Breaking the Fourth Wall

 

            In film-making, there is a concept called breaking the fourth wall in which one or several characters acknowledge the existence of the viewing audience and address the viewers as if they are participants in the ongoing events.

            The first, second, and third walls are like a box around a stage set: the back wall and the two side walls. The fourth wall is the wall visible to the characters in the play but totally transparent to the people watching the events as they occur. Traditionally, the actors and narrators are assumed to be unaware that they are being watched by the audience.

            Breaking the fourth wall occurs when a character in the play or film glances at the audience or camera, makes movements like a wink or a knowing smile which betray a knowledge of the existence of the audience, or actually speaks directly to the viewers. Occasionally, the narrative itself becomes self-aware. Examples of this phenomenon occur in the films, Ferris Bueller’s Day Off, the Marvel Deadpool films, and The Neverending Story, which can be seen to exhibit as many as seven levels of fourth wall breaking.  

            What does this have to do with this Christian blog? Well, this is in reference to the Bible itself. The Bible is holy, but as an object it is just a book, ink on sheets of paper, or, in our current modern days, the arrangement of millions of pixels on your cellphone screen.

            There are widely varying levels of reverence for the physical book itself, with some actually bordering on idolatry, but the physical book is just that, a book.

            Two ways of understanding the Bible are as a tool or as a weapon. Both understandings can be biblically supported.

            So, back to the subject of this post. Sitting on a shelf or lying on a desk the Bible is just a book. The thing which only Christians can understand is that once it is picked up and opened, the Bible is itself indwelled by the Holy Spirit, the same person who inhabits each of us. Just as we can use the Bible, so can he. It is one of the many ways he can speak directly to us.

            The Holy Spirit is aware as we read the biblical text and he guides us to new insights, the meat of the gospel, new levels of understanding which we as believers can gradually comprehend as we mature. How do we know this? The Bible tells us so.

            One of the activities of the Holy Spirit is the Reminding Ministry. He will guide you in the Bible to the answers or understandings which you need to further mature as a Christian.

            Isaiah 11:2; 1 Corinthians 2:12, 3:1-4, 6:19-20; Hebrews 5:12-13; John 14:17,26, 16:13; Romans 8:9; Colossians 1:27; 1 John 4:15.

Now We See Darkly

Cataract surgery replaces a damaged, thickened, and discolored lens with a new perfectly functional replacement.  I carry cards in my wallet with the details of the prescriptions of each of my replacements lenses and have been delighted with the restoration of my proper visual abilities. Once I had the first surgery I was impatient to have the second surgery and complete the process.

The opthalmic surgeon performs the surgeries one eye at a time. This produces an odd situation. After my first surgery, my post-operative eye saw bright new intense colors with ultra-sharp delineation between white and black.  Not so with the pre-operative eye. What I saw was yellowed, dull, and faded, with incorrect color perceptions. I saw a green shirt as grey and could not distinguish some blues from some greens.  The scientific term for this phenomenon would be that the cataract had produced an acquired tritanopia.

Most people are spiritually asleep or, at best, walking around with a thick film over their eyes. When converted to Christianity, they suddenly see what has really been around them the entire time. Reality can be very shocking.  They become eager to complete the process.

Conversion changes your mind and your perception of the nature of reality. You have received the Holy Spirit and now are indwelled by the Mind of Christ. This enables you to see things as Jesus sees them.  You see things which once you could not see or understand. This is the beginning of the process of sanctification.

Was Bill O'Reilly Divinely Inspired to Write Killing Jesus?

The Fox News Channel political commentator Bill O’Reilly was a high school history teacher before he embarked on his television career. He has written numerous books such as Killing Kennedy, Killing Lincoln, The Last Days of Hitler, and Killing Patton.   He is a Roman Catholic believer and has said that he thinks he was inspired by the Holy Spirit to write his excellent Killing Jesus. This set off a firestorm of criticism with some people saying that they think he is insane or blasphemous. I think he is probably correct that he was inspired.

I know the implications of what I am saying. I also think that this blog is inspired by God. Of course, it is not inspired on the same authoritative level as Scripture. That idea is the core heresy which led to modern Mormonism. The canon of scripture and doctrinal interpretation is closed. 

The Bible clearly states that each of the Saints (us, not a special class of extra-holy people) is divinely inspired. We  have the Mind of Christ. We have a direct link to the Holy Spirit who indwells, leads, instructs, and counsels individual believers.

Of course He leads us. Of course He inspires us. If He does not, then the problem is with us. We are not listening.

If you do not feel the Holy Spirit moving in your life, now is the time, today. If you are a Christian, ask Him, then listen.

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A general caution: books may give you wonderful new insights and explanations of subjects, but you should never base your Christian beliefs on any one book or the teachings of one person, no matter who they are. All teachings must be consistent with scripture. Read as the Bereans did, with discernment. “… for they received the word with great eagerness, examining the Scriptures daily to see whether these things were so.” Acts 17:11 NASB

Any doctrines must be consistent with the historical full body of Christian thought. Doctrines or teachings inconsistent with scripture in any way must be rejected. You would not eat cheese which had a fuzzy fungus growing on it.

Book Comment: An Encyclopedia of African American Christian Heritage

Many people would rather stick a pencil into their eye than to read a book of history.  That really is a shame, because history helps us to understand where we have been and how that affects where and who we are now.  Christians, especially, are a historically based people.  To really understand Christianity, it is necessary to learn about the mindset and history of a world almost totally alien to our modern world but on which our modern world is based.

All Christians worldwide are part of the same family.  All those who belong to Jesus, have the Mind of Christ.  Yet, often, we misunderstand one another.  How much does a Christian in Norway know about Christians in China?  How much does a Christian in Belarus know about Christians in Greece?  Do you know about the military saints or the Fools for Christ?  How much do we know about Christians in other religious traditions existing side by side with us in our own home areas?

In the United States, how much do white Christians know about black Christians and vice versa?  We have lived together for four hundred years but many whites have never been into a black church and many blacks have never been into a white church.  Study of books such as An Encyclopedia of African American Christian Heritage (Judson Press, 2002) can help us understand one another.

The book by Marvin A. McMickle is divided into chapters of short essays on the following subjects: Denominational Founders and Leaders, Preachers, Teachers and Scholars, Politicians, Prophets, Nationalists, Cult Leaders, Singers and Songwriters, and Movements, Terms, and Events.  Good historical studies do not turn away from discussing the unpleasant along with the positive and this book exposes the warts along with the beauty.   I heartily recommend this interesting and useful book.

___________________________________________________________________

A general caution: books may give you wonderful new insights and explanations of subjects, but you should never base your Christian beliefs on any one book or the teachings of one person, no matter who they are. All teachings must be consistent with scripture. Read as the Bereans did, with discernment. “… for they received the word with great eagerness, examining the Scriptures daily to see whether these things were so.” Acts 17:11 NASB

Any doctrines must be consistent with the historical full body of Christian thought. Doctrines or teachings inconsistent with scripture in any way must be rejected. You would not eat cheese which had a fuzzy fungus growing on it.

What I Believe

http://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=6543677145883318479#editor/target=post;postID=3277589869921366139

Since Wednesday, I have been responding to “What They Think of Us: God Blames Us for His Mistakes.”  I disagree completely with Gene Roddenberry’s criticism.  Here is what I believe to be a scriptural rebuttal.

1.     God did not make a mistake.  He intentionally made us as we are. (Genesis 1:1-31)

2.     He made us in His image. (1:27)

3.     He made us as we are because we must be free to choose.  God does not purpose to have the mindless obedience of robots or machines.

4.     God knew that the vast majority would reject Him.  He has declared that the few are worth the costs: a. the billions lost (Romans 1:20), and b. the life of Christ. (Luke 15:10)

5.     Those who chose God are invested with the Mind of Christ. (1 Corinthians 2:16)

6.     He is perfecting us into creatures, not Divine, but like Himself.  Our ultimate destiny is one of sinless perfection, able to judge angels (1 Corinthians 6:3), and able to exist in the presence of the perfectly Holy God.  We are being perfected (sanctified) into holiness. (Hebrews 7:25)

A Response to "God Blames Us for His Mistakes"

To the question I posed yesterday, I would answer that this is a case that there are ways of knowing beyond that which can be seen, heard, and felt.  The empiricist/naturalist would say that if something cannot be observed or measured, it does not exist.  They are unable to see what is demonstrably directly before them. (Romans 1:20)

I will make the assertion that Christians can and do understand things which non-Christians cannot.  This is because we, as members of the Body of Christ, have the Mind of Christ.  Though it may seem alien, even to some Christians, the closer we are to Christ the more we think with one mind, the Mind of Christ. (1 Corinthians 2:16)  Non-believers, expecially those who totally dismiss any idea of the supernatural,  are incapable of understanding or believing this.

The non-believer looks at Christ standing right in front of him or her and does not see Him.  I believe that they cannot see Him. Christians, whose minds have been “renewed,” see Jesus in every situation.  (Romans 12:12)

Tomorrow, I will amplify my answer to this question.

The Power of Words

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James 3

1”My brethren, be not many masters, knowing that we shall receive the greater condemnation. 2For in many things we offend all. If any man offend not in word, the same is a perfect man, and able also to bridle the whole body. 3Behold, we put bits in the horses' mouths, that they may obey us; and we turn about their whole body. 4Behold also the ships, which though they be so great, and are driven of fierce winds, yet are they turned about with a very small helm, whithersoever the governor listeth. 5Even so the tongue is a little member, and boasteth great things. Behold, how great a matter a little fire kindleth! 6And the tongue is a fire, a world of iniquity: so is the tongue among our members, that it defileth the whole body, and setteth on fire the course of nature; and it is set on fire of hell. 7For every kind of beasts, and of birds, and of serpents, and of things in the sea, is tamed, and hath been tamed of mankind: 8But the tongue can no man tame; it is an unruly evil, full of deadly poison. 9Therewith bless we God, even the Father; and therewith curse we men, which are made after the similitude of God. 10Out of the same mouth proceedeth blessing and cursing. My brethren, these things ought not so to be. 11Doth a fountain send forth at the same place sweet water and bitter? 12Can the fig tree, my brethren, bear olive berries? either a vine, figs? so can no fountain both yield salt water and fresh.

13Who is a wise man and endued with knowledge among you? let him shew out of a good conversation his works with meekness of wisdom. 14But if ye have bitter envying and strife in your hearts, glory not, and lie not against the truth. 15This wisdom descendeth not from above, but is earthly, sensual, devilish. 16For where envying and strife is, there is confusion and every evil work. 17But the wisdom that is from above is first pure, then peaceable, gentle, and easy to be intreated, full of mercy and good fruits, without partiality, and without hypocrisy. 18And the fruit of righteousness is sown in peace of them that make peace.”

 Words can hurt, words can cut.  Words can also heal and empower.  Your words reflect what is in your heart.

Christians, with the Mind of Christ, can, as they listen to the Lord, be led to say the right things, the needed things, the things God wishes to be said, at the times He wishes them to be said.  If that sounds like a lot of responsibility, it is. But remember, God will never ask you to do more than He will empower you to do.

Proverbs 16:24, Psalms 39:1, Colossians 4:5-6, Ephesians 4:29.

Ghosts!!!!!

The Bible is clear that we are surrounded by hosts of supernatural beings, both benevolent and malevolent.  A less clear question is whether or not any of these beings are what we would call “ghosts,” the disembodied spirits of dead humans.

There are numerous mentions of “ghosts” and “spirits” and an “after-life” in the Bible.  (Deuteronomy 18:9; 1 Samuel 28:7-25,  Matthew 14:25-27, 2 Corinthians 4:13-18, 5:1,6-8, 11:14; 1 Thessalonians 4:13-18, John 10:10, 19:30, Mark  5:1-20, 15:37-39, Luke 23:46, 24:39  1 John 4:1,  

There are various Christian interpretations which have been put forth:

1.     “Ghosts: are demons in disguise, hoping to lure us away into error.

2.     “Ghosts” are not personal beings, but are traces or ripples we leave behind in the space-time continuum., especially after intense emotional experiences.

3.      “Ghosts” are what many believe them to be, the disembodied spirits of dead humans, trapped in the material and unable to “move on.”

4.     “Ghosts” are the product of superstition or very “active imaginations.”

5.     “Ghosts” are an utter fabrication produced by persons wishing to profit in some way from gullible people.

My own take on ghosts is that they do not exist.  When we die, we immediately are in the presence of the Lord (Luke 23:43).  There is nothing in the Bible about the spirits of the dead walking the Earth.  The witch of Endor who called up Samuel the Prophet (1 Samuel 28) was shocked when he actually showed up.  She was accustomed to dealing with someone or something else.

If ghosts did exist, Christians would have no need to fear them.  We are indwelled by the Mind of Christ and demons, as well as angels, must obey us.  The demon’s only other recourse would be to run away. (James 4:7)

Below are links to sites exhiiting the world’s extreme interest in ghosts and hauntings.

http://www.environmentalgraffiti.com/news-seven-most-haunted-spots-earth

http://paranormal.about.com/od/hauntedplaces/ig/World-s-Most-Haunted-Place/

http://www.letitflow.com/most-haunted-places-usa/

http://inventorspot.com/articles/13_real_haunted_places_2532

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_reportedly_haunted_locations_in_the_world

One United Church of Christ pastor , The Paranormal Pastor, definitely believes in ghosts:.

http://theparanormalpastor.blogspot.com/2008/08/bible-and-paranormal-part-1-ghosts.html 

And, The Haunted Places Directory.

http://www.haunted-places.com/ 

Film Comment: Bill and Ted's Excellent Adventure

The video clip below is from a cult classic movie named Bill and Ted’s Excellent Adventure (1989).  The film is truly hilarious because it is so ridiculously mindless and vapid.

In 2688 AD/CE, Rufus is chosen to save the Utopian future by using a time traveling phone booth to go to 1988 and to ensure that the Two Great Ones, Bill and Ted , are able to form the rock music band Wyld Stallyns (Wild Stallions) because their music is destined to save the world. To preserve the future, Rufus has to help the two empty headed boys make a passing grade on their high school history project.

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This video replay is blocked. Try this link instead.

“I think they want us to say something.”

“What should I say?”

“Make something up!”

“Be excellent to each other!”

“Be excellent to each other!”  This is excellent advice but is a very naive basis on which to build a society because of the fallen nature of man.  History has repeatedly proven that we will not “Be excellent to each other!”

Only a complete change in our nature, a total transformation in our understanding of the nature of reality, will suffice. We need to be of one mind about things.  Christians are capable of this because we are indwelled by the Holy Spirit.  We have the Mind of Christ. (1 Corinthians 1:10, 2:16; Philippians 1:27)

“In this the children of God are manifest, and the children of the devil: whosoever doeth not righteousness is not of God, neither he that loveth not his brother. For this is the message that ye heard from the beginning, that we should love one another.” 1John 3:10-11

Book Comment: How Would Jesus Vote?

How Would Jesus Vote? A Christian Perspective on the Issues (2008) by D James Kennedy and Jerry Newcombe is premised on the following insight, quoted from the book: ""We will give an account for every aspect of our lives, including how we vote.  May the Lord give us wisdom to obey Him in this as well as in all areas of our lives."

Dr. Kennedy was a conservative evangelical who was often involved in political controversies and was closely associated with what is known in America as the Christian Right.  In How Would Jesus Vote?, Kennedy discusses abortion, embryonic stem cell research, suicide, euthanasia, the death penalty, just war theory, public education, economics, health-care, environmental change, immigration, racism, marriage, and judicial activism.  This is not a scripture-heavy book but is firmly based on a Christian world view.

He quotes his friend, Rabbi Daniel Lapin, who said, "Without a vibrant and vital Christianity, America is doomed, and without America, the West is doomed. ... you must replace your timidity with nerve and your diffidence with daring and determination."

Dr. Kennedy calls on us to think before we vote.  He doesn't actually say it but what he is calling for is that we think with the Mind of Christ before we vote.

Film Comment: Race With the Devil

Race With the Devil is a low budget 1975 film produced during an era when numerous films were being made about Satanists and Satanism.  The idea (think of Rosemary’s Baby) is that you really don’t know if the nice couple next door are really a nice couple or if, in the dark, they kill and eat babies while worshipping the Dark Lord.

The plot of Race With the Devil: two couples (portrayed by veteran B-movie actors Peter Fonda, Warren Oates, Loretta Swit, and Lara Parker) are travelling from Texas to Colorado in their SUV (sport utility vehicle).  While parked overnight in the desert, the four witness a group of nude people ritually murdering a woman.  To complicate matters, the murderers quickly realize that they are being watched and the chase is on.

As the couples run, it becomes increasingly obvious that everyone in the area, including the police, are members of the cult.   Unable to trust anyone, the couples go into survival mode.  The film becomes intense at that point with car chases, gunfights, animal mutilation, and increasingly sinister events.  The couples come to see their SUV as the only safe place and their only means of escape.  From a Christian viewpoint, I think that the SUV can be seen as the people’s attempt to save themselves under their own power.  Many people cling to the belief that they are strong and can handle life on their own with no need for “some God.”  They put their faith in themselves, politics, money, education, their ethnicity, their weapons, tradition, non-Christian works-based religions, or some other vague “spirituality.”

Race With the Devil has over the years generated much internet discussion including this statement at Better Geek Than Never (profanity alert!): 

“I also like how even though they are running away from murderers, and that is absolutely the right thing to do, but our main characters seem to believe that as long as they are in their RV, then they don’t really have to believe anything else that’s going on. Their vehicle is supposed to protect them from all outside influences, including belief systems that don’t fit into their specific worldviews. This conceit is proven wrong time and time again, yet they still cling to it like a life preserver. Sound familiar to anyone? Perhaps in some ways, we all have our own big ass RV that we use to shield us from things we don’t like to look at or think can’t possibly happen.”

About the Satanists.  While there are people who do worship the traditional Devil of the Bible, most modern Satanists would tell you that to do so means to acknowledge the reality of the Christian God, whom they reject. The modern Church of Satan, founded by Anton Szandor LaVey, is really worship of the self as the ultimate deity.  I believe that the modern Satanists are wrong and that the biblical Satan is a very  real being.  Jesus said that he was real.

The good news for spirit-filled Christians is that we have the Mind of Christ.  If, in the name of Christ, we resist the Devil, he will turn and run (James 4:7).

Book Comment: If the Church Were Christian, Chapter 2, Part 2

If you are joining this book review series mid-stream , you can read the comment from the beginning by going to the LABELS section following the last post on this page and clicking on PHILIP GULLEY.

Gulley, Philip, If the Church were Christian.  Rediscovering the Values of Jesus (New York: HarperCollins Publishers, 2010)

CHAPTER 2: Affirming Our Potential Would be More Important Than Condemning Our Brokenness

Pastor Gulley denies the doctrine of Original Sin.    He says that a God who would condemn billions of people to Hell because the first couple tasted a fruit is despotic.  A very strong charge.  To respond fully would take weeks.

Every question can be followed by one hundred new questions and this is no different.  Talking about Original Sin opens up a door to numerous doctrinal questions; original sin, the age of accountability, adult versus infant baptism, what baptism actually means, where the soul comes from and when and how it is connected to the body.  I will discuss each of these in separate posts later.

Pastor Philip Gulley says that the churches he is criticizing see humans as sinful, flawed, and broken.  Look at your history books, check the court dockets, watch Judge Judy.  The world is sinful, flawed, and broken.

In this second chapter of his book, Gulley is responding to a real attitude in some churches, a strict rules based understanding of the Christian life.  This is especially prevalent in Fundamentalist churches.  I think it misses a vital point (who we are) and robs many sincere committed Christians of the true fullness of their Christian life.  We really are different from those outside the Church

In his book, After You Believe, Anglican Bishop N, T. Wright points out that, in the Kingdom, believers are to be Kings and Priests (Isaiah 61:6, Revelation 1:6, 5:10, Exodus 19:6, 1 Peter 2:5) and that Jesus clearly said that the Kingdom is here now (Luke 17:20-21) as well as in the future.

Our purpose is to learn to live now as Kings and Priests, members of the royal household (Ephesians 2:19, 1 Peter 2:9).   That means becoming like Jesus and assuming the Mind of Christ (1 Corinthians 2:14-16, http://www.pbc.org/files/messages/4807/3577.html ), instead of living by a bunch of rules and trying to be perfect. 

This is part of a continuing chapter-by- chapter response to this book.  More to come.