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Archive for the ‘Movies & TV’ Category

THE GOSPEL, SEINFELD-STYLE

Posted in Movies & TV, tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , on September 20, 2012| 11 Comments »

How did I not see this amazing, hilarious, and thoughtful Seinfeld episode when it was first aired?

For a few seasons, Seinfeld – that brilliant, inventive TV sitcom – was a cultural blockbuster, creating catch phrases and situations that millions across North America embraced and used as their own ‘insider’ language.

The episode that fascinates me concentrates, in part, on the relationship between principal character Elaine Benes and her boyfriend, David Puddy.

Benes (played by Julia Louis-Dreyfus) finds out Puddy (Patrick Warburton) is “religious”. This sets up all sorts of conversations between the two, plus other principal characters Jerry and George Constanza.

Here’s a sample of dialogue:

Elaine: I borrowed Puddy’s car and all the presets on his radio were Christian rock stations.

George: I like Christian rock. It’s very positive. It’s not like those real musicians who think they’re so cool and hip.

Elaine: So, you think that Puddy actually believes in something?

Jerry: It’s a used car; he probably never changed the presets.

Elaine: Yes, he is lazy.

Jerry: Plus, he probably doesn’t even know how to program the buttons.

Elaine: Yes, he is dumb.

Jerry: So you prefer dumb and lazy to religious?

Elaine: Dumb and lazy, I understand.

First off, ye gotta love George’s casual dissing of Christian musicians and his breathtaking ignorance. Did you know, for example, that singer/songwriter/guitarist Bruce Cockburn is a Christian? I’ve never heard a single critic knock him for his artistic ability.

Second, the notion of Elaine preferring a dumb and lazy boyfriend to one who is “religious” is not only funny, it’s a remarkably accurate assessment of our culture. From what I can tell, most people would rather spend hours debating the behaviour of the latest Hollywood bad boy/girl than even think about spirituality and life’s big questions.

There’s no doubt that celebrity antics hold the same sort of fascination we feel when we drive past a car wreck. But in the end, does it make any difference in our lives?

Some more priceless Seinfeld dialogue:

Elaine: So, you’re pretty religious?

Puddy: That’s right.

Elaine: So is it a problem that I’m not really religious?

Puddy: Not for me.

Elaine: Why not?

Puddy: I’m not the one going to hell.

Yikes! If any serious follower of Jesus of Nazareth (who many people believe is God’s Son) has used words like this with you, I apologize here and now. It’s no exaggeration to write that anyone who takes his or her faith seriously is never blasé about the fate of friends, family, and loved ones. I’ve eaten veggie burgers that tasted more real than the faith Puddy displays.

Real Jesus followers sacrifice themselves in the same way they believe Jesus took on our failures and misdeeds when Roman authorities hung him on a cross. An ancient document about Jesus says “First we were loved, now we love. God loved us first.”

If you encounter a person who seems somehow different because he/she knows this amazing truth, then you’ve met the real thing and I hope you walk away thinking about your life and your fate.

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DIDN’T THEY HAVE IT MADE?

Posted in In The News, Movies & TV, tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , on June 25, 2012| 47 Comments »

Robin Williams. Whitney Houston. Kurt Cobain. Cory Monteith. All these entertainers had one thing in common: extraordinary God-given talent.

As a result (at least in part…) of that talent, they achieved everything our culture says should lead to permanent happiness and fulfillment. They were fabulously wealthy. They had throngs of adoring fans. They earned the highest honours possible in their industries. They were hugely admired by their peers.

Our culture says they had it made. So what happened – or, more importantly, what didn’t happen – that ended their lives so early?

  • Williams, the Academy-Award winning actor (for 1997’s Good Will Hunting) and an incredible comedian, died of a suicide-related asphyxiation at age 63.
  • Monteith was one of the stars of Glee, a popular TV show in North America. He grew up with substance abuse problems and that didn’t change when Glee transformed him into an award-winning celebrity. He died in 2013 from an overdose of drugs and alcohol.
  • Cobain, singer, songwriter and guitarist with the groundbreaking, phenomenally popular grunge music band Nirvana, died of a self-inflicted gunshot wound in 1994. He was 27.
  • Houston, 48, who sold more than 170 million albums and collected 415 career awards, was found dead in her hotel room in 2012. She had a history of erratic behaviour and cocaine abuse.

Sadly, we can add more names onto this list of icons who had drug and/or alcohol problems and died early: singers Elvis Presley, Janis Joplin, Amy Winehouse and Jim Morrison, plus guitar god Jimi Hendrix and Oscar-winning actor Philip Seymour Hoffman.

Where was the fulfillment promised by our culture? These people should have been much, much happier than you and me. Their tragic deaths make a clear and consistent case for that promise being an empty lie.

Their wealth didn’t satisfy, their awards apparently brought only temporary happiness, and there was no fulfillment to be had in their fans or peers.

So what (or who) CAN bring real, lasting satisfaction and fulfillment? Could it be…God? Blaise Pascal, the French mathematician, physicist and religious philosopher, certainly thought so. One of his most famous quotes says, “There is a God-shaped vacuum in the heart of every man which cannot be filled by any created thing, but only by God, the Creator, made known through Jesus [of Nazareth, who many people believe is God’s Son].”

Why is this possible? Because a life-changing relationship with God, through His son, doesn’t depend on anything our culture has to offer. Rich or poor, famous or obscure – these things mean nothing to God. In fact, a relationship with God doesn’t depend on anything in our resumes. It depends on Him.

Consider these three words from an ancient follower of Jesus: “God is love”. That fact explains why He sent Jesus to die for all the wrong things we’ve done and the right things we haven’t done.

He loves us and wants to wipe the slate clean of what some people call “sins” so there is nothing blocking the way to a satisfying, fulfilling, and eternal relationship with us. All we have to do is believe this and claim Jesus as our saviour.

Does this make sense? Agree or not, post a comment below and let’s start a conversation.

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SURRENDERING AND SURVIVING

Posted in Movies & TV, tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , on June 23, 2012| 4 Comments »

Forrest Gump, the Academy Award-winning movie, bowled me over when it first came out in 1994.

So when I encountered it while flipping channels the other night, I stopped and relived the magic of Tom Hanks portraying the slow-witted, über-innocent Forrest as he fights in Vietnam, meets presidents, runs across the United States, becomes a millionaire in the shrimp business and fathers a son with the love of his life.

More than Forrest, however, what sticks with me is his Vietnam platoon leader, Lieutenant Dan Taylor. Lieut. Dan (played by Gary Sinise) is saved in battle by Forrest, but his legs are so badly injured they must be amputated.

Dan curses Forrest for saving him and curses God for leaving him a wheelchair-bound cripple. He plunges into a life of drugs, liquor, prostitutes, and squalor.

Still, Dan can’t seem to stay away from Forrest and when Forrest goes into the shrimping business with his own boat, Dan and his wheelchair show up to join him. Their conversations are often spiritually charged, with Dan throwing out bitter barbs about God.

At one point, after their shrimp nets come up empty yet again, Dan caustically demands, “Where the hell is this God of yours?”

The answer comes moments later when a storm comes up, tossing the boat in gigantic wind-whipped waves. Where is Dan through all this? He’s hoisted himself to the top of the boat’s mast where, like Captain Ahab in Moby Dick, he has his life-defining confrontation with the beast. For Ahab, it was the great whale; for Dan, it’s God.

“You call this a storm?” he screams above the hurricane. “It’s time for a showdown – you and me! I’m right here, come and get me!!”

If you saw Forrest Gump, you might recall the boat didn’t sink. In fact, it was the only shrimping vessel in the area undamaged by the storm and, as a result, Forrest and Dan had no competition for the shrimp.

They become rich off the bountiful harvest and a later scene shows a relaxed Dan finally thanking Forrest for saving him in Vietnam. Near the movie’s end, Dan shows up at Forrest’s wedding – clean, sober, with prosthetic legs and a fiancé. He’s whole again.

What can one conclude from this? One commentator on Youtube notes “where Lt. Dan ultimately surrenders and survives, Ahab remained stubborn to the end and died in the wreck (of his whaling boat).”

This conclusion makes sense. It’s certainly a notion that resonates in my life. By finally surrendering my questions about God and Jesus, I opened the door to spiritual wholeness – a real, life-changing relationship with Jesus.

It reminds me of something I read by an ancient writer: “I learned God-worship when my pride was shattered. Heart-shattered lives ready for love don’t for a moment escape God’s notice.”

Is there a point of pride or anger in your life, or the life of someone you know, that’s keeping the door closed to a relationship with God and his Son?

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