21st Century Hero vs Beowulf Essay Example for Free

21st Century Hero vs Beowulf Essay Beowulf was an Anglo-Saxon hero who fought many battles and proved his physical strength. Today, in the 21st century, a hero can be described as someone who is strong willed or strong minded. In our comic books that are now becoming movies our heroes are strong and very brave. Heroes in the 21st century don’t necessarily have to be physically strong but they do have to be strong minded and strong willed. The heroes in our comics are extremely strong. Take Superman for example, his only weakness is kryptonite. He is big and strong and he always saves the world. He may have a lot of enemies but all super  heroes do. Then again he has super powers that make him strong. He survived an attack on his home Planet Krypton and because he gained his super strength. Because of his alien like super strength people didn’t know how to react to him until they found out that he was a good man. Now he is America’s favorite superhero. The same goes for other comic superheroes such as Batman, Spiderman and Ironman. They all have a super power. Spiderman is most like Superman because he had something ‘terrible’ happen to him and gained his super powers. Spiderman was bit by a radioactive spider and acquired spider like senses. He can ‘feel’ when something is wrong with the city and can shoot webs. Batman is most like a normal human being. He is just a rich man powered by the fear of a previous experience with bats. He disguises himself as a human-bat combination and he uses his father’s tools and resources to create everything he uses to save the world. Ironman is similar to Batman in that they both don’t have super powers and they’re both rich. Ironman made a suit of iron with many different ‘superpowers. ’ He can fly and shoot energy from his suit. Our real life 21st century heroes are those that don’t have a superpower that children dream of. Their superpower is that they have faith and they are strong willed or strong minded. The people you automatically think of are those who are battling a terrible life threatening disease but still stay happy and do all that they can at all times. People who have cancer are often the first of our thoughts when thinking of this type of heroes. On CMT’s Worlds Strictest Parents two high strung kids go and live with the Sheffield family. They help a close family friend, Brocker, who is battling cancer. The man has a 14year old daughter and lives on a huge farm. The kids were originally angry that they had to help him until they heard his story. The fact that he had such an illness and still works as much as he can on his farm and takes care of his daughter inspired the two kids. He said people were helping him and when he said they didn’t need to they would say â€Å"remember when you helped me with†¦this is for that. † The people who stay positive while in the worst possible condition are the real heroes. When everything is going wrong and they still keep their head up and smile and try to get through it, they show real and true inner strength and they are heroes. Beowulf is an Anglo-Saxon hero. He is strong according to the scops. They are the story tellers and poets. All of the scops use hyperboles and litotes to show exaggeration and understatement. A hyperbole is an exaggeration. An example of his strength in a hyperbole is on page 22 line 156 when â€Å"For hours he sank through the ways. † This describes the strength of his lungs while fighting Grendels mother. A litote is an understatement. An example of this is on page 293 line 202 saying â€Å"He was weary. † This understates how tired he must be after fighting a huge sea serpent like monster. Both of these statements describe how overall strong Beowulf is. Strong could have different meanings depending on what you mean and how you use it. Beowulf is physically strong in the Anglo-Saxon time period but the type of hero he is, is a fake one. He is just a man in a story saving the town. Beowulf is like the modern day heroes in our comic books. Not real and full of surprises. The real modern day heroes are those fighting for their life. Everything could be going wrong and they still are happy and stay strong and smiling. 21st century heroes don’t necessarily have to be physically strong but they do have to have a strong mind and heart.

Jonathan Livingston Seagull :: Jonathan Livingston Seagull Essays

Jonathan Livingston Seagull Jonathan was not an ordinary seagull. For a thousand years, seagulls have spent their whole life on scrambling after fish heads. But Jonathan saw something different. He thought that life should not be just eating and fighting, even seagulls should have a reason to live. For him, his meaning of life is to fly. We all wish that we could spend all our time on doing things we like, just as Jonathan spent all his time on his beloved flight. However, the success in finding his meaning of life didn't bring with him any honor, but caused him to be an object of shame and irresponsibility, and to be banished due to his neglect to finding food. After having been banished, Jonathan was full time practicing flying and made great progress. He thought he had found his own heaven, and wondered why there are so few seagulls enjoying themselves in the heaven; "heaven should be flocked with gulls!" Therefore, besides finding his own meaning of life, he eventually returned to the place that once had expelled him, and help the fellows there to find their purpose of life. This is what I like most in the story. "You don't love hatred and evil...you have to practise and see the real gull, the good in every one of them, and to help them see it themselves" Jonathan was unselfish and lenient. He wasn't hostile to those who forced him out of his homeland, on the contrary, he learned to love them and help them. To forgive and love your enemy is even more difficult than finding the meaning of life, but Jonathan, a little seagull, managed to act it out. While Jonathan carried on practising, he found out that" this world isn't heaven at all". Heaven is being perfect, is not limited by time and space..."there is no such place". So, heaven is somewhere that we can never step out foot in. Very often, people do their best longing for the best result, they like to be perfect and try their best to be perfect. They have an idea of heaven in their mind and are upset all the time because they can never achieve it, we all have too many flaws. Jonathan Livingston Seagull :: Jonathan Livingston Seagull Essays Jonathan Livingston Seagull Jonathan was not an ordinary seagull. For a thousand years, seagulls have spent their whole life on scrambling after fish heads. But Jonathan saw something different. He thought that life should not be just eating and fighting, even seagulls should have a reason to live. For him, his meaning of life is to fly. We all wish that we could spend all our time on doing things we like, just as Jonathan spent all his time on his beloved flight. However, the success in finding his meaning of life didn't bring with him any honor, but caused him to be an object of shame and irresponsibility, and to be banished due to his neglect to finding food. After having been banished, Jonathan was full time practicing flying and made great progress. He thought he had found his own heaven, and wondered why there are so few seagulls enjoying themselves in the heaven; "heaven should be flocked with gulls!" Therefore, besides finding his own meaning of life, he eventually returned to the place that once had expelled him, and help the fellows there to find their purpose of life. This is what I like most in the story. "You don't love hatred and evil...you have to practise and see the real gull, the good in every one of them, and to help them see it themselves" Jonathan was unselfish and lenient. He wasn't hostile to those who forced him out of his homeland, on the contrary, he learned to love them and help them. To forgive and love your enemy is even more difficult than finding the meaning of life, but Jonathan, a little seagull, managed to act it out. While Jonathan carried on practising, he found out that" this world isn't heaven at all". Heaven is being perfect, is not limited by time and space..."there is no such place". So, heaven is somewhere that we can never step out foot in. Very often, people do their best longing for the best result, they like to be perfect and try their best to be perfect. They have an idea of heaven in their mind and are upset all the time because they can never achieve it, we all have too many flaws.

Marks of a Healthy Church Essay

Introduction In the New Testament, the church can be referred to as the â€Å"local† church or the â€Å"universal† church. The local church is a place where assemblies of believers come together at a particular location and time. The universal church refers to the body of Christ. Many churches believe that they are healthy because they have a certain number of people on their membership roll. Healthy churches measure their spirituality according to God’s Word. This paper seeks to convey that healthy churches are measured in spiritual terms versus numerical terms; follow biblical instead of cultural patterns of ministry; are based on theological instead of sociological foundations; focus on ministry not a marketing model; and adopt scriptural not secular models of leadership. This will be done by examining Kenneth Gangel’s discussion on the different marks that can be used to gauge a healthy church in his article â€Å"The Marks of a Healthy Church.† Brief Summary According to Kenneth Gangel, in his article â€Å"The Marks of a Healthy Church,† he seeks to â€Å"explain the characteristics of a healthy church using the measurements of the spiritual, biblical, theological, ministry model, and scriptural model of leadership.† To accomplish this Gangel cautions spiritual leaders not to get caught up in measuring church growth in numerical terms. They should accentuate the holiness and sovereignty of God through Bible study, worship, prayer, praise, and fellowship. In following biblical instead of cultural patterns, churches do not feel compelled to stay â€Å"up with the times† or get hooked on religious fads and slogans. Churches should not push alot of programs and believe that they are right just because they are successful. They would do well to check them and their success against the Word of God. Gangel also wanted spiritual leaders to ensure that they are paying attention to the true vigor or teachings of biblical theology and not get caught up in sociological perceptions of what the church should be. They should seek God’s plans for the church and tune out outside influences. A healthy church seeks to remain spiritually effective by following the ministry model of the â€Å"Great Commission† according to God’s grace, authority, and resources. Churches must never use the marketing or worldly model of seeking resources to accomplish their goals. Spiritual leaders will have trials and be scrutinized; but they should never take on a secular form of leadership in order to deal with these trials. They must pay attention to the essential functions of guiding and leading a healthy church. Critical Interaction Gangel has taken an in depth approach to explaining what constitutes a healthy church. He seeks to make clear that spiritual leaders have to use a biblical approach to assessing church growth or a healthy church. Some of the theological issues that I have found to be at stake in the article are the beliefs that church growth is an indication that the church is growing according to what God has mandated for the church. Church growth should always be evaluated to ensure that the growth is occurring for the right or biblical reasons. The other theological issue is making sure that the spiritual leader and the church are not conforming to the world and its way of doing things. The Bible is the road map that has been given to the spiritual leaders and the church to ensure that they do not go wrong or spiritually off course. Gangel’s opinion that the church should not get caught up on spiritual fads and slogans is backed by John F. MacArthur’s warning that the abandonment of the scriptures as a regulatory principle has opened the church to some of the most detestable of abuses. These abuses include bringing in secular artist into worship services, a sideshow with a carnival theme, and wrestling shows. Gangel is prompted to write about this subject because he was noticed and read about churches hinging their spiritual health on numerical terms of growth instead of biblical terms. His goal is to enlighten and warn the church to make sure they are using biblical measurements in determining the spiritual health of the church. The author has done an exceptional job in proving his thesis, that there are biblical marks or measurements of a healthy church. Gangel’s key strengths in this article are the five biblical marks that he has used to compare to the secular tenants that society likes to use. As he was explaining the five biblical marks of a healthy church, I wish he would have addressed what happens to a church that follows the tenets of society. Conclusion This paper has critiqued the article â€Å"Marks of a Healthy Church.† The author’s discussion in this article clearly lets us know that church should use caution when it comes to evaluating its growth. The marks that should be used to assess the health of the church are spiritual, biblical, theological, ministry model, and scriptural model of leadership. Everything that the church does should be checked by the Word of God. After reading this article, someone may make the claim that the church should do what it has to in order to reach the unbeliever. In my opinion, we as believers are not to let down our beliefs in what God has commanded us to do in order to reach an unbeliever. By all means, we can use Godly tools to witness to them where they are. Selected Bibliography Enns, Paul.The Moody Handbook of Theology.Revised and Expanded. Chicago, IL: Moody Publishers, 2008. Gangel, Kenneth O. 2001. â€Å"Marks of a Healthy Church.†Bibliotheca Sacra,no.158 vol.632 (October – December). http://galaxie.com/article/5724 (accessed October 15, 2012). MacArthur, John F., â€Å"How Shall We Then Worship?† in The Coming Evangelical Crisis,ed. David Wells (Chicago: Moody, 1996), 181 ——————————————– [ 2 ]. Paul Enns, The Moody handbook of Theology, Revised and Expanded (Chicago, IL: Moody Publishers, 2008), 257 [ 3 ]. Gangel, Kenneth O. 2001. Marks of a Healthy Church. Bibliotheca Sacra 9, no.28 vol. 632 (October – December). http://www.galaxie.com/article/5724 (accessed October 15, 2012). [ 4 ]. Ibid., 468. [ 5 ]. Ibid., 469. [ 6 ]. Gangel, 470. [ 7 ]. Ibid., 474 [ 8 ]. Ibid. [ 9 ]. Enns, 359-360. [ 10 ]. MacArthur, John F., â€Å"How Shall We Then Worship?† in The Coming Evangelical Crisis, ed. David Wells (Chicago: Moody, 1996), 181 [ 11 ]. Gangel, 467-468. [ 12 ]. Ibid.

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