1 00:00:00,000 --> 00:00:11,040 This is the Real Faith Podcast where we talk about a movie clip, a scripture, and make 2 00:00:11,040 --> 00:00:12,640 an application. 3 00:00:12,640 --> 00:00:15,600 We hope these provide encouragement to you. 4 00:00:15,600 --> 00:00:17,540 I'm your host, Chuck Bower. 5 00:00:17,540 --> 00:00:22,560 After a successful church ministry of 28 years, I became a public school teacher currently 6 00:00:22,560 --> 00:00:24,960 teaching high school English. 7 00:00:24,960 --> 00:00:27,160 We hope you are blessed by these episodes. 8 00:00:27,160 --> 00:00:32,960 Have you guys ever gone to Sunday school? 9 00:00:32,960 --> 00:00:35,840 Puny God. 10 00:00:35,840 --> 00:00:40,040 I love you. 11 00:00:40,040 --> 00:00:46,280 I know. 12 00:00:46,280 --> 00:00:47,760 Welcome back to Real Faith. 13 00:00:47,760 --> 00:00:51,880 Thank you so much for listening and spreading the word about the podcast. 14 00:00:51,880 --> 00:00:55,080 For the month of February, I'm looking at the topic of love. 15 00:00:55,080 --> 00:00:58,760 Honestly, it has to be one of the greatest topics to discuss. 16 00:00:58,760 --> 00:01:01,440 Specifically, God's love for us. 17 00:01:01,440 --> 00:01:03,640 God's love for the sinner. 18 00:01:03,640 --> 00:01:09,160 Last week, we looked at John 3.16 that clearly states, God so loved the world. 19 00:01:09,160 --> 00:01:11,160 What a powerful statement. 20 00:01:11,160 --> 00:01:16,220 God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten son that whosoever believeth in him 21 00:01:16,220 --> 00:01:19,440 should not perish but have everlasting life. 22 00:01:19,440 --> 00:01:23,320 And then we followed that up with Romans 5.8. 23 00:01:23,320 --> 00:01:26,880 God demonstrates his own love for us in this. 24 00:01:26,880 --> 00:01:30,360 While we were still sinners, Christ died for us. 25 00:01:30,360 --> 00:01:36,660 Two amazing verses that can awaken us, that should awaken us with the gospel message that 26 00:01:36,660 --> 00:01:41,400 God loves us and wants a right relationship with us. 27 00:01:41,400 --> 00:01:47,100 Our sin prevents that relationship so God sent his son to pay the price for our sins 28 00:01:47,100 --> 00:01:49,960 that we could never pay on our own. 29 00:01:49,960 --> 00:01:52,320 That is amazing love. 30 00:01:52,320 --> 00:01:56,720 Now, let me ask you, how do we respond to that love? 31 00:01:56,720 --> 00:02:02,560 Maybe we accepted the Lord years ago, but can people tell that we have that right relationship? 32 00:02:02,560 --> 00:02:08,440 Can people tell that we've been changed, that we've been transformed by God's love? 33 00:02:08,440 --> 00:02:11,600 Today's clip comes from one of my all time favorite movies. 34 00:02:11,600 --> 00:02:15,880 Honestly, I think it's one of the most quotable movies of all time. 35 00:02:15,880 --> 00:02:18,480 Maybe Tombstone is a close second. 36 00:02:18,480 --> 00:02:21,840 From this movie, we get so many classic quotes. 37 00:02:21,840 --> 00:02:26,440 I can even give you a one word quote and you will know this movie. 38 00:02:26,440 --> 00:02:27,440 It's from the 80s. 39 00:02:27,440 --> 00:02:28,440 Here it is. 40 00:02:28,440 --> 00:02:29,440 You ready? 41 00:02:29,440 --> 00:02:30,440 Inconceivable. 42 00:02:30,440 --> 00:02:33,960 Of course, it's the princess bride. 43 00:02:33,960 --> 00:02:38,340 I use one of those quotes in the intro, as you wish. 44 00:02:38,340 --> 00:02:41,200 Some other popular quotes from the movie. 45 00:02:41,200 --> 00:02:42,200 Hold it, hold it. 46 00:02:42,200 --> 00:02:44,160 Is this a kissing book? 47 00:02:44,160 --> 00:02:46,240 Murdered by pirates is good. 48 00:02:46,240 --> 00:02:48,200 No more rhymes, I mean it. 49 00:02:48,200 --> 00:02:49,880 Anybody want a peanut? 50 00:02:49,880 --> 00:02:52,040 And of course the marriage. 51 00:02:52,040 --> 00:02:54,440 Woe, true woe. 52 00:02:54,440 --> 00:02:55,440 Marriage. 53 00:02:55,440 --> 00:02:57,640 Have fun storming the castle. 54 00:02:57,640 --> 00:02:58,640 You seem a decent fellow. 55 00:02:58,640 --> 00:03:00,200 I hate to kill you. 56 00:03:00,200 --> 00:03:01,360 You seem a decent fellow. 57 00:03:01,360 --> 00:03:02,620 I hate to die. 58 00:03:02,620 --> 00:03:03,760 You get it, right? 59 00:03:03,760 --> 00:03:06,300 So many quotes in this movie. 60 00:03:06,300 --> 00:03:08,160 And it's a great movie. 61 00:03:08,160 --> 00:03:09,920 It holds up well. 62 00:03:09,920 --> 00:03:14,520 Princess Bride came out in 1987 and it holds a special place in my heart. 63 00:03:14,520 --> 00:03:18,960 I remember the friends I saw it with and the theater in Knoxville that we went to to see 64 00:03:18,960 --> 00:03:20,720 it when it opened up. 65 00:03:20,720 --> 00:03:21,720 It was magical. 66 00:03:21,720 --> 00:03:27,440 It's currently streaming on Disney Plus and as I said, I think it holds up very well. 67 00:03:27,440 --> 00:03:32,720 Yes, the rodents of unusual size are a little cheesy looking, but I'll take it to have this 68 00:03:32,720 --> 00:03:34,680 classic any day. 69 00:03:34,680 --> 00:03:38,600 It was written by William Goldman and directed by Rob Reiner. 70 00:03:38,600 --> 00:03:40,480 It has huge stars in it. 71 00:03:40,480 --> 00:03:47,220 Carrie Ellis, Robin Wright, Mandy Patinkin, Andre the Giant, and Billy Crystal stars as 72 00:03:47,220 --> 00:03:51,480 Miracle Max, which is the star of our clip. 73 00:03:51,480 --> 00:03:56,160 Wesley has just been killed by Humperdinck because of Buttercup's love for him. 74 00:03:56,160 --> 00:04:00,680 If you remember, Humperdinck is forcing Buttercup to marry him. 75 00:04:00,680 --> 00:04:06,780 Wesley is dead, so Inigo and Fezzik take his body to Miracle Max for help. 76 00:04:06,780 --> 00:04:08,680 And we get our clip of the week. 77 00:04:08,680 --> 00:04:10,480 We're in a terrible rush. 78 00:04:10,480 --> 00:04:12,160 Don't rush me, sonny. 79 00:04:12,160 --> 00:04:14,920 You rush a miracle man, you get rotten miracles. 80 00:04:14,920 --> 00:04:15,920 You got money? 81 00:04:15,920 --> 00:04:16,920 65. 82 00:04:16,920 --> 00:04:22,440 I never worked for so little, except once, and that was a very noble cause. 83 00:04:22,440 --> 00:04:25,760 This is noble, sir. 84 00:04:25,760 --> 00:04:28,760 His wife is crippled. 85 00:04:28,760 --> 00:04:32,640 His children are on the brink of starvation. 86 00:04:32,640 --> 00:04:33,640 You a rotten liar. 87 00:04:33,640 --> 00:04:38,120 I need him to help avenge my father, murdered these 20 years. 88 00:04:38,120 --> 00:04:39,680 Your first story was better. 89 00:04:39,680 --> 00:04:40,680 Where's that bellows cramp? 90 00:04:40,680 --> 00:04:42,680 He probably owes you money, huh? 91 00:04:42,680 --> 00:04:44,280 Well, I'll ask him. 92 00:04:44,280 --> 00:04:46,280 His daddy can't talk. 93 00:04:46,280 --> 00:04:49,000 Look who knows so much, huh? 94 00:04:49,000 --> 00:04:52,800 Well, it just so happens that your friend here is only mostly dead. 95 00:04:52,800 --> 00:04:57,000 There's a big difference between mostly dead and all dead. 96 00:04:57,000 --> 00:04:59,920 Please open his mouth. 97 00:04:59,920 --> 00:05:03,880 Now, mostly dead is slightly alive. 98 00:05:03,880 --> 00:05:09,360 Now, all dead, well, with all dead, there's usually only one thing that you can do. 99 00:05:09,360 --> 00:05:10,360 What's that? 100 00:05:10,360 --> 00:05:13,480 Go through his clothes and look for loose change. 101 00:05:13,480 --> 00:05:21,440 Hey, hello in there. 102 00:05:21,440 --> 00:05:24,800 Hey, what's so important? 103 00:05:24,800 --> 00:05:28,920 What you got here, that's worth living for. 104 00:05:28,920 --> 00:05:31,920 True love. 105 00:05:31,920 --> 00:05:34,320 True love. 106 00:05:34,320 --> 00:05:36,560 You heard him? 107 00:05:36,560 --> 00:05:39,000 You could not ask for a more noble cause than that. 108 00:05:39,000 --> 00:05:44,800 Honey, true love is the greatest thing in the world, except for nice MLT, a mud and 109 00:05:44,800 --> 00:05:49,440 lettuce and tomato sandwich when the mud is nice and lean and the tomato is ripe. 110 00:05:49,440 --> 00:05:50,600 It's so perky. 111 00:05:50,600 --> 00:05:51,600 I love that. 112 00:05:51,600 --> 00:05:52,600 But that's not what he said. 113 00:05:52,600 --> 00:05:55,600 He distinctly said to blave. 114 00:05:55,600 --> 00:05:58,320 And as we all know, to blave means to bluff, huh? 115 00:05:58,320 --> 00:06:00,960 So you're probably playing cards and he cheated. 116 00:06:00,960 --> 00:06:01,960 Liar! 117 00:06:01,960 --> 00:06:02,960 Liar! 118 00:06:02,960 --> 00:06:03,960 Liar! 119 00:06:03,960 --> 00:06:04,960 Get back, witch! 120 00:06:04,960 --> 00:06:05,960 I'm not a witch, I'm your wife! 121 00:06:05,960 --> 00:06:10,320 But after what you just said, I'm not even sure I want to be that anymore. 122 00:06:10,320 --> 00:06:11,320 You never had it so good. 123 00:06:11,320 --> 00:06:12,320 True love. 124 00:06:12,320 --> 00:06:13,320 He said true love, Matt. 125 00:06:13,320 --> 00:06:14,320 Don't say another word, Valerie. 126 00:06:14,320 --> 00:06:15,320 I was afraid. 127 00:06:15,320 --> 00:06:18,840 Ever since Prince Humperdinck fired him, his confidence is shattered. 128 00:06:18,840 --> 00:06:20,080 Why did you say that name? 129 00:06:20,080 --> 00:06:22,240 You promised me that you would never say that name. 130 00:06:22,240 --> 00:06:23,240 What? 131 00:06:23,240 --> 00:06:24,240 Humperdinck? 132 00:06:24,240 --> 00:06:25,240 Humperdinck? 133 00:06:25,240 --> 00:06:26,240 Humperdinck? 134 00:06:26,240 --> 00:06:27,240 Humperdinck? 135 00:06:27,240 --> 00:06:28,240 Humperdinck? 136 00:06:28,240 --> 00:06:29,240 Humperdinck? 137 00:06:29,240 --> 00:06:30,240 Humperdinck? 138 00:06:30,240 --> 00:06:31,240 Humperdinck? 139 00:06:31,240 --> 00:06:32,240 Humperdinck? 140 00:06:32,240 --> 00:06:33,240 Humperdinck? 141 00:06:33,240 --> 00:06:34,240 Humperdinck? 142 00:06:34,240 --> 00:06:35,240 Humperdinck? 143 00:06:35,240 --> 00:06:36,240 Humperdinck? 144 00:06:36,240 --> 00:06:37,240 Humperdinck? 145 00:06:37,240 --> 00:06:38,240 This is Buttercup's true love. 146 00:06:38,240 --> 00:06:42,320 If you kill him, he will stop Humperdinck's wedding. 147 00:06:42,320 --> 00:06:43,320 Shut up! 148 00:06:43,320 --> 00:06:44,320 Wait, wait. 149 00:06:44,320 --> 00:06:45,320 I'm making better Humperdinck's office? 150 00:06:45,320 --> 00:06:46,320 Humiliation's galore. 151 00:06:46,320 --> 00:06:47,320 Ha, ha, ha. 152 00:06:47,320 --> 00:06:52,320 I did a lick, Daldey, naysha. 153 00:06:52,320 --> 00:06:53,320 That is a noble cause. 154 00:06:53,320 --> 00:06:54,320 Give me the 65. 155 00:06:54,320 --> 00:06:55,320 Come on, the job. 156 00:06:55,320 --> 00:06:56,320 I will! 157 00:06:56,320 --> 00:07:00,520 That's a miracle pill. 158 00:07:00,520 --> 00:07:08,080 The chocolate coating makes it go down easier, but you have to wait 15 minutes for full potency. 159 00:07:08,080 --> 00:07:10,920 And you shouldn't go swimming after for at least what? 160 00:07:10,920 --> 00:07:11,920 An hour. 161 00:07:11,920 --> 00:07:12,920 An hour. 162 00:07:12,920 --> 00:07:13,920 An hour. 163 00:07:13,920 --> 00:07:14,920 Thank you for everything. 164 00:07:14,920 --> 00:07:15,920 Okay. 165 00:07:15,920 --> 00:07:16,920 Bye-bye, boys. 166 00:07:16,920 --> 00:07:17,920 Have fun storming the castle. 167 00:07:17,920 --> 00:07:18,920 Think it'll wait? 168 00:07:18,920 --> 00:07:19,920 It would take a miracle. 169 00:07:19,920 --> 00:07:20,920 Bye-bye. 170 00:07:20,920 --> 00:07:27,280 Now, I know I could have used a half dozen clips from this movie, but I like this one. 171 00:07:27,280 --> 00:07:31,560 I mean, who doesn't love a good MLT? 172 00:07:31,560 --> 00:07:37,360 What Wesley says when Max asks him, what's so important that you need to live for? 173 00:07:37,360 --> 00:07:40,960 Of course, he replies, true love. 174 00:07:40,960 --> 00:07:47,200 Miracle Max says that true love is the greatest, the most noble thing in the world. 175 00:07:47,200 --> 00:07:52,680 Wesley was mostly dead, but the noble cause of true love brings him back to life. 176 00:07:52,680 --> 00:07:55,660 Now, this might be a stretch, but bear with me. 177 00:07:55,660 --> 00:08:00,800 Are you fully alive in God's love or are you mostly dead? 178 00:08:00,800 --> 00:08:06,440 Do you just go through the routines of the day or has the love of God transformed you 179 00:08:06,440 --> 00:08:07,760 through and through? 180 00:08:07,760 --> 00:08:14,840 Now, I know we fail, we sin, we battle against the flesh, and we try to live by the spirit. 181 00:08:14,840 --> 00:08:21,000 But if we are believers, shouldn't there be a significant difference in our love from 182 00:08:21,000 --> 00:08:24,440 those who aren't walking by faith? 183 00:08:24,440 --> 00:08:30,120 Do we have the true love of God in our lives and are we loving others? 184 00:08:30,120 --> 00:08:33,520 Love tells the world that Jesus is our Lord. 185 00:08:33,520 --> 00:08:39,940 Jesus said in John 13, 35, your love for one another will prove to the world that you are 186 00:08:39,940 --> 00:08:40,940 my disciples. 187 00:08:40,940 --> 00:08:44,400 Now, the love word used here is agape. 188 00:08:44,400 --> 00:08:46,240 You've probably heard that before. 189 00:08:46,240 --> 00:08:51,040 This is the same Greek word that's used in John 3, 16. 190 00:08:51,040 --> 00:08:54,020 Agape is one of the Greek words for love. 191 00:08:54,020 --> 00:09:02,160 This is the selfless, unconditional, and sacrificial love that God has for us and calls us to have 192 00:09:02,160 --> 00:09:04,400 in return for others. 193 00:09:04,400 --> 00:09:08,400 Hebrews 13, verse 1 admonishes us to keep on loving. 194 00:09:08,400 --> 00:09:14,560 Yes, it's hard, but that is how we as Christians are called to live. 195 00:09:14,560 --> 00:09:18,460 We must have that true love in our lives for others. 196 00:09:18,460 --> 00:09:22,040 We must have that agape love. 197 00:09:22,040 --> 00:09:27,240 In Donald Miller's book, Blue Like Jazz, he has a chapter called Love, How to Really Love 198 00:09:27,240 --> 00:09:28,240 Other People. 199 00:09:28,240 --> 00:09:33,840 He tells of the time that he was at a lecture by Greg Spencer that talked about the metaphors 200 00:09:33,840 --> 00:09:37,080 that we use around relationships. 201 00:09:37,080 --> 00:09:42,280 He said we talk about how we value people, invest in people, say that people are priceless 202 00:09:42,280 --> 00:09:46,320 or that a relationship is bankrupt if it's bad. 203 00:09:46,320 --> 00:09:49,640 All these metaphors are economic ones. 204 00:09:49,640 --> 00:09:54,960 And he says this, quote, the problem with Christian culture is we think of love as a 205 00:09:54,960 --> 00:09:55,960 commodity. 206 00:09:55,960 --> 00:09:58,440 We use it like money. 207 00:09:58,440 --> 00:10:04,720 He continues, if somebody is doing something for us, offering us something, be it gifts, 208 00:10:04,720 --> 00:10:09,360 time, popularity, or what have you, we feel that they have value. 209 00:10:09,360 --> 00:10:14,600 We feel that they are worth something to us, and perhaps we feel that they are priceless. 210 00:10:14,600 --> 00:10:19,060 I could see it so clearly and I could feel it in the pages of my life. 211 00:10:19,060 --> 00:10:22,840 This was the thing that had smelled so rotten all these years. 212 00:10:22,840 --> 00:10:26,120 I used love like money. 213 00:10:26,120 --> 00:10:28,500 The church used love like money. 214 00:10:28,500 --> 00:10:34,240 With love, we withheld affirmation from people who did not agree with us, but we lavishly 215 00:10:34,240 --> 00:10:37,180 financed the ones who did. 216 00:10:37,180 --> 00:10:42,280 You see, Donald Miller makes the connection that sometimes we as Christians, we dole out 217 00:10:42,280 --> 00:10:45,520 love as a currency, just like he said. 218 00:10:45,520 --> 00:10:49,960 If we find people have worth to us, then we love them. 219 00:10:49,960 --> 00:10:53,040 But that's not what agape love is. 220 00:10:53,040 --> 00:10:58,160 Donald Miller goes on in the chapter to give an example about a guy that was in his life. 221 00:10:58,160 --> 00:11:02,560 He says this, there was a guy in my life at the time, a guy I went to church with whom 222 00:11:02,560 --> 00:11:04,280 I honestly didn't like. 223 00:11:04,280 --> 00:11:07,460 I thought he was sarcastic and lazy and manipulative. 224 00:11:07,460 --> 00:11:11,600 He ate with his mouth open so that food almost fell from his chin when he talked. 225 00:11:11,600 --> 00:11:13,160 He was annoying. 226 00:11:13,160 --> 00:11:15,000 He began to get under my skin. 227 00:11:15,000 --> 00:11:16,160 I wanted him to change. 228 00:11:16,160 --> 00:11:22,360 I wanted him to read a book, memorize a poem, or explore morality, at least as an intellectual 229 00:11:22,360 --> 00:11:23,360 concept. 230 00:11:23,360 --> 00:11:28,520 I didn't know how to communicate to him that he needed to change, so I displayed it on 231 00:11:28,520 --> 00:11:29,520 my face. 232 00:11:29,520 --> 00:11:30,880 I rolled my eyes. 233 00:11:30,880 --> 00:11:32,560 I gave him dirty looks. 234 00:11:32,560 --> 00:11:35,920 I would mouth the word loser when he wasn't looking. 235 00:11:35,920 --> 00:11:41,920 I thought somehow he would sense my disapproval and change his life in order to gain my favor. 236 00:11:41,920 --> 00:11:46,720 In short, Donald Miller says, I withheld love. 237 00:11:46,720 --> 00:11:50,920 After Greg Spencer's lecture, I knew what I was doing was wrong. 238 00:11:50,920 --> 00:11:52,280 It was selfish. 239 00:11:52,280 --> 00:11:54,520 And what's more, it would never work. 240 00:11:54,520 --> 00:11:58,120 By withholding love from my friend, he became defensive. 241 00:11:58,120 --> 00:11:59,120 He didn't like me. 242 00:11:59,120 --> 00:12:03,640 He thought I was judgmental, snobbish, proud, and mean. 243 00:12:03,640 --> 00:12:08,440 Rather than being drawn to me, wanting to change, he was repulsed. 244 00:12:08,440 --> 00:12:11,820 I was guilty of using love like money. 245 00:12:11,820 --> 00:12:16,000 Withholding it to get somebody to be who I wanted them to be. 246 00:12:16,000 --> 00:12:19,160 I was making a mess of everything. 247 00:12:19,160 --> 00:12:21,560 And I was disobeying God. 248 00:12:21,560 --> 00:12:26,800 Donald Miller closes the chapter with the question, are we loving others with the love 249 00:12:26,800 --> 00:12:28,840 of Jesus? 250 00:12:28,840 --> 00:12:32,280 Are we treating love as a commodity? 251 00:12:32,280 --> 00:12:36,800 Or are we loving others as Christ has loved us? 252 00:12:36,800 --> 00:12:44,840 Are we loving others with that agape biblical love, that sacrificial selfless love? 253 00:12:44,840 --> 00:12:50,680 We love because God has loved us through Jesus. 254 00:12:50,680 --> 00:12:54,600 Don't keep a love with conditions or treated as a commodity. 255 00:12:54,600 --> 00:12:57,600 That would be a love that would be mostly dead. 256 00:12:57,600 --> 00:13:00,960 Love others as God has loved us. 257 00:13:00,960 --> 00:13:04,200 After all, that is true love. 258 00:13:04,200 --> 00:13:32,080 Until next week.