Movie Review - The Act of Valor

The Act of Valor came out in theaters a week ago today.  Since then, I have been repeatedly asked for my opinion about the movie.  I finally made it to the movies to check it out a couple days ago.  I am not a movie critic and find this review particularly difficult.  My plan is just to sort of lay it out there without much thought.


Initial Hesitations.  Going to this movie came with some concerns.

First, I was concerned about the fighting scenes.  I don't particularly enjoy "war movies" as they draw out emotions in me that I don't particularly enjoy.  The more realistic it is, the more I feel like I should be fighting back, yet find myself strapped to a chair helpless.

Second, I knew there would be fatalities suffered by the SEAL platoon in the movie.  For those watching the movie from the outside this is just standard movie stuff, but for me those who died in the movie were connected to real buddies who have been killed.  I sort of dreaded the death and funeral scenes because they would transport me back to the all too many funerals I have attended over the last ten years.

Finally, my greatest concern had to do with people in the movie theater.  I am highly sensitive to the lack of patriotism found in our nation today.  It really bothers me when I attend events and people don't stand, or stand still, in respect for the National Anthem.  I knew I had to brace myself to listen in silence to all the know-it-all movie attenders who would be spouting their mouths about the SEAL teams following the movie.

Thankfully, I really only had to deal with the second concern.


My review of the movie.  Again, I am not sure that I can give this movie a simple review...it is far too complex from my perspective as it was not just going to the movies for fun sort of event.

First, if you have never served as a SEAL you will not get it.  Period.  You can't watch a movie or read a book and think you actually understand what the SEAL teams are all about.  To understand and know the culture, you have to have lived it.  There is simply no way to convey it any other way. 

Second, this was a Hollywood movie--not a documentary lest we get confused. The scenes were fairly realistic, but the timing and choreography of events are clearly based around the storyline which is clearly that--a storyline.

The bottom line is I really enjoyed the movie.  I enjoyed being launched back into the teams for that short while.  My mind was able to fill in the blanks where the movie missed it--the camaraderie, the adrenaline of leaving an aircraft, the discipline if takes to stay quiet, the misery of transitioning from water to land, and the truly amount of lethal fire power a select few men are able to sling down range when it is needed.

Watching the action unfold, I feared the movie was glamorizing what we do in the way that the last Summer Olympics motivated half of America to start swimming laps after watching Phelps' domination in the pool.  The spectator doesn't understand the extreme amount of hours of training and sacrifice that go into the exceptional moments that come far and few between.  It is this extreme commitment that the Christian is to apply to their walk with the Lord.  As Paul says, "Suffer hardship with me, as a good soldier of Christ Jesus.  No soldier in active service entangles himself in the affairs of everyday life, so that he may please the one who enlisted him as a soldier." (2 Timothy 2:3-4).

I don't know the stats, but I am certain that the recruiters offices around the nation have been overrun with young guys that want to give it a shot.  I wonder how many guys were chipping paint and slinging slop during the 80's after enlisting to be an F-14 pilot after watching Top Gun?  I am certain this movie will have the same impact on recruiting.

As the glorification of war seemed to be reaching its pinnacle, a SEAL was killed and sort of changed the atmosphere in the theater.  I don't want to ruin the end of the movie, but I greatly appreciated the sobriety that the movie ended with.  It was hard to watch.  Flashbacks of my friend's funerals came back in living color.  While painful to watch, I was glad because this movie ended in reality.  We live in a time when reality is blurred by television, movies, and video games.  The good guys don't always survive the impossible.  I hope the ending of this movie will filter some future candidates who have no business going.

War is horrible as it decimates lives.  Unfortunately, evil is real.  We need warriors who will stand and defend the weak--this truth will remain until Christ returns.  (For more on my thoughts on combat see my most read post on "Reacting to Osama Bin Laden.")  If you saw this movie, enjoyed it, and are compelled to thank a SEAL, I would encourage you to make a donation to the SEAL Foundation which exists to serve the Naval Special Warfare Community.

Sanctity of Human Life

My thoughts on the Sanctity of Human Life as tomorrow, Sunday January 21, marks the 39th anniversary of Roe V. Wade. Since this date, it is estimated that 51+million babies have been aborted.  In perspective, on average per year this is about 1.5 million per year. 

This number is so great I like to put things into perspective— 

Two years ago in Haiti there were 92,000 deaths. Horrible. Since Roe v. Wade, 92,000 babies have been aborted every 22 days. 

Last year in Japan there were approximately 20,000 deaths. Horrible. Since Roe v. Wade, 20,000 babies have been aborted every 5 days. 

Let these numbers sink in… Every 22 days, for the last 39 years, we have aborted as many children as every person who died in the earthquake in Haiti. Every 5 days, for the last 39 years, we have aborted as many children as every person who died in the earthquake in Japan.  

A few years ago I attended a doctoral seminar where a very powerful video on abortion was shown. I opted out for a number of reasons--primarily I didn't want to face the reality of what it was because of my own history. A few months after the fact, I decided I should watch it to see if it would affect me. It did. I encourage you, especially if you are pro-choice, to watch it (CLICK HERE).

The majority of Americans seem quite content living under an allusion that abortion is all about "women's rights" and claim many reasons to justify it. You may be included, I know I was--or at least that reason seemed reasonable enough. If this is you, I implore you to watch the posted video so that you gain understanding concerning the truth of abortion.  Certainly if you are pro-choice you should have no problem seeing what you endorse.

God used this seminar to shake me to my core. It culminated January 2008, as I found myself pastor of Valley Baptist Church and preaching every Sunday. The Sanctity of Human Life Sunday was fast approaching and I had to decide if I would comment on the issue.

Many factors seemed to be at play. First, I stumbled across a chapter in John Piper's book, "Brothers, We Are Not Professionals" that challenged pastors on this topic--me in particular. I felt like such a coward. Then, I realized that I was finishing First Timothy the Sunday before Sanctity of Human Life Sunday...what would I do? I had no excuses. Ultimately, I decided the right thing to do was to take a stand for the unborn and for those suffering with the scars of abortion. I would preach on the topic from a biblical vantage point. This was the hardest sermon I have ever preached. I came with great personal pain, anger, and sorrow. I have preached on this subject ever since without regrets.

In my heart I don't think that someone can remain "pro-choice" after viewing this posted video, yet I know that I am wrong because many people are involved in this "medical procedure" day in and day out and are not moved by their actions. Our conscience is truly seared concerning this subject.

There are a few things that I want to say specifically on this matter:

1. If you have been involved in abortion (both female and male), Jesus has paid the penalty for your sin. Forgiveness is available to you if you ask Him. Forgiveness and consequence are two separate matters. Once forgiven, I believe it can take many years to sort through the guilt, shame, and scars.

2. I believe aborted children are resting in the arms of God. They are safe with Him.

3. Concerning abortion today. This is murder. We must act to defend the lives of the innocent. I am not suggesting that we murder abortionist, but we must rise up and help the helpless through political means, supporting your local pro-life pregnancy clinic, reaching out to abort-intent women, along with caring for young single moms who decided to keep their kids.

To you apathetic Christian, I implore you to watch the video and ask yourself, "What does God think about this?" Do you say, "Personally, I would never do it. But, I could never tell someone else what to do." Really? Watch the video, then tell me that! Then I would encourage you to read Proverbs 24:11-12 and ask yourself, "How does this passage relate toward abortion?"

Please people, watch this video. Let it hurt. Let the tears flow. Be ignorant no more!

Avoid the Appearance of Evil?

I am on a roll with Bible pet peeves.  Somewhere early in my Christian pilgrimage, I became aware that the Christian was to avoid the appearance of evil.  I didn't know where exactly this was in the Bible, but I assumed it was simply everywhere because it was a given that I was to avoid things that appeared to be evil.  No problem.  This made sense to me in my early Christian life, but I didn't realize the problem of legalism that I was naively walking into.

Evil is everywhere.  Just about everything in our culture has the potential to be sinful in any person's life.  Let me share one example of a story that comes to mind.

The story that comes to mind is highlighted by the picture above.  It is brewed root beer.  I have never had that particular brand, but I do love a good brewed root beer.  This spring our missionaries from Mongolia were in town for a few weeks and we as a church wanted to treat them real good.  So we let them go shopping and we picked up the tab.  He and I really love brewed root beer and I encouraged him to pick up a six pack or two.  It was hilarious watching the two of us carefully searching the chilled "beers" (as we affectionately called them) as they were stored right in the alcoholic section of the stores refrigerator.  We had so much fun with each other that afternoon and later that night in the cabin enjoying the "beers"!  In the cabin that night, it dawned on me that if someone was on the outside of the cabin looking in they could have easily thought the pastor and the missionary were getting loaded based on the amount of "beers" we were consuming and the amount of fun we were having.

Oh, no.  Were we in sin?  We certainly had the appearance of evil for the theoretical person looking in at us.  Were we wrong?  Where does this thought come from?  The answer is from the KJV's translation of 1 Thessalonians 5:22 which says, "Abstain from all appearance of evil."  At first glance, I would have to concede that the missionary and I were in violation of God's Word and in sin.

What is the heart of this passage?  I am not going to go on against the King James Version translation of the Bible.  But the language is old...over 500 years old and we in 2012 may not understand the language of the King James era.

Let's look at a few other translations of this verse and see if some clarity can be discovered.

NKJV and NASB, "Abstain from every form of evil."

NIV, "Reject every kind of evil."

NET, "Stay away from every form of evil."

NLT, "Stay away from every kind of evil."

As I look at the other translations of this passage some clarity comes in focus.  The issue isn't appearance, it is participation with evil.  We are to avoid all forms of evil.  In my opinion this sort of changes everything as we are to avoid actual evil, not on the externals.  The concern with the idea that we are "to avoid the appearance of evil" is it creates a priority on the appearance of things--not actually on the condition of the heart which is what God is so very concerned about.  From this I suggest we guard ourselves from legalism on two fronts: 1) how we live our lives...focus on your actual walk with the LORD, not simply the appearance you are projecting, and 2) guard yourselves from casting judgment on others without know all the facts.

Where Two or More are Gathered?

I have decided to start posting on pet-peeves of mine that relate to improper interpretation and/or applications of Scripture.  Last week it was "God won't give you more than you can handle" today it is dealing with the quoting of Mathew 18:19-20 that states, "Again I say to you, that if two of you agree on earth about anything that they may ask, it shall be done for them by My Father who is in heaven. For where two or three have gathered together in My name, I am there in their midst."

I have been guilty of this in the past, and I hear pastors all the time say something to the effect of "We know that Jesus is here because He said He would be present whenever two or three of His followers are present" before or during their prayer.  On one level, I do force myself to keep my heart in check because the spirit of what is being said is not inaccurate per se and I don't want to be critical of people's prayers.


But on the other hand I have two problems with this statement.  

First, it is violates the first three rule of Bible interpretation: context, context, context!  This is what the immediate context before states:

If your brother sins, go and show him his fault in private; if he listens to you, you have won your brother. But if he does not listen to you, take one or two more with you, so that BY THE MOUTH OF TWO OR THREE WITNESSES EVERY FACT MAY BE CONFIRMED. If he refuses to listen to them, tell it to the church; and if he refuses to listen even to the church, let him be to you as a Gentile and a tax collector. Truly I say to you, whatever you bind on earth shall have been bound in heaven; and whatever you loose on earth shall have been loosed in heaven.

And this is what follows immediately after:

Then Peter came and said to Him, “Lord, how often shall my brother sin against me and I forgive him? Up to seven times?” Jesus said to him, “I do not say to you, up to seven times, but up to seventy times seven.

What is the focus of the passages immediately surrounding our text in question?  Sin, correction, and forgiveness.  Is prayer the focus of this passage at all? No.  The point of "where two or three are gathered" is in reference to church discipline.  I tell you there is nothing less appealing as a pastor than having to confront a fellow Christian about their sin.  This passage is assuring us that in this process, Jesus is with us. 

The second concern is what if I am one?  Will Jesus only hear my prayer if I have a proper prayer quorum?  No, that is ridiculous!  Jesus' last recorded words in the Mathew (28:20), "...and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age."  The Scripture makes it clear that we are to pray always about all things!  God is there for us all the time!  So why don't you pray to Him now? :)

I don't want to be trivial, but I do think there are many things people think come from the Bible and they don't, or they are not understood in context and are ultimately misapplied.  As we interact with the Bible, we must take caution to "rightly divide the Word of truth" (2 Tim. 2:15)!

R.I.P. Grandma Kathy

It's 6:16am on one of the most memorable Christmas mornings I can remember. The text message came in at 3:32am, "Mom has passed. We are okay. You don't need to come." As my brain slowly processed the text, I knew that I needed to go be with the family through this process. Minutes later I was in my car asking God to prepare me to be there for the family. This blog is more for me than anyone else as I decompress my tired thoughts in order to prepare for Christmas service in about 3 hours.

Ecclesiastes 7:2 says, "It is better to go to a house of mourning than to go to a house of feasting." This verse always comes to mind when I am called to a place where death has come, but on Christmas morning it felt so much more significant. There are many lessons that come from seeing a person lay over the remains of their spouse of some 50 years weeping on Christmas day. I am reminded how short this life is and how I need to cherish each moment that God gives me with my wife and children. Life is really too short to be grumpy.

I have only known "Grandma Kathy" for 7 months or so. She loved the Lord and taught me much on her journey heavenward. It brought me great joy to see her confidence in the Lord's promises as her life came to its end. My mind is tired now and my thoughts are disconnected, but I am thankful that the Lord crossed my path with this wonderful woman.

Leaving church late last night a Christmas song came on the radio. I have heard before, but I never heard the words if you know what I mean. The song is 'Christmas Shoes' and these are the lyrics:

It was almost Christmas time
There I stood in another line
Tryin to buy that last gift or two
Not really in the Christmas mood

Standin right in front of me
Was a little boy waiting anxiously
Pacing round like little boys do
And in his hands he held a pair of shoes

And his clothes were worn and old
He was dirty from head to toe
And when it came his time to pay
I couldnt believe what I heard him say

Sir, I wanna buy these shoes
For my mama, please
Its Christmas eve and these shoes are just her size
Could you hurry, sir?
Daddy says theres not much time
You see, shes been sick for quite a while
And I, know these shoes will make her smile
And I, want her to look beautiful
If mama meets Jesus tonight

He counted pennies for what seemed like years
And the, cashier said Son, theres not enough here.
He searched his pockets franticly
Then he turned and he looked at me
He said Mama made Christmas good at our house
Most years she just did without
Tell me, sir, what am I gonna do
Somehow Ive gotta buy her these Christmas shoes

So I laid the money down
I just had to help him out
And Ill never forget the look on his face
when he said Mamas gonna look so great

Sir, I wanna buy these shoes
For my mama, please
Its Christmas eve and these shoes are just her size
Could you hurry, sir?
Daddy says theres not much time
You see, shes been sick for quite a while
And I, know these shoes will make her smile
And I, want her to look beautiful
If mama meets Jesus tonight

I knew I caught a glimpse of heaven love
As he thanked me and ran out
I knew that god had sent that little boy to remind me
What Christmas is all about

Sir, I wanna buy these shoes
For my mama, please
Its Christmas eve and these shoes are just her size
Could you hurry, sir?
Daddy says theres not much time
You see, shes been sick for quite a while
And I, know these shoes will make her smile
And I, want her to look beautiful
If mama meets Jesus tonight

I want her to look beautiful
If mama meets Jesus tonight

I couldn't help but to think of "Grandma Kathy" as I listened to these words. Tears began to flow as I thought about the simple yet powerful words of this little song. I had no idea that "Grandma Kathy would pass in a few hours. As I was there with the family tonight, I couldn't help but to think about this song and the beautiful picture it brings to mind of "Grandma Kathy" meeting Jesus tonight. After the mortuary came to take her remains, my time with the family had pretty much come to a close. I hugged them and headed on my way. You'll never guess what song came on as I was pulling away from there home. You got it, 'Christmas Shoes'! You may think it was just coincidence, but I do not. I am thankful the Lord gave me this song to remember this very special lady with...most likely every Christmas for the rest of my life.

Please continue to pray for the family as they mourn the loss of a wife, mom, grandmother, great-grandmother, and all the rest.

Christmas Eve Reflections

I just started a new routine of Bible reading. No, I am not shooting for reading the Bible through in a year (although there is nothing wrong with that!). My goal in the immediate future is to read from the Psalms each morning. Psalms are so encouraging and truly help my heart focus on God and how good He is.

Yesterday I was in Psalm 2 and the end (2:10-12) jumped out at me in light of this Christmas season we are in. Look at what it says, "Now therefore, O kings, show discernment; take warning, O judges of the earth. Worship the LORD with reverence and rejoice with trembling. Do homage to the Son, that He not become angry, and you perish in the way, for His wrath may soon be kindled. How blessed are all who take refuge in Him!"

The focus of Christmas has become a holiday of spending time with family and loved ones and less about the birth of Christ. If Christ is apart of the celebration the focus is on the baby, innocent, gentle, palatable, and inoffensive. In this celebration today and tomorrow, let's not forget some biblical truths.

Jesus did not come into existence at His birth. Jesus existed in eternity past. The birth of Christ is referred to as the Incarnation--meaning God became man (not the other way around). He humbled Himself (Phil. 2:5-9) and in His coming He became the perfect revelation of God (John 1:18).

Jesus' birth was for a specific reason. Every human has sinned and fallen short of the glory of God (Rom. 3:23) and is therefore separated from God. The purpose Jesus came was to save sinners from their darkness and separation (1 Tim. 1:15).

You have a choice that has eternal consequences. You can have peace with God and of God through believing upon Him (Eph. 1:13). I love that last verse of Psalm 2. Instead of destruction, we have take refuge in Christ and be blessed. The right choice is clear to me!

More than YOU Can Handle?

Have you ever had someone tell you, "Don't worry, God won't give you more than you can handle!" coupled with citing 1 Corinthians 10:13? The likelihood is very high that someone has told you this and you, in turn, have shared this hope with another person.

How would you feel if I told you that this completely wrong? First Corinthians 10:13 is not about dealing with handling life's difficulties, it explains "No temptation has overtaken you but such as is common to man; and God is faithful, who will not allow you to be tempted beyond what you are able, but with the temptation will provide the way of escape also, so that you will be able to endure it." I may seem like I am splicing theological hairs, but I believe this point is important to the Christian navigating life. Let me explain.

First, this passage is dealing exclusively with sinful temptations we face. The Corinth church was a mess and Paul was writing with the purpose of removing their excuses or alibi's for why they continued to sin.

The problem with thinking "God won't give you more than you can handle" is it puts the focus on you and your ability to handle things in your strength. It's like God is measuring up person and calculating how much they can handle and then sending stuff our way that remains within our scope of ability things we can handle. This thought seems to cut against so many other principles found in Scripture. Namely God has said, “My grace is sufficient for you, for power is perfected in weakness.” (2 Cor. 12:9)

I am not too proud to admit there are many things I can't handle on my own. Death is one such thing in a long laundry of things. It will strike all of us and everyone we know. God isn't expecting us to pull ourselves up by our bootstraps and suck it up in our own strength. He is instructing us to embrace, or acknowledge, our weakness and lean upon Him and His abilities.

I know people who say, "God won't give you more than you can handle" are really making an innocent mistake, but I believe this thought forces us to rely on ourselves and our abilities when Scripture clearly advises the Christian to a life of complete dependence on God. I encourage you today, to stop relying on yourself and to seek God throughout the day asking Him to help you through whatever you are going through. Remember the great truth found in Philippians 4:13, "I can endure all things in Christ who strengthens me!" (my translation of this verse).