Film Comment: El Evangelista

You say that you want to see a Christian comedy about a professional drug gang enforcer/assassin?  Well, here it is.

Pablo (J. Salome Martinez) always pauses before killing his victims to allow them the chance to make their peace with God.  Whether or not they do, he then fills them with bullets.  Surprisingly, though the film is extremely violent, there is no cursing.

Pablo and his assistant are bumbling hit men who eventually are able to carry out their assignments.  There is a lot of running around and shooting and killing.

The turning point for Pablo comes when he is assigned by his boss to assassinate a Pentecostal pastor who is interfering with the local drug trade.  Pablo becomes a Christian and turns his life around.  This is where the real problem with El Evangelista (2006) lies.

Pablo moves to another area and begins his happy new life.  What about his probably vengeful former associates?  What about his responsibility for numerous murders?  Did he have a responsibility to self-report to the authorities?  Should he have given his knowledge of the drug trade to the police?  Is repentance without confession really repentance?  Can we escape temporal consequences for our actions?

This is a Spanish language film with English subtitles.

Eternal Security of the Believer

The funeral of Whitney Elizabeth Houston (1963-2012) was held today and was broadcast online and on numerous television, cable, and satellite channels in the United States.  Whitney Houston was an internationally known singer, actress, music producer, and model who sold more than 170,000,000 musical albums, singles, and videos during her lifetime.  On 11 February 2012, she was found dead in her room at the Beverly Hills Hilton Hotel in Beverly Hills, California (USA).

Houston was born in Newark, New Jersey, the daughter of noted Gospel music singer, Cissy Houston.   She was of African-American, Native American, and Dutch descent and was raised in a Baptist/Pentecostal background.  In her early and teenage years she was a singer in her local Baptist Church.

Her death, at least at first glance, appears to possibly have been the culmination of years of substance abuse.  It also appears that only legal prescription drugs were found in her hotel room.  The official toxicology reports are still pending.   Regardless of the cause of her death, Houston’s life seems to have gone into a downward spiral from which she could not recover.

Whitney Houston’s death brings up troubling questions for those who are members of the ἐκκλησία, the Body of Christ.  Was she, as some claim, truly a Christian?  If she was a Christian, how could she so obviously go into so precipitous a freefall?  Was Whitney ultimately saved despite her questionable final few years?  What does the doctrine of the eternal security of the believer really mean?  Paul was quite adamant that eternal security does not mean that Christians can live in whatever way they wish (Romans 6:1-2).

Dr. Harry Ironside, on 24 April 1934, in Chicago, Illinois, said, 

“When we speak of the eternal security of the believer, what do we mean? We mean that once a poor sinner has been regenerated by the Word and the Spirit of God, once he has received a new life and a new nature and has been made partaker of the divine nature, once he has been justified from every charge before the throne of God, it is absolutely impossible that that man should ever again be a lost soul. Having said that, let me say what we do not mean when we speak of the eternal security of the believer. We do not mean that it necessarily follows that if one professes to be saved, if he comes out to the front in a meeting, shakes the preacher’s hand, and says he accepts the Lord Jesus Christ as his Savior, that that person is eternally safe. It does not mean that if one joins a church or makes a profession of faith, is baptized, becomes a communicant, and takes an interest in Christian work, that that person is forever secure. It does not mean that because one manifests certain gifts and exercises these gifts in Christian testimony, that that person is necessarily eternally secure.

“Our Lord Jesus Christ said to the people of His day, as recorded in Matthew 7:21-23: “Not every one that saith unto Me, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of heaven; but he that doeth the will of My Father which is in heaven. Many will say to Me in that day, Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in Thy name? And in Thy name have cast out devils? And in Thy name done many wonderful works? And then will I profess unto them, I never knew you: depart from Me, ye that work iniquity.” Such people then may have been very active in what is called Christian work--they have preached, they have cast out demons, that is, their influence has been such that men and women have found deliverance from satanic power through their ministrations in the name of Jesus, they have professed with their lips, they have accomplished many wonderful works, but they are found in that day among the lost, and when they plead their great activity and their earnestness in Christian testimony, the Lord says to them, “I never knew you.” Notice, He does not say to them, “I used to know you, but you have forfeited My favor and I do not know you any longer.” He says, “I never knew you.” “

Read Dr. Ironside’s full statement here. 

I cannot even pretend to know the answer to the question of Whitney Houston’s eternal fate.  Only she and the Lord know that.  None of us actually know for sure about anyone else, but we have the assurance that we, as Holy Spirit indwelled partakers of the divine nature, can never be separated from the protection and grace of the Lord.

Another discussion of the eternal security of the believer is here . 

AOH Church of God places its headquarters in Center Point, Alabama

The Apostolic Overcoming Holy Church of God is a Pentecostal denomination founded in 1916 in Mobile, Alabama as the Ethiopian Overcoming Church of God in Mobile, Alabama by Bishop W.T. Phillips.  In 1941, the name was changed to become more inclusive.  While primarily black, the denomination has members of other races.  The membership numbers about 50,000 people in the United States and Africa.

This week the AOH church purchased the property of the former Cathedral of the Cross in Center Point, Alabama and plans to locate its international headquarters there.  The main sanctuary of the site can host  meeting groups of up to 6000 persons and will be adequate for the annual Pentecostal celebration held by the denomination.

Religious Groupings in the United States

In his book, Christians Are Hate-Filled Hypocrites ..., Dr. Bradley Wright used Steensland *, et al's (2000) RELTRAD classification system, which identifies seven groupings to describe the religious bodies in the United States.   The designations "include, but are not limited to" the religious bodies/persuasions listed below.

Evangelical Protestants: the Southern Baptist Convention; some Independent Baptists; many non-denominational Protestant churches; the Lutheran Church; Missouri Synod; the Presbyterian Church in America; the Assemblies of God; the Church of Christ; the Church of the Nazarene; the Free Methodist Church; and the Seventh-day Adventist Church.  They tend to be theologically and socially conservative.

Mainline Protestants: the American Baptist Church in the USA; the United Methodist Church; the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America; the Presbyterian Church, USA; the Episcopal Church in the USA; and the United Church of Christ.  They tend to be theologically and socially liberal or "progressive".

Black Protestants: the National Baptist Convention; the African Methodist Episcopal Church; the Church of God in Christ.  All of these denominations are primarily, but not exclusively, African-American.  They tend to be conservative in theology but more liberal in social views.

Catholics: Roman Catholics.  Although the Orthodox would probably object to being listed with the Catholics, I believe that they would be included in this group in this classification system.

Jewish: Separated into Orthodox, Conservative, and Reform traditions.  The Orthodox represent historic Judaism, the Reform are more liberal and modern, and the Conservatives are in the middle.

Other Religions: Islam, Buddhism, Hinduism, Jainism, Sikhism, Mormonism, Jehovah's Witnesses, Christian Science, Oneness Pentecostals, and Unitarian-Universalism.  Some of these groups self identify as Christian but are rejected as heterodox by other Christians.

Religiously Unaffiliated: Atheists, Agnostics, and "Don't Cares."



* Steensland, Brian, et.al., "the Measure of American Religion: Toward Improving the State of the Art," Social Forces, 79(1), 2000, pp. 291-318.

Christians

At some time during their lives, the following people have publicly identified themselves as Christian.   Inclusion in this list does not indicate approval or disapproval of the person, of their orthodoxy or lack of it, or of their actions.  Readers are encouraged to suggest persons who should be included on this list.  This is a recurring segment in this blog.

Denzel Hayes Washington, Jr.: (b. 1954, New York, USA) Actor (2 Oscars, 2 Golden Globes, 1 Tony Award). Son of a Pentecostal pastor.  In 1995, Washington donated $2,000,000 to build  the West Angeles Church of God in Christ in Los Angeles (California). Pentecostal.

Prem Singh Gurung: (b. Nepal)  On 18 Oct. 201, Gurung was arrested in Buddhist Bhutan for publicly displaying Christian films in the cities of Gonggaon and Simkharka.  He was sentenced to yjree years imprisonment for the crime of “attempting to promote civil unrest.”

Kang Keke Iew: (b. 1942, Cambodia; aka: Kang kek Iev, Kaing Guek Eav, Comrade Duch, Comrade Deuch, Hang Pin) As a leader in the Khmer Rouge Communist movement, Kang ran the Tuol Sleng prison camp.  In 2010, he was sentenced to thirty-five years in prison.  He is now a lay Evangelical pastor who speaks Thai, French, Khmer, and English.

May Hnin Nu: (b. 1986, Myanmar: aka: Rebecca Win)  Burmese model, actress, pop music singer.  She is fluent in Japanese.

Htee Moo Kee: (b. 1927, Burma – d. 2006; aka: Bo Mya) Karen rebel leader.  Baptist/Seventh-Day Adventist.

Fields of the Wood

In 1945, The Church of God of Prophecy built Fields of the Wood in Murphy, North Carolina.  The main attraction of the facility is the World's Largest Ten Commandments, 300 feet wide, cut into a mountainside in five foot tall letters.  At the top of the Commandments hill sits a giant open Bible, The World's Largest Testament.

The Church of God of Prophecy is a Pentecostal Holiness organization founded in 1923 on the teachings of Bishop A(mbrose) J(essup) Tomlinson (1865-1943).

Bollywood, Nollywood, Hollywood

     Hollywood is the movie capital of the world but it is not the movie production capital of the world.  It's actually third.  Number one is Bollywood, the Indian film industry which produces multiple thousands of films annually.  The name "Bollywood" is Hollywood with a "B" because the actual name of India is Bharat.

     Nollywood, the Nigerian film industry, produces thirty to fifty low-budget films a week.  Since the industry was virtually non-existent before the 1992 release of Living in Bondage by Kenneth Nnebue, this explosive growth is extraordinary.

     Most of the films are produced for about $15,000 and filmed in three to five days.  The DVD's sell for $2.00 and earn their producers huge returns.  The reason they are being discussed here is that a great many them are based on Pentecostal Christianity, even, or especially, the ones we in America would recognize as gore and violence filled horror films.  These films are on the level of the Christian Hell House phenomena.  

     The 1992 Igbo language film, Living in Bondage, started it all.  The plot goes like this: a group of men sacrifice their wives and drink their blood in a pagan ceremony which causes them to become rich.  The trouble is that their wives won't leave and continue to torment them as ghosts.  The men are saved when they beg forgiveness and accept Jesus Christ into their hearts.  The film almost immediately sold over seven hundred fifty thousand copies.

     The larger Christian ministries in Nigeria have their own production facilities and their films feature gore, witchcraft, cannibalism, violence, exorcisms, and Pentecostalism. 

"About Nollywood," http://nollywood.com/

"Cinema of Nigeria," http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nollywood

Lapeyre, Jason, "Nollywood Nightmares. Inside Nigeria's Homegrown Horror Industry," Rue Morgue, Toronto, #92, 2009.

Another Light Bulb Joke

How many Pentecostals does it take to change a light bulb?

Three.  One to cast out the spirit of darkness, a second to change the bulb, and a third to catch the old bulb when it falls.