Facing the Giants

*Warning: Spoilers Inside*

My wife and I just finished watching Facing the Giants. In case you are not aware, it is a movie made by Christians (a church I think) with Christian themes and a Christian message. This church (as I have heard) shot this movie, got it in theaters, and it is now out on DVD. It has taken off among Christians (at least in my circles), mainly because it is a movie put out by Christians (it is similar to that whole Christian business network philosophy).

There is stuff I like and stuff I didn't like about the movie, but I will start by giving you a quick synopsis. It is the story of the football coach at a small Christian school who is down on his luck. In 6 seasons as head coach, he has never had a winning season, and there are rumors that he needs to be fired. In addition, he and his wife have tried for 4 years and cannot get pregnant. He comes to a breaking point about a third of the way through and he turns to God. From there, things turn around. He takes a new approach to coaching the team and they start winning, making it all the way to the state championship and winning in amazing fashion. At the end, he finds out that his wife is pregnant. While all of this is going on, there is a revival of sorts that happens at the school.

Time to evaluate. I will start with the bad. I must say I was going into this ready to blow holes in it. Here is what I came up with.

1. The Acting is 2nd rate.

This is understandable since it was such a low budget movie, but we are used to such great art that the bad sticks out in a major way. The accents are annoying. Many of the lines are cheesy. At certain serious times I feel like the actors blow the scene. It is not the entire movie, but it happens enough. Recasting some of the major roles with established actors could have made this movie a lot better.


2. It included a lot of what I call "Pop Christianity."

There are several times in the movie where the writers seem to lose creativity when they want to make a point, so they resort to a type of sermonizing. There are some pretty cheesy sermon illustrations worked into what are supposed to be everyday conversations. I felt myself thinking "Nobody talks like that!" They also could have toned down the Christian jargon talk. It seems at a point about two thirds of the way through where they seem to be forcing a Christian reference into every scene.

3. It has a bit of the "Follow God and get everything you want" message.

It is not a lot, because you do see the characters experience failure, and when they do they stay content in what God has done. However, things go from an extreme low at the beginning to as good as they could possibly be at the end. I understand that there is certainly a place for good endings and inspirational stories, but it is possible that a person watching could have gotten the message that if you turn to God your life will be great.

Okay, I'm done ripping on it. I really did like the movie, and would like to see it again. So, I will now mention the things I liked about the movie.

1. There are some great themes that run throughout the movie.

The themes that I jotted down were God as Lord, Turning to God in hard times, Praise God in all circumstances, Giving God all the glory, Nothing is impossible with God, Facing fears, and Leadership. I know that seems like a lot of themes, but each of these are mentioned several times. You would be hard pressed to find many of these themes in a Hollywood movie, and that is one thing that makes Facing the Giants good.

2. They portray God's way as the best way.

I believe that following God's ways are best. Not only because it fulfills your destiny and all that, but also because they actually are better ways. It is better to forgive than to hold a grudge. It is better to be honest than to lie etc. This message is communicated in the movie. At one point there is a student who constantly fights with his dad. He ends up accepting Christ and feels convicted of the lack of respect he was showing his father, so he apologized to him and started respecting him. The change carries over to the father and things improve. It was pretty well done in my opinion.

3. There are some great quotes in the movie.

The coach gives some pretty good speeches in the flick. In these speeches are some great quotes. Here are a few:

"Winning football games is too small a thing to live for, and I love football as much as anybody."

"The more I read this book (the Bible) the more I realize that life's not about us. We're not here to get glory, make money, and die."

"I've resolved to give God everything I've got and leave the results up to him."

4. When the coach hits bottom, he is a great example of what to do.

I was honestly expecting him to sulk and pout until things started to look up. Instead, he stays up all night praying and reading the Bible, until he emerges the next day having done some serious business with God and having a new outlook. What a great example of how to respond to hard times. How many of us are willing to do such a thing?

5. They refer to God speaking to people.

Even among Christians, the idea of God speaking directly to one of his people is a bit controversial. Most Christians believe that God spoke through the Bible and is done speaking. I belong to the stream of Christianity that believes that God still speaks to believers today, and I think it is crucial that he does. There is a time in the movie where an older guys who prayer walks the school every day walks into the coaches office and says he feels God told him to share a certain scripture with him. The coach follows him and makes a point to confirm, "God told you to tell me that?" It turned out to be a confirmation to what God was telling the coach. It is good to see this controversial idea in the movie, because I believe that it is very important to the body of Christ today.

In the end, the artistic parts of the movie were a bit rough, but it was a good movie. I encourage you all to see it. I give it a B, or 4 stars, whichever you prefer. I welcome other comments on this flick. I had heard mixed reviews before, so I'd be interested to hear what the rest of you thought.

Redick:A Man of Courage

This article does a good job of showing why J.J. Redick is my favorite player in college basketball, and probably my favorite Dukie of all time. It is a very long article, but probably worth a read for the true Duke fan, and worth a skim for others. The first third is a good snapshot of the kind of guy Redick is. Here are a few quotes from different places in the article:

The script lettering on his stomach reads, "Isaiah 40:31," referring to this Bible verse: But they that wait upon the Lord shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings as eagles they shall run, and not be weary; and they shall walk, and not faint.

The other tattoo, on his chest, came first. It's the Japanese word for courage, and beneath it is reference to another Bible verse, Joshua 1:9. That one reads: Be strong and of good courage; do not be afraid, nor be dismayed, for the Lord your God is with you wherever you go.

That's the tat he got with grandma. And if there is one thing you can say about J.J. Redick, it's this: He's got basketball courage.

"God's got to be his comforter," J.J.'s dad, Ken, said. "There's got to be times in that spotlight, with that much pressure -- and internal pressure from the Duke system of how you have to perform every day -- when he couldn't survive without faith, without being imbued with that spirit.

J.J. Redick has been reading "The Purpose Driven Life" this winter. In basketball terms, he's been living The Purpose Driven Season.

I hope that J.J can finish his college career strong and win a National Championship, then find success in the NBA. We certainly need more role models like him in sports today for children to look up to.

Do Athletes Really Mean It?

I was watching the Heisman Trophy Ceremony last weekend when Reggie Bush from USC was accepting his trophy, he won by a landslide, I might add. I was encouraged that he thanked God first of all. He thanked his parents second, and included in this was that he was thankful that his parents were Godly people. I got to thinking that God has become remarkably trendy recently. God is the popular one to thank these days for whatever reason. Many athletes are very open about their relationships with God. However, some of these same athletes are the last one we would expect to be Christians. I cannot comment on Reggie Bush or his reputation. Terrell Owens has made comments about God. His actions are certainly far from Christian. Non-athletes who are in showbusiness are guilty of this as well. Kanye West claims to be a Christians and even raps about Jesus in his music. Yet his moral and social actions certainly do not reflect Christ, including actions like premarital sex and profanity. There are scores of others. And there are certainly many celebrities who do live the life of a Christian. But is it good for so many to be ackowledging God when their lives do not add up to the example we should be living? No one is perfect, but the life God calls us to is a radical one. How are we as Christians to respond to this trend?

Cardinals Miss Out on Burnett

Former Marlins Fireballer A.J. Burnett signed a 5 year, $55 million contract today with the Blue Jays, passing on his favorite team from his youth, the St. Louis Cardinals. The Cards hoped to land Burnett and add him to the Carpenter-Mulder duo and making it one of if not the best first 3 in baseball. As of now, the Cardinals rotation appears to be Carpenter, Mulder, Suppan, Marquis, and rookie Anthony Reyes. However, the Cardinals were hoping to trade Jason Marquis for help in the outfield, which now looks like it will not be possible. The only option, assuming they do not pick up another starter via free agency or trade, would be to bring up rookie Adam Wainwright as well, but this is unlikely as the Cards would not want to start two rookies in the rotation. The small chance remains that Matt Morris will decide to stay in St. Louis, however this seems unlikely as well as it is unclear if the two parties are even discussing options. In the following weeks the Cardinals lineup and rotation could still see some changes. As of now, though, this fan remains optimistic, for Walt Jocketty has always been known for smart deals that help the club.