This short video is so beautiful, moving, touching... oh... you just have to see it for yourself:
>_>
See, what did I tell you? I bet you were just moved to tears...
Monday, July 11, 2011
Saturday, July 9, 2011
Christian Movie: What if...
Last night I saw a Christian film called What if..., from Jenkins Entertainment. The story was something like a modern-day version of It's A Wonderful Life; or, as I've been told, a cleaned-up version of Family Man with a Christian message (I haven't seen Family Man myself, so I wouldn't know from personal experience).
The movie is a drama, about a man who is given a second chance to right the wrong decisions he has made in his life. It is a good-quality movie; the acting is great (apparently the cast has a few well-known actors), the cinematography also looks great, and the story is both moving and entertaining.
The one thing that did bother me was that there was a teenager who had an attitude (not really the example younger kids should have, in my opinion)... but, she wasn't altogether that bad.
Overall, it was definitely a movie I'd recommend.
Saturday, July 2, 2011
Elections Volunteering: My Thoughts on the Experience
I forgot to post about this a long time ago! Back in Fall 2010, I volunteered for some local elections. I thought you might want to know a little bit about my experience... maybe even as a heads-up, if you ever do this kind of volunteer work yourself!
What I Did
* I worked for the local Republican party in my county, for the campaign of a candidate running for the House of Representatives who would represent my district. I volunteered on two separate days:
* Day 1: A few weeks or so before election day, I worked at the GOP booth in a local, neighborhood festival. The main purpose of the booth was to spread awareness and offer information about the candidate I was volunteering for. I was there for five hours... but I didn't actually do very much. Occasionally, I handed out balloons with the candidate's name on them, and for a little while I stood in a street median, in front of the festival, waving campaign signs to cars (THAT was fun). But, mostly I just sat around and talked/listened to other Republican volunteers at the booth, waiting to be needed.
* Day 2: On election day, I "worked the poll" for three hours, at a local school where voting was taking place. What that means, is I handed out Republican party sample ballots (slips of paper that told you who to vote for, if you were voting Republican). The ballots also included some information about the state constitutional amendments that were being proposed, that civilians were voting on.
Cool & Interesting Things...
* At the festival, I got to shake the hand of the candidate I was volunteering for. (Honestly, it wasn't as exciting as you might think it would be. He shook hands with EVERYONE else at the festival.) :-)
* In addition to handing out sample ballots on election day, I handed out literature with a local (very local) politician who was running for the board in her neighborhood. She was handing out her information to convince people to vote for her.
* Interestingly, there was no opposition in either place (the festival or the school). The candidate I was volunteering for ended up winning (this was his gazillionth time or so in office >_>), so the other party probably just knew they had no chance in this particular election... but that is not always the case!!
What I Learned (About the Political Process)
* A lot of (political) volunteer work is really easy and really boring; standing around waiting to be available, handing out literature, doing other mundane things like sealing envelopes or making phone calls (neither of which I did, in that particular volunteer experience).
* It often doesn't take much to try to convince someone to vote for someone; just make the candidate's name known (put up signs, make phone calls, send political advertisements in the mail). This is not always the case, of course; but some people are just too busy to do any more research about the candidates. To demonstrate this fact: on election day, one man came up to me, and the politician I was working with, and asked us who he should vote for! He was coming to vote, and he had no idea who he was going to vote for! I don't think this is a good thing, but it is, unfortunately, a fact here in America (at least, around where I live): a lot of people simply don't do research on the candidates... so, it often doesn't take much to convince them to vote a certain way. (Again, I wish it WASN'T this way.)
Other Reflections on the Experience...
Reflection #1: While a lot of the people I worked with were REALLY nice, I often noticed an attitude (in their conversations) of "us against them". The way they would mention the "other side" made it seem as if they (Republicans) were "all right", and the other side (Democrats) was "all wrong". I'm not saying all Republicans are like that; that's just what I witnessed with the small group of people I was around.
Sometimes I wish people would not see it as so black and white, but, so it often is with politics. (Now, don't misunderstand me: morals, values, and virtues are always black and white, and they should never be compromised. I'm not talking about morals; I'm simply talking about political parties. I don't think it's a good, or Christlike, attitude to treat the other political party like it's made up of 100% bad-guys, and your own political party like it's 100% good-guys. It's just politics. But, that's just my opinion.)
Reflection #2: Remember how I said I worked with a politician on election day, who was asking people to vote for her? Well, there was something I noticed, consistently, as she carried on conversations with people: wrapped up in all the different questions and conversations, people seemed to have one central question for her: "So, Ms. Politician, what are you going to do for us?" They wanted to know, how would having her in office affect their day-to-day lives?
I thought it was interesting, because it probably reflected the general attitude towards politics that most people have. Does this matter for my normal life? Will it affect my family, job, home, etc.? Otherwise, why should I stop my regular life too long to pay attention to politics if it doesn't directly affect my regular life?
Summary
All in all... volunteering like this is always a good experience. It's a great way to step out of your comfort zone, expand your field of experience a little more, and even learn something (in this case, learn a little bit about politics). What I did for the elections was an easy, and (at times) somewhat boring process... but, I'm glad I did it.
Comment Suggestions :-)
Have you had any "adventures" involving volunteer work or politics? Any words of advice or caution, for people wanting to volunteer for a cause or get involved in politics? Please share your thoughts!
What I Did
* I worked for the local Republican party in my county, for the campaign of a candidate running for the House of Representatives who would represent my district. I volunteered on two separate days:
* Day 1: A few weeks or so before election day, I worked at the GOP booth in a local, neighborhood festival. The main purpose of the booth was to spread awareness and offer information about the candidate I was volunteering for. I was there for five hours... but I didn't actually do very much. Occasionally, I handed out balloons with the candidate's name on them, and for a little while I stood in a street median, in front of the festival, waving campaign signs to cars (THAT was fun). But, mostly I just sat around and talked/listened to other Republican volunteers at the booth, waiting to be needed.
 |
| Handing out balloons |
 | |
| Waving campaign signs with another volunteer |
* Day 2: On election day, I "worked the poll" for three hours, at a local school where voting was taking place. What that means, is I handed out Republican party sample ballots (slips of paper that told you who to vote for, if you were voting Republican). The ballots also included some information about the state constitutional amendments that were being proposed, that civilians were voting on.
 |
| Working the poll |
Cool & Interesting Things...
* At the festival, I got to shake the hand of the candidate I was volunteering for. (Honestly, it wasn't as exciting as you might think it would be. He shook hands with EVERYONE else at the festival.) :-)
* In addition to handing out sample ballots on election day, I handed out literature with a local (very local) politician who was running for the board in her neighborhood. She was handing out her information to convince people to vote for her.
* Interestingly, there was no opposition in either place (the festival or the school). The candidate I was volunteering for ended up winning (this was his gazillionth time or so in office >_>), so the other party probably just knew they had no chance in this particular election... but that is not always the case!!
What I Learned (About the Political Process)
* A lot of (political) volunteer work is really easy and really boring; standing around waiting to be available, handing out literature, doing other mundane things like sealing envelopes or making phone calls (neither of which I did, in that particular volunteer experience).
* It often doesn't take much to try to convince someone to vote for someone; just make the candidate's name known (put up signs, make phone calls, send political advertisements in the mail). This is not always the case, of course; but some people are just too busy to do any more research about the candidates. To demonstrate this fact: on election day, one man came up to me, and the politician I was working with, and asked us who he should vote for! He was coming to vote, and he had no idea who he was going to vote for! I don't think this is a good thing, but it is, unfortunately, a fact here in America (at least, around where I live): a lot of people simply don't do research on the candidates... so, it often doesn't take much to convince them to vote a certain way. (Again, I wish it WASN'T this way.)
Other Reflections on the Experience...
Reflection #1: While a lot of the people I worked with were REALLY nice, I often noticed an attitude (in their conversations) of "us against them". The way they would mention the "other side" made it seem as if they (Republicans) were "all right", and the other side (Democrats) was "all wrong". I'm not saying all Republicans are like that; that's just what I witnessed with the small group of people I was around.
Sometimes I wish people would not see it as so black and white, but, so it often is with politics. (Now, don't misunderstand me: morals, values, and virtues are always black and white, and they should never be compromised. I'm not talking about morals; I'm simply talking about political parties. I don't think it's a good, or Christlike, attitude to treat the other political party like it's made up of 100% bad-guys, and your own political party like it's 100% good-guys. It's just politics. But, that's just my opinion.)
Reflection #2: Remember how I said I worked with a politician on election day, who was asking people to vote for her? Well, there was something I noticed, consistently, as she carried on conversations with people: wrapped up in all the different questions and conversations, people seemed to have one central question for her: "So, Ms. Politician, what are you going to do for us?" They wanted to know, how would having her in office affect their day-to-day lives?
I thought it was interesting, because it probably reflected the general attitude towards politics that most people have. Does this matter for my normal life? Will it affect my family, job, home, etc.? Otherwise, why should I stop my regular life too long to pay attention to politics if it doesn't directly affect my regular life?
Politicians are so wrapped up in politics, that sometimes they forget that most normal people don't care about politics in the way they do. They just care about: how does it affect my day-to-day life? It's something politicians should remember if they ever want to relate to us "ordinary" citizens. They should remember what our perspective on politics is.
Summary
All in all... volunteering like this is always a good experience. It's a great way to step out of your comfort zone, expand your field of experience a little more, and even learn something (in this case, learn a little bit about politics). What I did for the elections was an easy, and (at times) somewhat boring process... but, I'm glad I did it.
Comment Suggestions :-)
Have you had any "adventures" involving volunteer work or politics? Any words of advice or caution, for people wanting to volunteer for a cause or get involved in politics? Please share your thoughts!
Friday, July 1, 2011
The Star Spangled Banner -- In "Modern" English
Hey, look over there! Do you see that? Now that the sun's rising, we can see it again.
You know what I'm talking about -- what we were looking at last night.
Don't you remember? While that battle was raging, we could see it flapping in the breeze, over the fortifications.
We could see its stripes and stars clearly. You know what I'm talking about now.
There was smoke everywhere; rockets lit up the night, bombs went BOOM! It was so loud. Such a mess.
But despite it all... the flag was still there.
Can't you see? It's still waving in the air, right where we last saw it.
It's just like the country it represents... it does not back down, and it does not give in.
Sunday, June 26, 2011
My Vision As A Filmmaker
I just got back from a film "workshop", and the topic of filmmaking is very present on my mind right now.
I haven't written much about filmmaking on this blog so far. Actually, I don't think I've mentioned it at all yet. There are a lot of things, actually, that I'm very passionate about that I haven't taken the time to blog about. One of these days, I'll invest more time into this blog, and write about more of the things I'm passionate about. But lately... my time has been spent doing other things, unfortunately.
I've mentioned on this blog that I want to write novels, and that I am working on a futuristic novel presently that I want to publish when I finish. What I have not mentioned is that I have a strong passion for filmmaking, as well as writing.
It will probably be quite a few years before I can make feature-length films of my own, but that is most definitely my goal. In the meantime, I am trying to find as many ways as I can to learn more about the craft, and get experience.
Someday, God-willing, I hope this will be the blog of a novelist... and of a filmmaker. Among other things. :-)
Here is an INCOMPLETE outline of my vision as a filmmaker... (By the way, many of these things apply to my vision as a novelist, as well.)
I want to make movies that....
* Honor God, that follow Biblical principles, and point people to Jesus.
* Show people that there is a crazy, passionate, romantic, fulfilling relationship to be found in Jesus Christ. That every longing, every deepest desire in our hearts can be fulfilled through Him. That through Him, there is hope; not some far-off, elusive hope; but a real, tangible, strong, immense, overflowing hope that makes life more than worth living for.
* Pursue, defend, and proclaim the TRUTH. That are not afraid to speak the Truth, no matter how unpopular it may be. That ultimately lead people to the source of all truth: Jesus Christ. To His Word.
* Speak the truth in love (Eph 4:15). There are too many people who speak the truth, but do not speak it in love. The Bible says that if we speak without love, we are only "a resounding gong or a clanging cymbal" (1 Cor 13:1). And this is so true! Whoever wants to listen to someone that rants and raves about something, without any love? It's irritating, just like a "clanging cymbal". It doesn't matter how right or true their words may be; no one wants to listen. They might as well not open their mouth. Actually... it'd probably be better if they didn't! We need to speak the truth in love. Not just a cheesy, unfelt little "God-loves-you"; but a true, deep, genuine love, even for the people you disagree with the most (and this is very hard sometimes!!).
* Have characters who are role models... heroes. Too many films today depict characters who are role models of how not to live; of how to live in sin, and in rebellion to God. There is a desperate need for characters that we can look up to. Now, they will be "real" people, in the sense that they will not be perfect. They should be 100% realistic, 100% relatable. But they should be examples of people who are genuinely trying to live in a way that honors God, even when they fail.
* Show children who are respectful and submissive to their parents, not rebellious, as the culture presently encourages them to be.
* Show fathers who are strong, spiritual leaders.
* Show romance in its truest, purest, most beautiful and most desirable way: between a husband and wife. These will be movies that elevate marriage to the high place where the Bible places it. They will show that marriage is not when the "fun" ends; it's when the adventure begins! And... the beauty of true romance simply does not exist, outside of the boundaries of marriage between a man and woman.
* Encourage and inspire Christians in their faith... that motivate them to be radical Jesus Freaks, passionate for Jesus.
* And so much more.
You know what... I dream of a day when the phrase "Christian film" is not associated with "low budget", "low quality", and "cheesiness". I dream of a day when Christians no longer have to compromise their values just to watch a movie; that someday, no matter when we go to the theaters, there will always, always be at least one good, high-quality Christian film playing. It may be a decade or two before this happens, but I believe it can happen.
Why?
Because I am not the only one dreaming like this.
Friends, we are in exciting times. I hear the rumbling sound of a stampede, or an army, on its way over the horizon. Can't you hear it? A movement. A revolution. There have been quiet tremors for years; and now, the earth is starting to tremble and shake, as the movement gets bigger.
A movement of Christian filmmakers is on the way. Christian filmmakers who want to reclaim the media world for Christ. They are all across the country... some of them may be quiet now, but you will hear of them -- all of them -- in time. Slowly, their films are becoming more numerous. Slowly, they are released more frequently. Slowly, they are increasing in quality.
I don't know about you, I want to jump on board this movement.
There are a number of Christian films in development right now that I'm excited about, and I can't wait until they come out. Here is a list of them. There are lots more that I'm not listing here, I'm sure. Feel free to add to the list yourself by leaving a comment! :-)
I haven't written much about filmmaking on this blog so far. Actually, I don't think I've mentioned it at all yet. There are a lot of things, actually, that I'm very passionate about that I haven't taken the time to blog about. One of these days, I'll invest more time into this blog, and write about more of the things I'm passionate about. But lately... my time has been spent doing other things, unfortunately.
I've mentioned on this blog that I want to write novels, and that I am working on a futuristic novel presently that I want to publish when I finish. What I have not mentioned is that I have a strong passion for filmmaking, as well as writing.
It will probably be quite a few years before I can make feature-length films of my own, but that is most definitely my goal. In the meantime, I am trying to find as many ways as I can to learn more about the craft, and get experience.
Someday, God-willing, I hope this will be the blog of a novelist... and of a filmmaker. Among other things. :-)
Here is an INCOMPLETE outline of my vision as a filmmaker... (By the way, many of these things apply to my vision as a novelist, as well.)
I want to make movies that....
* Honor God, that follow Biblical principles, and point people to Jesus.
* Show people that there is a crazy, passionate, romantic, fulfilling relationship to be found in Jesus Christ. That every longing, every deepest desire in our hearts can be fulfilled through Him. That through Him, there is hope; not some far-off, elusive hope; but a real, tangible, strong, immense, overflowing hope that makes life more than worth living for.
* Pursue, defend, and proclaim the TRUTH. That are not afraid to speak the Truth, no matter how unpopular it may be. That ultimately lead people to the source of all truth: Jesus Christ. To His Word.
* Speak the truth in love (Eph 4:15). There are too many people who speak the truth, but do not speak it in love. The Bible says that if we speak without love, we are only "a resounding gong or a clanging cymbal" (1 Cor 13:1). And this is so true! Whoever wants to listen to someone that rants and raves about something, without any love? It's irritating, just like a "clanging cymbal". It doesn't matter how right or true their words may be; no one wants to listen. They might as well not open their mouth. Actually... it'd probably be better if they didn't! We need to speak the truth in love. Not just a cheesy, unfelt little "God-loves-you"; but a true, deep, genuine love, even for the people you disagree with the most (and this is very hard sometimes!!).
* Have characters who are role models... heroes. Too many films today depict characters who are role models of how not to live; of how to live in sin, and in rebellion to God. There is a desperate need for characters that we can look up to. Now, they will be "real" people, in the sense that they will not be perfect. They should be 100% realistic, 100% relatable. But they should be examples of people who are genuinely trying to live in a way that honors God, even when they fail.
* Show children who are respectful and submissive to their parents, not rebellious, as the culture presently encourages them to be.
* Show fathers who are strong, spiritual leaders.
* Show romance in its truest, purest, most beautiful and most desirable way: between a husband and wife. These will be movies that elevate marriage to the high place where the Bible places it. They will show that marriage is not when the "fun" ends; it's when the adventure begins! And... the beauty of true romance simply does not exist, outside of the boundaries of marriage between a man and woman.
* Encourage and inspire Christians in their faith... that motivate them to be radical Jesus Freaks, passionate for Jesus.
* And so much more.
You know what... I dream of a day when the phrase "Christian film" is not associated with "low budget", "low quality", and "cheesiness". I dream of a day when Christians no longer have to compromise their values just to watch a movie; that someday, no matter when we go to the theaters, there will always, always be at least one good, high-quality Christian film playing. It may be a decade or two before this happens, but I believe it can happen.
Why?
Because I am not the only one dreaming like this.
Friends, we are in exciting times. I hear the rumbling sound of a stampede, or an army, on its way over the horizon. Can't you hear it? A movement. A revolution. There have been quiet tremors for years; and now, the earth is starting to tremble and shake, as the movement gets bigger.
A movement of Christian filmmakers is on the way. Christian filmmakers who want to reclaim the media world for Christ. They are all across the country... some of them may be quiet now, but you will hear of them -- all of them -- in time. Slowly, their films are becoming more numerous. Slowly, they are released more frequently. Slowly, they are increasing in quality.
I don't know about you, I want to jump on board this movement.
There are a number of Christian films in development right now that I'm excited about, and I can't wait until they come out. Here is a list of them. There are lots more that I'm not listing here, I'm sure. Feel free to add to the list yourself by leaving a comment! :-)
- A Stubborn Journey (about the life of young Josh McDowell)
- For the Glory (from 1Voice Films)
- Courageous (from Sherwood Pictures; the makers of Facing the Giants and Fireproof)
- Alone Yet Not Alone
- Hero (from Advent Film Group)
- Red September (from Advent Film Group)
- Eleventh Hour
Thursday, June 16, 2011
The Entire Purpose of Life, the Reason We Exist, the Meaning of All Our Deepest Desires and Longings... in 10 Words
A passionate,
romantic
relationship
with the God
of the universe.
Wednesday, June 15, 2011
Help! I Can't Understand Economics Or Government!
Hey there! Is that one of your cries of woe? To you find economics or government just too dull, complicated, or confusing to understand?
If that's the case, I highly recommend two books to you:
Whatever Happened to Penny Candy?
(economics)
and
Whatever Happened to Justice?
(government)
both by Richard J. Maybury.
These books are short, (Penny Candy is 150 pages and Justice in 250 pages), fun to read, and extremely easy to understand. You will never feel that the information goes over your head; instead, you will walk away from these books feeling like you completely understand the basics of economics and government.
These books are especially important for today's economy! After reading these books, you will understand why the economy is where it is today, and you will know how to face the future; you will know how to prepare, if and when things get worse. For this reason, I strongly believe that everyone in America should read these books... even if only to understand the economic troubles we are experiencing right now; and to know what steps we, as a nation, should take next.
These books work great as supplements for school economics/government courses, or just as fun, leisure reading.
Now, I will say that the author is sometimes opinionated in these books, and I don't agree with everything he says. I think that sometimes he just misses the truth because he doesn't have a Christian worldview, but he does come close. But, for the most part, I agree wholeheartedly with his books; and even if you don't agree with his opinions, you will benefit from understanding the concepts he teaches.
If you want to view these books on Amazon, here are the links:
Whatever Happened to Penny Candy
Whatever Happened to Justice
I want to conclude with this quote from Whatever Happened to Justice:
This applies to both economics and government! You can understand!
Blessings, and keep pursuing the truth!
Brianna
If that's the case, I highly recommend two books to you:
(economics)
and
(government)
both by Richard J. Maybury.
These books are short, (Penny Candy is 150 pages and Justice in 250 pages), fun to read, and extremely easy to understand. You will never feel that the information goes over your head; instead, you will walk away from these books feeling like you completely understand the basics of economics and government.
These books are especially important for today's economy! After reading these books, you will understand why the economy is where it is today, and you will know how to face the future; you will know how to prepare, if and when things get worse. For this reason, I strongly believe that everyone in America should read these books... even if only to understand the economic troubles we are experiencing right now; and to know what steps we, as a nation, should take next.
These books work great as supplements for school economics/government courses, or just as fun, leisure reading.
Now, I will say that the author is sometimes opinionated in these books, and I don't agree with everything he says. I think that sometimes he just misses the truth because he doesn't have a Christian worldview, but he does come close. But, for the most part, I agree wholeheartedly with his books; and even if you don't agree with his opinions, you will benefit from understanding the concepts he teaches.
If you want to view these books on Amazon, here are the links:
Whatever Happened to Penny Candy
Whatever Happened to Justice
I want to conclude with this quote from Whatever Happened to Justice:
"Always beware of anyone who tells you a topic is above you or better left to experts. This person may, for some reason, be trying to shut you out. You can understand almost anything. If you know you are giving it your best effort and you are still finding an explanation difficult to grasp, it may be because the expert has poor communication skills. It could also be that the expert doesn't want you to grasp it. Many people are twice as smart as they think are, but they've been intimidated into believing some topics are above them." (Page 20)
This applies to both economics and government! You can understand!
Blessings, and keep pursuing the truth!
Brianna
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