On May 6th, 2012, exactly 7 days from tour ending, my team and I went to go see the high action superhero movie, "The Avengers." To say the least, it was a phenomenal movie. It had all the qualifications for a great movie. Action, adventure, comedy, a great story line, a bad guy and his minions, and of course, the hero. Well, in this case, ... Hero's.
... Hero. In specific terms, superhero. Something I think every child and even adult longs to be at least once in their life. I mean admit it, we've all put on a sheet for a cape, a mask, or even a pair of undies over our pants at least once. We've all pretended to fly, made the swoosh noises, and we've all felt awesome while doing it.
And when I thought about the why behind the reason we're all so attracted to superhero's, it all came down to one reason... Well, maybe two. The costumes are pretty hardcore. But skin tight clothing and armor aside... They fight against some sort of force with the powers they have been given. And as I was watching this movie, I couldn't but help to glance down from the screen to a group of people I have loved, lived and adventured with. I couldn't help but see the resemblance from this team of superhero's on the screen, to this team of weak, yet powerful individuals in the seats surrounding me. I couldn't but help but laugh at the similarities in the fact that Iron Man, Captain America, The Hulk, Thor, Black Widow, Hawkeye, Nick Fury and Maria Hill didn't always agree, didn't always get along, didn't always have the most perfect of moments. But they fought against something as a team. They each had their strengths, they each had their weaknesses, and together, they were warriors. In Joel 3:10 it says, "Beat your plowshares into swords, and your pruning hooks into spears, and let the weak say, "I am a warrior."
For 23, soon to end with 24 events, for EIGHT months, I have been traveling with, living with, and fighting alongside with my own group of Avengers. Hero's. I would even be bold and silly enough to call them superhero's. Just like the one's in the movie, they all have their own specialties, they all have their own weaknesses, and they all... WE all, have been fighting against a force. Was it an alien race? ... Not quite. But it was something much more real called Satan and the gates of hell.
... And I can say by the means of this tour, we have came out victorious. Sure, we've been hit in the face, thrown to the ground and kicked a few times, but in the movies, we all know that happens to the good guys, and we also all know that they always win in the end.
I have seen thousand, if not tens of thousands of people come to Christ in these eight months. I have seen healings, miracles, and the Kingdom of Heaven come down in these eight months. I have seen this team TRAMPLE the gates of hell and the devil in these eight months. And all of it for the glory of God. I get the privilege of standing with real superhero's... Men and women of God. And when I look at these superhero's in the movies, and in the comics, the majority of them are not just superhero's for a season. Just as this team is not just full of seasonal superhero's that only do God's work during an eight month tour.
I know and expect that whatever comes after this tour, just like The Avengers, we will always remain... Superhero's.
