Night at the Museum

Melissa (my wife) and I just saw "Night at the Museum" and I have to say I had a great time. I haven't had that much fun in a family movie in awhile. I enjoyed every aspect of this film.

The actors were well cast
Ben Stiller was fantastic as the night time guard who learns that "history comes to life" during his shift. Owen Wilson had me cracking up playing the role of a "tiny" cowboy. Dick Van Dyke, Mickey Rooney (yes he's still alive), and Bill Cobbs were a delight playing the retiring night guards. And I can't forget all of the actors who played characters from Attila the Hun to Teddy Roosevelt (Robin Williams). What a fun cast!

A Great Story
Stiller's character plays a loving but divorced dad who is not stable in his employment. He's tried to "make it big" in life with various "schemes", but always seems to fall flat on his face. His ex-wife is concerned that the instability is bad for their 10 year old son and suggest that he not live with Stiller until he stabilizes. This is what prompts him to find the job he ends up with at the museum.

I don't want to over analyze the film, but I did like the fact that a dad could find "greatness" in providing for his family. Sure Stiller ends up in a quite unusual job, but nonetheless, he ultimately finds pleasure in being a good dad.

The Visual Effects were stunning
This movie wasn't easy to make. From the small but epic Roman legions attacking Stiller's character to the enormous T-Rex that just wanted to play fetch, the digital effects blended seamlessly with the live action.

The Music was well scored
Alan Silvestri (Back to the Future, Forrest Gump) once again wrote a magical score to accompany the film. It was a joy listening to his charging action music as well as his enchanting sentimental tracks.

No Bad Content
Amazingly, this movie had no bad language, no sexual innuendos, and no bad messages. The only reason it was rated PG was due to some intense, but fun action sequences that a 4-5 year old "could" get a bit startled by.

All in all, I truly enjoyed this movie and highly recommend it to both adult and child.

You Gotta Have Faith!?

America is full of faith. It's a miracle. Everywhere I go, people are talking about it. Just today I saw a car with a bumper sticker with a simple question - Got Faith?

And yesterday a co-worker was telling me how important "faith" was to her. After all, faith is a good thing.

A couple of weeks ago my wife left her job and her co-workers gave her some parting gifts.
One of the gifts was a mug with the simple word of (you guessed it) "Faith". The friend who gave it to her said "faith" was a special part of her life.

But I'm concerned. Everyone's talking about "faith" but no one is defining what they have "faith" in. If you believe things are going to work out, what are you trusting in to make those things work out?

Pressing the "Faith Full Faithful" to define what they are relying on to make their lives better gets a little tricky. Some say they believe in some form of a god. Others aren't sure, but they just know deep down inside that "all things will work out".

Sadly, some of these people have a "personal" version of the God of the bible. What do I mean by that? They take all of the caring and loving passages about God in the bible and forget about the holy and righteous verses. By doing this, they constructing a God they don't need to be accountable to, but who is obligated to make their lives better because they have "faith" that he will do so.

As George Michael once sang, "You Gotta Have Faith - Baby!"

The Bible defines "faith" as "the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen." But to a person of "faith", this is easily redefined. The problem is they hijack these words and forget to continue reading in Hebrews 11 who their faith should be in - the very God who created them and the universe.

Take a moment to consider our grand planet. Then think about how big the solar system and galaxy is compared to us. Now move on to the universe. It's mind blowing! The very God we should be trusting created everything we see (and have yet to see). We should tremble to think that we treat Him so haphazardly.

I was reading in 1 Peter the other day and was reminded why we should trust God. Peter writes:
Humble yourselves, therefore, under the mighty hand of God so that at the proper time he may exalt you, casting all your anxieties on him, because he cares for you.

This is true faith. Faith comes from an understanding of who you're trusting in. When we repent of our sins and humble our selves under God's might hand, then and only then, can we trust that He will care for us. The same hand that could easily tear us apart (Ps. 50:22) can through the righteousness of Christ comfort and care for us. This is amazing!

Faith in anything but the God defined by the bible is false-faith. From time to time it might offer a few tingly moments, but in the end it leads to confusion, frustration, and death. So the next time someone asks you if you've "Got Faith?", ask them "In What?"

Two Posts in the Same Day

If I post two segments in one day, do I need to write the next day? With a bit of confusion about the rules, I will try to blog each day and not post two in one day and think the next day is covered.

I used to HATE Bowl games

I just watched 2 1/2 bowl games today. What happened to me? When I was a kid my dad completely bored me on New Year's Day by watching football all day long. I told myself I'd never be that way. I'd go to the mall with my wife and not waste anytime on football.

But the only reason I cared was because two of my favorite teams were in these games - the Arkansas Razorbacks and the USC Trojans. The later barely lost and the former won big. (Did I get that right? It's late.)

At least I was able to take our extremely dry Christmas tree down and store away our decorations until next December.

What was the 1/2 game? Well, as we played Apples to Apples at my brother's apartment with some friends, he had the Fiesta Bowl on with Boise State vs. Oklahoma. Boise State dramatically scored with 7 seconds left in the fourth to tie the game. Then they went on in OT to win with an amazing trick play to the chagrin of the OU fans. That was exciting!

Good night. Only 364 blogs to go!

Living in the Year 2007

When I was a kid, I remember thinking that anything past the year 2000 was really in the future. I thought for sure that "living in the future" would bring great changes. I wanted a computer that would allow me to communicate with other computers anywhere in the world like in the movie "War Games". I hoped that the USSR would fall so scenarios like "Red Dawn" wouldn't take place. I dreamed of cars like KITT on "Knight Rider" that were smart and could tell you the temperature, you gas mileage, and give you driving directions. I wondered what it would be like to have a "car phone" like this rich guy had on an episode of "CHiPs".

Well, you can't have everything. But it sure is nice to be living in the future - the year 2007!