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faeriefully · 3 months

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C. S. Lewis is credited for popularizing the three Ls explanation for the logic of Christ’s divinity.

Taking the gospels and Christ’s own words, there are only three options. Christ is either a Liar, a Lunatic, or He is Lord of all (God incarnate).

Why is this the only logical conclusion?

Christ Himself claims to be God.

In the book of John we find many “I Am” statements made by Christ.

“He said to them, “You are from below; I am from above. You are of this world; I am not of this world. I told you that you would die in your sins, for unless you believe that I am he you will die in your sins.””

‭‭John‬ ‭8‬:‭23‬-‭24‬ ‭ESV‬‬

*note that the “he” is an addition for English translation. The Greek does not contain it. It is Ego Eimi: I Am that I Am.

—

“So the Jews said to him, “You are not yet fifty years old, and have you seen Abraham?” Jesus said to them, “Truly, truly, I say to you, before Abraham was, I Am.” So they picked up stones to throw at him, but Jesus hid himself and went out of the temple.”

‭‭John‬ ‭8‬:‭57‬-‭59‬ ‭ESV‬‬

—

“Jesus said to them, “I am the bread of life; whoever comes to me shall not hunger, and whoever believes in me shall never thirst.”

‭‭John‬ ‭6‬:‭35‬ ‭ESV‬‬

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These two, along with others “I Am” statements in the book of John, are constructed in the Greek as Ego Eimi.

“The Greek construction lying behind this phrase is very important. To emphasize the “I” in an “I am” statement, writers and speakers would use the construction ego eimi meaning “I, I myself, am.” This is done very rarely in the Bible but ego eimi is the construction we find behind every “I AM” statement in the gospel of John. Significantly, the ego eimi construction is also found in the Greek translation of Exodus 3:14 when God declares of Himself: “I AM WHO I AM.” Over and over again when Jesus utters these “I AM” statements, He is making reference to His own deity. No first century Jew who was trained in the Scriptures would have missed this.”

— R. C. Sproul

—

Why does this matter?

Because, if Jesus is claiming the name of God, claiming to be divine, to be able to forgive sins, then there is a lot of weight on the validity of his statements.

Jesus is claiming to be God.

This means:

He is either a liar— a blasphemer in which is was correct for the Jews to attempt to kill Him. It would also mean that He is not a “moral” teacher whose lessons should be obeyed. Nothing He says is of trustworthiness. He is an enemy of God. And we should not believe, obey, nor follow His teachings. He is incapable of forgiving sin. He is a sinner. He cannot provide righteousness on our behalf. He cannot atone for sin nor bear the wrath of God without perishing. He is temporal. He is dead. He offers no salvation.

He is a lunatic. A madman who believed Himself to be God and a blasphemer. Nothing He says is of trustworthiness. In which, again, it is correct for the Jews to attempt to kill him. He is an enemy of God. And we should not believe, obey, nor follow His teachings. Again, he is a sinner, incapable of providing substitution or forgiveness. He is dead. He is temporal, unable to atone for anyone, not even himself. He offers no salvation for anyone.

He is Lord.

He is telling the truth. He is the Bread of Life. He is the Light of the World. He is the great I Am. He is the good shepherd. He is the lamb slain before the foundation of the world— capable of forgiving sin, able to intercede for us. He is our comforter. He is our caretaker. He is perfect, incapable of sin, deceit, lies, or failure. He is infinite and eternal, capable to bear the wrath of God without perishing for all His people’s sins, present, past, and future.

He provides righteousness and salvation for all who place their trust in Him.

He is God, our savior.

—

If Jesus is not God, there is no salvation.

Listen to our Lord who calls you,

“All things have been handed over to me by my Father, and no one knows the Son except the Father, and no one knows the Father except the Son and anyone to whom the Son chooses to reveal him. Come to me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.””

‭‭Matthew‬ ‭11‬:‭27‬-‭30‬ ‭ESV‬‬

Come. Repent. Cast your burdens and your sin upon Jesus, our God who can remove your iniquity and comfort your grief.

#gospel #theology #christianity #I’m actually going to be going through the logic and theology over the next few days #Trinity #mine #c. s. lewis #this is highly condensed #and much more mature people have said it more elegantly #it would take pages and pages to say all that I want #but this will do for now #hall of fame

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grayzeppelin281 · 6 months

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Kung Fu Panda 4 Review, by GrayZeppelin

Eight years later.

2016 to 2024

It is so good to see the Dragon Warrior again after eight years, willing to anticipate what Po has been up to after General Kai's defeat. This review contains spoilers, so I hope most of the audience watched the film like me, and I would like to share my opinions about Kung Fu Panda 4. For those who have not seen it, I suggest you look away immediately! Otherwise, if you want to know what the big deal is about, then knock yourself out.

Now, depending on the taste of what I watched, I will list the likes and flaws that caught my eye. Okay, here it goes.

— It's so good to be home.

The first thirty minutes of it feel like you have returned to the Valley of Peace, seeing your old friends again. From there, with a slight disappointment, that would have had the film include the tale with old school side characters who are now absent — The Furious Five. After Po clarifies with the fans in the Valley of Peace, we understand that the Five began to do their missions (each one) despite the film needing to expand new characters in the play.

Okay. New characters! I'll mention the fox Zhen and the sorceress villain, the Chameleon.

— First things first. The Hall of Heroes update.

The corsac fox blending in the Jade Palace is an interesting one, which she was from being a thief as Zhen could do the stealing skills for a living. We get to see her in the Jade Palace stealing the antiques at the Hall of Heroes, where you can see a few statues you remember old characters from the past three films (my favorite one is Master Storming Ox). One of the items that I did not leave my eyes on is the weapon I recognized from the first film, where Tai Lung kicked the sword, and Shifu caught it and sent the blade to the marble floor — the Dagger of Deng Wa.

(Drags! There's our favorite weapon right in front of our noses the whole damn time! Holy shit!)

I wrote my fanfic about the blade that, in my version, served with evil creatures past by the badger sorcerer whom I named Deng Wa, using the ancient weapon (dagger-ax) from the old dynasty as if the blade passed through generations forged into different ones before a wielder before the last made one character that turned on his brother to despise Oogway — my favorite villain General Kai, who deserves more attention than Tai Lung and Lord Shen.

— My favorite pot is there! The Urn of Whispering Warriors!

(And for the love of spirits, guys! Give Tenshu and his pack a break, will you?! Gosh dang it!)

Okay. I wrote lore from my fic series about the wolves who served with the warlord Tenshu before he and his army of a thousand men defeated the horde of darkness before many fell. All of whom they died fighting returned with a vengeance to vanquish every foe before the rest of the souls were freed and went to the Spirit Realm; only nine wolves stayed with their souls cremated in the pot that Tenshu wished for him and his pack to be summoned once more when needed. The rest of the tale will be put to the side as I am off-topic and should write about KFP 4.

— Now, where was I? Oh, yes! Zhen.

The fox looked great, indeed, but the character would have gotten much more into deep complexities. The story briefly shows her past life as a thief for years because Zhen had no other choice but to starve or steal yuans for food to survive. Zhen's background story needs to explain further what caused her to be the only child without her parents. What exactly happened to them? What made her obey with the Chameleon?

Alright. I have too many thoughts about the new villain. Amanda Waller! I mean. . . The Chameleon! Oh, my. A shape-shifting sorceress who can turn into any form, like the old bad guys from the past three movies? Whoa. . . This shape-shifting trick sounds like Po would have been scared to see the old enemies again when the sorceress could have gotten her advantage and terrorized him.

— Three villains (The Trinity)

I loved seeing Tai Lung, Lord Shen, and General Kai return, so I witnessed their arrival before the Spirit Warriors. (To be honest, I praised the Jade Slayer's return because he remains the underrated character throughout the franchise.) Now, if you hope villains will have a reunion, your expectations will not be that hopeful, even if you want to anticipate the impacts with familiar characters. Let me explain.

Did you expect Tai Lung to come back? That's good for you because his appearance is nostalgic, which, in my experience, being an old KFP fan for years, has made me miss Tai Lung since 2008. There is a slight redemption for him as if you would like to know if he admitted that Oogway was right about Po as the Dragon Warrior. It was good to see him again, but his redemption arc was not satisfying after the film. Shifu would have known about his son's arrival at that time but often stayed at Jade Palace and waited for Po to choose his new successor. Quite a bummer if you would have loved to see them two reunited, but those damages will occur to them after Tai Lung was rejected, fragmenting Tai Lung's core into a thousand pieces. But I am sure he now lives in the Spirit Realm and no longer mind the title.

Did you expect Lord Shen and General Kai's return? Great, but there are significant disappointments. One: They don't speak. And two: They briefly appear like a minute or more. These two would have gotten more meaning when Lord Shen could have spoken to Po about the last time the panda mentioned the past to let go, and Kai would have talked before seeing Po as a respectable warrior. I would have wished the three dead villains to do something for Po by defeating the Chameleon as a team. Otherwise, I am certain a few of you would like me to see what they could do — similar to the No Way Home reference.

— Bow controversy.

The bow part could have been better for the three villains to speak with Po. With this scene, knowing that there is much fuss about only one thing that bothers many, I am concerned about what many of you thought about Shen, who "bowed" him. How could Li Shan celebrate his son's victory while the peacock was down there? Why did the scene not show Li's reaction to seeing Lord Shen alive (but still dead)? As an old KFP fan, this felt strangely like an insult because many pandas were taken and executed, but most of them, like Li, survived the genocide. This part must explain why the late Lord Shen bestowed Po for a good reason. Could Oogway or other dead masters like Master Thundering Rhino prove him about Po? What exactly did Shen become the "Spirit Warrior" after being crushed to death by his cannon — the Kung Fu killer? How could the honorable dead warriors allow the genocidal peacock lord to be in the Spirit Realm after he murdered Master Thundering Rhino?

If, by any means, wanting to bring back Shen (which a few people loved, but not for everyone), DreamWorks better have a good reason for him to be there. If it were redemption, that would be a big no-no after what he did to the pandas. Us fanfic writers love bringing him back (I am hoping to decide what to do with Shen finishing his arc from my series in the meantime), but as the same goes for whatever reason you want him in your story, ask yourself about it. If it is before or during KFP 2, you could do it. If he is dead, and you plan to resurrect him from the dead, writing his next arc is tricky and beyond complications.

Most of his former army of wolves would know if Shen appeared but thank the heavens because neither emerged. I would have wanted to see Wolf Boss in Juniper City for whatever he could do for work or a change of heart if Po recognized him right away somewhere in one of the alleyways. Or Soothsayer, because she only appeared in Gongmen City the last time. A little reunion thing for Shen could have been shown, but that would never have happened either way because I think, in my theory, Soothsayer is in the Spirit Realm with him and his late parents.

— Okay. About the new villain.

I liked the Chameleon. Her appearance is marvelous, her size being "small" before she could shift to any form. I have to spill the beans about her villainous role, which most of you know about the character's lack of depth. Compared to what General Kai was capable of, to claim qi from all the masters, we know she wanted to steal their skills to dominate the Realm as she did to the old foes before the Spirit Warriors. There's a major downside to that one. Tai Lung, Lord Shen, and General Kai have their tragic backstories; she does not have one. The only lack of writing is where Chameleon talks to Po about temples. She tried to be a student, but no one wanted her because she was small.

Small? Are you effing kidding me? Would you like to have a therapy and talk with Mantis about it? Because I do not doubt that anyone can become a kung fu master of any size. Where in the heck did that lazy writing come from?

If she was that small but refused to be a kung fu master, where is her backstory? Where did it end her from a curious character to a villainous sorceress? This story could have shown what exactly happened to the Chameleon; her reason for not being accepted made her turn against those who did not want her in the first place before advancing her way to steal every master's skill. A villain without a background story is a red flag right there.

I found a video for the Chameleon to fix her character as a tragic one. She deserves more screen time and digging into her past. Write this writing lesson suggestion.

Every villain needs a background story. PERIOD.

youtube

Look at what happened to three baddies. And hey! Look at what happened to Zuko from Avatar: The Last Airbender (animation one)! I would really love to write about that, but it will take thousands of words for me to convince you why you should care about Zuko. Mostly, everyone knows about him, and we feel bad to see Zuko as a broken prince!

— Fathers!!

Oh yes. Mr. Ping and Li Shan! The good old-timers who look after their son Po. Every parent's job is to ensure nothing happens to the child, and we all see what Li and Ping are worried about Po. They go to him because it is the right thing for fathers to protect their son. While many try to kill off Po, Mr. Ping and Li Shan will be the ones who die while protecting him. Talk about the fathers of the year!

They did not die, so good heavens. Li Shan remains improving as a fighter but still has much time to enhance. As for Mr. Ping, you know he would do better to ensure Po is safe and always be there with him and Li Shan. They would have gotten a Double-Dad Defense scenario when dressing up the armor.

— Kung Fu fighting.

I like it a lot. Lots of flows we saw. There is no further explanation after we saw the awesomeness and Chameleon's shape-shifting abilities to mimic every master's skills. Wolf bite! OWW! That's gonna leave a mark. Now, Po is a victim of his butt being bitten. Ask Marty from Madagascar. He has a story about it.

— Peach seed.

Oh, my. I had high expectations to see what would happen to Grandmaster Shifu. I almost predicted it as far as many of us would see him disappear as Oogway did. I remember feeling nostalgic when I saw Shifu give Po a peach seed, which reminded me of Oogway's farewell. Well. . . Maybe KFP 5 will happen to Shifu? Who knows?

If only DreamWorks leads in the right direction where Po will be in charge of defending the Realm as the Spiritual Leader while Zhen takes the role as the new Dragon Warrior, The Furious Five deserve more screentime because we care about side characters, not wasteful, not ignored. Since you made Puss in Boots doing his thing, why won't you create a story about the Furious Five if they are absent from KFP 4? If you are making another villain, please create the background story to make more sense instead of plot holes one stone at a time. Do better. Returning old villains was good, but it felt like bait to see Tai Lung speak and fight back, and Lord Shen and General Kai did not, especially not doing anything at all.

Sighs.

The Valley of Peace had more buildings. What exactly happened to not replicating those in the past three films? Budget wise.

Last but not least!

— Stingray!

I am concerned about what comes next to see dolphins in the future (which I hope not) after the Stingray becomes the first aqua mammal to appear. I'll give it an average. It's likable, but I am confused at the same time.

A few jokes are great, but does comedy need to be there? 70 percent comedy? There are good ones and some flaws, and a few serious scenes don't need to put laughing moments to lighten up. Since KFP 2, there has been comedy halfway through, and dark moments have taken over, thanks to Shen. KFP 4 should have gotten that opportunity for Chameleon to be the serious one instead of pushing someone to the stairs. She would have done something worse instead of being a joke. I love the Chameleon, but the writing is. . .

I am lost at it.

I will give the film a fair 6/10.

KFP 4 should have used 2 to 3 hours if you are fleshing out most possibilities. Like dead old foes to do something rather than doing nothing and wasting their arc (Tai Lung deserves redemption because he believes Oogway is right about Po. Kai should deserve more after accepting his defeat and would have hung out with Oogway in the Spirit Realm, teasing each other like in the old times. What about Shen? Perhaps not, but he would do some favors for Po. The peacock's redemption arc is unnecessary). The Chameleon would have gotten her background story to expand because it was a crime not to show her beginning before she became a sorceress. Put a 2-D reference to fill her tragic story about her. Make the audience care more about the characters and the story instead of rushing and leaving plot holes. Zhen? Of course. Show us why we care about her when she becomes Po's friend.

One last thing. As if the film has changed for children and the new generation to like it, Kung Fu Panda remains for all ages, old and young. As an old fan of Kung Fu Panda since 2008, I will unveil my first feeling after the first time I saw Kung Fu Panda 4, with all the high expectations going downhill to the grave.

"Disappointed."

That is all I have to write about that.

(I'll be turning off the notifications, so don't bother nudging me because I am mostly inactive here on Tumblr.)

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