Continuing the dialogue.....
The Boxer's Garden
Dear Friend,
As a theater ministry, Acacia seeks to offer high quality theater, which affords the opportunity to view one's life in relationship to the fullness of God's truth. We pray that our shows offer an occasion for thanksgiving, growth, enjoyment and understanding. Without detracting from the theater experience, which we hope you enjoyed, and obviously without foreknowledge of topics dealt with in the "Talk Back," we would like to continue the dialogue by sharing some of the thoughts that the board of directors discussed after reading this play.
The board of directors sincerely thanks Acacia’s Artistic Direction Committee for selecting Boxer’s Garden to be a part of this season. It is filled with spiritual parallels which we enjoyed discovering and discussing as we reviewed the script. Just like the front door, which Dr. Francis Martin brought from his childhood home in New York to his residence in Los Angeles, we all have a door that we carry with us throughout our lives – the door to our heart.
Behold, I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears My voice and opens the door, I will come in to him and dine with him, and he with Me. Revelation 3:20
When the door to our heart is opened and Jesus comes in, the Bible tells us that we become a new creation, a member of the Church or Body of Christ, a son or daughter of God, a joint-heir with Jesus Christ. But even though our spirit is recreated, we still need to spend time reading His Word and in prayer.
I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that you present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable to God, which is your reasonable service. And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, that you may prove what is that good and acceptable and perfect will of God. Romans 12:1-2
Now the Lord is the Spirit, and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom. And we, who with unveiled faces all reflect the Lord's glory, are being transformed into his likeness with ever-increasing glory, which comes from the Lord, who is the Spirit. 2 Corinthians 3:17-18
By renewing our mind with His Word and through prayer, we are being changed on a regular and continual basis to become more and more like Jesus. In a very real sense, God is transforming our rock garden into a flower garden. Not only will God do this for us, He will do it for our spouse, and our family. Can we help and participate in that process? When St. Paul wrote to the church at Colosse, he said:
For this reason we also, since the day we heard it, do not cease to pray for you, and to ask that you may be filled with the knowledge of His will in all wisdom and spiritual understanding; that you may have a walk worthy of the Lord, fully pleasing Him, being fruitful in every good work and increasing in the knowledge of God. Colossians 1:9-10.
Clearly St. Paul believed that his prayer would impact the church at Colosse or he wouldn’t have prayed in this way. The Bible tells us that God is not a “respecter of persons” so if God would honor St. Paul’s prayer, He will certainly honor ours. The Boxer’s Garden provides an interesting illustration of this when we are told that Dr. Martin’s mother believed that God had promised her some things about her husband. She must have been praying for her husband in order to receive those promises.
Dr. Martin was attempting to create a pill that would help people live “happily-ever-after.” He noted that our courthouses are filled with divorce. A recent statistic declares that there are now more Christian couples seeking divorce than non-Christians. Why is that? Part of the reason is that people have lost hope. They doubt that their spouse will ever change. The Good News is that prayer changes things and the Holy Spirit changes people. The passages above confirm these facts. There is no magic “pill”, but there is the Word of God that is able to change lives.
If you are married, regardless of the state of your marriage, we encourage you to pray the prayer that St. Paul prayed in the book of Colossians. Pray that God will fill your spouse with the knowledge of God’s will and pray that they will walk worthy of the Lord. Pray and have hope! Expect your marriage to get stronger and stronger, better and better. We exhort you not to loose hope. The way things look now is subject to change.
For we were saved in this hope, but hope that is seen is not hope; for why does one still hope for what he sees? But if we hope for what we do not see, we eagerly wait for it with perseverance. Romans 8:24-25
Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen. Hebrews 11:1
Now this is the confidence that we have in Him, that if we ask anything according to His will, He hears us. And if we know that He hears us, whatever we ask, we know that we have the petitions that we have asked of Him. 1 John 5:14-15
Sincerely,
Board of Directors
Acacia Theatre Company
