Dear Readers,
This weekend I had the opportunity to go see two movies Paul, Apostle of Christ and Midnight Sun. I intend to review both of them in separate posts.
Paul, Apostle of Christ chronicles the journey of Luke to visit Paul who is now locked up in prison for his faith. Through his visits, Luke hopes to capture his brother's miraculous transformation to follow Christ ( (considering his complete opposition to the followers of Jesus from the beginning); hearing his testimony Luke believes others will keep God's Word and wait on Jesus. Meanwhile, there is dissension among the group of Christians in Rome. Some wonder if they should stay, or leave, try to overthrow the government. Luke reminds them however that their struggle is like no other,saying "We live in this world but do not wage war as the world does. Love is the only way." This quote in the movie is in reference to 2 Corinthians 10:3-5 which says, " "For though we live in this world, we do not wage war as the world does. The weapons we fight with are not the weapons of the world. On the contrary, they have divine power to demolish strongholds. We demolish arguments and every pretension that sets itself up against the knowledge of God, and we take captive every thought to make it obedient to Christ."
Paul's example proves that God can reach anyone - even an unbeliever; the Lord is not against using whatever means possible to get your attention. Even temporary blindness.. Although, this does not mean once you believe everything will be a piece of cake. During those days Christians were persecuted for their faith and jailed or even worse for preaching in public. Hence, Paul's current circumstances in prison. In spite of all of this, Paul is pretty upbeat; he is determined to share his testimony and experience with anyone that crosses his path. These experiences not only give others the opportunity to hear the Gospel, but build character for those that are faithful.
Paul just wants to make sure that he finishes the race in the right way. He not only wants to leave a legacy; but give his Godly family the advice they need to pass on their faith. This theme is obviously highlighted when Paul prayerfully ask Jesus to "help us finish the race." The biblical basis of this quote can be found in Acts as well as 1 Corinthians 9. In these instances, faith is a active and ongoing process working towards a goal of becoming more like Christ and having a deeper relationship with Him. Acts 20:24 says, "However, I consider my life worth nothing to me, if only I may finish the race and complete the task the Lord Jesus has given me--the task of testifying to the gospel of God's grace." As if a deeper relationship with God isn't reward enough, we also have heaven to look forward to: I Corinthians 9:24- 25 elaborates, saying, " Do you not know that in a race all the runners run, but only one gets the prize? Run in such a way as to get the prize. Everyone who competes in the games goes into strict training. They do it to get a crown that will not last; but we do it to get a crown that will last forever."
In general, the movie stayed true to the story as it is written in Acts; it also gives you a realistic look at what the city most likely would have looked like back then. The movie opens audiences eyes as to what lengths Christians took to get the word out about their faith.
For more information about the film, please go to:
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