“We will send them a message” – Jake Sully, Avatar

I just watched Avatar, and couldn’t wait to blog about a few thoughts that stood out in my head. This series is digested best after watching the movie – the movie is definitely worth watching. First the trailer to set the stage:

“I’m probably speaking to a tree”, but…

The Na’vi believe in an earth spirit, similar to our concept of God, that guides all life on their planet, Pandora. There comes a point when Jake, the hero of our story, needs a little bit of divine intervention. And so taking a leap of faith, he asks for it.

Many of us have doubts about the spiritual, about religion, about God. I challenge you to do the same thing Jake Sully did – to take a leap of faith, and to ask God. “God, you might not be real”, but – are you real? what’s the truth? If God is real, he can meet you where you are.

And Jesus says, he will. From Matt 7: 7-8:

Ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you. For everyone who asks receives, and the one who seeks finds, and to the one who knocks it will be opened.

Question: Do you believe in God? If so, why? If not, what would make you believe?

Related posts:

1. “It is said the Na’vi are born twice” – Messages from Avatar, Part 2/6 “We will send them a message” – Jake Sully,...
2. “I cannot tell which world is real” – Messages from Avatar, Part 1/6 “We will send them a message” – Jake Sully,...
3. Does the Fire Burn In Your Heart? This past weekend I saw “The Road” with my parents....

“We will send them a message” – Jake Sully, Avatar

I just watched Avatar, and couldn’t wait to blog about a few thoughts that stood out in my head. This series is digested best after watching the movie – the movie is definitely worth watching. First the trailer to set the stage:

“It is said that the Na’vi are born twice.”

Fascinating concept, isn’t it, being born twice. The Na’vi are born once physically, and again spiritually, becoming part of the people. Just thinking about the concept alone fascinates me. What fascinates me even more, is that Jesus said the exact same thing:

From John 3:1-8:

Jesus answered him, “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born again he cannot see the kingdom of God.”

In Cameron’s fictional world, you had to be spiritually reborn to be truly part of the Na’vi. In God’s real world, you need to be spiritually born again to enter eternal life and be part of God’s kingdom.

In Rom 7:7-8, Paul writes:

For the mind that is set on the flesh is hostile to God, for it does not submit to God’s law; indeed, it cannot. Those who are in the flesh cannot please God.

Without being born again, we cannot know or please God. More about that here.

But what if God’s not real? In Part 3, we’ll be taking a brief look at that.

Question: What are your thoughts/beliefs on needing to be born again?

Related posts:

1. “I’m probably speaking to a tree” – Messages from Avatar, Part 3/6 “We will send them a message” – Jake Sully,...
2. “I cannot tell which world is real” – Messages from Avatar, Part 1/6 “We will send them a message” – Jake Sully,...
3. My Story: Video Growing up, I was deeply worried about my destiny --...

“We will send them a message” – Jake Sully, Avatar

I just watched Avatar, and couldn’t wait to blog about a few thoughts that stood out in my head. This series is digested best after watching the movie – the movie is definitely worth watching. First the trailer to set the stage:

“I cannot tell which world is real.”

In the movie, Jake Sully steps into an “Avatar”, a Na’vi body made for him, so he can work a deal for the humans with the Na’vi. He ends up being immersed in the Na’vi world for so long, that he has an identity crisis – is he human, or actually Na’vi?

In Jake’s case, this is fine, as both his conflicting worlds are real. However, in our case, it’s not.

Many of us abandon our real physical worlds for virtual online worlds. Instead of seeking God when we hit bottom, we dive into worldly pleasures to fill us, which for some of us is getting immersed into a video game online, or building a fake personality for ourselves on facebook, among others. This can ruin our lives.

Andrew recalls his experiences quitting World of Warcraft 4 times on his blog:

“My relationship with my wife was threatened by a fight over a petty game item. I was appalled that such a meaningless entity could intrude upon my relationship”

It is not just our physicial relationships that can suffer because of our indulgence, but more importantly, our relationship with God can be threatened. Things that practically consume our lives are our practical Gods, and God does not like his spot being replaced in our lives. From Rom 1:24-25:

“Therefore God gave them up in the lusts of their hearts to impurity… because they exchanged the truth about God for a lie and worshiped and served the creature rather than the Creator”

We all begin there – we’ve all replaced the real God with fake fantasy and worldly pleasures.

Question: What are some of your struggles in the pursuit of happiness or satisfaction?

Related posts:

1. “I’m probably speaking to a tree” – Messages from Avatar, Part 3/6 “We will send them a message” – Jake Sully,...
2. “It is said the Na’vi are born twice” – Messages from Avatar, Part 2/6 “We will send them a message” – Jake Sully,...
3. TeamJL: What’s TeamJL? I’ve got some time to kill as I wait for...