Photo credit: David Whitlow, courtesy of AFFIRM Films/Provident Films War Room with Priscilla Shirer and Beth Moore

As time passed, I began to see and hear more about this movie. Then about a week ago, I saw that Beth Moore and Priscilla Shirer were in the film, with Shirer playing the lead female role. This instantly gave me cause to be greatly concerned about the message of the movie. For those who don't know about Beth Moore's false teachings, please refer to my article here: "What Do Ann Voskamp, Beth Moore and Sarah Young Have in Common?". In short, Beth Moore believes in the unbiblical practice of "binding Satan", as well as proudly declaring her extra-biblical prophetic messages and false visions from the Lord. Unfortunately, Priscilla Shirer is close friends, ministry partners, and contemplative prayer practitioner/teacher with Beth Moore, and as God warned us, "Bad company, ruins good morals." (1 Cor 15:33)—and Beth Moore is certainly bad company for anyone, especially believers.

But still, I wanted to be open-minded about the movie, so I prayed about whether or not I should go see it and write a review on it myself. Thankfully, the Lord answered my prayers with these two reviews by Justin Peters and Seth Dunn.

War Room sadly promotes and teaches: wives to be worldly submissive rather than biblically submissive, conversing with Satan, and many other Word of Faith types of practices. But sadly, I am not surprised because Alex Kendrick did not heed the admonition in 1 Corinthians 15:33, and earlier this year, he immersed himself with Word of Faith false teachers at the Missions and Marketplace Conference 2015. Strangely enough, the link to this year's speakers (as you can see pictured below), has recently been deleted so that you can't see that Alex Kendrick was one of their keynote speakers.



You can't travel with and work alongside false teachers and remain completely undefiled by their heresies and presumptuous blasphemes they proclaim and to their hurt, teach others to practice. This is why I wasn't surprised to hear that there were so many Word of Faith type prayers and proclamations (e.g., when Mrs. Clara was held at knife-point, she rebuked her assailant "in the name of Jesus", Elizabeth rebuking Satan, etc.).

"Beloved, although I was very eager to write to you about our common salvation, I found it necessary to write appealing to you to contend for the faith that was once for all delivered to the saints. For certain people have crept in unnoticed who long ago were designated for this condemnation, ungodly people, who pervert the grace of our God into sensuality and deny our only Master and Lord, Jesus Christ.

"Yet in like manner these people also, relying on their dreams, defile the flesh, reject authority, and blaspheme the glorious ones. But when the archangel Michael, contending with the devil, was disputing about the body of Moses, he did not presume to pronounce a blasphemous judgment, but said, 'The Lord rebuke you.' "

-Jude 1:3-4; 8-9, ESV

While I agree with the premise of this movie: that we need to pray more, I disagree with the unbiblical manner in which War Room teaches and promotes prayer—as our personal power source to get something from God (to fix our lives) rather than what Christ told us prayer is for—the gift of God to know and submit to His will rather than our own.

I also take serious issue with the one little line by Beth Moore's character has, "Sometimes submission to your husband looks like ducking so the Lord’s punch hits him instead". Sisters, while this may feed our flesh, it certainly does not feed our spirits with pure spiritual milk. This line completely opposes the humble, loving and biblically submissive heart-disposition God delights in Proverbs 31:11-12. Rather, a godly wife readily admits she is a sinner and is grateful for the mercy she's received from the Lord, therefore delights to submit to  her husband from her overflowing love for Christ, and not so that her husband would get "punched" by God (which denigrates our Father's holy and righteous character). A truly biblically submissive wife understands the admonition given to ungodly husbands in 1 Peter 3:7 and out of her love for Christ and her husband, she prays for him and submits to him for His good and not for his harm—for God to grant him the same mercy she's received in Christ.

I'm disappointed and saddened that this latest film from the Kendrick Brothers succumbed to the seeker-friendly, happy-clappy, false Christianity. But I hope and pray that their next film will return to more doctrinally sound portrayals of what it looks like to be a true disciple of Jesus Christ—the light and salt of the earth.

As you read the reviews from Justin Peters and Seth Dunn, please keep in mind something Charles Spurgeon once said, "Discernment is not a matter of simply telling the difference between right and wrong; rather it is telling the difference between right and almost right." And War Room is dangerous, because it's almost right.

Why Commenting is Closed

I did a rare thing today. I closed comments on this article early because I'm responsible to God for all the the content found on this site, including the comments.

I've learned from the past, and can more quickly discern when an article begins to garner too many ill-mannered commenters rather than edifying commenters. It doesn't bother me when people disagree with me (read my other posts where hundreds of people disagree with me, here and at the Christian Post). I actually appreciate and am very encouraged by sincere, loving and challenging comments/questions by brothers and sisters in the Lord and always pray about and take into serious consideration any disagreements. I know that I can and am often wrong and am encouraged by the true expression of love that I'm shown by those who care enough to correct me. So I test sincere disagreements with God's Word and if I'm right, I stand firm, and if I'm wrong, I thank the person who loved me enough to take the time to correct me and openly share my error so others won't make the same error I did.

Commenting on my blog is allowed as long as it's respectful, loving, and edifying to others; and most importantly, honoring to Christ (Ephesians 4:29-32, 5:4 and 2 Tim 2:14, 24-26). When comments become belligerent and emotion-led rather than Spirit-led, I close the thread so that I may maintain an environment of God's truth and peace, rather than provide a place for havoc and ranting. 

LOS ANGELES, Aug. 25, 2015 – San Francisco residents may look up to see a rainbow in the sky next week, but it won’t indicate the typical support for gay rights. A new movie that over 1,000 LGBT supporters have warned the public not to watch will be advertised on a banner for two days over San Francisco.

While pro-LGBT viewers have slammed the film on online review sites, the film’s producer is not deterred. Ray Comfort, whose movies have been seen by millions, said, “Despite the calls for censorship and displays of intolerance, we’re hoping people will be open-minded enough to watch the film and come to their own conclusion.”

As the best-selling author noted, not all perceive the movie to be heavy-handed. One viewer commented, “I have to say, as a gay woman who watched Audacity, I agree that the topic was handled with love and compassion which was refreshing to see…the message was clear (even if it was one I disagreed with as an atheist).”

After flying the banner over San Francisco, the producer plans to target Los Angeles, Portland, Seattle, Denver, Colorado Springs, Dallas, Austin, Houston, New Orleans, and New York. Comfort explains his goal for the banners, and the film itself: “A film reviewer stated that ‘this film has the potential to ease the tensions between Christians and the LGBT community.’ That’s something I think most people would agree is sorely needed these days.”

“Audacity” received 100,000 YouTube views in five days. It may be freely seen on www.AudacityMovie.com.

By definition, "audacity" can refer to sheer arrogance for the sake of arrogance, or boldness without any regard for self-preservation. In his latest film, "Audacity" (available for download on June 24, 2015), Ray Comfort and his staff at Living Waters, graciously demonstrates the latter definition—boldness without any regard for self-preservation.

"Audacity" presents the truth with great compassion on the hotly debated topic of homosexuality and all that it entails (same-sex marriages, are people born gay, what does the Bible say about homosexuality, etc.). And there's no Disney-like scenes. It's real, edifying and offers true hope to all who watch this movie.

One of the things I really appreciated is how Ray Comfort portrayed the homosexuals (three different couples) in "Audacity" as they truly are—image-bearers of God Almighty (like the rest of us), who are in desperate need of the one and only Savior, Jesus Christ the Lord. I'm always disgusted by Hollywood's depiction of homosexuals as overly-sexed maniacs whose only identity and interest is their sexual orientation. Gay men and lesbian women are no more overly-sexed than heterosexual men and women. Sexual orientation does not determine, nor define sexual obsession (e.g. the abominable "50 Shades of Grey").

I've had many homosexual friends (both gay men and lesbian women) since I was 17 years old. I loved them dearly, so naturally, I shared the Gospel with them; whether they were my co-workers, bosses, or friends of mutual friends. Unlike Hollywood's gross exaggeration of homosexuals, my friends were more than sexual beings, just like heterosexuals are. My gay and lesbian friends were kind, loving, hilarious (well, not all of them), quirky, artsy, brilliant, talented in many ways, thoughtful, etc. They liked many activities I liked and frankly, lived very similarly to me, except that I'm a Christian and a heterosexual.

A movie like this is not only timely, but necessary because homosexuality is a widely misunderstood issue among the secular world and sadly, even among many Christians. Some Christians quote Bible verses stating that homosexuality is a sin while others quote Bible verses (out of context) and conclude that homosexuality is not a sin. Whether secular or Christian, those who contend that homosexuality is not a sin, lean on their definition and comfort level of what love is, rather than defer to God's definition of love—holy, righteous, sacrificial and morally pure.

"Anyone who does not love does not know God, because God is love. In this the love of God was made manifest among us, that God sent his only Son into the world, so that we might live through him...For this is the love of God, that we keep his commandments. And his commandments are not burdensome. For everyone who has been born of God overcomes the world. And this is the victory that has overcome the world—our faith. Who is it that overcomes the world except the one who believes that Jesus is the Son of God?"

-1 John 4:8-9; 5:3-5, ESV

God is love, but love is not God. What I mean by that is exactly what Scripture says; God is love, therefore, He defines what love is. Those who believe love is God, dangerously and erroneously define God by what they "feel" love is...at any given moment. I understand why the world has this faulty, man/self-centered view of love, but I'm quite bewildered at why Christians have the same misguided view.

The talented, atheist illusionist and comedian Penn Jillette (of Pen and Teller) once said about Christians who don't share the Gospel, "If you believe there's a Heaven and Hell and people could be going to Hell, or not getting eternal life or whatever, and you think 'Well, it's not worth telling them this because it would make it socially awkward' ...How much do you have to hate somebody to know that everlasting life is possible and not tell them that?" I quite agree. Withholding the truth from someone because it makes you feel uncomfortable, isn't you loving others, it's you loving yourself.

Jesus Christ, the only Son of the only living and true God, suffered and died; was crushed for our iniquities; He drank the cup of God's wrath in our stead and rose again on the third day, so all who repent and trust in Christ will have everlasting life. How can any professing Christian condone and celebrate the sinful lifestyles of loved ones? Perhaps it's because too many Christians don't read and study their Bibles. Perhaps it's that too many Christians desire so much to keep a relationship with loved ones living in sin (any sin, whether heterosexual immorality, homosexual immorality, lying, stealing, etc.), that they've convinced themselves this is love, rather look to God, who is love. I don't know.

What I do know, is that the movie "Audacity" demonstrates God's definition of love—extraordinary compassion without compromising the truth. One of my favorite lines is from Peter (Travis Owens) who says, "If I really love people, then I have to say something. Love can't stay silent."

Below is my interview with Ray Comfort.

What inspired you to make this movie and story line?

After making films about abortion and evolution, people kept saying that I needed to make one on the issue of homosexuality—because it was confronting the church, and most Christians were very uncomfortable about how to deal with it without sounding hateful. I adamantly said that it wasn’t going to happen. There were two reasons for this. The first was that anyone who spoke against the issue of homosexuality nowadays are instantly vilified as though he were a hate-filled racist. Nobody wants that. And the second was that I really didn’t know how I could break away from the stereotypical way such a movie would be done. Most films on the subject would have a few ex-homosexuals giving testimonies on how they were now heterosexuals and were happily married with kids. No one was going to watch but Christians. I would be preaching to the choir.

Around April 2014, I was with my friend Stuart Scott in Huntington Beach here in California, when I saw two girls walking towards us kissing each other. I asked if they would like to be on camera, and to my surprise, they said that they would. These two ladies gave me an amazing 14-minute interview, and ended up thanking me for not being judgmental. Yet I hadn't compromised the gospel even slightly. It was as though God had dropped the foundation for a movie into my lap into my lap. That night I wrote a script and sent it to Mark Spence (he was the main editor and producer of "180"). He wrote back "Wow, wow, wow!" I quickly called a meeting, and after just over a year later, we had a completed movie.

This is very different from any of your other movies; it's a scripted story with actors, extras, etc. Why did you decide to do it this way?

To go the documentary route with this subject would have pushed me into a predictable mold. I wanted to stay well clear of the "We are now ex-homosexuals and everything is happy" type of film. Instead, I was thinking of something that was so well-produced and had such a good story line it would grip the attention of the unsaved—where they would stay and listen to the gospel. And at the same time, something that would help Christians who didn't know how to share the gospel with a homosexual without coming across as being hateful. I knew that it could be done, because 1 Timothy 1:8-10 tells us how to do it. It was just a matter of wrapping truth in a package that had the production quality of a modern movie. It was a tall order, but I knew our guys had the gifting to deliver that.

Are all the actors in the movie Christians?

Only three of the actors are Christians. Our big concern was bad acting. Even five seconds of poor acting would be like a small gash in a big ocean liner. No matter how good the production, [bad acting] would sink the whole movie. The only way to make sure this didn't happen was to have auditions and choose the best we could find. As soon as we had our actors, we sat them down at a table. Then my director Eddie Roman introduced me and I took the time to tell them why the script was as it was. I gave my testimony, which included a very clear gospel presentation, said that I wanted everyone (including homosexuals) to find everlasting life and that's why the script was as it was. It was an appropriate opportunity to share the way of salvation right at the beginning of our relationship.

Since this is your first scripted movie with a story line, how did you know where to look for actors, film crew, etc.? Did you have specific things you were looking for?

Over the years we have used Hollywood lighting and sound crews for our television program. We even took them with us when we went to Europe and filmed 13 episodes in 13 countries in 13 days (for our Fourth Season). We also had contacts in a professional casting agency. It’s a fascinating process. When we needed one waitress to play a small part, we had just under 2,000 applicants.

We were looking for talent and likability. We didn't want to stereotype homosexuals.

Do you have any friends who are living a homosexual lifestyle? If so, how long have you been friends with them and how do they remain friends with you, knowing you're a faithful Christian?

I have a number of friends who are atheists (I have no idea of their sexual preference). One of them in a particular, is a close friend. I had him play a paramedic in the movie (very small unspoken part). I also invited him to a special pre-screening we had for donors. His reaction to the movie was interesting. He sent me this quote and permission to use it: "Audacity is entertaining and has some great comedy and dramatic tension. Unlike most Christian films it is far from cheesy, and has a great, well-acted script. Most of all it is not heavy-handed, showing the Christian position on homosexuality without being intimidating or angry. Well done!" -Michael S. Martin (Atheist).

If you could choose one Bible verse or passage that best describes the foundation and heart of "Audacity" what would you say it is?

It would be from First Corinthians 13—about love. A skeptic recently wrote to me and said that it was virtually impossible to be a Bible believing Christian and not be "homophobic." I could understand his reasoning, because Scripture is very clear on the issue. Even when the movie won two awards (we submitted an uncut version), we wondered if Christians would like the movie. When a well-known Christian blogger asked for a review copy, we were a little nervous because he didn't pull any punches. When I sent him a link he replied the same day with, "Ray, this is the best film you have made yet. Congratulations on a job well done. " That was particularly sweet, because we felt a little haunted by "180" during this whole process, because it was so well received; it set a high bar.

Conclusion: From a purely cinematic standpoint, the script and acting were predominantly good, engaging and displayed much talent. The camera work, lighting, music, sound and visual effects were on spot.

Travis Owens "Peter" and Molly Ritter "Diana" were convincing, lovable, authentic. They drew you into their character's fears and convictions, as well as displayed what a truly loving friendship looks like in spite of strongly conflicting views.

Aaron Mitchell "Robert" and Franklin Killian "Lance" played one of the movie's homosexual couples and they were true-to-life, passionate and relatable. Both actors gave such a stellar performance you never judged them, but rather, you feel for them and understand their plight. It's one of my favorite scenes in the movie as it reminded me of precious friendships I once had and miss.

I found Ben Price to be an extremely gifted impersonator (with more than 47 near perfect impersonations). Talented guy. Danielle Rosario "Hailey", though she seemed to have some talent, didn't bring Hailey's character to life; making her character hollow.

As a whole, I love "Audacity" and highly recommend it to everyone (Christians and non-Christians, and especially Christians who know and love homosexual family/friends).

My prayer is that God will provide the necessary means for Ray Comfort to produce more biblically sound, Gospel-focused films so that Christians may be exhorted to live abandoned to Christ and unbelievers will come to saving faith through the steadfast preaching of the Gospel of God's grace (Acts 20:24).

On Friday, November 14, 2014 Kirk Cameron's "Saving Christmas" will be opening in select theaters across the country for only two weeks.

This movie is all about making fun of any Christian who doesn't think like or agree with Kirk Cameron and his company. According to Kirk and friends, one of the main purposes of "Saving Christmas" is to dispel the beliefs that most of our traditional Christmas practices e.g., decorating Christmas trees, feasting, mistletoe, gift exchanges, etc., are from pagan origins or fabricated myths about actual people who lived during the fourth-century—namely Saint Nicholas of Lycia, commonly known in the United States as Santa Claus.

"Our focus on December 25 came from the Roman holiday called Saturnalia. This was a pagan observance of the birthday of the unconquered sun. Saturnalia began December 19 each year...Many of our Christmas customs have their origins in Saturnalia, which was marked by feasting, parades, special music, gift giving, lighted candles, and green trees. As Christianity spread through the Roman empire, the pagan holiday was given Christian connotations."

~John MacArthur, The Miracle of Christmas, p. 50

From the Puritans in England during the 1600s to the early Puritans here in the States, celebrating Christmas in a pagan-like revelry was considered a sin and was therefore avoided altogether. Similarly, there are many Christians today who still hold this view and according to God, are free to do so. However, Kirk Cameron and his crew disagree and portrays the main character of this film, Christian White (Darren Doan) as one "who represents the typical white Christian male and he’s got a bad case of religious bah humbugs," because he feels common Christmas celebratory practices aren't about Christ, but about pagan and secular jubilees.

"One person esteems one day as better than another, while another esteems all days alike. Each one should be fully convinced in his own mind. The one who observes the day, observes it in honor of the Lord. The one who eats, eats in honor of the Lord, since he gives thanks to God, while the one who abstains, abstains in honor for the Lord and give thanks to God.

"The faith that you have, keep between yourself and God. Blessed is the one who has no reason to pass judgment on himself for what he approves. But whoever has doubts is condemned if he eats, because his eating is not from faith. For whatever does not proceed from faith is sin."

~Romans 14:5-6, 22-23 (ESV)

In the trailer, another character rejoices saying, "the scales have fallen off" when Christian White is convinced by Kirk Cameron's character that "Everything you see inside of there, it's all about Christmas. It's all about Jesus." Of course, what's in "there", that is, the house, is Santa Claus, feasting, gifts, a Christmas tree, gifts, etc.

The makers of this movie belittle those who remain steadfast in their beliefs to abstain from Christmas celebrations. And by default, encourage others to do the same. To ensure I was clear regarding one of the main purposes of this film, Darren Doan who not only plays the lead character, but also scripted, produced and directed the movie, tweeted this to me the other day, "but the film does make fun of Wannabe Berean [sic] unimaginative Christians who need to lighten up."




Furthermore, to make matters worse, Kirk purports his movie "provides a biblical basis for our time-honored Christmas traditions and celebrations..." When I first read this on the movie's website, and heard him say it on a Catholic radio program (Busted Halo) he was recently interviewed on, I was confused by which Christmas traditions he could be talking about. I hoped he just misspoke and actually meant his movie provides historical Christian traditions rather than actually claim our "time-honored Christmas traditions and celebrations" are actually found in the Bible. So I asked him.

Screenshot from "Saving Christmas" website

I contacted Kirk through his website and also talked to a mutual friend who had Kirk call me to discuss my concerns regarding these claims of "biblical basis" for all our Christmas traditions.

This was tough for me because I used to be one of those who "blindly" followed Kirk due to his former and faithful work for the Gospel between 2004 - 2011. So I asked Kirk again and more specifically, "When you said our time-honored Christmas traditions are biblically based, you didn't mean things like decorating Christmas trees, Santa Claus, exchanging gifts, etc. are actually in the Bible, did you? You just meant some may have historical Christian foundations, right?" To my surprise he answered, "No, I meant they're all in the Bible. I know, I was surprised too when I read it myself." Kirk also shared that Christmas trees represent the Cross of Christ. When I asked him for the chapter and verse for his claims, he said, "Well, I'd rather not tell you because it's in the movie and I want you to see the movie."

Thanks to Brannon Howse of Worldview Weekend, I'm able to share this 30 second audio clip (below) of Kirk's interview on the Busted Halo radio program that's hosted by a Catholic priest, Dave Dwyer. In this interview Kirk once again claims, "Saving Christmas...is all about understanding the biblical foundations to all of the celebrations and the traditions that we have at Christmastime; including everything from Santa Claus, to Christmas trees, to the nativity, to all the presents, to the celebrating and feasting and all that kind of stuff..."





Kirk and team are promoting this film as one that will frustrate atheists as he shared in his interview with TheBlaze, “I assume they’re going to get frustrated to see some of their best arguments deflated by this movie, because we take on some of the most commonly parroted myths about the origins of Christmas.”

Unfortunately, I don't think this movie will so much frustrate atheists as it will injure Christians.

While my family and I do celebrate Christmas in many of the traditional ways, we don't however, bemoan those who abstain. We truly believe all that's in God's Word and since there's nothing in Scripture about whether or not one should or shouldn't celebrate Christmas, we do what God says in Romans 14, we leave this decision to each person's conscience.

I've repented privately to the LORD my God. And now, to prove my repentance is true, I repent publicly for my public commendation (review) of Kirk Cameron's "Monumental" movie back in 2012 (which I've removed from my site and requested Examiner.com to do as well).

My dear friends and readers, please forgive me for showing Kirk favoritism, for misleading you, and for not doing what I've always encouraged you to do—be Bereans, test everything with the Word of God; show no favoritism, but share truth in love.

About two weeks ago, my husband and I realized we gave Kirk a pass. We sanctioned everything he said or did because of his former years of good and faithful work for the true Gospel. But over the past several years, Kirk has demonstrated a slow digression towards the false social gospel of "we can transform the world and make it better", rather than what he used to preach and teach, "let's share the Gospel of Jesus Christ which alone transform lives".

I can't believe I watched the trailer of "Monumental" and missed the man-centered perspective that was so clearly portrayed within the first few minutes with Kirk sharing, "Everybody's telling me the world's going to Hell." Then he includes the financial, moral and spiritual decline of our country, then continues with..."And to top it off, I have friends in church who tell me, that 'The worst things get, the better it really is, because it means the end is near; and that Jesus is returning.... Really? Because I have kids in this world. I have friends who have children in this world, that I want a great future for them."

Throughout the movie, Kirk tries to inspire us all to be better Americans and do what we can to save our world and make it a better place for our kids. This kind of euphoric, self-actualized ideology is not new and will render the same fate as those who tried it before (Jer. 7:4-15, Ps 44:6-8). We can't save the world, but we can and must share the Gospel.

So what did God use a couple of weeks ago to open my eyes to my sin?

I heard Brannon Howse's radio program, Worldview Weekend where he and another faithful brother in the Lord, Justin Peters spoke of their disappointment with Kirk's digression from preaching the true Gospel since about 2012 to his most recent descent, which included Kirk's radio interview on the Busted Halo (a Roman Catholic) program with "father" Dave Dwyer. As I carefully listened to Brannon and Justin, I was very upset with their assessment of Kirk and decided to listen to Kirk's interview myself to prove Brannon and Justin were wrong and urge them to recant their disapproval of Kirk.

I not only listened to Kirk's entire interview on Busted Halo, but I also revisited "Monumental" and my review. I was deeply grieved by both. I discovered not only were Brannon and Justin correct, but they kindly spared Kirk by not sharing the entire interview because it was worse than they mentioned.

So I contacted Kirk through his website asking him to recant much of what he shared on Dave Dwyer's program and asked him why he's taken this path away from the true Gospel. I then emailed both Brannon and Justin asking them if they had contacted Kirk prior to publicly airing his digression, not that it was required since Kirk's public comments are open to public reproof. But that out of love for Christ and a brother, did they try to urge him not to stray.

Both brothers graciously and thoughtfully responded. And they both at one time, tried to contact Kirk hoping to keep him from sinfully mixing light with darkness as we're commanded in 2 Corinthians 6:14-16a. This passage is often used to speak about marriage, but that's not necessarily the context here. The context is referring to how animals used to be "yoked" together to work in one accord, so that if one animal moved in one direction, it affected the direction and work of the other. We, as God's holy and dearly beloved children are commanded to not "yoke" ourselves with unbelievers so that we are not swayed to move away from the Lord. So this includes marriage, but also any close partnership between believers and unbelievers. And Kirk has done this repeatedly.

Brannon tried to urge Kirk away from this sin in 2012 during the Glenn Beck mess. But it was to no avail. Justin tried calling Kirk prior to his recent interview on the Busted Halo program, but Kirk never returned the call.

Kirk called me later that same evening. Our conversation lasted a little more than an  hour and because I still want to protect Kirk from any unnecessary and non-beneficial grief (2 Cor 7:8-9), I'm only going to share a snippet of our conversation.  I still want God's best for my brother Kirk—his private and public repentance of pride, yoking with unbelievers for "God's work" and straying from preaching the true Gospel to promoting the happy-go-lucky-unoffensive-better-the-world false gospel.

Here's what I learned about Kirk's opinion of his interview and facts about his new Christmas movie:

• Kirk said he had no intention of sharing the Gospel with the unsaved priest who hosts the Busted Halo radio program. He said he didn't want to do or say anything offensive, but went on the program for the sole purpose of promoting "Saving Christmas", and that's not possible when you offend people with the Gospel.


• He stands by his comparison of his new life in Christ to, "trading in bachelorhood" where he was having a good time, "for something better" and like "going from eating a burger to eating a filet mignon," He said he used these analogies because they were easy to understand. He could've said it's like a dead person being raised to life. I'm pretty sure Dave Dwyer and and many others can understand that analogy. And definitely more accurate. Dead people aren't bachelors and dead people don't eat...anything. Kirk's analogy was that of the false social gospel (Joel Osteen's gospel), likening Christianity to just a better, upgraded you, rather than saying that becoming a Christian is an act of God alone, making you a new creation in Christ; something you never could be on your own.


• Kirk admitted he was wrong when he included "Son of God" as one of the good Christian movies all children should see and want to emulate. He said he never saw the movie, wasn't aware it was blasphemous and heretical, and mentioned it because it did well in the box office. In other interviews, Kirk carelessly commends other heretical and blasphemous movies (he's never seen nor knew anything about) like "Noah", "Heaven Is For Real", etc.


• He claims "Saving Christmas" will reveal how our cherished Christmas festivities like decorating Christmas trees, exchanging gifts, Santa Claus, etc. are all found in the Bible as good and encouraged practices. Kirk also told me that the Christmas trees represent the Cross of Christ. When I asked him for a chapter and verse for these claims, he said he preferred not to give it to me because he wanted me to see the movie.

Though my family and I celebrate Christmas on December 25 and have a Christmas tree we decorate, we do not believe any of this is in the Bible as commandments or even slight suggestions for Christians to practice. We neither claim everyone needs to celebrate Christmas nor do we belittle those who don't because their conscience bears witness that they ought not (c.f. Romans 14).

I purposely waited to share this because I wanted to be quick to listen and slow to speak (James 1:18-19). I wanted to give Kirk a chance to repent, respond to my second email and give opportunity to others who said they'd try to help him. But as of the date of this article, and to my knowledge, no repentance, neither private nor public has been made.

If I hadn't publicly sinned and misled others; if Kirk didn't have a public ministry and hadn't publicly misled people into the false social gospel for the past couple of years, then I wouldn't be writing this public piece.

This is how it's done within the Body of Christ. What is private is handled privately unless a public address is warranted for the safety of others. And a public matter is kept public with grace, truth and love so that the world can see that we are not perfect, but we belong to a perfect Father and God who commands and empowers us to love one another His way—perfectly.

"For I wrote to you out of much affliction and anguish of heart and with many tears, not to cause you pain but to let you know the abundant love that I have for you.

"For such a one, this punishment by the majority is enough, so you should rather turn to forgive and comfort him, or he may be overwhelmed by excessive sorrow. So I beg you to reaffirm your love for him"

~2 Cor 2:4, 6-8 (ESV)

Please join me in prayer for our brother Kirk and for those who are lovingly trying to deter him from compromising the Gospel, so that he can promote and encourage more "faith-based" movies in Hollywood.

Any judgmental or derogatory comments regarding Kirk, Brannon, Justin or Ray will be swiftly deleted.

Many of my readers have either written or asked me on social media, whether or not I've read or watched the movie based on the popular book, "Heaven Is For Real" by Todd Burpo. I have neither read nor watched it in full, but I am familiar with the contents of the book and movie.

I completely disagree with Todd's assertion that his then 4-year-old son Colton (who is now 15), did in fact go to Heaven and return with an accurate depiction of the Almighty's glorious throne (Is 66:1). 

Rather than reinvent the wheel and write an entire article/review about why I disagree with the book and movie based on its unbiblical content, let me share with you this video (below) from David Platt and a couple of links to articles written by Dr. John MacArthur and Phil Johnson. They all did a splendidly thorough job explaining the unbiblical nature of "Heaven Is For Real", and other books with similar content.

Please be sure to read ALL the Scripture references in every article so that you are not persuaded by the wisdom of men, but convinced by the powerful and living Word of God (1 Cor 2:5).

"Heaven Is Real; Hallucinations Are Not" by John MacArthur (April 28, 2014 excerpt from "The Glory of Heaven)

"Are Visits to Heaven Real?" by John MacArthur (March 10, 2014 in Answers Magazine)

"The Burpo-Malarkey Doctrine" by Phil Johnson (October 18, 2012)

If you'd like to read a soundly biblical book about Heaven and what it will be like, read your Bibles (I'm saying this with a wink and a smile because anyone reading this, would already know to do that).

If you have unbelieving family or friends who are confused about Heaven, share this book with them by John MacArthur, "The Glory of Heaven" and not  "Heaven Is For Real".

May God find us faithful as we grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. To Him be the glory both now and to the day of eternity (2 Pet 3:18). Amen.