It went exactly as my wife predicted. I thought the movie was a waste of my time.
I am talking about Storm Warriors, a Hong Kong film based on a Chinese comic series. Having gone to watch similar movies with my wife before, I already had very low expectations, but even then I felt disappointed.
What's wrong with the movie?
There was no coherent storyline.
So many lines, details and special effects were thrown in, but not developed into anything coherent. Meanwhile, important elements that would have developed the plot better, to keep the film from being way too jerky and the plot changes from being too abrupt, were introduced too late in the story, or flooded out of consciousness by the constant barrage of details, or not there at all.
It's like worship leaders who try to do too much within a worship set. They've got great songs they want to try, the latest album releases from their favourite Christian singers, and they want to put as much of it in as possible. Asking them to show a little restraint on the creativity or artistic expression usually gets you incredulous looks. "The Holy Spirit prompted me to use these songs," they'd say. "How can you ask me to quench the Spirit?"
I don't know everything about the Holy Spirit, but I DO know his heart.
So many lines, details and special effects were thrown in, but not developed into anything coherent. Meanwhile, important elements that would have developed the plot better, to keep the film from being way too jerky and the plot changes from being too abrupt, were introduced too late in the story, or flooded out of consciousness by the constant barrage of details, or not there at all.
It's like worship leaders who try to do too much within a worship set. They've got great songs they want to try, the latest album releases from their favourite Christian singers, and they want to put as much of it in as possible. Asking them to show a little restraint on the creativity or artistic expression usually gets you incredulous looks. "The Holy Spirit prompted me to use these songs," they'd say. "How can you ask me to quench the Spirit?"
I don't know everything about the Holy Spirit, but I DO know his heart.
He will bring glory to me by taking from what is mine and making it known to you. All that belongs to the Father is mine. (John 16:14-15, NIV)
The above passage tells us two things: first, the Spirit's task is to glorify Jesus; and second, he glorifies Jesus by teaching and edifying us, giving us revelation about Jesus. In other words, the Holy Spirit will not have us worship leaders and musicians do things that do not reveal Jesus to the people.
And because the Spirit wants to make sure people can receive the message, we can safely expect that he will restrict himself and not flood the people with information overload. Consider the following passage:
If anyone speaks in a tongue, two--or at the most three--should speak, one at a time, and someone must interpret... Two or three prophets should speak, and the others should weigh carefully what is said. (1 Cor 14:27, 29, NIV)
Notice that even when it comes to divinely inspired utterances the Holy Spirit shows restraint? He keeps himself to two or three. If you've ever been in a meeting where there are prophecies released, you'll realise that two prophecies are already very heavy for people to listen to and judge if they are from the Lord. By three people's minds start to shut off already, so they are quite unable to judge and exercise Scriptural discernment on the utterances.
So if the Spirit shows restraint when it comes to tongues and prophecies, why should we worship ministers not show restraint in our song selections and music arrangements? Do we know more than the Holy Spirit about how to bless God's people?
OK, let's get back to the movie.
My wife kept saying "You didn't read the comic series, that's why you don't understand the movie". My reply to her was "You didn't read Lord of the Rings and yet you could understand the movies. So that's no excuse for lousy storytelling!"
It's like telling a congregation member that they couldn't understand or appreciate the worship set you just did because they didn't hear the original CD or album you got the songs from. "If you hear the album, you'll hear that the people can still worship even when the electric guitar is playing all that stuff, and after the guitar solo the congregation can all start singing again without the worship leader telling them when to start!"
That does not work at all.
The CD version is may not be the best version of the song for you to use. What comes out on CDs is meant for people to listen to, not necessarily to sing along with (otherwise why would Chris sing How Great is Our God in Db major???). Doing a worship song in a particular way just because that is how it is done in the CD is dangerous.
Remember, many people who do worship albums come from a performance background. Their training has been to sing and play music in such a way that the audience will listen and be impressed, not that the people will jump up to their feet and sing along. So if your objective is to unify the praises of the congregation, why would you copy an example is was created with a different objective? Yes, it MIGHT work, and SOMETIMES it does work. But wouldn't it be better to go directly for what would work and be effective in YOUR church worship setting?
Back to the movie
So you can guess that the CGI and special effects, the eye-candy actors and actresses left me underwhelmed. There will be women who watch the movie because they are fans of the pretty-boy actors, and because in their eyes those actors can do no wrong, they will say that it is a great movie.
It's like people who are convinced that certain Christian artistes or groups (or churches) produce fantastic and anointed worship albums, so whatever is done in those CDs can never be wrong. And if their home church doesn't appreciate the songs and arrangements from that album, that is because their home church does not have the heart of worship.
Anyway, I think this is enough ranting about a lousy movie! Maybe I shouldn't be complaining, since I am a worship leader, not a movie producer. But I really hope that you, at least, will be better at ministering in worship than the producers of Storm Warriors are at producing a movie!
P.S. and if you know you need more equipping to be an effective worship leader or musician, and you haven't got my Invisible Worship Musician E-book yet, what are you waiting for? Get it as a Christmas present for yourself! Order from this Christmas Sale page and get it more than 10% off!
So you can guess that the CGI and special effects, the eye-candy actors and actresses left me underwhelmed. There will be women who watch the movie because they are fans of the pretty-boy actors, and because in their eyes those actors can do no wrong, they will say that it is a great movie.
It's like people who are convinced that certain Christian artistes or groups (or churches) produce fantastic and anointed worship albums, so whatever is done in those CDs can never be wrong. And if their home church doesn't appreciate the songs and arrangements from that album, that is because their home church does not have the heart of worship.
Anyway, I think this is enough ranting about a lousy movie! Maybe I shouldn't be complaining, since I am a worship leader, not a movie producer. But I really hope that you, at least, will be better at ministering in worship than the producers of Storm Warriors are at producing a movie!
P.S. and if you know you need more equipping to be an effective worship leader or musician, and you haven't got my Invisible Worship Musician E-book yet, what are you waiting for? Get it as a Christmas present for yourself! Order from this Christmas Sale page and get it more than 10% off!
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