1. GOD IN POPULAR MEDIA:

As most of my readers must know by now, I enjoy fictional books and movies from time to time. Of course my goal is to always evaluate everything within a Biblical/Christian context. I want to briefly comment here on two of my most recent samplings of "secular media."

The first is the novel Desperation, written by Stephen King (I think we've all heard of him, right?). I have never been a big King fan, but read the book on recommendation. Frankly, I liked the story. What impressed me most about it was the fact that the main "hero" of the story is a young kid who is converted to Christianity. In those tense moments of the story, this kid habitually drops to his knees and asks God for help. I was even more pleasantly surprised at the ending. Throughout the book, the infamous "problem of evil" looms large: "God is cruel"; "Why would God allow this?"; etc. Yet in the end, the reader is told that in reality - although there are horrific times in life when our limited perspective deceives us - "God is love." In fact, King even references the verse in 1 John!

I was likewise impressed with the movie Simon Birch. The story is about a boy, Simon, who is born sick and thus grows up very small for his age. Throughout the movie, Simon knows that God has "a purpose for his life" - for the way he is. Simon is never moved from this firm conviction, despite the ridicule and skepticism heaped upon him by his pastor, family, even his best friend. The story is narrated by actor Jim Carrey, who plays Simon's best friend as an adult. The opening scene has Carrey at Simon's gravesite, opening the story by noting that "Simon is the reason I believe in God." You see, in the end God did indeed have "a purpose" for young Simon Birch -- as He does for us all.

I would recommend both of these to anyone, with a brief disclaimer. We must always keep in mind that whenever the secular media touches upon Christianity that there will be details that are in error, maybe serious error. Keep this in mind as a general rule. The Apostle was a good movie, but I certainly hope Christian preachers don't take "Sonny" (Robert Duvall) as their example! As much as I've liked such examples of "secular entertainment" and may even feel that there are good lessons in these stories -- I know that a talented believer could've done much better. The secular presentation of our faith - even when given a positive treatment - will always fall short of the awesome revelation of Almighty God.

2. JESUS CHRIST - THE CENTER OF ALL HISTORY:

Biblical Christianity is not a "tolerant" religion. Of course, it can't be. The central claim of our faith is both simple and exclusive: Jesus Christ is "the Way, the Truth, and the Life" -- PERIOD. To leave nothing to doubt, Jesus Himself claimed further that, "No man comes to the Father but by Me" (John 14:6). That's pretty clear, I think. Thus, spiritual "intolerance" is the very fabric of Christianity - at least in the sense that Christians cannot just "accept" other religions/philosophies as "equally valid" expressions of truth.

Thus, historical figures like Buddha, or Confucius, etc. - these hold no weight with the Christian. Isn't it rather amazing then that Jesus Christ seems to, in & of Himself, be such a powerful historical presentation that ALL faiths address Him in some fashion?

Think about it. Hindus & Buddhists invent stories of Him traveling to India, where He becomes an Avatar, "ascended master," or the latest incarnation of the Dalai Lama, etc. Muslims hold Him as a Great Prophet, even affirming His virgin birth! He figures into every New Age faith in one way or another. Even many Jews admit Him to be a "good man" or "a great moral teacher." Those who consider Christianity "a myth" will spend all kinds of time & money in search of "the historical Jesus."

I was thinking about all this the other day. Here's my conclusion: do what you will, but no matter who you are -- Jesus Christ cannot be ignored. You can replace the truth with false notions - but one way or another, you MUST deal with this Man called Jesus.

Further, in their own twisted way, all of these non-Christian sources point to Jesus. If I was unbeliever and observed this phenomenon I would certainly discern that something was amiss! Jesus, Jesus, Jesus ... Jesus everywhere! Everyone has an opinion about Jesus! Gee ... maybe, just maybe, this Man Jesus is Somebody important? Yes, if I was an unbeliever keen enough to make this observation - I definitely think I'd go to the historical source for information on Jesus Christ - the Bible & Christianity.

I am working on organizing this information into a brief presentation (w/ documentation) to be used in sharing my faith, when the situation allows for it. Any thoughts are appreciated.

* The King James Only Controversy by James R. White (Minneapolis: Bethany House, 1995) - I have long respected James White and profited from his books, from listening to him on radio, and also from personal letters on certain issues. I have been aware of this book for some time, but only recently began to read it from start to finish. Although I myself hold to the "Majority Text" position on variant readings, I have found this book to be very informative. The Church has suffered under the "KJV-only" teaching for far too long. This subject is very important to me - as a young Christian years ago I actually fell for the simplistic logic of teachers like Peter Ruckman. However, White does an excellent job of showing that - while the surface logic sounds good - if you dig a little deeper the position is fraught with ignorance, error, and (sadly) at times with outright deception. White covers all aspects of the controversy in very understandable language. I think this is a very important book that every young believer should read - sooner or later they are bound to run into one of these schismatics that will claim that God speaks only in the King's English.

" ... (Jesus) said to him, 'Why do you call Me good? There is none good but one, that is, God ... " MATTHEW 19:17

Although often used as a proof that Christ was not Deity, such an interpretation will not stand up to close scrutiny for several reasons. First, most sects and teachers using this passage to disprove Christ's Deity prove too much, as the same sects and teachers would no doubt maintain along with the rich young man that He is indeed "good".

Second, this particular word (Grk. agathos) is used of many things, even by Jesus Himself as a generic term for people who are "good" (Matt. 5:45; 12:35; 13:38; 22:10; 25:21,23).

Third, other words are clearly used of Jesus that would be inappropriate if such an interpretation is correct: hagios ("holy" - Acts 3:14) and dikaios ("just" - Acts 3:14; 7:52; 22:14; and "righteous" - 1 John 2:1) are both used of Jesus, and that with the article (creating a title in each case - i.e., "the Holy One"; "the Just One"; "the Righteous" - this suggests intrinsic qualities).

Considering these facts, and also that the passage in question (as well as the parallels in Mark and Luke) contains no direct denial from Jesus but only the question itself, it is more reasonable to regard this as an invitation to recognize Who He really was cast in a teaching style used often by Jesus (cf. Matt. 22:20; 22:42-45 for example). Further support for such an interpretation is to be found in the abundance of Scripture clearly setting forth His true Deity.