The Giver

I’ve been imagining what a movie adaptation of The Giver would look like ever since I read the book in middle school. It was one of those books that really stuck with me growing up because it made me think. I read it multiple times throughout my childhood. And so, when I found out that they were working on a film version of the story, I was ecstatic. I absolutely could not wait. And the movie did not disappoint.

The Giver is a dystopian film set in a post-apocalyptic future. It tells the story of Jonas, a young man who grows up in a community without color, emotion, or choice. Jonas and his two best friends, Asher and Fiona, come of age and are given their life-long Assignments, or careers. Jonas is specially chosen to be the receiver of memory, the person who retains the memories of the past (the world we currently live in) that normal citizens of the community are unaware of. Through his training, Jonas comes to see the brokenness of the system he has grown up in and has to figure out how to deal with that.

For what originated as a children’s story, The Giver is very deep. It touches on themes of freedom, despair, and ultimately on whether or not human nature is capable of doing any amount of good on its own. The message of the story is one that will connect with a lot of people, and it will hopefully make you think at least a little bit.

The differences between the book and the movie are numerous. The main characters are older in the movie than in the book. A lot of the smaller details (like Asher and Fiona’s assignments) were changed for the sake of the film. Several story elements were added in order to make the film full-length. And the defining characteristic that sets gifted individuals (like Jonas) apart from others was changed from eye color (which is difficult to convey in film) to a special birthmark on the person’s wrist. These differences were noticeable, but they weren’t necessarily distracting.

Really what this movie was trying to do was take a children’s book that made a huge impact and make it more concrete, something people of all ages might be able to access. It tried to be a realistic, fully-fleshed-out story, and I think it accomplished that while also staying true to the basic idea of the book. So I was happy with it both as a movie and as an adaption of The Giver.

They did make one choice that I’m conflicted about, though. In the book, there was almost no romance at all. The people in Jonas’s community didn’t have that. They were assigned mates, so romance wasn’t a part of their lives. Jonas had one fleeting moment of romantic feeling in the book, but that was it. In the film, a good portion of the drama revolves around a romance story involving Jonas. I understand why the filmmakers decided to do that (Jonas is older in the film than the book, it makes the movie more appealing, etc.), but I also sort of wish they had left it out. Not only was it just simply not based on the book at all, but it creates some issues for the future if they decide to make film versions of the book’s sequels, Gathering Blue, Messenger, and Son. I really hope they make those movies (and there was at least one hint in the movie that they might), but if they do, they’ll have to reconcile the revisions they made to plot with the way the story plays out in the books. It will be interesting to see.

But overall, The Giver was a great film. I think it’s definitely worth seeing. It’s something that people of all ages can enjoy and connect with, and in that way, it’s just like the book it was based on. So check out The Giver in theaters, and let me know what you think about it! Thanks for reading, friends, and I’ll see you on Tuesday.

Ice Bucket Challenge

Hey guys! So my buddy Will Ortega nominated me for the ALS Ice Bucket Challenge, and I accepted. You can watch the video below!

I want to stress to you guys the fact that this is not just some silly thing people are doing online. This is a movement to raise awareness (and money!) for ALS, a horrible disease that afflicts a lot of people. Take this opportunity to do some research on ALS, get informed, and spread the word!

Hello, Waco

So in case you haven’t heard, I moved! It’s something that’s been in the works for a while now. I decided last fall that I wanted to attend Truett Seminary after I graduated from Hendrix, and now the time has finally come! I’m all moved in to my new apartment, and I’m set to start classes next week. But before I get swamped with studying theology, I wanted to take some time reflect on the big move and what I can learn from it.

Until about a week ago, moving to Waco was just an idea inside my head. Sure, all the plans were made, but as far as I was concerned, it was never really going to happen. I was going to stay in Greenwood with my family and work at the church forever, or at least so I thought. I think we all do this from time to time. We get caught up in what we’re doing, and we assume that it’s never going to change. But suddenly, it was my last day of work, and I realized that things were about to be changing very, very soon.

And change they did. Wednesday night at church, everyone was wanting to say goodbye to me. I didn’t like it at all. It felt way too permanent. Too real. Every time I said goodbye to someone, it sunk in a little more that I was really leaving. I couldn’t ignore it any longer. I had to face the fact that the time had come.

My Thursday was dedicated almost entirely to packing up the stuff I would need for my apartment, and I had grossly underestimated how much I would be taking. I figured I would fill a storage tub with the essentials, throw my clothes in the back seat, mount my bike, and be done. But I was way off. I ended up filling my entire trunk and back seat to the brim with clothes, dishes, cleaning supplies, bedding, and all sorts of other fun stuff that I didn’t realize you needed when you have your own apartment. That day, I learned the consequences of underestimating just how big a project could be. It was humbling.

Friday was the day of the big move. I wanted to leave as early as possible because I knew the drive was going to be rough. So I said goodbye to my mom, had a quick breakfast with my dad, and headed for Waco. The first few hours weren’t bad at all. After I passed the halfway point, I started to get restless. The final hour was torture. I thought it would never end. I was so overwhelmed with excitement and homesickness and so many other things all at once, and I was just ready to be there. Finally, after what seemed like forever, I made it to my new home in Waco.

Unpacking was hard work, but I didn’t mind because it was exciting. I got to pick out where everything went and rearrange my room to make it exactly the way I wanted it. It was fun. I can already tell that I’m more invested in this place than I was anywhere I lived while I was in college. This is going to be my home for a while, and it feels good to accept that.

Since then, I’ve mostly just been settling in. I bought groceries, explored campus, and checked out the local movie theater (twice). Sunday, I attended Antioch Community Church, which was great, but also felt weird because I’m so used to being at my home church. It’s going to take some time before Waco truly feels like home to me, but I’m getting there one step at a time. This is a totally new phase in my life, a new adventure, and I’m so grateful for it. Thank you guys for your support as I take this next step. I’ll keep you posted. For now, I’m just saying hello to Waco and seeing what happens next!

Radical

I am often troubled by the question of whether the things I believe and desire are actually based on the Bible and what God wants for me or just on my American upbringing. Sure, there’s some overlap between the two, but there are definitely some things passed down to me culturally that aren’t Biblically-based, and may even be contrary to what the Bible teaches. The problem is that it’s sometimes tough to tell what’s what, and everyone has a different opinion on the matter.

In his book Radical, David Platt attempts to free Christians from the American Dream and the unbiblical goals and teachings that come along with it. Based in part on his experiences with Christians outside the U.S. and their deep desire to know God, the book offers an alternative to the watered down American version of Christianity than many of us have grown up in and instead offers an authentic, Bible-based approach to living for God.

There’s a reason this book has become so popular in Christian circles. It’s good. Really good. It offers a refreshing take on the American dream that so many people have become fed up with, and it offers an alternative that has the potential to change your life. It’s honest, unapologetic, and exactly the wake-up call that the American church needs.

Radical puts Christianity into a global perspective and encourages its readers to do the same. We are so caught up in our comfortable American way of life that we sometimes forget that there is a whole world of people out there hurting and hungering for Jesus. As affluent Christians, it is our responsibility to help these people with their physical and spiritual needs. And David Platt urges us to do just that in Radical. He tries to site up a passion within his readers to see the nations reached for Christ and to find a way to help make that happen.

As I was reading Radical, I found myself nodding my head and agreeing a lot. But I was worried that my reaction would end at that: agreement, and not real change. So as I read, I prayed that God would help me find a way not only to agree with the principles the book puts forth on an intellectual level, but to live them out on a day-to-day basis. And when I got the end of the book, I found just that. The final chapter sets out a simple, concrete plan of how a person can live radically for Christ.

And that’s probably my favorite thing about the book. It’s practical. It isn’t content to just give you a few thinking points and then leave you unchanged. The book challenges your heart and then gives you a direct plan of how to act on what you’ve learned throughout your experience of reading it. Radical is a book that’s going to make a difference in your life if you honestly, humbly pick it up in hopes of seeing what God can teach you through it. I know Radical changed my perspective and actions, and I know it can change yours too if you’ll read it. So check out David Platt’s Radical and see what a difference God can make in our life through it.

Why I Hate Christian War Imagery (and Why We May Need It Anyway)

A lot of people love war movies. They really enjoy watching recreations of battles that took place in history or grand fictional battles staged for entertainment. There’s something about the excitement, the valor, the intensity, that really appeals to certain people. I am not one of those people.

A couple of years ago, I took a class at school called History and Film. I needed a history credit, and it seemed like something I would enjoy, so I went for it without really reading the course description. It turned out that the “film” portion of the class was almost entirely comprised of watching war films. From The Last of the Mohicans to The Patriot and on and on, we watched film after film that documented wars taking place in our country’s history. And I hated every second of it.

The thing that stuck out to me most when I was watching these films was the absurdity of it all. I watched time after time as two groups of men marched toward one another, stopped at a respectable distance, and then began firing at each other until one group was forced to retreat. I watched so many fictional characters die, and for what? To solve some political issue? Surely there must be a better way to resolve international conflict than to see which country can kill more of the other country’s men in a shoot-out. Honestly, how does firing at one another until one side is wiped out or forced to give up accomplish anything?

Here’s what I’m not trying to do. I’m not trying to disrespect our troops or the people who have fought for our country in the past. I respect the men and women who put their lives on the line for our freedom, and I understand that in our day and age, it is sometimes necessary to use military violence in order to defend the freedom and security of one’s people. But even though I acknowledge that it’s sometimes necessary, that doesn’t mean I believe it to be morally acceptable. Surely there must be a better way for us to coexist than to have sporadic mass killings to decide who’s in power. And if we’re ever going to get to a point where we can solve conflicts another way, without countless people losing their lives and countless families losing their loved ones, we need to stop promoting and glorifying the idea of war. We need to see it for what it is—a necessary evil—and speak of it as such if we’re ever going to move past it.

That’s why I cringe every time I hear a preacher use war imagery in a sermon. When I hear someone talk about creating a “Christian army” to “wage war” against evil and the corruption in our world today, I feel conflicted. Because I don’t think we need to be promoting war between men, especially not from the pulpit. I believe that when Jesus told us to love our enemies, He probably meant that we shouldn’t kill them. I’ve never been in war, so I can’t say this for sure, but I imagine that it’s fairly difficult to love someone as much as you love yourself while simultaneously taking his or her life. We need to be working to find another way to resolve conflict, and I’m not sure that these uses of war imagery in a Christian context are helpful toward that goal.

But there’s another side of the story, too. The truth is that, as Christians, we are in a sort of war all the time. We are engaged in spiritual battle on a daily basis. We fight against the devil, his minions, and the principalities and powers of this world that seek to destroy our faith. There is a spiritual war for our hearts going on constantly that we can’t afford to ignore or sugar-coat. It’s a war; there’s no way around it. And we need to acknowledge it in order to equip Christians for fighting it.

So I’m all for preaching on the armor of God. And if you really think “Christian army” is the best way to describe the Church that we’re trying to be, then I guess you have a basis for it, even if I disagree with the terminology. I just think we need to be careful not to downplay the spiritual warfare we’re in while also not promoting violence and killing in the world we live. As Christians, we are called to be spiritual warriors, but also peacemakers in this world. Let’s not get those things confused, or sacrifice one for the other. Let us go out and fight the good fight, even when that means laying our weapons down and working toward peace.