Part of the Rebellion

Last night we finally watched Catching Fire, the second in The Hunger Games movie series. It was totally awesome. To me at least. My husband sat in the corner halfway asleep. Anyways, I couldn't help feeling this ultra surge of girl power and energy rising within me as Katniss essentially helped to begin the rebellion that would liberate the districts from the oppressive power of The Capitol. Something about oppressed people rising up and saying, "HEY! We're not taking this anymore, treat us like human beings!" speaks to me. As I think it does to all of humanity.

We all have the desire to "rise above" or "revolt" against tyranny. Somewhere deep within us is a strong desire to fight for what is right. We may be too afraid to actually do anything, but when we see this attitude illuminated on the big screen, we can't help but love it.



So after the movie, I jumped up, did my District 12 salute thingy and declared that I was in fact now "a part of the rebellion". Then I started to realize, that I am in fact, a part of a rebellion. One of a different sort.

One of the coolest things I've ever heard was when someone said that the stories we write as humans that inspire us, are all in some way a story about Jesus even though we don't know it. The themes we see played out in our favorite movies:

• of rescue from slavery or oppression 
• a person of honor being reduced to a slave and lost away somewhere awaiting a rescuer
• sacrifice
• a brave knight going to the ends of the Earth in search of his bride
• and the happy endings where everything is once again made right

These are all themes out of the greatest story ever told. The one that is the backbone of our universe.

And that is why I think I'm part of the rebellion.

You see the story goes that we were created by a loving Father who created us with freedom. Freedom to be free. So we took that freedom and now we live in a world that is a little less good and a lot more evil. The Bible tells us that the so called ruler of this world is an ex-angel that of course, out of his pride, wanted to be God, and therefore created his own demise. He now roams the Earth and creates all kinds of evil, ultimately wanting all people to turn away from the God who loves them and join him in his rebellion against God. He wants all people to seek to be their own God, just as he did.

If you look at our society it's evidenced all around us. The rise of materialism, selfishness, hedonism, and godlessness as we spiral into our own caused demise shows that we are definitely under the power of an influence on this Earth that can be too strong to overcome on our own. Our minds are blinded.

Then in steps this figure of history, Jesus Christ some 2,000 years ago as a light in the darkness. He proposes a new way to live. Claims it to be the best way for us to live. Tells us of our state in the world, that we are living in our sins and not unseen by the one who sees everything. Our sins have not only stained our hearts but they've stained our world. This hero had come to make the world right. To set things in motion of a rescue plan, where all who believed in him could be washed clean. The ones who believed were ushered into a new realm called the Kingdom of God and now they lived in open rebellion to the sinful nature of the world, defying it's self-serving and self-gratifying customs in favor of self-sacrifice and love for others.

Disciples of Jesus have a new message to teach. You don't have to live in darkness. You can walk in the light. Come, follow Jesus and one day he will make this world right again. He will wipe away every tear and pain from this evil world and will remove the oppression we undergo daily.

As his troops, we live with that in mind. We do good, when we are wronged. We are not overcome by evil, but we do good in it's place. We urge people to be reconciled to God through Jesus and to experience freedom from the chains that sin places on them, and we await the day for the ultimate rebellion, when Jesus returns to set this world right.


"Satan, who is the god of this world, has blinded the minds of those who don't believe. They are unable to see the glorious light of the Good News. They don't understand this message about the glory of Christ, who is the exact likeness of God."

2 Corinthians 4:4


"Against its will, all creation was subjected to God’s curse. But with eager hope, the creation looks forward to the day when it will join God’s children in glorious freedom from death and decay. For we know that all creation has been groaning as in the pains of childbirth right up to the present time. And we believers also groan, even though we have the Holy Spirit within us as a foretaste of future glory, for we long for our bodies to be released from sin and suffering. We, too, wait with eager hope for the day when God will give us our full rights as his adopted children,[a] including the new bodies he has promised us."

Romans 8:20-23


"All this is from God, who through Christ reconciled us to himself and gave us the ministry of reconciliation; that is, in Christ God was reconciling[a] the world to himself, not counting their trespasses against them, and entrusting to us the message of reconciliation. Therefore, we are ambassadors for Christ, God making his appeal through us. We implore you on behalf of Christ, be reconciled to God. For our sake he made him to be sin who knew no sin, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God."

2 Corinthians 5:18-21


"Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth, for the old heaven and the old earth had disappeared. And the sea was also gone. And I saw the holy city, the new Jerusalem, coming down from God out of heaven like a bride beautifully dressed for her husband.

I heard a loud shout from the throne, saying, “Look, God’s home is now among his people! He will live with them, and they will be his people. God himself will be with them.[a] He will wipe every tear from their eyes, and there will be no more death or sorrow or crying or pain. All these things are gone forever.”

And the one sitting on the throne said, “Look, I am making everything new!” And then he said to me, “Write this down, for what I tell you is trustworthy and true.”  And he also said, “It is finished! I am the Alpha and the Omega—the Beginning and the End. To all who are thirsty I will give freely from the springs of the water of life. All who are victorious will inherit all these blessings, and I will be their God, and they will be my children."

Revelation 21:1-7