Bedford Falls versus Pottersville

Many Seasons Greetings....Merry CHRISTmas...Happy HOLYdays my dear friends. Made any good choices lately? In the book of Deuteronomy (5th book of the Old Testament)...we have been given the choice of blessing or curse...life or death. Let me throw in another choice...choose this day....Bedford Fall...or Pottersville. One will be a life of family and peace...the other will be one of nightmare and unrest.

Of course I am referring to the movie IT'S A WONDERFUL LIFE. There are always some Ramblings about this classic movie during this season. This movie is in the TOP TEN RUMINATOR RECOMMENDED MOVIES.

Jimmy Stewart plays George Bailey...who has been trying to escape Bedford Falls for years...but something...someone...some circumstance always seems to circumvent his dreams, his plans, his perceived destiny. His frustration leads him to the point of suicide...when his world as he knows it falls apart.

As a result of multiple, collective prayers...Clarence (Angel 2nd Class with no wings) has been sent to save our hero. Clarence gives George the ability to see what Bedford Falls (the town and the people) would have been like...if he had NEVER BEEN BORN.

Of course the WONDERFUL LIFE...becomes IT'S A MISERABLE LIFE...when George's presence and goodness is taken out of the mix...and Mr. Potter (the bad guy in the movie) is allowed to run rampant with his greed and hate. Pottersville is Bedford Falls GONE BAD.

Pottersville is what this world will be like when the believer is taken out of this world...as if we never had been BORN AGAIN. The world will turn back to IN THE BEGINNING when the world was formless, dark, void...CHAOTIC.

George eventually comes to his senses and realizes that he REALLY DID HAVE A WONDERFUL LIFE...in spite of the stuff that was happening. He prays to to be able to return...return back to his wife, his children, his friends. The events that drove him to the brink of despair...had NOT CHANGED...BUT....his perspective had changed.

GODISNOWHERE You may see GOD IS NO WHERE....or GOD IS NOW HERE...it all depends on your perspective. Well, George had a new perspective.

I love it when the movie opens up ...with people praying...as the camera pulls back and upward...as the prayers begin to swirl heavenward for George Bailey. it is a picture of COLLECTIVE INTERCESSION...for a man who can only breath out...a drunken prayer in Martini's Bar. These prayers...again...sets into motion DELIVERANCE.

As with real life prayers...versus celluloid prayers...there is a time gap between the point of prayer and the point of provision. I like to call this gap...the land of nitty gritty. This is a land where we WALK BY FAITH...not by sight (things revealed to the senses Hebrews 11:1). A land where on the surface...things actually may appear to get worse. It is the type of gap experienced by Daniel when he prayed a prayer...and the angel rolled in 21 days from the point of the original prayer....saying that the prayer was heard on the first day...but the prince of Persia (a spiritual entity)...had been battling to keep the angel from arriving.

Take a look around you. Stop at work...and see the people that you are working with...and the people you live with...and the people you go to church with...and the casual friends...and those you pass by everyday as you drive from work. Imagine what their lives would be like if you were NOT IN THE MIX. Imagine what if would be like if you were not praying, loving, giving words of encouragement...living out your faith in a real practical manner.

Stop and RUMINATE. You ARE IN peoples lives. You are NOT AN ISLAND of ISOLATION.
Sometimes we act as if we were never born....and avoid the very people that need us. Oh we may not consciously do it...but when we ignore or become numb to people, situations, circumstances...and just walk around with automatic pilot on and don't realize that God is using imperfect people to manifest himself in this lost and dying world. I want to wake up to the fact that I AM IN THEIR LIVES...and I CAN HAVE INFLUENCE...and I MAKE A DIFFERENCE in this world. Darrell Worley has a great song called AWFUL BEAUTIFUL LIFE that talks about the mix in life of the good, bad, and ugly...is what makes up our lives....but when you have a different perspective...it may be awful at times...but overall...IT'S A BEAUTIFUL LIFE. This is especially true...when we LOVE GOD...LOVE PEOPLE AND SERVE OTHERS. It really is a WONDERFUL LIFE...that we need to be sharing with others...in JESUS CHRIST...and His yoke destroying, burden lifting, oppression removing, healing power of the Holy Ghost.


Now a break for a commercial.

At Smyrna Assembly (MY CHURCH HOME)....LAMPLIGHTERS THEATER is presenting a play called IT'S A WONDERFUL LIFE ( A Live Radio Play by Joe Landry). This is not your typical "church play". This is a church play...on steroid. BAM!!! This is a wonderful opportunity to see a RADIO VERSION of the movie. I love OLD TIME RADIO.

"Set in the Golden Age of Radio...this delightful retelling of the story of a man who believes he has nothing to live for...and an angel who just wants to earn his wings, will enchant and entertain every member of the family. Five actors performs the dozens of characters in the play as well as producing all of the sound effects."

You DON'T want to miss this opportunity. If you are in the are...make a night out of it. Get a date...take out your wife...bring your family...kick off the reason for the season.

WHO: You
WHAT: Lamplighter's Production of IT'S A WONDERFUL LIFE: A LIVE RADIO PLAY
WHEN: December 4th, 5th, 6th, 7th...and December 11th, 12th, 13th, 14th
WHERE: Smyrna Assembly 12119 Old Nashville Highway Smyrna, TN 37167
WHY: Why not?
HOW: For ticket information go to http://www.smyrnaassembly.org/ or call (615) 459-3421


THANKS AND A TIP O' DA HAT TO LAMPLIGHTERS THEATER FOR TAKING BACK THE ARTS FOR THE GLORY OF GOD!!!

FINAL THOUGHTS....FINALLY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

It rains on the just and the unjust...storms/rain/winds blows on houses built on sand and storms/rain/winds blows on houses built on the rock. In Jesus it really is a WONDERFUL LIFE....even in the midst of the storms.

Love and Wonderful Life Kisses
Rodney "I Love Old Time Radio" Boyd