Movie Review: ‘To Save A Life’

This past weekend I was at Lifeway and noticed the large mass of merchandise for sell that pertains to a current Christian film called To Save a life. Fortunately, before all the hype began surrounding the film I was able to go see the film with some church friends at a pre-release event. Assuming the goal of a pre-release is to gather constructive criticism of the film; I paid close attention so that I would be able to offer a decent review. A question asked of us on a questionnaire was what we would rate this movie. I was asking myself if this was a rating based on Christian films, or secular films. Ironically, my pastor was thinking the same question that I was! Hands down, on a scale of 1 to 10, I give this movie a 3. Now, if we are talking about Christian films, I would give it a 9. Without giving the plot away, allow me to explain my reasoning.

The writing was superb. The script is probably one of the best movie scripts ever written. The film deals with the subject of teen suicide and leaves the viewer with a desire to combat such a problem and helps to truly change how teens other people. There is even a particular scene that details some conflict with a youth leader and a lead pastor on outreach ideals. I appreciated the tension between a lead pastor, who lacks grace for some of the youth in the film, being confronted by a caring youth pastor. This scene along with the mild profanity scattered throughout the film really brings the realness into frame.

The soundtrack sucked. Any realness gained within the script was lost with the super clean G-rated Christian music that backs up the film. For instance, there was a scene depicting a party with lots of drinking and sexual activity accompanied by an overtly Christian rap song. Perhaps the producers did not want to pay for secular music, I really don’t know. However, I do have to point out that the soundtrack is this film’s biggest downfall. A Christian film by the name of The Joyriders was released several years back. This film used secular music to backup the actions occurring in the film and really made the movie better for it. I also have to point out, that since this film is also used for outreach to non-Christians, it may have been more helpful to include music that those kids are familiar with; even if it had to be edited versions of the songs.

The acting was alright. Going in to see any Christian film, I immediately think the worst. Kirk Cameron styled bad acting plague nearly every Christian film made. Facing the Giants is probably the worst acted film ever made, but Christians tend to simply ignore it and not care about the quality. However, that does not seem to be the case with To Save A Life. Don’t expect any of the actors to win Oscars anytime soon. Yet, a lot of the young actors and actresses in the film do have credits on Disney Channel and Nickelodeon programming. I think that most teenage viewers will appreciate the acting in the film considering they usually all have the taste for CW network dramas.

Overall, I would suggest taking your Christian teenagers to see this movie. I don’t think it will do much good for those outside the faith. In fact, I think that those outside the Christian faith will simply make fun of it! However, this film does offer one good quality. It does a great job of explaining high school life to adults. The movie is real in showing that high school life is hard and that some students do get overlooked. I think it can give adults a wake up call as to what the young emerging generation has to deal with.

Some Thoughts On Labels

Labels are interesting aren’t they? If we step back and observe, we can discover that just about everything we encounter has a label.

Food products are labeled based on nutritional value, rather it is organic or not, rather it is kosher or not.

Cars are labeled based off of emissions levels and gas usage.

Music, games and films are labeled as to what ages they are appropriate for.

but people….. people are labeled as well.

People have been labeled since the beginning of time. In fact God clearly labeled the first man as “Adam.” Then went on to give Adam the task of labeling all of the other creatures that roamed the earth.

Labels hold different connotation in today’s times. We have become so polarized today. Either you are right or you are left. You are Republican or you are Democrat. You are Conservative or you are Liberal. Then each side practically hates the other side for taking a stance that the other side deems to be the incorrect stance.

It is funny what labels can do. They can destroy families, they can kill friendships… hands down, they can ruin lives. Wouldn’t it be wonderful if Rush Limbaugh could invite Keith Oberman over for dinner and they could find some common ground? Would it not be a great day if Glenn Beck could cry not because America is not what he wants it to be, but to truly cry because he is so disturbed at the great polarization in America?

Yet, labels do not strictly exist in politics. Christianity has its labels…

….tons of labels,

…more labels than I could actually name in this blog.

Recently, we had some of our dear family visiting with us. They are strictly Calvinist (another label) in their theological thought. That is fine and dandy, if that viewpoint works for you I say go for it.

This got me thinking about who I am and what I think.

I figured I was not Arminian (another label) because Arminians believe that one can fall from the grace of God and loose their salvation.

Then I knew for a fact that I was not Calvinistic either because I don’t believe salvation is based upon who God does or not elect. I believe that salvation is for all.

So this puts me in a very funny position doesn’t it?

I am faced with two labels that are complete opposites yet; neither one suits me.

I have come to the realization that labels cannot define an individual.

I always have tried to be “out of the box” and look at things from a different perspective. Yet, in doing that I was falling into labels such as emergent, emerging, baptist, baptimergent. Yet by being out of the box I was just jumping into a completely different box.

I go to a baptist church, I read works by emergent authors but neither one of those labels really define me.

I find that maybe avoiding any and all labels is the best idea. Sure, I have my political views but they are not the same of any one political party. I do follow Christ, but none of the typical labels that Christians hold seem to find me.

I am who I am. Just a guy named Jason who exists in a small town where he does his best to follow in the foot steps of a carpenter from Nazareth. It is time to strip away all the excess and make this year different.

Can you commit to a label free year? Can you commit to not be the reason for the over polarization in our world?

Acceptance

You know sometimes when you look at an overview of your life; you realize where you were and were not accepted. At small group the other night, part of the conversation was about places and times in our lives where we have felt that there were walls built between us and other people. This caused me to think about my life. There has always been some type of wall between me and someone crucial to my life, that is until now.

In public school I was too much of a Christian to be accepted.

In Christian school, I listened to too much rock music to be accepted.

In my first church, my parents did not make enough money for me to be accepted.

At my first Christian college, I watched too many episodes of South Park and Family Guy to be accepted.

During my first church leadership position, I was too accepting of others to be accepted myself.

So that brings me to now. I have a great family life that was birthed out of openness and honesty, which are two things I was always scared of. My parents support me in whatever crazy endeavors I choose to attempt. Most importantly, I am in a church where I can truly be myself. I don’t have to hide my entertainment choices. I can share my perspective on the scriptures with others without fear of ridicule. Hands down, I feel accepted for the very first time in my life.

The cool thing is this, Jesus accepted people. He loved and befriended those who were filthy sinners, prostitutes, and corrupt politicians. We have to follow that example and simply accept people and meet them where they are at. This is exactly what the church that I am now a member of does.

Now, I know it is Christmas time. Everyone wants to go to a church during the Christmas season, rather you believe or not. I want to just leave it open for any and all of you to join me at church this coming Sunday or at our late night Christmas Eve service. I promise you that you will be accepted. I am. Just shoot me an email for more information, horizonsrock@hotmail.com
Merry Christmas and Happy Hanukkah,

Jason

Harris Teeter Beef, buyer beware!

Tonight we were going to partake in our usual night before thanksgiving tradition. We usually take extremely lean ground beef, mix it with onion, stuff it in a pita and top it with cheese to make our pre-thanksgiving meal. Well, I was awakened to a horrible sight when I cut open my roll of 93% lean beef that I purchased yesterday at Harris Teeter.

This 2lb roll of Harris Teeter brand beef was encased by a thick layer of pure fat. The core of the roll was also nothing but a solid chunk of fat. This brings up several concerns to me. The first concern is the fat content. Can we really trust any fat content labeling of meat? Many people are on tough diets for heart conditions. Those very people must have the leanest cuts of meat possible. Are those people being falsely informed? My second concern lies in the packaging process. If this large chunk of meat can pass through the packing line without being caught; what else could make it’s way into my package of meat? Is it possible that foreign objects could make their way into my meat? My third concern lies in the attached nutritional information. Government standards require this to be accurate. Obviously in this case, the nutritional information was not accurate.

I want to know what happened here. I want a response from Harris Teeter regarding this meat.

What A Week!

Tuesday (10/20/09): Me and Liz took off to Charlotte early in the day. We started our journey at Super Target and then headed downtown (or uptown as Charlotte natives refer to it) where we shopped at Trader Joes, West Elm, Marshalls and Target (again). Then we headed to South Park mall where we ate lunch in the food court. Then we browsed in all the fine stores where Liz spent tons of cash. We then headed downtown toward First United Methodist and hung out there. We met a nice young man who had been attending these Tuesday night worship services. We got the opportunity to hang out with him and chat while providing him with a meal as he was hungry and had no money. I don’t say this to brag on the actions of my girlfriend and myself; I simply want people to be aware of who they are surrounded by on a day-to-day basis. There may always be someone there who has no food, they might not have the courage to ask anyone for help. As Christians we must remember to be on the alert and help those when we see a need. After this meeting we found some other folks in line to speak with while we waited for Pastor Mike who was driving the church van in which my parents were riding. Once everyone was there, we convinced them to join us in line. We then went into the church once doors opened and were fortunate enough to hear the great Donald Miller, author of Blue Like Jazz speak. After the event, Liz grabbed a place in line and we got the opportunity to meet him and I was able to get my copy of his latest book signed.

Saturday (10/24/09): We went back to Charlotte with my whole household and Liz too! We spent most of the day in IKEA where we made many purchases that we absolutely did not need to make. We then went back to Trader Joes as it is my favorite grocery store and there was much that I wanted for my diet. (As a side note, my city does not have a Trader Joes and thus we are not a ‘real city’.) We then went to a church in Salisbury where we attended a Carman concert. I would elaborate on the event, but I will not. I will just simply say that a lot of bad theology was preached.

Sunday (10/25/09): We got up and went to church this morning. We grabbed some food and then headed out to the Jewish festival. It was an exciting event and I would encourage each and every one of you to attend next year. My favorite part of the day was being able to go into their sanctuary where the Rabbi explained about their faith, symbols, their Torah scrolls, etc.. It was completely interesting and if you are a Christian you have to experience something like this. It is so important to know where the origin of your faith lies; to see what kind of culture Jesus came into and established his Kingdom on top of.

Weight Loss Update: I would also like to point out that between me, mom and dad; this family has lost 80 pounds total. Myself, I have lost 34 pounds. That is a lot of weight. 80 pounds is pretty much the weight of a middle school student. I am impressed with the kind of weight loss that can be achieved by healthy eating rather than fad dieting.

U2 Concert Review

Concert: U2 360 tour

Supporting act: Muse

Date: October 3 2009

Venue: Carter Finley Stadium, Raleigh NC

This was my first time ever seeing U2. I did not have the best seats, but viewing the show from a distance allowed me to truly take in the experience. Opening act, Muse, left much to be expected. To me they seem sort of like a Nine Inch Nails copycat. They depend way too much on electronic effect and pre-recorded tones. They simply were not my cup of tea. U2 played an excellent show; however, they did not play two of my favorite songs: “Bullet the Blue Sky” or “Pride, In the Name of Love.” They did play a set full of new songs and old songs along with a few surprises. The most notable performances of the evening were a techno remix of “I’m Gonna Go Crazy…” and Bono leading the crowd in “Amazing Grace” which happened to be sandwiched between “One” and “Where the Streets Have No Name.” All in all, the environment was very worshipful. Sure, people were drinking all around yet attitudes were all around much better than any Christian concert I have ever attended. I did have one funny thought throughout the whole evening. During “I Still Haven’t Found What I’m looking For,” Bono proclaimed “I’m gonna take you to church” and I immediately thought of the drunk people around us. I decided that if Bono were  to truly take us to church, I sure hope it is not a Baptist church. (insert punchline drum hit here)

Set List:

Breathe

Get On Your Boots

Mysterious Ways

Beautiful Day

No Line On The Horizon

Magnificent

Elevation

In A Little While

New Years Day

I Still Haven’t Found What I’m Looking For

Stuck In A Moment You Can’t Get Out Of

The Unforgettable Fire

City Of Blinding Lights

Vertigo

I’m Gonna Go Crazy If I Don’t Go Crazy Tonight (techno remix)

Sunday Bloody Sunday

People Get Ready /  MLK

Walk On

(encore 1)

(Desmond Tutu speech)

One

Amazing Grace

Where the Streets Have No Name

(encore 2)

Ultra Violet

With Or Without You

Moment Of Surrender

Ban Against Penguins?!

I was prowling the internet today looking for the flavor of the day. Then suddenly I found an article about of all things: gay penguins. It appears there is much controversy about a book about two male penguins who are raising a young penguin. Just in order to clear things up, I am a Christian however; I do not believe that my religious viewpoint should dictate the society around me. My views on homosexuality are simply that, my views.

Oddly enough, the penguins discussed in this book truly are gay and they truly reside at the Central Park Zoo. I find this funny in light of the fact that as young evangelicals we are brainwashed to believe that homosexuality has never occurred in other animals. Again, I am not saying I condone homosexuality, I am simply making a point.

The matter that I want to focus in on is the matter of banning books. If we as Christians continually take the time to form protests against specific books; do we have time to do what we are truly supposed to do? Tons of children die each day from hunger and abuse yet, we  are more concerned with banning a book  about gay penguins  than with helping these children. Seems kind of silly to me.

Just as a matter of fact, you know what Jesus would do? He would give of himself to those people who write the very books we want to ban. Jesus never attempted to meet a spiritual need without first meeting a physical need. Need proof? Maybe it is time to crack that Bible open and read through the Gospels.

Other than the unChristian behavior exhibited by those who want to ban books; think about how it makes us look as Christians. We totally have our work ahead of us as we try  to make sure  that those who we serve don’t view us as “THAT type of Christian.” Hands down, Christians who protest against books (or anything for that matter) make the rest of us look like ignorant religious zealots.

Just something to think about.

Christianese (part 1, of many)

I find it funny, and disturbing at the same time the use of Christianese in regular conversation. I have usually been a person to have friends from many different worldviews. I will agree that each person might have specific words or phrases that they use in everyday speech that might have origins in their worldview. No words have been more odd than those used by Christians. I really wish someone would put together an official Christianese dictionary. I would be up for a co-authorship! Yet, good luck getting that book in your local Christian retailer.

Allow me to take this opportunity to share with you, a couple of new words that should be labeled as Christianese.

Wrestle, verb. To closely examine a tough passage of scripture to such a point that it is taking an emotional and spiritual toll on the reader. “I am really wrestling with Matthew 23, I think I might be a Pharisee”

Authentic, adj. A word used to describe a sincere, original yet status quo church or ministry. “Hey man, you should check out my church this Sunday, we are totally authentic. We sit around drinking coffee and we have a pretty good band and on Fridays we go to the local bar to talk about God and stuff.”

Awesome, adj. A word that once belonged to the California skate community now used to describe God. First penned as an appropriate Christian word by the late great Rich Mullins. “Dude, my church is awesome, we worship an awesome God, Jesus is so awesome man.”

…more to come.

Are there any words  that you feel should be categorised as Christianese? Feel free to share them in a comment.

Putting the Cart Before the Horse

It is a rather old phrase isn’t it? “Don’t put your cart before the horse!” I admit, I’ve always dismissed people who used this phrase as old timers and honestly, I did not understand the reasoning behind this phrase until now.

When you are invited on a journey toward Jesus, something amazing happens: you change. Change is not instantaneous nor is it always constant. Yet, in our Christian society so many times we expect people to change prior to coming to Jesus. We forget that humans have a sin nature and that apart from Christ there is no morality.

So many times we tell people to clean up their lives before they commit to Jesus. “Oh, you just have to stop drinking.” or “You need to stop cheating on your wife” are things we say to people. We are not inviting them to know Jesus, we are  already telling them how to live their life. We are asking them to show fruits for no reason at all!

A church that I am no longer a part  of tells people to dress modestly when visiting their church via their website. They seem casual and inviting yet, are destructive in attitude. Now, why would someone who does not have a personal relationship with Jesus Christ dress modest to come to a church? What is the significance of modesty to someone who is in an unsaved position? Is this not putting the cart before the horse?

Besides, it is not very inviting to an outsider if your church website is already telling people how they should dress!

Evil (an essay)

The following is an essay that I wrote for my Apologetics class on “The Problem of Evil.” I decided that I should be able to get two uses out of this writing and post it as an entry here on my blog. Rather than writing this paper from a scholarly viewpoint, I wanted to write it so that all people could understand my viewpoint on evil. Obviously, as an undergrad I am able to write from such a point of view. So here goes:

“The Problem of Evil”

At seven years of age something significant happened in my life; I was diagnosed with juvenile diabetes. Being subject to the pain of constant needles being prodded into my skin and being trapped in a hospital for seven days was what really helped to bring about some spiritual wonder within my soul. I grew up being told constantly that God loves me and my favorite church song was “Jesus Loves Me.” However, I struggled to reconcile how the God who allowed me to get such an illness could at the same time love me. Little did I know at the time but, I had questions regarding the problem of evil. The problem of evil can puzzle the minds of even the brightest theologian. It would be no surprise that those outside the Christian faith have their concerns or questions regarding evil. If any apologetic issue needs to be taught about it is the problem of evil which is why I chose this as the topic for my first apologetics paper. As a matter of fact, the problem of evil is simply asking the question “If God is all-powerful and good, as the Bible affirms, why does He allow evil?” (Butler 2003). The goal of this assignment is not only to achieve academic fulfillment but to also receive a better understanding of the problem of evil.

Before an individual can completely understand the problem of evil; it could be beneficial to establish a definition of what evil is. My father always states on a regular basis that “evil is anything that separates you from God” and to a large extent he is right. The Holman Bible Dictionary states that evil is “That which is opposed to God and His purposes or that which, defined from human perspectives, is harmful and non-productive.” (Butler 2003).

Where did evil come from? It all started in a garden. God had created two people and set them up to live life in the most perfect of places. However, God had one request: “You may freely eat any fruit in the garden except fruit from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. If you eat of its fruit, you will surely die.” (Genesis 2:15, New Living Translation). Mankind in their rebellion refused to heed to this command given to them by their creator. As a consequence of their rebellion we have an example of the first evil action to ever happen.

To properly understand evil, one must know that there are two types of evil: natural evil and moral evil. Natural evil was unleashed after the rebellion that took place in the garden by Adam and Eve. Natural evil involves things such as illnesses or natural disasters. Sometimes natural evil can actually be a consequence of moral evil. Moral evil part of what we do every day. Everything from those little “white lies” that we tell to the act of murder are all categorized as moral evil. Abstaining from moral evil should be an ideal goal for any follower of Christ. Thankfully do have freedom in Christ but it is helpful to know how to not abuse that freedom. “God says that true freedom comes from obedience and knowing what not to do. The restrictions he gives us are for our good, helping us avoid evil.” (Life Application 2000). A simple way of looking at freedom would be to assume that we have the freedom to dive off of a cliff but we know that it is not a good idea. We would not have to follow through and take the jump in order to know that jumping would not be the best idea for our life.

Suffering happens regardless of our own moral evil. There is a simple reality that unfortunately, natural disasters do occur. They are natural evil. Recently, Hurricane Katrina hit the gulf coast and left Americans at a standstill. So much death and suffering occurred which was not as a result of anyone’s moral evil. Yet, we know that even though suffering occurs for seemingly no reason there is still hope. “And we know that God causes everything to work together for the good of those who love God and are called according to his purpose for them.” (Romans 8:28, New Living Translation). God uses everything for his purposes. A testament to this is the life of Moses. There was a crooked politician who had even committed murder but yet God spoke through him in order to deliver the Ten Commandments to the people. Just as God uses all things He does not expect us to ignore suffering or adversity. When confronted with the death of Lazarus the Bible tells us that “Jesus wept” and that He was “deeply troubled” (John 11:35, 38, New Living Translation).

Many times we as humans may look at our neighbor and wonder how even though they are living a sinful life they have such a seemingly wonderful life. This type of understanding is not good for a Christian to have. There is simply a fact that our timetable and God’s timetable are not the same. We may not see a person treated justly by God in the amount of time that we feel is best but ultimately justice will be served. “God promises to deal with sin, but in his time, not ours.” (Life Application 2000). Though at sometimes we get a bad attitude and wish that someone would simply get what they deserve; we must take a step back and look at our own lives. Each of us sins every single day of the week. What would happen if we got what we deserved instantaneously? Without time for repentance and receiving God’s grace we would all be greatly doomed. After all, the universal knowledge of man’s evil nature is wide spread to even those outside of the Christian faith. Albert Einstein affirmed this when he stated “Evil is the real problem in the hearts and minds of men. It is not a problem of physics but of ethics. It is easier to denature plutonium than to denature the evil spirit of man” (Draper n.d.). Evil is built in to our nature as human beings. It has existed since the fall and will continue to exist within mankind here on this earth.

Just as people may have questions about the presence of good within the lives of those who are visibly full of sin. There is the inverse version of the question that wonders why God would allow bad things to happen to good people. First off, there takes a great understanding in realizing that no one can technically be labeled as good. The Bible declares that “all have sinned; all fall short of God’s glorious standard.” (Romans 3:23, New Living Translation). There are no good people; only people who have chosen God’s grace or have not chosen God’s grace. With the previous statement in mind, it might be a better question to ask why God allows bad things to happen to those who follow Him. Right now, we as Christians are subject to evil. There has always been a potential for evil to exist because mankind was created with free will. “We choose to love or hate, to do good or evil. […] without choice, love is meaningless.” (Hanegraaff 2004). It is a powerful concept to realize that love is in fact a choice. God chose to love us just as many of us choose to love God or we choose to not love God. Along those lines, we choose to sin. Many times, the bad things that we encounter in life might just be natural evil as a result of our moral evil. In example, many people end up with terrible sexually transmitted diseases which are alone, a natural evil yet it is a consequence of sexual immorality which is moral evil. Clearly suffering plays a part within the problem of evil. “Suffering is easiest to understand when it comes as the direct result of a moral choice to sin. When David sinned by committing both adultery and murder, the judgment that befell him did not cause him theological anguish. He knew that God is both just and loving.” (Phillips and Brown 1996). It is all in what you know about God. A proper understanding of the nature of God would leave one to know that God truly is loving but yet it is within his nature to be just. Part of the problem existing within someone who questions why bad things happen to them is the simple fact that they lack a proper perception of evil. N.T. Wright suggests that people “ignore evil when it doesn’t hit [them] in the face.” (Wright 2006). This all leads to believe that many people are in fact surprised by evil.

In order to not be surprised by evil it can be necessary to understand the fact that evil is all around us; unleashed upon this earth in which we reside. In watching the local news, one can know that they are exposed to a world of murder, adultery, corruption and injustice. It is no surprise that inaction happens among the faith communities across the world. Many people would rather remain comfortable by turning a blind eye to those in need. This is a sin in itself. The writer James clarified this by stating: “Pure and lasting religion in the sight of God our Father means that we must care for orphans and widows in their troubles, and refuse to let the world corrupt us.” (James 1:27, New Living Translation). Not only do we need to avoid the evil around us but we must be people of action in caring for those who need our help.

The problem of evil is a very delicate apologetic issue. Knowing how to address specifics regarding it are key in being able to properly defend one’s theistic Christian faith to those outside the belief system. Knowing the right questions and the answers to those questions are of utmost importance. When those who have questions do not receive proper answers to those questions then our faith defense comes up empty. When everything boils down the problem of evil is simply a misunderstanding that God has two natures; a good nature and a bad nature. Obviously, this is not true. God’s nature is purely good. It is only through this understanding can we know that God loves us and everything he does for us and everything he asks of us is simply out of his radical love for us. After all, it is a choice to follow God and by that choice we are saying that we will honor God and accept that though we may experience bad times; God is with us and always will be. We have a final hope into the future where evil will be pushed aside. The Bible reminds us: “They will never again be hungry or thirsty, and they will be fully protected from the scorching noontime heat. For the Lamb who stands in front of the throne will be their Shepherd. He will lead them to the springs of life-giving water. And God will wipe away all their tears.” (Revelations 7:16-17, New Living Translation). For right now, the best thing that someone can do is “turn to the plan of God and see that He will turn around even an ugly situation and use it for good and you will let Him.” (Warren 2006). Keeping our eyes focused on God and looking forward to a world without evil is the greatest hope that we can have.

Works Cited

Butler, Trent C, ed. Holman Bible Dictionary. B & H Publishing Group, 2003.

Draper, Edythe. Draper’s book of Quotations for the Christian World. Wheaton: Edythe Draper.

Hanegraaff, Hank. The Bible Answer Book. Nashville: Thomas Nelson Book Group, 2004.

Life Application. The Handbook of Bible Application. Wheaton: Tyndale House  Publishers, 2000.

Phillips, W. Gary, and William E Brown. Making Sense of Your World. Salem: Sheffield   Publishing Company, 1996.

The Holy Bible, New Living Translation. Tyndale Charitable Trust, 1996.

Warren, Rick. God’s Answers to Life’s Difficult Questions. Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 2006.

Wright, N.T. Evil and the Justice of God. Downers Grove: InterVarsity Press, 2006.