Butcher of Baghdad No More

Saddam Hussein's first actions as president included standing before the Iraqi legislature and calling out the names of his opponents, who were then dragged out and executed. So began the legacy of the Butcher of Baghdad who has some 500 additional documented crimes to his credit. This morning before dawn, Saddam Hussein was hanged for just one of those crimes - one of the more dispicable and convictable crimes - the murder of 148 people in a chemical attack. A vicious animal has been put down.

Some have said that the new Iraqi government is acting as America's puppet. Or this is a personal vendetta by the Bush family. But common decency is universal, and when you consider what this bastard did, he really did get a fair trial by his fellow Iraqis. Genocide and crimes against humanity are unacceptable. Period. If America is expected by the world community to stand up for the cause of human rights, then I'm proud to be an American today.

Some say there will be reprisals. But for now there is dancing in the streets of Iraq. Imagine that.

Film Review: The Nativity Story

S and I went to see The Nativity Story yesterday. Aside from a few Scriptural inaccuracies in the timelines presented, it was a beautifully made film.

Positive reactions
The locations (in Italy, near where The Passion of the Christ was shot) were breathtaking. The hard lifestyle these people had to endure was portrayed quite realistically. The cast itself was quite diverse - a young New Zealander playing Mary, a Guatemalen playing Joseph, an Irishman playing Herod the Great, an Iranian playing Elizabeth, a Sudanese playing the Angel Gabriel, and an Israeli (from Nazareth!) playing Mary's mother! The musical score was also outstanding; you can hear motifs from familiar Christmas songs (including Silent Night in Latin at the end) throughout the movie, but it doesn't scream Christmas either.

Constructive feedback
As I stated, there were some inaccuracies with the timeline when compared to the Bible story of the Nativity, which unfortunately serves to perpetuate some of the myths we have regarding the birth of Jesus.

The Timeline as Presented in the Film
King Herod, acting the part of the paranoid ruler, is well aware of the prophesies regarding the Messiah and is troubled by them. Meanwhile, the three magi (wise men) determine that the King of the Jews will be born in Judea and his arrival will be signaled by a star. They also determine that three planets will be in conjunction and set out for Judea in time for the conjunction - a time when the three planets will appear to be one star. On the way to Bethlehem they pass through Jerusalem and they meet with King Herod; he, too, is looking for the Messiah. The king sends them on their way and requests that they send word of the Christ's location so he can worship him, too (of course, he has no intention to worship him, but to destroy him). The magi arrive in Bethlehem and follow the star right to the manger as if they knew right where to go; they arrive shortly after Jesus' birth and the shepherds who came to worship also.
In the film, we see the magi make a stop and then head on to Bethlehem as if they knew exactly where they were going, and arriving at the manger shortly after Jesus is born and the shepherds arrive. Meanwhile Herod sends a detachment of troops to Bethlehem to destroy the Christ Child. But Joseph has his dream warning him to take Mary and Jesus to Egypt, and they get out of Bethlehem in the nick of time before the soldiers begin killing all the baby boys. Later we see the wise men approaching Jerusalem and thinking perhaps they shouldn't return to Herod.

The Timeline as Presented in Scripture
From Matthew 2:1-18:

• The magi arrived in Jerusalem after Jesus was born (v. 1).
• The magi had no clue where the king of the Jews was born - they had to ask around (v. 2). All they knew was that it was in Judea; it's only natural that they travelled to Jerusalem, the capital of Judea. This got Herod's attention, so he asked the chief priests and the scribes about the prophecy. Quoting from Micah 5:2, they in turn replied: Bethlehem. (v. 3-6)
• When Herod met with the magi, he inquired of them as to when the star had first appeared (v. 7) and sent them on to Bethlehem. This indicates that the magi had already seen the star rather than anticipate its arrival.
• When the magi set out for Bethlehem, the star they had seen went ahead of them and stopped over where the Christ was (v. 9-10). This implies that their guiding star had disapeared, only to reappear when they started out for Bethlehem. Also, this star didn't obey the laws of physics - it didn't move across the sky with the rotation of the earth.
• The magi arrived at a house, not a stable (v. 11). Remember, the manger was a momentary necessity, but living in a stable was not.
• The magi were warned in a dream not to return to Herod and chose to return to homeland by another route (v. 12). This dream occurred before they left Bethlehem.
• Herod realized he was outwitted by the magi and ordered the killing of all the boys in Bethlehem under the age of two, based on the time given by the magi for the appearance of the star (v. 16). How long did it take for Herod to realize the magi had gone AWOL? I don't know, but it think it would have been plenty of time for Joseph, Mary, and Jesus to get a head start. It also implies that Jesus could have been nearly two years old at this point.

From Luke 2:21-38:

• Jesus was circumcised when he was eight days old (v. 21)
• Joseph and Mary took Jesus to Jerusalem to present him in the Temple when the time of their purification was completed (v. 22). According to Jewish Law, a woman who has given birth to a son is considered unclean for 33 days after the circumcision, and may not enter the Temple until she is purified (Leviticus 12:3-4). This would place the family in Jerusalem 41 days after Jesus' birth.
• The Holy Spirit had revealed to a man named Simeon that he would not die until he saw the Messiah. (v. 25-33) He was led to the Temple by the Holy Spirit and was present when Joseph and Mary arrived with Jesus - and he recognized the Messiah.
• Anna, a prophetess in the Temple, also recognized the Messiah as such (v. 36-38)

In the above timeline, the young family was able to travel to Jerusalem and back unnoticed by Herod. And even if they immediately returned to Bethlehem, this timeline runs at least 42 days (six weeks). The magi could not have possibly arrived in Bethlehem before Jesus was six weeks old.

So no quick, dramatic getaway from Bethlehem.

Other Considerations
The Bible does not say that there were three magi; there were three gifts. We also don't know their names. We do know there were at least two magi - the Bible refers to them in the plural. If there had been a fourth magi, he'd probably have felt stupid for not bringing a gift. Legend assumes three magi because of the three gifts - and it makes the most sense. Works for me.

There is no Biblical prophecy regarding a star signaling the birth of the Messiah. There is only the reference that the magi were guided by this star. We don't really know how they figured out the meaning of the star - I would chalk it up to the Holy Spirit's leading these men to the Messiah - both physically and spiritually. God works that way, you know.

So that's my take on The Nativity Story. Just go in knowing what the Scripture says. But it is a wonderful movie, nonetheless.

Big Unit Returning to Phoenix?

Rumor has it that 5-time Cy Young Award winner Randy Johnson may be on the NY Yankees trading block - and that the Arizona Diamondbacks may get him back. He also has one year and $16,000,000 left on his contract with the Yankees and it could cost the D-backs about four players in the deal. I'm not sure that's a bargain when you consider the Big Unit is 43 years old (I can relate - I was that age just three years ago) and he's just had back surgery. And most likely he'd have to play second fiddle to the current Cy Young winner, Brandon Webb. But RJ does love our city and our fans love him. Might be worth it.

The Usual Run-of-the-Mill Christmas Morning Mayhem

Well, I survived yesterday's marathon sing-fest. It was a wonderful Christmas Eve - both choirs performed gloriously, and I finally pulled into our driveway precisely at 1:00 a.m. Our excited grandson woke us at 7:00 - but it felt like it was much earlier.

Our daughters and grandson stayed overnight here, so it was nice not to have to get up and drive somewhere. Our older daughter's boyfriend (future son-in-law maybe?) came over this morning also. And poor Princess - she had her Christmas outfit put on her. That didn't go over well - but at least we thought it was funny.



Anyhow, everyone seemed happy with their Christmas (my wife was delighted to hear that we will be shopping for a new dishwasher this week). We have more going on this afternoon when my folks arrive. Meanwhile, we can all take Princess' lead and relax.

Two Down, Four to Go

Okay, I've sung the morning services I was scheduled for. All went well from my end. Pastor B's daughter and son-and-law were at the 11:00 a.m. service, so we had a nice - albeit - brief reunion. They'll be at one of tonight's services as well.

So far, so good. I'm back at home for a couple of hours and a couple of chores.

Why Men Dress Funny

Granted it was the Saturday before Christmas, but good grief. Finding a decent sweater was an ordeal I could have done without. After looking in five different stores - on the day before Christmas Eve no less - I finally found a suitable sweater vest.

Stores just don't have a very good selection of men's clothing any more. In any department-type store, I would say only about 20% of all clothing being sold is for men. Of that, about 80% of that is just plain crap.

And women wonder why we men dress funny.

Catching Up

Boy, catching up can be hard to do.

October culminated in my serving as head cook on a Walk to Emmaus. I must say, that was a rather rewarding experience.

Next on my agenda (which took up quite a bit of computer time) through November and December was co-teaching a Bible study of Charles Swindoll's Hand Me Another Brick, based on the Book of Nehemiah. This turned out to be a rewarding learning experience, as it was a teaching experience.

Most dominant in our lives were two hospitalizations for my wife, S, due to pancreatitis. While the typical symptoms of chronic pancreatitis tend to be less severe than those of acute pancreatitis, one who suffers the disease is still prone to flare-ups. So was the case here. All in all, S worked a total of one-and-a-half days during the month of November. Fortunately, December has gone much, much better.

I've been busy musically as well. The first Sunday of November found our church choir singing Josef Gabriel Rheinberger's Requiem (with movements from another of his masses) in celebration of All Saint's Day. That service turned out to be quite glorious. The first Saturday of December found our praise band performing Christmas music prior to Phoenix's Electric Light Parade.

Naturally we have been in preparation for Christmas Eve services. Silly me - in addition to my usual participation in the Sanctuary Choir, I also volunteered to sing with the contemporary singers. So with Christmas Eve falling on a Sunday this year, I will be singing in six services - two in the morning, and four in the evening. That's okay - I knew what I was getting into. Actually, I felt that I was up to the challenge, and I look forward to it. Both directors have chosen some really wonderful music this year. Should be fun.

Our Sanctuary Choir has grown a little this fall. We have some new blood which has contributed much to the success of our choir. In fact, I've found that I don't have to sing as hard as I'm accustomed to, and that's a blessing. So in spites of singing six services on Sunday, I'm not too concerned about my vocal stamina.

Work has kept me quite busy, but that's okay, too. I was fortunate to have a week off a couple of weeks ago and I managed to get a bit of Christmas shopping done. And now I'm pretty much done with my shopping except for one more item - and I'm even done wrapping - woo hoo! We just have some house cleaning to do tomorrow - after rehearsal.

'Tis the season!

Hats Off to Blogger

I've been somewhat remiss in posting as of late. As busy as I've been, blogging seemed more of a hassle. But yesterday I decided to check in and see what was new (if anything) with Blogger. Wow! If you haven't gotten into blogging yet, this is a good time. Blogger has gone away from their beta version (after how many years?) - now blogging is easier than ever, and there are many creative options to choose from. If you have multiple blogs, switching between them is so much faster and easier. Hats off to blogger!

A New Chapter in Blogging

Okay, so I got bored with "Paul's Planet" as a blog. There's quite a few Pauls out there with their own planet, so I thought I'd come up with something new and catchy and unique. So here it is.