God Adventures E-Book

Darren Wilson

• Herausgeber: BroadStreet Publishing Group, LLC
• Kategorie: Religion und Spiritualität
• Sprache: Englisch
• Veröffentlichungsjahr: 2016

Seitenzahl: 225

Beschreibung

For many people, Christianity has become an institution of rules, duty, and potlucks. But for filmmaker Darren Wilson, his life of cultural Christianity changed radically when a powerful encounter with God led him to begin making films that attempted to display the God of the Bible in living color. What happened over the next ten years has affected millions around the world, and has set fires ablaze in hearts that have long sat dormant.   God Adventures is an honest and compelling book about the events surrounding the making of these powerful films (Finger of God, Furious Love, Father of Lights, Holy Ghost, and Holy Ghost Reborn), and is designed to take you into a deeper, more fulfilling and, yes, riskier relationship with God.   Like Darren's films, this book focuses on: - God's miraculous power and overpowering love. - A Father desperately pursuing His children. - The often misunderstood third Person of the Trinity and His relationship to the modern believer. - God's dominance over other gods and supernatural powers. - How the Holy Spirit wants to use everyone to bring change and healing to the world, not just professional ministers. Christianity was never meant to be a social club—it was meant to change the world. God Adventures provides biblical insight for the supernatural occurrences documented in Darren's films, along with behind-the-scenes stories that will inspire, engage, and challenge you to not settle for less than experiencing all of God.   

Leseprobe

ENDORSEMENTS

Darren Wilson is an extremely important voice in this hour. He is a man of integrity, with an all too rare quality—he is willing to takes risks. I love that willingness because out of that has come wonderful films and books that help disciple a generation in the supernatural lifestyle, naturally. But it’s the way he trains that I think is so brilliant: it’s through adventure. I have no doubt that this book, God Adventures, will once again inspire and train all of us to live the lifestyle that Jesus intended for us. Read and be challenged and changed.

—BILL JOHNSON,

Senior Leader, Bethel Church, Redding, CA

I have great respect for Darren Wilson both as an artist and, more importantly, as a man of God. He chases God the way a songwriter chases a melody, with passion and purpose. He’s not afraid to tackle difficult, thorny issues—all because of his desire to know God better and make Jesus famous through everything he creates.

—MICHAEL W. SMITH,

singer and songwriter

Fearless. That’s the word that comes to mind when I think of my friend Darren Wilson. Darren has documented so many strange occurrences regarding the supernatural without worrying about his reputation. In his new book God Adventures, Darren shares intimate, behind-the-scenes details of some of the most mysterious things God has done in his films. In doing so, he reveals the living Son of God who will stop at nothing to reach the objects of His desire. God Adventures has amazing potential to awaken the sleeping non-believer as well as strengthen the faith of the spiritually mature.

—BRIAN “HEAD” WELCH,

Grammy-winning guitarist from Korn and New York Times best-selling author of Save Me From Myself

Darren has pushed the boundaries of Christian films to a new level, capturing the heart of the Father in action while at the same time provoking the Body of Christ to take action and trust God to show up. He is an amazing man and a personal friend. I am so thankful for his life and grateful for the gift that he is to the Body of Christ.

—TODD WHITE,

founder of Lifestyle Christianity

I have had the pleasure of knowing Darren Wilson for a few years now and was honored to work with him on a couple of his projects. Whenever I get around Darren, I feel my faith and my hunger to know God rise more. And that is exactly what his new book God Adventures will do for you! To hear such incredible stories of the faithfulness and love of Jesus is both inspiring and provoking.

—KIM WALKER-SMITH,

singer and songwriter

I’m going to quote Darren from his own book, God Adventures, because I believe it to be important. “God is bigger than our religious bickering about how we minister.” In this day and age, it would be a shame to miss this, and this book goes a long way in helping you understand that fact.

—MARC FORD,

singer, songwriter, and former lead guitarist for The Black Crowes

I have personally witnessed Darren Wilson find a deep level of friendship with God through the progression of films that he has produced and my friendship with him. You will find this book a valuable resource for your own spiritual formation. Darren is not just a filmmaker—he is a friend of God.

—CHAD NORRIS,

Senior Pastor, Bridgeway Church, Greenville, SC

God Adventures is a true journey on how to see God direct everyday opportunities into becoming miraculous events that reach beyond human ability. Darren Wilson is the real deal and this book is a must read for anyone desiring to encounter the supernatural!

—ROBBY DAWKINS,

minister and evangelist

Step into the world of the supernatural with Darren Wilson’s new book, God Adventures. A skeptic at first, Darren masterfully takes us on a journey of the undeniable, transforming power of God and how it changed his life. This book could radically alter your walk with God, taking you from the outer court of a boring existence to the holy place of divine encounters. I highly recommend it.

—KRIS VALLOTTON,

Senior Associate Leader, Bethel Church, Redding, CA, and co-founder of Bethel School of Supernatural Ministry

Darren Wilson’s honest search to capture the mysteries of God on film has moved many faith mountains for Christians who are just not satisfied with a diluted description of Christ. Darren has a calling to move seeking believers away from the idea that Jesus is “just another historical mythical character,” and he allows the Holy Spirit (through his films and ministry) to kick-start them into knowing Jesus as their true and loving God and Savior. Transcribing his experiences and face-to-face meetings with God from the big screen onto paper is the logical next step to expand the legacy of a “normal guy” who wouldn’t settle for a man-made god. His tangible experiences will pull you into the miraculous, and his testimony will be a weapon in your arsenal against the enemy.

As Revelation 12:11 says, “And they overcame him by the blood of the Lamb and by the word of their testimony, and they did not love their lives to the death.”

—LEON SCHOEMAN,

Director of channels for TBN United Kingdom, Europe, and Africa

BroadStreet Publishing Group, LLC

Racine, Wisconsin, USA

www.broadstreetpublishing.com

God Adventures: Don’t Settle for Less Than Experiencing More

Copyright © 2016 by Darren Wilson

ISBN-13: 978-1-4245-5269-6

ISBN-13: 978-1-4245-5270-2

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced in any form, except for brief quotations in printed reviews, without permission in writing from the publisher.

All Scripture quotations, unless indicated otherwise, are from the ESV® Bible (The Holy Bible, English Standard Version®), copyright © 2001 by Crossway, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers. Used by permission. All rights reserved. Scripture quotations marked NKJV are taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved. Scripture quotations marked NASB are taken from the New American Standard Bible®, copyright © 1960, 1962, 1963, 1968, 1971, 1972, 1973, 1975, 1977, 1995 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. Scripture quotations marked NRSV are taken from New Revised Standard Version Bible, copyright © 1989, Division of Christian Education of the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved. All indications of emphasis in Scripture quotations are those of the author. Scripture quotations marked NIV are taken from the Holy Bible, New International Version®, NIV® Copyright ©1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.® Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide. All emphases in Scripture quotations are those of the author.

Stock or custom editions of BroadStreet Publishing titles may be purchased in bulk for educational, business, ministry, fund-raising, or sales promotional use. For information, please e-mail [email protected].

Edited by Nathanael White

Cover design by Chris Garborg, GarborgDesign.com

Typesetting by Katherine Lloyd, theDESKonline.com

Printed in the United States of America

16 17 18 19 20 5 4 3 2 1

This book is dedicated to my lovely wife, Jenell. If it weren’t for you, none of these lessons would have ever been learned, and I’d still be a spiritually dying man. While the world may be a better place because you never gave up on me, my world is a better place simply because you said yes to me. Thank you for being a wonderful wife, a wonderful mother, and a wonderful daughter of the King.

CONTENTS

one

God Is Mysteriously Good

two

God Is Creative

three

God Is Supernaturally Interactive

four

God Is the Original

five

God Is Untaintable

six

God Is Pure

seven

God Is the Same to Everyone

eight

God Is Gracious

nine

God Is Focused

ten

God Is Loving-Kindness

eleven

God Is Multicultural

twelve

God Is God

Take Your First Step

Acknowledgments

About the Author

one

God Is Mysteriously Good

God isn’t limited to doing things we understand; everyone knows that. But does he do things that are patently strange? Would he really cover people in gold dust, drop gemstones at random, and release modern-day manna? Even if he did, why would he do it? The truth is, he does do these things today, strange as it may seem. What’s more, these signs and wonders really do show just how good God is.

When I finished producing my first movie, Finger of God, I had no idea how people would react. There had never really been a movie like this, at least nothing about the subject of miracles that had been put together in this way. So I didn’t know if I had a strange, quirky movie or something of real power and potency. My honest thought was that I would be lucky if a thousand people saw this film in my lifetime.

But I wanted to make sure I was putting out something that worked on some level, so I gathered around thirty friends, colleagues, and acquaintances into a classroom at Judson University, where I worked, and hit the play button.

Ninety minutes later, the lights came up and I received my first-ever standing ovation. My sister and brother-in-law came up to me, tears in their eyes, and hugged me. Some people were too emotional to even speak to me. One friend of mine was receiving prayer in the corner, and she was wailing—loudly. At that moment I thought two things:

First, I think this movie might be on to something. Second, Things are never going to be the same again.

Later that night, I read the comment sheets I had passed out, and boy, for a group of people who had been so overwhelmed by the film, they sure had a lot of specific opinions about it. One opinion stood out above all the others:

“Those first fifteen minutes are going to be a problem.”

For those of you who haven’t seen Finger of God, let me pause and explain what that comment referred to. Basically, in the first fifteen minutes of Finger of God, four strange things are shown: 1) people miraculously getting gold teeth, 2) gold dust appearing out of nowhere, 3) manna showing up out of thin air, and 4) gigantic gemstones (as well as little ones) suddenly appearing.

If you’ve never heard of these things, your first thought is probably, That’s insane. And if you’re a true skeptic, your next thought will be about how you can disprove these claims. The right approach, however, is a balance between cautious discernment and a fertile heart, remembering that God is his own person and can do whatever he likes, whether we’re comfortable with it or not. That’s at least what I tried to do when I set out to film this stuff.

The only insight I can give on these things is my experience with them. Having made the Finger of God movie, I’ve heard more stories of the supernatural than the average bear. But in the end, I can only speak to what I saw and what happened in front of me. So that’s what you’re about to read: my eyewitness accounts of these mysterious supernatural acts.

Gold Teeth

This phenomenon has been happening, as far as I know, since an “outpouring” occurred at the Toronto Airport Christian Fellowship in 1994. Thousands of people have claimed to receive gold teeth, and among those are two people who are very close to me: my Aunt Patsy and Uncle Bob.

Now, the skeptic in me is quite willing to call everyone else claiming this miracle a liar. Indeed, when I filmed John and Carol Arnott, the senior pastors of TACF during the outpouring, John told me they were as interested as anyone in finding out if this was actually happening, and they hired an outside service to come in and investigate the claims as an impartial jury.

What they found was that roughly one-third of the people who claimed God had given them gold teeth had received dental work containing gold in the past and simply forgotten about it amid the hubbub and excitement of the moment. Roughly one-third of the claimants experienced their gold teeth “fading” back to normal teeth for whatever reason. But one-third of the claimants had received no dental work and still had gold teeth shining in their mouths.

I found this information quite helpful. It meant the people in charge were as curious about the truth as I was. It also cemented what I had previously thought—that not every claim of the miraculous was legitimate. Still, I had to contend with one-third of thousands of testimonies.

But even if every other claim had been proven false, I had to face the fact that my aunt and uncle, my own flesh and blood, people I had known my whole life and who were about as normal as you can get (she’s a stay-at-home mom; he’s a school superintendent), had gone to church one day and left with gold in their mouths. Aunt Patsy got one gold tooth; Uncle Bob got two. This is bizzaro-world to the extreme, and believe me, I was extremely skeptical. But there it was, literally staring me in the face as I looked at my own family.

What people rage against the most with this stuff is not whether it legitimately happens, but that it seemingly serves no purpose. Even if we discount the idea that God might want to do some things just for the fun of it (we do that all the time, and we were created in his image), we are still left with a few explanations. Many people I have talked to who have received gold teeth feel it is a constant reminder that God touched them, that he loves them, and that to him, they are a treasure. It drives them closer into his arms.

Even so, to the outside observer, it seems random, superfluous, and dumb. They say, “There are starving children all over the world, and you’re telling me God is going to put gold in someone’s mouth? If he’s willing to do that, why won’t he drop a few hundred dollars into every beggar’s hands? Wouldn’t that be more helpful?” So we scoff at it and throw it off as lunacy.

Some people say it’s the devil trying to trick people with fake signs and wonders, to get their minds off of God and onto this superficial stuff. At first this seems like a good argument. But based on the people I have talked to and on the experience of my aunt and uncle, it doesn’t hold water. While it is true that for some observers, the action leads to an unhealthy obsession with chasing after signs and wonders, to the receiver it brings a deeper sense of his love for them, and they are humbled, exhilarated, and profoundly affected. I’ve never met anyone who wants to give it back.

My aunt and uncle went to Toronto in a last-ditch effort to save their marriage (not in pursuit of dental work). Uncle Bob had a tumultuous, abusive upbringing, and as a result became somewhat tumultuous and angry as an adult. Aunt Patsy was commonly referred to as the “super Christian” in our family. Together they obviously had their struggles. Pat wrestled with Bob’s anger issues, and Bob grappled with a deep sense of shame and guilt, feeling like a spiritual outcast compared to Pat. His personal issues clouded his sense of self-worth, and that made things worse. By the time they entered the doors in Toronto, it was do-or-die time. God had to show up for them or it was over.

At one point in the service, John Arnott took the stage and announced that he thought God had just released gold teeth in the church, and he told everyone to check their mouths. My aunt and uncle did no such thing. When I talked to them about it afterward, they had very different takes on why they didn’t check their mouths, even while those around them did.

Aunt Patsy told me she knew God hadn’t done something like that, nor did she particularly care for it, because the whole concept of getting gold teeth was not for her. At least that’s what she thought. But later that day, on a lark, their son had her open her mouth so he could check. My cousin Bobby took one look in his mother’s mouth and his eyes turned wide with shock. “You got a whopper!” I think was his exact quote.

No one bothered to check Bob’s teeth. As he told me, even after his wife got a gold tooth, it never occurred to him that God would do something like that to him because, well, God didn’t do those kinds of things to people like him. There was no way God could love him that much.

But the next day, when his wife walked beside him to go up to the front of the stage to testify what had just happened to her, my uncle smelled an odor similar to what people smell when a dentist is drilling. As they were leaving the church that night, someone in their party asked Bob to open his mouth so they could check, just in case. They discovered that he had two gold teeth. Neither Pat nor Bob knew how to handle it or what it meant, but they were overjoyed that God would touch them in such a strange, unique way.

Shortly after it happened, my aunt received a word during a time of prayer. The word was simple yet powerful: “Pat, I have seen your faithfulness, and I have seen your struggles. I want you to know how proud I am of you, how much I love you. This is, in a sense, your gift for years of loving me despite what it cost you.”

Then it was Bob’s turn to get a word. “Bob, I want you to realize something very important. You have always felt left out, in a way. You have believed that Pat has earned my love while you have not, and you feel like she is more highly favored in my eyes than you are. But I want you to realize that I gave you a double portion of what I gave to her. I did this not because you deserve it, but because I love you so very much.”

Instantly, their hearts melted.

This strange occurrence, which many well-meaning Christians have decried as demonic, was the event that began the restoration of their marriage. They are happily married to this day, and they both have a deeper sense of the Father’s love for them, which allows them to love each other more effectively. After all, you can’t give love to others if you don’t know love yourself.

As far as the legitimacy of the miracle goes, that question has been answered, both in my family and by an independent research firm. And in answer to the accusation that it’s demonic, Jesus said that a house divided against itself can’t stand (Matthew 12:24–28). The devil isn’t in the business of restoring marriages, but God is.

Gold teeth are most certainly straight from God, and they are leading to even more miracles.

Gold Dust

One of my first personal encounters with gold dust was early on in the filming of Finger of God. I went to a meeting in Chicago to try to capture random signs and wonders. At that point in my film career, I didn’t have a lot of faith that God would show up and do something for my cameras—but I hoped he would.

I had brought two of my students from Judson to help. When we arrived, I took off my black coat and put it in the corner, on top of one of my students’ coats. My other student put his on top of mine. The coat on top of mine was made of cotton sweatshirt material.

The meeting hadn’t started yet, and the worship team was practicing. I walked around a bit, set up some cameras, and talked to my guys about what we’d be trying to do that night. At one point, I went back to my coat to get something. When I lifted the sweatshirt off of my coat, I saw that it was coated with gold dust. I called the students over and showed them, and none of us knew what to think about it. I was so shocked that I forgot to film it!

At that meeting, as well as others I attended and filmed, gold dust regularly appeared, usually on people in the audience. Rarely did it fall on the person speaking. I was fascinated by the apparent randomness of where it appeared. Sometimes people freaked out over a fleck of something that sparkled like gold, and everyone crowded around to look at this tiny, microscopic thing. I thought, This is why people think you all are nuts. Many people are so hungry for the supernatural that they will grasp at any straw in the hopes that it’s the real thing.

This mentality is what turns many people off to these things. There is a common belief that charismatics check their brains at the door when they go to church—and for some people, this is true. But Jesus called us to love him with all our heart, soul, and mind. We are to react to what is happening around us with discernment and wisdom, but we must also make certain our hearts are positioned as a child’s.

The thought that we must become like children is misunderstood, I think. Hard-core charismatics will tell you that we need to be willing to believe anything. (They actually believe in everything.) But when my children interact with the world around them, they don’t believe everything they see. In fact, I have shown them things that people have sent to me, things that could very well be supernatural, and they have said something like, “It looks like sand to me.” They see no need to believe in the supernatural to prove they are right about anything. But they readily believe that if God chooses to do something supernatural, of course it will happen.

Another argument I often hear when people don’t want to believe this stuff is that it only happens in America. But since Americans are rich compared to much of the rest of the world, it doesn’t make sense that God would give us gold when the streets of Calcutta are filled with starving, homeless men, women, and children. This is proof, they say, that charlatans are behind this.

When I was making Finger of God, the idea that millions around the world would see these things I captured and would dissect them in detail was as far from my thinking as the Earth is from the moon. I was just trying to tell a compelling story. I wasn’t creating an exposé. I wasn’t trying to document hard evidence. Shoot, when Heidi Baker asked me what the movie was about just before I started our interview, my lame answer was “Miracles … I think.” I was just filming the journey of one man (me) who was slowly coming to grips with the infinite possibilities of a limitless God.

Once my film journey left the realm of signs and wonders, I didn’t want to return to them or search for them. Of course, I kept hearing of signs and wonders happening everywhere I went—Africa, Eastern Europe, Australia, South America, China. But I was no longer pursuing them as a subject in the movie because the miracles I was encountering were way better and more exciting than shiny objects. But I can understand why people would think that they only happen in America, because that is all I showed.

When I was filming Furious Love, my crew and I were walking with some friends on the streets of Jakarta, Indonesia, and a bunch of beggar children approached us for money. We couldn’t give them anything without causing a near riot. But we could pray for them, and that’s what we did. We laid our hands on their heads and prayed for God’s blessing over them, his protection over them, and his provision for them. When we finished, the kids started freaking out because their hands were suddenly covered in gold dust.

When I showed Finger of God at Judson University, an American Baptist institution, more than twenty students found gold dust on themselves afterward. Almost none of them had grown up in charismatic circles, and no one knew what to do about this occurrence. None of them screamed that it was from the devil or that someone must have come by and sprinkled it on them without their knowledge. They just worshiped God even more.

Hundreds of people have approached me with stories of their own experiences that seem straight out of a sci-fi movie. These are all normal, wonderful people. They aren’t looking for me to put them in my next movie; they just want to talk to someone who will probably believe them. In every case, the act brings them closer to the Father’s heart and love for them.

Manna from Heaven

By the time I was putting my movie together, gold dust and gold teeth were fairly common occurrences. I had heard and seen enough of those things with my own eyes to be confident that much of it was legitimate. But when I encountered manna, that was a whole new ball game.

Manna is tricky for skeptics to disprove because it is in the Bible. The only plausible defense against it is that you don’t believe God is in the business of miracles anymore. That is implausible if you look at the facts.

I knew of only one couple who’d had an experience with manna. Harold and Kaye Beyer, an older couple from Idaho, had apparently seen manna instantly appear, either in Harold’s hands or in his Bible, for more than thirty-six years. They kept it secret for a long time because they didn’t want people to think they were con artists or insane. When the truth got out, their world turned upside down. This nice, normal Lutheran couple were kicked out of their church, ostracized by their friends, and considered “dangerous.”

They came to a church in Chicago to speak, and I showed up with my camera, hoping to capture the manna appearing out of thin air. Hey, a guy can dream, right? By the time the service started, manna had already appeared and I’d missed it. I was pretty bummed about that! But then I found out that it had happened in the hallway just outside the meeting room. Ten people were with Harold and Kaye, some of whom were friends of mine, when suddenly Harold stopped walking and everyone gathered around to pray. All eyes were on this sweet, unassuming eighty-six-year-old man as he put his hands out in front of him. Suddenly, everyone felt a shift in the atmosphere, and instantly his hands were overflowing with manna.