The Hobbit

I went to see The Hobbit with my three sons earlier this week. Loved it and want to see it a second time. And yet, I’m not sure it moved me as much as any of the movies from The Lord of the Rings trilogy. As corny as this sounds (and I know it does) I had spiritual experiences watching those three movies. Listening to lectures by Peter Kreeft on The Lord of the Rings even enhanced those experiences. I have since watched those movies multiple times.

I think one of the reasons I was able to enjoy them so much is because I’m not a purist when it comes to Tolkien. I had never read the books prior to watching the movies. The three Chronicles of Narnia movies, on the other hand, were much more of a let down for me, perhaps because I had read those books on numerous occasions.

I had not read The Hobbit prior to seeing the movie (my boys and I started to do so… but sort of fell out of the groove). All I knew about The Hobbit was that Gandalf, Bilbo, and dwarves were in it. I really didn’t know much of the plot… and still don’t know much about what awaits in the second two parts of the story. Maybe that’s why I was able to enjoy it as much as I did. I do hope the next two parts will be moving in the way in which I experienced The Lord of the Rings. I hope that’s not an unfair expectation.

At any rate, there’s been much written in the last week or two on Tolkien, The Hobbit, etc. Here are a few articles, etc., that I thought were worth passing along to you.

Enjoy,
Dale

• Tolkien: Man Behind the Myth at Christianity Today
• The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey (a review) at Christianity Today
• The Hidden Purpose of The Hobbit’s Adventure by Devin Brown at Christianity Today
• The Foolish Wisdom of Bilbo Baggins by Matthew Dickerson at Christianity Today
• Tolkien Experts Talk About His Christian Themes (video) at Crosswalk.com
• Is The Hobbit a Christian Film? Yes and No at Crosswalk.com
• How to Watch The Hobbit by David Mathis at Crosswalk.com
• Peter Jackson’s The Hobbit Rings False (a review) at Crosswalk.com
• Middle-Earth and Back Again (a review) by Shane Morris at BreakPoint
• The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey (a review) at Plugged In
• There and Back Again and Again and Again by Megan Bashan at WORLD Magazine

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Best of My Inbox

I get a lot of stuff (probably way too much) in my inbox. It’s a self-inflicted problem because I subscribe to almost everything… whether it’s via email, Twitter, Facebook, or YouTube. I think I live with the fear that I may miss something if I don’t stay up-to-date with everything I possibly can. Of course, this poor philosophy of life is fraught with problems and perils.

However, every now and then I find some gold in the gravel. Occasionally something will come into my inbox that makes the whole effort worth it. It’s usually something that adds value to my life or helps me add value to someone else’s life.

Therefore, I thought it would be an interesting experiment to share some of the highlights of what I get in my inbox throughout the week (Best of My Inbox). Obviously, these BoMI contenders, will not include private correspondence… so don’t start worrying that anything personal and private you send me is going to appear on my blog (unless you make me mad. But then I’ll probably just save it for a sermon illustration). What I will be posting, of course, is the stuff that’s out there for public consumption.

My hope is that perhaps one thing that I pass on to you will be a help to you… or, at the very least, be interesting to you.

Cheers,
Dale

So, without any further ado, here’s the recent Best of My Inbox…

Raising Sons

• I got something neat from JM Cremp’s Adventures which bills itself as a great resource for everything boy. As a father of three, this looks pretty interesting.
• Here’s a great piece at All Pro Dad, entitled, 10 Things to Teach Your Son About True Manhood

For Pastors

• Ten Preaching Questions with Matt Chandler at Sermon Central
• How Shall They Hear Without A Preacher? at Worldview Church
• Five Characteristics to Model in Your Congregation Rick Warren

Discipleship

• Some great new things happening at Biblical Training.org. Check it out!
• Ever had a Walk Thru The Bible event at your church? Well worth it.
• Do you have a healthy or unhealthy small group? Small Groups.com offers these seven hallmarks to help you figure that out.

The Church

• Over at the Christian Post, Al Mohler offers his thoughts on why conservative churches are growing.

Biblical Counseling

• Interesting article on depression from Counseling Solutions
• The Secret to Dealing with Fear and Anxiety by Ed Welch at CCEF (ht: Justin Taylor)
• Resolving Everyday Conflict – a review of the book at Gospel Coalition

Personal Development

• The last post of three articles on making presentations from Darren Hardy. He has links to the first two at the beginning of his post.
• Here are some helpful thoughts on reading by Ron White.
• What Motivates the Motivator? by Chris Widener
• How do you work one day less a week… and still get everything done? Here’s Lorraine Pirihi’s answer.

Biography

• Steve Lawson has some helpful and inspiring insights into Justin Martyr at byFaith
• Augustine of Hippo Raised to New Life at Christianity.com

Worldview and Culture

• Check out the Kuyper Common Grace Translation Project from the Acton Institute. Who is Abraham Kuyper?

Odds & Ends

• Will Orlando Bloom be in the Hobbit? Here’s what he thinks.

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