Second Chance...

My good friend, Vive wrote brilliantly about the movie ' Second Chance' in his blog [ www.vivealive.blogspot.com ] not too long ago and today, I want to share a little of what I've learnt watching this movie. Personally, to me, this is, again, one of the inspiring, touching, fitting and brilliant movie I've seen for a long time. If you have seen "Facing the Giants " and " Fire proof ", then you must pick up this DVD movie and put it in your special collection section. There is no special effects nor fanfares to shout about - just a simple story that one could really relate to. I shall spare you the details of the movie because I would be glad if you were to see it yourself. But I will say that this movie highlights very much about the condition of our churches today. We are so caught up of being mega or putting up bigger buildings to fashion and satisfy our hunger and greed for bigger congregation that lest, we forget about the ones that are really getting their hands dirty with the normal folks on the street. Yunno, we are so retarded to continually starve our heads with the verse, " we will always have the poor amongst us " while this film simply shows us what it really mean to reach your hands and help someone along your climb to a better relationship with your Heavenly Father. We have become so complacent and cushioned with super duper normalcy that we are playing church every Sunday! We run programs so that we get the publicity to make us look good in the eyes of the public and to camouflage our concern for the poor and needy with more publicity stunts. It has become almost cinematic, pompous and even extravagant Sunday that we forget the almost breaking pews and chairs at the church down the other street. We are practically concern of our exterior outlook that we forget the decaying death of our internal outlook. We practically dress up to kill the eyes around us and throw a fistful of dollars into the offering bags out of convenience without getting a hands down experience of what we should be doing with it in the first place. We are embroiled in church leadership struggle, building of mega churches, internal strife and a host of uneasy issues that are swept immediately under the carpet while we brand this portion of people as trouble-makers, 'the other camp people' and what not. Church politics governed by irresponsible and almost self-righteous pastors and board of deacons/elders have ruined churches after churches in our society today. There are too many to highlight and please, don't ever look so super spiritual!~ This movie is relevant and real today because it highlights the very concern of what I have written today. I write this without fear nor favour nor alignment to any particular group of people. This is simply the facts that requires us to be extra vigilant and to constantly put our faith and focus on HIM, God the Father alone!
In our society today, we have to question ourselves, how many of us are willing to be like Sonny who washed the feet of a battered and bruised youth leader, Tony who stood up for another youth, Julius so that the youth can leave the hood to be in the church? This is the scene that touched my heart a lot. It is not so much of the act of humbleness but standing up, sacrificing and doing the right thing. Unlike our scenario today, if you were to stand up and speak up of all these issues, you are immediately alienated, put in a cold storage or even deemed as evil as you are rocking the boat of plain sailing. My question is simply this : Are we that blinded or paralysed that we are to "keep our mouth shut" and let everything to slide by and do nothing about it? Sit tight, feel good and let the rot slide further? Well, this film certainly deals with that and we know that we are to humble ourselves before HIM and go back to the roots - The mighty Word of Lord!

Film critic, Adam R.Holz has this to say about this film : " The film offers a realistic, provocative and unravished look at the issues of social , economic and racial disparities within the Body of Christ. Raw, unapologetic honesty and grittiness..... characterize the film which pulls no punches as it addresses hard subjects those of us in the church sometimes tempted to brush under the rug." As usual, none , mere mortals like us, is found perfect in the eyes of God but we most certainly can make this place a much better place to live in. Praying alone will not help if we are not doers of the Word too.

Get the movie , watch it and be truthful !~ BTW, the view from the roof top can be quite a view!