Kloosterman Cafe\’

I think that Azusa did a great job of interpreting the episode of Full House that she watched and I also believe she took it in a very interesting direction with the idea of memories that people hold on to. As a very loyal fan to the show Full House, I have seen a few little ‘t’ truths in the many episodes that I have watched. One of the little ‘t’ truths that I have seen is the value of family. The Tanner family is a very close family. Whenever anyone has a problem, they always come together and work it out. They also comfort each other and give each other advice. Even though the family might not always get along, especially the Tanner sisters, they always love each other. I think that this is also something that our society values. Family is a very important part of our day-to-day lives and our relationship with our family is a significant part of our lives. The holidays in our society are all about spending time with our family and being close to the ones who love us. I also see our society’s value of family in the tradition of family reunions, in which large families make a habit of getting together once or twice a year to stay in touch. This custom of family reunions also illustrates the belief that family is an unbreakable bond and something that is meant to last.

Subject:

Terrorists have taken an innocent person hostage and they are making him out to be a terrorist and the person that would be behind the future terrorist attack. Jack Bauer is dying from a bio weapon that leaked and at the same time he is trying to stop future terrorist attacks from happening. Olivia, the president’s daughter, wants a man named Hodges killed because he did some really terrible things, so she calls someone to handle him. She later changes her mind but it is too late. At the end of the episode, Jack finds the victims brother who was being held captive.

Content:

This episode of 24, along with many other episodes, contains many little ‘t’ truths. The first little ‘t’ truth that I saw in this episode is the value that our society holds of justice. Our country is built upon the idea of justice and it is a very important part of our Constitution and court systems. Jack Bauer and the government agencies always need to find the terrible people that attack the country and they need to hold these people accountable for their actions. This is a perfect example of the justice that 24 portrays. Another little ‘t’ truth that I saw in this episode was the belief that violence is a legitimate means of obtaining justice. Jack will do anything to get the information that he needs, whether that be violence, threats, or deceiving. He definitely uses violence a lot to take down the bad guys or even the people that he just suspects, like in this episode the Muslim pastor of the innocent person suspected of terrorism. This is also a belief that our society has as if someone hits us, we hit back, and we also have to resort to wars. A little ‘t’ truth that was also prominent in this episode of 24 was our society’s value of love. We have a whole day dedicated to love and relationships of that sort are super important in our society. Chloe cares about Jack and when she found out that he was dying she just wanted to help him and make him better. There was also the love of family between the victim and his brother as the innocent victim would do anything to protect is brother. Jonas Hodges went into the Witness Protection Program just to guarantee that his family would be safe from the terrorists, which also is a strong display of love.

Evaluation:

I can honestly say that I didn’t expect to find big ‘T’ truths in the episode of 24 that I watched, but to my surprise there were a few. The most evident big ‘T’ truth that I saw was the fact of right and wrong. This is such a general statement but it is so true. God tells us in the Bible that there are things that are good that we do that are pleasing to him and there are also very evil things that he abhors. In 2 Corinthians 13:7 it says, “Now we pray to God that you will not do anything wrong. Not that people will see that we have stood the test but that you will do what is right even though we may seem to have failed.” It is our goal as Christians to do what is right and God pleasing in everything that we do. I think that Jack also struggle to do what is right and sometime he does mess up, and that leads me to the next big ‘T’ truth that I saw in this episode. There is a moment when Bauer is talking to the Muslim pastor and he says that it is a little to late to be forgiven for the things that he has done. As an answer to this statement the Muslim says it’s never to late to turn to God. Although we are not Muslim I believe this statement is absolutely true and applies to our Lord and Savior. We have a forgiving God and it is never ever to late to turn to him and to ask for forgiveness of our sins. As Jesus says in Matthew 26:28, “This is the blood of the covenant, which is poured out for many for the forgiveness of sins.” By Jesus as a sacrifice, it is never too late for anyone, even Jack Bauer.

I think that Megan did an excellent job of interpreting the movie Slumdog Millionaire. I loved that she brought up the fact that there really are slums in India as a little ‘t’ truth. Before seeing this movie, I can’t say that I had even come close to imagining how horrible some of the things that happen in the slums are. This movie definitely opened my eyes to the problems and struggles that people in the slums face day to day. I also was happy that Megan brought up the point of how happy the children in the movie were. When you saw all the terrible situations that they faced, and then, at the end of all of that, the kids still had smiles on their faces and were able to find joy in their lives. I believe that we can really learn a lesson from these children as they find the best in every circumstance and how they never gave up and they kept fighting. As Christians we need to have this kind of attitude because no matter what we face in life we have so much to be happy about and our God is more than enough of a reason to keep fighting our struggles and you better believe that he will give us the strength to do it.

Subject:

Harry Potter and the Sorcerers Stone is all about a boy named Harry who finds out that he is a wizard, actually a very special wizard. The movie follows Harry on all his adventures in the wizarding world, as he makes friends and faces his enemy, a very powerful yet terrible wizard named Voldemort.

Content:

In this movie I discovered many values and beliefs that our society has. Three values especially were very evident in this movie: friendship, love, and bravery. The first of these values was friendship. In our culture it is easy to see that friendship is a very important piece of our lives. As children we all made friendship bracelets and even as adults, spending time with friends is a priority. In the movie, we see Harry developing strong friendships with Ron and Hermione. As the movie continued you could see all the elements of their great friendship like when Harry and Ron fight off the troll to save Hermione or how they do everything together, even getting in trouble. Another value reflected in this movie is our society’s value of bravery. In our society we honor people like police, firefighters, or soldiers for their bravery and this was also portrayed in the movie. We see the bravery of Harry and his friends as they face many obstacles on their way to defeat Voldemort. This bravery was even valued in the movie as each student received many points for their houses for their actions and one student in particular, Neville, was specifically rewarded for his bravery as he stood up to his friends. This movie also shows that our culture values love. Everyday we show our love to our friends and families and there is even a holiday devoted to love and this value was clearly seen in the movie. The thing that prevented Voldemort from killing Harry was Harry’s mother’s sacrificial love. We also see love between Harry and his friends as they truly care about each other and would do anything for each other. These are just a few of the little ‘t’ truths seen in this movie that our culture values.

Evaluation:

When I look at this movie from a Christian worldview there are many things that we can learn from this movie about God and the way that he wants us to live. This movie was could be described as the classic battle between good and evil when you get down to it, Harry verses Voldemort. When I thought about, I saw a very important big ‘T’ truth. The truth is that there is constantly a battle of good verses evil, God verses Satan. In the movie Voldemort told Harry, “There is no good or evil, only power. Together we can do extraordinary things.” In many ways this is what Satan says to us. He tries to trick us and he tempts us into doing things that are not pleasing to God. As Matthew 26:41 says, we need to “Watch and pray so that you will not fall into temptation. The spirit is willing, but the body is weak.” We need to be like Harry Potter and realize what is right and wrong, do what is right, and not give into temptation. In the end the good always defeats evil, just like in Harry Potter and the Sorcerers Stone, and also God has already defeated Satan through his Son, Jesus Christ.

I think that Alicia did a very good job interpreting this song. I can see that perseverance is clearly something that we all value, which makes it a little ‘t’ truth, and that it is also something that the artists of this song value. I also think that there were a lot big ‘T’ truths in this song. I completely see the truths that Alicia picked out of the song and I can see there are more that can be selected. One of these other big ‘T’ truths is in the bridge near the end of the song. It says, “Every time you get up and get back in the race, one more small piece of you starts to fall into place”. Looking at this sentence from a Christian perspective, I can see how this is like God working in our lives. We all face trials and hardships, which make us fall, but when we get back up we are stronger because of them. God uses all of these hardships to shape us.  Our hardships help us grow and are a part of God’s master plan.  Every time we get up from a fall,  God makes one more piece of the puzzle of our lives fall into place. 

Subject:

http://www.cowboylyrics.com/lyrics/swift-taylor/change-25922.html

Content:

I believe this song is obviously all about change, as the title clearly indicates, but I also think there is a lot more meaning than just that. When I hear this song I get the idea that this song is talking about someone who has been under someone or something and he or she is finally beginning to really fight back. There are many values and beliefs that are reflected through this song. First of all I see this value in fighting for what you believe in as the song says “Fight for what we’ve worked for all these years”. Also in this quote I see the value of perseverance as it says “we’ve worked for this for years”. I also see this value of perseverance in the line “And I’ll do anything to see it through” because it shows that the subject of this song is willing to work hard and keep working until their goal is achieved. Freedom is another value or belief that is portrayed in this song. In the line “These walls that they put up to hold us back will fall down”, this idea of being free can be seen and that no one can hold us back from the things that we need to do and we deserve to have that freedom. One last evident value is change. This song is completely about changing things and starting a “revolution”. I believe that these four things (fighting for what you believe in, perseverance, freedom, change) are just some of the little ‘t’ truths in this song.

Evaluation:

Looking at this song from a Christian worldview, I can say that I see a story, that in many ways, is like that of a Christian’s life. The Bible says many times that Christians will be persecuted as Jesus says in Matthew 24:9 “Then you will be handed over to be persecuted and put to death, and you will be hated by all nations because of me.” In the second verse I see this persecution as it says “So we’ve been outnumbered, threatened and now cornered”. Just a few lines later it says “We’re getting stronger now, find things they never found” and I think this is so completely true to Christians’ persecution. Although we may sometimes face persecution, we are so much stronger than anything that we may be up against because we have something that they don’t, Jesus! Later in the bridge it says “We can beat this” just like how we know we can beat our struggles and persecution and win because “If God is for us, who can be against us?” (Romans 8:31). When we finally win, it will all be worth it as Jesus tells us in Matthew 5:10, “Blessed are those who are persecuted because of righteousness, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.” In the final chorus it says “Throw your hands up, ‘cause we never gave in” and I think that this is just another of the many big ‘T’ truths in this song. We have to keep fighting and never give in to sin and temptation, even when times get tough.