The coming grace and glory movement, an actor’s testimony of falling in love with Jesus, and other encouraging news.
Grace, glory, and unity: part two
Last week we talked about two movements and revelations being highlighted in the church in recent decades: The revelation of God’s glorious presence, and the revelation of the Gospel of Grace. Today we want to build on that by declaring that in the days ahead we can expect to see these two realities colliding more and more.
For some years now, there has been a slight divide between certain movements in the church that have focused on the glory of God (for example, the prophetic/prayer movement as well as other charismatic streams) and those who have focused on the grace of God (Trinitarian, finished work, and other grace-oriented movements).
Nobody likes titles, and this may be too much of a generalization for some people’s taste–but at the end of the day the divide between these emphases in the church certainly exists.
However, we believe with all of our hearts that God is highlighting His plans to bring these two “movements” together in the days ahead. Different streams that have focused on different elements will begin to collide into one glorious river that will release the greater promises of societal transformation that many people are believing for. Those heralding the simple message of grace and of Christ’s finished work for all humanity are going to begin encountering the presence and power of the Holy Spirit in a fresh way. On the flip-side, those pursuing after the presence of God are going to begin to be hit with fresh revelations of Christ’s finished work and the inclusion of humanity in this glorious Gospel.
One image that keeps coming up is that of a key going into a keyhole. The different Charismatic movements dating back to Asuza Street (and obviously well before that) are like the keyhole that holds the promises of great harvest and restoration. However, the “key” to unlocking the full promises is the message of grace and our effortless union with Christ.
Until now, many people in the “glory” movements have been wary of the extreme preaching of grace. But this is going to change and shift as a proper understanding of grace is released more and more to church…
Actor falls in love with Jesus while preparing for film
In the news in recent months has been the story of a film that has been over 20 years in the making from legendary director Martin Scorsese. The film “Silence” is his most spiritual film to date and details the true story of Jesuit missionaries and their journey in Japan.
One of the actors playing the missionaries is Andrew Garfield, known for playing the Amazing Spider-Man and for other films like Social Network. In order to prepare for his role, Garfield decided to counsel with a priest and go through the spiritual excercises of St. Ignatius of Loyola, the founder of the Jesuits. These are a series of prayers and meditations, part of which involves the participant visualizing Christ alongside certain parts of the Gospel story.
Having no intention of encountering God, the young actor describes an experience of seeing Jesus in the midst of these prayers and meditations. As he practiced prayerfully beholding Christ, he said that he ended up “falling in love with Jesus.” As he meditated on the Gospel, he grew a deep and supernatural awareness of Christ’s love, which has impacted his life greatly.
An interview with Garfield detailing his whole journey can be found here. The interviewer sums up the article by declaring that Garfield discovered the grace of God, specifically saying that His grace is all that we need. The article that contains the interview is called “Grace Enough.”
Netflix’s impact on pornography in hotel rooms
Last week, Relevant Magazine published an article that began with an encouraging statement: “The days of VOD (video-on-demand) pornography being available in hotel rooms may be coming to an end.”
The reason for this is that Netflix is becoming so popular in hotel rooms that it is driving down sales of porn drastically. Other factors are tying into this as well.
In the past we have cited reasons why Netflix is positively influencing the direction of media as things continue to shake and shift in the industry. This is yet another unexpected side-effect of this positive momentum.
Elderly man covers young mother during airport gunfire
The beautiful heart of Jesus was put on display in the midst of the horrible and deadly shootings at Fort Lauderdale Airport earlier this year. An elderly man named Tony Bartosiewicz saw a young mother fall to the floor helpless before the approaching shooter. This man jumped on top of her and whispered to her, “I will protect you,” as the gunman continued to fire shots in the near vicinity. The woman reported knowing that this man could be killed, but that she knew she would survive.
Thankfully, the both of them came out alive.