A New Discovery: GodTube

I was skeptical. I am still.

This week I glimpsed the title of an article on The Christian Post which had the words "GodTube" in it. Since I currently have The Christian Post as my homepage, I saw the article's title several times this week on my way going to other sites. One evening I finally stopped long enough to click on the title, and by doing so learned that GodTube which came into existence last year is the Christian answer to YouTube.

I admit that I love YouTube because it offers much to me who loves history, culture, art, music, and other cute curiosities such as videos of babies' reactions to eating their first lemon. Like I have said in an earlier post, I define myself as a "primitive" Christian, one who believes that the church in America needs to go back to its' roots and follow Christ's teaching of love, sacrifice, and pacifism. Elements in American Christianity need to see God as One who not only loves but Who also reserves the sole right to judge and to punish.

Too much of American Christianity is ruled by greed and ignorance of God and His Word The Bible. There are some preachers who meddle and dabble too much in politics. This has particularly been the case with the Bush administration where preachers like John Hagee has espoused pre-emptive strikes against Iran even though the country is mired in two wars. Many preachers, especially many African-American preachers have poor theological training and just preach God's Word according to how black preachers have traditionally gotten into their pulpits and spoken or shouted for generations. Others are slick con men and women. The problems in the end are not an issue of color because misinformation and deception are flowing from preachers of varying colors and of both genders. Church has become a business in America.

So often I do not find in American Christianity what I know The Bible and God is about. We do not have the humbleness or knowledge of the early church. It is very disturbing to see so much mediocrity and ignorance.

So what about GodTube? I cannot say very much right now. You watch and decide. The little that I have watched proves that Chris Wyatt, the CEO of GodTube and its' creator has offered nothing really creatively unique. Wyatt has admitted that he wanted to create a family friendly or sanitized version of YouTube. The idea in portions of the Christian community in America is that in order to draw more people to Christianity, the church should get ideas from popular culture and mold what it gets into a Christian copy. Often what popular culture itself offers is low in standard, so what the church ends up with is nothing to really inspire or bring a kind of passionate truth to the world.

The church in America is not growing. For all the effort and good intensions of those who create sites and items like GodTube or MyChurch.org, the Christian answer to MySpace.com, the end results are not profound and artistic. Where are the spices to jazz up the bland fare we get? Where are the Christian scholars, especially in the Protestant evangelical church here?

It may be too early to come to final negative critique of GodTube since it is young and hopefully evolving. For those who feel like me, lets hope it evolves into something as beautiful and innovative as pre-Renaissance and Renaissance Christian art. I own some Greek icons which I purchased when I visited the Greek island of Rhodes in 2003, so lets hope they can arrive at the level of primitive beauty and creativity of an icon at least.

Where are the artists and Christian intellectuals in America? We truly need them.

Here is GodTube's answer to Desperate Housewives called Desperate Housewives of The Bible. I did find it quite funny, but in the end still rather bland fare.

Unchurched Americans

On Tuesday I discovered The Christian Post newspaper online. I was totally unfamiliar with it until then. Then yesterday I ran across the article "How Do Unchurched Americans View Christianity?. The article immediately got me thinking about my dad who is unchurched and Biblically illiterate. He spends hours and hours watching TV preachers who preach prosperity in many cases. Dad is anti-social, and believes that you don't have to go to church or read the Bible to be a Christian. He can relate to a Christianity that is pseudo-psychology, but he cannot deal with a faith which speaks about loving God, the importance of the Cross, loving people, sacrifice, and suffering. So I do not know about my dad... Mom and I have prayed and prayed, but he has chosen to stagnant in his walk towards Christianity. Ignorance, like many things, is a choice.

The article mentioned I above begins:

In a portrait of the "unchurched" in America, a new study found that most are willing to hear what people have to say about Christianity but a majority also sees the church as a place full of hypocrites.

"A full 72 percent of the people interviewed said they think the church ‘is full of hypocrites,’" said LifeWay Research director Ed Stetzer. "At the... Read the rest here.

Not only is there the crisis of the unchurched in America, but there is the Biblically illiterate. They are not only those who do not set foot in the church, but many who enter the church doors regularly, including some of the ministers, who are also not fully versed in The Bible. This is a crisis that all knowing Christians need to be aware of and try to remedy.

Remember This

In this life so many of us try to get revenge in various ways for hurts and injuries. It is very difficult not to return hurt for hurt or wrong for wrong, but we are expected as Christians to allow God to do His work.

The dialogue below is from the 1959 Academy Award winning movie Ben Hur which I wrote about in an earlier post.

Judah Ben-Hur: I must deal with Messala in my own way.
Balthasar: And your way is to kill him. [pause, Judah looks at Balthasar]
Balthasar: I see this terrible thing in your eyes, Judah Ben-Hur, but no matter what this man has done to you, you have no right to take his life. He will be punished inevitably.
Judah Ben-Hur: I don't believe in miracles.
Balthasar: Your whole life is a miracle! Why will you not accept God's judgement?

Vengeance is God's work and he will deal with those who commit wrongs and injustices. Read about God's revenge on the link Desiring God.

Searching Islam

I am an avid reader. There have been few times when I have started a book and in boredom or perplexity put it aside. I did not do it when I first read The Bible even though the books of Leviticus and Deuteronomy can sometimes be a bit tortuous being two books of laws, procedures, and a census penned by Moses. I did place The Quran aside, however, after I had gotten a quarter of the way through it. It was a mistake to do so since I began it last year, and if I had been more tenacious and focused in my reading I would have completed it by now. But just reading the first 25% of The Quran revealed something to me. The book is disjointed and disorganized. There is no logic in its' set up mainly because the book was compiled quickly and without thought by Prophet Muhammad followers after his death. His writings had been just strewn around on camel skins or anything he had happened to come across as writing material.

The Bible is a totally different case of centuries of careful work by scribes and scholars. Even though the 66 books of The Bible were written over a 1500 year period, the entire narrative is organized and flows to a logical conclusion. One theme runs throughout The Bible. God is waiting for His people to turn to Him as their protector and provider and He promises that He will ultimately send His Son to save humankind from itself. Throughout The Bible God silently begs, "Just love Me and depend on me and I will rain down blessings and protection." From the beginnng when Adam and Eve were tricked into sin, God gave the promise of salvation to ALL of humankind. Even today on the final day of 2007, He is still pleading and is holding a promise to a world that is lost and dying. I believe there is going to a castastrophic war between Christianity and Islam in the very near future. All the indiciations are there. Even if a Democrat is elected president of the United States next year, the dangers are still here and eventually horrible things are going to happen.

What is so frighting about Islam is that few, even Muslims, do not know where their religion stands. Some are even smooth westerized outright liars with a hidden agenda, but I believe the majority of Muslims are as baffled by the bloodshed as non Muslims are. Some have the moral stamina to not constantly make up conspiracy theories like comments I saw on a blog the other day saying after the murder of Benazir Bhutto that "I also do not believe Al-Qaeda to be responsible, in fact I do not even think Al-Qaeda even exists." The response by the blog writer was this, " As for Al-Qeada, it's the code word for a covert operation of cover up proportions, utilizing some 'bad' Muslims to give Islam a bad name, and further the 'divide and conquer' philosophy of some known and unknown evil forces who are constantly at war with the good and plenty." If this is the mindset of some "GOOD Muslims or those who don't practice any religion at all anymore" I think there is real cause for concern.

As a Christian I am in a sticky situation facing a Muslim or former Muslim who is lost and searching. All I can do is try to live up to the standards which Jesus Christ set and lived by when He was here on earth. His life was exemplary and unblemished. He died a horrifying and painful death, but He rose and again and lives on. The Bible says He will come again to this earth to reign, and all the signs are falling into place to show that perhaps the time is drawing near when He will appear. Jesus said these words to His followers when they asked about the signs of His return. As you read here, notice that not once does Jesus tell His followers to fight back. He only wants them to face the truth of what is going to happen, and not hide their head in the sand or place a nebula of falsehoods over reality.

Jesus answered: "Watch out that no one deceives you. For many will come in my name, claiming, 'I am the Christ,' and will deceive many. You will hear of wars and rumors of wars, but see to it that you are not alarmed. Such things must happen, but the end is still to come. Nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom. There will be famines and earthquakes in various places. All these are the beginning of birth pains.
"Then you will be handed over to be persecuted and put to death, and you will be hated by all nations because of me. At that time many will turn away from the faith and will betray and hate each other, and many false prophets will appear and deceive many people. Because of the increase of wickedness, the love of most will grow cold, but he who stands firm to the end will be saved. (Matthew 24:4-14)

The best people to get Muslims to see the light are apostates from the faith. In my new Links on Islam I have included three sites by apostates who warn the world and other Muslims of the true meaning of their faith which they think can be summed up as a cult of bondage and death. They are Faith Freedom International, Apostates of Islam, and Islam Watch. They can be clicked here or on the links.

Resolutions and holiday slogans can get a little trivial and over used at times, but I wish for a peaceful New Year and that the hearts of many will see a need for peace change on a personal before it moves to a global level.

Jesus Is the Reason For the Season

A movie that really should be shown for the Christmas season but has always been overlooked at that time is Ben Hur.

While I was growing up every Easter The Ten Commandments, another one of my favorite Biblical epics from the latter part of Hollywood's Golden Age, was shown very year. I would eagerly watch the four movie on TV. It wasn't until I was an adult that I saw the 1959 version of Ben Hur for the first time. The is also a 1925 silent version of the film which is also a masterpiece of filmmaking; I have also seen it.

Ben Hur was adapted from the novel Ben Hur: The Tale of The Christ by General Lew Wallace, which I have also read. As a new Christian I watched the 1959 version of the film over and over, and the message of the film became engrained in my thoughts on how a person can overcome impossible odds through the redeeming power of Jesus Christ. Even though Jesus was rarely physically near in the lives of Judah Ben Hur and his family during their darkiest and most tragic times, he was actually working to save them physically and spiritually.

The movie Ben Hur, which stars Charlton Heston, received many Academy Awards and is one of the greatest films of all time begins with the born of Jesus Christ. This is the scene.




At the same time that Jesus Christ, the Peace of Peace, is being born somewhere in Judea another baby is born named Judah Ben Hur. Judah is also a prince, but unlike Jesus who is born in a cave used as a stable, Judah is born into a family of wealth and priviledge. Years later when Judah and his family is betrayed by his childhood best friend the leader of the Roman garrison, Masala, Judah learns fast that his position will not save him from being condemned to be a galley slave and keeping his mother and sister from being confined to the dungeon of the Fortess of Antonia. On his forced trek to the galleys, Judah encounters Jesus for the first time in this powerful scene.



Throughout the four years that Judah survives the galleys, a feat that few could, he vows to get revenge for the destruction of his family. All the time Jesus that is God is working in his life and is keeping him alive, not fate.

Once Judah gets his revenge, he realizes that it is not sweet. He learns that his mother and sister have become lepers and live in a cave with many other lepers in the Valley of the Lepers. One day Judah follows his former slave and the woman he loves Esther to the Valley of the Lepers where she secretly goes to give Judah's mother and sister food. Esther who has often talked to Judah about "the young rabbi" (Jesus) who teaches love and forgiveness has sworn to Judah's mother Miriam and his sister Tirzah that she would never tell Judah that they have survived imprisonment and are now lepers. But Judah finds out and together they all go to find Jesus in the hope that He can save Tirzah who is dying. As it turns out on the day they seek Him out, Jesus is on trial and has been condemned to be crucified. All hope seems to be lost. However, as Jesus is being forced pass them carrying the Cross, Judah's compassionate gesture to the Man who gave him a gourd of water on his march to the galleries and Miriam's, Tirzah's, and Esther's sorrow and shock for the injustice of Jesus' treatment brings about a miracle that can be seen in this clip from the final scene of the movie.



The best version to see Ben Hur in is letter box, so you will not miss anything.

In his death on the Cross, Jesus has the power to change lives. Even though He is not physically with us today, He still has the power to change lives. His life was about loving, giving, and commpassion. His death came about because of jealousy, envy, and the inability of a group of people to face the truth about who He was and what He stood for. But in the end He triumphed because His death was a sacrifice for all humankind to be rescued from the darkness and horror of sin. He is not a prophet as some think, He is the Son of God and He unlike any other prophet still lives.



Jesus IS the reason for the season.

The Babylonian and Assyrian Christians

Anyone who has gone to church, read The Bible, or watched some TV ministers who preach the Bible and not pseudopsychology, have heard about the Babylonians especially and also of the Assyrians.

The ancient Babylonian and Assyrian empires were two superpowers of the Near East in the areas that are today parts of Turkey and Iraq. The Babylonians were situated mainly in what is now Iraq, while the Assyrian Empire was located in both areas. The Assyrians conquered the Israelite kingdom of Samaria in 721 BC. Nearly a century later the Assyrians were conquered by the Babylonians. The Babylonians went on to destroy what was left of the Israelite kingdom founded by David and Solomon. The kingdom of Judah was destroyed in 587 BC by the Babylonian king Nebuchadnezzar who had the entire population along with its' rulers deported and enslaved in Babylon.

The Babylonian and Assyrian empires were the two most feared empires of their day. Both were noted for their brutality. Both kingdoms were also notorious for their paganism. The prophet Jonah had such distaste for the Assyrians that when God sent him in a last ditched effort to get them to relinquish their idolatry and other gross practices, he flat refused to at first. The Assyrians of the time repented from their evil ways which held off their destruction for awhile from the Babylonians.

King Nebuchadnezzar was not only a great military leader of the Babylonians, he also had the vision of an architect. He was the builder of the Hanging Gardens of Babylon, one of the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World. He intensely desired that the city of Babylon be made into the greatest city in the world. The Greek historian Herodotus wrote about the glory that was Babylon with its canals, waterways, magnificent buildings, and parks. The late President of Iraq Saddam Hussein admired the Babylonians so much that he had Babylon reconstructed and rebuilt the city's ruins.

Hundreds of years later, the Babylonians and Assyrians were some of first gentiles in the region to convert to Christianity. Today the Chaldean (or Babylonian), Assyrian, and Syriac Christians of Iraq are the descendants of the people who populated those ancient empires that are written about in the Old Testament. I also want to mention here that the Assyrians and the Syriacs are not related to the Syrian people. Neither group are Arabs. As I wrote about in my post on Friday, the communities of these Christians in Iraq are in danger of going extinct. The war has changed their situation for the worse. Riverbend who writes the blog Baghdad Burning and is exile with her family in Syria mentions briefly in this post a Christian family that lives in their apartment building. Many Christians have fled Iraq in the last few years.

Over time the ways and fortunes of people can change. In the centuries when the Babylonians and Assyrians did not or refused to know the one true God, who but God would have known that generations later, their children would be followers of Christ.

Today I found the video above which gives a brief history of the people and the culture of both groups.

Canonicity of The Bible

When I wrote last week about the origins of the Bible, my friend Metin asked these important questions which I will try to answer:

1. How and when and where was the Bible changed (or adjusted)?

Since I am a Protestant Christian I can only speak of what the Protestant branch of Christianity sees as authoritative or as the Biblical canon. Canon is a Greek word meaning "measuring rule" or "standard," and the test of canonicity for Protestants is whether the books in the Bible were inspired by God. Protestants believe that the Bible is the complete, infallible word of God to humanity.

The Old Testament books were seen as inspired by God if they were written the prophets, were referred to in the Talmud, were mentioned by Jesus and in His apostles' writings, and were referred to as inspired by God by early church figures like Origen and others and by historians like Josephus.

What was accepted as the New Testament canon were books that were known early on to have been written by Jesus' apostles and were read regularly in the early church. Early church leaders quoted liberally in their writings from both the Old and New Testaments. This is also proof. There have been disputes over the centuries by various fringe Christian groups, but generally the majority of the books that make up the Protestant Bible has been accepted from the beginning of the church.

2. Wasn't there a commission years after Jesus' death to keep certain things and to delete yet others??

There were a number of so-called lost books of the Bible that were never fully accepted by the church. If one reads the Bible and some of these books, which I have done, there is a vast difference in tone and plausibility between these false books and the Bible. There were various councils (commissions) over the centuries especially in the eastern church, but not in the Protestant.

3. And how do we know it's the word of God?? Is it because no man is capable of writing such a book?

As Christians the only way we know the Bible is God's word is through faith. With faith one has to decide to believe even though all concrete evidence may not be available. People have believed in the Bible over the centuries, however, not just through faith but also by miracles and blessings that happen in their lives and others. I personally know the good feelings I have whenever I read the Bible. I can be hurt and discouraged, and an actual reading gives me courage and strength to go on. This has happened many times to me.

Executable Outlines summarizes better what I have attempted to explain here.

The Bible's Origin(s), Part II

What became The Old Testament of the Bible was originally written in Hebrew and Aramaic on a type of writing paper called papyrus which is a reed and also on parchment which was made from animal skins. Both papyrus and parchment were joined together to make a long roll called a scroll. None of the original copies of the Bible on these types of materials have survived. In about 280 B.C. The Old Testament was translated into Greek by seventy men and became known as the Septuagint referring to the seventy who did the task of translating.

The second half of The Bible, The New Testament was written completely in Greek. In the 4th century one of the early church leaders, Jerome translated The Bible into Latin which became known as the Vulgate. The Vulgate became the official version of The Bible for western Europe for over a millenium.

As time passed and fewer and fewer people had knowledge of Latin except church clergy, an Englishman John Wycliffe decided that the common people should be given the opportunity to read The Bible in their own tongue, so he and his followers set about the task of translating the entire Bible into English. Wycliffe's project was limited, however, due to the fact that during his time, the 1300s, the printing press had not been invented. Therefore, all of his volumes had to be done by hand. By the time of William Tyndale in the 1500s, the printing press had become available, so Tyndale did his own translation of The New Testament from the Greek to English, and his version was the first to be mass produced.

King James of both England and Scotland had a committee translate the Bible in 1611 creating the most authoritative and best loved versions of the Bible, the King James or Authorized Version.

A Quote By the Famous Concerning The Bible

"The greatest source of material for motion pictures is the Bible, and almost any chapter in the Bible would serve as a basic idea for a motion picture."

----Cecil B. DeMille, one of the greatest American film producers and directors of the first half of the 20th century whose films' subject matter were often Biblically based.

The Bible's Origin(s), Part I

This is part one of an explanation of the origin(s) of the Bible.

The Bible is the holy book of Christians. It is an amazing work and one of the masterpieces of world literature. It is also inspired, but not by human thought, but by the Holy Spirit which is the third person of the Godhead (Father, Son, and the Holy Ghost/Spirit).

The Bible which means 'book' is one book which is made up of 66 books which were written over a 1500 year period by various authors from different walks of life who lived in various places in portions of what we call today the Middle East and the Mediterranean. The authors came from a broad range of social strata: kings, prophets, fishermen, tax collectors.

The 66 books of the Bible are divided into two parts, The Old and New Testaments. The Old Testament is made up of 39 books. Both Christians and Jews accept The Old Testament as God's word and their religious canon. The Old Testament begins with the story of how the world and humanity were created. It covers the history of God's chosen people beginning with the patriarch Abraham and his descendants the Hebrew people, and their rise and fall through sin. Throughout the Old Testament there are allusions to and direct promises by various prophets of God that eventually He would send the Messiah to rescue humanity from the devastation of sin.

The second half of the Bible is the New Testament which is made up of 27 books. This portion of the Bible is accepted only by Christians. The New Testament tells the story of the coming of the Messiah, Jesus Christ, His birth, life, death, and resurrection. It continues with the story of the early church and ends in a final complex, sometimes frightening, mysterious prophesy of the future of all humanity with a promise of a second return of Jesus Christ to the earth.