At World's End

Pirates of the Caribbean 3

If you love piracy, mayhem, and backstabbing, then you'll like this end all third part. I discovered that I looked at my watch a lot. I found it hard to keep track of who lies to who and who deceives whom. Multiple duplicity tangled the movie up and I lost the story. The opening scene is hard to watch with adults killed and even one child. In short, I found it too long, too confusing, and too violent (I would have made it an R-movie).

Action scenes and special effects filled the screen . The effect was distracting and diluting the story. As Josh and I chatted, you may find it difficult to follow as well. I wonder when you see it if you could comment by answering three questions according to your opinion:

1. What did you discover as the main theme/story?


2. What did you discern is the difference between what is portrayed in the movie and what the Bible says about those same things?


3. What will you decide to do? Watch it again? Watch it with friends? Watch it again and figure out how you can use the movie as a way to bring God up in a discussion with friends?

Some reviews to compare: Plugged In Online & Yahoo Movies Roundup. Please add your comment.

Wisdom from Proverbs

Today's chapter in Proverbs counteracts the challenge facing everyone in our sex-saturated culture. God's Word warns against adultery. The story in chapter five is an earnest plea from a father to a married son regarding the pressures of seeking a wayward women to commit adultery. Walt Mueller, President of CPYU (Center for Parent and Youth Understanding) shares how this present culture has shifted away from the sanctity of marriage. The culture portrays in the media that casual sex is normative, that "cheating" on someone is okay as long as you are not caught, that hooking up is normal.

I concur with Walt Mueller's comments about giving deep thought to the Christian response to this shift. He wrote on his blog concerning the prominence of casual sex as normative,

“Saddened, but not surprised.” Most of the time, people look at me like I’m nuts. I hope I’m not. Instead, I’ve tried to be informed by the truth of the Scriptures in a way that I hope has caused me to avoid the extremes of blind optimism and extreme pessimism in order to embrace a third option – biblical realism. Illness, destruction, death, violence, rebellion, idolatry, sin, the things kids do. . . . none of it should be surprising. A posture of biblical realism serves to give us perspective, and always should shape our response – emotionally, intellectually, and spiritually. Read more of Walt's full comments from his archived pages here by scrolling down to his houghts dated 03.07.2007.

In his blog he links to an interview on NBC by Meredith Vieira, "Is hooking up unhealthy for teens?" She interviews Laura Sessions Stepp author of "UnHooked," and Amber Madison author of "Hooking Up." This interview highlights the new culture of casual sex and its effect on young women. After viewing this interview you may be shocked or unaffected. But I trust you would feel both some discouragement while at the same time feel tempered by biblical realism. Anchored to a biblical worldview where sin and its manifestation in our culture is not surprising because it is not God -centered.

But victoriously, sin is remedied in Jesus. What better season to reconsider the awesome truth of Christ's death and resurrection! So proclaim with me that this world needs Jesus in spite of cultural trends to the contrary.

All disturbing cultural trends will continue to emerge on the radar screens of Christian minds who foster a biblical worldview. I wonder how you will respond. Unless a person seeks to follow God's truth, then he or she may cave-in and follow the pressure of the dominant culture. How will you shape your response? Something to seriously think about.

Pastor D