I Really Wanted to Like This Movie, but… A Review of “Risen.”

February 20, 2016February 21, 2016 Bob Snyder5 Comments

Let me just start by saying that I won’t post any spoilers. If you want to know specifics you can message me. That being said, I truly wanted to like this movie. I especially wanted to like it when I heard what the premise was, and also saw that Joseph Fiennes was in it. He did such a wonderful job as Martin Luther. He, and a couple other actors outclassed the actors that played the Apostles, and it felt like hippies from the (I removed a word here. See the comments below to read why.) movement wrote the lines for the Apostles. This movie had so many opportunities to do it right, but it never coalesced. We never heard why Jesus had to die, we never heard that He was truly God, we never heard any confession of sin on anyone’s part. All we did hear were incoherent ramblings about love unrelated or linked to the gospel. I was so disappointed with this film. I was hoping for a “Jesus of Nazareth” or a Charleton Heston in “The Ten Commandments” level production. This was devoid of any useful theological information, or gospel proclamation. I was also let down by the incongruous use of artistic license. Sometimes it was seamless, and others it was glaringly awkward.

It wasn’t all bad. It far exceeded the recent tripe that has come out of Hollyweird. With the bad taste left in our mouths from “Noah” and “Exodus gods and Kings” with batman as Moses, I found their effort with “Risen” to be a bit refreshing. The acting of the main characters was top notch, the supporting cast… meh. There was no profanity, or romantic scenes. There was however, graphic violence. If you want to have Christian themed entertainment that never gets around to being truly helpful and wastes your time, then go see, “Risen.” Otherwise, stay home and do a Bible study. You’ll get much more out of that. Then, go out and evangelize the lost. They need it and this movie isn’t going to get it done.

marriage · Uncategorized

Toxic People, Toxic Relationships, a New Age Cop out.

February 11, 2016January 27, 2024 Bob Snyder5 Comments

How many times have you heard from one of your married friends who is being left by their spouse, “We were just toxic together.” Probably as many times as you’ve heard, “He/She was just toxic for me.” People complain, “I’m just not happy. I deserve to be happy.” So many of my friends, as of late, have had these things said to them. Usually followed by, “I don’t love you anymore.” For good measure they might even throw in a, “You are controlling, and abusive. I never loved you.” These are some of the most selfish, and injurious accusations I’ve heard. These are also very sinful, and rebellious. They are definitely not Christian sentiments. I believe they are selfish, and used as a cop out. It is the lie they tell themselves, and others, to not put in the hard, sanctifying, and gospel exemplifying, work that is needed for a life-long covenant between them and God.

I’d expect to hear this vitriol coming from the lost, but we often hear it coming from professing Christians. I’ve even seen several articles on supposedly Christian websites that advocate divorcing a toxic person. Have they forgotten that everyone is a, “toxic person?” Have they forgotten the power of the gospel? Have they forgotten that God hates divorce? If they are saved, and acting/feeling like this then, they are in rebellion, and will be disciplined by God. If they are false converts, they will receive their just punishment in Hell, where God will be just, and right to pour out His wrath on them, for all eternity.

Of course you are in a toxic relationship. You are a toxic sinner. Of course your spouse is toxic. They are a sinner. When you put two sinners together in a room they are going to sin. They are going to be selfish, prideful, arrogant, idolatrous, and petty. Of course you aren’t happy. You are expecting another person to make you happy. Guess what… a sinful person will always let you down. You will never be fulfilled by another human being. You can only find the contentment you are looking for in Jesus, and His gospel of grace.

Oh, and here is another big shocker, regardless of what you’ve heard, you don’t deserve to be happy! You are a sinner, like everyone else. God is perfectly just, holy, righteous, and good. You have broken His laws, and are a guilty sinner. You, and I deserve to be punished. We don’t deserve to be happy. You, and I deserve to be killed by God, and be sent to Hell for eternity, just like everyone else on the planet. You see, it is a sin problem, not a relationship problem. The only way it was a relationship problem is that as sinners we were enemies of God. If we want peace with Him, we must repent, and believe in the work of Christ on the cross, to justify us with God.

We read all of the New Age drivel on websites, blogs, and social media. We listen to podcasts, and self-help gurus on the radio. It validates, and justifies, the selfish, idolatrous, sinful, thoughts. Why do people consume these things? I know why I am here. I am here to combat the darkness that has been enslaving people, and ruining marriages, children, and families, for far too long in this country. Why are you here? Are you here to flirt with the darkness? Do you want to hear something that will give you permission to give up, and give in to sin? Are you being tempted by the New Age malarkey? Are you setting up false teachers to tickle your ears? Wake up! We need to stop behaving like selfish children, and truly understand what this means, “While we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.” Do you think you are something special? Do you think you deserved His love? If it weren’t for His grace, we’d all be lost.

Don’t get me wrong. I am not telling someone who is getting physically abused to stay in the home. If you are getting physically abused you should be separated. “Separated” does no mean, “Oh goody, time to commit adultery.” Being separated for a time can be necessary, but it is always supposed to be temporary. If your spouse has committed adultery, you may divorce them, but it isn’t the optimal expression of a mature believer’s grace. If your spouse is an unbeliever, and walks out on you, you may divorce. If you really understand grace, even though you may divorce them, if they are repentant, you will forgive them, and give grace to them, just like the way Christ gave grace to you, instead of what you deserve.

I don’t agree with the modern definition of psychological abuse. Pretty much any difficult thing you talk about with a person can be deemed abusive anymore. Obviously if you are a Christian you should not hurt your spouse emotionally. You should not intentionally, or maliciously hurt their feelings. It is sinful to do so. Your sin does not justify a divorce unless it fits the criteria mentioned above. Christ endured our scorn, and ridicule while on the cross, dying for a bunch of sinners. Do we think we deserve better than Christ?

We all want the romantic fairy tale marriage. We all want to feel loved. Some people are living the dream, but it might not have always been that way for them. How do you think they got there? It wasn’t by giving in, and giving up that is for certain. They had to fight against their own sin, and forgive the other’s sins, while loving God more than anyone, or anything else. They had to trust, and obey God, not their ever-changing emotions. If you give up you miss out on the sanctification that God has planned for you. If you give up, you’ll just take your sin problems with you to another sinner, and find some other reason to leave them. You’ll never deal with the real problems as long as you use the cop out excuse of, “They were just toxic, it was a toxic relationship.”

Our only hope in marriage is Jesus Christ. Our only hope in life, and death is Jesus Christ. If we have been saved from our sins by Christ, then we are obliged to demonstrate the same type of sacrificial love for our spouse. We love them without any expectations of return on our investment. We love them because Christ loves us. Our sins put Christ on the cross. It is as if we had the hammer, and nails in our hands, and put Him up there ourselves. He died for us, knowing that we hated Him. He got nothing worth having in saving us. By God’s sanctifying work, the Holy Spirit conforms us to the will, and word of God, to be Christlike to the world, including our spouse. We love them even though they don’t deserve it. We demonstrate grace to them, when they don’t deserve it. Marriage is a covenant with God, you, and your spouse, for the rest of your life. It is a picture of the gospel, to be lived out in front of the world. The husband is the head of the wife, the way that Christ is the head of the Church. Christ died to save the Church, His bride. The wife is the representation of the Church, submitting to the Bridegroom who saved her for Himself. So love one another sacrificially, and stop all of this selfish carnal nonsense. Obey God, and glorify Him in your marriage.

Apologetics · cultural · God · hate · Islam Muslims quran · Theology · Uncategorized · under God

They Hate Christians, Why?

December 13, 2015December 14, 2015 Bob Snyder2 Comments

The hate and vitriol, I’ve witnessed from liberals, and atheists has been some of the best supporting evidence that the God they hate is truly who He says He is in His word. They deny Him so passionately, while leaving false religions alone. They can see hundreds, thousands, no millions of murders committed by Muslims, Communists, abortionists, and even justify eugenics, and euthanasia with Darwinian evolution, without batting an eye. They will even call it, “good.” They don’t even have the ability to judge anything good or evil without an external moral authority like, oh… I don’t know, God! Yet, let a Christian preach Christ and they want you locked up as hate criminal.

It has always made me wonder, why it is, that so many people hate Christianity, and God. It caused me to read the Bible more. The Bible, God’s word, makes it clear why they hate us. It isn’t because we are the most charitable and giving people on the Earth, and we are. It isn’t because we preach to love our enemies and pray for those who persecute us, and we do. It isn’t because we disrupt society with bombings, shootings, and decapitations, because we don’t.

It is simply because, people hate the thought that their idea of their own personal righteousness isn’t good enough. Not only is it not good enough, it is actually offensive to God. They hate the fact that, God Himself in the second personage of the Trinity, according to His sovereign, will, foreknowledge, and love, offered Himself, as a Holy sacrifice, to justify wretched sinners to Himself. The transcendent Holiness of God is so offensive to the self-righteous that they would kill him over and over again, throughout eternity if they could. They hate what He shows them about themselves.

The fact, that all have sinned and deserve death and hell. That none are good, not one. Friends, if you hate Christ, His cross, or His people, ask yourself today, “Why do I feel so strongly about this? What is it, really about them that I hate so much?” be honest, repent, and believe in the finished work of Christ Jesus on the cross. Submit to Him and follow Him as your Lord, master, and Savior. You can be free of all of the hate that you’ve been harboring, you can have the burdensome load of bitterness, loathing, and guilt removed from you shoulders. Humbly come to Christ in repentance and faith. His yoke is easy and His burden is light.

Theology · Uncategorized

Regeneration

November 30, 2015November 30, 2015 Bob SnyderLeave a comment

Ephesians 2:1 NASB And you were dead in your trespasses and sins,

Ephesians 2:4-5 NASB But God, being rich in mercy, because of His great love with which He loved us, [5] even when we were dead in our transgressions, made us alive together with Christ (by grace you have been saved),

2 Corinthians 5:17-19 NASB [17] Therefore if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creature; the old things passed away; behold, new things have come. [18] Now all these things are from God, who reconciled us to Himself through Christ and gave us the ministry of reconciliation, [19] namely, that God was in Christ reconciling the world to Himself, not counting their trespasses against them, and He has committed to us the word of reconciliation.

Ephesians 2:8-9 NASB For by grace you have been saved through faith; and that not of yourselves, it is the gift of God; [9] not as a result of works, so that no one may boast.

Ephesians 1:19-20 NASB and what is the surpassing greatness of His power toward us who believe. These are in accordance with the working of the strength of His might [20] which He brought about in Christ, when He raised Him from the dead and seated Him at His right hand in the heavenly places,

John 3:3-6 NASB Jesus answered and said to him, “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born again he cannot see the kingdom of God.” [4] Nicodemus *said to Him, “How can a man be born when he is old? He cannot enter a second time into his mother’s womb and be born, can he?” [5] Jesus answered, “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born of water and the Spirit he cannot enter into the kingdom of God. [6] “That which is born of the flesh is flesh, and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit.

1 Peter 1:23 NASB for you have been born again not of seed which is perishable but imperishable, that is, through the living and enduring word of God.

John 1:12-13 NASB But as many as received Him, to them He gave the right to become children of God, even to those who believe in His name, [13] who were born, not of blood nor of the will of the flesh nor of the will of man, but of God.

1 John 3:9 NASB No one who is born of God practices sin, because His seed abides in him; and he cannot sin, because he is born of God.

1 John 4:7 NASB Beloved, let us love one another, for love is from God; and everyone who loves is born of God and knows God.

1 John 5:1 NASB Whoever believes that Jesus is the Christ is born of God, and whoever loves the Father loves the child born of Him.

1 John 5:4 NASB For whatever is born of God overcomes the world; and this is the victory that has overcome the world–our faith.

1 John 5:18 NASB We know that no one who is born of God sins; but He who was born of God keeps him, and the evil one does not touch him.

Galatians 4:4-5 NASB But when the fullness of the time came, God sent forth His Son, born of a woman, born under the Law, [5] so that He might redeem those who were under the Law, that we might receive the adoption as sons.

2 Corinthians 5:18-20 NASB [18] Now all these things are from God, who reconciled us to Himself through Christ and gave us the ministry of reconciliation, [19] namely, that God was in Christ reconciling the world to Himself, not counting their trespasses against them, and He has committed to us the word of reconciliation. [20] Therefore, we are ambassadors for Christ, as though God were making an appeal through us; we beg you on behalf of Christ, be reconciled to God.

Titus 3:4-5 NASB But when the kindness of God our Savior and His love for mankind appeared, [5] He saved us, not on the basis of deeds which we have done in righteousness, but according to His mercy, by the washing of regeneration and renewing by the Holy Spirit,

Romans 8:23-30 NASB And not only this, but also we ourselves, having the first fruits of the Spirit, even we ourselves groan within ourselves, waiting eagerly for our adoption as sons, the redemption of our body. [24] For in hope we have been saved, but hope that is seen is not hope; for who hopes for what he already sees? [25] But if we hope for what we do not see, with perseverance we wait eagerly for it. [26] In the same way the Spirit also helps our weakness; for we do not know how to pray as we should, but the Spirit Himself intercedes for us with groanings too deep for words; [27] and He who searches the hearts knows what the mind of the Spirit is, because He intercedes for the saints according to the will of God. [28] And we know that God causes all things to work together for good to those who love God, to those who are called according to His purpose. [29] For those whom He foreknew, He also predestined to become conformed to the image of His Son, so that He would be the firstborn among many brethren; [30] and these whom He predestined, He also called; and these whom He called, He also justified; and these whom He justified, He also glorified.

Ezekiel 37:1-14 NASB The hand of the LORD was upon me, and He brought me out by the Spirit of the LORD and set me down in the middle of the valley; and it was full of bones. [2] He caused me to pass among them round about, and behold, there were very many on the surface of the valley; and lo, they were very dry. [3] He said to me, “Son of man, can these bones live?” And I answered, “O Lord GOD, You know.” [4] Again He said to me, “Prophesy over these bones and say to them, ‘O dry bones, hear the word of the LORD.’ [5] “Thus says the Lord GOD to these bones, ‘Behold, I will cause breath to enter you that you may come to life. [6] ‘I will put sinews on you, make flesh grow back on you, cover you with skin and put breath in you that you may come alive; and you will know that I am the LORD.'” [7] So I prophesied as I was commanded; and as I prophesied, there was a noise, and behold, a rattling; and the bones came together, bone to its bone. [8] And I looked, and behold, sinews were on them, and flesh grew and skin covered them; but there was no breath in them. [9] Then He said to me, “Prophesy to the breath, prophesy, son of man, and say to the breath, ‘Thus says the Lord GOD, “Come from the four winds, O breath, and breathe on these slain, that they come to life.”‘” [10] So I prophesied as He commanded me, and the breath came into them, and they came to life and stood on their feet, an exceedingly great army. [11] Then He said to me, “Son of man, these bones are the whole house of Israel; behold, they say, ‘Our bones are dried up and our hope has perished. We are completely cut off.’ [12] “Therefore prophesy and say to them, ‘Thus says the Lord GOD, “Behold, I will open your graves and cause you to come up out of your graves, My people; and I will bring you into the land of Israel. [13] “Then you will know that I am the LORD, when I have opened your graves and caused you to come up out of your graves, My people. [14] “I will put My Spirit within you and you will come to life, and I will place you on your own land. Then you will know that I, the LORD, have spoken and done it,” declares the LORD.'”

Apologetics · cultural · gender dysphoria · God · hate · Liberal Christian · Repentance · sharing the gospel · Theology · transgender · transsexual · Uncategorized · under God

If you remove microaggressions and triggers from the Bible?

November 21, 2015November 22, 2015 Bob Snyder2 Comments

Let’s examine what the our favorite Bible verses would look like if we removed microaggressions and triggers from them.

[Matthew 23:27 NASB]
“Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you are like whitewashed tombs which on the outside appear beautiful, but inside they are full of dead men’s bones and all uncleanness.