Today I learned something. In a legal situation I am party to, a decision needed to be made about part of a contract. My lawyer interpreted it one way, the opposing lawyer another. Hence the need to be in court in the first place. As my legal counsel explained to me, the decision revolved around one word. Regardless of what that word was, the judge agreed there was some ambiguity but, in what I interpret as the "spirit of the law", the contract remained valid. My wife and I had a long road home. Plenty of time to ponder what just happened.
So as I reflected what this decision meant, I could not help but keep playing over and over in my head, "one word....one word...." The long drive brought me to the conclusion that many times one word will make "THE" difference not just  "A" difference. For example, fill in the blank: "I ________ you." Lots of words can fit there right? Love? Sure! Hate? Absolutely! Regardless of what word you put in the blank it makes all "THE" difference in how it comes across to the person you are saying it too. How about this: "I think you're a________" Yea I know lots there too. But think about it! One word in either sentence and so many others will make "THE" difference. 
I had lots of those sentences going through my head. Soon however, I came to another conclusion. While one word can make "THE" difference, maybe what we are looking for is "THE" word to make "A" difference. Does that make sense. Searching for the one word that can make "THE"/"A" difference in "THE"/"A/ life of our children, family, friends, or spouse to show support, encouragement, love, grace, mercy and forgiveness! What if we as disciples of Jesus Christ measured our words more for the "THE"/"A" difference they could make? What would our world look like? What would our community look like? What would our own lives look like? So I guess in the end it is not either/or but it is both/and when it comes to words making "THE"/"A" difference
As I struggle to find "THE"/"A" difference making words for my life and family, the life of the church I serve and for the community in which I live, I pray that we can truly take the time to find the right words to fill in the blank to share that love, mercy, grace, encourgement, support and forgiveness that has been offered to us through Jesus Christ.
Peace

I had the chance this week to watch "The Bible" series premiere on The History Channel. I approached it with fear and trepidation as I am leery of how our stories of faith are portrayed in the "Hollywood" mindset. That being said, I sat down to watch. My first assumption was wrong. I had assumed it was a documentary, more like a docudrama if you will. I thought to myself, "Hmmm...okay a drama I am anxious to see how this is portrayed. While I watched I took mental notes and a couple of things popped up. Here are my initial thoughts:

Cons:
1) Artistic License: This has always been used when interpreting matters of faith. While some of the story was "added to" for the drama, they seem to be staying close to the biblical message/tradition.

2) Violence: Let's be clear: reading the Bible there is much violence on one another and nation upon nation. You cannot read the Old Testament without hearing those stories. Even in the New Teastament, we need to understand that the punishment that Jesus received for us was perpetrated on many people. In fact all of human history, not just faith history, has stories of violence against each other. Folks we sanitize our wars so as not to have people think on the violence. No pictures allowed. As a student of the American Civil War, that was one of the first time we saw pictures of war. They were horrible. Even General Lee said, and I paraphrase  "It is a good thing war is so terrible or we would grow to like it too much." So our story of faith has its history of violence as well. The crusades are another example. It is a history we ought not to be proud of as God has called us to love one another as He has loved us. Could they tell the same stories without all that? Absolutely! But we must acknowledge our past too. For me it is about balance. Is the overriding theme about our violent nature or is it about our faith as it is being portraying on that screen?

Pros:
I would say I felt there was one overarching "pro" as I watched. It was heard in three phrases the show continually had characters repeat. Phrases we continue to share today:
-Trust in God
-Have Faith
-We are God's People

It truly was inspiring and a call to me to continue to share the same messages of faith and hope by saying, "Have faith," "Trust in God," "We are God's People."

All that being said, I will continue to watch this series. When we watch movies or tv shows we often say because of one thing, "I won't watch that anymore." I would strongly encourage you, even if the violence, or the artistic license or something else does not sit well with you, press on through. I truly believe there is much here to embolden our faith so we must trust God, have faith, understand who we are and continue to "follow Him."

I plan to watch. How about you?

Want more information? Try here:
The History Channel: The Bible

Want a great Bible application for your smartphone/tablet/PC/Mac? Try This:
YouVersion