movies

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Maybe Vaccination Passports Are A Good Thing

I think I might be changing my mind about the vaccination passports. 

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I can’t say that I ever liked to have to show proof that I’m vaccinated when going to a restaurant or a hockey game, but maybe there is a place for these passports in our society. 

Ontario was late getting their electronic QR code all set up, but we have been showing proof of vaccination since the fall. 

I had a pretty neat set up with my vaccination receipt and a picture of my driver’s licence on the same page in my phone. 

There was no fumbling, no scrolling, searching for another document. I just showed the person at the door my page. They squinted for a few moments until their eyes adjusted to the 6 pt type size on the document. 

When I had to, I made the switch and conveniently was able to put my driver’s licence picture on the same screen as my QR code. So it worked easily for me.

It still is a hassle. You can’t just enter an establishment. You have to line up to prove you are allowed to be there.

Remember the days when we never thought of pulling out our wallet or phone until we got to the cash on the way out, or until the waiter or waitress handed us the machine at our table to pay? 

Those were truly the good old days, weren’t they? And we are going back to them very soon.

I can hardly wait in one sense, but in another I’m thinking it’s too bad because I’ve just discovered something really good about vaccination passports. And it all has to do with going to the movies. 

In the last couple of weeks I’ve seen two movies in the theatre. One of them Lily wanted to see and the other I really had to see. It was my duty.

Anyway, both times we arrived at the theatre there was a line of people outside waiting to get in. The line was because it takes time to show your credentials to get into the movie. 

The theatre is still not that busy and they have a very large lobby. But for some reason, they want to scan your QR code just inside the doors, which means you are standing outside until it’s your turn to show your code.

But here is the best part and why maybe we should keep the passports for a while – at least at theatres: The people scanning that black and white square piece of art on your phone are so focussed on that that they don’t verify if you even have a movie ticket. 

That’s right, the last two movies I went to I didn’t need to buy a ticket. All I needed was my QR code and driver’s license. 

All I can say is I’m glad I only paid the senior’s rate. It was Lily who paid the big bucks to see those two flicks.

Here’s the thing: I think some people think that when they get to heaven, God will look at all the good things they did and just forget about the bad – maybe just overlook the bad because of all the good. But God doesn’t work that way. It’s the bad that separates us from Him and no amount of good on our part can overcome the bad. It is only by the sacrifice of Jesus that we can have a relationship with God. By putting your faith in Christ, He takes away all the bad. That’s something to think about.

That’s Life!

Paul

Question: What is something you overlook that you shouldn’t? Leave your comments and questions below.

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The Script Of A Movie Is Most Important

We should take more notice of movie script writers than of actors.

the script of a movie is most important

For the last seven months, people have probably been watching more movies at home than they ever have. One drawback to that is that the studios have not been making movies because of COVID. 

There also seems to be a lot more movies that are going right to online streaming services and not starting in the theatres.

At one time movies that went straight to video were not very good, but lately I’ve watched a few that have surprised me with their quality. I have also been very disappointed with some of the movies I’ve watched. 

Usually, if there is an actor you like, you can pretty much guarantee that a movie they are in will be one you’ll enjoy. For instance, if Jason Statham is in a movie, I will go see it because I think it will be a good movie, even if I know nothing about it. 

We all have our favourite actors and we all feel that a great actor will make a movie great. 

However, in this last year I don’t think actors rule, rather it’s the script writers who rule.

I’ve watched several movies with well-known, industry-honoured actors playing starring roles. Some of those movies I saw were horrible. Even the star actor didn’t seem to do a good job acting.  

My take is that they can only act up to the script they have been given. 

I’ve seen movies this year that were so bad I could have written the dialogue for them! The lines were so predicable; there was little to no character development. 

Good movies have good lines. And those big time actors know how to deliver those lines perfectly. 

Some of those lines we remember for years and years – lines like Clint Eastwood’s, “Go ahead, make my day.”

I could fill a page full of lines from that actor. Those lines are hooks. They get you into the character, siding with the character. Every movie needs a memorable line from its lead. 

I watched a movie the other day and the lead actor was fairly well known. But because the script never dealt with his background, relationships, or personality, every time he had an emotional scene, whether it was anger, sadness, or frustration, it all seemed forced. It actually seemed out-of-character.

At the beginning of a movie or when the credits role, the main stars’ names appear across the screen in big letters.

We should see the names of the people who wrote the screenplay, big and bold on the screen. They make the actors’ performances something to remember and take note of. 

Here’s the thing: Just as a movie script is important, so is the writing of the Bible. For a book to be included in the Bible, the writings were under great scrutiny. For instance, books in the New Testament first had to be recognized as being inspired by God. Second, they had to be written by an apostle or under the authority of an apostle. Third, they had to have wide circulation and acceptance by the churches. Fourth, the writings had to agree with the apostles’ oral teaching and be contradiction free. Fifth, they had to be written in the first century during the lifetime of the apostles. It was so important that the writings were “God-breathed” and stood up to all the tests that many other writings didn’t make it into the Bible. The script is true and powerful. Be sure you read it. 

That’s Life!

Paul

Question: What portions of the Bible have you read and what will you read next? Leave your comments and questions below.

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The Future Is Not What You Might Think

I’ve seen the future and it doesn’t look too bright. … Of course, that may have been because I saw the future in a dimly lit movie theatre.

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I don’t go to the movie theatre all that often, and even less to a matinee, but my wife and I were on vacation and we decided to do a movie and dinner.

Shortly after seating myself in the high-backed, swivel chair with my armrest ready to be loaded with a 40 oz cup of coke, I saw the future. Maybe it wasn’t my future, but it was definitely the future!

I started to notice that the people sitting around me were all quite a bit older that Lily and me. And as others came in, I noticed it took them a long time to walk up the stairs to their seats.

Some of them stopped half way to take a breather, others used the handrail like they had just dropped off their walkers and were in need of a little support.

There was some guy behind me who was rustling a bag of something that he probably smuggled into the theatre. I’m sure he couldn’t hear the constant noise that bag was making but  it was definitely not music to my ears!

At that point, it dawned on me how much we had paid to get in. When it seemed like we were only being charged for one ticket, I had questioned the cashier on the price. The girl assured me that it was cheap Tuesday.

I started to put it all together. I never really knew who went to matinees before; I had thought they was mostly for kids’ movies. I suddenly realized that it’s seniors who go to matinees – and not just young seniors, it’s those who are in their seventies and up.

The cashier must have taken us for seniors and charged us the seniors’ rate for cheap Tuesdays.

And now you too know the future: some day going to a matinee will be the normal thing to do.

It’s practical because there are no lineups and there are lots of seats to choose from. Movies are loud so no need to turn on that nasty, bothersome hearing aide. And you get out in time to have dinner at the seniors’ residence or at least before the evening rush at the restaurants.

The whole thing was an eye opening experience. It was the first time I came out of a movie theatre squinting because I’d just spent a couple of hours in the dark and the sun was still high in the sky.

It wasn’t a bad experience; in fact, some day I can see it being all the rage.

Here’s the thing: When we look to the future, we usually look ahead 5, 10, 20 years from now. We imagine and plan for what might be or what we want life to be like. But when we look that way, we miss the future we should be focussing on. In the book of Colossians, chapter three and verses one and two, it tells us to “set our hearts and minds on things above.” We often limit our thinking, planning and preparing to what’s coming ahead in this life. But God wants us to be thinking, planning, preparing and living with our whole being focussed on what’s above – on heaven. So in your future planning, think of things above as you prepare and live out your days here below.

That’s Life!

Paul

Question: What do you usually focus on when thinking of the future? Leave your comment below.

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Why You Can’t Practice Your Faith Alone

There are things we were not meant to do alone. In fact, I would say we were created to do certain things together with others.

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Normally, my wife, Lily, and I attend a particular church while on vacation. But this weekend Lily was visiting our daughter, and the church we attend was having a farewell service for their pastor. So I decided I would not attend.

Instead, I streamed a service over the internet. I’ve never done that before because I’m usually preaching a sermon myself. I thought I would see what it was like.

The church I chose is a large church with several thousands in attendance. They also have satellite churches (nineteen of them) in other locations that have live worship music but simulcast the message on a screen.

I’ve attended conferences like this where you watch the speaker on a big screen. Since they want you to interact as if the speaker was there, they encourage you to clap when it’s appropriate, laugh out loud when he tells a joke … that kind of thing.

Basically, they want you to do the opposite of what you do at the movies yet while you’re watching a movie of someone speaking.

It goes against our natural or trained tendency of being silent and just watching the screen.

But this concept reminds me of the 1970’s film “Rocky Horror Picture Show”. I don’t recommend the movie, nor have I seen it myself.

The movie didn’t do well at the box office, but it has become a hugely popular midnight film. People show up dressed in the costumes of the characters, talk back to the screen at appropriate places, act out parts, and even throw toast and rice when applicable.

It’s extremely interactive.

Now I’m not saying that people should throw toast at the stage when they watch a preacher on a screen but there is something to say about the interactivity at church simulcasts.

It’s like watching a recording of a concert at home on your TV as opposed to being at the live event in the arena. You don’t get the interaction of the audience, and you miss the full value of the light show, the bigger than life stage, the whole sights, sounds and smells of the experience.

There is something about being there in person that you just can’t create on a screen.

As far as streaming a service to your computer goes, unless you’re with a group of friends, I don’t recommend it. Even watching the worship is less than exciting, and that’s with having the words to the songs on the screen.

It was a good message but the experience left me with no one to talk to about it; no one else experienced it with me. I was alone with my thoughts.

When it was over I felt … that’s it? Nothing else? Not even a coffee station in the foyer?

It’s always better live and in person.

Here’s the thing: You and I were not created to have a private faith experience with God. We can’t fully experience a relationship with God without others. We were created to interact with God as we engage and participate with others in worship, growth and service to our Maker.

That’s Life!

Paul

Question: How have you sensed a need to practice your faith with others? You can leave your comment below.

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I Got Me A Hankering!

Sometimes I get a hankering. It just pops into my head like an idea that won’t go away. The other night, for example, it was getting later in the evening and I suddenly felt like some popcorn.

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After Easter and all the candy I had to inhale during that holiday, I needed a break from sweet snacks. I was looking for something that would satisfy and I was thinking of watching a movie … the two kind of go hand in hand.

When I go to the theatre I still have a natural instinct to purchase a bag of popcorn. It doesn’t matter to me that I have to draw on my line of credit to afford a bag, there is something inside of me that urges me up to the counter.

Personally, I don’t even like theatre popcorn anymore. I used to get it with extra butter, but now it is a hot petroleum bi-product, I think. Whatever it is they put on the popcorn, I find it sits in the bottom of my stomach and begins to re-pop about half way through the movie.

I don’t like microwave popcorn either.  How can something that can be left in a bag for 10 to 15 years be any good? It’s quick and you can’t really mess it up, but it tastes like the chemicals they use to preserve it – probably the same ones the Egyptians used to  wrap a mummy!

I much prefer the popcorn we make at home with our air popper. I’m pretty good at getting the popper out, filling it up with corn kernels, and getting a bowl out for the popcorn to fall into. But that is about where I like to stop.

I’ve completed the process before, but if my wife Lily is around I like her to put the butter and salt on.  There is an art to it, and she has a special touch. It may go back to her college days when making popcorn in her dorm room was a nightly ritual.

When I do the butter and salt there’s always a fear that I’ll use too much or not enough.  But with Lily, it seems she gets it perfect every time. The other night I convinced her to help me. The popcorn was perfect. Good popping on my part!

Then I found a movie to watch and proceeded to pretty much devour the bowl of popcorn all by myself. I’m not sure it was any better for me than a hunk of my Laura Secord cream-filled egg or a handful of brightly coloured jelly beans, but it satisfied … glad I acted on that hankering!

Here’s the thing: Like I got a hankering for popcorn, sometimes a name of someone or an idea pops into our heads. Many times we dismiss it and go on doing what we are doing. But it may be that God has put that person on our minds. And, like any good desire, we should act on it. It just might be the case that God is calling you to pray for that person or contact them.

That’s life!

Paul

Question: Have you ever had a name pop into your head and it turned out that the person needed prayer right at that time? What did you do?  Leave a comment below.