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Everything good comes from you Father of Lights
Your love will always pierce through the darkest night
Love has a voice, Love has a name, Jesus. Jesus.
Your love is a light, filling my eyes, Jesus. Jesus.
– Father of Lights, Jesus Culture

A year and a half ago I saw Darren Wilson’s film “Furious Love”. I had noticed it a couple of times on iTunes as I would browse through documentaries but the words “healing” and “miracles” in the description turned my religious heart away. Eventually though, my heart softened enough that I was willing to watch it and at that moment everything started to change.

Of course I couldn’t tell it at the time. I knew the message of loving others and ministering to them through that love really touched my soul, and I knew I wanted to be more like the believers in that movie, but I didn’t really know how God was going to use that movie in reforming my theology and attitude. One of the parts of the movie that so touched my heart was an interview with a pastor from the Netherlands named Jan Sjoerd Pasterkamp who said:

“And there was an interview with a Dutch church historian, and they asked him what did he see about the people of the Dutch church. And he made the most interesting remark. He said, ‘We have dozens of protestant denominations and Christian groups, because,’ he said, ‘to the Dutch person, truth is more important than unity.’ And when I heard it, I thought, ‘I have to write to say in a whole sermon what you said in one sentence’ because, what is truth? What he meant by truth, and rightly analyzed, is my interpretation of the Bible, my dogmatic views, my doctrinal views. But Jesus said, ‘I am the truth.’ Truth is not a teaching. Truth is a person, and if you have that person, you have the Truth. And in that person there is always unity. But if we put our understanding of the Scripture and our doctrinal views higher than the person of Jesus, (and I’m going to say maybe something very sharp, and I want to say it respectfully and honorably) we worship idols. Anything you place above the Lord Jesus, is an idol. Our unity is not in a teaching, it’s in a person. And in that person, we always find one another.” —Jan Sjoerd Pasterkamp, Pastor/Missionary to the Netherlands

With that single quote my entire theology changed from a person absorbed with hidden conceit into a broken follower of Jesus that realized a gaping, love-sized hole in his heart had gone untreated for far too long. I was broken. …But I tell you all of this just to help you understand why the events of last night were such an amazing gift from Daddy.

One day at the Gateway offices our project manager mentioned that we would be having a screening of an upcoming movie called “Father of Lights”. I didn’t think much of it until I heard her mention “Furious Love”. My ears perked up and I realized that we would be having a screening of the follow-up film to Furious Love. I was excited, to say the least, but had I known the specifics of the event I would have been even more excited…

As it turns out the director of the films, Darren Wilson, was doing a screening tour with the movie after a successful Kickstarter campaign. Touring with him was Jake Hamilton from Jesus Culture who was leading worship at the events. Darren came out after worship and gave an introduction for the film which was quite a treat and of course the film was wonderful too, I won’t spoil anything 🙂

Several times throughout the night my mind would just be in awe of the series of events over which God had exercised an unfathomable sovereignty in order to give me a fairly substantial gift. Now, I’m not claiming that God did all of this for me, but part of my truly feels that He did. He’s such a good Daddy!!

Is your heart awakened to the gifts of your Papa? It may not be a film screening but is it a long-forgotten prayer that He’s answered that you’d  forgotten about? Maybe the husband you prayed for over a period of years that now shares a bed with you at night? Or perhaps that baby that has changed your life even after doctors told you you’d never be able to get pregnant. I see a student who never expected for God to make a way for them to attend another semester of classes that are now preparing for the Fall semester. God is faithful.

I see a mom who thought she had lost all hope of having a loving, cohesive family who’s beginning to see signs of hope. God is faithful. I see a husband who’s lost his wife to cancer and never expected to make it one day without her, but is finding day by day that God’s ability to carry him far surpasses anything he had ever imagined. God is faithful.

Praise Him; I know if you step outside the pain of your circumstances you’ll see that He’s always worthy.