Spy Kids 3: Game Over

Spoiler Alert: The following article contains a spoiler.
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I was called away from my little cave (aka: Pastor’s Study) to watch my two younger sons while my wife ran an errand. Still too hot in the middle of the day to go outside, my sons and I sat down to watch Spy Kids 3: Game Over on the Disney Channel.

The movie contained just enough animated special effects to keep the attention of a 4 and 2 year old and contained barely enough substance in its plot to keep the attention of a 38 year old dad. However, at the end of the movie, something amazing happened that I never expected.

The movie was heading toward the typical ending where the good guys overcome almost insurmountable odds to kick the butts of the bad guys. But at the very end, one of the good guys who seemed to have every right to enact revenge on the chief bad guy in the name of justice chooses not to do so. Rather, the two are reconciled.

I find it interesting that Dimension Films (which is not exactly a bastion of tameness when it comes to movie making) can produce a movie that ends with a message of forgiveness, redemption, and reconciliation which are all aspects of the gospel of Jesus Christ. I pray that I, as a member of the body of Christ, the Church, can illustrate Christ’s redemption in my own life as well as Dimension Films in Spy Kids 3.

Billy Belk

National Treasure: Guest Feature by Dr. Larry Doyle

Dr. Larry Doyle is Director of Missions for the Piedmont Baptist Association in Greensboro, NC. Dr. Doyle included this article in his weekly "encourage_" email, and with his permission, I reprint it here. I told Dr. Doyle I felt like this piece was in keeping with the goals we established when we started this blog. Without further ado, here is Dr. Larry Doyle with "Our National Treasure."

This week our thoughts have turned to our nation, our history, and our future. As I was channel surfing this weekend, I caught the end of a Disney movie titled National Treasure. Watching this fictional story of a quest to discover, and protect the national treasure, made me ask the question, "Is there a real national treasure?"

My answer is yes, but I'm not thinking of a cache of gold, hidden somewhere beneath the streets of Philadelphia. This treasure is not measured by financial standards, or even in terms of our great heritage and history. Our true national treasure is found in these words, "In God We Trust."

If this is our treasure, what does it mean to trust in God?

The Bible says, "For God, who commanded the light to shine out of darkness, has shined into our hearts, to give the light of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ. But we have this treasure in an earthen vessel that the excellency of the power may be of God and not of ourselves." (2 Corinthians 4:6-7) The NLV says " . . .this precious treasure - this light and power that now shines within us - is held in perishable containers . . ."

In other words, our national treasure is our relationship with God, through Jesus Christ. In the movie, the national treasure was hidden in a tomb, beneath an old church in downtown Philadelphia. Our treasure can become hidden beneath our traditions.

The code for rediscovering it, as the movie suggests, is not found in some ancient document written by men, such as the Declaration of Independence, but rather in God's Word. Further, we do not need "rose colored glasses" to see the hidden words, just the Holy Spirit to lead us to recognize the truth. We simply have to read the Word of God.

Just like in the movie, the path to encounter our treasure is also through a tomb. Someone paid the ultimate price for our treasure by giving His life. This tomb, however, is empty, because death could not hold Him there. His resurrection secured the treasure for us, and for everyone who believes in Him.

It is also important to remember, our treasure is intended to be shared with the world, not buried in our church buildings. Jesus said, "Go into all the world and preach the Good News to everyone, everywhere." Mark 16:15 NLV.

As citizens of perhaps the greatest nation in history, we do have a national treasure! Share the treasure! You can never give it away too many times! Tell someone about Jesus today!

Good News for Movie Lovers

If you are a movie lover (as I am), then I can't encourarge you strongly enough to look into ClearPlay (which I discussed in a previous post entitled "Watching Movies Without Violating Your Conscience"). ClearPlay is a DVD player with a built-in software that "filters" objectionable content from most DVDs (see www.clearplay.com for a full list of movies; the list is expanding every day). The great news is that these DVD players are now available at Target stores, where you can buy them at a great savings over the ClearPlay website. What's more, the Target deal also includes the "Filter Stick" (a USB flash drive you use to download movie filters), a free trial membership to the filter subscription service, and over 2,000 filters (which I assume are pre-loaded onto the USB drive). So, if you love movies, head out to Target and get one of these things. We got ours from ClearPlay last fall, and now enjoy watching movies together as a family without worrying about what the kids (or adults!) will see or hear.