I don’t expect to see any particularly noteworthy movies during these last two weeks of December, so I’ll go ahead and name my favorite movies of 2004. As if anyone cares.
There are three movies, all of them totally different, and I refuse to rank them. It would be like choosing between Steak and Shake French fries and the New England clam chowder at Red River Steakhouse—both tops in their genres, but definitely different genres. Anyways, my favorite movies, in the order in which they came out, are:
- The Passion of the Christ
- The Notebook
- Friday Night Lights
- With a very very honorable mention to “The Incredibles.”
“The Notebook” choked me up, more times, than nearly any movie I’ve seen since “Field of Dreams.” I go to extraordinary lengths to avoid crying, whether in the theatre or watching a DVD at home. A guy thing, obviously.
“Friday Night Lights” is just a great sports movie, filmed in a creative way. I love sports movies. Saw “Miracle,” about the Olympic hockey team, on DVD this year and loved it, too.
But nothing left a lasting impression like “The Passion of the Christ.” Pam and I saw it with a bunch of our teens on a Friday night. We watched the movie together, then went back to the youth center and discussed it. Mark and Tami Solak, two other volunteers, were also there, and our director, Traci Slager, led the discussion.
Being an urban church, we have some pretty rough-cut kids. One of them is Dan, who is actually in his 20s but still seems (and functions) like a teen. He has spent time in jail. Dan became a Christian during a mission trip this summer, but he wasn’t a Christian when we saw the movie. During the flogging scene, he couldn’t keep watching. If I remember right, he actually left his seat and went into the exit-way. He told us, “They just kept hitting and hitting and hitting and hitting, and I couldn’t take it.” He didn’t say they kept “whipping” him or “lashing,” but used the word “hitting.” I wondered what in his background, perhaps his home life, prompted that reaction. I was troubled by the scene, but I certainly couldn’t connect it with any personal experience. I’ve never even been in a fight my entire life.
With a felony on his record, Dan has had great trouble finding a job. We all rejoiced with him when he finally landed a job working in a restaurant about a year ago. He’s paid under the table, and gets no benefits, but it’s something. It’s work, it’s income, it’s identity.
I’m glad we’re the type of church that attracts someone like Dan. He wouldn’t “fit” in most youth groups, I’m afraid, and maybe too many Christian adults wouldn’t want him around their kids. I remember my own suspicions when he first started coming around a couple years ago, and was soon picking fist-fights (over a girl) with one of our other young Christians. But God loves Dan, and since we exist to reach people like him, we love him, too. Over these years, I’ve seen him soften and become a totally different person. It seemed only natural on that Friday night a couple months ago when, sitting around on the floor at the youth center, Dan told us how he had accepted Christ.
