The Low Down

Family Movie Night

Yesterday my family went to see the new Disney Pixar film, WALL-E. The movie was really good. I am not going to spoil the movie for you, but I want to share with you a few things that the movie left me thinking about. In the movie, humans take a space ship intended for a five year vacation and leave planet earth. While they are gone, WALL-E robots are to clean up the earth and make it a nicer place for the humans to return to. The ship the humans leave on is set up with all of the latest technology. Technology that steals away the very freedoms and characteristics that make humans unique- like the ability to touch, love, and have relationships. That's the plot, but here is the cool part - throughout the movie - we see how WALL-E, a human invented droid is so hungry for relationship and interaction that he actually acts more like a human than the humans on the space ship do. True life had been stolen out from underneath the people on this luxury ship and they were completely oblivious to it. So let me ask you this question. What about your life? Are you going through the motions day after day. Get up, go to work, come home and crash in front of the tv long enough to unwind and then go to bed - get up and do it all over again. Are you stuck in your daily cycle? Are you missing out on the relationships that are starving all around you? Listen, not only is WALL-E (in the words of my wife) a cute little guy, but his message to us is also a pretty important one. I'd recommend it as a good flick to see with your family. We enjoyed it.    

Doctor Jones Doll

Hey...I'm excited as Kate and I are about to head out to the new Indiana Jones movie. I grew up with all of the other movies in the series and so I can't wait to view this one. I'm pretty sure, but I think this is the only one that I will have seen in the theatre. I can't wait. I'll be sure to post my thoughts on the movie here soon.

*On another note, I know that many of you are aware that my friend and intern Matthew, along with three other ladies, were injured in a car accident yesterday on their way to visit Central Bible College. I will put up some pictures and post a blog on their status as soon as possible. They are doing incredibly well. Thanks for all of your prayers. Please continue to pray as they recover. More soon. Love ya! 

Are You Transformed?

Are you transformed? As a kid I grew up on a cartoon that featured robots who had the incredible ability to morph and transform themselves into jets, cars and all kinds of machinery. In 2007, Hollywood took the cartoons to a whole new level with their blockbuster movie, "Transformers." Throughout the movie, the unparalleled special effects keep you glued to the screen. AND yet, while the movie is called, "Transformers," it's interesting that very little time and attention are given to the actual transforming of the Autobots. Why? Because the ability to transform is simply a part of who they are. Transformers transform, right? But what about Christ followers? Why is it that sometimes we don't focus a whole lot on a believers ability to bear fruit? Why is it that we don't pay a whole lot of attention to the transformation process in the lives of those we are helping to become Disciples? Is it because that's who we are as believers or is it because sometimes we mess up, majoring on minors and harping on the petty things? As John Ortberg asks in his book, The Life You've Always Wanted, are you truly transformed or just pseudo-transformed (not truly transformed)? Isn't it true that many times we make the mistake that the Pharisees made with Jesus? They were Pharisee by name which supposedly labeled them as righteous and religious, giving them the permission they needed to look down upon the likes of prostitutes and tax collectors. But this was just a pseudo-transformation, for in fact the truly changed and transformed people were the ones who acknowledged their sin and intimately drew closer to Christ. As Ortberg says, "sometimes the righteous are worse off in their righteousness than the sinners are in their sin." So why is it important for us who claim Christ to have a true transformation? According to Sheldon Vanauken, "the greatest argument for Christianity is Christians when they are drawing life from God". Unfortunately however, the greatest argument against Christianity are Christians as well, "when they become exclusive, self-righteous and complacent". So let me challenge you to really search deep. If you know Christ and proclaim to have a relationship with Him, are you any different than you were before you met Christ? I know that God has changed my life and I know that the process of daily transformation is far from over. It's a journey. God is working on me and is helping me to develop and grow in the many different areas of my life that require His help. I know that God is holding the blueprints of my life in His grip, and each and every day I am getting one step closer to being the person that He has always intended for me to be. What about you?

Vantage Point?

I saw the movie Vantage Point tonight with my sweetheart. I was on the edge of my seat from the beginning of the movie. It was the kind of movie that had me saying to myself that I am going to buy this movie when it comes out. At least I was saying that, until the last ten minutes. I really hate when producers feel like they have to ruin a completely incredible movie with the usage of profanity in the last ten minutes.

The movie's story line was incredible and the eight different vantage points really was an interesting way of captivating you and sucking you in to the web of the mystery. Now don't worry, I am not going to spoil the movie for you. However, the flick did cause me to think a bit about scripture and the vantage points of the authors of the gospels. Isn't it crazy how even the simplest things in our lives can trigger our thoughts toward scriptures that we have learned and toward the things of God? I guess the Word truly is "living and active..."!

I often find it amazing how people are quick to dismiss the authors and often criticize the authenticity of the gospels, while what took place with the writings of Matthew, Mark, Luke and John is so very similar to what took place in this suspense movie. Here in the movie are eight different perspectives of one tragic event that takes place within the first five minutes of the film. All of the eight view points of the characters in the movie are so very unique and yet at the same time so very similar. Sounds a bit like the gospels, eh?

With Matthew, Mark, Luke and John we have four men who either walked with Christ themselves and experienced His life and ministry first hand from their own vantage point, or as in Luke's case they interviewed eye-witnesses who did. So why are we so quick to criticize the fact that these four books are different and yet so very similar at the same time. Doesn't this actually authenticate their different perspectives of what took place? Interesting isn't it?

Hollywood shows us that something like the gospels truly could happen and be authentic at the same time. So maybe the next time we read the gospels we'll look at the differences in these books as each author's ability to put some of the content in their own cultural context (ie. Matthew as a "rabbi" to his Jewish audience, and Mark as a "gentile" to his Greek and Aramaic friends). AND maybe we will be able to look at the similarities in these four books as four people who amazingly saw and heard the same things because each of them walked and personally experienced the Son of God.

AND...here's the awesome part...you can experience God as well - and even though your story may be different than mine - we both can experience the same God and come to the same awesome conclusion about Him. So take a moment and invite Jesus in. You may have lived out many chapters of your life without Him, but the last chapter was one too many. Asking Christ to come into your life is like finally finding the glasses to a 3-D book. Without Him it doesn't make sense, but once you get those specs things begin to jump off of the pages in ways you would have never imagined. Won't you trust Him? If you would like to and you don't know how - please email me or send me a comment with your contact information. I'd like nothing more than to introduce you to Him. Well...tonight, that is the low down...thanks for logging on. Until next time - keep pressing in!