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BEST OF 2002-2003 Guiding Light lights the hearts of hopeful students Cavalier smashed in Schenley Quad Air Force ROTC simulates POW camp Wait is over for Guiding Light hopefuls! Pitt students pack Destinta Theatre to watch 'The Passion of the Christ.' Controversial movie receives David Limbaugh's commentary! PHOTOGALLERYPhotogallery of the funeral procession ceremony for Reagan to the Capitol HOTPRESSIONSCommandments controversy is so commie and not constitutional SPECIAL FEATURE FEATURE Pitt Dance Team goldens Heinz Field Pitt Dance Team rainbow Heinz Field IMPRESSIONSA patriotic war is just to protect people (1)It is a matter of principle and ethicsPrivacy or perversion in the bedroom Israel, Israel, what have you done for Palestine! Pitt should be proud denying same-sex benefits Keep the Reagan legacy alive by voting for President Bush this November
Homosexuals do not need a special bill!
Wake up media and uncover the terrorists! Mount Rushmore needs to be revisted to include Ronald Reagan Clinton wants Kerry who promotes immoral issues, do you? 9-11 report should not have been bipartisan! SPORTS Women's softball team saw Rockets falling. Hungry Panthers win Pittsburgh Classic EXPRESSIONSConstitution supports God and patriotism One Numb-er Vote for the perfect candidate 24-7! What if Jesus talked football? Pitt Dance Team's colors of black, red, green, and white give significance to the Christmas season! Nativity reminds tourists of Christ's birth Both evolutionism and creationism are based on faith! Gong Show winner recited about 'If cocaine were an alien, what it does not want you to know!' Gospel revealed through semantics and word play Only the right antidote can protect your life God's love is alphabetically revealed in random languages |
Review of "xXx: State of the Union"
Ramesh C. Reddy xXx: State of the Union (2005)
Main Cast: xXx: State of the Union Trailer Plot Review of 'xXx: State of the Union' now playing in theaters! The movie “xXx: State of the Union” is an explosive action-adventure set in Washington D.C, the capitol of the United States. It is about a prison inmate Lt. Darius Stone (played by Ice Cube) who is helped to break out of prison to stop someone who has attempted assassinations of his old unit including the attempted assassination of Augustus Gibbons (played by Samuel L. Jackson), the director of the xXx covert operations program. From the time Stone escapes from prison his life is put in danger as he is thrust into a political conspiracy. Later, he discovers that the perpetrators are coming to assassinate the President of the United States during the State of the Union address. The movie revolves around every action taken to get details regarding the assassination and putting a stop to it. Ice-Cube gives a phenomenal performance as the new xXx and is a must see movie. Content Review: The movie is rated PG-13 for strong action violence. There is only once the F-word is used during the end of the movie and only once that the name of Jesus Christ is used without it being in a context of praise or prayer. There was no need for that! Overall the movie was fast moving and will keep you thrilled to the end. “But now you must rid yourselves of all such things as these: anger, rage, malice, slander, and filthy language from your lips. Do not lie to each other, since you have taken off your old self with its practices.” (Colossians 3:8-9, NIV) "You shall not misuse the name of the LORD your God, for the LORD will not hold anyone guiltless who misuses his name. (Exodus 20:7, NIV) Spiritual Implications: In the movie, Darius Stone is imprisoned for crimes done as a military officer but is given a chance to escape to get a job done. He was given that chance only if he would join the xXx covert operations program. This reminded me of a work-based salvation. He was going to get his freedom only if he would do this and that. He agreed to and got his freedom. This movie also brought into perspective that we all are prisoners because of the crimes done against God. The crimes done against God are all the sins we have committed and the sin that captivates us. We are held prisoner to sin and there is no escape. People may try to do this and that to gain their freedom and escape the power of sin on their own but never succeed. Trying to reach God on our own will not work. A work based Salvation will not work to get our freedom. “But I see another law at work in the members of my body, waging war against the law of my mind and making me a prisoner of the law of sin at work within my members.” (Romans 7:23, NIV) No matter how many good things we do to negate the sin in our life, we cannot reach God on our own because God in His Holiness cannot allow sin to enter His presence. So, even if we are 99.9% good according to human standards, the 0.1% of sin in our life makes us impure to stand before the Holiness of God. It is like dropping a drop of 0.1% cyanide into 99.9% of pure water. It is not pure anymore. “All of us have become like one who is unclean, and all our righteous acts are like filthy rags; we all shrivel up like a leaf, and like the wind our sins sweep us away. No one calls on your name or strives to lay hold of you; for you have hidden your face from us and made us waste away because of our sins.” (Isaiah 64:6-7, NIV) “What shall we conclude then? Are we any better? Not at all! We have already made the charge that Jews and Gentiles alike are all under sin. As it is written: "There is no one righteous, not even one; there is no one who understands, no one who seeks God. All have turned away, they have together become worthless; there is no one who does good, not even one.” (Romans 3:9-12, NIV) Is there any hope for us then? In the movie, we see Stone trying to escape from prison and reaching out for help. He reached out for help but unless the help came from above to reach out to him, he would have fallen and died as a prisoner. In the same way, as prisoners of sin we need to reach out to God but all our reaching out does no good if God has not taken the initiative to reach out to us. However, God has taken the initiative to reach out to us from above through His Son Jesus Christ so we do not have to fall to our spiritual death and be imprisoned forever. Rather, because of Jesus Christ we can have our freedom from being a slave to sin. “For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life. For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him.” (John 3:16-17, NIV) “For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.” (Romans 6:23, NIV) “But the Scripture declares that the whole world is a prisoner of sin, so that what was promised, being given through faith in Jesus Christ, might be given to those who believe.” (Galatians 3:22, NIV) “For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this not from yourselves, it is the gift of God— not by works, so that no one can boast.” (Ephesians 2:8-9, NIV) We are saved from being a prisoner to sin not because of our good works but because of the grace of God through our faith in Jesus Christ. Jesus Christ reaches out to you and me but the question becomes will we reach out to Jesus to come and save us. Jesus becomes the bridge between God and Man. He alone can save us and no one else. The state of the union between you and God can be good only with a relationship with Jesus Christ. Some states have laws that state if you have three strikes, you are out and imprisoned for life giving you XXX. Our spiritual life determines the state of the union between God and Man. Just as XXX intervened to save the president from being assassinated even though violence surrounded him, Jesus Christ intervenes for you. The difference is that Jesus Christ is perfect. It is through violence that Jesus Christ bore on the cross as He was crucified and His blood shed, that you have been rescued. Three days later, He came back to life to save you and is alive today! "Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! In his great mercy he has given us new birth into a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, and into an inheritance that can never perish, spoil or fade—kept in heaven for you, who through faith are shielded by God's power until the coming of the salvation that is ready to be revealed in the last time." (1 Peter 1:3-5, NIV) In the movie, the president takes the help given to him from above to be rescued from death. Jesus Christ, through His death on the cross has given you help to rescue you from eternal death. Will you take His help? “Just as Moses lifted up the snake in the desert, so the Son of Man must be lifted up, that everyone who believes in him may have eternal life.” (John 3:14, NIV) This verse is talking about Jesus being lifted upon a cross and all who look to Him will be saved and have Eternal Life. This promise is for you and me friend. “Jesus answered, "I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.” (John 14:6, NIV) Questions to Ponder: What are you a prisoner to? What is the state of the union between you and God right now? What role has Jesus Christ played to influence the state of the union between you and God? What should your role be? What can you do to help the state of the union between man and God in other people's lives? Express Your View
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