Tim Young | Heartstone Journey

3 Super Bowl Ads That Challenged Today’s Culture

If you haven’t noticed, in today’s culture the very idea of fatherhood is under attack. The narrative highlighted by the media, movies and society throws out labels such as clueless, knucklehead, bumbling idiot, fill in the blank ________.

I don’t know about you, but I am tired of seeing these ads that leave you with a dads biggest contribution to child rearing is the narrative “yes dear” as their wives do all the work!

Superbowl 49 was an awesome game! I’m one of those Patriots fan that jumped off the couch when Butler intercepted that pass in the end zone with seconds to go, but also I noticed major brands deciding to take on fatherhood and it got noticed. During the game that was seen by more than 100 million people, these ads showcased dads as they really are; loving, caring, supportive, helpful, courageous, protective, masculine and a major part in their children’s lives. What a concept!

Each ad pulled at my heart strings, so lets take a look at each of them.

7 Things We Can Learn From Joseph When Our Life Sucks

Have you ever experienced a crisis in your life? Persecution? Being mistreated by someone? You got a raw deal? Stuck in the “life’s not fair” narrative? Life just keeps knocking you down? Or fill in the blank________!

I have walked through hardships and many tough circumstances. I completely understand that walking through any of these is not fun, but there is a nugget that most of us never pick up through these difficult times.

You will quickly discover how real your relationship with Jesus Christ is in the midst of these tough places.

Your response to any of the trials that life throws at you will reveal what’s really inside of you and it will reveal the depth of your relationship with Jesus! When we step into one of these narratives we have choices; we can trust our circumstance to the Lord or deal with them in our own strength and probably crash and burn.

We all have dreams but often the reality of our life doesn’t line up with the picture we’ve painted in our minds, right?

Do you ever have those moments where you ask God, “why me?” I know I do! I wrote an article sharing a glimpse of the trials of Corrie ten Boom and realized that a huge illusion we have about our life, is that somehow we are in complete control of it.

Let’s take a deeper dive by stepping into the story of Joseph, the Old Testament guy.

Why We Need More Sheepdogs And Less Hashtags!

My son and I went to see American Sniper with a group of band of brothers and wow what an incredible move! Not only will this movie stick with you for a while afterwards, it’s an important film portraying a true war hero that people should see. I am not on the panel for Oscar nominations or a well known movie reviewer, but American Sniper is absolutely deserving of any and all award recognition. Also, it’s a film that isn’t merely a war movie – it’s a story of courage, conviction, brotherhood and caring.

I won’t give away any spoilers but it was the first time I’ve ever experienced a silence so overpowering you could hear a pin drop at the conclusion of the film. The movie was powerful and the ending created an emotional pause as the credits flew by without the typical music — the audience was stunned to silence. Iv’e always had the utmost honor, gratitude and respect for those who serve our country but with this movie I could feel it in my heart and I could I feel it in my chest!

So, what does this have to do with sheepdogs and hashtags?

Great question, but before we dive into that here is a synopsis of American Sniper:

Can We Really Trust Our Choices?

We soon discover that our journey in this world has so many competing demands distracting us from our true destination that we usually miss both the journey and the destination all together. Consumed with my empire building, I lost sight of what was important in life and sadly “arriving” became more important than “becoming.” Because I was so focused on what was next, I was never able to enjoy living in the moment. How much of the journey do we miss because we are so focused only on the destination? Our choices, our idols, and the stuff we covet have significant impact on us. What we fail to see is that God is more concerned with who we are becoming than with our empire building. Oddly enough, so are our wives and kids.

Power to choose; why does God allow this?

Why The Story Of Louie Zamperini Should Have Been Titled ‘Broken’

Went to see Unbroken with some of my band of brothers and wow what an inspiring movie. If you really want the full impact of what this man went through, I highly recommend the book by Laura Hillenbrand.

I want to start by acknowledging that the movie ‘Unbroken’ based on Laura Hillenbrand’s bestselling biography Unbroken is incredibly inspiring. What pops off the screen is Louie’s grit and courage. His sheer grit alone was awe inspiring — the likes of which not many men could ever hope to exhibit. Jesus tells us to love our enemies and Louie shows us through his brave example of true belief and courage that forgiving your enemies is possible.

Here is a quick summary of the movie before I take a deeper dive with my thoughts.

3 Super Bowl Ads That Challenged Today’s Culture

7 Things We Can Learn From Joseph When Our Life Sucks

Why We Need More Sheepdogs And Less Hashtags!

Can We Really Trust Our Choices?

Why The Story Of Louie Zamperini Should Have Been Titled ‘Broken’

Favorite Quotes

Cool Scripture

Never Out Of The Fight!

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