Amazing Grace

Hosea 14:4 I will heal their waywardness and love them freely, for my anger has turned away from them.

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Sometimes when I make mean mistakes or selfishly sin, I think that God is deeply disappointed and angry with me. I find it difficult to approach Him with the right contrition and sincerity, so I end up wondering if I will be forgiven. I don’t feel worthy enough to be saved or good enough to be pardoned, and sometimes a darkness overwhelms my soul. It’s a frightening thing to fear God and to think that He will harshly judge me.

And then, just as I need it most, the Spirit leads me to a biblical verse which turns out to be a wonderful promise of God’s grace in action. Even as a pastor, I need to hear God speak to my soul. And He does today through these wonderful words of Hosea. It’s as if God is saying to me: “I will heal your waywardness and love you freely, for my anger has turned away from you.”

I don’t know if you’ve ever seen the movie, ‘Amazing Grace.’ It’s all about William Wilberforce, the great anti-slave trade opponent who gave his life seeking to abolish slavery throughout Britain and her colonies. In one scene from the movie, Wilberforce is seen talking to John Newton, the slave trader turned preacher. Newton is agonizing over his sinful past and despairingly expresses his deep regrets. At one moment, he is almost overwhelmed with his past wickedness. Then he boldly declares: “I know two things – I am a great sinner and that Christ is a Great Savior.”

We all carry burdens of past mistakes and each of us have moments when we feel our guilt before God. But His grace through Jesus Christ is so almighty and complete, that all our sins can be forgiven, our past burdens can be relieved, and our future hopes can be restored. We just need to come to Christ in prayer to receive these wonderful blessings.

Prayer: Father God, we know that we offend, disappoint, and anger You with our sinful ways and selfish choices. We confess to doing stupid things and making serious mistakes. We seek Your mercy and forgiveness through Christ’s sacrifice and grace. In His Name, we humbly pray. Amen.

John Stuart is the pastor at Erin Presbyterian Church in Knoxville, Tennessee. If you would like to comment on today’s message, please send him an email to pastor@erinpresbyterian.org.

Goodbye, Mr. Chips

Some movies are like good wine – as the years go by, they mature into a great vintage. Take the 1969 musical “Goodbye, Mr. Chips,” starring Peter O’Toole and Petula Clark. When it was first released, the world was in awe of Armstrong walking on the moon. The musical seemed quaint and old-fashioned, and was quietly acclaimed, but not much of a success.

Forty years, however, have transformed this beautiful picture into a vintage movie-screen performance.

Most people think that O’Toole was magnificent in Lawrence of Arabia and that Petula Clark was an acclaimed sixties pop-singer with one hit “Down Town.” They have probably not seen this movie. Both these actors are truly wonderful together in this film production.

O’Toole plays a stoic and dull English Schoolmaster whose life is transformed and turned upside down by a talented and lively musical hall actress played by Clark. The chemistry between the two is evident on the screen, making the James Hilton’s classic story both charming and captivating. It is a wonderful tale of true love between opposites and a lifelong vocation.

The music is not exhilarating, but the songs touch the soul. Petula’s performances are a “hit,” and it is great to see and hear a classic actor like O’Toole croon the lyrics.

Although I still think that both Robert Donat and Greer Garson played their characters outstandingly in the original black and white movie, this musical and its two main performers tell the story in a wonderful way, too.

I give it 4 out of 5 stars.

Laurel and Hardy: Lonesome Pine

Even after all these years, it still raises a pleasant smile!

Transfiguration Sunday: Gone with the Wind

A great moment in cinematic history and an intense transforming moment for Scarlett O'Hara.

The Legend of Bagger Vance

"The Legend of Bagger Vance" is a highly under-rated movie, but it displays the excellence of Robert Redford’s directing. I always meant to go and see this on the big screen because golfing movies need a giant screen to be truly appreciated. However, the movie is not about the game; it’s about the people who play it.

The scenery is fantastic. Kiawah Island in South Carolina makes a perfect backdrop for this wonderful feel good movie. The storyline is like “The River” (another excellent Redford movie) meeting “Field of Dreams.” It never lags or disappoints you; in fact it enchants you.

Much has been made about this being one of Will Smith’s worst movies. I couldn’t disagree more. If you just want to see Smith as a smart-mouthed, high adrenaline, good guy vs. the bad guy black actor, then you will miss the subtlety and charm Smith hs to offer in this production. His acting is never way over the top. He plays Bagger Vance perfectly, and it makes me think that this will personally be one of his favorite roles. As the caddie who comes out of nowhere to help a has-been golfer, Smith excels. And the other great thing about the movie is this: Matt Damon does not compete with Smith on the screen – they both compliment and augment each other’s acting ability.

This is also a charming romantic movie. The chemistry between Matt Damon as local hero Rannulph Junnuh and Charlize Theron as the heiress Adele Invergordon is wonderful. Miss Theron is palpably beautiful throughout the screenplay. The highs and lows of the couple are depicted over twelve years, and in the end they happily find each other again.

Rachel Portman’s theme music is exceptional and wonderfully sets the mood for the legendary golfing showdown between Junnuh, Bobby Jones and Walter Hagen. The whole era is magically captured on the screen and I found the entire movie a joy to behold and experience.

Jack Lemmon’s cameo appearance, as well as his narration throughout the picture is marvelous. You get the feeling that the whole cast enjoyed the entire movie and if there had been an Oscar for best ensemble, I think it would have won it.

Lastly, the young Hardy Greaves (whose elderly character is played by Jack Lemmon) is wonderfully portrayed by J. Michael Moncrief – a local Savannah lad who beat 2000 other applicants to play the part. He has the key character that holds the movie together – it says a lot about the acting security of Smith, Damon, and Theron to allow such a young local boy to do so well.

I wouldn’t have thought so before I saw this movie, but “The Legend of Bagger Vance” has become one of my Top Ten. I rate it five stars out of five for entertainment, character value, scenery, music and direction.

Matt Damon thought he was under attack from a lunatic stalker when an on-set explosion brought his new film to a standstill. He was practicing hitting golf balls for his role as a golfing phenomenon in The Legend Of Bagger Vance when he laid into a practical joke ball - shattering it into a hundred pieces and sending a cloud of smoke into the air. In the background, his young co-star J. Michael Moncrief collapsed giggling to his knees. Damon says, "My immediate reaction was to throw myself to the ground. I thought somebody, possibly a loopy fan, has thrown a grenade. "It was genuinely scary. The last thing I expected to happen. Then I saw JM and realized I had been the victim of a practical joke!"

Richard III

John 6:15 Jesus, knowing that they intended to come and make him king by force, withdrew again to a mountain by himself.

I love February because it’s Oscars month on Turner Classic movies. I get to record and watch the old movies with famous actors like Errol Flynn, Olivia de Haviland, Clark Gable, Spencer Tracy, and Greer Garson.

For the past two night, I’ve been watching Laurence Olivier in Richard III. He plays one of the sleaziest, greediest, and wickedest villains on the screen. I love Shakespeare’s plays anyway, but Olivier’s acting is absolutely amazing.

Richard, Duke of Gloucester, cheats, conspires, and kills his way into becoming the King of England. Along the way, he makes many enemies and at the end of the play, he is left destitute on the battlefield. That’s when Olivier utters the immortal lines: “A horse! A horse! My kingdom for a horse!” Justice is served and the villainous king is cut down and killed by his rival.

When I read the Gospel passage this morning, I was reminded that the people wanted to make Jesus their king, just because He supplied them with fish and bread. They wanted Him to provide for them, to heal their sicknesses, to satisfy their hunger, and to make their lives pleasant.

But Jesus was on a mission from God, so He couldn’t be tempted by such an offer. He was serving God, not Himself. He was doing God’s will, not His own.

This also reminds me that our faith in Christ is purely meant to glorify and honor Him. If we seek Jesus to bless us all the time and to make our lives easier, then we’ve crowned the wrong kind of king in our hearts. If we place our lives into His hands and seek to serve His kingdom here on earth, then we’ve truly made Him the King of our lives.

Prayer: Lord Jesus, help us to place You at the center of our lives and to honor You with our service to Your Kingdom. Enable us to keep You as the King of our hearts and Lord of our days. In Your Holy Name, we pray. Amen.

John Stuart is the pastor of Erin Presbyterian Church in Knoxville, Tennessee. If you would like to comment on today’s message, please send him an email to pastor@erinpresbyterian.org.

New In Town - Renee Zellweger

This movie is absolutely hilarious and the perfect escapist remedy for the gloomy economic times that we’re living in. I’ve always liked Renée Zellweger as an actress, but she is also a terrific comedienne. I think that she must have had a great deal of fun on the set and it comes across in her character.

The storyline is a bit like Baby Boom meets Fargo. Minnesotan accents and characteristics are everywhere. Zellweger plays a highly attractive Miami jet-setting executive, Lucy Hill, who is sent to the Northern town of New Ulm to downsize the plant. The plotline is predictable, but that’s what makes the movie work so well. Everything that you’re rooting for in the movie transpires. It’s the old formula of a large commercial company taking over and closing down a small rural plant. And as the storyline develops, true to form, Zellweger’s Lucy Hill falls in love with the area, as well as the people.

In my opinion, the casting is perfect. J K Simmons plays Stu Kopenhafer, the typical curmudgeon of a maintenance manager who is totally pan-faced throughout the movie. He has some of the best one-liners in the film and his antics are a joy to watch.

Harry Connick Jr plays the local union representative, Ted Mitchell, and ends up becoming Zellweger’s romantic partner. The scenes between the two of them whilst hunting in snow-laden forest had me laughing until I cried. The whole audience in the cinema found it absolutely hysterical and it reminded me that the contagious laughter of ordinary people is one of the best things about life.

Siobhan Fallon Hogan steals the movie at times with her small town scrap book making, Jesus loving, factory secretary Blanche Gunderson. She plays opposite Zellweger’s city life Lucy Hill wonderfully, and the two of them light up the whole movie.

The small town setting and the snow covered landscapes are wonderful to see, but the best scene in the movie takes place on Christmas Eve. The whole community gathers around the town’s Christmas tree singing a Christmas Carol. It is pleasantly played down, so that it evokes a simple, rural hometown nostalgia that many urbanite city dwellers miss in the hustle and bustle of the season.

I also liked the touching relationship between Connick Jr. and his screen daughter Ferron Guerreiro playing Bobbie. Her prom night transition from Daddy’s little girl to a lovely young lady, under Zellweger’s direction, is very heart-warming.

I would rate the movie four out of five stars for the cast, characters, and side splitting humor. It is rated PG-13 for some adult humor, but nothing that I think is offensive.

Movie website: http://www.newintownmovie.com/

Wingclips.com has a few good clips for studies.