Pride and Joy

Well, here we are - a new phase of life about to begin for all of us.  You all know how much both mom and I love and care for you, and how so very proud we are of all that you've accomplished thus far.  I won't belabor your talents, your dedication, your character, and your faith, which are beyond question here.  But it is indeed a strange mixture of bitter and sweet emotions that has been accumulating in us over this past year, and especially intensifying in recent days as your move to SoCal and APU draws near.

Yes, I can promise you the tears will be flowing off and on over these next few weeks (at least on our part!).  But as they like to say at graduation speeches, your journey isn't over, it is only beginning.  And what a journey you are all going to have.

Over these next four years, I cannot say exactly what is going to happen in each of your lives, but I can guarantee certain things.  You will be changed.  You won't be the same people four years from now that you are today.  The challenges that college brings, especially away from home, will be significant.  New people, new situations.  I am confident you can and will successfully meet all of these challenges, and that you will not merely be changed, but changed for the better.  Just trust in God for all things, don't lean on your own understanding or wisdom; in all the paths you take and all the challenges you face, acknowledge Him, and He will direct you to your ultimate destination.  Put your faith in the One who knows the end from the beginning, who loves you beyond measure, who can turn the hearts of kings (or professors, or directors, or employers, or anyone else) on your behalf.

I can guarantee you will be discouraged at some point along the way.  There will be those who will try to tell you to set your sights lower, perhaps even to give up on your dreams - fellow students, professors, even family members and friends.  Don't let them.  God didn't lead you this far to abandon you now.  You are no accident - you were created for a purpose.  He gave you your talents and giftings; He has stoked the fires of passion within you for those things He created you to do and to be from the beginning of time, so that you would be fulfilled and He would be glorified in you.  He has directed your respective paths to APU for a reason.  And so now is your chance to shine there.  I can guarantee you will have many successes as well.  It is going to be an incredibly fantastic experience for you - APU will impact you, yes, but you are there to impact APU - and so you shall.

And finally, I can guarantee you that we will be there for you every step of the way.  Just as you have each been called to APU and to pursue your passion - so have we.  But our passion is you.  Our passion has been to prepare the next generation and make a way for you.  We will always and ever support you to the best of our abilities.  We will pray without ceasing and put our faith in the One who can take care of you better than even the best parent can - our unfailing God, who will open doors for you that no one can shut, and close doors for you that no one can open.  We will help you with your four-year planners (those blessed documents!), give you our advice and counsel whenever you ask (and sometimes when you don't), help you through the difficult times, rejoice with you in the many victories that we know you will have, and through it all love you without fail.

We are so excited and happy for you, it is hard to express everything we are feeling these days.  Our hearts are so full.  A lot of mixed emotions.  Forgive us if we try to cling more than we normally do.  God entrusted you to us for a little while and the time just seems too short...too short.  Sometimes as parents we wish we could turn back the clock and fix all of our mistakes; or at least slow down the clock so we could enjoy you in our home a little longer.  But we wouldn't hold you back from flying for anything in the world.  The world desperately needs you to fly.  We believe you are destined for great things.  And we love you too much to hold you back.  You are our pride and joy.  Go in confidence, and become all that you are destined to be.

Book Review: Surrender All

When a Christian is asked, “Do you trust the Lord?” the usual response is, “Of course I do!” However, it is so much easier to say we trust God than to actually trust God. No, I’m not here questioning our faith with regards to our eternal salvation – I’m talking about our steadfast trust in God on a daily basis through the struggles and hardships of life. How many of us really live life in daily peace, power and purpose, as opposed to fear, weakness or aimlessness? “Easier said than done” becomes a glaring understatement.

Joni Lamb, in her book Surrender All (WaterBrook Press), addresses this difficult issue head on. Her writing style is simple, yet impactful, because she not only clearly defines the problem (that many of us say we don’t have and yet do), but then eloquently presents the solution through the use of numerous real-life examples.

The stories draw from all areas of life – marriage, children, career, health, friendships, etc. – with compelling testimonies from those who have made the leap and surrendered all to God, including the author and her husband. She speaks from the heart, and by covering all these common areas of struggle and challenge, Joni makes it easy for the reader to find himself/herself relating to the storyteller on numerous occasions. More than once I found myself saying “Yes!” out loud as I was drawn into the story and situation of a person with whom I found common ground.

The proof as they say is in the pudding. We know intellectually that God never fails and that He is completely trustworthy. But as if to break through our intellect and reach into our souls, with case study after case study, Joni inspiringly shows the cause and effect relationship between surrendering all to God and finding that too-often-elusive peace, power and purpose. The stories are real and relatable. It has worked for others, so you come away from the book saying to yourself, “I can do this. I must do this. I will do this!” What are you willing to let go of in order to grab hold of the best God has for you? Surrender All may be just the word of encouragement you need to break through to life-changing personal victory!

What You Can Learn From a Sentimental Heart

Those of you familiar with the “StrengthsFinder” test know what I mean when I say that I am a “maximizer.” A big part of that means I value excellence, and when I see it, whether in myself or others, I want to make the most of it; I want to promote it. Excellence is not a matter of taste or style, it is an inherent quality. We may not always recognize it (in the arts) except at the point where it touches our preferred tastes or styles, but it is there nevertheless. And it is something worthy of pursuit.

Paul the apostle taught us that “whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable – if anything is excellent or praiseworthy – think about such things” (Philippians 4:8).

Consider, for instance, the music of Zooey Deschanel. That’s right, I said music, not films, of the wonderfully talented actress. For those of you wondering, I’m talking about “She & Him: Volume One,” a collections of songs written by Zooey and performed by her and M. Ward on the Merge Records label. I had the opportunity to hear them perform live at the Vista Theatre in Los Angeles last April. Their concert schedule across the nation is quickly filling up as reviewers are raving and more and more people are discovering what a precious gem this simple and charming little album is.

My comments here are not intended to be an album review, per se. You can Google the album title and find numerous typical reviews on the music, vocals, arrangements, styles, etc. What I find interesting though is how God often chooses to reveal something about himself, ourselves, and our world, to us in oftentimes the most unsuspecting of places. In the Hollywood Club we always talk about “finding God in the movies.” Yes, he can be found there if our spiritual antenna are up and the quality of the film/story permits it. Here, we have a case of God revealing himself in the sentimental heart of a young artist’s music.

Immediately I hear the objection of those who would say that God could not possibly be found here because Zooey doesn’t sing explicitly about Jesus, exhort the church, or quote Bible verses to us. It’s the same argument I hear about certain movies whose message isn’t explicitly Christian. These are the arguments of those typically disengaged from the culture God has placed them in. They’re not only not of the world, they’re not even in the world sufficiently to engage their culture and to have an actual salt-and-light dialogue with the people around them.

But objections aside, let’s just consider for a moment one of Zooey’s songs entitled, “This Is Not a Test” (to hear the song, visit She & Him’s MySpace page). Though it’s probably not even my favorite song on the album from a musical standpoint, I find it to be packed full of messages we could take to heart. In this one song alone, for example, we can find the following life messages:

§ Worldly success isn’t all it’s cracked up to be. Success isn’t determined by whether you’ve made it to the “summit” (as defined by the world, or even perhaps by your own friends) or whether you’re still in the “valley.” Living a life of character along the way is what really matters.
§ An undeniable truth of life: those who have given up on their dreams will try to get you to give up on yours. They want you to be “forgotten” (i.e., remain insignificant) just as they have been.
§ Don’t dwell on the past. Remember the beautiful things, but don’t let anything good or bad hold you back from achieving all that God has made you to be and become.
§ A performance-driven life can keep grace from operating with its intended effect. It’s impossible to do better than your best, and perfection is an unattainable goal. Excellence should be the goal in everything we do (“as unto the Lord”), not perfection. God loves you for who you are, not for what you can do for him (or fail to do).
§ Though life contains many tests along the way which reveal our character, life itself is not a test – it’s not a practice run that you can do over if you fail the first time. It’s real life – make the most of it! Don’t settle for being just a number in the crowd. Life doesn’t happen to you – you happen to life!

It’s interesting that God chooses the simple things of the world to confound the wise (see 1 Corinthians 1). Though he is certainly all-wise and omniscient, he doesn’t speak to us in complicated ways that we need a Ph.D. to figure out what he’s saying to us. He wants to communicate with us, and he desires a relationship with us. So he can take the simple, nostalgic songs of a film princess and speak to believers and nonbelievers alike through them.

So I challenge you, if you aren’t already doing it, to begin listening to the messages in your music and movies and books more carefully. Are your spiritual antenna up? Is there a truth of life that God is speaking to you about, if only you could hear him? And when you find those precious God-encounter nuggets in your entertainment choices, hold on fast to them, and let your mind dwell on such things.

Get Real

I often hear people complain about a movie not being “realistic” enough, or being too “farfetched” or “unbelievable.” As if a movie must, at least on its surface, portray life as it really is. Heaven forbid we should stray too far from reality – let’s bring it back down to earth as quickly as possible and keep it dark and serious.

You would certainly have to come to that conclusion if you were to base your judgments on what the motion picture Academy thinks makes for a good movie. Just looking back at the list of nominees for Best Picture over the last 20 years (100 nominees), you would be hard-pressed to find even five nominees in the comedy genre, and a whopping three musicals: Beauty and the Beast (1991), Moulin Rouge (2001), and Chicago (2002). There is no question that there is a definite bias toward the dramatic and serious, if not actually dark and depressing – I need only cite the last four Best Picture winners as examples: No Country for Old Men (2007), The Departed (2006), Crash (2005), and Million Dollar Baby (2004) – no “feel good” movies to worry about here!

I contend that it doesn’t necessarily take a dark or depressing movie to deliver a serious message. In fact, I would contend that to deliver such a message while still entertaining the viewer may in fact require greater skill as a writer or filmmaker, not less.

Such is the case with Enchanted. It has quickly become one of my favorite all-time movies, joining my list which includes among others, Mary Poppins (1964), which was nominated for 13 Academy Awards and won five. That was back in the day when such achievement was recognized and before Hollywood took an obvious turn to the dark side.

Enchanted as a whole pays tribute to several of the great Disney classics, including Snow White, Sleeping Beauty, The Little Mermaid, and Beauty and the Beast. The casual viewer may even miss the numerous visual and dialogue references to these movies which are more obvious to veteran Disney afficionados.

With an absolutely brilliant performance by Amy Adams, Princess Giselle is forced to leave her fairy tale world and enter the real world. She quickly discovers that the real world has long since forgotten her idealistic views of love and marriage. After encountering a couple in the midst of a divorce negotiation, where one day they’re together and the next day they’re separated forever, she exclaims: “What sort of an awful place is this?” The awful place happens to be our modern-day, sin-cursed world of selfish human beings. It is the world described by the apostle Paul in the last days as full of people who are “lovers of themselves, lovers of money, boastful, proud, abusive, disobedient to their parents, ungrateful, unholy, without love, unforgiving…” (2 Timothy 3). His list goes on, but you get the idea. It is into this world that Giselle in her innocence finds herself.

If the story were to end there, we could add it to the list of depressing movies I mentioned above (and perhaps Enchanted would have garnered a Best Picture nomination after all). Fortunately for us, though, there is still a glimmer of hope to be found in an otherwise dark world. Giselle at one point angrily and rightfully chastises Robert for his negative outlook on both her future and his own. She eventually gets him to realize that it doesn’t have to be that way for everyone – that true love can exist and does endure for those who simply decide to make it so.

So cynics beware! That tug on your heartstrings that you feel when you watch Enchanted is a reminder that there does exist a real, perfect world that our hearts long for and to which those of us whose hope is secure in Christ shall return at the end of our days. You see, there is a real prince who has slain the dragon, and will one day come riding on his white horse to take us back to his castle. There is a real love story with a real happy ending, and we are living in it right now! Yes, today we face challenges, cynicism, and brokenness in the world we live in, but that’s where faith comes in. Our faith is in the God who has promised us a real happily ever after. We agree with Paul that “our present sufferings are not worthy to be compared to the glory that shall be revealed in us” (Romans 8:18). We anxiously look forward to the day when “the dwelling of God is with men, and he will live with them. They will be his people, and God himself will be with them and will be their God. He will wipe every tear from their eyes. There will be no more death, or mourning, or crying, or pain, for the old order of things has passed away” (Revelation 21:3-4). That is the fairy tale ending that awaits us; except in this case, it’s no fairy tale – it’s real.

But until that day, Enchanted reminds us we can still experience true love when we commit unequivocally and sacrificially to one another, despite the challenges that life may bring. And in so doing we can show the world that there really is a better way than what our fallen, cynical world says we have to settle for.

Let's Keep Our Eye on the Ball

While watching the 80th Annual Academy Awards presentation, I was once again reminded of the importance of praying for Hollywood.

The Oscars are the “Super Bowl” of the motion picture industry. To even be nominated, let alone win, an Academy Award is considered by many to be the ultimate accomplishment in the industry. Though not necessarily equated to commercial success (i.e., box office dollars), the critical acclaim a movie receives upon winning an Oscar can place a director, producer, actor, writer, or composer into an elite company of individuals who can wield significant influence both within the film industry and upon our culture.

We can pray for these cultural influencers in a number of different ways: that they would hear and recognize the still yet powerful voice of God amidst the cacophony of voices that will surround their worldly success, that God would place Christians around them who would be positive examples and effective representatives of God’s kingdom, that their current success and future creative endeavors will be used to bring God glory, and that they would ultimately acknowledge Jesus Christ as their Lord and Savior!

And while we’re at it, let’s not forget to pray for and support the Christians who are already there on the front lines of the Hollywood mission field. As they face the daily struggles, temptations, and challenges of working in what can be a hostile environment for believers, let’s be lifting them up to the throne of God’s grace for strength, endurance, courage, and peace as well.

Remember, we’re not in this just for the entertainment value that Hollywood delivers. Let’s keep our eye on the ball and remember that behind every great movie are real people who need Christ, too. The only difference is that the work produced by these people ultimately has an influence on millions of others worldwide. That makes Hollywood a strategic spiritual battleground for the hearts and souls of mankind. Do you want to be a part of changing the world for Christ? Then pray for Hollywood!