Austins in Thailand

Check out two new listings in the blogroll on the right. One is a site called “Real Fusion”. Real Fusion is artistic and thought provoking. It’s good for Christians to think and Real Fusion helps us do just that. The second new blog is the Carter Center. I just completed reading Jimmy Carter’s latest book and was deeply stirred. The Carter Center is doing fantastic work.

I recently watched this movie with my two sons. It was delightful to laugh, be intellectually engaged and spiritually enriched without having to cringe at the bad words and sexual content. Can Hollywood make good family films? Yes, and Evan Almighty is one of them. . .

Eternity is drawing everyone. What is life all about? What is an authentic life? These are the themes of the beautiful movie, “The Fountain”. While God is not a character and the major religions are absent, the spiritual quest is there. We are captivated by the questions the movie asks.

The acting is superb. The music enchanting. The cinematography is beautiful. The story is romantic, exciting and moving. I give it a solid A.

Prophecy is “God’s word spoken into a particular situation with power and creativity which awakens people and propels them to act.” Watching Babel was a prophetic experience for me.

The movie weaves four distinct, seemingly random places and people together into a tapestry which does what good art is suppose to do - it awakens, stirs the emotions, teaches in a new way and leaves the “entertained” with some serious questions which if answered will propel us into action. Prophetic. There is heartache. But there is also hope.

It’s a movie for thinking adults. It’s not entertainment in the mindless sense. I don’t think my children are ready for it, but someday I would willingly engage them with mutual dialog. Some scenes are emotionally disturbing, but there is nothing gross or erotic or used for the sake of titillating any part of us.

The biggest prophetic word that came to me as I sat stunned at the end was that every culture and every people are completely lost. We are broken, shamed and in desperate need of salvation. But there is also hope in the movie. Hope that some of us can find reconciliation.

Other movies that have affected me similarly are movies like Syriana, Traffic, and The Black Robe.

I recommend it!

I recently finished reading the book, “How the Irish Saved Civilization” by Thomas Cahill. It is a wonderfully written book. One particular poem caught my eye for it’s simplicity and beauty as well as the truth it lays out. It’s written by Joseph Plunkett.