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Showing posts with label faith. Show all posts

the rite stuff

‘the rite’ is not your basic horror movie. in fact i would say it’s more of a supernatural thriller, and this is not a brainless supernatural thriller. it is in fact a very religious movie.

you will find contorting bodies, weird voices, and much hissing spitting freakiness and general unpleasantness [but only 1 f-bomb and very little other bad language] but it is a movie containing exorcisms, so be warned.

the director mikael håfström [1408] presents a genuine portrayal of a christian view of the spirit world and the devil is portrayed with cunning and as a deceiver. the movie does not shy away or water down the faith and beliefs of those involved, and the theology is treated seriously. obviously there are some added dramatic effects as you would expect [creepy cats and shadows etc], but this does not take away from this story of a doubting priest and his exorcising friend and scene stealer, sir hopkins. in fact the trailer implies that the movie is about hopkins’ character, but it is not. the “inspired by true events” story is about a young man called michael kovak, who follows the path to become a priest simply to escape the family business of embalming the dead [btw – it’s great to see rutger hauer back on the big screen]. at the end of his four years of study he is expected to take the priestly vows, but he has no plans to do so as he is unsure of what he believes in. since the death of his mother when he was a boy he has doubted the existence of god and all that goes with it, and prefers to try and explain everything away scientifically or through reason.

however, a fellow priest senses his internal conflict and recommends he spend some time at the vatican, where he is placed in the tutorage of an old welsh exorcist named lucas. lucas’ role is simply to convince the doubting priest that the spiritual realm is real and alive and kicking.

this might be a strange thing to say but i think christians will get the most out of this movie, or youth leaders who are looking for a springboard for discussions with older teens.

it’s incredibly well made, very foreboding and often scary. But it is slow and ponderous for a reason, and that is because it is about the priest’s journey and not specifically the horror he encounters.

ultimately it is rare for a movie to present us with a genuine faith journey toward belief in jesus christ, and for that reason alone, you can’t go wrong with ‘the rite’!

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“choose life!”

labels faith, film

this movie could be considered to be a lesson to kids: if you’re going off somewhere… leave a note!

it can also be considered as a lesson to us all. let me extrapolate somewhat.

i watched 127 hours a while back [and raved about it on facebook] but never got round to writing a full review for it – so here goes.

danny boyle should be a national treasure. from stolen money to zombies and astronauts to slumdogs - the man is a genius in whatever he does. even ‘the beach’, while not his best work, still shows better craftsmanship and understanding of what makes a great movie than the majority of stuff other directors have produced in the last decade.

his last movie continues that success. everyone and his dog knows the story behind this movie. rock climber falls, rock climber’s arm gets trapped by boulder, rock climber must escape or die, rock climber lops arm off, rock climber learns life lesson. it could be a grim tale and with a lesser director it may well have ended up an absolute snorefest. but it didn’t… and it isn’t.

now, the problem with this ‘true story’ is that we already know how it turns out so the main dramatic elements will not come as a surprise. because we know this, and director knows we know this, he has to pad out his tale somewhat! this is where it could have got really tedious. but boyle mixes the flashbacks, hallucinations, and his use of cameras and extreme close-ups to tell a gripping story [sorry].

i love the fact that it’s only when he becomes trapped that we are presented with the movie’s title: 127 hours- the period of time aron finds himself in this horrifying situation. now he’s beginning to panic, and so do we. he tries everything to free his arm and finally comes to the realisation that there really is only one way he is going to survive. I cannot talk about this movie without mentioning “the bit with the arm”. this is handled in a very clever way and is completely realistic, while being in no way gratuitous. be warned, the intricate severing of his arm is brutal, and even though i had prepared myself for this act, it turns out i wasn’t that prepared at all!

now, what begins as a tragic story is ultimately an uplifting movie of the fight to survive. A fight that we all have within us, that we act out every day. We go to work to earn money to survive, we eat and drink to survive, we spend time alone to survive the noise, we spend time with friends and loved ones to survive the loneliness.

it’s a brilliant film, and i heartily recommend you see it.

we can sometimes [unknowingly] get trapped in our own canyon – staring at the walls with no way of escape. but we aren’t as trapped as we think we are. if we release ourselves from this existence from time to time – to experience the wonder of god’s creation in the open air, or the company of a close friend who we’ve been too busy to see, it can make all the difference to our existence.

we were not created to work, we were created to be.

so maybe it’s time to look up and stop working… and start being.

as one of boyle’s famous characters once said, “choose life!”.

“i call heaven and earth to witness against you today, that i have set before you life and death, blessing and curse. therefore choose life, that you and your offspring may live,”

Deut 30:19

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we're all fighters

labels faith, film

let me just say right off the bat that i’m not a particularly huge fan of boxing movies, or movies centred around sport generally. i believe we can all, to some degree, relate to the protagonist who rises beyond all expectation and belief to stand toe to toe with his biggest obstacle, slug it out, and win. this is why i think boxing movies get one over on most other sports movies – the fight!

for me a ‘boxing’ movie works best when the story being told is putting more of the emphasis on the characters than on the sport itself. million dollar baby, crying fist and raging bull do this tremendously.

which brings me to ‘the fighter’. this is a movie based on a true story. now from what i’ve read it’s pretty accurate – so far as the action in the ring and the background of the characters and the setting are concerned. that’s a good start, as most movies ‘based on a true story’ generally bear little semblance to the ‘true story’ from which they originate.

the big names in this movie are bale and wahlberg, as dicky and micky [i kid you not!].

there are certain actors who i really enjoy watching on screen, and among them is christian bale. the guy’s a marvel to watch, and here we have another incredible, memorable role from him. at first i thought he was being really ott as micky’s twitchy crack addicted trainer, but having seen footage of the real dicky, he’s actually pretty spot on. unfortunately i’m not a huge fan of wahlberg, i think he’s ok(ish) as an actor and this movie does nothing to change my opinion of his talents. he seems unable to muster up an expression that doesn’t involve frowning, which this role [fortunately] requires him to do a lot.

the movie is basically a biopic of micky’s struggle to become a successful boxer and to win the welterweight championship bout. but it’s actually more about his struggle to break free of the shackles of his overbearing mother/manager, his genius but very destructive brother/trainer, and the lack of self-belief in his own boxing ability.

alas, it can also be viewed with bale’s character as the main protagonist, with the fight being his road to a life worth living. a realisation that he is destroying himself, and that this is not the life he really wants to live. ultimately he wants to be the best mentor his brother could have but has demons of his own to defeat. dicky knows that unless he’s in micky’s corner - he will struggle against his opponents.

for me bale’s story arc was far more interesting than wahlberg’s, but both worked well together. the supporting roles are also wonderfully realised – girlfriend amy adams, playing a take-no-messing barmaid called charlene, wants for a better life, but is living with the results of some bad decisions. the boys’ mother, alice, has their best interests at heart, but lives by the statement “don’t trust no-one who ain’t family.”, and the 7 big-haired bitchy sisters!

the boxing aspect is pretty standard – the rise from underdog to champion, etc etc. the gloved up fights are good but not amazing. but this movie revolves more around the dramatic encounters of the family than it does the fights. the people here who should be loving and supporting each other are doing nothing of the sort, and it’s this that gives the movie it’s real strength – its heart, especially when things begin to go right… when they begin to forgive each other. this is when it becomes truly powerful.

we have all and probably will in our own lives find obstacles that we feel we cannot [and in many ways do not] want to acknowledge and tackle. there are fights that we feel we cannot win, that will destroy us. the reality is that sometimes in order to move forward we need to find ourselves at rock bottom.

now, we can choose to just lie there – defeated and broken, or we can look to our corner, and with the help of god, our family, and our friends… we can overcome the worst that life can throw at us.

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would jesus hi5?

labels faith

as a christian if find it painfully ironic that we have just celebrated the death and resurrection of jesus christ – who died *for us all* - that many of those same people are celebrating the death of osama bin laden.

are we not called to be imitators of christ - do people think that jesus would have been standing here throwing a fist in the air with a resounding “yea!”? would he be giving his disciples a celebratory slap on the back for such a result? would he be heard saying “thank you god.”

i personally doubt it!

jesus loved the world so much that he died for *all* of us, wiping away *all* our sins. the blood of jesus was no more shed for me than it was bin laden. as painful as that statement is for people to hear [and i struggle with it myself to some degree] it’s the truth. but isn’t that what’s so amazing about god’s love – that it is for everyone. he’s not prejudice and exclusive, there’s no bar been set for us to attain greatness with him. he wants *all* people to turn to him. he gave us jesus, “the way", so that we would have unity with him.

in ezekiel 33v11 god states "...as surely as i live, declares the sovereign lord, i take no pleasure in the death of the wicked....". jesus commands us to love our enemies, and i’m pretty sure that doesn’t translate as rejoice in their death. but wait…

proverbs 11v10 states “when the righteous prosper, the city rejoices; when the wicked perish, there are shouts of joy.” alright – where does this leave us.

well i believe it tells us that if we feel anything over bin laden’s death it should be these two things:

1) joy that injustice has taken a knock and that bin laden will no longer be able to preach and instigate death, and

2) sadness that this man lived a life so misguided and unaware of the love that christ had for him.

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black swan review

labels faith, film

darren aranofsky is a director who gives us some unforgettable movies, but the only one i have ever watched is underappreciated ‘the fountain’ which is a true thing of beauty [if a little bit of a mind melter]. his latest offering, black swan, is a strange yet enthralling thing of beauty. i’ve heard it called a thriller with elements of horror, but i disagree. this is for all intents and purposes a horror movie about insanity, obsession and the pursuit of one person’s own perfection, and it is at times truly terrifying. yet while terrifying, aranofsky has given us an incredibly well told, deeply touching portrait of natalie portman’s character, and she is fully deserving of any awards thrown at her for this role – it’s phenomenal.

portman is nina sayers, a ballerina who’s desperate to play the lead in her company's production of swan lake. she has mastered the aspect of the white swan, but being quite a fragile person she is struggling to find her inner black swan. with the combined oppressiveness of her overbearing mother, her barbaric director and fierce competitors, nina slowly descends into madness.

did i mention portman is phenomenal?...

you feel uneasy watching black swan and it has you on edge the whole time. it’s an incredible piece of work. like i say, this is a horror story and by the final third of the movie this aspect really starts to kick in. it’s a collection of psychological torture and physical horror. it's *very* creepy, and some of what you see will stay with you for days!

with black swan aronofsky has shown us that he can deliver an unforgettable experience.

i will not be watching it again, and i don't think it will be for everyone [wifey thinks it was absolutely awful!] but i'm glad i saw it, or rather - experienced it.

which brings me to my easter message!!

what of perfection? we are imperfect beings, we cannot be perfect no matter what we do or how hard we strive for it. but only through faith in the very real loving sacrifice of christ on the cross are we *all* washed clean of our wrongdoings and gain our rightful place in heaven with our creator. perfect!

-------------------------

you were saved by faith in god, who treats us much better than we deserve. this is god's gift to you, and not anything you have done on your own. it isn't something you have earned, so there is nothing you can brag about. god planned for us to do good things and to live as he has always wanted us to live. that's why he sent christ to make us what we are.

ephesians 2v8-10

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does evil come from god?

labels faith

recently i got into a discussion about “what is or isn’t part of god’s ultimate plan” and how/if disasters and death play a part in that. my stance is that i do not believe that everything bad that happens is evil – or the devil. natural disasters are not inherently evil, but they are disastrous, and for the most part natural. it is us humans who see that as evil. however death and disease are in this world because of sin, because of evil. evil is not itself a created thing though, evil is purely the absence of good. and so too darkness is not a thing, it is purely the absence of light.

which brings me to a particularly interesting verse from the bible which came up and i didn’t feel it was appropriate at the time to take up the whole evening discussing, but decided it was better to post about it here for interest. [and possibly discussion, who knows].

the verse was as follows, from isaiah, ch45 v7:

i form the light, and create darkness: i make peace, and create evil: i the lord do all these things. [kjv]

now, i have two problems with this translation.

first is that i don’t read the kjv as i find most of the language used within it’s pages alien to me. i am not living 500 years ago and do not speak like that, and if you came across someone at the shops who was speaking like that you’d think they were a little odd – so i have no plans to steep myself in that specific translation. i'd rather one that is real and relevant to me – now – in the 21^st century.

second, is that the translation is outdated, and i’ll come to that in a moment.

sceptics will say things like “if god created everything, then he must have created evil”, and use this to deny the reasons for his existence. but the bible is quite clear that god is not the author of evil and insists that he is incapable of doing so.

the lord is a mighty rock, and he never does wrong. god can always be trusted to bring justice. [deut. ch32 v4, cev]

use of this translation is problematic and i lovingly call it the “bible-bashers version” with all it’s ‘thee’s and ‘thou’s, and since it uses olde english it doesn't necessarily mean the same thing today as when it was translated all those hundreds of years ago. having watched a recent documentary on tv celebrating the king james translation i realised that it was produced using a very limited number of medieval manuscripts. since then the bible has been translated from the earlier hebrew scripts from which most of our modern translations are drawn.

so what do our modern translations of the verse in isaiah say?

i form the light and create darkness, i bring prosperity and create disaster; i, the lord, do all these things. [niv]

i create the light and make the darkness. i send good times and bad times. i, the lord, am the one who does these things. [nlt]

i form light and create darkness, i make well-being and create calamity, i am the lord, who does all these things. [ESV]

i create light and darkness, happiness and sorrow. i, the lord, do all of this. [cev]

i made the light and the darkness. i bring peace, and i cause troubles. i, the lord, do all these things. [ncv]

immediately you realise there is no mention of the term 'evil'. this is because, rather interestingly, there is no hebrew word for ‘evil’, but the hebrew word in the old text simply means ‘bad’. to the hebrews it appears there was just good and bad.

i guess what the verse is really saying is that god decrees good things and bad things, but it is our lack of love, trust and faith in him that brings evil into this world.
just as a parent judges it’s child’s behaviour as good or bad and rewards or punishes accordingly, so it is that god rewards and punishes on the basis of good and bad behavior. the difference is – he is loving, good, just, fair and forgiving – unlike so many human parents.

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f.r.o.g.

labels faith

as i’m sure everyone is, i’m horrified by the images, videos and reports that have saturated the media showing us the extent of the destruction caused by the tsunami and earthquake.

living in chester means that we are approximately 120ft above sea level but it doesn’t stop me thinking that this type of destruction could literally happen on my doorstep. especially when you take into account that there are fault lines all around us – the mid-atlantic ridge, there is a major fault line close to spain, and another that runs through the north atlantic above iceland and the uk. pretty close. while these aren’t as active as those in the pacific and indian oceans – they are there.

the striking thing for me though, is that this natural disaster has hit a country and society that is in so many ways very similar to ours. The wealth and possessions, the agriculture and buildings – this is a modern country. the farms and roads and vehicles swept away by the sea could so easily be mistaken for those that surround us in our own countryside.

obviously i used to be horrified when these things happened, but it never really struck me in a deep emotional way, except making me want to hold tight onto ali never to let her go!

back when the tsunami of 2004 hit i had just become a dad again - we had a 1 month old baby boy, our third son. i can remember giving him and my other boys [who were then 5 and 3] an extra hug and kiss when i went to bed that christmas night. i prayed that god would protect them. while they slept safe and sound in their warm beds i prayed that he would be with those parents who were searching desperately for their lost children and for the children searching for their mums and dads.

until i had experienced the paternal love that suddenly wells within you when you have your own children, i realised that i felt a much more real sense of loss for those people. that i hadn’t had a real sense of how much a father loves his children before, and the lengths a dad will go to to protect and save his children,

a selfless and sacrificial love. i would die for my boys, every - single - time.

my faith in jesus christ means that i trust him to protect me and my loved ones when i cannot. when they are away from me, when we are travelling, when we are battling illness and disabilities and loss.

faith in jesus does not mean i don’t expect bad things to happen and that my life will be rosy and problem free. bad things do happen and there are many times when i have cried out and shouted at god in anger and frustration.

having faith in him means that i have faith jesus will help me [and us] through those times. he does… and he has.

i don’t tend to talk much about my faith on my blog, but it is a strong faith that god is always present. not just in my life, but in the world around me.

we are all his sons and daughters – and he would die for us…

…he did die for us.

the f.r.o.g. of the title is from a wristband that one of my boys wears. it is a reminder to 'fully rely on god'.

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the book of eli

labels faith, film

another movie night coming up this w/e with some friends and students from the uni.

the movie of choice this month is the ‘book of eli’. i have already seen this twice, but it's a good'un!

denzel is eli, a lone drifter travelling the open highways of a washed-out post-apocalyptic landscape. in his possession is the only remaining bible in the whole world [oddly enough, he also seems to be the only remaining black man!]. gary oldman is carnegie, a crazy [no surprises there] despot controlling/trying to control a small town. carnegie wants the bible so he can use it to… have more control over the people!

into town strolls eli, and that’s when the touch paper gets lit.

personally i’m a bit of a fan of the post-apocalyptic genre, although some aspects do get rather repetitive - lone wanderer – check, washed out landscape – check, cannibalistic animal behaviour – check. however, this is not your usual run of the mill p-a movie. this is a far more powerful movie than you first realise.

the film is essentially a christian metaphor. eli appears to be protected by some greater supernatural force, on a journey guided by "God". this is a movie about faith and believing in something/someone bigger than yourself. if you haven’t already – go see.

even though it does have it’s weak points, this is an excellent film.

yes ‘the book of eli’ is violent – but so is most of the old testament. hey, sometimes desperate times call for desperate measures.

faith in the one true God in the world that we live in today looks a certain way, this same faith probably looked very different 200 years ago, and who knows how it will look in another 200 years. even in this day and age it differs from country to country. we are relatively un-persecuted here in the west, most of which amounts to people thinking of christians as different or weird or even weak in some way. our actual physical life and the lives of our loved ones are not threatened with *death* because of our faith in Jesus Christ. how much would we be willing to stand firm in our faith if it were *really* put to the test? would we cave in as the disciple peter did and deny him or would we stand strong and face the consequences?

Jesus said to martha: “the one who believes in me, even though he or she dies, will live. and everyone who lives believing in me does not ultimately die at all. do you believe this?"

so?... do you?...

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discover the cove

labels faith, film

i love a good documentary. i’m not talking about your al gore powerpoint nonsense, i’m talking about the ‘real’ documentary, where there is real footage with real people in real situations.
‘the cove’ is one such documentary.
it’s true that the best documentary is one that manipulates audience into accepting it’s viewpoint as the truth and nothing but the truth, but when the subject matter is as visceral as it is in this movie, it’s difficult to feel anything other than sickened.
‘the cove’ is directed by louie psihoyos, the founder of ops [oceanic preservation society], and his movie documents the goings-on in taiji, japan. taiji is a small place that to your normal visitor gives the impression that it loves sealife – there are boats shaped like whales and giftshops packed with fluffy dolphins and whales, flags, and other paraphernalia. however what actually happens in the town of taiji, between september and march every year, is the slaughter of thousands of dolphins!
ironically, the crusader for this cause is ric o'barry, the guy who trained and stared in ‘flipper’ in the 60s, and introduced the idea of capturing dolphins for ‘entertainment’. he has dedicated the last 35 years of his life as an activist against the capture and senseless killing of these beautiful, intelligent creatures.
the power and message of this movie is very hard to ignore.

as we grow up we are aware of certain causes that are fighting for the restoration of order to so much of this world. these kind of things have been happening for years, but i find it deeply disturbing that the older i get the more i discover about the wanton destruction of our planets habitats and life in almost every area.
we cannot be in-activists when we see so much that is wrong with this world that needs putting right. and as the movie says, we cannot wait for governments to make the changes that are needed, as the governments are part of the problem. we as individuals need to make a stand.
save the dolphin
save the whale
save the brown bear
save the trees
for goodness sake, we are stewards of this world. charged with it’s care and nurture by it’s creator.
…save the planet!

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"attention! attention! ladies and gentlemen! there is a herd of killer rabbits headed this way and we desperately need your help!"

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the rite stuff

“choose life!”

we're all fighters

would jesus hi5?

black swan review

does evil come from god?

f.r.o.g.

the book of eli

discover the cove