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Jeremy Sexton
Pastor, Artist, Writer, Filmmaker, Speaker, Magician, DJ.
If Vick were…
(via bestrooftalkever)
The move comes just days after Ohio State was upset in the Sweet 16 of the NCAA Men’s Basketball…
In an unexpected move, the Ohio State athletic department has issued a press release asking fans of Cleveland sports teams to “no longer take any interest in Ohio State teams or players.”
"Only when we see God’s eye-covering holiness will we grasp the magnitude of our traitorous rebellion, and only then will we marvel at the incomprehensible love that purchased our deliverance on the cross."
Kevin DeYoung – Review of Love Wins
"And that is the promise of the prophets in the age to come:
God acts.
Decisively.
On behalf of everybody
who’s ever been stepped on by the machine,
exploited,
abused,
forgotten,
or mistreated.
God puts an end to it.
God says, “Enough."
– Rob Bell, Love Wins
Before I made my Top 10 of 2010, there were a couple films I wanted to see first, as I thought they might make the rankings. One of them was The King’s Speech, which I saw today. This film is getting the Oscar buzz like a short haircut in a trashcan and there are definitely elements of it that are magnificent.
It’s a period piece and they nail the details and put you convincingly into that time period. The photography is fantastic, every shot is beautifully done. The performances from Geoffrey Rush, Collin Firth and Helena Bonham Carter are all tremendous. The script is great. The direction is very solid.
You’re probably now wondering why this post is titled the way it is.
The film is about the Duke of York and his stuttering problems. The problem with the film is the story it tells. So there’s a guy who’s rich and famous because he was lucky enough to be born to a specific set of parents. He has but one job to do and that is speak publicly on occasion. He is incompetent at this job.
I’m sorry, but I can’t get on board rooting for this guy. He is not sympathetic in any way, shape or form. Am I supposed to feel sorry for him because he stutters? Boo hoo. This is taking place during the Great Depression, I’m sure everyone starving would trade situations with him in a heartbeat.
Maybe they’re trying to invoke this reaction from the audience so that you then think about how minor your problems are compared to others around you. There is nothing in the film, however, to warrant such a reading. That is, unless they’re playing it even straighter than Herzog and Cage did for Bad Lieutenant.
At the end of the day, The King’s Speech reminds me much of last year’s The Road. It’s beautiful, it’s incredibly well acted and well written and as a piece of art it stands above the rest.
Just don’t ask me to watch either of them ever again.
Filming the opening crawl for The Empire Strikes Back. And to think, you could achieve the same effect in ten seconds on a laptop today.
Industrial Light & Magic, March, 1980
Today during our staff meeting, Amanda, our administrative assistant, gave our weekly devotion. She pointed to Jesus’ declaration in Revelation that he is the God who was, who is and who is to come. She asked us to think about each of these in steps and had some of us share things God had done in the past, the present and what He will do in the future. For some reason, 10 years ago was the mark for the past, which got me thinking…
10 years ago, October 2000, I was preaching at a youth rally. Well, we called it a youth rally, but it seemed to be as many adults as kids. I got up and let rip a firey, impassioned message. I’m sure I’d be embarrassed if I heard it back today, but I felt great about it at the time. The response was fantastic both during my talk and after. When I’d finished, the leader of the group that was overseeing the event got up. Her name was Danita Hale, she was a thoughtful, charismatic leader. She pastored alongside her husband at a church in downtown Cleveland. It was in their building, I believe, that I participated in the most accurate human video depiction of Carmen’s “This Blood” that has ever taken place, but that’s another story.
Danita got up on stage and allowed for another round of applause after my talk. She had a prophetic voice. Not in the Nostradamus kind of way that people normally imagine, it’s like she saw through things. This was not the first time she or the other members of United Youth MInistries would speak into my life. After the applause died back down, she complimented the job I had just done and said, “And ladies and gentlemen, that young man is only 15 years old. Imagine what he’s going to be doing in 20 years!”
Her husband had been sitting in the front row. He was more reserved than Danita was. I don’t remember ever hearing him say much outside of the times I’d seen him on stage. He just had a way about him that commanded respect. He spoke up.
“20 years? Shoot, 10 years. When he’s 25.”
“When” is now. I’m the media pastor at National Community Church. I’ve helped people enjoy, appreciate, and learn from this church. I’ve helped dozens of churches do what they do better. I contributed a chapter to a book on church communications. I was asked to be a part of a film competition at the Story Conference.
It’s crazy to me the things that have happened in 10 years. There’s a part of me that wonders if I’ve done enough, though. Have I lived up to the vision that the Hales and Pastor Harry, and Kim and Connie Snyder, and so many other people were able to see? Is what I’m doing enough? Or is there something bigger that I should be reaching for? I don’t really have answers for these questions.
What I do know is that it’s amazing what God can do with 10 years.
