says:
22 let us draw near with a true heart in full assurance of faith, having our hearts sprinkled from an evil conscience and our bodies washed with pure water.
23 Let us hold fast the confession of our hope without wavering, for He who promised is faithful.
The Spirit of God will reform our consciences, He will teach us God's truth, in accordance to the Word of God, bringing it to light in our hearts. He guides us in our decisions and gives us the strength we need each day. We know the Holy Spirit is powerful - and prevalent. He is working in this world to show people their need for Jesus, and in response to the prayers of His people, we can be confident that He is at work.
+++++
We are called to walk in the Spirit and we can be convinced that the Holy Spirit is at work not only in our lives, but toward the lives of those whom God wants to bring to Himself. Jesus spoke about the
Spirit in John 16, and said:
8 And when He has come, He will convict the world of sin, and of righteousness, and of judgment:
9 of sin, because they do not believe in Me;
10 of righteousness, because I go to My Father and you see Me no more;
11 of judgment, because the ruler of this world is judged.
Perhaps you saw the movie, Paul, Apostle of Christ, which starred Jim Caviezel in the role of Luke and James Faulkner playing the title role. When you are playing a role of such magnitude, I can be it can be a rather daunting task, and Faulkner, who, according to The Christian Post, is "admittedly on his own faith journey." Now it's hard to tell what that means, but one could surmise that Faulkner was touched in a special way as part of that film.
He was at the Movieguide Faith and Values Award Show recently, which was televised on the Hallmark Channel earlier this week. Jeannie Law of The Christian Post caught up with him at the Awards show and devoted an article primarily to Faulkner, in which he described what he called an "extraordinary" experience:
“It took me on a journey,” Faulkner said. “My wife was amazed at the difference in me. She said, 'If only you can be like this all the time. It's fantastic, you're filled with a completely different spirit.”
What Faulkner was filled with, he said, was the Holy Spirit, admitting that before he began working on the film his faith wasn't as strong as it is now.
“Jim (Caviezel) is a devout man, whereas I'm Anglican light. But I have some questions myself as a result of playing Paul and I view the world differently and my fellow human beings differently [now],” he confessed.Faulkner told Law on the red carpet: "I think that faith-based films, family films, films that celebrate, our better natures are important and therefore, I'm thrilled to be here as part of the Movieguide awards.”
The Christian Post review of the awards cited one special moment of the show, in which Jim Caviezel appeared on stage with Faulkner and gave up his award. Caviezel won the Christie Peters Grace Award for Most Inspiring Performance in Movies for his role in Paul, Apostle of Christ.
Other awards included the Christie Peters Grace Award for Most Inspiring Performance in TV which went to Jean Smart for A Shoe Addict’s Christmas. Smart noted, "I have a 10-year-old and it had been quite a while since I'd done something that she could watch. Not just my daughter but our kids are exposed to so much stuff that is just not healthy for them..." Her co-star in the Hallmark movie, Candace Cameron Bure, co-hosted the awards with daughter, Natasha, according to International Business Times.
The article noted that Movieguide founder Ted Baehr "revealed that movies with positive redemptive content is on the rise. Showing that in the past 10 years family friendly content has gone up 10 percent."
Other awards included:
Epiphany Prize for Most Inspiring Movie of 2018 – Winner: “I Can Only Imagine”
Epiphany Prize for Most Inspiring TV Program – Winner: "When Calls The Heart: The Greatest Christmas Blessing”
$15,000 Kairos Prize for Most Spiritually Uplifting Screenplay by a First-Time or Beginning Screenwriters - Winner: Nathan Leon for “Grace By Night”
$15,000 Kairos Pro Prize for Most Inspiring Screenplay by an Experienced Filmmaker - Winner: Paul Cooper for “Mingo Road”And, you have the best movies for families and for mature audiences. According to Movieguide, the ten best for families were:
Dr. Seuss’ The Grinch
Peter Rabbit (2018)
I Can Only Imagine
Paul, Apostle Of Christ
God’s Not Dead: A Light In Darkness
Mary Poppins Returns
Spider-man: Into The Spider-verse
Paddington 2
Incredibles 2, and
Ralph Breaks The Internet.
The Best Movie for Families was Dr. Seuss’ The Grinch.
The 10 best for mature audiences, in alphabetical order, were:
Ant-man and The Wasp
Chappaquiddick
Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom
Little Pink House
Mission: Impossible – Fallout
A Quiet Place
Skyscraper
Solo: A Star Wars Story
Unbroken: Path To Redemption, and
Won’t You Be My Neighbor?
There are several takeaways here. First of all, I want to be clear...while I don't think unbelievers are filled with the Spirit; that is a gift and commandment for Christians, we can acknowledge that God is working supernaturally to bring people to Himself. The Spirit can work in the life of a person to bring him or her into that saving knowledge of Christ. And, for the unbeliever who acts in a movie that reflects Christian principles, there is an opportunity to be in an atmosphere where the Spirit can work. We can also know in our churches and our spheres of influence, as we seek the Lord and walk in the Spirit, we can create an atmosphere of love and truth through which someone can come to know Him.
We can also be reminded personally to seek out entertainment choices consistent with our faith perspective. This can perhaps inspire us, and our dollars spent on family and faith-based entertainment can send a message to Hollywood that we want more of this type of material.
Finally, we can recognize that there are fellow believers who wish to make a difference in the entertainment industry. We know that they can be influential as they reflect Christ in their work.
No comments:
Post a Comment