Gospel.com Blog

How do you react to movies whose messages are contrary to Christianity?

I got to thinking about this after watching a recent video clip from Marc Driscoll in which he says that Avatar is the most Satanic movie he’s ever seen (Driscoll’s video is below). His main point is that Avatar‘s worldview is diametrically opposed to the Christian worldview:

James Cameron (the writer and director of Avatar) was clearly trying to make a pantheistic point about our own world. The closest thing to Christianity Avatar exhibits is a sort of messiah-figure in the main character, Jake.

I’d rather not debate the merits of Avatar, but it does provide a good starting point for a discussion of anti-Christian philosophies and worldviews in movies. Like it or not, Avatar isn’t the only movie that stands in opposition to the basic tenants of Christianity. In fact, the majority motion pictures—even the one’s without trashy content like nudity, crude humor or excessive violence—produced these days contain elements or messages that are decidedly unChristian.

What about you? Do you see a spiritual problem with watching movies that contradict Christian beliefs?

After Jesus ascended into heaven, the disciples had a choice: they could either return to their old ways or continue on the path that Jesus set before them. It was like leaving a kid at home for the first time: would they honor what they had been told, or immediately start bending and breaking the rules?

This devotional from Words of Hope points out that as followers of Christ we are to faithfully obey Jesus’ teachings even in his absence:

Christ has ascended and is no longer physically with us. We cannot see him. We cannot hear his words or feel his comforting touch. It would easy enough for us to tell ourselves that we have many years left on earth and that we should “relax, eat, drink, be merry” (Luke 12:19). But his followers still obey out of faith. They know that there are reasons Jesus tells them to do certain things that go beyond immediate perception or instant satisfaction.

Faith gets followers looking up, not around. Faith finds in the ascension obedience, not excuses.

Do you find it hard to stay obedient when you know no one is watching?

Have you ever felt like the world was conspiring against you? As if everything that could go wrong, is going wrong?

Greg Laurie reminds us of Job’s situation in this devotional. He points out that throughout much of the story, Job is totally unaware of why he’s in his current predicament. He has no knowledge of God and Satan’s discussion at the beginning of the book, and he surely didn’t know about the blessings that would be heaped on him at the end of the story. Despite his ignorance, he endured his situation in faith and didn’t follow his wife’s advice to “curse God and die!”

We are told in James 5:11, “We give great honor to those who endure under suffering. For instance, you know about Job, a man of great endurance. You can see how the Lord was kind to him at the end, for the Lord is full of tenderness and mercy.” God’s plan finally ended in good, but Job could not see that midstream.

There are things about life that we don’t understand. God can bring good out of bad. It doesn’t mean that bad becomes good, because bad is bad. But it does mean that God can bring good despite bad, and our tribulations can bring forth good things. As Hebrews 12:11 says, “No discipline is enjoyable while it is happening—it’s painful! But afterward there will be a peaceful harvest of right living for those who are trained in this way.”

Before disciplining a child, a parent sometimes will say, “This will hurt me more than it will hurt you.” Meanwhile, the child is thinking, Yeah, right! That is how we feel when we are being disciplined or are going through hardship. It hurts. But it also brings forth something good.

Have you ever felt like Job? Can you see God’s handiwork in difficult situations from your past?

This is the third in our series of posts addressing common objections to Christianity. As we stated in the first post in the series, we’re looking at common, real-life objections to Christianity and asking how you would respond to them.

Imagine that a friend has challenged you with this objection, and that you don’t have access to any books, sermons, or other publications to which you can refer them. They want to hear your response, in your own words!

How would you respond to this statement?

The Bible teaches that prayer is effective (James 5:16) and promises that God will give believers anything they ask for in prayer (Matthew 21:22). Yet many Christians, even the most devout and faithful, have earnestly prayed for something and not received it. This means that either God doesn’t really answer all prayers, or that prayer simply doesn’t work.

Share your response!

Previous posts in this series:

Why does God allow Hell to exist?

Did God endorse genocide?

Here in Michigan, Creation is in the process of renewal. Birds are chirruping at all hours of the day. The cottonwoods are dumping their fluffly seeds everywhere and there’s a fine mist of pollen in the air. Getting used to the sensory changes that come with these springtime months can sometimes be an overwhelming experience. There are allergies and untamed lawns to combat. And the temperature seemingly jumps from chilly to unbearable overnight leaving us running to our fans and air conditioners.

Every year during Spring we reawaken along with the rest of Creation. It’s a glimpse of the fullness of life we can expect at the end of this age. This devotional from Wonder of Creation reminds us that just as Spring brings about new life, someday God will completely reconcile and restore not only us but the rest of the world to Him:

Human adjustment to these natural forces that have gone on for eons according to God’s plan and promise, are a good reminder that He created the natural world we occupy for His pleasure (Revelation 4:11)—but accruing to the benefit of all things living.

It was not just Noah and his family that disembarked and it was not just Noah’s family that received the covenant of blessing. Our accommodating to and adjusting for the rest of His creation has always been and always will be our duty, for, as the apostle Paul reminded us, God the Son will one day—perhaps soon—be reconciling “all things” to God the Father. The gospel is good news for “every creature under heaven” (Colossians 1:19-23). The great creation, the great preservation, and the great restoration we celebrate along with the natural world: “Praise God from whom all blessings flow/Praise Him all creatures here below!”

What do you look forward to most about Spring? What part of this season draws you to close to God?

Last year I moved and had to find a new church. During the search process, I found that the members of each congregation I visited were eager to share the foibles and history of their church. A simple question like “What’s the history of this church?” could easily lead to the full backstory of the building, pastoral staff, and denominational issues.

I’ve learned that every church split and denominational difference has a unique and sometimes complicated history behind it. When viewed from an outsider’s perspective, the reasons behind a particular distinction might seem trite or overinflated, but at the time there was a clear doctrinal or theological difference whose only solution seemed to be a new church or denomination.

The existence of different denominations within the global Christian church poses an obvious problem for a faith that values fellowship and unity. A denomination provides structure for believers who hold to similar doctrines to worship together. However, as this article at gotquestions.org observes, true Christian denominations never compromise on the basic doctrines of our faith:

As believers, there are certain basic doctrines that we must believe, but beyond that there is latitude on how we can serve and worship; it is this latitude that is the only good reason for denominations. This is diversity and not disunity. The first allows us to be individuals in Christ, the latter divides and destroys.

In the past six years I’ve been a regular attender at five different churches from five different denominations. Despite differences in style and practice, each of them has been fully committed to the Gospel. There are many minor issues that can separate members of the Church universal, but it is the core of our faith that binds us together, not our personal tastes.

Do you think there should be fewer or more denominations? Do you think they’re useful or harmful?

Share your thoughts!

How do you measure success in your life? Most of us would probably list things like happiness, financial security, a satisfying career, or good relationships with others as indicators of a successful life.

Those are certainly good things, but the Bible sets a different and more compelling standard for our lives than simple material happiness and stability. According to this Our Daily Bread devotional, human beings find true fulfillment when they become whole:

The issue was not happiness, prosperity, or satisfaction, but wholeness. This is the great need of us all.

In the King James Version of the Bible, the word whole is often used to describe Jesus’ work of physical healing. When the Lord encountered a man who had been an invalid for 38 years, He asked, “Wilt thou be made whole?” (John 5:5-6 KJV). After Jesus healed the man, He challenged him to also embrace spiritual wholeness: “See, you have been made well. Sin no more, lest a worse thing come upon you” (v.14).

If we only want something Jesus can do for us, our relationship with Him will be limited. When we want Jesus Himself, He brings completeness to our lives. Christ wants, first and foremost, to make us whole.

Consider the last 24 hours of your life. Are your actions and thoughts during that time characterized by wholeness? As you go through your day today, take a few moments to think through these questions:

1. Does your life feel “whole”? Why or why not?
2. Is there such a thing as an incomplete, or “limited,” relationship with Jesus? What would that look like?
3. What change does Jesus bring into your life when he makes you whole?

For such short and simple stories, Jesus’ parables can be surprisingly difficult to understand. Take the famous parable of the mustard seed. Is the kingdom of heaven the seed? Or the tree that grows from the seed? Does this parable have a different meaning when viewed through the lens of ancient Jewish society and culture?

These questions have long fascinated Sunday school teachers and theologians alike, and in this devotional at Slice of Infinity, Jill Carattini explores the compelling but elusive significance of Jesus’ parables:

Though the theological and methodological approaches to [the parable of the mustard seed] may be varied, perhaps in varying degrees each contends a similar truth: The kingdom of God holds much to be discovered, discussed, and held in wonder. [...]

In each of these approaches to Jesus’s unlikely comparison, we find truths and wonders worth gleaning as if from a great and fruitful tree. The parable of the mustard seed depicts the inconspicuous ministry of Jesus and the sometimes hidden signs of his significance as holding a potential far beyond metaphor or imagination, culture or history. The kingdom of God is not in the future only, nor is it only at hand in a history we cannot reach; it is here even now, reaching out with branches that bid all to come and dwell. As with all of Jesus’s stories, which “leap out of their historical situation and confront us as if they had not yet spoken their final word,” this parable of the kingdom will continue to surprise us if we will continue to inquire.

Jesus’ parables challenge us to actively participate—they are simple stories with clear messages, but they nevertheless almost require the reader to respond to them with thoughtful questions about their meaning.

Is there a particular parable that you find most intriguing? What questions did it prompt you to ask, and what did you learn from it as a result?

It’s been a long and involved journey, but LOST finally wrapped up last night!

Several of us here at Gospel.com are big fans of the show and have spent far more lunch breaks discussing its weekly twists and turns than I think any of us would like to admit. Now that it’s finally over, I keep thinking back to the themes that defined the show: atonement, second chances, faith, trust, life and death. In a lot of ways, it ended up being a deeply religious show.

Were you happy with the finale? Do you have any other insights into LOST?

Share your thoughts!

This Sunday, Christian churches around the world will commemorate Pentecost, when the Holy Spirit descended to empower the apostles of Jesus Christ. It was a foundational moment for the fledgling Christian church, and it still holds significance for Christians nearly 2000 years later.

If you aren’t familiar with this key event in church history, read the story of Pentecost in Acts 2 at BibleGateway.com:

When the day of Pentecost came, they were all together in one place. Suddenly a sound like the blowing of a violent wind came from heaven and filled the whole house where they were sitting. They saw what seemed to be tongues of fire that separated and came to rest on each of them. All of them were filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other tongues as the Spirit enabled them…. read the rest of the Pentecost story.

Pentecost fulfilled Jesus’ promise to send the Holy Spirit to empower the church. Jesus’ promise, and the multilingual nature of Pentecost, made it clear that the Gospel of Jesus Christ was meant to be shared with all people, regardless of language or culture. And Peter’s sermon at Pentecost continues to serve as a blueprint for witnessing and evangelism to this day.

If it’s been a while since you’ve thought about the events of Pentecost, this weekend is a good opportunity to re-acquaint yourself with this miraculous event! Visit BibleGateway.com to read the story, and for further reading on the significance of Pentecost, see this essay on Pentecost at Ravi Zacharias International Ministries.