Today was the final installment of the “at the movies” series. We talked about “God the father”, the movie “Taken”, and dating Chuck Norris’ Daughter. Is God a kind, loving, generous father?…or a vengeful, violent, angry God? The Real question is- Who are we? Want to oppose God? Abuse his children? “Take him on”? If you do you will meet the angry “violent” God just as the kidnappers in Taken met the VERY angry and violent “Dad”! Psalm 68 says. “1 Rise up, O God, and scatter your enemies. Let those who hate God run for their lives.” God “sets the prisoners free” but allows the rebellious to live in a sun scorched land. If you’ve rebelled against God…Gone to a place that God never wanted you to go( like the daughter in movie) you can always call out to God the Father to rescue you. You will be “taken”…you will experience the pain and consequences of your sins…but God will always take you Back! If you call out to God for rescue you will always find him to be a loving, generous, and forgiving “God the Father”.
Heavy subjects, heavy music, heavy story…in short another good Sunday at actionchurch.
Today we gave the donations away! The film “Taken” deals with the very real…and VERY sad reality of human trafficking and sex slavery. We will be sending $821.00 to International Justice Mission so that they can fight slavery (it still exists), human trafficking, and Sex Slavery around the globe! Thanks actionchurch for putting your desire to help others into action!
…and yeah. It is a little bit of a “leap of faith” to decide to give WHATEVER was in the donations boxes away today. One thing we want to do as a church is lead by example…I never want to tell folks to trust God and give generously…and then play it safe and be stingy as a church. (Or personally for that matter!) The “real story”of the day is that our little “church for people who don’t like church” in the midst of a recession…in August…has enough to give to others is a true miracle. We are blessed…and God is Good. You can “bank” on that. :-)
Chambered on stage today. Always a pleasure to work with these guys…love starting today with the “woo hoo” song. Shinedown. Disciple. Clean Slate original with the chorus “I’m coming for you”. Definitely some Testosterone flowing at actionchurch today :-)
I talked to the club owner today and we should be able to have the “family area” open in the back in about a month. I noticed several mothers with small children today without a good area to enjoy the service without the full “force and fury” of the sounds and lights. I hate that we don’t have much to offer them… Just a few weeks and we will have a place where you can view the service in a “lounge” while the little one plays…yay!
Favorite Chuck Norris “fact” of the day. Chuck Norris destroyed the periodic table because the only element he recognizes is the element of surprise.
Bonus Chuck Norris “fact”. Chuck Norris does not sleep-he waits.
Tear down was ridiculously fast today…I was home eating before we used to get done tearing down.
As always…A Sunday recap is NEVER complete without a thank you to all of the hard working people that make actionchurch “wail” each week… Huzzah
I have no Idea where “Huzzah” came from. I need a nap.
I hear ya on the nap bit…..LOL. The message was awesome today Don. I never really thought of the movie Taken in biblical sense but it’s completely true. You can’t even begin to imagine the pain God has gone through with the millions of his childern. It’s almost too hard to grasp. You don’t wanna play games with or go against God plain and simple.
I agree, great message today, Don. It kind of wraps up the seeming contradiction of God as violent and vengeful and completely merciful and loving. Using the movie as an analogy made a lot of sense to me. I’ve been known as a laid back guy but mess with my kids…It’s like Jimmy said, God has seen a lot of painful stuff happen to His kids. So the answer to whether God is loving and kind or scary and vengeful is yes!
Bob