Rick Warren embarasses the gospel

I'll let this video speak for itself. What's sad it that millions of people have bought this guys books and thousands of churches have bought into his purpose driven church ploys. But for more commentary, feel free to go to biblicalthought.com/blog They really give it to him.



I wish someone like this would be interviewed instead:

Yep, Dr. Bob. He's the man!

Death of Greek Archbishop

When it rains it pours! Just as it was announced that the Mormon President died, news of the death of the Greek Archbishop has come down the grapevine. He was being treated for cancer. What does the Greek Orthodox church really believe? The newest book from Robert Morey answers just that. It's called "Is Eastern Orthodoxy Christian?" You can see a review at biblicalthought.com It will blow you away. Lest people think I'm trying to be mean at the death of a religious figure, I want you to know that I use this page for the discussion of religious news and ideas. My prayers are with the families of both the Mormon president and the archbishop. However, I make it known to all that I use this page to advance the true biblical gospel. It is unfortunately not found in Mormonism, and while there may be saved people in the Orthodox church, their gospel is severely distorted. Because peoples souls are at stake, I present videos, books, and web sites to get them to think about the true gospel of Jesus Christ and the ways man has used religion to distort it.

Death of Mormon President

News of the death of the President of the Mormon church has come as he as been fighting diabetes. He was 97. In an interview a few years back he had made the statement about DNA not disproving that native Americans came from the Israelites. The following video shows that this is false. You can read his denialhere . You can see the video DNA vs. The Book of Mormon here

If you know a Mormon ask them about it.

Anonymous strikes again

Whoever these guys are, they are getting attention. After only five days, the first youtube video (posted below) has had over 1 million views. Here are the newest postings from anonymous.





As I said, over the next few weeks I will be dealing with the subject of Scientology as it has been the flavor of the month. Having said that, feel free to visit the following sites for more information
www.xenu.net
http://www.scientomogy.com/stopscientology/
http://www.apologeticsindex.org/s04.html
http://askthescientologist.blogspot.com/
http://www.cs.cmu.edu/~dst/Fishman/time-behar.html
http://www.jimmyr.com/blog/Scientology_Cult_Videos_197_2006.php

Scientology has been put on notice!

Here is a very odd and creepy video. Who made it? We shall see in time. So far, they are calling themselves "Anonymous" and "Legion". Perhaps it's from angry ex-scientologists. Especially those who paid a lot of money to get to higher (Tom Cruise) levels and were left disillusioned when they didn't develop super-powers. Not to jump the gun, but in the next few weeks I will be dealing with Scientology on the site and will discuss its very unique and downright crazy ideas.



And just for fun...


the caption that says this is what they believe was added to remind people that THIS IS WHAT THEY REALLY BELIEVE!

On the anniversary of Roe v. Wade

Pro-Life has a great section dealing with pro-life messages in the media. Indeed I wanted to think a little about that. In the last year movies dealing with issues of pregnancy have been in the spotlight. What makes it interesting is that they have been positive messages of life. For instance, Kerri Russel's last two movies, "Waitress" and "August Rush", we're both movies about unexpected pregnancies where abortion was not an option. The faith themed "Bella" won much acclaim and awards (and was robbed an Oscar nomination) and it too dealt with a pregnant woman's decision to have her child. The much acclaimed hit (see review below) "Juno" did a great service to the cause of life by showing that abortion is not the only option women have.

Having said that what does all this mean? It means that maybe, abortion does poor at the box office. But more so, maybe the pro-life message is making ground. Small steps none the less. I placed a picture of a developed fetus. Pictures seem to speak louder than words these days. But, what can I say in favor of the pro-life cause? Well, the moment the sperm and egg combine, they create a new life. Inside the womans womb is a new DNA, and it's growing. Imagine for amoment we could put it in the womb of a cow. Is it a cow fetus of a human fetus growing in the womb? This isn't a wart, or a pimple or a booger. What's growing will one day love, and cry, and sing and fall in love and have faith. It's not just "some" tissue that's growing. Having said that here are a few websites and video to get you thinking about ways to speak about abortion:


prolife.com
carm.org-there's a great section on abortion. It's very compassionate to the mother to be
http://www.justthefacts.org/clar.asp This site is visually appealling.
www.prolifetoolkit.com
www.abortionfacts.com

As we think about where our country is culturally, let's make sure we all have a hand in making it a culture of life and not death.

Cloverfield: the monster bites the Apple

(No spoilers I promise)
No doubt, many of us have been anticipating this movie ever since we first saw the very interesting trailer last summer. After months of theories about the movie, the title and the basic plot were given. Having seen the film I can tell you that it lives up to the hype. J.J Abrams along with director Matt Reeves have delivered an original piece of movie making. A lot of early reviews have said it is genre redefining, and I have to admit it does explore new territory. But this film may carry the burden of being a one trick pony. Are we really going to see a lot more monster movies told like this? Blair Witch was made almost ten years ago. Time will tell. Both were equally dizzying, but in the end live up to the hype.
The whole movie is shot with a hand held camera (or so it seems) and it chronicles the real time responses of young New Yorkers as they deal with the chaos brought on by a monster attack. There were a few places where the movie was reminiscent of 9/11. You have smoke in the air, people running in the streets, and buildings are collapsing everywhere. And all you can year is a eerie growling from the middle of Manhattan. But this is more than a survival story. It's about protecting those we love-even if it means encountering one scary monster in the process.
Here is where it again is reminiscent of 9/11. But this time, it's not so much about the army or cops, but about normal people who want to help their friends amidst the chaos. And chaos there is. Even with all of that, these brave people who make a unselfish choice. Love and friendship play strong themes in the movie. I had to ask myself a few times: would I do this for my friends? or would I just take off and take care of myself? A little humor is sprinkled throughout the by way of the camera man and makes for some good comic relief.
For all the thousands of people running around in a very real looking New York, it's the camera that becomes the star of the show. From night vision, to light source, to paparazzi like journalism, it's used in very creative and unique ways. These things are normally hated in media,but they are redeemed in this story. And it works! This story is trying to be as real as possible. The trailer has a scene where the statue of Liberties head is thrown on the street. What do people do? Film it on their camera phones! And it was completely believable. The scene in the tunnel (along with what they find) was amazing for how real it came across. But let us not forget the main feature: the monster. It is very hard to describe. But let's just say that it is SCARY! It's even more scary for how real it all comes across. Think 24 meets Blair Witch and Independence Day. The acting was well done and I hope to see more from these actors.
It's interesting, that in an age of gonzo journalism (Perez Hilton) and paparazzi coverage (TMZ) and even You Tube, this movie seems to use those elements to tell a very excellent, though dizzying, story. My one pet peeve is that that camera seemed to have a lot of energy in the battery, and seemed impervious to destruction! But I'll leave that be. I was made dizzy, and still am a bit, so if you're like me, sit in the very back and have a cold cup of Sprite near by. A tremendous ending, and if you wait till the last scene you'll see an interesting surprise but you have to look carefully. Cloverfield is a must see 8.5/10.

Oscar nominations...my thoughts....

Because I care about your cultural consumption, I wanted to give my two cents about who should have been nominated for an Oscar and films to look out for.
First off, It's true, sci-fi/fantasy and comedy movies get the short end of the stick...sometimes. As you may have read, I loved "Juno" and am glad it got a nomination. Jason Reitman (the director) may have gotten the nod, but may not win. Like I said, comedies get the short end of the stick!"300" got robbed a best adapted screenplay nod. If you read the original graphic novel, and compare it to the movie, it's almost 95% the same thing. The only things that were added were scenes consistent to the film and that added to what was already happening.
"Sunshine" was a great sci-fi movie, that I hope wins other awards, that was snubbed. It deserved a nomination for original screenplay and for its visual effects. A lot of people say "Zodiac" and "3:10 To Yuma" deserved a nod. A friend of mine was really creaped out by "Zodiac". Of course, a few wholesome movies got nominations. "Ratatouille" will probably win best animated film. It was better than most live action films this year. "Once" received a nomination for best original song, but I also believe it deserved one for best foreign film. If "The Full Monty" won a few years back, this one deserves it all the more.
If you think I missed something, or just want to add something to the list, feel free to send me your thoughts. I must still say that last year the winner was clearly "Little Miss Sunshine".