I Found God in Transformers...

No Sacrifice... No Victory...

That is one of the mottos of Optimus Prime and his Autobots.

For those of you who missed the 80's and all it's Transformer glory, the short story is this (courtesy of this website):

The Earth has become a battleground. Centuries ago, on a distant planet, the robotic alien races known as the Autobots and the Decepticons waged terrible war over a powerful cube called the All Spark. The cube was lost and both races vowed to find it. Now the cube has come to rest on Earth, hidden away by the US government for years, and the final stand of the Autobots, led by Optimus Prime against the Decepticons, led by Megatron will take place on our planet. But the Autobots have an ally: humans.

Fiery battles ensue and eventually, Optimus Prime is willing to sacrifice himself to save humankind... planning to stick the All Spark cube in his chest to destroy it and save Earth. Whether or not Optimus Prime is forced to this end will be yours to discover if you see the movie. What I love is that you can find so many Christian undertones weaved throughout the storyline...

God asks us in Romans 12:1-2 to sacrifice the commonplace behaviors and corruptions of earth to live in a way that is acceptable to Him...

And so, dear brothers and sisters, I plead with you to give your bodies to God because of all he has done for you. Let them be a living and holy sacrifice—the kind he will find acceptable. This is truly the way to worship him. Don’t copy the behavior and customs of this world, but let God transform you into a new person by changing the way you think. Then you will learn to know God’s will for you, which is good and pleasing and perfect.

The Bible is packed with characters who made sacrifices to claim God's victory...

Noah... who sacrificed his reputation to build a giant boat that would guard his family against the end-of-the-world flood.

Moses... who gave up his independence to follow God's instructions and return to Egypt to save the Israelites.

Mary and Joseph... Joseph knew that baby wasn't "his" yet sacrificed his pride to be an earthly father to God's son while Mary gave up her own expectations and dreams to serve as the mother to Jesus.

Jonah... who had to face his fears to follow God's instructions.

Saul/Paul... who sacrificed his power in the Roman Empire to serve the Lord.

And Jesus... who truly gave the ULTIMATE sacrifice... Himself. His sacrifice yielded VICTORY for all of mankind.

Without sacrifice, there can be no victory. The important things are worth fighting for... they are worth the sacrifice.

Incidently... the other main motto of the movie is this:

One shall stand - One shall fall.

Good vs. Evil

God vs. Satan

Everlasting Life vs. Death

Who knew that you could find so much Godliness in some transforming robots? :)

--> Note: The Transformers movie is PG-13, and in it's original form, this is NOT for young kids. However, you can visit GoodMoviesOnline.com and purchase the edited-to-PG version that removes sexual references, anything with human blood, and all foul language. While the special effects are fabulous, the items that earned it's PG-13 rating are obnoxious and unnecessary. Do consider watching an edited version if you have kids!

I Found God In "The City..."

Don't think less of me, but I went to see Sex In The City with some girlfriends last night. It must be a testament to God's power because in the midst of a movie filled with broken commandments (coveting, adultry, lying, lust, etc.), He was able to carve out a small niche with a message about forgiveness.

Without giving anything away, I'll tell you that in the movie, Miranda is angry at her husband, Steve, and has not spoken to him in about 6 months for a betrayal. For a separate reason, Carrie becomes angry at Miranda, and after 3 days, Miranda is begging Carrie to forgive her for what she has done to hurt her best friend...

Carrie asks "WHY? WHY should I forgive you after only 3 days when you haven't forgiven your own husband after 6 months?"

Miranda tries to counter with "It's not the same thing..."

...To which Carries replies "Forgiveness is forgiveness!"

Forgiveness. Is. Forgiveness.

That can be so hard for us, can't it? We put "weight" on sin all the time... a little white lie isn't as bad as a bold-faced lie... Lusting after another in your heart and mind isn't as bad as cheating with your body... Dishonoring your parent because he/she really deserves it is oooooo-kay....

But in the eyes of God, sin is sin... and forgiveness is forgiveness.

There is a story about forgiveness in Matthew, Chapter 18. Peter asks Jesus, "How many times do I forgive a brother or sister who hurts me? Seven?" Jesus replies, "Seven! Hardly. Try seventy times seven."

Our pastor once said that Jesus isn't telling us to only forgive 490 times and then on the 491th transgression, give up. He's really telling us that we must forgive our neighbor again and again... as much as it takes for the forgiveness to be authentic. Sometimes, that even means forgiving someone all over again, each day, until you feel it in your heart.

*Sigh*... that's so hard!!! :(

But before I start whining about how "that is too hard to do..." or "that person doesn't DESERVE my forgiveness...," perhaps I should think about how hard it was for Jesus to endure the suffering he did even before he was nailed to a wooden cross... the pain he endured, the humiliation he suffered... all so that you...

and you...

and you...

and me...

could have everlasting life in Heaven. Did I deserve that gift? Do I behave in a way every day that shows I DESERVE that sacrifice? I just told you that I spend nearly 3-hours watching a movie glorifying gratutitous sex, didn't I?! No excuses here - I wanted to see the movie. I'm a super-flawed individual who's trying each day to be a better person tomorrow that I was today (which means based on yesterday's activities, I have no where to go but up, right?!).

Lucky for us - God's forgiveness doesn't come wtih contingencies or restrictions... all we have to do is ask Him. And if we are behaving in a Godly manner, all another person should have to do to receive our forgiveness... is ask.

It's not easy... but worth it. Do you have someone in your life who needs your forgiveness?

Have a blessed day,
:) Mags

Did You See God On American Idol?!?!

I know! I know!
At the end of the Idol Gives Back charity show, the remaining contestants sang "Shout To The Lord!" And at the beginning of the results show the next night, they sang it again... this time without changing the word "Jesus" in the first verse to "shepherd."

This is so NOT something you usually see on "regular," live TV. Typically, shows try their hardest to remove God from the program or to insult or defile Him in some manner. What a refreshing moment to see God glorified with so many viewers in watching His work in progress!

Here was a 2-hour show with it's primary focus being to raise money to HELP PEOPLE in America and Africa - to help CHILDREN, specifically who are battling povery, disease, loss of one or more parents, homelessness, hopelessness. Can you get any more "Jesus" than that? He was the first to extend a hand of help to the poor, the undesirable, the repugnant. He was the first to "give back" - there could not have been a more fitting finale to this program on Wednesday.

Of course - the comments on just one of the YouTube videos is nearly 400 with people arguing back and forth about various portions of the show:

• The lyrics change - using shepherd instead of Jesus in the first verse
• The obnoxious bleeped-out comments by Ben Stiller that aired immediately after this heartfelt song.

One comment said this regarding the lyric change:

Yea, I heard that and thought, 'wait it doesn't go like that,' I guess they were afraid that if they sang His name this would happen: Mountains bow down and the seas will roar, At the sound of Your name...

*grin* I love that comment!

I don't know what affected the change in lyrics in the first place nor the fix on the second singing. What I do know is that regardless of what "word" was used, this particular song is one of the most well-know CHRISTIAN contemporary songs of all time. Like one comment by archerAU said:

"Even with the name removed... it's pretty obvious this song's got nothin' to do with Buddha, so i think it's safe to say, despite it being removed, we should still be joyful that such a song as this would have been played on such a grand scale, for so many people, who'd never have expected this! It was awesome, Ithink!"

Amen to that! :)

God knows when "baby steps" need to be taken with people's hearts. Millions of people watched the charity show... as well as the results show. While some may be angry, others may feel a softening of their hearts and minds... an yearning to find that peace that elludes them. Think of this as just one small chink in an armor of Godless media that we are bombarded with.... enough cracks, and the armor is useless. God will find His way into the smallest of openings in someone's heart. So I'm so happy that someone at Idol stuck up for God and incorporated this song - whatever words.... "shepherd," "savior," "Jesus," "Lord," "King," "Almighty" - it is all the same ONE and loving God.

Thanks, American Idol!

Link to originial performance on YouTube: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P1n61AllirA

Link to reprise performance: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6WOzF9ZGA7A

(Of course - there are several postings of this!)