Tag: movies

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The Principle of Progressive Collapse

In the 1960s and 70s, the U.S. military extensively used the UH-1 Iroquois helicopter. Better known as the “Huey,” it gained widespread fame in Vietnam for its ability to carry troops in and out of battle and conduct medevac missions in hot combat zones.

Huey (foreground) and Blackhawk (background)

The venerated chopper has served its nation reliably since the 1950s, but it doesn’t have the best safety record when it has to make a hard landing. It doesn’t have many safety features to help occupants survive a crash. In the 1970s, a new helicopter came on the scene: the UH-60 Black Hawk.

Versions of the Black Hawk are still widely in use in today’s military. It’s larger, smoother, tougher, and more versatile than the Huey. It also has some safety features built in to help protect the crew from hard landings.

In 1993, U.S. Special Forces served in the African nation of Somalia to intervene in a situation where local warlords were taking advantage of a severe famine. On one particularly bloody October day, local fighters were able to shoot down a U.S. Black Hawk chopper during a military operation in the capital city of Mogadishu.

The pilot, Mike Durant, was the only survivor of the crash. The impact knocked him unconscious, but when he came to, he was surprised to find that he could no longer see over the “dashboard” of the helicopter. As it turns out, the front seats in the Black Hawk were designed to withstand a certain amount of force, after which they’d progressively collapse to the floor. This safety feature was intended to spare the seats’ occupants from absorbing all that force with their own bodies. By building the structure of the seat this way, the large amount of force that would have been transferred directly into Durant’s spine got dissipated enough to allow him to survive. The crash still broke his back, but he eventually recovered (despite being captured and held hostage) and returned to duty. The events of this operation are depicted in the movie “Black Hawk Down.”

The front seats in a Blackhawk are designed to absorb a portion of the force in a crash landing

Nowhere in scripture are Christians promised a life free of hardship. On the contrary, we will be hated and made fun of, and our lives can quite possibly be made more difficult by announcing our religious convictions to the world. The heat will get cranked up and all will get to see what our faith is really made of.

In those times, sometimes we’ll be made to bend, but not break. Other times we’ll be broken, but not killed. I wouldn’t go so far as to say that God never gives us more than we think we can bear; yes, that happens to people. The tough times I’ve been through pale in comparison to what some others have endured, but it seems like God’s purpose of the pain, the “why,” is never apparent during the pain. It also seems, however, that He designs situations in such a way that parts of you, or perhaps parts of your character, are protected while others crumple and break around you. When it’s over, the parts that He didn’t want are broken and have fallen away and the parts that are left are the parts that He still wants to be there. It may very well be that He arranged that set of circumstances specifically to refine your character or your outlook on life.

If you’re going through something really hard right now, hang in there. It won’t always be like this.

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Life Lessons From a Sitcom

Years ago there was a sitcom on TV called “Parks and Rec.” It was a comedy that focused on the staff of the Parks and Recreation Department of a small Midwestern town in Indiana.

The main character in this show is a woman named Leslie Knope, a very energetic civil servant overflowing with enthusiasm. Leslie’s best friend is Ann Perkins, a bubbly and fun (but not nearly as over-the-top as Leslie) nurse. My personal favorite is Leslie’s boss, Ron Swanson. He’s a deadpan middle-aged guy that enjoys solitude, fine alcohol, well-prepared meats of any kind, and making government bureaucracy less efficient.

In one particular episode Ron learns Leslie is planning a surprise birthday event for him, which, in Ron’s mind, is a mortifying idea. Leslie’s panache for flamboyant celebrations is something he fears will be turned on him. Out of morbid curiosity, he asks Ann about a past surprise birthday party Leslie threw for her. You can almost sense his nausea as she fondly recalls being “kidnapped” from work, brought to a restaurant where a mariachi band sang happy birthday to her and made her wear a sombrero, then afterward heading home where virtually all of Ann’s friends were waiting to surprise her.

Ron went into defensive mode. He starts sleeping at the office to reduce the opportunities for him to be kidnapped. He starts learning of little hints that another kidnapping is in the offing. When Leslie finally comes to him with a lame attempt to get him to a specific location elsewhere in the building, he resigns himself to the fate he’d been trying to avoid. He follows Leslie to a conference room and she opens the door, where he expects someone to lunge at him.

Instead, he finds a comfortable chair at a simply set table for one. The table has a large steak, a heaping side of bacon, a baked potato with plenty of toppings, a bottle of booze to complement the steak, and two war movies for him to enjoy by himself.

As he stumbles to find the right words to say, Ron mentions the party Ann had described to him earlier. Leslie replies “I did that for Ann. Why would I throw Ron Swanson an Ann Perkins party?”

This oddly touching scene is the perfect analogy for the way the Lord commissions us to do His work. I don’t know what it is, but for some reason, when I was younger I always feared I’d have to grow up and become some kind of missionary in a far-off land. I know that’s important, but I don’t want to do that! To any missionaries out there, a thousand thank yous for the work you do. I can’t rule out the possibility that being a missionary is still somewhere in my future, but I feel blessed that God’s said something similar: “I already have people for that. I need you to do this thing nobody else is equipped to do.” Hopefully you’re hearing the same message.

As it turns out, there are plenty of roles God can use you for, and there are some we may not enjoy. Sometimes though, you may just find that God hands you an assignment and you mull it over for awhile, only to come away saying “yeah, you know, I think I could do that!”

They won’t always be fun, but you’ll be blessed each time you say “yes” to God.

Lord, thank you for knowing us better than we know ourselves, and for training, equipping, and preparing us for the things You’ll ask of us. Help us be brave when we’re asked to do something we don’t want to do, be appreciative when we’re asked to do something we like, and be confident in You at all times. In Your name I ask, Amen.

To see this “Parks and Rec” exchange, have a look here. There’s some crude language sprinkled throughout, but it’s still a fun clip.

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Aim Small, Miss Small

There are a couple of movies out there that cite the phrase “aim small, miss small.”

The movies I’ve seen this line quoted in use it in reference to shooting. If you aim generically at the broad side of a barn, the theory goes, you’ll probably be able to hit it, but if you just shot 10 times at a barn without aiming at any particular part of it, like you were firing from the hip, you’d probably have 10 hits that are widely scattered across the target.

Instead, pick a specific point on that barn, maybe a prominent notch on an individual board. Try this technique with another 10 shots, and you’re going to have a much tighter shot grouping. By aiming at something small (in relation to the target), if you miss, you probably won’t be far off, and you’ll obtain a much more consistent result.

Consider this saying in light of how you pray. Prayer should include praise and thanksgiving to the Lord, and this is very important. That portion of your prayers certainly warrants more than the passing mention that’s here in this post, but today I want to focus on the asking part of prayer. I would guess that for many of us, the most common reason behind why we pray is because we’re asking God for something.

God wants us to pray, yes. He wants us to pray often, having an attitude of prayer that lasts throughout the day. This frequent communication brings you nearer to God. But what is it that you ask for when you pray? Health? Blessings? Maybe salvation for unsaved friends or family? Revival is always something we should be asking for, and should be a frequent request.

I have to ask, though: just how specific do you get in your prayers? Do you ask generally for salvation for those nameless, faceless people you pass regularly, or do you ask consistently for God to move the heart of that cantankerous neighbor you avoid when you see them outside? Do you ask God to spark revival, or do you ask Him to show you the part He wants you to play in bringing that revival about?

Let’s assume for a moment that for the next year, God agreed to grant all your (unselfish) requests. How would that affect your prayer life? I’m guessing that not only would you spend a lot more time in prayer; you’d also get a lot more specific about the things you pray for. This probably isn’t going to be a scenario God chooses for you, but that’s no reason to skip out on that type of prayer life. Keep that in mind the next time you bring your requests to the Lord.

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I Am Dangerous…In a Good Way

I’m not gonna lie, I’m pretty excited about the widespread release of Top Gun: Maverick tomorrow.

I was too young to enjoy the original movie when it first came out, but after I saw it, it instantly became one of those movies that was easy to quote back and forth with other fans of classic 80’s movies.

(For the record, I’m still miffed about the studio whitewashing history in order to avoid offending China, but I’m hoping the rest of the movie will make up for it.)

I don’t go to the movie theater as much as I used to, but I’m going to make a solid effort to get there for this one. I thought about trying to see it in IMAX, but was afraid I’d get motion sick or something. As it is, I already bring earplugs to wear when I go to the movies. (I’m an aspiring grumpy old man. I’ll probably wear a cardigan and shake my fist at the screen while shouting “turn that infernal racket down!”)

This is a unique case; the sequel was made more than 35 years after the original. It makes you think back to some of the scenes from the first movie. Set in the Cold War, the whole film is about these cocky hot-shot fighter crews that go to a highly competitive school where they’re trained to be even more aggressive than they already are. There’s a lot of exciting aerial photography, tense rivalries, and high-octane action that plays well on the screen.

Uh oh. Five enemy aircraft inbound.

In the climax of the movie, two American fighter crews get into a fight with five enemy fighters. One of the American planes is the first casualty in the fight, leaving a sole U.S. fighter to contend with five enemy aircraft until help arrives. Fresh out of super-aggressive school, the remaining pilot announces “three MiGs dead ahead, coming down the left side. I’m going after them!”

Is this guy for real? This is insane! He’s outnumbered five to one, and he’s still thinking in terms of being on offense! Dude, you need to tuck tail and run if you want to survive!

And yet…it’s what Christians are called to do.

I’ve got some sobering news for you. If you’re a Christian that wants to let Christ shine through you in a world of darkness…that dark world is guaranteed to push back at you. The attacks will get personal, and they will exact a price from you. Yet He who is in you is greater than he who is in the world.

If you’re truly living a life that glorifies God and aims to strike deep at the kingdom of darkness, expect that opposition to be even greater. You will appear to be the underdog, but you’re supposed to be the underdog. If your actions are a cakewalk, that doesn’t bring God a whole lot of glory, now does it?

I heard something interesting awhile back. Aside from “praise the Lord,” did you know that the most common command in the entire Bible is some form of “do not fear?”

What’s the significance of that command’s frequency? It’s probably important to reflect on all the promises God made to His people, including promises to be with us, to provide for us, and to empower us to do His will. To me that sounds a lot like He wanted to set us up to be secure enough in His love and provision to be aggressive in living our lives for Him.

You’ll mess up. You’ll wonder if you’re doing the right thing. That comes with the territory. Stay true to the commands God laid out in scripture and He’ll be able to use you for great things even if failure is an old friend of yours.

The next time you have the choice of “bugging out” and running away from the challenge or standing to face something you know will be difficult, remember to focus on your security in Christ, knowing that if He’s prompting you to follow a certain course, He’s also prepared the way for you.

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Band of Brothers (and Sisters)

I’m a big fan of the 2001 HBO miniseries “Band of Brothers.” It’s a 10-part drama based on an elite unit of Army paratroopers that saw action in some of the major battles and events of World War II.

Back in the 1940s it was a new concept to use paratroopers in warfare. These men endured some of the most miserable training conditions the Army had to offer, being conditioned to keep fighting despite not knowing when relief or resupply would come. They learned what it means to give “whatever it takes.”

During WWII, Hitler ordered a final, massive offensive in mid-December of 1944. German forces massed artillery, infantry, tanks, and just about anything else they could throw against Allied forces. Designed to break through the line of troops, wreak havoc, and seize the initiative, it caught the Allies by surprise.

The Germans moved so quickly that they surrounded an American-held town in Belgium called Bastogne. Before the road into Bastogne got cut off, regular American Army troops pulled out while paratroopers hastily moved in on foot to defend it. They lacked sufficient winter clothing, ammunition, and food, and were about to have their supply line cut by enemy forces.

The German thrust trapped a pocket of Americans and civilians in Bastogne

In the miniseries, a young armory Lieutenant arrived in a jeep carrying an assortment of badly needed ammunition just as the paratroopers headed into dangerous territory. As he and a few Bastogne-bound officers exchanged the little information they had, he said “The Panzer Division’s about to cut the road south. Looks like you guys are going to be surrounded.”

At that point Captain Dick Winters, a now-famous soldier and the main character in the series, responded “We’re paratroopers Lieutenant. We’re supposed to be surrounded.”

I don’t know if Winters actually made that statement in real life at that time, but it reflects the attitude the soldiers came to embrace.

It’s not much different than the attitude Christians should have. In the world, but not of it, we’re pilgrims in an unholy land (John 15:19). We’re hunted by a prowling adversary (1 Peter 5:8). We are afflicted in every way, but not crushed; perplexed, but not driven to despair; persecuted, but not forsaken; struck down, but not destroyed (2 Corinthians 4:8-9).

Yeah. The pressure’s on. Evil lives on every side of you, and you’re charged with standing up to it and beating it back. Your life will not get easier if you become a Christian; in fact, it’s likely to become harder. Like the paratroopers in the forest around Bastogne, we’re to look after one another. We’re supposed to encourage one another, draw strength from one another, help each other up when we’re down, and bear one another’s burdens. That’s why it’s so important to have fellowship with other believers. Hang tough until the bitter end, even though it’s going to get rougher out there, because there’s hope:

I have told you all this so that you may have peace in me. Here on earth you will have many trials and sorrows. But take heart, because I have overcome the world. – John 16:33

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Quick Hit #2

This past weekend I watched a movie where two men were being held captive by terrorists and forced to build something their captors wanted.

One of them, bemoaning his situation and ailing from a medical condition, complained to his fellow captive “They could kill you, they’re gonna kill me either way, and even if they don’t, I’ll probably be dead in a week.”

His companion, looking at the situation through a different lens, replied “well then this is a very important week for you, isn’t it?”

None of us knows exactly how much time we have left; it could be minutes, decades, or anywhere in between. The time we have here on earth is the only time that “counts” for making an eternal difference. Once we close our eyes for the last time and take our last breath here in this life, we’ll no longer be able to help save souls or build God’s Kingdom. The attitude we should have as Christians is “well then, the rest of this lifetime is very important, isn’t it?”

Are we making the most of the opportunities we have?

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The Greatness of What Almost Never Was

Any Star Trek fans here? Even if you’re not one of them, stick around for this one.

When I was a kid I watched the William Shatner Star Trek movies like, a bazillion times. I think part of the reason I liked them so much at the time was because they were some of the first “grown up” movies I was allowed to see. To this day, I don’t think I’ve seen an entire episode of the 1960s Star Trek TV show, but I can probably still rattle off some lines from Star Trek II-VI (not “The Motion Picture” though…it moved too slow to watch more than once).

For those of you who aren’t familiar, William Shatner played the pompous, arrogant, yet dashing and heroic James T. Kirk, Captain of the starship Enterprise. His exploits are legendary, and depend as much on his daring impulsiveness as they do good fortune. Surrounded by a terrific supporting cast (Mr. Spock, Dr. McCoy, Scottie, Sulu, Checkov, Uhura, and all the rest), the crew embarked upon epic adventures where they saved Earth, and probably the universe, multiple times.

So when you take such a storied franchise and announce that you’re going to reboot it, you have to tread a very fine line between honoring the original and telling a new story with different actors playing familiar characters. The first movie in the rebooted franchise came out in 2009, but until viewers got to see it and start generating a positive or negative buzz, nobody really knew if it was going to be a kick-start for interest in the Star Trek universe or if it was going to be a gigantic slap in the face that resulted in a flop.

The folks that did the new movie did a great job writing the plot so that the new actors were free to play the characters their own way, rather than how their predecessors played them. Without going full nerd on you, someone from the original Star Trek era got thrown back in time and changed just enough history to impact some of the characters in the new movie. In the reboot we meet the colorful cast before they become the confident and experienced legends we know them to be, but the part that keeps it interesting is the fact that we’re never quite sure if the characters we’re watching will be able to rise to meet the challenges we know their predecessors could have conquered.

It’s this doubt that keeps the story engaging, as you wonder whether the heroes will have what it takes to be heroes for the first time.

Hang in there, I’m getting to my point.

Through all of this, there are a handful of characters that spent time in both versions of the Star Trek universe. The movie’s main villain is familiar with the famous, battle-tested Admiral Kirk, and sees in the younger version someone bearing little or no resemblance of the legend. In one of the movie’s great lines, which is the origin of the idea behind this post, this villain speaks to the young Kirk about not measuring up to the well-known hero. “James T. Kirk was a great man, but that was another life.”

Using this sci-fi movie as an analogy, let me switch gears on you. In my mind there are fewer things more haunting than the idea that I don’t measure up to what God wants me to be in this life.

When you think of any hero of the faith, whether recorded in the Bible or not, there was a time in their life before they were that person. Their path was still uncertain; the choices they had yet to make could still take their life in a radically different direction. What if Moses continued refusing God’s calling? What if Billy Graham took over the family farm instead of pursuing evangelism?

In my own life, I am on my way to becoming the person God knows I will one day be…and the same is true for you. The person writing this entry is not as seasoned or (hopefully) as wise as the older version that is yet to come; there are still choices ahead in my life that can either bring me closer to or turn me away from fulfilling the earthly potential the Holy Spirit sees in me. Of course, nobody will be perfect this side of Heaven no matter how hard we try, but with God in charge, our level of trust and obedience to Him has the ability to accomplish undreamed-of things for His kingdom. At the end of my life on Earth, my desire is to leave no unfulfilled potential in my Christian walk, to have no arrows left in my quiver. I don’t want to get to Heaven, see a huge building, and when I ask God what’s in it, He says “that’s the glory you could’ve brought me, but you did not pursue the opportunities I presented to you.”

Are you living in light of the future God has for you, or are you just drifting through this life?

One of the teachers of the law came and heard them debating. Noticing that Jesus had given them a good answer, he asked him, “Of all the commandments, which is the most important?”

“The most important one,” answered Jesus, “is this: ‘Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one. Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength.’ The second is this: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’ There is no commandment greater than these.” -Mark 12:28-31

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Too Much of a Good Thing?

One of the first “grown up” movies I saw as a kid was “Back to the Future.” It was a movie about a high-schooler that used a crazy scientist’s time machine to travel back in time 30 years to when his parents were in high school themselves. It was my introduction to the time travel aspect of science fiction, and I thought it was pretty cool.

Two sequels followed. A couple of my friends and I all loved the trilogy, and the three of us were constantly quoting different parts of the movies to each other. We even had a “Back to the Future” night for my buddy’s birthday sleepover, where we watched all three movies in one night. A couple of years later I was a roommate with that same buddy at a summer camp where we worked. One night after lights out I recited the script of the entire first movie from memory to him.

This is an extreme (or maybe misguided) example of what an engaged mind can do when it obsesses over something. The three of us were around each other and tossed quotes back and forth so often that they became second nature to us. The things we spent time thinking about became the things most important in our relationship to one another.

In the book of Philippians, Paul tells readers to dwell on the things that are worthy of being, well, dwelled on:

And now, dear brothers and sisters, one final thing. Fix your thoughts on what is true, and honorable, and right, and pure, and lovely, and admirable. Think about things that are excellent and worthy of praise. –Philippians 4:8 (New Living Translation)

I don’t think “Back to the Future” quotes qualify, but I can see why Paul makes the point. The things you frequently think about are the things your mind is moving toward.

Now that Christmas and New Years have passed and we’re closer to getting back into the normal routine, I challenge you to “think on” the things mentioned in Philippians 4:8. As far as quiet time with God, prayer, doing Bible readings, or some other type of devotionals, if you’re not someone who regularly practices them, consider building those items into your 2020 routine. If you do them sporadically, but not on a regular basis, consider doing them more routinely.

Try doing them for 30 days in a row. The reason you’ll often hear people talking about doing something for 30 days is because that’s roughly how long it takes to develop a new habit. In other words, if you were going to make this a part of your routine for the rest of your life, the first 30 days would be the most difficult to accomplish; after that it would be habitual and would require less conscious effort to complete.

God can use you for great things. Take the first step toward embracing that calling by spending time dwelling on the things Christ taught and did. Hopefully by this time next year, you’ll be closer to/more in tune with God than you are right now.

Happy New Year!

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All You Have To Do is Be There

(Since it’s Christmas season right now, it’s Christmas movie time. For the first time my wife and I recently showed our kids a classic from our childhood, Home Alone 2: Lost in New York, which helped give me the idea for this post.)

Both of my parents grew up in New York City, and when I was a kid we’d go into the city to visit family. Every now and then we’d branch off from family and take a trip into Manhattan to go do some sight-seeing.

On one particular trip into NYC, it wasn’t long after I first saw the second Home Alone movie. For those of you that haven’t seen it, it’s about a 10-year-old kid that somehow ends up flying to New York City by himself around Christmastime. While he enjoys being a tourist at first, it doesn’t take long before things start unraveling for him and he really wants to get back to his family.

As we walked around NYC, the Plaza Hotel, the famous hotel featured in the movie, was on our list of things to check out. Central Park is nearby, along with Rockefeller Center, Radio City Music Hall, and a bunch of other famous sites.

We walked into the hotel and it was really cool, because it looked almost exactly like scenes out of the movie. (It’s funny how movies make places look bigger and brighter, though.)

  • My amateur photography
  • Kevin in Home Alone 2
Just off the Plaza Hotel’s main lobby

I thought it was pretty cool being there at a place where they filmed a movie I enjoyed. Everyone else in the lobby was doing normal hotel stuff. There was a long line of people waiting to check in, and as near as I could tell, none of them were even thinking about the movie. I decided I’d snap a picture to remember this by. I walked over to a spot where I could capture the check-in desk, raised my camera, and took a picture.

The Check-in Desk at the Plaza Hotel in the early 1990s

I didn’t really anticipate it as a kid, but now I understand why the hotel would want to make its guests feel like their privacy was protected. Right after the flash went off, a very large, well-dressed man strode across the lobby toward us, walked around us, and stood directly behind me. He didn’t say a word, nor did he act in a rude manner, but it was perfectly obvious my behavior was not welcome. We took the hint and moved along.

Although it’s sort of a strange tie-in, Christians can be a lot like that guy from the lobby. People who know they’re not living right are uncomfortable when they’re around people that are. If you’re a Christian it’s not necessarily your job to make people feel uncomfortable, but sometimes God uses you as a reminder to others in a way that pricks their conscience.

We’re coming up on the time of year where we spend time with loved ones that we may not see that often. That’s easy for some, not so easy for others. If you have a difficult time at Christmas because you’re around people you love, but don’t always get along with due to religious/lifestyle differences, just keep loving on them. Like the guy in the hotel, you don’t need to be rude or belligerent, you just need to be there. Don’t for a second feel bad for living the way God wants you to. God could be chipping away at their heart, and using you as a way of making them uncomfortable with the way they live when they know they’re not living the right way.

By this all people will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another. –John 13:35

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Stifle the Outcry

China in green, Taiwan in red

This post will likely be censored or unavailable for readers in east Asia.

At the end of World War II, many nations across the globe were exhausted, in physical and financial shambles, and/or struggling to define their identity. One of those nations was China.

The quick version is that in the late 1940s the two most powerful groups in China that had worked with the United States to combat Japanese forces struggled against each other for control of the nation. The Nationalist group, losing strength and support, began to flee toward the ocean in order to escape the Communist group. Upon reaching the Pacific, with the adversary not far behind, the Nationalist leadership escaped to an island off the coast of China, an island now known as Taiwan. The Communists went on to establish firm control over mainland China, and vowed to someday reclaim Taiwan, which they view as a rogue Chinese territory.

That was 70 years ago. China still intends to reclaim and annex Taiwan, by force if necessary. The Chinese Government knows, however, that if it suddenly grabs Taiwan all at once, the international outcry would be detrimental to its long-term goals, so it came up with a different plan. It’s been slowly exerting pressure on those within its sphere of influence to either support the idea that Taiwan belongs to China, or at least avoid supporting Taiwan in any way. The Chinese populace is not nearly as distracted and forgetful as we are in America, and the idea is that over time there will be so little international resistance that eventually China will reach out and pluck Taiwan for itself and the outcry will be manageable. Unfortunately for Taiwan, there’s evidence that the plan is working.

Don’t believe me? Let me show you an example.

Not long ago Tom Cruise introduced a trailer for his upcoming movie, Top Gun: Maverick. This is a sequel to the original Top Gun movie that came out 34 years before the sequel. I’ll admit, I’ve watched the trailer a few times and I’m definitely excited to see the movie some day.

It wasn’t long after the trailer went public that an eagle-eyed fan noticed something very peculiar. There’s a brief shot in the trailer where Maverick (Tom Cruise’s character) puts on an old bomber jacket that he wore in the first movie. The jacket is full of unit patches that signify some of the assignments Maverick completed. The fan did a side-by-side comparison of the jacket from the 1986 film and the jacket from the sequel. He noticed that where the 1986 jacket had a large patch containing flags from Japan and Taiwan, the 2020 movie replaced those two portions of that patch with similarly colored ambiguous shapes.

This was not an accident; it was quite intentional. China doesn’t get along with Japan or Taiwan. Rather than simply write in a minor plot change that uses a different, newer jacket, (or even avoid camera angles showing that particular patch) the people that made this movie decided it would be best to rewrite history in order to appease China. It would be different if China made the change itself before allowing it to play in Chinese theaters, but here the actual patch from the world’s first major summer blockbuster was deemed unpalatable and updated before it was even released in America. Now the movie posters act like it never even happened, history is erased, and the people that never saw the original won’t even know anything happened.

Imagine…this level of sinister manipulation by “soft power” methods is engineered by earthly minds. If mere humans can orchestrate this type of behavior, imagine the level of sneakiness and underhandedness that the most powerful of all angels is capable of.

Now, before you get any crazy ideas, no, I’m not saying that China is run by the devil. I think this instance is an excellent illustration of one of his tactics, though. He knows he’s headed for an epic clash that he’ll eventually lose. In the meantime though, he hates God and us so much that his main motivation is to rob God from receiving glory. He does it through discouraging/distracting Christians from doing the work God calls them to do and by doing everything in his power to prevent humans from becoming Christians. That’s it. At the end of the day, that’s all it is.

Satan knows that a sudden power grab is too overt and people would too easily recognize it for what it is. With that in mind, he works a little slower, in smaller steps but always pushing toward making the world a place where anything goes and Christianity is labeled as too intolerant and restrictive. Think about how much Christian influence the United States has lost over the last hundred years, or even the last 20 years.

When you shape the narrative, it’s much easier to control the outcome. As a Christian you can’t just hide your head in the sand and hope things will get better; you need to engage the culture. If someone tells you that “there are no absolutes,” you can politely remind them that their statement is self-contradicting. If someone tells you that “everything in life is meaningless!” you can ask whether or not they believe their assertion has meaning.

Engage the culture. It’s your culture, after all. Push back against ideas that run counter to what you know God would want. It’s not easy and you might be alone, but if you don’t do it, it won’t be long before Christians end up in a situation with the adversary posturing to reach out and pluck this isolated refugee enclave so it can do what it feels is best with this group of troublesome upstarts.