Every day of living is the chance of a lifetime! Little did I know that the summer of 2006 would give me an opportunity to pursue a lifelong daydream. During that very inactive summer (ministry-wise), Daniel and I worked as extras on a movie set. I received a phone call one day to come back to costuming. They wanted to use me in another scene. I did, and to make a long story short, I wound up being cast as a bartender in a restaurant scene with Daniel Day-Lewis! How ironic is life! I had a few (insignificant) lines to speak.. I halfway expected the scene to hit the cutting room floor. When Vicki Lynn and I were invited to Hollywood to see the finished product to my surprise the scene was intact! Now the film has been nominated for eight Academy Awards including Best Film and Best Actor!

     There Will Be Blood is a dark film. It is the unfolding of two lives consumed by greed. One is an oilman; the other is a preacher. Their lives are interwoven around the themes of family, religion, and the misuse of power. As a motion picture, it is absolutely mesmerizing. And yet, it is not an easy story to watch. It is never pleasant to witness a life bent on destruction. One need only think of David out on his balcony or Judas before the chief priests! We know the steps they are about to take will lead to their undoing and the ripple effects of their sin will be felt for generations.

     And yet, the story of There Will Be Blood is the story of the human condition without Jesus. There will always be blood between individuals until The Blood that has already been shed for sin is personally accepted to atone. (Ken Burns’ incredible 7-part documentary The War further underscores the plight of a world gone mad apart from Christ.)

     But even then, we must do more than give lip service to our Savior. We must live the teachings of Christ. We must daily walk in the light of the grace that we have been given and purposefully lay aside all selfishness, unforgiveness, and malice! We must love our enemies, go the second mile, return good for evil, speak the truth in love, and put ourselves in last place. As we begin to boldly exercise our faith in this manner we will probably muse to ourselves the utter folly of living the words of Christ. Surely this will not work. And yet, as we cling to what Jesus said and the example He left us to follow we will undeniably reach the powerful conclusion that nothing less will work. The choice is clear. Either we will decide that there is a fountain filled with blood…...or there will be blood!