Hunger Games Watched

I've finally went to watch Hunger Games last week. Had not planned to watch it initially because I felt that there's no way violence can be subtle and yet be true to the book. However one of my colleagues asked me out, and because I was curious on how the movie actually turned out (the were actually many good reviews) and since another of my colleagues had complained that it was 'not violent enough' as expected, I went to watch the movie at the Cathay anyway.

Anyway I'm glad I went. The violent scenes weren't too blatant (although the cruelty it meant to portray still went through). Casting was good. Jennifer Lawrence was a top notch choice to portray Katniss Everdeen. I was a bit doubtful with the casting for Peeta Mallark at first but in the end I think Josh Hutcherson managed to portray the Peeta whom I liked in the book. It was Lawrence (Katniss) that anchored the show of course (as it was in the book), but Hutcherson as Peeta was really not bad. 

Jennifer Lawrence really made Katniss awesome. In fact I think I preferred Katniss in the movie to Katniss in the book. Partially because the movie was simplified into something less emotionally complicated, and the plot was easier to understand. And because Katniss' motives weren't so diverged. They didn't show the bittersweet ending though, which makes it a bit hard to link to the sequel (I feel). 

*Movie spoiler alert*

One of the things that really touched me (kind of) was the attention they paid to the detail of the costumes. Without the costume and the designs of art, the world-building of the Capitol on screen wouldn't be so realistic. It really amazed me that the movie could come so close to my initial imagination of Capitol. The outlandish colour schemes, the dressings, and most of all, Katniss and Peeta's opening costume (the one with fake fire). I must say I was very moved by the production team's effort when they came out in that chariot with their capes lit up. It was totally the best moment of the whole movie for me - to see something from your imagination just come alive on the wide screen. It's the first time I've ever had this feeling watching a movie adapted from a book. Never thought it possible.

Of course there were a few weak points, but they were IMO pardonable. The Katniss 'Girl on Fire' theme didn't feel as forceful as it should be. Rue's time and character building was altogether too short, and there wasn't enough time for me to really like her properly. I had liked Thresh in the book, but I guess it's really asking for too much to have me like him in the movie here due to time limitations. I wish there was more emotional scenes of Peeta too. 

I kind of like the theme song for this movie too (too bad it wasn't played in the film). I never thought Taylor Swift could write a song of this genre. It is titled 'Safe and Sound', and it just sounds like something Katniss might sing to Prim. 

I think I can play this song now :)

Btw do watch the movie if you haven't yet. I think first-timers who have no experience with the book will like it too. In fact the book feels a little too melancholic for me now I have re-read it. I wonder if there will be movie sequels. I didn't really enjoy the sequels in the books, although I liked the first book. Still it would be interesting to see how they are interpreted on-screen. 

The Attributes of God

Lately I've been practicing gospel sharing for my Philippines trip. And there's this question that I don't think I can answer definitely. That is: why did Jesus need to die on the cross for us. Because we often use the 'judge' analogy to explain things. 

Like: If you were in a huge debt that you cannot pay, and you were brought to court, and the judge says, you poor thing, I'll let you off this time. It may be a loving thing to do but is it a just thing to have been done? Is justice met along with mercy? No it's not. So maybe the judge says - I'll pay your hefty debt for you. In that way, there is both mercy and justice. 

Well, analogies are analogies, and they cannot be perfect. So in a way this does explain about how the gospel works. BUT there is something that I have yet to fully comprehend. I know God is a perfect God and I can never ever meet His standards of holiness because I have sinned, and because men have sinned, the wages of sin is death and death is what we justly deserve for our sins. I know that Jesus came as a sacrifice to atone for our sins to satisfy the wrath of God against our sins by bearing our sins on His shoulders when He came to die on that cross. I know He alone can atone for my sins because He Himself is holy and sinless.

But what I don't get is: How in the world does it work out that because the sinless Son of God died for my sins I get to go free? How does that satisfy justice as the innocent has to die for the guilty? How is it justice?

And when I brought this forward to Jon just now it was like a thunderbolt struck that struck in my heart. He said - you're looking at it from the wrong angle. It's not about how sin is atoned and how the process works out. It's about who God is. It is about God's attributes. It's about what I personally coined, the person of God.

And suddenly everything shifted in place and I understood. God could have invented a million other ways to atone us from our sins, if He loved us so much. Many other less painful ways than sending His Son, part of Himself whom He loved dearly to die on the cross bearing our sins on His shoulders, to endure the mocking and hatred of those He came to die for. To endure skepticism and ridicule and disbelief and a tonne of those other things people have towards Him up to this very day. Yes if He wanted it to be, there could be a million other ways out of this.

But this way, only this way, can show us who God is. How He is holy and perfect - He cannot endure sin. How He is just - sin must be punished. The bearer of sin must be condemned, even if those sins are borne on the body of God's own Son. And most of all, most of all: How He is loving. How much He loves the sinner, how God so loved the world, that He gave His only Son, so that whomsoever believes in Him would not perish, but have eternal life. How the whole gospel, the whole salvation ministry of God holds together to show the only God He could have been: holy, just, merciful, loving. A God we stand in awe of. A God of mystery which we cannot fully comprehend, yet came to seek for us whom did not seek for Him first.

All this came to me, and the gospel instantly became more beautiful than it ever was, because in the gospel there is God. There is God in His full glory, there is God in whole. And tears swelled up my eyes as I realized, that is why the gospel is attractive, why it is beautiful, why it is wondrous is because God is the gospel. The gospel is not about men making their way to heaven, it is about God making Himself known to men so that they can be with Him forever. God who is love, who is holiness, who is merciful, who is justice, who is glorious, who conquers all things, who gives peace, who gives joy, who provides, who demands faith, and so much more. All these sides of Him shown through the gospel of salvation.

The fact that the gospel is about God doesn't make Him more distant from me. It makes me glad because now the gospel is more believable than ever. More real than ever. And more to be desired than ever. No wonder in the gospel there is the saving power of God. No wonder in the gospel there is the love of God, there is God. 

Housing Blues

Perhaps the next thing I dislike next to job-hunting is house-hunting.

This house-hunting phase is going to start very soon, and my tentative browsing through propertyguru.com.sg has not been promising. The rates now are sky high, and I'll probably have to end up paying at least another $200 - $300 above my current rate for a housing space at least 3 times smaller than what I'm staying in now. Those numbers instantly made me consider staying on my current shift cycle for another few years. 

This makes me love 30J Kovan to bits despite having to travel around 3 hours daily back and forth work which I'm already used to doing. It doesn't mean that my travelling time would be cut down that much after moving out either. And the big question now is: where to move out to? The search, the liaising, the on-site viewing, and the MOVING. Can't believe how my stuff and Jon's have multiplied like rabbits across this one year. Two good examples would be out TV screen and keyboard. And tonnes of crockery besides.

Also, directing my company bus driver to my place which will be a pain as I'd probably not know how to get back home from Tuas, especially if I'm not the first to be driven back and the person before me is sent back to a location I'm not familiar with. Our bus drivers are no taxi drivers, and half of them are not local. :(

So many things to prep and consider and think about! And people to liaise with. We haven't even finalized our house-mates list.

Nice or Not?

In a normal knee joint, there is this reasonably sized gap between two bones, tibia and femur, due to a thick layer of cartilage and lubricating fluid.

Well, sometimes I think my state of mind is tibia, and reality is femur (it can be the other way round if you please), and there's a thick layer of cartilage and lubricating fluid in between. 

Someone just told me that I always think everyone is nice. That's not entirely true. The truth is I generally either label a person as 'nice' or as 'neutral'. Unless the person has displayed visible meanness or evilness or despicable-ness, unless I have hard and concrete evidence that that person always has evil intentions, people are generally nice, very nice, or neutral to me.

This is not because I'm not able to pick up flaws in people. In fact, said to say, that is something I do very quickly. Every time when I interact with people, I sense strengths and weaknesses, and most of the time, focus more on analyzing their weaknesses. This is my character flaw. But when I say if someone is nice, I go by intentions. And intentions are very hard things to judge. It complicates things further when one day, this person has good intentions towards you; and the next, not so good ones because their interests are concerned.

So to give people the benefit of the doubt - I usually focus more on the good intentions. It's easier when you feel upset by what people did or said to you, to think back about the good they once did, and forget the bad part by doing that.

No one is perfect. And though you may say that my way of looking at things is through rose-tinted glasses, it does cheer me up and make me think better of others whey they unintentionally do things that are not so sensitive towards my feelings. It's just like that layer of cartilage and lubricating fluid, without which you get arthritis in the knee. And who am I to judge what people really are? Only God sees the heart, and although I see and perceive the actions, I may see differently from what the situation actually is. The only way I can change things within my sphere of influence, is to change my own thoughts and actions.

Nothing Less

I love this short little sharing on Simon's FB page on a little boy who commented on Mona Lisa's painting. I quote:

Mona Lisa is an acclaimed piece of art. A boy responded upon seeing the art piece, that is a school boy's drawing. The museum curator standing beside said to the boy, "Son, this painting is not under trial, you are! Your remark reveals your ignorance. This painting is the famous Mona Lisa." When we judge the finished work of Christ on the cross, and remark it as anything less than the son of God who came to this world to save sinners from judgement, my friends, Jesus is not the one being judged and condemned, we are.

How many times do we want our knowledge of God to come to terms with what we want to believe! And how do we persuade other's to believe in the same manner? But we were created for God's glory (Eph 1:4-6) . We were saved for God's glory (John 12: 27-28). Everything we do, be it even eating or drinking, is for the glory of God (1 Cor 10:31). However, have we been aligned with God's goal to glorify Himself? Or have we merely been appealing to emotions when we want to get someone saved - what is in it for them, rather than emphasizing the actual, glorious nature of the God who saved them: who is most powerful, most holy, and most righteous? Is being saved, for ourselves and others, merely a crutch to make our walk on life's road a little easier? A fire-escape from hell? Or through good works that follow, to 'make the world a better place'? 

Paul says in Romans 1: 16, "For I am not ashamed of the gospel, for it is the power of salvation unto everyone who believes..." We do not avoid being shamed by mixing the gospel with 'a spoonful of sugar' to make it easier to swallow, but through remembering that it is only the gospel that saves, and people need to hear the gospel as it is, because the gospel itself, is the power unto salvation. One can be shamed by preaching the gospel, but should never be ashamed. For 1 Cor 1:18 says, "For the word of the cross is folly to those who are perishing, but to us who are saved, it is the power of God."

I have been touched through multiple testimonies by individuals which I've heard in church on Good Friday. And every Christian should have their own testimony to experience and to share first hand, for that very power that resurrected Christ, also resurrected our souls which were dead to God and slaves to sin. That power is available to you every day, when you share the gospel, when you go in and out of your office, when you are at home. Let that power be seen through your testimony. Let that power be seen through your love. Let the power of the salvation be seen through you every day by every person you come across.