Amazing Grace

As "Amazing Grace" is easily my favorite hymn, and probably my favorite song of all time as well, I was very interested when this movie came out last year. Despite my excitement, I never got around to seeing the movie in the theatre, and I ended up just waiting for it to come around on our Netflix queue.

Well, the movie eventually showed up in our mailbox, so I've finally gotten to watch it for myself. It's rare that a movie surpasses my expectations, but this one did so easily. I found it beautiful, powerful, and enthralling, and I'm so glad I didn't let it slip by! The story of William Wilberforce's haunted obsession to end the slave trade would be compelling even if it weren't true; the fact that it's based on real events only adds to the sense of inspiration.

I love that this film reminds us that what one chooses to devote themselves to in life truly matters. That young people truly can change the world (Wilberforce was only 21 when he was first elected). That despite years of opposition, once can eventually overcome and find success. And most especially, that with enough blood, sweat, tears, and prayer, good can and will overcome evil.

Though there are more people in slavery today than during Wilberforce's time, much good has already come out of the release of this movie. If you're interested, check out the "The Amazing Change" campaign and this book by modern-day abolitionist Zach Hunter, encouraging people everywhere to 'be the change they want to see in this world'.

All in all, I found this movie to be cinematically worthy and personally inspiring. I've got two thumbs, and they're both up.

Spew

Though my ultimate blogging goal is to put up a post every day, I've barely been online this past week because I've been either too tired to blog, or had no access to a computer. So, instead of giving up, I'm compiling some mini-updates, of which I may (or may not) elaborate on in subsequent posts... no promises!

Community: Adjusting to the Bay Area way of life (busy, busy, busy!) continues to weigh on me, as the building of relationships seems to be such a slooooooow process. I've got some really great people in my life, but it feels so laborious to do the "phone-tag-compare-calendars-reschedule-for-three-weeks-later" dance, that the fear of that kind of hassle keeps me from being the spontaneous intiative-taking friend I could be! Anyways, I am encouraged because this week actually went very well - not only did I have several fun dinners out with various friends from church, but I also got down with my domestic self and baked fresh bread to share with the neighbors!

Burnout: I wasn't quite there, but I could smell the smoke and have been doing what it takes to get off the fiery path of ministry-workaholism I'd found myself on... It's hard for me: I love God, and I love the church, and I love the kids in our ministry. I don't want to waste a minute of my life! I'm trying to teach myself though, to accept the reality that resting & restoring is not wasting time, but a necessary part of a godly life (ooh, it feels so unspiritual though!).

Conflict: Ah yes, I am continuing to learn about myself. Though I am willing and desirous to acknowledge disagreements and broach topics that need to be addressed in a healthy way, I can't say that those interactions don't still keep me up at night. Interesting, because our Retool Kit group is studying conflict management right now... and wouldn't you know that this month has brought some very clear examples my way. I pray that my responses have been appropriate and will bear good fruit.

Oscar Movie Tradition: Saw the movie Atonement. Regretted it. 'Nuff said.

Foster Care License: We've officially submitted our application and will be attending a three-Saturday training series for potential foster / adoptive parents. Coincidentally, (mm-hmm!) I'm in a bible study group that includes a great-grandma who had six kids, adopted three, and fostered over thirty! You ever get the feeling that God has something up His sleeve?

Guatemala Mission Trip: God continues to confirm our plans to return to Pastor Antonio's church in Lake Atitlan, Guatemala this coming summer. G-Dub and I had a sweet prayer time for the trip with some of our HS students last week, and were particularly blessed to hear that our Guatemalan brothers and sisters were joining us in prayer that same day. I am humbled and blessed by the way God is directing us at this time.

Well, that should do it for now. That's what's going on in my life... how bout you?

And the nominees are...

Wow, I'm really on a roll with posts about movies. Well, I won't apologize. The nominations for the 80th Annual Academy Awards have just been released. Which means, it's time for Gary and I to pursue our annual tradition of seeing every film nominated for best picture. (Movies in italics are ones we've already seen) Let the games begin!

Best Motion Picture of the Year

Atonement
Juno
Michael Clayton
No Country for Old Men
There Will Be Blood

Achievement in Directing

Paul Thomas Anderson, There Will Be Blood
Joel Coen and Ethan Coen, No Country for Old Men
Tony Gilroy, Michael Clayton
Jason Reitman, Juno
Julian Schnabel, The Diving Bell and the Butterfly

Performance by an Actor in a Leading Role

George Clooney, Michael Clayton
Daniel Day-Lewis, There Will Be Blood
Johnny Depp, Sweeney Todd
Tommy Lee Jones, In the Valley of Elah
Viggo Mortensen, Eastern Promises

Performance by an Actor in a Supporting Role

Casey Affleck, The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford
Javier Bardem, No Country for Old Men
Philip Seymour Hoffman, Charlie Wilson's War
Hal Holbrook, Into the Wild
Tom Wilkinson, Michael Clayton

Performance by an Actress in a Leading Role

Cate Blanchett, Elizabeth: The Golden Age
Julie Christie, Away from Her
Marion Cotillard, La Vie en Rose
Laura Linney, The Savages
Ellen Page, Juno

Performance by an Actress in a Supporting Role

Cate Blanchett, I'm Not There
Ruby Dee, American Gangster
Saoirse Ronan, Atonement
Amy Ryan, Gone Baby Gone
Tilda Swinton, Michael Clayton

"Just so you know, people who have seen this movie have complained about motion sickness..."

So, G-Dub and I went to see the movie Cloverfield last night, and
I. Loved. It.

Here's why:

Firstly, it's so rare nowadays that movies maintain any semblance of mystery- usually a trailer gives away so much, there's no point in going to see the movie because you already know what happens. With Cloverfield, pretty much all I knew going in was that it was a New York City disaster movie... what else would anyone need to know? (Hence my lack of specifics below, should any of you be planning to go out and see it)

Secondly, this movie is different than your typical disaster flick- it's a dizzying thriller which deals less in fakey effects, and more in the real fear of trying to survive in the midst of the unknown. It gives you just enough disaster to keep you on the edge of your seat, but it doesn't indulge itself with too much gore and cross over into campiness. It's a movie that makes you ask, "what would I do?"

Thirdly, I appreciate that the story is told through a unique perspective, which really captures the humanity of the main characters and brings a freshness to the storytelling. Though the erratic motion of handheld video can be dizzying and frustrating at times (for some, to the point of inducing motion sickness... not in our theatre, fortunately), there is a heightened sense of panic and immediacy, as you join the characters in their quest for survival.

Though I doubt this movie will be up for any Oscar nominations, its a perfect movie for anyone looking for a good popcorn flick to see with their buddies. My only recommendation? Don't see it alone.

Movie Night!

Where can you go for a fun, safe & free movie?

COME TO FAIR OAKS MOVIE NIGHT!

Invite your friends and family - it's not only a great reason to come together, but is also an outreach to our community.

This Saturday, January 26th, from 7-9:00 pm at the Fair Oaks Worship Center.

Facing The Giants

Never give up. Never back down. Never lose faith! After six consecutive losing seasons, high school football coach Grant Taylor believes things can't get any worse. He's wrong. With fear and failure seemingly defeating him at every turn, the downtrodden coach and husband turns to God in broken desperation. Trusting that God can somehow do the impossible, Coach Taylor and his Shiloh Christian Eagles soon discover how faith plays out on the field...and off.

Facing The Giants is the movie that reminded us all that with God, nothing is impossible. Isn't it time to relive all of the big-game excitement as faith and football collide in this feel-good hit of the season? Or better yet, experience it for the first time!

Rating - NR

For directions, click here.

The Golden Compass

Because I am a Christian, and because I enjoy following pop culture, especially movies, I've found myself unable to escape the recent hype about "The Golden Compass". Of course, the more hype a piece of work draws, the more curious I become. And, as a person that frequently interacts with young people and their parents, I was also interested in being able to speak for myself on this movie. (For those of you that haven't read about the controversy, scroll down to see the quotes at the bottom of this post)
In any case, last week G-Dub and I found ourselves headed to the theater. I evaluated the film on two fronts: cinematic and artistic value, as well as potential areas of concern for Christian families.

As a film buff, I actually really enjoyed the first half of the film. I felt that writer/director Chris Weitz did an amazing job creating a sense of place: a parallel Earth, identifiable yet discernibly different. It carries the weight and feel of a futuristic novel from the 1800's. Oftentimes, this comes off as cheesy, but it definitely works in this movie. The casting was superb, with Nicole Kidman and Daniel Craig working their delicious magic, and phenomenal newcomer Dakota Blue Richards as young Lyra.



Unfortunately, these elements aren't able to sustain the storyline once Lyra heads north with an unconvincing talking polar bear. Story elements become weaknesses when tediously overused (We're left hanging with the introduction of every new character... good guy? bad guy? Unfortunately, we never find out the answer until long after we've stopped caring). And don't even get me started on that alethiometer. Ultimately, I found the movie to be either too long, too slow, or just too boring. On this basis alone, I recommend you save your $.


As a "Christian viewer", it seems that most of the book's controversial material has been watered down or left out of the movie. At face value, I doubt one would walk out of the theater feeling offended on behalf of God or the church. That being said, there are numerous articles suggesting that this is an intentional strategy: parents see the movie, deem it harmless, then go buy the trilogy of books, much more blatant in anti-Christian propaganda.

The one aspect of the story most likely to be confusing for children is the concept of "daemons". In the movie, a person's soul lives outside of their body in the form of a talking animal companion, called a daemon. To a child, the idea of a talking furry friend would be utterly fantastic! To a Christian however, the word demon suggests evil and rebellion against God, and parents may not want to attempt explaining this dichotomy of concepts to young children.

In general, I don't tend to get on board with attacking the corrupting influence of the week. What is most dangerous to the Christian faith, I believe, is not atheists trotting out their beliefs, but Christians not living out theirs. So, before you hit "send" on that next e-mail forward demanding a boycott of this movie, why don't you stop and say a quick prayer for all those who will read the book or see the movie, that they would know the truth and experience of God's love.

What others are saying:

A concerned e-mail forwarder:

"It's one thing to be an atheist, and something else altogether to draw children in with the agenda to kill God in their formative years. Let's make this movie a failure, by letting people know what's behind it."

Blogger Andrew Seely:

"Why put so much time, effort, money into stopping such (in the grand scheme of things) trivial things? It baffles me that if we as christians spent a fraction of the time, energy and resources that we pour into stopping the major immorality of the week, we might actually do something that jesus and god are proud of."

To me it seems that when we take so much time to oppose things such as movies, the underlying tone is that we fear that god isn't strong enough to handle whatever it is that is or isn't attacking god."

One of my students:

"First off all kids should kno its just a moive and second off if ur family believes in god, then ur kids should kno that god really cant b killed. i mean how can u kill sum1 u cant see? exactly. plus if ur kids think that, theres so many ways to help them."

A synopsis of information available at snopes.com:

The movie has been described as "atheism for kids" and is based on the first book of a trilogy entitled "His Dark Materials" that was written by Phillip Pullman. Pullman is a militant atheist and secular humanist who despises C. S. Lewis and the "Chronicles of Narnia". His motivation for writing this trilogy was specifically to counteract Lewis' symbolisms of Christ that are portrayed in the Narnia series.

"Clearly, Pullman's main objective is to bash Christianity and promote atheism. Pullman left little doubt about his intentions when he said in a 2003 interview that "my books are about killing God" and in a 2001 interview that he was "trying to undermine the basis for Christian belief." He has even stated that he wants to "kill God in the minds of children". It has been said of Pullman that he is "the writer the atheists would be praying for, if atheists prayed."