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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.) 2016 Movie Awards - Spiritual Gifts

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!

Avengers: Age of Ultron and Spiritual Gifts

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:

  1. Each hero has a different gift.
  2. No one gift can get the job done.
  3. They use their gifts for the same purpose.
  4. 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!

Avengers & Spiritual Gifts

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?facebook-film-icon

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

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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.)

2016 Movie Awards - Resurrection

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!

See why CREED is the best Redemption Reel Parable of 2015

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.

Creed, Legacy, and Redemption

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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CREED and Redemption

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!

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?facebook-film-icon

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

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2015 Movie Awards – Best Prodigal Son Reel Parable

(This is Part 1 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.)

2016 Movie Awards - Prodigal Son

Our first award goes to the movie that is the best Prodigal Son Reel Parable.

And the award for best Prodigal Son Reel Parable goes to… The Martian!

Bring-Him-Home

This one was easy because The Martin is a fantastic retelling of the Lost Parables, especially the Prodigal Son.

Mark Watney (Matt Damon) is lost on Mars. Presumed dead, his team leaves him behind when they evacuate Mars due to a deadly storm.

Yeah, he isn’t “lost” because of his actions, but he is lost.

He is missing.

He is the prodigal.

But he is also valuable.

While the team on Earth tries to figure out a way to get him home, his crew mates decide to go rogue, return to Mars, and try to save him.

They go back to Mars to find the prodigal.

These crew mates are willing to sacrifice their wants and their desires (going home, seeing their families, etc.) to return to Mars to save him.

He is lost.

They sacrifice to find him.

That, at its core, is the story of the Lost Parables.

TheProdigalSon

Hey, if you don’t already own the Martian 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?

facebook-film-icon

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