Apr 6, 2009

Best Films in the History of Mankind

What follows is the official list of all-time best cinematic features. These films are masterpieces and should be seen and loved by all who call themselves people. I write this to pay homage to the classic works of art that have stood (or will stand) the test of time and prove that my opinions are better than Parker's. Each selection is followed by one or two of the many memorable quotes in the film. (In no particular order).

Lord Of The Rings Trilogy-
Aragorn: When I look into your eyes I see the same fear that would take the heart of me. A day may come when the courage of men fails, when we must forsake our friends and break all bonds of fellowship, but it is not this day. This day we fight! Stand now men of the West.

Pirates Of The Caribbean Trilogy-
Norrington:You are without a doubt the worst pirate I've ever heard of.
Jack Sparrow: Ah, but you have heard of me.
Will Turner: Jack, Elizabeth is in danger!
Jack Sparrow: Have you considered keeping more watchful eye on her? Maybe just lock her up somewhere.
Will Turner: Keep a weather eye on the horizon.

Braveheart-
Wallace: Every man dies, but few men truly live.
Wallace: For Freedom!!!!
Wallace: I never lie, but I am a savage.

Gladiator-
Proximo: The general who became a slave. The slave who became a gladiator. The gladiator who defied an emperor. Striking story! But now, the people want to know how the story ends. Only a famous death will do. And what could be more glorious than to challenge the Emperor himself in the great arena?
Maximus: You would fight me?
Commodus: Why not? Do you think I am afraid?
Maximus: I think you've been afraid all your life.
Maximus: What we do in life echoes in eternity.

Kingdom Of Heaven-
Balian of Ibelin: It is a kingdom of conscience, or nothing
Balian of Ibelin: What man is a man who does not make the world better
Balian of Ibelin: What is Jerusalem worth?
Saladin: Nothing...(turns and walks away)...(turns back) Everything.

Last Samauri-
Simon Graham: [narrating] They say Japan was made by a sword. They say the old gods dipped a coral blade into the ocean, and when they pulled it out four perfect drops fell back into the sea, and those drops became the islands of Japan. I say, Japan was made by a handful of brave men. Warriors, willing to give their lives for what seems to have become a forgotten word: honor
Algren: [narrating] Winter, 1877. What does it mean to be Samurai? To devote yourself utterly to a set of moral principles. To seek a stillness of your mind. And to master the way of the sword.

Robin Hood Prince Of Thieves-
Azeem: A wise man once said: "There are no perfect men in the world; only perfect intentions."
Will Scarlett: Well, that depends on you Locksley. I've never trusted you, that's no secret. What I wanna know is, is are you gonna finish what you started? I want to know if he's gonna turn and run like the spoiled little rich boy I always took him for.
Robin Hood: Did I wrong you in another life, Will Scarlett? Where does this intolerable hatred for me come from?
Will Scarlett: From knowing that... that our father loved you more than me.

Narnia Movies-
Aslan: [almost in a roar] Do not cite the Deep Magic to me Witch. I was there when it was written.
Mr. Tumnus: [of Aslan] He's not a tame lion.
Lucy Pevensie: No... but he is good.
Aslan: It is finished.
(Note:If you have not read the books, you should not see the movies. They {the books}are but a dim reflection in a dusty mirror of the power and epicness of what the movies were adapted from.)
Batman Movies-
Joker: Want to know how I got these scars?
James Gordon Jr.: Why's he running, Dad?
Lt. James Gordon: Because we have to chase him.
James Gordon Jr.: He didn't do anything wrong.
Lt. James Gordon: Because he's the hero Gotham deserves, but not the one it needs right now. So we'll hunt him because he can take it. Because he's not our hero. He's a silent guardian, a watchful protector. A dark knight.

A Knights Tale-
William: It's not in me to withdraw.
Prince Edward: No. Nor me. Though it happens.
Chaucer: Yes, behold my lord Ulrich, the rock, the hard place, like a wind from Guilderland he sweeps by blown far from his homeland in search of glory and honor, we walk in the garden of his turbulence.
[crowd is silent, cricket noise]
Roland: Yeah.
Crowd: Yeahhhhh!

Other Movies Worth Mentioning.
Mulan
The Prestige
Taken
Dances with Wolves
Shindlers list
Seven Years in Tibet
A Beautiful Mind
The Lion King
The Princes Bride
A Knights Tale
Mission Impossible Trilogy

Glory
A River Runs Through It



Feb 4, 2009

He is no fool who gives up what he cannot keep to gain what cannot be lost.

-anonymous

Dec 10, 2008

Belief
It is hard to know what you can and can't believe.
There are so many things we take for granted and so many things we just accept as truth simply because it is what we are told to believe.
Lately I have been trying to find God for myself. I want to forget everything I have taken for granted and allow myself to be made new in my mind and in my heart.
I once heard a man say "we as humans are very good at taking the great mysteries of God and reducing them to mere fact".
I have so many beliefs and opinions about things. I want to live life with active conviction. I want to believe in things much bigger than myself, and know that truth exists and is worth laying down your life for.
There are so many people in the world who claim to know all the answers. I am not saying that careful study of Gods word and guidance by the spirit will not bring wisdom and understanding, because it will. I am saying that what you look for you will find. If you look hard enough you can find a way to justify any opinion.
I hope that we, as people who represent the body of Christ, can spend ourselves seeking the God of truth. Not a god that forms to fit our opinions. He is so much bigger than that. I hope we can allow our actions to point the world into an appreciation of this infinitely deep mystery that is the creator of the universe.
I want to challenge anyone who thinks they know the mind and the heart of God.
If you ever think you understand, think again.
I believe that we are to live according to truth
Sometimes I think it is better to cling to the mystery itself rather than conquer it.


Here is a beautiful exerpt from Job 38:
1 Then the LORD answered Job out of the storm. He said:
2 "Who is this that darkens my counsel with words without knowledge?
3 Brace yourself like a man; I will question you, and you shall answer me.
4 "Where were you when I laid the earth's foundation? Tell me, if you understand.
5 Who marked off its dimensions? Surely you know! Who stretched a measuring line across it?
6 On what were its footings set, or who laid its cornerstone-
7 while the morning stars sang together and all the angels [a] shouted for joy?
8 "Who shut up the sea behind doors when it burst forth from the womb,
9 when I made the clouds its garment and wrapped it in thick darkness,
10 when I fixed limits for it and set its doors and bars in place,
11 when I said, 'This far you may come and no farther; here is where your proud waves halt'?
12 "Have you ever given orders to the morning, or shown the dawn its place,
13 that it might take the earth by the edges and shake the wicked out of it?
14 The earth takes shape like clay under a seal; its features stand out like those of a garment.
15 The wicked are denied their light, and their upraised arm is broken.
16 "Have you journeyed to the springs of the sea or walked in the recesses of the deep?
17 Have the gates of death been shown to you? Have you seen the gates of the shadow of death [b] ?
18 Have you comprehended the vast expanses of the earth? Tell me, if you know all this.
19 "What is the way to the abode of light? And where does darkness reside?
20 Can you take them to their places? Do you know the paths to their dwellings?
21 Surely you know, for you were already born! You have lived so many years!
22 "Have you entered the storehouses of the snow or seen the storehouses of the hail,
23 which I reserve for times of trouble, for days of war and battle?
24 What is the way to the place where the lightning is dispersed, or the place where the east winds are scattered over the earth?
25 Who cuts a channel for the torrents of rain, and a path for the thunderstorm,
26 to water a land where no man lives, a desert with no one in it,
27 to satisfy a desolate wasteland and make it sprout with grass?
28 Does the rain have a father? Who fathers the drops of dew?
29 From whose womb comes the ice? Who gives birth to the frost from the heavens
30 when the waters become hard as stone, when the surface of the deep is frozen?
31 "Can you bind the beautiful [c] Pleiades? Can you loose the cords of Orion?
32 Can you bring forth the constellations in their seasons [d] or lead out the Bear [e] with its cubs?
33 Do you know the laws of the heavens? Can you set up God's [f] dominion over the earth?
34 "Can you raise your voice to the clouds and cover yourself with a flood of water?
35 Do you send the lightning bolts on their way? Do they report to you, 'Here we are'?
36 Who endowed the heart [g] with wisdom or gave understanding to the mind [h] ?
37 Who has the wisdom to count the clouds? Who can tip over the water jars of the heavens
38 when the dust becomes hard and the clods of earth stick together?
39 "Do you hunt the prey for the lioness and satisfy the hunger of the lions
40 when they crouch in their dens or lie in wait in a thicket?
41 Who provides food for the raven when its young cry out to God and wander about for lack of food?

Dec 6, 2008

"The task must be made difficult, because only the difficult will inspire the noble-hearted."

Søren Kierkegaard
"It is not the critic who counts. Not the man who points out where the strong man stumbled or where the doer of deeds could have done better. The credit belongs to the man in the arena, whos face is marred by dust and sweat and blood; who strives valiantly; who errs and comes up short again and again; who knows the great enthusiasms; the great devotions; who spends himself at a worthy cause. Who, at best, knows in the end the triumph of high achievement, and at worst, at least fails while daring greatly, so his place will never be with those timid souls that never knew victory or defeat"

Theodore Rooseveldt

Nov 23, 2008

I hate hearing people I know complain about their lives.
I know very few people who have a legitimate reason to complain. The saddest part is that I do it myself. I am sick of it.
We live in the richest, safest, most powerful nation in the world. We eat until we are obese and get a good education. We worry about the economy and complain about gas prices when most of the world would consider themselves lucky to even have a car (much less a meal). We are always in a hurry because our true desire is getting through the day. Convenience is our number one priority and comfort is our ultimate goal. We are bored because we have become desensitized to this world and all our blessings. If it doesn't make things more convenient, more comfortable or entertain us we would rather have nothing to do with it.
I sat down today and wondered why god would allow a bunch of ungrateful selfish people to have so much. It seemed unjust to me when there are children all over the world dying of starvation.
I don't claim to understand God or how He works in the world, but I am starting to think that we aren't the most blessed nation in the world like we originally thought.
Is it possible that what the world considers blessing could actually be a curse?
Jesus makes it clear that it is hard for a rich man to be worthy of the kingdom of God. I think I might finally know why.
It is not that we are not loved by God, but He doesn't need people who are completely consumed with the empty things of this world. His work is not for people who's highest aim is personal comfort and convenience. We cannot experience the life that he offers without getting past our need to be constantly entertained (trust me theres much more to life than that).
You can not follow Jesus half-heartedly like I constantly try to do. Stop chasing the empty things of this world and stop looking to the world to know how to live. We are called to something far better.
I thought that Jesus was being unfair to us when he said things like that but now I know this:
Jesus was trying to save us from ourselves.
1Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles, and let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us

.

Nov 21, 2008

I have wrestled lately with ideas about what it means to be a Christian. Sometimes I it seems as if it is actually my greatest desire, and other times it like I do it because I have to. This seems to me like a very unfortunate attitude in the church.
Tony Campollo says it best when he asks “if there were no such thing as heaven or hell, would you still follow Jesus?”
Ill warn you that if you seriously consider that question for a while it has the potential to strike hard at the foundations of your faith. As believers we need to know what we believe, why we believe, and what that means for our lives. It seems like the church as a whole really gets the fact that we were saved from something, but what would happen if we embrace the fact that we were saved for something.
Seriously if we as a whole not only acknowledged that but embraced it, what would happen in the world? Maybe this generation of Christians would lead the fight against malaria. Maybe we will end the widespread belief that Christians hate gays and want to kill abortion doctors.
Don’t get me wrong, we should be eternally grateful that we were saved from Satan’s grasp, but we should also remember that we are saved for something greater than any other calling. “To bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives, and the opening of the prison to them that are bound;” Isaiah 61. That is what Jesus did.

Ephesians 2:10 (New International Version)
For we are God's workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do.

Nov 19, 2008

Life is an amazing thing, but at the same time it is very frustrating. We have the answers to all the deepest and toughest questions in life, and we have found what the one thing everyone in all of history has spent their lives searching for. Our search for meaning, purpose, satisfaction and love drive just about everything we do.
It is a shame that we, as Christians , cannot see the emptiness and desperation of the world (and often in ourselves) or if we see it we ignore it because it is uncomfortable and we couldn't do much about it anyways. We give our brothers and sisters in Africa our sympathy but we leave it up to "rich" people to donate large sums of money to solve the worlds problems. We see our friends at school who continually chase after the empty things of this world and never find life, but we say "maybe they will grow out of it" or "its a lost cause".
Sometimes we make other excuses such as "I am too young" and we always look forward to the day that we start to live out our faith. The ironic thing is that when that day comes, we will say "I am too old for this"
Every time i start thinking about how I can show people the kingdom of God I realize that I am very good at hiding it inside a church building or in the walls of my dorm room and that I am a master of excuses. As Donald Miller puts is "We cant be letting the world tell us how to live when the world dosent know the first thing about living".
Mother Theresa said something that stripped me of my ability to make excuses. She said "In this life we may not do great things. We can only do small things with great love".
There are no longer any excuses.
If we claim to follow a man who conquered death so that we would have life, then we should know no limits to our love. If we claim to know a better way of life then we should believe that the world will notice when we live. If we have experienced the life that Jesus offered, we should know that it is worth fighting for.
My hope is that we can remain faithful with the small things so the Lord can use us in big ways.

Nov 16, 2008

This is not typical of me. I am an introvert and a stoic by nature (except around a select few), but this is something I feel like I should share. I would venture to say that I am a very emotionally stable person and need no validation because I have found fulfillment in Christ, but sometimes it is good to get things off your chest.
I think marriage is a really cool concept. I would like to someday have a friend that I know will be there with me to experience all the different aspects of life and to actively pursue the Lord with. It is beautiful because it is a reflection of our lords relationship with his people. That sounds epic.

In Genesis 2 it says that it is not good for man to be alone, but the apostle Paul says that if you are called to do so, it is better to remain single. Its hard to know what you are called to do though when god is seemingly silent. In my mind I "trust" gods judgement, but I somehow still think he owes me answers. I find myself with a sense of entitlment toward things in my life.
Lately I have thought a lot about whether or not I will get married and if i do, what kind of person should I look for.
As much as I would love to, I feel like it might be extremely irresponsible to marry. I want to live first for the lord and I have come to find out that his will is never what you expect it to be. If I find myself called to something radical and dangerous or something that will cost me my reputation it would be hard to know that I am putting my wife in danger or costing her her reputation. There are certain things you cannot do when you need to be providing and protecting a family.
I often pray that god will allow me to meet girl who will someday stand behind me no matter what I do and who will trust me enough to follow me wherever the lord leads, and who I can pursue wholeheartedly until the day I die but I now know that his will is going to be done and I have learned that if I trust his guidance over my desires, amazing things will happen.
I dont know what will happen with my life, but I pray that I recieve answers so that I can know where i am going and press on full force. I know that if god wants me to be single, it is for the good works that he has planned in advance for me. I pray that if it is gods will for me to marry, that I can know and pursue that girl with active conviction wholeheartedly. I pray that god will provide me with wisdom and courage and perseverance so that I can provide the love and respect and honor any of Gods daughters deserve.
Right now God is silent or I have failed to hear him but my hope is that when his plan is revealed that I will spend myself completely accomplishing his will.

Nov 15, 2008

God

Thoughts:

We are born of flesh. As humans in our natural condition we are spiritually dead and lifeless. We chase our desire for money, sex, power, acceptance, or entertainment only to come out empty and jaded, wanting more. We are slaves to our desire for the things of this world. Our entire existance is one vast need that cannot be fulfilled
When God sent his son to the fallen earth to live among us, his son told us that we must be born again. This time, though, it was not of flesh but of spirit. As long as you are not born in spirit you are dead in your transgressions. John Piper says it like this: "The dead cannot see. That is why they cannot see the kingdom as supremely desirable. To them it either looks foolish, mythical, hard or boring. Therefore they cannot enter the kingdom of God. "
To be born of the spirit, he demands an inward change so that we may see the wonderful and enticing movement that is taking place. The kingdom of God is at hand! The captivating truth that we can be set right with our creator and live in union with him is being shown to us through this man we call Jesus of Nazareth. We rejoice because we have caught a glimpse of the beauty and mystery of the God of the universe who is working in all things and through all things to accomplish his good purposes. We are caught in the midst of the greatest and most epic story of all. ( praise God )
Even through all this, though, many cannot understand this unspeakable joy that we have. Those who are slaves to their flesh cannot see why we would follow a man who teaches a gospel so contrary to our human nature, but this man can not and will not be defined by our own sinful desires. 
He calls us to take up our cross, to praise him amidst suffering, to abandon all desires and addictions that we have looked to for validation and fulfillment, destroy your pride, love your enemies and pray for those who persecute us, and ultimately lay our lives at his feet. 
This seems to make you more of a slave than you were before, but as CS Lewis said "he didnt come to torment your natural self but to kill it". 
We have to let Him kill our natural self so we can be born of spirit. Those born of spirit will see the kingdom as supremely desirable. The truth will set us free.
He wasnt lying when he promised abundant life. 
Praise God.


Apr 9, 2008

"I believe in Chritianity as I believe that the sun has risen- not only because I see it, but because by it I see everything else."

C.S. Lewis