“Safe”
I can imagine one of my conversations with God:I can’t do this.
Yes, you can.
I don’t want to.
But you need to.
I don’t know how.
I will help.
I’m all alone.
I’ll be there.
I don’t know what to do.
I’ll show you.
We have a counselor and comforter who is always with us. He guides us and prods us,; He convicts us of right and wrong and gives us strength. He reminds us of who we are in Christ and
And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Helper, to be with you forever, even the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive, because it neither sees him nor knows him. You know him, for he dwells with you and will be in you.
But the Helper, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, he will teach you all things and bring to your remembrance all that I have said to you. Peace I leave with you; my peace I give to you. Not as the world gives do I give to you. Let not your hearts be troubled, neither let them be afraid. (John 14: 17-18, 26-27 ESV)
WHAT BROUGHT THIS ON…
My class went to a movie yesterday and I’m going to give it a plug. It’s not a “Christian” movie, but there are so few movies out there that are truly “safe” that when I see one I want to let people know about it.
“Nim’s Island” is an adventure story with no bad language that I remember (and I was listening for it), very little violence (the worst of it was catapulting lizards and nobody got hurt – even the lizards) and zero sex.
Everybody was a hero. If you have kids, please go see this.
One of the heroes struck me. He was a character in a book, yet he was very real to the writer.
There are many stories that have things or characters that remind us of something very different. This hero (Alex Rover) was one of those things.
His role was something akin to the encouragement of the Holy Spirit in the life of a Christian (although Rover was made up, had an imaginary body and left.) The writer (played by Jodie Foster) was agoraphobic – but she got this email from a far away island from Nim – a plea for help.
The writer (also Alex[andra] Rover) had not been outside of her apartment for 16 months…and with the encouragement of the character (Alex Rover) found herself on a plane to Borneo.
In this secular movie, there is an opportunity to talk to kids about right and wrong, independence and interdependence. There is a place to discuss the Holy Spirit and His role in our life.
If we make things like this an opportunity to introduce theology (the study of the nature of God and the relationship of the human and divine), our kids grow up loving the nature of who God is.
This post is 1) a reminder of our Helper and Counselor, 2) an enouragement to look for “teachable moments” and 3) a plug for a good family movie in a world where there are not very many of them.
God bless you all on this day.
You know, my daughter went to see this with a friend and came home and told me I would love this movie. I need to see it and Prince Caspian.
Great post.
I’m facing some things with my young son, so I really appreciated your words from John’s Gospel. I’m going to need an extra dose of God’s Spirit and presence as we walk through the days ahead.
peace~elaine
It’s so nice to hear of a good movie. I just love going to the movies but go so little lately because there is so little I feel comfortable sitting through. Thanks for this!
Thanks for this.
I loved the “conversation” here. Isn’t it funny how little people like us even think to argue with the huge God we serve? If we did a little less talking and more listening, hard telling what we’d accomplish for His cause!
Thank you for this post, the movie sounds really inspiring.