PLUNGE47

From army men with baby monitors to a villain and hero who discover they are father and son, the Toy Story series has a little bit of everything. One of my favorite characters in the series is Mr. Potato Head. As the toys leave to save Woody, Mrs. Potato Head, his true love, helps him pack. Of course she is not packing a bag, but all the faces he may need throughout the trip. She announces, “I’m packing your angry eyes, just in case.”

As we grow up we stop playing with toys, but the lessons we hear as children would solve all the world’s problems, if  we actually practiced what we learned. Think what the preschool classic, “share”, would mean if we actually shared with one another. The life lesson we find from Mr. Potato Head is to be prepared. He is built with a hatch to store everything he needs. In the same way we need to prepare for life, prepare to use the talents God has given. Only when we use them for others will they become gifts…

Check out 1 Samuel 17:32-40. We often get hung up on what we don’t have (Saul’s armor), but God wants to create miracles through the talents and gifts we have… even a few stones.

Spoiler Alert… if you have not seen the Truman Show I am about to ruin the ending, so go and watch it, then come a read 

In the brilliant ending to the Truman Show we watch Truman (Jim Carey) sail his boat away from the home he has lived his whole life, really never left. As he travels away he literally sails into the horizon, his boat crashing through a wall painted to look like the sky! This climatic event brings an end to the Truman Show, which was a live 24/7 television program broadcasting the life of Truman. Of course Truman did not know he was a star, he only thought he was living life. A life with actors pretending to be his friends, mom, dad, even wife. Everything was staged, but all was safe. The troubles of the world did not invade the town of Safe Haven.  Yet when Truman discovered the truth he chose autonomy-the chance to choose his own destiny.

   As we move to the final night of our Phobia series, once again we look toward the Garden. It was a safe haven for humanity. A place without fear, embarrassment, or death (as we spoke about the last three weeks). Unlike Truman, who had to try and escape before given a choice, in the Garden God gave humanity the choice from the beginning, we could stay under His guidance or we could take control and choose autonomy. As Truman did, which brought cheers from the audience, Adam and Eve chose to take control. Our values still celebrate this autonomy, this freedom. But our decision has not led to a safe haven, but a world of fear, embarrassment, and death… even slavery to sin. The call and gift of Christ is for a chance to return to the garden, to submit our life to the will of God and give Him control… do we even want the gift?

Like the baby boomers and gen-x’ers, your generation will someday be given a name and I imagine it will  probably be the Ritalin generation. This is not because your generation is more hyper than the ones before, but simply because your generation is the first to be given drugs-lots of drugs-to counteract ADD. In reality every generation has people with ADD, take the example of Jay Frye or for that matter me! Even today I have trouble sitting still and if you are next to me during a message you will see me doodling away on the bulletin. This past Sunday I was scribbling and came up with an imagine perfect for Fear Month, the church monster. Now I am just a good doodler, so I challenge all of our artists to create a better church monster. You must use our steeple, but there are no other rules. The winner will be awarded a prize and their masterpiece will become the image for the night when Greg speaks (24th). It will be a evening to discuss how scary the church can become!

Must be turned in by next Sunday, the 21st!!!!

Click here to get the image of the steeple:  steeple pdf