January 14 - Responsibility

Read: Isaiah 7 and Matthew 1:18-23

Therefore the Lord himself will give you a sign. Behold, the virgin shall conceive and bear a son, and shall call his name Immanuel. (Isaiah 7:14 ESV)

Now the birth of Jesus Christ took place in this way. When his mother Mary had been betrothed to Joseph, before they came together she was found to be with child from the Holy Spirit. All this took place to fulfill what the Lord had spoken by the prophet: "Behold, the virgin shall conceive and bear a son, and they shall call his name Immanuel" (which means, God with us). (Matthew 1:18, 22, 23 ESV)

The prophetic nature of the Bible is an incredible thing. The Old Testament is packed with scripture pointing ahead to the coming of Christ. The passage in Isaiah 7:14 was written 700 years before the birth of Jesus.

Mary, the mother of Jesus Christ, was most likely a teenager. 2000 years ago it was quite common for Jewish girls to become betrothed once they were old enough to have kids. The betrothal was a lawful tradition that preceded marriage. It was similar to engagement, but had legally binding ramifications. It would typically last about a year long, as the young man would attain the young woman's commitment and then set out to build a home for them. At the completion of their home there would then be a great wedding feast, sometimes lasting a week, and they would officially be legally married at the moment of consummation. While the Bible doesn't directly state the specific age of Mary, the information provided, along with the knowledge gleaned from historical study of Jewish tradition, points to Mary being incredibly young at the time she became pregnant with Jesus. She was probably between twelve and nineteen years old.

We live in an age when people are getting married later in life and having fewer children, but in the birth story of Jesus we see that Mary and Joseph were set to be wed at an early age. One of the things that stands in such contrast to our society is how these two incredibly young people responded to the events that unfold within their lives. Tasked by God Himself to parent and care for the incarnation of the Son of God, Mary and Joseph seem well suited to the job...and they were perhaps only teenagers. Think about the teens you know. How would you feel about handing them the most important parental gig in the history of the world?

God came into history as Jesus. It was prophesied by Isaiah 700 years before it happened. Mary bore the responsibility of her eventuality remarkably well. How do we steward that which God has made us responsible for?

January 13 - Favored One

Read: Luke 1: 26-38

And the angel said to her, "Do not be afraid, Mary, for you have found favor with God. (Luke 1:30 ESV)

Mary was a poor girl from a poor family in a poor part of the world. Nazareth was a small village with only one fresh water well, a place with little in the way of sophisticated education or comfort. It is there that the angel Gabriel appeared to again announce the birth of a prophesied child. Mary, a young woman (she was probably a teenager) from an unremarkable place and family, found favor in the eyes of God.

Mary found favor with God in that she was chosen by God for God's plan to fulfill God's purposes. She was the one who would bring Jesus into the world. She was the one responsible for caring for, nurturing, teaching and loving the Messiah in his infancy and young life. She would also have to watch in horror as he was murdered by the Jews.

Sometimes favor means having things go your way. In Mary's case finding favor meant that she was launched into a life orchestrated by God in a way that brought salvation to all of mankind, including Mary herself. Mary's life might have seemed incredibly unfair had she let herself dwell on the selfish details many of us would consider important. Instead, she allowed her life to be caught up into a bigger purpose, a grander plan, and a Godly favor. Remember Mary's incredible example of faith and favor the next time you seek the favor of The Lord.

January 12 - Faithful Old Preacher

Read: Luke 1:5-25

But the angel said to him, "Do not be afraid, Zechariah, for your prayer has been heard, and your wife Elizabeth will bear you a son, and you shall call his name John. (Luke 1:13 ESV)

Zechariah was a priest in a small rural community. He presided over a small synogogue, with a small congregation, and probably had small expectations. He was an older man and childless. Yet he and his wife Elizabeth remained faithful to the place and people God had called them to. Finally Zechariah had the opportunity to minister in the most sacred part of the Jewish Temple, the Holy of Holies. It was a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity. During his time in the Temple he was visited by an angel who told him about his coming son.

Jesus spoke regularly about faith. In the example of Zechariah and Elizabeth we see incredible faithfulness modeled in Christ's own human family. Sometimes faithfulness can be a struggle. Sometimes it is far easier to put words to our beliefs than actions.

Zechariah and Elizabeth followed God's will for their lives even though it turned out differently than what they probably envisioned as a younger couple. We like to make plans and dream big, and I believe God wants good things for us, but sometimes God holds back our dream from us because we haven't demonstrated the kind of character arrived at through time honored faithfulness. Sometimes we have trouble just getting out of bed in the morning and demonstrating Godly faithfulness for a whole day. Jesus was faithful all the way to the cross.

January 11 - Carpenters

Read: Genesis 7

He blotted out every living thing that was on the face of the ground, man and animals and creeping things and birds of the heavens. They were blotted out from the earth. Only Noah was left, and those who were with him in the ark. (Genesis 7:23 ESV)

No one had ever heard of rain when Noah started preaching about it. They thought he was just a crazy old man. Even so, he had heard from God concerning his purpose and destiny and he responded. He and his sons built an Ark, a giant of a ship, from wood. The animals came, the boat was provisioned and passengered, and the rains came. And then they kept coming. The rain fell for 40 days and nights. The whole world was flooded for 150 days and the only thing that saved creation was the obedience of a righteous preaching carpenter.

Jesus' day, like Noah's and our own, was a day full of sin and selfishness. Jesus came into the world to overcome that sin and selfishness. He was obedient, and he was righteous, and like Noah he was a preaching carpenter. Unfortunately, just as in Noah's day, many did not believe Jesus' message. Today many still do not believe the message of salvation through Jesus Christ.

What do you believe? Just as Noah was raised above the destruction and judgement of the flood by the Ark, we can be raised above destruction and judgement by the death of Christ on the cross and the power of his glorious resurrection.

January 10 - A Better Man

Read: Genesis 2 and Luke 3:23-38

Now Jesus himself was about thirty years old when he began his ministry. He was the son, so it was thought, of Joseph, the son of Heli, the son of Enosh, the son of Seth, the son of Adam, the son of God. (Luke 3:23, 38 NIV)

Have you ever heard someone use the phrase "better man"? Like, "Oh, he's a better man than me for that." They usually mean that the person they are referring to is of a higher moral aptitude for having achieved something which they themselves could not. In contrasting the first man Adam with the Son of Man Jesus such is the case.

Adam and Eve were placed in the middle of paradise. Eden was a beautiful garden the likes of which we cannot even begin to properly imagine. They had everything they needed, and all that they could ever really want. Yet when the devil came into the story he was able to trick and deceive them into sin by making them think God has somehow held back from them.

Jesus faced the same scenario in his life. He was tempted by the devil to believe that there is something to be gained beyond that which God has provided. His choice was not to believe the lie. He was and is the better man. He is the better Adam. The only man to ever make the right choice every time.

January 9 - Righteous King

Read: 2 Chronicles 29

And he did what was right in the eyes of the Lord , according to all that David his father had done. In the first year of his reign, in the first month, he opened the doors of the house of the Lord and repaired them. He brought in the priests and the Levites and assembled them in the square on the east and said to them, Hear me, Levites! Now consecrate yourselves, and consecrate the house of the Lord , the God of your fathers, and carry out the filth from the Holy Place. For our fathers have been unfaithful and have done what was evil in the sight of the Lord our God. They have forsaken him and have turned away their faces from the habitation of the Lord and turned their backs. (2 Chronicles 29:2-6 ESV)

Now it is in my heart to make a covenant with the Lord , the God of Israel, in order that his fierce anger may turn away from us. My sons, do not now be negligent, for the Lord has chosen you to stand in his presence, to minister to him and to be his ministers and make offerings to him. (2 Chronicles 29:10, 11 ESV)

Hezekiah was the 14th king of Judah and the 13th successor to David. He came at a time when the Jews were in turmoil. Idolatry, rebellion, and greed had created a prevailing culture of shameless sin leading to the abandonment of the Temple. Eventually this godlessness led to God's pronounced judgement on the Jews and they were taken away into exile. But not before Hezekiah became king and asserted himself as a righteous man who longed to reestablish God's covenant with his people.

You and I find ourselves in a situation incredibly similar to Hezekiah. The prevailing mindset of our time is not one of Godliness. Idolatry, rebellion, and greed in there many forms still usher the vast population through a life of lostness and tragedy.

Jesus came to change that. He came as a King of Kings. Hezekiah's efforts did not offer a permanent solution to the sin problem of his people, but Jesus did and does. What you experienced yesterday does not have to be your experience today. Allow Christ to guide you into a new, and everlasting, covenant with him.

January 8 - The King

Read: 1 Samuel 16

But the Lord said to Samuel, "Do not look on his appearance or on the height of his stature, because I have rejected him. For the Lord sees not as man sees: man looks on the outward appearance, but the Lord looks on the heart." (1 Samuel 16:7 ESV)

Samuel the Prophet was told by God to visit the house of Jesse and anoint a king to replace Saul who had began to live in disobedience. When the old prophet showed up he was struck by the appearance and presence of Jesse's eldest sons. However, God passed all of Jesse's sons up until Jesse reluctantly introduced his youngest boy David. Immediately God showed Samuel that David was the one meant to be king.

From that point in the story of the Jews an epic tale unfolded. The house of David arose and took a huge role in the historic shaping of the Jewish people, but it wouldn't end with just the Jews. For eventually Jesus would be born a descendant of David. Just as David, the youngest shepherd son of Jesse, was an unlikely candidate for the crown of Israel, Jesus was born into a lowly earthly family.

Often we make judgements about people based on a plethora of preconditioned variables. God looks at none of that. He sees straight into the heart of a man. Jesus was pure in heart and great in faith, though poor of wealth and small in all of the trappings society uses to measure worth and success. We follow a faith established on the person and work of God who came to live as a homeless traveling preacher. When you think about it that way it makes our methods for measuring the success of life seem oh so meager in comparison.

January 7 - Redeemer

Read: Ruth 1 and 4

But Ruth said, Do not urge me to leave you or to return from following you. For where you go I will go, and where you lodge I will lodge. Your people shall be my people, and your God my God. (Ruth 1:16 ESV)

Then the women said to Naomi, Blessed be the Lord , who has not left you this day without a redeemer, and may his name be renowned in Israel! (Ruth 4:14 ESV)

A famine had struck the land of the Jews during the period of time called the Time of the Judges. Naomi travelled to the land of Moab where disaster struck her family. Her husband and sons all died leaving her with two daughters-in-law, one of which left soon after. Eventually the famine ended and Naomi set her sights on her homeland, traveling in the company of her daughter-in-law Ruth, who had refused to abandon her. Upon reaching her homeland she changed her name to Mara, which meant "bitter."

There was a custom in those days called the Kinsman Redeemer. The Redeemer would intervene on behalf of the family in the case of tragedy. Naomi's redeemer was a man named Boaz. Boaz, as redeemer purchased Naomi's late husband's inheritance, also gaining Ruth as his wife. Boaz is what theologians call a "type" of Christ. His actions as Kinsman Redeemer were prophetic foreshadowing of the Great Redeemer to be born out of Boaz's own lineage.

Jesus stepped into history in the midst of tragedy. Circumstance, sin, and suffering have done their part to derail mankind, often of our own volition. Jesus came to secure our eternal inheritance, to rescue us from the foreign wanderings of our own failures, and to make us his bride. Boaz was a beacon of hope to Ruth and Naomi. Jesus is the Hope of the World.

January 6 - Walking with God

Read: Genesis 5

When Enoch had lived 65 years, he fathered Methuselah. Enoch walked with God after he fathered Methuselah 300 years and had other sons and daughters. Thus all the days of Enoch were 365 years. Enoch walked with God, and he was not, for God took him. (Genesis 5:21-24 ESV)

In an age when people lived over 800 years the Bible records the curious account of Enoch. One day when Enoch was 365 years old God took him out of this world. What would it be like to walk with God like Enoch did? To enjoy such incredible fellowship with the Creator of the universe? To us it may seem unfathomable, but to Enoch it was reality.

During the ministry of Jesus he walked with a collection of unique and motley disciples. They came from diverse backgrounds and affiliations and enjoyed close consistent fellowship with Christ for the tenure of his earthly ministry. The disciples walked with Christ. They followed him across rugged wilderness, seas, and most of them even followed him in martyrdom.

What do we let get in our way? What keeps us from walking with Jesus like we should? Perhaps it is hobbies, temptations, selfishness, all of these things, or something else entirely. In a fallen world Enoch found the means to walk with God. In a tumultuous political and religious hotbed the disciples managed to follow Christ with much instruction and grace. Let today be a day to set distractions aside. Choose today to walk with Jesus. Give him time, attention, and effort as he leads you into the grace that's only found in him to begin with.

January 5 - Family Tree

Read: Mathew 1: 1-17

For all who are led by the Spirit of God are sons of God. For you did not receive the spirit of slavery to fall back into fear, but you have received the Spirit of adoption as sons, by whom we cry, Abba! Father! The Spirit himself bears witness with our spirit that we are children of God, and if children, then heirs—heirs of God and fellow heirs with Christ, provided we suffer with him in order that we may also be glorified with him. (Romans 8:14-17 ESV)

Family can be a tricky thing. Sometimes personal genealogies are really difficult to understand or research. One of the unique qualities of the Old Testament is the staggering amount of detail it provides about the life of the Jews and their relationship with God. This is the people God chose to use bring the Messiah, Jesus, into the world.

The insight into the lives and times of these people is incredibly encouraging. It can speak volumes into our lives today. Each were imperfect. Some were deeply flawed. Many of them made an incredible turn around to pursue life with God. Abraham was at times a coward. Rahab was a prostitute turned follower of God. David, who is often called a "man after God's own heart" was a murdering adulterer. And these are just three of the better known examples in Jesus' family tree.

What does your family tree look like? What are the stories? What are the failures? Successes? Sometimes we romanticize the bad in our family. Sometimes we are misinformed. And for many people, they just don't know the details of their family history.

Jesus was perfect. He lived, served, died, and rose again without sin. But he was born into a family line that was anything but perfect. Our families are all far from perfect, but we can be adopted as sons of God, what the Bible calls "coheirs with Christ." This is not to discount the heritage we may enjoy (or not enjoy) here, but so that we can be adopted into the family of Christ by the power of the Holy Spirit. Jesus was hung on a tree so you and I could be part of his eternal family tree.

January 4 - Promised Son

Read: Genesis 21 and 22

I will bless her, and moreover, I will give you a son by her. I will bless her, and she shall become nations; kings of peoples shall come from her. But I will establish my covenant with Isaac, whom Sarah shall bear to you at this time next year. The Lord visited Sarah as he had said, and The Lord did to Sarah as he had promised. (Genesis 17:16, 21; 21:1 ESV)

He said, Take your son, your only son Isaac, whom you love, and go to the land of Moriah, and offer him there as a burnt offering on one of the mountains of which I shall tell you. And Isaac said to his father Abraham, My father! And he said, Here am I, my son. He said, Behold, the fire and the wood, but where is the lamb for a burnt offering? Abraham said, God will provide for himself the lamb for a burnt offering, my son. So they went both of them together. And the angel of the Lord called to Abraham a second time from heaven and said, By myself I have sworn, declares the Lord , because you have done this and have not withheld your son, your only son, I will surely bless you, and I will surely multiply your offspring as the stars of heaven and as the sand that is on the seashore. And your offspring shall possess the gate of his enemies, and in your offspring shall all the nations of the earth be blessed, because you have obeyed my voice. (Genesis 22:2, 7, 8, 15-18 ESV)

God demonstrated his love for Abraham by promising him a son; but then—in what seems to be a strange twist—God asks Abraham to take his son to a mountaintop and sacrifice him. Abraham was an old man by the time Isaac was born. His wife Sarah had already passed her natural season for child birth. Abraham follows the heart of God in faith. Isaac himself willingly complies with the will of his father.

All of this points ahead to Jesus. God, loved his creation so much that He sent a promised son, His only begotten son. The Son of God, Jesus Christ, willingly complied with the Father. Whereas Isaac was spared upon the mountain by divine intervention, Jesus was not. Instead Jesus became our divine intervention to spare us from the fate of eternal damnation.

Sometimes it is hard to hold on to the promises we feel that God has put in our heart. God knows us better than we know ourselves. He knows our flaws, frustrations, and failures. He himself intervened for us for a promised deliverance. Whatever you feel God has promised you in your heart, hold on to it. Hold true to it. Do not waiver. Show the faith of Abraham and Isaac. Jesus is worth it.

January 3 - Father Abraham

Read: Genesis 12, 17

I will bless those who bless you, and him who dishonors you I will curse, and in you all the families of the earth shall be blessed. (Genesis 12:3 ESV)

God said, No, but Sarah your wife shall bear you a son, and you shall call his name Isaac. I will establish my covenant with him as an everlasting covenant for his offspring after him. (Genesis 17:19 ESV)

I see him, but not now; I behold him, but not near: a star shall come out of Jacob, and a scepter shall rise out of Israel; it shall crush the forehead of Moab and break down all the sons of Sheth. (Numbers 24:17 ESV)

The scepter shall not depart from Judah, nor the ruler's staff from between his feet, until tribute comes to him; and to him shall be the obedience of the peoples. (Genesis 49:10 ESV)

The book of the genealogy of Jesus Christ, the son of David, the son of Abraham. Abraham was the father of Isaac, and Isaac the father of Jacob, and Jacob the father of Judah and his brothers, (Matthew 1:1, 2 ESV)

Abraham is often called the father of faith. Rightly so. God hand picked him to begin the family line of the Jews, and specifically the Messiah. Abraham believed in God's promise that he would have a son, even in his old age, and God saw his faithful disposition as righteousness.

Jesus fulfilled God's promise to Abraham. He is the blessing to the whole world. He is the embodiment of God's everlasting covenant. Jesus is the star and scepter rising out of Israel. The promised son rising from a promised people to deliver God's promised redemptive work to mankind. The rule is his, the glory is his, and the effort is his alone. What an amazing portrait the Bible paints across history to show God's blessed work to free his people from the clutches of sin and death.

Just as Jesus is the promised son, so are those who have been saved the promised sons of Father Abraham. A work of faith that reaches across millennia to prove God's prophetic grace for all mankind.

January 2 - The First Gospel

Read: Genesis 3 and Galatians 4

I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your offspring and her offspring; he shall bruise your head, and you shall bruise his heel." (Genesis 3:15 ESV)

In the same way we also, when we were children, were enslaved to the elementary principles of the world. But when the fullness of time had come, God sent forth his Son, born of woman, born under the law, to redeem those who were under the law, so that we might receive adoption as sons. And because you are sons, God has sent the Spirit of his Son into our hearts, crying, Abba! Father! So you are no longer a slave, but a son, and if a son, then an heir through God. (Galatians 4:3-7 ESV)

Adam and Eve's sin brought a curse upon creation, and in that moment God revealed to them a promise for the future Messiah, Jesus. 4,000 years before the birth of Christ he was promised to come and bring about an eternal victory over the schemes of the enemy.

There is great comfort for the soul in knowing that a life lived with, by, through, and in Jesus is free from the slaving sin of this fallen world. All of us have sinned. All of us have missed the mark. But Jesus came in the fullness of time to set it right. To make us right. To restore, to seek, and to save all that had been lost.

Placing your faith in Jesus means placing your faith in the God who knows your tomorrow, forgives your yesterday, and abides in your today.

January 1 - In the Beginning

Read: Genesis 1 and John 1

In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God. All things were made through him, and without him was not any thing made that was made. In him was life, and the life was the light of men. The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it. And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we have seen his glory, glory as of the only Son from the Father, full of grace and truth. (John 1:1-5, 14 ESV)

Everything starts at the beginning. Everything except God. Both Genesis and John's Gospel speak of beginnings, not because God has a beginning, but because at the beginning of human history God was already there. Jesus was there. As you start this new year, this new beginning, resolve to live a life that follows where Jesus has already been. He was before our beginnings.

Not only was Jesus there before, but he was present during our creation. And in time when the created needed the intervention of the Creator to right our wrongs it was Jesus, God the Son, who stepped from eternity into history to shine his eternal light upon a dark world. No darkness of this life can swallow, stifle, or dispel the Light of Christ.

As creation was birthed by the Word of God, from within the grace of God came the Son of God to light the way for you and for me. Resolve this year to draw closer to the Living Word, the Light of the World, the Son of God. Let your resolution be to spend a year with Jesus.

2012 in review

The WordPress.com stats helper monkeys prepared a 2012 annual report for this blog.

Here's an excerpt:

600 people reached the top of Mt. Everest in 2012. This blog got about 3,300 views in 2012. If every person who reached the top of Mt. Everest viewed this blog, it would have taken 6 years to get that many views.

Click here to see the complete report.

SOMETHING that ENDED on a FRIDAY

It's not going to happen. Friday 12-21-12 will be a pretty standard Friday for most of us. I for one will be glad to have it behind us. But what if it were actually going to all go away tomorrow? What if today was the last day you ever had? Are you satisfied with how your final moments played out? Did you do something worthwhile? Did you give yourself in something meaningful? The main idea here is that days like Mayan Apocalypse Day should, besides generating a ton of sarcastic humor, cause us to reflect on our lives. Days like these should make us stop and ask ourselves a few questions, not because we actually believe that the world is about to end, but because we believe that it will not. Are we satisfied with who we are, where we are, and how we are? What would we do to change any of it?

Jesus did something to change it. In fact, the first part of the most important moment in human history (the crucifixion of Christ) is widely believed to have happened on a Friday. Tomorrow is supposed to be a scary Friday. Jesus faced the scariest Friday ever. He did it with a willing commitment we will never be able to understand. He did it for you and for me, and to glorify the Father. He lived life free of regret, full of purpose, and focused on God. What about you?

Search Engine Queries

Search engines are great. You can type pretty much anything you can think of into one and it will probably connect you with something that lines up pretty well with your query. My blog host allows me to track all of the web searches that result in a hit on the site. This is a list of some of the humorous 2012 web searches that lead to nathanology. They are only funny because they are completely removed from the context of the article they arrived at. I hope you enjoy. These are completely unedited. 1. the face book post about hanging jesus for being a hippie liberal

2. slacktivism christianity

3. God hiking

4. where do liberals hang out on facebook

5. oh you have swag i bet that looks great on a resume

6. merica

7. what does "situation number 2" mean in storytelling?

8. huckleberry finn moral maturity

9. things that can be learned from spiderman

10. exploded brain

11. what in the heck is a doily

12. blistering sword

13. windows8 eats your soul

14. comic character in speedo

15. know me for my idiosyncrasies

16. football is idolatry

17. picture of the people walking with problems

18. who is francis chan going to vote for

19. they are just humanity’s way of trying to rationalize our own selfishness

20. people who pick up trash

Salvation: Christ Alone

For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God— not by works, so that no one can boast. ~ Ephesians 2:8-9 NIV

I didn't do it. You didn't do it. We simply cannot do it. There is no saving ourselves because, in fact, we are exactly who it is we need saving from. There is a fallen nature and we all exhibit it. We do have a very real enemy in the Devil; but I have found that so often his chief means of destruction is to entice us with our own willful self-destruction.

God graciously intervenes in the self-destruction process. The entire Bible is a written record of that continued intervention process. Jesus Christ is the sole means by which God intervenes in our destruction. In an unsurpassable act of grace God became one of us—He became Jesus, Immanuel, God with us. It was, and is, grace that opened the way to reconciliation to God, and salvation from our self-imposed damnation. This happens when we place our faith in God's work on our behalf, not on our work to reach God.

Jesus Christ alone saves us. God's grace made incarnate, is Jesus. Faith alone connects us to Him. Christ alone is the intermediary between our death, hell, sin, the eternal grave, and life everlasting given only by grace from God.

We can't work it off, work up to it, or work it out on our own. We can't run to an alternate path, cash in Karma, call in a divine favor, or ascend to a place of Nirvana. There is a real Heaven, and a real Hell, and the only path to God lies through Jesus Christ.

We live in a time when that statement is offensive, but that makes it no less true. Christ alone is the path to God. His words are better than mine always, so I'll wrap it up with an excerpt from John's Gospel...

Jesus said to him, I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me. (John 14:6 ESV)

More in this series.

Grace Alone Faith Alone Christ Alone

Review: The Hobbit - An Unexpected Journey (No Spoilers)

A spoiler free review of The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey from a lifelong Tolkien fan.

I grew up with hobbits, goblins, elves, and dwarves. Early in life I had the chance to see the classic Hobbit animated film, a movie which still holds a special place in my heart. Ever since the final credits rolled on Peter Jackson's 2003 version of Return of the King I have deeply desired to see The Hobbit get the feature film treatment. In anticipation of this film I have watched The Lord of the Rings trilogy in its entirety twice in the last month. I was excited for tonight. So how did The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey hold up against my nearly lifelong expectations?

Thematically An Unexpected Journey sets a familiar tone for fans of Peter Jackson's previous forays into Middle Earth, at least at the outset of the film. Fans of the written fiction who expect to find a more light-hearted approach need not fret, this movie does not stray far from its roots. There are embellishments, alterations, and frequent expoundings upon but all serve to enhance the story being told.

The tale itself is one that instantly feels incredibly familiar, and yet fresh. The cinematography is what you might expect from a journey to Middle-Earth; full of wide shots and stretching landscapes. What you might not expect is all of the color. Where The Lord of the Rings trilogy was frequently washed in grayish drab color, An Unexpected Journey rarely gets lost in greyscale. The special effects were top notch, although I chose to view the film in 2D for my initial viewing. My biggest delights in the film were the soundtrack and the frequent nods to the written fiction. For the former there are familiar tunes and to the latter it put a smile on my face every time.

This is a well adapted tale, that at nearly three hours long, never felt slow or dry. It is a grand adventure that somehow manages to continue the legacy for Jackson's interpretation of Middle-Earth while preceding that which has come before. All in all The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey was almost exactly what I expected it to be; a charming fun adventure full of both nostalgia and suspense for what's to come. It feels good to spend time in Middle-Earth again.

10 Things We Say & What We Really Mean

Life usually doesn’t fit into nice neat little lists, but that doesn’t keep me from trying. Welcome to my Tuesday 10, where I try to fit the messiness of life into a list of ten. We have a lot of little things we say that don't really mean what a careful interpretation of the words would lead someone to believe. Whether they are catch phrases, idioms, web/text speak, shorthand, or whatever. Here are ten things we say and what they actually mean.

1. "Maybe." — "I don't really want to commit myself to anything."

2. "This goes without saying, but..." — "I really think this is important enough that you should know what I'm about to say before I even say it, but I am going to say it anyways. Probably because I like the sound of my own voice."

3. "Lol" — "I have nothing else to say, but I want the conversation to continue."

4. "Yeah ... yes .... uh-huh" — "I'm not paying attention to you."

5. "I just want to be me." — "I just want to be who I think everyone wants me to be." or "I want to be as strange as humanly possible and get a lot of attention."

6. "I'm starving." — "It's been at least an hour since I ate an extra large double cheeseburger."

7. "I love (nonhuman variable)!" — "I have an unhealthy affinity for (nonhuman variable)!"

8. "It's good to see you this morning." — "Oh, hey we are passing each other in the hall at church again this week."

9. "That is so EPIC!" — "I don't know what an epic is!"

10. "Outreach" — "We want people to come to an event at our church on a night not typically associated with going to church."