Soul Surfer is an inspirational film based on the true story about Bethany Hamilton, the girl in Hawaii who lost her arm in a shark attack in 2003. The story shows her come back to competitive surfing and includes a youth mission to Thailand to help after the devastation of the 2004 tsunami. The film has very realistic surfing footage and stars Anna Sophia Robb, Dennis Quaid, Helen Hunt, Carrie Underwood, Ross Thomas, and Chris Brochu. Be sure to watch the special features after the movie as well. Bethany’s story is amazing. She even did all the professional surfing in the movie.
Monthly Archives: February 2012
Oriental Dreamworks films beginning 2016
Dreamworks has agreed to a joint venture with China Media Capital and Shanghai Media Group giving Dreamworks Animation more access to the growing Chinese movie appetite as shown by their $100 million ticket sales for Kung Fu Panda 2 last year. Relative Media and Legendary Entertainment are also moving into China. Learn more in the Dreamworks Animation heads to China story at Reuters.
Faith, the Pierless Bridge
Faith – is the Pierless Bridge
Supporting what We see
Unto the Scene that We do not
– Emily Dickinson
Roman officer’s great faith in Jesus (Matthew 8: 5-13)
Bible Summary:
A Roman officer meets Jesus on the way into Capernaum and begs him to help his terribly sick servant in bad at home. Jesus agrees to go see him, but the officer asks him to give the order from there and his servant will get well. Jesus tells his followers he has never found anyone in Israel with such faith and that many will come to the feast in heaven but others will be thrown into darkness crying and gnashing their teeth. He tells the officer what he believes will be done and the servant is healed that very moment.
My Thoughts:
Faith: Very few today have the same faith as the Roman officer. Many are just going through the motions at church and in life. We talk about God, pray to God, but do we truly believe in Him? Maybe we should and perhaps the outcome will be the same.
Happy Valentine’s Day
I just wanted to wish everyone a happy Valentine’s Day. Thanks for reading and I hope you had a great day with the one you love.
All my best,
Whittle Thinker
Whitney Houston 1963-2012
Whitney was an amazing person. She had such a beautiful voice and was lucky enough to become famous and be recorded so we can remember her forever in song and film. The irony of her life was her hit the Greatest Love of All. It talks about the “beauty we possess inside”, “at least I live as I believe”, and “find your strength in love.” But, Whitney did not have the strength to say no to drugs and alcohol, to stay away from abusive people, and to see the beauty she possessed inside.
I am sure she is in God’s loving arms now for the inspiration she left us in her music. God bless you Whitney.
Greatest Love of All
I believe the children are our future
Teach them well and let them lead the way
Show them all the beauty they possess inside
Give them a sense of pride to make it easier
Let the children’s laughter remind us how we used to be
Everybody searching for a hero
People need someone to look up to
I never found anyone who fulfilled my needs
A lonely place to be
And so I learned to depend on me
I decided long ago, never to walk in anyone’s shadow
If I fail, if I succeed
At least I’ll live as I believe
No matter what they take from me
They can’t take away my dignity
Because the greatest love of all
Is happening to me
I found the greatest love of all
Inside of me
The greatest love of all
Is easy to achieve
Learning to love yourself
It is the greatest love of all
I believe the children are our future
Teach them well and let them lead the way
Show them all the beauty they possess inside
Give them a sense of pride to make it easier
Let the children’s laughter remind us how we used to be
I decided long ago, never to walk in anyone’s shadow
If I fail, if I succeed
At least I’ll live as I believe
No matter what they take from me
They can’t take away my dignity
Because the greatest love of all
Is happening to me
I found the greatest love of all
Inside of me
The greatest love of all
Is easy to achieve
Learning to love yourself
It is the greatest love of all
And if by chance, that special place
That you’ve been dreaming of
Leads you to a lonely place
Find your strength in love.
– Whitney Houston
See Greatest Love of All Video on YouTube.
Never measure the height of a mountain
Never measure the height of a mountain,
until you have reached the top.
Then you will see how low it was.
– Dag Hammarskjold
God sets penalties for disobeying laws (Leviticus 20)
Bible Summary:
God tells Moses to remind the people of Israel to obey His laws and sets the penalty of stoning to death for the following:
- Worshiping other gods, specifically Molech. If the people will not stone the person, then God will turn against him and his whole family.
- Consulting the spirits of the dead or seeking advice from someone who does.
- Cursing your father or mother.
- Committing adultery, incest, bestiality or homosexuality. Both involved are guilty.
My Thoughts:
Penalties: Stoning to death seems extreme but was likely a very effective deterrent. Some penalties today seem at the other extreme of too lenient.
Equal Commandments: This chapter shows how all God’s commandments were treated equally – worshiping other gods and cursing parents was just as bad as murder.
Can numbers explain everything?
British scientists have created an equation that can predict the shape of any ponytail using the Rapunzel Number, a ratio that accounts for the effects of gravity on hair relative to its length. Seems unimportant, but these new statistics, which solve an issue that has puzzled mathematicians since Leonardo da Vinci about 500 years ago, should help the computer graphics and animation industries represent hair better. Someday we may not need real people in film. Learn more in the Rapunzel number helps scientists quantify ponytails story at Reuters.