Gospel

Real Roots of the Emergent Church Documentary: Updated!

April 28, 2014 By ELLIOTT NESCH

Here is the 3-hour Updated Director’s Cut of The Real Roots of the Emergent Church documentary:

Because diversity characterizes the Emergent Church movement, it is difficult to paint everyone in the movement with a broad brush. Some have observed that defining the Emergent Church is like nailing jello to a wall. All participants agree on their disillusionment with the institutional church, but do not all agree on where the church is destined to go from here. They share a common concern with many evangelicals over the state of the modern church, especially the mega-church phenomenon and “seeker-friendly” churches. For this reason, many evangelicals who observe the Emerging Church are fascinated by it, drawn to its creative approaches to worship, genuineness of many of the leaders and desire to reach Gen Xers. However, these evangelicals fail to look beyond it to understand its underlying theology, or lack thereof. [Read more...]

Filed Under: Bill Hybels, Bob Buford, Brian McLaren, Contemplative Prayer, Emergent Church, Eschatology, Feminism, Gay Agenda, Gospel, Hell, Homosexuality, Islam, Jay Bakker, Judgment, Kingdom of God, Mark Driscoll, Meditation, Mysticism, New Age, Peter Drucker, Postmodernity, Prayer, Rick Warren, Rob Bell, Roman Catholicism, Salvation, Sin, Tony Campolo, U2/Bono, Universalism, Willow Creek, Women

A Christian Movie Review of Son of God

March 6, 2014 By ELLIOTT NESCH

“All who heard Him felt His power,” says the John the Apsotle player in Son of God the movie. What? Felt His power? You won’t hear this saying in the Bible but many postmodern relativists may use these types of phrases in their appeals to feeling the truth rather than knowing the truth and heart knowledge vs. head knowledge.

Hollywood’s goal is to make money and entertain, not to preach the Gospel of Jesus Christ. According to Christian Post Entertainment, the filmmakers of Son of God (2014) accomplished their goal as the film earned $26.5 million in a second place win at the box office this past weekend. Christian reviewers celebrated the success, calling it a “miracle.” I was not as impressed.

I haven’t been to a movie theater in years, but I did attend the movie last night for research purposes. Religious leaders including Rick Warren, Joel Osteen, TD Jakes, and Bill Hybels have urged churchgoers to view the film. In fact, Christian leaders, including megachurch pastor Rick Warren, rented every screen in numerous multiplex theaters across 10 cities for the premiere on Feb. 27. Rick Warren is also offering the Son of God: The Life of Jesus in You Bible Study from LifeWay. So, I had to see what the big deal was for myself. Considering such endorsements (and commentaries from evangelicals and Roman Catholics for the film), I expected the worst.

I anticipated that the producers would use their artistic license to add and subtract from the Gospel record and I also expected Roman Catholic overtones based upon the endorsements from the Catholic community (I will elaborate on the ecumenical agenda below). Most of the additional side stories about the religious Pharisees, governing Romans, and Mary Magdalene as a more prominent figure were just fine and to be expected in a Hollywood movie about the Son of God. But sadly, these additions became the focal point while the substance of the Gospel of the Kingdom of God was almost completely gutted from the film.

Audiences don’t want to hear the teachings of Jesus. They want to be entertained with emotion, violence and nudity. And Son of God the movie offers as much of that as it can for a PG-13 rating. There were several unneeded scenes of Roman violence and oppression of the Israelites. I also could have done without seeing Pilate’s half-naked wife from shoulders up and Pilate training with a Roman male soldier wearing nothing but a loin cloth.

I’m afraid that most people who are curious about the most impacting figure of world history will walk away from the film unimpressed by Hollywood’s Jesus and uneducated about the profound and radical teachings of Christ. Hopefully, it will perk their curiosity to actually read the Gospels for themselves because those documents are really the only truth we have for the historical Jesus.

[Read more...]

Filed Under: Catholic Mass, Gospel, Hollywood, Joel Osteen, Kingdom of God, Postmodernity, Rick Warren, Roman Catholicism, Son of God movie, T.D. Jakes

Jesus of Testimony

February 20, 2014 By ELLIOTT NESCH

An indispensible look at the Jesus of history and the Jesus of the Bible. . . Jesus of Testimony is hands down the best and most comprehensive look at the historical Jesus.

- Greg West, The Poached Egg, Ratio Christi’s Christian Worldview and Apologetics Network

For more information, visit the official Jesus of Testimony page. Did Jesus really exist? If so, what can we know about Him historically? For any Christian, the historicity of Jesus isn’t merely a matter of curiosity. The Christian faith is dependent upon the incarnation, life, death, and resurrection of Jesus as historical reality. But how can we know if the Jesus of the the Gospels is historical or legendary? Jesus of Testimony answers many of the important questions for skeptics as well as Christians in the area of Christian apologetics. [Read more...]