Are we there yet?

I love to watch travel films. I am amazed by the beautiful scenery in so many places on this planet. But travel isn't always pleasant. On distant trips my children would often ask, “are we there yet?”. I would then explain that we still have a few miles to go. And after a while I would kiddingly say, “Here we are at last!”. In an excited but confused manner they would question “where?” And I would answer ... HERE.

We often long for our goals to be resolved. Waiting for our ship to come in. Waiting for the time when we live in a condo with no more mowing or shoveling snow. Maybe even waiting for the time when we move into a retirement community with less concern for cooking or cleaning. Waiting for Christ to return and finally bring peace to the world.

Our goals should not be just a destination, but a journey. We should enjoy the ride. See the world, taste the foods, smell the flowers, feel the love and celebrate God's blessings.

With our instant everything attitudes, we probably assume that the End-Time will be a dramatic arrival bringing abrubt improvements and a passport for all believers to a perfect world. But, we may discover that the End-Time has been a slow evolution where believers now enjoy this more perfect world because we have learned to follow and continue teaching others about Christ's lessons of life.

And we still have a few miles to go.


R.Lowry

Now ... and not yet

Rev. Alice Petersen

Scripture preparation: Isaiah 11: 1-10


In this fast paced world, where we desire instant gratification, we find ourselves measuring time, and discovering that we spend 4% of our lives ... WAITING.

This lively fast paced sermon presents numerous examples of the ways we spend our time WAITING with, perhaps the longest wait being, our anticipation of the final return of Christ ... referred to as the “End Time”.

In this period between Now ... and not yet we are encouraged to continue actively applying the lessons taught by Christ while patiently WAITING his return.

To listen to this sermon

a cassette is available in the Church Library

CAROLING ~ bringing Christmas Cheer for all!

Have you been waiting all year for Christmas?
Are carols your favorite type of music?

Then you want to be at church on December 13, 2009. We will meet at 3:00 pm (on time, so don't be late!) and carpool to visit and sing carols to some of our shut-ins. It is a great way to visit those who don't get out much and really appreciate an opportunity to celebrate the Lord's birthday during the Christmas season with others from their church home.

Around approximately 5:00 pm we will end our caroling and meet back at church in order to pick up our cars and gather for our Christmas party. Please see the poster in the narthex at church for more information and sign-up to help planning for the meal. Please bring a dish to share.

Can't stay the whole day? No problem, it's fine to join us for just caroling or just dinner. Either way, we'd love to spend time with you!

-Fellowship Committee

FILM CAPSULES ~ November 2009

I received this issue of Film Capsules by Dr. Ed McNulty as an EMail from the Presbytery of Cincinnati and thought it interesting to pass along as information for all who did not have an opportunity to see it. ~ R.Lowry


in this issue

A Christmas Carol
The Blind Side
Precious
Where the Wild Things Are
2012
The Hurt Locker
Amelia

 


A Christmas Carol

Rated PG. Galatians 6:7-10

Dickens's great classic story has been filmed at least 25 times (including the numerous made for TV adaptations). However if the question should arise about needing another version, the first few minutes of this 3-D version provides an affirmative answer: what an exciting ride over the rooftops of Victorian era London, and then the camera swooping down through the crowded streets, around, over, and under signs, archways, buildings and people.

The old ghost story of the redemption of a wealthy miser might make one think of the story of Zacchaeus in the Gospel of Luke. Thanks to a voice cast as talented as the animators, the film is as timely as ever. Director Robert Zemeckis wisely sticks to the novel's dialogue, and composer Alan Silvesti deftly makes us aware that this secular tale is really Christian at heart by using several Christmas carols, the most notable one being "Joy to the World." Despite an overlong episode involving a chase through London's night streets, no doubt inserted to please young lovers of action, watching the film is a superb way to begin the extensive Christmas season.


The Blind Side

Rated PG-13. Mark 3:31-35

Writer/Director John Lee Hancock's story, based on the life of All American Football player Michael Oher, might seem like the made-up story of a sentimental novelist were it not true, and--to prove it--the director provides an album-full of photos of the real characters to accompany the end-credits.

When Memphis belle Leigh Anne Touhy is riding home one night with her family, she sees Big Mike, as Collins, her teenaged daughter knows him, walking along the street. It is winter but he is dressed in shorts and a t-shirt-no coat. The African American boy has been attending the same Christian school on a scholarship, but has no place to call home. Without much hesitation Leigh Anne invites him to stay the night at their home, and thus begins an odyssey that will change all of their lives. This is one of the most heart-warming stories to be seen, again showing how family is far more than a matter of blood, or race. This must-see film again shows that so-called sports films transcend the sport itself.


Where the Wild Things Are

Rated PG. Isaiah 13:21-22a

My fears that Maurice Sendak's ultra-short story would be spoiled in the same way that the bloated adaptation. How the Grinch Stole Christmas spoiled the Dr. Seuss story has been laid to rest. Although this adaptation is a few minutes too long, sagging during the rather plotless island sequence, Spike Jonze is to be commended. The director is a friend of the author, who asked him to do the film (Sendak collaborated on the project, being listed as one of the producers). After the unruly Max defiantly disobeys his mother, he runs outside, through the woods, and launches off in his little sail boat for a series of adventures on an island "where the wild things are." In this land of his fertile, and fierce, imagination he becomes king of an assortment of beasts. However, despite all the wild howling and enjoyable events, such as the building of a palace, the pull of home, seen as a secure haven of love, is strong, eventually exerting a stronger pull on his heart and mind.



2012

Rated PG-13. Mark 13:1-2

This science fiction film is a good example of the catastrophic or end of the world genre, relying mainly on incredible CG effects. The talented cast-John Cusack, Danny Glover and more-is overshadowed by the effects, coming at us at regular intervals, thus making the film seem like a roller coaster ride. Due to firestorms on the sun, Earth's temperature has been heating up, eventually causing huge earthquakes and tsunami waves. Warned three years ahead of time by scientific studies, as well as by a Mayan calendar supposedly ending in 2012, the governments of the earth have secretly joined together to build six huge metal arks to save a portion of humanity-the rich and the important. Before civilization is destroyed will our heroes manage to get to the Himalayas, the site of the ark construction due to the projected mountain-high height of the tsunamis? You will remember far longer the destruction of Los Angeles, California, Las Vegas, New York, the White House, the Eiffel Tower, and the Sistine Chapel and St. Peters, than you will the fate of the band of stalwart Earthlings.



The Hurt Locker

Rated R. James 4:13-15a

Probably the best film to come out of the Iraq War, director Kathryn Bigelow's film follows the details of Bravo Company during its last 38 days of deployment. The film is probably the most intense and suspenseful film you will see this year in that the three protagonists' mission each day is to defuse bombs planted by insurgents during the early days of the invasion. Indeed, the film focuses upon one man Sergeant First Class William James, the expert who dons the padded suit and, while his comrades guard him with their weapon (sometimes the bomber is present looking on!), actually figures out which cables to cut. His fellow soldiers despair of his heedless neglect of safety rules and his tendency not to listen to his radioed instructions. We receive the key to his seemingly reckless behavior by the quotation of New York Times reporter Chris Hedges that opens the film, "War is a drug."



Amelia

Rated PG. Proverbs 31:10-14.

Hilary Swank both looks and acts like the great "aviatrix of the 1920s and 30s. Opening with her ill-fated attempt to become the first female to fly around the world, the film flashes back to her meeting the man who will become her sponsor, mentor, and eventually husband, George Putnam, and then moves on to other events, such as her two crossings of the Atlantic Ocean. Very much the "New Woman" that emerged during the Roaring Twenties, Emily's marriage is as unconventional as her career. This is an engaging film that reminds us how women have had to struggle against the prevailing paternalism in order to win their own place in the sun. Amelia is a long way from the ideal woman that the writer of Proverbs described-which perhaps has both its positive and negative aspects.


Film Capsules is the Rev. Dr. Ed McNulty's synopses of current films plus suggested scripture readings with similar themes. Ed, an honorably retired member of the Presbytery of Cincinnati shares his work at the request of those who attended the Ministers Retreat held in October 2008. Fuller descriptions and discussion questions are available by subscription at www.visualparables.net.

“Thy Kingdom Come”

Rev. Edward McNulty
November 22, 2009

Preparation Scriptures: Amos 8: 4-10 and Mark 13: 1-8

Ed is a great storyteller. We sometimes get so caught up in his colorful descriptions of the moment that we fail to understand the theme or purpose. And that is the theme of this sermon.

We are given several examples of man's facinated interest in the moment... the admiration of a great and beautiful structure; a feeling of contentment with the pleasures of accomplishments; a predisposition for somehow knowing what the future will become; and the desire to control the outcome by intellect or technology.

But we are taught or reminded that Jesus was never impressed with the moment, but rather focused on the conditions effecting the current status with a constant purpose of preparing us for the final Kingdom to Come.

To listen to this sermon

a cassette is available in the Church Library

GOD'S CHOICE

Rev. Kevin Murphy
December 15, 2009

Preparation Scripture: 1 Samuel 16: 1-13 and Ephesians 5: 8-20

Kevin puts an interesting twist on this sermon, given to an attentive audience prior to their making an important decision regarding his nomination as the new minister of Northwest Community Church. We do not choose God. As we participate and play an active role in our Church Community, we do so by God's choice. We have been called, and are continuously discovering the blessings of God working through our lives.

And so it is for Kevin, as well. In the final analysis we are not choosing Kevin as our minister. Kevin has accepted a call to be a servant of God and now feels strongly that he can make a real difference by leading and serving at Northwest Community Church, Salem White Oak Presbyterian. As we enthusiastically accept this choice, we are allowing God to work thru Kevin as he becomes a vital participant in our future.

We all allow God to work through our Church each time we accept his call to participate. Together we will continue to make a positive difference in our lives and the lives we touch. Together we are discovering the future unfolding as we dance in the light of his presence!

To listen to this sermon

a cassette is available in the Church Library

FILM CAPSULES ~ October 2009

I received this issue of Film Capsules by Dr. Ed McNulty as an EMail from the Presbytery of Cincinnati and thought it interesting to pass along as information for all who did not have an opportunity to see it. ~ R.Lowry

in this issue
Pirate Radio
T. Invention of Lying
The Informant
Bright Star
More Than a Game
Where the Wild Things Are
Workshop

 

Pirate Radio

Rated R

Hard to believe that the homeland of the Beatles and The Rolling Stones once banned rock music from the airwaves. But until the latter part of the Sixties that was the case, except for a 45 minute segment on the BBC. Thus enterprising entrepreneurs stepped into the breech by operating illegal radio stations from ships that stood just outside Great Britain's territorial waters.

The Ship That Rocked

(the film was renamed for US distribution) tells in a farcical style the story of eight rebellious music loving DJs who broke the law and agreed to live aboard the ship. Their story is told through the eyes of a young man whose mother, worried because he has been expelled from school for smoking weed, has been sent to her friend who owns the "pirate radio" ship. The British government does everything it can to shut the operation down. An audience of 25 million rock devotees hope and pray that they will not succeed.

The film is fun to watch but, from a Christian standpoint seriously flawed, with scenes of its lecherous crew engaging in sex with the "birds" who are brought out on a periodic basis, and especially by making the young hero's loss of virginity something to be celebrated and shared via radio with millions of approving listeners. Be forewarned also that there is a scene, admittedly funny, in which a DJ (wonderfully played by Philip Seymour Hoffman) manages to get around the ship owner's order not to use the "F" word over the air.



T. Invention of Lying
Rated PG-13

Imagine a world in which everyone tells the truth--sort of a world in which humankind has not suffered a total fall from grace. Several amusing scenes show this, such as when people really tell each other what they think of the other. Our hero's first date with the heroine is unpromising in that she tells him that he is too short and fat for her to love because his genes would provide a less than satisfactory sperm source for children. Then by chance he tells what he considers a lie and is believed. He is with his dying mother (the name of the nursing home, which in our would might be called "Happy Haven," is "A Sad Place Where Homeless Old People Come to Die"). To comfort her he tells her that there is an afterlife where they will one day be reunited. People clamor to hear more about this, and our hero reluctantly complies by declaring that there is a Man Up There, thus launching something akin to a religious movement.

The film's premise that religion is possible only by lying about reality might make you bristle, but the film is genuinely funny and offers a great opportunity for church groups to explore truth and its consequences, the nature of faith, and the age old attempt to explain the goodness of God and the existence of evil.



The Informant
Rated R

Although played for its comedic elements, this film is based on a real life whistle blower at Archer Daniels Midland, among the top fifty of US corporations. He aspires to become the CEO of his company by informing on his superiors' long time practice of price fixing with international firms. He agrees to become an FBI informant, wearing a wire to record business meetings.

At first Stephen Soderbergh's film seems like another version of The Insider, a film based on an executive's revelation of the tobacco industry's deceptions, but the latter half of The Informant is far more complicated. As the months and years pass by, the FBI try to make sense of the conflicting stories that their spy tells them, and eventually discover that he has had an agenda that he has kept hidden from them. Brad Pitt is delightful as Mark Whitacre, the executive who eventually, due to his nefarious machinations, served a longer prison sentence than any of the crooked executives whom he brought down.

The psalmists, decrying "the wicked" who become ensnared in their own traps, would have enjoyed this film, though, as we see at the end, there is more than just a moral lapse to the story.



Bright Star
Rated PG

Poet John Keats could be the poster boy representing the popular cliché of the starving, short-lived artist (he died at the age of 25). Jane Campion brings the story of star struck lovers beautifully to life in a film that deserves to reach an audience beyond the art house circuit. Keats lives with his friend and fellow poet Mr. Brown, the latter becoming jealous when Keats and the daughter of their landlord Fanny Brawne fall in love. However, as Fanny's rather liberal-minded mother observes, the poet has "no living and no income," thus making marriage impossible. Although the poet's first volume has been published, few have bought it, even though its first poem begins with the immortal line "A thing of beauty is a joy forever. " Both adhering to the strict moral code of the early 19th century, they are unable to consumate their love, making one believe that the lines from his "Ode to a Grecian Urn" grew out of their bittersweet experience:

Bold Lover, never, never canst thou kiss,


Though winning near the goal -- yet, do not grieve;


She cannot fade, though thou hast not thy bliss,


For ever wilt thou love, and she be fair!


More Than a Game
Rated PG

Kristopher Belma's well-edited documentary follows the incredible 9-year journey of five Ohio basketball players known as "The Fab Five," among whom is the future NBA superstar LeBron James. Coached in Akron, Ohio by the father of one of four boys who have played basketball together from the sixth grade, they are joined in high school by transplanted Chicagoan James LeBron, the five playing so well together that they lead their team to a national championship. The director has assembled interviews, newsreel footage, home videos and photographs into a seamless film that should appeal not just to basketball fans but to anyone interested in the small and improbable winning out over great odds.


Where the Wild Things Are

I have yet to catch Where the Wild Things Are, but friends (and reviewers) have reassured me that filmmaker Spike Jonze has not spoiled the ultra-short Maurice Sendak original story, unlike those who spoiled How the Grinch Stole Christmas with their bloated adaptation.


Workshop: Finding God at the Movies

Ed McNulty will be leading a workshop exploring religious values in film at a national conference called "Navigate" at the Florence United Methodist Church next month (Nov. 10-12).

Part of the emerging church movement, a number of national speakers will explore "Outfitting the Church to navigate the waters of changing culture." For further information on this go to www.outfittingtonavigate.com

McNulty's workshop is "Navigating Between Theater and Scripture: Finding God at the Movies." The goal is to show that a significant number of films now playing at the local theater or awaiting take-out at your DVD store are more than just entertainment. Participants will find help in discovering biblical/theological themes in feature films, so that the theater and video store will become resources for teaching and preaching the gospel.



Film Capsules is the Rev. Dr. Ed McNulty's synopses of current films plus suggested scripture readings with similar themes. Ed, an honorably retired member of the Presbytery of Cincinnati shares his work at the request of those who attended the Ministers Retreat held in October 2008. Fuller descriptions and discussion questions are available by subscription at www.visualparables.net.

FOOLS

Guest: David Matre
November 8, 2009

Preparation Scripture: Psalm 145: 1-9 and 1st Corinthians 3: 18-23


The Bible speaks of four categories of Intellect. The WISE, the SIMPLE, the FOOLS, and the MOCKERS. We are all positioned in our hearts into one of these categories. As Christians, are we living witnesses to our faith? Are we prepared to respond when we are challenged by a growing number of well informed non-believers?

David's sermon helps us to understand that although the Truth of God's word is not something we can expect to successfully debate, we can glorify his name by telling what he is and what he has done. And our lives should serve as an example that God is in us, and that we live for him. Listen carefully to the detail and wisdom of this thoughtful message... David is no fool.

To listen to this sermon

a cassette is available in the Church Library

THE GOOD FOUNDATION

Rev. Rhonda O'Reilly
November 1, 2009

Preparation Scriptures: 1 Timothy 6: 17-19 and Jeremiah 32: 1-3a, 6-15

The secret to a successful Life or a successful Church is to develop and maintain a good foundation.

This sermon describes the reaction of an imprisoned Jeremiah, who has been requested to help a family member by purchasing a piece of unproductive land. In his agreement to do so, the family member is given the opportunity to again provide for his family, while Jeremiah's action gives renewed confidence to the future of his conquered nation of Israel which at that time was under the rule of Babylonia.

The lesson given is: Mammon (riches or material wealth) is that in which you put your trust.

For Jeremiah, Mammon (the love of God) was that in which he put his trust. He understood that Israel's future as a nation depended on their renewed belief and confidence in God's word. His “Good Foundation” was enjoying the contentment of serving God, rather than attempting to provide an abundance of security in worldly possessions.

We all have our special talents. These talents are gifts from God which he calls upon to help in his work. Some have special talents at making money. That's OK! God calls upon all of us to help there as well.

To listen to this sermon

a cassette is available in the Church Library