"The Bible" Commentary, Pt. 5

So, I really was hoping that I could finish this series of commentaries with a very positive review, but unfortunately, I just couldn't. I felt as if last night's episode was a "recap" of several episodes which I had somehow missed. They tried to jam so much into that two hour time slot, which of course meant not giving due time to any of the events. The only event that actually got a lot of time was the one which was unnecessary to draw out, and that was the carrying of the cross. I didn't think they would ever let that scene come to a close.

The scene where Jesus was whipped was gruesome enough, though not nearly as gruesome and horrifying as the actual activity would have been. The crucifixion scene was also brutal, but I felt the message behind the sacrifice and death was minimized, at best, and altogether lost, at worst. And the resurrection scene both totally misrepresented the accounts of the scripture, and proved very anticlimactic. The one event to which this whole miniseries was supposedly leading us, was portrayed with such brevity and underwhelming fanfare that I could only shake my head in disbelief that they wasted all that time and money to tell a story with no true meaning or purpose. 

The events that followed - the "last hour fillers", as I call them - were so distorted, disorganized, and boring, that I found myself begging for the end to finally come. Peter showed us that when you can't decide which mode of baptism is correct, just play it safe, and use them all. Ananias baptized "Paul" of Tarsus (don't even get me started on that one) without spending any time teaching him the whos, whats, and whys of Christ, and then Paul immediately sets into a recital of 1 Corinthians 13 which sounded as impersonal as it would if he were reading it at a wedding - and they all seemed to understand what he meant without any relative context at all!

Honestly, there were so many other problems and concerns I had with it, but what point would be served to belabor them. I will end this simply by saying that I hope and pray that some soul(s), that until now was lost to God, has since found Him due to the message presented in this miniseries, no matter how problematic I found it to be. 

"The Bible" Commentary, Pt. 4

I'm having a bit of trouble deciding how to share my thoughts about Sunday's latest installment of this mini-series. I feel like I may have been too harsh with the criticisms of the previous weeks. Though I was merely sharing my personal commentary of what was offered and desires for more accuracy, perhaps I should have been more supportive of the fact that the general public was being exposed to the message of the Bible; some possibly for the first time (Thanks to my cousin Dave for reminding me of that). At a time when our current culture is mostly prone to diminish, or totally desecrate the influence of the Bible and Christianity on our society, Hollywood, of all places, has opened the scripture to that society in a very positive way, and I am thankful for that. 

But... (you didn't expect to not get my personal commentary, anyway, did you?) I do have some issues with what I saw in Sunday's episode. Not huge issues, though. I actually thought it was surprisingly good, based upon what I expected after watching weeks two and three. I liked the depictions of most of the major and fringe characters. To be brutally honest, the portrayal presented for Jesus was my least favorite. I found their take on him to be a bit too passive, and they made it seem that he enjoyed being in the limelight, seeking to become their earthly king when in reality, Jesus was always trying to draw attention to Heaven, and to God. (And why do they always depict Jesus looking ruggedly handsome rather than ordinarily plain, as Isaiah 53:2 would seem to indicate?) It was a subtle illusion, but it made me a bit uncomfortable. What was less subtle, and made me more uncomfortable was the depiction that Jesus had no idea of his impending death or the events surrounding it until just moments before they happened. When he shared with the little child  that the temple would crumble (spoken both out of chronological sequence and not to children), he neglected to mention that he would rebuild it again in three days, almost as if he were going to destroy the temple, and become the temple here on earth. He seemed to be unaware that Judas was going to betray him until the vision brought it to his attention immediately beforehand, and again was ignorant to the fact that Peter would deny him until just prior to his arrest. These, in my opinion, are not small and insignificant issues. These speak to the very essence of Jesus' deity and purpose. 

Overall, if one were watching this program, having never read the scriptural accounts, nor having heard the story of the life of Jesus, I suspect it could still be a compelling and life-altering presentation of the message.

But, it will take some extra help from God's people to fill in the blanks.

Regardless, if you remember nothing else that I have written here, please remember this: WE CANNOT ALLOW THIS MINI-SERIES TO REPLACE WHAT WE HAVE BEEN COMMISSIONED BY GOD TO DO - PERSONALLY SPREAD THE MESSAGE OF THE LIFE, LOVE, DEATH, AND RESURRECTION OF JESUS CHRIST! 

"The Bible" Commentary, Part 3

I will admit that thus far this series has succeeded in decreasing in both entertainment value and Biblical adherence. Very disappointing after such a hopeful start. Let me 'splain: Once again, they glossed over or completely omitted some extremely important stories. It seems to me that when you are trying to set up the factual accounting of Jesus being the prophesied and promised true Messiah, recording His lineage would be rather important. But there has been no mention of that at all. However, I'll concede that this omission may be more important to me than to the general populace. But, what is important to the complete story, and vital to show the truth of the deity of Jesus, is a greater emphasis placed upon the miraculous events surrounding His birth and ministry. There was no mention that the man who brought both Mary and Joseph the birth announcement was an angel. Thank God that little boy was there to serve as the conduit which channeled the messenger when he brought the news to Joseph. Nor did any angels make an appearance to the shepherds to announce the birth or direct them to the stable. But how wonderful was it to find out that there were so many people in the stable available to aid Mary in giving birth (By the way, afterward, Mary was sweat-less and doing fine)? And of course, the timely arrival of the one wise man with his two servants can go unmentioned (but I mentioned it anyway!). And they might have considered giving at least some emphasis to Jesus' personal miraculous power. Though they severely underplayed the dissonance between Jesus' humanity and deity in the desert when being tempted, I don't think there were any blatant errors there. But, at His baptism, no dove appeared or voice from heaven was heard announcing His position as God's Son. And then on the occasion of meeting and calling Peter to ministry, the representation of the "miraculous catch of fish" was portrayed merely as "a great day of fishing." Peter, (I never knew he was a sardine fisherman) by himself pulled up a net which my Grandmother could have hoisted on a bad asthma day! Where's the miracle in that?
So, was there anything I saw which I did like? Well, I thought the representation of the events in the book of Daniel were pretty good. They needed to double check at least one fact, however. Daniel was thrown into the lion's den by King Darius, not Cyrus. And I really liked the character portrayals of Jeremiah and John the Baptist. However, though the Satan character was evil looking enough, I found it a bit over the top.
Okay, maybe you're right. I might be expecting way too much. But I don't think so. If this were an Oliver Stone production, than yes. But Roma Downey presented this as a closely held adaptation of the scripture. So that's what I expected. But, save for most of week one, so far, I haven't received it!

Monday Review of "The Bible", Pt. 2

Okay, I'll say it right from the start. I didn't enjoy the second episode as much as the first. Though it remained true-to-the-scripture in the scripting, I felt it lacked many of the elements which I would like to have seen added. For instance, aside from a brief few minutes describing the siege on Jericho, the events of the entire book of Joshua were skipped over, as were the first 12 chapters of the book of Judges, and the first 7 chapters of I Samuel, which contain some very meaty material. Also, I didn't feel the attachment to the characters which I felt in Part One. I felt that the true natures of the high-lighted characters were all under-represented, except the character of King Saul, which I thought was portrayed flawlessly, based upon what we know of him from the scriptures. As for the rest, Samson came across to me as nothing more than an over-sized lummox who, though very strong, was also rather simple. And, I actually found myself almost disliking David, pre- and post- kingship, due to the character's blatant arrogant attitude, rather than one of an humble servant, which is what the scripture tells us drew God to choose him to replace Saul.  Truth be told, though it did have some interesting moments, and more than a few bloody ones, I felt it lacked in action and drama. But, for me as a Christian, those are not the things which I really want this miniseries to produce. I would like it to, and thought it was supposed to, bring an authenticity and accuracy in presenting the characters which would lead to God  introducing His Son to the world. I felt like they missed the mark on that one. Hopefully next week will be a week of redemption.

(I did chuckle a bit when at the beginning the voice-over announcer stated that we would now be seeing "a History Channel original story". And here all along I thought the story originated with God...) 

"The Bible" Commentary, Part I

Last evening, Sunday March 3rd, was the opening segment of the multi-part miniseries, "The Bible". I have had a few people ask my opinion regarding the first episode, so I felt that this would be a good forum to share a few of my thoughts. 

Understanding that this is a product of "Hollywood" and scripted Reality TV producer, Mark Burnett, I had no expectations of it being extremely accurate in its portrayals of characters or telling of events. However, I was pleasantly surprised to see how closely it did follow the scriptures in each of these areas. Did it embellish the events and characters for artistic and visual effect? Possibly. Probably. But, I did not see anything which I felt took away from the God inspired narrative, or egregiously distorted the truth. In fact, I was quite impressed with how well it brought that extra dimension to what have been, for most of our lives, two dimensional characters. Their humanity was, I think, brought to a new, thought provoking level.  But, what I was most impressed with was the omnipresence of Jesus in the stories. Paul, in Colossians chapter 1, tells us that Jesus was present with God before the beginning of everything, and that everything was created through Him. And we are very aware of Christ's presence with the people of the New Testament and beyond, but we rarely think about His presence being with Old Testament men and women as well. Abraham at Sodom, and at the sacrifice of Isaac are two instances which the movie addressed. I like the knowledge of that presence, especially since, as the program portrayed, Satan is always lurking in the shadows. 

Overall, would I give it a five-star review? No. It was corny in some spots, and weak in others. But it also had its moments of great entertainment (the double-fisted-sword-wielding warrior angel for instance) and a few heart tugging scenes (Sarah running to save Isaac before he is killed by Abraham), as well. However,  in my humble opinion, the best thing was, and for four more weeks, is, that it will be bringing many a discussion about God, Jesus, and the Bible to many water coolers across America! That makes me say "Praise God!" for this miniseries.

Big God, Small Me.

Job 26:14

“these are but the outer fringe of His works...How faint the whisper we hear of Him.”

After so many years of experiencing God in my life and ministry, why am I still so slow in understanding that God is no where near as small and compact as I think Him to be? It’s frustrating when I have everything laid out so neatly, so clearly, so perfectly, and then God alters my plan. He makes it clear that there is so much I do not know about Him and HIS plan. Why am I so slow to learn what was undeniably clear to Job - “these are but the outer fringe of His works...” What I believe is a complete blueprint of what God has designed for my life or for the church, is really just one stroke of the drafter’s pencil. What appears to be a raging storm of His Spirit is but one drop of rain in a light drizzle of His work. “How faint the whisper we hear of Him.” The truth is that I do not really know God at all. So much is still hidden because He is SO big! When I make Him small, and He does not act or respond as I think He should, He may be easier for me to deal with, but I also miss out on all the things He can and wants to do for me that I do not yet know even exists. There are times when I think God is treating me unfairly, but the true question is, do I want fair or do I want just. Do I want to become what I think I should be or what God wants me to be? Think about it, which way is better? 

Ahhh...Sweet Refreshment!

I frequently find myself in that "downcast" position. Life gets harder than I would prefer, and the light at the end of the tunnel seems so far away, if it's even on at all. We've all experienced the dry times of life, at some point, in some way. Oh how nice it is to feel the cool refreshment of our thirst being quenched. We feel alive, confident, strong, and joyous. Like the picture which the Psalmist paints for us. Watch as a deer stops by a cool brook to drink and then after being refreshed, bounds away, jumping and running with renewed vigor. That’s the feeling I want to have. But when I am downcast - recessed, as I like to say, - I feel very little like bounding for joy. Joy seems no where to be found. I pant for it, thirst for it, but can’t feel it. It seems so far in the distant past, I wonder if I will ever feel the refreshing coolness of life again. Is God not supposed to see that need and address it? Where is the cool, clear stream of refreshment from which I can drink and be filled? Why has God not brought back those feelings of joy to me? Well, God has just one question for me, and those like me - “Why are you downcast? Put your hope in God” Easier said than done! But, the real problem is not that the path to the water isn’t there, it’s that I’m either on the wrong path or not looking for the path at all! I’m generally sitting, sulking, whining, and panting for help to come to me, or wandering along a path that shows no signs leading toward the refreshing drink.

God has made the path very plain and the signs to water very visible. It’s all in His word. When I read it I remember. When I remember the goodness of God, I search for more. When I search, I see the signs so clear. And those signs lead me to the refreshing, cool stream of security, serenity, and joy. 

"Why are you downcast, O my soul? Why so disturbed within me? Put your hope in God, for I will yet praise Him, my Savior and my God." - Psalm 43