Dave Hop 
About ten years ago a friend said to me, ‘You should do a session where you show bits of films and relate them to the Bible.’ At least, with my fading memory, that’s the gist of what he said. Back then I turned up with a pile of video cassettes, all ready and cued, and I kept shoving them into a VCR. It was the start of something for me. A new way of communicating the Bible.
Since then I have spent countless hours using film, TV, comedy, news stories, and lots of other things that are out there to help folks connect with the Good Book.
And then I found it was nothing new really. The Bible is chock full of people using the culture of their day to communicate with folks about God and his kingdom. Jesus did it all the time. He took funny stories, old stories, popular anecdotes, bits of history, soap opera tales and retold them in such a way that folks remembered them and wanted to pass them on.
And these tales have gone down in history – the prodigal son, the wise and foolish builders, the good Samaritan and the parable of the sower. Jesus didn’t make them up – he took what was already out there in his culture and gave it a little twist. And 2000 years later we’re still telling those stories. So nowadays I advocate retelling them in ways that will help folks connect with them and remember them. Have a look at this little film on youtube:
YouTube video
‘I wrote the same thing – but different words.’
Jesus and the prophets took the same timeless message and kept reinventing the way they communicated it. Ezekiel used model making, performance art, cookery, hairdressing, hand clapping, foot stamping, mime, drama, DIY, proverbs, parables, stories and riddles. All kinds of media. Sometimes I wonder whether we get hamstrung by an over reverence for the message. But Jesus comes along and says this, ‘I give you the keys of the kingdom.’ Rabbis said this from time to time and it meant I give you permission to unlock my message for others. In whatever way you can. And he adds that when we do unlock it, heaven gets involved, so it’s not just down to us. The Holy Spirit, who we can not box, will be busy too.
So all of this is just by way of introducing the 100 Movie Moments I recently published for downloading and using whenever and wherever. You don’t need the DVDs. Just use them as you would any other kind of anecdote or entertaining story. Read them as they stand or paraphrase them in your own words. To find the PDF just click the link below here.
And then right click on the PDF and ‘click save’ as and then click the ‘save’ button.
Bingo! What could be easier.
Thanks for reading. Hope they prove useful.
A similart Podcast – A Million Keys
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