“Fun” Friday: Raising The White Flag
by Debbie
[Editors Note: I wrote some of this before my sickness of Covid; some of this is new. My voice is still not up to par, so I think I am going to skip Monday next week and hope to be back fully on Wednesday… My apologies}
These last few weeks have been busy since I returned from vacation. As some of you know, I’ve made it a goal of mine to be more intentional in my relationship with God; I’ve attended a Warrior Up weeklong webinar on Facebook and continued to interact, even though it wrapped up. This group remains an excellent source of encouragement as I continue to deepen my relationship with Jesus and fulfill His Purpose in my life. I know I’m a work in progress and will be that way until the day of Christ’s return!
With that in mind, I’d like to share with you an inspirational movie that PureFlix has advertised on YouTube over the last few weeks. Although primarily geared to teenagers and youth group leaders, this movie gets you to think about your relationship with God in an eternal sense-With, with the fundamental question being, “Where will you go when you die?”
Led by God, Brandon Cobb (played by Brett Varvel) takes a temporary position as youth director along with his wife, Lisa (Terri Conn); the couple has a heart for the youth of their stomping grounds. But they do not know what they’re up against! From the very beginning, the group wants nothing to do with Brandon and his wish that they’d begin taking reading and memorizing the Bible more seriously.
Almost everyone except Natalie, that is. Natalie (played by Kennedy Tucker) is a solid Christian despite the circumstances she’s dealt with. Her parents died in a car crash, leaving their daughter to live with her aunt, and she also suffered from a stutter. This makes communication difficult and leads to group bullying.
Brandon, however, isn’t deterred; in fact, he will do almost anything to get his students involved-even challenging his students to a race around the track. When Brandon eventually loses, Teddy questions why he even tried: To which his wife replies, “Maybe he thought it was that important…”
After several more attempts to get them to open up, Brandon discusses his dilemma with his wife about how to keep the youth group entertaining and yet biblical at the same time. She agrees, pointing out that many teens grow up feeling indestructible. That gets Brandon thinking, What if I could show the students that this life is more than just a game?
At their next meeting, he takes the group to a cemetery; once there, he shares one of the most terrifying flights of his life- traveling home while experiencing turbulences.
“I thought I was going to die,”
After landing safely, Brandon explains how he went to thank the captain for his expert piloting; he openly shared how scared he had been.
The pilot smiles graciously but then explains there was no need to be concerned. “I had all the way,”
I had it all the way.
Squirrel, who seems to be the “tough guy” of the group, is most intrigued by this sentiment.
Brandon continues explaining the importance of surrendering one’s life to Jesus Christ. From then on, we see a shift within the group as each one comes to group surrenders to God in their own way.
For Squirrel, this meant coming clean with his employer and admitting he has been “buffering” time on his time card; he goes even further by giving back all the money he’s taken.
Some, though, refuse to take part in any of the changes-claiming the group has been “brainwashed”; Marcy (played by Kylie Brown) is determined to do anything to get Brandon and Lisa out there!
Even lie..
I won’t tell you what happens next- you’ll have to watch it on your own. I will say that when he brings up the idea of giving his students a white flag to raise when they feel they are “completely committed” to Christ was a good idea. It was a symbolic reminder of the day they surrendered their life to Him.