Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer, 1964

Rudolph is a normal reindeer, except that he has a birth defect: his nose. His nose shines so brightly, everyone turns their head.

Since he feels like a misfit, he joins other misfits and tries to make a new life for himself away from those who have called him names. Instead of seeing his nose as a gift, he sees it as a curse.

What makes you different from others? Rudolph’s nose didn’t make him feel special and useful until the end of the story. The ones calling him names didn’t realize that they had something that made them unique too. Some of us have to find out for ourselves what makes us special. We don’t all have gifts as obvious as the nose on our face.

This story is a family favorite every year. I especially love the part where Rudolph as a teenager gets called “cute” by a girl reindeer. He flipped out. It’s great to see someone feeling good about himself.

The ending shows the humility of a hero. Rudolph knew that he could help out by using his gift. He didn’t brag or flaunt it. He simply used it to help others.

Praying for Stuff, part three

Have you ever spoken bad words about someone and then realized they were in the room. You realized that when they said, “I can hear you.” I think it would freak out people who use God’s name in vain if God would respond in their hearing, “I can hear you.” 

Do you use helpful words? Join me at Seek God With Me. Today, I’m on the subject of how our words show our attitude.

Arrogant people speak with malice. The arrogant don’t really pray because they think they’re fine without God’s help. When we pray selfish prayers, we show our attitude in what we pray for. Since you and I have received God’s gift of repentance, we humble ourselves enough to use that gift and change our attitude. Then, you and I try to control our words in order to help others. Check out today’s post here.

It's A Wonderful Life, 1946, revisit

This movie is so good. Even though I’ve already reviewed it here, I can’t help revisiting it.

One of the things that I love about It’s A Wonderful Life is the filmmakers’ ability to show how a whole town is changed by one man’s self-sacrifice and fervent prayer.

We admire people in today’s world for these very things. You probably know someone who has given up their dreams to make someone else’s dreams come true. George Bailey is the hero of this movie because he made it a common practice to put aside his plans in order to help others.

Among those occurrences was the time he gave up his honeymoon money in order to help his Bailey Building & Loan customers during a crisis. Of course, Mary, his new bride, is the graceful heroine who was patient with him the whole time.

George helps out his community for years, and then another crisis hits. This crisis brings George to a new low. He’s so distracted by the crisis that he’s forgotten who he is. Clarence gives him the opportunity to remember who he is and refocus his efforts.

At one point, George wishes he’d never been born. A lot of people can identify with that feeling when they can’t see a way out of a problem they’re in. So Clarence helps distracted George find his way down memory lane, except things have changed in order to help George come back to reality. When George realizes the kind of man God has developed him into and the blessings God has given him, his wish changes direction and turns into a fervent prayer for God to allow him to get back to his wonderful life.

I love this movie’s encouragement for us to go out of our way to help others. George’s humility and “Do Unto Others” attitude strengthens the community he boldly stands up for.

Praying for Stuff, part two

Do you have a long wish list this Christmas? Some people are asking for needs and some are asking for wants. It’s hard to be the one in the neighborhood with the fewest toys. If that’s you and you have a real relationship with God, remember that other people see your relationship with God and wish they had that.

When you see your neighbors’ wealth and are tempted to wish you had all their stuff, remember to fight envy with compassion. Envy is from the fleshly part of you, but compassion is from the heart. According to Psalm 73:26, God is the strength of your heart.

You can pray for them, not that you would get what they have, but that they would get what you have.

Join me for more on this discussion at Seek God With Me.

A Charlie Brown Christmas, 1965

I love Christmastime. The season is filled with generosity, beauty, and music. When I think of Christmas entertainment, one show that comes to mind is the Charlie Brown Christmas special.

Vince Guaraldi plays the familiar songs that make us all want to do the Snoopy dance. The idea that Charlie Brown is such a blockhead that he can’t even pick out a good Christmas tree is such a sympathy-generator. And the free-spirited dance time that breaks out when the kids are supposed to be practicing for the Christmas play makes me want to dance too.

But Linus is, in my opinion, the hero of the show. He’s the one who cheers up Charlie Brown and tells him to get refocused on what Christmas is all about. Linus speaks from the Bible about the birth of Jesus, quoting from Luke chapter 2.

When a popular family show that reappears every year at this time reminds the audience that Christmas is about Jesus, it makes me smile. I think we all have picked out a scrawny tree or bought a less-than-perfect present. I think we all need to relax and remember it isn’t about the things we buy. Christmas is about Jesus.

Praying for Stuff, part one

Many people love this season. It’s Christmas time. Everyone is making a list and checking it twice, trying to find sales for the naughty and nice. 

Some people have decided Santa can’t give them what they want. They’re asking God for specific gifts for their Christmas morning. What are you praying for?

When one person is mesmerized by an item in a Christmas catalog, telling it there’s “nothing I desire besides you”, another is trying to pay bills so their house is warm on Christmas morning. When one person calls receiving a certain piece of jewelry “heaven”, another is thinking of recently deceased family members and realizing that the reason Heaven is Heaven is because Jesus is there.

Are you praying for more clothes or world peace? What did Jesus tell us to pray for?

Join me at Seek God With Me for more about prioritizing your wish list.

Praying for Leaders, part three

Thanks for joining me in praying for our leaders this month. Being a leader is a huge responsibility. Our humility and perseverance in prayer is an important part of their success.

Sometimes we’re supposed to take action after we pray. But how do we know what kind of action to take?

At my devotional blog, Seek God With Me, I’m considering that very thing. Join me as I take a look at a Bible verse that shows an example of how to take appropriate action. 

Meet John Doe, 1941

We love stories about heroes. And we love stories about Girl Power. This is both. This film was directed by Frank Capra, whose films are usually about the common man, rather than superheroes.  

Barbara Stanwyck is Ann Mitchell, a newspaper reporter who’ll do anything to save her job. In her rage at being fired, she changes her last column before she takes her belongings and leaves. The column is a letter from a fake suicidal citizen who plans to jump from the top of city hall. The column gets the city in an uproar.  

Gary Cooper plays a former baseball player whose career ended with an injury. He’s been out of work for a couple of years and wants to get a job so he can eat. Cooper is John Doe, the supposedly suicidal man without a job. He gets enough attention to bring the newspaper out of mediocrity. Soon the newspaper’s circulation skyrockets.

John Doe spends his days in a hotel room playing baseball with his friend Colonel. Of course, they didn’t use an actual ball. Still, it was a fun game. Pretty soon the word gets out to all the surrounding communities about John Doe, and thousands hear him on the radio.

Norton, the owner of the newspaper, invests in the John Doe movement until “Join a John Doe Club” becomes a rallying cry. Everyone goes to meet their neighbor, and communities come together to help out those who need it.

When Norton wants to use this powerful voice of the people for his own plans, things get out of hand. John has a decision to make.

Praying for Leaders, part two

It’s funny to hear the way people pray to God today. We ask a lot from God without celebrating the fact that he is with us and we can have a relationship with him. Have you noticed that we sometimes save our praises for those moments when we see that God has answered our prayers?

During the month of November, we can choose to take a closer look at the way we approach God. We celebrate Thanksgiving. But only for one day. And not even a whole day. It’s mostly about football in some homes.

I wonder what would happen to our family unity and our national unity if we were to stand back and reevaluate our relationship with God.

On my devotional blog, Seek God With Me, I’m taking a look at the way we approach God. If we stop to look at our celebrations and double-check what it is we’re really celebrating, we could be surprised. It might affect the way we pray.

Join me today at Seek God With Me.  

Goodbye, My Fancy, 1951

Joan Crawford is Miss Reed, a woman politician who is the chairman of a Congressional committee and used to getting her way. She’s tough enough to speak her mind without blinking an eye.

Robert Young is the handsome president of Good Hope college, which Miss Reed attended 20 yrs ago. Both of them have tried to keep their secret all these years.

Miss Reed accepts the invitation to give the graduation speech at Good Hope where she’ll receive an honorary degree. Good Hope would’ve been her alma mater if she hadn’t been expelled from school twenty years ago.

She can’t wait to get back to her old school to see the man she’s loved all these years from a distance. Were they the same people who fell in love so long ago?

A twist at the end caught me off guard. I had envisioned a different ending. However, there were a few comments about education not being about protecting the minds of the young female students, but exposing them to current events and challenging them to think for themselves.

Praying for Leaders, part one

It’s the day after the Presidential election, and some people are happy while others are sad. Some people are wondering why God allowed this to happen, and others are thanking God that it did. That’s the way it goes with elections.

I’ve seen the question on faces of people who voted and became frustrated when the other guy won. “How do I pray for someone I don’t agree with?”

If you trust God, this is pretty easy. God wants us to pray according to his will, but God wants us to pray even when we don’t understand God’s will. On my devotional blog, Seek God With Me, I am sharing scriptures that help us understand the purpose of some spiritual mysteries.  Join me and let’s keep praying for our leaders.

Kisses for my President, 1964

Those who watch Desperate Housewives have seen Polly Bergen as Stella Wingfield. I haven't seen that one, but I have seen some of her 83 roles, of which one was United States President Leslie Harrison McCloud.

As a woman who has just been elected US President, she has to balance career and family life in a little different way than all the men before her. She’s glad to be married to a man (Fred MacMurray) who isn’t threatened by stepping into a position in which his predecessors had always been called First Lady. Of course, it takes some getting used to. His normal routine is anything but normal.

He has an opportunity to stand up for his marriage and be his wife’s hero, but the unstable footing of his new position keeps him off-balance. He’s not sure he’s making the right decisions while his powerful wife is running the country.

When Arlene Dahl, who plays Doris, steps into the scene, trouble is written all over her. Trouble also follows Eli Wallach, who plays Valdez. These two keep the First Family on their toes and the audience rolling in laughter.