\u201cFrozen,\u201d the recent Disney movie, seems to have taken kid-dom by storm. At least in my world. My two girls know all the songs, play the characters, and love the story. It is an astonishing tale with bright colors, flying ice, dramatic turns.<\/p>\n
And that\u2019s just the latest. Before that there was Despicable Me, about astonishing characters that don\u2019t exist in real life (minions, among others). And the Lion King, where animals talk. And Toy Story, where inanimate dolls do. Finding Nemo, where fish and sharks sing together. That\u2019s not to go into Monsters University, or How to Train Your Dragon, or even further back into Cinderella, Sleeping Beauty, or Snow White.<\/p>\n
Here\u2019s the thing\u2026 they are all unreal and fantastical. And they are all astonishing.<\/p>\n
Movies have done that. Graphics and colors and movement\u2026 they have raised the bar on astonishing. Good news comes in fairy-godmother forms, magical responses, wondrous self-realizations.<\/p>\n
I wonder in the midst of all of it \u2013 are we astonished by the real Good News? Does the Gospel \u2013 the incredible, way-more-than-Disney-could-ever-do awesome news of God become man, Jesus Christ who atoned for our sin on the cross and rose from the dead and lives forever to forgive and give life in his own name \u2013 does that still astonish me?
\nAnd what does it mean if it doesn\u2019t?<\/p>\n
Not that we\u2019re after feelings. But it seems like the really, really, really good news sometimes gets lost in the distraction of the colors and imaginations of man. The story of the Gospel could fit right into such an imagination. Yet it isn\u2019t imaginary. It\u2019s real, more real than anything else we know.<\/p>\n
So here\u2019s a push to re-evaluate the incredible-ness of the good news. Here\u2019s a vote for \u2018gospel astonishment.\u2019 Gospel astonishment that drives us to our knees, makes our hearts soft, leads us to sing, to act, to feel\u2026 and keeps us right where we need to be.<\/p>\n
\u201cGod made him who knew no sin to be sin for us, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.\u201d (2 Corinthians 5:21).<\/p><\/blockquote>\n
Astonishing!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
\u201cFrozen,\u201d the recent Disney movie, seems to have taken kid-dom by storm. At least in my world. My two girls know all the songs, play the characters, and love the story. It is an astonishing tale with bright colors, flying ice, dramatic turns. And that\u2019s just the latest. Before that there was Despicable Me, about … Continue reading How Astonished Are You?<\/span>