I was in 7th grade when my life was changed forever!
It was at the Crown theater in beautiful downtown Collinsville, OK.
The Crown theater was a little one screen movie house (yes kids, once upon a time we got a choice of ONE movie, instead of sixteen) the theater was dark, dingy and it smelled unnaturally nasty (it was a lovely combination of mildew and old popcorn). the floor was always sticky (from years of accumulated dropped milk duds), and the seats made loud screeching noises every time you moved. But it was in that funky old theater that something truly magical happened…
I saw Star Wars for the first time.
The Opening scene took my breath away and captured my imagination.
It was like nothing i had ever seen….star destroyers & amazing music! I was transported to a place, “A long time ago in a galaxy far, far away….”
I was hooked! I was destined to be a star wars nerd forever.
I Collected action figures, trading cards and stickers.i had a R2D2 lunch box. I made homemade light sabers out of old toilet paper rolls and duct tape. I still have toys in my office & an impressive collection of Star Wars shirts.
Star Wars changed my life in other ways. it made me proud of my name…Up until that point, I had been the only Luke I ever knew. It wasn’t a super popular name. I got called Luke the Puke a lot ( yeah, I know, REAL original!!) but, suddenly people were calling me Luke Skywalker ( much cooler than a nickname involving vomit).
It Changed everything!!
That was the first movie which, as it turned out, was really the fourth movie. at first it was just “star wars” then it became “star wars…a new hope”
It changed everything!!
I wanted to be a Jedi…a mysterious warrior…a freedom fighter…a card carrying member of the rebel alliance.
It tapped into something deep within my soul, I wanted to fight injustice and evil though out the galaxy.
Turns out those cravings to do something stellar are not accidental.
I have been called upon to be a freedom fighter, to join a rebel alliance that offers a new hope!
I am a Jedi…for Jesus.
We can live as Jedis for Jesus, but we gotta let Him be our Master. In order to experience everything he has for us, we need to join the rebel alliance!
Rebel against the world…rebel against the norm…rebel against average…rebel against selfishness.
Jesus was not a skywalker, but He was a waterwalker and someday He will be a skycracker.
and He started a rebellion! He Turned everything upside down…which actually made it right side up!!!
Jesus changed everything!!
He wasn’t the kind of God that anybody expected, but he WAS the God who everybody needed.
He hung out with all the wrong people. he didn’t worry about what anybody thought. He didn’t play by the rules.
He introduced a Radical new way of loving people and doing things.
He created a rebel alliance…
An alliance for anybody who is sick of the world and media telling you what to do, how to dress, how to be a winner…c’mon rebel!
An alliance for anybody who is sick of a luke warm, wimpy version of Christianity…c’mon rebel!
An alliance for anybody who is Sick of normal, appropriate or average…c’mon rebel!
An alliance for anybody who is sick of a faith that is more about behaving than following Jesus…c’mon rebel!
An alliance for anybody who is Sick of seeing injustice, watching people hurt…c’mon rebel!
Rise above…grab ahold of something exciting and UNnormal!
There was a Luke in the Bible too. He wrote two really cool books:
the Gospel according to Luke, which tells the story of everything that Jesus began to do and teach. The birth of the rebellion…a new hope for mankind.
Then he wrote the sequel…the empire strikes back otherwise known as The book of Acts. It tells the story of the mission of Jesus carrying on thru his rebel alliance.
We dont meet one of my favorite characters until the second movie…YODA!!!
We dont meet one of the main characters in the rebel alliance until the second book…Paul.
Paul went from trying to destroy the rebellion to being a leader of the rebel alliance. He went from the dark side to the light side. He was a hardcore jedi for Jesus.
He was the Obi Wan of the early church! He had several padawans, one of them was a dude named Silas (Silas Skywalker?), everywhere they went they made some noise, they got a reputation.
Acts 16:20: “The whole city is in an uproar because of these Jews!” they shouted to the city officials.”
Acts 17:6: “…Paul and Silas have caused trouble all over the world,” they shouted, “and now they are here disturbing our city, too.”
Everywhere they went they stirred things up! They were rebels!
The church was never meant to be a clone army,
It’s a rebel alliance of beautifully unique scoundrels.
The Rebel alliance is for people who are:
* Intensely passionate for God.
* Believe that they are here to love people by any means necessary!
* Respond to evil with good and to hate with love…that’s how you start a real revolution!!!
* Have a fire in their eyes and in their gut
* Have a nothing is impossible mind set
* Believe that Jesus is not meek and mild, he is mighty and wild!
There is No age limit…membership is all about hunger and passion…Courage and compassion.
The Rebel alliance is not safe…you gotta be willing to risk it all for the cause!
You gotta be crazy enough to turn the world upside down.
Don’t let anything hold you back!!!
Members of the rebel alliance destroy the death stars in their life…fear, unforgiveness, insecurity, conformity, mediocrity.
Members of the rebel alliance have heard God say “I am your father” and it has changed everything!!
They have rebelled against:
low living,
selfishness,
pride,
evil,
apathy
They use the force of the Holy Spirit and they have pledged allegiance to their true master…Jesus Christ.
Join up! Join the rebel alliance.
“I will teach your ways to rebels, and they will return to you.” Ps. 51:13
carbonated joy 