The Very Same Power

The very same power that raised Christ from the dead is alive in me.

Why do we always forget this fact? Why don't we live in this mindset of victory instead of defeat?

Christ accomplished something tremendous with His death. Satan thought he had defeated God's only sole hope to ever reconcile man to Him. But God had been planning this ever since the Fall of Man. How would a plan formulated for over a hundred thousand years go wrong?

I like how my leader put it when I went to camp this past week: before Christ, everyone had been marked "sinful". Christ's death, however, changed that. It allowed us to be reconciled back to God. When we accept Christ, we have a new mark: "Child of God."

Now the things that most Christians do is this: everytime they sin, they blame Satan. They say the devil made them do it. Now why can't we all, when we sin, admit it was only our own disobedience because the devil has NO POWER OVER US. Christ death has redeemed us and our acceptance of Him as our Savior has brought the power that raised Him within us. Now if that power can raise Christ from death, I'm sure it can help us overcome!

We all need to stop living in the mindset of defeat when we've already won! Sin has NO POWER over us anymore... unless we let it. We fall into sin because we deliberately turn a deaf ear to the Holy SPirit convicting us what we're about to do is wrong.

Live in victory because you've already WON. God bless.

Titans will CLASH - Review of "Clash of the Titans"

When I heard that the 1981 classic Clash of the Titans was going to be remade, I knew it would be in my "must see in theaters" list. I actually didn't see the original. However, I did hear it was epic. If it was epic back then - and all they had was stop-motion and no CG animation - then I was sure the remake was going to be... how should I say? EPIC-ER.

And it did not disappoint. Clash of the Titans was pure ancient Greek mythology entertainment from start to finish. Angry, jealous, scheming gods, the demi-god Perseus - played by Avatar's Sam Worthington - kicking some Gorgon butt (or should I say decapitating?), the beautiful and sexy Gemma Arterton as the mysterious Io, along with a black Pegasus (Yes black, not white. UBER COOL) and the enormous Kraken, what more could you ask for? Before the movie premiered, people made petty criticisms about Sam's hair, to which he replied "It's a movie!". Another person criticized the movie for using CG and not stop-motion. Uh, hello? We're in the 21st century now!

Anyways, the story is very loosely based on the myth of Perseus (and from what I read, it has significant changes from its 1981 counter-part). The movie opens with an explanation of how the world came about: the Titans were the original rulers of the Earth until their offspring, the Olympians, overthrew them with the help of the Kraken, a vicious beast borne of Hades himself. Zeus became King of the Gods, Poseidon, Lord of the Seas, and Hades, tricked by Zeus, was left to rule the Underworld. Enter Perseus, found by a humble and kind fisherman and his wife (kinda like Superman) who take him in as their own after finding him floating in a coffin in the ocean. Years later, his parents are killed before his very eyes by Hades and he is left in the open sea, only to be found by a group of soldiers who bring him to Argos. Apparently, these people are defiant to the gods and after the Queen compares her daughter, Andromeda, to Aphrodite, the Goddess of love and beauty, Hades appears and tells them that unless they sacrifice Andromeda, the Kraken will once again be unleashed... upon them. Hades also discovers that Perseus is a demi-god and the people of Argos then seek his help to defeat the Kraken. Meanwhile, Hades persuades Zeus and the other Olympians to go ahead with his plan, saying that the chaos would cause the people to worship them once more. However, Hades has his own motives. Perseus, accompanied by Argon soldiers and Io, a woman who has watched him all his life, sets out to try and defeat the Kraken so that he would weaken Hades and get the revenge he seeks for his family's death.

The movie contained great action, with the occasional comedy, along with great performances by all of the cast. Add the spectacular CG effects and Clash of the Titans is a certified great movie. Sam Worthington is a fine choice as Perseus and brings about a great performance. The best part of this movie in my opinion is that it makes the gods look and feel genuine. The way I imagined the Greek gods was captured in this movie. Also, from the pictures I've seen of the original, this has a more authentic feel to it. Perseus and the gods are not wearing cloaks. Armor is more kick-ass.

However, Perseus' transition from fisherman to hero seems to be a bit blurred. I was quite surprised that he could wield a sword so easily despite having no training. The movie seemed to be quite short also. It might have been better if it was longer.

All in all, Clash of the Titans is a movie that MUST be seen in theaters. Do not let it pass. 9/10