Movie Review: Ragamuffin

     This movie is about Rich Mullins (the music artist who wrote "Awesome God," "Sing Your Praise to The Lord," "Sometimes by Step," and many other well written songs). It's one that follows where the man went and who he met when.
     It's a drama. It doesn't really capture the lovableness of a struggling alcoholic/drug addict who has been captured by Christ. It very much captures the emotional pain that all sensitive people go through. Rich was a very emotive person but he was also very much an approachable and lovable person too who could entertain and make you laugh but at the same time would say profound things that would make you think. This movie captures only the dramatic side it but it fails to portray his humorous side.
    It briefly shows his generous nature (he gives a shirt away while he's at the reservation) but it doesn't show how generous he was. He was always giving stuff away. He comes across in books as a very selfless person whereas in the movie he comes across as being a bit selfish (mostly in the self pity department but you see it elsewhere too).
      From what I've read of him he seems to be someone who couldn't get enough of God and wanted desperately to be like Jesus. That same level of passion doesn't come across in the movie.
     It was a good movie and some of the scenery is really beautiful. I think that his story is still a good one even though it's only one dimensional when it comes to his personality. It was worth watching at least once but just be aware it doesn't really do justice to the full individual.
      It did humanize him more for me which is probably a good thing. It also helped me to connect the dots of what happened when which was also very helpful.
      If you aren't familiar already with Rich then I would suggest reading Arrow Pointing to Heaven to get a better picture of who Rich was and his passion for God. (I have gotten a little more than halfway through this one and have really enjoyed it so far). You could also read a collection of his writings called "The World as I Remember It: Through the Eyes of a Ragamuffin." (I personally haven't read this one but have heard good things about it).
      If you have watched this movie and have something to add feel free to comment below.

Great Question II

           Here is another question from one of my Good News Club kids that I got:

If you are acting in a play or a TV show and your character has to lie is that sinning?

     Here is how I answered her (I started out giving the answers in written form):

     If you are acting in a play or a TV show it is not necessarily wrong to lie. You are being a character in a show and everyone knows that in real life you are not that person. The only time it would be wrong for someone to lie in this instance is if a Christian was playing the part and in the story lying was portrayed as being something good and something that people should be ok with doing. If lying is shown in the story as having consequences then it would be fine for anyone to play the part.
     People do movies, plays, and even TV shows which do stories from the Bible. When people tell the story of Jesus is it wrong for them to play a Pharisee? In order to do justice to the story you have to show people who the Pharisees were and how they are described in the Bible. They hated Jesus so much that they wanted him dead. If God doesn't shield us from these things in His word then there is no reason to not include the Pharisees when telling the story of Jesus.
     There are other stories in the Bible like the story of Jacob and Esau (Gen. 25:28-34, 27:1-43), where Jacob lies and it wouldn't be right to do a play or a movie without having him lie.  The story of Joseph (Gen. 37) where his brothers lie to their father in order to cover up what they did. If you left out lying in these stories you wouldn't be true to the story and it would take away some of the impact that these stories have. There are lots more but these are just a couple of stories that I could come up with as examples.

Advice on Lists

     This is some advice I would give to girls (or guys) who are looking for Mr. Right (Mrs. Right). When I was younger and inexperienced I did not take this piece of advice seriously and ended up paying for it in the long run.

MAKE A LIST!

     Make a list of qualifications of what Mr./Mrs. Right must meet in order to pass the "should I marry you" test and stick with it! No reneging on your points just because you meet someone who you think is really really cool and you really really want to make this work. Because if they fail on one point chances are they are going to fail on others too. If you are unsure of your list you could show it to a friend (preferably married) who you trust will be honest with you or to your parent(s). Parents have a way of being able to be more honest with us than most so they are probably your best option.
     (The downside to telling your parents is they may pressure you to put things on your list that you may not necessarily want on it. Just be aware of what you want and then consider what your parents have to say but realize that they are human too and even though they want what's best for you at some point you need to make your own decisions.)
     I was watching a YouTube video recently that dealt with this issue and was reminded of the fact that "hey I have a list I think I need to add to it" (it's not a very long list so far but it's much better than when I had none or just that he had to be a Christian and be good with kids).
     Each individual is going to be different and so when making your list I would advise you not to paint an exact picture of who you want to marry (e.g. He has blue eyes, brown hair, is clean shaven, drives a red mustang, and has a black lab as a pet) let's be realistic here. List personality traits and beliefs, don't focus so much on their physical attributes and stuff, those fade with time but your spouses' personality and beliefs are something that you are going to have to live with.
     A wise friend once told me that you will meet a lot of frogs before you find your prince. Sometimes it's hard to figure out if a certain person is a frog or a prince. Having a list will help you to more easily determine that (also it helps you understand where you stand on certain issues so you can be more confident in asking questions).
     Having a list will help to keep you from going through a lot of pain and heartache. Sometimes those of us who are hardheaded about this kind of stuff will go through that anyway. (I did and I'm still functioning.)
      Here is how I would describe the feelings you go through when you are seriously in the wrong relationship and emotionally attached:
       Your on a rope about to go 50 feet into the air. There's a rush and a thrill when your going up and it's pretty fun while your on top of the world but then there is a complication and before you know it you are speeding towards the ground and there is nothing you can do to stop. When you hit the ground you get the wind knocked out of you and you are starting to see spots at the edge of your vision and feel like if you don't get air you're going to die. Your chest feels like you have a ton of bricks pressing against you and it's like you have forgotten what it was like to breathe in, all you can do is let your breath out. At some point you wonder if it's worth fighting for air because it's so painful. It's then that you need people around you telling you to keep fighting. Yes, it hurts and it still will hurt after you get up and walk away but your friends want you to survive. They don't want you to be overcome because you chose not to fight. So you finally breathe. It may have felt like an eternity in the moment but you breathe. After standing up and stumbling about for a little bit you return to normal. Yes, it is a painful experience but you survive.
     The drop makes the first part not so much fun as it was in the moment. I can't save people from themselves but I can warn them of what's coming if they aren't careful. Make a list and stick with it. You won't be sorry that you did.

     Here is the super silly YouTube video I saw that inspired me to add to my list, plus I think Kevin has some great points. Enjoy!

My Thoughts on Arranged Marriage

          Arranged marriage as I said in a previous post (Dating, Courtship, Arranged Marriage, Oh My!) is when your parents or a matchmaker would choose a person out for you and then you marry that person. If you have good parents they will want what's best for you and the arrangement would probably have a lot of the elements of courtship tied into the deal. If they are more focused on what kind of status or cast the spouse-to-be has (like some of the more traditional people in Saudi Arabian and some of the Asian countries) then you it is likely that you will marry someone who fits the bill rather than being reassured of getting someone who is truly compatible. Not that this happens all of the time but it does happen.
     Many people bring up the fact that arranged marriages are less likely to end up in divorce than love marriages. I read recently that the rates might not be as far apart as what we think (read more here) most people will say that love marriages have a 40-50% rate of divorce while arranged marriages have around 4% divorce rate but this particular article says that love marriage divorce rate may be as low as 25%. Arranged marriage still ends up with a lower percentage but the gulf may not be as big as what people are saying.
     People in arranged marriages will tend to stick things out. Sometimes this is because of social pressure to stick things out such as in India where if divorce does happen the woman will be left with almost nothing because the government system is male biased. (Read more here)
     In my opinion if arranged marriage is done right then it can be a good thing.
     If not handled properly then you are stuck with someone who you may or may not like for the rest of your life.
Obviously there are going to be things that you don't like about your spouse no matter how the marriage nuptials end up coming to be. They will do things that will just annoy you (think of it as similar to living with your brother or sister for the rest of your life). I'm not talking about that so much as just getting married and being completely blindsided by the other person's personality that just doesn't match well with you. This is more likely to happen in an arranged marriage than a love marriage.
     In conclusion to all of this we live in a fallen world with fallen people who do fallen things so finding Mr. Right or Mrs. Right going to be challenging for most of us. Even when we do find them it isn't going to be peaches and cream and smooth sailing the whole time. You are marrying a fallen being but in the midst of that you will learn so much through that. So much about God, about yourself, and about others. Even when struggles do come it will all be worth it in the light of eternity.