Cedar Rapids

A funny (though raunchy) comedy about coming to the big city.

One last BIG kick from INCEPTION

here's the link to further reading on Inception for those of you who may be interested...

thanks again for another great friday nite...!

Inception

Inception is a 2010 science fiction film, which was written, produced, and directed by Christopher Nolan. The film stars Leonardo DiCaprio,Ken Watanabe, Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Marion Cotillard, Ellen Page, Tom Hardy, Cillian Murphy, Dileep Rao, Tom Berenger, and Michael Caine. DiCaprio plays Dom Cobb, a specialized spy or corporate espionage thief. His work consists of secretly extracting valuable commercial information from the unconscious mind of his targets while they are asleep and dreaming. Unable to visit his children, Cobb is offered a chance to regain his old life in exchange for an almost impossible task: "inception", the planting of an idea into a target's subconscious.^[5]

^{In chapter 1, Cobb asks what's the most resilient parasite?  He answers his own question with an idea.  What we are left with is to try and discern if that idea is truly inspired and trustworthy or birthed from our own minds left to their own devices.}  

Romans 12:1-3 (The Message)

 ^1-2 So here's what I want you to do, God helping you: Take your everyday, ordinary life—your sleeping, eating, going-to-work, and walking-around life—and place it before God as an offering. Embracing what God does for you is the best thing you can do for him. Don't become so well-adjusted to your culture that you fit into it without even thinking. Instead, fix your attention on God. You'll be changed from the inside out. Readily recognize what he wants from you, and quickly respond to it. Unlike the culture around you, always dragging you down to its level of immaturity, God brings the best out of you, develops well-formed maturity in you.

 ³I'm speaking to you out of deep gratitude for all that God has given me, and especially as I have responsibilities in relation to you. Living then, as every one of you does, in pure grace, it's important that you not misinterpret yourselves as people who are bringing this goodness to God. No, God brings it all to you. The only accurate way to understand ourselves is by what God is and by what he does for us, not by what we are and what we do for him.

In chapter 2, Arthur states to Mr. Saito that true inspiration is impossible to fake.  The word inspiration actually means 'breathed upon' and lends us to conclude that said inspiration is always external to ourselves.  That being said, should drive us to gauge wether or not said externality is trustworthy or not.  

Genesis 2:7 (New International Version)

⁷ Then the LORD God formed a man^[a] from the dust of the ground and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life, and the man became a living being.

In chapter 14, ambiguity is our lasting impression as Cobb is seemingly reunited with his kids while his wobbling totem spins in the foreground.  We're left to wonder wether Cobb has returned to a meaningful reality or remains to embrace a meaningless dream.  At some point we're best served by abandoning the wondering of Cobb's, or more importantly, our own status in reference to ourselves and pushing ahead to embrace what the story's creator has to say about our status.  

1 Corinthians 13 12-13 (The Message)

 ¹²We don't yet see things clearly. We're squinting in a fog, peering through a mist. But it won't be long before the weather clears and the sun shines bright! We'll see it all then, see it all as clearly as God sees us, knowing him directly just as he knows us!

 ¹³But for right now, until that completeness, we have three things to do to lead us toward that consummation: Trust steadily in God, hope unswervingly, love extravagantly. And the best of the three is love.

Coming this friday...Inception

Inception is a 2010 science fiction film, which was written, produced, and directed by Christopher Nolan. The film stars Leonardo DiCaprio,Ken Watanabe, Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Marion Cotillard, Ellen Page, Tom Hardy, Cillian Murphy, Dileep Rao, Tom Berenger, and Michael Caine. DiCaprio plays Dom Cobb, a specialized spy or corporate espionage thief. His work consists of secretly extracting valuable commercial information from the unconscious mind of his targets while they are asleep and dreaming. Unable to visit his children, Cobb is offered a chance to regain his old life in exchange for an almost impossible task: "inception", the planting of an idea into a target's subconscious.^[5]







notes to follow...wednesday?

Sanctum

A technically beautiful film with a troubling message.

Everyone loves a little bit of adventure, but some people take it to the extreme, whether climbing Everest or exploring the wonders of deep-sea diving. The hardy band of explorers in the new thriller Sanctum are crazy enough to engage in both at the same time, by tunneling and swimming their way through the largest cave ever discovered—a gaping hole that burrows at least two miles below the earth’s surface.

The Apostle

The Apostle is a 1997 American drama film written and directed by Robert Duvall, who stars in the title role. John Beasley, Farrah Fawcett,Billy Bob Thornton, June Carter Cash, Miranda Richardson and Billy Joe Shaver also appear. It was filmed on location in and around Saint Martinville and Des Allemands, Louisiana with some establishing shots done in the Dallas, Texas area by a second unit before principal photography began.


In chapter 2, News in Heaven, Sonny and Momma Dewey come upon a fatal car crash.  While the state troopers talk of worldly matters, Sonny sees the opportunity as a divine appointment that has been made for him and a critically injured couple.  We will often confront nay-sayers in doing God's work, but hopefully we'll follow Christ's example in doing His work and following His will for our lives.  

John 5:30-38 (The Message)

 ^30-33"I can't do a solitary thing on my own: I listen, then I decide. You can trust my decision because I'm not out to get my own way but only to carry out orders. If I were simply speaking on my own account, it would be an empty, self-serving witness. But an independent witness confirms me, the most reliable Witness of all. Furthermore, you all saw and heard John, and he gave expert and reliable testimony about me, didn't he?
 ^34-38"But my purpose is not to get your vote, and not to appeal to mere human testimony. I'm speaking to you this way so that you will be saved. John was a torch, blazing and bright, and you were glad enough to dance for an hour or so in his bright light. But the witness that really confirms me far exceeds John's witness. It's the work the Father gave me to complete. These very tasks, as I go about completing them, confirm that the Father, in fact, sent me. The Father who sent me, confirmed me. And you missed it. You never heard his voice, you never saw his appearance. There is nothing left in your memory of his Message because you do not take his Messenger seriously.

In chapter 15, The Road to Salvation, we follow Sonny as he runs from his past and into a future as the self-proclamed Apostle E.F.  His ministry ever before him, he proves quite the unorthodox minister rather than that he started as in the beginning of the film.  If we could truly allow God to dictate the how's and why's of ministry we would certainly benefit and be enabled to find our way and fit into His divine orchestration of the accomplishment of His will.

Acts 1:14-17 (The Message)

¹⁴They agreed they were in this for good, completely together in prayer, the women included. Also Jesus' mother, Mary, and his brothers.
 ^15-17During this time, Peter stood up in the company—there were about 120 of them in the room at the time—and said, "Friends, long ago the Holy Spirit spoke through David regarding Judas, who became the guide to those who arrested Jesus. That Scripture had to be fulfilled, and now has been. Judas was one of us and had his assigned place in this ministry.

In chapter 27, Not Like Other Preachers, the fleshy humanity of Sonny begins to show as he attempts to court Toosie.  Often we can celebrate our own uniqueness in Christ, but can be at great risk as to making that same God-gifted uniqueness into an idol for our own self-indulgence.  The challenge is to keep the proper perspective on the Creator and not on us, His creation.  

Romans 1:1-7 (The Message)

 ¹I, Paul, am a devoted slave of Jesus Christ on assignment, authorized as an apostle to proclaim God's words and acts. I write this letter to all the believers in Rome, God's friends. ^2-7The sacred writings contain preliminary reports by the prophets on God's Son. His descent from David roots him in history; his unique identity as Son of God was shown by the Spirit when Jesus was raised from the dead, setting him apart as the Messiah, our Master. Through him we received both the generous gift of his life and the urgent task of passing it on to others who receive it by entering into obedient trust in Jesus. You are who you are through this gift and call of Jesus Christ! And I greet you now with all the generosity of God our Father and our Master Jesus, the Messiah.

Next friday...The Apostle

notes to follow...

The Devil of Hollywood

Our movies are obsessed with demons. So how should Christians approach films about the devil?

The Rite

A new thriller that manages to also treat faith fairly.

Think of Hollywood movies about devils and exorcisms, and The Exorcist would likely spring to mind first. Shocking audiences to their core in 1973, that film went on to win a Best Picture Oscar and become a worldwide smash hit that continues to rattle viewers to this day.