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Mad Max: Fury Road (2015)

12/06/2015 0 Comment

Charlize Theron-the-Road-Again

[This review has already been read by the Looking Closer Specialists, whose helpful responses persuaded me to see the movie a second time before publishing it. Thanks, Specialists! Read about how you can join the club that gets first-looks and access to a private Looking Closer Facebook group here.]

I am looking at the back of a man who stands on a sandy precipice beside his souped up sports car, and I have just enough time to think three things:

1) Wow, the colors of this post-apocalyptic desert wasteland are so saturated that they make Luke Skywalker’s homeland look positively grayscaled by comparison!

2) Is this guy just scanning the horizon, out beyond the dunes? Or he is preparing to urinate over the edge? And then,
3) I wonder how long this goes before we hit the first chase scene and we see Max —

BOOM!

We’re off! He’s jumping in his car! And the first mad, mad, mad chase scene of Mad Max: Fury Road is underway!

And if you’re not excited about tha..

Are some sins more wrong than others?

08/06/2015 0 Comment

Many of us have a tendency to judge certain sins as worse than others. We say, “I have my struggles, but at least I don’t struggle with that.”

Surely some attitudes and behaviors carry the potential for greater, far-reaching consequences than others. But that does not make one set of sins worse than another. The New Testament calls us to take all sin seriously:

Yes indeed, it is good when you obey the royal law as found in the Scriptures: “Love your neighbor as yourself.” But if you favor some..

Are doubts a sign of a weak faith?

28/05/2015 0 Comment

I’m a believer—a Christian. I’m a “lifer” and an insider. I was born into a Christian home. I have Christian parents. I’ve gone to church all my life.

I’m also a doubter.

Over the years I’ve had many troubling questions: How do I know God exists? Can I be sure Christianity is right? How can there be an all-loving and all-powerful God when there is so much evil in the world? Can I really trust that the Bible is true?

For most of my life I’ve walked in a place of doubt-plagued faith. And while ..

Art by Faith

08/05/2015 0 Comment

For we live by faith, not by sight (2 Corinthians 5:7).

Growing up on my grandparents' farm, I was too busy playing outside with my sibling and cousins, chasing butterflies or climbing trees to worry very much about my poor eyesight. I was born with a progressive eye disease known as Retinitis Pigmentosa. As a child, I didn't understand that much about it and my family didn't make a big deal of it. Thankfully I was allowed the freedom to have fun in my childhood.

My best friend&#0..

Finding Happiness?

02/05/2015 0 Comment

During my twenties, I was a bridesmaid in several weddings. Unfortunately, most of those couples are now divorced. It will come as no surprise to you that each of them stated they were unhappy and they were getting a divorce in order to find happiness. After all, happiness is the American birthright, right?

The United States Declaration of Independence says, in part, the following:We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with..

“Help, I’m Insecure”

02/04/2015 0 Comment

**(Before we start reading, I was actually writing a chapter in my new book, “The Runaway Bride” and I titled the chapter “The Insecure Bride.” I felt led by the Lord to share a snippet of the chapter with you. Note that this isn't the entire chapter, but you can find the rest of it on June 5, 2015 on this site when it goes live! :))**

One of satans biggest weapons is doubt. Satan loves for us to question who we are and how we measure up to others (Ephesians 2:1-2; Ephesians 6:12; 1 Samuel ..

“Trusting God Through the Hard Times”

24/03/2015 0 Comment

I know that its hard to trust God at times. I know that you have your good days and then you have some really rough days where you're like.. Lord, how long before.. this or that?I've learned that I can't focus on “this or that” or what I think I'm lacking. My focus must be on the Lord alone because if I ain't content with just Him, then He won't bring things into my life so that I can make those things my idols. Philippians 4:11-13 New Living Translation (NLT) Not t..

“When It Feels Like God Abandoned You”

11/03/2015 0 Comment

This area has just been heavy on my heart so I wanted to remind those of you who are going through some hard times that God has not forgotten about you.

Yes, you.

In the world of social media, technology and TV, it's so easy to glamorize what everybody else is doing while thinking, Lord, have you forgotten about me? Have you abandoned me?

No, God hasn't abandoned you. But, He is disciplining you. And you have a choice. You can either press through this test and mature in your walk wit..

MCFARLAND USA: An Interview with Legendary Coach Jim White

20/02/2015 0 Comment

Do you like sports movies? I cry every time I watch Field of Dreams. The rousing underdog stories of Rudy or The Rookie almost feel too good to be true. The cynic in us may resist, but once you actually meet Jimmy, the guy who sank the winning shot in Hoosiers, your perspective shifts. These aren’t just tall tales, manufactured by Hollywood. These can be modest, “everyday” heroes who challenge us to practice, to press on, to never give up.

I recently met Jim White, the legendary cross-country c..

“Help Me, I Can’t Stop Procrastinating”

10/02/2015 0 Comment

So, if you're in a season where you feel super sluggish, kinda lazy and you feel like doing nothing, I can relate. Being now 18 weeks pregnant, I have had my days where I only want to lay in the bed for the entire day. But even before I was pregnant, I had my seasons where I struggled in this area. It's almost like, it's on my checklist to take care of this but I just got too busy throughout the day to get to it or by the time I got home, I had zero energy to accomplish that task…