movies

Leave a comment Posted on Character Corner, Daily Blogs

Internet 101: Knee Jerk Reactions

“Quick! Grab your pitch forks! Someone posted an article on social media that I don’t like!” 

You can’t scroll through the newsfeed anymore without seeing knee jerk reaction posts…

“I am outraged that this is happening! We must all protest IMMEDIATELY!” 

So I click on the article and it turns out to be a dud. In fact, the article is twisting words to make it read a certain way.

Don’t buy into every piece of click bait on the internet. Take 5 minutes to do a quick search and see if there’s any validity. 

And please, please, please don’t make leaping assumptions about the message behind something or “how it’s poisoning us all” without doing some research.

It’s time to disband social media mobs. 

What is it accomplishing?

Most of the stuff you see smacks of fear and 95% of that fear is unfounded.

Be careful in our world of hyperbole. 

I know it’s not hard to believe that the machine–media and politicians–want us to be in a frenzy. When the people are in a frenzy, they will make rash decisions and allow things to happen that they might not otherwise agree to under normal circumstances.

And, no, this post is not about the Orlando massacre, but the same logic applies. 

What I’m referencing is a social media mob forming over a movie that’s coming out.

Seriously? Take a chill pill. It’s a movie.

If you don’t want to go, then don’t go. There’s no reason to stir up trouble about it.

Don’t blow up the internet with your rage about something that you read in an article. I mean, everything’s true if someone posts it on a website, right? 

Yeah. About that…

Leave a comment Posted on Daily Blogs

Finding Dory 

Finding Dory is coming to theaters this Friday!

Finding Nemo is one of my favorite Pixar films, so it’ll be cool to see all the characters from the first movie. 

Fun movie fact: It’s been 13 years since Finding Nemo came out. 

I remember a day in high school when we watched Finding Nemo in our Spanish class. 

And then we watched it in 2 other classes that week…

What were they teaching us in school? 

How to be a movie junkie?

I guess it worked because this girl can’t wait to see Finding Dory!

Dory is my favorite character because she’s:

  • Voiced by Ellen
  • Funny
  • A good friend

Not to mention that “Just keep swimming” is a great life motto. 

Leave a comment Posted on Daily Blogs, Faith Journeys

The Knowledge Gap

I’m amazed at how much information there is in our world in relationship to how little I know. 

Does anyone remember the website Stumble Upon?

In thinking about this topic, I did a quick Google search and it turns out they’re still around! 

Back in my college days, one of my many procrastination tools was to check out cool new websites via Stumble Upon. It was possible to be on that website for at least an hour…

There are websites that I still enjoy today that I found using Stumble Upon. There’s no way that I could’ve found them on my own, either. Think about the amount of new content that we have access to everyday:  

  • Websites
  • YouTube videos.
  • Pictures
  • Music
  • Apps
  • Movies
  • TV shows
  • Games
  • Books

I’m reminded of the words of King Solomon: 

 But regarding anything beyond this, dear friend, go easy. There’s no end to the publishing of books, and constant study wears you out so you’re no good for anything else. The last and final word is this: Fear God. Do what he tells you.

I think it’s safe to say that there’s no end to the releasing of new content.As one of my English professors put it:

The only thing that makes your writing original is that you wrote it. The various devices of storytelling and poetry have been around way before you were around and will continue way after you’re gone.

This is a topic that keeps me humble and also shows me just how big God is. Imagine what He thinks! He created everything and knows everything and sees everything.

My brain started smoking just by thinking about all of this….

While my goal is to learn as much as I can, it’s safe to say that there will always be a large gap between what I know and how much more there is to know. 

 

 

Leave a comment Posted on Book Nook, Daily Blogs, Funny Bone

My library addiction

I have an addiction…

The public library.

There. I said it.

Any excuse to go to the library gets me excited.

The librarians probably dread to see my name on the hold shelf because that means I will most definitely call them to see if my materials have arrived.

Before I hit up Red Box, I go to the library.

If I fall in love with the music in a movie, I go to the library.

And now my new habit of being a total fan girl that makes me want to see every movie my favorite actors/actresses have ever been in…

Not to mention all of my leadership stalking (we’ve talked about this before) that causes me to hit up YouTube to check out all of a leader’s public talks and the library to check out all of their books…

Sigh. 

At least library materials are free, right? Because I just can’t stay away.

Plus, libraries are just cool places to hang out. Did I mention that most libraries now sell coffee? 

You guys think I’m exaggerating about my library addiction, but I go to the library 3-4 days a week.

Here’s my question to you: 

Are there any local places you enjoy hanging out?

 

Leave a comment Posted on Daily Blogs, Faith Journeys

Living out the story

Aren’t cliff hangers the worse? 

To be Continued…

No one wants to see this at the end of a TV episode. And don’t even get me started on movies with 50,000 parts. Or book series where the next book isn’t coming out for another 18 months. 

Just tell me what happened!

Thankfully, the Bible tells us the whole story of Jesus. 

This is also why I’m trying to take it easy on the apostles as I read through the gospel. They didn’t have the full story like I do.

Come on, Peter! 

Thomas, what’s your problem?!?

James and John, did you seriously just ask Jesus to give you the best seats in the house? 

Here’s how I look at it: When I start doing everything Jesus asks me to do–without running my mouth first–I can pick on the apostles. 

By tracing the the faithfulness of God throughout His story, I am learning how to trust Him when I don’t have the full story (which is a lot).

Marvin Yoder, my teacher for Bible Interpretation, taught us about the Principle of Application today. I loved Mr. Yoder’s thoughts on seeing ourselves doing the works of Jesus and the early church. 

As Christians, the Bible is the final authority in our lives. However, if I never apply it to my daily life, it’s still just a story.

If Jesus healed, so can I.

If Peter could stand before a crowd and know exactly what to say by the Holy Spirit, so can I.

If Paul and Silas can sing praises in jail after being beaten for their faith, so can I.

 I’ve reached the point in my faith where I’m convinced that not taking the Bible to heart, that not living out the scriptures as practical, do-able truths is the number one reason the world sees the gospel as powerless. 

 

 

 

 

Leave a comment Posted on Daily Blogs

Captain America: Civil War

I just finished watching Captain America: Civil War. 

And I walked away from the movie feeling conflicted.

 All of the heroes were only acting out of their convictions, but I can’t help thinking that humans are odd. 

Determination is an awesome quality. On the flip side, determination looks a lot like stubbornness at times. 

Tony Stark and Steve Rogers were both determined, driven by their personal convictions, and in the process they almost killed each other. 

Vengeance was another strong theme throughout the movie. 

Between the vengeance of the super heroes and the vengeance of the villain, I couldn’t help but notice that no one’s motives were pure. 

Like I said, I walked away feeling conflicted. 

What I did enjoy was how this movie was action packed from start to finish. 

If you’ve watched the movie, I’d love to hear your thoughts. 

  • Did you walk away conflicted? 
  • What was your favorite part?
  • Your least favorite part?
Leave a comment Posted on Daily Blogs, Guest Bloggers

We all serve a master

I have a guest blogger!

This is something I’ve been wanting to do for a LONG time. It’s my goal to have various friends and family share with us from their hearts.

ambear and audraMy first guest blogger is my oldest friend and companion, Amber Siler. I met Amber when I was 12 years old and we quickly became inseparable. Now, many years later, we live hours apart, but sisters are forever.

I think you’ll really enjoy her topic, especially if you’re a fan of minions.

 

My husband and I recently watched the movie Minions. It is the story of the little yellow creatures from Despicable Me before they came to know and serve their master, Gru.

The movie begins with the narrator explaining that minions have a natural instinct to serve the most despicable being alive. We are then taken on a journey through time as the group of minions chooses these evil beings to serve, among them the mighty T-Rex and Dracula. Time shows that these masters are sub-par and vulnerable.

After losing yet another master, the minions decide to just live on their own and make life one big party. But it doesn’t take long before the party isn’t fun anymore.

The narrator tells us: “ They felt empty inside. Without a master they had no purpose. They became aimless and depressed. If this continued much longer, the minions would perish.”

Wow.

I think I missed the next several minutes of the movie as I pondered that statement.

Humans aren’t much different than minions.

We too were made to serve a master. We give ourselves to master after master, only to be disappointed when those “masters” don’t have what we are looking for. We then turn our energy inward to serve ourselves, partying and living life any way we please. But it doesn’t take long before the party loses it’s appeal. And without a master to serve, we lose our purpose.

We were created to serve THE Master – God himself, Creator of the universe. We cannot live a fulfilling life unless we are in dedicated service to Him. That’s the bottom line.

Leave a comment Posted on Daily Blogs, Faith Journeys

30 seconds or less

I just watched The Golden Globes for the first time. There were so many movies that I had never even heard of!

I’m not one to follow celebrities, but it was interesting to see the fashion and winners and the general hoopla surrounding the whole affair. 

I’m surprised at how little time they give the winners to say thank you. 

Only 30 seconds to express gratitude for projects that took a year or more to make?

I can’t even imagine what I would say or do under those circumstances, though, as a Christian, I’m often under the same pressure when asked questions about my faith. 

Short answers are hard to give, yet that is what many people demand. 

Explain God in 30 seconds or less…go!

Wow. 

How can I explain the love of the Father, the sacrifice of the Son, and the job of the Holy Spirit in that time frame?

We are instructed to have an answer ready for any occasion. 

We are also told that the Holy Spirit will tell us what to say. 

And most conversations about faith ebb and flow nicely between those to paradigms.

 The difficulty level, for me, comes in trying to express the fullness of joy I have found in my relationship with God. 

It’s rich and deep and intimate and fun and challenging and intentional (and I could keep going). 

I usually get really worked up in my explanations because there’s just so much I can say, which is why I can relate to all of the Golden Globe winners. 

Sometimes I can wrap up my thankfulness in 30 seconds or less, sometimes I can’t and I keep talking until the commercial break.