​Included in the short list of animated films up for an Academy Award is a thirteen-minute film called "The 21." It was put on the Internet for free screening on February 14 - 17, 2025 as a way to honor those who were martyred by ISIS ten years ago. After I viewed the production, I wanted to learn more about the cinematic approach to telling this story.
 
Producer of faith-based Hollywood films, Mark Rodgers, desired to create a film with three objectives: (1) Those who view the film would have "a deeper understanding of our own Christian heritage in this region." (2) "It would be wonderful to see this film be promoted widely so that people inside the Church can see the courage and the faith of the martyrs and be encouraged in their own faith." (3) It is hoped that the film would "promote a freedom of religion that people can practice whatever they want to believe without persecution." He and his team also desired to produce a truthful account of the events from the time the Coptic Christians were captured until they were martyred on a beach in Libya that would counter the propaganda video produced by ISIS.
 
Because of the gruesome nature of the story, Mark Rodgers and his partner Mandi Hart did not think a typical documentary would be appropriate. Through prayer, God gave Mark an idea to make a short, animated film. The animation is done using Egyptian iconography; iconography being the use of visual images, figures, or symbols to represent certain action or objects. One of the benefits to using this type of animation is that its producers could project the spiritual images of angels and Jesus that ISIS terrorists saw intermixed with their captives. It says on the film's website (the21film.com) that seventy artists and animators from over twenty-four countries worked on the film. 
 
The word Copt is an ancient Greek word meaning Egyptian. Copts declare John Mark, author of the Gospel of Mark, as their founder and first bishop sometime between AD 42 and AD 62. They tend to emphasize meritorious works in salvation along with liturgical rituals rather than salvation through a personal relationship with Jesus. They believe that Jesus is God Himself, the Incarnate Word. Copts are the largest Christian denomination in Egypt and the Middle East.
 
When ISIS began their reign of terror their goal was to cleanse North Africa of Christians. In December 2014, they captured twenty-one Copts and placed them in an underground prison. Initially they were offered money to deny their faith. When this did not happen, ISIS began torturing them by making them pull heavy bags of wet sand down the beach. If they fell, they were beaten. Cold water was poured on them regularly so that they could not sleep, and their skin was cut with sharp knives. Their methods of torture only drew the men closer together, and they prayed, "Lord have mercy." When they did this the earth shook, and the terrorists were fearful. Every Copt was fitted with an orange jump suit and marched down the beach. It is reported that the terrorists saw angelic figures with the men and that the sky seemed to change color. One by one every Coptic Christian refused to deny Christ, and one by one they were beheaded.
 
Psalm 116:15 says, "Precious in the sight of the Lord is the death of His faithful servants." The Passion Translation says it this way: "When one of God's holy lovers dies, it is costly to the Lord, touching His heart." We know that God's heart was touched on this costly day. Pray that the death of these men will not be in vain and that the film will impact many. May we be faithful witnesses to the unbelieving individuals around us and never be tempted to deny our Lord no matter what the consequences.

​Every season of the year has its own unique beauty and purpose in life. This truth came to visit me on Monday morning when I looked out the window and saw the trees around our property encased in ice. Every tree branch was covered in crystal and shown like diamonds as the sun rose in the sky. God used these trees to speak to me of His splendor and remind me that "there is a time and season for every activity under heaven." (Ecclesiastes 3:1) He works in our lives in unique ways according to the season we are living in.
 
In the plant kingdom, winter is a season of rest. Without rest the trees would not be able to go through another year. Winter is a time of restoration from the year before and preparation for the year to come. Dormancy is part of the normal growth cycle. Arborists say that cold winters are better than warm ones for trees, because the cold is effective in killing insect eggs or diseases. This allows the trees to emerge in the spring ready to sprout new growth without hindrances from prior year's problems.
 
How have you experienced the winter seasons in your life? You may ask, "What does that look like for me?" These seasons are when we feel stripped of security or the familiar. This could happen through the death of a loved one, a breakup of a friendship, the loss of a job, financial difficulties, the completion of a major project, or confusion over the purposes in our lives. This is a time when it is wise to drive our spiritual roots deeper into the soil of God's presence by reading His Word, being still before Him, worshiping, and praying. God frequently uses winter seasons to give us dreams and visions and inspirational thoughts. Like the tree, we must use the winters of our lives as a time of rest. It is time to reset our focus on God's plans for our future and to shake off the difficulties of the past.
 
God never wastes a season. The Holy Spirit uses winter to teach us lessons from the past and help prepare us for what He may be doing in the next season. A winter activity for those who grow trees is pruning. Without its leaves, the structure of a tree is clear, and the pruner can see how to remove excess growth and unhealthy branches so that the tree is well shaped and strengthened. A Biblical passage in John 15 compares Jesus to a vine and explains how Father God prunes Him. "I am the true vine and my Father is the gardener. He cuts off every branch in Me that bears no fruit while every branch that does bear fruit, He prunes so that it will be even more fruitful...No branch can bear fruit by itself; it must remain in the vine. Neither can you bear fruit unless you remain in me. I am the vine; you are the branches. If a man remains in me and I in him, he will bear much fruit; apart from me you can do nothing." (John 15 1-5)
 
Like the trees encased in ice, when the Holy Spirit uses the winters of our lives to train us and give us revelation, we become more beautiful. That is because the light of our Lord begins to shine from us as we draw closer to Him, and we radiate His beauty to others. In the quieter seasons of winter, it is important for us to draw close to the Lord and focus on what He is doing with us. As He draws us closer to Himself, we must let the Holy Spirit do His work. He will blow through our limbs and the caverns of our minds to cleanse and refresh and prepare us for a fruitful future.

​God speaks through the fire! An article published in "All Israel News" and written by their reporter Jo Elizabeth reveals the miraculous hand of God in the Los Angeles, California fires. The "Eaton fires" burned 14,000 acres in the Pasadena area. Homes, houses of worship, and stores were decimated. The Pasadena Jewish Temple and Center was in the path of the fire, and the roof and three walls crumbled to the ground. However, one wall remained standing.
 
Before the fire hit the Temple, some of the congregants were able to save thirteen Torah scrolls. After the fire, these people returned to the synagogue to find it completely destroyed except for one wall. The fire burned the sheetrock and stucco off the standing wall but left a mural of what looks like a Biblical scene from ancient times in Israel. A member of the synagogue and professor of Hebrew history, Kristine Garroway, was "stunned" by the mural. She estimates that it dates back to the 1920s and said, "It feels like this is a phoenix that's risen up out of the fire."
 
For me, the interesting part of the story is that no one in the Synagogue was aware of the presence of this mural. It lay hidden behind the wall and depicts Middle Eastern men and women along with animals and trees. A large palm tree is etched in the center of the picture. The Biblical meaning of this tree did not escape the congregants. According to The Prophet's Dictionary, written by Paula Price, Ph.D., a palm tree is a symbol of victory and triumph over death. It also signifies resurrection and ascension. Palm branches were used in the celebrations of military triumphs in Biblical days. Jesus rode a colt into Jerusalem as the Son of David and King of kings and as a proclamation that He is the One who conquered sin and sickness. The people laid their cloaks at his feet and waved palm branches as He went by and praised God by declaring, "Hosanna! Blessed is the king who comes in the name of the Lord..." (Mark 11:9)
 
Psalm 118:26 and 27 recounts a Passover celebration in Jerusalem. "Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord. From the house of the Lord, we bless you. The Lord is God, and He has made His light shine upon us. With boughs in hand, join in the festal procession." Revelation 7:9 and 10 refers to the saints of the Lord at His throne celebrating their victory over the devil. "After this I looked and there before me was a great multitude that no one could count, from every nation, tribe, people, and language, standing before the throne and in front of the Lamb. They were wearing white robes and were holding palm branches in their hands. And they cried out in loud voices: 'Salvation belongs to our God, who sits on the throne, and to the Lamb.'" 
 
The revelation of the mural on the Temple wall has been a great encouragement for the community of the Jewish faith in Pasadena. One member believes that this mural is teaching them a lesson that they can overcome hardship. Another called the discovery "a miracle." Still others think that the picture portrays Israel's 40-year wandering in the desert and believe that the time of their discovery is "profound." Like the Israelites, the Jews from Pasadena Temple have been displaced and are wandering until they can find a new home. Their leader, Rabbi Joshua Levine Grater says, "We're a people of history. We know in Jerusalem and the land of Israel that you find murals on top of murals and stones on top of stones. The fact that this was a hidden mural...is a very Jewish idea."
 
Those of us who belong to The Church need to be praying for the Jews in this season. God has a home for them in heaven with Him, but they have not yet discovered the way to find it. Will you join me in praying for the salvation of the Jewish community? Let us pray that their blind eyes would be opened to the truth that their Messiah, Yeshua, is waiting to introduce them to Father God in heaven.

​This past week we entered the eleventh month on the Hebrew calendar called Shevat. The focus this month is on trees and water. In the Scripture humankind is likened to trees. We, like trees, are called to be life-giving by bearing fruit. In fact, when God created Adam and Eve, He told them, "Be fruitful and increase in number; fill the earth and subdue it." (Genesis 1:28)
 
On the fifteenth of this month there is a celebration called "Tu B’Shevat" or the New Year for Trees. During this celebration new trees will be planted. They, like us, need to be planted where they will be watered, and their roots can take hold in rich soil. Psalm 1:1-3 gives us a key to God's blessings: "Blessed is the man who does not walk in the counsel of the wicked or stand in the way of sinners or sit in the seat of mockers. But his delight is in the law of the Lord, and on His law he meditates day and night. He is like a tree planted by streams of water, which yields its fruit in season and whose leaf does not wither. Whatever he does prospers." 
 
Jeremiah 17:7 and 8 has a similar message to Psalm 1. "But blessed is the man who trusts in the Lord, whose confidence is in Him. He will be like a tree planted by the water that sends out its roots by the stream. It does not fear when heat comes; its leaves are always green. It has no worries in a year of drought and never fails to bear fruit."  Trust comes from the heart, and our confidence in God is what allows us to touch the living stream of God's presence so that our lives will be fruitful.
 
Zechariah tells us about "The Day of the Lord" when He comes as a warrior to fight for Israel. "On that day living water will flow out from Jerusalem..."  (Zechariah 14:8) The prophet Isaiah says of God's people, "I will extend peace to her like a river and the wealth of nations like a flooding stream." (Isaiah 66:12) Joel 3:18 also talks about living water that will flow from God's house. "In that day the mountains will drip new wine, and the hills will flow with milk; all the ravines of Judah will run with water. A fountain will flow out of the Lord's house and will water the valley of acacias." 
 
All who dwell by the living water that God provides are destined to be healthy, happy, and fruit-bearing. It is no coincidence that the constellation that appears in the sky during this month is Aquarius, “the water carrier.” God intends for His river of life to touch us and for our roots to awaken to His ever-flowing stream. We must ask ourselves where we have rooted and how we are being watered.
 
When Jesus stopped at Jacob's well and met the Samaritan woman He explained, "Whoever drinks the water I give to him will never thirst. Indeed, the water I give him will become in him a spring of water, welling up to eternal life." (John 4:13, 14) Jesus is the source of everything that we need. Let's root ourselves in His living Word and allow His Holy Spirit, the River of Life, to saturate us so that our roots are strengthened, and we bear abundant fruit.