Evan Almighty

Last night we watched 'Evan Almighty.' I never went to see it in the theaters when it came out. It didn't look that good to me PLUS I saw it as a 'Bruce Almighty' look alike. Which it was. I really liked 'Bruce Almighty' so I avoided 'Evan Almighty.' With a desire to watch a movie last night, we ran off to Blockbusters. At 6:30 pm on a Saturday evening there wasn't to much to pick. My wife chose 'Evan Almighty.' It was a pretty good movie. Lots of funny lines and in the end we did enjoy watching the movie. Definitely a good rental.
Which brings me to this. What lessons do we learn from Noah? Here are four that I learned.

1. Don't be afraid to do something God tells you to do for the first time, even when it had never been done before.

I can't imagine what Noah was thinking when God told him to build an ark. In Old Testament days it had never rained before -according to the bible. God gave this one man and his family a HUGE task. It took GREAT faith to build something that had never been built before because something no one had ever seen before was going to happen.

2. In troubled times God always provided an Ark for His righteous people.

In the movie God knew a dam was going to break. God knows what's going on in our lives better than we do. He is like the person in the stands watching the game. He can look down field & see the defense and the offense of the teams. He can better call the plays than we can. We just need to listen. There are a two general 'Arks' He has provided. The first one is The Bible, His Word will rescue you. The second one is a GOOD church, a group of people who can help you when you need it. Like the ark, if you don't get on board you can't get help. If you don't read the bible and use it or if you don't go to church and take advantage of the resources it provides you will not receive the help you need.

3. One person can make a difference.

... for your family - help your spouse to be all they can be. Spend time with your children and don't work all the time. Stay in touch with your family even when it is hard and busy.
...for God's creation - improve your corner of the world. This goes from keeping it clean to conserving energy to taking care of animals. God told us to guard it and keep it and He never took back this responsibility.
... for future generations - mentor the guy or gal coming behind you in this world, taking you place.

4. Don't be afraid to stand out or stand up in a crowd and do the right thing.

Here is something someone sent me in an email a long time ago. It still has power.

• People are unreasonable, illogical, and self-centered. Love them anyway.


• If you do good, people will accuse you of selfish ulterior motives. Do good anyway.


• If you are successful, you win false friends and true enemies. Succeed anyway.


• The good you do today will be forgotten tomorrow. Do good anyway.


• Honesty and frankness make you vulnerable. Be honest and frank anyway.


• The biggest people with the biggest ideas can be shot down by the smallest people with the smallest ideas. Think big anyway.


• People favor underdogs but follow top dogs. Fight for one underdogs anyway.


• What you spend building may be destroyed overnight. Build anyway.


• People really need help but may attack if you help them. Help people anyway.


• Give the world the best you have got, and you will get kicked in the teeth, Give the world the best you have anyway.


• When no one will stand with you for what you believe is right, Stand anyway.