After preaching 2 services at Harvest Sunday, and with a tropical storm blowing, I decided to TOTALLY go "couch potato" for the rest of the weekend!
Got home, but on gym shorts, old worn out t-shirt, and my wonderfully soft LandsEnd slippers.....put on some wings....then started my moviethon. I was bound and determined to not get up unless I absolutely had to. Was pretty successful! :)
I rented 3 movies, "Adjustment Bureau", "Catfish", and "Sanctum". Didn't get to watch the last one but the other 2 were REALLY interesting! Here are my thoughts on each:
Adjustment Bureau
At first, I was wondering 'what the heck??', as it seemed to be going nowhere. But once you 'get it', and start to see the tension of the story, it really became interesting and thought-provoking. The ultimate question of the movie is, "Are our lives just planned out by a Higher Power, scripted, and we have no free choice really?"....or, "Has God given us free will and the script of our lives is largely up to us?"
Of course this question has been debated ad-nauseum and will be til we get to heaven, but here, for what it's worth, is what I personally think: Ephesians 2:10 says that we are God's workmanship, that He has invested in us and has predetermined 'works' for us to accomplish. This is what prophecy is all about, where Paul told Timothy to "fight the good fight by following after the prophecies once made about you." BUT, God's plan for us isn't automatic. It is indeed a FIGHT. We have to fight to stay faithful, to live in faith, to seek the Lord, to be obedient. God's call beckons us, draws us, but we have free will to rise up and inherit what He has promised. Hebrews 6 talks about "not becoming LAZY, and thus missing out on the things God has promised."
My take on predestination vs. free will!
Catfish
Wow....wow, wow, wow, wow is about all I can say. Here is what one reviewer said about it:
The film tells a devastating story that couldn't be more relevant to our times, who we are in real life versus the way we present ourselves online.
The film, a hit at this year's Sundance Film Festival, is difficult to discuss in that it hinges on a revelation midway through the film that I do not intend to give away here.
Nev Schulman is a photographer in New York City who's compulsively filmed by his brother, Ariel. Through the Internet, Nev befriends Abby, an 8-year-old art prodigy in Ishpeming, an Upper Peninsula town so small (population: 6,600) that most Michiganians haven't even heard of it. Nev's friendship with Abby leads to an online relationship with Abby's older sister, Megan, who's 19.
As Nev's relationship with Megan intensifies via Facebook -- Nev, Ariel and their filmmaker friend Henry Joost decide to visit Ishpeming, which is where "Catfish" becomes far more than a simple Internet parable. It's a crushing story about broken dreams, how the decisions we make affect the outcome of our lives and how those lives are fashioned through a high-speed Internet connection.
Yes, "Catfish" will haunt you. Its findings are like a mirror being put up to each of us in the age of internet connections and it shows just how vastly reality can be manipulated by the click of a mouse.
I got it at Redbox. If you rent it, make sure to watch the Bonus feature with the director's interview of making the film. Really, really thought-provoking.
Liking these Tropical Storms!! :)
Grace,
PB
