Gifted Hands

Michelle and I watched this movie the other night and really enjoyed it. It's not the greatest cinematic production, but the story itself (which is based on the true story of neurosurgeon Ben Carson) is amazing.

We both walked away from the movie marveling at God's "common" grace; that is, the grace that He gives to all people (even unbelievers) to do civic good and sustain life and earthly blessing in His creation:



Has anyone else seen it?

Sorry, Today's Phillies Game is Rained Out....Here's a Gospel Presentation for Your Viewing Pleasure

On Sunday after church I planned to watch the Phillies-Mets series finale on TV, but was bummed to find out that the game had been rained out. When I turned on channel 17, I was greeted by the opening few minutes of The Iron Giant, which was being shown in place of the baseball game.

Iron Giant is about a young boy who goes out late one night and finds a huge robot roaming in the wilderness looking for food. I won't recount the whole movie, but toward the end of the movie, the US government launches a nuclear missle to destroy the robot because they perceive him as a threat to the safety of the society. They do this despite the fact that the robot has shown himself to be good and has saved lives with his great power.

In the climactic scene, the missle is heading toward the small town, and is about to destroy not only the robot, but the entire town as well. The Iron Giant decides he must sacrifice himself in order to save the town, and launches himself into the sky in order to intercept the missle. The Giant collides at full speed with the missile, which explodes above the atmosphere, apparently destroying the Giant but sparing the town.

So the Phillies got rained out, but I hope those who stay tuned in to channel 17 didn't miss the Gospel presentation. A robot with supernatural power chooses to sacrifice himself to save the people who are trying to kill him?

I wonder how they come up with such stories....

A World without Happy Endings

Last night Michelle and I watched a movie called The Visitor (a few instances of foul language toward the beginning of the movie, but otherwise no objectionable content). I enjoyed this movie mainly because of how much I did not enjoy the ending of the movie.

The movie is about a college professor in Connecticut who goes to New York for a conference. When he arrives at the apartment that he still owns despite almost never returning to the city, he finds a foreign couple who have been illegally subletting the apartment (You can watch the trailer here). The movie was appealing to me because of its focus on life in the city and racial relations.

Without spoiling the rest of the movie, I would just say that I found the ending very unsatisfying. When the credits began to roll, I thought to myself, 'That was a lousy movie.' But in hindsight, I found great value in watching a movie that did not end the way I wanted it to end. It was a reminder that we live in a broken, fallen world, where pain and heartache are the norm.

Happy endings are rare in this world, and I am grateful for how The Visitor reminded me of that. Such reminders whet my appetite for the exceedingly joyful ending that awaits this world because of the redemption that is found in Jesus Christ. Our vapor of a life in this world may be full of unsatisfying endings, but for those whose hope is in Christ, all the groaning is a prelude to glory.