I’m that guy who has to pray for people right then and there because if I don’t, more times than not, I’ll forget.
I’m that guy who is on staff at an amazing Church yet feels so inadequate and undeserving.
I’m a guy who should have a lot better relationship with his family.
I’m a guy that God serves Humble Pie to on a constant basis because of my PRIDE.
I’m a guy who is leading an AMAZING group of young people but is still learning how to lead daily.
I’m that guy who used to wear tight shirts because they make him look like he has muscles… until he saw a picture, then he knows he’s just fat.
I’m that guy who struggles being real with himself, others, and God.
I’m that guy who has made more stupid mistakes with girls than I can count.
I’m that guy who could lose his job at any moment because of making a stupid mistake.
I’m that guy who spends 200 dollars for a pair of Jeans then makes you feel bad for not giving to the poor.
I’m that guy who shaves his head because his hair is thinning.
I’m that guy who is jealous of most people who are more intelligent than him.
I’m that guy who over promises and under delivers.
I’m that guy who talks big about commitment to the local church yet forgets to say thank you to his awesome volunteers as many times as I should.
I’m that guy who never smiles in his pictures because of my teeth.
I’m that guy who is just really learning how to read scripture.
I’m that guy who struggles with lust.
I’m that guy who leaves my computer in my office, not in my house so I don’t look at porn.
I’m that guy who’s still waiting for God to put the “one” (if there’s such a thing) in my path.
But
Despite all of this,
I’m a guy who is going to continue to let God use him, mold him and shape him in spite of all that Jazz.
Because for some reason in spite of all my crap…God is using me and it is only just beginning.
So now that you see how screwed up I am. When are you going to stop waiting until you are out of your “sinfest” and let God use you in the midst of your arrogant, selfish and sinful chaos?
A school shooting, and a suicide in the first 15 minutes of the film. A sex scene, drinking games and a keg in the first 20. It doesn’t take long to figure out that To Save a Life (out January 22) is not your typical Christian film.
The good news is, the movie doesn’t have big shoes to fill. From the pure silliness of 1970’s “end times” films to Kirk Cameron’s phoned in performance in 2008’s Fireproof, Christian films are rarely enjoyable, even to the market they’re marketed to. To Save a Life wastes no time setting up the story. Childhood pals Jake and Roger do everything together, until Jake hits the social “big time” with his exceptional basketball skills and sun-bleached hair. When it comes to picking his best friend or the hot girl, Jake goes with his hormones, leaving Roger to limp around school alone, on a leg permanently disfigured from saving Jake from an oncoming car.
For Jake, things are great until senior year, when Roger walks into school, and commits suicide with a hallway full of peers to witness it. Jake’s initial defense is to ignore the situation, but a fight with his girlfriend and pressure from his overbearing father lead to some serious questions about the life he’s leading. After the cops bust a keg party and his girlfriend runs off with his truck, Jake calls a local youth pastor for a ride. Conversations about faith and meaning ensue.
No, Jake isn’t converted on the spot. But the seeds of doubt about the shallowness of his “basketball and beer” existence do lead him to check out church, and to alter some of his decisions.
The most pleasing thing about watching To Save a Life is that it feels like a genuine story is being told, instead of the usual Christian move to make a film where the characters spend a solid hour setting up a Sunday school lesson at the end. Leading man Randy Wanyne (Jake Taylor) and his girlfriend Amy Biggs (Deja Kreutzberg) do act like teens you’d meet at your local high school. Friendly and energetic, even if they do party and engage in casual sex on the weekends. Even the film’s “quirky youth group girl” and the “conniving pastor’s kid” hit pretty close to the mark on how comprable teens in real life would act.
However, for all of director Brian Braugh’s courage to show teenage life as it actually is, he stumbles in a few places. While the writing moves the story along, this isn’t a movie you and your friends will be quoting next year, or even next week. The hip-hop songs used in the party scenes just aren’t very good, and it’s noticeable. There’s a scene that is more or less stolen from the real-life events of social-networking help guru Jamie Tworkowski, founder of To Write Love on Her Arms, that will assuredly make the audience groan at it’s fakeness.
But all the story ultimately shines through the minor scuffs. By the time the movie nears it’s end, binge-drinking, casual sex, cutting, loneliness and the shark tank that is the high school social scene have all been grappled with in an authentic manner. And as the social groups within Pacific High School clash with their own decisions and each other, it becomes very clear that, for once, a Christian film isn’t going to wrap up with an overly simplistic moral lesson. Rather than a story of a bad kid who becomes good, the plot is layered with teens in a variety of social situations who are forced to wrestle with why they act, judge others, and believe as they do.
The biggest question surrounding To Save a Life is not whether it’s a movie worth seeing. It is. It’s by no means the best movie you’ll see this year, but the film does wrap you in a compelling story. The biggest problem the movie faces is whether or not it can gain traction and reach the audience that needs this message. Because of the content (the 10 second sex scene, three swear words, and one beer keg) some Christians have already complained to the Christian radio stations currently supporting it. And teenagers and twentysomethings, even the ones who are in church two or three days a week, aren’t normally going to pay eight bucks to watch a “Christian movie.”
Still, a day after watching it, I can’t shake the feeling that this movie will change something. It’s got the potential to do what Switchfoot and P.O.D. did in music circa early 2003; to show mainstream culture that some Christian-generated media is worth taking seriously.
David is one of my favorite characters in the Bible. He was known as a “man after God’s own heart” (1 Samuel 13:13-15) and yet he sinned miserably. Most people are aware of his sin with Bathsheba, and his futile attempts to cover up his sin. The attempt to cover his sin resulted in
another sin: murder!
How can an adulterer and a murderer be called a “man after God’s own heart?” I believe it is because when he failed, he repented and then turned back to God (see Psalm 51). I love the fact that this man who failed grievously could still be called a man after God’s own heart. This is good news for all of us who want to honor and please the Lord and yet fail in our Christian walk. And ALL OF US FAIL!!!
David wasn’t the only person in scripture who played a major role in advancing the Kingdom yet messed up miserably.
-Noah was a drunk
-Abraham was too old
-Isaac was a daydreamer
-Jacob was a liar
-Leah was ugly
-Joseph was abused
-Moses had a stuttering problem
-Gideon was afraid
-Samson was a womanizer
-Rahab was a prostitute
-Jeremiah and Timothy were too young
-Elijah was suicidal
-Isaiah preached naked
-Jonah ran from God
-Naomi was a widow
-Job went bankrupt
-Peter denied Christ
-The Disciples fell asleep while praying
-Martha worried about everything
-The Samaritan woman was divorced, more than once
-Zaccheus was too small
-Paul was too religious
-Timothy had an ulcer
-Lazarus was dead!!!!!
The thing that I don’t understand are this…
If these people were alive and walking the earth today I really wonder how they would be treated. The world that we live in seems to be really judgmental, unforgiving and not too compassionate!
I’ve seen some job requirements from Churches that not only these people but that Jesus Christ himself wouldn’t even qualify for! It read something similar to this…
Senior Pastor Wanted…qualifications…
* Must be a seminary graduate
* Must be married
* Must have at least 10 years experience in the ministry
Acts 4:13 says the Apostles were unschooled, ordinary men who had been with Jesus…and THOSE are the guys He used to change the world.
I wonder how Paul, David, Samson or Elijah would be treated if they were here on earth today? I’ve heard tons of people say these are some of their favorite Bible Characters but with their past I think it would be interesting to see how people would react to them.
-Would they be gossiped about because of their past?
-Would people show them Grace and Forgiveness?
If so why can’t we forgive the people who walk among us today but make mistakes? Why can’t we see them for the person they’re becoming and not the mistakes they made in the past?
“Everybody can be great because anybody can serve. You don’t have to have a college degree to serve. You don’t have to make your subject and verb agree to serve. You only need a heart full of grace. A soul generated by love”
~Martin Luther King, Jr.
My stomach is empty, as is my fridge. It is very much time to make a trip to the grocery store. I grab my wife, wallet and keys, and fly out the front door.
Minutes later, ravenous, I am scouring the aisles of the grocery store, piling sustenance into my cart. I have breads, cereals, meats, cheeses, puddings, pastas, frozen burritos, and produce. Kozy Shack, Life, Prego, Tillamook. Never grocery shop when you are hungry. Your savings will disappear at the checkout.
With a full cart (and then some) my wife and I exit the store. I am almost sprinting, ready to tear open a bag of Kettle Chips for the car ride home.
We get to the car and unload our groceries, caught up in the excitement of our forthcoming gluttonous feast. Then, we hop in and speed out of the parking lot. As we approach the first stoplight, we look to our left and notice a woman sitting on the median.
She is perched on an overturned shopping cart. She is dressed in tattered, mismatched clothing. Next to her is another cart filled with empty soda cans and plastic water bottles. Amidst the recyclables are several bags of belongings—socks, shirts, and small household items. Her face is sullen and vacant. She does not speak, but only looks up at us through weathered, distant eyes. The woman holds a sign:
Homeless.
Need Help.
God Bless.
The first wave of thought that comes over me is guilt: Here I am raiding Vons like a sultan and not thinking twice about it, yet this person doesn’t even have a roof over their head.
Then another thought enters my mind: What if this person is running a scam? What if she is just lazy or is an addict or has made decisions to put herself in this position? Without a doubt, there are those out there who would take advantage of a situation like this, using homelessness as a means to rip people off …
On the one hand, we know we are called to help the homeless, to give to those who are in need. Jesus was pretty clear on this. Nothing we have is our own. And everything we have been given is simply a tool to bless others, right?
But, how do we know what a homeless person is going to do with what we give them? After all, people become homeless for many different reasons. We all know the stories about the drug addicts, the drunks and the criminals. But there are also those who, through no fault of their own, have run into economic problems—and the sad reality is that there are so many more people in this situation because of our economy. We know that some are homeless because they have chosen to be, because they refuse to get a job, or because they refuse to get help for their addictions. But there are also those who are the victims of mental illness, who cannot possibly change their position in life without outside help. There are scammers—people who don’t work because they are able to raise generous amounts of cash running street hustles. But there are also many hard-working people out there who have been laid off and who are trying with all their might to find work for themselves …
I look at my wife, and I know that she is going through a similar debate inside of her. Is this a calculated attempt to capitalize on our guilt or a sincerely hurting person who desperately needs our assistance?
The light is about to turn green, and we have to make a quick decision.
We decide to keep our window rolled up and just head home.
During our ride, we deliberate over the situation, and it is a depth-filled conversation that lasts the rest of the evening.
I feel a vague sense of remorse for not giving anything to the woman. But then again, I recall times where I have been in similar situations, gave the person money, then second guessed myself afterward.
What is the right thing to do?
These are legitimate questions, because in these times our hard-earned income does not last as long or go as far as it used to. The last thing we want to be doing is giving our money away to someone who is just going to buy alcohol or drugs or find a way to avoid finding work. Yet, we want to do what is right at the same time.
Look, I know that in many cases, giving food is a better alternative than giving money. But what if you are running late for an appointment, or you are at a stoplight?
Truth be told, many of us have a preconceived opinion of homeless people. We fear them, just as we distrust their motives. And we use this as an excuse—a justification—as to why we don’t do more for those in need around us.
But here is the burning question—does God want us to give without judging the ones we are giving to? If you are stopped at a light and someone passes you with a sign asking for change, is it better to give it to them, knowing they may use it for wrong, or is it better to just look the other way?
I took this situation as an opportunity to look in the mirror. Am I doing anything at all in my life to help those in need around me, in my immediate communities? If the answer is no, do I have an excuse?
It’s the holiday season, so naturally it is a time for thanks, a time for reminding ourselves how blessed we are. And it is also a time to give to others who are in need. But this year, why not take it one step further, and examine our motives as well as our understanding of the heart of Jesus? Why not take these questions as an opportunity to look, once again, at the stories we have in our Holy Book about’ Jesus’ interaction with the needy?
So do you give to this guy?? or this guy?? or Neither?!?
or this guy??
or Neither?!?