One Small Flame Can Ignite A Blaze That Can't Be Blown Out
I have been writing for a little over a decade and not a single time have I ever written a movie review. That's why today I choose to come to you not with a movie review, but with a MOVEMENT review.
Back in the era of the original Woodlawn story there was a bondage that man seemed to be stuck in. A bondage that for years had been the center of civil unrest and injustice. Not only did it create personal battles within' individuals who saw who we were created to be and who we were created to live for but also for those who thought they needed to take matters into their own hands.
There is a mentality that people get restrained by many times unable to pull themselves out of in order to reset their belief either in themselves or others. I know when I recently visited Atlanta there were areas where some people did not even want to talk to me because they assumed I never experienced any injustice or racism. There was a level of segregation that for the first time in my life caused me to become somewhat aggravated at how my ethnicity caused them to become bitter towards me knowing nothing about me other than my skin color.
I have always believed that there are powers at play that want more than anything to draw lines between races, religions and doctrinal beliefs and so on and so forth. The more segregated we are as a people the more conflict arises in the streets that we live in and the countries that are at war.
There is not a single person reading this that at one point or another has not experienced some type of injustice. However, there is one person who experienced the highest form of injustice in such a profound manner that His magnitude to forgive those who tortured Him has changed history and set a people on fire to love others and count it all joy. James 1:2
I had the opportunity several years ago to be in the Cincinnati, Ohio stadium to hear Billy Graham deliver one of his simple yet life changing presentations of the Gospel. Many people went forward that day to accept Christ, which was not unusual at one of Mr. Grahams events. He has always had a way to reach into the hearts of people and pull out all the pain harbored in their hearts and pour out the love of Christ so heavily on them they cannot leave without surrendering all.
Today, though Graham is unable to continue the call as he used to the man has left a legacy to believers and those who are willing to take a light no matter how small they may think it appears to others and shine it as bright as they possibly can to a world that desperately needs to hear that very same message.
There is rising up a generation whose desire is to see the pure unity of Christ in the remnant who will take a stand together lighting the world on fire with the unrelenting love of Christ. The Word of God states in Acts 2:7 "And it shall come to pass in the last days, saith God, I will pour out of my Spirit upon all flesh: and your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, and your young men shall see visions, and your old men shall dream dreams:"
With the advancement of technology we see several video evangelists like Marcus Rogers, Clayton Jennings and Pastor Greg Locke to name a few sharing the truth of the Gospel with others. Many of them travel the world as Billy did trying to love as many people to the cross of repentance as they can through the truth of the scriptures. This does not come without severe persecution to them. Not only do these men face spiritual battles, but men and women of faith who Pastor local churches all over the world and those who work in the missionary field face attacks constantly. Many are often persecuted even unto imprisonment or as we have seen recently by death. Christians in general have recently been confronted with horrible injustice and the time has come for us to create a blaze across our Nation and abroad.
In Woodlawn, we see a young man by the name of Tony Nathan (played by Caleb Castille)
rise up and set an example of hope. This happened because of one man, (Hank Erwin) who shared the Gospel of Christ and created a flame to begin to spread across a whole community. One man showed these people what's possible to obtain when we are joined together for one purpose and one cause for one life, found in Jesus Christ.
There has always been one prayer from Jesus that has never been answered and that is the Unity of the Body coming together for one purpose; to shine His light to the world. A city on a hill that cannot be hidden away (Matthew 5:14). One of my favorite books I have ever read was written by Tommy Tenney, titled God's Dream Team. If you have never read it, here is a peek at the wisdom inside;
"That they may be one" If a family can have a dream home...If a working person can have a dream job...If Martin Luther King can dream of a day when all races live together in peace...Surely then, God can dream of a day when His children work together in unity. God's Dream Team is his church - unified, reaching its potential in power. Five times in John 17, Jesus prayed "that they may be one..." hoping, perhaps, that emphasis might make His dream come true. Too often, we perceive man's will as weak, yet it is strong enough that God himself will not violate it. So, only God's refusal to violate man's will-and man's resistant nature - leave Jesus' prayer unanswered. His dream is in our hands. Let's answer His call to unity and make His dream come true."
There is a mentality that people get restrained by many times unable to pull themselves out of in order to reset their belief either in themselves or others. I know when I recently visited Atlanta there were areas where some people did not even want to talk to me because they assumed I never experienced any injustice or racism. There was a level of segregation that for the first time in my life caused me to become somewhat aggravated at how my ethnicity caused them to become bitter towards me knowing nothing about me other than my skin color.
I have always believed that there are powers at play that want more than anything to draw lines between races, religions and doctrinal beliefs and so on and so forth. The more segregated we are as a people the more conflict arises in the streets that we live in and the countries that are at war.
There is not a single person reading this that at one point or another has not experienced some type of injustice. However, there is one person who experienced the highest form of injustice in such a profound manner that His magnitude to forgive those who tortured Him has changed history and set a people on fire to love others and count it all joy. James 1:2
I had the opportunity several years ago to be in the Cincinnati, Ohio stadium to hear Billy Graham deliver one of his simple yet life changing presentations of the Gospel. Many people went forward that day to accept Christ, which was not unusual at one of Mr. Grahams events. He has always had a way to reach into the hearts of people and pull out all the pain harbored in their hearts and pour out the love of Christ so heavily on them they cannot leave without surrendering all. Today, though Graham is unable to continue the call as he used to the man has left a legacy to believers and those who are willing to take a light no matter how small they may think it appears to others and shine it as bright as they possibly can to a world that desperately needs to hear that very same message.
There is rising up a generation whose desire is to see the pure unity of Christ in the remnant who will take a stand together lighting the world on fire with the unrelenting love of Christ. The Word of God states in Acts 2:7 "And it shall come to pass in the last days, saith God, I will pour out of my Spirit upon all flesh: and your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, and your young men shall see visions, and your old men shall dream dreams:"
With the advancement of technology we see several video evangelists like Marcus Rogers, Clayton Jennings and Pastor Greg Locke to name a few sharing the truth of the Gospel with others. Many of them travel the world as Billy did trying to love as many people to the cross of repentance as they can through the truth of the scriptures. This does not come without severe persecution to them. Not only do these men face spiritual battles, but men and women of faith who Pastor local churches all over the world and those who work in the missionary field face attacks constantly. Many are often persecuted even unto imprisonment or as we have seen recently by death. Christians in general have recently been confronted with horrible injustice and the time has come for us to create a blaze across our Nation and abroad.
In Woodlawn, we see a young man by the name of Tony Nathan (played by Caleb Castille)
 |
| Sean Astin Portraying Hank Erwin |
There has always been one prayer from Jesus that has never been answered and that is the Unity of the Body coming together for one purpose; to shine His light to the world. A city on a hill that cannot be hidden away (Matthew 5:14). One of my favorite books I have ever read was written by Tommy Tenney, titled God's Dream Team. If you have never read it, here is a peek at the wisdom inside;
"That they may be one" If a family can have a dream home...If a working person can have a dream job...If Martin Luther King can dream of a day when all races live together in peace...Surely then, God can dream of a day when His children work together in unity. God's Dream Team is his church - unified, reaching its potential in power. Five times in John 17, Jesus prayed "that they may be one..." hoping, perhaps, that emphasis might make His dream come true. Too often, we perceive man's will as weak, yet it is strong enough that God himself will not violate it. So, only God's refusal to violate man's will-and man's resistant nature - leave Jesus' prayer unanswered. His dream is in our hands. Let's answer His call to unity and make His dream come true."
Woodlawn is a demonstration to how God intends us to be. As Christians it doesn't mean that we will always win on Earth when we go up against a rival, but that's not what it's really about is it? The only rival we truly have on Earth is sin.
When we don't see the enemy as a soul we need to try to win to Christ through love, we have lost the reason why we are here. When we just put on the "Christian Uniform" and hit the field and play the same as everyone else we have forfeited our right to the Championships. When we bicker back and forth about doctrinal differences we get sidelined and mocked by spectators of our faith. However the most important play we can make is to share our faith with those in our infield and reach out to others who don't even know anything about the game. We have to tackle the enemy with love and if we score a touchdown all the Glory goes to God above. Amen?I used football as metaphors there but the bottom line is this, just because you think your light is small and you feel it's not going to make a difference God sees something much bigger than you.
Just this year I was blessed to attend The OutCry Tour which was a call for us to rise to the occasion of the next movement to transform our Nation. Every time our Nation required a justified change it was because groups of people in one accord standing upon one purpose gathered together to create a breakthrough. It does not have anything to do with us, it's all about Jesus Christ and Him crucified and pointing our Nation back to the Savoir of the world. Many people came to know the Lord at these conferences across the nation and I seen several attendees AND employees at the arena of all ages wiping away tears as the power of God showed up in the atmosphere to change lives that day. Guess what? It all started with one person being obedient to the gifts and call God placed on their lives to create that event.
Below is the trailer for Woodlawn, even if you are skeptical of Christians films I would ask you to give this movie your attention. It shares so much more than what the love of Christ can do. It will open your eyes up to many struggles that unfortunately still play a part in many acts of social injustice we still see today. I was impacted by this film in more ways than one and it was brilliantly written. All who were involved emoted the characters with diligence and deserve recognition.
No comments:
Post a Comment