tony sheng || mobilizing students for missions

Passion with CW
Wow, we just came back from seeing The Passion, with my friend CW, who I have written about before, and his wife. Intense. Here are a few things that struck me about the movie:
- Malchus, the soldier who got his ear cut off, and whom Jesus healed. What a reaction he had to Jesus. No more being a soldier for him.
- The way Jesus looks at people.
- The scene when Mary runs to pick him up after he falls down with the cross, one of the many times, and the flashback to when he was just a little boy. Heart wrenching.
- Simon from Cyrene, who helps him carry the cross all that way. Did you notice the way he really helped, like there was something significant about it.
- The details of all the blood dripping down the crosses. I had never visualized it like that before. But it sure must have been bloody.
- Two Roman soldiers who stuck around at the end to help get Jesus' body down.
Needless to say, I was impacted. I won't ever think of the Crucifixion the same way. The thought that kept coming in to my head was that He did all this for me.
We didn't really get a chance to talk to C and B about it, but I'm going to make plans to meet up with him again to talk some more. Interestingly enough, our babysitter IM'd me at around noon saying she had come home sick from school and couldn't baby sit for us. Was this a significant night for the Kingdom? Are we still thinking that these things happen by mere coincidence? Was my crappy review at work this week unrelated to any kind of accusations the Enemy is making against me and what God can do through me? Let me tell you, Satan is pissed at me. At us - for being youthworkers that are willing to invest time and energy into helping students become the salt of the earth and the light of the world. And I say, bring it on.

James 1:2-4; Heb. 10:38-39; Rom. 8:37; 2 Cor. 12:9-10; Gen 50:20; Rom 5:3-5

I didn't come lookin' for trouble
And I don't want to fight needlessly
But I'm not gonna hide in a bubble
If trouble comes for me
I can feel my heart beating faster
I can tell something's coming down
But if it's gonna make me grow stronger then...

Bring it on
Let the lightning flash
Let the thunder roll
Let the storm winds blow
Bring it on
Let the trouble come
Let the hard rain fall
Let it make me strong
Bring it on

Now, maybe you're thinkin' I'm crazy
And maybe I need to explain some things
'Cause I know I've got an enemy waiting
Who wants to bring me pain
But what he never seems to remember
What he means for even God works for good
So I will not retreat or surrender

Now, I don't want to sound like some hero
'Cause it's God alone that my hope is in
But I'm not gonna run from the very things
That would drive me closer to Him
So bring it on

Bring it on
Let the lightning flash
Let the thunder roll
Let the storm winds blow
Bring it on
Let the trouble come
Let the hard rain fall
Let it make me strong
Bring it on
- Steven Curtis Chapman