I wonder if this is a new trend...
Short daily devotions for busy Christians and Church meetings
Showing posts with label new movies. Show all posts
Showing posts with label new movies. Show all posts
Saturday, December 12, 2009
Friday, November 02, 2007
Beware the Golden Compass
Audio version here
There’s a new movie coming out just before Christmas called “The Golden Compass.” It’s a fantasy movie based on a best selling trilogy by the author, Philip Pullman. It’s the usual good vs. bad story, with the heroes winning the day. The only trouble with the book is this: the Church is perceived as being bad, whilst being a free spirit - without being encumbered by God – is the ultimate good.
In the first book, the clergy are portrayed as being kidnappers of children, who want to enslave their spirits to serve the Authority, which is God. The whole series is about rebelling against the Church and ultimately killing the Authority, in order to achieve true freedom. There’s a subtle message of atheism being glorified and religion being diminished in the book. Philip Pullman is aiming the series at children because he wants to mess up their relationship with God and lead them into the lonely wilderness of atheism and chaos.
You may decide to take your kids to the movie or read the books for yourselves. That is your own free choice. But don’t do it without evaluating your relationship with God and Christ’s Church first. If your faith is ambivalent and your notion of the Church is flimsy, you may put your beliefs on the line and end up disregarding God’s sovereignty. You may also be putting your kids in harm’s way and leaving them with more doubts about God, Christ, and the Church.
Whatever you decide, remember that Pullman has his own agenda, which certainly isn’t God’s. He wants God dead in the hearts and minds of people, so that we can live in a free-spirited world where anything goes. We had that once before, in the centuries preceding Christ. Human sacrifices, paganism, and dark forces ruled the hearts and minds of men during those times: are we sure that we want to regress back into those days, or do we instead choose to remember that God rescued us from the dominion of darkness and brought us into the kingdom of Christ?
Prayer: Lord Jesus, grant us the rare gift of discernment in our lives, so that we will make better choices. Help us to know what to do about this movie and these books. Keep us from being persuaded by the hidden messages that we may encounter. Help us to deepen our faith in You by remembering that the seasons of Thanksgiving and Christmas are times when we honor and glorify You. In Your Holy Name, we pray. Amen.
There’s a new movie coming out just before Christmas called “The Golden Compass.” It’s a fantasy movie based on a best selling trilogy by the author, Philip Pullman. It’s the usual good vs. bad story, with the heroes winning the day. The only trouble with the book is this: the Church is perceived as being bad, whilst being a free spirit - without being encumbered by God – is the ultimate good.
In the first book, the clergy are portrayed as being kidnappers of children, who want to enslave their spirits to serve the Authority, which is God. The whole series is about rebelling against the Church and ultimately killing the Authority, in order to achieve true freedom. There’s a subtle message of atheism being glorified and religion being diminished in the book. Philip Pullman is aiming the series at children because he wants to mess up their relationship with God and lead them into the lonely wilderness of atheism and chaos.
You may decide to take your kids to the movie or read the books for yourselves. That is your own free choice. But don’t do it without evaluating your relationship with God and Christ’s Church first. If your faith is ambivalent and your notion of the Church is flimsy, you may put your beliefs on the line and end up disregarding God’s sovereignty. You may also be putting your kids in harm’s way and leaving them with more doubts about God, Christ, and the Church.
Whatever you decide, remember that Pullman has his own agenda, which certainly isn’t God’s. He wants God dead in the hearts and minds of people, so that we can live in a free-spirited world where anything goes. We had that once before, in the centuries preceding Christ. Human sacrifices, paganism, and dark forces ruled the hearts and minds of men during those times: are we sure that we want to regress back into those days, or do we instead choose to remember that God rescued us from the dominion of darkness and brought us into the kingdom of Christ?
Prayer: Lord Jesus, grant us the rare gift of discernment in our lives, so that we will make better choices. Help us to know what to do about this movie and these books. Keep us from being persuaded by the hidden messages that we may encounter. Help us to deepen our faith in You by remembering that the seasons of Thanksgiving and Christmas are times when we honor and glorify You. In Your Holy Name, we pray. Amen.
Wednesday, September 12, 2007
Champion of Light
James 1:17 Every good and perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of the heavenly lights, who does not change like shifting shadows. (NIV)
There’s a new fantasy movie coming out in October called “The Seeker: The Dark is Rising,” which is all about a teenage boy who is chosen to defend the forces of light against the warriors of darkness. It looks like a modern version of the tales of King Arthur and it will probably spawn a couple of sequels. There’s also a competition to win a family trip to Hollywood on the movie’s website. You can find the details at http://www.seekthesigns.com/.
This contest between the forces of light and darkness is something that most religions express in their sacred scriptures. In our own Bible, there are many passages about light overcoming darkness. From the beginning of Creation in Genesis, where God separates the light from the dark, to the vision of Christ in Gospel of John as the Light of the world, this theme is ever present.
In ancient days, when fire was a secret art, the ability to overcome the darkness was a wondrous weapon against the forces of evil. And in different cultures, solar eclipses were treated as times of utter despair where darkness seemed to prevail for a short time. And in the northern regions of civilization, where the winters were cold, long, and dark, the coming of solar spring was a time of relief and festivity, joy and exaltation.
These days, we’re not afraid of the darkness because we have the ability to light the world 24 hours a day, every day of the year. So when we come across these passages about light and darkness, we tend to inwardly spiritualize them. In of acclaiming Christ to be the True Champion of Light, we talk about Him vanquishing the darkness, despair and depression in our souls. We look to Jesus to fix our warped emotions and to enlighten our somber souls.
But no matter what we think or how we apply those ancient passages of scripture to our daily lives, we seek to escape the darkness of death through the light of eternal life. And this is why we seek Christ as our Savior. This is why we place our hopes and faith in Him. He is the Light of the World, both here on earth, and in the world to come.
Prayer: Lord Jesus, we seek You today to enable us to rise above the darkness in our souls, our lives, our feelings. We reach out to You to enlighten our world and to show us the way to our heavenly home. Be with us and bless us through Your everlasting, all powerful light. In Your Holy Name, we pray. Amen.
There’s a new fantasy movie coming out in October called “The Seeker: The Dark is Rising,” which is all about a teenage boy who is chosen to defend the forces of light against the warriors of darkness. It looks like a modern version of the tales of King Arthur and it will probably spawn a couple of sequels. There’s also a competition to win a family trip to Hollywood on the movie’s website. You can find the details at http://www.seekthesigns.com/.
This contest between the forces of light and darkness is something that most religions express in their sacred scriptures. In our own Bible, there are many passages about light overcoming darkness. From the beginning of Creation in Genesis, where God separates the light from the dark, to the vision of Christ in Gospel of John as the Light of the world, this theme is ever present.
In ancient days, when fire was a secret art, the ability to overcome the darkness was a wondrous weapon against the forces of evil. And in different cultures, solar eclipses were treated as times of utter despair where darkness seemed to prevail for a short time. And in the northern regions of civilization, where the winters were cold, long, and dark, the coming of solar spring was a time of relief and festivity, joy and exaltation.
These days, we’re not afraid of the darkness because we have the ability to light the world 24 hours a day, every day of the year. So when we come across these passages about light and darkness, we tend to inwardly spiritualize them. In of acclaiming Christ to be the True Champion of Light, we talk about Him vanquishing the darkness, despair and depression in our souls. We look to Jesus to fix our warped emotions and to enlighten our somber souls.
But no matter what we think or how we apply those ancient passages of scripture to our daily lives, we seek to escape the darkness of death through the light of eternal life. And this is why we seek Christ as our Savior. This is why we place our hopes and faith in Him. He is the Light of the World, both here on earth, and in the world to come.
Prayer: Lord Jesus, we seek You today to enable us to rise above the darkness in our souls, our lives, our feelings. We reach out to You to enlighten our world and to show us the way to our heavenly home. Be with us and bless us through Your everlasting, all powerful light. In Your Holy Name, we pray. Amen.
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