For Greater Glory-A Movie Review

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This is a must see movie for Christians because it is a reminder of how fragile our rights as Christians really are. It is not a feel good movie or just a Catholic movie but it does highlight the struggle and suffering the Catholics endured in this fight for freedom to worship God. It is also a story of faith that is well represented on the movie screen.

Allow me to play movie critic for a moment. The acting is good to great with a mix of recognizable faces and newcomers. The scenes and setting help make this true story come to life for us. The movie covers a lot of history and players in the cause of the Cristeros against the Mexican Government. It may not have had a “cast of thousands” but the battle scenes are believable. My wife in preparing to go see the movie commented on the “R-rating” and the available comments from the professional critics and the actual moviegoers. The pros did not like it because of its strong Christian tone while the moviegoers liked it for that very reason. I guess it earned its rating because of violence but TV shows such as “Criminal Minds” and “CSI” are just as bloody. But because children are tortured and martyred in the film taking little ones could be hard. Be sure to stay through the credits as some loose ends are tied up and some interesting facts are presented.

I may not appreciate all of the Catholic themes in the movie but a little research into the laws that prompted the Cristeros actions are very disturbing to me as a Christian. Education of children and control of the Christian Church was the heart of those laws. Those laws that were passed in 1917 sound very much like the Humanist Manifesto and the “stated purpose” of a large educational union in this country. The actions of the Canadian government in our present day society reflect the actions of the Mexican government of 100 years ago that prompted the civil war. For more about the movie go to http://forgreaterglory.com/ and a little time researching the Cristeros either before or after watching the movie will help. This and the Tulsa Race Riots are not nightmares that happened somewhere else but these things have taken place within a days drive of Houston.

WEAK LINKS

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You’ve heard the old adage about a team/chain is only as strong as its weakest member/link?  That simile or metaphor, depending how you use it, finally got to me and I had to think about it instead of just accepting it. That is when I realized that as a business or team model a chain is not how I wanted any organization to be run. Then I noticed that paradigms can come from our metaphors so “Life and Death is a power of the tongue” took on a whole new meaning.  After all when compared to a chain who wants to be the weak link and fail the whole team and cause everything to be ruined! No, pressure there right and what group after that simile has been laid on you has not looked around and started to predict who would be the first to break. Or have a bad day or week and see if that label ever leaves. And since this is a Bible Study blog I wondered about chains in the Bible.

Now an organization being pictured as a bunch of links working together is a valid image but not in a linear chain rather as chainmail. If a church or group is setup as a linear chain then the adage is true and the pressure is unbelievable on all of the links and it will eventually break.  A lesson that I learned in the book Good to Great is pick your team so that the “bus” can keep running in good or bad times.  Chainmail is a better model because in it every link is connected to someone, so even if one piece is hit it’s connected links will support it and the whole team does not break.

Here are thoughts on the adage of a linear link chain:

–        all the links look the same at the beginning

–        links fail due to stress but the strong links are incapable of helping the weak one

–       enough stress in a bind and any link can fail

–       links may fail because of external forces that eat away at it

–       links may fail because of an imperfection or an impurity in the metal

–       if a chain fails it cannot put itself back together, it takes a repairman to put in a replacement link

–       don’t mismatch links when making a chain

Now even in chainmail a link may fail and have to be replaced but the whole piece does not have to fall apart because of one piece.

CHAINS IN THE BIBLE

Using my Strong’s Concordance I counted nineteen different words that are translated “chains.” One of those words, aboth, is translated also as rope and cord.  Before this study my first thought of  “chain” was a linear set of links used to restrain or link things together. This is a use of chains in the Bible especially in Judges 16:21 when the Philistines finally used chain instead of rope to bind Samson. But many of the references of chain are in connection with decorations especially things for human wear like necklaces, earrings and chainmail collars. The Old Testament has the most uses of the word chain and again many of those are for decorations; while in the Roman Empire controlled world of the New Testament the three words for chains all seem to reflect binding and restricting human movement and freedom.

Ropes and cords probably were used more than metal chains to bind people simply because cord was easier to make and less expensive.

Photos of chains are from http://www.stockvault.net/c/industrial/locks-and-chains/?p=2,  Photo of Egyptian chainmail http://www.flickr.com/photos/waltercallens/3465622123/

THE LAND OF LEARNING

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THE LAND OF LEARNING

by Mark

The bell rings, your book opens

All will reside and spend their time in the Land of Learning

Each start off fast, so much to know

Soon the Labels start: some for good some for bad

Then comes our time in the House of Smart and Dumb

Just wait you will need this next year

Work hard so you will impress and succeed

Pass that test, get that credit, show your stuff

Those Labels just don’t seem to go away

You played the game got the Diploma or blew it off to strut your stuff

Now the learning starts

Load the cart

Do the dance

Know the job

Learn to family

When do we learn to live

“plan the work, work the plan”

If they can’t do anything else make them a teacher or a telemarketer

If your so smart why aren’t you _____

“Chase the cheese”

Show me the green

The learning done, your book is closed

The final bell rings

Hope in Joplin

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H  J O P L I N E

 Faces were new, the road was long,

but we would be home soon.

 Pickles expiring, shoes were free,

this Warehouse of God was piled high

Heard the stories, saw the pain, touched a nightmare,

but we would be home soon.

 Heroes are tired, we came with H.E.L.P.,

the water was cold, the shade was hot, the work was hard.

Numb faces, stories telling, changed lives,

but we would be soon could go home.

 Good hearts lending a hand, using talents in serving man.

Work we did! Great or small?

We just came to answer The Call.