Rejected By…The Devil?

Since some of us are on the topic of movies lately...I felt this was quite fitting. The latest horror movie coming out, written and directed by Rob Zombie, is called “The Devil’s Rejects”. It’s a movie about a family who randomly hunt down and slaughter people. Apparently it’s said to be quite a frightening movie full of gore, explicit content and sadistic violence.

Good Lord…

I find it interesting the obsession with evil and darkness these days.. true, its always been around and by our fallen, sinful nature we are often curious (too curious at times) about that side of the woods. The movie even advertises one-liners like “THIS SUMMER..GO TO HELL”.. and quick portrayals of hideous slaughter with seductive undertones. The message this is communicating is obviously dark, but one that seems to be surfacing so much more these days that it seems normal. Are we loosing sensitivity?

I salute movies that have a powerful message in them, and can in many ways impact one’s life for the good. Lisa did an awesome blog (Batman Begins) about that very thing. Movies like this one however, remind me of dark portrayals such as Natural Born Killers.. where even one of the actors was disturbed making the movie! This speaks volumes.. and we need to be reminded that there so much power behind movies that is not physical.. The title of the movie implies to me that (in the context of the title) such behavior was not even fit for hell (or maybe they just weren’t bad enough – who knows, I haven’t seen the movie nor do I wish to). My point is that we must pray for more movies like the Passion to be released! Pray for a holy invasion into Hollywood! Even Anne Rice praised “The Passion of the Christ” on her website (albeit for her own reasons).

My final rant on this movie, is that such behavior would be not rejected by the Devil at all..but welcomed. What a joke.

Darkness is drawn to the light, NOT the other way around! If we “Let our light so shine…”, those in darkness will be drawn to us. A pastor friend once explained to me the analogy that (in the natural) when people are truly starving…they will even eat garbage. It’s not surprising in a spiritually starving society that people will feed themselves with whatever spiritual muck is out there.. anything… even garbage. I’ve tasted the dark side..and it’s a lonely, cold place. We need to remember to pray for others accordingly. There are a number of Christian media companies out there preparing and praying for God’s truth to be seen more and more in Hollywood. I can't help but wonder..are our lights shining on the homefront, and what we stand up for? Or what we tolerate? I'm having to examine this myself as to what I recommend or become used to.

Yes, even Hollywood has a destiny in the Lord, but she needs to choose to walk in it. There are more Mel Gibson’s out there – but they need prayer! It’s been a dream of mine for a number of years now to pray for those in the media (music and movies) who are not saved. But recently.. I was reminded that we must cover those who ARE saved in the media world, because they are on the front lines against a principality that does not want to let it’s territory go.. Jesus gave us the authority, let's use it!

Nanaimo - Friend or Foe?

They call her the Harbour City.

This is very true as the developing port of the city sits on the waters edge. The city is beginning a boom of development and enterprise and businesses are getting in on the edge of the current markets.

It would seem this edge is bleeding into the surrounding islands near by for there is an item on the news today that is more then intriguing!

The Story:
A young girl in one of the neighboring islands had a lemonade stand put up on the sidewalk to raise money to go and see an IMAX movie in Victoria. Alledgedly a complaint was filed against the girl and the city of Nananimo issued a ticket to the girl (via an commissionaire). In an response to this outrage, the IMAX theatre in Victoria offered the family free tickets for the show, and a hotel in Victoria got involved and offered the family free accommodation during their stay in response to this heinous act by City of Nanaimo.

I couldn't help but chuckle in hearing the remarks by the radio DJ's in the car in my morning commute. That said, there is indeed always two sides to every story. Read on...


The Truth:
As a result of all the bad press, bad mouthing, and just plain bad media towards City of Nanaimo for committing such an injustice to a little girl running her stand, less then 10 years old... the city has spoken out in defense! City of Nanaimo expresses that in no way were they trying to ruin her efforts. What "actually" transpired was a far cry from the media swarm. The girl had set up a lemonade stand on the sidewalk (municipal side) which was obstructing anyone walking by (or anyone on a wheelchair or mobile assistance device for that matter). Someone contacted the city as she was obstructing the sidewalk. A commissionaire went to the house and found no girl was even there, nor was there lemonade (at that time). Just a small stand so a note was left on the front door -- NOT A TICKET.

At some point, this was referred to the media, and everyone jumped on board.

My Conclusion: Nanaimo is a pretty good place! One where a boom is coming, and the real estate market is not only good - but very tempting. Certainly not a place where heinous acts of removing makeshift lemonade stands and appropriating all forms of lemonade from said stand, whilst ticketing a young girl for more then her allowance could cover, take place! The media on the other hand, at embellished times, can leave much to be desired.

And now you may go back to whatever it was you were doing before reading... =)