My love is like a red red rose

Listening to a foreign language is like dancing. You enter this strange state of passive alertness. Not knowing what will happen next or not understanding everything that is said, you have to sit back and wait. You respond as you can and as it happens.

Unmerited suspicion is like rascism. You haven't done anything wrong and you have no bad intent, but the other person thinks the worst of you. They treat you with a severity and defensiveness appropriate for a rebel. You recoil at your false label and wish to explain or protest, but you have been prejudged and there is no-one who will hear.

Simple and strong

Sometimes emotions take over and what's good and right no longer feels that way. We adults become more like kids, unable to understand very much at all. That's why it's so good that even kids can understand the Gospel - Jesus died for us when we were sinners so that everything might always be okay between us and God. That's the sort of thing you can tell yourself when you're overwhelmed by guilt and melancholy - and though it might not feel true, you can still hold on to the fact that it happened and that not even your negativity can undo what was achieved on those two beams of wood.

Cine en español

For the last five months I've been watching one Spanish-language film a week - and I've just run out. I've seen all the films in the Sandy Bay, South Hobart and North Hobart video shops - well, all except for a couple in black-and-white, a B-grade sci-fi and a handful that look especially violent or erotic. I'm not quite sure what to do next, but I thought that I could at least share my recommendations with you. Oh, and do keep in mind that I can only faintly remember many of these.

• Rudo y Cursi [Rudo and Cursi] - Mexico ✭✭✭✭ Hilarious comedy about a couple of dimwitted half-brothers who make it big in football, only to squander their riches. A great introduction to latin cinema and a rare treat in that it can safely be watched by the whole family.

• Under The Same Moon [La Misma Luna] - Mexico ✭✭✭ Another excellent introduction to latin cinema that can be watched by the whole family (although the second half gets a bit scary). An engaging, entertaining and poignant story of a boy trekking through Mexico to join his mother trying to make some money in the US.
  

• Bombón: El Perro [Bombón: The Dog] - Argentina ✭✭✭✭ Another family-friendly film (the last of the three) with an unusual subject - a poor Patagonian mechanic who has the chance to make it big when he is given a prize-winning dog.
  

• The Secret In Their Eyes [El Secreto De Sus Ojos] - Argentina ✭✭✭ An ex-cop returning to an old murder investigation and a romance. Excellent, engaging, character-driven, poignant and ultimately disturbing thriller.
  

• Pan's Labyrinth [El Laberinto Del Fauno] - Spain ✭✭✭✭ I enjoyed this more on the second viewing. Quite unlike any other Spanish-language film I've seen. A dark, inventive fairytale. Violence.
  

• Amores Perros [Love's A Bitch] - Mexico ✭✭✭ Excellent, edgy drama. Infidelity and a dogfighting underworld. Violence.
  

• Y Tu Mamá También [And Your Mother Too] - Mexico ✭✭✭ I seem to remember a lot of sex/sexiness in this film - it would be excellent if only it wasn't there, but then it's that sort of film. Infidelity and experimental sex on a roadtrip.
  

• Talk To Her [Hable Con Ella] - Spain ✭✭✭ This is an excellent drama but quite uncomfortable to watch because somehow the unhealthiness of the main character creeps up on you. Intermingled lives and women in comas.
  

• Volver [Return] - Spain ✭ This was an annoying, caricatured comic drama about a dead mother and a recent murder. It could just be a case of humour not crossing the cultural barrier. But it does include some magic realism, which always gets me off-side.
  

• Sin Nombre [Without Name] - Mexico? ✭✭✭✭ Excellent edgy drama about a girl making the dangerous trip through Central America to the US with her erstwhile absent father, uncle and cousin, and about an unlikely friendship that develops along the way. Gang culture. Violence.
  

• Broken Embraces [Los Abrazos Rotos] - Spain ✭ An irritating film for similar reasons as Volver (and by the same director - but I do like his other work). This one's a serious drama and the over-dramatic acting and storyline never worked for me. Infidelity, romance and tragedy.
  

• The Sea Inside [Mar Adentro] - Spain ✭✭ Great drama about a man's campaign for his own 'euthanasia' and the relationships with the people in his life. The man - and the film's - dogged pursuit of death made me feel a bit ill though.
  

• All About My Mother [Todo Sobre Mi Madre] - Spain ✭✭✭ Great drama about stars, ordinary people and transvestite prostitutes. The storyline is poignant but the content disturbing.
  

• Nine Queens [Nueve Reinas] - Argentina ✭✭✭ Fun thriller about a money-making scam.
  

• Maria Full Of Grace [María Llena Eres De Gracia] - Colombia ✭✭✭✭ I watched this a long while ago but it was very powerful. I felt like it captured both the ordinariness and extremity of this girl's life and experience as a drug mule travelling to the US.
  

• Intacto [Intact] - Spain ✭✭ Strange, faintly magical thriller about luck and variants of Russian Roulette.
  

• El Crimen Del Padre Amaro [The Crime Of Father Amaro] - Mexico ✭✭✭ Great drama about druglords, devotion, girls and moral compromise in the Catholic church. Bit too sexual in places.
  

• Belle Epoque - Spain ✭ Massively B-grade comedy set in civil-war Spain about an ex-soldier choosing between (read: taking turns of) a farmer's daughters. Could only bear to watch it because of the Spanish, but then maybe I just don't get Spanish humour.
  

• El Método [The Method] - Spain ✭✭ An engaging and somewhat troubling thriller about a strange, nasty group job interview. Quite a bit of gratuitous sex :(
  

• Our Lady Of The Assassins [La Virgen De Los Sicarios] - Colombia ✭✭✭ Evocative and well-acted story about survival, homosexuality, companionship and violence. Leaves you feeling a bit used and despairing-
  

• Nicotina [Nicotine] - Mexico ✭✭ Madcap thriller about a diamond heist gone wrong.
  

Like Australia cinema, latin cinema often focuses on the dark side of life. It tends to do so in a fast-paced, dramatic style, rather than the relentlessly ugly grind of Australia drama. Violence, gangs, drug cartels and trafficking and illegal immigration crop up repeatedly, as does everyday poverty and infidelity. In my opinion, the films are generally of a very high standard - excellent scripts, characters and cinematography.

Spiritual warfare

Wierd, 'spiritual' stuff happens in Latin America. Perhaps the animist beliefs of the indigenous peoples have had a greater influence than in Australia. In any case, it made sense for me to think this stuff through. I was helped by Christ's Victory Over Evil: Biblical Theology and Pastoral Ministry1, although I have sometimes drawn different conclusions. Here goes.

Satan's capabilities

• Satan is furious - he is running around the earth, trying to cause as much damage as he can in the short time that remains (Lk 4:6; Jn 12:31; 1 Pet 5:8; 1 Jn 5:19; Rev 12:7-17; cf Jn 17:15) before his own destruction (Mt 25:41; Rev 20:10).

• His methods are to: make people forget or misinterpret the truth (Gen 3; tempting of Jesus; parable of the sower; 2 Cor 4:4); promise better things than God (Gen 3; Lk 4:5-6); 'close doors' (1 Thess 2:18); lie (Gen 3; Jn 8:44; Acts 13:10; cf Rev 2:24); cause suffering (Job 1-2; Lk 13:16; Paul's thorn in the flesh; Rev 2:10); murder (Jn 8:44; Rom 5:12; Heb 2:14); tempt people to sin (Job 1-2, 1 Chr 21:1; Jesus, Peter, Judas, Ananias and Sapphira; 1 Cor 7:5; 1 Thess 3:5); seek worship (Mat 4:9; 1 Cor 10:19-20); accuse (Zech 3:1; Rev 12:10; cf Heb 2:14); produce counterfeit miracles (2 Thess 2:9); and cause division (2 Cor 2:10-11; Eph 4:26-27).

• Any and all of these things are done with God's permission, and as part of a larger, good plan (Job 1-2; Lk 22:31-32 and John 21:15-19; Acts 2:23ff; 2 Cor 12:7-10; Rev 12:7f).
  

• At the cross, those who trust in Jesus were completely freed from slavery to Satan and from fear of death. He no longer has any claim on us, nor is there ever a situation in which we will find ourselves unable to resist his temptation (Jn 12:31; Rom 8:5-9, 15; 1 Cor 10:13; Col 2:13-15; Heb 2:14-15; Jas 4:7; 1 Jn 2:13-14; 3:8-10; 4:4; cf Acts 26:17-18; 1 Jn 4:18-19). God is protecting us, and there exists no accusation or demon that can ever separate us from his love (Jn 17:15; Rom 8:33-39; 2 Thess 3:3; 1 Jn 5:18) - yet life will not be without suffering (Jn 15:18-20 etc).

• While we live on earth we are in Satan's domain, and, though we no longer owe him any allegiance, we are not yet wholly sanctified. This means that at times we will sin (1 Jn 1:8-10). It is even possible for a beliver to sin badly (cf Moses, King David, Peter). Yet - provided we do not continue in unrepentance (Mat 18:15-17; Rom 2:4-5; cf Heb 4:14-16; 10:19-22) - we are still just as much a Christian as we were before, for our standing before God depends not on our own righteousness but on Christ's (Rom 3:21-24; Gal 2:15-16, 21).
  

• If we do follow Satan's ways and sin, it is always a choice we have made, stemming from the evil desires that remain within us (Rom 7:8; Eph 2:1-3; 4:17-24). As far as I can see, the Bible speaks only of non-believers being possessed by demons, yet I think it possible that a Christian can be so caught up in a sin that they appear to be possessed by it. The key is that, whatever they may feel or however bad the situation may seem, a Christian is never actually a slave to sin or demonic influence - they can break away at any point.
  

The Christian response

• Christians are to be on the lookout for the devil's schemes. We are to resist his advances and stand firm in our obedience and faith, looking instead to Jesus (1 Cor 7:5; 2 Cor 2:10-11; Eph 4:26-27; 6:10-13f; Col 2:16ff; Jas 4:7; 1 Pet 5:8-9; Rev 2:10; cf Heb 12:1-2). We are to pray to God for strength and protection (Eph 6:18) - but we don't have to perform any special ceremony to ensure our protection; we don't have to speak to demons; we don't have to pray a special prayer for Jesus' blood to cover us. We just have to keep on living a righteous life even when this is very hard to do. And, should we fail in this, we just have to ask for God's forgiveness.
  

• Despite the fact that this normal Christian response is to be unspectacular, I think that it could be appropriate to command a demon to leave a non-believer in Christ's name, or perhaps to tell a demon to stop tempting a believer (the latter has less biblical warrant). Yet even if this is okay, I would not expect it to be a regular feature of Christian life, or it would have been commanded in the New Testament letters - and certainly any actual conversation with demons should not be entertained (Isa 8:19-20 and Jesus' silencing of demons). But I can think of no reason why the sort of exorcism performed by Jesus and his disciples would be categorically wrong today. I don't mean to equate my role with the disciples and obviously never with Jesus himself - I'm more coming from a place of knowing that it is, generally speaking, good to imitate their righteous actions.
  

So, in all, Satan is clever but conquered, and because of this, Christians are to be alert and unafraid.


PG Bolt (ed), Christ's Victory Over Evil: Biblical Theology and Pastoral Ministry (Nottingham: APOLLOS, 2009)