Well, it has been quite awhile since I have posted on this blog so this upcoming week, hopefully expect to see several posts to make up for it.
For this post I will be talking about the Movie 127 Hours, the movie dramatization of Aron Ralston's survival story. I will repeat this once again, this is a blog about movies, if you don't want any spoilers, please go and watch the movie first, though be warned this movie is quite graphic and has some intense language. Thank you God for blessing me with an extremely strong stomach. Back on point, for those of you who do not know, Aron Ralston was a nature enthusiast who spent every moment he wasn't working exploring the wilderness. Well on one of his trips he decided to go to one of his favorite places but didn't actually tell anyone where he was going or how long he was even going to be gone. He even decided to let his mom just go to the answering machine just before leaving. On the first day he was climbing down a new canyon and he slipped and fell bringing a boulder down with him. Unfortunately this boulder just happened to land on his right arm pinning it against side of the canyon. To make this 127 hour story short, after long hours of being dehydrated and hallucinating he decided to cut off his own arm in order to survive. Aron still lives today, only without his right arm and continues to explore the wilderness, but has gotten into the habit of telling people where he is going and how long he plans to be gone.
So in relation to the movie we are going to be using the number 127. You might be wondering about the title so her we go. I will be the first to admit and hopefully not the only one to admit that living life as close to Jesus as possible is really hard and I fall down all the time. Some times it hurts and sometimes its on grass but there is some great news, we can always get back up and try again. This is the gift God has given us when he sacrificed his only son so that our sins may be forgiven. You can fall down 127 times, but with each fall you will get a retry. In the end you will have 1 success, eternal life in Heaven with God.
This isn't to say that you can just simply fall down on purpose and expect to be given another chance. When you get back up and try again you have to mean it. You have to want to live for God in everything you do and you will always be given a second chance, a third chance, a 127th chance. Though Aron was not working on living like Jesus we can take example from his determination to live. He survived 127 hours on 1 liter of water, bugs and a determination to live. He survived almost 6 days straight with his arm stuck yet managed to pull through and live.
We need to have this determination in living our life for God. We need to stop pretending and get out there and do something, its time to stop just going through the motions and actually be the church, be the person God has intended you to be and live for God. The God that has bled more blood than you, the God that has shed more love than you. (This last sentence gets credit from Go Project - A Christian Hip Hop group) If he can do so much for us, why can't we do as much as we can for him?
"No matter how many times you trip them up, God-loyal people don't stay down long; soon they're up on their feet, while the wicked end up flat on their faces." Proverbs 24:16 from The Message
Its time for you, yes you, the one reading this right now to start living truly for God no matter how many times you fall down. No matter how many times someone tries to put you down, you are going to have to just suck it up and get back up. I like being straight up with people and it seems to work. There is nothing more to this. It is up to you to find this determination. Look to Aron who had the determination and will against a large amount of odds, to finally break down and cut off his own arm to succeed. Though this may be for his life, why can't we have this same determination in living for and towards God? I know this is easier said then done, but it has to be done, so get out and do it.
One final word, if you recall I mentioned that Aron let his mom use the answering machine instead of picking up the phone. Well we can't do this. In trying to get back up when we fall we have to make sure that God knows where we are going so he can help us get back up. Like all my previous posts, in living for and towards God we also need help from God. You will never be alone as long as you do not turn your back on God. He will always be there to help you, so the next time he calls just as you are leaving, make sure to answer the phone instead of letting it go to voice mail.
Saturday, May 28, 2011
Wednesday, May 4, 2011
We All Have A Plan
Well its time for another session of God at The Movies and this one I think might come as a surprise. For this blog post I will be talking about The Sorcerer's Apprentice. Like I have mentioned before this blog is about what I learn from movies and how I apply them to my relationship with God, If you don't want spoilers I suggest watching the movie first and especially in this case because The Sorcerer's Apprentice was an awesome movie and I would highly suggest watching it.
So to give you a brief overview of the movie, basically a boy named David becomes the predecessor of Merlin the greatest sorcerer to live until that is he was betrayed and killed by Morgana the evil apprentice of Merlin. Long story short David becomes uber powerful and stops Morgana from destroying the Earth, woot woot!
The lesson to be had from this movie dives deeper into the back story of David. Basically he becomes an outcast at school because of an event that happened with Balthazar (Nicholas Cage) the sorcerer who teaches David how to use magic. So growing up in life David was the nerdy kid who no one really wanted to hang out with and thought that he was just going to be alone to do physics for the rest of his life. That is until Balthazar comes back and changes David's life again only this time to David's surprise, for the better. So what I am trying to pull out of this is that God has a plan for all us even when we things are going down hill, or when crazy random happenstance.... happen. It is all God's plan and it will work out for the better.
This leads me to one of my favorite pieces of scripture.
But who are you, a human being, to talk back to God? “Shall what is formed say to the one who formed it, ‘Why did you make me like this?’” Does not the potter have the right to make out of the same lump of clay some pottery for special purposes and some for common use? Romans 9:20-21
This piece of scripture really helped me with my relationship with God in that I wanted to go all out for God. I see my friends doing all these projects for God, my pastor leading worship and changing peoples lives, and there I was stuck in the back just listening and participating. I wanted to do so much more but it wasn't God's plan for me to do so much more at least not yet. When I came across this verse I knew God was talking directly to me because I had prayed for God to give me something to do that means something but he had. God wanted to use me as a common piece of pottery for now and just in knowing that God is using me at all changed my whole perspective on how I live out my life today. How I take joy in being used by God even if it just a common use.
Yeah I still do want to do more but who am I to talk back to God. God wants me to be apart of my church and spread his word just like every Christian should. I am to be the common piece of pottery until God decides to use me for a special purpose. God has laid out a plan for us all and it is up to us to have faith in that plan and follow it no matter how special or common it is. When you look at the end of the line it will all be worth it to follow his plan no matter what it is when because you get to spend eternal life in heaven with him.
So I guess if you are reading this and you want to pull something out of it, have faith in what God has in store for you and it will turn out for the better. Sure I guarantee there will be times when you question things God has done in your life just like David almost quit and denied being the predecessor of Merlin, but when things got tough, he got back up and continued on the path he had faith in and you know what, it turned out to have a happy ending. Granted this is a movie ending but God does not want to see us fall and live in pain and suffering.
To finish off I do highly suggest watching The Sorcerer's Apprentice even though it could be deemed as a kids movie, overall it was good. I do hope you are enjoying these and please leave a comment letting me know what you think. And thank you for actually taking the time to read these.
So to give you a brief overview of the movie, basically a boy named David becomes the predecessor of Merlin the greatest sorcerer to live until that is he was betrayed and killed by Morgana the evil apprentice of Merlin. Long story short David becomes uber powerful and stops Morgana from destroying the Earth, woot woot!
The lesson to be had from this movie dives deeper into the back story of David. Basically he becomes an outcast at school because of an event that happened with Balthazar (Nicholas Cage) the sorcerer who teaches David how to use magic. So growing up in life David was the nerdy kid who no one really wanted to hang out with and thought that he was just going to be alone to do physics for the rest of his life. That is until Balthazar comes back and changes David's life again only this time to David's surprise, for the better. So what I am trying to pull out of this is that God has a plan for all us even when we things are going down hill, or when crazy random happenstance.... happen. It is all God's plan and it will work out for the better.
This leads me to one of my favorite pieces of scripture.
But who are you, a human being, to talk back to God? “Shall what is formed say to the one who formed it, ‘Why did you make me like this?’” Does not the potter have the right to make out of the same lump of clay some pottery for special purposes and some for common use? Romans 9:20-21
This piece of scripture really helped me with my relationship with God in that I wanted to go all out for God. I see my friends doing all these projects for God, my pastor leading worship and changing peoples lives, and there I was stuck in the back just listening and participating. I wanted to do so much more but it wasn't God's plan for me to do so much more at least not yet. When I came across this verse I knew God was talking directly to me because I had prayed for God to give me something to do that means something but he had. God wanted to use me as a common piece of pottery for now and just in knowing that God is using me at all changed my whole perspective on how I live out my life today. How I take joy in being used by God even if it just a common use.
Yeah I still do want to do more but who am I to talk back to God. God wants me to be apart of my church and spread his word just like every Christian should. I am to be the common piece of pottery until God decides to use me for a special purpose. God has laid out a plan for us all and it is up to us to have faith in that plan and follow it no matter how special or common it is. When you look at the end of the line it will all be worth it to follow his plan no matter what it is when because you get to spend eternal life in heaven with him.
So I guess if you are reading this and you want to pull something out of it, have faith in what God has in store for you and it will turn out for the better. Sure I guarantee there will be times when you question things God has done in your life just like David almost quit and denied being the predecessor of Merlin, but when things got tough, he got back up and continued on the path he had faith in and you know what, it turned out to have a happy ending. Granted this is a movie ending but God does not want to see us fall and live in pain and suffering.
To finish off I do highly suggest watching The Sorcerer's Apprentice even though it could be deemed as a kids movie, overall it was good. I do hope you are enjoying these and please leave a comment letting me know what you think. And thank you for actually taking the time to read these.
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