You want lessons for life? Meditate on the book of Kings. Stories are soul food, even (especially?) when they're true. Brian asks Nate about Solomon and a recent claim which suggested we might not see King Solomon in heaven. The guys reframe the discussion of Solomon's story into a lesson for parents and also for leaders of any institution: How do you get your children -- or your successors -- to appreciate what you suffered to give them, when they didn't have to suffer to get it? An added bonus you didn't know you wanted: You get to find out Brian's favorite editor in the Bible.

#NDWilson #Sasf #storiesaresoulfood #Solomon #Rehoboam #Kings #KingDavid #inheritance #succession

Find out next Month's LAMP Club movie pick within the first thirty seconds of this podcast. And then stay for a delightful discussion of the Prince of Egypt and why Nate wrote a story called "The Rise and Fall of Circumcision"; why Lewis's wood between the worlds kicks the multiverse's butt; why time travel is possible and how you can pray in light of it; why the end of Prince Caspian is weird but awesome; why vampires are lame; how JK Rowling could have ruined The Prisoner of Azkaban; and more in this SASF smorgasbord. Sign up for our mailing list at canonpress.com/sasf and send any more questions we need to answer.

#NDWilson #SasfLamp #Sasf #storiesaresoulfood #PrinceofEgypt #smorgasbord

Find out how good you are at movies! We know you've all watched the Fabelmans (or you thought about watching it really hard). Some of you have sent in questions -- and one or two complaints. Now it's time to have the first inaugural Look at Moving Pictures Club with Brian and Nate. Questions about Spielberg's masterpiece will be answered such as: 1) Is this a masterpiece?; 2) Is Mitsi or Burt worse (depends); 3) Does this movie advise you to follow your heart? (Absolutely not); 4) why is the famous director John Ford in this movie?; and 5) Is Uncle Boris correct when he says "art will tear you apart"? (this is the million dollar question).

#thefabelmans #SasfLamp #Sasf #Spielberg #JohnFord #dontfollowyourheart #storiesaresoulfood #ndwilson

This episode begins with an update on Gabe Rench and the City of Moscow getting swatted by a federal judge -- expensively. Not every victory comes quickly, and we can learn from this long, slow slog. The guys meander from this moment into an excellent discussion on training sons to be aggressive. This is done best through STORY. Nate and Brian mix sports stories into a discussion of how to train your sons to be aggressive in the right way: how to hit hard in a culture that hates hard-hitting men. Much food for parenting here.

#parenting #aggression #boys #fatherhood #storiesaresoulfood #ndwilson #basketball #sasf #storiesaresoulfood

The guys discuss a typological observation which compared Noah to Christ -- and did so terribly. This leads into an interesting discussion of biblical types and anti-types -- and how to tell if such an observation is worth anything. Nate explains why we should be the flood, not the Ark: the Benedict Option misreads the Noah story. Then the guys move on to dangerous careers like bull-riding and mountain-climbing. Are dangerous professions acceptable for men? And how can a wife sabotage a man with a dangerous career? The answers depend on the story they’re in...

It's Severance SZN! Like many in the Canon office, Brian watched Ben Stiller's new show "Severance" and, amidst the story-grip that Severance caused, has many questions...mostly having to do with goats. Nate answers them emphatically as usual -- and this provides viewers with a nice lesson in thematic film-viewing. (Think of it as a sneak-peek at the SASF LAMP club viewing of "The Fabelmans" coming at the end of February...you can now subscribe the SASF newsletter to be notified.) There will be some SPOILERS in this episode, so be an adult about your spoiled expectations. "Severance" feels like a show that exists in the same universe as "That Hideous Strength" -- if it were written by Christians. But there's an argument to be made for it being an apostasy story. You will enjoy.

#Severance #BenStiller #ThatHideousStrength #SASF #NDWilson

Brian bothers Nate with balloons for the big episode (and a big pod announcement). Happy ONE HUNDREDTH birthday to SASF! How does that math check out? Well, folks, listen to find out.... But before we get to the big announcement, the guys heard from enough of you regarding A.I. and ChatGPT that they spend awhile de-fanging your objections to last episode. Then -- you get to find out about the SASF LAMP. Want to know what that acronym means? Well, folks, listen to find out....

#ArtificialIntelligence #AI #ChatGPT #SASF #MovingPictureClub #LAMP #HappyBirthday

You may have seen the new robot making waves: ChatGPT is sort of a glorified search engine which (who??) can perform detailed reasoning and compose answers to complicated topics. For example, it can give researched, chapter-length answers to questions like "Explain quantum computing in simple terms" or "Explain why 'The End of the Affair' a classic -- and use scholarly sources." This raises many questions -- mostly about so-called "artificial intelligence" and creativity. To explore these, Brian tries to get the robot to write a never-before-seen N.D. Wilson novel, and the results are hilarious: prepare to be dazzled by "The Last Mortician." (Spoiler: Nate was not dazzled.) But the discussion wends its way to the real problem behind technology such as Tesla's self-driving cars and robot policedogs -- the idea that humans aren't involved from start to finish. There is no such thing as Artificial Intelligence -- we're puppeting ourselves at this point. At least there's no such thing, Nate argues, until the demons get into the system.

#ArtificialIntelligence #AI #ChatGPT #Tesla #Puppets #Computers #creativity #technology

Merry Christmas! Nate tells Brian about a recent trip to Manhattan and the experience of watching Handel's Messiah at the Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts, the Mecca for aspiring secular artists. The guys break down the universal, global appeal of the performance and what it means for Christian art. Contrary to some claims, what makes "Christian" art good or bad is not whether the Christian message is too overt. After all, Handel's Messiah is straight Scripture. It's whether that art -- overtly Christian or not -- sets a benchmark for excellence that even god-haters will recognize and applaud. Graham Greene and Flannery O'Connor provide more examples for this important discussion.

#Christmas #MerryChristmas #Advent #TheMessiah #Handel #ChristianArt #GrahamGreene #FlanneryOConnor

Warming to a familiar SASF theme, the guys discuss why Die Hard is, indisputably, a Christmas movie. But first, they discuss the Grinch, and why we like him more than Cindy-Lou Hoo, and why Tiny Tim is  so very annoying, and many other Christmas movies (usually filtered to a greater or lesser degree). Christmas is ultimately the story of subversion -- not to be confused with perversion -- and understanding that is the true spirit of Christmas.

#Christmas #MerryChristmas #Advent #ChristmasMovies #DieHard #Elf #Spirited #TheChristmasCarol #subversion