Doctor Strange with Paul McDonald and Britt Mooney
Paul McDonald and Britt Mooney get weird with Doctor Strange (2016) starring Benedict Cumberbatch, Chiwetel Ejiofor, and Rachel McAdams. They discuss the cost of transformation, the power of the unseen, and the difference between prayer and magic.
Join us as we discover God's truth in this movie.
Quotes
It takes a pretty big shift to see, in these moments of tragedy, how this can be an opportunity for a new path.
For so long, I’ve asked myself, “Why me?” And the real question is, “What now?”
What gave Steven Strange hope was the story of a miracle.
Our brokenness sends us on a journey.
When we try to find meaning in ourselves, the center cannot hold.
God’s invitation to a new life gives us fear and excitement.
Everything happens first in the unseen before the seen. What is unseen is more real than what is seen. What is unseen is eternal and matters most.
We have access to the source code, Jesus, the power that holds all of creation together.
We don’t think of prayer as an ultimate weapon. We pray for healing, then are surprised when it happens.
Jesus tells us why his prayers work: Because he prays out of relationship with the Father, and he prays according to God’s mission here on earth.
God puts us in position to learn and use what He’s taught us. We are put in difficult situation to be an agent of peace, a person of faith, to speak life into this hard situation.
God honors our choices. We have to choose to ask, we have to choose to seek, we have to choose to knock.
Our eternal life has already started.
The Kingdom of God is not about coercion or force. We long for intimacy and purpose.
When God calls you to submit and it feels like you will lose everything, guess what you really lose. You lose the fear, and the pride that keep you from the joy and purpose he has for you.
We give up what we think is everything to find that it was nothing, but what we gained is everything.
Themes
Identity tied up in what he does
Call to adventure can appear as trauma. As a guide, we must validate their pain.
It’s a hard shift to move from tragedy to see our new path. It’s not a quick pivot.
Men can feel like nothing without their work.
The cost of transformation is high. We must die to our old life to become the person God calls us to be.
Stories of transformation have power.
The unseen is more powerful and real than the seen.
We hold on to our old lives and old beliefs as long as we can. We can’t grow until we let go of all we thought we knew.
Why do some prayers work and some don’t? Study and practice.
Difference between prayer and magic. Magic is about controlling and manipulation of power. Prayer is about relationship and connecting with the Father. The relationship gives us power.
We have a choice as to the role we will play here on earth. We can choose to pursue comfort and safety, or to follow a harder way, a weirder way to save lives.
When we submit and surrender, we get back everything that we lost.
Resources
Moving Mountains: Praying with Passion, Confidence, and Authority by John Eldredge
Man’s Search for Meaning by Viktor Frankl
Questions to Ponder
What have you lost in life? Where is there trauma and wounding?
What is reality? How much weight do you put into the unseen world?
Where do you ask God, “Why are you doing this to me?”
Why do you pray? Does it feel magical and powerful? Does it feel like a speech to God? Or something else?
Where do you say, “Why me?” What would it be like to ask, “What’s next?”
How are you being called to become a supernatural warrior?
James 5:16 - The prayer of a righteous person is powerful and effective (NIV), has great power and produces wonderful results (NLT), is able to accomplish much (NASB), is very powerful in its effect (HCSB). As you read the various translations of this verse, what is your response?