Monday, March 16, 2009

You Stay Classy San Diego

"Where did you get your suit? The Toilet....Store?"

"You've got red on you."

"Do ya have to call me fat? It hurts my feelins ya know."

"I'll never let go Jack. I'll never let go."

Ten cool points per movie line that you can identify. Bonus points for naming who said it to whom.

"From the very first day, we were there, taking it all in-we heard it with our own ears, saw it with our own eyes, verified it with our own hands. The Word of Life appeared right before our eyes; we saw it happen! And now we're telling you in most sober prose that what we witnessed was, incredibly, this: The infinite Life of God himself took shape before us."

1000 cool points to the person who can name where that quote is from. Any guesses? Ok here's a bit more of it:

"WE saw it, we heard it, and now we're telling you so you can experience it along with us, this experience of communion with the Father and his Son, Jesus Christ. Our motive for writing is simply this: WE want you to enjoy this too. Your joy will double our joy!"

Anything yet? Ok Ok I'll tell you. That is from the bible. It's 1 John 1:1-4 in the Message translation. Take a gander at it and truly ponder on what it means. While you're at it, think of your favorite movie. Or better yet, the last movie you saw. What was it? What did you think of it? Most importantly, would you recommend it?

I love going to the movies and really watching them. I don't watch a movie the way I think a majority of people watch movies. I like to look at the cinematography, the writing, the directing, the acting, etc. I'm a bit pretentious when I watch a movie. If I don't like it, I'll let you know I don't like it. On the other hand, if I do like it, I'm going to strongly recommend it to you. Right now the movie I'm recommending people see right now is Grand Torino. It's excellently written, acted, and directed. But that's not what this blog is about.

Why does someone recommend a movie? Watching a movie is an experience. You sit in a theater with popcorn, soda, and sour jacks and totally escape what's going on in your life. For two hours you immerse yourself into the lives of the characters and the intricacies of the plot (if any). When I watch a movie that I enjoy, I tell other people about it because I want them to share in that experience with me.

I would like to pause here and give a shout out to Dennis Weinman for his contributions to my ramblings. Check out his blog.

As Christians we have been taken from the depths of our sins and brought to eat at the table of the King. When we were in our worst moments, at our lowest points, with our faces in the pig slop with no where else to turn, God loved us enough to see His only Son bruised, battered, and butchered for our sins. Through grace, we can boldly approach the throne and speak to the creator of a the universe on a daily basis. We have been given a measure of faith to help us accomplish His amazing and incredible plans for our lives. We're promised a peace that's beyond all human understanding in times of trouble. Not to mention those moments when you're at the altar and the presence of the Holy Spirit begins to flood over you. That is truly an experience worth sharing am I right?

John starts his first letter with an explanation as to why he's writing it. He gives his motivation behind pretty much his entire existence. He wants to spread the Gospel of Christ to as many people that he can. He flat out tells you why he's doing it. John has this desire to tell everyone about Jesus because it's an indescribable experience that can't be beat. He wants everyone around him to experience that as well! Do you have that motivation behind your witnessing?

A good movie will stay with you for a while. If it's a romance film, you'll try to emulate the hero or heroin in your relationship with your significant other. A great action movie will cause you to race out of the theater ready to kick some butt and drive really fast. You'll quote the lines from your favorite comedy for years. Sharing a movie with a friend or loved one is more than fun. You'll walk out of the theater talking about the movie, laughing at the funny parts, crying over the tragic moments, getting angry when remembering the villain's upper hand. There's almost a certain degree of fellowship with that person or those people.

What about those awesome moments you share with a brother or sister in Christ? A couple weeks ago I picked up a friend from his house and took him to mine while I cooked lunch and took it to another friend's job and the three of us sat together and hung out in a fourth grade classroom. While Jose and I were on our way to my house, I asked him to tell me his testimony. I won't get into it right now because this post is proving to be more than lengthy. Just know that it was amazing to hear how he fell in love with the Lord. It was true fellowship that was way better than talking about the latest movie that we had seen.

True fellowship is all about sharing those moments with your brothers and sisters in Christ. It's about talking about how much you love Jesus and what he's done for you. It's about finding as many people that you can and sharing that experience with them and helping them get to the point where they can share their own experiences with other people. After you read this, continue to think about the last movie you saw and whether or not you would recommend it to other people. While you're at it, think about Jesus and whether or not what He's done in your life is something you would recommend to someone.

1 comment:

Denny said...

good stuff dude! glad you finally wrote that blog!