DISCIPLINE#2 OF 12 - THE WORD OF GOD

 THE BMIC BLAST: DECEMBER 2024

DISCIPLINE #1 OF 12 - CREATION

 

THE REAL ORIGINS OF HUMANKIND

 READ THIS TEXT:  COLOSSIANS 1:13-22

DEFEAT DEPRESSION AND SPIRITUAL CRISIS

THE TRUTH ABOUT HEAVEN

TEXT:

THE ENTIRE BIBLE (SELECTED PASSAGES)

1 Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth, for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away, and the sea was no more. 2 And I saw the holy city, new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband. 3 And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, “Behold, the dwelling place of God is with man. He will dwell with them, and they will be his people, and God himself will be with them as their God. 4 He will wipe away every tear from their eyes, and death shall be no more, neither shall there be mourning, nor crying, nor pain anymore, for the former things have passed away.”


5 And he who was seated on the throne said, “Behold, I am making all things new.” Also he said, “Write this down, for these words are trustworthy and true.” 6 And he said to me, “It is done! I am the Alpha and the Omega, the beginning and the end. To the thirsty I will give from the spring of the water of life without payment. 7 The one who conquers will have this heritage, and I will be his God and he will be my son.

English Standard Version (ESV)

The Holy Bible, English Standard Version. ESV® Text Edition: 2016. Copyright © 2001 by Crossway Bibles, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers.

HOW DO WE PREACH AN EXPOSITORY MESSAGE?

TEXT:  JOHN 3:16 (KJV) - PUBLIC DOMAIN
16 For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.

SEVEN QUALITIES OF EXPOSITORY PREACHING BY WAYNE MC DILL
(FROM THE SOUTHERN BAPTIST CONVENTION'S FACTS AND TRENDS - LIFEWAY)

Among evangelicals, the term expository preaching has come to stand for authentic biblical preaching. However, exactly what constitutes expository preaching varies from writer to writer and preacher to preacher.

I have talked with preachers who described themselves as “expositors,” and I believed them until I heard them preach. For many, exposition seems to mean taking a text and preaching on the subject the passage seems to address. For others exposition means defining some of the words in the text. For others expository preaching seems to mean.

The word exposition is from the Latin, expositio, meaning “a setting forth, narration, or display.” As applied to preaching, the word has come to mean the setting forth or explanation of the message of the biblical text. In expository preaching the sermon is designed to communicate what the text says, including its meaning for the contemporary audience.

Here are seven qualities of authentic expository preaching gleaned from definitions of various writers through the generations:

In expository preaching the preacher’s first aim is to discover the text writer’s intended theological meaning in the selected text. We preachers tend to search the Bible for a sermon. We hope for something to leap out at us that will preach. But a program of expository preaching calls for the preacher to aim for a clear understanding of the text writer’s meaning. Only out of that theological message can he properly preach an expository sermon.

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THE GRACEFUL SERVANT

#Grace & genuine love for others will shine through the believer who is solidly grounded on the #Truth of the #Gospel. We serve & can reach others so much better. Let's get it done:

DETAILS"
TEXT: 1 Timothy 4: 6-9 The graceful servant of the Lord keeps his or herself free from moral failure and also takes care of the body as well as the soul. This way, we can be accepted as "the real deal" not just by others around us, but by our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, in this life and the next.

CRITICAL THINKING - A COMMAND FROM GOD FOR PARENTS

6 These words, which I am commanding you today, shall be on your heart. 7 You shall teach them diligently to your sons and shall talk of them when you sit in your house and when you walk by the way and when you lie down and when you rise up. 8 You shall bind them as a sign on your hand and they shall be as frontals on your forehead. 9 You shall write them on the doorposts of your house and on your gates. (Deuteronomy 6:6-9)
These directives from God is absolutely clear. They are real. They stand for ALL generations.  Lack of financial resources, opportunities or circumstances of birth are of no excuse or import to these Biblical Commands from the God of all Creation, all the Universe and all Mankind. Absolutely no parent is exempt of accountability for these commands, anywhere in the world, at any point in history.

So how does this generation and all future generations (since it is too late for all who have gone before) avoid the fatal eternal mistakes of not bringing up their children in the ways of Yahweh? First we start with these important commands from our Heavenly Father and we establish a home, from Day One, where Jesus Christ is the Head of the Household.

This is so for one very valid reason – Christianity is the only Thinking Man’s religion. We do not need to examine any other fake system out there, which either requires a person to sit like a sponge and empty their mind so the god of this world can fill it with untruths or, some of the other systems which require a certain amount of “good works”, no matter how degenerate the person may be in their personal lives. They never say how much is enough “good stuff” or what percentage their god will accept.

Christianity calls the sinner to not just come and “reason” but to “test” the Words of the Lord of the Bible. He invites anyone and fellowship with and learn from Him. He also has a special place in His heart for the children and raising them in not only in the way they are to go. Educating our children in the ways of the Thinking Man’s Religion is mandatory. Look at the commands from the above Deuteronomy passage:

• Parents shall have the Word of God in our hearts. How? By reading, studying, memorizing and LIVING them (verse 6).
• Parents shall teach them DILIGENTLY. This is an active, ongoing command to take painstakingly good care to teach, instruct and demonstrate Godly attributes and His Character as found in His Word – the Bible (Verse 7a)
• Parents shall use every opportunity to demonstrate the power, majesty and creative brilliance of God in creation (nature) and everyday living.  This runs the gamut from nightly prayer with the kiddos to grace before meals, married with regular church attendance- WEEKLY (verse 7b). Children should be taught that even the act of getting off the bed each morning is a gift from God. Having something to eat at breakfast and clean clothes are daily gifts from our Heavenly Father. Reference Matthew 6: for this….and more.
• Parents should teach by their actions and when given a choice,  openly where Christian apparel or jewelry where appropriate and as much as possible, since we do not wear the little bible boxes and other items on our person as they wore back in Old Testament days. We are supposed to be the entire package (Verse 8).
• Parents should have something in their interior décor at our homes which tells the casual visitor; utility or repair man, that THIS is a Christian home. Deuteronomy 6:9 talks about writing the Word of God on “doorposts” – these are the Mezzuzahs which Jewish people still have by their front doors (see photo).  Most people will not do this, but they will have coffee mugs with Bible verses; fridge magnets or inspiring canvases in their living rooms. These are the items which have and even stronger cumulative effect of some verses on the door, in a metallic container. The best Bible is the one which the world reads by looking at our lives.

So, what does any of this have to do with Critical Thinking? The answer is – more than meets the eye. A child brought up in a functional 100% Christian home with two parents already has the tools to win in life, without this child even realizing it. The first thing is salvation. When dad takes the family, or leads the family to church, statistics prove that the child is saved and born again 85% of the time!

What needs to take place next, is something  for which parents are just as responsible. That would be instruction, mentoring and discipleship.  Leading our children to Christ is the main event, but there is more.  If they do not know about their Faith; how to study and comprehend it and then, how to defend it in the public arena, we would have fallen short.

In his book ALREADY GONE,  Ken Ham along with his researcher Britt Beemer, keyed into the terrifying problem of church-raised kids who end up losing their faith by their sophomore year in College…and increasingly now – High School.  While this book was released  in 2009, the underlying discovery stunned the world of church leadership.  Sure, we officially lost most church raised children in college. But the truth was that we lost them in 6^th grade Sunday School!

Teens and millennials who walked away  from Christianity; still call themselves “Christians” yet believed “all religions worshiped the same God”, are as lost as a grain of wheat in a soybean silo at Harvest Time.  It is not they do not think, but they do not know how to think and process the information in the Bible…..because no one taught them. Most Sunday School members are well-meaning church members who may or may not have a well-read background in Apologetics (or how to explain/defend the Truth of Scripture).  Most  youth group leaders are even less trained and more apt to direct towards fun, games and entertainment than serious, deep age-appropriate bible study.

So, in light of all of this, how can we get this steadily downward trend to a halt before we can even attempt to turn the tide? We appeal to the mind and the heart of the young person.  It is never too late to start. The following two components are absolutely essential:

• Take the time to teach critical thinking to your own kids, or hire a tutor.
• Promote actual book reading (as in physical books) to compliment what is being taught
• Spend time doing writing exercises with the kids which will cause them to both think and then write it down in a coherent fashion.

Teaching our children, as God commanded, about the Bible and Faith is critical to grasp every other aspect of life.  The reason the vast majority of people under 30 years old have no hope, no core belief and no eternity in mind, is because they were misled in churches or never got to the front door in the first place. 

We must teach them first to think on their own but according to God's Truth - NOT the world and through the brainwashing they receive in public schools and bad private schools.

We must teach them to understand both the meaning AND consequences of Words and especially the long term results of living part from the pure Word of God.

We must teach them to evaluate each situation against the plumb line of Truth, because there is this yardstick called Absolute Truth. There are things which are black and white. 

We must teach them that their misled peers who do not believe there is Absolute Truth are not thinking individuals but are misled into making absolute statements which can be absolutely denied by our children, under the terms of logic.

We must raise them up in the way they should go, because this is our ultimate responsibility, to which we will answer before God, if we fall short - like all of the secular world, and sadly, too many Christians. 

NEW LIFE: A MONTH OF VERSES: JANUARY 29, 2017

VERSE: "Our beloved brother Paul, according to the wisdom given him, wrote to you, as also in all his letters, speaking in them of these things, in which are some things hard to understand, which the untaught and unstable distort, as they do also the rest of the Scriptures, to their own destruction" (2 Peter 3:15b-16).

EQUATION: Teachings of the New Testament from Apostle Paul = Authentic Scriptures from God.

ACTION: For the first time in the Bible, the great Apostle Peter, tells us as plain as day, that the letters from the brilliant Apostle Paul are not only full of truth but are as much Scriptures as the Words of the Torah (first five books of the Bible) or the Prophets. Jesus Himself revealed them to His servant Paul when He trained him for three years in the Arabian desert. The required action for those who have not yet done so, is to start with reading the Book of Romans, this year and then read all the way through the Book of James - very slowly, very methodically, while praying for the Holy Spirit to make the embedded truths here, easy to comprehend. Scripture immersion is required, at in this current age.

PRAYER: Our Heavenly Father and great God of Heaven Who has revealed Himself to sinful mankind, first through Moses and the Prophets and in these last days, through Your great Son the Savior Jesus, we praise Thee, worship Thee and bless Your Holy Name for giving us the Word of Truth - the Bible. Through this, Father, we cannot be deceived by those on earth who twist Your words to suit their own personal ends and misrepresent You, misleading others and making them just as much a candidate for destruction as they are. Father, give us, through Your revealed word- the Rhema of God and the Powerful Spirit of the Living God, the discernment to immediately recognize false teaching and error so that we may alert the unsuspecting and teach those who need to know You better. Grant us the courage to stand for revealed Truth so that we may proclaim it righteously, with humility and love, but with uncompromising accuracy, so that we may stand before You, holy and blameless, in the Presence of the Angels and the Lord Jesus Christ Himself, to whom all praise is due, in His Name, the Name above ALL the other names, we ask all these things, amen and amen.

(Clip Art Credit Here)

PRAYERS OF THE BIBLE SERIES: THE BOOK OF JOB, Prayer #3

As tedious (after the first chapter) as it may seem to the average person, the Book of Job is one of the most important pieces of factual literature ever produced in the entire history of mankind. Chronologically,  as previously mentioned,  it is the first book ever written and the Hands and Spirit of God are all over it.  As we continue visiting some of the outstanding prayers of this outstanding man, whom God Himself mentioned as one of His three top saints in another Scripture (Ezekiel 14:14 “even though these three men, Noah, Daniel and Job were in its midst, by their own righteousness they could only deliver themselves….”), 

Job 10:
“My soul loathes my life;
I will give free course to my complaint,
I will speak in the bitterness of my soul.
2 I will say to God, ‘Do not condemn me;
Show me why You contend with me.
3 Does it seem good to You that You should oppress,
That You should despise the work of Your hands,
And smile on the counsel of the wicked?
4 Do You have eyes of flesh?
Or do You see as man sees?

5 Are Your days like the days of a mortal man?
Are Your years like the days of a mighty man,
6 That You should seek for my iniquity
And search out my sin,
7 Although You know that I am not wicked,
And there is no one who can deliver from Your hand?
8 ‘Your hands have made me and fashioned me,
An intricate unity;
Yet You would destroy me.
9 Remember, I pray, that You have made me like clay.
And will You turn me into dust again?

Now in the previous prayer (Click here) Job had just finished saying he wished he had someone to "stand in the gap" for him before the Lord (a "mediator"). You and I know we are the most blessed people ever, as Jesus Christ is our High Priest and Intercessor before His Own Father, on our behalf. Job did not have that privilege....so off he goes on a rant which comes close to insulting God....and which the Father responds to in Job 38-39, demanding a reply from Job.

Actually everything which Job lists above points to the human incarnation of the Lord Jesus Christ! Job prays to the Lord:  
- "Do You have eyes of flesh or see as a man sees?" (Verse 4)
- "Are Your days like the days of a mortal man?"(Verse 5a)

This is prophetic before he launches into the self-pitying pathetic discourse, asking God to just take his life and get it over with! We do close to the same thing, in essence, because most of the time we are as unaware of the specific plans and purposes of God for the particular trial we experience, as Job was.

Job then goes further and reveals the depth of his knowledge of not just WHO God is but He has done for him (Job). Later on we will see that knowing all these facts about God, and staying faithful to Him to the letter of the Law, is not as complete as a close personal knowledge (YADA) of Him! Job thinks that only God may be able to do this to him, but he obviously does not know that it was the devil - Satan - who was allowed to do some horrid damage to Job (see Job chapter 1).

Here in verses 12-15 (Chapter 10) Job says:
12 You have granted me life and favor,
And Your care has preserved my spirit.
13 ‘And these things You have hidden in Your heart;
I know that this was with You:
14 If I sin, then You mark me,
And will not acquit me of my iniquity.
15 If I am wicked, woe to me;
Even if I am righteous, I cannot lift up my head.
I am full of disgrace;
See my misery!

Before we get real harsh and self-righteous on old Job here, let's look in the mirror and ask if we had ever done the same and if it all came down to this, would we - even knowing Jesus as Lord and Master - do the same thing?! Sure, some of us may breathe deeply and not complain, but frankly, this is a minority view! At the same time, we can still pray as Paul did when he was in so much pain and affliction at the thorn in his flesh that he asked the Lord to take it away three times. It does appear though that Paul was in this said minority. He mentioned his personal pain only three times, and when God answered "My Grace is sufficient for thee", Paul is recorded as never mentioning it again! In fact, he did his best work under conditions no human could endure.

Moving on to our final portion of this prayer from Chapter 10, Job wraps up this portion of his long-running one way "conversation" (prayer) with God thus:
Chapter 10:18-20....
18 ‘Why then have You brought me out of the womb?
Oh, that I had perished and no eye had seen me!
19 I would have been as though I had not been.
I would have been carried from the womb to the grave.
20 Are not my days few?
Cease! Leave me alone, that I may take a little comfort.

This is a harsh wind-up. If we had not known better, we would think Job was a non-believer and just challenging the Lord to just end it right now because he (Job) has no idea why he was born in the first place! He seeks comfort with a proposed departure from this life, in the quiet darkness of the grave as he sees it. 

So how does all of this navel-gazing apply to us in our own Christian walk? There are a lot of wounded walking in our midst. and not just our Wounded Warriors from the recent wars. There are folks with battle scars from families, churches, friends, jobs, neighbors and just about every where. Some of these battle scars are even self-inflicted. The level of hopelessness is reaching critical mass. Young people see no future for them. Their elders have sold their birth right for a bowl of soup and a seat with the temporarily powerful. Their parents are void of any true scriptural guidance and nothing is in order.

We see legalized potheads clouding over the skies of Colorado and yet football coaches are ordered to not pray with the kids to whom this same coach is the only true male role model they have. The rich, powerful and those in charge mandate ungodly and demonic instructions for the young and helpless to become indoctrinated into, guaranteeing they will wish they had not done so, when they stand before Job's creator. It is an unholy mess and many are saying (or praying) like Job in verse 20...."CEASE! LEAVE ME ALONE, that I may take a little comfort"!

But you know, there is a better way - we will see next in the prayers of Chapter 19! The lesson here is - as bad is it gets...AND IT IS GETTING WORSE...there is a way..there IS THE WAY - THE TRUTH...and the LIFE, and His Name is Jesus. Do you know Him? He is but a breath and a prayer away!
Amen.

AD THE SERIES...THE BIBLE CONTINUES MAKING INROADS (A REVIEW)

    WATCH EPISODES OF AD THE SERIES ON NBC HERE

Two years after their successful run with the BIBLE series on the History Cable Channel, that stunned the secular world, Mark Burnett and Roma Downey have done something spectacular which no ministry or Christian leader can ever do. They have managed to get the Pure and Mighty Name of Jesus, the Magnificent Son of God ON PRIME TIME! Not just that, but AD The Series is on the National Broadcasting Corporation, NBC. Whether this is a great marketing move for NBC, (which it is), the main thing is this - Jesus Christ and the Gospel is going around the world, over the air - unfiltered!

To be sure, there are obvious errors in moving the text (the Bible) to modern American TV or Movie production. There will always be poetic licence, liberty and outright alteration of the Word of God whenever man tries to bring such powerful truths to the TV and silver screens of the world. With a mostly successful run on NBC with their series, Burnett and Downey may be hard-pressed to match the success of both "The Bible" and "AD The Series...the Bible Continues".

As a student of the Bible, author and observer of the culture, there are certain pros and cons to this particular body of work, which are worth noting, to anyone who may consider watching the series from a website or Netflix. 

PROS: 
As aforementioned, the message of Jesus Christ as the unmistakeable Son of God, Savior and Lord, Who rose from the dead, is still stunning to me - on prime time, on mainstream network TV. That alone is priceless!

The second positive development is this time, Burnett and Downey stayed closer to Scripture and the facts than some of their creative “paraphrasing” in their “Bible Series” from two years ago. That History Channel Series which launched AD was roundly criticized by conservative and Reformed scholars, of which I am actually one. However because I saw the value of The Bible Series, I was called a heretic and unsaved pagan, almost, by a well-known “discernment blogger” (whose name shall not grace my page here) because I supported the showing of The Bible Series! This man, who is like most critics and discernment bloggers have almost no love for the lost and hurting in this world, was proven wrong the very next day. I told him that even if there were textual errors in all those hours of telling the Bible from Genesis to the Resurrection, we can use that show to create conversation at the work place, school or anywhere and correct the record ourselves. Sure enough, that occurred to me more than once! I was able to discuss the coming of Cyrus in the Book of Daniel with a person was not that familiar with Scripture. After seeing the portrayal of Cyrus in original Bible Series, it triggered occasion for discussion of what really happened and who Cyrus the first was! AD the Series is still causing conversation with the person who is also bringing others along. So to those self-righteous hyper-Calvinists out there, go get right with God and repent!

Jesus appears to Saul on Road to Damascus in AD The Series

Which brings us to the third positive aspect of the showing of AD the Series. It gave a glimpse of how tough the early church really had it. With Christians by the millions being displaced, chased out of the 2000 year old homes; murdered; beheaded and worse, it is confirmation that nothing has really changed for those who will inherit eternal life. The brutality of the Romans and the Jewish religious authorities against the followers of the Way, was phenomenal. The viciousness especially of the Romans continued for over 300 years until Constantine ended in, upon his alleged conversion. 

Apart from the positives of the Gospel of Jesus, Jesus Himself and the Early Church being the topics of high profile portrayals, there is one consequence of AD the Series. It does not matter if It was intended or not, but AD The Series should do away with this anti-semitic notion that it was the Jews alone who killed Jesus. Anyone who have seen historical documentaries or read books about the Roman Empire could testify to extreme nature of their viciousness, which extrapolated itself into a 300 year reign of terror in Rome, against our brothers and sisters in Christ. It was only the supposed conversion of Emperor Constantine which ended that persecution. The Jewish religious authorities did convince the Roman Pontius Pilate to execute the Jewish Messiah Jesus, and then persecuted and killed some of his early Jewish followers. But in reality, it was the Sin of All Mankind, for all time, which led the Son of God to the die on the Cross. So AD went a long way here. It inadvertently did a service in the cause against Antisemitism!

CONS
There are some serious issues with this beautiful production. Just like the first The Bible Series (2013), the producers took severe liberties with the Text. While this may be okay with books written by mere mortal men,  errors of omission and commission of the Inerrant Word of God are serious matters. Some of the errors in the program are historical and seem to explain the producers obsession with the Roman administration in Judea/Jerusalem. More than two thirds in the way into the twelve part series, inaccurate Roman shenanigans still take up almost half of the story which is supposed to be about the early church.

The corrupt and perverted immature Roman Caligula was not even in Jerusalem in real life at this time. It does appear that the conniving and sleazy lifestyle of these pagans make better television, which would be fine if totally accurate. Burnett and Downey are almost similar to Bill O'Reilly, whose "Killing Jesus" spent such an inordinate amount of time on the sick sex lives of Roman leadership that it almost turned me off from reading the rest of the Book. As well meaning as these folks were, it was hard to take the multi-media out of them to focus on what the earliest days of the Christian church were really.

While it is impossible to get everything that happened in the Book of Acts Chapters 1-11, on which this current series were based, there is a frustrating lack of context and in a couple instances - serious flaws. The Disciples who were in-dwelled by the Holy Spirit on Pentecost in Acts 2, were not cowards after this life-changing event. Yet, too many times, they appear to be cowering and sad men who were the opposite of the Actual 12 men who changed the world! They were also not troubled souls but bold men who willingly gave their lives for the Master.

The introduction of the Apostle Paul, as the Christian-hating Saul was accurate except for the tall actor they chose to play Saul/Paul. Again, the well-meaning producers sought aggressively to have a diverse cast, but in spite of the selected actors' great job with their lines etc.

One can go on nitpicking at this detail or that, but there is a better road to travel here. The best way for the Christian or those interested in what the Bible is about, is to take this body of work as a whole and view it as such. 
Next, this should be viewed and then taken back to the Word of God to read what the Books of Acts said about the main characters: Peter, Stephen, Philip and Saul/Paul, Barnabas. 
Third, a good commentary, preferably by Warren Wiersbe will help in understanding both the real historical background AND the application of what you and I just read about the Book of Acts. 
Finally - tell somebody else about it. Tell someone who does not know Christ as Lord and Savior or doesn't even know that a person must have a real authentic relationship with the Son of God, in order to get into Heaven!

THIRTY ONE DAYS OF PRAYER AND THE WORD:JANUARY 1-31, 2015 THEME: "ABIDE"

DAY ONE:

Beginning anything with Prayer and Praise, in gratitude for what God has done for us, is imperative. It is also always wise, in the Sight of the Lord, to begin each new calendar year humbly submitted to the Father, Who always existed and is always gracious to us, His Children.

The theme which the Lord gave me for this first month's focus - whether it is prayer, fasting, praise and sometimes, all three is ABIDE. The literal meaning of ABIDE in the New Covenant (or Testament) with Christ is "to remain in; to dwell and to live in Christ until death"! Christ is literally called the Branch in Prophesy (Zechariah 3:8 and others). There is no other way but to remain in Christ. He said that NO ONE can snatch HIS sheep out of His Hands, So eternity is secure to the born-again, converted and regenerated forer son/daughter of perdition. 

But just like the vine must remain connected to the Source to produce fruit. We must also remain connected with the Spirit of God. We know when we are saved that the Holy Spirit - the Spirit of the Branch - indwells us until death. Therefore, to live the full life, we must allow the Source of Everything to work in and through us. There is no other way - to be happy in Jesus - but to trust, obey and pray.

To start 2015 off as we should and in order to get to where we can function with an unction, this January, the focus is abiding in the Word with a verse and a prayer...and when the Spirit guides - a song. So here is Day 1 of 31:

VERSE: "Abide in Me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself unless it abides in the vine, so neither can you unless you abide in Me. (John 15:4).

PRAYER: Father God, Abba, Almighty God, Ruler of the Universe and Father of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, we thank Thee for all You are. We thank Thee for giving life, sustaining life and being the Author of Eternal Life. This is Life, that we may know You, that we may know Jesus Christ, the Author and Perfecter of our Faith, Who for the Joy set before Him endured the Cross, even unto death, that we may be saved. 

Father we accept, I accept, that glorious gift and accept Your Sovereignty, Your Majesty, Your Kingdom Authority, Your Power and Your Passion for Holiness which You exude in everything sent from Heaven, via Your Word. Your Word is confirmed by Your Holy Spirit Who lives in Your children. Father I attest to that Truth and pledge my days, the days and minutes of this new year, of this new paradigm, of this new season, to living in that Truth, to loving in that Truth, to triumphing in Your Testing, to persevering in the trials that come my way and to declaring Your Goodness.

Lord, You are MY GOD- You are MY KING, You are my Source, You are all that I need, all that I seek, all that I desire, all that I live for, all that I work for in the long run. I abide in the shadow of Your Mighty Wings, I dwelleth in the secret place of the Most High, I rest in the Blessed Assurance that Jesus is mine, oh what a foretaste of Your divine glory, majesty, worthiness, excellence, purity and amazing awesomeness. I depend solely on You for my sustenance, in the spirit man and in the temporal. You are my all in all and I worship You, Abba Father.  Thank You for opening the portals of Heaven that we may seek and come before Thy Mighty Throne minute by minute if we so desire, and You listen. Lord, what manner of God is this - that You know my name....that of the billions, You know ALL Your creation to the smallest detail...that the Eyes of the Lord runneth to and fro and seeketh those whose hearts are set on Thee! Thank You for taking me as I was, so I can be like the Great I am, Your Son - YHWH - Who spake to Moses through the Burning Bush and led Israel through the Pillar of Fire and the Cloud.

Your Shalom is more precious than anything ever created, now and in the future and I rest and abide in this as we begin 31 days of precious, anointed, humble and submitted worship to You, oh Glorious King and Commander in Chief of the Universe, through Christ our Lord, amen.  

EXODUS FROM THE TRUTH? ...(A REVIEW OF LATEST MOVIE ON MOSES)

(Image courtesy Google Images)

The problems with modern Hollywood trying to make Bible movies to reach the majority interested in viewing Faith and Family movies are multifold. As with anything we do, we must believe in any product in order to have impact, authenticity and success.  Unlike the popular epics like the 1956 "TEN COMMANDMENTS" (Cecil B. DeMille) or even Mel Gibson's Passion of the Christ of from a decade ago, the current crop of "bandwagon-on-the-Bible-movie" producers have basically two things in mind: money and agenda, rather than narrative.

Cecil B. DeMille and Gibson's made their blockbuster (in impact and financial succcess) movies for a reason - to tell some of the stories of the Ages, that have forever impacted humanity. A lot of their actors did not necessarily believe in God or the Bible. However, they understood accuracy and appreciated the intelligence of their audiences and demographics (mainly Christians here and around the world). DeMille himself would spend 2-3 years researching, for instance, the Bible BEFORE he got the script together to begin shooting film. The result was the biggest Bible movie ever produced.

The thinking behind two massive Bible-based super-flops out of Hollywood in 2014 is the opposite of the classic film-making of DeMille and the golden age of Hollywood! The first flop one was NOAH, starring Russell Crowe (an avowed atheist). These film makers took so much liberty with the truth and the Bible which both serious Christians and Jews are familiar with, that it was offensive to just about anyone with some bible knowledge.  Now comes Ridley Scott's EXODUS - Gods and Kings". While thinking about this new movie which was released on December 12, 2014, a series on the Great Flood of Noah's era, which NBC TV did over decade ago came to mind. The fiction in this one was so out there, that Saturday Night Live did a stinging parody skit on it, later on that same week which just about sent the NBC TV series into oblivion.

It is against this background we take a look at EXODUS - Gods and Kings (2014) starring Christian Bale (as Moses) and directed by Scott, and produced by FOX. 

While most of us refused to see NOAH, even on DVD due to its outrageous content, we had a little better hope for this latest version of the EXODUS from Egypt by the Israelites, led by the great Moses. Even when actor who played Moses- Christian Bale, Moses' character- and called him a sociopath and barbaric, I thought it may be worth watching to see if Hollywood learned from the mistakes of the Russell Crowe dark fictional version of Noah.  So how did they do? To wit....

THE ENTERTAINMENT:
The Real 3D version of it was technically a winner and it was the best part of the movie.   It was also the most authentic feature of the film as the viewer actually felt him/herself observing what Director Ridley Scott wanted to portray as his interpretation (A plus here).  One actually felt oneself sitting in Pharaoh Rameses’ military strategy session, or down in the quarry at Pithom or even the hair-raising chariot-around-the narrow cliff pursuit by the Egyptians of the departing millions led by Moses across the Red Sea. The visual of the formerly parted Red Sea was a powerful scene as the blue water crashed own on Rameses and of all people “Moishe” (Hebrew for Moses). 

Now we know these things did not happen. It is also telling that Ridley Scott and his production team did NOT show the Red Sea actually parting (to begin with) but showed the escaping Israelites wading through knee deep water. This is typical of people who do not believe in God, the God of the Bible or the Power of God. It is my contention that they really MEANT not to show the Parting of the Red Sea, because to do that will validate the Holy One. But in order to have some semblance of truth in their Exodus from the Truth, they had to show the sea returning to its level. Even with its success here, in the special effects department, I found myself cringing at what biblical outrage they will commit next. It is obvious that the people involved in this movie intended to disrespect and dismiss the God of the Bible, they profess to be filming.

THE ERROR:

Apart from the mostly accurate Passion of the Christ and the few errors of commission (and omission) in Mark Burnett/Roma Downey THE BIBLE record-setting History Channel series in the Spring of 2013, almost anything of historical worth made by mainstream liberal Hollywood lacks in biblical Truth. Their obsession with their agendas permeates every single piece of work they seem to put out, of late.

There were so many errors in "EXODUS", that it would be pointless to list them all. Since Hollywood has no respect for the Christians and Jews to whom they allegedly aimed this movie, they forget that we know the Scriptures and so do gazillions of people from the last 4000 years plus of recorded history! Some examples: God is not a 11 or 12 year old snarling wise guy of a young boy. Pharoah did not look like a linebacker for Rutgers or the Notre Dame Fighting Irish. The rivers running red with blood had nothing to do with vicious reptiles sent by a mean 12 year old God....and on and on. It was pointless to sit around and read the credits to see who the technical advisors  were to these guys. Either they did not advise accurately on the truth of the narrative or their input was ignored.

THE EFFECT: 
From word out of Hollywood, more Bible "epic" (failures?) are in the making. God alone knows what they will do to any remakes of the classic "Ben-Hur" and even a new one based on Pontius Pilate (starring Brad Pitt). While Ben-Hur was a tremendous extravaganza starring the incomparable Charlton Heston, it was still fiction. However, Pilate is well known as the man who executed the Lord Jesus on Cross, knowing He was an innocent man. The history of Pilate is available to anyone willing to do research. The Romans kept meticulous records. 

This kind of historical research which the greatest movie producer - Cecil B. DeMille - is known for, is not done these days. They are others listed on the horizon, however after these two debacles, where Exodus with Christian Bale took in less than $40 million in its first two weeks, after costing $185 million to make, they will be rethinking about releasing some of these future failures. In the meantime, expect more independent Christian-based Faith and Family films to score as big as GOD's NOT DEAD, the surprise hit of 2014....bigger than Noah was in America. The after-market on God's Not Dead was both huge, as well as under the Hollywood radar as hundreds of churches bought licenses to show the movie to their congregations across America. 

This is the grassroots that affect what mainstream Hollywood puts out and they know a Faith-based movie when they (we) see one. With better distribution and more mainline actors like Nicholas Cage (LEFT BEHIND); Lee Majors (Six Million Dollar Man) and the upcoming block buster in three months with Cybill Shepherd, PURE FLIX  will become established as the Christian movie company to be reckoned with. The dynamic Christiano Brothers (Rich and Dave) are also on the move with their relevant movies starring well known TV actors like Harry Anderson (Night Court) and Clarence Gilyard (Walker, Texas Ranger).

So in the final analysis, what is the effect of all of these unbiblical "Bible" epics (touted by Hollywood trade papers as the "Year of the Bible Movie")? The effect will be to make the smaller, more intentionally 100% Christian movie producers more established in the huge Heartland Market, where the little white wooden church on the corner still sits and where Aunt Bessie and Uncle Leroy got married and own the same King James Bible for the last 60 years. Hollywood can't make this one up.
Here is the upcoming movie from PURE FLIX, which is the follow-up to God's Not Dead, and is called "DO YOU BELIEVE":

HIS FAITHFULNESS IS TO ALL GENERATIONS

Remember your word to your servant,

    in which you have made me hope.

50 

This is my comfort in my affliction,

    that your promise gives me life.

51 

The insolent utterly deride me,

    but I do not turn away from your law.

52 

When I think of your rules from of old,

    I take comfort, O Lord.

53 

Hot indignation seizes me because of the wicked,

    who forsake your law.

54 

Your statutes have been my songs

    in the house of my sojourning.

55 

I remember your name in the night, O Lord,

    and keep your law.

56 

This blessing has fallen to me, that I have kept your precepts

Psalm 119:49-56 (ESV)

These are horrible times for the Faithful - the true Children of God, and those who are called by His Name. We see the product of the tolerance of demonic cults, where Christians (and Kurds etc) are being literally wiped out by islamic hordes in northern Iraq, the Biblical region of Nineveh and in the ancient mountains of Syria. The latter used to house the last remnants of those who spoke the biblical language of Aramaic.

While persecution has always been with the followers of Christ: from the original eleven disciples and Apostle Paul, to the early church fathers and those who bucked the Roman system until the Reformation of the Middle Ages, down to present, the vile nature of the current genocide is staggering. The west and western pastors/church leaders - from the American prosperity and purpose-driven proponents to the majority of liberal mainline apostates - are so silent (to their shame on day) that even the secularists are asking them about their silence. 

Dietrich Bonhoeffer once said "'Silence in the face of evil is itself evil: God will not hold us guiltless. Not to speak is to speak. Not to act is to act.".  But it is not enough to point out these things, Our part is to encourage the saints, pray for the persecuted and make sure that we are also in the Word and found in Him.

Psalm 119 in its entirety is such a wondrous ode to the Word of God and His Commands. But in these time of pain, persecution and peril, Verses 49-56 speak to us loudly, about the Promises and True Purposes Driven by God. He is the God of all Truth, Compassion, Comfort and Care and His mercies never fail. Great is His Faithfulness to us, to all generations. 

In the verses above, the Word says "when I think of Your rules of old, I take comfort, O Lord" and "Your statutes (Your Living Word) have been my songs...." Psalm 30:5 says "though weeping may last for a night, Joy cometh in the Morning". For many of our brothers and sisters, this does seem like the longest night and their earthly tomorrow may never come. But the Good News, which their persecutors cannot say is that the Saved of the Lord  - the True Christians - wake up on the other side of Glory, in the Presence of the Savior. As the old saying goes "this is as good as it is going to get for those in the world, this is as bad as it will get for the people of God"

Let not your heart be troubled, our Lord and Savior has gone ahead to prepare a place for us. For now, let's pray and support wherever and whenever we can. In Jesus' Name, amen.