Phil Cooke

Excellent article Phil and good insights.

Thanks for providing the link so we could share in it.

Regarding the great comments about the play…"The Lion King:

9/24/07 – "I get chills…" Circle of Life, The Lion King Broadway/Disney Masterpiece. The chills come from the Zulu words “Nants ingonyama bagithi Baba! (Here comes a lion, Father) Sithi uhm ingonyama (Oh yes, it’s a lion!) Behold He Comes!

Soulless Ghouls vs. the God-indwelt– One of the most common parables of modern culture is the story of soulless ghouls vs. the God-indwelt. The myriad of movies include the Resident Evil series, the Dracula series, the Living Dead series, etc. It is a very common parable of this age. And for good reason, too. One must wonder, why so many similar parables and why are they so popular? Answer: Man’s eternal problem is that he is mighty tempted to be a soulless ghoul. The answer is Christianity which offers God-indwelling. But, since much of modern Christianity does not want true God-indwelling in its doctrines, practice or preaching (as In That Day Teachings explain repeatedly) then there is not enough true salvation. Therefore a huge fear is created by the lack of true understandable redemption, and this huge failure in Christianity to actually provide God-indwelt doctrine, practice and preaching creates a huge need for the repetitive parabolic warning messages: Soulless ghouls are devouring remnant good souls, who are turned into more soulless ghouls who devour the remaining good souls. It sounds terrible, no? But what happens to the new Christian believer who wants to learn God’s true church doctrines, manifest Christ and bring heaven to earth? Well, sadly the chances are the new convert will be devoured by the soulless dogma of escapology, with all its vapid end-times eschatology, dispensational insanity, international relations fear mongering, and much more hog wash, until the new believer becomes just another escapology ghoul. Oh well, that’s Christianity today, brother! But where is the balance? Are there not popular culture parables providing the answers? Yes, because God works both warnings and answers into popular culture themes. Look at Disney’s Lion King, particularly the Broadway play. The veiled story is more like Christ the King is Coming Quickly in Me and You! One of the song’s lyrics are, “He lives in you, he lives in me.” The Broadway play begins with an anointed African rhythms and a Zulu choir heralding God’s arrival in you and me: “Nants ingonyama bagithi Baba! (Here comes a lion, Father) Sithi uhm ingonyama (Oh yes, it’s a lion!) If you have much of Christ in you, when you watch the play and hear the music you will hear deep calling unto deep. Then watch the escapists Timon and Pumbaa sing “Hakuna Matata,” which like escape via rapture is a “problem-free philosophy” that “means no worries all the rest of your days.” Just be Hakuna Matata’d – oops, rather – just be raptured! But eventually the grown lion has to abandon infantile philosophy. And one must do as the Circle of Life song covertly hints about in its story of the Lion of the Tribe of Judah coming in you and me: “Step into the sun.”