What Others Are Saying About Noah
We are very excited for the release of Noah and this new featurette gives a little more information to the film and what the director was intending to do with the story.
Check it out and let me know what you think:
Quietly making noise,
Fletch
Noah - The Building Of The Ark
Our family is very excited about the new film, Noah, that will be released at the end of March. Loaded with great talent like Russell Crowe, Jennifer Connelly, Ray Winstone, Emma Watson, and Sir Anthony Hopkins, it promises to be a fun movie of an often told story.
Much like Exodus (starring Christian Bale) which is in production, I really enjoy when Hollywood takes a stab at visually portraying stories from the Bible. There is ALWAYS a question of accuracy, but I will admit that even what I create in my minds eye when I read through scripture lacks in accuracy, therefore I can appreciate what a production team puts together and the team for Noah seems to have done just that.
In the following featurette, the designers talk specifically about the Ark and how it was created for use in the film.
Critics have already begun to voice their concerns regarding accuracy and the script. I wonder though, as Christians, if we can be prepared to have grace saturated discussions about the movie itself, the topic of sin/judgment and how God responds with a covenant of grace not only with Noah, but with us as well.
I am looking forward to sharing a few more featurettes in the next week prior to the release of the film. In the meantime, what about you? Are you looking forward to seeing this movie? Let me know in the comments.
Quietly making noise,
Fletch
Noah - The Movie
You know I'm a huge film buff, so I am excited about this new film. Working with the original screenplay from God and his co-writer Moses, Director Darren Aronofsky's new film Noah is ready for release. Starring Russell Crowe, Sir Anthony Hopkins, Jennifer Connelly and Emma Watson, the film follows the story of Noah from the book of Genesis.
After visions of an apocalyptic deluge, Noah, the world’s only righteous man, is chosen to undertake a divine mission to build a massive ark to save his family and all of creation before the impending rains fall and the flood waters rise. Click here or on the poster to link to the new trailer.
Quietly making noise,
Fletch
I Am Second
For the past two years, I have worn an "I Am Second" bracelet. I have had more opportunities to talk about Jesus because of this dumb rubber ring around my wrist.
If you haven't checked out the site, drop by and watch a few of the videos. They are filmed/edited well.
Quietly making noise,
Fletch
Acts29 Bootcamp
Heading to San Jose this weekend for the Acts29 Bootcamp. If you are going, I'd love to hook up with you.
Quietly making noise,
Fletch
Harry Potter, Homeschooling, and a Pink Professor
!!!WARNING!!!
THIS POST IS ABOUT HARRY POTTER!
If you haven't seen Harry Potter 5, navigate away now! Spoilers abound in the following paragraphs!
Also...If you don't like Harry Potter or if you think that by reading this you may be turned into a newt, then please stick around! I promise this isn't a pro/anti Harry Potter rant. I also promise not to "geek-out" on you and I promise, promise, promise that you won't be indoctrinated into witchcraft and wizardry just by reading this post!
Actually, this post is really more about one character than it is about the book/film in general.
Okay, the warning is over...now onto the post. I just finished Harry Potter 5: The Order of the Phoenix (and by "finished" I mean the movie). Yes, I'm watching HP from start to finish with one of the Mangoboys (and for the fun of it, let's call him "Jack"). It is our goal to catch Deathly Hallows Part 1 and 2 on the big screen. Overall, I've enjoyed the stories as they follow the classic storyline of good versus evil, redemption, hero/villain, with some enjoyable twists.
Dolores Umbridge
Professor/Special Asst. to the Minister of Magic
Hogwarts School
In book/film five of the story, they have introduced a fantastic new character: Dolores Umbridge (pictured here). I won't overwhelm you with the whole HP story, but Professor Umbridge has been appointed to Hogwarts School by the Ministry of Magic as an agent of change at the school. As I watched her character develop in this movie, I couldn't help but laugh at some similarities she shares with a few characters whom I've met in real life.
On first glance, you know Dolores is different. Instead of the typical black robe worn by students and teachers, Dolores shows up in a tailored pink wool suit complete with a flowery pink pill box hat and matching handbag. She looks like a spokeswoman for Pepto-Bismol. Visibly, she is the antithesis of what wizardry and witchcraft look like. Her first words to the student body give you a hint as to why she has been brought to Hogwarts.
After the Headmaster's brief introduction, Professor Umbridge interrupts to say:
"Progress for the sake of progress must be discouraged...let us preserve what must be preserved...let us perfect what can be perfected...and let us prune practices that ought to be prohibited."
Spoken with a tight smile and a syrupy sweet British accent, you know she is going to be at odds with at least the students and most likely the administration. I'll get back to her "pruning practices" in a moment, but I want to begin with her first day in the classroom.
"There Is Nothing Out There, Dear!"
On the first day of class, Professor Umbridge introduces herself and her subject matter:
Dolores Umbridge:"Your previous instruction in this subject has been disturbingly uneven. But you will be pleased to know from now on, you will be following a carefully structured, Ministry-approved course of defensive magic. Yes?"
Hermione Granger:"There's nothing in here about using defensive spells..."
Dolores Umbridge: "...You will be learning about defensive spells in a secure, risk-free way."
Harry Potter: "Well, what use is that? If we're gonna be attacked it won't be risk-free."
Dolores Umbridge:"It is the view of the Ministry that a theoretical knowledge will be sufficient to get you through your examinations, which after all, is what school is all about."
Harry Potter: "And how is theory supposed to prepare us for what's out there?"
Dolores Umbridge:"There is nothing out there, dear!"
Please tell me you caught what I caught here? Maybe it's just my experience with uber-conservative Christianity, but there are several aspects to this character that I found to be humorously analogous to some branches in the Christian Homeschooling Tree. Here is what I caught: Theory versus reality. Risk-free environments. Professor Umbridge focuses on teaching these Hogwart's students the theoretical knowledge of dealing with evil, but refuses to provide them any real skills or experience for engagement or defense.
The comparison I found is simple. Christian homeschoolers (and I'm one of them) have plucked their kids from the public school system. Theory of engagement with the world is and should be taught, yet for some families that is where they stop (and this is where I swing down a few branches on the tree). Here's what I've personally witnessed: These families never use their training in the real world. In an "us vs. them" mentality they continue to sterilize their children by raising them to avoid any engagement with the world. They disengage from anything to do with popular culture instead of entering the culture equipped with a Christian worldview and practicing the skills of defense (read: Gospel living). After pulling away from the philosophies of the world, they never return to engage the world with sound Biblical philosophy. Even after equipping their families with the tools to engage, their energies are spent avoiding the world and living in a "secure risk-free way." Like this example from Professor Umbridge at Hogwarts School, these parents never intend on letting their students leave the classroom.
High Inquisitor
After only a short time at Hogwarts, the Ministry of Magic expands the Pink Professor's role at the school: "Having already revolutionized the teaching of Defence Against the Dark Arts, Dolores Jane Umbridge will, as High Inquisitor, have powers to address the seriously falling standards at Hogwarts School."
Here is another place where I found that art intersects reality.
Measuring Up
Dolores becomes both a teacher and a clipboard carrying inquisitor. She is often seen interrupting classes in session and challenging what and how other instructors are teaching the students. One of my favorite scenes shows Dolores using a tape measure against the choirmaster to literally see if he "measures up."
Hello? Can we find similarities with this clipboard carrying inquisitor within our own experience? How often have I picked up the clipboard and tape measure? Too often. We don't need to look too far into the Christian homeschool community or even some of our churches or some of our own lives (there I said it...) to find the behavior we see displayed in Dolores.
On the outside, she projects perfection. Tailor-fitted clothing and a matching pink office with walls covered with photos of cats (yes, she is the ultimate "cat lady"). Visitors are escorted into her office and served a hot cup of tea. Dolores appears kind and hospitable (afterall, she's doing things right!), yet without skipping a beat, she politely shows where her guest has not met the standard and all the time smiling and sipping tea.
Comparisons. Pride. Inquisitions. This doesn't just happen at Hogwarts people! This happens around our kitchen tables (and sometimes around our communion tables...ouch!). We are reminded in Proverbs that God hates a proud look and one who has haughty eyes, yet this behavior comes so easily to us as Christian homeschoolers. With little effort we can all become like Dolores. We pick up our measuring tapes and evaluate one another according to a standard that we have created and others simply cannot keep. How easy it is for us to become pink-washed tombs? Ha!
Pruning Prohibited Practices
After her instatement as High Inquisitor, Dolores also focuses her attention on student behavior at Hogwarts. With a down-turned eye, she instates a series of new decrees to the Hogwarts student body. Clothing standards, relationship standards, how to talk, how to think, how to live...nothing is outside of her reach.
With each declaration, she frames the edict and her lackey assistant nails it to the school wall. As her laws multiply so does the difficulty to police student behavior. Dolores solves this by recruiting several Hogwarts students to serve on her Inquisatorial Squad and rat out classmates whose behavior is out of line. Within time, there is a new law for every behavior and the school wall is covered with framed decrees. Students are driven to misery until the inevitable finally happens. In the movie, a comical student revolt is led and Umbridge is driven from her post at the school. As the lawmaker flees the auditorium, the framed laws shatter away from the wall (see photo below).
Exploding Degrees at Hogwarts
Legalism is tricky that way. You can't stop with just one law (like Pringles potato chips). Laws have a funny way of multiplying and soon they are hard to keep track of, let alone keep. Yet there are families trying to manage behavior every day with external systems and rules. It's impossible. I've tried. I've witnessed it in church and in the homeschool community with my own two eyes. I've seen kids that were seemingly well controlled for years finally revolt.
I remember reading an article a few years ago about kids who "jump ship" and reject a system based on meaningless rules. I've seen it and when they jump, they jump far away and land running! Lists of right and wrong behaviors will serve to frustrate children, not encourage them. Dolores Umbridge had rules, plenty of them. What she lacked was a relationship with her students and a desire for them to grow and learn and apply their learning in real world situations. They never were allowed to take their education and use it outside of the classroom.
Oh how I loved and hated the character of Dolores Umbridge. What an example of how not to run a school of witchcraft and wizardy!
Quietly making noise,
Fletch
PS...see, you didn't turn into a newt!
Feeling LOST...
Well...it's finally over.
For this LOST fan, I'm very disappointed to see such a great television show disappear (and this from a non-TV watcher). At the same time, I'm glad the producers decided to bring the story to an end before the show was cancelled or any of the major actors quit the series.
Not everyone liked the show. Some people were "lost" the whole time they watched it, while many others drew conclusions without ever watching an episode. Just living in my own house showed me there were people that didn't understand the LOST phenomenon or the weekly addiction many shared, but I cannot think of another show in television history that connected great acting, great characters, beautiful scenery and consistently fantastic writing.
In the past few days, there's been a lot of discussion about whether this show ended well and even more theories about what the show really meant. I read a twitter update during the series finale that said something like, "I never understood Trekkies until LOST." As a self-professed "Lostie," I've been asked several times what I thought about the show, so in true style I thought I would offer a top-ten.
Here's my own list of Top Ten Reasons I Enjoyed Six Seasons of LOST:
ALERT: LOST spoilers and secrets are revealed!
10. It is a Survival Story - This series began with a bunch of people surviving a plane crash on a deserted island. What other comparison did I have but Gilligan's Island? It took NO TIME for me to begin enjoying this show...only this time around there were not as many coconut creme pies.
9. Character Development - By the second episode, I realized this was not just another show. Methodically, the writers took the viewer through every characther's "back story" and what led them to the island. You quickly began cheering and booing the characters based on who they were "off island" and who they had become "on island." Over six years it became an emotional roller-coaster as characters travelled full circle from good to bad and back again and again.
8. Great Acting/Writing - LOST had a huge ensemble cast, extending to include international actors, screen actors, and stage actors. The writers mixed comedy, adventure, intrigue and drama brilliantly. Instead of a weekly show, LOST was really more of a six-year miniseries. Personal favorites: Terry O'Quinn, Michael Emerson, Josh Holloway, Jorge Garcia, Elizabeth Mitchell, Daniel Dae Kim and the list goes on and on and on...and the writing was the best...hands down.
7. Hello? It was filmed in the Hawaiian Islands - Do I need any commentary here? From the beach to the jungle this series owned the cinematography.
6. Theme: Free Will/Destiny - Without giving away too many spoilers. One major theme from beginning to end was the constant tension between free will and destiny. Were the characters given choices in life or was it destiny to be on the island or even more were they "called" to be on the island. From the beginning, this theme was developed and massaged, so can you see why I liked it? The average viewer may have missed this in the first few seasons, but by the end it was as clear as black and white :) .
5. It is a Story of Redemption- I like stories that show characters needing, seeking and gaining redemption? LOST did not disappoint. Every major character in LOST lived some form of a tragedy that required redemption and each of them was given the opportunity to rectify the wrongs they had committed. Personal acts of contrition, confession, repentance were seen throughout the series, as well as forgiveness and healing, leading to true redemption for characters. Some characters turned the corner early in the series, while others took the full six seasons to develop and occur. I was blown away as the writers developed the most unworthy characters and showed that even they could be redeemed when an external source intervened in their lives.
4. Easter Eggs - One of my favorite parts were the fun "easter eggs" hidden throughout the series by the writers and producers for the viewer to find. Characters were named after famous theologians, philosophers, and scientists. Shows were developed around pieces of literature, musical scores, historical figures, scientific inventions, heroes of the faith, and characters of myth and legend. Sprinkled throughout the series were recurring literary, religious, and philosophical themes from Wonderland to Narnia to Eden to Hell to Purgatory to Nirvana. It was impossible for me to watch LOST without diving into research behind every cultural reference "hidden" in that week's episode. Again, the writers/producers did not just write a show and develop characters...they allowed their own reading, religion and philosophy to work through the series.
3. Good vs. Evil - As the series came to an end, I rewatched the pilot episode. It was evident from the first 30 minutes that the writers were laying the groundwork for a story of good pitted against evil (or as it is introduced, dark vs. light) from the very beginning. The writers develop this theme each year through movie references (Star Wars), game playing (backgammon), biblical themes (Jacob/Esau), and even simple colors (black/white).
2. Time Travel - I love the idea of time travel. Since I was a kid, I have been fascinated with storylines that deal with this theme. Sure, it has been fun to think about going backward and forward in time ("Strange things are afoot at the Circle K!"). LOST takes it a step further. Can you travel backwards and change the outcome of your life? Can you create an alternate plan? I already mentioned that they did a brilliant job with character "back stories" (in a sense, they used this technique to show what happened pre-island/in the past). They also appeared to show the audience what happened post-island or what they called a "side-story," which looked like a parallel time-line (not too much to comment here, because this is a major portion of the final season). Not to dissuade anyone who might think this show is just plain hokey, they incorporated time-travel brilliantly (taking into account the science, the myths, and all of the potential effects). Personal favorite: what if you could travel through time and see yourself in the past?
1. It's Not What You Think - Finally, this is why I loved LOST. It is about a plane crash, but it's not about a plane crash. It is a random group of people on an island, but it's not a random group of people. Sure, there are polar bears, there is a smoke monster, and there is a lot of mystery, but everything has a reason. If you can't handle the impossible, than LOST is not for you. It is more than really handsome/beautiful actors in a tropical location. Each episode of LOST is another piece in a giant game. You need all the pieces to put the story together. Unlike any other show, LOST never disappoints (well except for Nicki and Paulo and an episode of Jack in Thailand). For those that tuned in late expecting to see a show about people getting "off an island" they were probably confused and disappointed. Like Narnia is more than a story about school kids walking through a wardrobe, LOST is way more than what it looks like on the surface. It never failed to confuse or surprise the viewer, with each season pulling a different layer back on the bigger story!
But...
"But Fletch, LOST was uber-popular and at the center of our already television saturated culture. How could you be so positive? As a Christian, didn't it conflict with your beliefs? I heard it was an "all paths lead to God" show...Why did you let your kids watch it? You are such a sell-out, You are a joiner!..."
Well, there are plenty more questions and conversations to be had about the television show LOST. Maybe I'll talk about them and maybe I won't. For those interested, I already addressed some of these questions in this post I wrote about popular culture. I understand that I respond to culture differently than most. Sorry to disappoint.
Quietly making noise,
Fletch
On Cultural Morality
In his sermon from 2002, "The Deadly Dangers of Moralism," John MacArthur, Jr. emphasized at least a dozen points. I've been chewing on this one point for the past week, because in one short paragraph MacArthur reaches from the past to address many issues that I have been thinking about lately.
"Cultural morality is dangerous because it has no New Testament model to follow except the Pharisees. So if you're going to try to find a New Testament pattern for this effort, you're going to end up with the Pharisees. They were the moral ones. And you know what Jesus said about them? Matthew 23:15: He said when you are through making somebody a convert to your morality, you have made him "twice as much a son of hell as yourselves." Wow. Wow. So if you're looking for a New Testament model for cultural morality, you're going to end up with Pharisees. They were legalistic. I don't know about you; I don't think I would be rejoicing to live in a Pharisaic-dominated society; dominated by the mandates of self-righteous, cruel, merciless legalists, who laid heavy burdens on people, right, and gave them no help to bear them, Jesus said. Jesus said to them one day as they picked up stones to stone an adulterous woman: Whoever is "without sin... throw the first stone." And stones started dropping. I don't know that I'd want to live in that kind of environment. There is no New Testament model for political action. Jesus didn't try to overthrow slavery; neither did Paul; neither did any of the Old Testament. Both Jesus and Paul, however, did say if you're a slave, be a good one, be a faithful one, be an honest one. Serve your master well; make wise investments; do it under the Lord, and God will reward you. And if you're in a harsh, difficult situation, you'll know His grace."
Quietly making noise,
Fletch
A quick note to the young men at my table...
"Each generation of the church in each setting has the responsibility of communicating the gospel in understandable terms, considering the language and thought-forms of that setting."
Francis Schaeffer
Hey guys,
It seems like most of the discussions around our table lately continue to focus upon how we should interact with the world/our culture. Whether it is concerns you've raised or something I've published in theMangoTimes or even some of the challenging sermons that continue to raise the topic, it seems as though this discussion has been pieced together through many conversations over the past year.
I've chronicled a few thoughts here on theMT about interactions with culture and several readers have suggested that I include more postings on this same topic. Mom and I have enjoyed the discussions we've shared around our own table with you guys. We enjoy hearing your perspective and understanding of God's word as they have added to the discussion about how we fulfill our roles as ambassadors for Christ. I would like to include some of our thoughts here on theMangoTimes. As we continue to encourage one another to understand the world, let us remember that we ALWAYS do this on behalf of the furtherance of the Gospel and in light of God's truth.
I have included a Francis Schaeffer quote at the top of this post that I recently stumbled upon. This quote triggered in me a few thoughts. I'm not sure when Schaeffer said this, but I will assume it was the 1960's or 1970's. It has since been more than thirty years and the terms, language and thought-forms that he suggests have again changed. Let me encourage you guys to not avoid the opportunity God has given you. Do not be afraid to take the Good News into the world, that is where it is needed most. I remind you guys over and over that the gospel is very easy, but let me encourage you to find where the conversations are taking place. Join those conversations, and learn how to take the good news of the kingdom into those places. Don't live in fear of man, but live in the fear of God which will lead you to wisdom.
One warning: Don't be surprised if you are criticized. I have found that when I choose to share a meal with "tax collectors and wine-bibbers" there are plenty of skeptics that feed themselves on their own assumptions. Let me remind you that Jesus spent plenty of time in the temple and a lot more time on the road and in the houses of both pharisees and followers. His life was uncomfortable and unsafe. More often than not He received sharp rebukes. Remember, while Jesus did sit, eat and lounge with many people His ministry was not to partake. He was the one bringing the bread that satisifies and He was the one bringing the water that quenches thirst.
We love you guys and love how you keep your faith in Christ real! We pray that you will continue to see how Christianity is relevant to every aspect of life.
Quietly Making Noise,
Fletch
Repost - "Love Thy Neighbor
Today on facebook,
linked to a great post about a very bold and practical application of loving thy neighbor.
(Click on the image to link to and read the post).
The person in this article did not shy away from her neighbors. She confidently entered their world, attempted to see things from their perspective and then boldly explained that she was there to love her neighbors. You can assume from my link to this article, that I liked what I read. Most of you know that this is something I would probably do myself...if only I lived in a more urban environment. ;)
Let me ask the readers of theMT, did this woman engage the culture? Was this an appropriate step in reaching out to her neighbors and beginning to share the love of Christ with them? Let me know what your overall impressions were of this story.
Quietly making noise,
Fletch
I'm Engaged...
For the last few weeks, I've been reading a new book called "A Matrix of Meanings" about finding God in pop-culture. Both of the authors share a conviction and build the premise that Christians need to be engaged in the culture for the purpose of bringing the Gospel into discussions that are void of truth.
Do I agree? In my experience, I've seen opposition to pop culture that is based solely on fear. There are those Christians that are fearful of the influence that popular culture will have on their lives. Others have chosen to sequester themselves from any cultural influence for the "fear of appearances." In their concern for what others may see, they don't want to be seen as partakers in the "things of this world." Others choose not to be engaged in culture, because it represents a lifestyle they are trying to run away from and the threat to return is too great.
Regardless, there are many reasons and the writers have recognized that many Christians avoid popular culture for a variety of those reasons. Based on that premise, I have enjoyed the majority of their discussion included in this book.
Hoping this would be a quick read or even a "giveaway" book, some of their conclusions may be a bit too academic for some and their discussions tend toward being complex. In many ways this is more of a text-book than a simple commentary on culture. Personally, as I choose to represent Christ in a very God-less culture, I still tend to think that the Gospel message is very simple and easy to convey, even so these authors have seeded several thoughts about what I am doing with my life and my faith.
Consider the following excerpts from the Introduction:
"There is a conversation about God going on in popular culture that the church is not engaged in and is often unaware of. If the Christian world continues in its scholastic mode, viewing culture as degraded and superficial, then the gap between church and culture will continue to widen. Our theological propositions will become increasingly redundant to a culture being influenced by other forces."
I've seen this first hand. Christians are unable to engage in the conversation, because they refuse to even enter the arena of popular culture. What I like about this statement is the acknowledgment that whether you like it or not, the conversation is taking place. There are movies and music being produced daily that calls into question God's existence and His attributes. Absolute truth is sacrificed daily on the altar of relativism. This weekend, the number one movie in nationwide theaters displayed adultery as common and acceptable. I'm not suggesting anyone fork out money on this trash, but be willing to at least know what Hollywood is producing and what a Biblical response should be. From the death of Micheal Jackson flooding across Twitter to the Twilight hype to the Serena Williams outburst at the US Open, you can choose to ignore these as over-hyped events or understand that like everyone else in the world, you are welcome to join the conversation?
"The Gospels were written for "the people." Educated Greeks in the first century communicated in Attic Greek, a high cultural form that excluded many. But the writers of the Gospels preferred Koine Greek, a "street-level" language that communicated to the masses. We must get back to that street-level discussion, where our faith was forged. People of faith need to become conversant with the new canon, the new literacy, and join the new conversation."
Of course Jesus did not create fans out of the religious elite of his day. The religious leaders were not comfortable with Jesus' approach, because it was both "common" and "convicting." 2,000 years later and not a lot has changed. The cineplex, a U2 concert, or even an online community developed for social networking can each elicit negative reactions from certain corners of Christendom. Jesus spent equal time in the temple and it was there that He engaged (and sometimes outraged) the leaders of His day, but His ministry also took Him and His disciples back out to the street, to the highways and into the homes of those in the Judean community.
"...he directed blistering challenges to the prevailing trends within his own religious tradition. His approach differs from many of the theological ethos developed within traditional theology that have been shaped by internal concerns about he church and its teachings. We contend that the marketplace (the cultural hot seat) was Jesus' academic arena, his theological context...Ideas are exchanged in the marketplace. the dramas of life, lived between the wedding song and the funeral march, are played out in the marketplace...The belly of messy culture is also the place where questions of ultimate existence and realities are posed in naked, stripped-down fashion, devoid of the religious language of etiquette and propriety. In the marketplace, doubts are aired, gloves come off, politeness takes a rest."
This is the part of their book that really echoed with me. For much of my Christian life, I have been drawn to the marketplace. What I would give to see Jesus lounging with the sinners and what an impression that would make on so many other folks today. You see, I'm not drawn to the little house on the prairie. Paraphrasing Brennan Manning in his book, Lion and Lamb, life takes place on the trail away from the complacency and safety of town life.
"Pop culture is our marketplace-the arena we visit daily ,to discover what it means to be human, to hear the questions society asks, to meet God."
Here is the basic premise put forth by the authors. Our "marketplace" our "arena" is popular culture. From music, to movies, to television, to sports, to social media, we are saturated in pop culture and the marketing associated with pop culture. I see two basic responses.
The first is to flee and ignore what the world is doing, producing, shouting, marketing, selling...preaching! Consider that if Christ or his followers had done that we would find no encouragement in scripture from the cast of characters that include Levi, Mary, Martha, Andrew, Tabitha, Peter, Paul, and the list goes on...
The second response is just the opposite. Take the time required to learn, listen and discover what the conversations are about, what the directors are saying, what the musicians are recording, what the television is preaching, what the writers are publishing, and what your "friends" are tweeting. Then, take the time to get involved with the conversation. Like Christ with the Samaritan woman at the well, stop and enter the conversation with those that least expect it. Realize that His conversation with her has nothing to do with the water she can get for Him, but it has everything to do with the water He is able to offer her.
Quietly Making Noise,
Fletch