Illustration results for doing gods will
Topic of the Week: Changes
Seasons of Life Preaching Bundle »
Doors Video Illustration »
Today is the Day Worship Music Video »
A video clip from the movie "Dead Man Walking" might give us a better understanding of what mercy really is.
In the video, Sister Helen Prejean sits with convicted killer Matthew Poncelet in his cell. When he confesses that he has indeed killed a man, Sister Prejean teaches him that he can become a child of God by asking for forgiveness of his sins and owning up to his responsibility—which he does, realizing that confession doesn’t negate what he’s done. The best he can do is wish the families peace. Poncelet is grateful for Sister Prejean’s compassion and love.* The video concludes with Poncelet telling Sister Prejean, "Thank you for loving me." (* Source: Videos That Teach, by Doug Fields and Eddie James)
The comedian Jim Carrey stars in the movie Bruce Almighty. He plays a TV reporter who thinks his being overlooked for promotions and various other misfortunes mean that God doesn’t care, or at least has let him down. When God, played by Morgan Freeman, shows up to offer Bruce His own power for a season to see if he can do any better with it, Bruce accepts the deal.
Soon Bruce is indulging himself in the fulfillment of his fantasies and manipulating his way to the coveted anchor position. This obsession with advancement causes an estrangement with his girlfriend Grace, who discovers how low down on the priority list she has become.
Bruce discovers that a part of God’s job is answering prayers, and there are billions of them. Lacking God’s wisdom, he grants a blanket “Yes” to all requests, and trouble begins. Not only that, but because he can’t violate human free will, he finds he is losing Grace, and all the power in heaven and earth cannot make her come back to him. His ambition, coupled with great power, has resulted in his life being a bigger mess than ever.
In one of the best scenes of submission to God’s will ever put on film, Bruce realizes he has much to be thankful for, and that someone else can run his life better than himself. He learns that he is not fulfilled by the desired promotion, but by serving others with his God-given gifts (“My Will Be Done, Alex Wainer, Breakpoint).
William Huegel
A new movie
There is a new Christian movie out called “The End of the Spear”. It is the story of five young missionaries who were killed trying to reach the Auca Indians in the jungles of South America with the Gospel. All five of these courageous and faith-filled young men were speared to death. The year 2006 marks the 50th anniversary since that tragic event. I encourage you to see the movie, but it will raise some questions in your mind. How can God let that sort of thing happen?
These were devout, praying men of God. They had devout, praying wives who prayed for their safety. They believed God wanted them to do this. They were not there to find gold, riches, or personal fame. They were only doing this to reach yet another tribe with the glorious, saving Gospel, of Jesus Christ. Many people have asked, “So, why didn’t God protect them? How could God just let them die?”
Despite the deaths of their beloved husbands, the wives of these devoted missionaries believed in the goodness of God. They later went into that jungle and won the very men who speared their husbands to death to saving faith in Jesus. Those wives passed the test, but whether or not you past the test will depend on what you knew before the quiz is given.
[Fiddler on the Roof]
Tevye: "Golde, I have decided to give Perchik permission to become engaged to our daughter, Hodel."
Golde: "What? He’s poor! He has nothing, absolutely nothing!"
Tevye: "He’s a good man, Golde. I like him. And what’s more important, Hodel likes him. Hodel loves him. So what can we do? It’s a new world... A new world. Love. Golde..." Do you love me?
Golde: Do I what?
Tevye: Do you love me?
Golde: Do I love you?
With our daughters getting married
And this trouble in the town
You’re upset, you’re worn out
Go inside, go lie down!
Maybe it’s indigestion
Tevye: "Golde I’m asking you a question..." Do you love me?
Golde: You’re a fool
Tevye: "I know..." But do you love me?
Golde: Do I love you?
For twenty-five years I’ve washed your clothes
Cooked your meals, cleaned your house
Given you children, milked the cow
After twenty-five years, why talk about love right now?
Tevye: Golde, The first time I met you
Was on our wedding day
I was scared
Golde: I was shy
Tevye: I was nervous
Golde: So was I
Tevye: But my father and my mother
Said we’d learn to love each other
And now I’m asking, Golde
Do you love me?
Golde: I’m your wife
Tevye: "I know..." But do you love me?
Golde: Do I love him?
For twenty-five years I’ve lived with him
Fought him, starved with him
Twenty-five years my bed is his
If that’s not love, what is?
Tevye: Then you love me?
Golde: I suppose I do
. Dr. Marc T. Newman writes in, In Peril of Our Souls: Theological Considerations from Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man’s Chest
"What makes all of the Pirates of the Caribbean films stand out from your average swashbuckler is that these movies are not primarily concerned with treasure maps and buried doubloons. As The Curse of the Black Pearl demonstrated, no amount of tainted gold is worth the soul-destroying effects of the curse. Dead Man’s Chest never even pretends to be about the more mundane aspects of pirating. From the beginning of the film the story arc centers on souls as the most valuable trading commodity. As Pintel and Regetti, two of the pirates from the first film who were saved from ghastly immortality, are rowing for shore, Regetti tells his partner that now that they are mortal again, "We’ve got to take care of our immortal soul." Truer words you will not find spoken, even in more serious films.
Jesus taught His disciples that there was no possession on this Earth valuable enough to warrant risking your soul. He argued that there was no profit in gaining the world if your soul was the purchase price (Matt. 16:25-26). True worth resides in that which is eternal, not temporal. And when all is said and done, nothing material will make the final journey with you. Your soul will stand naked before God for judgment. It makes sense to take care of your soul."
In the movie, “Hook,” Robin Williams plays Peter Pan, who had left Neverland and had grown up to be a corporate attorney.
He is completely focused on his job, and ends up neglecting his son over and over.
There is a line that he quotes from time to time in the beginning of the movie that sets the stage for the attitude of his son.
When he promises to be at his son’s baseball game, he says, “My word is my bond,” meaning that if he makes a promise, it can be counted on.
Unfortunately, he doesn’t keep his word to his son, and it almost leads to disaster.
One thing I’ve noticed over my 40+ years is that a written guarantee is generally more powerful than a spoken one, especially when it comes to things like business dealings.
In court, a written guarantee is a contract that has to be abided by.
But if there is no written proof about the guarantee, then the court may say that the guarantee never really existed, at least in legal terms.
“But Judge! He guaranteed that this leisure suit would attract women to me, and it hasn’t worked!”
The Bible is God’s written guarantee. I’ve said it every week since this series started, and I’d be remiss if I didn’t say it again: when God says something, it’s a done deal.
He cannot lie and will never change the terms of the deal. He’s true to His Word every time in every circumstance.
SPIDER MAN 2: The Spiderman trilogy has quickly become one of my favorite series of movies. Spiderman 2 is probably the most interesting plot out of the three of them. Here is what it is about:
Peter Parker’s having a rough time. His double life as the super hero Spider-Man is having a devastating impact on his civilian life. Things are so bad he declares that he’s quitting and never putting on the suit again. However, he decides to use his gift / his power as he realizes that he is the only one who can stop the evil but brilliant scientist Dr. Otto Octavius who was transformed in an accident and becomes Dr. Octopus.
If you had Peter Parker’s gift….if you had THAT kind of power…would you use it to help others? What are you doing with your gift? Are you tired of using your gift? Do you wish someone else would do it?
I want to encourage you to continue using your gift and do not grow weary of doing good. Only YOU can do what you can do! God has given you your gifts and abilities to only you!
"Nothing we have is attributable to our own strengths and talents. People think so. It’s an attitude that was expressed very effectively by James Stewart’s character in the movie, “Shenandoah”. He was the patriarch of a large Southern family, running a very successful plantation when the Civil War broke out.
Early in the movie the family sat down for dinner, and as they all bowed their heads, this is what he prayed:
’Lord, we cleared this land, we plowed it, sowed it, and harvested it. It wouldn’t be here and we wouldn’t be eating it if we hadn’t done it all ourselves. We worked dog-bone hard for every crumb and morsel, but we thank you just the same anyway for this food we are about to eat. Amen’
Spoken or unspoken, I think that may be the attitude of far to...
God cares for us—every part of us. He wants us to be whole—complete. This includes a physical well-being. Instead of a story I want to show you a video about a special act—a physical act—that was done for another person. It shows us what it is like to follow Jesus as father and son.
http://www.godtube.com/view_video.php?viewkey=8cf08faca5dd9ea45513
ROCKY
One of the biggest movies of modern times, "Rocky" starring Sylvester Stallone, almost never got made. Stallone was struggling to find work as a screenwriter. He saw a fight against Ali and little-known Church Wepner. Wepner went 15 rounds, and it gave Stallone an idea. Three days later, "Rocky" was written. He got a few producers interested, but when they heard Stallone wanted to act, they turned it down. Eventually a producer took him on. The film became a hit in 1976 grossing $225 million dollars.
Rocky Balboa is a debt collector on the streets of Philadelphia for a shady loan shark. In his spare time, he's a boxer, but not a good one; he has great heart but no style. Out of the blue he gets a chance to fight Apollo Creed, the world champion, after Creed chooses him out of a boxing registry when his contender backs out through injury. It's a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity for this southpaw journeyman who has never boxed out of club level.
On the night of the big fight, Rocky puts Apollo down in the first round. Apollo fights on with a greater respect, and Rocky takes blow after blow. He goes the whole 15 rounds battered but determined to go the distance. Rocky proves that he is no bum. Though he loses the fight in a split decision, no one leaves without respect for Rocky.
When we think about Jesus death on the cross, it's very much in the mold of Rocky Balboa: looking like the underdog, weak and powerless, Jesus takes all the punishment humanity can throw at him (his beatings). The Romans - The Jews - He's physically beaten and nailed to a cross mocked and humiliated. Jesus faced the most brutal death and in the midst of it all he cries, "Father forgive them!"
Upon that Cross, God is saying, "I'll take the worst you've got. I will experience being God-forsaken for all that you humans have done. I will take the rap. I will absorb the blows, 'My God My God why have you forsaken me.' I will finish this once and for all and I will remain standing: 'It is finished.' I will heal my relationship with you, I will be your Saviour!
