There are now less than four weeks until the release of The Passion of the Christ on Wednesday, February 25th. The swirling controversies, the glowing endorsements of many respected leaders, and the fact that it is Mel Gibson who has produced and directed this masterpiece, has anticipation at a fever pitch. There is no doubt in my mind that people will go to see this movie. The question is, "Will we, the church of Christ, be ready for the impact that this film will have?"

A number of people have asked me if I feel this movie is for Christians or non-Christians. My answer is yes to both! I believe that every Christian will be deeply stirred when they see a realistic portrayal of what Jesus did to purchase their salvation. But non-Christians will flock to this film and be stunned by the images of the suffering Servant, as well as by His words of love and forgiveness. I pray we will be ready to answer the deep questions of those longing to understand what they just saw.

Mel Gibson and the people associated with this film spent years of their lives and millions of dollars preparing this one magnificent spark of evangelization. If we don't spend a few hours preparing ourselves to view it, we will have wasted the opportunity their efforts present. So how should we prepare?

PREPARING FOR THE PASSION

1. We must pray. We need to prepare our own hearts and ask God to touch those who are in desperate need of His grace. A wise person once told me that "we should never talk to men about God before first talking to God about men." I encourage you to make a list of those you will invite to see the film, and those you know will see it on their own, and begin praying for God to touch their lives.
   
   
2. Take the time to read the passion narratives of the four gospels. You may be surprised to see what is and is not present in each gospel account. But reading all four at one sitting will be good preparation for viewing the film. The passages are Matthew 26-27, Mark 14-15, Luke 22-23 and John 18-19. I would also encourage you to go back into John's gospel and read the last supper narrative which is skillfully inserted into the film.
   
   
3. Pick up a good commentary and study at least one or two of the accounts of the suffering and death of Jesus.
   
   
4. Take two Sundays to prepare your people (if you are a pastor, Bible study leader or have influence on sermon topics), by preaching on the significance of the cross, anticipating in advance what questions may arise.
   
   
5. Visit www.sharethelife.com to review the content of our two evangelistic booklets and then purchase enough to give to everyone you anticipate will see the film.

NEWS UPDATES

• Advance tickets - I have been given four phone numbers for theatre chains across the country where people can go to purchase advance tickets. These will be posted soon on ShareTheLife.com once we have the final theatre release schedule from Equinoxe.
  
  
• Thriving chat room - People are already coming to our chat room on TheLife.com. In fact, we appear as the top site on Google when the words "chat" and "passion of Christ" are typed in the search field. If you can give some time to interact in this chat room, we welcome your help. With excellent training provided online, you can share the good news of the gospel with seekers who come to the site. Learn what to ask, and how to steer conversations from the movie to a personal relationship with Christ. More info >>
  
  
• Spiritual warfare - When the Body of Christ unites and begins to move on a project you can be guaranteed there will be spiritual warfare. Accidents, emergency surgeries, diminished health and technical glitches are a few of the recent happenings that I know about. Be sure to sign up to pray with us and for us. More info >>