A new hit movie captures top spot at the box office and gets people
asking, “What do you want to do before you kick the bucket?”
The
Bucket List. It’s a new movie that brings together two Oscar-winning
actors and tells a story of grand adventure and dreams fulfilled at the
end of life’s journey.
Jack Nicholson and Morgan Freeman star in
this film about two terminally ill men. They’re unlikely friends, who
decide to make the most of the time they have left, by compiling a
“bucket list.”
Today, we’ll dig deeper into some of the spiritual issues raised by this film.
We’ll
meet a former minister, turned-leadership-consultant who interviewed
hundreds of people to explore the most common paths to happiness. He’ll
share lessons he learned while writing his book, The Five Secrets You
Must Discover Before You Die.
We’ll speak with a Christian
educator, to ask his thoughts on the importance of the journey. Whether
God might have a “bucket list” for us, and what happens when we die.
And
finally, we’ll share some intimate conversation with a man who really
is in the final phase of his life’s story. He’ll share his thoughts on
priorities during life’s closing chapter.
THE GUESTS
JUSTIN ZACKHAM
Screenwriter, The Bucket List
“ The Bucket List came from me,
just trying to figure out what are the things I want to do with my
life, before I kick it. And gradually, after a little time went by, I
couldn’t stop thinking about the idea – and as writers, we
tend to do – just scribble notes here and there, I realized I had
to get out of town, so I drove up to a cabin up in Idlewilde – up
in the mountains here in California, and I spent two days, and I just
wrote out an entire outline. And it was one of those things, where,
once I figured out who the characters were, once I knew who Edward was
and Carter were, it wrote itself.”
He is one of North America's most sought after visionaries. In his
enlightening and deeply grounding programs he shares his insights and
spiritual wisdom from over 20 years in the personal and professional
development industry. John’s insights and perspectives on
personal well-being and change have put him in front of audiences
around the world.
Since beginning his career as a Presbyterian Minister in 1977 at the
age of 20, Dr. John Izzo has been challenging people to live
spiritually nourishing lives. Today, he is one of North America’s
most influential change agents, a powerful presenter, and a phenomenal
retreat leader.
John Izzo’s academic credentials include dual Master’s
Degrees in Theology and Divinity and a Doctorate in Organizational
Communication and Behavior from the University of Chicago. One of the
first men to combine spirituality and with organizational development
in the mid 1980’s, Dr Izzo’s mission has been to inspire
people to make the positive changes needed to reawakening their spirits
and take charge of their lives. He moves people to have the courage to
live their values and to create workplaces built on trust, integrity
and support.
JOHN IZZO’S FIFTH SECRET You Must Discover Before You Die:
“You know this is a really
interesting one because they said, you know when you’re young,
you think your greatest happiness in life will be what you got from the
world, but what they said, is now that I look back on my life, my
greatest happiness by far was that the world was better in some small
way because I was here. They said, my children are better human beings
than I was. The world is better. The town barber told me,
“I’ve served people all these years and listened to their
problems and advised them.” You know, people said, ‘give
more than you take.’ They said, the secret to being a happy person is to be a giver, not a taker.
And I’ll bet in that movie, The Bucket List, one of the things
people discover is, the skydiving and all that stuff was really nice,
but in the end, it was the deeper things, the fact that you are
connected in a deeper way, that brought you real happiness.”
Well – does God have a bucket list for my life? Things I need to tackle before I die?
We asked Christian educator Joe Boot to help answer that question. His
specialty is debate on the subject of God’s purposes for the
world and for our lives.
Rev. Joe Boot is an apologist, evangelist, author and pastor.
Working with RZIM for seven years as an evangelist and apologist in the
U.K and North America, he served as Canadian director of RZIM for
nearly five years. He has spoken all over the world in
numerous universities, seminaries, churches, colleges and conferences,
including Eton College Windsor, Wycliffe Hall Oxford University,
Toronto University, London School of theology and Forman University in
Lahore Pakistan. His apologetic works Searching for Truth, Why I
Still Believe and How then shall we answer? have been published in
Europe and North America. He is visiting lecturer at the Oxford
Centre for Christian apologetics at Wycliffe Hall, Oxford
England. He lives in Toronto with his wife Jenny and three
children Naomi, Hannah and Isaac.
Death. It’s a fate that awaits us all. And while there is
something profoundly intimate about this common human experience, we
believe there are lessons to be learned from those in the midst of it.
Tony Clark is dying of kidney cancer. But he agreed to share with us
his most critical priorities, as he approaches the end of his life.
Background on Tony Clark:
Born and raised in Montreal West
Married Sharon in 1973 and raised three daughters
Along with his two brothers, he owned and operated a food brokerage business in Quebec
Moved to the New Jersey in 1990 and began, along with Sharon, a business finding and selling Canadian products in the US
Moved to Arizona with this same business
Was recruited by Cascades Industries and moved back to NJ as Vice President Sales & Marketing
Was recruited by Janes Family Foods and moved to Mississauga in 2002 to be VP Sales
In 2004 Renal Cell Carcinoma was discovered and Tony had to have one kidney removed
Currently on his fourth drug to combat
this disease and are hopeful that a drug will be found to finally put
this disease to rest
Is currently on long term disability yet
continues to remain active in his church, some business consulting, and
is the chairman and co-founder of Kidney Cancer Canada which operates
both as a support group and advocacy group for introduction of new
treatments.
Tony’s passions are skiing, football, golf, his daughters, grandkids, and many friends
As a broadcaster, I always admired how Billy Graham did his microphone
checks. Each time he would read the same verse from the Bible,
John 3:16, for air check. I’m told he wanted to make sure
even technicians who would be too busy to listen to a sermon could hear
that most important Scripture. John 3:16 – the focus
of God’s bucket list for us. We’ve posted that on
today’s website. John 3:16 was a reminder from Jesus that
we weren’t meant for this world alone. That death is a
transition. And the doorway to heaven is opened through belief in
Jesus Christ.
It would be a shame to have gone through this life having chosen all we
wanted to accomplish but done nothing to get ready for the next
spiritual life. Knowing with confidence you’ve discovered
spiritual truth and have a relationship with God will take some
time. I’d get started today. Our suggestions on how
to do that are at listenuptv.com. Read more about it
there. So what does John 3:16 say? “For God so
loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever
believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life”.
THOUGHTS FROM BRUXY CAVEY
Teaching Pastor of The Meeting House
Author, The End of Religion
“GOD…
three letters combined together that create mystery and unknowing. How
can we get a handle on whom He is? Is He capable of love and of knowing
me? And yet God loved us so much that He gave us, sent us His son,
Jesus – and that’s how we get to know God -through His Son because
Jesus is the expression of God. God is mystery and Jesus’ love is
manifested in the way he lived, forgave, washed His disciples feet,
served, and died. Romans 5:8 says “But God demonstrates his own love
for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us.” Jesus
dying for us demonstrates God’s love for us. That Whoever believes…
belief in the Greek means Trust and Faith. This means that all of us
will be faced with this radical message and must make a decision if we
believe this to be true or not. Everlasting life, abundant life starts
today – starts now and goes right into eternity!”
JOHN 3:1-21
Jesus Teaches Nicodemus
1Now
there was a man of the Pharisees named Nicodemus, a member of the
Jewish ruling council. 2He came to Jesus at night and said, "Rabbi, we
know you are a teacher who has come from God. For no one could perform
the miraculous signs you are doing if God were not with him."
3In reply Jesus declared, "I tell you the truth, no one can see the kingdom of God unless he is born again.[a]"
4"How
can a man be born when he is old?" Nicodemus asked. "Surely he cannot
enter a second time into his mother's womb to be born!"
5Jesus
answered, "I tell you the truth, no one can enter the kingdom of God
unless he is born of water and the Spirit. 6Flesh gives birth to flesh,
but the Spirit[b] gives birth to spirit. 7You should not be surprised
at my saying, 'You[c] must be born again.' 8The wind blows wherever it
pleases. You hear its sound, but you cannot tell where it comes from or
where it is going. So it is with everyone born of the Spirit."
9"How can this be?" Nicodemus asked.
10"You
are Israel's teacher," said Jesus, "and do you not understand these
things? 11I tell you the truth, we speak of what we know, and we
testify to what we have seen, but still you people do not accept our
testimony. 12I have spoken to you of earthly things and you do not
believe; how then will you believe if I speak of heavenly things? 13No
one has ever gone into heaven except the one who came from heaven—the
Son of Man.[d] 14Just as Moses lifted up the snake in the desert, so
the Son of Man must be lifted up, 15that everyone who believes in him
may have eternal life.[e]
16"For
God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son,[f] that
whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.
17For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but
to save the world through him. 18Whoever believes in him is not
condemned, but whoever does not believe stands condemned already
because he has not believed in the name of God's one and only Son.[g]
19This is the verdict: Light has come into the world, but men loved
darkness instead of light because their deeds were evil. 20Everyone who
does evil hates the light, and will not come into the light for fear
that his deeds will be exposed. 21But whoever lives by the truth comes
into the light, so that it may be seen plainly that what he has done
has been done through God."[h]
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On April 30, 2005 Lorna was privileged to receive an honorary Doctorate of Christian Ministries from Canada's largest Christian university, Trinity Western University. Lorna was recognized for the witness and leadership that Listen Up TV has provided in public messaging: "a leader in the voice of evangelical life in Canada."
