Copyright 2015 Theresa Harvard Johnson
One of the best things about being a part of a prophetic writing or scribal community is that you get to practice and exercise three of the most important spiritual gifts – hearing the voice of God, discernment and prophecy. And yes, hearing God is indeed a gift.
Being prophetic is not scary. It can be as fun and exciting as it is serious. Before we get into how to do this, I want to establish some basic “Voices of Christ” foundations for leaders. Without these foundational tidbits, gatherings like these can easily move out of the presence of God and into other areas – that might not end so well. So hear goes:
1. Establish who is leading the watching party. It is very important that you establish who is leading your scribal “watching” party. The leader’s role is to initiate and maintain a prayerful, loving, educational atmosphere where those in attendance can safely share and gain understanding. Their role is to also keep focus and direct the prophetic flow of the discussion. Dictators or combative believers should not take on this role.
2. Scribal “movie” watching parties always make God a priority. This simply means that his desires and his heart remains at the center of every discussion. For the prophetic scribe, this means that we must submit our minds fully to Christ – filtering what we hear, see and what we will say through the mind of Christ. 1 Corinthians 2:15-16 CJB says, “But he who is spiritual appraises all things, yet he himself is appraised by no one. For WHO HAS KNOWN THE MIND OF THE LORD, THAT HE WILL INSTRUCT HIM? But we have the mind of Christ.”
Movie Recommendations that may fit your scribal audience are listed here. Please note that these movies are not all Christian based.
3. Keep the intent of a bible study firmly in your heart. I strongly recommend that you set the atmosphere of this movie watching party as a “corporate” bible study – meaning everyone has a voice, input and insight as it relates to conveying the heart of God in the midst of the discussions. No “pre-script” is necessary, but there is a need to walk through the word as it relates to issues that come up. Even if you know the answer, challenge one another to find “those answers” in the word so that everyone can be strengthen in their studies. Acts 17:11 NIV, “Now the Berean Jews were of more noble character than those in Thessalonica, for they received the message with great eagerness and examined the Scriptures every day to see if what Paul said was true.”
4. Keep ministry at the forefront of your watching party. You do not want to miss opportunities in your discussion time to lovingly challenge ungodly beliefs, strange doctrine and thought processes with thought provoking questions that lead back to the heart of God. You also do not want to miss opportunities to administer encouragement or healing to those in attendance. As long as God remains the priority, this will not be at issue. Seek to remain attentive to Holy Spirit, who will do all the directing. 2 Timothy 4:2 NIV, “Preach the word; be prepared in season and out of season; correct, rebuke and encourage–with great patience and careful instruction.”
5. Never close out without a prayer focus discerned from the watching party. Here, the leader plays an integral role in identifying how to begin the prayer. This is a phenomenal exercise is teaching scribes how to walk out their scribal office. 1 Thessalonians 5:16-18 NIV, “Rejoice always, pray without ceasing, give thanks in all circumstances;for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you.”
Your scribal moving watching party has the potential to truly impact the scribes in your midst! After all, scribes “wrote” the script. Scribes stand in proxy with the characters in the movie. The movie is releasing multiple messages. Your role in this is simple: (1) Help the group determine what those messages are and how they impacts society, and (2) seriously consider the role of the scribe from production to on-air talent to personal objectives and goals.
For prophetic writers, we are creating an atmosphere in which we will be sensitive to Holy Spirit and open to knowing what is the PRESENT and PERFECT will of God for us in the midst of our corporate and individual scribal ministries. The photo shown is the movie entitled, “The Bang Bang Club,” and it follows photojournalists (scribes) through a war in which they are documenting the atrocities of aparteid. The action film deals with the ethical and moral dilemma’s surrounding this type of scribal work.
Part II: How to host a scribal “movie” watching party
