Of all the foreign preachers, Dr Bernard is always the victor whenever it comes to preaching about the marketplace. Everytime I step into his meeting, I come out feeling more intellectual. My mind seems to be stimulated with every word that comes out from that man of God. This Asia Conference, I'm sure we're very familiar with the term 'insulation' and 'providence'. Not only that, I'm sure he left us jaw-dropped when he related that to the US presidential elections. Now how on earth does a green ogre come into the picture?!
For some weird reason, I dont know why I bothered to watch all 3 of the Shrek trilogy, but amazingly I did, be it in the cinema or streamed online. For those who have NOT watched, courtesy of Wikipedia, I'll paste the plots for all 3 movies.
Shrek 1:
Shrek, an ogre that seeks to live peacefully in his swamp, finds his solitude disrupted when numerous fairy tale beings, including the talkative Donkey, are forced to the swamp by order of Lord Farquaad. Shrek decides to travel the country to see Farquaad to try to regain his privacy but Donkey tags along. The two make it to Farquaad's palace in Dulac and come across a knight tournament to decide who will rescue Princess Fiona from a castle surrounded by lava and protected by a fire-breathing dragon, so that Farquaad may marry her. Shrek manages to best the other knights, and Farquaad agrees to nullify his order if Shrek goes on to rescue Fiona, a deal that Shrek agrees to.
Shrek and Donkey travel to the castle and split up to find Fiona. Donkey manages to encounter the Dragon, sweet-talking the beast to save himself when he finds out the dragon is female, and she talks a liking to Donkey, taking him back to her chambers. When Shrek finds Fiona, she is appalled that her rescuer is an orge, making Shrek drag her off by force. As they are leaving, Shrek manages to save Donkey, caught in the dragon's tender love, and causing the dragon to become irate, chasing Shrek, Fiona, and Donkey out of the castle but unable to follow. The three make their return journey to Farquaad's palace, with Shrek and Fiona finding they have more in common with each other along the way, and falling into love. However, at night, Fiona refuses to camp with them, taking shelter in a nearby cave until morning. The next night, Fiona takes shelter in a nearby windmill, angering Shrek who walks off, believing she cannot accept his appearance. When Donkey hears strange noises coming from the windmill, he finds that Fiona has turned into an ogre. Fiona explains that she was cursed as a child and turns into an ogre every night, which is why she was locked away in the castle, and that only a kiss from her true love will return her to her proper form. Fiona promises Donkey to not tell Shrek, vowing to do it herself, but when the next morning comes, Lord Farquaad has arrived, led by Shrek, and he returns with her to the castle, while Shrek and returns to the now-vacated swamp.
Shrek finds that despite his privacy he is miserable, and misses Fiona. Donkey shows up to tell him that Fiona will be getting married shortly, urging Shrek into action to gain Fiona's true love. They are able to travel to the fortress quickly thanks to Dragon, who escaped her confines and followed Donkey. They interrupt the wedding before Farquaad can kiss Fiona, but not before the sun sets, causing Fiona to turn into an ogre in front of everyone. Farquaad, furious over the change, orders Shrek and Fiona killed, but Dragon gobbles up Farquaad whole, causing the other knights to flee. Shrek and Fiona admit their love for each other and share a kiss; Fiona is bathed in light as her curse is broken, but leaving her as an ogre, a form she was unexpecting but that Shrek finds beautiful. The two get married and depart on their honeymoon, while Donkey and Dragon continue their relationship.
Shrek 2:
Shrek (Mike Myers) and Fiona (Cameron Diaz) return from their honeymoon to find they have been invited by Fiona's parents to a royal ball to celebrate their marriage, an event Shrek is reluctant to participate in. Fiona talks him into it, and along with Donkey (Eddie Murphy), they travel to Far Far Away. They meet Fiona's parents, King Harold and Queen Lillian (Julie Andrews and John Cleese), the former of which is repulsed by Shrek being an ogre. At a shared meal, Shrek and King Harold get into a heated argument over how Shrek and Fiona will raise their family, and Fiona, disgusted at Shrek's behavior, locks herself away in her room that evening. Shrek worries that he has lost his true love, particularly after seeing her diary that showed she was infatuated with Prince Charming (Rupert Everett).
As everyone goes their separate ways, the King is accosted by the Fairy Godmother (Jennifer Saunders) and her son, Prince Charming, remanding the King for breaking his promise that Charming would be able to marry Fiona, and demanding he find a way to get rid of Shrek. King Harold arranges for Shrek and Donkey to join him on a fictitious hunting trip, which really is a trap to lure the two into the hands of an assassin, Puss in Boots (Antonio Banderas). However, Puss is unable to defeat Shrek, and when he reveals he was paid by the King to kill them, asks to come along as a way to repay them. The three come across the Fairy Godmother's potion factory, and Shrek finds a Happily Ever After potion that he believes will restore Fiona's love for him. The three steal it, and both Shrek and Donkey drink the potion, quickly succumbing to its effects; Fiona is also affected by the potion's magic and falls asleep. The next day, Shrek and Fiona, separately, find they have become attractive humans, while Donkey has become a white stallion; according to the potion's instructions, if Shrek can kiss Fiona before the day's end while transformed, he will win her love and they will both stay human forever. Shrek, Donkey, and Puss quickly make for the castle. The Fairy Godmother discovers the potion's theft and puts a new plan in place, by having Prince Charming pose as the now human Shrek to Fiona to win her heart instead, insuring that her love will be won by having King Harold dose her with a love potion. She also convinces King Harold to order the arrest of Shrek to insure her plan succeeds.
As the wedding reception ball starts, Shrek, Donkey, and Puss are saved by Shrek's friends, the Big Bad Wolf, the Three Little Pigs, the Three Blind Mice, Pinocchio, and the Gingerbread Man, and the group makes their way to the castle. They discover the drawbridge is up and have no way across, but they bake a giant Gingerbread Man who sacrifices himself to make sure Shrek, Donkey, and Puss can get inside. Puss lures the guards away allowing Shrek to reach the ball, just as Charming is about to kiss Fiona. However, the kiss fails to make Fiona love Charming, the King revealing he would not use the love potion on Fiona. The Fairy Godmother attempts to destroy Shrek with a spell, but King Harold steps in front of spell, taking it full force, while some of it is reflected back to the Fairy Godmother, causing her to disappear. As everyone regroups, they find that King Harold is actually the Frog Prince and had used the Happily Ever After potion many years earlier to be with the Queen. Queen Lillian admits her love to Harold regardless of his form while Shrek and Fiona meet and apologize for their behavior. They both decide to want to return to their original form, and wait until the potion's effects have worn off, reverting them back to normal, before sharing a kiss. King Harold apologizes to Shrek as well, and blesses the couple's marriage as the reception returns to full swing.
Shrek 3:
Harold (John Cleese) has fallen ill and his ogre son-in-law Shrek (Mike Myers) and daughter Princess Fiona (Cameron Diaz) are next in line to be King and Queen. Shrek declines, insisting that an ogre as king is a bad idea and that there has to be someone else for the job. With his final few breaths, the king tells Shrek that there is one other heir who can become the new King of Far Far Away: his nephew, Arthur Pendragon (Justin Timberlake). After a mournful (yet somewhat humorous) funeral, Shrek sets out on a quest to bring back the new king, along with Donkey (Eddie Murphy) and Puss in Boots (Antonio Banderas). However, as they're sailing off, Fiona runs to the dock and announces to Shrek that he's going to be a father. Shocked, Shrek begins to have nightmares about his future children on the journey to find Arthur.
The trio's journey leads them to Worcestershire Academy, an elite boarding school, where they discover that Arthur, or "Artie", as he prefers to be called, is a gangly loser hated by virtually everyone, from the cool kids down to the retainer wearing Dungeons and Dragons geeks. Far removed from the courageous legend his name evokes, Artie stands literally at the bottom of the high school food chain. He is constantly showered with insults, used as a punching bag by the school Jousting Team, led by the obnoxious Lancelot du Lac (Arthur’s supposed right hand man in the Arthurian legend), and lastly cruelly scorned by Guinevere (Arthur’s queen in other adaptations), the girl he had always loved, who are both at the height of the school’s popularity.
Upon learning at the school pep rally by Shrek that he is going to be the new king of Far Far Away, Artie is only too excited to be on his way to the throne, until Donkey and Puss inadvertently scare him by talking about responsibilities of being king. Panicked, Artie tries to take control of the ship and ends up crashing it on an island where they meet Artie's retired wizard teacher, Merlin (Eric Idle).
Meanwhile, Prince Charming (Rupert Everett) has gone to the Poison Apple Bar, where he encounters a slew of fairy tale villains including Captain Hook (Ian McShane), the Wicked Queen (Susanne Blakeslee), a Cyclops (Mark Valley), Rumpelstiltskin (Conrad Vernon), Little Red Riding Hood, Mabel the Ugly Stepsister (Regis Philbin), the Headless Horseman (Conrad Vernon), Stromboli the Puppet Master (Chris Miller), and an assortment of black knights, pirates, ents, and witches. Although they initially despise Charming, he persuades them to join him in a fight for their "happily ever after". The villains feel their side of the story has never been told and now is the time to do it.\
Charming and the other villains invade the kingdom and pillage for a time before attacking the castle, disrupting Fiona's baby shower. They capture all of Shrek's fairy tale friends (Gingerbread Man (Conrad Vernon), Pinocchio (Cody Cameron), The Big Bad Wolf (a cross between the Three little pigs and Little Red Riding Hood's wolf) (Aron Warner), The Three Blind Mice (Christopher Knight) and The Three Little Pigs (also Cameron), Dragon, and Donkey and Dragon's children. Fiona and Lilian (Julie Andrews) try to escape through an underground passage, along with Doris the Ugly Stepsister (Larry King), Cinderella (Amy Sedaris), Snow White (Amy Poehler), Sleeping Beauty (Cheri Oteri) and Rapunzel (Maya Rudolph); the ladies are captured, however, when Rapunzel betrays them and leads them into a trap. They learn that she is in love with Charming, who plans to make her his queen once he claims the throne.
Captain Hook and some of his pirates track Shrek and company to Merlin's island, where they attempt to capture Shrek and kill the others. Shrek and Artie tag-team them effectively, however, and send the villains running, but not before Hook mentions "King Charming" and the takeover of Far Far Away. Concerned for his wife and their child, Shrek urges Artie to return to the safety of Worcestershire; Artie, however, has other ideas. He cons Merlin into coming out of retirement long enough to use his magic and send them all back to Far Far Away; the spell works, but accidentally causes Puss and Donkey to switch bodies because they were touching each other. They find that Charming is bent on revenge against Shrek for 'stealing' his "happily ever after," and plans to kill Shrek in a play later that night. Charming's men arrive shortly, but another clever ruse by Artie tricks the knights into not taking them into custody. They then break into the castle, where play rehearsal and set design are in full swing, but Charming is not good at rehearsing. He is also not good at mock battles, killing two faux Shrek in a row. In Charming's dressing room, Shrek menaces Charming but Charming is able to summon his men, who burst in and take the four captive.
Charming prepares to decapitate Artie. In an effort to save him, Shrek tells Charming that Artie was just a patsy to take his place as King of Far Far Away. Charming believes Shrek and decides not to kill the boy. Artie, who had just been growing to trust Shrek, is crushed by this and runs away. Donkey and Puss are thrown into the tower with Fiona and the other ladies, where Fiona is growing frustrated with the other princesses and their lack of initiative. Queen Lilian grows fed up when Snow White calls her an old lady, and successfully smashes the stone wall of the prison by head butting the walls. While the women launch a rescue mission for Shrek, who is being held captive elsewhere, Donkey and Puss work to free Gingy, Pinocchio, the wolf and pigs, Dragon, and the Dronkey. As they prepare to enter the castle and join the ladies, they encounter Artie, and Puss and Donkey explain to him that Shrek lied so Charming wouldn't kill him. Artie seems hesitant to believe them.
As the kingdom watches, Charming stages a theatrical performance in which he heroically rides to the rescue of Rapunzel in her (fake) tower and sings, somewhat badly. To Charming's profound annoyance, the chained Shrek wins the audience's support by ridiculing his singing and acting. Just as Charming is about to kill Shrek, Fiona and her friends, along with Puss, Donkey and the Fairy Tale characters, leap onto the stage to confront the villains. It goes awry, however, as the villains largely outnumber the heroes and take them prisoner again. In the nick of time, Artie arrives and convinces the villains to stop and turn over a new leaf, proving himself to possess effective leadership skills. He says a word of wisdom-"Just because some people treat you like a loser, it doesn't mean you are one. The thing that matters most is what you think of yourself. If there is something you really want or someone you really want to be then it's only you yourself standing in your way." The villains drop their weapons and release their captives. Charming, furious at having been thwarted by this boy, lunges for him with his sword. Shrek blocks the blow and appears to take it in his own chest, leading Charming to exult; the attack missed, however, and the sword is lodged harmlessly under Shrek's arm. Shrek informs Charming that he needs to keep looking for his own happily ever after, "because I'm not giving up mine." Dragon slyly knocks over Rapunzel's tower, which lands on Charming (killing him instantly) and the crowd cheers. Charming's crown is sent rolling across the stage by the impact and is caught by Artie. Shrek tells him that the throne is his if he wants it, but it is his decision to make. Artie lifts the crown toward the audience, who cheer him loudly, then sets it on his own head. While the kingdom celebrates their new monarch, Merlin appears and restores Puss and Donkey to their proper bodies, though their tails remain switched.
As Far Far Away is left in the capable hands of young King Arthur, Shrek retires with Fiona to their swamp, having three ogre babies.
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Over the 3 movies, we see how Shrek has evolved from an angsty, selfish, sharp-tongued ogre to a funny, loving father of 3 kids. I mean who would ever expect an ogre to fall in love with a pretty princess, have kids, and nearly becoming King? I wouldnt expect that. But lets just say in the movie God existed and there is a meaning in the trilogy. And lets just say that the scriptwriter supposingly attended Dr Bernard's church and heard his message of insulation and providence. Then, I would say Arthur and Shrek definitely had the God-given providence Dr Bernard was talking about.
As an ogre, you wouldnt have much of a self esteem. As an ogre, you probably wouldnt have any friends. As an ogre, you wouldnt be very rich. Probably poor in every area of life. Perhaps as an ogre, you'd probably think of dying because there was simply nothing to do except look for food. and survive. An ogre would probably be considered the lowest lifeform in the show, BUT the movie showed that a nobody can become a somebody. In numero uno, Shrek fought for his rights and his privacy. In number 2, Shrek fought for his family. In number 3, Shrek fought for the peace of the kingdom.
To aptly put it, God brought about a transformation in someone who had a me-myself-and-i attitude to a not-for-me-but-for-loved-ones attitude, and finally to a not-I-but Christ attitude. With the transformation in Shrek, Shrek literally turned the kingdom of Far Far Away upside down! In spite of all that, Shrek could have become king. But he knew that he knew there was another person who would be a worthy heir to the throne instead of Charming, and Shrek made sure the rightful heir succeeded the throne Truly, like how God's hand was upon the government of Far Far Away, His hand was upon the government of the US.
I am more sure than ever that God loves radical change for the positive. I am sure that the disciples were ordinary people before they became disciples of Christ and turned the world upside down with signs and wonders. Obama did not win just because he was a believer or he was somebody big and successful. He won because such a huge crisis positioned the US for a change so big and radical that it would shake the world. People were sick and tired of hearing and doing the same thing over and over again. Likewise my friends in ministry, if you feel your ministry is down and out, do something big about it!
I shall end this entry with 2 quotes:
"Just because some people treat you like a loser, it doesn't mean you are one. The thing that matters most is what you think of yourself. If there is something you really want or someone you really want to be then it's only you yourself standing in your way." -quote Arthur.
"Change. the. World? YES. WE. CAN!" - Barack Obama.
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