My Take on the “Book of Eli”
What has God called you to do that no one else can do? The Book of Eli was an amazing movie after watching it the first time (I saw it twice within 36 hrs). I tweeted it was one of the best movies I had seen in my 34 years of living. Now you wonder what would make me say something like that. Was it the special effects, the acting, the story line or even the directing? While all those things where great for me, it was the truth of Gods word that came pouring out of this movie.
Now if you have not seen the movie STOP reading now, there are SPOILERS in this next part.
For those of you who have seen it, let’s begin. It’s a pretty simple movie; a guy is carrying a book from the east coast to the west coast on foot after a future post-apocalyptic war. Yet this is no ordinary book, it’s the word of God, the Bible and not only is the man carrying the Bible across the country on foot, he’s blind. Blind can’t see jack and he’s doing this all on faith. Now if you’re a believer and that doesn’t motivate and convict you about the missions and plans God has for your life I don’t know what will.
In this movie, we get a glimpse into about a week of this 30 year journey Eli is on. We see him encounter things that would make most of us stop and rethink what we are doing. Let’s take the first action scene where Eli, even knowing it’s a trap stops and addresses the woman who claims to be in need (sound familiar? read Luke 10:29-37) Now this didn’t turn out the same way, and Eli had to get a little gangsta on them to say the least, but he kept on.
Let’s jump to the town seen where Eli first encounters the main bad guy, Carnegie. This is where temptation jumps in the picture. Carnegie (who at this point doesn’t know Eli has the Bible he’s been searching for) offers Eli what ever he wants if he will just work for him. He even locks him in a room and sends the daughter of the woman he supposedly loves to temp him more. As soon as he finds out Eli has a bible he goes running for him to get it. But, Eli is not in the room and everyone seems to wonder how he got out, I like to think of 1 Corinthians 10:13.
Carnegie wanting to use the Bilbe for his will and not Gods is straight out of the word of God in 2 Peter 2:1-3. Eli recognizes this and keeps on moving even while being shot at. If you remember when Carnegie said the book can help the people Eli didn’t listen to man, he listened to God and knew what God had for him to do.
Now at one point all looks hopeless; Carnegie has Eli and his traviling partner Solara who he picked up along the way. Now Eli is faced with the choice to give up the book or Solara being killed. Eli chose to give up the book but it’s later when Solara ask why that Eli says “I’ve been reading this book and protecting it for 30 years, I thought I would do what it says”. Wow what an impactful line. It takes you back to the scence where the couple gets killed by the motorcycle gang and Eli hides and says “stick to the path”. It’s like he knows now that God has him on a mission, but that while on that mission he needs to put others first.
Now it’s at the end when Eli says you’re going to need a lot of paper that everything comes together. You find out that he memorized the Bible; you’re not sure if it was on purpose or if somewhere along the way of reading the Bible night and day for 30 years he placed it his heart. I know that convicted and motivated me even more.
I know this was a long post but one I felt like I was supposed to share. I could go own for days but I want. That’s just my take on the Book of Eli. I would love to hear yours.
Popularity: 9% [?]
The Time I Drove a Car with no Brakes…….
Posted by Vince in Leadership, Rest, Time on January 26th, 2010
Have you ever driven a car with no brakes? I don’t mean brakes that aren’t working well, but one that has no brakes! Well I have and let me tell you it sucks. Let me tell you how it went down. About 9 years ago I had an 81 Grand Prix and it needed a brake job in every way – about 700 dollars worth of work. Yet I still needed to get to work which was on the other side of town like 14 miles.
I got to work that day just fine, yet, on my way home as I was going to slow down to get on the highway the brakes didn’t work! Not at all! Now, if you’re thinking I was freaking out you’d be right. I’m now on the highway doing 70 mph and have no brakes. I was thinking what do I do? How am I going to stop this car? We’ve all seen how this ends in the movies. I figured, I’m either going to run into something or drive off a cliff. Either way I wasn’t looking forward to it.
At this point I thinking I needed an exit that had a long ramp and drive off time. I remembered one that was a few miles up. I was so blessed that traffic never slowed down and kept flowing. When I reached the exit I ran in to a problem – there where cars in the way! Somehow I managed to avoid them and find the field that I knew was right of that exit. I drove through the field and swerved back and forth until the car slowed down enough that I could just throw it in park.
In my entire life I’ve never met anyone who has driven without any brakes. Nor have I met anyone who did it and managed not to hit anything and from what I see in the movies it’s not possible. I would like to think it was the fact I’m a NASCAR fan and have great driving skills that help me out but I know it was God who protected me.
See, sometimes as leaders we are so busy going and going that the brakes of our lives give out on us. We don’t take the time to service our brakes. I could have spent that $700 and had working brakes, but instead I chose to keep driving until I had no choice but to get them fixed. It’s the same in life, we NEED to take the time to rest in Him so that He can strengthen us and so we minister out of the overflow of our time with Him instead of just swerving in a field trying not to crash.
Popularity: 5% [?]
4 Things to Do with Every Task
Posted by Vince in Leadership on January 24th, 2010
I am reading a book by Charles F. Stanley. While reading I came across a section where he says “Each of us faces a four-fold challenge about any task we undertake”
It was very impactful to me so I thought I would share them with you.
- Productivity - doing as much as we can
- Quality - doing things as well as we can
- Time management - doing things as efficiently as we can
- Maximum impact – doing things as effectively as we can
That’s great insight to think about when we are taking on any task whether it’s at work or at home. So I challenge each of you as you start your week off to weigh what you do against these 4 things.
The name of the book is “How to Reach Your Full Potential for God”. It’s a great read and I will be doing a full review as soon I finish.
Popularity: 4% [?]
Looking Back to Look Forward…..
Posted by Vince in Uncategorized on January 21st, 2010
Looking back to move look forward; what does that even mean? Most of us go through the week and can’t wait for the weekend to get here so we can either forget what happened during the week, or maybe celebrate a major victory.
What if we took the time to examine the events that occurred this week? What things were successful, what things where failures? We can look back, learn from these things and use them to have more successful and productive time the next week.
Popularity: 4% [?]
Terrosist Groups Operating in Churches
Posted by Vince in Uncategorized on January 21st, 2010
I came across this the other day, it made laugh a little and think all at the same time. I enjoyed it so I thought I would share it with you
Terrorist Groups Operating in Churches
Latest news reports are that five terrorist cell groups have been operating in many of our churches. They have been identified as: Bin Sleepin, Bin Arguin, Bin Fightin, Bin Complainin, and Bin Missin. Their leader, Osama Bin Lucifer, trained these groups to destroy the Body of Christ. The plan is to come into the church disguised as Christians and to work within the church to discourage, disrupt, and destroy.
However, there have been reports of a sixth group. A tiny cell, known by the name Bin Prayin, is actually the only effective counter terrorism force in the church. Unlike other terrorist cells, the Bin Prayin team does not blend in with whomever and whatever comes along. Bin Prayin does whatever is needed to uplift and encourage the Body of Christ. We have noticed that the Bin Prayin cell group has different characteristics than the others. They have Bin Watchin, Bin Waitin, Bin Fastin, and Bin Longin for their Master, Jesus Christ to return.
To which cell group do you belong?
Popularity: 8% [?]
This will inspire you……
That’s Just the Way God Made Me……
Posted by Vince in Uncategorized on January 20th, 2010
Have you ever heard someone say, “Well, that’s just the way God made me.”? We’ve all heard this a time or two, especially in our Christian circles. It seems like “this is the way God made me” is the biggest excuse to act anyway you want. People seem to forget that you have a choice in how you react to what life throws at you. Just because you were brought up in bad circumstances, your Dad was a jerk, or life has thrown you a few curves, doesn’t give you a free pass to act any way you want to.
As believers we are called to display the fruits of the spirit which are love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, gentleness, goodness, faithfulness, and self-control. (Gal. 5:22). We are made NEW in Christ (2 Cor 5:17) so we need to throw off our old butt hole attitudes and replace them with the fruits of the spirit.
Popularity: 4% [?]
How do you start your day?
Posted by Vince in Leadership, Plan on January 19th, 2010
How do you start your day, maybe with 3 cups of coffee, maybe a trip to the gym? Every one of us has a morning routine that we live by; a game plan to help us kick our day off. Is our game plan helping us to have a more productive day or less productive day?
Most of the time we don’t have a problem planning out for something big like a vacation or getting a college degree or even a big project at work. Yet, when it comes to our daily lives we seem to just let things happen and hope for the best.
We may make a list of what needs to be done for that day, but do we have a vision for that day? Do we know how we want the day to look if we were to look back on it and say that was a good day? Now don’t get me wrong, I think lists are great but the average person never finishes their list. Some never even start because a list isn’t a plan it’s just a list.
Taking the time to plan out your day will get you a lot farther than a list of things that need to be accomplished. Try it out and see if at the end of the day you don’t get a little more done.
May he grant you your heart’s desire and fulfill all your plans! Psalm 20:4
Popularity: 4% [?]
I Have a Dream
Posted by Vince in Uncategorized on January 18th, 2010
Today is the day we remember Martin Luther King Jr. and all he did for civil rights. I thought a great way to remember him would be to play his “I have a Dream” speech.
Popularity: 4% [?]
How Much Time Do You Spend in Social Media?
Posted by Vince in Social Media on January 12th, 2010
How much time does social media take? How much time do you spend on Facebook, Twitter, blogging or any of the other social media outlets?
I write four blogs a week (Monday-Thursday), my average tweets in a day are 11 (I think it’s more like 20 if they didn’t count the first 3 months I was on twitter and didn’t tweet) and the same with my Facebook updates. Now to you this maybe a lot or this may be very little. See, when we ask ourselves how much time we spend on social media, we have to first ask ourselves what is our purpose behind it.
If you are the causal social media person then the amount of time you spend will depend you and how much interaction you choose to have with others. There are those that like to respond to just about everything they see on Facebook and Twitter. Then there are those who just occasionally pop in like a gopher. Find what fits and what works for you.
If you run a business or if you are a professional social media person then it’s not so much up to you. You have to think of it like a business because that’s what it is- an extension of your business. Now depending on what your business is will determine what is too much or what is too little. If you are a technically computer savvy designer, news, or professional social media person these tend to tweet more. It’s all most like what is expected of them. People follow them because they want the consent flow of info. If someone is in the information business and they aren’t putting out information then they are not going to be successful.
Now maybe your personal and business accounts are one. People that follow you follow for you for 1 of 2 reasons, to see what’s going on in your business or what’s going on in your personal life. Some may even follow your for both. This is something you have to keep in mind when you’re updating or tweeting. While friends and family love to hear what’s going on in your life and about what’s going on in your business, the people who follow you because of your business may not mind the personal stuff. It could help your business and make it more personal and increase you business. It’s something you have to gage.
See you can spend too little time or too much time on social media. What you have to figure out first is what is you purpose. Just because people are still your fans or follow you, doesn’t mean they pay attention to you anymore. So are you spending the right amount of time in the social media world? Is what you are saying relevant to your “followers” or “friends”?
Popularity: 5% [?]
-
Not About Me
