LESSONS FROM THE OSCARS

where have I been....*wide-eyes* please pardon the long absence

I've been off since but, thanks be to God...am back to share more of the Spirit inspired writings with everyone. This has been delayed and am so sorry....now let's go!!!

WHAT THE OSCARS TAUGHT ME

The 86^th Academy Awards was held on Sunday 2^nd March, 2014 at the Dolby Theatre in Hollywood, Los Angeles. The biggest award of the night, Best Picture, went to the movie “12 Years a Slave”. Congrats to all who made it a success.

The night saw first time Oscar nominees Matthew McCounaughey and Jared Leto take home awards for Best actor in leading role and Best Actor in Supporting role respectively in the movie “Dallas Buyers Club”(a true story).

Matthew played Ron Woodroof, an emaciated, medication-struggling AIDS patient. The 44 year old actor is reported to have lost a drastic amount of weight to really portray a man struggling with HIV in the 1980’s. In an interview granted the UK's Mirror newspaper in April this year, he said he consumed nothing but two egg whites, a bit of chicken, a small pudding and two Diet Cokes a day for three or four months.” He lost 7lbs a week and totally getting down to 143lbs in the end. His reason for what he described as ‘pretty hardcore’ dieting was the need to be true to his character. "I felt incredibly clear-headed and purposeful, and on set there were no starvation dramas. I just wanted to get on with the job and tell this incredible story" he added.

Co-star Jared Leto on the other hand is known for method acting having lost weight to play a heroin addict in ‘Requiem For A Dream’ and also gaining with for his role in a little movie called ‘Chapter 27’. As Rayon he played a transgender woman with AIDS who became close friends with Ron Woodroof. He lost 40 pounds, waxed his entire body and also shaved his eyebrows for the role. It is reported that he basically ‘didn’t eat’. He said in an interview, “I had done similar things with weight but this was different. I think the role demanded that commitment” and “Beyond that, he says, I thought it was the role of a lifetime.” And indeed, this paid off winning him an Oscar.

Leto (left) with McCounaughey in the movie

The 'success' of these two actors set me thinking after reading about their efforts and the work that they both did to reach tops in Hollywood. My reflection brought to mind the phrase that begins a monologue in William Shakepeare’s ‘As You Like It’. The speech of melancholy Jacques in Act II Scene VII begins this, “All the world is a stage, and all the men and women merely players…” God has given us the stage and each one of us has a script, I believe.

As Christians we are to live a life that is Christ-like. This will mean “being transformed by the renewing of the mind” in order not to conform to the pattern of this world through which we are transiting. In the words of Jesus in Matthew 5:16, “Let your light shine before men, that they may see your good work, and glorify your Father which is in Heaven.” Our actions and inactions on the stage of life must have one goal, that is to glorify the Father. Once we know this we are to take a decision to bring that glory to Him no matter the cost. Hollywood actors all look forward to the Oscars and we as children of God do look forward to a day. We all want to reach the top where we will gain the highest honour available; hearing the words,

 “Well done, good and faithful servant…enter thou into the joy of the Lord.”

This great compliment for the Lord does not come just because we received the script and for us, it is accepting the Jesus as Lord and personal Saviour (becoming Born Again) through the director, he Holy Spirit. We all need to read our scripts, understand it and then take a decision play the role handed us to the best of our ability as He directs. It will mean losing weight like Matthew and Jared in order to be in character. Those who have exited the Christian stage have shown us how we have to act. The writer of the book of Hebrews captures it thus, “Therefore we also, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which so easily ensnares us, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, looking unto Jesus… (12:1).

“It certainly works for me to have a physical commitment. I enjoy the challenge of a physical role” Is another reason Leto gave for his decision to loose weight to be Rayon, a role he described as the role of a lifetime. That decision won him an Oscar.

“I lived a bit of a hermit (a person who lives, to some degree, in seclusion from society) during the period but came out when the sun was out because he had to be pale” as McConaughey described his method acting life for his role. Make-up artists in the movie industry could make him look pale but he did it otherwise and that and many other decision he took to be Woodroof has made him the best actor in Hollywood right now.

This article is not to debate whether the actors deserved their awards or not. I thank them for giving a reason to assess my life as a Christian on the world stage again and also to write this for all to read... We all need to know that there is a prize which demands a price.

An awards day is coming and it is only those who played their role to the satisfaction of the Trinity who will be duly rewarded with the eternal crowns.

GOD'S WAYS ARE NOT OUR WAYS

When man tries to understand God, the result is usually unanswered questions, confusions that may eventually lead one to either doubt God's promises and to the extreme may be doubt His very existence.
I sat in the usual Monday evening meetings of the Precious Vessels of Virtue and heard a visiting minister make some insightful statements concerning they way God deals with men.

• Joseph the 11th son of Jacob had had dreams that foretold his great future. His righteousness landed him in prison and the bible says, “But the Lord was with Joseph and showed him mercy, and gave him favour in the sight of the prison keeper”. Genesis 39:20-21.
• After the death of James, Peter’s zeal for the gospel got him imprisoned and as the church made intercession for him, an angel was sent to specifically deliver him. (Acts 12:5-11.
• Paul and Silas were beaten and imprisoned for supposedly “These men, being jews, exceedingly trouble our city”. Praying and singing hymns to God the prison doors opened and chains were loosed and that meant escape for all the prisoners. However, Paul was restrained no to leave immediately only to save the life of the keeper who supposing that prisoners under his watch had fled drew his sword to kill himself. The instant delay saved the keeper and his household and also disallowe labeling the church of Jesus as murders (Acts 16:19-31)

Indeed, God’s Ways Are Not Our Ways (Isaiah 55:8-9)

From the above, God is with all His children. All that is required is trust and believe that the savior is mighty to save. I left the meeting that evening of 20th June,2011 with one thing remained with me and that is , God has a way of dealing with us all.
Remember Zechariah and his wife Elizabeth were righteous but no children. Noah was the only righteous man in his day yet he had three sons. Again, why will God tell the Israelites that the they will see the Egyptians no more and yet when Herod sought the life of baby Jesus, God commanded Joseph to take the child and the mother to Egypt?

As I pondered, all I came to see is this hymn by John H. Sammis (1887) come alive:

When we walk with the Lord in the light of His Word,
What a glory He sheds on our way!

And with all who will trust and obey.

Refrain

Trust and obey, for there’s no other way
To be happy in Jesus, but to trust and obey.


Not a shadow can rise, not a cloud in the skies,
But His smile quickly drives it away;
Not a doubt or a fear, not a sigh or a tear,
Can abide while we trust and obey.


Not a burden we bear, not a sorrow we share,
But our toil He doth richly repay;
Not a grief or a loss, not a frown or a cross,
But is blessed if we trust and obey.


But we never can prove the delights of His love
Until all on the altar we lay;
For the favor He shows, for the joy He bestows,
Are for them who will trust and obey.


Then in fellowship sweet we will sit at His feet.
Or we’ll walk by His side in the way.
What He says we will do, where He sends we will go;
Never fear, only trust and obey.


I know this was not meant for me alone. Feel free to share this and to you whom this is meant for, “Never fear, only trust and obey.” SHALOM!!!
While we do His good will, He abides with us still,

THE JOURNEY IS AN “ADD” TRIP

2 PETER 1:5-8
Cooking is a very exciting and interesting art. Why?
There are meals that will taste delicious when ingredients are put together and cooked at a go whiles others will equally taste delicious when ingredients are put in at calculated intervals. To have the best of tastes for any food you intend to cook, it’s important to know which of the two skills above is appropriate for the meal.

When we had the privilege to hear the message of salvation, our faith rose and we were convicted by the powerful force of the Holy spirit and then we acted by faith in the word; making the most important decision in life, than begins the journey to eternal life. Yes! We “begin a journey….

This journey, I must state, is characterized by the “add” arithmetic. Therefore, the scripture “…add to faith virtue,(add) to virtue knowledge, (add) to knowledge self control, (add) to self control perseverance, (add) to perseverance godliness, (add) to godliness brotherly kindness, (add) to brotherly kindness love…” is not accidental, but a purposeful command.
The journey will require growth that will cause us to be fruitful. Day by day, we walk the earth with an unspoken aim, to become the best that our translation from the kingdom of darkness to the kingdom of light offers us. So, to work our salvation calls for a gradual adding of the important ingredients including the 7 in the above verse. Conscious effort, trusting and taking the necessary steps will gain us the victory. Mind you, the subtractions will be exposed and deleted in the long run if we do the additions. (lol….that’s Kingdom arithmetic)
Remember, when the sower went to sleep, the enemy came to sow tares that will slow down the growth journey of the plants. If you’re born again, it’s important we understand that, receiving Jesus Christ as Lord and personal Saviour does not mean “now, I can rest…”, rather it means “be sober, vigilant…” to make complete additions. Now hear the results,
“…for if you do these things <span>you will never stumble; for so an entrance will be supplied to you abundantly into the everlasting kingdom of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ.”

When we fail to add any important ingredient at the opportune time, the taste of food will not meet our expectation and we disappoint the cloud of witnesses and eventually, God. The “add”-itions are vital pills (bitter or sweet) and ingredients (whether we like their smell/taste or not). Let’s not fail to take and “add” them daily for, Our Father will present us with very unusual opportunities to do so.