My Little Felicity

My daughter, Dorothea, has started her own blog, named after her Confirmation Saint, St. Felicity.

http://felicityinhappiness.blogspot.com/

Check it out. She's a talented writer :) Yeah, I'm a little biased.

God Only Wants 100%

This will appear over at our Sonlight Pictures blog next week, but since it applied to the family, I thought I'd post it here as well.

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The good news is that God does not want from us more than we can offer. He doesn't expect us to give 110%.

He does, however, expect us to give 100%... of us... to him.

God wants us entirely, mind, body and soul. He wants us to embrace him with our every goal, hope, aspiration, need, desire and challenge. He wants to lead us down the path we need to take to reach salvation and live eternally in his presence.

Like his chosen people in the Old Testament, that journey may not be an easy one, but a necessary one. When Moses led them out to the wilderness it would take 40 years of a level-setting spiritual boot camp for his people Israel to purge their 400 year connection to the gods of Egypt. God forced them to rely solely on his own mercy to provide food everyday. And when they lost faith, like building the golden calf, they had to pay the price for their spiritual weakness. Even Moses, who answered God's call time and time again, failed to do as God spoke and was punished by not being allowed to enter the land they were promised.

It was not until the Egyptian generation had died away, and their children only born in the wilderness with the strong reliance on God's mercy, did his chosen people finally make it into the land of milk and honey.

The funny thing about offering ourselves up to God is that, well, he will take it.

My daughter, for example, had been struggling with managing her stress level this year in school. We had prayed often and asked for God's guidance. As we neared her final exams and prayed we realized this final exam was not a test of math, but a test of faith. My daughter understood that and accepted God's guidance and went to bed, ready to trust God's will.

The next day, the day of the exam, she awoke with a high fever. She opened her eyes and said "Thanks, God. Still testing my faith, huh?" And he was.

After she took the final exam she waited for the teacher to let her know what was her final score. The teacher scored the test and told her she had failed.

My daughter left the classroom devastated. The result of the test would require her changing her entire college plans. She had prayed and put her faith in God and she failed anyway. She knew God must have had other plans for her. She wept to herself, but knew it was God's will and accepted it. She didn't like it, but she accepted it.

However, it was another test of faith.

As she walked outside of the classroom the teacher ran out after her and told her she had given her the wrong person's results. She had actually passed and received a B.

As her faith grew, God's test of that faith grew. The more she was tested, the more she had to offer more faith. The more she offered faith, the more she was tested. She started giving 10%, God wanted 11. When she gave 11, God wanted 12. Why?

Because God wants all of us. 100%. Nothing less. We are his creation, after all. Why would he want less?

The saints have often complained about God's continual and growing moral tests of faith. I can't remember the saint's name, but one of them said to God, after a very hard moral challenge, "if this is the way you treat your friends, no wonder you have so many enemies."

Think of Mother Theresa. After giving her life to Jesus, she did not feel his presence again, except one brief moment. For fifty years she felt nothing, but lived everyday for him.

Why?

Because God wants 100%. Any amount of ourselves we do not give to God is tainted by our own imperfection. When we offer ourselves up, God must purify us from our own sinfulness by testing us, forcing us to rely on him.

For my daughter, she did not have faith when it came to school work. Her fear was interfering with her faith. When she offered that up, God had to push her more and more until he had finally forced the fear from where she could replace that void with faith.

Our moral journey, our path toward heaven will not be easy because it can't be. We are holding on to too many percentages of our lives, not giving God all of us.

We are his children. He wants all of us. Not just once a week on Sundays. Not just when life treats us poorly. He wants us when we work, when we talk to our kids, when we mow our yards, when we wash the car, when we face illness, when we lose our jobs or lose a relative close to us.

God wants us all. Whatever you can give him, he will take... and wait for the rest.

Audio Bible

I don't remember when I first became a fan of old radio programs... sometime in college I think. Thanks to the internet, over the last few years I've been able to accumulate over 100 old radio shows, including shows such as Casey: Crime Photographer, Philip Marlowe and Barry Craig: Confidential Investigator.

What I love about old radio programs is that they take you beyond the simple written word and allow you to dive into a world made up of real life sounds with actors playing the characters in such a way that your mind fills in all the blanks and you can watch the show unfold before you in your mind.

It's that love of old time radio programs that makes me so excited about buying the audio bible called Word of Promise. It's a King James version of the bible done in audio theater format. There are sound effects and over 600 actors playing the numerous parts, including Jim Caviezel, Michael York, Richard Dreyfus, Max Von Sydow, Gary Sinise, Marcia Gay Harden, and on and on.

The bible comes alive when you listen to Adam take his first breath and hear Noah building the ark. The story moves at a very quick pace and it's entertaining and immersive in quality.

Over a year ago some of our fellow strong believing Catholics would get together every Sunday evening and watch Jeff Cavins' The Great Adventure bible study. It's a great, wonderful bible study that condenses the grand salvation story of the bible into 14 critical narrative books. It shows you where the other books in the bible compliment the main narratives while not losing sight of the primary story being told.

The problem I've had with the bible study is that it is 24 weeks long and I've never been able to finish it. Life would always get in the way. So, it occured to me that if I could record the audio from Cavins' DVD bible study as well as the appropriate audio bible sections required for the study using the awesome Word of Promise series, I could make an audio series that I could listen to in the car or at home, where ever it is convenient.

So, I've spent that last month putting this together. I hope to have it completed by Christmas. So far it is a wonderful experience. On the way to and from work I've already listened to Genesis while moving through three of Cavins insightful and inspiring bible studies.

The only downside is that, since the audio bible is a King James version, it does not include Maccabees, which is in Catholic bible and covered in the Cavins study. I guess reading one book out of the bible instead of listening to it won't hurt me too much. :)

As I told my wife the other day, I know I've changed as a person when one of the most exciting purchases I've ever made has been the Word of Promise bible study. It is an amazing tool that literally brings the bible to life.

Combine that with Cavins' deep and educational insights as to how each book ties to the next and, in the end, with Jesus Christ, will give me an understanding of the bible that I have never had before.

Slow Updates Apology

Sorry for the snail's pace of updates here on the blog. Life has been very busy.

Recently our air-conditioner needed complete replacing. As mentioned earlier, our bathroom needed complete replacing. Dea then hurt her back (she's better now). Gabe has started travel ball again (that's 5 nights a week). DC has started college (loves it) and Gabe has started 7th grade home school (likes it).

I have been blogging a bit, over at the Sonlight Pictures Blog, where we've shared our first podcast of Basking in the Son as well as entries about faith struggles, script writing and capturing moments of inspiration.

We're finally near the very end of the negotiating process for distribution of Purgatory, USA. We hope to have the paperwork finalized in the next week or so.

This weekend some of us will be traveling down to Cocoa Beach for a baseball tournament. Being so busy has left little time for screenwriting, which is frustrating, but I hope to get back into the swing of things as soon as I hand off all of the deliverables to the distribution company.

So, I apologize for the slow blog entries.

And, finally, please pray for us for a special intention. There are some really strong, difficult moral challenges occurring in my extended family and it is taking its toll. Any divine assistance would be greatly appreciated.

Faith or Faith & Works

I was reading about the poor and tragic events that occurred in Pennsylvania where a deranged man shot and killed three women in a fitness class. One of the statements reported from his blog was the following:

"Maybe soon, I will see God and Jesus. At least that is what I was told. Eternal life does NOT depend on works. If it did, we will all be in hell."

That must be the most extreme understanding of the difference between Faith and Faith & Works I have ever seen. As most people know, the Catholic Church believes it is Faith & Works that are required for Christians to live their lives according to God's teachings and, after the split by Luther, the Protestants determined only Faith was required for salvation.

Almost all Protestants I know take their Faith and convert it into Works (missionary work, evangelical work, bible studies, prison ministries), they just don't call it that. However, this disturbed murdered took something so completely out of context, ignoring reliance on Jesus, on loving your enemies, on loving your neighbor, on offering your sacrifices to God, on carrying your own cross... it's sad that someone could have misinterpreted something so obvious to most Christians and used it to ease the weight of his own evil actions.

The older I get the more I realize that context is often more important than the content.

The Da Vinci Hoax (2004)

When Michael Moore's documentary came out a few years ago criticizing the American health care system while extolling the virtues of the Cuban socialist health system, I got into an interesting discussion about the topic with a co-worker. At the end of the debate about the validity of Moore's work I asked my co-worker a simple question...

"Which is easier, making a film that shows American health system as vastly better than Cuba's or the other way around?"

My co-worker responded "That's easy, America's."

"Then you have to wonder the true intent of someone who does the opposite," I replied.

The same basic scrutiny can be used when looking at Dan Brown's work in The Da Vinci Code and Angels & Demons with his attack on Christianity as a whole and the Catholic Church specifically.

My mother was scanning books at a bookstore up in Georgia and spied one of which she thought would have an interest to me. She was right.

The book is called The Da Vinci Hoax. It's a wonderful book that expertly dissects the massive misinformation abounding in the pages of Brown's work and, more importantly, discusses the drivers behind the author's attempts to undermine the world's greatest religion.

How much garbage is in Brown's book? Well, it takes almost 300 pages in Hoax to cover all of the areas of misinformation. That means there sure is a lot of garbage to clean up!

Brown states that his material is thoroughly researched and historically accurate. He also states that history is written by winners and can't be trusted. So... what, Dan? Are you saying I shouldn't trust your version of history either????

That's just one of the basic red lights that flash about his work.

While raising my children I have tried to instill in them the idea that they should take all of their family responsibility seriously, even the small tasks. I would say to them, "if I can't trust you to take out the garbage when you're supposed to, how can I trust you with something more important?"

The same holds true for researchers claiming to uncovered some hidden truth. Case and point... Brown repeatedly states that "the Vatican" was doing this and that in various parts of history. Unfortunately, many of these events occured prior to "the Vatican" even existing. He should have said "the Church" or "the Catholic Church." But he didn't. Not a big deal, perhaps, but I go back to the phrase, "if you can't get the simple things right, why should I trust you on the big things?" How hard is it to understand that the Church is an entity and the Vatican is a place?

Look Dan, I already understand it after writing one sentence. How did it slip through that enlightened mind of your's? Probably because you were uncovering the whole conspiracy behind the Church/Vatican trying to weed Mary Magdelene out of Church history by refusing to ackowlege her as the "true" Holy Grail.

There's a lot of simple problems with that theory, Dan. If the Church/Vatican wanted to eliminate MM from Church history they simple DON'T HAVE TO MENTION HER IN THEIR STORIES/GOSPELS! I don't believe MM was mentioned by non-Gospel writers, so if the apostles were so intimidated by her place in Church history, all they had to do was simply NOT TALK ABOUT HER.

Second point, Danny boy... you say MM and JC were married and had kids and that JC survived the crucifixion and the apostles covered it up, blah, blah, blah, I have to ask you another simple question... WHY?

Why would the apostles sacrifice their life so JC and MM could have children? What did they possibly have to gain? The Church was not a powerful empire, it was a group of a couple of hundred people who were at odds with the Romans, the Jews and the Gentiles. So, why would they do that? Please, inspire me with a simple, logical answer, Mr. Brown. Well, while you're mulling that over, I have a few more questions...

You really think JC survived the crucifixion? Did you not do ANY research on Roman crucifixions? Or Roman law? Or health care back then?

Lastly, Brown goes on and on about how Da Vinci's painting shows the true meaning of the "Holy Grail" claiming that John sitting next to Jesus in the Last Supper painting was actually MM. And that Peter's depiction of a knife near John's/MM's throat shows that the church wanted to "decpitate" MM's power.


Ugh... Dan, Dan, Dan. I go back to my America/Cuba example. Every credible art and church historian explains the imagery... John, the youngest, would not have a beard. Peter's knife is a visual precursor to his use of the sword in the Garden later in the evening. And the picture itself is supposed to be the moment after Jesus told them there was a betrayer in their midst.

But what about this missing "Grail" Dan would ask? Well, Dan, if you were to simply LOOK at the painting you would see that EVERYONE has a cup in front of them. There is no need for a Grail to be passed around. The Grail isn't missing. It isn't necessary!

That's just some of the "Hello, Danny B., time to get your head out of your anti-Christian buttocks!" you'll find in the many detailed pages of The Da Vinci Hoax.

So why would DB take material from sketchy sources to compile a "historically accurate" alternative view of Christianity?

Because it appears that Dan Brown is all about the Sacred Feminine. And that the masculine Church has apparently been suppressing it all of these centuries. It's all very new-ageish and uses extreme feminist wishlists and imaginary tales to convey the glory that is the Sacred Feminine.

So that's his intent. He tells us to ignore history while presenting his own version of it. He ignores long-standing credible research and embraces Gnostic and feminists views of deity and muddles it all together into a mishmash of elaborate poppycock called The Da Vinci Code. Ignore it at all costs.

I do, however, strongly suggest everyone read The Da Vinci Hoax. There is so much more information on the misinformation Brown spins about the Templars, the Priory of Sion, Constantine, the Crusades, the Inquisitions, Da Vinci's volume of work, his relationship with the Church, etc., etc.

The short of it is this... Brown is a very bad historian with an anti-Christian axe to grind, period. He should be mocked or ignored, but never taken seriously.

Club God Wins Bronze Lighthouse Award at the Faith Film Festival

We're very excited to announce that our short film Club God won the Bronze Lighthouse Award at the Faith Film Festival!

It is such a wonderful blessing to have our first project garner such an acknowledgment from the Christian film community. We could not have done it without the support of many, including the prayers from our Sonlight Pictures Angels community!

God is good!

Vote for Club God Today!

You can now vote for Club God at the Faith Film Festival website.

Thank you for your support!

Club God Online at the Faith Film Festival!

You can check out Club God at the Faith Film Festival website.

When they make voting available, please make sure and give us a vote for us.

Matt Maher Sings from the Heavens

Apparently an astronaut on a recent shuttle mission played Matt Maher's Empty & Beautiful CD in space while praying for the band.

Pretty cool. You can read about it here at the Christian Retailing website.

PUSA - Quick Take 3: Idol Dreams

Here's the last of the Quick Takes for PUSA...

PUSA - Quick Take 2: Vanity

Here’s the second of three PUSA Quick Take vids.

This one is titled Vanity…

PUSA - Quick Take 1: Reunion

For people who haven't seen the series, we've created some Quick Takes so they can understand the humor, style and production value.

The first one is called Reunion.

New PUSA Trailer

I've posted this on Facebook, the Sonlight Pictures website and on the SLP blog... but not here. So, here it is :)



We'll be posting more marketing and behind-the-scenes vids soon.

The Human Experience

Grassroots Films, the same company that made the amazing Fishers of Men film about being a priest, has released a trailer for one of their other films called The Human Experience.

It's amazing. Check it out.

Ordination

We had the honor of being invited to a priest being ordained at St. Jude Cathedral in St. Petersburg last Saturday. One of our priests from Espiritu Santo was praying and asking who he should invite when our son's name and another altar server's name came into his mind.

So, he tracked us down and invited us to the special, holy event.

We were afforded special seating near the front and we were able to view one of the most holy sacraments the church offers. The event was lead by the Bishop and almost every priest in the diocese was in attendance.

You don't really appreciate just how many priests and holy people there are in our area until you see them all at once. To watch them, over a hundred in all, process together down the aisle of the church, along with seminarians and acolytes, was a special moment.

One of the things I adore about the Catholic Church is the rituals that add depth to our faith. The garments, the chalice, the candles, the incense, the music... all so wonderful.

We were very blessed to have the choir and music provided by the Florida Orchestra. They filled the rafters with angelic hymns that lifted your spirit.

When the new priest was being ordained the Bishop choked up, barely able to hold back his joy. And when all of the priests raised their hands and, in unison, participated in the consecration of the bread and wine, well, it was like experiencing a little piece of heaven.

When the Bishop completed the ordination, the new priest then kneels and promises obedience to the Bishop. At the end of the ceremony, the new priest lays hands on a bowed Bishop to offer his first official blessing. Wonderfully cyclical. Great, amazing stuff.

Many times I was brought to tears and such a holy event made me realize how temporary and completely unimportant our daily lives can be in comparison.

As the mass ended and our local priest processed down the aisle and passed the two young men he had invited, he gave them a joy-filled hand shake as we all sang the last hymn.

That ordination was one of the most special Catholic moments of my life. I cannot imagine a greater joy a parent could feel than to offer their child up to God in such a way.

For any Catholic reading this, I implore you to offer an extra hour of your life next year and attend the next ordination in your area. It is something that will touch your heart and infuse you with a renewed faith in Jesus, in your church and in your leaders.

Anti-Catholicism in Hollywood

Angels & Demons is coming out soon. Of course, its full of misrepresentations of Catholicism (big surprise there). Where Hollywood goes out of its way to equalize Muslim characters (one bad is countered with one good), no such courtesy is given to the big bad Catholic Church.

There's a great article about this at Christianity Today located here:

http://www.christianitytoday.com/movies/news/2009/ishollywoodanticatholic.html?start=1

One of my favorite quotes from the article is as follows:

Rome's foes today "aren't debating transubstantiation, they're debating transgender," said Catholic film critic David DiCerto. "They aren't debating the real presence [of Christ] in the Eucharist, they're debating the real presence of humanity in the womb. It's much more the hot-button moral issues than the hot-button theological issues."

That's why we created Sonlight Pictures, to help bring a positive face to Catholics through positive portrayals of Catholic characters.

Club God - Screening at the Faith Film Festival

We’re very happy to announce that Club God will be airing in New York and online as part of the Faith Film Festival, sponsored by the NET television station in Brooklyn.

Club God will air June 11th at 8:30 PM. The judged will pick the top 10 films and the fans will pick the top film of the festival.

You’ll be able to get more information on the Faith Film Festival website (which is currently under construction) at the following location: http://netny.net/faithfilmfestival

Keep checking back at our Sonlight Pictures Blog for updates.

Name That Tune - "My God, My God, Why Have You Forsaken Me..."

So, here we are... Jesus has been nailed to a cross after having been unmercifully scourged. He's weak, bloodied, tired and dying. His life and, more importantly, his Passion has been an example of selflessness, of miracles, of redemption. And then Jesus says this...

"My God, my God, why have you forsaken me..."

Most people don't get that sentence. I recently listened to a "Christian scholar" on television talk about it being a comment of fear and loneliness.

WRONG!

Jesus' weakest moment during the Passion happened in the Garden, not on the Cross. Once Jesus asked that God's will be done over his own, he stayed the course.

Here's the deal. Jews sang songs. We call them Psalms. Songs written by David. Like any other song you sing a lot, it sticks in your head. Take "I Ran" by A Flock of Seagulls, for example. If you know that song you're humming it right now.

God designed us to remember songs. They stick with us for the rest of our lives.

Psalm 22 is one such song. Really catchy. All about the sufferings of the Messiah. You know what the first line of the song is???

"My God, my God, why have you forsaken me..."

On the Cross, Jesus wasn't lamenting his suffering. He wasn't lost. He wasn't suddenly abandoned. He didn't speak that line, he sang that line... a song about himself.

As one article I read so wonderfully stated... think of all of the Sanhedrin standing there, mocking Jesus while the Roman guards threw dice to see who gets Jesus' fancy-shmancy cloak. Then, Jesus sings the first line of the song. And what happens?

Those members of the Sanhedrin, who had probably sung Psalm 22 hundreds of times, suddenly find themselves singing along with him. In their minds, the song continues...

But I am a worm, hardly human, scorned by everyone, despised by the people.

All who see me mock me; they curl their lips and jeer; they shake their heads at me

"You relied on the LORD--let him deliver you; if he loves you, let him rescue you."

And it continues...

They stare at me and gloat; they divide my garments among them; for my clothing they cast lots.

Think of what must have been running through the minds of the Jewish leaders. Singing this Psalm in their heads and realizing it was happening right before their eyes. A song about the sufferings of the Messiah.

But the song doesn't end there, in despair. It continues...

For God has not spurned or disdained the misery of this poor wretch,

Did not turn away from me, but heard me when I cried out.

I will offer praise in the great assembly; my vows I will fulfill before those who fear him.

The poor will eat their fill; those who seek the LORD will offer praise. May your hearts enjoy life forever!"

All the ends of the earth will worship and turn to the LORD; All the families of nations will bow low before you.

For kingship belongs to the LORD, the ruler over the nations.

All who sleep in the earth will bow low before God; All who have gone down into the dust will kneel in homage.

And so on...

So, fellow Christians and ignorant "scholars" remember what a Psalm is... understand the difference between an original thought and quoting from a song.

And lastly, finally recognize that on the Cross, singing that Psalm, Jesus was in his ultimate glory, paying our price for our sins, building a bridge back to God that was broken by Adam... Jesus was suffering, yes, but willingly, not alone, not afraid.

He was offering the greatest sacrifice ever recorded.

Does God Kiss Us On The Cheek When We're Sleeping?

Just a thought... I was going to bed one night and went in to check on my kids. They were both asleep and I kissed them on their cheek, full of love for them.

I wondered, as I walked back to my bedroom, if God does that with us... like the loving parent He is... to kiss us on the cheek when we're sleeping. To tuck us in. To whisper "I love you" in our ears.

I sure hope so.