Brennan Manning’s book RUTHLESS TRUST saved my life.  It allowed me to stay with God. That God loved me still, even after my world was turned upside down toward my last year in college. Then it assured me that God was crafting something beautiful out of the mess I’ve made.

I picked up his new book without hesitation.

This one feels like a Greatest Hits Collection. Many of the “tracks” are familiar, but good to listen to again. Towards the middle, it feels like nothing more than a repackaged deal. But, then there are “bonus tracks.” New songs. Gems that shine. That thrill the soul. And leave you pondering, on the furious, mad, raging, soothing Love of God for you.

Of course I don’t agree with everything Manning has to say. Here the saying applies: “Do not treat prophecies with contempt but test them all; hold on to what is good, reject whatever is harmful” (1 Thes. 5:20-22 TNIV).

Don’t bother watching “Battlestar Galactica: The Plan.”

I present to you two reasons:

1) If you haven’t seen every single episode (all four seasons) of BSG this “film” won’t make any sense to you whatsoever. (It will feel like watching a bunch of deleted scenes without ever having seen the actual film itself.)

Which leads me to…

2) For those who have seen the entire BSG series, this film, while it may add something, feels like a big waste of time; it feels like a cross between a clip show spanning the entire four-season series and a bunch of deleted scenes strung together.

Why do I compare this to a clip show composed of “deleted” scenes? Because any new info this film provides feels very unessential. As a matter of fact, they actually (imho) damage the experience of the Series Proper. Because in the series, there were certain mysteries that became its allure. “The Plan” strips that bare and leaves a bad taste in your mouth.

There really is no coherent story here. Very hard to follow even for someone who has been with the series religiously.

It’s time to move on. If you’re still hurting from the fact that BSG is over I suggest you go out and buy the two seasons of “Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles.” (Toni Graphia who wrote on BSG also wrote on TSCC.)

Feeling quite uneasy

[WARNING: POSSIBLE SPOILERS]

Remember what it felt like when you were a little kid, and you’d watch your parents arguing and you’d feel that nervous knot in your stomach, the pounding in your chest getting louder and faster?

After Max arrives on the island for the next 90 minutes or so that is how I felt. While I appreciate the filmmaking, the technology, artistry, acting, etc. — it was magical filmmaking — I just didn’t like the way the movie made me feel; didn’t like the experience of it.

The same with “There Will Be Blood.” Brilliant filmmaking, but the worldview of these films are so dark and depressing and pessimistic about the human condition, I can’t swallow it.

I think there is a theological reason for my propensity and attraction toward films that may take us through the darkness but ultimately leave us in a place of hope:

It is the Story that the Bible presents. And I believe it is God’s book to humanity. It is His stamp on the Human Journey — that it will end in a good place, when Jesus eradicates evil and “wipes away every tear from our eyes.”

Those are the kind of stories that resonate with me.