SCL

My senior year at college, my roommate, a mutual friend and I all got together and tried the Wal-Mart version of NetFlix. We got two screwed up discs (out of at least 35), but they credited our account some amount of money, so I guess it worked out well.

I must thank you for all of these posts. This one especially has hit me as I approach God as the prodigal son for what seems like the millionth time. The thought, “He can’t throw me ANOTHER party can he?” seems to run through my head for what seems like the billionth time and I hear God whisper, “Perspective,” into my ear. I don’t know exactly what he means by perspective, but I guess I’d better find out. Thank you again.

I’m with you on this one. I have basically a perfect little life. But I am around so much of other people’s suffering much of the time, that I find myself constantly waiting for the first shoe to drop in my life.

And there’s no reason that it shouldn’t. Except that it hasn’t.

I switched from Blockbuster to Netflix for exactly the same reason – ugh. At least with Netflix you can watch movies online, and even some great shows. Like The Office and Heroes.

Thanks for the insight…good post. To speak in terms of the prodigal son story, I think I often struggle with ‘how many times will God throw me a welcome home party?’, or ‘will the welcome home party turn into just leaving the light on for when I come home?’, etc.

Because, while I am a believer, I see myself repeating the same mistakes over time…maybe just in different forms.

I feel that way all of the time. If I get a minute to myself during the day and decide to relax and do something fun, I immediately think “should I be doing something else?”. Like it’s not ok to ever enjoy yourself. Just because things are calm doesn’t mean that something is about to go wrong.

thanks! loved the post and it was so true! lol!

I share your hatred of Blockbuster. How do they sleep at night?

Anyways, I know you’ll appreciate this recent Onion News video about Blockbuster: http://www.theonion.com/content/video/historic_blockbuster_store_offers

I guess it doesn’t say much for my spiritual maturity that I had to read the post multiple times, because once you said you left Netflix for Blockbuster, a fuse blew in my brain, making it difficult to concentrate.

Anyway, I am always waiting for the other shoe to drop with God. I think I’ve heard too many people say things like, “Be careful what you pray for, because God might GIVE IT to you!” ending with an evil cackle, like God is going to make me pay for every blessing with groaning and tears.

Here’s a verse I like to keep in mind when I’m trying to counteract that: “For you shall go out with joy, and be led out with peace;
the mountains and the hills shall break forth into singing before you, and all the trees of the field shall clap their hands.” (Isaiah 55:12)

Remember the story from Luke 18 of the rich man that went to Jesus and said “What do I need to do to get eternal life?”
Jesus replied that he knew the commandments.
“Yeah, I’ve kept all those all my life,” he replied.
Then Jesus said “You still lack one more thing. Go sell all your stuff and give the money to the poor, then you will have riches in heaven. Come with me and follow me.”

You know the rest of the story, but think how awesome his life would have turned out if he had done what Jesus instructed.

The story ends with Jesus saying “There isn’t anyone who giving up home, family, whatever, for the sake of God’s Kingdom, who doesn’t receive back in this life many times more, and after this life, eternal life.”

Now imagine the rich man, having obeyed Jesus and experiencing the awesomeness of leaving it all for Christ and blessing countless families with the wealth that he’d had.

Imagine though, that after a few years of being with Jesus, he started to collect a few things, not much, but a nice camel and a small bank account. Once his mind was starting to be attracted to those things again, wouldn’t he feel a little, well, trapped? “Man, I can’t have the stuff to enjoy myself because of Jesus.”

The solution of course, would be to go back to doing what made following Jesus awesome in the first place. Give it all up again to follow Him completely. The awesomeness comes back.yy

wow – thanks for that.

i got my dream job last year of teaching high school Bible and working as a chaplain and i love it. i have never felt more fulfilled or used in my life. my wife and i moved back home around our friends and families and God enabled us to get a house big enough to grow a family in. if i got any happier i would have to take up gymnastics or dance to express my joy. but i’ve been waiting for the other shoe to drop, waiting for life to start sucking, waiting for infinite to drop to 2.

thanks for the encouragement, it was right on target for me.

oh! do NOT get me started on blockbuster! >:(

our store doesn’t own a single “blockbuster.” i went in there with a list of about 10 mega movies that i wanted to rent, & they didn’t have a single one!! including Lord of the Rings!

in regards to more spiritual things, you might be interested in reading “The Shack” by William Young.

yeah, my God loves the heck out of me… makes no sense, but i’ll take it…questioning it wastes time i can be revelling in it…

I LOVE THIS!

the world is such a horrible place in which to learn about love. i’m totally with you on the way it messes with our ability to really believe in God’s love and his grace for us. his love and grace are crazy! but so, so freeing. i’m only beginning to perceive how freeing and beautiful it is.

ps: please, for the love of pete (who’s pete?!), switch back to netflix. i just joined a few months ago so i’ve never heard of that slow delivery debacle, but i always get my next DVD on the very next business day after they’ve received the one i just returned. i, too, loathe blockbuster with the greatest, fiery passion inside me . . . their stores are grungy, their employees are apathetic and slow, and really, let’s be honest, we join a program like netflix because we’re sick and tired of what the local blockbuster has in stock. how is offering me a free rental on the spot from the tired selection they have in their store really that beneficial to me? it’s all about the unlimited selection that netflix offers that makes their concept so hot.

Been only reading here a week or so, but I love the blog.

Your mention of the Matrix at the beginning reminded me of the scene where Smith is explaining that “this is not the first Matrix.” The first was created perfect, but the humans had a problem with that, they couldn’t accept perfection.

Thanks for the reminder that true joy and happiness come from God. Can you imagine how dark and depressing life would get if God didn’t allow us to laugh?

Oh, and, I too once suffered w/ blockbuster–they could never manage to send the TV DVD’s in the right order. But that’s behind me now. I’m over it.

great post! i have pledged my allegiance to family video… mostly because they sell their used videos so cheap, but you can also rent for $1…

i really appreciate the thoughts you have on God’s goodness and needing more fun and laughter in church… great stuff!

I always seem to be waiting for the other shoe to drop lately. Thanks for reminding me that God doesn’t work that way.

The plan you had, is the plan I have. BB doesnt have that plan anymore, but if you just keep renewing it then they cant change it on you or its a breach of contract. Sorry you dont have unlimited movie rentals anymore, but I still do.

I love your blog BTW.

The summer is too hot to be scampering about trying to get out of the car and into a Blockbuster!
Go with Netflix, heck they have a distribution warehouse in Georgia, my DVDs come next day!

Dude,

Wonderful article. I hate blockbuster so much that I started my own website as an alternative:

Free Movies

Check it out.

I totally share your hatred of Blockbuster for various reasons. Also, this is a great post. It’s sometimes hard for me to grasp that God wants to continually woo me and keep me close to Him. I also feel that if I am pushing Him to the backburner, He does the same to me. I know its not true though. Thanks for the insight.

I really enjoy this blog, but you did make a tiny error in this one that I felt needed correcting. In the story of the prodigal son, it says that he wasted the money on “wild living” or something like that. It is the older brother who accuses him of wasting it on prostitutes. It doesn’t actually say that he did waste it on prostitutes. Just a small thing, but hey, thats me.

dang, i needed this for a whole different reason. apparently my shoes have both dropped enough for all of us and i’ve been walking around lately thinking i’m not needed by the Lord anymore. sigh….

anyway, thanks for the encouragement and subtle reminder that i need to stop feeling that way.

never heard of the issue with netflix, have always had netflix, always get movies back in one day. I HEART NETFLIX. but i have no blockbuster in my town, all the towns around me though, just figured it was pointless to waste the gas $$ to drive to the store when netflix will give me what i want without having to turn the ignition.

Amen! This was a beautiful application out of a frustrating (for you) subject.

For me, though, I’ve had nothing but good experiences from Netflix and Blockbuster Online. And the old Wal*Mart version, and from Redbox. I love ‘em all. Although, I’m wondering if Netflix is still doing that throttling thing (which I had never heard of till I read this post), ’cause they have been slowing mine down. You’d think they wouldn’t care how many ’90s TV shows I rented. Heh.

I love this post, too. I feel the same way, ditto.

I also like what Elizabeth commented about the “Be careful what you pray for…” idea. Where do we get ideas like that about God?

Another great post…

Blessings, Olivia

In the category of “missing the point of the post completely”…

I hate Blockbuster too! I once had a $13.00 ate fee. They never once sent me a bill…until a letter from a collection agency showed up in my mail. You have got to be kidding me!

Love the blog! “That will get us on ‘Stuff Christians Like’ for sure!” is a common phrase used around our church office.

“and they began to be merry…”

one of the best parts of the prodigal son story is that the party is still going…

Good post. I had a suspicion about Netflix… Julie Schaal (Carroll, IA)

I left Blockbuster for Red Box. Movies for a dollar a day… genius!

The antidote to this “waiting for the other shoe to drop”, in my humble opinion, is what I was told as a child: God LOVES YOU!

I heard this from two friends of my mom, Margetta and Ernestine, many multiples of times, over 20 years, and then, they proceeded TO love me like God would. It stuck, in my mind, and, more importantly, in my heart. Because of them, I very rarely have a sense of foreboding.

God bless Margetta and Ernestine!

I encourage all who read this comment to BE a Blesser in the mission field where you work and live.

I tried both Netflix and Blockbuster, (I too had problems with the stores but figured I’d give the online version a try since we didn’t have a store locally anyway), online and figured I’d stick with Netflix when during the two week trial for Blockbuster I kept getting either unplayable DVD’s or the wrong DVD’s altogether. I’ve been with netflix for about a year and haven’t had a problem. I get them like clockwork two days after I put them in the mail, (one day for them to get them and one day for them to get to me).

I love how this entry flowed right into God’s love not having any conditions. How right you are.

And what a great blog you’ve got here. I’ve laughed a lot and nodded while reading your stuff.

I hate blockbuster. I did the same thing and signed up for their “great deal.” Which quickly turned into a terrible deal. But, since there are no late fees on the movies that arrive in the mail, I’ve kept them for about 6 months, refusing to mail them back…okay, I actually am lazy. But somewhere in my head it feels like vengeance!

I really liked this post. Maybe because I hate blockbuster too. But, I have to ask, what if you did get some weird disease or get fired from work? Does that really change the fact that God’s love is limitless? I’m sure that’s not what you were saying though.

I’ve had alot of shitty things happen to me in the last 8 years. But I feel God’s grace for me more today than I did when I was much more naive about life and people and myself. Amazingly, I also have more grace for others as well. I can’t say I’m thankful for the things I’ve been through, because they really sucked, but I’m thankful to know God a little bit more and to see people a little bit more like God does.

I think you can add to the ninth paragraph “(Some) Evangelists care about you like you are the only sinner in the world till you’re converted.” That’s something that came to my mind. Ouch! Sometimes I think we concentrate a little too much on purely “converting” people and not enough on discipling them.

I too thought it was lame when Blockbuster did that.

I think that people have such a skewed view of God that comes from the little things that no one knows is shaping that view. I too have struggled with this. When I was younger, my mom would always tell my brothers & me that if we ate before we said the blessing, that we would throw up. So not thanking God = throwing up? Of course I don’t believe that, but it did give me this sense that God was on the edge of His seat waiting to blast me when I messed up. Definitely something I’ve had to work on. Good post!

I never thought that I would read a post about Blockbuster and the Prodigal Son, but here it is!

I have to say though that since we were “original” Blockbuster clients, they didn’t include us when they changed their policies. So we still get the unlimited rentals.

WOrking on what you wrote and what some of your commenters said, I have to say that I think the quiet times in life should be enjoyed. I am a person where a lot of challenging things have happened to lately, but I do look back and am happy that I enjoyed my simple life when it was simple.

Okay, I know you meant us to look beyond the Blockbuster thing, but I must say …

I’ve had a seething anger toward Blockbuster for the very same reason. Not only did they take away our unlimited rentals, they upped the price. (What the!) I wanted to switch back to Netflix (and send a scathing email to Blockbuster which would make the company itself cry), but my husband was comfie.

Sigh.

God's love has no limits, and He never gives up on us. Not even when we give up on ourselves. The bottom line is that we are incapable of understanding the true depth of love God has for humanity. The sacrifice of his son proved it, but yet we still end up filtering his love and forgiveness through our understanding. This goes far beyond trying to fit a square peg into a round hole.

Are you wondering if God still loves you? He does. Are you wondering if He still cares for you, about your life and your needs and your future? He does. He always will.

also, Blockbuster sucks. you hit the nail on the head. I'm still a Netflix man, loving instant watch on my PS3