'When people have an experience that’s very powerful in the movie theatre, they want to go share it. They want to grab their friend and bring them, so that they can enjoy it. They want to be the person to bring them the "news..." that this is something worth having in their life.' – James Cameron

I saw the above quote pop up on one of the pages on the movie AVATAR on Wikipedia about 2 weeks ago and at around the same time in a New York newspaper website, shortly thereafter Jonathan posted it on Facebook as his status message.

Now I’ll have to say, and everybody who knows me will definitely agree, I have been acting exactly like this when the movie Avatar came out, this is the first true 3D live action film with a great story and absolutely stunning visuals (even though many “things” in this film clashes with my believes), but it was just so amazing I had to get my friends and family to see this before its 3D run ends in the cinemas.

Last week I visited a friend (Hendrik) in Cape Town, an amazing person so sensitive to God’s word and the works of Holy Spirit it isn’t even funny. He really doesn’t care about the way others see him, only that he pleases God in everything he does and fulfil the purpose he has been called to.

At the same time he really believes (and acts accordingly) to not let any bad image enter his mind, whether it is by not watching a certain movie/scene in a movie or asking me to move in front of a calendar with a swimsuit model at another friend’s place while we were busy on the computer (as the calendar was in his line-of-sight). And I really believe that this is one of the reasons why God healed his eyes (he was far-sighted till middle 2009).

I was so impacted in the way he lives that God really started to point out certain motives and “flaws” in the way I’m doing what I have been called to. As an example, I invited him to come and watch a movie with me and some other buddies in Cape Town on Friday night. Hendrik actually for the whole of the week didn’t want to watch this movie as he didn’t believe that there could be any moral message in it. But Friday afternoon in his alone time he spoke to God and God asked him why he didn’t ask Him if he must or may see this film. God said yes and Hendrik watched the movie with us.

Just this shows me what amazing relationship we can have with Jesus Christ, one where our whole being and experience is defined by Christ and not by man’s works and arguments, one where we can openly speak to God and know He will answer.

Personally last week’s experience really pointed out some amazing things:

·         We need to get excited about the Gospel and about sharing it. We need to become evangelical and be the person to bring Christ to our friends/families/circles/communities.

·         We are not defined by the world. In everything we do, it must be done with excellence and with abandon of self, if you “feel” something regarding a person on street and not know whether to share the Gospel, do it anyway.

·         Where there is depression, sadness or just a heavy silence, sing God’s praises and sing it out loud if we have to.

·         Be ALWAYS ready with an ANSWER of the HOPE that is within us. We should really study the word, but not just study it with our minds, but with the help of Holy Spirit. We need to know scripture, know the context in which it is written and always have it ready on the tips of our tongues,

·         Connect with other Christ followers. We should keep our house open to, at any time possible, receive those who are part of the body, to listen to what they have to say and also to share with them. This goes beyond the life-group/one2one contexts.

·         Cut ourselves off of immoral mindless entertainment. The occasional action movie is fine, especially where it provides opportunity to connect with friends (I’m not bashing action films, just using it as an example). But we should be very careful into which of these films we let into our lives and how much of it.

As a simple example, the film Crank, where the only way for the character to live is to get an adrenaline rush, and in so doing he kills, drives crazy and even has intercourse with his girlfriend in public at a train station, this is really mindless and if we find pleasure in this kind of entertainment then we need to ask God to help us and reveal those motives that creates fun out of this.

·         Engage more people on the street. Walk to places close by, if it is just one or two kilos away, walk there, and when you walk past people on the road greet them, you might just trigger a conversation and even get a chance to share the Gospel.

·         Become expectant and sensitive to Holy Spirit. Spend more time in God’s presence, get to know God whether in His word or just by listening to Him. Build expectation and faith that He will do a great work, build expectation to hear His voice and “train” yourself to listen. You will never know when the opportunity to pray for healing or to speak words of wisdom/encouragement will be at hand without listening.

·         Share, share, share. At life-group, share our visions and dreams, share the possible prophetic words we have, share a scripture/interpretation thereof that you read the previous week, share your take on the message that was preached on Sunday. By sharing we “synchronise” ourselves to the others in the body, we know whether or not our experiences are from God and we see how our lives starts to align itself to the word and to the body of Christ.

There’s more, but these are the ones that stood out for me in my 1 week vacation this year. I was really challenged, and still is, and I know and trust that as I spend more time seeking God’s face, that my life will align more and more to Jesus’ life.