Philo Trust

There is an old proverb, which says: ‘Trust in God, but tie your camel.’ It acknowledges the tension we often experience when we talk about trust – what is God’s part and what is our part? When does trust mean that we do nothing except let go and sit and wait for God? And when does trust mean that we become active and make some plans and start to do things and allow God to empower and guide while we are in motion?

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By Robert K. Johnston and Catherine M. Barsotti

Slumdog Millionaire combines a compelling story with winsome child actors, startling visuals and pulsing music composed by Bollywood’s (India’s) best, A.R. Rahman. As such, the movie captivates its audience and sends us from the theater singing, buoyed with hope and joy.

Slumdog Millionaire continues the wonderful narrative filmmaking of Danny Boyle, a Brit whose “G” rated film Millions was inspirational, and whose much grittier movie Trainspotting first gained him his much deserved reputation as one of this generation’s finest independent filmmakers. Boyle is typically interested in portraying the sublime, even (or particularly) in squalor, hardship and pain, and Slumdog Millionaire is no exception. As a reviewer writes, it is “one of the most upbeat stories about living in hell imaginable”!

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By Eddie Gibbs

Senior Professor
Fuller Theological Seminary
California

Most of us are crippled by our sense of inadequacy when it comes to sharing God’s Good News with our family, neighbours, friends, and the people we encounter in the course of daily life. Our failure to accept the mission that God has entrusted to every member of his church, whether we like it or not, arises from any one of a number of causes.

We may compare our feeble and bumbling efforts with the clear and winsome communication skills of the gifted evangelist. We mistakenly conclude, “If that’s what it takes, then I don’t qualify. Let’s leave it to the experts, rather than make a mess of it ourselves!”

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By Philip Yancey

“The glory of God is a person fully alive,” said the second-century theologian Irenaeus. Sadly, that description does not reflect the image many people have of modern Christians. Rightly or wrongly, they see us rather as restrained, uptight, repressed - people less likely to celebrate vitality than to wag our fingers in disapproval.

“What made you so negative against Christianity?” a friend once asked Friedrich Nietzsche. “I never saw the members of my father’s church enjoying themselves,” he replied. Where did Christians get the reputation as life-squelchers instead of life-enhancers? Jesus himself promised, “I am come that they might have life, and that they might have it more abundantly”. What keeps us from realizing that abundant life?

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By Robert K. Johnston and Catherine M. Barsotti

Every year critics’ lists of the “best” films of the previous year roll out, only to be followed by one award show after another. While we mostly stay away from “best” lists, we thought we’d jump into the fray with some of our favourite films of 2008. They’re not in any order as they are all worth seeing.

Let us begin by mentioning two films which are on the top of our list: WALL-E, directed by Andrew Stanton, and Slumdog Millionaire, directed by Danny Boyle. The former is an animated film with both heart and a “message”, while the latter is a gritty film about hope even in the midst of the worst of human conditions. Both are film making at its best. Another animated film on our list that the whole family will enjoy is Dr. Seuss’ Horton Hears a Who, directed by Jimmy Hayward and Steve Martino. While Horton may be an animated elephant, he’s a hero who inspires us to compassion, humility, dedication and forgiveness. And speaking of heroes, Iron Man, directed by Jon Favreau, was our favourite summer superhero movie.

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