In the Meantime

"Christmas Time" is funny.  Funny in the way you have to laugh to keep from crying or punching a wall.  I can not speak for other countries, but here in good ol' America, it's consumerism at it's best.  Best of course meaning worst.

But this is not about that.

It's not even about how December 25th really isn't the calendar day Jesus was born.  (Many scholars believe it to be some time in the spring.)  It's not about Christmas Trees having nothing to do with Jesus.  If anything they are related (by way of stage plays) to Adam and Eve.

It's about your heart, my heart, and the heart of God.

We see slogans all over the place from well meaning Christians: "Keep Christ in Christmas," or "Jesus, the Reason for the Season."  I see many people get bent out of shape because someone says "Happy Holidays" instead of "Merry Christmas."

Where is your heart this season?

Is it caught up in buying the perfect gift?  Are you worried about what you'll get this year?  That one more thing will finally make you happy?  Today, in concept, is not about what is under the tree for you, or what you put there for someone else.  But what about better to give than receive?  Yeah that is good, so long as you're not giving to make yourself better.  (Besides, Paul uses that concept in Acts to show we need to help the weak.)

Is your heart torn to pieces by where you are in life right now?  Is it angry?  Hurt?  Lost?  It would be shallow and mean spirited of me to say, "get over it."  But I will say do not wallow in that pain.  There is Hope.

What today, "Christmas," represents is the physical collision of the Spirit of God with humankind. 

For God so loved the world that he sent his only son,  so whoever believes in him will not perish, but have life eternal.  He did not send his son to condemn the world, but that through him the world could be saved.  (John 3:16-17)

This is God showing us his intentions toward us.  He's saying, "Hey you, World.  I love you.  I want to be with you.  So here I am.  For you."  It's the greatest love story ever.  Nickolas Sparks, Stephenie Meyer, and Shakespeare can't hold a candle to the Author of Creation.

Jesus grew into a man.  He performed miracles.  He called his disciples.  He taught.  He healed.  He turned the tables.  He told stories.  He died.

He lived.

For you.  For me.  For that lady we cut in front of at the store this week.  For the guy we cussed out from the safety of our car for not giving us the right of way.  For the parent who just doesn't understand.  For the friend who doesn't want anything to do with God.  For the young family around the corner that is not married.  For God so loved the World.

That is what has been given to us.  We accept it or we don't.  If you accept it, the story doesn't end there.  In fact it's only the beginning.  If you call yourself a Christian, follower of Christ, or whatever the label du jour is, you do get a happily ever after...at the end. 

In the meantime, there is work needs doing.


Jesus gave us a lot to do.  In a few seemingly simple sentences he gave his disciples a monumental task.  The greatest commandment is to Love God with all your heart, soul, strength and mind.  Then, love your neighbor as yourself.  He later said to go into all the world making disciples and baptizing.   Also to teach them everything he commanded.

Simple yet massive.  Christmas is about remembering what Jesus came to do.  His birth and life are not just to be celebrated one day of the year.  As followers of Jesus, it should be our daily directive.  Celebrate him by living out what he asked us to do.  By loving him, our neighbors...and yes, yourself.  Not in a self serving way.  But see yourself as the fearfully and wonderfully made creation he intended you to be.

Christmas isn't a holiday.  It's a way of living everyday.  Let us get to work doing our father's business.  Cause the happily ever after will come, but in the meantime...

Happy Christmas!
-Bear

Confession of a former deacon

I just finished reading an email news letter written by a fellow M28 Ministry staff member. In the letter he mentioned a quote attributed to St. Augustine.

“Hope has two beautiful daughters: Anger, at the way things are, and Courage, to work for change.”

My fellow staff writer goes on to write (and I quote),

"This sums up where I (we) am (are) these days and why I grow more passionate about Jesus. He is the hope of the world—you know. Without hope, all is lost. This is why I have become angry at how I have wasted so much precious life doing things that don’t matter. Anger can be a useless passion if it is not harnessed in the right direction. When it is, it can change people, places and things. It does not allow you to remain silent, absent, immobile or with excuse. I thank God for righteous anger. But what I need most is courage. Courage to think, to be, to do what needs to be done—to do what Jesus did. It is courage that I pray for most.

What he said resonates with me. I pondered what he said and realized I'm angry too. I'm angry how I have wasted time doing what I thought were "churchy" things: serving on the deacon board, playing in the worship band, serving as a leader in various sub groups of the church- things I thought were necessary to advance the kingdom of God that Jesus mentions so much when He spoke to his disciples in the Gospels. I believed it was my "ministry" to help keep the church finely tuned allowing it to be "attractional" to the "lost". I believed this was God's plan for me and this was necessary so they ("the lost') would come to a church service, listen to the pastor "do his job" (since I already did mine) by preaching a rousing sermon, and then at the end they would "make a decision" for Jesus by repeating a salvation prayer at the end of the service. This was the means to the end. From there they would join the church (and maybe a small group or a Sunday Bible class) and come faithfully every week. Then maybe once in awhile invite a co worker or a neighbor to a church service. Please don't read me wrong-It's important that everyone comes to a faith decision concerning Christ, but is this where it ends? Is this what Jesus was talking about concerning the advancement of the Kingdom? Jesus admonished us to go (Matt 28:19). His instruction wasn't getting people to come to church. I'm not down on "coming to church", I'm down on this being the primary exclusive role of the church. In the book, "Right Here, Right Now", the authors mention there is no distinction between the NT phases kingdom of God and kingdom of heaven. It should catch our attention that these phrases are used over eighty times in the Gospels regarding Jesus' message, while the word church is used a mere three times in all the Gospels. It is also intriguing that the word disciple is used over 260 times in the Gospels alone. The author points this out because of the undeniable fact that the vast majority of Christians and their leaders emphasize church but give scant attention to the kingdom of God and disciple making. I pray we all have the "courage" to be disciple makers and to what Jesus commands us to do-GO!

Size Matters Not

In my favorite movie of the Star Wars Saga, The Empire Strikes Back, the hero Luke is on a swamp planet training to be a Jedi Knight.  It is here that he meets the great Jedi master, Yoda.  Yoda is this little green creature with big pointy ears.  Not what Luke (or the original audience was expecting.)

During a bit of training Yoda is teaching Luke to use the Force to lift his crashed ship out of the swap.  After struggling Luke gives up and says, "I can't. It's too big."  Then Yoda says this,

Size matters not. Look at me. Judge me by my size, do you? Hmm? Hmm. And well you should not.

Yoda, who was hardly as tall as Luke's knee proceeds to lift the ship out of the swamp on to dry(er) land.  Luke, astonished say, "I don't believe it."  Yoda replies, sadly, "That is why you fail."

Ok, keep that in mind cause I'm gonna diverge a bit here.  I recently saw a magazine for church leaders with a cover article along the lines of "Is Small Church the Next Big Thing?"  Now I wasn't able to read the article to see what they were saying.  So I'm passing no opinion of the actual material.  But one thing is very clear to me.

Size Matters Not.

Yoda was able to lift something much larger than himself because he believed.  Luke, by all appearances was more capable.  Looks are deceiving.

What I'm getting at is not that small churches are better than big churches.  What really matters is the hearts of the people gathering.  Small churches may be more like what happened in Acts.  I personally don't like attending mega-churches.  I've had a hard time keeping my attitude toward them in check.  But God kinda smacked me in the back of the head recently (like a loving father) and I realize that the size of the church is wholly, utterly, completely irrelevant.

A small group of 20 that meets on Sunday just to listen to a person lead a discussion or message, sing songs with out a worship team, and go through their week not living out what they discussed is no different than a mega-church that has 4,000 people, two worship teams, and a parking lot to embarrass a football stadium where the people don't live out during the week.

The revolution that followers of Jesus need to see is not about the size of the church they are in.  It is how we live our life between the services and sermons.

We can't wait for our pastors or whatever title you like to tell us to go to our neighbor with a 3 step plan of conversion.  There doesn't have to be a massive event to bring Jesus into the life of your co-workers.  Invite them into your home, into your life.  Make the time.  Skip a church event or 2 and go get to know these people.  Listen to them.  And don't jump right into your church no matter how wonderful it is.

Show them Jesus in YOUR life.

Size matters not.  The size of the congregation doesn't matter to Jesus.  He left us a few specific instructions.  Go into all the world, baptizing, and making disciples of all people.

So let's go.  You and me.  Out into the world.  Away from the pews and couches and live life along side others. 

Jesus is out there, lets go take him a drink of water.

grace, peace + hope
-Bear

Redeemed failure

The coolness of the morning is gone along with the camaraderie of the women who gather at the well. Upstanding women come for water during the cool of the morning or evening.
Noon not only brings the hot sun, but a reprieve from the stares and whispers for women like me. My hopes and dreams seem to have fallen into the depths of the very well that was meant to bring life through its water.

I hear the jeers. I see the disappointment and disdain in the eyes that do venture to look into mine. Second chance!? I guess after five failed second chances the stakes become higher to deserve another new beginning.
Funny no one ever asked me, “why?” Guess it is easier to discard than take a risk and invest.

Good, no one is at the well…wait. What is that man doing there? He is asking me…what??? He must be new around here. You a man AND a Jew are talking to me, a Samaritan…asking me for… a drink?”
Who is this man? This claim he can give me “living” water! This well has been part of our history for years. It is the best water around. Who does he think he is to offer me something better than we already have? How can he give me water when he doesn’t have a rope or bucket? Doesn’t he know how deep this well is? Oh, I get it. Another man who wants something from me!
I wonder who he talked to, who told him I would be here…told him about me. Here I go again…..
Oh sure, I’ll never have to come here again for water?! I won’t have to be humiliated day after day?!
This is going to be good…ok, I’ll let him talk…let him have his fun!

"Alright, Sir,give me this so-called living water so that I won’t have to come here ever again…this spring that just keeps filling my jugs without coming here.”
Wait, he’s asking for my husband! “I am not married.” There, is that what he wanted to hear!
GASP!!! He is telling me about my failed marriages…details that no one else would know! I certainly haven’t told anyone that!
Something resonated within me when He said, “I am the Messiah.”
It was like a fresh rain poured down and cleansed the dust from my inside
out. For the first time in a long time I feel…strange… hopeful.This adaptation is taken from the story in the Bible of the woman at the well in John 4. Read it and you will soon discover this woman’s impact on her community drastically changed because of her encounter with Jesus. Jesus went out of his way, out of the “norm” for his day, and talked with someone who was viewed as unworthy and as a discarded piece of trash.

Are we not to do the same as Jesus did? If we just open our eyes, ears, and hearts and slow our pace, it wouldn’t take long to see people all around us who yearn for acceptance, hope, peace and restoration. Jesus met this woman at her need and didn’t try to clean her before he invested his time in her. He spoke truth to her and allowed the truth to set her free. He calls us to do the same, will we?

Out of Steam?

Sometimes is feels like we get all excited about something for a short period of time and then fizzle out.  Like this whole revolution thing.  Let me assure you, that as far as I am concerned this is just getting started.  I know there are many of you out there who share this idea.

Where are you?

Let us hear from you.  This is not about me.  This is not the Bear Show.  I'm blogging and writing because I have the time and this comes relatively easy to me.  Your story should be heard as well.  Tell us what you are doing.  Not as bragging, but a way to share what God is doing in you.  How he is transforming your life, and how that could be effecting others.

The Church is a community.  A body of believers.  Let's build that body up any way we can.  Some of you may be in other parts of Pennsylvania, or the other side of the country.  Some may even be on the other side of an ocean or two.  We can have community through the web.


Let us encourage one another!

For me today, I will say this.  Temptations.  They jump out at me all the time.  Some are new.  Some are old.  Habits, addictions, attitudes.  Things I thought I had walked away from.  I'd be lying if I said it was getting easier to turn them away.  To not give into them.  And they come everyday.  To buy more stuff that I don't really need.  To go to that website.  To get angry and lash out, or say hurtful things.

It's not easy to refuse them.  But the more I get to know Jesus.  The more time I spend learning the Father's voice.  The easier it is to run to him.  To cling to his words, the Word, and in doing so not give in to the temptations.  It is him who protects.  He is the Shield of Faith that puts out the fiery arrows of the enemy!

Please hear what I'm saying there.  It's not about me.  This is about God's work.  What he does in us when we draw closer to him.  And I for one have a very long way to go.  But his promises are true.  He is good.  He did give us the Comforter to help us and guide us.

When we run out of steam, it's because we're trying to fight sin with our own strength.  And that is like trying to out run a speeding train.  It's impossible.  But with God, all things are possible.  He is our strength.  Our deliverer.  Philippians 4 (12-14)

I know how to live on almost nothing or with everything. I have learned the secret of living in every situation, whether it is with a full stomach or empty, with plenty or little. For I can do everything through Christ, who gives me strength. Even so, you have done well to share with me in my present difficulty.

It doesn't matter if we have everything we need in life, or nothing.  Jesus is who we need more than anything.  And a supportive body of believers doesn't hurt either.  Paul says he knows how to survive, to carry on, but he encourages the Philippians for helping in his difficulty.

So, today, if God is doing something in/through you.  Share it.  With a humble heart to encourage us.  If you are struggling, or going through a difficulty, Share it.  At the very least (which isn't the least at all) we can pray for each other.

Have a day, be a blessing to those around you.

grace, peace + hope
-Bear

Seedless, Part III

What is the point of fruit that doesn't have seeds?

Well, in the context of literal fruit, it makes them easier and by some standards more enjoyable to eat.  It's so annoying to spit them out, or pick around them.

That can so easily be transplanted to the life of a follower of Jesus.  Sure, we can bear the fruit Jesus talks about without seed.  We can share some of the things he taught without the annoying little truths at the core of them.  We can love the people around us at our places of worship.  We can help our friends and family out.  It's easy to join in whatever the next outreach at the "church."

And those are all good things.  But it's not enough.

These are things that Jesus said even the "Gentiles" did that.  (Matthew 5:43-48)  It's not enough to love those we are supposed to love.  Or that love comes somewhat naturally.

For too long the "church" (and I include myself in that) has been trying to see Jesus by gazing toward the pulpits, lecterns, or relevant cafe table with a tall chair.  Please do not misunderstand.  I'm not condemning pastors or speakers or any of that.  Some of my dearest friends are pastors, and I highly respect them and what is in their hearts.  I don't know where I'd be in life if I hadn't 'gone to church," or been in a youth group.  But it's time for the congregation to stop congregating and start conveying.

It's time we turn from the pulpits and go to the people.

If we are to bear the fruit Jesus wants us to produce, we can't just gather once or twice a week for an hour.  We can still do that, but we must do more.  We have to be the Church when we leave the building.  We have to be the Church when we go to work, the store or at home.

We also won't really become the Church if we only go to those places either.  Remember what I posted the other day.  More importantly what Jesus said about the least of these.  We have to go places we wouldn't normally go.  Prisons.  Hospitals.  To the homeless.  To the widows and orphans.

Gasp, even across the imaginary property lines (or real fence) to our neighbors!

Our goal is not conversion.  You and I cannot "save" someone.  Nor is that our mission.  Jesus didn't say, "Go into the world and get people to convert."  He told us to make disciples.  To baptize.  There is nothing about us delivering salvation.

That is for Jesus.  And he said, "It is accomplished."  My sins, your sins, the sins of the world have been forgiven.  Jesus and his Spirit are the powers behind that.  They are the one who will change peoples lives.  He is the one who will move someone to cry out for salvation.  Not a clever conversation, witty video, or compelling 3 point sermon complete with a power point.

Not you.  Not me.

What you and I can do, is see Jesus on the face of every person we meet.  Sure, that might slow us down a little bit.  But what's the rush?  What do we need to race to so fast?  I know I would appreciate life slowing down a little bit.  And like I said, I'm working on it.

Maybe you're thinking, hey dude, quite writing about this stuff and put your money where your mouth is.  And you're right.  There have been a few things popping up lately that I'm pursuing, but they are not to a sharing point yet.  But I will.

We may not be able to save someone.  But we can be the hands of Jesus that bring them water when they are thirsty.  We can be the ears that listen to our neighbor, and really hear what they are saying.  We can be the smiling face in the store, either as shopper or employee.

Gandhi said, "Be the change you want to see in the world."  I agree.  If we want to see people follow Jesus, we need to follow Jesus.  Where ever he takes us.  To the projects of D.C., to the suburbs of Chicago, orphanages in Africa, and neighborhoods in Pennsylvania.

I'll change Gandhi's words, and maybe someone else has already said it, but, "Be the Jesus you want to see in the world."  A revolution requires change.  That change needs to happen in those moving the revolution.  I'm praying I change every morning.  To be more like Jesus.  To be not seedless.

Be full of seeds.  Share them.

grace, peace + hope
-Bear

Seedless, Part II

So what's the big deal with seedless fruit?

There's nothing wrong with it.  Right?  I mean it doesn't cause mutations or anything like that in the people who eat it.  Well, I hope not.  But, fruit was designed to produce seeds.  It's how they reproduce.  You know a fruit bearing plant is healthy when it produces fruit that contains seeds.  That way, it will continue on.  God said it was good for this to happen.

But my real issue isn't with items in the produce aisle.

It's with myself.

And others like me.  People who say they are followers of Jesus but don't really produce fruit.  Or if we do it's just the stuff that tastes good but doesn't result in more fruit.  Jesus was pretty specific about this.  In John 15, where he talks about being the vine and branches, he tells the disciples this;

I am the true vine, and my Father is the gardener. He cuts off every branch in me that bears no fruit, while every branch that does bear fruit he prunes so that it will be even more fruitful.

He cuts off every branch...that bears no fruit.  Jesus was talking to them in words that were very clear.  They were understandable references.  It shouldn't be that hard for us to understand this.  But I suppose in the "church" there has been a tendency to over complicate the Bible.  Everything gets really deep and super spiritual.  There's lots of flavor, and no hard bits to really work around.

Sure there are the tough subjects, but they don't relate to me, they are about someone else.  And thanks to this speaker who has had years and years of training and education, I am now more enlightened about this issue, topic, what-have-you.

We can go to "church" every week and learn more and more about Jesus and never really change.  No change in us, no change in the world around us.

Seedless.

What does it matter what you know?  What does it matter what I know?  Knowing isn't enough.  Knowing didn't spare those who mocked Noah.  They laughed at their impending doom.  Knowing Jesus died for us, that he showed us how to live in the kingdom now doesn't count for a hill of beans.  When we hold all that knowledge in, were like the servant who buried the gold because he was too afraid to invest or take a chance with it.

You remember what happened to him?  What he had was taken, and he was kicked out.  Or to use the words of Jesus from John 15 he was a branch that was cut off.  Please don't misunderstand.  I am not talking about money, tithes, or offerings.

This is about life and not sharing it.  My life.  Your life.  Jesus' life.

Think about this.  Jesus and his disciples were walking along the road when Jesus sees a fig tree.  When he sees it doesn't have any fruit, he curses it and it dies.  Sounds extreme right?  But there is a lesson in this that is easily lost on a culture like ours that doesn't understand the created world we live in.  Jesus' actions have a reason.  In the scripture the fig tree was said to have produced leaves.  And based on the time of year of this story, a fig tree with leaves should have had fruit.

It didn't. 

A fruit bearing tree without fruit, when all evidence suggests it should have, is pretty much worthless.

Do you have leaves?  Do I?  Am I producing fruit?  If I do, it's not enough.  I'm working on that.  I can't keep going to "church" whether it is in a home, a coffee house, or million dollar facility and gorging myself on another good sermon or series. 

Something needs to change in me.  How I look at what it means to really follow Jesus.  This isn't just a rant about "mega-churches" or that sort of thing.  This is about the body of Christ and how we live.  Rather how we don't live.
 
It's time to change that.  It's time for a revolution in the Church.  A transformation in the Body of Christ.  It's time we start bearing fruit with seeds in it.


to be concluded...


grace, peace + hope
-Bear

Seedless, Part I

It was a typical Monday morning.  Wake up, get ready for work, rush out the door without breakfast.  But I did grab some fruit out of the fridge.  Fruits are incredible.  From apples to grapes, cantaloupes to tomatoes*, fruits just plain and simply rock. 

(*Botanically speaking a tomato is a fruit, the US Supreme Court can go sit on an egg.)

During my break I retrieve my branch of grapes and orange and begin consuming them.  It's going really well until I realize they are seedless.  Which normally would have made me very happy.  But I suppose something is changing in my opinion on the matter.

At a house gathering in Harrisburg (PA) last night we read through the Creation account in Genesis.  Then we watched Rob Bell's video Everything Is Spiritual.  Couple that with recent readings of the Gospels and I came to a conclusion.

There is something wrong with seedless fruit.

Look at what Genesis says:  (Chapter 1)

11Then God said, “Let the land produce vegetation: seed-bearing plants and trees on the land that bear fruit with seed in it, according to their various kinds.” And it was so. 12The land produced vegetation: plants bearing seed according to their kinds and trees bearing fruit with seed in it according to their kinds. And God saw that it was good. 13And there was evening, and there was morning—the third day. 

Yeah.

God made plants and trees with intent of bearing fruit with seed.  Now, I'm no botanist, but if my memory serves correct, seeds are how plants reproduce.  With out apple seeds folklore legend Johnny Appleseed wouldn't have a last name or story.  I know there are ways to grow some plants by grafting and all that stuff.  But that is essentially cloning (and I'm not jumping into that today.)


The fact is that plants are supposed to grow fruit that bear seed.

I've decided that I don't like seedless fruit.  I won't be wasteful with what I already have.  But I'm not going to intentionally purchase seedless fruit any more.

Some might say to me, "Dude, you're being way uptight about this."  And maybe I am.  But there is another side to this seedless thing that bothers me.  Something that is at the heart of this revolution.

And that will have to wait for tomorrow.

grace, peace + hope
-Bear

Light the Fuse

Control.  It's an illusion that none of us can seem to separate from reality.  Parents think they have control over their children.  Governments assume they have control over their people.  Religions think they have control over what ever it is they think they have control over.

Ok, so maybe by strict definition they do.  But control can be resisted, removed, rescinded, refuted, reneged, you get the idea.

This is not me supporting anarchy.  I am not anti-control.  Depending on where the reigns of that control rest.  I don't want to get too deep or off course and delve into the semantics and politics of all of that.  What this post and revolution are primarily concerned with is how we conduct ourselves no matter what "control," is over us.

As far as I am concerned, there is only one ultimate source of control.  One authority that will take all our decisions and actions into account.  The choices we make yesterday, today, and tomorrow will be laid out before us some day.  How we handled those choices in regards to that sovereign authority will be our undoing or remaking.

Let me make this perfectly clear.

There is one God.  His name is "I Am."  He sent his only son Jesus to redeem the whole world from death.  He speaks to us, now, today, through his Spirit.  Here and here alone rests the final authority for all life.  For me, that is irrefutable fact.  It is upon that authority that I rest all of what I believe, say and do.

If you are starting to wonder what any of that has to do with this revolution.  I've been alluding to, well here is where they meet.

Those who claim to follow Jesus (I would be among them) as a whole, have been lulled into a crippling illusion that going to a building on Sunday in nice clothing, singing a few songs, putting money in an offering, and spending about an hour and a half together, is what he imagined the Church would be.
 

I will not apologize for thinking we have bastardized his dream.

The Church is not a building.  It is not a program or a pulpit.  The Church does not succeed or fail because of a board of directors or a philandering pastor.  It does not rest in the man made authority of pointy hats, white collars, or tailored suits.

The Church is people.  The guy in the corner of the coffee shop.  The woman across from you on the train.  You.  Me.  The Church succeeds because Jesus is it's authority.  It will grow in the soil full of the best crap.  The Church doesn't fail because Jesus doesn't fail.  (What fails is us, or our expectations.)  It's authority rests in the safest place.  The nail scarred hands of the Messiah.

The Church is so much more than we mortals have restricted it to be.

The revolution is to become the Church Jesus wanted us to be.  To feed the hungry.  Quench the throats of the thirsty.  Make the stranger a guest.  Clothe the naked.  Care for the sick.  Visit the prisoner.  To look after orphans and windows.  To remember his teachings, and make disciples.To love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength.

It starts inside each of us.

Get on your knees.  Cry out to God.  Ask him to strike the match, and light the fuse.

grace, peace + hope
-Bear

Rebels

This revolution thing is serious.  At least for me.  I'll be making a considerable statement on what I'm talking about soon.

Tomorrow.

For today a brief example and then a question.

I had a revelation recently.  I love rebels.

A majority of my favorite stories, be it books, movies or even comic books, have always been about rebels.  From my early childhood I latched onto Star Wars.  The Rebels vs the Empire.  There was just something in that concept that attracted me to the cause.



Perhaps the most famous rebel of all, Robin Hood?  So many different takes on his story.  And I've loved nearly all that I've come across.

How about the American Revolution?  I remember seeing old movies that I can't remember the names of that stirred not just a sense of patriotism but the call to a cause.

Braveheart.  I know there are a lot of historical inaccuracies in it, but seeing that movie was a life defining moment for me.

There have been so many others over the years that have become close to my heart.  Harry Potter, Gladiator, The Lion the Witch and the Wardrobe, Equilibrium, The Matrix, The Three Musketeers, Defiance.  Even a movie like Moulin Rouge, has a theme of revolution woven into the love story.

Most recently, The Hunger Games.  (This is a fantastic series and I can't believe it's taken me so long to dive into it.)  It's a futuristic version of North America ruled over by a totalitarian government known as the Capitol.  There are 12 districts that support the Capitol with everything.  And once a year each district is forced to send two teenagers to an arena to fight to the death against the others.  Only one person survives.  This is to remind the population that rebellion is bad and the Capitol has control.

It's a similar story throughout history.  Those who have control constantly reminding it's population that they are in control.  By acts of fear, intimidation, propaganda and on and on.  And I'm not talking about the books now.  But they never really do have the control do they?

It's a lie.

That's why they lord that concept over their citizens.  If you tell a lie as truth enough times people will believe it.  Maybe even embrace it.

So.  My question to you is, (without giving away spoilers) what is your favorite story of revolution, or rebels, and why?

grace, peace + hope
-Bear