God Adventures (eBook)

Don't Settle for Less than Experiencing More

Darren Wilson (Autor)

eBook Download: EPUB

2016 | 1. Auflage
244 Seiten
Broadstreet Publishing Group, LLC (Verlag)
978-1-4245-5270-2 (ISBN)

Infos

For many people, Christianity has become an institution of rules, duty, and potlucks. But for filmmaker Darren Wilson, his life of cultural Christianity changed radically when a powerful encounter with God led him to begin making films that attempted to display the God of the Bible in living color. What happened over the next ten years has affected millions around the world, and has set fires ablaze in hearts that have long sat dormant.   God Adventures is an honest and compelling book about the events surrounding the making of these powerful films (Finger of God, Furious Love, Father of Lights, Holy Ghost, and Holy Ghost Reborn), and is designed to take you into a deeper, more fulfilling and, yes, riskier relationship with God.   Like Darren's films, this book focuses on: - God's miraculous power and overpowering love. - A Father desperately pursuing His children. - The often misunderstood third Person of the Trinity and His relationship to the modern believer. - God's dominance over other gods and supernatural powers. - How the Holy Spirit wants to use everyone to bring change and healing to the world, not just professional ministers. Christianity was never meant to be a social club-it was meant to change the world. God Adventures provides biblical insight for the supernatural occurrences documented in Darren's films, along with behind-the-scenes stories that will inspire, engage, and challenge you to not settle for less than experiencing all of God.   

Darren Wilson is the CEO and founder of WP Films, a film/television production company that focuses on creating media that creatively and powerfully advances the kingdom of God. Millions of viewers worldwide have seen Darren's films. Devon Franklin, VP of Production at Columbia Pictures, calls Darren 'one of the most innovative filmmakers and authors of faith today.' Darren was recently named one of the '21 Emerging Leaders of Tomorrow's Church' by Charisma magazine.   Darren has also written two other books: Filming God and Finding God in the Bible. Both detail his spiritual journey. Darren lives with his wife, Jenell, and their three children in Greenville, South Carolina. Connect with Darren at wpfilm.com.  

Textauszug

one

God Is Mysteriously Good

God isn’t limited to doing things we understand; everyone knows that. But does he do things that are patently strange? Would he really cover people in gold dust, drop gemstones at random, and release modern-day manna? Even if he did, why would he do it? The truth is, he does do these things today, strange as it may seem. What’s more, these signs and wonders really do show just how good God is.

When I finished producing my first movie, Finger of God, I had no idea how people would react. There had never really been a movie like this, at least nothing about the subject of miracles that had been put together in this way. So I didn’t know if I had a strange, quirky movie or something of real power and potency. My honest thought was that I would be lucky if a thousand people saw this film in my lifetime.

But I wanted to make sure I was putting out something that worked on some level, so I gathered around thirty friends, colleagues, and acquaintances into a classroom at Judson University, where I worked, and hit the play button.

Ninety minutes later, the lights came up and I received my first-ever standing ovation. My sister and brother-in-law came up to me, tears in their eyes, and hugged me. Some people were too emotional to even speak to me. One friend of mine was receiving prayer in the corner, and she was wailing—loudly. At that moment I thought two things:

First, I think this movie might be on to something. Second, Things are never going to be the same again.

Later that night, I read the comment sheets I had passed out, and boy, for a group of people who had been so overwhelmed by the film, they sure had a lot of specific opinions about it. One opinion stood out above all the others:

“Those first fifteen minutes are going to be a problem.”

For those of you who haven’t seen Finger of God, let me pause and explain what that comment referred to. Basically, in the first fifteen minutes of Finger of God, four strange things are shown: 1) people miraculously getting gold teeth, 2) gold dust appearing out of nowhere, 3) manna showing up out of thin air, and 4) gigantic gemstones (as well as little ones) suddenly appearing.

If you’ve never heard of these things, your first thought is probably, That’s insane. And if you’re a true skeptic, your next thought will be about how you can disprove these claims. The right approach, however, is a balance between cautious discernment and a fertile heart, remembering that God is his own person and can do whatever he likes, whether we’re comfortable with it or not. That’s at least what I tried to do when I set out to film this stuff.

The only insight I can give on these things is my experience with them. Having made the Finger of God movie, I’ve heard more stories of the supernatural than the average bear. But in the end, I can only speak to what I saw and what happened in front of me. So that’s what you’re about to read: my eyewitness accounts of these mysterious supernatural acts.

Gold Teeth

This phenomenon has been happening, as far as I know, since an “outpouring” occurred at the Toronto Airport Christian Fellowship in 1994. Thousands of people have claimed to receive gold teeth, and among those are two people who are very close to me: my Aunt Patsy and Uncle Bob.

Now, the skeptic in me is quite willing to call everyone else claiming this miracle a liar. Indeed, when I filmed John and Carol Arnott, the senior pastors of TACF during the outpouring, John told me they were as interested as anyone in finding out if this was actually happening, and they hired an outside service to come in and investigate the claims as an impartial jury.

What they found was that roughly one-third of the people who claimed God had given them gold teeth had received dental work containing gold in the past and simply forgotten about it amid the hubbub and excitement of the moment. Roughly one-third of the claimants experienced their gold teeth “fading” back to normal teeth for whatever reason. But one-third of the claimants had received no dental work and still had gold teeth shining in their mouths.

I found this information quite helpful. It meant the people in charge were as curious about the truth as I was. It also cemented what I had previously thought—that not every claim of the miraculous was legitimate. Still, I had to contend with one-third of thousands of testimonies.

But even if every other claim had been proven false, I had to face the fact that my aunt and uncle, my own flesh and blood, people I had known my whole life and who were about as normal as you can get (she’s a stay-at-home mom; he’s a school superintendent), had gone to church one day and left with gold in their mouths. Aunt Patsy got one gold tooth; Uncle Bob got two. This is bizzaro-world to the extreme, and believe me, I was extremely skeptical. But there it was, literally staring me in the face as I looked at my own family.

What people rage against the most with this stuff is not whether it legitimately happens, but that it seemingly serves no purpose. Even if we discount the idea that God might want to do some things just for the fun of it (we do that all the time, and we were created in his image), we are still left with a few explanations. Many people I have talked to who have received gold teeth feel it is a constant reminder that God touched them, that he loves them, and that to him, they are a treasure. It drives them closer into his arms.

Even so, to the outside observer, it seems random, superfluous, and dumb. They say, “There are starving children all over the world, and you’re telling me God is going to put gold in someone’s mouth? If he’s willing to do that, why won’t he drop a few hundred dollars into every beggar’s hands? Wouldn’t that be more helpful?” So we scoff at it and throw it off as lunacy.

Some people say it’s the devil trying to trick people with fake signs and wonders, to get their minds off of God and onto this superficial stuff. At first this seems like a good argument. But based on the people I have talked to and on the experience of my aunt and uncle, it doesn’t hold water. While it is true that for some observers, the action leads to an unhealthy obsession with chasing after signs and wonders, to the receiver it brings a deeper sense of his love for them, and they are humbled, exhilarated, and profoundly affected. I’ve never met anyone who wants to give it back.

My aunt and uncle went to Toronto in a last-ditch effort to save their marriage (not in pursuit of dental work). Uncle Bob had a tumultuous, abusive upbringing, and as a result became somewhat tumultuous and angry as an adult. Aunt Patsy was commonly referred to as the “super Christian” in our family. Together they obviously had their struggles. Pat wrestled with Bob’s anger issues, and Bob grappled with a deep sense of shame and guilt, feeling like a spiritual outcast compared to Pat. His personal issues clouded his sense of self-worth, and that made things worse. By the time they entered the doors in Toronto, it was do-or-die time. God had to show up for them or it was over.

At one point in the service, John Arnott took the stage and announced that he thought God had just released gold teeth in the church, and he told everyone to check their mouths. My aunt and uncle did no such thing. When I talked to them about it afterward, they had very different takes on why they didn’t check their mouths, even while those around them did.

Aunt Patsy told me she knew God hadn’t done something like that, nor did she particularly care for it, because the whole concept of getting gold teeth was not for her. At least that’s what she thought. But later that day, on a lark, their son had her open her mouth so he could check. My cousin Bobby took one look in his mother’s mouth and his eyes turned wide with shock. “You got a whopper!” I think was his exact quote.

No one bothered to check Bob’s teeth. As he told me, even after his wife got a gold tooth, it never occurred to him that God would do something like that to him because, well, God didn’t do those kinds of things to people like him. There was no way God could love him that much.

But the next day, when his wife walked beside him to go up to the front of the stage to testify what had just happened to her, my uncle smelled an odor similar to what people smell when a dentist is drilling. As they were leaving the church that night, someone in their party asked Bob to open his mouth so they could check, just in case. They discovered that he had two gold teeth. Neither Pat nor Bob knew how to handle it or what it meant, but they were overjoyed that God would touch them in such a strange, unique way.

Shortly after it happened, my aunt received a word during a time of prayer. The word was simple yet powerful: “Pat, I have seen your faithfulness, and I have seen your struggles. I want you to know how proud I am of you, how much I love you. This is, in a sense, your gift for years of loving me despite what it cost you.”

Then it was Bob’s turn to get a word. “Bob, I want you to realize something very important. You have always felt left out, in a way. You have believed that Pat has earned my love while you have not, and you feel like she is more highly favored in my eyes than you are. But I want you to...

Produkt-Details

• Erscheint lt. Verlag: 1.11.2016
• Verlagsort: Savage
• Sprache: englisch
• Themenwelt: Religion / Theologie ► Christentum ► Moraltheologie / Sozialethik
• Schlagworte: biblical insight • Christian • christian filmmakers • Christian media • cultural christianity • Divine encounters • Faith • Faith in God • friendship with God • god and religion • Holy Spirit • Inspirational anecdotes • Jesus Christ • Motivational stories • Personal journeys • powerful stories • Power of God • relationships with god • relationship with God • religious artists • religious commentaries • religious inspiration • Spiritual • spiritual fulfillment • spiritual growth • spiritual journey
• ISBN-10: 1-4245-5270-2 / 1424552702
• ISBN-13: 978-1-4245-5270-2 / 9781424552702