Engaging Our Culture: May 8-When Paradise is Delayed

Video of the Day: Trailer from the 2007 movie “Welcome to Paradise”

Bible Verse of the Day:

In all this you greatly rejoice, though now for a little while you may have had to suffer grief in all kinds of trials. ⁷ These have come so that the proven genuineness of your faith—of greater worth than gold, which perishes even though refined by fire—may result in praise, glory and honor when Jesus Christ is revealed. ⁸ Though you have not seen him, you love him; and even though you do not see him now, you believe in him and are filled with an inexpressible and glorious joy, ⁹ for you are receiving the end result of your faith, the salvation of your souls, 1 Peter 1:6-9.

Biblical Connection:

I started attending a Methodist youth group during my junior year of high school. In the years that followed, I joined my first church in college and became friends with individuals who went on to be pastors in the Methodist Church. Like the character of Reverend Debbie Laramie in Welcome to Paradise, pastors regularly were moved from church to church, often without much notice. Subsequently, when Debbie, Crystal Bernard, is forced to move to a small remote town, her vision for Paradise Church is delayed until a fire brings this church community together.

Peter, one of the members of Jesus’ inner circle, isn’t referring to a physical fire inside a building. Rather, Peter compares fire to a spiritual refining process that Christians must go through. Unlike prosperity preachers who proclaim that your life will be filled with blessings once you become a Christian, this is far from reality. Instead, life consists of a serious of trials designed to test and refine your faith. Like the words of Jesus’ earthly brother, these unscheduled events come without warning, teaching character, maturity and perseverance to all who endure this pain, James 1:2-4.

Closing Song:

If you feel like your world is melting this month, reach out to the hand of Jesus who will walk by your side. Like the words of the famous poem Footprints, God will be right there without you all the way.

by Jay Mankus