Coram Deo ~

Looking at contemporary culture from a Christian worldview

Monthly Archives: October 2016


by Leave a comment

THIS & THAT and Favorite Quotes of the Week

this.n.that-small

IN THE NEWS:

Andy Stanley

Andy Stanley

Courtesy of World Magazine

Courtesy of World Magazine

Continue reading →


by 2 Comments

What Grieving People Wish You Knew about What Really Helps (and What Really Hurts)

what-grieving-people-wish-you-knewBook Review ~ What Grieving People Wish You Knew about What Really Helps (and What Really Hurts) by Nancy Guthrie. Crossway. 192 pages. 2016
****

I can’t recall reading a more helpful and practical book as the latest from Nancy Guthrie.   I was aware of the author as a teacher that the women in my church respect, but the topic grabbed my attention.  This book came at just the right time – you see, our family lost a loved one just over four months ago. Grief hits everyone differently. I saw that with my family when I lost my Mom twenty years ago, and again recently as I lost my father-in-law. This book was exactly what I needed to effectively be able to minister to family members who are grieving, and it’s going to be extremely helpful for all who read it and are the beneficiaries of the wisdom contained within.

The book is dedicated to the thousands of GriefShare facilitators in churches. I was familiar with GriefShare, as a family member is currently benefitting from a GriefShare group and several family members are receiving their daily encouraging email each morning.

The author and her husband are not strangers to grief, having lost two small children. Since those losses, she has interacted with many grieving people. She asked them to tell her what others said or did for them that was especially helpful or meaningful in the midst of grief. She asked them what they wish those around them had understood about their grief. She has incorporated what those grieving people told her throughout this book. Her hope for the book, which I certainly found to be the case, is that we will find ideas and encouragement and be emboldened to engage instead of avoid, the grieving people who are all around us and are waiting for someone to interact with them about the loss of their loved one.  I found in these pages many helpful things to say (and not to say) with those who are grieving, and to do (and not to do) with those who are grieving. There are just too many helpful suggestions included in the book. You just have to read (and highlight) those suggestions and examples for yourself.

The author concludes this helpful and practical book with a few questions that often arise concerning how to comfort the grieving and her suggested answers. She also shares suggested Scriptures to share with those who are grieving, many of which are from the Psalms.

I highly recommend this book for all, as we will all face grief ourselves as well as be in situations where we are ministering to family, friends, co-workers and church members who are grieving. This is one of my top books of the year.

nancy-guthrie

Memorable Quotes from the Book

Here are 25 great quotes from Nancy Guthrie’s excellent new book What Grieving People Wish You Knew about What Really Helps (and What Really Hurts), one of the top books I’ve read this year:

  1. The first and most important thing I have to tell you is this: It matters less what you say than that you say something.
  2. Don’t hesitate to approach someone because you think it has been too long since his or her loved one died so that they’ve probably moved on and wouldn’t want to talk about it anymore. The reality is more likely to be the opposite.
  3. Even if you come up with the perfect thing to say (as if there is such a thing), it simply won’t fix the hurt or solve the problem of the people who are grieving. Really, there is nothing you can say that will make their loss hurt less. It’s going to hurt for a while. Your purpose in saying something is to enter into the hurt with them and let them know they are not alone.
  4. Grieving people are not expecting you to make the pain go away. They’re really just hoping that you will be willing to hurt with them. That’s what makes a great friend in the midst of grief!
  5. Don’t assume you know what someone else is feeling.
  6. Grieving people don’t need us to tell them what to do. They are not looking for advice unless they ask for it. They do, however, need caring, wise, close-by friends to talk with them about decisions that need to be made in a time when it is hard to think straight.
  7. A person who is sad doesn’t necessarily need to be cheered up but needs time, space, and permission to simply be sad for a while.
  8. Don’t tell them they need to move on. There is no timeline for grief, no appropriate or reasonable time frame for being really sad.
  9. I said the most typical thing people say to grieving people. And the minute I said it, I wished I hadn’t. I should know better. Here’s what I said, or more accurately, what I asked: “How are you?” Many grieving people say they simply hate the question.
  10. The reality of grief is that sometimes right after the loss we feel strong, but as time passes and the dailyness of life without the loved one settles in, we feel weak and weepy. And it can be awkward to talk about.
  11. I noted two things in particular that grieving people told me over and over again that they really want people to say to them. First, grieving people long to hear stories about the person who died and specific things she said or did that were meaningful and memorable. The second thing people told me they really want people to say to them—and this may be the most powerful way you can bring comfort to someone who is grieving—is to keep saying the name of the person who died.
  12. If I had to boil down the message of this entire book to just two words, these two would probably cover it: show up. Or, to put it another way, don’t disappear; don’t avoid. Enter in. Engage.
  13. The truth is, most people process grief through talking.
  14. We have to earn the right to laugh around or with our grieving friends. We earn that right by being willing to weep with them, by demonstrating and perhaps telling them outright that we are well aware of the load of grief they are carrying and that we don’t assume it is going to be dealt with quickly.
  15. What grieving people really need is a few friends who make it clear that they intend to show up and help out, not just in an initial spurt of effort but over the long haul.
  16. When we’ve lost someone we love, we have a hard time understanding how the earth can keep spinning and people can keep doing the daily things of life since it seems that everything about our world has changed. We want the world to stop and take notice.
  17. There is nothing like getting handwritten notes and cards in the mail. Nothing.
  18. I have come to think that one of the gifts given to us in the death of someone we love is that we think more about eternal things. We are awakened to the reality that this life is not all there is.
  19. In addition to the broad assumption that pretty much everybody goes to heaven or at least people who haven’t done anything really bad go to heaven, there is broad misunderstanding of what heaven really is.
  20. One book I’ve come across communicates like no other these truths about heaven and how they can make a difference to the grieving person—the only one I’ve bought in bulk to give to people—is Grieving, Hope and Solace. It is a beautiful book to give to someone in the midst of grief, written by Albert Martin following the death of his wife, Marilyn.
  21. Paul commanded us to comfort one another with the truth of the resurrection yet to come. Surely this reality should impact the words we use as we seek to comfort those who are grieving the death of someone they love who died in Christ.
  22. Our culture wants to put the Band-Aid of heaven on the hurt of losing someone we love. Sometimes it seems like the people around us think that because we know the one we love is in heaven, we shouldn’t be sad. But they don’t understand how far away heaven feels, and how long the future seems as we see before us the years we have to spend on this earth before we see the one we love again.
  23. Sometimes grieving people are told that they shouldn’t be sad, because the person they love is now in heaven. But such a remark ignores the deep pain and intense loneliness the grieving feel. There is room to be both deeply joyful that the deceased loved one is in the presence of God while also deeply sad that he or she is no longer sharing day-to-day life on this earth.
  24. To tell those working their way through grief that something must be wrong with them since they are still so sad suggests not only that they are doing this grief thing wrong but that the person who died really wasn’t worth being this sad over, in this way, for this long.
  25. It is our grief that keeps us feeling close to the person who died. There is a sweetness to the misery in that when we are thinking about that person, shedding tears over the loss, it actually helps us to feel closer to him or her.


by 1 Comment

MOVIE REVIEW – QUEEN OF KATWE

queen-of-katweQueen of Katwe, rated PG
**** 

This delightful film from Disney is directed by Mira Nair. She decided to make this feature film after making a documentary about the life of Robert Katende, the coach who trained the subject of this film. The screenplay is written by William Wheeler and is based on Tim Crothers’ book The Queen of Katwe: A Story of Life, Chess, and One Extraordinary Girl’s Dream of Becoming a Grandmaster. The film tells the remarkable real-life story of Phiona Mutesi.  

The film begins in 2007. Phiona, played by the impressive newcomer Madina Nalwanga, lives in the slums of Katwe in Kampala, Uganda with her mother Nakku Harriet, who is played by Oscar winner (Best Actress for 12 Years a Slave) Lupita Nyong’o, brothers Mugabi Brian (Martin Kabanza) and Richard (Ivan Jacobo),  and sister Night (Taryn Kyaze). Phiona’s father is gone, and Nakku is struggling to make ends meet. Phiona and her brother sell ears of corn (maize) that Nakku has purchased earlier to passing cars on Katwe’s crowded streets each day. Some days they all eat and some days they don’t. Phiona doesn’t go to school because her mother can’t afford the tuition. We see Phiona’s older sister Night seek to escape the extreme poverty of her family by entering into prostitution, to the sadness of her mother.

One day, Phiona and her brother providentially come across the Pioneers Chess Club, a part of the Sports Outreach Program, run by the Agape Sanctuary Ministry. The club is led by soccer-playing Robert Katende, called “Coach”, played by David Oyelowo, a fine actor who delivered a strong performance as Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. in Selma. Phiona develops a passion and has a natural talent for chess. Soon, she is competing and beating the club’s best players.

Nyong’o, as a single mother, is suspicious of the chess club. Her concerns grow as Phiona begins to travel to chess tournaments. During this time, we see Coach becoming a father figure to Phiona.

The film shows us a grim picture of the streets of Uganda in all their poverty, thanks to cinematographer Sean Bobbitt (12 Years a Slave). The film includes some excellent music and costumes. We also see some wonderful shots of the children reacting to a world they had never seen before (flying, swimming in a pool, enjoying ketchup and seeing snow). I missed out on the many scenes depicting Phiona’s chess matches because I don’t know anything about the game of chess.  It would have added a rich layer to this wonderful film.

The film shows the importance of family, and how Nakku as a single mother will not compromise, even in the most trying circumstances. The film is about finding hope in these circumstances. Several times, moves in chess are used for metaphors in life. I appreciated the positive manner in which this film portrays Christianity.

This was a highly enjoyable film, led by the strong acting performances of Nyong’o, Oyelowo and Nalwanga. Highly recommended.


by Leave a comment

MOVIE REVIEW ~ Deepwater Horizon

deepwater-horizonDeepwater Horizon, rated PG-13
***

This film is directed by Peter Berg (Lone Survivor and the upcoming Patriots Day, about the bombing at the 2013 Boston Marathon, which both also star Mark Walhberg).  It is based on the well-publicized actual events that occurred on April 20, 2010, about 40 miles off of the Louisiana coast in the Gulf of Mexico. A special oil rig was built just for this film, located in Chalmette, Louisiana where filming mostly took place. It is considered to be the largest set piece ever constructed.

Mark Wahlberg portrays Chief Electrical Engineer Mike Williams. He’s a loving husband to wife Felicia (Kate Hudson, whose stepfather in real life is Kurt Russell. This was their first time working together), and daughter Sydney (Stella Allen). We see Mike say goodbye to his family for a 21-day tour on the offshore drilling rig Deepwater Horizon. Kurt Russell plays “Mister Jimmy”, the respected General Operational Supervisor.  Once Mike and Mister Jimmy reach the Deepwater Horizon, they encounter British Petroleum (BP) executives, including Donald Vidrine, played by John Malkovich. The drilling operation is already 43 days behind, and thus an important concrete test is not completed. We also see many items on the ship (phone system, etc.) not working properly. Early in the film there is a lot of technical talk related to drilling that most viewers will not be familiar with. But quickly we get the feeling that Vidrine and BP are all about the bottom line, and there is little concern for safety. This will soon have disastrous effects.

We are also introduced to other characters, such as Andrea Fleytas (Gina Rodriguez), but much of the film focuses on the heroics of Mike Williams as we see him put other people ahead of his own personal safety.

This is an intense disaster film with an estimated budget of $110 million.  The depiction of what goes wrong on the Deepwater Horizon is realistic and terrifying.  There is water, mud, oil and then quickly fire everywhere. Even though the plot is predictable and shown in the previews, this movie kept our interest and is worth seeing for the depiction of teamwork, courage and self-sacrifice.  There is a significant amount of adult language, including the abuse of Jesus’ and God’s names included in this PG-13 film, but it could easily be rated R. The film also includes a scene where the survivors kneel and recite the Lord’s Prayer together.

Most will already know that this disaster resulted in 11 people losing their lives and was the largest oil spill in the history of the petroleum industry and the biggest environmental disaster in U.S. history. Over the course of 87 days, about 200 million gallons of crude oil would flow into the Gulf. It’s estimated that British Petroleum’s (BP) cost for the clean-up, environmental and economic damages and penalties has reached $54 billion.   So much for cutting corners on safety due to concerns for the bottom line.

You may also be interested in director Peter Berg’s article The ‘Well from Hell’ – My Fight with BP to Film Deepwater Horizon, on what he went through to make the movie. 


by Leave a comment

MOVIE REVIEW~ THE BIRTH OF A NATION

the-birth-of-a-nationThe Birth of a Nation, rated R
****

This powerful film about Nat Turner is written, directed by and stars Nate Parker. He wrote the screenplay based on a story he wrote with Jean McGianni Celestin. Parker worked on the film for seven years, which was shot on location in Savannah, Georgia over just 27 days. This is the first film he has directed, and it won the Audience Award and Grand Jury Prize in the U.S. Dramatic Competition at the 2016 Sundance Film Festival.  Parker put up $100,000 of his own money toward the budget of approximately $10 million.  Parker takes the title of the film from a 1915 KKK propaganda film of the same name.

Turner was a Virginia born slave. In an early scene we see him as a young boy being referred to as a prophet. We see scenes of his childhood on a cotton plantation in Southampton County, owned by the white Turner family, from whom Nate took his surname. Unlike most slaves, when he was young, Turner (the young Turner is played by Tony Espinosa) was allowed to read and play with the Turner heir Samuel (the young Samuel played by Griffin Freeman, later played by Armie Hammer). Elizabeth Turner, his female slave owner (Penelope Ann Miller) cared for him and allowed him to read only the Bible. As he grew up on the plantation Turner became a preacher to the slaves.

As an adult, Nat continues his friendship with his now master Samuel. He convinces Samuel to buy a young slave Cherry (Aja Naomi King), who Nat will fall in love with, marry and have a daughter. Of note, the real-life Turner never mentioned having a wife in his writings.

Amid rumors of insurrection and violence, the less than respectable Reverend Walthall (Mark Boone Jr.) convinces the financially struggling Samuel to rent Nat out to other plantation owners as a visiting preacher, with the intent to show the slaves that the Bible teaches a gospel of peace and that they should obey their masters.  Samuel, who is in fear of losing his farm and drinking heavily, shamelessly takes up the Reverend on his offer.

The film contains a noteworthy amount of positively portrayed Christian content and also shows how Scripture can be misused and distorted by evil people. It includes a significant and graphic amount of violence, especially the last part of the film. It also includes several uses of the word “n-gger”, the abuse of God’s name and two brief scenes of nudity.

SPOILER ALERT!

Nat never strays from his strong belief in God as he sees and experiences physical and sexual abuse of slaves – including his own wife; in reading the Old Testament about the wrath of God he is driven to revenge/taking justice into his own hands.

With the ongoing racial issues in our country now 185 years after the events in this film, this is undoubtedly a very important film, especially given Cherry’s statement to Nat “They’re killing people everywhere for no reason at all but being black”. The brutality of the violence depicted will certainly be enough to keep some away, and that’s a shame. Parker’s acting performance is worthy of an Oscar nomination. I don’t know how accurate his depiction of Turner’s story is; that’s worthy of further research. The 1831 rebellion Nat Turner led over a 48-hour period resulted in the deaths of more than 60 white slaveholders and their families. But in the hysterical climate that followed the rebellion, close to 200 black people were murdered by white mobs, some of whom were already free and many of whom had nothing to do with the rebellion.

Despite the fact that this is a brutal film and a difficult one to watch, I believe that this is a film that everyone should consider seeing.


by Leave a comment

MUSIC REVIEWS and NEWS

music-review

i-still-doI Still Do – Eric Clapton
****

I Still Do is the 71 year-old Eric Clapton’s 23rd (and perhaps last) solo studio album. Clapton has said that he “kind of might be saying goodbye” here. Much of the excitement about this release was around Clapton reuniting with veteran producer Glyn Johns, who produced Clapton’s classic 1977 album Slowhand and 1978’s Backless. The album features mostly cover songs with some new material written by Clapton. The cover is a painting of Clapton by Sir Peter Blake, who previously provided artwork for Clapton’s 1991 live album 24 Nights, and is best known for co-creating the famous cover design for the Beatles Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band album. There has also been a lot of attention around a mysterious guest on “I Will Be There”. More about that later.
The band includes Clapton, Henry Spinetti, who has played with George Harrison and Paul McCartney among others, on drums and percussion, Dave Bronze on bass, Andy Fairweather Low on guitar, Paul Carrack on Hammond Organ, Chris Stainton on keyboards, Simon Climie on keyboards and guitar, Dirk Powell on accordion, Walt Richmond on keyboards and Angelo Mysterioso on acoustic guitar and vocals on “I Will Be There”.
Here are a few comments about each song on this fine album:
Alabama Woman Blues – an excellent slow blues version of Leroy Carr’s 1930 recording, featuring guitar, piano, organ and accordion.
Can’t Let You Do It – this is a J.J. Cale song that Cale’s wife Christine provided to Clapton on a CD of his unreleased songs after Cale’s funeral. It has a “Lay Down Sally” guitar sound. Features some good backing vocals, accordion and organ.
I Will Be There – this song features Angelo Mysterioso on acoustic guitar and vocals. Much has been made of this as the name is very close to L’Angelo Misterioso, a pseudonym used by George Harrison when he recorded anonymously, including with Clapton when he was in Cream on the song “Badge”. This led to speculation that the song would include vocals from Harrison, which Clapton has denied. However, could the vocals and guitar be from Harrison’s son Dhani? The lyrics could serve as a tribute to Clapton’s relationship with George.
Spiral – an original slow blues song, it features the line “You don’t know how much this means to have this music in me”.
Catch The Blues – an original song that has a light Latin feel with nice guitars and female vocals. He sings that he has been living in a world of pain. One of my least favorite track on the album however.
Cypress Grove – a cover of Delta Blues artist Skip James, who died in 1969. This slow blues song features some excellent accordion work by Powell.
Little Man, You’ve Had a Busy Day – This tender lullaby shows off Clapton’s tender voice and features acoustic guitar. The song was written by Mabel Wayne, Al Hoffman and Maurice Sigler and first recorded by Elsie Carlisle in 1934.
Stones In My Passway – a Delta Blues song that Robert Johnson recorded in 1937. Features some excellent guitar as well as Powell’s accordion.
I Dreamed I Saw St. Augustine – an excellent cover of Dylan’s song from his 1967 album John Wesley Harding album, again features Powell’s accordion, some tasty guitar and good backing vocals.
I’ll Be Alright – this is a version of the traditional hymn “We Shall Overcome”. Features excellent backing vocals and guitar.
Somebody’s Knockin’ – this is another slow blues J.J. Cale song that Cale’s wife provided to Clapton on that CD of his unreleased songs after Cale’s funeral. Clapton has used this song to open his concerts in recent years. Features some excellent guitar and piano and organ.
I’ll Be Seeing You – This beautiful rendition of a post-war standard popularized by Billie Holiday, takes on special meaning if this is indeed the last song on his last studio album. Features soft percussion, piano and acoustic guitar and Clapton’s tender vocal.
music news

  • chris-tomlin-pre-orderthe-destination-tourNever Lose Sight. You can pre-order Chris Tomlin’s new album Never Lose Sight, which will be released October 21, beginning September 23.
  • NEEDTOBREATHE on Conan. NEEDTOBREATHE performed “Money & Fame” from their chart-topping album HARD LOVE on Conan September 12.
  • You Know It. Watch the new music video for “You Know It” from Derek Minor from his new album Reflection.
  • Lecrae: The Destination Tour. Lecrae is promising some new music and tour. Look for a concert near you on his new The Destination Tour.

Quotes of the Weekchris-tomlin-quote

  • A cross meant to kill is my victory. Crowder   
  • Count your blessings not your failures. Lecrae
  • Sin doesn’t make friends, it takes captives. So don’t flirt with it. Flee it. Trip Lee
  • No, they did not take his life–he laid it down. And the chains of death could never hope to hold him, so in the night my hope lives on. Andrew Peterson

Song of the Week

My Victory from Crowder 

This song was first included on the Passion band album Salvation’s Tide is Rising earlier this year. It’s one of my favorite songs of the year. Listen to a live version here.

Here are the powerful lyrics to the song:

You came for criminals and every Pharisee
You came for hypocrites, even one like me
You carried sin and shame the guilt of every man
The weight of all I’ve done nailed into Your hands

Oh, Your love bled for meAmerican Prodigal Crowder
 Oh, Your blood in crimson streams
Oh, Your death is hell’s defeat
A cross meant to kill is my victory

Oh, Your amazing grace, I’ve seen and tasted it
It’s running through my veins
I can’t escape its grip in You my soul is safe
You uncover everything

Oh, Your love bled for me
Oh, Your blood in crimson streams
Oh, Your death is hell’s defeat
A cross meant to kill is my victory

Behold the Lamb of God
Who takes away our sin, who takes away our sin
The holy Lamb of God
Makes us alive again
Makes us alive again

Oh, Your love bled for me
Oh, Your blood in crimson streams
Oh, Your death is hell’s defeat
A cross meant to kill is my victory


by Leave a comment

BOOK REVIEWS and NEWS

Book Reviews

the-chief-exercise-of-prayer-by-john-calvinThe Chief Exercise of Faith: John Calvin on Prayer (From The Institutes) by John Calvin. Cross-Points.org. 84 pages. 2016
****

This small book is an excerpt of Henry Beveridge’s 1845 translation of John Calvin’s classic work Institutes of the Christian Religion, Book 3, Chapter 20. The book is broken down into 52 individual sections. As an example, Section 2 is on prayer defined, its necessity and use.

Calvin covers many aspects of prayer in this short but exhaustive book on prayer. Here are ten of the topics or thoughts from Calvin that I highlighted as I read the book:

  1. The true object of prayer is to carry our thoughts directly to God, whether to celebrate his praise or implore his aid.
  2. God is to be invoked only in the name of Christ. We pray to God in the name of Christ alone.
  3. The Lord’s Prayer contains everything that we can or ought to ask of God.
  4. The rules of prayer. Let the first rule of right prayer then be, to have our heart and mind framed as becomes those who are entering into converse with God.
  5. One of the requisites of legitimate prayer is repentance.
  6. The suppression of all pride. He who comes into the presence of God to pray must divest himself of all vainglorious thoughts, lay aside all idea of worth; in short, discard all self- confidence, humbly giving God the whole glory, lest by arrogating anything, however little, to himself, vain pride cause him to turn away his face.
  7. The laws of prayer. It is also of importance to observe, that the four laws of prayer of which I have treated are not so rigorously enforced, as that God rejects the prayers in which he does not find perfect faith or repentance, accompanied with fervent zeal and wishes duly framed.
  8. Christ is the only Mediator between God and man. It is manifest sacrilege to offer prayer to others.
  9. The principle we must always hold is, that in all prayer, public and private, the tongue without the mind must be displeasing to God.
  10. An exposition of the Lord’s Prayer, which is divided into six petitions. Subdivision into two principal parts, the former referring to the glory of God, the latter to our salvation.

There is much wisdom from Calvin about the subject of prayer in these pages. Highly recommended. Continue reading →


by 1 Comment

THIS & THAT and Favorite Quotes of the Week

this.n.that-small

CHRISTIAN LIVING & LEARNING

  • The Biggest Temple in Town. David Mathis writes “For those of us who claim Jesus as Lord and also get hyped about our favorite teams, we need a regular soul-check. And especially at the onset of football season.”
  • Whatever is False, Whatever is Dishonorable, Whatever is Unjust… Tim Challies writes “The battle for holiness is first a battle to flood your mind and heart with the right things, the best things, and why it’s equally a battle to avoid flooding your mind and heart with the wrong things, the worst things.”
  • What Does TV Say About Sex? Stephen WitmerStephen WitmerStephen WitmerStephen Whitmer writes “Everyone’s saying something about sex these days. The question is not only who are we listening to, but what are we saying?”
  • How to Overcome Satan’s Temptations. J.D. Greear writes “If we know a little about Satan’s tactics, we can have much more confidence when he attacks.”
  • Endless, Bottomless, Boundless Grace and Compassion. Sinclair Ferguson writes “What is paramount and striking in Owen’s thinking is that being a Christian involves a deep affection for Christ. He is a person to be known, admired, and loved.”
  • Trusting God for Decision-Making Peace. Scotty Smith prays “Father, thank you for teaching us that life isn’t primarily about making the right decisions, but trusting the right Lord—and that is Jesus.”
  • God Has Planned Your Glory. John Piper writes “God has told us amazing things about our future, because he wants us to be amazed.”
  • What God Does With Your Sin. Tim Challies writes “So, what does God do with your sin? He throws it behind his back, drowns it in the sea, treads it underfoot, blots it out, forgets it, removes it, covers it, takes it away, cancels it, washes it, and forgives it.”
  • 3 Ways Spurgeon Conquered His Secret Sin. Christian George writes that Charles Spurgeon’s “secret sin — his “darling” sin — was pride.”
  • Does Prayer Change God’s Mind?C. Sproul writes “We pray because God commands us to pray, because it glorifies Him, and because it benefits us.”
  • If God is Sovereign, Why Pray?C. Sproul writes “Prayer, like everything else in the Christian life, is for God’s glory and for our benefit, in that order.”
  • 10 Things You Should Know about Persecution. Tim Keesee, founder and executive director of Frontline Missions International, offers this contribution in Crossway’s “10 Things You Should Know” series.
  • A Mourner’s Thoughts on Sickness, Sorrow, Pain and Death. Scott Sauls writes “My fellow mourners, come and mourn with me awhile. Let’s weep and wail and lament and protest together, as far as the curse is found. But let’s not do so as those who are without hope, but rather as those who know how The Story ends.”
  • Conflict is an Opportunity. Erik Raymond writes “Conflict can drive us apart or close, depending on whether or not we apply the gospel.”
  • The Preciousness of Heaven. John MacArthur writes “In reality, everything that is truly precious to us as Christians is in heaven.”
  • I Will Build My Church. My pastor, Robert Smart, is preaching through the book of Matthew. Here’s a wonderful sermon on the church from Matthew 16:1-12.
  • Why Did John the Baptist Call Israel to be Baptized? Watch this short video excerpt from R.C. Sproul’s teaching series What Did Jesus Do?, in which he explains why John the Baptist called the whole nation of Israel to be baptized.
tebow-photo

Sad, but True

Continue reading →


by Leave a comment

MOVIE REVIEW ~ Miss Peregrine’s Home for Peculiar Children

miss-peregrines-home-for-peculiar-childrenMiss Peregrine’s Home for Peculiar Children, rated PG-13
***

This film, directed by two-time Oscar nominee Tim Burton, is his first since 2014’s Big Eyes. It is based on the popular 2011 young adult novel of the same name by author Ransom Riggs. Riggs has released three books in the series. The screenplay is written by Jane Goldman (X-Men: First Class, Kingsman: The Secret Service).

The film is about a teenage boy, Jake Portman, who is played by Asa Butterfield (Hugo, Ender’s Game). He lives in Florida, and doesn’t have a close relationship with his parents, played by Chris O’Dowd and Kim Dickens, but is very close to his grandfather Abraham, played by Oscar nominee (for 1963’s Billy Budd), Terence Stamp.

Jake has long heard his Grandpa’s stories about a house with “special children” just before he joined the British army for World War II. He has shown Jake mysterious old photographs, but doesn’t really want to talk too much about them. When Grandpa mysteriously dies, Jake’s father takes him to an island off the coast of Wales, the site of Grandpa’s stories, so that Jake can put those silly stories to rest and move on with his life. The house used in the film is an actual house, and can be found near Antwerp, Belgium.

The house that Grandpa told Jake about was hit by German bombs on September 3, 1943. When Jake and his Dad arrive, they find only the bombed out shell of the building remaining. However, when Jake sneaks back to the home on his own, he is able to enter a portal, or a loop, that takes him back to 1943. It’s there he finds the incredible place that his Grandpa told him about. It is run by Miss Peregrine, played by Golden Globe nominee (for Penny Dreadful), Eva Green, who worked with Burton on his 2012 film Dark Shadows. Burton has described Miss Peregrine as “a scary Mary Poppins”. She has the ability to turn into a falcon and to manipulate time via time loops. This allows her to keep the house and children safe. No one ages, and they are always in the same day of the same year.

There are also monsters, called Hollows that hunt down the peculiar children in the house for their eyes. The leader of the Hollows is the scary Barron, who is well-played by Samuel L. Jackson.

Miss Peregrine’s house has an interesting and odd collection of children, including Emma, played by Ella Purnell, whose peculiarity is air, and who needs to wear weighted boots to keep from flying away; and Enoch, played by Finlay MacMillan, who can bring things to life. Jake falls for Emma, who ironically also had a relationship with Jake’s Grandpa before the house was bombed some seventy years ago.

One of our best actresses, Dame Judi Dench, seven-time Oscar nominee and one-time winner, plays Miss Avocet. Unfortunately, she has a very small role, and her vast talents are largely wasted in this film.

The film is rated PG-13 for some intense sequences of fantasy action/violence and peril, which will be too scary for young children. Director Tim Burton effectively uses special effects to show the peculiarities of the children, and a late in the film clash with the Hollows had the most Burtonesque look. There was also one completely unnecessary abuse of God’s name included in the film.