With A Gentle Spirit

By Marty Norman

Planks are big and need to be dealt with, especially when they are large, glaring, and stuck in our own eyes. Splinters are small but oh so much easier to extract in comparison.  

Recently I was in a Bible study where a friend approached the teacher, concerned that he had misspelled the word transparency on his flip chart. Not one to be shy, she thought he ought to know. Thus followed a detailed discussion about how easy it is to see the splinter in a neighbor’s eye yet how hard to see the plank in our own. We agreed that we rarely see our own mistakes, especially in written form, but oh how they jump off the page on someone else’s paper.

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In His Own Words

By Marty Norman

Words are a powerful thing.  They can build up or tear down.  With just a slip of the tongue hearts can be wounded, families destroyed.  In contrast, words also have the power to heal, encourage, and give comfort, aid, and love.  It’s all in the motivation.

But words alone are not enough.  The actions that follow, that support the words, are the real indicator of the heart.  Here’s where the rubber meets the road.

Scripture tells us to let our yes be yes and our no be no.  In other words, say what you mean and mean what you say.  The best way to know a person is to listen to his words.

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Dark Tunnels

By Marty Norman 

Last Easter I attended my first Good Friday “Tenebrae” at a local Bible Church. What a powerful experience!  According to Wikepedia Encyclopedia, “Tenebrae” is a Latin word meaning shadow or darkness.  A Christian service in the Western Church, it is celebrated in many traditions from Roman Catholic to Episcopalians to Protestants. Taking different forms, the common denominator involves a gradual extinguishing of candles while readings and psalms are chanted or sung.  As the candles are extinguished the auditorium is left in total darkness.

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Who Is Packing Your Parachute?

By Marty Norman 

“ …Guard what has been entrusted to your care.” I Timothy 6:20 NIV

Recently I read a great article about a navy pilot.  Shot down over Vietnam, he was forced to eject and parachute right into enemy hands, where he spent five years in an enemy prison camp.

Many years later he met a man at a restaurant who came to shake his hand.  This man had been his “parachute packer”.  Assigned to the bowels of the ship he carefully and laboriously packed parachutes for those above, those who would be flying on mission, carrying his parachutes as a safety net in times of danger.

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Hunger for What?

By Marty Norman –

Anyone who reads my books or columns knows that I’ve been boycotting violent and explicit sex movies for years. Ever since Basic Instinct, I’ve been totally horrified at what our youth are exposed to and I have refused to participate on any level.

At least until today. I’m breaking my own rules, and I’ll tell you why.

At the suggestion of my husband, I went to see The Hunger Games. At first, I was adamantly opposed. “Nope, not going. Don’t want to be a party to this trash. I’m boycotting.”

Jim insisted. “I think you ought to see this one. Everything you talk about in your blogs politically, spiritually, culturally and emotionally is in this movie.”

Good point.

So I agreed and, wow, what a thought-provoking movie. I didn’t agree with the premise or story line. And, yes, I was disturbed by the themes and visuals. But Jim was right regarding the hidden discussion opportunities. They just jumped off the big screen yelling to be tapped.

The movie is a snapshot of the world—a reflection of what society has become through competition, reality games, large government, power and control. But it’s also an opportunity for our generation to launch a discussion of the post-modern world versus the Biblical worldview. If this movie is any indication, it looks like post-modern is winning—now’s our chance to right this misconception.

In the movie, political, emotional, ethical and spiritual themes abound. Take your pick. But you have to look beyond the obvious. You have to look with eyes of wisdom and experience, with spiritual eyes that see into the deep.

An obvious theme is the conflict between good and evil. If you know anything about history, much of the imagery resembles documented textbook evil: Nazi concentration camps, the Roman Forum, chariots of gladiators, ravenous crowds hungry for blood. The images of the haves versus the have-nots were disturbing. Sound familiar?

That’s why the title—The Hunger Games—was brilliant. Hunger was on every level: the people hungry for blood; the producers hungry for control; the audience hungry for a winner; the combatants’ hungry for a savior, the sponsors hungry for victory, and the reality shows hungry for ratings.

On the political front, the government was pure evil, perhaps a modern day China, Iran or Cuba. The potential ramifications of global policy as it relates to a Hunger Games scenario is worthy of thought and discussion? Although an entire article could be written on political ramifications, I’m concentrating on reviewing the movie through spiritual eyes.

History teaches that when people move away from God, they fill that vacuum with something else: addictions, drugs, pornography, money, people, power, control or idols. But there’s a hunger implanted in each heart, a search for something greater than ourselves. In Hunger Games that hunger is filled with counterfeits and distortions, cultural and ethical mandates, as well biblical themes and principals.

Another distortion was in the area of transformation. What a great opportunity to act as a bridge between the worldview and biblical view of transformation. Clearly, the missing component was faith, specifically the Christian faith. An explanation of the presence of Jesus and how His saving grace would have transformed everything would certainly add flavor to any discussion.

The question of ethics and a moral compass is another theme worth contemplation. In the movie instead of consistency, the rules changed on a whim, leaving a trail of confusion and delusion. Can you imagine what sort of discussion you could get into on that one?

As I ponder the consequences of The Hunger Games, it is clear that God is opening a door for writers to witness to the truth through the visual arts. There seems to be a hunger for these types of movies. Look at Star Wars, ET, and Lord of the Rings. What a magnificent way to communicate Biblical values through metaphor, symbolism and science fiction. Indeed, there’s an opportunity for creative missionaries to write and produce a witness for Christ in a genre that young people understand.

So should you see the movie? I answer with a resounding yes. Not because it’s good, but because your children and grandchildren are seeing it. And not only that, it is now required reading in elementary and middle schools. Can you believe that?

All this to say, anyway you look at it, the world is changing. If you want to stay on top of the eight ball and influence what your kids and grandkids believe, if you want to present a moral, biblical worldview as an option for right living, you better speak the language of the young. Like it or not, The Hunger Games is that language.

While they are being fed mistruths and distortions, we are asleep at the wheel. Better to combat distortion with facts, figures and truth, in a language they understand, than to be left out in the cold.

It’s up to you.

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