By Pastor Mark Hopper

Pastor Mark Hopper

I don’t remember the words to a lot of songs.  The tunes may be familiar, but I don’t remember all of the lyrics.  But, I do tend to remember words and phrases from movies.  Many of these memorable phrases are often quoted in other movies in the entertainment world.

For example, in one of the Indiana Jones movies when someone asked Indy what he was going to do next, he replied, “I don’t know. I’m making it up as I go.”  And, when he was being questioned by some FBI agents about what the Ark of the Covenant was, Indy asked them, “Didn’t any of you ever go to Sunday School?”

In the movie, Apollo Thirteen, when the spacecraft is damaged by an explosion, one of the astronauts speaks the famous words, “Houston, we have a problem.”  In the movie, Forrest Gump, you hear the famous phrase repeated several times, “Run, Forrest, run!”

I know that millions of people watched the Super Bowl recently.  It was an exciting football game as each team made some mistakes and each team made some amazing plays.  But, in case you may be one of the few people in our country who did not watch the game, let me explain how it ended.

The Seattle Seahawks drove the football deep into the New England Patriot’s end of the field.  The Seahawks were trailing, but a touchdown would put them ahead and assure them of another Super Bowl title.

With the ball on the one-yard line and only 30 seconds on the clock, Seattle did the unthinkable.  Instead of running the football into the end zone, they surprised everyone by throwing a short pass.

If the pass was caught, Seattle would likely score and win the game.  But, the pass was intercepted by New England and Seattle lost the game.  Everyone was stunned.  Everyone thought Seattle would run the ball into the end zone and win the game. Instead, Seattle lost and New England won.  It was one of the most unexpected endings in Super Bowl history.

Later, as I reflected on the unexpected outcome, I remembered the famous phrase from the movie, Forrest Gump, “Run, Forrest, run!”

I don’t know if the Seattle coach watches many old movies, but he might want to watch Forrest Gump again.  If Seattle had only run the ball, they would probably be the Super Bowl champions. Instead, they elected to pass the ball, which was intercepted, and New England is the 2015 Super Bowl champion!

Someone may want to send a copy of the movie, Forrest Gump, to the Seattle coach and remind him that next time his team is on the goal line, they should, “Run, Forrest, run!”

Pastor Mark Hopper is from the Evangelical Free Church of Diamond Bar, 3255 South Diamond Bar Ave. Sunday services are 9 a.m. and 10:45 a.m. For more information, call (909) 594-7604 or visit http://www.efreedb.org.