Love vs. Commandment

For discussion: (and seriously people, comment)

Does love (SUPPOSED true love) trump what God says? As in, if you really love someone, is it all right to break a commandment of Christ? I  mean, really, when it comes down to it, what do we believe? If we don't have it set in stone now, when (not if) we are presented with a situation, there is a higher likely-hood of falling into sin.

Thoughts?

Skin

          What would you do if you were in an oppressive cult that would beat you if you touched an outsider? I’ll tell you what Wendy Davidson did… She escaped. It’s been seven years since she broke free from the bonds of domination and she’s trying to make a new life. When the thriller/horror called Skin opens, this is where we find her. She’s headed east across the country to meet her mother, the rain is pouring and she just wants to reach the next town so she can bed down for the night. But there’s more to Summerville than meets the eye.

            Colt Jackson is a member of the Summerville Police Department, answering a 911 call about a gunman on the loose in the middle of town. Carey Schultz is trying to get his sister Nicole to the Summerville Hospital to get her snake bite treated. And Jerry Pinkus? Well, Jerry Pinkus hasn’t come into the story…yet. A triple-tornado is about to touchdown in Summerville and everyone is trying to get to safety. Through a series of fortunately unfortunate events, Colt, Wendy, Carey, and Nicole find themselves in a house above the city, trying to outlast the storm. But, in the morning, when they come outside, they find that something disastrous has happened… the town, all of it, is gone. The only thing that can be seen for miles is desert, plain desert. Well, that and the house and adjoining library. A fallen electric line stops them from going towards where the town was and there isn’t much point going anywhere else. Suddenly, the library door flings open and out runs a twenty-something year-old gamer, one called Jerry Pinkus. Jerry is missing his right index finger at the second knuckle. So, now they are a group of five strangers, stranded in the middle of nowhere, when, to add to the mix, the gunman shows up. Turns out he’s a sadistic killer bent on ridding the world of ugliness. Soon, they are faced with the decision of killing one in their number or all dying. Neither choice is picked. Next thing they know, the town is back. The story begins to quicken as the town continues to vanish, and then reappear as if on a whim. And, to make matters worse, the killer knows who they are… like really knows. The quintet begins to balk and accuse one another of being the killer, wondering how this psycho, this Sterling Red can know so much about all of them, when none of them know him. Or do they?

            Skin, written by Ted Dekker, is a page turner for sure, and, although there many unexpected turns, the craziest plot twist is saved for the very end… the very, very end. I would recommend this book to the older crowd as it deals with a sadistic killer. The point is, beauty is not skin deep, and everyone is ugly. Ugly with sin… but there is a cure for ugliness. 

Unbroken

             The inflatable raft, holding three starving airmen, is barely afloat in the Pacific. Sharks circle the boat. Death is very near. One of these men is former Olympic runner, Louis Zamperini. How did he get here?

            Unbroken, written by Lauren Hillenbrand, is the gripping biography of this man, this Louis ‘Louie’ Zamperini. During his childhood, Louie discovered that he could run, that is, as an athlete runs. Soon, he was smashing records all over the country, trying to run a four-minute mile. He got into the 1936 Olympics, which were held in Germany, and, although he finished eighth line in the 5000 meter, caught the attention of none other than Adolph Hitler, who demanded a meeting with “the boy with the fast finish.”

            Immediately after returning home, he began training for the 1940 Olympics, but all was about to change. The Olympics were scheduled to be in Tokyo, Japan, but, due to the outbreak of World War II, they were canceled and moved to Helsinki, Finland. Then, as WWII began to ravage Scandinavia, the Olympics were suspended indefinitely. Louie joined the Army and became a crewmember on a bomber. Several times, Death missed him, thanks to the expert pilot. But, on a fateful day, a plane went down in the Pacific. Louie’s team was called to go scour the ocean with another crew and look for the missing plane, or at least the survivors. Somewhere in the middle of the ‘Big Blue’, an accident happened that would change Louie’s life forever. The rust-bucket plane his crew was ordered to fly on this mission had four engines. One went out. The pilot told the engineer to stop the propeller from turning, which was a normal procedure when an engine went out. The real problem began when the engineer stopped the wrong prop. Now two engines were out and the plane plummeted to the depths. Only three men survived. Now, they were afloat in the Pacific, literally warding off death with paddles. After weeks of floating, with little more than raw bird meat and rain water to survive on, only two men remained. Louie and the pilot. A ship came into view and they became elated with joy that maybe, just maybe, it would be an American vessel. The happiness quickly turned to horror when they saw the flag. It wasn’t the Stars and Stripes, but the Rising Sun of the Japanese Empire.

            Unbroken is a story of survival, courage, and, most importantly, forgiveness. Find out the whole story by reading this amazing book. I would recommend this work to a more mature audience due to some language scattered in the pages.