The Real Reason Why Jack Frost is so Awesome!!!

Why Jack Frost from Rise of the Guardians is Awesome

I saw ads on the side of my facebook advertising Rise of the Guardians. By looking at the pictures, the concept art, and the way that they had presented the movie, I thought it was going to be some sort of fantasy movie that took place in an icy forest, with a rather handsome main character, a talking magical bunny, a tree fairy, a wise old wizard, and some golden cloud guy who floats around. They deal with the perils of the forest at nighttime, when this dark evil force comes forth, and they protect the innocent creatures of their home as best they can.  

Boy I was wrong.

I go and see the movie with my little brother, and my idea of it was WAAAAAAAAAAAY off. Nevertheless, I left the theater feeling pleasantly surprised at how good it was. At first I wasn’t sure why. When it came out on home video, I saw it again and finally realized what it was that I liked about it. It was Jack. 

This is NOT a fan-girl post. It isn’t even really a “fan” post. Thought I’d say that. 

Jack Frost from Rise of the Guardians is a stunning character. It doesn’t take much character creation analysis to see that this character was purposefully created to appeal to a very wide spectrum of people, to be marketable. Although 80% of what makes the character likeable is completely shallow, there are some “subliminals” to him that I have come to notice the more I observed him.

So here are the four reasons why Jack Frost was created:

First, and the most obvious, is because of his dashingly good looks. Perfect smile, narrowing eyes, boy-band hair, skinny pants, hoodie... Doesn’t help that Chris Pine voices him, either. *sighs* 

OK, you get the idea. This is to grab the female’s attention, and young and old, are automatically captivated by his icy design. While I, regrettably, admit that I have a cartoon-crush on him, this is clearly a powerful marketing ploy, because statistically females spend more money than males do. The more females at the theater, the more money made in the box office. This is the number one reason why Jack Frost is on the silver screen. Typical mega corp behavior... 

Dreamworks poop. 

Ok fellow dudes, you can stop rolling your eyes now. 

Secondly, and on a relatable level, Jack is on a quest to find out who he is, what his purpose is on earth, and just why he was chosen to do something he didn’t think he could do. We all wanna know who we are, what we are, when we are to be us, and most importantly why... Why are we here? Why does God wanna use us? Why, and will I ever know, am I... me??? And how am I supposed to be me in this world? What is the point of it all? Teens are always struggling with this, as they (ahem, we) are budding adults. Everyone can relate to this.

Thirdly, on an even deeper note, Mr. Frost has a longing for a family, a love for children, and a desire to just make children happy. Jack is a very fatherly figure. Ladies, stop imagining what you and his kids would look like, and pay attention. 

He has a very real and natural longing to serve children (the new generation) and bring them into a life of fun, or “spiritual” joy, if you will.

He is self-sacrificial, risks his life to save others, and is a hero that children can look up to, both in real life and in Guardian land. Everyone admires a superhero character, and one with a familiarity (a somewhat nostalgic feeling) of wanting to be with children.

Fourthly, he gets tempted. This is where the half-unintended-by-the-designer-but-not-by-God part comes in. 

Pitch hates children. He doesn’t target the adults, he targets the kids. Why? Because they represent the faithful ones. Pitch is all about fear. In reality, Satan isn’t necessarily about brutally tearing you to pieces as painfully as possible, despite what all the horror movies want you to think (that’s what Hell is for). He’s more interested in the littler, more subtler things that “sneak into” your weakest moments (when the kids are asleep, for example) which can eventually lead you into a greater catastrophe. But where does all the real-life violence, money-pooling, conspiracies, and lustful mindsets come from? 

“Why tempt a man into adultery when gluttony is enough to send him to hell?” -The Screwtape Letters

Every sin we commit is fueled by fear. Think about it. The fear of what the others might think if you don’t do it. The fear of getting caught. The fear of remaining never being loved. The fear of never experiencing a romance. The fear of being defeated. The fear of messing up big time. The fear of pain. Even the fear of our own selves. It’s a very personal and very real darkness contained within our own souls. 

Back to you, Jack.

Yay!

Jack doesn’t even realize that being a guardian (which is, his destiny, his calling), trusting this mysterious powerful force that has chosen him, even though he has been “silent” to Jack all these years, will lead him to his center. Pitch wants Jack’s center to be of fear. This is when the power of the encouragement of fellowship comes in.

I am now going to put the basic plot of the movie into a strictly Christian perspective.

In the intro to the movie, Jack is risen from the dead, is given a second chance, and new life. He is new to being “born again”, and he doesn’t understand what his new life is all about. Then, without warning, this unknown force intrudes on his life and turns it all around. Through this, North, Tooth, Bunnymund, and Sandman all teach Jack very different but essential lessons about true identity through faith. 

North responds to the call to evangelize to Jack, which is what invites him into the discipleship and challenges him to seek out truth over all things in a completely different way.

 Bunnymund is all about new beginnings, which is where new life in Christ starts, and also points to the joy of Jesus’ resurrection. 

Tooth tries to comfort and listen to Jack when he is at his lowest. She also reminds him that even though he was never guaranteed an easy journey in the faith, it was undoubtedly the most joyful one, and it truly made a difference in the world. 

And finally, the most loving sacrifice, Sandman lays down his life for his friends. 

The power of “four” (or more), and using our own spiritual gifts to built a culture of love is oddly very evident in this movie!  

And what does all this come down to?

Faith like a child. It’s like when the little boy says right to the face of darkness:

“I believe in you, I’m just not afraid of you.”

In our culture of fear, we are learning not to believe in the existence of Hell and devils. We must must MUST believe in fear, but by all means, we must mist MUST not be afraid of it! The little boy is also an amazing example of how the true Christian faith really looks. I am thus encouraged in my faith journey, and I really hope you are too, or at least have an idea of how to look through new eyes to see Jesus’ perspective, or messages in everyday objects. 

Now I guess I can say that seeing ROTG was well worth my $7.50. 

Bye bye babies!!!!

Muah

Our Hero Setting

Ever notice how many stories are created that involve one person rebelling against the opposing world, thus eventually shifting into some sort of illustrious champion? First they have to do something, anything, to grab the attention of the high-held power figure in order to raise awareness for some good cause. Then one by one they win over the hearts of the masses, drawing them together as a team, and ultimately destroying the evil force, sometimes with "true" love and peace, and so on and so forth. The Hunger Games, Mylo Xyloto, the Dark Knight trilogy, and even MLPFIM are a few modern examples that carry such themes.

If you're like me, you can't get enough of those action packed tales of bravery and justice. You like having someone to edge-on, to get angry at, to cry with, to encourage, to grow with, and even to fall in love with. Even though this character is fiction and cannot actually hear you when you screaming at your book or tv, he/she still creates something in us that feels real.

Jesus was like that. Like the rest of the stories he was just an ordinary guy who was destined to revolt the ways of the world, knowing that he would get love and support from his fans, and then executed by his own people. Jesus says we need to be like him.

We look at other characters such as Harry Potter, Thor, Finn, and Lara Croft and think, man, do I wish I could do what they can do. If anything, these characters are completely unrealistic. What fiction stories tend to get right is how terrible the world is. No, we all haven't become mindless robots serving a big fat man who electrocutes us every time we say something he doesn't like, but we do have a complex system that tries to shut down our morals, blot out truth, and make our selfish desires seem like the right thing to do. If we, the ordinary human beings, choose to take a stand against such foolishness, we are not likely to succeed by having everyone cheering for us. We could inspire people by the thousands, we could influence many to turn away, we could take over the world with smiles and unicorns. Quite the contrary, it is likely that people will hate you, tear you down, and do horrible things to you. It could happen. Persecution is to be expected, after all. This is why everyone is so scared to fight, because of what everyone else might think, say, or do that could hurt them. But please, ladies and germs:

What are you so scared of?

Are people really all that intimidating? Is this going to matter a week from now? Is God's protection just not good enough?

No. No. No.

Whatever it will look like for you to be a hero? Well, that's for God to decide. Don't be scared. Answer the call today.

Questioning my Courage

I'm a good person.

No really I am.

Despite the fact that I've stolen, blasphemed, and lied so many times that I can't count....

But I'm good. I haven't killed anybody or anything...

So I just finished watching "180", a 33 minute long documentary that compared the holocaust and Hitler to abortion, and besides the major issues that were brought up I noticed some more subtle things that really tugged at my heart. One question that the interviewer asked several people was (not word for word), "If a Nazi had you at gunpoint and said he'd spare you if you took a bulldozer and buried a bunch of Jews alive, would you do it? Or would you take the bullet?" Immediately in my head I answered, "Pfffft. Bullet, obviously,"  and was shocked at how many people responded that they would do it to protect themselves. But then that got me on my usual bunny-trail of thought...

"You know, Bethany, dying to save a group of people who are going to die anyway isn't nearly as easy as you think... Wouldn't dying in that situation be completely pointless when those Jews are going to be buried alive anyway? OK it's not likely that you're ever going to be in a situation like that, but I would never kill others even if it would mean taking my own life..."

Then something hit me: "Hmmm, this is kind of like what Jesus did on the cross for us! He died knowing that a lot of us were going to Hell nevertheless..."

He did it because He couldn't bear the possibility that none of us would end up living with Him in the afterlife. He loves us and wants us that much. That's nothing like our typical immature definition of love:

The world has been trembling, especially now. Courage is put on the back burner and forgotten about. We do this because we want to be safe, we don't want to risk our lives. Perhaps we are not meant to be heroes, besides, that job is probably for someone else, right?

Now while it is probably unlikely any of us will endure torture or life threatening situations, it is guaranteed that us true believers will be persecuted. We are to expect this, and be prepared with how we are going to respond. If you are in America you have probably noticed just how much subtle pressure there is for us to keep our beliefs to ourselves or otherwise look like and idiot and screw everything up. Chances are you're heart races a bit out of nervousness when God has entered into a conversation in secular realms, especially at  school. Sometimes God and Jesus are mocked right in front of our faces and we're either oblivious, don't care, or are too afraid to defend ourselves.

Here's the thing, if you are a believer, as in, you know that you know that you know that you know that you know that you know that you know that you know that you know that you know that you know that you know that you know  that you know that you know that you know that you know that you know that you know that you know that you know that you know that you know  that you know that you know that you know that you know that you know that you know that you know that you know that you know that you know  that you know that you know that you know that you know that you know that you know that you know that you know that you know that you know  that you know that you know that you know that you know that you know that you know that you know that you know that you know that you know  that you know that you know that you know that you know that you know that you know that you know that you know THAT YOU FOR SURE WITHOUT A SHADOW OF DOUBT OR SHRED OF REGRET AND GUILT, ABSOLUTELY POSITIVELY 100 % CONFIDENTLY IN-THIS-FOR-REAL AND GIVING-IT-ALL-THAT-I-GOT-AND-NOT-JUST-PART-OF-ME-BUT-I-MEAN-EVERYTHING that you will endure anything AND everything for true love.

It's like what Mason Jar Music man Josh Garrels says in his song "Resistance":

"...Overcome every fear of regret and confusion, 
It’s all an illusion...
Every mortal breath, is meant to bring forth fire 
But only when the fear of death, gets consumed"


And then he closes with:  

"It’s gonna cost us everything 
To follow one Lord and King 
True love endures everything 
To be free
Hold fast like an anchor in the storm 
We will not be moved"

If you haven't heard that song, you really should, like, you must. Who knows, you're whole life may depend on it!!! It's my power song, like kick Satan in the butt kinda power. 

Yet again I am talking to me. I get scared when defending or even admitting my faith needs to happen. If I'm not in this for real, then I will only be lukewarm. And lukewarm people are who God spits out... Phew, God help me out!! 

When the Cause Effects You

Election day is coming up (as everyone in the US knows) and Republicans, Democrats, whatever-parties and anarchists everywhere are in high tension right now over the whole thing. What's easy to notice is that the overall fight (amongst non-political people) over the presidents isn't necessarily a big argument over which person is the best guy to run our country. It's leaning more towards morality and/or whose views we like better, in fact, it's somewhat a "what's in it for me" deal.

Specific issues regarding what's right or wrong are always tied to where our leaders stand, and generally we choose the side with whom we agree with most. Issues like gay marriage, abortion, religious freedom, animal treatment, and money are hotly debated right now. Some people don't give a crud about morals and are just like, "whatevs", some choose a side and stay silent, while others grab their guns and battle with a full-on, hostile resistance against the opposing side.

This is not an article about politics, thank goodness (you can relax and stop the eye-rolling now)! Rather this about when fighting for what we think are "good causes" can become a horrific error. If you are like me and want to see good morals becoming common again, read on and please pay attention.

Let's start with 2 current, different, real-life scenarios:

A 21 year old man named Nelson Menard was caught abusing his dog, Kindle. A huge Internet petition was issued to give Nelson the maximum possible jail sentence, a $25,000 fine, and a LIFETIME ban from owning or being around animals. The damage done to Kindle was nothing short of horrific, but that request is quite unforgiving and very extreme. Many Animal Rights Activists think that that's not nearly enough punishment, however. In response to the petition, they were constantly lashing out hateful urges for justice to be done with torture and then death. It was utterly terrifying to see what others pleaded for in defense of Kindle.


During an Obama rally in Cincinnati last Sunday, two protesters against abortion were screaming at the president during his speech. Obama stopped, and the crowd of 13,500 drowned him out with a chant of “Four more years!” The man was then escorted out by five police officers. Another man then stood up and began yelling as well, but almost immediately he too was taken away. Stevie Wonder shows up to perform and gives a little "response" about how men should never say what a woman is to do with her body.

Now I am pro-life all the way, but one person looking like an idiot in front of thousands for a cause is going to paint the whole group that way, too. Those 13,500 others now see us more as reckless jerks, thank you very much.

ANY HOSTILE, RECKLESS,  BEHAVIOR FOR A CAUSE IS NEVER OK.

 The saddest thing for me to see is when believers and "good" people go "bad" for a cause. When you defend something, you must make sure that it is out of love. Any actions that are not loving for a cause guarantee more opposition. The cheesy phrase, What Would Jesus Do? would seriously really help.  Just don't turn over any tables, ok?

The point is Jesus wouldn't wish for revenge, show disrespect, or be hateful to anyone or anything. Judgment on others is meant completely for God, because only He knows the full story and the root of all actions. Patience, hope, and prayer are the tools we need to fight for good in this world. Anything not of the Lord doesn't deserve to be present. Sometimes we think that this method is ineffective, but we have to trust God's instructions and timing and let Him work out what we can't.

Also, believers should never put a cause before the Father. God comes first before our desires. Build your life around him first, then worry about everything.

Up In Da Club With an Unintentional Worship Song

Hey there my Converse shoes!


Have you ever heard a secular song on the radio and thought it sounded like it was talking about God? I recently heard a song by David Guetta and Usher that sounds SO much like a surrender to God's love! The song is called, "Without You" and it's had huge hype and radio play, ya know, it being one of those generic pop/club songs, but the lyrics are definitely somethin' else.

Of course, neither Usher nor David Guetta are necessarily considered good "role models", and of course the song was written to whine about how Usher misses his girl desperately and needs her back. But let's set that aside and say that they have officially created a worship song (unintentionally). Here's what I mean:

The song opens up with Usher admitting his faults: 

"I can't win, I can't reign
I will never win this game
Without you, without you.
I am lost, I am vain,
I will never be the same
Without you, without you."

The Bible teaches that without God, we are nothing. In the "game" that life is, we "can't win" on our own. We may have talents and God-given gifts, but without God (who is also love) we are "lost" and we "will never be the same". We may also have power to rule over a nation, but compared to God, our "reign" is nothing. The heart of a follower will always be more powerful than the heart of a king.

-Jesus replied, "What is impossible for man is possible with God". Luke 18:27 NIV

- If I have the gift of prophecy and can fathom all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have a faith that can move mountains, but do not have love, I am nothing. 1 Corinthians 13:2 NIV

Usher also admits that he is "vain", which is true of everyone, we all deal with vanity one way or another. God is perfect, and He is the only thing worth lifting up. Without God we fail to recognize our own roles as humans and we tend to put ourselves higher than we should be. It's just as Ecclesiastes constantly repeats: "vanity of vanities, everything is vanity".

And as a fun little note, the lines "I am lost...without you" is almost like a wink at the chorus to the worship song, "Breathe" by Kathryn Scott ("And I, I'm desperate for you... And I, I'm lost without you").  

For such a simply worded verse there's a lot of meat in there. You can get a lot more out of that than I had written. But anyway, moving onward! Here are the most powerful lyrics of the song:

Pre chorus 1:

"I won't run, I won't fly
I will never make it by
Without you, without you.
I can't rest, I can't fight
All I need is you and I,

Without you, without you." 

Pre chorus 2:

"I won't soar, I won't climb
If you're not here, I'm paralyzed! 
Without you, without you.
I can't look, I'm so blind 
I lost my heart, I lost my mind! 
Without you, without you."

Here's what the B-I-B-L-E has got with the lyrics "I won't run, I won't fly.... I won't soar":

-"...but those who hope in the LORD will renew their strength. They will soar on wings like eagles; they will run and not grow weary, they will walk and not be faint." Isaiah 40:31

-"You yourselves have seen what I did to Egypt, and how I carried you on eagles’ wings and brought you to myself." Exodus 19:4

The Lord is a deliverer, and sends his help like a soaring eagle. Those who believe will also fly with those God-sent wings. Without God, you ain't got no wings to fly! 

With "I'm paralyzed":

-"Some men brought to him a paralyzed man, lying on a mat. When Jesus saw their faith, he said to the man, “Take heart, son; your sins are forgiven.”" Matthew 9:2

Without the forgiveness and love of God and the faith of those men, the paralyzed man would've stayed paralyzed for the rest of his life! 

With "I'm so blind... I lost my mind":

-The LORD will afflict you with madness, blindness and confusion of mind. Deuteronomy 28:28

That wasn't very cheery, but we cannot forget that God is a God of both love and justice. He does indeed have the power to take anything away from people, including their sight and sanity. However, the Gospels have recorded the healing miracles Jesus made on people who were blind, demon possessed, insane, etc. Without God's healing, where would they be? Where would we be?

And finally, "I lost my heart":

-"Scorn has broken my heart  and has left me helpless;
I looked for sympathy, but there was none,
    for comforters, but I found none....But as for me, afflicted and in pain—

    may your salvation, God, protect me." Psalm 69 verses 20 and 29

In this book, David writes of how his broken heart isn't something that he can fix on his own, the feelings of pain alone hold him down. He searched for comfort through others, but was unsuccessful. Later he begs for God to protect him through his time of need, and that was all it took for his heart to be found healed. God also asks of us our hearts, when we give that to him, we gain a heart out of it! When we refuse, we lose our hearts.  

I dunno about you, but that's pretty crazy how coincidental that is. Maybe God was being a little bit sneaky.... You how in my previous post about the Avengers I mentioned how in media sometimes you can find "golden nuggets" and signs of God's love? With this song, it didn't take me long to recognize that these signs were present, but when I went Bible surfing to find deeper meanings in the song, it's incredible what can come out it! Remember, there are reasons behind everything and symbols are everywhere, so always guard your heart. And when it comes to media and your everyday choices, remember:

"Chew the meat and spit out the bones"

                                      -John Boyle

And to send you off, here is David Guetta's official "Without You" song and lyrics video (complete with colorful artsy visuals!!!).

Do' da da go' hv i!!!!!! Keep on dancing! You know you want to!