This afternoon I watched my first animated movie ever. I
wasn’t sure if I would like it. I’m not much for cartoons or animation. But this
movie, Pilgrim’s Progress, was surprisingly very well done and captivating.
It was one of those Fathom Event movies with a very
limited engagement in theaters. It showed in theaters only twice, last Thursday
and today, Saturday. But it will likely be out soon on DVD. It would be a
worthwhile movie to rent, purchase or watch when it comes to a venue or church
near you.
John Bunyan in the late 1600’s wrote this enthralling tale
while sitting in jail. His book became, next to the Bible, the best-selling
Christian book of all time. Unfortunately, I never read book version of his
book. However, I think I got the message
of the book quite well from the movie.
What an interesting story. The main character was named Christian.
The story was an allegory. The movie portrayed Christian’s journey from his
home in the City of Destruction (the world) to the Celestial City (heaven), his
future home.
Along the way he becomes a Christ-follower, a true Christian
and the heavy burden he had been carrying (his sins) for part of his journey was
lifted. He faced trials and difficulties, nevertheless, both before and after
he became a Christ-follower.
As many true Christians living in the world today find,
life is an adventure, with many ups and downs, challenges all along the way. We
are all tempted. Evil and demonic forces raise their ugly heads both obviously
and subtlety. We all experience some wrong turns or decisions, distractions and
barriers along life journey.
The main point of the story for me is the importance of
keeping our eye on the ultimate goal being with King Jesus in heaven and
seeking the help He provides along the way.
Interestingly, this morning I attended the 31st annual
Resurrection Breakfast in Mansfield, Ohio (a friend gave me a ticket because he was going out of town)which featured a speaker whose message dealt with how we
should deal with our problems, needs and fears that plague us.
His four-step approach included: (1) Taking our problems,
needs, fears (burdens) to God and focusing on Him for solutions. (2) How we do
this is through very specific prayers. (3) As well as by memorizing key scriptures,
especially those that admonish us not to be afraid, such as perfect love casts
out fears, etc. (4.) We should also fight our fear and humble ourselves asking
others to pray for us.
Like Christian in the Pilgrim’s Progress movie, who
focused on getting to the Celestial City and being with the King (Jesus). Christian also needed help from others along
the way and God provided him timely assistance.
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