Yes, it's true...I haven't done anything at all since August...haven't read a book or seen a movie...just the suspended animation that is pastoral ministry LOL! Not sure if I have the temperament for regular blogging - but yet, here I am...the suspense probably keeps you up nights, right?
Chris and I saw Adjustment Bureau last night...the reviews have been mixed (and it's PG-13 rating might be too low...I wouldn't take the youth group and that's too bad; maybe there will be a PG rental version). Whatever its other shortcomings might be, it's good theological practice to measure its plot line against Christian orthodoxy.
But if I wanted to make a movie based on Romans 8:28, (We know that all things work together for good for those who love God, who are called according to his purpose...) this would be a good start. The tension between the sovereign will of God and the free will of humans - and the ongoing redemption of creation - is like a string that is plucked in every scene.
The "Chairman" ("you know him by many names...you have seen him many times") has a "plan for your life" (Jeremiah 29:11) written in a "book" (Psalm 139:16) - the trouble is, humans deviate from the Plan and need "adjusting": what amounts to being "transformed by the renewing of [their] mind[s]...that [they] may prove what is the good and acceptable and perfect will" (Romans 12:12) of the (apparently benevolent) "Chairman."
Especially entertaining is the writer's explanation of how much free will humans really have (Matt Damon asks this question directly, so you won't miss it.) The "Gospel According to the Adjustment Bureau" is that the "Chairman" is active in the affairs of humans. It's a good way to stretch your theological muscles...
