Compiled by Albie The Good, your average desert-dwelling, Bible-believing, Christian Beatnik and Incurable Bookworm... Thoughts about stuff... oh, and things too. :)
Jim Gaffigan's comic timing is impeccable. He knows how to tickle your funny bone. Jim Gaffigan's self deprecating humor brings out the best response from his listeners. Enjoy the unbridled humor in these Jim Gaffigan quotes.
Pie can’t compete with cake. Put candles in a cake, it’s a birthday cake. Put candles in a pie, and somebody’s drunk in the kitchen.
I come from a very big family... nine parents.
I love everything about bacon. Even the sound of bacon cooking sounds like applause!
Whenever I'm out of town for at least a week, I feel like I should write a postcard or something, but you can be a genius, you try and write a postcard you come across like a moron anyway: "This city's got big buildings. I like food. Bye."
Actually, the reason I look like this is because my father was from Sweden and my mother was Elton John.
The only advantage to wearing glasses is that you can do that dramatic removal.
But in Indiana it's not like New York where everyone's like, 'We're from New York and we're the best' or 'We're from Texas and we like things big' it's more like 'We're from Indiana and we're gonna move."
I was watching the Animal Planet. Did you know that the male seahorse has the baby? Why don't they just call that one the female?
We’re never satisfied when it comes to food. "You know what’d be good on this burger? A ham sandwich. Instead of a bun, let’s use two donuts. That way we can have it for breakfast. Look out McGriddle. Here comes the donut-ham-hamburger!"
There is the vegetarian Hot Pocket for those of us who don't want to eat meat, but would still like diarrhea.
I love how New York is so multicultural. I wish I was ethnic. I'm nothing. Because if you're Hispanic and you get angry, people are like, "He's got a Latin temper!" If you're a white guy and you get angry, people are like, "That guy's a jerk."
Not many pastors serve effectively for fifty-one years in one pastorate!
Dr. Richard S. Beal was pastor of the historic First Baptist Church of Tucson, Arizona, [now sadly re-located from its mammoth facilities at 5th and 5th in the downtown Old Pueblo] from 1918-1969. Under his leadership this church grew from 200 members to more than 3,000 members. Also, twelve churches in the community are the fruits of the church's local outreach. During that busy half century, over 200 young people entered the ministry and mission fields.
Dr. Beal was a leader in the formation of the Conservative Baptist Association. He was among the pastor who originially left the old Northern Baptist Convention to form the CBA in 1947. As a boy growing up in a small AZ CBA church [Sonoita Bible Church] I would often hear him spoken of the way celebrities are spoken of today. He was a true denominational legend.
He authored several books including his annual volumes of his collected Tucson pulpit entitled Rivers in the Desert (ten volumes total with 52 sermons in each).
And get this: Dr. Beal died in 1989 at 102 years of age!! So his advice about growing old is probably well worth hearing. He and Mrs. Beal had five children who are all active in Christian work.
Radiant In Old Age
By R. S. Beal
Judging by the enthusiasm with which Paul writes concerning Timothy and his loved ones, I am constrained to feel that his mother and grandmother were radiant Christians, full of faith and devotion: "When I call to remembrance the unfeigned faith that is in thee, which dwelt first in thy grandmother Lois, and thy mother Eunice; and I am persuaded that in thee also" (2 Tim. 1:5).
While this is the only passage in the Bible containing the word "grandmother," nevertheless it stands connected with a testimony that is striking concerning the life and labors of this elderly woman. She has found the Saviour precious to her own heart and in faithfulness taught her daughter who in turn instructed her son in the things of God. It is apparent that this grandmother’s faith was bright and virile to the end of her days. Instead of the years causing a dimming of lights, hers shone even more brightly at eventide. This grandmother is an illustration of what I believe God wants in all of us as we face the advancing years.
God’s respect for old age is expressed in these beautiful words, "Hearken unto thy father that begat thee, and despise not thy mother when she is old" (Prov. 23:22). We praise God for the faithfulness of the elderly whose labors continue until this good hour. Their hearts are alive to the needs of others; they are alive to the bubbling joys of little children; they are ever ready to offer words of encouragement to our youth who would do well to take their advice and thus save themselves the experimental pain and loss of time of the trial-and-failure method.
These patriarchal saints have kept themselves abreast of the needs of this old world and have inspired all to press on in the cause of evangelism. The flame of youth has been transformed into the radiance of age just as seemed to be the case with grandmother Lois.
The Fear of Old Age
As men travel along with seemingly increasing speed on the downward slope of life’s trail, some seem to gather fears which become an awful burden. That peace of mind, the abiding rest of soul, and the measure of wisdom gleaned from the sweet, the bitter and the perplexing experiences of life are not theirs. There are fears of physical helplessness, of mental lapses, of poverty and of disease. Some have expressed to me the fear that in the end their family will not want to be burdened with them in their infirmity.
We may not have come to the place of the Apostle Paul where he said, "For I am in a strait (literally, dilemma) betwixt two, having a desire to depart, and to be with Christ; which is far better" (Phil. 1:23). Whether or not we have a desire to depart, we as Christians should have the fortitude to face old age and death with the full assurance of faith knowing that God our Father will care for us to the very end.
"But my God shall supply all your need according to His riches in glory by Christ Jesus" (Phil. 4:19), and we can praise God there is no age limit to this glorious promise. The failure is always in ourselves and not with Him who has made the promise.
Of all the seasons, I believe autumn is most beautiful. Instead of it being a time of decline, does not autumn mean golden harvest and the gathering of luscious fruit? Surely the year comes to its own in the autumn. We have sown in the spring, cultivated and worked through the summer, all for the glory of autumn.
The Faith of Old Age
Instead of faith growing weaker as we grow older, it ought to grow stronger because supporting it is not only the plain statements of the Word of God but also the confirmation of experience. When we were young we might have wondered if God were as good as His Word, but now that we have come near to the end of the journey the genuineness of Christianity should be very real to each of us.
It is blessed to read, "But the path of the just is as the shining light, that shineth more and more unto the perfect day" (Prov. 4:18). This being true, none of us need waste time and fritter away faith by living in the past. Mourning over the failures of yesterday and the mistakes and errors of long ago will not help matters. Paul wrote, "…forgetting those things which are behind, and reaching forth unto those things which are before, I press toward the mark for the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus" (Phil. 3:13-14).
We must be on our guard lest we repose faith in ourselves and confidently boast of our accomplishments. The warning has been sounded in these words, "Behold, Thou hast made my days as an handbreadth; and mine age is as nothing before Thee: verily every man at his best state is altogether vanity" (Psa. 39:5).
Do we believe our Bibles sufficiently concerning God’s daily care for us that we can live free from worry? Do we accept in simple faith what is revealed about the life to come so that we actually find ourselves homesick for heaven? Nothing is so inspiring to me as to find elderly people full of faith and hope and love, never sounding a sour note, but always singing God’s praises and looking forward with sweet anticipation to the time when they shall see Him face to face.
The Firmness of Old Age
Instead of feebleness, God decrees there shall be strength. While it is true that our steps may falter and we find ourselves limited in many ways, yet there is not indication that weakness need prevail within. "For which cause we faint not; but though our outward man perish, yet the inward man is renewed day by day" (2 Cor. 4:16).
I often fall back upon that wonderful little statement embedded deep in the first Psalm: "…his leaf also shall not wither…" [literally, fade] (Psa. 1:3). And I take it to mean that God is providing perpetual springtime for His children so far as the inner man is concerned. "Those that be planted in the house of the Lord shall flourish in the courts of our God. They shall still bring forth fruit in old age; they shall be fat and flourishing" (Psa. 92:13-14).
No matter how old we are, we can keep a heart full of love toward everybody. We can learn to be patient with those who may try our patience. If we cannot love them with complacency, we can love them with compassion and pity. God gives definite instruction to the elderly. Because the years have increased is not reason that any of us should grow to be indifferent, or to feel that we have reached that station in life where certain laxities may be enjoyed which are denied to those who are younger.
We read, "That the aged men be sober, grave, temperate, sound in faith, in charity, in patience. The aged women likewise, that they be in behavior as becometh holiness, not false accusers, not given to much wine, teachers of good things" (Titus 2:2-3).
Paul spoke of himself as "Paul the aged" (Phm. v. 9), yet he was firm and true to the day of his martyrdom. He accepted the bitter with the sweet and rejoiced in both. He knew that the bitter may be better for God’s children than the sweet. No matter how old we get, there can be no letup in our Christian development.
There is something better than growing old gracefully and that is growing old graciously. We are not to spend our time talking about failures, and we are not to boast about our success. Let us be careful to maintain a strong testimony for our Savior until the day He calls us to be with Himself.
Let us also be faithful to the work the Lord continues to entrust to us. Have you ever stopped to think of what God said to Joshua? He was an old man a year past being a hundred, when we read of him, "Now Joshua was old and stricken in years; and the Lord said unto him, Thou art old and stricken in years, and there remaineth yet very much land to be possessed" (Josh. 13:1). God did not put His servant on the shelf but reminded him that even though he was old, there was still much to be accomplished.
Joy in Old Age
We usually connect pleasure with youth and think they are the only ones who have a good time, but the child of God knows that "in Thy presence is fulness of joy…" (Psa. 16:11). And "these things have I spoken unto you, that My joy might remain in you, and that your joy might be full" (John 15:11).
The happiest people in the world should be the Christian aged. It is to be expected that their type of entertainment would be different than it was when they were young. Nevertheless, none need go about with a long face. When the Holy Spirit led Paul to write, "Finally, my brethren, rejoice in the Lord…" (Phil. 3:1), He did not intend that this should belong to youth alone, or to those who were well and hardy, but to all those who were the recipients of God’s grace.
Nothing ever happens to a child of God without it being under the supervision of his heavenly Father. He brings things about so that we can say, "We know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are called according to His purpose" (Rom. 8:28).
Often the happiest and most contented folk are those who are nearest Home. The hope of the Christian makes light the heavy burdens of life.
Thank God, there is a Friend who sticketh closer than a brother and it is in Him that we find salvation and satisfaction. This Friend makes life worth living down to the last breath and in the end takes us Home to be with Himself.
The most interesting story I ever heardwas told me years ago by a man over eighty years of age. We were sitting together on a projecting rock of a mountainside in Arkansas. Here is the story:
“I was down in this country during the Civil War. Across on the other side yonder there were hundreds of tents where our soldiers were encamped. Measles broke out and many of the brave young men died. The epidemic got so bad we stretched some tents farther down the valley and moved all the measles patients into these tents. This, of course, was done to protect, as far as possible, the health of the healthy soldiers. I was wardmaster in charge of the tents where the measles patients were located.
“One night while I was on the ward, I passed a bunk where there was a very sick young soldier not more than seventeen years of age. The boy looked at me with a pathetic expression and said:
“‘Wardmaster, I believe I’m going to die. I’m not a Christian. My mother and father aren’t Christians. I never did attend church. I did go with a boyfriend to Sunday school just once. A woman taught the Sunday school class. She read us something out of the Bible about a man who went to see Jesus one night. Jesus told this man he must be born again. The teacher said all people must be born again in order to go to heaven when they die. I have never been born again, and I don’t want to die like this. Won’t you please get the chaplain so he can tell me how to be born again?’”
The old man hesitated for a moment. “You know, in those days I was an agnostic—at least, that is what I called myself. So I told the boy, ‘You don’t need a chaplain. Just be quiet now. Don’t worry, you’ll be all right.’ I went around the ward, and in about an hour I came back to the boy’s bed. He looked at me out of such sad, staring eyes as he said, ‘Wardmaster, if you won’t get me the chaplain, please get me the doctor. I am choking to death.’ ‘All right, my son, I’ll get the doctor,’ I said. So I went off and found the doctor. He came and mopped out the throat of the lad so he could breathe a little easier. I knew the boy was going to die. I had seen many other cases just like his. The doctor and I went away from the bed.
“In about an hour I came back expecting to find the boy dead but he was still struggling. He said, ‘There is no use, Wardmaster. I have got to die, and I haven’t been born again. Whether you believe in it or not, won’t you find the chaplain and let him tell me how to be born again?’ I looked at him for a moment and said, ‘All right, my son, I will get the chaplain.’
“I walked away a few paces and then turned and went back to the boy’s bedside. I said, ‘My boy, I am not going to get you the chaplain. I am going to tell you what to do myself. Now, understand, I am an agnostic. I don’t know whether there is any God. I don’t know whether there is any heaven. I don’t know whether there is any hell. I don’t know anything. Yes, I do. I know one thing. I know my mother was a good woman. I know if there is a God my mother knew Him. So I will tell you what my mother told me. You can try it and see if it works. Now, I am going to teach you a verse of Scripture. The verse is John 3:16.
“‘God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in Him should not perish, but have everlasting life.’ ‘My mother said that I cannot save myself, but if I will believe in Jesus, He will save me.’
“I asked the boy to say the verse with me. I started and he followed with a weak and trembling voice. ‘God so loved the world,’ ‘God so loved the world’; ‘He gave His only begotten Son,’ ‘He gave His only begotten Son’; ‘that whosoever believeth in Him,’ ‘that whosoever believeth in Him’; ‘should not perish,’ ‘should not perish’; ‘but have everlasting life,’ ‘but have everlasting life.’ ‘Now, my boy, my mother said if a person will trust Jesus, he will not perish but have everlasting life.’
“He closed his eyes, stretched his hands across his breast and in a whisper he quoted slowly, repeating some of the words several times: ‘God so loved the world...He gave His only begotten Son ... that whosoever, whosoever ... whosoever believeth, believeth in Him, believeth in Him.’
“Then he stopped and said in a clear voice, ‘Praise God, Wardmaster, it works. I believe in Him! I shall not perish! I have everlasting life! I have been born again. Wardmaster, your mother was right. Why don’t you try it? Do what your mother said. It works, Wardmaster. This thing works! Wardmaster, before I go I want to ask you to do something for me. Take a kiss to my mother and tell her what you told me, and tell her that her dying son said, “It works.”’”
The old man, wiping tears out of his eyes and tears out of the wrinkles of his face, said, “The lad was right. It does work. Whosoever believeth in Him shall not perish but now has everlasting life. It works. I know it works!”
“I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ: for it is the power of God unto salvation to every one that believeth; to the Jew first, and also to the Greek” (Romans 1:16).
Peter Ruckman is a living legend of sorts. Seems like if you've heard of him at all, you either lament his very existence or revere him as a great teacher. I never encounter any middle ground on this... it's amazing.
I had heard all about Ruckman before I ever read a word that he wrote, and then when I DID first read words from him they were quotes in volatile anti-Ruckman polemic. I avoided him for several more years and then happened-- quite by chance-- to hear him on an Ad-lib "Question and answer" tape recorded live at a tiny Baptist Church in Idaho. His answers totally disarmed me... he was intelligent, he was humorous, and he had a command of scripture that betrayed years of reading and memorization. He was far from the caricature of an undisciplined and rebellious nutjob which so many people had wanted me to envisage. This commentary was the first book of his that I actually read.
The Book of Job is, of course, the oldest book in our Bible, and it touches on one of mankind's oldest dilemmas and conundrums; namely... "Why do the righteous suffer?"
Pete Ruckman's stab at JOB is a strange and marvelous book, really... unlike any other commentary on this or any O.T. book you will ever find. The main reason for this is that Dr. Pete's starting point [as in all his commentaries] is that the KJV 1611 text is perfect and infallible. Say what you will about this... but it DOES make a person's take on this most divergently translated of ALL Bible books totally unique. [And brother, UNIQUE is the word!]
First off, Ruckman finds all sorts of prophetic, tribulation and millenial references. Ssome are very convincing, some much less so. He also positively concludes-- in the face of virtually every other commentator-- that the human scribe of the book was one of it's characters, Elihu! This may sound weird, but Dr. Ruckman DOES actually show that this is clearly demonstrable from the text of the King James [read it and you will see his reasoning.]
Also--and quite uniquely and effectively I might add-- Ruck uses gut-wrenching stories from church history and such varied books as Remarque's ALL QUIET ON THE WESTERN FRONT and Wurmbrand's TORTURED FOR CHRIST to back up Job's theses. I like these passages a lot, actually, but be warned... they keep this being a "family commentary."
His last 5 chapters [on the final summation by Jehovah Himself-- "Where were you?", etc.] is a masterful defense of God's ultimate justification of Himself in JOB. You have to read it and see what I mean.
Also, the extended passage on Job 33 ["delivered from the pit" or in Ruckman's phrase "RFD: Rescued from the dump"] makes me cry every time I read it. It is one of the best celebrations of simple Biblical salvation I have ever read I am glad doc did so much reading in his life. He mentally collected a whole storehouse of salvation stories alone, and i love it when he relays them like this!
My only complaint with this amazing tome is that Ruckman takes entirely too much time to trash other commentators. I know why he does this so repetitiously, but it really does get tiresome. In fact, if much of this material were cut the commentary would literally be about 200 pages thinner!
Still... it is an absolutely one-of-a-kind reading experience. I highly recommend it, no matter where you stand on Ruckman.
[I found this interesting... it comes from a website that deals with New Testament textual criticism from a position defending the "Textus Receptus" reformation text type that underlies our King James Version and (to a somewhat lesser extent) New King James Version Bibles. While many would contend that there is a bias here and that the "Jerome Preface" is itself sometimes considered "spurious," I will say that I myself do believe that St. Jerome DID indeed write this-- mainly because the reliable and scholarly old commentator JOHN GILL (1697-1771), who had access to enormous textual resources and lived in a time of great scholarship in classical languages, seems to have had no doubt of it's authenticity. ]
St. Jerome [c.347-420 A.D]
On the "Johanine Comma" [I John 5:7]
Jerome's Preface to the Latin Vulgate
regarding the First John 5:7 comma:
The translation below was made by Thomas Caldwell, S. J. of Marquette University in Milwaukee, WI. The translation comes from the Codex Fuldensis (c. A. D. 541-546). This Latin codex is available at http://books.google.com, on pg. 399. The preface claims to be by Jerome, the translator of the Latin Vulgate. The prologue has textual critical value because it bears on the question of the authenticity of the "Johannine Comma," 1 John 5:7 (“For there are three that bear record in heaven, the Father, the Word, and the Holy Ghost: and these three are one.” KJV). If the preface is indeed by Jerome, it would provide evidence that there were Greek copies in his day that contained the Comma, and that Jerome thought that others who seem to have held to heretical doctrine had removed the verse from their manuscripts. Such a belief on Jerome’s part would explain the presence of the Comma in the overwhelming majority of copies of the Latin Vulgate. There is certainly evidence for the Comma in the Old Latin Bible and various other sources before Jerome (see, e. g., “‘And These Three Are One’; A Case for the Authenticity of 1 John 5:7-8 Rooted in Biblical Exegesis,” Jesse M. Boyd. http://thross7.googlepages.com). If the Prologue is not by Jerome, whoever wrote it would still make the assertion that the Comma was originally present but was removed by unfaithful and heretical scribes. Of course, both Jerome and the copyist of the codex Fuldensis died many centuries ago and nobody today can ask them what actually happened. It is certainly true that many opponents of the genuineness of the Comma would dismiss out of hand the possibility that this Prologue truly comes from Jerome based on the assumption that there cannot be genuine evidence at so early a date for the Comma, just as they dismiss Cyprian’s quotation of the Comma in A. D. 251 (“The Lord says, ‘I and the Father are one;’ and again it is written of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit, ‘And these three are one.’” On The Unity of the Church, Treatise 1:6. Trans. Church Fathers: The Ante-Nicene Fathers, ed. Alexander Roberts & James Donaldson.) on the assumption that Cyprian simply cannot have quoted it, since it allegedly did not yet exist. However, the fact that many people dismiss the evidence of this Prologue to the Comma from unreasonable biases does not of itself mean that the work did indeed come from Jerome’s hand.
Latin Version PROLOGUS IN EPISTULAS CANONICAS. Non ita ordo est apud graecos qui integre sapiunt et fidem rectam sectantur· Epistularam septem quae canonicae nuncupantur· ut in latinis codicibus inuenitur quod petrusprimus est in numero apostolorum primae sint etiam eius 5 epistulae in ordine ceterarum· Sed sicut euangelistas dudum ad ueritatis lineam correximus ita has proprio ordine deo nos iuuante reddidimus Est enim prima earum una iacobi· petri duae· iohannis tres· et iudae una 10 Quae sicut ab eis digestae sunt ita quoque ab interpraetibus fideliter in latinum eloquium uerterentur nec ambiguitatem legentibus facerent nec sermonum se uarietas inpugnaret· illo praecipue loco ubi de unitate trinitatis in prima iohannis epistula positum legimus in qua est ab infidelibus 15 translatoribus multum erratum esse fidei ueritate conperimus trium tantummodo uocabula hoc est aquae sanguinis et spiritus in ipsa sua editione potentes et patri uerbique ac spiritus testimonium omittentes» In quo maxime et fides catholica roboratur et patris et fili et spiritus sancti una diuinitatis 20 substantia conprobatur· In ceteris uero epistulis quantum nostra aliorum distet editio lectoris prudentiae derelinquo· Sed tu uirgo christi eusthocium dum a me inpensius scribturae ueritatem inquiris meam quodammodo senectutem inuidorum dentibus conrodendam exponis qui me falsarium corruptoremque 25 sanctarum pronuntiant scribturarum· Sed ego in tali opere nec aemulorum meorum inuidentiam pertimesco nec sanctae scribturae ueritatem poscentibus denegabo
English Translation: Jerome’s Prologue to the Canonical Epistles1
"The order of the seven Epistles which are called canonical is not the same among the Greeks who follow the correct faith and the one found in the Latin codices, where Peter, being the first among the apostles, also has his two epistles first. But just as we have corrected the evangelists into their proper order, so with God’s help have we done with these. The first is one of James, then two of Peter, three of John and one of Jude.
"Just as these are properly understood and so translated faithfully by interpreters into Latin without leaving ambiguity for the readers nor [allowing] the variety of genres to conflict, especially in that text where we read the unity of the trinity is placed in the first letter of John, where much error has occurred at the hands of unfaithful translators contrary to the truth of faith, who have kept just the three words water, blood and spirit in this edition omitting mention of Father, Word and Spirit in which especially the catholic faith is strengthened and the unity of substance of Father, Son and Holy Spirit is attested.
"In the other epistles to what extent our edition varies from others I leave to the prudence of the reader. But you, virgin of Christ, Eustocium, when you ask me urgently about the truth of scripture you expose my old age to being gnawed at by the teeth of envious ones who accuse me of being a falsifier and corruptor of the scriptures. But in such work I neither fear the envy of my critics nor deny the truth of scripture to those who seek it."
Amen, brother Jerome...
Oh, and people...
TRUST YOUR BIBLE!!
Also... In case anyone wants to see it, here is the part of John Gill's comment on the Comma that deals with Jerome:
"and the Latin translation, which bears the name of Jerom, has it, and who, in an epistle of his to Eustochium, prefixed to his translation of these canonical epistles, complains of the omission of it by unfaithful interpreters... and as to its not being cited by some of the ancient fathers, this can be no sufficient proof of the spuriousness of it, since it might be in the original copy, though not in the copies used by them, through the carelessness or unfaithfulness of transcribers; or it might be in their copies, and yet not cited by them, they having Scriptures enough without it, to defend the doctrine of the Trinity, and the divinity of Christ: and yet, after all, certain it is, that it is cited by many of them; by Fulgentius F26, in the beginning of the "sixth" century, against the Arians, without any scruple or hesitation; and Jerom, as before observed, has it in his translation made in the latter end of the "fourth" century..."
With all the talk going on in geekdom about the new CAPTAIN AMERICA feature being possibly the best film treatment of a comics character ever [I can't wait to see it in a few months at the "dollar" theatre!], some "slightly-on-the-geeky-side" co-workers and I were just discussing today what our all-time fave "four-color-to-silver-screen" adaptations are.
Some chose Raimi'sSPIDERMAN cycle for its remarkable [for Hollywood, anyway] fidelity to source material; some went with Chris Reeves' turn in SUPERMAN I for starting the whole blockbuster-from-comics trend; and one even went with the oddball choice of last year's JONAH HEX for [he said] sheer over-the-top entertainment value [still haven't seen it so I can't fairly offer any jibe here... even though I feel tempted. :) ]
My choice, however, was easily the most obscure and certainly the hardest to explain: 1954's PRINCE VALIANT... starring Robert Wagner... in a wig.
Yikes! Try defending that choice to the geeks at the water cooler!
But Alas, I will just admit it... if I am to be truly honest, this creaky old Technicolor CinemaScope Swords-and-Sandals nonsense epic does indeed top my list.
Mostly it's just nostalgia, I suppose-- I first saw it when i was about 9 and it took me away like no movie ever had before, and, on some levels, like none ever would again. I can't explain it, really, but even seeing STAR WARS about 3 years later in it's first run did not match my exhilaration upon first seeing PV. I would view it again many times throughout childhood and well into my adolescence, never missing a TV showing afterward if I could help it. It was truly high adventure to me, and captured my young imagination so purely I still feel some of the gusto even today when I occasionally pop the letterbox disc into the DVD player.
The worst part about my choice is that it is, above all, simply a terrible adaptation. Released in lavish style back in '54, the film must have frustrated many diehard fans of Hal Foster's original classic strip. While it carries over much of its source material's spirit and enthusiasm, as well as its visual grandness, the plot is WAY off... not even close... and most of the characters even emerge as entirely different beings from their newsprint namesakes (e.g. Princess Aleta, Gawain, even Val himself.)
Then there's the cast. While Janet Leigh and Debra Paget are both amazing eye-candy, their performances here are somehow only adequate at best. The great Sterling Hayden is completely miscast as Valiant's mentor Sir Gawain. Now, I actually like Hayden's work a lot, but I find his stiff acting style only effective in certain stern hard-boiled roles [such as, for 2 examples, his fascinating turns as the head hood in Kubrick's THE KILLING and the show-stealing walk-on as abolitionist John Brown in the 80s TV mini-series THE BLUE AND THE GRAY.] In Valiant, his delivery of lines like "Unhand the lad, varlet!" is almost unbearably funny.
Still, it all works surprisingly well. In fact, this film is actually much more enjoyable than the far more faithful '90s remake. This surprising fact is attributable, I believe, to 2 things.
First, the script for the '54 version, written by a highly paid pro named Dudley Nichols, ably manages to transform Foster's lusty picaresque strip into a glorious send-up of Victorian boy's books and blood-and-thunder dime novels. In fact, fans of the now-revived juvenile fiction of G.A. Henty could easily view this film as almost a tribute to that great author, complete with relentless Victorianisms and a theme of paganism versus emerging "muscular Christianity."
Second, two of the performances are downright brilliant. James Mason, as the villian of the piece [the mysterious Black Knight] gives his role a depth that is engossing and rewarding to watch. In the story, the Black knight is driven to treachery by his second-rate, adopted status to the man who raised him: King Arthur himself.A lesser actor would have probably just grimaced his way through, but Mason turns every line and facial expression into a glimse of a truly tortured soul. Mason is amazing here.
The other thespian praise I will hand out may surprise some. Robert Wagner himself brings a vigor to the title role that completely propels the movie. I must say I have come to really like Wagner as an actor. He was extremely popular at the time [Fox gave him starring roles in at least a dozen of their highest budget production through the 1950s] and I long thought of him as a pretty boy actor... but his undersatatement and intensity in films like STOPOVER TOKYO, THE HUNTERS, and the great western epic WHITE FEATHER [must see for any western buff] has never, to my knowkledge, been appreciated in print. In Valiant he takes a downright silly role and gives it all he has, and he upstages a bunch of hardcore veterans in process.
So... The action is great-- well-done, and stunt-heavy; the color and widescreen processing is luscious; and the scenery is breathtaking. [Also worth mentioning: a marvellous political incorrectness reigns throughout! e.g. "The cross is our salvation!", Wagner screams at one point to scoffing villian Mason... NICE!]
But all in all, my vote comes straight from my culturally over-fed inner child. It is he who just won't let it go.
Who knows? Maybe in 40 years even Rogan's GREEN HORNET could be some old guy's oddball choice for "best comic movie ever."
[By the way, as a note to other parents... your kids-- even if they are jaded techno-junkies-- WILL love this. They may just have trouble admitting it.]
One of the first Christian books to really effect me as an adult was one calledFROM THE FOREST I CAME: THE LIFE OF GIPSY SMITHbyDavid Lazell, an old Moody paperback I first read in about 1992. I recommend it to any reader as one of the most charming religious biographies you could ever read. The old Gipsy's heart and soul really come through and you will marvel at his life led in the steps of Jesus.
A real gipsy born in a wagon, Smith (31 March 1860- 4 August 1947) became one of the best known evangelists in a day when preaching giants walked this earth.
Here is an example of his preaching from the good folks at the revival newspaper Herald Of His Coming. It is an excellent example of the old-time Methodist view of "turning to Christ." I think we need the soundness and clarity of the old Gipsy today.
Enjoy.
What Is Repentance? By Gipsy Smith
If there is a man or woman who has been trying to live a Christian life and has no joy in it, and no victory in it, and no song in it--I know the reason. It is that they have never repented. They have started wrong.
Repentance is the most neglected doctrine in the New Testament and the most unpopular. People do not like to be called to repentance and you do not often hear it preached. And yet the Bible is a handbook of repentance. It enforces it, commands it, and so demands it that no substitute can be accepted for it.
Over sixty times the Scriptures enforce it, and all the Epistles are written to show men how to repent, so that no one need be in a fog as to what repentance means, yet multitudes of people are.
A spurious repentance means a spurious Christian life, and the reason many church-goers have no joy and peace in the Holy Ghost is because they do not obey the Scripture-- "Repent ye, and believe the gospel" (Mark 1:15).
You ask, "What is repentance?" It is not conviction on sin. Conviction is an element of repentance but you can be convicted without repenting. No one repents until he is convicted, but not all who are convicted do repent.
Conviction is not enough. It is not repentance, and "except ye repent, ye shall...perish" (Luke 13:3). Is sorrow repentance? No, it is not enough to be sorry for your sins. Something more than tears is needed.
If repentance is not conviction, and not sorrow, what is it? Is it promising to do better? No. Some of you have been doing that for years and you are further from God than ever.
Is repentance reading the Bible or praying? No. It is the sanest thing in God’s Word and one of the most beautiful.
What is it to repent? Repentance is turning from sin to God.
Repentance is getting hold of that which is your curse by the hair of its head and tearing it out by the roots. Pride is one of them. Pride can be as damning as drunkenness--and is. There is pride of face, pride of place, pride of grace, and pride of race.
We need saving from our good self, our religious self, our spiritual self--as much as from our bad self. Satan is very subtle and if he cannot hinder by our badness, he will hinder by our goodness. If he cannot hinder us by our depths, he will hinder by our heights. If he cannot alienate us from God, he will hinder us by our self-righteousness, and if we are not careful he will come to us as an angel of light.
Pride, self-righteousness, sham, fraud, hypocrisy, lust, duplicity--the sin in your life which enslaves you, let it go. Kill it--and all other things in your life that are wrong will slink away like so many whipped curs.
What is repentance then? It is the moral response of the awakened soul to the call of God, the home of the soul. Have you repented? Have you turned from sin unto God?
"Be watchful, and strengthen the things which remain, that are ready to die: for I have not found thy works perfect before God. Remember therefore how thou hast received and heard, and hold fast, and repent...As many as I love, I rebuke and chasten: be zealous therefore, and repent" (Rev. 3:2,3,19).
