Fantastic Four is Four You!

I really like the first Fantastic Four film and watch it from time to time as it cycles it's way through the cable networks.  It seems to be one of those movies that you can watch again and again and rarely get tired of.  If you don't know much about it, five people go into space to investigate a strange space storm and an explosive pulse damages their craft and changes the structure of their bodies.  They come back to earth and in the days following change into five very different people with enormous powers.  One such character in the movie is Johnny Storm, a brash and impulsive young man who lives on the edge.  He doesn't realize how much on the edge he is about to be and his discovery of his special powers changes his life forever.  We find him on the ski slopes jumping out of a helicopter and snowboarding down a treacherous mountain and the faster he skis, the hotter he gets until his clothes combust and he falls over a cliff, but he doesn't fall to his death.  At the precise moment of high adrenaline he turns into the Human Torch and is a flying fireball able to do extraordinary feats.  His identity is realized and the transformation is complete.  From that moment on he was able to say, "Flame On!" and he would turn into a flying ball of fire. He is a super hero!!

In our Christian Walk, we must realize that the life change that takes place when we accept Christ is just as radical, and just as transforming as the Fantastic Four.  We investigate something on the horizon and as we approach it we find out that it is an amazing new discovery.  When we accept Christ a storm of repentance turns into a calm of grace as Jesus Christ takes over our lives.  Upon first accepting Christ, we may not realize just what changes are going to take place, but everything IS different.  Paul wrote these words to the church at Rome in Romans  12:3 , "Do not conform any longer to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God's will is-His good, pleasing, and perfect will." Wow!  Think about it.  No more guesswork.  No more trying to figure out "my purpose."  HIS PERFECT WILL!!  I know that's got to wet your appetite.  We live in a world with no answers, no absolutes, no power, and now we are handed all the power we need to live a full and complete life.  Come on.  You know that's the life God intended for you!

When we realize the power that God has for transformation in our life, I believe it will draw us to His presence through worship; draw us to His Word through wisdom; and draw us to His work through winning others.  In 2 Thessalonians 1: 3 -12 Paul spoke to the Thessalonians about these very things and most noticeably in verse 11 he says, "and that by His power He may fulfill every good purpose of yours and every act prompted by your faith."  You know what that means?  Flame On!!  Everything we need to live a life of purpose and power is available, but His church sleeps?  I don't think so!  As Jesus tells the Samaritan Woman in John 4:23, "Yet a time is coming and has now come when the true worshippers will worship the Father in spirit and truth."  Now is the time to join the ranks of those who are burning brightly.  The Fantastic Four is Four You!

Here is the WARNING on the package.  We now live in a church world that is not so like-minded, but more lack-minded.  In other words,  we have lost the ability to agree with each other and get on with the work of the Lord because we lack the capacity to lift others up and encourage them.  It is of course, called pride.  So the warning is that you may not have a huge number of people who will think like you do about serving the Lord.  Also, the intensity of your heated up faith may cause some to question you and not encourage you.  Just remember what Paul wrote to Timothy in 2 Timothy 1:6-7 "For this reason I remind you to fan into flame the gift of God, which is in you through the laying on of my hands. For God did not give us a spirit of timidity, but a spirit of power, of love and self-discipline." 

Remember, a change did take place when you accepted Christ.  You have a  burning desire to serve Him with all your life.  That burning desire is not, and should not ever be under your control, but under the control of God.  Don't put the fire out that God built!!! Once again, FLAME ON!  Let the transformation be complete and become what God called you to be. Super Hero - def. A sold out saint. With that commitment, your world will never be the same.

The Pilgrimage continues....

David Warren