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I watched Michael Jackson's "THIS IS IT" the other day and was totally taken by surprise!  I honestly don't know what I was expecting, but I certainly wasn't expecting to come away from the movie CHANGED FOREVER.  Here are my BIG, paradigm-shifting TAKE-AWAYS:

#1 My opinion of the man Michael Jackson is forever changed.  I know that the whole goal of this movie was to present Michael at his best, to show the world the man behind the music...but no amount of Reality TV-type editing could change a monster or sicko into the person that I saw interacting with other real people in this behind-the-scenes footage. 

#2 The movie forced me re-think the source of Michael's inspiration.  Michael Jackson was a creative genius...that is a fact that no one would doubt.  But the way he described his music, it was as if he was not the writer.  It was as if there was a spiritual author behind his genius.  He would use phrases like "It's supposed to be like this" and "you've got to let it simmer." Related to this, he must have said "God bless you" 20 times during the movie...and it didn't seem like he was just saying it.  He really seemed to be blessing people. 

#3 I saw in Michael Jackson  the perfect example of a loving perfectionist.  He would interrupt the flow of rehearsal whenever what he was experiencing with his external ears wasn't matching the creative melodies and moves which were flowing in him internally.  But THE WAY he spoke to his team members was remarkable.  He was exceedingly gentle, yet he would get right to the point with what was wrong....and then he would end up his gentle coaching each time saying "with love, with love...l-o-v-e...love!" 

#4 I think his child-like-ness was both intentional and wise.  Some of his close colleagues spoke about his innocence, remarking that "there is is a difference between being innocent and being naive."  They said that he was definitely not naive, but that his quality of innocence (even at age 50) is what made him so magical.  We all know that Michael loved to keep the company of children, saying that their innocence and creativity inspired him to remain playful and creative.  He even created a place to live which stretched the limits of anyone's imagination, a place where elephants walked by windows, where roller-coasters were in the front yard, where snakes and tigers were regular house pets...the limitless imaginations of a child was the essence of Neverland. 

#5 My last big take-away from the movie didn't actually come from Michael himself, but from the people who surrounded him.  There was such a sense of HONOR that permeated every room Michael came into.  When Michael entered, dancers and technicians would whisper to each other "the man is here" as they nervously prepared themselves to interact with the Michael Jackson.  When he was singing back and forth during rehearsal, there were scores of dancers and other team members at the foot of the stage going absolutely crazy!  And what did he do?  He performed in their praise!  Most notably, however, was how Kenny Ortega (a father figure, director of production, and close friend of Michael) treated him.  At every point, he was carefullly creating and maintaining an atmosphere where Michael's creative genius would not be stifled and where he was always taken care of.  At one point during a black-out, he came over the sound system saying "make sure somebody is there for Michael with a flashlight!"  It was all about the details, all about honoring Michael, all about love.      

I was driving into town the next day, praying in the cab of my truck, when God spoke to me something that I will never forget.  He said, "If my people would treat my Holy Spirit like the people around Michael treated him, then they would see ME perform!" 

Let me know how this hit you...I know it cut me to the quick.  I'm gonna do my best not to grieve Him (the Holy Spirit) today.   

With Love (L-O-V-E...love),
~BB  :+) 

"Let your gentleness be evident to all. The Lord is near."--Philippians 4:5