Barnabas File

(Minor spoilers here.) The Mandalorian is the first live-action Star Wars story created for a series format and is a great success for the Disney streaming service.  Borrowing from the Western and Samurai genres, creator Jon Favreau ( Iron Man films) sets the series five years after the fall of the Empire (Episode six-- Return of the Jedi) and prior to the emergence of the First Order (Episode seven-- The Force Awakens ). As I have noted in previous blogs, creator George Lucas intended the Star Wars universe to provide a mythology for our times. The themes he embedded in his films were primal ideas--the hero’s journey, for example.  In like manner, many observers have identified various theological concepts in these movies as well. Such ideas emerge in this new series as well. The title character (Pedro Pascal) is a loner, a bounty hunter with a heart. The breakout character, however, is the Child.  A member of the same species as Jedi Knig...

In a recent blog , pastor Carey Nieuwhof cited this quote from Douglas Adams book  The Salmon of Doubt: “1. Anything that is in the world when you’re born is normal and ordinary and is just a natural part of the way the world works. 2. Anything that’s invented between when you’re fifteen and thirty-five is new and exciting and revolutionary and you can probably get a career in it. 3. Anything invented after you’re thirty-five is against the natural order of things.” Some adult development researchers state that we tend to define “the world as we know it” based on what we experienced between the ages of 13 and 15.  This is when we are becoming proto-adults and everything that happens in our lives makes an indelible impression on us.  There is certainly some truth to this, but we must remember that we are free to accept these concepts or reject them.  They are informative but they are not deterministic.  If I was raised with a...

In a recent blog , a noted Baptist ethicist indicated that he feels that it is time to “reopen for worship services.”     He provides some significant arguments and closes with this comment: “Big picture, we are a society crippled by a mismanaged pandemic and filled with hurting souls. I think it is time for our congregations to reopen, to meet the needs of those souls as best we can.” Although I appreciate many of his observations, I strongly disagree with his conclusion. I know that every worshipping community will make its own decision about when to return to onsite worship, but I affirm the statements articulated by the Coronavirus Task Force at First Baptist Church in Murfreesboro, Tennessee (where I am a member): We care for the FBC community. We care for our neighbors and the broader community. We want to protect the vulnerable. The task force--made up of church leaders, staff, and several health care professionals--summarize what is important in ou...

“He said to them,  ‘Then give back to Caesar what is Caesar’s, and to God what is God’s.’” (Luke 20:25, NIV) When I did supply preaching on a regular basis, I was often called on to preach the Sunday closest to the Fourth of July holiday.  It was a popular vacation time for many pastors.  My default sermon was built on this text (found in the three Synoptic gospels).  The role of faith (church) and state (empire) was as much an issue then as now. My usual approach was to point out that Christians are actually citizens of two kingdoms.  One is the Kingdom (or Reign) of God which is emerging among us--almost but not yet. The other kingdom is the secular state in which we live. I always argued that both are important to believers, but we should never confuse the two and our Christian citizenship always takes priority.   I write this, first of all, from the perspective of being a citizen of the United States of Ameri...