I'm BACK!... Probably....

As most comic book fans already know, WWII-era superhero Captain America was frozen in the Arctic ocean for several decades, before making a return to the Marvel universe.

My blog posts are known to be sporadic, but it wasn't until recently that I realized my last post to this blog was in December 2014, nearly FIVE years ago! How the time flies! We are all still healthy, I am enjoying the same software development job, and we live in the same happy home. Among the biggest changes have been my son and I getting involved in local theater, Kylen graduating high school and starting his second year at Liberty University (majoring in Christian Counseling), my dad's retirement, and my mom's passing (after battling MS for more than 25 years). All the while, I've been splitting my time between work and family, periodically spending large amounts of time on websites, Windows applications, and theater-related activities.

Our family car has several JesusIsWonderful.com decals on its windows, but it wasn't until our family came to visit, that I was informed that the domain was no longer working! Turns out Yahoo had suspended it, because they had been unable to verify my contact information. They had an outdated e-mail account associated with the domain, but they didn't even try my Yahoo e-mail! And what really took the cake was that they had no problem continuing to charge me for the use of the domain! Really, Yahoo???

Admittedly, blogging has always taken a back seat, and I have to be realistic that it will probably continue to do so. Farrah finally caved a few years ago and got a Facebook account, followed later by our son, and then by me. And with all the other social media sites out there, I wonder if anyone is even blogging anymore.

Nevertheless, I think Blogger is much better suited to my style, than Facebook (which I hardly ever visit, anyway), and I have some exciting plans for the domain. But until then, I will continue to post here (and on my other blogs), at least once in a while.

The Dark Knight

Last night, Farrah and I watched The Dark Knight, the highly acclaimed sequel to Batman Begins, and I wanted to share some elements that allude to the redemption that Jesus Christ bought for us.

Movie review

As a whole, the movie was too long. Half an hour could have easily been left on the cutting room floor (or the digital bit bucket), without losing anything relevant to the plot.

This movie is also quite violent. It avoided an R rating by pulling the camera away, just before several potentially gory scenes, but the implied violence definitely exceeds the comparatively mild PG-13 rating it actually got. We watched it on our ClearPlay DVD player, which muted the occasional bad language and skipped past a slew of violence.

Even though the whole world was enamored with the late Heath Ledger's performance as the Joker, Jack Nicholson did a far better job, when he played the part, nearly twenty years ago. This Joker was too crazy; the lack of a background story or a motive greatly took away from his character. To me, he was more of an annoyance, than a worthy foe to Batman.

By contrast, the Harvey Dent character was extremely well written and acted. In my opinion, he was the one who stole the show.

The highlight for me was the tension and resolution of the scenes with the two ferries, jam-packed with people, and rigged to explode. Without spoiling anything, I'll just say that I was very moved by the performance of a big, buff, former wrestler, nicknamed "Tiny" (whom I've seen in other imposing roles).

Batman's sacrifice

(SPOILER WARNING!)

A running theme in the movie was Batman's quest to find a "hero with a face", that the people of Gotham can look up to. He thought he found that hero in District Attorney Harvey Dent. As Bruce Wayne, he held a fundraiser for him, lifting him up as a hero to be looked up to. Unfortunately (for all involved), the Joker decided to make it a project to turn Dent to the Dark Side (a la Emperor Palpatine and Anakin Skywalker). Like Satan, he knew that even if he could not defeat Batman directly, he could achieve victory by destroying his creation. He is marvelously successful in turning Dent to a villain, scarred inside and out.

Upon the death of Dent, Batman makes a familar decision: in order to preserve the people's good perception of Dent, he takes the blame for the five people Dent murdered, clearing Dent's name and reputation, while becoming a fugitive himself. Only his closest allies, including Police Commissioner James Gordon (and Gordon's son), know the truth.

As Batman speeds away, chased by scores of K-9 units, Gordon tells his son (paraphrased), "He's the hero the people deserve, but not what they need right now." The implication, if I understand it correctly, is that Batman is a true hero, but is forced to play a lesser role, for the good of the people of Gotham.

Jesus, the Son of God, God Incarnate, and Lord of all, deserved to be praised and adored as the King of Kings, when He first came, 2000 years ago. But instead, "he was wounded for our transgressions, he was bruised for our iniquities: the chastisement of our peace was upon him; and with his stripes we are healed" (Isaiah 53:5). What we needed at the time (and still) was for the King of Kings to redeem us, by becoming sin.

When the time comes, He will return and assume His role as Lord of Lords... and all will recognize Him for what He truly is.

When the Going Gets Tough

We just recently watched Spiderman 3 for the first time, on ClearPlay (which mutes foul language and skips gore and other objectionable material), and I wanted to share what it teaches about temptation and the choices that we make.

First of all, a little background. Geeky science student Peter Parker was bitten by a mutated spider and gained its proportional strength and abilities. The plot of the third installment of the hugely popular movie trilogy revolves around a black, gooey, shape-shifting, alien symbiote, that attaches itself to Peter, not only giving him a more imposing, new, black suit, but amplifying his negative emotions. As things around him crumble (job, relationships, etc...), he finds it easier and easier to give in to his dark side and do things that he would not otherwise do. He eventually realizes the mysterious suit has contributed to his self-destructive actions and gets rid of it.

In my opinion, this movie is way too busy, takes too long to set up the central plot, and does not spend enough time exploring Peter's struggles with the symbiote. And even before the symbiote takes him over, he does some pretty stupid stuff, that even he should know better not to do. True to the previous two big-screen adventures, the action and special effects are top-notch (if not ground-breaking) and nicely complement the issues that the movie addresses. Spiderman swinging through New York is nothing less than jaw-dropping.

In the end, Peter states (paraphrased), "We always have a choice, and we can always choose to do what's right." This is certainly a true statement, if we add that we can only possess the power to choose to do good if the Holy Spirit lives within us.

It's easy to do what's right, when things are going well. But when times are tough (financially, emotionally, physically, etc...), the Tempter comes knocking. The situation may sometimes seem so hopeless, that we can rationalize doing almost anything. This theme is evidenced not only in the life of Spiderman, but in that of the Sandman. Before being molecularly rearranged to the consistency of sand, he embarked on a criminal career, in order to make enough money to save his young daughter's life. You can argue that he did it not out of selfishness, but out of love for his daughter. But can sin ever be justified? Isn't there always another way?

We must remember that Jesus is always there, to carry us through. "There hath no temptation taken you but such as is common to man: but God is faithful, who will not suffer you to be tempted above that ye are able; but will with the temptation also make a way to escape, that ye may be able to bear it" (1 Corinthians 10:13). That way is prayer and power through the perfect love of the Holy Spirit.