Believe – Looking to God

Everlasting Life Through Christ

Posted on August 20, 2018March 27, 2019 by Jack Flacco

Eternal life is God’s gift to those who believe Jesus is his son. Not many promises to God’s elect are as direct, as resilient, and as foremost, as that written by the apostle Paul in the letter to the saints in Rome. And few promises stand out as being the one promise for which every Christian ought to aim:

“For the wages of sin is death; but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.” (Romans 6:23)

Jesus said about the resurrection to everlasting life, “For when they rise from the dead, they neither marry nor are given in marriage, but are like angels in heaven” (Mark 12:25).

Jesus is talking about us and about our destiny. We may think we know where we are going, perhaps assumed true, or even accepted what others have told us, but our Savior and King says it plainly that we will neither marry nor be married when resurrected. We will be as angels but not angels; for Paul says we will ultimately judge the angels, “Do you not know that we are to judge angels? How much more, then, matters pertaining to this life” (1 Corinthians 6:3).

Our lives are in preparation for a time far greater than the mortal life we are living today. Eternal life promises a life with God the Father and Jesus sitting at his right hand, glorified with them and judging the world, as Paul says in verse 2, “Or do you not know that the saints will judge the world? And if the world is to be judged by you, are you incompetent to try trivial cases?”

The destiny we look to is beyond anything we can imagine this life can provide. The ultimate joy we will experience once we die will not compare with the lifetime of pain we may have had to endure by claiming Christ as our savior.

Yet God’s rich favor over our lives is worth more than mountains filled with gold and chests brimful and running over with jewels. Nothing comes close to what we will have after this life.

Let us count it all joy to know God loves us that much to have us live forever.

My Journey

Believe and Be Saved

Posted on July 30, 2018March 27, 2019 by Jack Flacco

Look to God and he will give you the answers you seek. Love him with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your might, and he will provide you with everything you need. He will never forsake you. He will never surrender you. He will always love you.

Look what it says in the latter part of the New Testament:

“Keep your life free from love of money, and be content with what you have, for he has said, ‘I will never leave you nor forsake you.’” (Hebrews 13:5)

God has a plan for you, and that plan involves him changing your life. He is looking to raise you from the dead and to give you his kingdom as an inheritance (Matthew 25:34). Salvation will be yours, if you believe Jesus is the son of God (John 20:31).

Oh, how wonderful God is! He is generous, kind, affectionate and loving. His tender mercies toward us never end, and he has never failed us. When we think we are alone, he is there. When we feel tossed, he is there. And when our hope seems shattered, he is always there. He looks out for us, he keeps us, and he protects us.

There is no other God than God. He is the beginning and the end. He is the one who made all things, and he is willing to give all things to those who believe (Revelation 21:6).

I believe.

Wednesday Warriors

Real Steel: Max Kenton

Posted on February 3, 2016February 2, 2016 by Jack Flacco

Every now and then, everybody needs a hero. But what if that hero is an 11-year-old boy who believes in the impossible? Is it possible? What if that same 11-year-old boy sets the standard to win so high that not even those older than him would believe in him? Would you trust a kid to lead a charge to win? Will he be your hero?

Max Kenton (Dakota Goyo) is Real Steel‘s hero and today’s Wednesday Warrior. And if you haven’t seen the movie, therein awaits spoilers.

Unwanted, rejected by those who he thought loved him, Max is a kid who decides to take his fate in his own hands in the futuristic battle bot movie Real Steel.

In a junkyard, as the rain pours and thunder threatens Max’s very survival, the boy falls into the hands of an equally rejected character called Atom. At first, Atom is nothing more than a pile of junk the kid hauls out of a heap to call his own. In a world where robots fight one another, Atom is the lowest grade of robot ever made. It doesn’t have a life, neither is it ready for anything beyond walking.

Through his perseverance though, Max manages to put Atom back together again. Piece by piece Atom becomes whole. All that is missing is a heart.

When Max turns Atom on, he is not so sure what he is in for. Atom doesn’t seem like the robot that could stay in the ring one round, let alone go the distance and win a fight.

Yet, something magical happens. Max believes. He believes Atom is capable of greater things than what others think of it. He believes in the impossible.

Max’s first fight with Atom becomes a lesson in humility when Atom falls to a knockout. In spite of this, Max doesn’t give up on the little robot. He believes. On his hands and knees, he dips his head next to Atom and screams, “Get up, Atom.” Within a matter of seconds, Atom rises as the little robot that could. The second round becomes the proving ground for Atom’s eventual first win in the bot wars.

The story of Max and Atom is well known. It is a story familiar to many. Only this time, it makes Max the unlikely hero.

Max took a robot that no one wanted, Atom, built it back into shape and believed the machine could perform miracles. And miracles it did perform. As Atom’s opponents became large and faster, Max would not give up on his robot. Right from the start, he knew Atom would be a champion among rivals.

Imagine that. How could a kid’s faith have turned a small machine into a winner?

What others don’t seem to understand is that as the world viewed Atom as a robot, Max viewed him as a friend. And if Max believed in his friend, his friend could win any fight—even if the opponent in the fight was impossible to beat.

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Have you seen Real Steel? Do you find Max’s friendship with Atom unique?

Women Who Wow Wednesday

Hero Girl

Posted on December 25, 2013December 27, 2013 by Jack Flacco

She doesn’t have a name. Her costume consists of a nightgown. By the time it’s all over, she sports the moniker “Leader”. I’m proud to include Hero Girl from the movie Polar Express in my Women Who Wow Wednesday series.

Polar Express' Hero Girl — Polar Express’ Hero Girl

During its release, not many people liked the film Polar Express. Ratings on IMDB and Rotten Tomatoes confirm the movie’s status as, if at best, average. The production budget for the flick came in at $165 million while the overall take at the box office worldwide netted $308 million. I wouldn’t call it a financial disaster. Far from it, I’d call it an opportunity movie where it’s best to watch with the lights turned low a few days before Christmas.

Since its release in 2004, this film has become a staple viewing tradition for our family every evening of December 23rd.

Why do we like it so much? For us, the song Believe by Josh Groban says it all:

Believe in what your heart is saying
Hear the melody that’s playing
There’s no time to waste
There’s so much to celebrate
Believe in what you feel inside
And give your dreams the wings to fly
You have everything you need
If you just believe

That’s where Hero Girl comes in. We don’t know her name and throughout the movie she second-guesses every decision she makes. In some respect, she wouldn’t qualify as a hero at all. But her faith in what she doesn’t see is what pulls everyone together to work as a team, lending credence to her belief in something altogether greater than anyone or anything they know as real.

Hero Girl also provides the direction the group needs to continue on their way to the North Pole. Not an easy task for a young child, let alone a girl who doubts everything she says. Her strength, however, lies in her ability to lead those willing to follow her to their true destination. This involves trust on the part of her friends, and an eternal hope that she will lead them to their true destination.

Once Hero Girl affirms her leadership status, not in name but in action, the group of kids follows this time without dismissing her ideas. She leads them to where all the magic begins.

RANGER MARTIN AND THE ZOMBIE APOCALYPSE, now on sale.

Have you seen Polar Express? What did you think of Hero Girl’s role in the film?

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