The Christian-themed movies just keep coming these days.
If you recently went to see Son of God, God’s Not Dead or Noah, you probably sat through twenty minutes of endless previews for other films. The other night I must have gone out for popcorn and missed part of this, but there was one preview for the newest film in this genre, Heaven is for Real, co-produced by popular evangelist, T.D. Jakes, and directed by Randall Wallace, screenwriter for Braveheart and director for other well-known films, including The Man in the Iron Mask and Secretariat. It is based on a popular book, Heaven is for Real: A Little Boy’s Astounding Story of His Trip to Heaven and Back, written by Nebraska pastor Todd Burpo about his son, Colton, who had a type of near-death experience during appendectomy surgery in 2003. After his remarkable recovery, young Colton Burpo told his parents of things that he experienced regarding true events that were otherwise unknown to him, such as seeing his miscarried sister, as well as sitting on the lap of Jesus and seeing other people in heaven with wings where everyone looked young.
“Heaven” fascinates people because despite living in the “information age,” we know very little about it. So when someone claims to have visited “heaven” and comes back with a story to tell, it draws on our curiosity. Most people today are so preoccupied with trying to make it in “this” world, that we never really consider what it will be like, if anything, on “the other side.” I sincerely doubt that a film entitled “Hell is for Real” would garner the same type of interest, which tells us quite a bit about contemporary culture’s aversion to that side of the story. But, alas, an experience of “heaven” is more appealing, but frankly it is fraught with many of the same difficulties as with the concept of hell: Is it true and in what sense is it true?
If someone does report on having a “near-death experience” (NDE), how do you verify the trustworthiness of the story? Young Colton Burpo has caught our attention, but is it really true that people in heaven will have wings? As with other popular movies like Son of God (see Veracity review), God’s Not Dead (see review) or Noah (see review), we need some way to evaluate the validity of what the film director is telling us. After you check out the following preview for Heaven is For Real, go on and explore this rest of this analysis….
Have you ever heard anyone say something like, “Love is a commitment of the will?” Here’s an 11-minute Reasonable Faith audio from William Lane Craig and Kevin Harris that demonstrates the value of checking our theology.
Love is a commitment of the will. But if that’s all love is we had better work on our understanding of the character and nature of God. It’s really, really important to get this straight.
And for the record, not that I would want to argue with William Lane Craig, but I don’t think Calvinists have the corner on this issue by any means.
End-times prophecy fascinates many Christians. This is understandable. The Bible talks quite a lot about the fulfillment of prophecy.
Popular American preacher and Christian Zionist, John Hagee, has been recently promoting the idea that we are on the verge of seeing some “world shaking event”, a type of prophecy fulfilled corresponding to a rather unusual astronomical occurrence. Starting in April 2014 through 2015, observers on planet earth will be able to witness four “blood moons” in a relatively short period of time, according to researchers at NASA and other astronomers. A “blood moon” is simply an informal expression for a lunar eclipse, when the moon will appear the color of a blood red. In the following clip promoting a recent book, John Hagee summarizes his ideas:
In this latest turn in the analysis of biblical prophecy, Biltz suggests that the rare events of having four blood moons, a tetrad, happening so close together in time has been historically associated with major events in Jewish history. In 1492, the Jews were expelled from Spain, followed within a couple of years by one of these four blood moon events. In 1948, the modern nation-state of Israel was founded, followed again within a few years by a series of four blood moon events. In 1967, Israel fought the Six Day War, gaining full control of the old city of Jerusalem. Oh yes, soon after that, there were four blood moon events.
A number of biblically informed Christians are not enthusiastic about the blood moon teachings associated with Biltz and Hagee. I do not always agree with Gary Demar, but I would urge those who are drawn to the teachings of Biltz and Hagee to at least soberly ponder over what the founder of American Vision has to say.
Demar argues that the speculation over the future fulfillment of prophecy actually has a negative impact on the witness of the Christian church. From Hal Lindsey to Harold Camping, and to somewhat a lesser extent in the late Chuck Smith, those who are tempted to focus too much on future biblical prophecy have historically been wrong, wrong, wrong pretty much most of the time. When people have tried to nail down the exact date of Jesus’ return, their attempts have proven 100% incorrect. If it turns out that no spectacular “something” happens within the next couple of years regarding Israel, will the integrity of Christian witness in the eyes of a skeptical world be damaged?
If we as Christians repeatedly pay too much attention to even vague attempts at the “date-setting” of nebulous prophecies, will our non-believing neighbors trust us when we try to tell them about the prophecies that have been fulfilled already in Jesus Christ 2000 years ago?
What do you think? Is there a bad “blood” moon rising?
Some experienced students of the Bible might object that Gary Demar is a partial preterist, and therefore not trusted with respect to Biblical prophecy. Okay, how about this: for another dispensational, futurist perspective that objects to Hagee’s and Biltz’s understanding of the Bible, you might want to view the following 13-minute critique of the Four Blood Moon theory. The bottom-line: do not simply swallow everything some television preacher says. Check it out against reliable history and the truth of God’s Word:
It has been said that behind every successful man is a remarkably great woman who has made that man who he is. How true that is! I do not know how I qualify, but as a married guy myself, I am surely thankful for my bride and all that she does to support me!
Women have often been sadly neglected in the history of church. But the truth is that the church never would have grown as it has apart from the contribution of women raised by God to serve His purposes. These women need to be remembered, honored, and celebrated.
One of the greatest forgotten women in the church was the 19th century Phoebe Palmer. The following blog post in our Lenten series gives you an introduction to this extraordinary woman….
Phoebe Palmer (1807-1874). Evangelist and Social Reformer.
On the night of July 29, 1836, Phoebe Palmer had rocked her 11-month-old daughter to sleep, and placed her in her crib. A few minutes later, a carelessly handled oil lamp landed in the crib, pouring hot and burning oil on the child. Within a few hours, the child was dead, and Phoebe Palmer’s life was in bitter agony. This was her third child lost in infancy. Why had God allowed this to happen? This may sound harsh to us today, but Phoebe wondered if perhaps she had loved her child too much, making her daughter into an idol. A year later, Phoebe had a profound encounter with Jesus Christ. Her “heart was emptied of self and cleansed of all idols” and she had come to know the Lord as being her “ALL IN ALL”.
In
Matthew 25:14-30
Jesus gives us a clear parable about God’s expectations for His people. The basic point of the story is that God has given every one of us gifts, and that He will turn away those who fail to use their gifts wisely. Some parables are difficult to understand, but not this one. It’s a tough object lesson.
N.T. Wright comments on these verses that, “Each of us is called to exercise the primary, underlying gifts of living as a wise, loving human being, celebrating God’s love, forgiving, praying, seeking justice, acting prudently and courageously, waiting patiently for God’s will to be done.”
Okay…how?
To tell you the truth, I’ve never been big on taking a spiritual gift inventory or getting wound up about discerning God’s will for my life. That’s just me. I trust that God has a plan for my life. But the parable does beg…
Veracity 