Jesus' Draft Pick (A Skit for Youth)

Scenario: It’s Jesus’ pick in the NBA Draft.  Instead of choosing one of the biggest, strongest, fastest players, Jesus drafts someone extremely unlikely.   (For a fun satire of Jesus as an NBA player, check it out in The Onion.)  

Main Point: Jesus sees great potential where others see nothing.

Characters:

• Jesus - General manager and coach of the Chicago Bulls (or other NBA franchise).
• Commissioner - NBA Commissioner, dressed in a suit and tie.
• Mick Mickelson - Sports Reporter dressed sloppily with pen and notepad, maybe a tape recorder. (This character should be either very small or rather rotund)

Commissioner:  Congratulations to the Houston Rockets for their exceptional choice of the 6 foot 10 forward from UCLA, Jerome Montablo.  Next up for the 21st pick in the first round of the 2013 NBA Draft, we have Jesus making the choice for the Chicago Bulls.

[Jesus joins the Commissioner at the podium.]

Commissioner:  Jesus, welcome to the NBA.  Let me tell you, we are all excited to see your first draft pick as General Manager and Head Coach.  After your exceptional career as an athlete yourself, the world is waiting and watching to see if you can transfer that success to young players.

Jesus:  Thank you Commissioner.  I’m glad to be here.  I’ve had my eye on this young player for quite some time.  I think he has tremendous potential.  Of course, like all rookies, he has a ways to grow, but I think he will eventually accomplish even more than me.

Nazarene General Assembly 2013 - Recap

Dramatic blessings.  Quiet blessings.  God gave both as Nazarenes gathered in Indianapolis for our once-in-4-years celebration and governing session we call General Assembly.

On the side of quiet blessings, three stand out to me.

• We refused to step backward into fundamentalism.  Several resolutions were proposed that would have pulled us toward the radical right.  However, our leaders wisely chose to maintain the center ground.
• We did lots and lots of healthy networking and meeting.  Getting loads of leaders together in the same place at the same time allows for all kinds of discussion and planning that isn't normally possible.  On my last day, for example, I talked with leaders from Bangladesh and Mozambique about the possibility of partnering with our church in our work with www.freethegirls.org.  Both groups were very positive.  They are going to do some research and get back to us.
• We approved simultaneous multi-site general assemblies.  This will probably be the last general assembly with only one site.  In the future, we'll have once central site and extension sites all around the world.  This will save millions in travel costs and will enable the vast majority of our international delegates to participate (many of whom are denied visas to the USA).  Most likely, North American delegates will never be in the majority again (and rightly so).  This resolution passed without much discussion or fanfare, but it is the most significant change for the Church of the Nazarene in my memory.

When Jesus Needs a Fire Extinguisher

A few pastoral reflections.
1. Always test fire related special effects on the real stage before the real event.
2. Maybe fire related special effects are not a good thing for church services in general.
3. Always have a singer who can keep singing incredibly no matter what.
4. Always have a guy who will run up and grab the flaming stone door and rush it out of the sanctuary.
5. This will be one of those events that is permanently seared into the memory (and carpet) of this church.  (I was --- old when the stage caught on fire at the Easter production.)
6. Did Jesus just kick down a burning door and walk through a wall of flames?  That's cool, no matter what you say.

Children of a Lesser God - Movie Review

Children of a Lesser God is a 1986 romantic drama, telling the story of James (a speech therapist at a deaf school) and Sarah (a former star student who is now the school's janitor).  Marlee Matlin, who is actually deaf, won a well-deserved Oscar for her role in the film.  She is both the youngest actress ever to win and the only deaf actress ever to win.
James is a passionate, effective, innovative, nomadic speech teacher.  Some of the best scenes of the movie are when he is helping his students reach beyond their hearing deficits.  He helps them engage pop music through "feeling" the music in their bodies.  When one student curses at him, James corrects his pronunciation - which leads to repeated greetings with newly learned (but accurately pronounced) profanity.
Sarah's fiery attitude and good looks draw James's attention, and he soon discovers that she is basically hiding from the world by serving as a janitor at the safe deaf school.  The hearing world represents mocking and danger and failure for her.  She persistently refuses to read lips or to speak as an intentional effort to isolate herself to people who are safe.  She rebuffs James' efforts to teach her to use her voice.
Eventually, as one might expect, the two fall in love.  However, the path forward is complex as they each learn to accept each others' weaknesses and strengths.  They must both give the other person space to change or not to change. 
This is a beautiful and poignant film.  The only major downside is the borderline (from behind) nudity, which does serve an artistic point, but nonetheless detracts from the film for me.  (Also, be warned.  For those who are sensitive to profanity, this film has a lot.)
The Josh rating: JJJJ.