Minority Report with Paul McDonald and Steven Faletti
This week on the Men at the Movies podcast, Paul McDonald and Steven Falletti talk about Minority Report starring Tom Cruise and Colin Farrell. Systems might change our behavior, but they won’t change our heart. What will we do when the systems we depend on fail? Those failures bring us face-to-face with the divine: will you receive healing and love by letting go, or end up with a halo in hell holding on to a broken system? Everybody runs—so lets run to discover God’s truth in movie.
About Steven
Steven Faletti, aka SMFreehand, has been writing fiction since he was in the fourth grade (when he was obsessed with Goosebumps and Animorphs), he and a friend started writing a collection of short ‘scary’ stories. He continued honing his writing skills haphazardly until his late 20s, when he realized he had a passion that desired to be cultivated. He began getting involved in writing groups, eventually leading his own called Tea & Ink Writing group, which later gave birth to the Brew & Ink Podcast.
He has two books from his Sci-Fi series in the works as well two from a Fantasy series that are works in progress.
Current project: Editing… always editing and finishing the Andromeda Voyage for the B&I podcast."
Where to find more about SMFreehand
Insta: @brewandink
Twitter @brew_ink
Quotes
The curse of the creative mind is seeing opportunity in everything.
We see time as a line, but God sees it as a circle, an ever present now.
If you’re finding your identity in those things that numb you, then your focus is probably limited.
What shapes our vision is not just how we see ourselves, but also how we think others see us.
Systems might change behavior, but they won’t change the heart.
Systems will never replace the divine.
Reconnecting to the divine and the love brings us hope and brings us alive.
When we get face-to-face with the divine, we also face the decision of how we will respond.
Many of us would rather die than live without our systems.
Themes
Determinism vs free will. Sovereignty vs personal choice.
John tries to atone for a mistake he can never atone for.
The cost of the greater good
Hope in systems or in the divine. The flaw in the system is human.
The importance of sight
How do you see other people?
What shapes our sight? Past, history, trauma, what we choose to focus on
What are you focused on? Where is your hope? System or in the divine
John tries to heal his hurt through drugs and work, but what actually brings healing is when he pursues the divine.
Resources
“How foolish can you be? After starting your new lives in the Spirit, why are you now trying to become perfect by your own human effort? Have you experienced so much for nothing? Surely it was not in vain, was it? I ask you again, does God give you the Holy Spirit and work miracles among you because you obey the law? Of course not! It is because you believe the message you heard about Christ.” - Galatians 3:3-5 (NLT)
Questions
How do you balance between God’s sovereignty and our personal choice?
Where do you find balance between government control, personal responsibility, and safety?
What cost will you pay for safety?
How do you see the world? People? Enemies? Yourself? God?
What shapes your sight?
Where is your focus?
What mistakes do you keep trying to atone for?
What is your hope in? What points you towards a better world? Government, systems, education? Or in the divine?
What happens when the systems you trust in fail, and let you down? How do you respond?
How hard to you work to prop up the system?
When have you been face-to-face with the divine?
More info
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Edited and mixed by Grayson Foster (https://graysonfoster.com/)
Logo and episode templates by Ian Johnston (https://ianhjohnston.com/)
Audio quotes performed by Britt Mooney, Paul McDonald, and Tim Willard, taken from Epic (written by John Eldredge) and Song of Albion (written by Stephen Lawhead).
Southerly Change performed by Zane Dickinson, used under license from Shutterstock
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