Tuesday, March 24, 2009

Slumdog Millionaire

How does Jamal answer the final question correctly?...

I don't want to give anything away in regards to this movie. I will say that this movie fits well with what we have been talking about all year. Slumdog is rated "R." I would say the rating is for slight language, violence, and suggestive themes. Becca, Greg, Zihna, and I went to see this movie together. All of us agree that it is very well done. It is definitely not a "feel-good" movie. You don't walk out with a warm fuzzy feeling. During the movie you are lead into the slums of Mumbai by two brothers and an unlikely female companion. The story follows their life from a very young age through the pitfalls of slum life. At times it is difficult to watch what these children have to live through. The movie is based on the book "Q&A" by Vikas Swarup.

The question remains, what do we do now? I wonder what the producers of the movie will do about the situations they filmed. Will proceeds from the movie go to lift some of these children and families out of poverty, slavery, and the sex trade? As we can only control our own actions perhaps a better question would be what are we going to do now as a result of our study this year and having seen this movie? This Fall our church will enter a stewardship campaign focused on Justice and Faith and how the two are intertwined. It has been asked why are we focusing so much on social justice issues (presumably at the expense of the "Jesus stuff"). My simple answer to that question is social justice is the Jesus stuff! The longer answer would fill more pages than I care to here, but it would involve the many scriptures from the Prophets, Psalms, the Gospels, and the Book of James that point us in the direction of taking care of those that God cares about, the brokenhearted, the orphans, and the widows, etc.

Join us this Wednesday night as we begin the process of sponsoring children through Compassion International. Flood Begins at 6:00 with a snack supper and 6:30 for the worship experience. Pressing on! Andy