Do you remember the part in Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade when the bad guy drinks from what he thinks is the Holy Grail? Donovan hired the beautiful archeologist to help him find the Grail, thinking that it would give eternal life to anyone who drank from it.
It seems if one chooses “poorly,” it drains your life instead of restoring it. Donovan goes from Nazi tool to dust in the wind rather quickly.
Now Indiana Jones is faced with a choice, as his father is outside dying from a gunshot wound, and his only hope is the True Grail. Indy looks around at the plethora of gilded grails trying to choose. He settles on a very non-descript chalice, likely to be missed among all the glitter and glamour of the other cups. The only way to know if he got it right is to drink from it himself. It takes faith to believe in his choice, but he acts on it. And he is rewarded (though he is strangely aging in The Crystal Skull movie from a few years ago, suggesting to me that that movie shouldn’t have been made, but I digress…)
I was reminded of this movie today as I was praying. I realized I feel somewhat like the dusty bad guy. I’ve been walking in my own strength for a while now. Nothing dramatic, but I just haven’t been fully abiding in the Lord and His presence lately. I haven’t been praying for a quality amount of time. I haven’t been pursuing reading the Bible as much as I need. Consequently worship was becoming more rote.
As a result my life was becoming dry. I haven’t been in rebellion, but I wasn’t plugged into the Source. I wasn’t drinking in Living Water, but subsiding on the little bits I’d glean from my day-to-day plodding. Life is full of distractions. As I work in front of a computer, there is a whole world out there that can take me away from what I truly need in life. Of course, it doesn’t do so without my permission…
When I walk in a relationship with Jesus, then my life is transformed. I am no longer faint, weak in my bones, crumbling as I stumble along alone. I am renewed. My eyes have life in them. I see clearer, I love better, and I laugh longer. Jesus wasn’t kidding when He said He was “living water“. It is not by my own effort, but by faith in Jesus and letting His life flow into and through me that this happens. Just as Indy had to drink to test the Grail, we have to let Jesus in to have the healing and transformation He offers.
I’m tired of dining on dust. The world is passing away. Entropy is the law of thermodynamics that says everything proceeds from a highly-organized state to a less-organized state. Translation: everything decays. Donovan just had an accelerated taste of it, due to his own pride and misplaced faith. The world and all it offers cannot quench our thirst or give us life (no matter how much we call it “mother” Earth).
Don’t make the mistake I’ve been making lately. If life seems like dust in the wind, there is a Source of Life that can restore you. I’ve experienced it. I’d be happy to point the way, if you have questions.
Movies can be prophetic. As the Guardian of the Grail says, “Choose wisely.” —
Do you remember the part in Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade when the bad guy drinks from what he thinks is the Holy Grail? Donovan hired the beautiful archeologist to help him find the Grail, thinking that it would give eternal life to anyone who drank from it.
It seems if one chooses “poorly,” it drains your life instead of restoring it. Donovan goes from Nazi tool to dust in the wind rather quickly.
Now Indiana Jones is faced with a choice, as his father is outside dying from a gunshot wound, and his only hope is the True Grail. Indy looks around at the plethora of gilded grails trying to choose. He settles on a very non-descript chalice, likely to be missed among all the glitter and glamour of the other cups. The only way to know if he got it right is to drink from it himself. It takes faith to believe in his choice, but he acts on it. And he is rewarded (though he is strangely aging in The Crystal Skull movie from a few years ago, suggesting to me that that movie shouldn’t have been made, but I digress…)
I was reminded of this movie today as I was praying. I realized I feel somewhat like the dusty bad guy. I’ve been walking in my own strength for a while now. Nothing dramatic, but I just haven’t been fully abiding in the Lord and His presence lately. I haven’t been praying for a quality amount of time. I haven’t been pursuing reading the Bible as much as I need. Consequently worship was becoming more rote.
As a result my life was becoming dry. I haven’t been in rebellion, but I wasn’t plugged into the Source. I wasn’t drinking in Living Water, but subsiding on the little bits I’d glean from my day-to-day plodding. Life is full of distractions. As I work in front of a computer, there is a whole world out there that can take me away from what I truly need in life. Of course, it doesn’t do so without my permission…
When I walk in a relationship with Jesus, then my life is transformed. I am no longer faint, weak in my bones, crumbling as I stumble along alone. I am renewed. My eyes have life in them. I see clearer, I love better, and I laugh longer. Jesus wasn’t kidding when He said He was “living water“. It is not by my own effort, but by faith in Jesus and letting His life flow into and through me that this happens. Just as Indy had to drink to test the Grail, we have to let Jesus in to have the healing and transformation He offers.
I’m tired of dining on dust. The world is passing away. Entropy is the law of thermodynamics that says everything proceeds from a highly-organized state to a less-organized state. Translation: everything decays. Donovan just had an accelerated taste of it, due to his own pride and misplaced faith. The world and all it offers cannot quench our thirst or give us life (no matter how much we call it “mother” Earth).
Don’t make the mistake I’ve been making lately. If life seems like dust in the wind, there is a Source of Life that can restore you. I’ve experienced it. I’d be happy to point the way, if you have questions.
Movies can be prophetic. As the Guardian of the Grail says, “Choose wisely.” —
Super Bowl XLIV had a thrilling finish, a victorious underdog, and a great backstory, with the trials that the city of New Orleans and the Gulf Region have endured. This helped it to be the most watched TV program ever.
At the heart of this was New Orleans QB Drew Brees. He had his own hard-luck tale. He was drafted by the San Diego Chargers, but struggled his first few years. The Chargers grew frustrated and drafted a replacement, Philip Rivers. Just as they did this, Brees became a good quarterback. He was undersized, but his intelligence, mobility, and competitive nature helped him keep his understudy on the bench.
The last game of the 2005 season was momentous for Brees. The Chargers were out of the playoffs, but he fought hard in the game. He lost a fumble in the end zone, and rather than staying out of the fray, he dove to try and save his mistake. Instead of getting the ball, his right throwing arm was crushed under huge bodies, and he had a terrible tear in his shoulder.
The Chargers were considering what to do with him, so the injury made it easy to say goodbye. Brees had surgery, but was looking for a team to pick him up. The Dolphins sorely needed one, but they felt he was too risky.
This opened the doors for him to become a Saint.
He spoke in interviews leading up to the Super Bowl that he and his wife felt like coming to New Orleans was “a calling.” The team was displaced during Katrina, and the owner thought about moving his team elsewhere, perhaps San Antonio. It was a risky place for players to go, but New Orleans took a chance on several people discarded by their prior teams.
Four years later, Drew Brees is a champion QB and MVP of the Super Bowl. It was hard to miss his teary eyed celebration with his young son after the game. I hadn’t heard whether Brees was a Christian or not prior to the game, but he started using the platform he won to give glory to God. As he says in the interview before (which was before the Super Bowl, but I hadn’t seen it), what was the worst thing that could happen to him actually turned out to be a huge blessing, considering it brought him to New Orleans. He is more than just an athelete. He and his wife are spearheading charity work to help rebuild a city that still needs lots to recover.
This made me think of a trial of my own. When I first started blogging in 2006, a couple of months into it I lost my job for fluke circumstances. The funny thing was, God set everything up. It was a hard time to be unemployed even though my bosses had said they liked me and couldn’t fault my work. I knew God would see things through, as He promises in the Word, but it wasn’t easy.
I don’t have a Super Bowl ring (and never will, unless I buy the Cowboys from Jerry Jones), but looking back, I am in a much better situation. I have a good, secure job with a great schedule for my family. Since then I have a new house and a wonderful daughter. I will soon have some financial flexibility, and I hope to be able to do some things for the Lord through this.
Trials will come. People who claim Bible promises don’t usually turn to the passage that talks about there *will* be suffering, but it happens to the best of God’s people. Hopefully, stories like mine and like Drew Brees can be an encouragement that God truly does work all things good to those He loves and has called according to His purpose.
Check out the interview with Drew Brees below for more insight. He’s a cool guy, and one of my new favorite NFL players.
Super Bowl XLIV had a thrilling finish, a victorious underdog, and a great backstory, with the trials that the city of New Orleans and the Gulf Region have endured. This helped it to be the most watched TV program ever.
At the heart of this was New Orleans QB Drew Brees. He had his own hard-luck tale. He was drafted by the San Diego Chargers, but struggled his first few years. The Chargers grew frustrated and drafted a replacement, Philip Rivers. Just as they did this, Brees became a good quarterback. He was undersized, but his intelligence, mobility, and competitive nature helped him keep his understudy on the bench.
The last game of the 2005 season was momentous for Brees. The Chargers were out of the playoffs, but he fought hard in the game. He lost a fumble in the end zone, and rather than staying out of the fray, he dove to try and save his mistake. Instead of getting the ball, his right throwing arm was crushed under huge bodies, and he had a terrible tear in his shoulder.
The Chargers were considering what to do with him, so the injury made it easy to say goodbye. Brees had surgery, but was looking for a team to pick him up. The Dolphins sorely needed one, but they felt he was too risky.
This opened the doors for him to become a Saint.
He spoke in interviews leading up to the Super Bowl that he and his wife felt like coming to New Orleans was “a calling.” The team was displaced during Katrina, and the owner thought about moving his team elsewhere, perhaps San Antonio. It was a risky place for players to go, but New Orleans took a chance on several people discarded by their prior teams.
Four years later, Drew Brees is a champion QB and MVP of the Super Bowl. It was hard to miss his teary eyed celebration with his young son after the game. I hadn’t heard whether Brees was a Christian or not prior to the game, but he started using the platform he won to give glory to God. As he says in the interview before (which was before the Super Bowl, but I hadn’t seen it), what was the worst thing that could happen to him actually turned out to be a huge blessing, considering it brought him to New Orleans. He is more than just an athelete. He and his wife are spearheading charity work to help rebuild a city that still needs lots to recover.
This made me think of a trial of my own. When I first started blogging in 2006, a couple of months into it I lost my job for fluke circumstances. The funny thing was, God set everything up. It was a hard time to be unemployed even though my bosses had said they liked me and couldn’t fault my work. I knew God would see things through, as He promises in the Word, but it wasn’t easy.
I don’t have a Super Bowl ring (and never will, unless I buy the Cowboys from Jerry Jones), but looking back, I am in a much better situation. I have a good, secure job with a great schedule for my family. Since then I have a new house and a wonderful daughter. I will soon have some financial flexibility, and I hope to be able to do some things for the Lord through this.
Trials will come. People who claim Bible promises don’t usually turn to the passage that talks about there *will* be suffering, but it happens to the best of God’s people. Hopefully, stories like mine and like Drew Brees can be an encouragement that God truly does work all things good to those He loves and has called according to His purpose.
Check out the interview with Drew Brees below for more insight. He’s a cool guy, and one of my new favorite NFL players.
I don’t always make it to the “big” movies, unless there are talking animals or race cars involved. When I first heard about Avatar, I wasn’t all that interested in it either. Over time, the previews and early reviews changed my mind, and once it became a phenomenom, I was ready to go.
I enjoyed the movie a lot. The visuals were striking and immersive. It certainly was memorable. The story in my opinion, as many others, was recycled and preachy in a not so subtle (or accurate) way. Still, I appreciated my time in Pandora.
Apparently not as much as the people in this CNN article. The title for the article is “Audiences Experience ‘Avatar’ Blues.” It quotes people as saying they so longed to live like the Na’vi (the tall blue skinned aliens in the movie, if you weren’t one of the 10 billion) or in a beautiful place like Pandora (their Eden-like planet) that it depressed them.
Some thought there was no reason to go on, since humans have pretty much trashed Earth at this point, and there’s no way to reverse things. A couple of the people contemplated suicide, as everything seemed “meaningless” since watching Avatar. One wanted to “escape reality.” Another thought if he killed himself, he’d be “rebirthed” in a place similar to Pandora.
Thankfully those quoted have seemed to find a little comfort in online fan communities for Avatar. I was surprised by the depth of feeling that people had in the article.
Perhaps according to my friend Becky Miller, I shouldn’t have.
She’s been posting for over a week on the movie. She enjoyed the movie as well, but had concerns that Christians weren’t showing discernment over the worldview espoused in the movie (panentheism, slightly different from pantheism).
I certainly agreed with her over the need for discernment. Nothing comes from a vacuum – James Cameron has a certain worldview, and whether he is actively promoting it or thinks he isn’t, it is still going to come out. Christians (and everyone really) should realize this and use a little analysis when doing anything from voting to watching movies. You won’t convince me that is “is just entertainment.”
Still, she and I debated somewhat in the comments of one post. I suggested that Christians take the movie as a “Mars Hill” moment (the time when Paul, visiting Athens, used the idol to the “Unknown God” to explain Christianity to the pagan philosophers). There are certainly some aspects of the movie that can be used as conversation starters, even if the thrust of the movie is contrary to a Christian world view.
After reading this CNN article, I’m a little more disturbed. I don’t think James Cameron’s intent was having people take his movie quite so seriously, but Holy Unobtanium, Batman!
I think I’ll take up some of these thoughts in the next post or two…
I don’t always make it to the “big” movies, unless there are talking animals or race cars involved. When I first heard about Avatar, I wasn’t all that interested in it either. Over time, the previews and early reviews changed my mind, and once it became a phenomenom, I was ready to go.
I enjoyed the movie a lot. The visuals were striking and immersive. It certainly was memorable. The story in my opinion, as many others, was recycled and preachy in a not so subtle (or accurate) way. Still, I appreciated my time in Pandora.
Apparently not as much as the people in this CNN article. The title for the article is “Audiences Experience ‘Avatar’ Blues.” It quotes people as saying they so longed to live like the Na’vi (the tall blue skinned aliens in the movie, if you weren’t one of the 10 billion) or in a beautiful place like Pandora (their Eden-like planet) that it depressed them.
Some thought there was no reason to go on, since humans have pretty much trashed Earth at this point, and there’s no way to reverse things. A couple of the people contemplated suicide, as everything seemed “meaningless” since watching Avatar. One wanted to “escape reality.” Another thought if he killed himself, he’d be “rebirthed” in a place similar to Pandora.
Thankfully those quoted have seemed to find a little comfort in online fan communities for Avatar. I was surprised by the depth of feeling that people had in the article.
Perhaps according to my friend Becky Miller, I shouldn’t have.
She’s been posting for over a week on the movie. She enjoyed the movie as well, but had concerns that Christians weren’t showing discernment over the worldview espoused in the movie (panentheism, slightly different from pantheism).
I certainly agreed with her over the need for discernment. Nothing comes from a vacuum – James Cameron has a certain worldview, and whether he is actively promoting it or thinks he isn’t, it is still going to come out. Christians (and everyone really) should realize this and use a little analysis when doing anything from voting to watching movies. You won’t convince me that is “is just entertainment.”
Still, she and I debated somewhat in the comments of one post. I suggested that Christians take the movie as a “Mars Hill” moment (the time when Paul, visiting Athens, used the idol to the “Unknown God” to explain Christianity to the pagan philosophers). There are certainly some aspects of the movie that can be used as conversation starters, even if the thrust of the movie is contrary to a Christian world view.
After reading this CNN article, I’m a little more disturbed. I don’t think James Cameron’s intent was having people take his movie quite so seriously, but Holy Unobtanium, Batman!
I think I’ll take up some of these thoughts in the next post or two…
Do you remember what happened next? 
Now Indiana Jones is faced with a choice, as his father is outside dying from a gunshot wound, and his only hope is the True Grail. Indy looks around at the plethora of gilded grails trying to choose. He settles on a very non-descript chalice, likely to be missed among all the glitter and glamour of the other cups. The only way to know if he got it right is to drink from it himself. It takes faith to believe in his choice, but he acts on it. And he is rewarded (though he is strangely aging in The Crystal Skull movie from a few years ago, suggesting to me that that movie shouldn’t have been made, but I digress…)
