Jack Bauer and His "Man Bag"
Friday, June 30, 2006 at 09:14AM 
OK. I admit it. I love "24." I don't get to watch it on TV, but do enjoy it on DVD when I can watch more than one episode at a time.
If you are a 24 fan, you are probably aware of all the Jack Bauer jokes making their way around the internet.
More than likely, you've also seen the discussion about Jack's "man bag," (as seen in the picture). Some have used this to challenge Jack's legendary toughness. "If Jack Bauer is so tough, why does he carry a purse?" His defenders reply, "That's not a purse, its a sack of whoopass!"
In the bag, Bauer carries his handgun, numerous magazines (he seems to have an unlimited supply for any gun and caliber he happens to be using), his cell (which always has four bars--who is his provider?), and his trusty PDA which keeps him connected to Chloe and others back at CTU.
But for once, I am on the cusp of male fashion! I have carried a "man bag" for years--my trusty leather satchel. While I keep my Glock and extra mags at home, I too, am fully prepared for any contingency.
I have my emergency meds (eucalyptus cough drops, sinus stuff, aspirin, and Immodium--whether they admit or not, every preacher's greatest fear is that "Immodium moment" when you are in front of a congregation). I also have my weapons: my Bible, the ecumenical creeds and Reformed confessions, a copy of the church order, and whatever book I may need depending upon my current assignment (i.e. Louis Berkhof's Systematic Theology, Horton's book God of Promise). I also have support materials, such as business cards, dry erase markers (you never know when you'll need them), and a tin of altoids. I am fully prepared for any contingency.
But are others as well prepared? What does Rick Warren carry in his "man bag"? What about an emergent church pastor? What does he (or she) carry around? What about an Arminian or a dispensationalist?
Any thoughts?
Reader Comments (24)
Definitely!
My original theory was that in this particular episode, Jack was playing the role of a dispensationalist. So I figured he had a good supply of dispensational propaganda by Walvoord, Pentecost and Ryrie - such as "The Millennial Kingdom," "Things to Come," and "The Ryrie Study Bible." On occasion, he may have time to squeeze in a few extra things, such as a scholarly book by Tim LaHaye or Dave Hunt.
Then I got out my X-Ray glasses and peered deeply into Jack's bag and gun...
As I inspected this image in more detail, I discovered two important facts: (1) There are many holes in the bottom of Jack's bag, allowing all of the inadequate evidence for the premil and pretrib theories to leak out - and (as one might suspect) further looks at the image revealed that though the bag still contains all the books first mentioned, there is no evidence in the bag whatsoever for the dispensational perspective - zilch! (2) Although Jack is clearly aiming his gun at any posttrib (and, especially, amil) folks in sight, I noticed that he's firing blanks! He has, in fact, no ammunition to shoot down the mountain of evidence for the Reformed perspective on these issues!
It was no surprise to me, therefore, upon enlarging Jack's image, to note that he has a rather sad expression on his face. In fact, it's rather clear from the image at the "Riddleblog" that Jack appears to be falling to his knees or sinking into the ground (tough to tell which - perhaps it's both) - no doubt because of the anticipated rounds of real ammo being fired in his direction.
Right now I feel sorry for fans of "24" because I doubt that Jack will be around much longer.
Riö<*><
Semper Fi!.
Me and my daughter watch this show and we looove it. We were talking about this a few days ago and her brother said, "does jack have a man purse??" and so my daughter poped right up and said, "yes, but he carrys automatic weapons in it, i think its ok" it was so funny!:)