Now, some of these kids hadn't seen it before - I dont think they even cared to really watch it. Why bother with that when they can watch the "slasher" movies. They love when the next "Saw" movie comes out - the scarier, the better to them. They love having someone being chased with a chain saw & they laugh at it. Well, when some of them saw certain scenes from "The Passion" - there was no laughter. I don't think some of these kids realized the severity of it - & it wasn't in a "Oh, that's cool - blood!" sort of tone - they knew from hearing the past few weeks, who Jesus was - that He was real - that His life made all the difference to us.
I think what made the night so impacting to - in between scenes that were pulled for the message, Joe & Ryan would take turns deliving the words & we kept the room dark. Its funny how people feel so much freeier to let emotions go in the dark. No fear of being shamed or looking funny. I heard sniffling across the whole room.
Its still even hard for me to watch. At times, I choose to not even watch it. And at points - I truly get nausted at watching it.
Isn't it funny though - the hardest part for me is the scene where Mary watches Jesus fall & she has flash backs as him as a child & her running to comfort him. That part does me in like no other. There's not a point of blood & beatings & the body being torn apart - but the tearing of the heart. Oh, I think I was the loudest sobber at that point!
But the coolest part of the night - we had a baptism! Kaitlynn had made the choice to accept Christ as her Savior the week before. She wanted to go home & talk it over with her parents & I was able to speak with her mother myself during the week. It was a great ending to the night - a baptism! I'm excited for Kaitlynn - to see what God does with her life & to see how she touches her friends & most importantly, her family!
As we get done drying off, we heard to hurry up - there was going to be more baptisms! WHAT?! 2 boys made the decision to get baptized as well.
Now - these boys have been growing leaps & bounds over the past few weeks - wanting, craving, needing to make the commitments that they wanted to follow Christ. And both of these boys started off as trouble makers, not listening, causing chaos, having no heart for why they should be at church. To see where they've been & where they're at now - AMAZING! And to think about where they're going to go from here-----Words can't even express how excited I am for these boys!
What I hope these kids went away with from the night is the comfort that their Lord is with them & he died for us so He could be possible - that they follow His Word & His calling on their life. They may not have great support in their every day lives from home, but they know they have support from us, their friends & most importantly, their Heavenly Father.
And now, as its Good Friday - the images from the clips of "Passion of the Christ" just loom in my head. So let me ask a few questions or put a few thoughts about that movie...
*How amazing is it that Jesus' mother, Mary, even was able to watch the things that were happening to her child? As a parent - can you imagine? Could you have handled it?
*What the heck was that baby/man that Satan was holding during the beating? That just ain't right!
*Can you imagine being Peter & having Jesus look you in the eyes after you denied him 3 times - even after you just said you'd never do it!!
*What would have happened if Judas went & asked Jesus to forgive him?
*How sick are people that they could laugh at beating someone to the point of near death? Who has that much hatred in them?
*I still feel like Jesus is looking at me every time the scene shows the woman reaching for his feet after he saved her from being stoned - the look of love in his eyes when he looks down at her....I'm getting all choked up again....
*How pumped up do you get everytime they show Jesus face clean & shining at the end & he stands & you see the holes in his hands! I feel like standing up & screaming every time I see that!
I'm still thinking about Wednesday as well. It was amazing how strong the presence of the Lord was in that room and how he touched everyone's heart. Thanks for sharing the pictures.
ReplyDelete