Holly

I watched a DVD (not Blu-Ray, haven’t advanced that far yet!), the other night on the recommendation of a staff member with International Justice Mission (IJM).  It was one of the hardest movies to watch that I’ve ever experienced.  Here is the description from the DVD case…

”Holly”, shot on location in Cambodia, including many scenes in actual brothels in the notorious red light district of Phnom Penh, HOLLY is a captivating, touching and emotional experience. 

Patrick (Ron Livingston), an American card shark and dealer of stolen artifacts, has been “comfortably numb” in Cambodia for years, when he encounters Holly (Thuy Nguyen), a 12-year-old Vietnamese girl, in the K11 red light village.  The girl has been sold by her impoverished family and smuggled across the border to work as a prostitute.

Holly’s virginity makes her a lucrative prize, and when she is sold to a child trafficker, Patrick embarks on a frantic search through both the beautiful and sordid faces of the country, in an attempt to bring her to safety.

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Oh, There Are 10,000 Charms…

Over the last few months, several of our worship leaders have led a hymn called ‘Come Ye Sinners’  (I Will Arise and Go To Jesus). Each time it has been sung, a few individuals are bothered by the line, “And in the arms of my great Saviour, oh there are 10,000 charms”. The most common question that arises is something along the lines that charms have to do with witchcraft, so why are we singing about it in church? In fact, I’ve encountered the same concern on internet worship forums. Here are a few thoughts to help you overcome any hesitations about singing these words as an expression of your worship to Jesus!

First of all, I wanted to assure people that we as worship leaders take great pains to assess the lyrical content of what we sing in church services. These are acts of worship, proclamatory truths, and creeds. They are also songs of expressing our hearts and thoughts toward God, and about Him. 

Second, looking directly at the phrase in question, poetic language such as is written in lyrics, often takes the approach of painting pictures with words. Taking one single word out of its context, much like interpreting Scripture, does not give full meaning to the reader. 

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All Flesh is Like Grass…

I was sitting in my office yesterday afternoon when I heard one of my co-workers loudly announce that Michael Jackson had died. I didn’t really believe her, so I looked online to find that he had not actually died, but was in a coma at UCLA Medical Center in Los Angeles. CNN had a helicopter hovering over the hospital (presumably in case Michael Jackson awoke from his coma and came moonwalking out the front door) and they had another helicopter over his house. A crowd had gathered outside the gates of his rented home and was collectively distraught at the thought of Michael Jackson’s potential demise. Wolf Blitzer broke into that scene with the announcement that several news organizations were now reporting that the pop icon was dead. It was a truly sad moment.

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A Victim Mentality

The following article was sent to me from one of the Christian counselors who attends our church. It has to do with the kind of mentality that he sees in many people in his line of work. Have a read…

Does someone you know have a victim mentality?

by Duncan Nalos

From time to time most of us can fall into feeling sorry for ourselves, blaming others for our problems, and leaning a little to heavily on those around us who love and care for us. Some good friend may come along hold out his lower lip, and with a sad expression say “pooooooor baby” and try to use humor to snap us out of our pity party. Hopefully we don’t stay in the “poor me” victim role for to long. On the other hand there are people who set up camp there, and live with a victim mentality. Some of these folks have had some very difficult experiences in life, and for some reason or another, have got themselves stuck in a “victim mentality” in which they blame others for their problems and feel powerless. They focus on every thing in their life that has gone sideways, and tend to drain the people around them. One pastor anonymously said “the devil sends some people along to wear out the saints”.

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Where Are All the Artists?

Like many people around the world, I was watching the Academy Awards show on Sunday night. It was quite a production. I was glad to see Slumdog Millionaire win it all even though I have yet to see the film. From what I have heard and read, it sounds to me like it is one of the more redemptive movies of the year.

One of the more intriguing moments of the evening came during Sean Penn’s speech after winning the Best Actor Award for his performance in the film, Milk. Milk is about homosexual activist Harvey Milk and his rise to political office in San Francisco in the 1970s. During Penn’s speech, he commented about how unjust the recently passed Proposition 8 (banning gay marriage) in California was and how ashamed the people who supported and voted for that proposition ought to be. They will be ridiculed by their children and grandchildren, according to Penn.

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