Risen

As I've mentioned once or twice before, I love me some movies. Going to an advance screening is something I've always wanted to experience. Being able to see a movie most people can't is cool.

I got to go to my first advance screening last night. The film was the new faith based flick Risen.

Christian movies are a really challenging thing to make... and rarely done well. It's easy to put the focus more on the moral/ message than on the characters and the story (a good story with real characters will convey a message better than a message with a story tacked on).

The best way I've seen to combat this is by setting your film around the life of Jesus. The story and the message go hand it hand. It makes for some really compelling stuff. Risen is a great example of that!

Risen is the story of a Roman centurion who is assigned the job of discovering what happened to the body of Jesus. It's a pretty clever set up really, take a story we all know... and add a slight twist.

It was a lot of fun to see Clavius (the Roman played by Joseph Fiennes) investigate the resurrection and wrestle with his own faith.

I also loved the way the disciples were portrayed. They really felt like sheep without a shepherd.

As is to be expected,
there was some poetic license taken. That being said, it was probably the best type of license you can take. It didn't change or effect the story in a negative way.

I give it a hearty thumbs up. However, I will say that the first 5 minutes does have a fairly intense action scene. Pretty brutal. I wouldn't recommend the beginning for kids. After that it's pretty tame... aside from shots of the crucifixion... again... which is to be expected!

It hits theatres this weekend. Check it out!

Beautiful

One of the best things about radio (and one of the reasons I was interested in it in the first place) is all the awesome songs that you get to experience.
There are so many talented artists that are producing great material.

It's overwhelming actually, and really easy to miss some of the gems.

That's the case with Beautiful. It's a worship song by Phil Wickham that came out a few years ago. It went right under my radar upon initial release. However, life finds a way.

A friend sent me the song a few weeks ago, I've been hooked ever since!

It really captures the adoration aspect of worship. Singing praises to God.

"I see your face in every sunrise, the colors of the morning are inside of your eyes"

Talk about poetic. Also, the whoo whoo whoos are a nice touch.

Hopefully you enjoy it as much as I have been!

Pieces of a Plate

While doing some work near the kitchen sink, I heard a plate falling. Having fairly fast reflexes, I reached out and caught it without even looking. Had I looked I would have know it was not a plate... but PIECES of a plate.
I cut may hand up pretty good. Had to pull glass out of it and was wrapped up in bandages for the better part of a week. It also hurt a bit. Not a lot, but a fair amount. And there was a lot of blood. A lot.
While thinking about the state of my hand one day and how much that whole thing sucked... it hit me.
Jesus was whipped and pierced.
If my hand had caused me so much grief, imagine what Jesus would have gone through?
Jesus would have been beaten with a cat-of-nine-tails. A whip with pieces of glass in it.
Even thinking about it makes me sick. And he did that all for me. It's a sobering thought. One I thought I had grasped, especially after seeing The Passion of the Christ. I was wrong.
I know it seems like a loose analogy. My hand barely felt what Jesus would have. But still! That really is love. That he would lay down his life, in such a horrid way, for us. People that could have cared less about God or a relationship.
I never would have thought a shard of plate would boost my faith, but I guess that's how God works. He takes the bad and makes it good.

Happy Christmas

It's that time of the year again. I love it.
Flashing lights, the smells of awesome coming from the kitchen and the sound of kids on sugar highs using really loud and annoying electric toys.
Can't beat Christmas.
Material fluffy traditions aside, it's important to reflect on what Christmas really is.
Jesus.
Babe, born in a manger. The saviour of the world in a barn. That's such a mind bending thought, isn't it?
One song that truly captures what Christmas is (for me at least) is Downhere's How Many Kings.
Listen to the lyrics... and have a Merry Christmas.

Christmas Banquet

It was tricky coming up with something interesting to do at my churches' Christmas Banquet this year. The last few years have been great, but not about the nativity. They've focused on giving, the reason for the season or (last year) a variety night, but no babe in a manger. This year however, the goal was to do The Christmas Story. That's harder then it sounds. Everything has been done. Church Christmas plays can get into the "cliche rut" so easily - we didn't want that to happen.
So instead of a musical or a play... we mixed 'em! A guy was pretending to be Luke writing his Gospel, every time he'd hit an important part in the story (Angels appearing to the shepherds) we'd get someone to do their version of a relevant carol (for the angel example it would be While Shepherds Watched Their Flocks By Night). It worked!
A Buddy of mine and I kicked things off with "O Come O Come Emmanuel." Great song. I've always liked it, though I'm not sure why...

The night continued with "We Three Kings," "Away In A Manger" and an instrumental version of "God Rest Ye Merry Gentle Men."
Between the lights, music and food (and of course the over aching message) I'm officially read for Christmas!

New House of Heroes

I love House of Heroes. David Crowder Band is my favorite band, but they are calling it quits in January which leaves my "favorite band" spot open for the Air Raid 20 headliners. I got super excited on Tuesday when I found out that they had a new Christmas song coming out. Fast forward a few days, it's on YouTube.

While it's not exactly your most conventional "Christmas Song." I like.

It's a bit of a smack in the face actually.

We can get so wrapped up in stuff that we forget that Jesus came to challenge the conventions of the day. To get rid of the hypocrisy and bring in a faith that was real and tangible. One that we should be living every day of the year.

That's what I took from this song anyway. Your thoughts?