It’s time to get vulnerable.

I don’t cry in movies. In fact, the last time I cried while watching a movie occurred while watching Beauty and the Beast in theatres in 1991 (I was 5). It’s not that I am completely heartless, (I’ve cried in real life since then) I just don’t cry in movies. Probably because of a tear duct malfunction. Or I’m just insecure and won’t admit to crying. Whatever.

There are several movies, however, that have brought me to the verge of bursting into tears. My eyes even got watery! Each of these scenes are extremely well done. Everything (acting, music, script, etc) works together in such an incredible way.

This is an important aspect of art. When done well, it tugs at our emotions and calls us to action, to change the broken things of the world. For this reason, we believe it is essential that Christians have an influential role in art, because God can move in the hearts of an entire generation through your creative work.

5) Mufasa’s Death

Simba’s sense of loss is what really does me in. Even though it is a cartoon about lions, it reminds us that no kid should live without his father. The Lion King is perhaps the best animated film ever, and this scene is one of the reasons why:

4) Labour of Love

Sacrifice seems to be a recurring thing that always gets to me. When I initially watched Star Trek in 2009, the first five minutes were a complete blow to the stomach. There is such a complex mixture of raw emotion, action, sorrow, and hope. I watched a father die to protect his wife and newborn son, and couldn’t wait to see how his sacrifice would redeem countless lives throughout the film. It’s intense:

3) The Impossible Reuniting Scene

This is the most recent addition to my list. The Impossible showcases a family separated by the massive 2004 tsunami in Thailand. After 2 days of searching amongst thousands of people, they finally find each other. It was awesome. Since it is still in theaters, you’ll have to settle for the movie trailer (which might also make you cry)

2) You Bow to No One

Obviously Lord of the Rings would make this list. I’ve watched this scene dozens of times, and every time I think “this is it, I’m going to cry.” And yet somehow, I make it through. The humility of the Hobbits, who literally just saved the entire world, is inspiring. They didn’t set out to be heroes, they didn’t even want to be heroes. They just did what was right, and I hope I can live the same way.

1) Carl and Ellie

How Pixar was able to construct such a powerful love story in so short a time is beyond me. Confession: This scene is one of the reasons we moved to New Zealand. I’d classify this as art that inspired us. But my favorite part? When Carl finds the updated version of “The Adventure Book.” Great inspiration for marriages everywhere:

What’s missing from this list? What scenes (almost) make you cry?

The Harlem Shake is one of the biggest viral explosions in history. Just over two weeks ago, most people had no idea what that Harlem Shake was. But now, it is all over the internet, the news, and appearing in your work conversations.

The Harlem Shake. Image Source  – Wikimedia Commons

If you’ve never heard of the Harlem Shake, it is a viral video sensation. Each video contains 30 seconds of the song “Harlem Shake” by musical artist Baauer (who has seen his sales explode!).

Wikipedia explains the dance in this way:

“Usually, a video begins with one person (often helmeted or masked) dancing to the song alone for 15 seconds, surrounded by other people not paying attention or unaware of the dancing individual. When the bass drops, the video switches to the entire crowd doing a crazy convulsive dance for the next 15 seconds.”

To give you an idea of how popular this is right now, “On February 10, the upload rate of Harlem Shake videos reached 4,000 per day…as of February 15, about 40,000 Harlem Shake videos had been uploaded, totalling 175 million views.” (also from Wikipedia)

This fad won’t last forever of course. Some people are probably sick of it already. But, I think there are a few great life lessons we can learn from the craze that we should continue to apply long past the success of the Harlem Shake. As an added bonus, I’ve thrown in some of my favorites Harlem Shake videos.

1) Life is better when lived in community

The best part of every video is the second half. The first 15 seconds is great, but just because of the anticipation for the next 15 seconds.

What makes it so much better? Community. More people join in, making it crazier and more fun. Life is the same way. I’m an introvert. I need alone time, but I’d be lying to you if I said alone time is better than time with friends or family. It takes effort to get people together, but it is worth it!

2) Don’t Hold Back

During the second half, people go absolutely crazy. Now I’m not suggesting that you walk down the street like you do the Harlem Shake (although that would be hilarious to watch). I do think, however, that we often restrain ourselves because we’re afraid of what other people will think.

The great thing about following Jesus is that we have complete freedom. “You will know the truth, and the truth will set you free” (John 8:32 ESV). You don’t have to worry what other people will think, because you already have God’s approval and love. So be free, and party better than a rockstar.

3) Creativity Counts

With over 40,000 Harlem Shake videos, all of which follow the same 30 second format, you would think they would get boring. And many of them probably are. But the video makers who creatively make their 30 seconds unique and different are the ones that really made an impact.

You may not be incredibly creative, but you are unique. You don’t have to be exactly like everyone else. Sure, you are a human and you need to eat and sleep and follow certain standard rules, but the little creative touches and unique things about you will set you apart. Celebrate those things.

4) Don’t Take Yourself Too Seriously

I really look forward to the costumes in the second half. Why? Because they’re hilarious. And people aren’t taking themselves too seriously. In fact, they’re not taking themselves seriously at all.

Life tends to be more fun when you don’t worry about impressing people and looking important. We’re in a broken world, and you’re going to either make mistakes or experience them. Sometimes you should be angry, but more often than not I believe it is better to just laugh about them and move on. If wearing a costume helps you laugh more in life, than by all means go for it.

What is your favorite Harlem Shake video? And how long do you think it will last before people get sick of it?

Every once and I while I write a post here where I think I learn more than anyone who reads it. Today is one of those. Whether that is good or bad, I guess you’ll have to decide.

It’s been a few months since the last Batman film arrived in theaters. He’s not trending right now necessarily, but since The Dark Knight Rises recently landed on dvd I re-watched the entire trilogy over the last 4 weeks. As I watched, I realized that the primary theme of Christopher Nolan’s batman series is inspiration.

Batman Begins explains how Bruce wants to become a symbol that people can rally behind to fight evil and corruption in Gotham.

The Dark Knight shows how they believe Harvey Dent can inspire people in a way that Batman never could, and when Harvey falls they know the good he began to inspire will completely fall to pieces. And so Batman takes the fall for him, allowing Dent to remain a symbol of hope and inspire justice.

The Dark Knight Rises begins with a scene I used to think completely random, in which Commissioner Gordon says, “I knew Harvey Dent. He was my friend. And it will be a long time until someone inspires us the way he did.” But this was far from random, it is central to the primary theme of the trilogy. And in the final film, Batman “rises” to inspire the people of Gotham, once and for all.

Throughout the series, Batman knew that he alone could not end crime in Gotham. One man simply cannot solve all the problems in the world. But he believed he could inspire a generation, and when you inspire millions, all of them can work together to truly change things.

If you want to inspire people, however, you don’t have to be a billionaire. You don’t need an awesome theme song. You don’t have to own “The Bat” or “The Tumbler.” There are several keys to inspiration in these films, and any of us can adopt them. Continue Reading…

The Golden Globes happened a couple weeks ago and Oscars are just a few weeks away, but today marks the most important film award show of the year. That’s right, we’re rolling out the Red Carpet for the #LiveFully Academy Awards!

The Hollywood community is abuzz about the possibility of winning a hashtag trophy:

“I’ve won 3 Oscars, but never a #LiveFully award. This is so much more exciting!” – Meryl Streep*

“I’ve never heard of #LiveFully” -Anne Hathaway**

“The #LiveFully academy awards is the highlight of my year” – Steven Spielbergo***

Conditions:

In order to be considered for a #LiveFully Film Award, the movie must meet the following criteria:

1) Actually be a good movie

2) Have a positive message that can help people #LiveFully

3) Been watched by me (limiting our selection severely)

The Best Film overall will be determined by our readers. After checking out the nominees, cast your vote! We’ll announce the winner on facebook and do our best to contact the winner through snail mail.

PS: Some film titles have hyperlinks. These go to the #LiveFully review of the film. Continue Reading…

If you asked 100 Christians, “What is the Gospel?” I guarantee you would hear several very different explanations. “Being a Christian means you’re a good person,” or “I think the living the gospel is just about loving people,” or “It means you go to church whenever you can” or “You just need to follow the 10 Commandments and then you’ll go to Heaven” or “Umm…you know, it’s the Bible…right?”

The problem is, few of us know the Gospel because we simply do not hear it, read it, or study it enough. There are a million competing messages out there that distract and pull us away from the truth. We need to constantly remind ourselves of the Gospel, and recognize that we can never know the truth too well.

Here is a pretty great (and short) video explanation of the Gospel from John Piper: Continue Reading…

You’ve found yourself in a mini-series on Rebranding the church. If you missed it, then I recommend reading the introduction. Essentially, we believe that followers of Jesus should be most recognized for what they contribute to the world instead of what they are against in the world. Each week we tackle something the church must demonstrate they support.

Focussing on the Bible in church seems like common sense, yet it happens far too rarely today. But if we hope to have any consistency in our message (or “brand”), we must all be speaking from the same message. The Bible is the only thing that can provide that consistent message for the church.

More importantly, the Bible speaks an incredible message. It is one full of hope, grace, peace, forgiveness, and love for a broken world. While I cannot expect all churches everywhere to suddenly agree on everything in the Bible, I know wonderful things would happen if we all spent more time in the Word, both at church and at home. Continue Reading…

This past week our nation endured another horrific tragedy. I wish I was a better writer. I wish I was capable of writing something that could do justice to the situation. But as many have said, sometimes words just cannot get the job done.

Like many others, this event has shaken me considerably. The fact that this happened to children is unspeakable. I am not a father yet and cannot even begin to imagine losing a child. I do, however, have a wife that I adore. She happens to teach 6 and 7 year olds and loves them incredibly well. If this had this been her school…

Well, we’ve all had the same nightmarish thoughts this weekend.

Although these events always raise far more questions than answers, there is still hope. I’ve been reading The Reason for God by Tim Keller. It is quickly becoming a favorite of mine. I’ve actually wanted to share this quote with you for a few weeks now, and it seems this is the proper time: Continue Reading…

It is no secret that I love Lord of the Rings and the rest of Middle Earth. One of my earliest memories is reading The Hobbit with my dad before bed. I’ve seen the original trilogy dozens of times, and so I have eagerly awaited this new trilogy.

(c) Warner Brothers

That being said, I was fairly skeptical about The Hobbit. I’m not sure why, perhaps it was Star Wars Episode 1 syndrome, or perhaps I loved Lord of the Rings so much that I thought nothing could compare. Having seen the film a couple of days ago, however, I can honestly say my skepticism was ill placed. The Hobbit – An Unexpected Journey, is an incredible film.

Is the Hobbit better than Lord of the Rings?

This is the big question many will ask. While it is hard to answer after one viewing, I believe the answer is no. That being said, this film is definitely in the same league as the original trilogy.

I would probably give the original movies all 10/10, and the Hobbit is at least a 9/10. Continue Reading…

You’ve found yourself in a mini-series on Rebranding the church. If you missed it, then I recommend reading the introduction. Essentially, we believe that followers of Jesus should be most recognized for what they contribute to the world instead of what they are against in the world. Each week we tackle something the church must demonstrate they support.

What Would Jesus Say?

If you asked Jesus what he believed the church needed to do, in order that the world might know that he was the truth, what do you think he would say?

Is it just me, or are church signs the original twitter?

One of the most fascinating passages in the Bible is John 17. Jesus prays for the church before he dies on the cross and reveals his incredible compassion for us.

The words he prays should be well known in all of our hearts, and yet his prayer is one of the things the church struggles with most. In this prayer, he explains the unbelievably important key to how the world will know Jesus is from God and that God loves the world: the church’s love for each other. Continue Reading…

1) Favorite 5,000 Mile Walk:

2) Favorite Behind the Scenes Video: The Hobbit – Post-Production

Continue Reading…