Have you ever been to Disney World,Universal Studios, or have even taken part in a high school, church or other kind of musical that is required to build a set?  I have been thinking about this of recent and was reminded of this on my recent trip to Anderson University…which by the way is a great University!!

I watch movies all of the time, and in fact I have actually never thought of the time that goes into building the set, making it look so amazing that when we watch it at home it looks real…but in all honesty, most of them only look real from the front.  As I have taken some vacations to Disney, and other theme parks, they always want you to feel that you are somewhere that you are not….main street of New York, Paris, whatever city it is, they want you actually to be able to live there for the time that you visit.  Have you ever had the opportunity to be backstage and actually see what they look like….If I am a guessin man and I am going to be… it looks like plywood and 2×4’s…something that you may actually not build a dog house out of because it will rot in a strong storm…or will break in a high wind!!

So I began to think…wow… is that not how alot of people spend their lives…like a movie set, where countless hours are spent trying to make people feel that you are stronger than what you are!  While inside you know that if a certain temptation comes, you will break and if people would actually dig a little deeper into your life, it would actually look like crap, and would people really want to follow or watch your movie if they actually knew what the set truly looked like?

I know this was a complete revelation for me…to actually let people see the crap of my life, so that my set could be authentic…and that it looks the same on the back as it does on the front?  Now there are constant times where I spend time rebuilding, or maybe I should actually say letting God have the tools, but letting people see who I really am, the true me!

For some thoughts from scripture that sort of relate to living real….

Mark 4:1-20 (New International Version)

Mark 4
The Parable of the Sower
1Again Jesus began to teach by the lake. The crowd that gathered around him was so large that he got into a boat and sat in it out on the lake, while all the people were along the shore at the water’s edge. 2He taught them many things by parables, and in his teaching said: 3″Listen! A farmer went out to sow his seed. 4As he was scattering the seed, some fell along the path, and the birds came and ate it up. 5Some fell on rocky places, where it did not have much soil. It sprang up quickly, because the soil was shallow. 6But when the sun came up, the plants were scorched, and they withered because they had no root. 7Other seed fell among thorns, which grew up and choked the plants, so that they did not bear grain. 8Still other seed fell on good soil. It came up, grew and produced a crop, multiplying thirty, sixty, or even a hundred times.”

9Then Jesus said, “He who has ears to hear, let him hear.”

10When he was alone, the Twelve and the others around him asked him about the parables. 11He told them, “The secret of the kingdom of God has been given to you. But to those on the outside everything is said in parables 12so that,
” they may be ever seeing but never perceiving,
and ever hearing but never understanding;
otherwise they might turn and be forgiven!”

13Then Jesus said to them, “Don’t you understand this parable? How then will you understand any parable? 14The farmer sows the word. 15Some people are like seed along the path, where the word is sown. As soon as they hear it, Satan comes and takes away the word that was sown in them. 16Others, like seed sown on rocky places, hear the word and at once receive it with joy. 17But since they have no root, they last only a short time. When trouble or persecution comes because of the word, they quickly fall away. 18Still others, like seed sown among thorns, hear the word; 19but the worries of this life, the deceitfulness of wealth and the desires for other things come in and choke the word, making it unfruitful. 20Others, like seed sown on good soil, hear the word, accept it, and produce a crop—thirty, sixty or even a hundred times what was sown.”

Any thoughts???
For a fun exercise…if you were played in a movie who would be the actor or actress that portrays you, and what kind of movie would it be???
For me… I would want Kevin James to play me in a Comedy of course!!