MJ and I went to see the film Noah last evening so I thought I would weigh in on the subject. I have seen several articles about the movie on facebook. I have also had several friends say they would never see the film and others say they saw no problem with it. So I thought I would tell you what I thought after actually having seen the film and not just read about it.
First:
We must always remember and never forget that the US Film Industry does NOT make movies with Christians in mind. They are not Christians they are story tellers. Ask any writer how they really felt about the film adaptation of their book. Even if they were Christians they are probably not Christians like you and their take will either be too evangelistic or not evangelistic enough. Remember what Lincoln said... you cant please all of the people all of the time... So if you're going to the movies for a Sunday School lesson you're missing the point.
Second:
The Story of Noah is not a Christian story. I know what you're thinking "but it's in the Bible!" It is in the Bible the Old Testament part, the part before God called Abraham. The part where mankind was worshiping God by the Adamic covenant. We interpret and apply it from a Christian perspective (rightly so) but the story does not belong just to us. Every culture in the world has a deluge story. I'm going to say that again so you really get it. The story of Noah goes so far back in the history of mankind that every single culture in the world tells a version of the flood story.
Finally:
Ok so let's get to it, let's talk about the film. I read an article that the director and writer of the film used the Jewish texts and a form of Jewish Mystical Homiletic to derive the story from the very few verses that are actually dedicated to the story in the Torah. In other words they read into the motives and actions of what is actually written in the Bible.
So here's what I loved about it. There were several things that really rang true to me. Adam and Eve are in the film, Noah is telling his family the story of creation and the fall and we are shown Adam and Eve in their perfection and they are glorified beings... beings of light... until sin. The other thing I really liked was the Nephalim, in the film they are supernatural rock giants that are "fallen angels" that assist Noah in his mission to build the Ark. Now I know that's not in the Bible but I thought it was cool, and remember the Nephalim are in the scripture look it up.
Here are things I don't like. Noah is an impossible character to like he starts out good and you want to root for him but by the time the flood starts he is not a nice guy. He believes that they are not supposed survive the flood and they are not to procreate but just die. It gets pretty emotionally brutal at this point and its hard to watch. I also don't like that God is not a personal God that speaks to Noah, but a God that shows Noah vague dreams and visions that Noah is left to figure out with the help of his Grandfather Methuselah. This is ultimately what leads to Noah's misinterpretation of God's intention. I also don't like that they don't talk about the Covenant aspect of the deluge (after all the Noahdic covenant is the next step for us dispensationalists).
Here are the things that I like. The film makers bring a real humanness to the characters, from Noah to Tubal Cain (the bad guy) to Noah's wife and three sons. I like the dynamic that Noah and his son Ham have all the way through the film it makes the sin and the curse later in Ham's life kinda make sense. (that stuff is in the film also) What I like most is that the real story of Noah is kept in tact. All through the film we are shown how mankind is filled with evil and sinful (albeit sometimes they hit way too heavy on environmentalism) and that they deserve the judgement and punishment that God is about to dish out. They make this world so evil you are rooting for the rain! However in the end when it is all said and done it is Noah's daughter in law (Shem's wife) who points out to Noah that God has shown them Mercy and Grace and Love. And that is the real story of Noah... not that God kills people but that God saves people. That is something that is a message in the film that would allow me to tell a friend that is not a Christian about the love of God and His son Jesus.
In Conclusion:
To make a long post short, if you're looking to Hollywood to tell you a truly Biblical account in a film that leads people to a saving knowledge of Jesus Christ... stop. They are not going to make that film, I'm not even sure anyone can make that film. If you want to see an entertaining and interesting look at a familiar story you're in luck, Noah hits it out of the park in that arena.
- The Pastor
Saturday, March 29, 2014
Thursday, March 20, 2014
A Few Thoughts
First Post on this new Site:
Some of you will notice but most will not that this is a new blog site for me. I retired the old one because it was attached to the church that I pastored when I was in Florida. So I wanted to keep my blog site for myself and not have my thoughts or actions or posts adversely effect the ClayHouse Church in any way. So I begin this new site with a few thoughts about what has happened on this day, and some things that I have been thinking about lately... I hope you like it.
Fred Phelps Dies
I know what you're thinking, you're thinking... thank God he is dead. I will admit when I heard the news I was a little glad. You see he is the image of everything that everyone hates about Christianity. I can not count how many times I have had to "defend" Christianity in the face of this man's actions. I have even had to defend my tradition of Christianity (being a Baptist).
I would like to take a different spin on how we ought to think about Fred and the Westboro Baptist Church and the people that still adhere to this band of heresy. I personally never revel in the death of another human being. Scripture says that we are "... fearfully and wonderfully made" that means all of us the ones we love and the ones we don't love. So what should we think? We should think and hope and pray that through all of this that God will receive the Honor and Glory from Fred's life and death. You see his death is only powerful to us in our lives because his life was so disgusting to us. So my prayer is that many people will see the Love of God in the reaction by God's people to the death of one man.
The Doctrine of Total Depravity
I have a friend that posted on her Facebook page: "I'm a good person who sometimes makes poor choices. Thanks for understanding.". Now I know what she is saying and I think that we would all agree with that statement. We are generally "good" people that occasionally make the wrong choices that harm ourselves or others either spiritually, emotionally, or physically. But you guys know me and you know that I have to be that guy that takes the statement and dissects it and looks for the theological truth that we all must deal with.
So here is a couple of Biblical facts that we have to deal with and when we come to grips with these facts then we can begin to understand the purpose of Jesus coming to earth and the sacrifice that He made for us. By the way if the these couple of truths are not truths then Jesus sacrifice was for no reason whatsoever and He wasted His time and His life.
Truth #1 For all have sinned and come short of the Glory of God Romans 3:23 So what does that mean? What that means in a nut shell is that we are all messed up. It means we are at heart selfish, loathsome creatures. If people could read our minds they would think we are the most horrible people in the world. And I don't mean that we walk around thinking evil, murderous thoughts all the time (although some probably do) I mean we are so self centered that even when we are being altruistic we are doing it for selfish reasons. It also means that no one I mean no one is immune to this statement. We are all sinners!
Truth #2 Therefore, just as sin came into the world through one man, and death through sin, and so death spread to all men because all sinned Romans 5:12 This is a little trickier to understand but I know you guys are smart so you'll be able to handle this. The "one man" that the verse is talking about is Adam, you know the first man... well he blew it back in the garden and that's why we were separated from God. You remember that whole forbidden fruit deal. So because he sinned then we are all born with the propensity to sin. But I know how your baby boomer minds think. You think that means that it's not your fault you were born that way. Not so fast my little blame shifting friend the verse also says, "because all sinned", yep you're culpable. You can't blame this on anyone but yourself.
So what do these two truths mean? First it means that we are not good people that occasionally do bad things, it means we are bad people that occasionally do good things. Second it means that the propensity to sin (we call that a sin nature in theological circles) is what keeps you from having a fulfilling and eternal relationship with God. So in His infinite wisdom He became a man (that's Jesus) and died and paid the penalty for all our sins. So all we have to do is repent of our sins (that means say your sorry and turn away from that lifestyle of sin) and accept the sacrifice that Jesus made as payment for your sins. That's what we call being saved.
If you want more detailed information on being saved (becoming a Christian) please contact me. I would love to speak at length with you about my favorite subject... Jesus.
- The Pastor
Some of you will notice but most will not that this is a new blog site for me. I retired the old one because it was attached to the church that I pastored when I was in Florida. So I wanted to keep my blog site for myself and not have my thoughts or actions or posts adversely effect the ClayHouse Church in any way. So I begin this new site with a few thoughts about what has happened on this day, and some things that I have been thinking about lately... I hope you like it.
Fred Phelps Dies
I know what you're thinking, you're thinking... thank God he is dead. I will admit when I heard the news I was a little glad. You see he is the image of everything that everyone hates about Christianity. I can not count how many times I have had to "defend" Christianity in the face of this man's actions. I have even had to defend my tradition of Christianity (being a Baptist).
I would like to take a different spin on how we ought to think about Fred and the Westboro Baptist Church and the people that still adhere to this band of heresy. I personally never revel in the death of another human being. Scripture says that we are "... fearfully and wonderfully made" that means all of us the ones we love and the ones we don't love. So what should we think? We should think and hope and pray that through all of this that God will receive the Honor and Glory from Fred's life and death. You see his death is only powerful to us in our lives because his life was so disgusting to us. So my prayer is that many people will see the Love of God in the reaction by God's people to the death of one man.
The Doctrine of Total Depravity
I have a friend that posted on her Facebook page: "I'm a good person who sometimes makes poor choices. Thanks for understanding.". Now I know what she is saying and I think that we would all agree with that statement. We are generally "good" people that occasionally make the wrong choices that harm ourselves or others either spiritually, emotionally, or physically. But you guys know me and you know that I have to be that guy that takes the statement and dissects it and looks for the theological truth that we all must deal with.
So here is a couple of Biblical facts that we have to deal with and when we come to grips with these facts then we can begin to understand the purpose of Jesus coming to earth and the sacrifice that He made for us. By the way if the these couple of truths are not truths then Jesus sacrifice was for no reason whatsoever and He wasted His time and His life.
Truth #1 For all have sinned and come short of the Glory of God Romans 3:23 So what does that mean? What that means in a nut shell is that we are all messed up. It means we are at heart selfish, loathsome creatures. If people could read our minds they would think we are the most horrible people in the world. And I don't mean that we walk around thinking evil, murderous thoughts all the time (although some probably do) I mean we are so self centered that even when we are being altruistic we are doing it for selfish reasons. It also means that no one I mean no one is immune to this statement. We are all sinners!
Truth #2 Therefore, just as sin came into the world through one man, and death through sin, and so death spread to all men because all sinned Romans 5:12 This is a little trickier to understand but I know you guys are smart so you'll be able to handle this. The "one man" that the verse is talking about is Adam, you know the first man... well he blew it back in the garden and that's why we were separated from God. You remember that whole forbidden fruit deal. So because he sinned then we are all born with the propensity to sin. But I know how your baby boomer minds think. You think that means that it's not your fault you were born that way. Not so fast my little blame shifting friend the verse also says, "because all sinned", yep you're culpable. You can't blame this on anyone but yourself.
So what do these two truths mean? First it means that we are not good people that occasionally do bad things, it means we are bad people that occasionally do good things. Second it means that the propensity to sin (we call that a sin nature in theological circles) is what keeps you from having a fulfilling and eternal relationship with God. So in His infinite wisdom He became a man (that's Jesus) and died and paid the penalty for all our sins. So all we have to do is repent of our sins (that means say your sorry and turn away from that lifestyle of sin) and accept the sacrifice that Jesus made as payment for your sins. That's what we call being saved.
If you want more detailed information on being saved (becoming a Christian) please contact me. I would love to speak at length with you about my favorite subject... Jesus.
- The Pastor
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