The Red Tent

I was asked by a church member to watch The Red Tent. I did not take notes while I watched it, so these thoughts are not exhaustive or comprehensive. Instead, I hope they serve as a good overview of the movie and will guide you as you engage with other biblical movies.

First off, I am traumatized by the number of births and birthing shots in the movie. I physically cringed in one part. Katie and I have adopted and I am sure, if I am ever around for a real birth I will pass out, at least that is my prayer!

The naming of the movie was a definite marketing scheme. I did not read the book and I suspect, the book had more workings of the tent than the movie. With multiple wives and segregation I saw nothing that did not agree with what I have read about such a thing during the given time period. I must note though, that such details are not included in the Bible so it based off of secondary sources.

My main point of disagreement with the story is the inaccuracy to the biblical text. There were two glaring areas. The first is in Dinah falling in love with the Shechem and the slaughter of the town. In the biblical account (Gen 34) she did not fall in love but was “seized” and “humiliated” by Shechem. He did fall in love with Dinah but this was after he raped her. The movie did not show this and the glaring omission left it hollow. The movie did not include Simeon and Levi plundering the city and taking wives which is significant.

The second area which was significantly off from the biblical text is the meeting between Jacob and Esau (Gen 33). Esau came with 400 men in the biblical account not 100 like what the movie said. Also, there was distance between the two groups Jacob made when Esau came. Jacob’s approach to Esau was much different than the movie. While these changes in the story are minor, they are changes nonetheless and serve no purpose.

When watching biblical movies, I am perfectly fine with creative license if it is not in the Bible. To change the story when a detail is clearly listed is pointless to me. However, this is the reason, I liked the grouping together of Dinah and Joseph in Egypt. After Genesis 34, there is no mention of Dinah so I do not believe the truthfulness of her and Joseph meeting in Egypt. But, to think about it and see it in a movie was a rather creative idea.

I liked the movie with the exception of the traumatic birthing scenes. I wish they would have stuck closer to the biblical text. If they would have done so, they could have retained the main storyline. Even though the movie has me scarred for life, I found it entertaining and moderately enjoyable. In fact, Katie and I paused the movie several times to read the biblical accounts and talk about the movie as it went along.

We also talked about the take away from the movie and biblical storyline. The movie had a main takeaway to follow your heart and marry for love. This however, is not the point of the passage in the Bible. The story in the Bible is quite tragic. The story is part of the larger unfolding of God’s plan to redeem mankind through the lineage of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.

The actions of Jacob’s sons is horrid. However, God works through such sultry people to bring about his plans and glory. He humbled them by sending them to Egypt and had them face Joseph. Through these wicked brothers line comes Jesus. The plans of God cannot be stopped by the wickedness of man because God is greater than the wickedness.

The story also shows us how much better Jesus is by way of contrast. Simeon and Levi killed all the men in an entire city because their sister was raped. I do not want to downplay the rape but murdering, plundering, and then taking the remaining women as wives is not a just recompense. Personally, I was challenged to let God enact justice because I am prone to overdo it! However, Jesus who was sinless, hung on a cross and pleaded for the forgiveness of the men who were killing him. So while the movie The Red Tent was not completely biblical, let it encourage us to love Jesus more. 

As we finish the holiday season, there are some things I am looking forward to in the coming weeks and months. Normally, I finish off the holiday season with a New Year’s cookout/oyster eating fellowship with my small group. I am looking forward to getting together, eating oysters, and maybe a s’more or two. There is one thing that many people will join with me in looking forward to – the College Football Playoff!

While I am excited to see the playoff and the rest of the bowl games, I am not making my life revolve around them. I saw this video of a David Platt sermon that demonstrates rightly how I view college and professional football. The realization of the worship atmosphere of secular activities started for me when I viewed a concert at the House of Blues.

When I went to the show, I was in a box overseeing the stage at the House of Blues. I am related to the drummer of the headlining band. When the show started, the fans were getting loud with cheering, and as the show got going they did to. They swarmed the front, arms lifted, and swayed back and forth. For me, I saw them and I felt distraught. I felt this way because for them it was worship.

Worship is not just what we call a god and to what we sacrifice but it is to what we dedicate our lives. The crowd had t-shirts, hats, and CDs of the band. They knew their names, all the words to the songs, and even some of their daily activities (stalkers).

Worship to God, the true God is much the same way. We don’t need t-shirts to show our worship but we must dedicate our lives. We need to know the Word and have our daily activities dictated by God.

Let’s all do better this holiday season and bowl season talking about Jesus than a game.  

I walked around a Christian bookstore today. The shelves were filled with Bibles, cards, and many books. As I walked past the aisles of books, I was amazed at the number of books on a heavenly experience by someone. Just as many books were there to instruct the reader about the timing of the end of the world. They were only to be outdone by the end capped displays of books full of messages from God to you, and I’m not talking about the Bible!

I have went to this particular bookstore for fifteen years. I began going to this bookstore whenever I would come home from college and seminary. This store used to have several aisles full of pastoral books and commentaries. Sadly, now there is just one small shelf in the corner of the store for pastors.

Bookstores have one job, sell books, even Christian stores need to sell books. So, why is it that solid books geared around studying the Bible are not selling? I believe it is because we like experiences and always look for short cuts in the Christian life.

Experience sells like nothing else. Disney is Disney because they sell an experience. From a quick survey of Christian books in the store, if we want to sell Christian books, we need to sell our experience. People want to read about someone’s time in heaven, hell, or their own quiet times. I have another suggestion to living through someone else’s experience – make your own!

Get out your Bible. Ask God to help you understand it. Experience Him. 

This will be a short post. I am going to give you a statistic. It is unsettling. There is 1 trained pastor for every 235 people in the United States. Outside the United States, there is 1 trained pastor for every 450,000 people. It was this statistic that opened my eyes to the need of global theological education. I heard the statistic and now I was accountable for it. What can I do? For me, the answer is to go and invest in the lives of indigenous pastors. What can you do? Maybe you need to go too. Maybe you need to partner with us by praying for us on a regular basis. I don’t know but now you are accountable. 

When you have a question about the Bible where do you turn? First, you should stop and pray. The Spirit of God helps us to understand God’s Word. God’s Spirit helps us to understand and apply God’s Word. If you still need help you should turn to your pastor or church leader. Have you ever thought about who they turn to for help?

I have many years of theological education. I have a Bachelors of Theology with a Minor in Bible, a Master’s of Divinity, and I am pursuing a Doctor of Missiology. All in all, I have about ten years of theological education. I still have questions. Do you want to know where I turn? I use a host of resources. Apart from prayer and studying the Word, I use two main computer options. I use Logos Bible Software. I have used the program for years. It is invaluable for my study. The other option I use is…Google. Seriously, I have a Google search up almost all the time. It is fast and pretty accurate. I normally will search it in Google and then dive down deep in Logos. I am not like most pastors, well not like most pastors outside the United States.

When I was in Ecuador in October of 2012, I had the privilege to teach twenty local pastors about Church History. Now, I have to admit, I am a history fan. I love the names, dates, and archaic language of primary sources. I love to read about the origins of things and the events that shape modern day traditions. Even though I love history, I do not find it emotionally stirring. In fact, sometimes it is flat out boring!

Now imagine, getting ready to teach twenty pastors the last four hundred years of church history, 1600-present after they have been in class for over thirty five hours that week. An elder from the church I attend had just finished teaching 1100-1599. He taught the Crusades, Reformation, and Spanish expansion into South America. When I started teaching, a man stood up and started speaking, well he was yelling. Then he stated waving his arms up in the air. After what felt like an eternity, which was probably fifteen seconds, the rest of the pastors started echoing the man.

At this point, I thought someone had said something offensive. I was really hoping it was the guy before me because I had several hours of teaching left! I thought there was going to be a mutiny on our hands. I turned to the translator and asked him what the man was saying. He told me he said the man was praising God because he never knew how God brought the Bible and the Gospel to Ecuador. He had always believed with blind faith that the Bible was true and that God was faithful to bring the truth with them. The men were echoing thanksgiving and praise to God by exclaiming they now had the facts to back up their faith.

That is when it hit me, I take Wikipedia and Google for granted. 

My last semester in Bible College while I was serving as a youth pastor at a church, I asked my pastor his advice on more schooling. He encouraged me to attend seminary. I listened to him as he explained how going deeper in study would benefit me in pastoral ministry. My question to him was this, “Will it increase my love for God?” He emphatically replied, “Yes!”

I am so glad he encouraged me to attend seminary, not because I have a graduate degree but because my studies have increased my love for God. Without knowing God, we cannot love God. The more we know of him, the more can love him. The more we love him, the more we obey him (1 John 2:4-6). This is why theological education is so important.

Notice what Paul writes in the opening verses to Titus: “¹ Paul, a servant of God and an apostle of Jesus Christ, for the sake of the faith of God’s elect and their knowledge of the truth, which accords with godliness, ² in hope of eternal life, which God, who never lies, promised before the ages began ³ and at the proper time manifested in his word through the preaching with which I have been entrusted by the command of God our Savior (Titus 1:1-3).”

Knowledge of God has a direct correlation with godliness. Without knowing God, we cannot be godly. Just to clarify godliness is not “of us” it is godliness because it from God. Don’t think that knowledge of God is being the best at Bible drill or memorizing all of the Kings of Israel and Judah. That may be knowledge of the Bible but not knowledge of God. Knowing God is part knowing the Bible, part obedience, and completely God working in us.

Do you think theological education is important? I do and for 85% of pastors in the world today they have little or no access to it. That is the reason we are going to Ecuador, to share what we have learned as a part of what God is doing in the world to bring him glory.  

Katie and I are well into the support raising phase of missionary life. We are learning a lot. It is humbling really. In Ecuador, we will be on missionary visas and unable to work (now we will be working but not for a wage). We will be fully supported by the generous donations of people. For me (James), it is almost terrifying. I have had two jobs as long as I can remember. Katie and I are preparing to live completely off the donations of others. And that, is terrifying.

The terror of it all is really my emotional response and shows an area of unbelief. The truth of the matter is, God alone is supporting us. He has supported us our entire lives. When we leave for language school and Ecuador, he will use various people, churches, and organizations to support us. Sure, people will fill out the form online. It will be money from a bank account with their name on it. But everything they have is given to them by God. They will be responding in obedience to God’s work in their life. We are just stewards of what God has given.

We are early on in missionary life. We are new and don’t really know how to support raise. But I do know this, God is all and has all we need.  What do we have that He does not own? He created it all and owns it all. So, Katie and I will keep praying and fund raising. How? I have no idea. I’ll talk to friends and pray a lot.