Salvation, the ultimate gift for a believer. Daily strive, daily battle– saved by grace we are indeed. A memoir that seems like yesterday, sweet 16, full of the springs of life. The 7th month, twenty something, the date and day I can hardly recall. The raising of arms, bended knees, a thrilling sensation filled with warmth and uncontrollable tears. My mouth uttering “Lord, I confess You as my Lord and saviour”– my first encounter. I wanted to share this unforgettable, monumental experience with the person I loved most: my mother. As I uttered the narration of the life changing moment, disbelief and confusion were written on her face. Unable to comprehend the excitement of the encounter and the new found love for the creator, defense was her weapon of understanding. Disappointed I felt, optimistic I was, that one day, she herself would experience this encounter (Ephesians 2:8 “For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith-and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God”).
As each day went by, visions and dreams increased, prophecies were coming to pass. As much as I shared what I saw, the more she turned away from the ultimate gift of a believer. Delusional I was in the eyes of my loved ones. Five long years, unable to share the divine encounters, I prayed for the salvation of my mother. The more I prayed, the more the word was rejected. Threats restricted me too from attending church, so I had to obey my mother (Ephesians 6:2 “Honor your father and mother-which is the first commandment with a promise”). However I never stopped praying; “she will get saved one day, God will do it for me”.
In the fifth year of my Christian walk, the six month, the Lord led me to attend a Christian retreat, 4000 miles away from home. I didn’t know what the purpose was, but knew He would order my steps. The finances I had, but the permission I hadn’t due to my mother’s resentment to my faith. I went before the Lord and prayed for favour. The Lord answered my prayer and she granted me permission to go. There I was, alone, on a journey, not knowing anyone and what to expect. Those twelve days were well spent, interceding for her salvation and believing God for a miracle. The man of God who was my overseer told me that he wanted to pray for her. In disbelief, I told him she would not agree. As he persisted, I called her and handed over the phone to him. As he prayed for her, I felt a relief, I was not alone on this (Matthew 18:20 “For where two or three gather in my name, there am I with them”).
When I returned back home from this adventuresome journey, I slowly started to see the physical manifestations of the prayers and declarations I made over her life. One year later, she gave her life to Christ. This year, God blessed her with the gift of speaking in tongues. As we speak, she is my biggest motivator, my biological and spiritual mother. She lifts me up when I am spiritually low and most importantly, she prays for me. Her transformation is the biggest blessing God has ever given me. I can freely share with her the dreams, visions and prophetic messages the Lord gives me and in fact, she enjoys hearing about them. It is a blessing being able to pray with my mother.
It is our duty as believers to persistently pray for our loved ones to come to know the Lord. At no point did I give up or even doubt that my mum was going to get saved. She had too and would get saved, it was final. Regardless of how long it would take, I was willing to pay the price. I believe at times it’s best to quietly intercede for someone rather constantly preach the word of God to them. God works in mysterious ways and has a way of softening the hearts of the lost. The love of God is so powerful, let’s continue to demonstrate this to our lost loved ones. Just like Jesus prayed for us to get saved, lets continue to pray for our loved ones (Romans 8:34 “Who is to condemn? Christ Jesus is the one who died—more than that, who was raised -who is at the right hand of God, who indeed is interceding for us”).
He loves us unconditionally and demonstrates this in the parable of the lost sheep: Matthew 18:10-14 “Take heed that you do not despise one of these little ones, for I say to you that in heaven their angels always see the face of My Father who is in heaven. For the Son of Man has come to save that which was lost. “What do you think? If a man has a hundred sheep, and one of them goes astray, does he not leave the ninety-nine and go to the mountains to seek the one that is straying? And if he should find it, assuredly, I say to you, he rejoices more over that sheep than over the ninety-nine that did not go astray. Even so it is not the will of your Father who is in heaven that one of these little ones should perish”. Persecution is tough, especially when it comes from someone close to you (John 4:44 “For Jesus himself had testified that a prophet has no honor in his own hometown”). But be encouraged, know that your saviour went before you and overcame this battle.
I thank You for this time and for allowing me to come into Your presence. Thank You for all the things You have accomplished in my life and are continuing to do. Thank You for the gift of life, for grace and for mercy. Thank You for loving me unconditionally even though I am not worthy. I ask that You would forgive me for all my iniquity and all the things I have done that are not pleasing in Your eyes- have mercy upon me. Father, it is Your desire that each one of us joins You in heaven and receives eternal life (Mark 16:16 “Whoever believes and is baptized will be saved, but whoever does not believe will be condemned”). Right now, I come before You and lift up (state the persons name). Lord, I know You love this person, because You created him/her. The fact that he/she is still alive shows You still have a great plan for him/her. I pray for his/her salvation, for him/her to know You, to confess You as his/her Lord and saviour. For him/her to live a righteous life, to fulfill the purpose You have for him/her on earth. I pray that You will use his/her life, as a testimony to others to show that You are real. May he/her have a yearning for Your will and a desire to read the word of God. May You forgive him/her, and make them a new creation. Thank You for hearing my prayer, and I believe that it is done. In Jesus name I pray, AMEN
This is beyond beautiful. In truth, salvation is a gift and I thank God for your life and that of your mother.
A lovely share and a wonderful model prayer. I just speak to God as I would anyone, bit with a bit more reverence, of course!
This was wonderful to read and has given me hope for the people I love who are lost. I have prayed this prayer and truly believe it and I will continue to faithfully bring their names before our Lord, for He hears the prayers of His people (1 Peter 3:12)
Amen. The thing which keeps me going for my loved ones who are still unsaved is that the fact that they are still alive, shows that He still has a great plan for them. I also never saw my own salvation coming but im convinced someone had to have been praying for me! God bless you
Time Bandits is the one of the very few films that is actually for all ages, in the way Wizard of Oz, Willy Wonka & The Chocolate Factory, E.T. and the many wonderful Pixar and Ghibli films are. It’s directed by one of the few true masters of the illusion of cinema, Terry Gilliam, who made his start doing the animations for Monty Python’s Flying Circus. He is known as “the American one,” and has directed in this critic’s opinion some of the finest and most imaginative films ever made, such as Brazil, The Adventures of Baron Munchausen, 12 Monkeys, Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas and the unjustly maligned Tideland.
Time Bandits is the pivotal moment in Terry Gilliam’s career, when he is breaking free of the Pythons and making a splash in his own right as a film director. He had directed Monty Python and the Holy Grail and Jabberwocky previously, and had a much-reduced role on The Life of Brian. After Life of Brian Terry had been trying to make Brazil (at the time titled 1984 ½) with George Harrisons’ Handmade films (which also funded Brian) but Harrison wasn’t interested. Gilliam then came up with the idea of making film for all the family (not a kids’ film) and got his fellow Python Michael Palin in to co-write it.
George Harrison’s producing partner Denis O’Brien tried to get interest from Hollywood, to no avail. Ironically, it turned out to be Gilliam’s biggest success in the states in terms of budget-to-box-office ratio. George Harrison eventually mortgaged his house to fund the film. To save their investment, George and Denis scrambled to try to get as many Pythons involved with the production as possible. They got John Cleese to play Robin Hood and Palin, who originally wrote Robin Hood for himself, to write a new character to play.
Casting was integral to the film (Gilliam has said that casting is half of the filmmaking process.) Gilliam and Palin wrote in the screenplay about King Agamemnon, “The warrior took off his helmet, revealing someone that looks exactly like Sean Connery, or an actor of equal but cheaper stature.” Denis O’Brien took this literally: he wanted Sean Connery for the role, and luckily knew him socially, probably because they are both keen golfers. Connery eventually accepted the role for a much-reduced rate.
The key roles were a young boy called Kevin and a gang of little people. Craig Warnock was cast as Kevin: his brother Grant auditioned for the role, but Gilliam was more interested in his quiet brother. Many of the little people who play the title characters are now well-known actors, such as Kenny Baker (who played R2-D2), Malcolm Dixon, Mike Edmonds, Jack Purvis, Tiny Ross and of course David Rappaport as their leader Randall (there should be more cinematic Randalls). Most of these actors had been in the Star Wars films, some of Jim Henson’s 1980s films, and Willow. Sadly, Time Bandits is the only film where many of these actors really got to show their worth as actors. The rest of cast includes many people who Gilliam would work with later on in his best film Brazil, such as Ian Holm (as Napoleon), Katherine Helmond, Peter Vaughan and Jim Broadbent.
The story of Time Bandits centres on the adventures of Kevin, a young boy who is a dreamer. Obviously it’s partly based on Gilliam himself. Kevin’s parents are horrible capitalistic British suburbanites who have no interest in their son. They just sit on their plastic-protected sofas and watch game shows on their television set.
Kevin is sleeping one night when a knight on horseback bursts though his wardrobe, but when he looks back it’s gone. The next night he gets ready for more—and does he get it. The wardrobe unleashes a group of six small bandits who come bursting into his room. He soon learns they have stolen a map from the Supreme Being (Ralph Richardson). The bandits try to find an exit before the Supreme Being can find them. They find they can push one of the walls in Kevin’s room and do so. Kevin joins them, but before they escape the Supreme Being appears demanding the map back.
They eventually time travel though a void, landing in the Napoleonic wars. Kevin learns that the bandits originally were hired by the Supreme Being to repair holes in the space-time fabric, but soon realised the map they were using could help them steal treasures though the ages. During the film they travel though many historical periods, such as the one of Robin Hood, Mycenaean Greece, and the time of legends; they even take a trip on the Titanic. However, they are being monitored by Evil (played brilliantly by David Warner) because he wants the map for his own ends.
The film is the first time Gilliam made a film though the eyes of a child and more importantly the awe children have. Many of films his subsequent films are seen though the innocence eyes of a child especially Munchausen, Tideland and to a lesser extent 12 Monkeys. Gilliam has been record saying on his gravestone it will have inscribed with “He giggled with awe”. In many ways that describes perfectly Gilliam’s approach to filmmaking from Time Bandits to the present day.
Gilliam considers Time Bandits the first part of his dreams trilogy or trilogy of imagination. They all set in different stages of life with Time Bandits being childhood, Brazil mid-life and Munchausen is seen though the eyes of elderly man. The essay in the Brazil criterion describes them as films about “craziness of our awkwardly ordered society and the desire to escape it through whatever means possible.” This probably all goes back to the profound impact Fellini’s 8 ½ had on the then 23-year-old Gilliam. He has also been on record saying in many ways in all of his films he has been trying to do his own version of the opening scene of 8 ½.
When Time Bandits came out, it was a sleeper hit when such a thing was still possible. This was the pre-internet age, after all. It was very well liked in Europe but it really took off the States, where it was the surprise hit of the all-important Christmas holidays in 1981. It was released during the summer holidays in the UK.
Time Bandits has over the years developed a rabid cult fan base, and for many people was their first exposure to the wonderful world of Terry Gilliam. I first saw the video when I was 6 or 7 on VHS tape, and it was one of my first favourite films. I’ve seen it countless times on many DVDs, as it has been re-issued several times over the years. With this newly remastered version featuring a 2K transfer approved by Gilliam (the first he’s approved in over a decade), Arrow Video seems to have done the definitive release. It features interviews with Gillam, Palin, Warner and the production crew. However, it sadly loses the commentary that was recorded for Criterion back in the laserdisc days—although fans can find the out-of-print Criterion DVD online for very cheap.
There has been speculation the past few days that there will be a possibility of forming a ‘Black F.A’ for the players that are unhappy with being supported by a ‘white’ F.A. My head literally screamed with all the different ways that this wrong and how bad it will be for the football world, it could really divide a lot of people. This situation is growing vastly out of control and political correctness is getting beyond a joke.
Why do people need a term for their race nowadays? It causes so much trouble. There have been so many terms over the years that have become offensive and nobody actually knows the correct one to use. I assumed the word ‘black’ was offensive after John Terry and Luis Suarez got banned and charged for using this word and now official’s are using this as a prospective name for their ‘Black Footballing Group’.
A lot of people don’t focus on the fact that racism isn’t always aimed towards black people, white people get racially abused too, but there is never any mention of that in the media. I also think that if a group of white players boycotted the ‘Kick it Out’ campaign for the same reason and then considered setting up a separate footballing group(some might say that is the F.A) there would be a very negative response.
As you may have read in my previous articles, I absolutely do not condone racism. It has no place in this world and especially not in football. But I do not agree with having a seperate F.A for black players. That in itself is such a racist thing to do. It segregate them by race from white people and that is the very thing that defines racism. To have a seperate group it also goes against the kick it out campaign for unity in football. If you don’t support the campaign then don’t wear the t-shirt, but don’t seperate yourselves due to other people’s lousy attitudes.
I fully understand why the players who boycotted on Saturday do not feel that the F.A are giving them full support, because they aren’t. The F.A don’t deal with situations in the best of manners, they change around the rules per player, make bad decisions and choices, not to mention the dubious actions they have taken over the years to protect their image which is their priority.
When you look at the F.A as an organisation they have very few members that are of a different ethnicity than white. They have a lot of ‘old’ policies and have only agreed this week to review the way they deal with racism. It is the same with Fifa, every single one of the 17 members of the ‘Kick it Out’ campaign are white. I don’t think anyone has confidence in the F.A, not players, managers, or fans but there’s nothing we can do.
So where do we go from here? I think one solution would be that ALL footballers of any colour/race set up a union and unite against racism in a seperate campaign the F.A’s one. Segregation is not the solution though. I think everyone should grow up and start acting like adults, ignore racists and unite against them and play football.
The subject of racism is extremely delicate to discuss, nobody really knows what is right or wrong in terms of a solution because of the nature of the subject, it’s hard to even talk about racism without the possibility of saying something wrong. I have found myself questioning a few things as I was writing this article but one of the main things I questioned is why in 2012 should there ever be a need for an article discussing this?