The April 24th blog

One of my favorite days of the year isn’t even designated as a holiday on the calendar, but it’s a very special day, nevertheless.  The day I’m referencing is actually today – April the 24th.  I say this because it was on this day, back in 1982, when God intervened in a very miraculous way in my life.  Regular readers of this blog already know the story, but for those of you that are unaware of the details, here is the story in a nutshell:

At four months old, I developed a condition known as Infantile Spasms.  This is a term that simply means that I was having seizures as an infant.  This ordeal went on for six months.  During that time, I was on what you might call the medicine of the month club.  It was the newest attempt to stop the seizures, or at least minimize their regularity.  Some worked better than others, but those seizures were a continuous unwelcome visitor.

Throughout this hardship, it wasn’t uncommon for me to be in the hospital.  On April 24th, 1982, I was in the hospital again.  But this time, I began to flat-line.  I lost my normal coloring, in fact, I began turning blue.  I was clinically dead for three minutes, but God, in His sovereignty, knew that it wasn’t my time yet.  He breathed life into me (the Bible says in Isaiah 42 that God gives breath to the inhabitants of Earth).  Not only was I alive again, but the seizures stopped, and they didn’t return.  To this day I have never had another seizure!  Every year, I stop and commemorate God’s mighty deliverance in my life on that day.

Incidentally, I’m amazed at the fact that God has shown His power, faithfulness, presence, and glory in countless ways in my life, not just on that one day 30 something years ago.  There are even more dramatic stories of God’s miraculous touch in my life than just this one I’ve shared, but that's for another day.  However, whether we are talking about the mundane days or the extraordinary ones, the Lord has always been faithful to me.  Psalm 36:5 says, “Your unfailing love, O Lord, is as vast as the Heavens; Your faithfulness reaches beyond the clouds.” (NLT)

Kevin

Analyzing "The Amazing Spider-Man 2"

Some of you know that the decision was made to reboot the Spider-Man film franchise yet again.  Thus, the movie series with Andrew Garfield as Peter Parker/Spider-Man and Emma Stone as Gwen Stacy has been completed.  Their last film was “The Amazing Spider-Man 2” (which was released last year).  Today I wanted to present my review of this film.  Incidentally, let me add that all of this is simply my opinion.  You don’t have to agree with my observations.  I’m not preaching gospel truth, I’m just submitting my point of view on a superhero movie.

 

Let me begin with the praiseworthy elements.  First off, let me start with Andrew Garfield.  Someone once said that whatever actor is playing James Bond when you see your first Bond movie will forever be the definitive version of James Bond, no matter how many actors ever play the role.  I think the same is true for Spider-Man.  Tobey Maguire is, and always will be, Spider-Man to me.  So it’s high praise for me to say that I was impressed with Andrew Garfield’s portrayal of Peter Parker/Spider-Man in “The Amazing Spider-Man 2”.  Bluntly, I thought that Peter was a hot-headed, unpleasant jerk in the first movie.  However, Peter was much more likable this time around.  Furthermore, Garfield accurately captured Spidey's legendary sense of humor in this one.  I have to give Andrew credit for this because Spider-Man will always be the class clown in the face of danger.

Moreover, I want to express kudos to the entire cast.  Everyone was really at the top of their game in this film.  Andrew Garfield, as I said, was marvelous; Emma Stone was as great as she was in the first film (I really thought she was the highlight of that movie); Sally Field was stellar; and I was very pleasantly surprised by Jamie Foxx as Max Dillon/Electro.  Honestly, Foxx blew me away with his portrayal – he was the scene stealer in this one.  I didn’t know that I was going to be so impressed with this version of Electro, but I actually think this adaptation of Electro is my new favorite version of the character.  Once again, Jamie Foxx deserves the credit; he was sensational.

- The ending of this film is going to be discussed * spoiler alert * -

Let me move on to the negative aspects of my evaluation of this movie.  My criticism of the film primarily involves the subject of the ending.  “The Amazing Spider-Man 2” ends on a very sad note.  Gwen Stacy, Peter Parker’s beloved girlfriend, dies at the hands of the Green Goblin.  This tragedy is actually what happened in a famous Spider-Man comic book story, and so the filmmakers presumably couldn’t resist cinematically capturing this event from the comic.

My problem with this ending is that there were a few things that happened in the comic book version of this death that should have happened in the film, but for some reason, they didn’t.  

For example, in the comic, Gwen dies and Spider-Man wants to get revenge.  He begins to mercilessly pummel the Goblin, but he stops after he realizes that he can’t cross the line into executioner.  But then, at that moment of Spider-Man’s hesitation, the Green Goblin’s glider comes flying straight at Spider-Man, Spidey dodges it, but the glider’s spikes subsequently stabs the Green Goblin, killing him in a mere matter of moments (by the way, this death is actually re-created in the ending of the 2002 Spider-Man movie).  Spider-Man thinks to himself that he would have thought he would have felt a measure of satisfaction in the fact that the man who killed Gwen was now dead, but he doesn’t, he just feels alone. 

Mysteriously, none of these fascinating occurrences transpire in the film.  The Green Goblin doesn’t die in this film; he is just carted off to jail to begin his next plot.  This just felt wrong to me.  Even in the video game adaptation of this film, the Green Goblin dies.  In fact, he dies in the exact same way as he did in the comic.  I prefer that version.  The audience feels closure, even if Spider-Man feels nothing but more emptiness.

Secondly, while this very sad ending was clearly inspired by the events of the comic book, it still didn’t necessarily have to end in this way (particularly with the knowledge that this is the last Andrew Garfield Spider-Man film).  The filmmakers could have decided to have Peter actually rescue Gwen this time, even if it did directly contradict the events of the comic.  But this isn’t what they decided.  Thus, with the decision for another reboot, we can only speculate on what might have occurred in "The Amazing Spider-Man 3".

In conclusion, I have to say, I enjoyed this film.  Honestly, I enjoyed it a lot more than I thought I would.  The cast was excellent.  I enjoyed the special attention this movie gave to Peter’s parents.  The action sequences were very good.  A good time was had by all.  But my enjoyment of “The Amazing Spider-Man 2” was diminished by a heartbreaking ending that, in my opinion, felt forced.  Further, the Green Goblin should have died in this film (after all, he died in both the comics and in the video game version of this movie).  Unfortunately, I think this film will be remembered primarily for its tragic ending.  It casts a dark shadow on what is otherwise an entertaining movie. 

Kevin

A seldom discussed Bible character

There’s a character in the Bible that surprisingly is hardly ever talked about.  While his name isn’t given, he is mentioned in all four of the gospels.  Mark 15:37 reads, “And Jesus cried out with a loud voice, and breathed His last.”  Check out verse 39: “So when the centurion, who stood opposite Him, saw that He cried out like this and breathed His last, he said, “Truly this Man was the Son of God!””

Isn’t that incredible?  A hardened Roman centurion, who had performed hundreds or maybe even thousands of crucifixions, is deeply impacted by his encounter with Jesus.  In fact, Luke adds that this centurion “glorified God” (Luke 23:47).  It’s amazing to contemplate!  Question: why do you suppose this centurion made such a declaration?  In the 2008 film “The Dark Knight”, Batman’s nemesis, the Joker, says this profound statement: “In their last moments, people show you who they really are.”  The Joker’s assertion is when a person is staring death in the face he or she will inevitably show their inner character.  Admittedly, the Joker is a deranged madman; he’s not a source you typically want to get advice from, but I think he is actually correct on this one.

At Jesus’ crucifixion, the centurion must have been shaken by Jesus’ demeanor and attitude as He was being violently executed.  The centurion must have noted that Jesus didn’t threaten.  He didn’t get angry.  He didn’t articulate how He was actually innocent and didn’t deserve death (which, of course, would have been accurate).  Furthermore, the centurion must have been surprised at some of Jesus’ words from the cross.  For instance, the color must have drained from the centurion’s face when he heard Jesus say, “Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they do” (Luke 23:34).  “In their last moments,” the Joker said, “people show you who they really are.”  At Calvary, Jesus’ behavior was so impressive that it led a centurion to declare, “Truly this Man was the Son of God!”

We obviously just celebrated Easter.  I’ve been picturing how Easter must have been for this centurion.  I can imagine him saying to some of the other centurions, “I told you there was something different about that Jesus.  I’d never seen a crucifixion where the guy was so serene, so tranquil.  And now, incredibly, many are saying that He has actually resurrected from the dead!  I wouldn't be a bit surprised at this point.  Didn’t He say that’s what He was going to do?  I’m convinced that He really is the Son of God.”  I don’t know how this centurion’s story unfolded, but I have no doubt that his encounter with Jesus revolutionized his life forever.

Kevin

"He satisfies the longing soul"

Have you ever heard the quote that there is a “God-shaped hole” in the heart of every person?  This sentiment is attributed to writer and philosopher Blaise Pascal.  But he didn’t actually put it quite that way.  Here is an excerpt of the quote (incidentally, I’m going to add some brackets for clarification, but I will have the full quote in a link):

“This [inherent emptiness] he tries in vain to fill with everything around him…though none [of the things he turns to] can help, since this infinite abyss can be filled only with an infinite and immutable object; in other words by God Himself.”  By the way, I didn’t know that we had accidentally morphed Pascal’s words until I discovered a blogger who relayed his real quote.  All credit goes to her.  Here is the link to her blog with the Pascal quote in its entirety.

https://itsjustme.wordpress.com/2011/04/19/the-correct-quote-of-blaise-pascal/

Pascal wrote this way back in the 1600’s, but it is as relevant today as the day he first penned it.  He said that mankind has an inner emptiness in their soul and they don’t know what will alleviate it.  So they turn to anything and everything under the sun: money, power, food, recognition; here’s a particularly relevant one: do you think anyone has turned to sex today?  The answer, of course, is yes.  It just amazes me how this culture is completely fixated and obsessed with the topic of sex.  The culture proclaims that living a life of unrestrained sexual expression is not only the normal existence for every human being, but that this road leads you to fulfillment, satisfaction, and bliss.  But this is a lie.

The truth of the matter is, none of these things ultimately have the capacity to fill the emptiness of the soul.  Why not?  Because as Pascal put it, “this infinite abyss can be filled only with an infinite and immutable object; in other words by God Himself.”  The Bible says that God “satisfies the longing soul” (Psalm 107:9; ESV).

You say, “This sounds great!  But will you flesh this out for me?  What do I have to do to experience this?”  In short, you need to commence a relationship with God; you can’t experience fulfillment with someone you don’t know.  Got questions.org has a great article on this.  I’m not citing the whole thing, but I will quote a couple of paragraphs.  First and foremost, I do this because of the fantastic content.  But secondly, I do it because their copyright policy is quite gracious.  They simply ask that the content from the article is copied just as they wrote it, and that they are credited for the work.  Here now is their material:

“The only way any of us can have a relationship with a holy God is to admit that we are sinners, turn away from that sin, and accept the sacrifice that Jesus made to pay for sin.  We connect with God through prayer.  We pray in faith, believing that God hears us and will answer.  Hebrews 11:6 says, “Without faith it is impossible to please God, because anyone who comes to him must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who earnestly seek him.”  We confess our sin, thank Jesus for making a way for us to be forgiven, and invite Him to take control of our lives.

Coming to God through faith in Jesus Christ means we transfer ownership of our lives to God.  We make Him the Boss, the Lord, of our lives.  We trade our old self-worshiping hearts for the perfection of Jesus (2 Corinthians 5:21).  Romans 12:1 gives us a visual description of what takes place: “Present your bodies as a living sacrifice.”  Picture an altar dedicated to the only true God.  Then imagine crawling onto it, lying down, and saying, “Here I am, God.  I’m a sinner but you love me anyway.  Thank you for dying for me and rising from the dead so my sin could be forgiven.  Cleanse me, forgive me, and make me your child.  Take me.  All of me.  I want to live for you from now on.””

http://www.gotquestions.org/give-life-to-God.html

It’s Easter Sunday!  I once heard someone refer to this day as “Super Bowl Sunday” because this is the big day for so many Christians around the globe.  My mind has been on those of you who are still on the fence.  Nothing is more important than giving your heart and life to Jesus Christ.  If you’ve never made this important choice, Easter Sunday is a great day to do so!  I've been praying for you; I've been praying that you would say "yes" to God.

To clarify, it’s not the words that you say; it’s the attitude of your heart.  A reciting of words doesn’t save you; faith in Jesus Christ saves you.  The Bible says, "Whosoever calls on the name of the Lord shall be saved."  Call on the name of the Lord, beloved reader.  “Come, everyone who thirsts,” Isaiah implores, “Come to the waters; and he who has no money, come buy and eat!  Come buy wine and milk without money and without price.  Why do spend your money for that which is not bread, and your labor for that which does not satisfy?” (Isaiah 55:1-2)  As Blaise Pascal put it, “This infinite abyss can be filled only with an infinite and immutable object; in other words by God Himself.” 

In conclusion, making a decision like this doesn’t mean that all of your problems will magically go away forever.  On the contrary, life will still tough.  But, that said, giving your heart and life to Jesus is the best decision you will ever make.  I can attest to this from personal experience.

Kevin

Healing on demand?

The other day I was watching a TV preacher.  You say, “That was your first mistake.”  Well, there’s sadly a lot of truth to that observation.  Anyway, he was talking about healing.  He said that too many Christians today use the phrase “It wasn’t God’s will to heal” as a cop-out answer.  For all intents and purposes, he was mocking Christians who didn’t believe that God always heals people, without any exceptions, from their physical maladies.  He was essentially speaking of what is commonly referred to as “healing on demand”.  As you might have guessed, I strongly disagree with this TV preacher.

Let me begin by stating this: with all of my heart, I believe that God has the power to heal anyone from their debilitating sickness.  God is all-powerful.  I’m actually an example of how God can heal; I’ve experienced His healing touch on more than one occasion in my life.  So don’t get the idea that I’m proposing that God is weak or somehow incapable of healing.  I don’t believe that at all.  In fact, God can do “exceedingly abundantly above all that we ask or think” (Ephesians 3:20; NKJV).  But this preacher is wrong to suggest that God will always heal everyone, no matter what.  Such a claim makes this preacher sound like he believes God is more like a subservient genie in a bottle that exists solely to give you whatever you desire.  This is not the God of the Bible.

The Apostle Paul was an amazing man of God.  Acts 19:12 says that if people simply touched the handkerchiefs that Paul had touched they were healed of their diseases (by the way, for those of you who have a phobia of germs, verse 11 says that these miracles were “unusual”; so you don’t have to touch other peoples handkerchiefs today).  However, despite this, Paul states in 2 Corinthians 12 that he received a “thorn in the flesh”.  We don’t know exactly what this thorn was because Paul didn’t specify.  But the speculations abound anyway.  Many believe it was some sort of physical issue.  I’ve heard a compelling case for Paul’s “thorn” being very poor eyesight, for example.

Whatever Paul’s thorn in the flesh was is largely immaterial, the point is Paul wrote that he prayed three times that this thorn would depart from him, but God said no.  Think of that.  God declined to remove Paul’s thorn from him.  Instead God communicated to Paul that He wanted to teach him that God’s strength is best shown in human weakness.  “Therefore,” Paul concludes, “I will boast all the more gladly of my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may rest upon me” (2 Corinthians 12:9).

In Matthew 6 Jesus taught, “In this manner, therefore, pray: Our Father in Heaven, hallowed be Your name.  Your Kingdom come.  Your will be done on Earth as it is in Heaven” (verses 9-10; italics mine for emphasis).  James said not to go around boasting about what you are going to do, rather you should say that this event will happen only if it’s God's will (James 4:13-15).  1 John 5:14 says, “And this is the confidence we have in Him, that if we ask anything according to His will He hears us.”  Contrary to the opinion of the TV preacher I began with, it’s not a “cop-out answer” to bring up God’s will in the area of healing (or any other area); it is right and appropriate to do so.

I don’t know why God heals some and not others, but it’s an undeniable fact.  Proverbs 3:5 is easy to quote but harder to live; it reads, “Trust in the Lord with all your heart and do not lean on your own understanding.”  Our finite understanding says, “God will heal me from my physical affliction.”  But God is God; we are not.  We have to trust Him in these matters, and to demand that God heal isn’t trusting in Him.  You see, we can’t put God in a box.  We can’t manage, control, or manipulate God.  The Bible says, “Oh, the depth of the riches both of the wisdom and knowledge of God!  How unsearchable are His judgments and His ways past finding out” (Romans 11:33)!  Amen belongs here.

Kevin

The gift of sleep

I recently came across an interesting article from the website got questions.org.  The title is fascinating: “Why is sleep/sleeping necessary?  Why did God create us with the need for sleep?”  Have you ever wondered about that?  Let me add another layer to this: why are we wired in such a way that we have to sleep every night?  We don’t hibernate for months on end like some animals.  We need sleep nightly; if we don’t get it, we suffer the consequences in a myriad of ways.

For instance, Bruce Wayne once told Terry McGinnis in the TV show “Batman Beyond” that sleep deprivation is a classic tactic for cults.  That makes sense.  After all, if you are deprived of sleep, you get to the point where you just can’t think straight anymore.  So it would be easy for the cultist’s propaganda to seep in and have a psychological effect.

I’m not going to quote the whole got questions article, but I do love this quote from it.  The author writes, “One possible explanation for our need for sleep is that sleep reminds us that we are creatures, not the Creator.  Our physical bodies must be constantly replenished with food, water, oxygen, and sleep in order to continue functioning.  Meeting these needs takes up much of our time and energy.  We need to be continually reminded of our limitations and that we are completely dependent upon God for our very existence.  Physical need is such a reminder.”

http://www.gotquestions.org/sleep-sleeping.html

As I thought about this, I was reminded of a verse in Psalm 121.  It says that God “shall neither slumber nor sleep” (NKJV).  We are the created; we constantly need sleep.  God, on the other hand, is the Creator; He doesn’t need sleep.  This is a stark contrast.

Kevin

The storms of this life

Peter Parker once said these words: “Life is like a thunderstorm.  It’s unpredictable, uncontrollable, sometimes even dangerous.  We’d like to think we have a handle on life, that we are in charge, then without warning, we find out how wrong we really are.”  The context of this quote might surprise you.  It’s from an episode of “Spider-Man: The Animated Series”.  The storyline is that Peter is framed for a crime he didn’t commit.  In fact, the episode itself is simply entitled “Framed”!  Where’s Perry Mason or Ben Matlock when you need them?  No, Peter isn’t defended by either one of them, of course, but he is able to have the capable Matt Murdock (alias the masked hero, Daredevil) as his defense attorney.

Having given you that background, I want to return to the quote itself because I think it’s an important one.  Peter said, “Life is like a thunderstorm.  It’s unpredictable, uncontrollable, sometimes even dangerous.  We’d like to think we have a handle on life, that we are in charge, then without warning, we find out how wrong we really are.”  Have you found that this is true in your own life?  I sure have.  As much as we believe we are in control of the developments of our lives, we find out we don’t have near as much control as we thought.  Let me give you an example of this.

Recently, during a snowstorm (something we have to deal with regularly in Colorado), as I was trying to drive home from work one night, I found that my faithful car wasn’t performing as well as it normally does in snow.  It was sliding around in ways that I’m not used to.  Furthermore, several cars were honking at me; they were all trying to tell me that something was wrong.  I finally pulled over to the shoulder of the Interstate.  In that moment, I was quite aware that I was not in control.

To wrap up the story (and just so you know, I’m giving you the abridged version), ultimately, it was discovered that a piece of the brake shoe had broken off and had somehow managed to lodged itself in the tire.  This made it so the tire wasn’t moving at all; it was basically locked into place, immobile and unable to turn.  No wonder it felt like I was ice skating out there!  It was certainly snowy and icy, but under normal circumstances, my car would have traversed it just fine.  “We’d like to think we have a handle on life,” Peter Parker said, “That we are in charge, then without warning, we find out how wrong we really are.”

Why am I telling you this story?  Jesus said, “In the world you will have tribulation” (John 16:33).  To live is to endure tribulation; such is the nature of living life on this speck in the universe called Earth.  I endured a crazy episode regarding my car’s tire, but maybe you are going through a painful ordeal as well.  I empathize with you.  We all know what it’s like to endure the challenges that life can throw at us.

If you are in a particularly trying situation right now, I hope this passage from the Word of God will be a healing balm for you today.  “God is our refuge and strength, an ever-present help in trouble.  Therefore we will not fear, though the Earth give way and the mountains fall into the heart of the sea, though its waters roar and foam and the mountains quake with their surging” (Psalm 46:1-3).  There is a safe haven from life’s storms: the amazing God of the Bible. 

Kevin