The Peace of Seeing God's Salvation

We live in a world of turmoil.  We live in a time where the world is more nuts than ever.  We are surrounded by people who would sacrifice their children to the flames of selfishness and power.  We live in a time where the love of many has grown cold.  We live in a time where people would rather fight and create disturbances than to be peacemakers.  The peacemakers are few and far between.  Isaiah the prophet foretold the birth of Christ in Isaiah 9.  The times in which Isaiah lived were times of chaos and mayhem and destruction.   

But Isaiah said but in this darkness a light will shine—and the light is the coming Messiah!  One of the Names that Isaiah gave to this coming Hero was The Prince of Peace. 

We are just like the people who lived 2600 years ago when Isaiah walked the earth—and we are just like the people who lived 2000 years ago when Christ was born—we live in a world that has no peace.

No Peace in the World…if you watch the news than you know that there is never peace on this planet.  Countries that are ruled by regimes who would rather kill thousands of their own people with chemical weapons than lose their power.  You don`t get peace by watching the news…

No Peace in the Workplace…                                                                                                    There is no peace in the workplace.  Even if you have a good job there is always some kind of tension in the workplace.  You may be a peacemaker but there is someone there who is a disturber.  They can’t leave you or anyone else alone…they have to create tension. They are so full of unrest that they are going to make darn well sure that you are feeling it too…There are Gossipers, Backstabbers and cheaters.  

No Peace at School…we adults think we have it hard at work in the world.  School can be brutal.  Kids are in turmoil at home as we have a second generation of unparented parents and kids.  They are searching desperately for meaning in life and their lostness comes out in all kinds of totally sick behaviour and violence and drug use and bullying.  

No Peace at Home…and even at home which is supposed to be a place where we can go to find peace and consolation at the end of a long day—a lot of homes are worse than work and school for unrest and a constant war.  Many people would rather be at work or school than at home.  The tension doesn’t go away and the lack of peace cannot be adequately medicated with what we have…  

Enter Simeon…Luke 2:21ff

Here is a guy who has great faith that God will send a Prince of Peace.  Here is a man who lives in a time when Roman soldiers rule all around you.  They come in and at a whim steal all your money for taxes and all the food they want and even your children if they see fit.  It is a time when Simeon lives in an occupied land.  There is no peace in that situation.  He sees it all around him…turmoil with no consolation…no comfort, no solace, no relief…

Simeon was a real man who lived in a real place.  He was a man who sought after God and truth.  He loved God, he loved country.  He wanted His people to be free from sin and oppression.  If this was happening in Canada you would want it badly.
Simeon had received from God the revelation that He would see the Hero with his own eyes before he died…

So when Mary and Joseph walked into that Temple that day…it was the day when the hopes and dreams of God`s people and specifically Simeon…were met in Jesus—there before His own eyes!!!

²² When the time came for the purification rites required by the Law of Moses, Joseph and Mary took Jesus to Jerusalem to present him to the Lord ²³ (as it is written in the Law of the Lord, “Every firstborn male is to be consecrated to the Lord”), ²⁴ and to offer a sacrifice in keeping with what is said in the Law of the Lord: “a pair of doves or two young pigeons.”
It is very important to dedicate children to God.  The act of dedication recognizes that God gave us our children and now we give them back to God.  It honors God.  The reason that we don’t make a sacrifice in our time the way that Joseph and Mary did, is that Jesus, when He grew up, died on the cross as the sacrifice for our sins and he covers us and our children…therefore in, Jesus’ Name, we dedicate our children.  Getting our children into church right away, setting the example for them and others that we as a family belong to God, serving in the church and serving the world, all set the tone for a child’s life.  Jesus had parents who cared about what God thought.  And in his case—taking him to the temple to consecrate him to the Lord was powerfully symbolic of the fact that here was the Son of God—being given back to His Father—for Joseph and Mary knew that He was no ordinary child.
²⁵ Now there was a man in Jerusalem called Simeon, who was righteous and devout. He was waiting for the consolation of Israel, and the Holy Spirit was on him. ²⁶ It had been revealed to him by the Holy Spirit that he would not die before he had seen the Lord’s Messiah. ²⁷ Moved by the Spirit, he went into the temple courts. When the parents brought in the child Jesus to do for him what the custom of the Law required, ²⁸ Simeon took him in his arms and praised God, saying:

²⁹ “Sovereign Lord, as you have promised,
    you may now dismiss your servant in peace.
³⁰ For my eyes have seen your salvation,
³¹     which you have prepared in the sight of all nations:
³² a light for revelation to the Gentiles,
    and the glory of your people Israel.”

³³ The child’s father and mother marveled at what was said about him. ³⁴ Then Simeon blessed them and said to Mary, his mother: “This child is destined to cause the falling and rising of many in Israel, and to be a sign that will be spoken against, ³⁵ so that the thoughts of many hearts will be revealed.

1.     Those who Seek Peace will find it…

2.     Peace is only found in Christ…

3.     He will reveal the hearts of all men…

1. Those who seek peace will find it.  Those who hunger and thirst after righteousness will be filled. Those who are peacemakers will be the children of God.  Those who mourn will find comfort.  I run into people who have not yet believed that Jesus is the one who is the answer to their turmoil.  But I believe they are honestly seeking.  And I know that if they keep seeking and are open to the truth that is revealed to them…even if it is a little bit at a time…I am sure…and I pray for them… that they will find it.  You have friends right now that are just waiting to hear that there is some peace and comfort in this world of chaos.  They need to meet this Prince of Peace.  They need some consolation.  They need some comfort and relief….

Jesus said, `Come to me all you are who tired out and burdened and I will give you rest.` This is why He came.  Many people will come to the Christmas Eve service this year.  Some will come and have a chance to meet this Prince of Peace ONLY if you the peacemakers, the children of God, the ones who want your friends to have make peace with God—will ask them to come with you.  Be bold…be a peace seeker like Simeon and a peacemaker between your friends and God and invite them.  They need Him.  They long for Him and they don`t even know it.  They just want sleep at night and freedom from anger and striving.  They need Jesus. 

To those who seek peace—Jesus says—You will seek me and find me when you seek me with all your heart.``  Jeremiah 29:13

2.     Peace is only found in Christ. 

You and all those you love need to realize this.  Peace is found in no one else.  In all the self help stuff that is out there it is up to you.  How can we receive strength from ourselves when in ourselves we are worried and restless?

How can we find peace in other religions that end up giving us an endless list of performance hoops to jump through and a set of regulations that rob us of simple pleasures like birthdays and Christmas and even Coffee?

Jesus said—come!  Come to me!  That was it.  Come as you are and I will give you rest.  With Him there is no exacting code!

ONLY JESUS WAS STRONG ENOUGH TO BRING PEACE

Simeon also knew that Jesus was the only One who would have the character and strength and power to defeat evil and bring peace.  A prince is one who conquers…and then there is peace. 

This Jesus would make a public spectacle of evil and bring peace.  Simeon knew that Jesus would be strong enough—the hero would win the war and bring peace.  Only Jesus Christ is strong enough to be the One who could secure peace.

There is no other option to find Peace than Him.

Johnny Cash tried absolutely everything to find peace.  He couldn`t outrun his past or deal with his future or even his own self-shattering success.  He made a mess of his life.  But in Christ He found peace. No matter what you do…Peace is only found in Him.  Even as a Christian it is possible for you to be missing peace as you live your life like a Christian atheist and you do not go to Jesus during the week to find the peace tha your soul needs.  I need it.  You need it—the tapping in to Him on a daily basis is the only way you will find peace.

Stop striving—take the pedal off the medal and remember the verse that says—in quietness you will find Peace when you still and remember that HE is God.

Jesus is God—God with skin on—He isn’t just a man like all other religious leaders.  HE is your peace.  He won’t bring you to some nebulous sentiment—when you are with Him you will find peace—HE is your peace.

David wrote these famous words—My soul finds rest in God alone.   

Many false Messiahs had come and gone—and Simeon had seen some of them…but He knew when he saw them that they were false power grabbers and hero wannabes. 

When Simeon saw Jesus with his own eyes—he had peace. 

Israel`s strength and consolation—

hope of the whole world thou art—

deep desire of every nation—

hope of every longing heart. 

He is it!  I challenge you to compare Jesus to all other options.  You will come up short as other option you explore will come up short.  You will find that He alone is the answer and the peace that this world needs.

Simeon said these words--²⁹ “Sovereign Lord, as you have promised,
    you may now dismiss your servant in peace.
³⁰ For my eyes have seen your salvation,
³¹     which you have prepared in the sight of all nations:

The whole world will see Christ as King—the whole world will know he is the Hope of the Earth and He is the Peace we seek.

Simeon said—I can die in peace!

Can you say that?  

There are a lot of people we know who cannot say that.  That is peace that no one can take from you—not even death.  I can die—I`m good.  There are people who literally think that Dec.21 2012 will be the end—and all they have is despair!  They could have peace like Simeon!   

3.      He will reveal the hearts of all men…

  

Simeon also spoke these MIGHTY WORDS OF TRUTH:

“This child is destined to cause the falling and rising of many in Israel, and to be a sign that will be spoken against, ³⁵ so that the thoughts of many hearts will be revealed. 

Jesus is the one who always reveals what is in the hearts of men!

Jesus is presented to men—there is no avoiding Him—and when men and women are presented with Christ there is a reaction that occurs—what is in the heart of the person is revealed as they react to Him.  If they react in pride that says ^^I do not need Him^^ or if they react in Religious Pride that says ^^Yeah I got this—I got all this nailed down—I am good.^^  Or if they see Him and fall on their knees and give into the ultimate truth and they grasp Him in need and receive the Prince of Peace and in joy they find Him to be the thing they have been looking for their whole life.

People either love Him or they hate Him.  They either embrace Him or they avoid Him!  They cannot escape Him either way….He is there…he is in this worlds face…he is historical fact—History is HIS STORY!  He is the only way to peace and forgiveness and eternal life!  He is the WAY, the TRUTH, the LIFE—salvation is found in no one else except—Simeon was smart and when He saw his salvation in front of Him it brought Him peace…I pray that you will be see the salvation of God and find peace today.  Today your reaction to Him will reveal your heart!

NUFF SAID.

Feckless gods

I have always liked the word feckless which means somethimg like 'useless and lacking anything worthwhile, with no strength.

In Jeremiah 2 God says:

27 who say to a tree, 'You are my father,' and to a stone, 'You gave me birth.' For they have turned their back to me, and not their face. But in the time of their trouble they say, 'Arise and save us!' 28 But where are your gods that you made for yourself? Let them arise, if they can save you, in your time of trouble; for as many as your cities are your gods, O Judah.

We always turn to God when the times get tough by the problem with that is He isn't our God. Everything else that is feckless is what we've been worshipping and that ls why everything fell apart. If we'd been worshipping God all along things would pros spy be different. (Jeremiah 2:27-28). He is there to turn to when we need help and that to his glory.. But maybe we should turn to him now!

God goes on to say "you say, 'I am innocent; surely his anger has turned from me.' Behold, I will bring you to judgment for saying, 'I have not sinned.' "

But Jesus said to the Pharisees and to us today "If you were blind, you would have no guilt; but now that you say, 'We see,' your guilt remains.". We claim we have this all sorted. We don't. We are blinded by our own lust and our feckless gods.

John wrote in 1 John 1:8-8 If we say we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us....

But the good news is this...

9 If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.
10 If we say we have not sinned, we make him a liar, and his word is not in us.

Lord, I am a sinful, selfish man. Always fixated on me..forgive me and free me and help me to serve the world and give up my rights as you did, Jesus.

"From it too you will come away with your hands on your head, for the LORD has rejected those in whom you trust, and you will not prosper by them. ".

We will quickly see the fecklessness of our next earthly hero and trend as they flame out and die off and go the way of the dodo. We will not prosper by them...for sure that is.

THE TALE OF THE KING’S SON                                     

‘Tis a tale of intrigue to you that I tell,

Of a kingdom of subjects that, in darkness, fell.

In cadence and rhythm I tell it to you,

In hopes that the truth will come into view.

It starts with a Father, a Spirit, a Son;

Who cannot be compared to anyone.

Their power so great, their heart so grand,

No philosopher or poet could understand.

This family of might from eternity’s glare,

Created a Kingdom that was just and fair.

Gave life to new guardians and a love that was true.

Gave riches and talent and a room with a view.

To each of the guardians they gave power and might,

But to one special one they gave Holy Light

“Light-Bearer” they called him, a prince over all,

An agent of freedom….who then chose to fall!    

He secretly gathered to himself others who,

Like him wanted more than the riches they knew.

He would invade the palace and throw out the King,

Take the throne for himself, wear the royal Ring.

So with his army of darkness he waged a great war

Against the palace guard to the castle door,

The prince threw open the door and then stepped inside

But the Truth was standing there in spite of His pride

For the King was there waiting, with His sword of light 

As the dark prince had entered from out of the night

“Your freedom you have squandered on a coup that has failed!”

“Your days here are numbered, My might has prevailed!”

With swords clashing and raging they fought for a while

The King good and strong, the prince evil and vile

In a moment the prince found his sword had been shattered

His skill had been beaten, his great wings were tattered.

The King with his power so mighty and grand

Threw the prince and his army off the good land

Into a desert with darkness as sky

With clouds of ambition, his malevolent pride

Eternity passed and the King’s mighty voice

He created a world new creatures of choice

A people alive with a freedom to be

His friends, sons and daughters in a new family

These people were rulers of the King’s new land

With character and skills and the title of “man”

With freedom and power and life without end

And best of all to be His Partners and Friends    

For a time this went on, not a problem in sight

Then a darkness crept into this new world of Light

The dark prince is who came and who entered the land

His plans to subvert this new world of “man”

To conquer with stealth and to steal away

All the goodness and freedom that existed in day

To seduce and to rob all the joy and the light

And to drench this new world in the power of Night!

So he came to the people with lies and a frown

He told them that the King had been keeping them down

That they could be much more than his friends and his clan

That they could be King with their wealth in that land

So they fell into darkness, deceived by his claims

And the dark prince, he duped them into his chains

The Good King and His Son were watching and wept  

The good land they created had been by evil wrecked

Without reason and heart the dark prince now ruled

His slaves he had made them, his evil their food.

The sun was blocked out by his evil and rank

The clear sky now all blotted, air polluted and rank

His set up his kingdom with ill purpose and blithe

Castles built on deception with pillars of lies

His slaves automatic to fear and despair

His grip steel in strength under his fiery glare.

A Land separated by evil, an Island of fear

With no bridge to the Kingdom they once held so dear

No way off the Island of evil so great

No bridge to the mainland of mercy and grace

Then something began he did not notice then

For a light now crept in to his kingdom of sin

A light small, yet not weak…like a candle of light

Across the borders of darkness it snuck into the night

He flew over the expanse of the evil’s divide

Set aside all his riches, set aside all his pride

‘Twas the Son of the King all wrapped in a robe

That was cloaking his glory and power untold

He would subvert the evil by truth and by grace

He would bring hope to each one of the dark prince’s slaves

Unhurried yet growing like the seed of a tree

His truth planted in hearts that now yearned to be free

Not the mighty and rich did He call to his side

But the sick and the poor and the slaves who had cried

For a freedom they lost, for a Word that was true

For a hope that would outlast the life that they knew

One by one he broke chains that were holding them down

Mind by mind came the freedom, came a smile to a frown

With a still, small, strong voice the truth now understood

They had faith in the Son of the King that was Good

Soon his army of once-slaves were free and well fed

To the borders of darkness with them He now sped

They arrived at the borders, The King’s son and His crew

Where ahead lied the land of the Good and the True

When appeared the dark prince with his sword and his fury

Recognizing the Son now in all of His glory

“You think you can free them from my invincible grip

You know none can cross this infinite rift!”

“Any who try it will die at my hand, for that is price of leaving this land!”

“Then take me!” roared the Son like a Lion of dread

I am willing to die for them…take me instead!”

The Son stood there, slaves watching, as he dropped down his hands

And the Dark Prince thrust his sword deep into The Man

There He fell on the borders of evil and ruin

The dark prince’s death blow piercing the light of the moon

He turned on the slaves that were so close to freedom

And barked orders for demons to come and to seize them

But just as demons began to swarm

The sky thundered and quaked as if starting a storm

The ground shook and light cracked through a rift in the sky

The crowd turned and looked at the place the Son died

He was there but not lying, a corpse in the sand,

But was standing alive, sword of light in his hand

He stood there mighty and alive from the dead

The dark prince stood there gaping and scratching his head

Then a bridge of light appeared on the borders of doom

It stretched to the mainland where the clouds did not loom

It crossed sea and crossed sky to enable the slaves

To cross safely over from the night to the day

The Son lunged at the Dark Prince, his sword of light flashed

The prince mortally wounded, his minions dashed

The prince fled back to his darkness, a long death to die

To bring down all those left in his kingdom of lies

Then the Son turned his gaze on the ones He set free

They bowed to the ground and they knelt at His feet

“I’ve shown you the way to the Kingdom of Light

I’ve filled all your hearts with unstoppable Life!

Now go and tell others the Truth that you know

The bridge-way to freedom to others now show

Go take them with you to the ones in the night

I will be there with You as you shine the light!

So they ran and they flew to the ones still in chains

And they went without fear for the One who they claim

Is creating among us a Kingdom of power

For the ones who believe Him in this very hour!

Tale of

The King

By Bob Evans

Dedicated to My father, Randy Evans

A Poet who uses his words and his heart

to touch peoples lives forever

Black and Roiled Waters

At Soccer Camp the other night my buddy Shawn drove his car around the back of the school as the kids were gathered for the Devotional time of Soccer Camp.  He parked his car and said, Hey I need some gas.  Immediately my friend Phil ran up to Shawn's car with a two litre bottle of Coke and proceeded to "fill up" Shawn's car with Coke.  The kids broke forth into uproarious laughter as Shawn, of course, rebuked Phil for being so silly as to fill his car with Coke and said, Hey I said I needed gas!  Phil stopped, shook his head, and ran over to a Gas Can that was sitting beside the school steps and put gas in Shawn's car. 

This was supposed to help the kids see that we just don't work without Jesus.  Cars aren't meant to run on Coke.   Humans only operate properly on God.  I love the way The Amplified Bible words Jeremiah's rebuke to Israel for filling up on Coke. 

¹³ For My people have committed two evils: they have forsaken Me, the Fountain of living waters, and they have hewn for themselves cisterns, broken cisterns which cannot hold water.

¹⁴ Why have we become captives and prey for evil? ¹⁷ Have you not brought this upon yourself by forsaking the Lord your God when He led you in the way?  ¹⁸ What have you to gain by allying yourself with Egypt and going her way, to drink the [black and roiled] waters of the Nile? Or what have you to gain in going the way of Assyria, to drink the waters of the Euphrates? 

¹⁹ Your own wickedness shall chasten and correct you, and your backslidings and desertion of faith shall reprove you. Know therefore and recognize that this is an evil and bitter thing: [first,] you have forsaken the Lord your God; [second,] you are indifferent to Me and the fear of Me is not in you, says the Lord of hosts.

I saw a reporter on TV the other day who asked the question, Why has our country become so broken that deranged madmen shoot up innocent victims in a movie theatre?  This is the answer.  We have forsaken the living water of Jesus Christ and have drank the black and roiled waters of sin for so long that our kidneys and brain are shutting down.  We are dying spiritually as a continent.  We need to return to the Fountain of Living Water so that we work properly and live life that Jesus said He came to bring us.  He is the Water our thirsty souls seek.

Nuff Said.

Movie Review: The Dark Knight Rises

So here's the thing; Chris Nolan is a genius.  His treatment of Batman in Batman Begins, The Dark Knight and now The Dark Knight Rises is brilliant.  He delivers twists and turns, knows how to throw in social commentary and how to take you to the edge of despair and then yank you out with a lifeline of hope and triumph.  Good stuff to say the least. 

Christian Bale did another swell job playing a tortured Bruce Wayne and tired Batman, Michael Caine was great, again, as Alfred and Anne Hathaway made a  brilliant Catwoman.  Tom Hardy as Bane portrayed a brilliant, brutal bad boss, although my Canadian ears had a hard time deciphering that modulated and accented Bane dialogue at times.

Hans Zimmer's score, which he and James Newton Howard pioneered as a new sound for movies in Batman Begins is driving, familiar and fresh in many ways.  Zimmer knows how to take one note and somehow build a symphony of tension and triumph in your skin cells as you watch the movie.    

The way that Nolan and his team weave together this complex story with so many characters, threads from the first two films, and the comics make this movie one crazy quilt of complexity that almost demand a second viewing.

This film is intensely good and should be saluted in many ways.  I hope that it does well despite the dark cloud of the Aurora shootings.  Nolan understands humanity and takes the Batman movies into a tremendous mythology that is all their own.  It is nice to see that Nolan has beat the curse of the "third-movie-sucks" (as in Spider-Man 3, Superman III and Batman Forever).

I give The Dark Knight Rises a 9 out of 10.  

'Nuff Said.

The Amazing Spider-Man

All of Sam Raimi's Spidey movies were number one in their years of release.  The first Spidey flick came out ten years ago (!)  How did that happen?  Well, here we are in 2012 and The Amazing Spider-Man has been released sans Tobey Macguire and the entire cast of the first three Spider-Man flicks.

I am amazed at how the special effects have evolved over the last ten years.  My daughters and I watched the original the night before we went to this new one and the special effects in the 2002 version look cartoony by comparison.  This Spidey looks more weighty and affected by gravity rather than the lilting big screen Spidey of days gone by.  I also like the way that this Spider-Man has a harder time finding surfaces to swing from, even in New York City.  Spidey even needs some help from good, old fashioned, gravity bound humans to save the day.  This movie felt like a cross between a Christopher Nolan Batman movie and a Spider-Man movie.  It has a darker and more melancholy feel.  The music was also a bit of a surprise as James Horner's usage of more of the orchestra and his recognizable style isn't heard a lot in movies as of late.  I recognized the music as his part way through the film.  Some of his music works and some doesn't seem to suit some of the scenes.

I liked the cast.  Garfield makes a great Peter Parker and gives life to the classic comic character's bookish, quiet, geeky scientific personality.  I love that he invented the web shooters like the comics instead of the organic webbing of the first three films.  The whole thing was that Parker was a genius who could invent web shooters.  Gwen Stacey, played by Emma Stone, is a strong and sweet lead female and the way that the writers developed the romance between Peter and Gwen was solid and not sappy.  I liked Sally Field as Aunt May and the way that she was strong, and smart.  Martin Sheen was good as Uncle Ben and I really didn't want him to die in this one-but it was necessary. Rhys Ifans made a good conflicted villain.  I am looking forward to seeing this series' incarnation of J.Jonah Jameson.  I think this is the best cameo of Stan Lee in any Marvel Super-Hero film. 

I like that the film didn't resolve everything and definitely had a first-chapter feel to it.  Spider-Man shows he is human and uses that transparency to save people.  He can be bruised and battered and gets a little more realistically beat up than the average super-hero.

If people that like the first three (or at least the first two) can manage to not compare The Amazing Spider-Man to them then I think that they will like this movie.  Sam Raimi caught the buoyant nature of Spidey and Peter Parker's problems but Marc Webb has brought Spidey into the Dark Knight era of Super Hero films.  I liked it. 

8.4 out of 10.

 

    

Movie Review: The Avengers

Why would the guy who wrote Toy Story be a good director for The Avengers?  Because Joss Whedon knows who to write an ensemble cast  into a story wrought with great characters and their development and turn the whole group into a dysfunctional human family that struggles with the same things we all do.  He also did a brilliant job of this in the series Firefly, which was a short-lived and amazing show.  Whedon's scripting and directing of The Avengers is wondrous in its near perfect blend of humor, drama and fast-paced super-hero action.  This is a guy who understands how a comic can come to life in a live action movie.  He had a vision and it was clearly a brilliant one that has earned the Avengers the top opening weekend of all time with $200 million smashing Harry's record from last year of $169 million. 

I am not sure where Joss Whedon stands spiritually but when Loki falls to Earth to take over, self-deluded into thinking he can be a god and rule mankind, it sure reminds me of someone else who thinks he is all that.  When the good Captain is warned by the Black Widow that these guys are not to be taken lightly because they are gods, Cap replies, "There's only one God, ma'am, and I'm pretty sure He doesn't dress like that."  When Loki uses the Black Widow's past against her and tells her her ledger is dripping with red, it reminded me of how the accuser will try to get at us by bringing up a past that is forgiven.  And when the villain tries to make the Hulk hesitate in his attack by the typical bad guy mental manipulation and Loki gets rag-dolled by the not-so-jolly green giant, Hulk sarcastically comments, "Puny god!"  

The characters are given a past ,and in the case of Captain America who saw many of his friends like his best bud Bucky die in the line of duty, Cap is able to help Iron Man deal with the death of a friend and move on in spite of overwhelming odds.  

The story is understandable, fast-paced and ILM's effects are amazing.  Mix this with Alan Sylvestri's musical score (he also brilliantly scored Captain America) and you get a recipe for Wow! The movie was so well done that I found myself smiling much of the time and wanting to get in line to see it again as soon as it was finished - something that doesn't happen too often these days.  

This movie is going to make a lot of cash and will ensure that the Marvel franchise of the Avengers and its individual heroes' movie careers continue for a good while.  DC Comics has been able to put out Batman, Superman and Green Lantern movies, some good and some not so super, and I wonder to myself if they shouldn't get old Whedon to be at the helm of their efforts to get a Justice League movie off the ground.  Joss Whedon just gets it.  I am looking forward to seeing Captain America 2 and Iron Man 3 next year.    

As ol' Stan Lee, who made one of his awesome cameos in Avengers, would say

'Nuff Said.

The Hunger Games

Having three teenage daughters the novel The Hunger Games inevitably found its way into my daughter's hands and hearts and minds.  I therefore decided to read it for myself on my week off during Spring Break.  I liked it.  The concept kind of reminded me of the old Ah-nold movie The Running Man which I saw when I was a kid. Although it was obviously much better.  The heroic Katniss and Peeta and their self-sacrificing ways, mixed with Collin's fast moving writing made for a solid and gripping tale.

Today we went and saw the movie and I can tell you that the movie is much tamer when it comes to violence than the book.  They had to tone it down for the big screen or it would have been as brutal as the last Rambo movie.  The movie version features Jennifer Lawrence who plays Katniss (who also playedf Raven / Mystique in X Men First Class) and she does a swell job portraying the female champion of District 12.  I am sure we will be seeing much more of her in other films as well as this movie will propel her to super stardom.  James Newton Howard's score is moving and paints the movie's background well.  It is apparent that the movie, like the book, does not condone the violence of man and our sick desire to see other's suffer for our entertainment and I like the courage of the heroes in the story.  It is good to see heroes who care for those weaker than themselves and are willing to go all the way for love if necessary.  The tale sets up Katniss to take on the President and his evil empire in the inevitable sequel.  They spent a thirfty $78 million on the pic and it has already raked in $155 million.  No small feat when you are up against Batman, Spidey and Harry Potter.

I am looking forward to seeing how Katniss handles the love triangle between her, Peeta and Gale and the President of Panem in Catching Fire.  Lionsgate entertainment has just made themselves a whole whack o moola.

'Nuff Said.