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This is the Real Faith Podcast where we talk about a movie clip, a scripture, and make an application. We hope these provide encouragement to you. I'm your host Chuck Bower. I hold my undergraduate degree from Johnson University and my master's in historical theology, Christian literature from Wake Forest University. After a successful church ministry of 28 years, I became a public school teacher currently teaching high school English. We hope you are blessed by these episodes.
Do you think I'd ever go to Sunday school? Puny God. I love you. I know. As you wish. Welcome to Real Faith. I'm your host Chuck Bower and I want to thank the producer Daniel Allen. This is our inaugural episode and we are very excited to bring it to you. If you know me, then you know I love movies. I love movies and making a connection to our faith. This podcast was born out of that desire.
If I can talk about a clip, connect it with a passage of scripture, and leave you with an application and encouragement, then I've succeeded. We will release these once a week on Monday mornings. They'll be released on my website, scbower.com, and wherever you find podcasts. Now I've read that 78% of podcasts do not reach the eighth episode, so I'm telling you now we will do eight episodes and see how it goes. I don't want to be a part of that statistic.
Alright as my students make fun of me for saying so much in class, here we go. We start off with a little animated film that was released, believe it or not, 17 years ago this year, Kung Fu Panda, with Jack Black voicing our main character Po. If you're interested in going back to watch it, the film just left Netflix and I'm not sure where it will land next. But Kung Fu Panda is about a lovable panda named Po who works in his dad's noodle shop but dreams of being a Kung Fu master.
This story follows the hero's journey faithfully, if you know about that, and Poe ends up declared as the long prophesied Dragon Master. Of course at this point in the story, Po doesn't actually know Kung Fu. Even though Master Oogway declares Poe the Dragon Warrior, Master Shifu and the Furious Five think Po's selection is a total joke. Why would Master Oogway pick him? Surely this is a mistake, they thought. So they set out to make his training impossible and totally discouraging.
And they succeeded. Poe is deflated, he's ready to quit, and we get our clip for this episode. Master Oogway has some encouragement and wise words for Poe. Let's listen. So why are you upset? I probably sucked more today than anyone in the history of Kung Fu. In the history of China? In the history of sucking? Probably. And the Five? Man, you should have seen them, they totally hate me. Totally. How's Shifu ever gonna turn me into the Dragon Warrior? I mean I'm not like the Five.
I've got no claws, no wings, no venom. Even Mantis has those...thingies. Maybe I should just quit and go back to making noodles. Quit, don't quit. Noodles, don't noodles. You are too concerned with what was and what will be. There's a saying, yesterday is history, tomorrow is a mystery, but today is a gift. That is why it is called the present. I love this clip. And you've probably heard it. I like to quote it to my students, because it rings true, right?
Today is a gift, that's why they call it the present. Poe was too concerned of what was and what will be. Master Oogway wanted him to just focus on today. There's a few different scriptures that pop into my head when thinking about this clip. One of them is from Ephesians. Paul's little letter to the church at Ephesus. In chapter 5, verses 15 through 17, he writes, So be careful how you live. Don't live like fools, but like those who are wise.
Make the most of every opportunity in these evil days. He's continuing his thought here from chapter 4 about living a life worthy of the calling that you've received. And he gives some exhortations, this passage being one of them. Again, be careful how you live. Don't live like fools, but like those who are wise. Make the most of every opportunity in these evil days.
Now when he wrote, make the most of every opportunity, that's coming from the New Living Translation by the way, he is saying, redeem the time. You could translate it, buy up your time. It's a metaphorical way of saying, use your time well. In the few verses that follow, he writes that we can redeem our time, or we can use it wisely, by living by the Spirit, having a worship mindset, and giving thanks to God. Now that sounds like a good way to live the day.
I know some of you had a 2024 that you are glad it's in the rearview mirror. You're ready to forget it and move on. Now some of you might have some big plans in 2025. You might have big events in your life coming down the road that you might be worried about. Let me encourage you to live for the day, today. Make the most of the opportunities for today. Walk in the Spirit, have a God-centered frame of mind, and live with thankfulness.
Think about the T acronym, and I don't mean spill the tea, no gossiping here, but every day you have a finite amount of time, energy, and attention. Be what are you spending it on? I want to challenge you to live purposefully today. Don't be too concerned about what was or what will be. Focus on what you can do today to make the most of every opportunity. After all, there is a saying, yesterday is history, tomorrow is a mystery, but today is a gift. And that's why they call it the present.
Use your gift of today with purpose. Be filled with the Holy Spirit. Have a worship in your heart and a thankful attitude. That sounds like a pretty good day to me. Thanks for listening. I'll see you next week on Real Faith. If you enjoyed this episode of Real Faith, please hit that subscribe button so you don't miss out on future episodes. Remember you can find us at wherever podcasts are found and on SCBower.com. That's S-C-B-O-W-E-R.com.
There's also contact and bio information on that website. And if you have a question, or if I can help you out, please let me know.