I think it stinks when Hollywood has to mess up an otherwise good movie with some unnecessary sex outside of marriage, foul language, or tacky, inappropriate humor. How 'bout you? Anne and I always think, "What a waste!" For example, some years ago, we really enjoyed the movie "My Big Fat Greek Wedding," practically falling out of our seats from laughing so hard, coming from two different cultures ourselves, but never felt the sex scene was necessary or helpful to the otherwise great plot and good humor of it all. At other times a movie stinks anyway (plot-wise or substance-wise) and the extra junk is just adding insult to injury.

Well, Anne asked me if I could look into the movie currently playing at Edmond Town Hall in Newtown to see if it might be a good one for us and our children to see (at $2.00 a ticket, it's sometimes hard to resist). Unfortunately, the movie is described as being about a guy who's described as a "big-nosed loser"  (Adam Sandler) who decides to have plastic surgery to reduce the size of his nose, thinking that if he does so, in addition to wearing a wedding ring (though he's not married), he'll be more likely to have single women interested in having sex with him. Is this a message I want to feed into the minds of my children-or myself? NOT! Needless to say, the movie is telling of anything but the kind of thoughts that God would have us think (Philippians 4:8), as we are created in His image (Genesis 1:27), renewed in His Spirit (2 Corinthians 5:17) called to be the moral salt and light that keeps the decaying and darkened world from further decay and lostness (Matthe 5:13-16), replacing the lies of the world with the truth of His Word (i.e. 1 Samuel 16:7, Romans 12:1-2, etc.), in order to rise above what would hold us below (Romans 6) so that we have true contentment and fulfillment, along with true meaning and purpose, in this life and the next (John 8:32, John 10:10, John 14:23, 1 Corinthians 2:9).

With all of this in mind, you may or may not benefit from adding www.crosswalk.com to your list of links or website favorites when it comes to checking out a movie, from a Christian perspective, before wasting money and time seeing it (especially for those expensive movies at the main cinemas). Below is the article I read regarding the movie "Just Go With It" that I just won't be going to see.

I love you and hope to see you Sunday when we'll open up Romans chapter 7 together (if you'd like to read it in advance to allow the Holy Spirit to prepare your heart and mind for His Word and His special message to us at New Hope Community Church).

Yours and His,

Jim

"But among you there must not be even a hint of sexual immorality, or of any kind of impurity, or of greed, because these are improper for God's holy people." Ephesians 5:3

OK, in light of my message the other Sunday at www.newhope-cc.com I've decided that I'm going back to the old "not checking Facebook very often" M.O. (i.e. the mention of the Social Networking disease that psychologists are dubbing "FOMO" of which you may have heard)-as I'm feeling a little susceptible to it.

 

Meeting with people "face-to-face" is so much better than "cyberspace (Hebrews 10:23-25)." As my daughters would say, "I'm a poet and I didn't know it:)."

 

So I'm off to go meet with some people in "real-time" as it's nice when someone is willing to "practice what they preach" for a change, no pun intended:), right?

 

Besides, I just can't picture Jesus, in all that we see of Him in God's Word, communicating with people in cyberspace rather than face to face, as He even embraced the woman at the well who most "religious" leaders wouldn't touch with a ten-foot pole (John 4) and hugged lepers (when it would've been a lot less risky and "safer" for Him to wait to come to the earth in the 21st century and simply send the lepers, the prostitutes, the "down-and-outs" and other "misfits" and non-conformists of society (Luke 15:1, Romans 12:2) like me and many of us a  simple "email" or FB message or tweet to "connect" with those He created and He loves (Isaiah 53, John 3:17, Colossians 1:16-17).

 

Sorry Mark Zuckerberg! Sorry Bill Gates! Sorry Al Gore:)

 

OK, I will still check FB when any of my 227 "Facebook Friends" (each of whom have known me in person and has developed a "real-world" friendship with me in the past-well, with the exception of 2 of them) write me through it (as I get those email alerts)-so I hope I'm not offending any of you, as I'm thankful to God for each one of you, as you are a gift from Him to me and I've ben blessed by Him through each one of you (James 1:17). Yet, sometimes in life "less is more"-including less being constantly "plugged in" rather than silent and serene in the presence of our Savior.

 

See ya (hopefully in person soon)!

 

All for Jesus,

 

Jim