Movie Review: Seven Pounds

I've seen minimal hype over Will Smith's movie Seven Pounds, but the thing that caught my attention is that it was produced by the same guy who did Pursuit of Happyness (one of my fav's). I had heard mixed things on what it was about, so I investigated it last night. Beware: SPOILERS BELOW

I thought the movie was fantastic and depressing all at once. Will Smith was visibly in pain, hiding his demons as he dealt with people whose lives he wanted to transform. The premise took awhile to develop over the course of the movie. You are offered occasional glimpses of what the source of his pain is. Whatever it is, he sets out to transform the lives of seven complete strangers in a positive way. Most of this is through donating organs. One person in particular, Emily, captures his attention. She is suffering from a congenital heart disease and has only a little time left. The romance that develops between them was very believable and their chemistry was stunning. His love and self-sacrifice comes to a complete peak at the end. You are happy and yet completely depressed because of how he helps her.

Enough on the vague description. There are some interesting themes and thoughts I have as a result. The biggest of these is the subject of suicide. The heartbreaking reality of the movie is that Will Smith is fatalistic and can see no redemption for his life other than to end it and give his own organs to let others live. It is sad to think that any human can't put their errors behind them and are subdued by them. Will Smith reduces himself to nothing more than a collection of parts. He believes that is all he is good for. His quest to redeem his accident in which he took seven lives, leads him to believe the only good he can do is to die and let people pick his body apart. He has no purpose in life. It breaks my heart to think that any human could be reduced to this mindset.

His self-sacrifice to help others could be twisted into a spiritual message. However Christ did not commit suicide. He gave himself to be killed by his enemies to benefit his children forever. Will Smith took his own life to benefit strangers temporarily. Some may say his sacrifice was loyal and noble, yet whose life was more important? His or the ones he saved? The answer is all of them.

Again, though I had some issues with the potential impact on people who may be suicidal and the ethical message, I actually really enjoyed the movie. The story kept me the whole time. The acting was good. The climax had me glued and kept me from breathing for about 5 minutes. I may buy the flick (though it had an unnecessary love scene in it) and it is worth a look. I don't cry that much but will admit that I was "misting" at the end of this.

Final Grades Fall '08

Church History - 93 B
Systematic Theology - 92 B
Hebrew - 91 B
Cumulative GPA - 3.85

....yes....the apocalypse can happen now.....

The Infamous Snowballing Santa by Philly Fans Story

The 40th anniversary approaches. The story from Philly.com.

Aging athletes will tell you the knees go first. In newspapering, it's the mind that goes first. We have to cram so much information into our poor tiny heads day in and day out that, sooner or later, it starts spilling out.

Fortunately, we have a superb backup hard drive of information: the readers. And a vote of thanks goes out to all those alert readers who called or wrote to let me know that Eagles fans did not pelt Santa with snowballs at the Vet, as mentioned in passing here last week. The storied event actually took place at Franklin Field in 1968, three years before the Vet opened.

But despite the fact that this happened in the '60s, a decade no one professes to remember, I don't have an excuse apart from brain cramp for missing that one.

I might have been thinking of the day in 1989 when the Vet faithful pelted Cowboys coach Jimmy Johnson with snowballs (ask Gov. Rendell about that one), in a vain attempt to add a few creases and dents to J.J.'s immobile helmet of hair.

But Santa's snowballing occurred on Dec. 15, 1968. I was a senior at Northeast High School, working weekends as a copyboy at the old Evening Bulletin, a few short blocks from Franklin Field. The Eagles were playing the final game of a miserable 2-12 season against the Minnesota Vikings.

The team had started the season 0-11 and was in line for the first draft pick the next spring, which would turn out to be that noted memorabilia collector, one Orenthal James Simpson. But the Birds won a pair of late-season games to drop to third in the draft, behind Buffalo and Atlanta.

Seeing their team finish so badly, yet not badly enough to win the top pick in the draft, the fans were understandably upset with the team's owner, Jerry Wolman; the coach, Joe Kuharich (remember those "Joe Must Go!" buttons?); and just about everyone else in the organization. Unfortunately, Santa was the only recognizable person they saw on the field at halftime. (And what, really, had Santa brought the fans that season?) Never ones to waste a good supply of snowballs, the fans vented their frustration on the poor old elf, but he was merely an involuntary surrogate for the team's management and coaching staff.

This Dec. 15 will mark the 40th anniversary of that landmark occasion of Philly fandom.

Three Cultural Giants Facing Our Church

I’ve been thinking…not predicting about the current state of the church, the culture, the times and where and how this may impact the church. I’m speaking out loud and in no way am being a Nostradamus. A few of my thoughts:

-The Economy’s Impact on the church:
I think the biggest issue I’ve been wondering and watching is the how the depleting economy is going to impact the church. For the past 10 years, a lot of modern churches have been seeking a surge in growth and attendance. This led them to more cash in offerings. Many churches went on building campaigns and went into debt with these massive church structures that sucked the power down due to lighting systems, video conferencing, etc.
As we are seeing, people are beginning to watch their money carefully. Tithing has dropped in several churches in the area and I know that it is most likely a national issue. If churches have gone in debt based on substantial giving, and at the same time tithing is dropping, how will churches respond if they can’t pay the bills? The church will have a dilemma between paying staff, missionaries, ministries in their own church, and potentially those financially hurting in their congregation. Will churches have to let staff go to create income to pay bills? Will they have to go back to volunteers running ministries? Will they finally get a hold of the lavish spending on video venues, lighting systems, laptops, and other professional expenses? Will they have the boldness to keep staff on and let missionaries or ministries suffer? Will they have the nerve to save themselves and let the fatherless and the widow take a second seat in assistance because as pastoral staff, they see themselves as irreplaceable? If staff and entertainment in the church take a hit, will people begin to leave since they have been made consumers? The next few years are going to be revealing.

-The Elephant in the Room: Gay Marriage
This has been building more and more in the past decade. The church will have to face this challenge soon due to the possible actions of states and the new president. The church has begun to divide on the issue. When the issue was slavery, the church failed to speak out loudly to condemn it as sinful treatment of other humans. This issue is also condemned clearly by Scripture, yet there are those in certain denominations who have rolled with it in the “spirit of love” and political correctness. Soon, all of the church is going to have to speak out in a loud voice and clearly state their position. Since some of our young people have been brought up in the sex-obsessed public school system, they are given a liberal interpretation of marriage.
The church needs to homosexuality for what it is- sin…not a person. It is CRUCIAL that we separate the person from the action. This is difficult due to how tightly the world encourages the gay community to cling to their identity of being gay. We must love the homosexual community and embrace the people of it, not the action. We must continue to firmly stand against the action as we would marital infidelity and premarital sex. This view must not taint our dealings with them nor should we treat them as second-class citizens (especially when we are so quick to forgive a man who cheats on his wife). This community receives hate. We must show them unprecedented love for the person!
As for the church, we must not compromise the sacred act of marriage. The church has allowed it to be hijacked by secular authority. Sacredness to the marital bond must be made more prevalent than the “business as usual” treatment it gets. If the church is told that it must accept gay marriage, I for one as an ordained pastor, will cease to do marriages. They can’t force me to do something against my beliefs. If they do, then throw the cuffs on me. Prison is luxury living these days.

-The Business Church and the Consumer
This ties in closely with the first point. Frankly, as I’ve been blogging on recently, the day of the seeker service and the song and dance service seem to be losing steam weekly. They turned “seekers” into consumers. Every Sunday they get a great show at church and a funny inspirational talk. Some even prayed a prayer to become Christian. Some knew what it meant, others acted on an emotional whim. They church has had to hire staffs the size of the Tonight Show to keep entertainment up and people attending/tithing. This is not church. This is entertainment.
In talks about this subject with many fellow Christians, I have heard a unified yearning for discipleship. Many of them are seeing the same things I’ve been seeing and are starting to speak out about it. If as many people acted as I’ve heard speaking about it, get ready for a modern reformation. There is a move coming. If it goes through, it will take us to smaller congregations, deeper teaching and a spirit of God, not Jay Leno. The buildings may not be as flashy, but believers will actually know where books of the Bible are, what views are on communion, and that Martin Luther wasn’t a civil rights leader. They may stop asking the pastor for verses and start finding them for themselves. We may actually start to love the Lord with our minds, not just our emotions.

Interesting Reads from Today

-The rediscovery of group dating! Interesting thing? This is a secular article about non-religious couples. Wow!
-Another skyscraper in Philly, this time the tallest (1500 ft)
-Just told about this site and have been listening to the lecture series on Martin Luther. GOOD stuff so far

Showtime No More!

I have been waiting for someone to write an article like this for MONTHS. It only says everything that I've been saying and working through the past few months! MAJOR kudos to this pastor for his work and honesty. The church has been struggling with turning people from disciples to consumers. I don't care how tight and snazzy your band and lighting are! If you have people who have a lukewarm heart for worship, you have nothing!