Walking with Jesus

Stop killing babies! Stop lying to pregnant women! Stop sitting on the sidelines! Start making a difference. Watch the trailer . Go see Unplanned .

Amazing Grace . This movie is one of our favorites. It can be difficult to watch because it is real, but it is also very inspiring. It addresses the 20 year struggle by British Parlimentarian William Wilberforce to end the British Slave Trade. You can read more about his life here . Mr. Wilberforce was also a major force in the general struggle for the reformation of society based on biblical truth. He's one of thos men I look forward to meeting.    Of course, all of the efforts of men and women like William Wilberforce only made slavery illegal (The international trade in slaves in the United Kingdom ended in 1807, but slave ownership was not outlawed until 1833, only weeks before Wilberforce's death.) It is estimated that there are as many as 27 Million (That's 27,000,000 ) persons in slavery TODAY. There are several groups and governmental agancies working to stop this criminal activity every day. Perhaps we should be part of that effort?

I haven't recommended a movie in a while. I've seen some good ones, but just haven't thought about it with everything we have going on now that Ahava is home. However, Olivia and I just watched this movie, and I wanted to encourage you to watch it. It is a story about two childhood friends, reunited by tragedy after several years apart. It is a story about learning to give and to forgive. It is a story about remembering the greatest truth of God's love for us... it is unconditional. 

Having invited you to consider watching this movie I want to prepare you for it. This is not the best movie ever made. The whole Amish world is too clean, the choreography is too staged, and the main characters are completely fictional. This isn't a movie for learning about Amish life or even the history of the 2006 events are the center of the book this movie is loosly based upon. (A book, by the way, whose authors intentionally avoided being involved with the film.) However, it is a story worth watching. In fact, its oversimplification of the events and various reactions may be part of the reason I recomend it to you. So often we get caught up in the details and struggles around tragedy that we fail to see the larger picture: good versus evil, spiritual versus material, and right versus wrong. We refuse to commit to self-sacrifice. We think of ourselves as the only victoms, rather than seeing our 'enemies' as *atan's victims also. We forgive by half-measures (o...

. See this film . Skip the previews. This movie was one of the best I have seen, from beginning to end. If we lived our lives like this movie challenges us to our world would be a much better place. I cannot give it high enough marks. In fact, the only thing I didn't like about it was the previews. We had to talk to the theater manager about them, because they were so inappropriate.  .

. Passover is coming up soon, I still see my son's face every time I close my eyes, and I feel like fighting something. I won't trouble you with trying to figure out why we celebrate the holidays we do instead of the holidays in the Bible, or what ancient Israel was like, or even why it is important for Israel to exist today as a sign of God's faithfulness. What I will do is recommend Defiance , a hard movie based of hard realities. As I said, I'm not going to try to explain ancient Israel in this post, but if you'd like a glimmer of understanding regarding the modern State of Israel, then this movie might be helpful. Caution: This in not a family friendly film. But, it does tell a powerful story. .

This movie was not fun to watch, but it was very insightful. I recommend it if you have a strong stomach, but even then there are some scenes you may not be able to get out of your mind. For that reason, I don't think it's a movie for everyone. As a husband and now father who wants to protect and provide for my family, I want to know about how the food industry has conspired to undermine these basic desires. I'm glad I watched it, but I don't want Olivia to see it. It's raw and informative. It will upset you. It may inspire you to start a garden ! Hopefully, it will change the way you shop and the way you eat, and that, in turn, may eventually change the system. I pray that it does. Jesus may have declared all food clean ( Mark 7:19 ), but that doesn't make it all good for you. Neither does it excuse the commercial, political, and ethical abuses in our current food system.

. This time of year people focus on Valantine's Day. I'm not that interested in the history of this holiday (really, Holy-Day?), but I am up for a good excuse to spend some time with Olivia, show her how special she is, and convince her that I love her so much that I'll even go along with the crowd this one day of the year. Truthfully, if those other guys knew how amazing my bride is, they'd kick down the door and steal her away while I was out running an errand. {Don't worry, Sweet Girl, I'd save you!} I thank God for Olivia, and I really am so very blessed by her. This year, we're going easy on activities, with our pregnancy, but I still hope Monday will be special. If we decide to watch a movie, I've already decided what I'm going to recommend. It's One Night with the King , and it's one of our favorites. It's the story of Esther, and how God had a plan for her life which was greater than she could ever have imagined. [Sort of like...

. . There are so many good things about this movie, which I believe contains Kirk Cameron's best performance as a actor. I definitely recommend it for any Christian adult, but especially if you are married. It's funny, dramatic, evangelistic, and sweet. The actors did a good job, but it's the character behind the movie that originally drew our attention. I'd recently seen Mr. Cameron working with The Way of the Master , an evangelistic ministry used by the witnessing ministry of our home church. It provides a simple approach to sharing the gospel "cold turkey". So, I knew he was not just some sort of casual Christian. However, when I heard that he would only do the kissing scene (there is one) if his real life bride, actress Chelsea Noble, filled in for Erin Bethea, who plays Catherine Holt, wife of Mr. Cameron's character Caleb. She did, but you won't notice. That was the selling point. You have to respect someone who takes his faith that seriousl...

. I like stories. I like to tell stories, read stories, watch stories, and hear stories. In this regard, I'm like most people, I suppose. Story is one of the first and deepest ways we identify ourselves. If you want to know about motivation, character, or personality, what you're really looking for is not just information: i.e. Greed, Good, and Friendly. What you're really looking for is context, the ability to evaluate someone or something in light of the people and things they are associated with. You want more information. You want to know the whole story. Our self-understanding and basis for comparative relationship begin the same way. Even the Bible began in this way, as a collection of stories about God's interactions with humanity. Story is at the core of what it means to be human. Today, most of our stories come to us through media (books, TV, and movies) rather than around a campfire or sitting with our elders hearing about the good (or bad) old days. I have n...