as good as promised

on friday evening amy, gabrielle and i went to see the lion, the witch and the wardrobe. given all the ruckus regarding how explicitly "christian" it is, one might think the film would get lost in all the hoopla. it doesn't. this is a great film. while not staying word for word with the book, (a practice that would be almost impossible, not to mention boring) the film does faithfully capture the intent of the book. the story is fantastic, and the humor is british and well-done. gabrielle loved it, and as her dad, it was fun to see her face the first time aslan made an on-screen appearance. seeing the movie with her put an exclamation point on what is our favorite daily time together: reading the chronicles and rubbing feet before bed time. it is rare to find anything that is actually as good as advertised, but narnia certainly is.

my two cents

it would seem that the evangelical blogger nation is much ado about the decision of several megachurches to cancel their weekly pep rallies on Christmas Day. david wells of gordon-conwell theological seminary has given probably the best assessment of the whole issue, but sadly one that will not end the megabytes being consumed in this conversation. "This is consumerism run amuck. This is the church not wanting to inconvenience anyone."

second on the list of blog conversations is the premier of the lion, the witch and the wardrobe. disney has offered a cash reward to one lucky pastor who mentioned the film in his/her sermon. i am anxious to see the film, largely based on my aforementioned conversations with my filmmaker friend and because i've always loved the narnia series. easily the most engaging and edifying piece i've found so far has been leland ryken's article at reformation21.org. aside from being phil ryken's father and a stinkin' nice man, dr. ryken is a professor of english at wheaton college (home of the wade center, a repository for all things "inkling"). read dr. ryken's article. it's a wonderful exercise in literary criticism that actually aids in one's enjoyment of the book.

finally, a friend of mine recently returned a book i had loaned him. peter robinson's how ronald reagan changed my life is a great read, even if you are not a gop'er. as i was thumbing through it, i came across a passage i had marked some months earlier. in the midst of all the blog critiques and handwringing, robinson's words were a nice return to usefulness. I can perform my work as well as I can, hoping to provide my readers with sturdy, enjoyable prose. I can remain loyal to my friends and a loving husband to my wife. And I can remind myself every day from the moment of their birth until the very end of time, I'm the only father my children will ever have.

from jack's book to a (post)modern film

a good friend of mine works in the film industry. as kids, he and i read many of the same books together and would discuss stories of mutual interest. our film maker/pastor discussion regarding the place of authorial intent in movie adaptations has been extremely interesting. chris would, i think, characterize my understanding of faithful adaptation as being somewhat narrow. this is entirely understandable given that my working definition of expositional preaching is that the point of the text must be the point of the sermon. he also raised a great point about the other narnia books: they may not be as visually interesting as the lion the witch and the wardrobe.

i raise our conversations because i read an interview with the director of the narnia film in world magazine. the director changed the dialogue between father christmas and the pevensie girls because it was, in his words, "amazingly sexist". what was this sexist dialogue? father christmas does not give the girls weapons of war (susan gets a horn and lucy a cordial of healing medicine) because, "war is horrible and nasty and not for girls at all". the director changed the dialogue to fit our current egalitarian worldview - a worldview c.s. lewis certianly did not share. war is, most certainly and famously, hell. why is it sexist to want to spare the most sublime of God's creation from such grief, pain and horror? it would seem jack lewis's sentiments are not sexist, but the height of chivalry.

saint peter's

one of the must see stops of any trip to rome is the vatican. amy and i spent two days there, one without the family and one with them. the vatican museum is really incredible - and the sistine chapel is all it's cracked up to be. st. peter's basilica is absolutely huge - you could literally play football in the central nave of the church.

while the building is impressive in it's sheer size, it is also a bit troubling. st. peter's is a shrine to the papacy. everywhere you turn in the interior, there are huge marble statues to deceased popes. the secuplcure underneath the basilica is no exception, the tombs feature huge marble reliefs of the departed sees. even the tomb of the apostle peter - he who did not think himself worthy to be crucified in the same manner as Christ - is a gaudy, grotesque shrine. if you can be upset in heaven, then peter is looking for an excuse to deny the designer of his "shrine" entrance throught the pearly gates. there is one exception: the tomb of john paul II is simply a marble slab with his name on it. my friend rob speaks of jp II as the reason for his embracing "evangelical catholicism". the humility of his tomb was in stark contrast to it's neighbors. it makes me wonder what evangelical american catholics think of the design of the geographical head of their church. it also cast the necessity of luther's sola deo gloria in a new light.

the most ironic moment during our time in vatican city? being able to purchase a shot glass with the seal of the papacy from a nun at the gift shop on the roof of st. peter's. amy did not find it as funny as i did.

as the four of you who read this regularly know, i do have great respect for the american catholic tradition. notre dame is a great school, and i hold theodore hesburgh in high regard. richard john neuhaus is an eloquent defender of orthodox christianity, and chesterton's orthodoxy should be read by every serious christian. i simply found the dissonance between st. peter's and the witness of the aforementioned folks to be striking.

european vacation

amy and i arrived back from rome late on tuesday evening. we had a great nine days with my family - we spent two days in the tuscan town of montepulciano and five days in rome. italians are wonderful people and most of them know at least some english. if you ever get the chance - just go and tell them kyle sent you. if you don't like good food and great capaccino, well, then italy is not the place for you.

on our way to rome we had a 9 hour layover in philadelphia. what sounds like a pain in the butt was actually a great blessing. we got to spend some time with friends of ours from seminary. aaron and allison planted a church in the philly area and played tour guide for us in this great city. better though than seeing the sights was the chance to fellowship with some old friends. allison and amy get along smashingly - obviously coming from the fact they married obnoxious ex-athletes who now labor as pastors. our time with them, seeing independence hall, the liberty bell and pat's (a south philly landmark and the birthplace of the cheesesteak) was absolutely refreshing. friends are absolutely a gift from God.

Gearin' up again

sorry it has been so long since i've written anything. we do have those periods when the output overwhelms us and we hit a dry patch. i think i've been through one of those. sermon prep, getting ready to preach a wedding, some funerals - all of it has just been gut-busting lately. blogging fell to the wayside because - well, i didn't have much to say (true, i really never did) and the discipline of writing seeming burdensome. hopefully, this period has passed.

as i wrote last, i performed a wedding in the little town in north central nebraska that we spent 6 years in. the town has actually changed quite a bit, as has my perspective. i remembered my junior high school as being a huge brick structure - it isn't. some things, however, have stayed the same. i remember loving the rolling prarie and the sense of openness. i still do - in fact, when i left nebraska in 1988, wild horses could not have kept me there. now, i find myself wishing the Lord would open the door for a way to go back.

the people who were dear to me as a boy are dear still. friends are a wonderful gift and a reminder of God's grace to us. very few people in this world could get away with calling me "kamymle" (pronounced: kuh my mul). still fewer could say it as a term of endearment. the gotschall clan can do so and do it well. i was also able to catch up with a friend i've known for the last 25 years. i am torn in our friendship - chris has been a good and loyal friend when i did not deserve such friendship. he came to his sister's wedding with his partner of 8 years. my love for my friend is conflicted by my knowing that his lifestyle is, well, sinful. love for the sinner and hatred for the sin is a sticky wicket to be certain. hopefully, my friend and wise mentor mr. anonymous will have some sage words of wisdom on this issue.

just checkin' in

the past couple of weeks have been crazy. we are in an interim period at our church - trying to find a minister of music. the only thing harder than finding a good part-time minister of music is finding a good interim. however, i think God has been gracious and we have a sound guy in place.

as i write this, i'm sitting in my dad's office in fremont, ne. this past weekend was spent in atkinson, ne preaching a wedding and handling the sunday morning chores at the church in which i was baptized. the sandhills were gorgeous (with all due respect to willa cather who proclaimed that nebraska was "not a country, it was the raw elements with which one could form a country"). it was good to see folks i'd not seen in 20 years. i've been thinking much about my time in ne this weekend - future blogs will probably be spent on those reflections.

tomorrow holds the promise of 13 hours in the vw passat. my mom bequeathed us with focus on the family's Chronicles of Narnia on cd. hello penvise children! looking forward to spending the day with aslan's crew.