Monday, April 7, 2014
386 - 'God's Not Dead' has Real Life
Spirituality Column #386
April 8, 2014
Current in Carmel-Westfield-Noblesville-Fishers-Zionsville
If you believe in Jesus Christ, go see the movie “God’s Not Dead.”
If you do not believe, marginally believe, or are honestly on the fence or confused by Jesus, God, the Holy Spirit, the Cross, religion, church, Creation, salvation or any particular purpose at all for human life, I really hope you see “God’s Not Dead.”
Here’s what will happen.
Believers will clap, cry, cheer, identify, murmur, nod, smile, sneer, shake their heads and finally breathe a sigh of Hallelujah! that a God movie “gets it right.” The movie is our whole culture in a classroom, our pain in a crucible, and our joy in a compelling story. It’s a wonderful exposition of describing the reason for our faith in Christian truth in the setting of courageous every-day ministry. I left smiling broadly.
The not-so-into-Christianity viewers in the theater, first of all, will either be annoyed by the Christian believers’ reactions or possibly embarrassed for them, thinking them naïve or dull-witted. But on the screen they’ll see very recognizable, every-day, secular anti-God culture in an unusual environment – an environment that returns intelligent, loving, on-point fire from the Christian position.
Typically, whether in the media, entertainment, or academics, the secular passes for truth and the worldly gets a pass. Rather than being defensive, “God’s Not Dead” plays Godly offense in a smart, determined, informative and powerful kind of way.
What I’d say to a non-believer is that “God’s Not Dead” depicts what Christians really think, do, pray for, believe and go through on a daily basis – both good and bad. I hope they understand that the argument, rationale, faith, courage, worldly fallenness, anger, love, fear, and self-centered sin depicted in the movie applies dramatically to both Christians and non-Christians.
Christian’s aren’t saved because they are better people – we surely are not.
April 8, 2014
Current in Carmel-Westfield-Noblesville-Fishers-Zionsville
‘God’s Not Dead’ has
Real Life
By Bob WaltersIf you believe in Jesus Christ, go see the movie “God’s Not Dead.”
If you do not believe, marginally believe, or are honestly on the fence or confused by Jesus, God, the Holy Spirit, the Cross, religion, church, Creation, salvation or any particular purpose at all for human life, I really hope you see “God’s Not Dead.”
Here’s what will happen.
Believers will clap, cry, cheer, identify, murmur, nod, smile, sneer, shake their heads and finally breathe a sigh of Hallelujah! that a God movie “gets it right.” The movie is our whole culture in a classroom, our pain in a crucible, and our joy in a compelling story. It’s a wonderful exposition of describing the reason for our faith in Christian truth in the setting of courageous every-day ministry. I left smiling broadly.
The not-so-into-Christianity viewers in the theater, first of all, will either be annoyed by the Christian believers’ reactions or possibly embarrassed for them, thinking them naïve or dull-witted. But on the screen they’ll see very recognizable, every-day, secular anti-God culture in an unusual environment – an environment that returns intelligent, loving, on-point fire from the Christian position.
Typically, whether in the media, entertainment, or academics, the secular passes for truth and the worldly gets a pass. Rather than being defensive, “God’s Not Dead” plays Godly offense in a smart, determined, informative and powerful kind of way.
What I’d say to a non-believer is that “God’s Not Dead” depicts what Christians really think, do, pray for, believe and go through on a daily basis – both good and bad. I hope they understand that the argument, rationale, faith, courage, worldly fallenness, anger, love, fear, and self-centered sin depicted in the movie applies dramatically to both Christians and non-Christians.
Christian’s aren’t saved because they are better people – we surely are not.
Christians are merely sinners who believe Jesus is Who He
says He is and did what He said He would do: He is the Son of God who died for
our very real sins to glorify His Father by restoring us to eternal
relationship and life with God in heaven.
Our believing it and owning it are what matter.
God created us to love us and to glorify
Himself. We thus have a cosmically
important free will choice to make – honor and trust God because He loves us,
or honor and trust ourselves because in our free will, God’s Lordship doesn’t
quite make sense.
What’s impossible isn’t God, what’s
impossible is to worship both ourselves and God. “God’s
Not Dead” might help someone make a smart choice.
Walters
(rlwcom@aol.com) deliberately left out the movie’s plot and
character details. The surprises are
very entertaining. Know Matthew 10:32-33
and Luke 12:48.
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