Confessions of a Movie Lover...

There a few things I enjoy more on those "I just want to be lazy" nights than popping in a good movie. Especially one that has been talked about so much, but I've still never seen. So, as I sat down to watch "Taken" a few weeks ago, I was expecting to thoroughly enjoy it. All my friends that had seen it loved it. Well, I'm shamed to admit that it took me almost three years to see it. Because it was amazing! There are two reasons I loved it.

First, it showed just how far father's are willing to go for their daughters. You don't mess with daddy's baby girl. They are not above taking down an entire sex trafficking organization if you piss them off. You will die. Future husband, take note of what you're up against.

Second, because of the blatant spiritual analogy that I didn't expect to receive. There's a scene towards the end of the movie where the main character (played by Liam Neeson ♥) witnesses his daughter being bid upon. She's all drugged up so she has no idea who he is. I absolutely love this scene, did I mention that? Anyway, he aims a gun at a mans skull and yells "Buy her." The man hits the button and proceeds to do this two or three times, each time increasing the bid. Eventually though, he hesitates when the price starts to get too high, and its at this point that Liam himself reaches over and hits the button, saving her. By doing that simple act, he buys her for $500,000- five times what the last girl sold for, but it'd never be too high a price. She's his, saved from being a slave.

The spiritual lesson didn't hit me until after the movie was over. And then I realized, we're the drugged up daughters. Sometimes in our lives we get so messed up we don't even recognize our heavenly father anymore. But He still loves us anyway. Because we are still His children. And Satan and sin are the other bidders, only this bid is for a lot more than our bodies- it's for our soul. And sometimes, sin drives a pretty hard bargain. The battle of our sinful nature and our saved nature continues- we struggle with temptation and righteousness. Those figures start to sound pretty good. But it's at the very last minute where Christ Himself willingly steps in, slams the buzzer down breaking it, and says, "I've already bought her. It's not too high a price for me. I love her" And he saves us from being slaves- slaves to sin. You see my friends, this bidding room is the cross. It was at the cross where Christ finally said "It is finished." (John 19:30) I've taken all her sin and shame on myself. She's bought. I have redeemed her. She's mine. Signed, sealed, delivered, stamped. Bought at the ultimate price- my life. And the auctioneer slams the gavel down, "Sold. Paid in full..."

"For you know that it was not with perishable things such as silver or gold that you were redeemed from the empty way of life handed down to you from your ancestors, but with the precious blood of Christ, a lamb without blemish or defect." -1 Peter 1:18-19.

Confessions of a New Vendetta...

I've had a newly found vendetta as of late. I figured it was about time one showed up. I don't get them very often. Indeed my last one was against skinny jeans on guys, and it's lasted me about a good four years. Still hate them by the way. Anyway, my newest victim of disgust surprises me, because this past year I probably spent close to two hundred dollars indulging in it: Chick flicks.

Yes, I don't like chick flicks. Here are some reasons why:

1) They are impractical. Have you noticed how the guy always comes around? Have you noticed how hopelessly romantic he is? Have you noticed how they always seem to set each other for those perfect one-liners? Life cannot be rehearsed people. Trust me. I have rehearsed frequent conversations in my head and when they happen in real life they never go as planned. They are nothing more than daydreams of the writer. And the reason the writer has to daydream them is because they don't happen in reality.

2) They set you up for idolizing falling in love. I'm going to be honest. I think about the guy I crush on all the time. I daydream even of sitting in church with Him, WHILE I'M IN CHURCH. The guy has become my idol. I can't get him out of my head. But these things that I daydream he's doing don't really even fit his character. They fit the character of what I saw the guy in the movie do. Let me give an example which will hopefully clarify this point. I once crushed on a guy who hated the beach. And yet I would have daydreams of us sitting on the beach, watching the sunset, talking, and then falling asleep in each other's arms. This was my fantasy of what was romantic. But the truth is, he would never ever really do that with me. He HATES the beach! And then I asked myself why I thought it was romantic. The truth? Because the movies and all these teenie bopper books told me it was. If I had never read a romance novel or watched a movie would I find the beach so romantic?

Which leads me to number 3) They set you up for disappointment. Romance movies have taught me to be all heart and no head. They have told me that when guys don't talk to you it just means they're shy. That they secretly have strong feelings for you, they just don't know how to tell you. But my head knows the truth. My head says, "You dummy. If he liked you he'd talk to you." My head says, "You know he doesn't have feelings towards you. You only keep hoping he does because that guy in the movie acted the same way and he ended up secretly having feelings for her." There is a total sense of false hope.

And here's my last point. 4) Romance movies completely shallow out the definition of love. I honestly have no idea what it means to love someone for them. And its something that I'm working on and really struggling with. It's something that I am constantly praying about. Because I've realized that the guys that I have "loved" I have "loved" because of who they represented, not who they were. I realize that the guys I even crush on I don't crush on them for them. I crush on them because they once showed interest and I fantasize about what they could represent to me. And I think this honestly even corresponds to the divorce rate. Girls get this shallowed out, almost fantasy idea of love. And they dream of their wedding. And they dream of wedded bliss. And they dream of romance. And they try to be practical and say there will be struggles, but they dream of fighting through the struggles. Like it was all one big movie script. And then they get in real life where there's money, cooking, cleaning, and imperfect people (who's flaws aren't planned to appear at a specific point like in a novel) and all of a sudden they're miserable because there's no way real life can ever live up to fantasy.

Now with all of this said do I think you can be happy in marriage? 100% ABSOLUTELY. Do I think guys can be spontaneously adorable and romantic in real life? You bet! Do I think romances are bad? No, not necessarily.

But I am left with a few questions to ponder. If I had never watched a chick flick or read a romance novel, how would I define romance? What would I say it means to love someone? Because honestly folks, I've been falsely tainted. And I guess the biggest question of all is, without having been taught to romantically daydream how else would I have spent my time? What else would I think about? And I know deep down where I can find answers to all these questions. I should have been looking to Christ all along for them anyway.

"Dear Heart, do you belong to me, or do I belong to you? Just look at all the trouble you drag me into. I've heard it said to follow your heart, but I'm starting to wonder if it's gone too far. Oh Heart, you've let me down, chasing love where it can't be found. Heart, we've fallen out, cause all of your emotions have led me to doubt. Tell me who's gonna save us now?" -Sanctus Real

Confessions of a Ponderer...

It has come to my attention lately that people liberally throw around the word "Faith" without really considering its true significance. We say things like "Have a little faith," "My faith was the only thing that got me through it," "I am of the Catholic faith," or even "I have lost all faith in humanity." Now, I'm not saying these expressions are bad, it's just that most of time people don't get much deeper than that.

This morning for my quiet time I read Hebrews 11. And I began to realize the incredible power of faith. It's the reason Noah built the ark (Vs 7), why Moses' parents hid him (Vs 23), why Rahab hid the spies (vs 31) why Gideon conquered(vs 32), why Daniel faced the lions den, and so many more. It wasn't just their excuse they used for why they did these things, but their sole motivation.

I am left to ponder, what would have happened if these people had lost their faith? Or rather if they had placed it in something besides the One True God? What if Noah had reasoned he was going insane and committed himself to the psych ward instead of building the ark? What if Moses' parents had decided hiding their son was too risky and they weren't that fond of baby basket boats? Or if Rahab became too worried she would get caught? What if Daniel had started praying in secret so as to avoid exposure and thus the lions den? What if any one of these people had decided to "play it safe"? Would we say they still had faith?

Because here's the thing. It was because of their faith that they did these things. Through faith alone Abraham put his son Isaac on the alter (vs 17) Through faith alone Moses led the people out of Egypt. He even outright recognized that he couldn't do it on his own! "But Moses said to God, 'Who am I, that I should go to Pharaoh and bring the Israelites out of Egypt?'"(Exodus 3:11)

Matthew 17:20 gives light to the extreme power of faith. "He [Jesus] replied, 'Because you have so little faith. I tell you the truth, if you have faith as small as a mustard seed, you can say to this mountain, 'Move from here to there' and it will move. Nothing will be impossible for you.'" That's a whole lot of powerful punch packed into one teeny tiny thing.

So once again I am left to ponder. What would happen if I just stepped out? Surely none of these people could foresee the drastic consequences of their actions. I'm pretty sure Daniel was not 100% positive those lions wouldn't be hungry. And surely no mother would ever consider that her baby she refused to let be killed would save the nation. How would the story of my legacy change if the beginning was "By faith, Rachel..."?

"I want to leave a legacy. How will they remember me? Did I choose to love? Did I point to You enough to make a mark on things? I want to leave an offering- a child of mercy and grace who blessed Your name unapologetically. And leave that kind of legacy..."