Bella - Movie Recommendation

I had the chance to see the movie Bella for the first time last night (I know, I'm a bit behind the game, but that's what happens with a full-time job and three small kids. Most movies I see anymore are animated!)

I highly recommend this movie. It was beautiful and very powerful.

The movie is about two individuals Jose & Nina. Jose is an ex-soccer player whose future drastically changed when he was involved in a tragic accident. He now works as the head chef at his brother's restaurant. Nina is a young single woman who also works at the restaraunt. At the beginning to the movie she finds out she is pregnant and gets fired in the same day. Jose befriends her for the day as she tries to deal with her situation. The movie follows them for the day and reveals the healing that takes place in both of their lives as a result of this newfound friendship.

If you have not yet seen this movie please do. It is a powerful message about life, compassion and healing.

Volition - Must See Short Film

I've not been posting lately due to quarter end at work and other stuff going on at home, but now I'm back. And for my first welcome back post I wanted to share this short film with you. It is about 15 minutes long and definitely worth watching. Please note, the film starts immediately so make sure to watch the whole thing.

The Doorpost Film Project - Volition

The was filmed over 3 days with a small budget to be entered in the Doorpost short film contest, but most importantly to make a point.

Here is the synopsis for the movie:

"Volition (n)- The act of making a choice. Sometimes the choice of inaction has consequences stronger than we could ever imagine. Throughout history, men have been faced with difficult choices in a world that makes it easy for them to conform. This film explores the hope that lies behind every decision made in the face of adversity; the hope that is buried in the heart of those that look beyond themselves and see something bigger worth fighting for."

If you are interested in more information check out the post Randy Alcorn did on his blog regarding this here.

Fireproof - my movie recommendation

This last week, my husband and I went to see the movie Fireproof. We had someone buy us the tickets and offer to watch the kids. He was not too interested in it, but when you have three small children at home you don't pass up a FREE date! I on the other hand was looking forward to seeing it.

He had said he was going to fall asleep during the movie - however he did not. In fact he even laughed at a couple parts. I admit the movie started out looking a bit "B"ish but you soon forget that. However, when you consider that the actors in the movie were all volunteers for the most part - you have to definitely give it props. Here is an article I came across about how the movie got started. It really is very encouraging. Fireproof has unexpected success

I must admit I was surprised - there was a couple parts where I was on the edge of my seat biting my nails (or squeezing my poor husband's knee!) And there were some parts where both of us were just cracking up! And then there were the parts where the tears just flowed down my face!

I highly recommend the movie to everyone, whether you are married or not. It was really good and had an awesome message. It shows that you can deal with some very real issues (pornography, infidelity, etc) in a movie without becoming graphic. But most of all it communicates a very important Truth about Love, marriage and a relationship with Christ. I for one walked away feeling a deeper love for Christ and a deeper love for my husband and our marriage.

Most of the movies that I've purchased have been children movies. I can probably count the non-kid movies I own on one hand. However, when this comes out on video I will definitely be adding it to my very small collection. And I think I might just have to go check out that "Love Dare" book now too.

Shaun even liked the movie - last night a couple had come down and was playing darts with us and asked what we had seen. Shaun told them that it was definitely a "God Movie" but he said it was actually pretty good. That is actually a pretty good recommendation from him!

I also recommend checking out the Fireproof My Marriage site.

Fireproof Movie

I've recently heard about this movie and wanted to know if anyone had seen it yet? It just came out in theaters last week. It looks like it could be really good. I've included a widget below that includes a link to the trailer. If you have seen the movie or heard anything about it I would love to hear your comments.

Horton Hears a Who & Abortion

My daughter has been looking forward to going to see the new Dr. Seuss movie which came out in theaters today - Horton Hears a Who. Work is crazy right now with quarter end, but I'm hoping to be able to take her to see this in a few days.

I was surprised to see an email this week from Bound4Life endorsing this movie. Curious I visited their Mercy Seat Blog to see what this was all about. As I read the post about the movie - All Whos Who Have Blood That is Red - I felt the Lord confirming what they were saying.

I strongly suggest you take the time to read this blog posting and then take time to see the movie. My daugther is six and although I haven't given her all the details as to exactly what abortion is, I have talked to her about it. I wear a Life Band, a red wristband with the word LIFE stamped on it. She asked me what is was and I explained to her that there are people who are deceived by the enemy (satan) and don't realize that babies are alive and precious to God when they are in their mommy's tummies. Sometimes people make bad decisions and these babies are killed before they are born. The band I wear is to remind me to pray for these babies and their mommies and to realize that we are ALL precious to and loved by the Lord.

She now asks to pray for these little babies and I believe her prayers are precious and beautiful to the Lord. I truly believe the Lord is calling out to this nation, to the world. One of the things He is calling out to us is how precious Life is. Changing the laws is not going to change abortion - only changed hearts are going to make a difference. I agree the Lord very well may be using this movie to start speaking to us about how precious Life really is.

A person's a person, no matter how small!

I ask that you read this posting and ask the Lord to show you His heart in this area. Please pray for this nation and ask the Lord to begin to move in all our hearts regarding this issue.

“Jesus, I plead Your Blood over my sins and the sins of my nation.

God, end abortion and send revival to America.”

Bound4Life

Bella - Pro Life Movie

Bella is the first movie produced by Metanoia films whose mission is "to make movies that matter and have the potential to make a meaningful difference in people's lives." This film which has a powerful pro-life message has received the top prize at the "Toronto Film Festival, Peoples Choice Award.

Even with all the acclaim and the praise from critics, this movie is not being widely shown and is receiving a bashing from pro-choice individuals/groups and Planned Parenthood activists.

This movie needs our support. I'm including the official website for the movie where you can watch the trailer and see which theaters the movie is being shown. You can also find more information on how you can support the movie.

Bella - Official Movie Site

I plan to go see the movie and I'll let you know what I think afterwards. But if you get a chance to go before me, please let me know what you thought of it.

The Secret

I've recently had a couple different friends tell me about a recent episode of Oprah in which she had individuals involved in a teaching called The Secret featured. This teaching is very misleading and very well may pull in individuals who are searching for God, but are not fully grounded in His Word. I'm especially worried as Oprah is endorsing this teaching and I know how many individuals in our country look to her for guidance. That in itself for many is a kind of worship.

This teaching claims to have been around for quite awhile (hundreds if not thousands of years) and is tied to the Rosicrucian Order. It claims to be "an inner knowledge of your own potential to achieve wisdom, strength, compassion and peace." (quoted directly from The Secret Organization website). This may appear to be something really good on first glimpse to some, however it is teaching us to rely on ourselves, our own inner knowledge. God's Word teaches us to rely on Him, not ourselves and our flawed logic and reason.

Trust in the LORD with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways acknowledge him,and he will make your paths straight. (Proverbs 3:5-6)

For the foolishness of God is wiser than man's wisdom, and the weakness of God is stronger than man's strength. (1 Corinthians 1:25)

On Oprah's show a Christian woman asked about the fact that this seems to be teaching us to rely on ourselves instead of God. Below is an excerpt from the show which I've taken directly from Oprah's website. Note, the person answering Maureen is Michael Beckwith, know as Rev. Dr. Michael Beckwith, D.D. Visionary on the Secret Movie website. He is described on the site as a non-aligned, trans-religious progressive, who founded the Agape International Spiritual Center.

Maureen has a question many people want answered: "[My family puts] our faith in God, and it seems that The Secret teaches you to put your faith in yourself. And so I was wondering, is God anywhere in this?"

Michael says The Secret involves the laws of the universe and they, in turn, describe the nature
of how God works. "[Jesus] said, 'Pray believing that ye have that ye may receive.' That's The Secret in a nutshell," he says. "Pray believing and feeling and sensing that you already have it, and then you're available to receive it."

Michael says The Secret isn't about contradicting religion—it supports it. "It actually goes underneath the culture and explains to you the sacred laws that these wonderful teachers have brought to us," he says. According to James, The Secret is about supporting the great spiritual
traditions in a more modern form. "It really is just putting Christianity, Judaism, all the great teachings into a current vernacular," he says.

Once again, on the surface to someone not grounded in God's Word this probably sounds very appealing and logical. However to those of us who follow the Lord and live by His Word, warning bells should be going off with lots of flashing red lights!

I know this thinking is not anything new, the enemy has been whispering lies cleverly disguised as the truth (many times truth twisted into lies for his purposes) to us since the time of the Garden. The Lord has just put this on my heart for a matter of prayer. As I said, I'm especially worried because I know how many people look up to Oprah. I'm sure this "teaching" had a lot of followers already (they claim to have had DaVinci, Ben Franklin, Thomas Jefferson and many others as part of their following), however Oprah endorsing this will just spread these misleading teachings further in our society.

In addition, they have made a movie called The Secret which is now available for those seeking to know "the Great Secret of the Universe". What they call "the Secret to everything - the secret to unlimited joy, health, money, relationships, love, youth: everything you have ever wanted."

I fully believe we as Christians must keep an open mind since we are human and can never claim to have it all 100% correct (only God can claim that) however when searching for Truth, please remember to always take it back to God's Word for comparison and take it to God in prayer. His is the only true knowledge and way to hope, peace and love.

The Secret and Oprah

Charlotte's Web

I had some free tickets for the movie theater, so I decided to spend some one on one time with my daugther and take her to the movies. We decided to go see Charlotte's Web.

I must say they did a great job on this movie. I remember reading this book when I was young and watching the cartoon version multiple times.

The story line for the movie was true to what I remember of the original AND I was impressed with how they animated the animals. In the past many movies I've seen you can tell someone has manipulated the film of the animals with a computer to make it appear they are actually doing the talking. I really did not notice that at all in this movie and was able to enjoy it without thinking "that looked weird" the whole time.

I definitely recommend this movie as something for the family to enjoy or for anyone who cherishes this story from their childhood. They also added many humorous lines that flowed well with the story.

I give it a "Go See It" rating! And my five year old daughter, seconds that.

A Christmas Story

Okay, I admit I had never seen this movie until my huband and I started dating in the early 90s. This is his favorite Christmas movie and I admit I do enjoy it, but definitely not to the same extent as he does. I really think it is a "guy thing"!

I just found this article on the web about the house from the movie being turned into a museum by another fan of the movie. If you've seen this movie and enjoyed it, check out this article.

A Christmas Story