So, yesterday I went to see Mel Gibson's BraveChrist (as a friend of mine refers to it). It was brutal. It was awful. No, not the movie, the traffic through Hollywood that made me miss the movie.
Ah well.
I guess I'll wait for DVD.
THE PASSION, what good is it?
I have heard all the hype and the concerns that have been expressed about the anti-Semitism, the graphic violence and even the claims that it has "too much if a Catholic SPIN". The bottom line is this. Will it attract the non-believer or will it repulse them? Will it promote the Gospel or will it discolor it?
1) Anti- Semites do not need a movie to back their twisted ways. Some people simply hate. And guess what? Some, but not all are Christians!!
2) The small group of Jewish people, who cry “hatred” at everything, will always cry hatred no matter what. Some people find evil everywhere they look.
3) It was the Jews that said “His blood be on our heads, and the heads of our children”. So get over it!
4) It was the Christ that said “Father forgive them, for they know not what they do”. So you Jew hating Christians . . . Get over it!! NOW!! Forgive!! God COMMANDED YOU TO LOVE your Jewish brothers!!
5) The truth is, Prophesy was fulfilled; Salvation was made available, so rejoice in God and LOVE EACH OTHER!!!
6) Gibson’s movie is NOT THE GOSPEL!! Don’t fool yourself into believing it is!! It’s only his interpretation of the Gospel.
7) The Passion has a HUGE CATHOLIC SPIN!! SO WHAT!!
8) The Passion was extremely violent!! Excessively Violent? Not one bit!! The Crucifixion of Jesus, The Christ, Yeshua or The Messiah was EXCESSIVLY Violent!!
9) You can look in the OLD TESTAMENT and find Love. You can also dig to find HATE if that’s your quest.
10) You can look in the NEW TESTAMENT and find Love. You can also dig to find HATE if that’s your quest.
In closing I’d like to say:
It’s better to adjust your morals and beliefs to fit within the Bible than to try to adjust the Bible to suit your Morals and Beliefs. If you Love, you’ll find love. If you hate, you’ll find hate. There will always be those that want to destroy every good work. There will also be those that want to promote every bad work. Since The Passion isn’t Gospel it is flawed, so what!! Rather than throw the baby out with the bathwater, try to find the good and look for ways to promote LOVE and thereby you will be promoting Jesus. Bottom line? People are talking . . . and this is good!!
God bless . . . . Rev. John
"It is true that some preach Christ out of envy and rivalry, but others out of goodwill. The latter do so in love, knowing that I am put here for the defense of the gospel. The former preach Christ out of selfish ambition, not sincerely, supposing that they can stir up trouble for me while I am in chains. But what does it matter? The important thing is that in every way, whether from false motives or true, Christ is preached. And because of this I rejoice." Philippians 1:15-18
Posted by: Rev John E Swanger at March 7, 2004 10:45 PMUm, that's very longwinded of you. I still don't think that the old testament has any direct bearing on my original point of Hollywood traffic making me miss the movie.
Posted by: Matt at March 8, 2004 05:12 PMHmm... a quick google search has picked you up on several blogs with the identical comment. I dub thee Reverend Spammer.