Easter Message 2011

Centurion Radio #20: Funeral Teams

Listen to internet radio with TenXFour Ministries on Blog Talk Radio

The Importance of Training

Travis Yates, Director of Ten-Four Ministries, interviews Philippine National Police Colonel Albert Ferro at a recent training event in the Philippines. The two discussed the importance of adding spiritual training to the police training, the PNP's needs and the future partnerships between American and Philippine police departments.

Courageous Movie Review

Let me start by letting you know that shortly after I became a Christian, I found myself unable to enjoy the comedy clubs, music and movies that I had once loved. It hit me one day that I had to put all those things away that were not glorifying to God…the crude humor, immoral innuendo, blasphemy and lyrics that promoted sin. Although I was dedicated to my new Lord, (I did put the stuff away), I reacted like Lot’s wife, turning back and looking…somewhat lamenting the loss of “fun” in my life. I resigned myself to the fact that I would never again enjoy jokes, movies or music.

Leave it to the Kendrick brothers to blow away that notion! One of the highlights of the movie, Courageous, is the side splitting humor sprinkled throughout, all of it clean and gentle. No one’s feelings have to be hurt by sarcasm for a joke to be funny, and gross vulgarities are not only unnecessary, but they truly ruin a good time.

In Courageous, we join a group of 4 sheriff’s deputies and a manual laborer named Javier. These men face daily dilemmas related to job and family and learn to rely on each other and God in this inspiring, but humorous flick. How will they respond when the ultimate tragedy befalls one of them?

But this review is not just about the entertainment value of Courageous, but rather the spiritual value. Let’s use three measuring sticks (you could pick several others, I’m sure), to try to judge the merit of this movie. Ultimately, the question is, should you spend the resources God has provided you with to see this flick? Or would your money be better spent elsewhere…there is certainly need all around us.

Here are the three criteria we will use to discern the worth of Courageous in order of importance.

1.Is God glorified?
2.Will the movie tempt someone to sin?
3.Is there a practical application to the lessons learned within?

I will consider them in reverse order:

Is there a practical application to the lessons learned within?
The basic setting of Courageous is the life of a few families, specifically the men of the families in a town in Georgia. These men are police officers, who are joined by a manual laborer friend as well. The meaningful dialogue creates meaningful character development as they go through day to day life, both on the job and at home. You really get a sense quickly for each character’s personality.

One side plot of the movie is the gang related activity. Although I will highly recommend this movie, I would not call it “kid-friendly.” There are scenes where drug paraphernalia is depicted, as well as a brutal gang-initiation. It is done well, in the sense that the idea is depicted without gratuitous violence or mimicked drug use, but I would not take a child under 13 to this movie due to that content. I’d say if you are ready to talk to your child about drugs and gang violence, it is up to you, but some of the scenes could be scary for more sensitive children.

But the gang activity is necessary for the story, and they do a brilliant job of tying together the characters in relationships that are believable. Ultimately, the message that comes across is the importance of a father in the life of children.

Just like the Love Dare in Fireproof, the main character in the movie ends up with a set of “Resolutions.” Resolving to be a biblical father and husband, the main character, Adam Mitchell offers examples of repentance for missed opportunities, and redemption in this life as he strives to make amends for his errant ways. These “Resolutions” will definitely be a best-seller, and with a September 30 release, expect lots of Christmases to be chock full of Courageous Resolutions.

Finally, there is a one on one presentation of the gospel which was of such quality as could be used for training. Without compromising a shred of truth, Nathan Hayes (Michael, Kirk Cameron’s friend in Fireproof) shares the plan of redemption in Christ alone with his partner David Thomson. But while sharing the message and confronting David’s sin, Nathan doesn’t lack any of the compassion and love that we are commanded to have when giving a defense for what we believe with meekness and fear. (1 Peter 3:15)

Will the movie tempt someone to sin?
Now we all have different sin-tendencies, I know, but I can only speak of a few of the more obvious ones. I suppose it is possible that a person with a problem with a “gang history” could somehow get excited about his or her old life…but I don’t see it that way. I see the depiction of the life being authentic enough to get the idea, while not glorifying the lifestyle in any way.

None of the main characters engages in smoking, drinking or drug use. The references to drugs are never exalted, and the women in the movie are all modestly dressed throughout, except for one scene toward the end where a woman’s shirt was possibly a little too low cut. I am also one of the more conservative people I know in the area of modesty…so many people may not even notice.

Courageous does not glorify sin nor does it provide temptation for someone to sin. In contrast to the other “Christian-value” movie which is being marketed for now, (Soul Surfer), Courageous offers no feeding of the flesh. Carnal minded men and women will not find satisfaction for their lusts here. To be able to enjoy a movie without having to cover your ears and eyes is rare, and Courageous refreshes the soul in this way.

Is God glorified?
I have wondered on occasion how to truly judge a movie. I wonder if God actually likes any story, where Jesus is not the center; the protagonist; the ultimate victor. It has made me disinterested in even secular stories of success where God is not glorified.

Courageous makes an overt point of being Christ-centered, Bible-directed and God loving. The message of the movie that faith in Christ alone is the only provision for forgiveness of sins is clearly stated. And the “great contradiction” is that this movie attacks the secular view of fatherhood and family by setting the standard for fatherhood based on the Bible. I believe that men and women who are not born-again will enjoy this movie because of the universal Truth contained therein. The biblical principles laid out will resonate in the hearts of people everywhere who want to love their kids more, treat their wife better and lead and protect their family in the best way possible. The hope and prayer of course, is that while some people came just to see a good movie, they will leave with their life changed, with sufficient knowledge to start a reconciled relationship with God through Christ.

Should you go see Courageous? Yes. Please do. Be a good steward of your money and spend it on the advancement of the gospel of Christ (Romans 1:16) by supporting this movie, and the good people who God has gifted to produce such a masterpiece. Buy tickets for friends and relatives, both saved and unsaved, and don’t forget Dad – tickets go on sale June 19, Father’s Day.

Note: We would like to thank our good friend and ministry supporter, Michael Coughlin, for providing this excellent review for our readers. We look forward to bringing you much more information on this wonderful ministry opportunity. Check out our "Courageous Weekend" Outreach, which aims to purchase entire showings of this movie for law enforcement.

Mission Philippines 2011: "I Believe"

Mission Philippines 2011: "I Believe" from Ten-Four Ministries on Vimeo.

Will You Go?

Mission Philippines: Will You Go? from Ten-Four Ministries on Vimeo.

Mission Philippines 2011: Officer Nesbitt

Muscle Shoals Police Officer Lee Nesbitt speaks to Carpenter's House Baptist Church in Calamba City, Philippines March 27, 2011. He trained the PNP in firearms during the Mission Trip

Lee Nesbitt's Testimony from Ten-Four Ministries on Vimeo.

Mission Philippines 2011: Officer Bennett

Tulsa Police Officer Brandon Bennett speaks to Carpenter's House Baptist Church in Calamba City, Philippines March 27, 2011. He led the defensive tactics training during the Mission Trip. Special thanks to Relentless Training for providing excellent training.

Brandon Bennett's Testimony from Ten-Four Ministries on Vimeo.

MLB Outreach 2011

Ten-Four Ministries had the wonderful honor to be asked by Bezeugen Ministries to lead a team of evangelists to the opening weekend of the Tulsa Drillers, the AA affiliate with the Colorado Rockies. The MLB 2011 Outreach has the potential to reach hundreds of thousands for the Gospel.

Bezeugen Ministries partnered with One Million Tracts and Sports Fan Outreach International to send teams to every Major League Stadium between March 31st and April 10th. A custom Gospel Tract was made for each team which included one for the Tulsa Drillers. I have been involved in passing out tracts for some time and I have used a variety of tracts and most of them I consider very good but I must say that the custom tract used for this event was by far the easiest tract to give away. Everyone walking up to me was a fan of the Drillers so when you ask them if they want some "Driller Trivia" just about everyone gladly took one.



It was a great night and hundreds of tracts were passed out. I have some left over and I look forward to going back during the season and for years to come. I have to commend all of the ministries involved for a great idea, concept and execution. God was certainly glorified in their efforts.




You can order your own MLB Tracts here and read about the other outreaches here.

Courageous: Movie Trailer

Total Depravity

Here is the latest sermon provided to us from our partner, Pastor Shane Kastler. I believe that the Doctrine of Total Depravity is one of the most ignored in all of scripture and it is a Doctrine that if we get wrong, we are in danger of getting many other things wrong.

"Heart of a Warrior" Mission Philippines 2011

On day 1 of our Mission Trip to the Philippine National Police Department, I asked Florence (AL) First Baptist Pastor Phillip Skipworth to deliver a message to the officers we were going to train and witness to that week that would "set the tone". As you will see in the below video, my friend accomplished just that.

Heart Of A Warrior: Mission Philippines 2011 from Ten-Four Ministries on Vimeo.

"The Gospel" Mission Philippines 2011

This message was preached on Day 4 of a Mission Trip to 93 members of the Philippine National Police Department. For additional information you can visit our Missions Outreach Site.

"I Believe"

Mission Philippines 2011: Open Air Sermon

We just returned from a trip to the Philippines where we trained and preached to approximately 100 members of the Philippine National Police Department. This included 5 days of training & preaching along with two church services on Sunday where other officers were present. We are busy editing and compiling thousands of photos and many videos and we will introduce those to you shortly. The below message was not a planned event. I climbed on a water tower at our training facility (Special Action Force) to film a short segment for our videographer when I observed several SWAT Cadets that were not in our class and thus would not hear the Gospel without a message at that moment.

Go Stand Speak

Last year we had the privilege to interview Pat Necerato with Go Stand Speak Ministries. We enjoy that ministry and believe it is very important. We encourage the proclamation of the Biblical Gospel in the Open Air. It is biblical and a part of historical Christianity. Just today, I was advised of several individuals at a local skate park so I went to the public park and preached the Gospel to what turned out to be teenagers. We had a wonderful discussion and it was a great time. While the decision to preach (anywhere) should never be taken lightly, there is a huge opportunity in almost every community to take the Gospel to the lost. We are looking forward to the new project by Go Stand Speak Ministries. Here it is:



You can order this new DVD here.

Kingdom Advancement Conference

We had the honor to speak at Highland Park Baptist Church this evening at the Kingdom Advancement Conference (Muscle Shoals, AL). There were many members and missionaries present.

Evangelism & Law Enforcement

On last week's episode of Centurion Radio, I interviewed Officer Jason Bahm. If you think that God will not present evangelism opportunities on your job, then listen to this amazing story.


If you cannot see the player, you can go here to listen.

Mission Philippines

Our Ministry is preparing to lead ten police officers from across the country, a pastor and a media specialist to the Philippines on a Mission trip. We will be training 100+ officers from the Philippine National Police Department (PNP) as well as witnessing and sharing Christ with the officers.

We welcome each of your prayers as we make preparations and we want to give you an opportunity to help financially. We are selling the below t-shirts for $25 with free shipping. These are the same shirts that we will be wearing as we interact with members of the PNP.

Sizes

Small Medium Large X-Large XXL

The Grace Card Movie: Review

"A Missed Opportunity."

That was the words my good friend told me as we walked out of the theater after watching the recently released movie, "The Grace Card".

Before I give you my impression of this film I am under no illusion that everyone will like what I have to say. To this day, my review of Fireproof has received more comments than any other post.

My review of this film will only focus on one aspect. I will leave all of the rest up to others but I want to focus on the spirituality of the movie.

Why do this? For several months up to the release of the movie, many ministries and churches said this was a "must see" movie. As the opening weekend approached, I received dozens of e-mails from various sources promoting the movie. I will tell you that I was excited about it. As the Director of a ministry to law enforcement, there was great hope for this film which revolves around two officers in the Memphis Police Department. I opted not to promote the movie until I saw it and I sincerely hoped that I could promote this movie as a wonderful Christian movie.

Sadly, I cannot do that.

I have become cynical through the years when it comes to movies that are promoted as "Christian." While almost all of these movies promote a moral theme and are generally considered good family movies, I almost never see one that presents the Gospel. One exception was the movie Fireproof. In fact, you can see the gospel presented in this movie on the right side of this blog.

Before I begin to speak about The Grace Card, let me first say that I do appreciate everyone that had something to do with this movie. Considered a low budget film ($500,000 to make) and using volunteers from The Calvary Church of the Nazarene in Cordova, Tennessee, this movie was very good. You never get the feeling it was low budget and the plot was interesting and unique. I do recommend that you go see this movie and if your children can handle the adult themes that revolve around police work (police pursuits, shootings, drug deals), I would recommend it for them as well. If you are debating this movie for your kids, it will help to read the review from Focus on the Family first.

With that said, this movie is not a Christian movie. It is a moralistic movie; It is a movie with a very positive theme but it is definitely not a Christian movie.

The Grace Card is touted as a Christian film and is described as intending "to illustrate the everyday opportunities that people have have to rebuild relationships and heal deep wounds by extending and receiving God’s grace."

I would agree that this movie met that description but God's Grace was never explained. In fact, "Jesus" was said in a couple of prayers but you will not get an explanation of who Jesus was from this movie. You are never told that Jesus was God, that He lived a perfect life, that He was crucified on a cross or that He rose from the dead.

I was insulted at one point in the movie when a family prayer to Jesus turned into something that "Ricky Bobby" would say in Talladega Nights. I was pleased to see a more serious prayer to my Lord Jesus Christ by the wife right before she was going to bed but the first prayer was bothersome. I'm sure the "heavy" theme of the movie called for humor at that point, I just wish they wouldn't have done it at the sake of what is a very honored and humbled activity.

"Mac" is the main character and he is a 15 year veteran of the Memphis Police Department. His son was killed 17 years earlier and to say he has problems is an understatement. His wife describes him as "angry" and we get many glimpses of not only that but undertones of racism. Mac is partnered up with a full time officer and part time preacher, soon to be Sergeant Sam Wright.

As I said earlier, the plot is good and as a veteran of a large municipal agency, I enjoyed the police scenes and found much of it to be realistic including the "angry" officer's attitude and problems. The issues discussed in this movie are real and I have no doubt this movie can help others.

One person told me today that this movie will open a door for he and his son to discuss matters of salvation and I agree with that. This movie can open a door but this movie does not present the Gospel or anything about sin and judgment or who Christ is or what Christ can do for sinners. It fails miserably in this area and that is unfortunate.

This movie had scenes of preaching and of one to one discussions and there was plenty of opportunity to proclaim the Gospel. The theme was forgiveness but that theme is not solely owned by Christianity. Many religions discuss this and quite frankly you had to pay close attention to know that Christ was the God being dicussed. If it wasn't for two prayers said in Jesus' name, you simply would not have known that the made up God of any other religion wasn't being used. We simply never get to the character of God in this movie.

At Mac's lowest, his partner tells him that he has "two options.....Curse God and die or quit fighting him."

Mac asks "why would He (God) let two little boys die" as he breaks down crying and his partner said he didn't know. That answer is honest and I appreciate it because many things God does are hidden from us but this was the climax of the movie and I expected something more.

This was the opportunity for the preacher, Christian, Sergeant and partner to share the good news. After all the Gospel is the power of God unto salvation (Romans 1:16). It is rare that God presents these moments in life. A man completely broken and lost. What an opportunity but as my friend said....An opportunity lost.

Instead, Mac says "I'm so sorry God" and his partner simply says "You are forgiven because you asked for it." Of course there is no biblical basis for this. A sinner can ask forgiveness all day long but if they do not "repent and believe" (Mark 1:15) it does no good. They are both then shown going to the alter and praying a prayer that we cannot hear.

It is assumed that Mac is now a converted Christian. His life improves. His son is healed from what was earlier thought to be a gun shot that was going to kill him and the movie ends in church with Mac and his wife on the front row. Happiness is all over their face and Sam is once again preaching but Christ and the Gospel are not proclaimed.

Now we know that while salvation does bring peace we also know that it can bring chaos and trouble. After all, Jesus said that if the world hates you know that he was hated first (John 15:18). Of course there is nothing wrong with showing a "happy" Christian but that is not always the situation.

This review will not be popular among many Christians but I do pray that we ask ourselves a few questions.

Why do we grab on to movies, etc. that serve as good moral lessons but the Gospel is left out?

Why do churches spend thousands of dollars on a movie (or many other things) that would not present the complete Gospel message? A message that God uses to save souls.

First, I do not think that the church involved in this movie meant to do harm and I have no doubt they love Christ and want the best for those seeing The Grace Card. It is difficult for me to understand why so much effort and energy would go into a project and the Gospel is left out? Is that not why we do outreach? Maybe the movie was never made to tell others the Gospel and then I can understand it but I have to only assume that it was since it is labeled a "Christian" film and many ministries are promoting it as such.

Some reading this may say that the movie did have the Gospel in it and to that I would ask you to read the Book of Acts or anywhere else in the Bible. Do you ever see the Gospel being presented as "I'm sorry God" and now you are saved? Trust me, before God saved me I was sorry to Him plenty of times but that in no way meant I was saved.

The most evangelistic part of the entire movie was the closing scene. The movie ends with a dark screen and these words placed on the screen: "For by grace you have been saved through faith; and that not of yourselves, it is the gift of God;"

That is absolutely true and I so appreciate the film makers placing it at the end of the film. It was simply my hope that during the film that unbelievers would have been told who Jesus was, what He did, why we need Him (sin) and what our response must be to be saved (repent and believe).