whoa.” If a reader isn’t patient or attentive, they could get lost.
The book follows 20-something Kit Livingstone as he discovers his gift for traveling the mysterious ley lines, his girlfriend Mina as she gets lost in 17th century Prague, the Man Who Is Map forging paths through the dimensions, and the ruthless Lord Burleigh. Each character brings their own weight to their sections. I don’t feel like I’m reading one voice for each person – they are individuals. Their interaction with the various settings is thought-provoking, such as the timeline in which Kit’s relative Cosimo stops the famous Fire of London in1666 just by waking the baker whose oven started the disaster.
Despite a rather large cast and the varied times, the book is suspenseful and a great page-turner. My only complaint is the book is a major set-up for the whole series. It makes sense that it can’t be too self-limiting, and the reader is left with a major cliffhanger at the end. I am ready for book two, like RIGHT NOW.
A couple further thoughts:
As I discussed yesterday, the story’s premise hinges on these ley lines acting as corridors to these alternate universes. These are well-known to the pagan and new age movements, considered powerful centers of energy. Lawhead has used many other mythic components in his fiction, such as Atlantis and Merlin in the Pendragon Cycle, and Celtic myths in the Song of Albion trilogy. However, he has taking these seemingly pagan points and turned them into a natual way of speaking of faith and Christ. He makes it an organic part of the story. Christianity isn’t proclaimed loudly in The Skin Map, but there are characters who speak and ponder about God and how He may be working through the Omniverse (multiple universes). Speculative, but still informed by faith. Potential authors can learn here from Mr. Lawhead.
Finally, check out his website for a good interview from Lawhead regarding the research he does for his work. It is informative to those curious about how to write a realistic setting, one of his strengths.
As always, the other fun folk at the CSFF Tour have more to say, and you can find the full list on Becky Miller’s blog.
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BTW, the FTC requires a blogger to disclose whether they got a free review copy. I am disclosing that I used my birthday gift card to Barnes and Noble on this book. I am a very satisfied consumer!
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