A few weeks ago Darren Wilson released his fourth full length documentary titled Holy Ghost. Darren has matured and grown into a man of God that hears from the Holy Spirit and takes what he is clearly hearing and applies it what you are seeing on the screen. It is not often that Christians make powerful films. However, the year of 2014 has marked a shift in Christian films. Noah( which wasn’t necessarily a Christian movie), God’s Not Dead, Heaven Is For Real and Son Of God all were released in the spring time. In 2013 the Bible Series was released of nearly 10 43 minute episodes of the chronicles of the bible.

I have always probably come across as not appreciating Christian films. I usually am really hard on those films because they( more times than not) do not usually deliver. Its always bad acting and a bad script that( with more professional help) and bigger budgets could actually turn out to be really powerful and impacting films. I reviewed Courageous and thought it was much approved but Facing the Giants and Fireproof, however, were not very good films. But I give credit to the Kendrick brothers for at least trying.

Written And Directed by: Darren Wilson

Luke 11:20(NIV) says, “But if I drive out demons by the finger of God, then the kingdom of God has come upon you.“

Darren’s first film showcases the question that many ask when seemingly “weird and unusual things” take place in church services. When Jesus Camp was released years back it had this same intention, however, it was not giving honor to God, rather it was showcasing how weirdo and bizarre Christian services can be. My bias towards the craziness has always been that I have been in the Pentecostal and Charismatic circle since I was a little kid. In 1998 I was 12 years old and I remember skipping school to go to church because Rodney Howard Brown was in town and he was lining up everyone around the church building so he could pray for them. Our church’s general population was a few thousand and I am sure when he was in town it was way more than that. But,  as I have grown up and have continued to see weird manifestations in church that on the front end and with a very superficial attitude connected to it, seems to not be God. It appears “foolish” when it could be God doing that on purpose.

Darren approaches manifestations and what may seem not like God with a very humble and sincere approach. His showcasing of manifestations is not a polemic towards those out there that would say, ” God, doesn’t do that kind of stuff today?” Darren is basically showing the idea that we are the one’s that limit God and really you can boldly say, without sounding trite or hackneyed-God, can do whatever He wants to do. That famous verse in  Psalm 135:6 “The LORD does whatever pleases him, in the heavens and on the earth, in the seas and all their depths.”  But, even in bowing down to this truth, we still must ‘test the Spirits’ and ‘test all things!’ And as the end of Hebrews 5 says, ‘exercise our senses.’ It is a must for us to ask God not what can you do but why are you doing what you are doing? It is also a fact that many in the body of Christ deny the Holy Spirit’s activity in the world today and that all the crazy/weird spirit and miracle stuff was limited just to the times of the Apostles. That is a whole post in it of itself, but that is totally not true for many, many reasons. God is more alive and well today then ever( you could really say that at any time in history) and His desire is to confound our ‘foolish’ thinking with His wonderful wisdom.

Bono has been known( and this quote flashes on the screen) for saying, “Religion is what you are left with when the Spirit leaves the building.” The first thing Darren shows is a church where( mostly elderly people) were receiving gold teeth. Some had no teeth in their mouth and others had fillings–both groups experienced gold appearing in their mouth. Others also experienced gold dust. He shows shots of preachers getting gold dust. Jon and Carol Arnott both say that Jesus tells us to be like children in order to get into the kingdom of heaven and it shouldn’t be so hard for us to see that people can get gold in their mouths when it tells us in the bible that heaven has ‘streets paved with gold.’ What is hard for us to embrace, however, is why would he do this.

The other mind blowing thing was Darren showing manna appearing inside of a bible in the same place multiple times in a church. The manna would appear in the passage in the book of Revelation that says in Rev. 2:17″ he who overcomes will be given the hidden manna.” So, why not? Why not do this and blow our minds.

Darren also interviews Bethel in Redding, California. And I love everything that comes in this process. Bill Johnson says that God for certain did not send Jesus so that all we could do is just do church and just tithe each week. The vision for our faith should be so much more than just being more tolerable and trying to be a better person. The Holy Spirit now is moving in the earth and seeing what God is doing at a place like Bethel is so amazing to me. They show how the Bethel kids go on what they call ‘treasure hunts!’

A treasure hunt is evangelism and a most exciting way to do it. You get with a bunch of friends and pray and ask God for visions and pictures( names, faces, colors) locations and even random things. After soaking it in you compare your notes to the other people you are working with and see if any of the people in the group got some of the same things. He shows in the film how they all get some of the same things and go and minister this girl at Cold Stone ice cream. The point is that we can hear God and we are empowered to go out and do the things that he tells us to do.

There is also a part where he shows footage of this African tent revival like meeting where people were saying that Jesus was walking through the crowd. The footage makes it look like an invisible ghost is blowing over people as it goes past them. I can’t really fathom that someone would try to make this kind of stuff up and use their camera special effect ability to fake something like that.

Other memorable quotes:

“God touched people and now our theology is more sophisticated now.”

A man that works in the middle east claims to pictures and visions of Angels and also admits that they baptize people in Saddam’s mansion( or one of many most likely).

” Weird and normal only make sense in a certain worldview and paradigm.”–John( a pastor

“As far as grids go, God doesn’t have one.”–Darren says

Jewels and gems appearing in people’s hands!

1 Cor. 4:20 “For the kingdom of God is not a matter of talk but of power.”
Everything that Jason Westerfield prays and does is super awesome and very inspiring!

Setting our John Wesley hearts to burn–our hearts to burn and having a lifestyle where we burn!

Bill Johnson saying, “Pay any price, go where it is, where it is going–Bill says–pay any price to get this!( in referring to the power of the Holy Spirit)

“God is only as big as your head!”

The church in China was  one million in 1949 and now in 2007 there are a hundred million–I think in China”..people meeting at 4:30am praying in a cave!

A desperate people plug into a powerful God! And the people have no bibles..

Heidi Baker goes into a village where she knows no one and heals all the blind people and tells everyone that is exactly what God is going to do–puts all the blind in front of everyone else in the village, so its for sure that the people know that the people are blind–and they get healed right then and there. She is so trusting in God!

“The biggest miracle of al is learning how to love.”

Heidi Baker saying–“loving god–dont complicate the gospel–loving God and loving the one that is in front of you.”