YO...... ROCK

Phil Ryken
12/20/2006
"The more I go to church, and the more I turn myself over the process of believing in Jesus and listening to His Word and having Him guide my hand, I feel as though the pressure is off me now."

Can you guess the source of this quotation?
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It is Sylvester Stallone, star of the sixth and final installment of the Rocky double trilogy: Rocky Balboa. Stuart Shepherd writes of a recent conversation with Stallone in "The Gym of the Soul," an article at www.citizenlink.org. In the interview Stallone talks about his Catholic upbringing, about looking to God and becoming reborn, and about Rocky as a Christ figure.

As a reminder, the opening shot of the original film is a painting of Jesus looking down on Rocky in the boxing ring of a rundown gym. "It's like he was being chosen," Stallone said. "Jesus was over him, and he was going to be the fella that would live through the example of Christ. He's very, very forgiving. There's no bitterness in him. He always turns the other cheek. And its' like his whole life was about service."

Stallone went on to admit that his life has often failed to follow the pattern of Jesus. But now he is seeking to follow the right path, which includes going to church as "the gym of the soul."