Hi everyone,
Not that long ago my oldest son was given an assignment in school to make a video which he was to edit and produce. It was just a minute long and I admit that it was pretty good. He was bitten by the video editing bug and has made another one at home just for kicks and giggles. I was impressed with the tools that are so accessible by pretty much anyone now that allow them to make very professional looking videos.
“Looking” being the operative word here. The content, well that is a different story entirely.
The video he made for school wasn’t too bad, I think he had to follow some guidelines of what he could show (basically it was an introduction to who he is, what he likes to do, and some other thing I don’t remember right now). But the one he made at home? Man alive what a gong show that was.
Again, it wasn’t bad per se, in fact the production quality was quite impressive. But the content… well let’s just say the video itself probably isn’t appropriate for sharing, but it was full of fart jokes, “but” jokes, and soooo many misspelled words. I found it hilarious, but that’s mostly because I’m an immature buffoon. I showed the video to some of my friends, and they just commented on how surprised they were that my son was so different from me… in that I would never misspell “butt”.
But for the content of the video, they said the apple does not fall too far from the tree. My son is just a fraction of my age and is already an immature buffoon as well.
Here are the readings for next week:
Amos 7:7-15
Psalm 85:8-13
Ephesians 1:3-14
Mark 6:14-29
What do these these texts have to do with video making? Not much, really (and even less with being an immature buffoon). But they all do have something in common, and that is inheritance, relationship, and influence. We read in Ephesians how God destines us to be God’s adopted children, and we see in Amos that as God’s adopted children, we are equipped and empowered by God’s love. Just as my own son inherits traits (good or bad) from his dad (blessing or a curse), we too inherit a power and authority from God.
This power and authority is found in truth.
The truth about God, the truth about the world, the truth about grace, mercy, and forgiveness. And sometimes this truth doesn’t sit well with others. Sometimes the truth doesn’t bring us glory or riches or fame. Sometimes the truth that we inherit will make people look at us weird. But this doesn’t meant that it isn’t exactly what it is… the truth.
John the baptizer had truth about Herod and the shady relationship he was in, and that cost John his life. I’m not saying that we should die for the truth, but we are at times led to sacrifice for it. But it would not be naught, as God’s truth is the true authority over the worldly powers that would want us to believe that their power is greater than ours, that they can throw their weight around to scare us, that their ability to break attendance records is something to be impressed with. Rather, we hold onto the God-given gift of grace, forgiveness, and truth of our salvation as God’s children, brought into community with each other, living in and expanding the kingdom of God.
Thanks be to God! Have a great week, everyone!