Finally Summer
Summer Schedule
June 23rd Mini-Retreat
June29th - July1st Camping with the Moras
July 30th - Aug 1 Vacation Bible School
August 11th Mini-Retreat
Truth Is Stranger Than Fiction
It is time for another post on this occasional blog. This time I want to tell you about a movie I just saw. I don't get to the theater much (it simply isn't worth it) so I got this one on Netflix. It's the movie "Stranger Than Fiction," starring Will Farrel. I thought it was just going to the a typically good Will Farrel comedy, but it ended up being a real insightful film. The gist of the plot is Harold one day starts hearing a voice narrating his life. No one else can hear the voice, but when it starts speaking about his soon to happen death he sets out to solve who this voice is and why she is going to kill him. I don't want to ruin the film, because this is one you should watch, but he eventually finds the author and finds out why he was going to die. When he finds out what's going to happen he faces a choice. "Should I stop the author from writting this ending so I can live and wander through toward death latter, or should I accept my mortality and die doing something bigger than myself." Finally, Harold sees that his death in this way would be better than his life had he stopped the author. When he faces his death he is struck by an calm and coolness about the situation. Of course there is a catch, but you'll have to rent the movie.
As the credits started to role a particular idea came to mind. It has to do with the concept of resurrection. Simply, that if have died and have been resurrected the life you now live will be one with death in your past and you then have no fear of the inevitable. There is a verse that speaks this truth about the life of a God-follower. Galatians 2:20 "I have been crucified with Christ and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me. The life I live in the body, I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me." When Paul writes this he is talking about how he too was hung on the cross with Jesus and died. The difference is that Paul was guilty and deserved to be crucifed and Jesus was innocent of all sin and was unjustly killed. What happened is Jesus took the price for our sins. If I were writting this story that might be a fine ending because the hero (Jesus) dies for the very people who acted unjustly. I mean, how poetic can you get. But thankfully I didn't write it because God had something much better in mind. Jesus was brought back to life with a new type of body and a new life to live. Now death was behind him. When we begin following Jesus and set out on this path, our own death is all of a sudden a thing of the past. Yes, I am partially speaking figuratively or symbollically, but I also really mean what I say (after all, this idea comes from God's word). In one sense we will still face our own death, but in another sense we can live as if death were something that has come and gone. It gives us the freedom to "live by faith" without fear. This is a true characteristic of the life of someone following Jesus. We start walking in a direction we've never gone, we are called to tasks that are scarry to do, and we find ourselves in a world that is alien to us and even hostile. But we are also supported by the power of God and this Spirit will never leave us. Also, Jesus is really alive and leads our way. Thank God for the resurrection! This is why Jesus can say so much, "do not fear,." It is because we have already died with Christ and we only have eternal life to look forward to.
~Matt
(Parents, be aware that "Stranger Than Fiction" is PG-13, it is overall very clean but somethings may be offensive so be parents and know what your kids watch. Hollywood doesn't always share the same ethics and values as we do)
June 23rd Mini-Retreat
June29th - July1st Camping with the Moras
July 30th - Aug 1 Vacation Bible School
August 11th Mini-Retreat
Truth Is Stranger Than Fiction
It is time for another post on this occasional blog. This time I want to tell you about a movie I just saw. I don't get to the theater much (it simply isn't worth it) so I got this one on Netflix. It's the movie "Stranger Than Fiction," starring Will Farrel. I thought it was just going to the a typically good Will Farrel comedy, but it ended up being a real insightful film. The gist of the plot is Harold one day starts hearing a voice narrating his life. No one else can hear the voice, but when it starts speaking about his soon to happen death he sets out to solve who this voice is and why she is going to kill him. I don't want to ruin the film, because this is one you should watch, but he eventually finds the author and finds out why he was going to die. When he finds out what's going to happen he faces a choice. "Should I stop the author from writting this ending so I can live and wander through toward death latter, or should I accept my mortality and die doing something bigger than myself." Finally, Harold sees that his death in this way would be better than his life had he stopped the author. When he faces his death he is struck by an calm and coolness about the situation. Of course there is a catch, but you'll have to rent the movie.
As the credits started to role a particular idea came to mind. It has to do with the concept of resurrection. Simply, that if have died and have been resurrected the life you now live will be one with death in your past and you then have no fear of the inevitable. There is a verse that speaks this truth about the life of a God-follower. Galatians 2:20 "I have been crucified with Christ and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me. The life I live in the body, I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me." When Paul writes this he is talking about how he too was hung on the cross with Jesus and died. The difference is that Paul was guilty and deserved to be crucifed and Jesus was innocent of all sin and was unjustly killed. What happened is Jesus took the price for our sins. If I were writting this story that might be a fine ending because the hero (Jesus) dies for the very people who acted unjustly. I mean, how poetic can you get. But thankfully I didn't write it because God had something much better in mind. Jesus was brought back to life with a new type of body and a new life to live. Now death was behind him. When we begin following Jesus and set out on this path, our own death is all of a sudden a thing of the past. Yes, I am partially speaking figuratively or symbollically, but I also really mean what I say (after all, this idea comes from God's word). In one sense we will still face our own death, but in another sense we can live as if death were something that has come and gone. It gives us the freedom to "live by faith" without fear. This is a true characteristic of the life of someone following Jesus. We start walking in a direction we've never gone, we are called to tasks that are scarry to do, and we find ourselves in a world that is alien to us and even hostile. But we are also supported by the power of God and this Spirit will never leave us. Also, Jesus is really alive and leads our way. Thank God for the resurrection! This is why Jesus can say so much, "do not fear,." It is because we have already died with Christ and we only have eternal life to look forward to.
~Matt
(Parents, be aware that "Stranger Than Fiction" is PG-13, it is overall very clean but somethings may be offensive so be parents and know what your kids watch. Hollywood doesn't always share the same ethics and values as we do)
posted by Murray @ 10:40 PM
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