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The "love dare" is available on my blog at www.brotherbobsblog.blogspot.com. Each day I will add the latest love dare, so if you missed one, you can go back and see them. Also, if you wish to receive the daily "love dare" emails, write to me at brogers@fbcrincon.com and just request the love dare.
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| Preachers are often called upon to keep confidential their counseling conversations with the congregation. Many pastors who have been in the ministry for years have come to learn some deep, dark secrets of members that we must take to our graves. But thanks to HIPAA, one of the secrets we used to find out about has been hidden. I'm talking about the real first names of church members. You see, hospitals list patients by the name that is on their insurance, not by the name their family and friends call them. In the old days, the preacher could look at the list of patients at the information desk, and find out, for example, that John Smith was actually Orville J. Smith. Of course, John didn't like to use the name "Orville" and would beg the preacher to keep it a secret. Going to visit "Bubba"? No problem, you could just ask for his last name and find him. But then along came HIPAA. HIPAA, which stands for the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996, is a law that protects the privacy of hospital patients and wreaks havoc on the hospital visitation ministry of pastors. Under HIPAA, patients have the right to refuse the release of any information to anybody, including their own pastors. And under HIPAA, anybody inquiring about a patient must give the correct name of the patient-- even if the patient doesn't go by that name. So now when the preacher goes to the hospital and asks for John Smith, the lady at the information desk looks down at "Orville J. Smith" on her computer screen, and then looks up at the preacher with a smirk and says, "I'm sorry, we don't have anybody by that name." The preacher can beg and plead and promise to do a wedding for her son for free, but she will just say, "Have you ever heard of HIPAA? I can't release that information unless you can give me the correct name." I must admit, we preachers had it coming. After all, for years we have abused that privileged information, barging into the hospital room and loudly asking, "How are you feeling Orville?" as John (a.k.a. Orville) hides under his sheets in embarrassment. But no more. Now, only God and your doctor have to know your real first name. So now Beatrice and Herman can keep their secrets, if they so desire. (No offense if you like those names, it's just that Beatrice fell from #44 to #982 among popular baby names in the past century, while Herman fell from #45 to #974). The preacher never has to know. That is, unless they want him to come pray before their next knee surgery. Copyright 2008 by Bob Rogers. www.holyhumor.blogspot.com
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 This past Tuesday my wife and I saw an early pre-release screening of Fireproof, the new movie from Sherwood Baptist Church of Albany, Georgia, the same people who did Facing the Giants and Flywheel. (Can they make a movie that doesn't start with the letter "F"?)
The movie opens September 26 in 800 theaters across the country, but we were given the opportunity to see an early showing for ministers. They handed out tissue at first, and I gave the tissue to my wife and said, "Here, you may need this." She handed a piece back to me and said, "You may need it, too." She was right.
Fireproof is a better film than Facing the Giants for several reasons. For one thing, they spent more money on the movie, which made for better acting (professional actor Kirk Cameron played the fireman), better quality cinematography and more realistic action scenes. They spent $500,000 on this movie, which is a low-budget film by Hollywood standards, but Facing the Giants was done for $100,000.
But more importantly, the storyline of Fireproof was much more believable than Facing the Giants. There were no miracles in the sky, just a gut-wrenching, struggling marriage. The movie pulls no punches in showing how hard it is to work out a marriage. Men and women will relate to the characters, and it will force couples to evaluate how they treat the man or woman in their lives. The movie makes great use of humor, like in the former Sherwood movies, but this time the humor is more sophisticated, particularly the use of the recurring theme of the neighbor who watches the fireman lose his temper.
Fireproof is very clear about presenting the gospel, and does so in a way that is very appealing and reasonable. It shows how Christ is the answer to our struggles with marriage, and does so without preaching to the audience, rather, the movie lets the audience discover this truth alongside of the struggling husband and wife.
I enjoyed Facing the Giants, and while I enjoyed Fireproof, it was much more than that. Fireproof caused me and my wife to talk about our marriage relationship as we drove home. I believe that God will use this movie to strengthen good marriages and save struggling marriages. I would encourage anybody who is married and anybody who is thinking about getting married to go see this movie. When you do, don't thank me for recommending it. Don't even thank Sherwood Baptist Church for making the movie. Thank God, who made marriage.
NOTE:
Our church has booked Fireproof at the Sea Turtle Cinema in Bluffton, S.C. on Saturday, September 27 at the 4:00 p.m. showing. We have already sold over 100 tickets. The manager has extended the deadline to get tickets for our special church showing until this Sunday, September 21. Tickets are the matinee price of $6.50 each, plus you can get a popcorn and coke for $2. You must pay in the church office by this Sunday. Child care is available at the church for $5 per child.
You can see the movie trailer at www.fireproofthemovie.com.
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3:1 Be not many `of you' teachers, my brethren, knowing that we shall receive heavier judgment. 3:2 For in many things we all stumble. If any stumbleth not in word, the same is a perfect man, able to bridle the whole body also. 3:3 Now if we put the horses' bridles into their mouths that they may obey us, we turn about their whole body also. 3:4 Behold, the ships also, though they are so great and are driven by rough winds, are yet turned about by a very small rudder, whither the impulse of the steersman willeth. 3:5 So the tongue also is a little member, and boasteth great things. Behold, how much wood is kindled by how small a fire! 3:6 And the tongue is a fire: the world of iniquity among our members is the tongue, which defileth the whole body, and setteth on fire the wheel of nature, and is set on fire by hell. 3:7 For every kind of beasts and birds, of creeping things and things in the sea, is tamed, and hath been tamed by mankind. 3:8 But the tongue can no man tame; `it is' a restless evil, `it is' full of deadly poison. “The Uncontrollable Tongue” (James 3:1-18) Words can have enormous power for good or for evil. The Nazi dictator of Germany, Adolf Hitler, was famous for making powerful speeches. His racist speeches and diabolical book of political theory, Mein Kampf, inflamed Germany into war with the world that cost the lives of 72 million people. For every page of the 720-page first edition of Mein Kampf, approximately 100,000 people died in World War II. What a horrible price for hateful words! [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mein_Kampf; http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/World_War_II_casualties] The New Testament letter of James, chapter 3, gives a wise warning about the uncontrollable tongue. The chapter begins by warning teachers, who use their tongues quite a bit, of how our tongues can get out of control. Many inspiring movies have been made about influential teachers, such as Dead Poets Society and Freedom Writers. But we have also heard horror stories of teachers who said the wrong thing and devastated their hearers. For example, Ward Churchill, professor at the University of Colorado, created a huge stir when he said that America got what it deserved in the terrorist attacks of 9/11. My friend Dr. Chuck Pourciau, pastor in Shreveport, Louisiana, tells about the time he was doing a graveside service and the wrong words slipped out. He was burying Sister Bertha, and Sister Susie, her best friend, was sitting with the family under the tent. As he said his final prayer, Pastor Chuck said, “Thank you, Lord, that Sister Susie….” He suddenly realized that he had called the name of the friend under the tent instead of the deceased under the ground. What was he going to do if he continued? Say, “Thank you, Lord, that Sister Susie isn’t dead too?” So he just had to start over and say, “Thank you, Lord that sister Bertha knew you…” As James says, “we all stumble in many ways.” We have all said things that we wished we had not said. Often they are harmless words, like my preacher friend Chuck. However, sometimes a slip of the tongue can cause great harm. During World War II the slogan “loose lips sink ships” reminded Americans to guard their tongues lest they reveal American secrets to the enemy. Gossip, hateful criticism and mean-spirited put-downs can leave emotional scars that last a lifetime. Somebody might object that the tongue is a small thing, so how can it be so bad? In response, James gives three examples of small things that control big things. He uses the illustration of bits into the mouths of horses and a very small rudder that directs a ship. The tongue is like that, because it is small but has great power. Then James uses another illustration of the tongue as a small fire that can burn down a forest. Remember the fires around Waycross, Georgia in 2007? Within a day, the wildfire burned a 9-mile path through rural timberland. In the end, the massive fire would burn a footprint, up to 30 miles wide and 58 miles long. The total cost is estimated at more than $54 million. (http://www.iht.com/articles/ap/2007/06/23/america/NA-GEN-US-Georgia-Wildfires.php) James focuses on the tongue as a fire. He notes how it is set, how it stains, and who is its source. First, the tongue is like a fire set in the middle of what it destroys. It is “a world of evil among the parts of the body.” Second, the tongue stains everything, because it “corrupts the whole person.” Third, the tongue’s source is Satan, for it is “set on fire by hell.” The word translated hell is the word Gehenna, the continuously burning garbage dump outside Jerusalem, which came to represent the eternal fire of the place of judgment in the afterlife. Thus Satan himself, the father of liars (John 8:44), is the source of the tongue’s evil. "For every creature…has been tamed by man," James says. Yet even the most disciplined, kindest people have at some time said things that they wished they could take back. James adds that while man has tamed animals, "no man can tame the tongue." So how do we get control of our tongues? James has already mentioned the solution to this problem earlier in his letter: “Therefore, ridding yourselves of all moral filth and evil excess, humbly receive the implanted word, which is able to save you” (James 1:21). The only way for Christians to get control of our words is for Jesus Christ, who is the Word made flesh, to get control of us. So let me give you two things that you can do to get control over your tongue: First, if you don’t begin your day in prayer and Bible reading, start the habit immediately. As I said, we must receive the implanted word. We must let Jesus, who is the Word of God made flesh, get control of our words. By beginning the day with Christ, we set the tone for our tongues the rest of the day. Second, try a 24-hour experiment. Let me ask you a question. Can you go 24 hours without saying an unkind word to another person or about another person? If you cannot, you have a problem. If you cannot go 24 hours with a smoke, your addicted to nicotine. If you cannot go 24 hours without a drink, you’re addicted to alcohol. So why don’t you break your tongue addiction? Make a conscious effort to go 24 hours without saying anything critical about anybody. Do it with your family. Make it a game, that if you say anything critical, you have to put money in your coin bank for world hunger. Try it for 24 hours. If you fail, put the money in the coin bank, and try it again the next 24 hours. Keep doing it until God gets control of your tongue. Yes, the tongue is uncontrollable, but Christ can help us control our tongues.
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 The Shack by William Paul Young is the "buzz" book of the year. Young basically "self-published" the book with his own publisher, Windblown Media, and now it has sold over a million copies, mostly by word of mouth.
The book is a deeply emotional story about why God allows suffering. I believe that Young does an excellent job in answering this question in the novel, which is probably why it has sold so well. Young imagines that a man named Mack who gets a note from God, asking him to return to the shack where his young daughter had been murdered. The man does, and finds answers to his questions and doubts about God's goodness.
However, some things about the book trouble people. I know one church library in Mississippi that has banned the book, and LifeWay Christian Stores sells the book but asks readers to read it with caution. Why? Some people are bothered by the portrayal of the Trinity in the book. God the Father appears as a black woman who goes by the name "Papa" because that's what the man's wife calls God in her prayers, Jesus appears as a Middle Eastern man, and the Holy Spirit appears as an Asian woman named Sarayu (Sanskrit for "wind") whom you can see through. For the most part, the portrayal of the Trinity in the book does not bother me. Although they appear as three persons, the are shown as completely one, as they answer Mack in unison from time to time, and whenever he has a conversation with one of them, they always continue the conversations he had with the others. "Papa" clearly reminds Mack that God is spirit, and since Mack had a poor relationship with his own father, he chose to reveal Himself to Mack as a woman to get around his resistance. In fact,
(spoiler warning: don't read this next statement if you don't want to know too much about the novel's plot...) at the end of the book, after Mack is reconciled to his own father, "Papa" appears to Mack as a man.
The only thing that concerns me about the way the book portrays the Trinity, is that Papa, Jesus and Sarayu tell Mack that They are equal to one another, and tell Mack that he is wrong to think of God the Father as the "boss." While it is true that the Bible teaches that all three Persons of the Trinity are equally God, the Bible also teaches that Christ is submissive to His Father. Jesus said, "The Father and I are one" (John 10:30), but Jesus also said, "The Father is greater than I am" (John 14:28).
Some people are bothered by the way church and established religion are criticized in the book, but I think they have to understand that it is expressing the feelings of Mack, who is disillusioned with God. For example, it bothers some readers that Mack refers to the Bible as having "guilt" edges instead of "gilded" edges. Yet later in the novel, Mack chuckles when he notices that God has placed a Gideon Bible in his guest room at the shack.
Some people will be put off by a few uses of profanity in the book in the dialogue. There is one use of S.O.B., and a few other milder profanities spoken mostly in passages where the speaker is angry.
Another controversial part of the book has to do with the picture of God as love. The love of God is stressed so much that God's role as the holy judge is played down. However, in His conversations with Papa, God does say that while He lovingly offers forgiveness, reconciliation depends upon the response of people to Him. That is certainly in line with the New Testament.
The most controversial passage in the book occurs on page 182. Jesus is talking to Mack, and he says, "Those who love me come from every system that exists. They were Buddhists or Mormons, Baptists or Muslims, Democrats, Republicans and many who don't vote or are not part of any Sunday morning or religious institutions..." At this point, Jesus appears to be teaching universalism, that everybody will be saved. However, as we keep reading, it appears that Jesus is saying instead that he has taken people from any background and transformed them. Notice the next words that William Young has "Jesus" speak:
"...I have followers who were murderers and many who were self-righteous. Some were bankers and bookies, Americans and Iraqis, Jews and Palestinians. I have no desire to make them Christian, but I do want to join them in their transformation into sons and daughters of my Papa, into my brothers and sisters, into my Beloved." Earlier, "Jesus" had reminded Mack that "I'm not a Christian," and Mack responded, "No, I suppose you aren't." We could get into another big conversation about all of that, but I can give Young the benefit of the doubt that he is saying that salvation is a relationship with Jesus, not a religion. Anyway, notice what comes next:
"'Does that mean,' asked Mack, 'that all roads will lead to you?'
'Not at all,' smiled Jesus as he reached for the door handle to the shop. 'Most roads don't lead anywhere. What it does mean is that I will travel any road to find you.'"
At first read, that statement is confusing, and may even sound like universalism. However, notice that what Young is saying is the opposite of universalism. He is NOT saying that all roads lead to Jesus. He is just saying that Jesus will do whatever He can to reach you and me. I do wish Young had added that the one road to Papa is through Jesus. It would have made that conversation less confusing for the reader.
While this review has mostly focused on the controversial parts of the book, I do want to conclude by saying that the book does a beautiful job of showing that following Jesus is more a matter of relationship than religion, and that suffering cannot be understood because we cannot understand all of God's purposes or all of the complicated and intertwined effects of our actions upon one another, and because if we did not have freedom to choose evil, we would not have freedom to love. Thus we simply must trust God.
(Spoiler warning: skip this paragraph if you don't want to know too much of the plot...) Perhaps the most powerful parts of the book is when Mack is asked to "play God" and decide to send which three of his children will go to hell and which two will go to heaven. Mack's reaction to this awful choice helps him see how God works through suffering.
There are several good quotations in the book:
God says, "When all you can see is your pain, perhaps then you lose sight of me?" (p. 96)
"Grace doesn't depend on suffering to exist, but where there is suffering you will find grace in many facets and colors." (p. 185)
"If your perception is false, then your emotional response to it will be false too. So check your perceptions...Just because you believe something firmly doesn't make it true. Be willing to reexamine what you believe. The more you live in the truth, the more your emotions will help you see clearly." (p. 197)
God says, "I am a verb. I am that I am. I will be who I will be. I am a verb! I am alive, dynamic, ever active, and moving. I am a being verb." (p. 204)
God says, "Forgiveness is about forgetting, Mack. It is about letting go of another person's throat." (p. 224)
If you can read The Shack with a critical eye but an open heart, I think you will be blessed and challenged to go back to your Bible and seek to know God better than ever before.
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