Unpop Culture

Last Friday night, I accompanied some friends to Barnes & Noble for the release of the final Harry Potter book. Having not pre-purchased a copy myself, I didn’t stay until midnight like the rest of them. (I’m more a fan of the movies than I am of the books. Surprise, surprise.) However, the highlight for me was an announcement made over the loudspeakers somewhere around nine o’ clock. What made it so funny was the fact that the bookstore employee was being dead serious. He stated the following: This is a public service announcement. There will be no broom flying in the store. Those caught flying in the store will have their brooms impounded. I couldn’t help but burst into a laughing fit. Evidently, I was the only one who found the announcement humorous because no one else laughed with me (although there were a couple people who giggled and/or stared at me). So concluded my first—and last—experience at a Harry Potter publishing event extravaganza. [Note: I neither took the above pic...

If we realize our joy in God is lackluster, we must seek to discern what our hearts are prizing more than God. This is the pursuit of a saint determined to eradicate all idols from his heart, by the grace of God. This is the pursuit of the Psalmists. This, I believe, is the ultimate aim of the book of Psalms—to show us how normal believers in times past fought for joy in the living God. The only thing that can destroy a superficial joy in superficial gods (i.e., idols) is the life-altering and soul-sustaining joy found in the one true God. And it is this God that the Psalms offer to us as the remedy to all our idolatrous pursuits. More than any other book in the Bible, the Psalms persistently and passionately call us to prize the Lord above all else. And this, I believe, is the goal of the Christian hedonist. Truth be told, if I had to point to one factor that has most encouraged my Christian growth in the last year, it would be the power of God’s grace made effective in my life throug...

Last time, we looked at how the book of Psalms can powerfully change our prayer life. Now, let’s examine one specific example. You might be familiar with John Piper’s prayer acronym IOUS. What you might not realize is that this extremely helpful model—which can be found in his book When I Don’t Desire God (pages 57-59)—is based on the Psalms. Let’s look at the acrostic. “I” stands for Incline , and is based on Psalm 119:36: “Incline my heart to Your testimonies, and not to covetousness.” Piper writes, “The first thing my soul needs is an inclination toward God and his Word.” “O” stands for Open . This comes from Psalm 119:18: “Open my eyes, that I may see wondrous things from Your law.” Piper says, “I need to have the eyes of my heart opened so that when my inclination leads me to the Word, I see what is really there, and not just my own ideas.” “U” stands for Unite . The supporting verse here is Psalm 86:11: “Unite my heart to fear Your name.” Piper puts it like this: “I am concern...

You’ve probably seen several (if not all) of the GEICO caveman commercials. They’re priceless. Well, you might not be aware that these persecuted primates have their own interactive website: www.iheartcavemen.com . It’s hilarious. There’s lots of stuff to view and participate in on the site. And just when you think you’ve gone through all the material, you find new stuff. My favorite part of the website is helping the cavemen decide what clothes to wear for the party. Their responses to some of the suggestions you make are ingeniously funny. If you need a refresher, here are the links to all the commercials (minus the “party scene” one that makes absolutely no sense): Airport Home Complaint (“Four feet by five feet”? What kind of screen ratio fiasco is that?) Apology CNN Interview Boom Operator Therapist (featuring none other than Talia Shire—i.e., Adrian from the Rocky movies) And don’t forget that little feature about playing golf .

“The Psalms are prayers for those who are engaged in an ongoing, spiritual conflict. No one else need bother even opening the book.” (Patrick Henry Reardon) One thing we learn from the Psalms is that prayer is an essential weapon in the Christian Hedonist’s arsenal. The Psalmists don’t merely apprehend truth about God in a stoic manner, they use those truths as catalysts for prayer. And these prayers—i.e., the Psalms—are fervent. These men recognize how desperate they are for God. They know that apart from the life-sustaining grace found in God alone, they can do nothing (see John 15:5). Martin Luther is quoted as saying that praying the Psalms brings us “into joyful harmony” with God’s Word and God’s will. He continues: Whoever begins to pray the Psalms earnestly and regularly will soon take leave of those other light and personal little devotional prayers and say, “Ah, there is not the juice, the strength, the passion, the fire which you find in the Psalms. Anything else tastes too ...