Ghostbusters with Paul McDonald and Britt Mooney
Paul McDonald and Britt Mooney go back to the 80’s and talk about Ghostbusters (1984), starring Bill Murray, Dan Akroyd, Harold Ramis, and Sigourney Weaver. We have a fascination with the unseen world that drives us. We get to choose how we use our hard times and our pain. Our gifts and talents are given to us so that we can serve others. Strap on your packs, but don’t cross the streams—unless you have to.
Join us as we discover God’s truth in this movie.
Quotes
If you are supposed to go through that, God will give you the grace for whatever you’re supposed to do.
When you come face to face with what you’ve been looking for, but are unprepared, you run screaming away from it.
Just because it’s not seen doesn’t mean it’s not real.
Venkman accepts what he sees without trying to force it to fit into his interpretation.
We’re given our gifts to be a part of a larger story.
External success can pull us from what God is calling us to do.
God has plans for us, and the enemy has plans for us.
There are two people who believe you have a great calling and purpose: God and the devil.
The story God has for you is about His glory and serving others.
Curious asks questions in order to learn and understand. We were created to be curious.
Thoughts, purpose, destiny are all supernatural, unseen to us.
Law questions to tear down.
When we go against these unseen powers, I have the Holy Spirit, the most powerful thing in the room, and I need to learn how to use what’s been given to me in the unseen world.
There’s no downside to pursuing a deeper walk with Jesus.
The purpose is not to be rich or famous or cool, but simply to hear the cries of God’s people and to interact in the ways that only we can.
Our gifts and talents are there for us to serve others.
Themes
A fascination with the unseen world drives us, a desire that there is a purpose in our lives.
Tension in the movie between the scientific and the supernatural. The spirit world makes us uncomfortable in a world of control.
We have to accept what we see without forcing our interpretation on it.
Three types of people in this movie: Sheep – the general population that doesn’t really believe in the supernatural, don’t really see what’s going on, still plugged into the matrix. Sheepdogs – The ones who have seen reality, engage with the things outside the realm of “normal,” whose role is to protect the sheep. Wolves – tries to prevent sheep from becoming sheepdogs, disrespect the sheepdogs, want to maintain control and the status quo, squash any belief in the supernatural, asks questions not for curiosity but to find chinks in the armor, weaknesses to attack, represents the law and legal claims to attach our identity.
Responses to the supernatural mirror our response to our gifts: Disbelief, Use it for reputation/acclaim, Make money off it, or Use it in service to helping people.
We have a choice to how we use our hard times and pain—will we use it for eternal purposes or temporary or suffer for nothing?
The power we have available and the power of community
As we go through our training, the ghosts get harder. We find rest in those difficult moments because of God’s grace.
Dealing with the outcome/offer of being wrong vs being right.
They were given these gifts to be in place to save the city.
When we step into our purpose, there will be times it will feel like there is definitely a small chance that we might possibly survive. And to do what we are called to do, we might have to do the one thing we were told never to do.
We are in the right place when we are seeing and hearing God’s people.
Resources
Phoenix Roasters – phoenixroasters.coffee
Judgement House – judgementhouse.org
Reformation Day - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Reformation_Day
All Things New: Heaven, Earth, and the Restoration of Everything You Love by John Eldredge
“And he did not do many miracles there because of their lack of faith.” - Matthew 13:58 (NIV)
“It would seem that Our Lord finds our desires not too strong, but too weak. We are half-hearted creatures, fooling about with drink and sex and ambition when infinite joy is offered us, like an ignorant child who wants to go on making mud pies in a slum because he cannot imagine what is meant by the offer of a holiday at the sea. We are far too easily pleased.” -C.S. Lewis, The Weight of Glory
“As he went along, he saw a man blind from birth. His disciples asked him, “Rabbi, who sinned, this man or his parents, that he was born blind?” “Neither this man nor his parents sinned,” said Jesus, “but this happened so that the works of God might be displayed in him.” -John 9:1-3
“For we are God’s masterpiece. He has created us anew in Christ Jesus, so we can do the good things he planned for us long ago.” -Ephesians 2:10 (NLT)
“We demolish arguments and every pretension that sets itself up against the knowledge of God, and we take captive every thought to make it obedient to Christ.” -2 Corinthians 10:5 (NIV)
“The law of Moses was unable to save us because of the weakness of our sinful nature. So God did what the law could not do. He sent his own Son in a body like the bodies we sinners have. And in that body God declared an end to sin’s control over us by giving his Son as a sacrifice for our sins.” -Romans 8:3 (NLT)
Questions
How do you celebrate Halloween?
What’s your favorite part of the fall season? Football? Cooler air? Pumpkin spice? Something else?
How much do you fear the end times?
What do you believe about the unseen world? Where do those beliefs come from?
How have your beliefs about how the world works come into conflict with what you have experienced?
How would you react if you see cards start flying and books floating?
How can external success pull you away from what God is calling you to do?
When things fail (lose a job, marriage fails, sickness), how do you respond? Do you feel like it’s a lack of faith, some sin, God withdrawing His blessing?
Can you see God’s blessing even in trials and struggles?
What external things do you use to measure your walk with God?
How do you see others ask questions in curiosity or in order to attack? How do you do that?
What would crossing the streams look like for you?