A Simple Message From The Birds Film

I've watched Alfred Hitchcock's The Birds numerous times, but in my last viewing of this classic, I've discovered something spiritual within this suspense thriller.

The Birds tells the story of Melanie Daniels as she travels to Bodega Bay and is inexplicably attacked by a seagull.

Suddenly, thousands of birds begin to flock into the island town and begin to prey on the residents in a terrifying series of attacks.

In multiple scenes within the home Melanie is staying at, the birds (Crows and Seagulls) find their way inside the house to do some damage and prey on the family. But the one constant that remains unharmed are two caged Love Birds.

At the end of the film when the family survives the latest attack, they find themselves needing to escape quickly before another attack occurs. With hundreds of birds outside the house waiting patiently until they feel the urge to attack yet again, I know..crazy story but bear with me, the family decides to make a quick getaway. They move ever so slowly out the front door as they try to make it to the parked car in front of the house. The young girl Cathy asks her big brother if she could take her Love Birds with, as she comments,"They never hurt anyone".

The final scene shows the family driving away with the Love Birds sitting in their cage upon the backseat. The birds sit there content and at peace.

Alfred Hitchcock was not only so good at bringing suspenseful stories to us, but in some subtle way his stories had a message.

What I believe he was driving at here by showing the Love Birds at peace in that final scene, was to give us the perspective that love conquers all.

Let us stop just saying we love each other; let us really show it by our actions. (1 John 3:18)

Feel the Rain

"Some people feel the rain, others just get wet." - Bob Marley

This is one of my my favorite quotes from reggae artist Bob Marley, because it speaks volumes to myself on how to approach those storms of life that may come our way. We can take those obstacles that we go through and get angry or we can look at them as just another growth opportunity. You can't have a testimony if you haven't had a test. The best person to help someone battling an addiction is by someone who actually went through that same addiction and beat it.

I think in a subtle approach what Marley was driving at with this quote was that some people will look out the window and crow,"Dang, it's raining outside!", instead of going outside and dance within the raindrops and appreciate the rain.

Have you ever had something planned, and I mean strategically plannned, and then see it go awry for some reason or another?

This happened to me just last week and and it took me a couple of days to drive the anger of those failed plans out of me. What did I do to get from mad back to my constant state of joy? Only one word: worship.

One of the greatest lessons I learned from my grandfather and the great wisdom he carried as a Pastor:
If you find yourself in a difficulty or circumstance you need to drive yourself back into the presence of God through worship.

After two days of worship I naturally would open my Bible straight to a passage on the value of diligence.

 Ecclesiastes 11:3-6 -

When clouds are heavy, the rains come down.
Whether a tree falls north or south, it stays where it falls.

⁴ Farmers who wait for perfect weather never plant.
If they watch every cloud, they never harvest.

⁵ Just as you cannot understand the path of the wind or the mystery of a tiny baby growing in its mother’s womb,^[a] so you cannot understand the activity of God, who does all things.

⁶ Plant your seed in the morning and keep busy all afternoon, for you don’t know if profit will come from one activity or another—or maybe both.

The word diligence means to give a steady effort; and here Solomon is teaching us how to stay diligent and just do what is laid out before us and not to worry, God's plan is a perfect plan, even when we think our strategic plan is a fail-proof plan.

Sometimes we need these small reminders in life, and they may be small reminders, but they are the one's that can sustain us so we can enjoy the rain.

For more of God's encouraging Word and you find yourself with no access to a Bible in your area, click on:
www.biblegateway.com













 

Character: The Real Thing

 

Does your dog have mealtime behavioral issues, such as taking a mouthful of food from his bowl retrieve to another spot and drop it on your carpet and then proceed to munch away? Believe it or not some Veterinary Professors have discovered why dogs do this,

it's called pack mentality.

 

"When dogs in the wild makes a kill, the outranked animals drag pieces of food away so they don't have to fight the leader or more dominant canine for it", Dr. Julie Albright says. She also adds,

 

"Fighting is obviously very risky, so most animals, especially subordinate ones, will go to great lengths to avoid an altercation."

 

Now, I know you are probably wondering how does this tie into anything spiritual that I can use and grow from?

 

Well since this above mentioned dog story is more about character than the dog just being weird, character can play an important role in our walk in Christ.

I always believed that consistency is an important character trait that plays a vital role in our daily life and how we mature and grow spiritually. My Saturday morning workout routine is a simple but long one: I run 5 miles, climb 4 flights of stairs, and run one more mile. I have been doing this for 11 months now and have consistently done it in 43-45 minutes. I always have tried to be a model of consistency in everything that I do. Consistency is a character trait to which I am so humbled to have.

 

²² But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, ²³ gentleness, and self-control.

(Galations 5:22,23)

 

These are spiritual character traits that all Christians should carry and use with consistency. Another form of consistency we should carry daily is how we prep ourselves for our day. I know have blogged about this a million times, but it will always bear repeating lest any of us fall into a spiritual rut.

 

One consistency routine on how I approach each day: my drive to work consists of  praying or talking to God while listening to worship music. And when I declare outloud, "Your Kingdome come and Your will be done today, Lord", I am basicly saying,

 

"Lord, I am giving this day unto you, have Your way with it, my King!"

 

I believe when we approach each day with a model of consistency, we see God move mountains and do the impossible.

 

Character is like a tree and reputation like a shadow.

 

The shadow is what we think of it,

 

the tree is the real thing.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Love a Good Quote

Horses can't talk but they can speak if you listen.

I always love a good quote, especially when it can mean a variety of things to so many people. And it's always fun to decipher it's true meaning. We all know that horses can't talk, or can they?

 I recently caught a YouTube video of a talking goat. Yes, a talking goat. Although the only word he could say was, "What" and was able to repeat it several times to the gal who was feeding him, the word he muttered was clearly recognizable and quite amusing.

If I had to decipher the above quote on whether horses can truly speak, here would be my honest assumption:

Suppose you owned a horse as a pet just like most folks own a dog or a cat as a pet. You spend alot of time with that horse, you feed it, you take care of it and maintain it's health, and you ride it and enjoy spending time with it. These are all actions that show you love your horse, thus you actually have a relationship with that horse, you are connected to it. And by spending time with this horse you can probably tell when it is not feeling well or is hurt. It is so recognizable that what is happening is you are actually listening to it speak.

The above photo is one of a collection of photos I was selling at a fair last weekend. One gentleman saw this picture and asked how can anyone not believe in a Creator. Who else or what else could ever design something so artistic and beautiful as this?

God can speak to us through nature, but it is up to us to listen.

George Washington Carver, and American scientist and botanist, used nature as a way to connect to God,

"I love to think of nature as an unlimited broadcasting station, through which God speaks to us every hour, if we will only tune in."

One of my favorite Bible scriptures is found in Titus 1:15:

Blessed are the pure in heart for they will see God.

 Having a pure heart simply means you love God, desire to be in His presence, desire to talk with Him, and are willing to obey Him and His Word. Thus you should be able to see and hear Him through all of His creation.

God will speak to you you just have to quietly listen.

If you live in an area with no access to a Bible, click on www.biblegateway.com for more of God's encouraging Word.

I would also like to give a big shout out to all of you in Latvia who have been reading my blog this past week.
Hope you have a blessed week!