"THE PERFECT STRANGER" "Sarah, the bus just pulled up, you have got about 3 seconds!" "Mom, I'm almost ready!" "What could possibly take an 8-year-old so long to get ready for school?" "!" "It's not like she has..." "Sarah!" "Now!" "I'm right here." "Here you go, Peanut." "Wheat bread, no mustard and there is a big surprise for desert." "You mean, an apple?" "Surprised?" "Now, I packed your warm pajamas and your flashlight and don't talk back to Stephanie's mother, even if Stephanie does it." "I won't..." "Have fun..." "You know how much mommy loves you." "And I love mommy back!" "Now, go, hug your dad!" "Bye daddy, see you tomorrow!" "Tomorrow?" "What happened to this afternoon?" "Matt!" "I told you three times!" "She's going to campout at the Edmond's tonight." "Oh!" "Well, have a good time sweetie." "So, I guess you also probably have forgotten, that since Sarah is going to be gone, I thought it would be nice if we met at Pepino's (Restaurant) for dinner tonight." "Remember?" "Like date night?" "Oh, I can't tonight, Honey." "Tim's got an extra ticket to the Cub's game at 7 pm." "Cub's game?" "Yeah..." "And when did this come up?" "Yesterday." "His father in law got seats right behind the dugout." "Matt, I haven't seen you all week!" "You've seen me..." "Sure!" "When you get home at 8:30, exhausted, smelling like Taco Bell." "Honey, I'm a Vice-President, you knew that was going to mean more hours." "So I have all day to look forward to a Friday night by myself." "Why don't you get out and meet some of the neighbors." "They've been after you to do something since we've moved in." "Yes..." "Church stuff, Matt." "They've invited me to do church stuff!" "Church stuff can be fun..." "Oh, really?" "..." "Why don't you head on over to the Men's Church Ride Cookout." "It sounds a lot more fun than a ball game." "And I know, you've never been." "That's why they inconspicuously stuck one of these in our mail box, every Thursday since we moved here." "Now you're being a little over dramatic..." "Why?" "Because I resent the fact that I'm stuck home again on a Friday night?" "!" "And the best you're offering me is high tea with the Jesus-freak next door?" "I've got to go..." "I'll be home late." "...at Michigan Avenue Construction..." "... more Chicago weather forecast At the burning bush God calls Moses over and says:" ""Moses I want you to go and I want you to free the people from..."" "Good morning, Rachel!" "Good morning, Mrs. Cominsky!" "It's Nikki!" "Mrs. Cominsky is my mother-in-law..." "You are invited to a Dinner with Jesus Christ" "Pepino Restaurant Friday, May 23." "Seven o'clock." "Yes?" "Rachel, could you come in here, please?" "Be right there..." "Yes?" "Do you know, how this got on my keyboard?" "I didn't see anybody come in here..." "What is it?" "Apparently it's some kind of joke..." "Pepino's..." "It's nice to know Jesus has good taste." "Are you sure he's buying?" "Look, if you're just covering for Les Hudson or Alex..." "Les and Alex aren't in today..." "I swear, I don't know how this got in here." "Okay..." "Thanks!" "No, All it says is:" ""You are invited to a dinner with Jesus Christ, Pepino's, 7 o'clock."" "I'm scared to death that one of our religious fanatic neighbors snuck in here last night and left it." "Mom, you don't know these people!" "They have been after us for every..." "Oh!" "Wait a minute..." "Pepino's... 7 o'clock..." "This is Matt!" "Pepino's was where I told him I wanted to have a date night, and 7 o'clock was when he was supposedly going to the ballgame!" "That little...!" "What?" "No..." "Things have been... just about the same." "Maybe this is sign, that he's getting playful again..." "I just don't get the "Jesus" part..." "Maybe he's just making fun of the neighbors." "I don't really care what the joke is as long as we can sit down and have a nice evening together." "Yeah..." "Just wish I had time to go home and change first..." "Oh well..." "Yeah..." "Okay!" "Well, now that the mystery's solved I really had better get back to work." "Okay!" "Give Kelly a hug for me." "Alright." "Miss you too." "Bye." "Good Evening!" "May I help you?" "No..." "I mean... yes!" "I'm supposed to meet someone." "And what is the name?" "Cominsky." "Right this way, Mrs. Cominsky." "Here we are..." "Nikki!" "Hi!" "I'm Jesus." "Aha......" "Where is Matt?" "I'd say by now he's probably sitting behind the dugout at Wrigley (stadium)." "Enjoy your dinner." "Thanks for meeting me." "I'm really glad you were freed up." "Excuse me, am I supposed to know you?" "Good question." "I guess, the answer is yes." "I'm sorry, but as far as I can remember, I have never met you." "That's true." "Okay..." "Let's just start over." "Your name is..." "Jesus." "My family called me Yeshua." "Your family." "From..." "Nazareth." "Well." "Actually, I only grew up there." "I wasn't born there." "No, no that would've been in..." "Bethlehem." "Look, this has all been very cute, but I've got better things to do than waste my time on some stupid joke." "Just who are you, anyway?" "Who put you up to this?" "I know I'm not quite what you were expecting..." "Did my neighbors set this up?" "Is this what that church does:" "Hire some actor to tell people he's Jesus?" "Is it some creative recruiting tool they use?" "Cuz I gotta tell ya, your costume is not exactly historically accurate." "I'm not an actor, and no, your neighbors didn't send me." "If you'll just stay for dinner, I know, it'll mean something to you." "Who wouldn't find dinner with Jesus meaningful?" "Just last weekend I had breakfast with Napoleon, and it was a blast!" "Look, I got to get home to my family." "Thanks for the invitation." "Please, stay." "Look, how many chances do you get to come to Pepino's, anyway?" "If you just stay for dinner, I promise to tell at the end, who set it all up." "You know, it just so happens, that I got dumped for a baseball game tonight, and I have been thinking about Pepino's manicotti all day..." "But if you try anything, I swear..." "Have you selected a wine, Sir?" "I think, I'll let my friend decide." "Would you care for some wine?" "You are buying, right?" "Yes, I am." "Well, sure, then!" "I'll take a bottle of the 1998 Brunello di Grotta." "You obviously know your wines." "I'll be right back." "Thank you, Carlo." "So, your family called you Yeshua..." "Most of them..." "My brother James called me a few other things." "Can you turn this wine back into water?" "No problem." "My friend here decided, she'd rather have another glass of water instead of this wine." "Certainly, Sir..." "Never mind!" "Very funny." "Thanks, Eduardo." "Sorry to bother you." "Are you on a first name basis with the entire waiter staff?" "Yeah!" "So, what are you thinking?" "Thinking, I'm a married woman, who is crazy for not leaving when she had the chance." "I mean, about your order..." "Oh..." "I'm staying on the manicotti." "I think, I'm gonna try the salmon." "Because it's Friday?" "Good one (joke)!" "Ready to order?" "Yes, I'd like the stuffed mushrooms, the Mediterranean salad and the manicotti." "And I'd like the tomato and artichoke soup, the tortellini salad and the salmon filet." "Very good." "Beats the bread and wine, huh?" "So..." "Tell me about your family." "I thought you knew everything already." "Why don't you humor me?" "Where is your family from?" "Oh, no..." "I'm much more interested in hearing about your family, Jesus." "Why don't you tell me about Joseph and Mary?" "Alright." "Growing up in Nazareth wasn't anything like growing up in Cincinnati, I can tell you that." "We didn't get many foot long hot dogs at Riverfront Stadium." "Joseph was a good father." "He had a shop right next to the house." "But he did things at a leisurely pace." "I think, the only time he ever sped up was when he was trying to finish a project, before I could get my hands on it." "I didn't realize at that time, how many of his pieces I used to mess up." "But at 8-year-old, I wasn't exactly what you'd call a master carpenter." "You are good!" "Some bread?" "So, how about Mary?" "I mean, wasn't it difficult having such a pious mom?" "She was hardly pious." "More like an outcast when I was young." "Back then being pregnant before the wedding wasn't exactly what you would call..." "Kosher?" "It wasn't the thing to do." "You know, from all the paintings I have seen of her, she is either nursing the baby Jesus, or taking Him down off the cross..." "Did she do anything in between?" "I had a great mother." "Her faith kept her going." "When I finally started preaching, that was when it really got hard for her..." "Seeing her son worshipped one day, and then demonized the next..." "I think it was harder than she ever imagined it would be." "Look, you haven't told me anything, that someone with a Bible and half an imagination couldn't make up." "You could have to come up with something a little better than these sappy mom and pop stories." "To do what?" "You know, one night on CNN Larry King said:" "that of all the historical figures, the one he would most like to interview is Jesus Christ." "I got to tell you, this routine with the retread Bible stories has been a little less than intriguing." "I don't thing, there is much I can actually say that would convince you that I'm Jesus." "Oh, there is one true statement..." "So, how about, we do this..." "How about, you suspend your disbelief just for a night, and we'll proceed as if I REALLY AM Jesus?" "Now." "If you were sitting here with Jesus Christ, I know, you would have some questions for him." "The other day I passed a church, and the sign out front said:" ""No one comes to the Father, except through me." Signed:" "Jesus." "Now, did he actually say that?" "Because if he did, I think, he is full of it." "The stuffed mushrooms, and your soup, Sir." "Oh, you are not going to ask me to say the blessing, are you?" "I usually like to say a word of thanks before meals." "Do you mind?" "No, not at all..." "Father, thank you for always providing for us whom you love." "That's it?" "I'm sorry." "Is there something else you'd like to say?" "No, I think that covered it." "So, what about that "no one comes to the Father except through me" business?" "Why do you think, I'm mistaken?" "Because you've got all these people around the world that believe in different ways of worshiping God, and you are saying, that only Jesus' way is the right one?" "And your problem with that is...?" "A lot!" "Who is to say that Jesus' way is any better than Muhammad's or Buddha's or the Hindus' ?" "Do you think, Hinduism is true?" "I don't know, I've some friends back home who got into Hinduism, and it seemed to work for them." "I didn't ask you, if you thought it worked, I asked if you thought, it was true?" "It was TRUE for THEM." "Before Copernicus most people believed, that the world was flat." "It was false, but it worked for them." "Do you know, why that was?" "I don't think it mattered much back then." "Before Columbus nobody traveled far enough for it to be a problem." "What would have happened, if someone tried to go to the Moon?" "They'd be in for a big surprise." "The point is:" "What people believed worked for them even though it was false but at some critical juncture it was bound to not work anymore." "So?" "You are the one with Master's degree, you tell me!" "...In business law, not in philosophy." "Well, you still had to think a little." "Alright, what you are saying is that:" "even if a belief system works for someone, if it's false, it will eventually break down." "And you don't want what you're placing your ultimate trust in to be wrong." "Do you remember that class you took at UC, the one on World Religions?" "How did you know...?" "What did that class teach you about Hinduism?" "How it squares off with what's known about the Universe?" "If I remember correctly, Hinduism teaches that:" "the Universe is simply an extension of the universal force, called..." "Brahman." "Brahman, yes!" "The ultimate essence." "And God is the Universe, and the Universe is God." "Right!" "And there is no one separate Creator." "And how long has the Universe existed?" "According to the Hindus: always." "The Universe is eternal." "And how does that match up with what modern astronomers have discovered?" "Not very well, I guess..." "I did read an article once, that said, all the evidence points to the Universe having a definite starting point." "So, if Hinduism is true, how did this Universe get here?" "I don't know!" "I don't know either." "Alright!" "How about something a little closer to Christianity, like Islam." "The Muslims claim to worship the God of the Bible." "So who is to say that their version is wrong and Jesus' is right?" "Well, that would all depend whether or not God actually spoke to Muhammad." "It's a lot of weight to put on one man's teachings." "Well, you could say the same thing about Christianity, it all depends on whether or not God spoke to one guy." "No, the Bible has over 40 authors, that span 1500 years all with the same consistent message." "But who is to say that God didn't speak to Muhammad?" "Well, if he did, he got a few things wrong." "Like what?" "For starters:" "Muhammad wrote, that I was never crucified;" "that God's angels rescued me and took me straight to Heaven." "You mean Jesus..." "That's what I said." "Maybe Muhammad was right." "No, he wasn't." "Oh, that's right, I forgot:" "You were there." "But you don't have to ask me..." "My crucifixion was historically documented by Christians and Non-Christians." "But that's not the only problem with Islam." "What else is there?" "What is your deepest desire?" "I'm not sure, I want to get into that..." "Then let's talk in generalities:" "What do most people's hearts long for?" "I don't know..." "Big screen TV." "I suppose..." "people's greatest desire is to be loved." "I don't mean to be too personal, Nikki, but in your experience has another person ever completely fulfilled that need for love?" "Matt's a good husband!" "That's not what I'm asking..." "No." "I suppose, no one has ever really fulfilled it completely." "That's because another person never can." "Only God can." "He created people that way." "But the Muslims never had that hope:" "They can't have a personal relationship with Allah." "He is just someone to worship and serve from far away, even in Paradise." "Now, why would God create mankind with this deep need to be loved and then never meet it?" "Maybe the Muslims don't have all the answers, but I don't think, anybody does." "No they don't." "They only think, they do." "Well, if nobody has all the answers, then maybe..." "maybe God doesn't even exist." "Maybe this world really is all there is." "Have you ever consider that?" "Well, then you're faced with explaining the design thing." "What, that there's no way that it could've happened by accident?" "Do you know about the black-hole theory?" "Pretty much." "Do you know the odds calculated by the guy who came up with that theory, that some cosmic accident could create such an orderly Universe?" "No." "Take a guess!" "I don't know, 1 in a billion" "Try 1 in a Hundred-billion to the 123rd power." "('1' and 134 '0' after it)." "And that's just the Universe itself." "He wasn't even taking into account the design of biological life." "Alright, so you've managed to poke a couple of holes in these other religions." "But you know... it seems to me:" "Every religion (Christianity included) they are just different roads to the same place." "I mean, everyone is looking for God..." "Really?" "Are you?" "As I was saying:" "Everyone is looking for God in their own way." "That's what I like about my friends' church back home, they embraced everybody's different beliefs and tried to help them on their path to God." "There is only one problem with that." "What?" "There is no path to God." "Want some tortellini?" "So, what did you mean, "there is no path to God"?" "Every religion claims to teach the way to God." "There is WAY to God, but it's just isn't a path." "What I mean is this:" "A path is something you travel by your own effort to reach a destination." "But there is no way you can work your way to God." "That path just doesn't exist..." "Wait a minute..." "That is what religion is all about:" "Trying to get to God." "How can you possibly say otherwise?" "Did you ever get into trouble when you were a kid?" "Are you changing the subject?" "!" "I will get back to the other thing..." "I don't think, this place stays open long enough for me to tell you about all the trouble I used to get into." "That bad, huh?" "Give me a highlight!" "Well, one time, when we were on vacation, I dumped a milkshake on my little sister's head." "What did your dad do?" "Well, he pulled over, bent me over his knee and gave me the worst spanking I ever had." "Did your dad always handled the spankings?" "Yeah, mom just yelled at us." "But he didn't spank us very often." "Why not?" "Well, it just wasn't his way of handling things, I guess." "He was bigger on making us understand why what we had done was wrong, and apologizing to the other person, especially if it was mom." "So your dad had a lot in common with God." "How so?" "Well, they both focused on restoring relationships." "Your dad made you admit, you had hurt someone and then apologize." "He wanted you to restore that relationship." "Yes, I've never thought of it that way." "That's exactly, how it is with God." "He isn't interested in people performing well enough for Him." "They can't possibly do that anyway." "God created people to have a relationship with Him, so they can enjoy His love." "So why don't they?" "Because man has rejected God, and severed the relationship." "God's whole "program" (if you wanna call it that) is all that putting it back together." "Tell me this:" "When Sarah does something wrong, how many dishes does she have to wash before she can get up in your lap and get a hug again?" "None!" "Or how many "A"-s will she have to make in school?" "That's silly!" "Why?" "Because she doesn't have to do anything." "She is my daughter!" "Well, there you go..." "So, you are saying, that we can't do anything to earn God's love?" "Little more?" "Sure." "Back to the Muslims, who try to earn their way into Paradise..." "Do you know, how many daily prayers they have to perform just to be good enough?" "No." "Neither do they..." "They're never sure, if they have done enough praying, or fasting, making pilgrimages, or giving to the Poor." "Just ask them, they'll say the same." "Really?" "And the Hindus never know how many lifetimes it takes to successfully work out their karma." "But Christianity is no different!" "I mean, no one can ever really know, if they've been good enough to make it into Heaven." "All they can know that for certain:" "The answer is "NO"." "They can't." "No one is good enough to make into Heaven, no matter how hard they try." "But you're saying, that doing all the right things, like keeping the Ten Commandments, and not cheating on your taxes, won't get you into Heaven?" "Oh, sorry!" "That's right." "Keeping the Ten Commandments won't get you into Heaven." "Then why do them?" "Because there is great profit in obeying God, it just won't get you into Heaven!" "Man's rebellion against God is like a huge rip in the moral fabric of the Universe." "With God on one side, and everybody else on the other." "And there is no way you can get to the other side." "Why not?" "Because only God is big enough to fix the tear." "Who would you say is the best person in the world?" "Excuse me?" "Morally speaking:" "Who is the best person you can think of?" "Living or dead?" "Either one..." "Somebody like..." "Mother Teresa, I guess." "Alright." "We'll say, this is Mother Teresa." "Now, who is the worst?" "Gosh..." "Osama Bin Laden, Jeffrey Dahmer..." "Hitler..." "Pick one!" "Ok..." "Hitler." "Alright:" "That's Hitler." "Now, where would you say, that you fall into place on this scale?" "Oh, if I say "with Mother Teresa", I'll appear vain, but if I put myself with Hitler, that's..." "well, Forget it!" "How about... here?" "Sugar." "Cute." "What do I win?" "Nothing." "But I'm gonna show you how you measure up in the eyes of God." "Great..." "Now, for this to be totally accurate, we'd have to place these 3 objects on a road that ran all the way from New York to Los Angeles (L.A.)" "with you, Mother Teresa and Hitler in New York, and God's moral standard all the way in L.A." "Are you saying, that to God Mother Teresa and Hitler are essentially the same?" "Oh, no, no." "Hitler was horribly evil, Mother Teresa did many good things!" "What I am saying, is:" "Mother Teresa for all her goodness was no closer to bridging the gap to God than Hitler was." "Both of them - based on their own merits - were still a long away from being with God." "So that's why you said, that keeping the Ten commandments won't get us into the Heaven?" "Right." "Because no one could ever keep them well enough." "Because God's standard is perfection." "Boy, that's reassuring..." "And you wouldn't want it any other way." "What that's supposed to mean?" "Would you really want the Universe to be run by someone who wasn't all about a perfect system of justice?" "A perfect brand of holiness?" "Why not?" "Perfect holiness is the last thing I need to deal with!" "So you would want a Universe where crime goes unpunished?" "Where someone who harms Sarah gets off scot free?" "Where somebody like Bin Laden isn't held accountable for 9/11?" "Not everyone is as bad as Bin Laden!" "No, but everyone is rebel against God in their own way." "It just doesn't seem fair, that God sees everyone in the same way, I mean..." "Some people are just worse than others!" "And God will handle them all accordingly!" "But that's just the whole point, Nikki:" "On what basis would you stand before a perfect God and say, that you've been good enough?" "But I thought, God is forgiving..." "With this perfect justice thing you are saying that God can't forgive anyone." "God is forgiving more than anything else and God wants to forgive people, so they could return Him." "But..." "God's desire for forgive can't override His perfect justice!" "People have to pay a penalty for breaking God's laws." "And the penalty is: death." "So what has to happen before He'll take us back?" "Well, God has two options:" "Either He could let people try and pay for their own penalties..." "Which, you already said, they can't do." "Right." "There is no way." "They'd be separated from Him ever." "God's other option is to take the penalty of death on Himself." "How can He do that?" "He is God!" "The Creator is always greater than the creation." "And for the Creator to take on the penalty of death for Himself:" "That satisfies perfect justice." "But... if He is already perfect and holy, why would He want to do that?" "Let's say, when Sarah is 20 years old, she falls in with a bad crowd and gets hooked on heroin." "You're painting a real cheery picture, there, Jesus!" "Just stay with me." "Now, while she is on drugs, she murders someone." "And is sentenced to be executed." "Would you take her sentence, if you could?" "I'm sure, I would!" "Why?" "Because I love her!" "And she'd have the rest of her life to get straightened out and be happy." "Don't you think, God loves you at least as much as you love Sarah?" "Maybe..." "I really don't know." "Well, I know, that God wants you with Him." "That's why He made you in the first place!" "It is?" "Yes... but you're naturally separated from God because of the bad stuff you do." "And to make good on a fact that a penalty has to be paid before you can be with God," "God took your penalty on Himself, and He died to pay it for you." "So, what is the catch?" "What does He want from me?" "Just that you trust Him, and believe the fact, that He did die to pay your penalty." "There is one thing, I'm confused about:" "The Bible says that Jesus died on the cross, not God." "Nikki..." "I AM God." "Would you excuse me for just a minute, please?" "Oh my gosh..." "This guy just told me, he is God!" "They all do, honey..." "Just make sure, he pays for dinner." "Exit" "Prove it!" "Excuse me?" "Prove, that you are God!" "And just what would convince you?" "I don't know, a miracle or something?" "!" "You couldn't even turn the wine into water earlier!" "You just assumed, that I couldn't..." "So you are saying, you could have, but chose not to?" "!" "And what if I had done it...?" "Well, it might have gotten my attention!" "And then what?" "I would like to try the strawberry amaretto cake." "Just... bring me a canoli." "So you're having trouble believing that God could become a man?" "Wouldn't you?" "Maybe..." "It depends on, what I expected from God." "Well, I don't expect Him to look like He just got off work at Merrill Lynch..." "No, I guess, I wouldn't either." "And to be quite honest, I really don't believe, that God just asks people to take a leap of faith that He exists." "You are right!" "God always gives proof before He expects faith." "Then what proof is there, that Jesus was God?" "Well, for one thing:" "it's exactly what God said would happen." "When did He say that?" "You've read, what some of the prophets said?" "Yes, some of the Nostradamus' stuff, but that never really..." "The real prophets, Nikki." "Sorry..." "You know, a guy I dated, when I was a freshman, actually got me to join a Bible study." "I remember one lesson, they were talking about the prophets predicting that the Messiah would come, but I don't remember them saying anything about him being God." "That's because you were obviously more interested in Tommy than the Bible study..." "And how would you know that?" "Because I was there..." "Alright." "The prophets predicted that the Messiah would be born of a virgin, in Bethlehem, bla, bla, bla..." "Oh and they also described the crucifixion." "So there!" "But don't you think, that was a pretty good tipoff?" "Predicting my birthplace 700 years before it happened?" "One man writing about crucifixion hundreds of years before the Romans even invented it?" "But still... all that doesn't mean that Jesus was God!" "Did you see that special, that Peter Jennings did about the historical Jesus?" "I know, which one you are talking about..." "Well, it said, that He never claimed to be the Messiah, much less God himself." "It said, that he struggled with his identity and he was killed for political reasons." "Mr. Jennings wasn't only concerned with accuracy." "In truth:" "I forgave sins, I accepted worship," "I healed the Sick, I raised the Dead, I demonstrated my power over nature." "I said, I existed before Abraham, and I was one with the Father, and the giver of eternal life." "Now, who does that sound like to you?" "Just because you claim to be God, doesn't mean that you are." "No, but it does mean, that I wasn't just another religious leader." "You only have 3 options:" "(1) either I was telling the truth;" "(2) I was lying; or (3) I was insane." "Good religious leaders don't claim to be God." "People distort the truth mainly because they reject this proof, they were given." "And what proof is that?" "That I rose from the dead..." "You are sitting there, obviously alive..." "If you claim, that you were once dead, it would be pretty hard for me to prove otherwise." "Good point!" "So why don't we go by the facts?" "According to that Peter Jennings special, what does history say about me?" "That Jesus was an actual person;" "That he was a teacher with a large following;" "And that we know, the Romans executed him." "Which brings us to the resurrection." "What happened next?" "Well, according to the disciples, Jesus rose from the dead." "But of course they would say that..." "Why?" "Is that what they were expecting to happen?" "I'm not sure..." "The answer is:" "No, they weren't." "Even though I told them several times it was going to happen, they still didn't believed until they saw me in person." "Isn't it possible, that they only thought that Jesus had died?" "So, the Roman executioners would just let someone down off the cross that was just badly injured?" "And 3 days later my recovery was so miraculous, that the disciples thought, I was God?" "Well, the disciples did have something to gain by claiming that Jesus was resurrected." "Like what?" "Like having a status of starting a whole new religious movement." "So you're saying:" "that the men who spread the word about me, launched the greatest force for good the world has ever known, that they did all this based on something they knew was a lie?" "Well..." "Do you know, that each disciple was eventually persecuted and murdered?" "Would someone willingly die for something they knew wasn't true?" "What about things like the Crusades, and the Salem witch trials, and the wars between the Protestants and the Catholics?" "Doesn't it seem, like your followers are always at each other's throats?" "Yes, it does." "And I can't tell you, how sad it makes me." "These people were only outwardly religious." "They never really trusted me..." "They never lived like the "new people" they were supposed to be." "Isn't that just little convenient?" "I mean..." "Can you honestly say, that no real Christians were involved in any of these things?" "The tragedy is:" "No, I can't say that..." "It may not be the norm, but it has been much too frequent..." "What did you mean by living like "new people"?" "When someone accepts my gift, they get more than just forgiveness." "Otherwise Heaven would be full of a bunch of forgiven sinners still running away from God." "That's not what He wants." "So what does He do about it?" "He changes them from the inside." "Their heart and their spirit don't want to run from Him anymore." "They wanna be with Him, and wanna do the things, that He says are good." "But they don't always do that, I see..." "Sometimes no, they don't." "A new heart just gets you in the game!" "After that you have to let me be your coach." "What does that mean?" "It means, that you believe in what I did for you, that you have accepted God's forgiveness, and you've allowed Him to live inside you." "Allow Him to ... what?" "To live inside you." "It's as close to God as you can get." "The last thing I need is God looking over my shoulder every minute." "He is already looking over your shoulder." "What you need is Him living in you every minute." "Why?" "For starters:" "How are you ever going to love your family unconditionally?" "I know, you want to love Matt better, you just don't know, how." "And even if you knew, you couldn't." "Only God can love Matt in a special way, and He wants to do it through you." "I try so hard, but... things just aren't going well with Matt." "We just get so irritated at one another." "You know, these things you are telling me..." "I've never really heard them explained before." "I know." "My message got all jumbled along the way." "Church leadership, power structures..." "People were so anxious to reduce God to a set of rules." "Is it rules, what He is it all about?" "Hardly..." "God is all about joining people to Himself." "That's how people were originally designed:" "To have God's very life within them." "And without it, you are like a new Mercedes with no engine." "It may look good on the outside, but it won't work, because it's missing the most important part." "Then if that's what Christianity is all about, then why don't the Christians just say so?" "Because a lot of them really don't understand." "They haven't listened to what I said, even though my words are right there in front of them." "So where do we go from here?" "Good question." "Where do you wanna go?" "Would you care for some coffee?" "Yes, please..." "Yes, please..." "Why doesn't God just show Himself to people?" "Then what would you have Him do?" "I don't know..." "Appear to each person individually." "No!" "Seriously!" "I mean, most people don't get a personal dinner invitation." "I already appeared to everyone." "I became one of them." "It's as personal as it gets." "But that was over 2000 years ago..." "It's really not the matter of further visual evidence." "People have all the evidence they need." "It's more a matter of the heart:" "Do people want to humble themselves enough to need God?" "How can you say, people have all the evidence they need?" "Well, the creation shows them, that God exists." "Scientists know more about its intricate design now more than ever." "I came to show them, what God is like." "And on the top that they have the message of the Bible." "Speaking of the Bible, what about all those contradictions?" "Like which ones?" "Like..." "I don't know the specifics, but..." "Then I will give you one:" "One gospel account says, that I healed 2 blind men outside of Jericho." "Another account says, I healed 1." "Well, there you go!" "Tell me something!" "The other day at work, when you were telling Les that story about something that happened to you and Matt when you went to the movies." "Had the two of you gone alone that night?" "No, Matt's friend:" "Tim was with us." "So why did you leave that fact out?" "Because... it wasn't relevant to the story I was telling..." "Alright." "You knew, I was going to ask this:" "Why do scientists have such a problem with the Creation Theory as opposed to Evolution?" "I think, the problem is with the "(God created people) in His own image" part." "That would make them accountable to a Creator, and they don't want that." "Is there a hell?" "Yes." "For those, who choose to continue separation from God, there is an existence." "And it's not an existence, you want..." "Why does He send people there?" "The Father offers forgiveness to anyone willing to accept it." "Sometimes people choose separation from God, and He respects what they choose." "Why doesn't He just make everyone go to Heaven?" "I mean, they would be happier there." "Because love doesn't force relationships." "If you had somehow forced Matt to marry you:" "that wouldn't have been love." "God created people with the ability to choose freely, and He respects those choices they make." "So I suppose, you would say, that for God to allow suffering is the same kind of thing?" "Why do you think?" "That... humanity suffers because it separated itself from God?" "Yes." "So why doesn't He just... make everything right?" "And do it now, instead of waiting for some day in the future?" "!" "It's little hard to answer, because you can't see things from God's perspective right now." "But there is a purpose to the present, and one day everything will be made right." "Don't forget, God didn't leave you to suffer alone." "He suffered more than anyone." "You are still angry about your dad..." "God took him away when I was 13." "I'd say, that's worth being angry about." "Or was that just... part of God's plan?" "!" "Your dad loved you very much..." "We used to do everything together:" "Reds games" " Bengals (baseball)." "He used to coach my softball team." "When mom divorced him, we moved across town, and he never coached me again." "You still saw him, though." "Yeah..." "Every other weekend, but..." "it wasn't the same..." "He missed you, too." "I know..." "You don't know, how heart-broken he was about you." "It almost killed him to lose you." "Well, he didn't live much longer anyway, did he?" "No." "He didn't..." "This may not seem true to you..." "but I was heartbroken for both of you." "Yes, you are right:" "That doesn't seem true." "You never answered my question:" "Was my parents' divorce and my dad dying part of God's plan?" "Do you know the story of the prodigal son?" "Great, another Sunday-school lesson..." "What did it take for the son to return to the father, who loved him?" "For life to get really bad, in the pig pen." "So what?" "!" "Sometimes... it takes a deep hurt to feel a deep need for God." "That's God's plan?" "!" "That's what God is willing to use in a broken world." "Your dad's pain drove him to me." "And without that wound in your heart, Nikki... you wouldn't be sitting here talking with me either." "I wish, I could say, it all makes sense now." "I wish I could say that..." "More coffee, madam?" "No, this is fine..." "I think, we are ready for the bill..." "Very good, Sir." "Even I don't like these things..." "God doesn't like ties..." "I'll note that for future reference." "Can I have your autograph, Sir?" "Just in case?" "Thank you very much, Sir." "Thank you, Eduardo." "I wonder, how much that'll go for on eBay?" ".." "I like Eduardo." "He is a humble person." "You kept talking about the gift of eternal life..." "What is Heaven like?" "Heaven is a really cool place." "People's senses have been so dulled by living in this broken world, that you're not going to believe all the sights, and sounds, smells, colors like you've never seen, music like you've never heard." "There's a lot of activity, but an overwhelming sense of peace." "Do you remember, how you felt when you stood next to the Grand Canyon?" "Just too awestruck to possibly take it all in?" "Yeah..." "Well, Heaven is like that, only infinitely more..." "I feel stupid asking this, but:" "Are the streets really made of gold?" "You know, describing Heaven to you isn't exactly easy." "It's like describing snow to the Aborigines." "There aren't many points of reference for you to compare to." "Just to know, what the Bible says:" "it's true and it's far greater than you could ever imagine." "And you are saying, I don't have to do anything to get there?" "You're confusing Heaven with Eternal Life." "I thought, they are the same thing..." "They are not." "I'm not following you..." "Eternal life isn't a place." "It's not even primarily a length of time." "I AM eternal life." "The Father is eternal life." "I'm still not sure, I'm getting it." "Just as God is source of all physical life, He is the source of all spiritual life, too." "Look at this way:" "God made your body to need food, air and water." "Now, what happens, when you take those things away?" "You die..." "Right!" "The same holds true for your spirit:" "God created your spirit to be joined with Him." "Without Him, it dies." "Your spirit has no eternal life." "So, when you say, the Father offers me eternal life He is offering you Himself." "So, what is Heaven?" "Heaven is the place, where I am." "But people don't go to Heaven, until they die." "True, but you can have eternal life right now." "Eternal life doesn't begin, when you die, eternal life begins in the moment, you start trusting me." "That's when I come to live within you." "You... in me?" "Me... the Holy Spirit..." "You know, I never have understood the whole Trinity thing: the Father, the Son, the Holy Ghost." "Joining the crowd..." "You weren't meant to understand it." "Are you saying, I'm incapable of understanding it?" "Yes." "God wouldn't be much of a God, if you could fully understand Him." "People still haven't figured out most of the creation thing." "I'm still not totally comfortable with God coming to live inside me." "I like the forgiveness part, but this other thing..." "It's the best part!" "You need someone living inside you, who will love you, and accept you  and wanna be around you, even when you don't feel good about yourself." "Sarah wants to be around me..." "Just wait til she is 15..." "You are bored, Nikki." "You were made for so much more than this." "You're so afraid, God is gonna steal your fun, but you got it backwards..." "You are like a little kid, who doesn't want to go to Disney World, because she is having too much fun making mud-pies by the curb." "There's no adventure quite like being hooked up with the Creator of the Universe." "And your first step would be, to let God guide you out of the mess you are in at work." "A couple of months ago you found out, some partners in your law firm were cooking the books on the firm's billing hours." "You are not involved, but you know enough, that your career would be jeopardized, if they were caught." "Well..." "You wanna leave." "Why don't you?" "I can't quit!" "Without my income, we probably wouldn't be able to keep living in that house." "And Matt would kill me, if we had to move again." "There's other law-firms..." "Maybe not as prestigious, but for sure with better hours." "I know, Sarah would appreciate that!" "Those hours, you spend working late are hours, that you'll never get back with her." "She'll be 15, before you know it..." "I know, I just..." "I just can't do that right now." "You need someone to give you the strength to make that decision." "Because it really will work out ok!" "I know that doesn't seem like it right now..." "That's true..." "Matt would be furious, then I'd get mad at him for reacting that way, and then he would start..." "What if someone lived in you, that could love Matt even when he's upset at you?" "Yeah, that seems impossible..." "No, with God it isn't..." "Here..." "let me get this." "I owe you one." "Nikki, it's a gift..." "I thought, they went through your hands..." "No..." "The spikes were driven through my wrist to support the weight of my body." "Are you ready to go?" "You and Carlo act like old friends!" "We are." "How long have you been coming to Pepino's?" "First time..." "And now for the million dollar question:" "What did you drive?" "I didn't drive." "Of course you didn't..." "Oh, you never told me, who sent the invitation?" "Suppose, this was your idea from the beginning." "Actually, it was yours..." "Do you remember, when your dad went away and you asked God to come tell, why it happened?" "Not really..." "Well, I remembered." "And I've been planning this dinner for a long time." "Will we get together for dinner again?" "Well, that's up to you." "I'm not sure what that means..." "Hand me one of your business cards..." "That'll tell you how to reach me." "Now you best be getting home," "Matt's already asleep on the couch." "Matt?" "Oh, no..." "the game won't be over for at least..." "Tim got sick on the nachos and they came home after the 4th inning." "Sarah's there, too, she got scared in the tent, and Stephanie's mom brought her home." "I'm glad, you showed up, Nikki." "I've enjoyed our time together." "I have, too..." "Remember, Matt's on your side, he just hasn't learned how to show it very well, yet." "Just give him time and love him!" "Okay." "And give Sarah a big hug for me!" "I will!" "Thank you..." "Until next time..." "Hey..." "Hey, I'm home..." "I'm really sorry about this morning..." "It's okay, we can talk about it tomorrow..." "I'm gonna look on Sarah before I turn in." "Alright, I'll be right up..." "Book of Revelations 3:20" "And Jesus said:" ""Here I am!" "I stand at the door and knock." "If anyone hears my voice and opens the door," "I will come into them and I will dine with them, and they with me."" "subtitle by sixxcatt, correction, retiming by sbhun version 2014.02.28" "When I first read the screenplay for the Perfect Stranger," "I knew, it was something I'd loved to be involved with." "First of all, because I loved the story." "I thought both in David Gregory's novel and Jefferson's adaptation," "I thought, it was very clever, and courageous and really inspiring." "And I knew, Nikki would be very interesting character to try to bring to life." "I knew that playing Nikki would be one of those fun kind of challenges as an actor." "She is such a complex individual with so many walls that needed to be built up inside her and slowly broken down." "And she runs just about the entire gamble with emotions within a fairly compact amount of time." "So we had to be careful in this particular story to not give away too much too soon, but let the audience follow Nikki naturally on her journey through this day." "I think, that Nikki is a character, that almost every human being can relate to on some level and indentify with." "She works so hard to achieve the success in her personal life, her family life and her work life, and she doesn't realize that the more and more she tries to keep situations under control the more and more stressful and out-of-control they become." "And in her particular situation she doesn't realize, that in her anger these things that she tries to surround herself with to make her life perfect aren't filling this void that she has inside her." "Throughout the course of this evening" "Nikki not only comes face to face with the things that have been hunting her throughout her life but she also - in the beauty of the story - gets to come face to face with Jesus Christ himself." "And it opposes the question:" "What would you say, do or ask if you were sitting across the table from Jesus Christ in person?" "And in Nikki's particular case, she poses many of the questions that several people have probably explored on their journal towards faith." "And she voices also her frustrations, her pain, her anger, her denial, and ultimately her adoration that is developing for this Jesus." "And this all happens as she realizes that in the midst of all the complexities and frustrations in life and humanity, and how complicated all the questions can be, how simple the answer really is." "It all comes back to this gift:" "this immeasurable love of God." "Which is why I think the story is so beautiful, and why I think this film is important, because that love is - what I think - it is all about." "In writing the screenplay adaptation of Greg's novel and also in shaping this performance of Jesus there were two main points I wanted to shine through, I wanted the audience to walk away with:" "One was those points was that Jesus IS REAL, and He is who He says He is." "The other point was that Jesus already has this unique and personal relationship with all with us." "Like He did with Nikki." "That He really is someone who would like to sit across the table from us, and talk to us and have a conversation and hear about our needs and answer our questions." "I think, that everyone in general (and this is non-believers and believers as well)" "I think, they all have seen enough with the Jesus that is up on the wall painting and floating on the stain-glass window, where He is so distant far away." "I think they need to see the personal Jesus, they need to know, there is a Jesus, like the one in the story, that knows our name, the one, knows our kids' name," "and knows our favorite ball-team, knows what we love to eat." "Even knows better the goofy things we did when we were 6 years old." "It was challenging presenting this story because we wanted to represent Jesus as someone who is really likeable, but at the same time we didn't want to be pushover, one who says:" ""everything is fine, it's ok whatever you do"" "We needed to show that Jesus does say:" ""Judgment is not my primary thing, but there're rules that you need to you live by."" "And like He told Nikki in the story:" ""It's not rules that take your fun away, it's rules that make you better, and it rules, that will keep you safe, and rules that will let you enjoy my love to its very fullest."" "So we tried to really do a fine line between that Jesus is our friend, but also Jesus is our counselor and Jesus does give us some guidance." "There have been other cinematic instances, where Jesus met with someone in modern times, and personally I always thought, those movies missed the mark." "Because every time Jesus and even God, was portrayed us someone who was a nice person, they always did a lot of nice things and spoke wisdom and they did good deeds, and sometimes they did a magic trick, or two, but they never really made a point about who they were." "That's what is I always I loved about this story we filmed, and the original novel, what Greg wrote:" "Jesus makes a very clear point of who he is, and what He means to us." "And He answers questions which are very permanent, and He gives explanations." "So I think, that adds more "meat" to our story as to Jesus really define His case:" "who He is, and what part we play in the world in relationship to Jesus." "Just like the relationship Jesus had with Nikki in the story, we'd like people to know that the same relationship that Jesus has with all of us:" "It's unique and personal." "Just like you'd sit across the table from Him, and you are the only person in the entire room." "That's how He looks at it." "And once you get on board with that concept that Jesus already has this personal relationship with you, and that He's focused into you, then you realize His sacrifice just for me:" "it brings the whole thing home." "Jesus in the simplest of terms is:" "Love." "And once people realize that fact, then Heaven belongs to them." "As a filmmaker and as a Christian, this is the type of work that I specifically asked God to let me be part of." "Actually I remember, when I did that, I was just going to the movies and saw some outrageous mass of special effects blockbuster." "And it was great." "And you know how you feel, when you walk out of the movie:" "from some reason you feel energized, you feel like something is different, something is changed." "And I remember having that feeling and going:" ""nothing is different, nothing has changed," "I've just watched the movie, I just have been entertained"." "I just thought about the size and the magnitude of this movie, and thought about the money and the manpower, and the creativity that went into it, putting it together." "And a line of Shakespeare came to me:" ""Sound and fury, signifying nothing." "All of that for nothing."" "And I remember, going home and praying:" ""Lord, let me be part of making movies, that still means something, when the lights come up."" "And that's why I am thrilled to be able to be part of this, because I think, this is gonna mean something long after the lights come up." "I think, this is the kind of work we have to do, that, we as Christians must do, if we'd want to be involved in filmmaking." "Because people have complained for a long time:" "Why doesn't Hollywood come out with values-oriented program?" "With Christian program?" "Why don't they do that?" "The answer is:" "They can't." "They aren't able to." "Jesus actually told us:" "They aren't able to." "He said:" ""You can't get a good fruit from a bad tree." "Only good tree can produce good fruit."" "So we as Christians are called to be the "good tree" and produce good fruit." "We can't let the fact that "Hollywood is a giant" to intimidate us." "Because things don't work the same way in God's Kingdom as they do in the world." "That reminds me the story of Gideon and his army:" "He was going out to fight a battle equipped with a huge army." "And God said:" ""No." "No, that's too many people"" "And He pared his army down to 300 people." "Because He said:" ""If you go out and fight this battle with your army and win, then you get the glory."" "But you go and fight this battle and win with 300 men, and I get the glory."" "So I'm thrilled to be part of where the help is God's army of 300 - in filmmaking."