Emptied & Humbled: Spider-man 2 – Sacrifice

This is part of Emptied & Humbled, a movie based Lenten devotional. The whole devotional can be found here.

We make sacrifices every day. Every time we make a choice – and we make choices every day – we make a sacrifice. We often choose one thing at the cost – or sacrifice – of another. We choose one thing over something else.

Lent is a time of sacrifice.

While most of us will never have to pay the ultimate sacrifice, we all make smaller sacrifices every day.

As we see in the Spider-man II poster above when we choose we also sacrifice. Peter Parker wanted things that Spider-man got in the way of.

Peter Parker sacrificed his will, his own ambition, to serve the people.

Peter sacrificed in order to be the hero.

He gave up his job, his girl, and his grades to fulfill a better, a bigger, calling.

What has God called you to do?

What is God asking you to give up, whether it is for Lent or for your life?

What are you holding on to that you know you should let go of?

What is standing between you and Jesus today, right now?

What do you need to sacrifice in order to obey God better?

This Lent I am straight up fasting. When I fast it is usually for one of two reasons.

Fasting is a very clear way for me to have self-control. Often, the way I eat indicated my lack of self-control. The less self-control I have the more I eat. Fasting is a way for me to refocus and reboot my will and self-control.
Fasting makes me trust God. I have a lot of dreams and plans and responsibilities. I work full-time and my wife and I homeschool our kids. In addition to the full-time job I volunteer at my Church and with my son’s Boy Scout troop. In addition to all that I am chasing this dream – Reel Parables. While my job is my current profession, Reel Parables is my passion. The more I have going on the more I try to control it. The more I pursue the less I trust God. Fasting is a way for me to stop trying to control my life and to give it back to God.

Peter Parker, like Jesus, had to sacrifice his own ambition to serve a higher purpose.

Today – this day – what can you give up, what can you sacrifice, in order to serve someone already in your life?

What can you sacrifice to serve your family, your spouse, or your children?

What can you sacrifice to serve your job and co-workers?

This is part of Emptied & Humbled, a movie based Lenten devotional. The whole devotional can be found here.

Check out Emptied & Humbled, a movie based Lenten devotional.

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Get my free e-book, How to See God’s Story in Movies. This free download will help you share God’s story with your kids and students by showing you how to see God’s story in movies.

Not only will this guarantee that you get the latest Reel Parables posts, but you will also get my most popular downloads, including “How to Time Travel.”

And be sure to check out my About page for more info on what I do around here at Reel Parables.

Until next time, God bless.

Simon L Smith

Emptied & Humbled: Spider-man 2 – Choice

This is part of Emptied & Humbled, a movie based Lenten devotional. The whole devotional can be found here.

We all make choices. Do you choose to serve yourself or do you choose to serve others?

Lent is about choice. We choose what to give up as a way to remember and observe what Jesus choose to give up for us. We choose to give something up/fast as a way to remove those things that stand between God and us.

Spider-man II is also about choice

As this movie poster shows, Spider-man II is all about choice. (FYI – spoilers…)

If you can, watch Spider-man 2. Don’t be fooled by how shallow the Amazing Spider-man movies have been. Spider-man II has a depth to it that the new ones don’t. As you watch it, pay attention to what Peter Parker wants.

Peter Parker wants:

A job (or to keep his job)
A girlfriend
Good grades in school

Peter Parker wants good things. He wants admirable things. He wants what we want for ourselves and what we want for our own kids. Pursuing these things, however, means not being Spider-man and serving others.

Getting/keeping the job means not being the hero.

Getting the girl means not helping others.

Getting good grades means not being Spider-man.

Instead of being motivated by selfish ambition or vanity, each of you should, in humility, be moved to treat one another as more important than yourself. Philippians 2:3

Everyday we choose between serving ourselves and serving others.

Does our own selfish ambition and vanity motivate us? Or do the needs of others motivate us?

Sometimes these choices compliment each other. Sometimes they fit like a puzzle and you end up getting both.

Sometimes they do not.

Sometimes we have to give up what we want to help others get what they want.

This is the choice that Peter Parker must make. Will he pursue money (his job), a girlfriend and good grades? Or will he be the hero who saves others? He has to make a choice.

Will he chase his own desires or will he empty himself of his own selfish ambitions and be the hero?

Will he humble himself and choose to help others instead of just helping himself?

What about you? What do you want?

For what do you desire?

What would getting what you want mean for others?

Are there areas of your life that you “fill up” at the cost of other people? Are there areas of your life that you fill up when you empty them instead?

Philippians 2 says that Jesus emptied himself and humbled himself. We know the story and can easily see that this is true. Jesus gave up his own life to save my life. Jesus gave up his own life to save your life.

What would this sacrificial emptying and humbling look like in your life?

Here is my first challenge to you:

During Lent, examine your life for areas where you take, but should be giving.

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This is part of Emptied & Humbled, a movie based Lenten devotional. The whole devotional can be found here.

Check out Emptied & Humbled, a movie based Lenten devotional.

Click To Tweet

Get my free e-book, How to See God’s Story in Movies. This free download will help you share God’s story with your kids and students by showing you how to see God’s story in movies.

Not only will this guarantee that you get the latest Reel Parables posts, but you will also get my most popular downloads, including “How to Time Travel.”

And be sure to check out my About page for more info on what I do around here at Reel Parables.

Until next time, God bless.

Simon L Smith

2015 Movie Awards – Best Spiritual Gifts Reel Parable

(This is Part 5 of our 1st annual Reel Parables Movie Awards. The rest of the Reel Parables Movie Awards (for 2015) can be found here. These movies – and these awards – are greatly influenced by my How to See God’s Story in Movies series. Be sure to check it out to learn how I do what I do.)

Our next award goes to the movie that is the best Spiritual Gifts Reel Parable.

And the award for best Spiritual Gifts Reel Parable goes to… The Avengers: Age of Ultron!

This was an easy one! Why? Because pretty much any “super hero team” movie shows us what it’s like to use our spiritual gifts in the church!

The Incredibles – YES!
The Avengers – Duh!
Fantastic Four – Well, yes, even if the movie wasn’t that great.
Suicide Squad – I assume it will…

Here is why:

Each hero has a different gift.
No one gift can get the job done.
They use their gifts for the same purpose.
They win or lose together, in community.

This is exactly how it is with our spiritual gifts!

We see in 1 Corinthians 12 that not everyone has the same gift. There are different gifts for different people.

The church is made up of all the gifts! For a church to be healthy and vibrant, we need all the gifts, not just one.

In the church we use our gifts for the same purpose: To “be the church,” to “be the body of Christ,” to fulfill the great commission, etc.

We succeed or fail together. No christian should be a Lone Ranger. No christian can properly use their spiritual gift alone.

Our Spiritual Gifts require us to live in – work in – minister in – community!

The next time you watch a movie like this with your kids, let them know that this is how the church should be!

Hey, if you don’t already own Avengers: Age of Ultron and plan to buy it, please consider using this link. It won’t cost you anything more, and it will help us out here at Reel Parables. Thanks!

Also, would you please do me a favor? Would you share this with someone you think would enjoy it? And If you haven’t already, will you please like us over at Facebook (click below) and sign up for the Reel Parables email list?

Not only will this guarantee that you get the latest Reel Parables posts, but you will also get my most popular downloads, including “How to See God’s Story in Movies,”

And be sure to check out our new Start Here and About pages!

Until next time, – God bless.

Simon L Smith

2015 Movie Awards – Best Redemption Reel Parable

(This is Part 4 of our 1st annual Reel Parables Movie Awards. The rest of the Reel Parables Movie Awards (for 2015) can be found here. These movies – and these awards – are greatly influenced by my How to See God’s Story in Movies series. Be sure to check it out to learn how I do what I do.)

Our next award goes to the movie that is the best Redemption Reel Parable.

And the award for best Redemption Reel Parable goes to… CREED!

re·demp·tion: rəˈdem(p)SH(ə)n/

noun: redemption

The action of saving or being saved from sin, error, or evil.

I try to stay positive here at Reel Parables and rarely go negative, but let’s get the obvious out of the way. Yes, CREED did indeed redeem the Rocky franchise. CREED brought a fresh – and surprisingly honest – look at the aging franchise, as well as its aging star.

I know this is not a typical Redemption story, like a Schindler’s List where he literally buys back – redeems – people for a fiery death, but here me out.

Mary Anne, Apollo Creed’s widow, saves Adonis Creed, a child Apollo had from an extramarital affair years before, from the foster care system. In a very real way she saves his life.
Adonis saves (redeems) the Creed name.
Adonis redeems his story:

Adonis: “Don’t! I have to prove it!”

Rocky:”Prove what?”

Adonis: “That I’m not a mistake!”

This is a powerful scene in what could have been a cheesy movie. Adonis, who never really knew his father, wants to be more than he is. He wants purpose.

Adonis redeems his story. He is (or at least becomes) far more than the bastard child of an illicit affair.

He redeems the name, a name he feels unworthy to be called by.

Does he win the big fight? It doesn’t really matter. The real battle was for his heart. And he won that battle.

But he didn’t do it alone. He also redeemed Rocky.

Adonis did not do all of this on his own. He did it in community.

First with Mary Anne and then with Rocky. Other invested in his life. And he invested in others, specifically, Rocky.

He shows Rocky that life is worth fighting for. In the same way that Rocky shows Adonis that life – and purpose – is worth fighting for.

Yes, CREED is about boxing, legacy, purpose, but it is also about redemption!

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Hey, if you don’t already own CREED and plan to buy it, please consider using this link. It won’t cost you anything more, and it will help us out here at Reel Parables. Thanks!

Not only will this guarantee that you get the latest Reel Parables posts, but you will also get my most popular downloads, including “How to See God’s Story in Movies,”

And be sure to check out our new Start Here and About pages!

Until next time, – God bless.

Simon L Smith

2015 Movie Awards – Best Sacrificial Death Reel Parable

(This is Part 3 of our 1st annual Reel Parables Movie Awards. The rest of the Reel Parables Movie Awards (for 2015) can be found here. These movies – and these awards – are greatly influenced by my How to See God’s Story in Movies series. Be sure to check it out to learn how I do what I do.)

Our next award goes to the movie that is the best Sacrificial Death Reel Parable.

And the award for best Sacrificial Death Reel Parable goes to… Inside Out!

As I said over on the Reel Parables Facebook page, Inside Out is an important movie. Sure, it’s entertaining, it’s funny for both kids and adults; typical Pixar. But it is an important movie because of the way that it shows us that emotions, especially sadness (grief), are not to be feared.

After all, there *is* a time to laugh and there is *also* a time to weep. (Ecclesiastes 3:4)

But I digress. Inside Out is also the best Sacrificial Death Reel Parable of 2015!

Bing Bong loved Riley the way God loves us!

Even though Riley “outgrew” her imaginary friend Bing Bong, Bing Bong never outgrew – or gave up – on her.

So much so that he sacrificed himself in the Memory Dump to save her. Yes, in order to save Joy from the Memory Dump, so she can save Riley, Bing Bong sacrifices himself. He falls out of the wagon so that Joy can reach the top. In doing so he falls back into the Memory Dump and forgotten is by Riley forever.

He sacrificed himself to save Riley. Just like Jesus sacrificed himself to save us.

But God demonstrates his own love for us, in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us. (Romans 5:8)

Hey, if you don’t already own Inside Out and plan to buy it, please consider using this link. It won’t cost you anything more, and it will help us out here at Reel Parables. Thanks!

Not only will this guarantee that you get the latest Reel Parables posts, but you will also get my most popular downloads, including “How to See God’s Story in Movies,”

And be sure to check out our new Start Here and About pages!

Until next time, – God bless.

Simon L Smith