Everyone's Hero - A Great Movie

So there's a movie theatre here in Greenville that shows free movies for kids on Tues - Thurs. This week's offering was a choice between something I can't remember the name of and "Everyone's Hero". My wife and boys had already seen the movie, but I hadn't so I decided we would check it out today.

I'm really glad I did. The scene is the Great Depression and Babe Ruth and the Yankees are the pride of the nation. Yankee Irving is a kid with a dream and he loves the game of baseball. He loves it so much that he dreams of hitting in the World Series. Only one problem, he can't hit - AT ALL. And so, he's the typical kid with a dream who will probably never see it come true. He's always chosen last. He's the outcast.

Yankee's dad works for the New York Yankees and through an evil plot by the Cubs owner and "Lefty", Babe Ruth's famed bat "Darlin" is stolen and Yankee's dad is blamed for it and fired by the ball club. Having seen the thief's face, the kid knows who the burglar is and sets out on a whirlwind journey with his trusty baseball "Screwy" to retrieve the famous bat and return it to the Yankee Slugger.

Needless to say, it's a kids' movie, and as all kid movies do, ends with a happy ending. If you think long and hard, you'll guess the ending. But one thing struck me at the very end of this movie. And I can't explain it, God just keeps speaking to me through kids movies. It's two weeks in a row. There's a line at the end of the movie that got me to thinking that I want to expound upon a little in this post. The line was:

"No matter how bad they tell you that you are, and no matter how much they say you don't matter, just keep swingin. Cause it ain't the bat that makes the difference, it's the batter".

And you know, they're absolutely right. Except in this instance, we are the bat, and God is the batter. He swings us, not the other way around. You see, we're all worthless. I'm sorry if that offends you, but it's the truth. You have no ability to do anything good or great. You're a sorry sack of nothing that is as worthless as a baseball bat that just lays in the closet day after day. You're useless and just taking up space and collecting dust.

UNTIL, the Master picks you up. And once the Master picks you up and begins to swing you around a little bit, then miracles can happen. You see, a baseball bat is a worthless dead tree worth all of about $20, but when you put it in the hands of Barry Bonds, it's a part of history and will be put on display in the Hall of Fame. A golf club is just a worthless crappy piece of steel with no value whatsoever, but you put it in the hands of Tiger Woods, and you have memories at the Masters that last a lifetime.

So it goes with us. We are worthless hostile, evil beings that stand in the shadow of God's wrath. Until Jesus picks us up and then we are Kings. We are heirs. We will reign eternally with Him. We are a royal priesthood. We are a holy nation. We will sit side by side with Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, David, Job, Solomon, Jesus, John, Peter, Paul, and Mary (sorry got carried away). But it's true. Once the master picks us up with His nail-scarred hands we change entirely and become instruments of His glory to make history and miracles happen. His power flows through us. And our nature, and our potential are changed and altered on an infinite scale.

But, as the Bible says, apart from Him we can do NOTHING. Just like a bat laying in the closet. I thank God that he picked me up and didn't let me lay there. I may have dents, scars, chips missing and I may be worn out and warped in certain places, but in the hands of my Master, I can see eternity changed forever in the lives of other people.

Jesus is my hero. He should be your hero. And one day, Lord willing, he will be "Everyone's Hero". It was a great flick. You should go watch it!

A Great Christian Movie - Just Not The One You Thought

So it seems that Evan Almighty is bombing, while another movie, supposedly not meant for the Christian audience, is doing really well.

Now imagine my surprise when a story about a French rat named Remy is a clearer presentation of Biblical truth and in many ways the Gospel than a movie clearly "aligned" with Noah's Ark.

You heard me right, if you go see Ratatouille, you are going to see and hear great Christian truth. You just have to look for it.

Now, I'm not saying that Pixar intentionally meant to put it there, and I'm also not saying that everything in the movie portrays Christian theology, to the contrary. You will find plenty of secular humanistic "you can be anything you want" type stuff. You can see Hollywood essentially try to tell you that believing in "heaven" gets you there. You'll see a typical secular attempt at "little person with no resume makes good" type of storyline. You'll also see throughout the movie "an angel sitting on your shoulder" type of help. But if you look past that, and really keep your eyes open, you're going to see something truly amazing. There's Bible in there, and even Gospel, all in a little blue rat.

What do I mean? This is a story of a French rat from the country who has big dreams. He has a love of cooking and a passion for it that consumes him. He sees and smells things in food that no one else cares or sees. And yet, he's torn. He's torn betweeen family and his passion. And throughout the movie, this conflict of choosing his family or his passion leads Remy to do things he's not supposed to do, and try to be somebody he was never meant to be. Sound familiar?

Also, there's a partnership between Remy and a human named Linguine. Linguine is the legitimate heir to this famous restaraunt only there's one problem, he has no talent. And surprisingly, the talent he needs to make this dream come true comes from Remy. So, in concert, a little blue rat and Linguine embark to make food come alive. The human provides the outlet for the Remy's ability, genius, and creative ability with food. Linguine is nothing without the rat, and in the end, without him, he fails and is exposed as a fraud. Sound familiar?

Not only that, once the partnership is exposed and people become aware that Remy has been the one behind the great food all along, they are both ostracized and are abandoned by the people they have worked with. It seems that people found it hard to believe that something that unorthodox could be true. You see, it's just too hard to believe, therefore, it can't be true! Sound familiar?

But, once the truth is out, Linguine no longer has to hide the fact that it's a rat helping him, and he is free to be exactly who he was made to be. Not only that, but Remy is also free to now let his passion flow and because of that, they make the most wonderful food that in the end is the source of transformation for a harsh critic bent on ruining their restaraunt enterprise. Sound familiar?

And lastly, by far and away the best line in the movie is this: "NOT everyone can be a great artist, but a great artist can come from anywhere!" And thus, a truth about Christian evangelism is spoken clearly in a movie theatre. Isn't it true? Didn't they say the same thing about Jesus? "Can anything good come from Nazareth?" The greatest reality the world has ever known came in a package as unfamiliar and un-recognizable as a tiny blue rat. The Messiah came as a carpenter from lowly means and background. He came as a servant, not as a King. He came as a wanderer with no place to lay his head, not as royalty demanding his castle back. And yet, because of Him, we are able to be who He created us to be and without Him, we are nothing. Without His death, without His paying the price for us, we are as lifeless, hopeless, worthless, and talentless as Linguine.

They may not be talking about penal substitutionary atonement. They may not be talking about his sinless life, his virgin birth, his resurrection, or anything of the sort. But if you pay attention really closely, you'll see Biblical truth come alive in the most unexpected of places. An animated movie about a rat and a human - making food that changes people's lives.

You need to go see it! And when you do, watch it really closely!