Quick Quip- No Greater Love

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Has anyone seen that movie “First Sunday” with Ice Cube and Tracy Morgan? I love that film. It is so beautiful. That’s not because of it’s “preachy” message but that under its heart it shows the depths of God’s Love.

As the characters go through so much toil in looking for a job they give up and turn to crime.  Now what would you think? Do you think going to church the people there would look at them and go “What? They did what? They’re not allowed here!”

I’m kind of going away from the main conventions of the story but I’m trying to prove a point. The point is what the church, the people of believers in Christ do. Now they could turn people away that are like that but that is in their heart and their heart would be wrong in doing so.

These people show such love. This is not because being loving is a “good” thing but because the greater one in their lives changed their hearts and that is Jesus Christ.

God can do amazing things in the church, outside it, and just about anywhere! We just need to find in our hearts to seek the Kingdom of God His righteousness and He because of Jesus who died for us lead the way!

 

Justice and Mercy- 5/15/16

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Am doing fairly well. Got a big dose of God’s leading and now there is the trust and giving to Him! 🙂

One of my favorite songs by Brian Wilson is “Love and Mercy.” It tells of how violence is in our culture, there is scary things going on in the news, and also people are isolating themselves and feeling alone.

It moves my heart to hear a song like this: to have love and even compassion. To reflect that kind of attitude and it happens to be from a great musical artist.

While I am not going to praise Brian I am only reflecting the fact that it is true that we sometimes we see awful things going on: there is homelessness, losing of jobs, violence, and even people who hurt. There are many in fact, all of us that yearn for something more in their lives.

Is how we feel towards them reflective of our hearts? How about if we yearn to live for God?

I got a dose of changing attitude this morning. At times I have felt like doing things for the Lord is like being holy or doing it for some kind of approval from God. Or something like that–

Sometimes I don’t know what I feel like, haha!

All I know is that to serve God with love and compassion toward others is done to only glorify God.

We as believers serve a righteous God but that does not make us righteous!

We as lovers in Christ only show love in Him because our sin was paid for by His blood.

We should only reflect His love but also show justice and mercy. I had wondered what that phrase meant too. Going home today I looked it up.

Justice and mercy. In Psalms 89:14, it says “Righteousness and justice are the foundation of Christ’s throne.”

“…Lovingkindness and truth go before Him.” (found this online by looking up the phrase “justice and mercy” from Bible) This is all in God’s Word, the Holy Bible Amen.

The church is not too late in telling others about God’s love and truth. To share of His love should not come with the wrong heart or attitude but in knowing the ultimate love of what Christ has done, has revived and changed your personal life, and you want to share of His love and mercy.

What justice He has shown us! We were sinners and Christ sent us His Son so that we would come to the truth that eternal life is found in Him and to live and trust in Him, keep us going in the way we can live.

Sure we will still fall down but God has endless mercy through His Son.

There are times where I’ve fallen apart and felt hopeless. There were times where I thought I didn’t want to be on this earth.

I’ve even (ashamedly) doubted God’s existence before… but I know now that my redeemer lives!

Through His just love we can turn from ways we have thought were the way or habits that were not right and in His strength we can come into place, emotionally but be restored spiritually by His love and tender mercy. We might become hopeless or that we have no reason in life, or are unsure of God.

I thought that way because that was a part of my sin nature. But I am heartbroken that there are people who think that everyday and don’t yet know God.

There is love and mercy to you and your friends you know today! There is seemingly endless joy you can experience here on earth and it is not found in the world but in Jesus Christ. Is that comforting? Amen!

God made right our relationship with Him by giving His Son Jesus for our penalty. He died and rose again bodily and lives today!

None of us deserve His love because none of us are righteous and have been tainted by our sin. But Jesus made a way so that we could find that place one day in Heaven and it is only in believing and trusting in what He did for You (and your friends).

It is so sweet to trust in Jesus, just to take Him as His word. Follow Him. Simple loving words. God blesses any moment you spend with Him (reading the bible for even five to ten minutes, just an example) because He loves you. How comforting is that?

We deserved swift justice but God made a way so we can live for Him.

How righteous and amazing He is! Love and mercy to all who will hear Amen.

 

 

 

 

Tight and Secure- 5/11/16

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It is nearly late, almost 5/12 so this might be inaccurate in a moment. Lately I have been going through tough stuff due to my disability. I was having tough things go on like  flashbacks and I nearly let fear and anxiety almost overwhelm me. I am getting better praise God and as long I look to Him in all ways, I can no longer feel discouraged. Praise God for Him and all the things He has taught me and so many others. Thank you Jesus.

Isn’t it tough to trust in God?

Let me rephrase that: isn’t it tough to trust in God because of our sin nature?

Sometimes doubt, being unhappy about our current state, depression, and loneliness get to us…. but none of those things are ideas the Lord gives us.

We can get wrapped in our own world, forgetting about the things that He has told us through His Word and from His people: that He’s always there, He knows the future, and He can meet us where we struggle. And we can trust in Him.

We can do that by holding fast as it says in the book of Philippians.

We are ensured the ability to be blessed by whatever we do for Him. God can do amazing things right now if you want to live for Jesus.

If one wants to live for Jesus what does one do? Well first of all, we have to remember that Christ died for our sin, that we cannot do anything in our power to be in Heaven because it was God that paid for it, not us.

It is God who shows us the way and we just simply need to accept His son into our hearts and we can believe and trust in Him. If we believe then we can be in Heaven because of God’s gift to us.

It was His great love that sent Him to the cross for our punishment. Jesus then rose again and is one day coming back.

There is hope and that is found in Jesus.

Amen?

So the words “hold fast”… I had wondered what that meant.

In the book of Philippians Paul addresses a church that has been disagreeing on certain things. He was wrote letters to the church of “Philippi” to tell them to be of one mind, a body of believers because they make up the body of Christ.

This group of people is united because of God’s love and Christ’s intercession for their sin. The church was fighting over differences in beliefs but what does God say? His word is true. We should know that always because sometimes our hearts even want to change what God says is true.

This kind of thing has been happening everywhere and even in the church today. It’s unfortunate but that is why defending what God says is important when talking to others about Him.

We live in a day and age that is vastly drifting from God and His love. Why are people doing this? Because their hearts are turning from Him.

We must not feel afraid if we want to share God’s Word with others but we must also do it with the right heart. We must stay grounded on God’s Word which is true, not take in the world’s values just to increase member numbers and just simply show the love of Jesus to each other.

Church love is great, I gotta tell ya. When I first came to a new church I wondered why people were so loving toward one another. I was eight and around then just accepted Christ. But as I grew more spiritually and saw that the lifeblood of the church was the “people” and not the “building” I couldn’t get enough of learning about Jesus. I have experienced times of great frustration, things that were going on in my life, and realized I could just give it up to God. I would go through so much some days but I would learn to be more like Christ every day.

A lot of this was because of a wonderful church of people holding onto the Word of truth and living in Christ.

We as a church must hold fast the word of life… but what does that mean?

“Hold fast” means to remain tightly secured.

I thought about a board and a drill fastens a screw into it. The board which is sturdy strong, built well (thank you God, hehe), and keeps that screw held on well.

That strong piece of wood ain’t going to let that screw go anywhere, as long as it doesn’t get removed by the drill for whatever reason. It is fastened there: firm, strong, and can’t be undone.

But sometimes we think “But what if God can’t impact my life?” or “What if these things happening right now are going on because there is no God?”

I say quench that thought from your mind and realize that He is in your heart today!

Sometimes Satan gets us into a corner. But sometimes it is us that makes us doubt and our hearts stray. Sometimes we do this by depending on what we feel (“I’m depressed… can I ever love?) and we crowd our minds with nonsense.

Circumstances also have us feel we should disregard God’s truths. But don’t be discouraged, you have a wonderful God by your side, and Jesus who can help you see a future in Him. Just trust obey, live it out and seek His truth.

Also share the Word with others, and don’t let discouraging words or verbal abuse get you down. Did you know you are blessed when that happens? Because you are like a screw fixed in a firm piece of wood, holding on to His truth.

Once you have Jesus in your life you are secure in Him and nothing you do can separate you from Him. God gave us Jesus to open the door to a relationship to Him.

His Word helps us and talking to Him can do wonderful things you might not see at the moment but, baby, if you’ve done it in the right heart God answers prayer you may not right now believe!

Remain tightly secure in what God says, what you want to do for Him and He can secure you a future. Amen.

 

 

Some tips for Moviemakers-Video by YT

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Just saw this and I think it’s perfect for anyone who needs tips on crafting good films. Because of this video I got an idea on a way to punch up a script I hadn’t put down yet. He says about avoiding clichĂ© like having the first scene be the character waking up. This can be a good idea if used right (if it’s integral to the story) but if it is only because it’s the beginning it shouldn’t have to happen.

Before I show this video I want to give you my tips (some might already be in the vid but still) if you want read it. One. If you want to make a good film story or transfer a short-story you’ve written into one you must show visuals and make them a little more important than dialogue scenes. People love dialogue but if yours isn’t that interesting or goes on too long people will not stay invested in anything else you have to say. Two. Avoid putting in scenes that are not important. Because pacing is key to keeping the rhythm of a film and if you don’t keep it well-balanced again you will lose your audience.

Okay it’s all I can think of right now. I only think of this stuff because of hours of watching behind-the-scenes features of films and also hearing  audio commentaries. If you haven’t done that before and you want advice, it is great stuff to check out!

Wow, everything I said is in some way in the video. This has loads more tips though so check it out!!!

Top 15 Mistakes Beginner Filmmakers Make

And to let you guys know, sorry I have still to make more articles this year. I started one and will scrap it because it isn’t as informative as I expect it to be so that one might not happen. (though the one I hinted of last is not the one I’m planning on excising. It was a draft a few weeks back, so the one I spoke of might occur soon!)

I plan on making at least a film review (maybe even covering a trilogy!) so keep your eyes peeled for that.

Take care and God bless!

 

 

I’m back! Striving forward- 2/1/16

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Yep I’m back! Happy to be posting again. It has been a long ride from my perspective (emotionally anyway) and I just wanted to say before posting a new article soon an update on how I’m doing.

I have been going through complicated emotions stemming from feelings of insecurity, being unsure of my future, and depression just to name a few. I was afraid if I encouraged you guys with that heart I wouldn’t be speaking from a follower of Jesus and that I would mislead people because it wasn’t done in the spirit.

As you see I am trying to take this blog seriously! Just being afraid of saying something off might be an admittance to “trying for perfection” (which might be a hint for an article coming soon) but I hope not.

Is everyone doing good? I hope so. For me I yearn to strive forward and not look back (if only to keep people from heading down the wrong path) and I hope you are willing to stay with me along the way.

 

 

 

 

 

Book Review- Scream by Mike Dellosso

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What if death and hell stared you in the face?

For Mark Stone it had come close enough. Every time he had a phone line conversation with another soul, it was interrupted by terrifying voices. A cacophony of screams. What was this and how come the one he spoke to would have their line cut out before their untimely death?

This throws the idea of death and peril into Mark’s mind as this curse, this vision makes him race against the clock. Then he realizes that it is inevitable with his own power.

And then death gets personal.

This was a great and clever book. I like that this book doesn’t make light of making the Christian themes in it as some writers would (or some do now as time passes and they find a more mainstream audience). It also gives us terror of what can be a possibility of other people’s fates.

It doesn’t have to be this way for people to be separate from the love of Christ as the characters know including a Christian female cop. There is evil within the themes of this book but also the chance of salvation and love on the other side all given a tough to put down narrative. I hope people who have read this (but wouldn’t be surprised if it has happened) will feel the want to minister to others for Christ. I think the message is that powerful here in this book.

And also Dellosso’s way of writing kept me glued to the pages with its flawed characters, suspenseful and terrifying situations, and enough twists that will make you quit guessing. You are just in it to learn the going on of this main character and another person seemingly apart from the main story but it doesn’t lose its interest.

I found this second piece of the story uneven at first but as time with the book goes on getting further into the mysteries of this person with unknown true intentions, it became a separate highlight as well.

While Christian fiction rarely finds an audience or a workable narrative adapted for film, I wish this was a movie. Come on, Three and House jumped on the celluloid bandwagon so my wonder is why this true Christian Horror story hasn’t come along for the theater ride?

Movie Review- A Charlie Brown Christmas

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Television special: Not rated

Rating: 3 stars out of five.

Review: What makes this one-hour special so charming? Is it the light and pleasant score mostly on piano? Could it be the humble voice-over “actors” who had never done such work before? Is it …. well, just Snoopy?

The answer may be all of the above as we watch the famous “Peanuts” crew on-screen for the first time. This would be the debut but be followed by many specials that Charles Schultz would work with animators and producers to bring out more featuring the title character and the gang.

I can’t pick more than a few favorites in this sweet but short mini-movie. I love (as well as many others) the antics of the walking-dancing beagle Snoopy, the frantic dancing of the kids whose looping movements make it entertaining as well as hard to glance away from, and the overall simple but effective art style.

A part that especially tugs on my heart-strings is Charlie’s plight to find a Christmas tree for their play. He goes far out to the sea of Aluminum trees (apparently too “commercial” for his taste) and ends up seeking what he didn’t expect. A lowly sapling. He talks about how he doesn’t think it’s too bad even though there are gorgeous huge trees in the midst of the selection but he picks it anyway.

I don’t exactly know why but that moment has made me misty-eyed almost every time (the first times I saw it I was too young to experience those kinds of emotions I guess :P). That and when Linus bravely pierces commercialism and tells loud and clear the true meaning of Christmas I feel are two big highlights (Note: Even at the time this was first released Linus’s speech was considered too controversial and the following year the special was aired it had been excised, causing viewers to be upset enough it was put back and its in that form to this day).

Now I know this is not a perfect little film. Seeing it recently I realized I didn’t find the unprofessional actors as charming as I did before though that wasn’t too much of a complaint. Another thing I found strange was Charlie’s constant ranting about how commercial the celebration had become. Now I don’t mind that it ends up revealing a message but him saying that word over and over again just felt nearly annoying.

Other than that this is a great special, a poignant portrayal of Schultz’s beloved characters, and a personal tradition of mine. I love to watch out for this on t.v. every year. And I wouldn’t be surprised if you do too.

Mission for Gratefulness-11/23/14

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I hope I am not doing this just for the coming tradition of Thanksgiving. I don’t know my own heart sometimes. God lead me on this…

Did you know where you live and breathe their might be missionaries all around you? The word “missionary” does not have to deal with just a person who for God in a country or a land they have to get a plane to do the will of God. It’s funny how much we do that sometimes. Maybe we rely on our pastors to be the only ones who “spread the gospel” that phrase being too “ironic” here. Or we go out and have a view point that says, “God knows where these people are. I don’t have to witness because …” fill in the blank for that one.

If we don’t do the commandment that God has attributed to all of us that have become believers out of his grace we do not deserve is that ungrateful of us?

Maybe you just need to adjust your heart when it concerns witnessing or telling others what you believe in hopes they want to receive it.

How do you view being this messenger? Do you have a burden that makes you feel guilty every time you don’t share the message? Do you become afraid of being teased (which is just as bad as being killed for it right? Not really) because you are a believer so you are glad in not telling others about Jesus?

God does not help us if we just sit on our hands and not do what we ought to do. Also God does not speak to us if we don’t read His word. He is glad we spend ANY moment with Him by the bible or by praying or when we share with others, let’s say what we learned about in church to the curious. That gets us blessed when we do that but more importantly God gets to use you for His kingdom as small or as seemingly unimportant those times may seem to us.

And it is so good for us to tell others of the gospel. You know while we were still sinners we must know that Christ died for us. We must remember that God did what He did not so that we could think that our works will get us to heaven (Who got us to heaven?), or that we should get praise and that makes it the only worthwhile reason to do those actions, but that we were deserving of punishment and hell… yet He sent His son who was man and God to die in our place on the cross!

Think about a sacrificial lamb. People believed in God through that. As long as they kept the focus on God during those times they would know God but the ultimate sacrifice which was THE all end all sacrifices Jesus we have power by His grace.

This isn’t just simply believing in God. This is knowing Christ died for us that we, though we don’t deserve His grace (at least I don’t) He died so that we would live. And also that we can learn love by a relationship with Him; our sin separated us His Son bridged the gap that kept us from going to hell and to give us an eternal place in Heaven.

I’d say that is more than enough to be grateful this Thanksgiving. I can give not enough and I hope I never feel it is not enough to give for Christ and just live by walking in Him.

You know when you avoid witnessing you are really missing out? There are wonderful things that can happen as a result and the best one is that glory always, no matter whether your sharing went well or seemingly “unsuccessful” comes to God. His word never comes back void.

And another thing I want to divulge on health. Avoiding witnessing will not do anything to your physical health (you might think “Whew, this is a load off my back!” and think that stress and feelings about having the thought to tell others is now gone) but it will be bad spiritually. Satan might let you be in your comfortable stage but spiritually you are missing out on the blessings of the Lord. Physically you might not get hurt but spiritually you will “die” of starvation!

Let’s give to the mission. Be missionaries of God not to get credit or admiration but out of the gratefulness in the wondrous Savior we collectively share.

Have a wonderful holiday.