The Book of Eli

I just received an email today from a source for churches and inside its contents was a link to invite churches to use this new movie called The Book of Eli as a way to have a Bible study.

I clicked on the link and open up to a trailer about a movie cast in the future after the earth, especially the United States has endured a apocalyptic event some 30 years prior.

The movie comes with a "R" rating and contains graphic violence and language throughout. So, my first twinge of consciousness is why are we even using this as a study guide to Bible study? The link above will take you to a page where there are study notes that you can download referring to particular scenes from the movie.

This obviously made me more curious about the movie itself. So I went to the movie's official site to learn a bit more about this movie.

The interesting thing is that the Bible is at the center of this film. That is due to it being supposedly the last remaining copy in existence and Denzel's character, Eli is on a mission to carry it from the east coast to the west coast. Why? We never really get a clear reason other than he has a destiny and perhaps a vision has spurned him on. So for years now he has been making his difficult journey across country to fulfill this mission given him by....well, I guess God.

Now...I know this is a movie. I know that it has many flaws and perhaps some admirable attempts to introduce faith and purpose around a iconic symbol like the Bible. But it is a movie produced by secular minds to present some sort of sordid philosophy about ignorance and education, faith and the power to control through fear and intimidation. Good versus evil in just another setting and in another imaginative way.

From all the trailers and dialogue it reminds me of a remixed version of Mad Max and Waterworld. We have led us to our deserving end and where is the leader that will rise to save the existing world and make the good to prevail?

Ok, enough about movie reviews especially since I have not seen the movie and probably won't since I have a problem with promoting a Christian to see something that even the world says is worthy of a "R" rating.

That leads me to my next thought. Why do we need to use this film to help us promote what is already in the Bible? Why do we need to turn to secular sources and even such violent ones to help us make parallels with the Biblical truth?

Now someone might argue that Jesus took the familiar and the examples around Him to bring out heavenly principles, but I would still argue that He didn't use such examples as "R" rated movies to fulfill His search for an analogy.

How far is too far and where do we start drawing lines in helping us be careful not to condone worldliness in an attempt to be "in touch" or "in tune" with where people are today? I could draw parallels to many of the apocalyptic movies of today and yesterday, because we know that sin destroys and people without Christ are basically zombies, but I still don't think we should go out and bring in clips from "Night of the Living Dead" to help us illustrate the point.

Now we have a movie that uses the Bible as its symbolic icon in a movie that is filled to the hilt with violence and vulgarity and we just have to make sure we use it to help people learn some sort of Biblical truths?

Come ON!

Understanding the Times

I guess for the past few days I have been very aware of some of the issues going on in our political and social spheres. Of course this impacts us. As believers we need to be aware of the times and aware of what is influencing the thinking of our neighbors and even our fellow church attendees.

I have been reading through the Chronicles lately. Yeah, I know... But as I have been working, more like plowing, through the lists of names and chronologies, and David's mighty men, I was struck with some verses in 1 Chronicles 12.

And of the children of Issachar, which were men that had understanding of the times, to know what Israel ought to do; the heads of them were two hundred; and all their brethren were at their commandment. Of Zebulun, such as went forth to battle, expert in war, with all instruments of war, fifty thousand, which could keep rank: they were not of double heart.
1 Chronicles 12:32-33

Notice those words, understanding of the times, to know what Israel ought to do.

I especially love the next verse, they were not of double heart.

These men, simply leaders of their people, no mention of names, but they new the times in which they lived. Their hearts were not duplicitous.

Obviously (but perhaps not to some) the context is that of establishing David as king after the death of Saul. David did not just assume the support of the people. They had loved Saul, been loyal to Saul, had followed him even at great peril to their own lives. They had established Saul as king. Now, here is David. Some had run immediately to crown him. Saul's descendants had been obviously less forth coming. But we find it took nearly eight years before all of Israel rallied around David.

But these men, these ones who understood the times and had hearts ready for submission saw in David the leader that needed to rule, the one that God had ordained.

Where am I going with this? I see so many times the need for our people today to be ones who "understand the times" in which we live. We have our systems of loyalty and yet we have become more stubborn in areas that perhaps God is ready to move on or allow for a new direction.

I look at people following man and they become disillusioned with the person instead of beholding where they are in time and events of life. Pastors rise for the occasion and if we are not careful we begin to grow more enamored with the charisma or the personality of that man instead of allowing the greatness of God to work through him.

We can grow enamored with a stand on some issue because it meant something different in the 60's and 70's but today that position is mute because either the medium has changed or the association surrounding it has changed. However, we will still refuse to have any connotation or context associating our lives to it because of a previous need to stand firm against something that resembled it in the past.

I know I am speaking in vague terms, but of course, I have things in my mind that I see as being a totally different issue today than it was 20-30 years ago. If we don't start understanding the times in which we live and get our hearts in tune with the current trends and directions our people are facing, we are going to continue to prove to our audiences that the Bible is irrelevant and insufficient to deal with 21st Century living. How sad that is!

Saul is dead! David is ready to assume the throne. Let's move on already. Come out of hiding, accept the vision and leadership God has given us and let's go face the enemy in power and with God's present, ordained, and appropriate strategies. Remember, David was a man after God's own heart. He was not going to lead them contrary to God's vision and leading, but it would be different than how Saul led them. Have understanding appropriate for the day in which you live.

Understanding the times and like we find in Esther, "for such a time as this." It's time for some things to change in order to reveal the changeless truth of God's Word to a different world from the one we went to sleep in last night and the one we woke up to today.

Codex Sinaiticus

I heard this morning on our Christian AM station that there is a new website for the oldest existing copy of our Bible, the Codex Sinaiticus. Go HERE to see the website for yourself and to browse through digital pictures of the actual manuscript. I love the fact that we can know for certain that what we have in our Bible is truly God's Word. So much verifies the veracity and the integrity of our modern translation which we posses and read.

Here is a brief description from the website:

Codex Sinaiticus is one of the most important books in the world. Handwritten well over 1600 years ago, the manuscript contains the Christian Bible in Greek, including the oldest complete copy of the New Testament. Its heavily corrected text is of outstanding importance for the history of the Bible and the manuscript – the oldest substantial book to survive Antiquity – is of supreme importance for the history of the book.

Codex Sinaiticus, a manuscript of the Christian Bible written in the middle of the fourth century, contains the earliest complete copy of the Christian New Testament. The hand-written text is in Greek. The New Testament appears in the original vernacular language (koine) and the Old Testament in the version, known as the Septuagint, that was adopted by early Greek-speaking Christians. In the Codex, the text of both the Septuagint and the New Testament has been heavily annotated by a series of early correctors.

The significance of Codex Sinaiticus for the reconstruction of the Christian Bible's original text, the history of the Bible and the history of Western book-making is immense.

This thing called "Ministry" (Part 5)

Part 4 and link to previous posts on this topic

Paul continues on in his first epistle to the Corinthian believers in chapter 7 by answering some questions that apparently they had written asking about. In the next few chapters Paul addresses marriage, divorce, remarriage, slavery, eating meats and drinking drinks offered to idols, deference to the weaker brother, liberty in Christ, and other similar tangents that coincided.

The thing that stuck out to me as I was thinking back to our original spurring on in this topic was how Paul had a ready answer and a sure answer to give to these Christians. Paul did not shy away from the tough questions as we noted last time. He was willing to broach the tough topics and deal with them.

Paul did this thing called ministry to perform the equipping that he would later explain in Ephesians 4 "to the perfecting of the saints."

The words that Paul communicates are words of inspiration and quotation. He is lead by the Holy Spirit to write what is now to us Scripture. As we read in these chapters, Paul also quotes our Lord directly and uses the direct teachings of Christ to reinforce the instruction he is offering.

How then do I effectively minister? To be effective I have to give answers that are not of my own intuition, but are based upon the direct teachings of God's Word.

I was recently reading some other blogs and a particular topic was addressed that is one of the "unclear" teachings of Scripture. By "unclear" I mean that we do not find a direct prohibition in Scripture against it and so the arguments were ensuing for liberty or license. Thus if there is no formal description of sin as a result of participation, God then is granting complete license to perform.

The argument then was made that judgment and discernment must be needed. We find in God's Word many principles and examples of lives that help shape our standards and even our convictions. God's Word is to become the sure foundation and not our own desires for self-justification or the seeking to be exonerated from accountability due to my status of being Justified by God's grace.

We are not to approach Scripture to find excuses or grant ourselves permission. We are to seek to find in Scripture the wisdom to discern "best" from "allowed," or as Paul put it:

All things are lawful for me, but not all things are profitable. All things are lawful for me, but I will not be mastered by anything. Food is for the stomach and the stomach is for food, but God will do away with both of them. Yet the body is not for immorality, but for the Lord, and the Lord is for the body.
(1 Corinthians 6:12-13)

Ministry is not me relegating standards or even personal convictions. Ministry is me teaching people how to hold the Word of Truth themselves and make decisions based upon the clear teachings and principles found there, in God's Word. Ministry is me helping Christians to base their values and actions in life upon something that will outlast me or even themselves. From the heart the activity of life is directed. To get to the heart we need to plant seeds of truth that will bear fruits of righteousness. That only comes as we accurately and not unfairly or haphazardly approach God's Word.

I think even we as pastors need to be careful that our standards and convictions do not become the "truth" that we wish to guide our flocks by.

And this I pray, that your love may abound still more and more in real knowledge and all discernment, so that you may approve the things that are excellent, in order to be sincere and blameless until the day of Christ; having been filled with the fruit of righteousness which comes through Jesus Christ, to the glory and praise of God.
(Philippians 1:9-11)

This thing called "Ministry" (Part 4)

This is the fourth of a series of thoughts regarding "this thing called ministry." I have been going through the book of 1 Corinthians and looking at how Paul "ministered" to the people of Corinth. You can go back to Part 3 to catch up and to read the previous blogs.

This thought is founded in 1 Corinthians 5. For those familiar with the chapter we find that Paul is scolding the Corinthian believers for their lack of confronting a man who is having a sexual relationship with his father's wife. The implication seems to grant that it is not incest, but it is an improper relationship and an unheard of situation, even amongst the Gentiles! Disgusting, Right? But the Corinthian believers were doing nothing about it and were allowing the man to continue to fellowship and interact with the Body of Christ as if there was nothing wrong.

Paul gives strong rebuke to the leadership of the church and direct council as to how they are handle the matter.

So, how do we see this connecting to ministry? I see that a minister (a member of God's family) must deal with the tough issues. Recently I was speaking with another pastor who was having an issue of discord among the members of the church. I have seen churches where one member is allowed to simply live in a lifestyle of sin and spiritual disruption causing harm to the testimony of Christ and that church, and yet no one is willing to confront or deal with the person. I have also spoken with people who have left good churches because the pastor would not deal with an erring and rebellious child and would even offer excuses or blame others for their own child's failures.

As a minister I need to deal with the tough issues and not sacrifice the standard of God's holiness for the comfort of apathy towards a believer's spiritual destitution.

It is interesting that in that same chapter Paul writes:

I wrote you in my letter not to associate with immoral people; I did not at all mean with the immoral people of this world, or with the covetous and swindlers, or with idolaters, for then you would have to go out of the world. But actually, I wrote to you not to associate with any so-called brother if he is an immoral person, or covetous, or an idolater, or a reviler, or a drunkard, or a swindler--not even to eat with such a one. For what have I to do with judging outsiders? Do you not judge those who are within the church? But those who are outside, God judges. REMOVE THE WICKED MAN FROM AMONG YOURSELVES.
(1 Corinthians 5:9-13)

Paul realizes that the sinners of this world will act like sinners, but believers are to be held to a different standard. In verse 13, Paul is apparently quoting from Deuteronomy 13:5. The context in Deuteronomy is what to do with those who wish to delude the people and pull them away from following after the council of God. They are to be put out! These are tough words and so we find here that Paul sees the need for dealing with the tough issues. Do it in love, but do it.

We have become concerned with financial support, personality conflicts, and family ties more than with the council of God's Word. We allow our fear of retaliation or concern over saving face dictate how we hold people accountable to the mandates of purity and righteous living. We need to follow the pattern of Matthew 18 and deal with the issues instead of covering them by our fear.

Minister, deal with it. We need to teach our people to deal with it. When it is confronted, and done out of a heart for truth and honesty towards God and His Word, then our people need to respond in favor. We need to deal with the tough issues and lead our people to honesty in light of the truth of God's Word.