Andrew & Esther - Through Our Eyes Archive
Archived Thoughts
Beijing buzz (June 5, 2008)
emotion in China (May 25, 2008)
what 1 Euro could buy you if you came to visit (May 11, 2008)
on visa-runs and escaping hotel fires (May 4, 2008)
recent observations & discoveries (April 30, 2008)
on ordering water and near tricycle collisions (April 16, 2008)
on learning Chinese and on how to catch a bad flu at the park (April 10, 2008)
highlights (April 9, 2008)
Foreign media must have Facebook access during Olympics, IOC tells China (April 2, 2008)
Home Sweet Home (March 26, 2008)
Then and Now (March 26, 2008)
stranded bags! (March 8, 2008)
on visas, weddings, how to get free food & funny hair dos (March 4, 2008)
Warm greetings! (February 12, 2008)
A Whole New World (February 5, 2008)
Newness in the New Year (January 6, 2008)
The Feast of Life (November 23, 2007)
Our Paris (November 11, 2007)
A Freezing Wilderness Retreat (October 22, 2007)
Reflections from a Recovering Bride (October 8, 2007)
Mr. and Mrs. Brumme (September 29, 2007)
One Month and Counting (August 22, 2007)
Everything French (July 19, 2007)
Open Wide Your Mouths! (July 9, 2007)
Learning from Trees (July 3, 2007)
A City of Lights - The Paris of Central Europe (June 25, 2007)
Brumme's Descend on Europe (June 8, 2007)
I Said Yes! (May 13, 2007)
Liaisons and Goodness Abound (April 22, 2007)
Gourmet Cuisine Catastrophe (March 21, 2007)
It Really Has Been Too Long This Time (March 15, 2007)
The French Postal System, V-Day, and Other Tidbits (February 21, 2007)
Celebrating in Paris, Working in Oxford & Relaxing in the Alps (January 29, 2007)
With Ma Petite Amie at Last! (January 11, 2007)
Hanging on for the Ride (December 31, 2006)
A New Life (December 18, 2006)
I've Gotta Go See About a Girl (November 23, 2006)
On France (November 10, 2006)
Liberating Love, an Awkward Transition and Christmas Candy (November 1, 2006)
The Western Bible (October 20, 2006)
The Whole Church Gathered (October 3, 2006)
On Steve Irwin (September 7, 2006)
Lewis on Happiness (August 10, 2006)
The Tragic "Unthinkable Crisis" (July 27, 2006)
Not My Life (July 6, 2006)
The Two Year Reunion (June 10, 2006)
A Fishy Story Set Right (May 26, 2006)
Response to "The Wedding Planner" by Sagers (April 30, 2006)
White Bunnies and Bloody Lambs (April 14, 2006)
Flexing Our Political Muscle (March 22, 2006)
For Your Viewing Pleasure (March 7, 2006)
Come to Our Church! (February 21, 2006)
Peanuts and Airplanes (February 15, 2006)
Confessing My Ignorance (January 30, 2006)
The Jewish Kid Jesus (January 16, 2006)
Friends...A Dime a Dozen? (January 9, 2006)
Old Test Article Here (January 2, 2006)
So Much to Say...That Others Have Already Said (December 23, 2005)
Narnia - at last! (December 8, 2005)
Lewis on our Eating Disorder (December 1, 2005)
North Korea - Revealing the Darkness (November 20, 2005)
Shining - Like You've Never Seen it Before (November 15, 2005)
Are You Emerging? (November 3, 2005)
emotion in China (May 25, 2008)
what 1 Euro could buy you if you came to visit (May 11, 2008)
on visa-runs and escaping hotel fires (May 4, 2008)
recent observations & discoveries (April 30, 2008)
on ordering water and near tricycle collisions (April 16, 2008)
on learning Chinese and on how to catch a bad flu at the park (April 10, 2008)
highlights (April 9, 2008)
Foreign media must have Facebook access during Olympics, IOC tells China (April 2, 2008)
Home Sweet Home (March 26, 2008)
Then and Now (March 26, 2008)
stranded bags! (March 8, 2008)
on visas, weddings, how to get free food & funny hair dos (March 4, 2008)
Warm greetings! (February 12, 2008)
A Whole New World (February 5, 2008)
Newness in the New Year (January 6, 2008)
The Feast of Life (November 23, 2007)
Our Paris (November 11, 2007)
A Freezing Wilderness Retreat (October 22, 2007)
Reflections from a Recovering Bride (October 8, 2007)
Mr. and Mrs. Brumme (September 29, 2007)
One Month and Counting (August 22, 2007)
Everything French (July 19, 2007)
Open Wide Your Mouths! (July 9, 2007)
Learning from Trees (July 3, 2007)
A City of Lights - The Paris of Central Europe (June 25, 2007)
Brumme's Descend on Europe (June 8, 2007)
I Said Yes! (May 13, 2007)
Liaisons and Goodness Abound (April 22, 2007)
Gourmet Cuisine Catastrophe (March 21, 2007)
It Really Has Been Too Long This Time (March 15, 2007)
The French Postal System, V-Day, and Other Tidbits (February 21, 2007)
Celebrating in Paris, Working in Oxford & Relaxing in the Alps (January 29, 2007)
With Ma Petite Amie at Last! (January 11, 2007)
Hanging on for the Ride (December 31, 2006)
A New Life (December 18, 2006)
I've Gotta Go See About a Girl (November 23, 2006)
On France (November 10, 2006)
Liberating Love, an Awkward Transition and Christmas Candy (November 1, 2006)
The Western Bible (October 20, 2006)
The Whole Church Gathered (October 3, 2006)
On Steve Irwin (September 7, 2006)
Lewis on Happiness (August 10, 2006)
The Tragic "Unthinkable Crisis" (July 27, 2006)
Not My Life (July 6, 2006)
The Two Year Reunion (June 10, 2006)
A Fishy Story Set Right (May 26, 2006)
Response to "The Wedding Planner" by Sagers (April 30, 2006)
White Bunnies and Bloody Lambs (April 14, 2006)
Flexing Our Political Muscle (March 22, 2006)
For Your Viewing Pleasure (March 7, 2006)
Come to Our Church! (February 21, 2006)
Peanuts and Airplanes (February 15, 2006)
Confessing My Ignorance (January 30, 2006)
The Jewish Kid Jesus (January 16, 2006)
Friends...A Dime a Dozen? (January 9, 2006)
Old Test Article Here (January 2, 2006)
So Much to Say...That Others Have Already Said (December 23, 2005)
Narnia - at last! (December 8, 2005)
Lewis on our Eating Disorder (December 1, 2005)
North Korea - Revealing the Darkness (November 20, 2005)
Shining - Like You've Never Seen it Before (November 15, 2005)
Are You Emerging? (November 3, 2005)
A Life of Profound Significance (October 26, 2005)
The Earth at Your Fingertips (October 18, 2005)
A Surprise Appointment (October 15, 2005)
Wars and Rumors of Wars (October 3, 2005)
Laughing in the Rain (September 20, 2005)
Random Tid-Bits and Happenings (September 15, 2005)
Life and Death and Terrorists (August 30, 2005)
Girls and Boys and God (August 25, 2005)
Feasting and Worship (August 17, 2005)
Blogger's Block (August 6, 2005)
The Harvest in China (August 2, 2005)
Counting the Cost (July 24, 2005)
Absolutely Outstanding Bit of Writing (July 18, 2005)
Burning Alive (July 14, 2005)
Jesus and the Glory Golf Balls (July 10, 2005)
Those Things We Hold On To (July 7, 2005)
Grape Juice, Poured Out for the Forgiveness of Sin (June 30, 2005)
He Will Ruin Your Life (June 28, 2005)
A Bit of Perspective (June 25, 2005)
The Wedding Planner (June 22, 2005)
A Lesson in Patience Amidst Absurdity (June 16, 2005)
Fans of Hitler (June 15, 2005)
Crash and Stories (June 12, 2005)
Pastors and Leaders - Different Views (June 10, 2005)
Senior Pastors (June 5, 2005)
Ask and You Shall Receive (June 2, 2005)
What If (May 27, 2005)
The "Bible Study" (May 24, 2005)
The Future of Pixar (May 19, 2005)
The Mess We Christians Have Made (May 14, 2005)
Narnia Coming to the Big Screen (May 10, 2005)
Europe - Through the Lens of My Camera (May 7, 2005)
Same Sex Families (May 6, 2005)
Photos of Mercy (May 3, 2005)
Across an Ocean... (April 21, 2005)
The Picture, The Pope, and The Past Few Days (April 12, 2005)
In the Car with My (air) Guitar (April 6, 2005)
The Pope (April 4, 2005)
Resurrection Day (March 27, 2005)
Killing People (March 23, 2005)
Weekend of Surprises (March 22, 2005)
The Fray - Listen to this (March 12, 2005)
Akiane....This is Amazing (March 11, 2005)
Jesus Christ (March 8, 2005)
Worthy Thoughts on The Passion (March 7, 2005)
Dream Days at Church (March 3, 2005)
Peace Amidst Ambiguity (March 1, 2005)
A Verse I Hadn't Noticed Before (February 25, 2005)
McLaren and Hotel Rwanda...another perspective (February 19, 2005)
Brother Andrew is on to something (February 16, 2005)
My Valentine (February 14, 2005)
Homecoming...strange (February 13, 2005)
Hotel Rwanda (February 10, 2005)
The Update (February 6, 2005)
Malibu...Thailand...Palm Desert (January 1, 2005)
Get Ready Thailand...I'm Coming! (September 25, 2004)
God Speaks? Really? (May 29, 2004)
Life Beyond Graduation (May 1, 2004)
God's Faithfulness in Morocco (October 8, 2002)
Our Thoughts
December 8, 2005
Narnia - at last!
At last, after months of anticipation – I saw The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe. I confess I went in quite nervous to the advanced screening on Dec. 3 in Los Angeles.

But I left filled with the delight of a child! The story was told beautifully, and nearly all of the moments of awe and wonder from the book are captured on the big screen. A good friend (who is particularly critical of films) went to the screening with me, and to my surprise and delight was full of positive criticisms after the screening.

He noted that all of the dialogue and tidbits added to the film beyond the original story, actually worked perfectly. From a screenwriter’s perspective, “every scene was perfect” and was made up of all the elements that a scene “must” be made up of. He felt the story unfolded brilliantly.

I don’t want to give away any surprises, but I’ll make some general observations. The opening scenes of the film brilliantly provide background to each of the 4 kids that helps you understand their characters. These scenes expand on the book but I think they’re helpful. In general, the acting is excellent – particularly Lucy and Edmund. The White Witch is portrayed very uniquely and is certainly not your stereotypical villain. Overall, the story is well preserved and did a great job of pulling me in.

The Pevensie Kids in Real LifeOn my "could have been better" list includes the soundtrack. I loved parts of it, but in general it was "average". I may be in the minority here, but I also took issue with some of the special effects. Most reviews rave about them, but I was disappointed with the beavers and the fox in particular. The mixed human/CGI characters were best of all and entirely realistic (Mr. Tumnus, the Centaurs etc.). Aslan and the wolves would quite good for the most part as well. I also would have liked to see other key lines from the books included. I won’t specify which ones were missing just yet until more folks have seen the film, but some of Aslan’s lines and some lines about Aslan are omitted.

In general though, I thoroughly enjoyed the film experience!

The Reviews
Plenty of critics have seen the film by now too, and I’ve read a lot of their reviews. Here a few that are definitely worth reading: (but they contain spoilers, so I suggest you see the film before reading these reviews!)Christianity Today compiled a MASSIVE listing of Narnia related reviews, articles and editorials. If you’re hungry for more, check it out.

The “Controversy”
Much of Narnia’s publicity in the past months has been around what some groups allege is a subversive plot by evangelicals to spread their Jesus propaganda through a cleverly disguised children’s film.

These allegations are of course based on the very work I’ve been involved with. For months we’ve been working to prepare Christians across the country to use the film for outreach.

As you probably know, if you understand the story in The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe then you understand the story of Jesus, generally speaking. (For more on this connection download the PDF document we’ve put together called The Greatest Story Ever Told. It makes the case for our work very well, if I do say so myself!)

Nonetheless, I personally think a number of Christians are taking the wrong approach to using this film for outreach. Certainly it is a tool to help communicate the truths of the gospel message. But it would be a tragedy if Lewis’ brilliant story was seen as nothing more than a cleverly disguised gospel message. In fact, Lewis’ original intent in writing the story had nothing to do with Christ! He started with the image of a faun carrying some parcels, and eventually a lion jumped into the story.

I think it is crucial that we honor Lewis’ work as a beautiful piece of literature that is seeping with truth. We can’t neglect the fact that it can stand alone as a masterpiece.

Where I think some Christians have gone astray is in taking the approach of telling people "Go see Narnia because it’s about Jesus." I hope this isn’t the case, but I believe this is what some are doing. I firmly believe we must allow people to discover the Narnian story on their own before we help them grasp, as Lewis called it, "the story within the story". And even then, we can’t try and reduce it to some simple formula (Aslan = Jesus etc.) and in doing so, disregard the layers upon layers of deep truth found in every aspect of Narnia.

But enough of my ramblings! It’s opening weekend of the Narnia film, so go see the film! And let me know your thoughts when you do. I’d love to post your reviews here as well.

If you’re a follower of Christ, let us join together in prayer for the release of this film, that above all, God might use the film to draw people to himself (through, despite of, and independent of the outreach Christians are doing). Praise God, for Aslan is indeed on the move!