[Faith-talk] The Christ of Lightworkers Media

Thu Mar 19 01:51:53 UTC 2015

Lol I agree with you for once, Poppa Bear. I think some people just hate for the sake of hating. It gives a bad name to their religion. I remember when my family watched the mini-series, my mother, who is not a very religious person, was very moved by it. A while later she started going to church for a while. That’s since stopped, but I think at the time it had an impact on her to take God more seriously.

I think Roma Downey simply used her gift of TV production to spread knowledge of her religion to others, and I commend her for it.

> On Mar 18, 2015, at 9:32 PM, Poppa Bear <heavens4real at gmail.com> wrote:
> 
> Well, I guess that the Passion of Christ by Mel Gibson should be burned in effigy, along with vegy tails because Gibson is out of his mind and a Jue hater by all accounts and those animated vegy's have completely mocked the Holy Bible. Before I get to off hand, I will say that I think that we do need to exercise discernment, but this does sound a little like a witch hunt. Have these movies produced much fruit? Maybe so, maybe no. Perhaps she will read this article and throw herself at the feet of the writer and ask for forgiveness, or come out and make a public declaration denouncing her past, or maybe she will keep making movies that cause people to open the Bible and try to learn about this Jesus. But I simply imagine that some would just prefer her to not make another movie again. I wonder if anyone who helped compile all of these sins took the time to try and reach out to her, pray for her? Well, it makes me think of this song by Casting Crowns, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ipwEtvWL_3c  
> 
> -----Original Message-----
> From: Faith-talk [mailto:faith-talk-bounces at nfbnet.org] On Behalf Of Brandon A. Olivares via Faith-talk
> Sent: Wednesday, March 18, 2015 3:45 PM
> To: Linda Mentink; Faith-talk, for the discussion of faith and religion
> Cc: HandsHeartAndHome at yahoogroups.com
> Subject: Re: [Faith-talk] The Christ of Lightworkers Media
> 
> Wow, personally I think this article is ridiculous.
> 
> Even though I’m not Christian, I watched The Bible series when it aired. I saw no problems with it. Who cares what Roma Downey or anyone else has done in the past?
> 
> This entire article just smells of a judgmental attitude. Some people just want to find problems, no matter what.
> 
>> On Mar 18, 2015, at 12:30 PM, Linda Mentink via Faith-talk <faith-talk at nfbnet.org> wrote:
>> 
>> 
>> 
>> Hi all,
>> 
>> I thought this information might be helpful to some here.
>> 
>> Blessings,
>> 
>> Linda
>> 
>> 
>> Fundamental Baptist Information Service, PO Box 610368, Port Huron, MI 48061 , 866-295-4143 - <mailto:fbns at wayoflife.org>fbns at wayoflife.org. Unless otherwise indicated, these reports are by David Cloud. Reports are also posted to our <http://www.wayoflife.org/>website. To manage your subscription use the links at the bottom of this email. Tips to ensure delivery and other helpful information can be found on our mail list <http://www.wayoflife.org/help/fbis.html>help page.
>> 
>> The Christ of Lightworkers Media
>> 
>> March 18, 2015
>> 
>> __________
>> 
>> Roma Downey is the co-owner, with her husband Mark Burnett, of Lightworkers Media, the producer of The Bible miniseries which aired in 2013 (the History Channel) and The Son of God movie which appeared in 2014 (20th Century Fox). The movie was adapted from the miniseries. In December 2014, Lightworkers Media will air Women of Bible.
>> 
>> 
>> The fact that Roma's productions are widely promoted by "evangelical" Christians is evidence of the width and depth of the apostasy that we are witnessing in these end times.
>> 
>> 
>> The Bible miniseries was endorsed by Rick Warren, Jim Daly of Focus on the Family, T.D. Jakes, Joel Osteen, Lisa Harper of Women of Faith, Luis Palau, Dick Rolfe, and many others. Osteen, Warren, and Jakes were advisers for the Lightworkers Media production. Rick Warren rented movie theaters for the showing of the Son of God movie. Osteen purchased and distributed 8,000 tickets.
>> 
>> 
>> Victoria Osteen and Kay Warren appear in the Women of the Bible. These women are wives of the pastors of two of the largest "evangelical" churches in America. Joyce Meyer is also featured in Women of the Bible.
>> 
>> 
>> Roma Downey played a prominent role in the January 2015 We Will Stand Contemporary Music concert, which featured Michael W. Smith, Amy Grant, Newsboys, Don Moen, Mark Schultz, Sandi Patti, Travis Cottrell (Beth Moore's worship leader), Steven Curtis Chapman, Steve Green, Dallas Holm, Russ Taff, The Imperials, Don Francisco, First Call, Michael Omartian, Francesca Battistelli, Kari Jobe, Laura Story, Petra, 4Him, Point of Grace, Carman, Nicole Mullen, among others.
>> 
>> 
>> Downey's productions have been hugely popular.
>> 
>> 
>> The first episode of The Bible, which ran on March 2013, was seen by more than 13 million viewers, the largest cable television audience that year ("Mark Burnett's The Bible begets record ratings," Entertainment Weekly, March 4, 2013). When The Bible was released on DVD a month later, it quickly sold more than one-half million copies to become the top-selling TV miniseries. Within the first month, the miniseries had been viewed by an estimated 95 million people ("#1 TV on DVD in last five years," HollywoodJesus.com, April 8, 2013). The YouVersion Bible App, the official app of The Bible miniseries, had 88 million downloads and was the in top 15 of all free apps in the iTunes store.
>> 
>> 
>> The Son of God movie made $26.5 million in its first weekend, and within three months it had grossed $68 million.
>> 
>> 
>> Shouldn't we rejoice that multitudes of people are seeing these multimedia presentations about the Bible and Jesus?
>> 
>> 
>> God warns His people to prove all things and to try the spirits. He warns of false christs and false spirits and false gospels.
>> 
>> 
>> "For many shall come in my name, saying, I am Christ; and shall deceive many" (Matthew 24:5).
>> 
>> 
>> "But I fear, lest by any means, as the serpent beguiled Eve through his subtilty, so your minds should be corrupted from the simplicity that is in Christ" (2 Corinthians 11:3).
>> 
>> 
>> "Beloved, believe not every spirit, but try the spirits whether they are of God: because many false prophets are gone out into the world" (1 John 4:1).
>> 
>> 
>> In light of what Roma Downey believes and practices, it is obvious that her programs and movies are introducing people to a false christ, a false spirit, and a false gospel.
>> 
>> 
>> NEW AGE SELF WORSHIP
>> 
>> 
>> Roma, who became famous for her role as "the angel Monica" in the New-agey TV series Touched by an Angel, is a Roman Catholic who holds New Age principles and communes with the dead.
>> 
>> 
>> Touched by an Angel promotes the New Age doctrines that men are not estranged from God by sin, that they do not have to be reconciled through Christ's atonement, that God is the Father of all men, that angels are not perfect, and that salvation is by human kindness.
>> 
>> 
>> When Roma was married in 2007 to television producer Mark Burnett (her second marriage), the ceremony was performed by Della Reese, her co-star in Touched by an Angel. Reese is the co-founder with Johnnie Coleman of the Understanding Principles for Better Living Church. Coleman is a New Thought minister of the Unity School of Christianity, which teaches, "We are Divine through the Christ within, the individualization of God in us."
>> 
>> 
>> Roma graduated from the University of Santa Monica with a masters degree in Spiritual Psychology. The university was "founded by New Age spiritual and self-help guru John-Roger" ("Roma Downey Happy Out of Spotlight," Beck/Smith Hollywood, April 23, 2013). The university's web site describes Spiritual Psychology as "the study and practice of the art and science of human evolution in consciousness." It says that the benefits of Spiritual Psychology include "experiencing enhanced spiritual awareness through knowing yourself as a Divine Being," "individual evolution," and "learning to relate to yourself with greater compassion and awareness of yourself as a Divine Being having a human experience."
>> 
>> 
>> The New Age book Loyalty to Your Soul by Ron and Mary Hulnick carries Roma Downey's recommendation as follows: "The teachings in this beautiful book have sent me on a journey to the very center of my own being where, wrapped in the safe wings of Love, I feel as though I have come home."
>> 
>> 
>> Loyalty to Your Soul teaches self worship. "Center your awareness in your heart and consciously look for the Loving Essence in the person in your presence. By doing so, you're signifying your respect for the Soul before you ...  Maintain awareness that you're in conversation with another Divine Being who is engaged in having a human experience" (p. 209).
>> 
>> 
>> She says that she listens to books on tape by New Age guru Eckhart Tolle, who teaches the divinity of man. (See our book The New Age Tower of Babel for documentation.) Tolle says, "God, the scripture is saying, is formless consciousness and the essence of who you are" (The New Earth, p. 219), and, "Christ is your God-essence or Self" (The Power of Now, p. 104).
>> 
>> 
>> COMMUNING WITH MARY
>> 
>> 
>> Roma says, "I have prayed to Mary and loved her my whole life" ("The Bible: An Epic Mini-Series," Catholiclane.com, Feb. 28, 2013). (She plays the part of Mary in The Bible miniseries.) She promotes the use of the Rosary as a meditation practice. By this, practitioners pray to Mary as the Queen of Heaven and the Mother of God. The Catholic Mary is a mediator between God and man who can hear and answer the prayers of every petitioner, thus having the divine attributes of omnipresence and omnipotence.
>> 
>> 
>> COMMUNING WITH THE DEAD
>> 
>> 
>> Roma also communes with the dead. On the Crossing Over television program on the Sci-Fi Channel in 2002, she supposedly talked to her mother through the mediumship of psychic Jonathan Edwards (Drew MacKenzie, "Roma's TV chat to dead mother," TheFreeLibrary.com). Roma's CD "Meditation" is included with Jonathan Edward's book Practical Praying: Using the Rosary to Enhance Your Life.
>> 
>> 
>> "And the soul that turneth after such as have familiar spirits, and after wizards, to go a whoring after them, I will even set my face against that soul, and will cut him off from among his people" (Leviticus 20:6).
>> 
>> 
>> "And when they shall say unto you, Seek unto them that have familiar spirits, and unto wizards that peep, and that mutter: should not a people seek unto their God? for the living to the dead?" (Isaiah 8:19).
>> 
>> 
>> A FALSE CHRIST
>> 
>> 
>> The christ of The Bible miniseries and The Son of God movie is not the Christ of Scripture. The christ of Lightworkers Media is the typical long-haired hippy of popular mythical imagination. He looks and acts like a cool surfer dude, a miracle-working super hero. He does not call people to repentance from sin; he does not warn of hell; he does not require the new birth for salvation. The christ of The Bible miniseries and The Son of God movie is the non-judgmental christ of The Shack, a christ who accepts everyone, sees the goodness in every person, and "puts no obligations on anyone." He is a cool, modern christ. At the Last Supper, the christ of the Son of God movie does not mention "the forgiveness of sins" in connection with the cup and his death.
>> 
>> 
>> The Son of God promotes a New Age world in which all men will be saved, in which all religions are accepted by God. Before he is beheaded, John the Baptist says, "His [Jesus] power will draw all men to a new world."
>> 
>> 
>> "In the 'Son of God' what they are trying to present is not the Orthodox Christ, but one who's message is not of repentance but of uniting all faiths into and earthly kingdom where all are welcome. In Antichrist's kingdom heretics and sinners, all are told they are accepted as they are" ("Son of God: A Charismatic Revival Masterpiece," Orthodox Views, March 1, 2014).
>> 
>> 
>> It can be no accident that the actor of The Son of God movie bears an uncanny resemblance to a New Age "cosmic christ" and ascended master called Sananda who is channelled by occultists.
>> 
>> 
>> 
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