How to Impact the World Through Film

What is Wrong With Entertainment?

We are all impacted by film. Reformation of the film industry will require drastic change in our personal lives – we must renew our minds and hearts before we can tackle the world’s problem.

First we need to know what we face and how we may have, ourselves, been impacted and lured by the world’s entertainment-driven culture. We need to know our enemy before we can face it prepared.

“Plans are established by counsel; by wise guidance wage war.” Proverbs 20:18

Let us wage war with the culturally acceptable way of thinking through what we allow to enter our minds and memories through the movies we watch and the entertainment we choose.

Fun?

Our culture revolves around having “fun”. Nothing is acceptable or enjoyable if it is not fun. Gary Gilley in his book, This Little Church Went to Market, points out that the word ‘fun’ is of recent origin and no other language has an exact equivalent. “…fun was neither readily understood nor fully accepted until the twentieth century. At the highest levels of culture it was taken for granted that good things were serious things.” Gary Gilley

Fun in our society tends to be anything that doesn’t require much effort or brain power. TV, movies, video games, and any social event cannot be fun if it requires us to learn, think and process ideas. According to our modern culture, there must be lots of laughter and amusement for something to be acceptable.

What Do You Laugh At?

The words ‘laugh’ and ‘laughter’ are almost always used in a negative sense in Scripture – when God laughs He is expressing scorn or mockery (e.g. “He who sits in the heavens laughs, The Lord scoffs at them.” Psalm 2:4).

It is only portrayed as positive three times (“Then our mouth was filled with laughter, and our tongue with shouts of joy; then they said among the nations, ‘The LORD has done great things for them.’” Psalm 126:2; Prov. 14:13, Eccles. 3:4).

Why do we laugh? I would dare to suggest most of the time we laugh it is for the same reason – scorn or mockery. The Biblical terms are joy, gladness, rejoicing, and these are the emotions that should be expressed by the worshipers of God.When we consider the so-called humor in modern movies, we must admit that much of it is dirty – bathroom jokes, disrespect, and inappropriate male and female interaction constitute what is called humor today. Laughing at the expense of others, ridiculing and degrading them is commonplace in our movies.

Consider the principle of Romans 1:

“And since they did not see fit to acknowledge God, God gave them up to a debased mind to do what ought not to be done. They were filled with all manner of unrighteousness, evil, covetousness, malice. They are full of envy, murder, strife, deceit, maliciousness. They are gossips, slanderers, haters of God, insolent, haughty, boastful, inventors of evil, disobedient to parents, foolish, faithless, heartless, ruthless. Though they know God’s righteous decree that those who practice such things deserve to die, they not only do them but give approval to those who practice them.” Romans 1:28-32

We who know the truth should not dare to even passively endorse any form of rebellion to God’s Law.

Subtle, hidden messages are portrayed through movies by use of twisted humor, suggestive attitudes and indirect dishonor of God and His order, beauty, and holiness.

Thus, Christians cannot afford to be desensitized to these sinful messages and cause themselves to be brought under the judgement of God. Even the unsaved have no right to convey and approve these blasphemous ideas. They will be judged for it – how much more we, who call ourselves the children of God.

The Bible does not appear to condemn fun, laughter or entertainment, but points us in the direction of examining both the focus and the motive behind such endeavours. Biblical joy is centered on God, drawn from God’s greatness, and focuses on God’s glory. This is not exactly the typical concept of a ‘good time’ today.

Historical overview of the roots of the entertainment-driven culture

The 1800s introduced a new kind of entertainment.

Prior to the 1800s the upper crust, who would be the intellectuals and cultural aristocrats, had appreciated the arts for centuries. But to enjoy the arts required a person to think, to meditate, and to engage the mind and the soul. However the new brand of entertainment in the 1800s, increasingly being enjoyed by the masses, was mindless and about gratification rather than edification, indulgence rather than transcendence, reaction rather than contemplation, escape from moral instruction rather than submission to it.

The plain style of worship, in the early decades of the 1700s, ensured that the focus was neither on the minister nor on the surroundings but on the God who addressed them in the Word. Language was effectively used to evoke the awareness of the beauty of God’s great and powerful redemptive love.

In the 1800s, sermons of substance were rapidly replaced with emotional appeals. Doctrines were steadily replaced by ‘conversion’ stories, and the preacher’s performance became more important than what was taught. Music took on a central role in corporate worship as emotionalism became the order of the day. Ministers began to study ‘what worked’ in order to draw a crowd and so, when the amusement fad began to flourish in society, the church seemed to have only followed suit.

Its biggest complaint would have to be that they were now in competition with secular forms of entertainment, and the church, or what was left of it, as a whole could not speak with authority against these amusements; it had lost its voice.

And to make matters worse, the television era arose.

The Television Age

The age of television ascended from the ashes of the age of exposition. In the 1700s and well into the 1800s most Americans were avid readers. As a result, they were a nation of people who could think, analyse, debate, formulate an argument, and understand and discuss issues, including theology. The nineteenth century saw a great shift as entertainment started putting down roots in the lives of the people. Every country has been influenced by the Western world, and we blindly follow them to our own demise.

Entertainment soon began to wrap its long tentacles around every aspect of society. Not only religion was affected, but also politics, the media, advertisement and culture in general turned to entertainment-driven strategies. Education too has adopted this amusement-focused strategy. The logic is that if children would not listen to teachers and read books, maybe they would listen to puppets and watch cartoons.

Think about it, when teaching children we instinctively try to come up with the most entertaining form of education – games, picture books and educational toys. While children do learn differently than adults I believe they must also realize that not all things in life are fun and games. They learn that the only way to learn is by having fun, and accept the notion that you cannot learn if instruction is presented in a formal and structured way. Many people perceive lectures, non-fictitious books, sermons and other more serious forms of education as boring and uninteresting. We do not realize that good things are serious things. I believe that is why so many young people today struggle to accept their place in society as mature adults. They want to hold on to their “fun” childhood and do not want to accept the responsibility of adulthood. We need to be preparing children to be responsible and sober adults, not short-sighted, fun-orientated overgrown children.Christianity is a serious thing.

“Christianity on television, by necessity, has always been presented in the form of entertainment. Theology, rituals, sacred worship, prayer, and most other true components of the Christian faith, simply do not ‘play’ well on television.” Gary Gilley

Our faith becomes watered down when we try to teach it in a “fun” and acceptable way. The Christian life is not about having fun.

Paul, the apostle, writes to the Thessalonians and describes their trials as something to be expected; “we sent Timothy, our brother and God’s coworker in the gospel of Christ, to establish and exhort you in your faith, that no one be moved by these afflictions. For you yourselves know that we are destined for this. For when we were with you, we kept telling you beforehand that we were to suffer affliction, just as it has come to pass, and just as you know.” 1 Thessalonians 3:2-4

The true Christian faith is not desirable or attractive to a fun-loving, entertainment-saturated generation. We need to rediscover the heart of the Gospel of Christ.

Is entertainment a “grey” area for a Christian?

Many Christians seem to believe that entertainment – movies, video games, images and music are grey areas. Not so!

“I will set no worthless thing before my eyes; I hate the work of those who fall away; It shall not fasten its grip on me.” Psalm 101:3

“Those who forsake the law praise the wicked, But those who keep the law strive with them.” Proverbs 28:4

Our actions are not neutral. Proverbs says that if we wander from God’s law, which pertains to ALL areas of life, not only do we stumble and perhaps lead other fellow believers to stumble, but we actually praise those who have chosen to forsake God’s law. And if we do keep God’s law as we should, we will, in fact, be at war with the world.

“Put to death therefore what is earthly in you: sexual immorality, impurity, passion, evil desire, and covetousness, which is idolatry.” Colossians 3:5

How many movies don’t have exactly these messages? The earthly messages of movies are very easily distinguishable. Sexual immorality abounds, impurity is hailed, passion dominates, evil desires are paramount, and covetousness is the theme of many movies.

“We live in a society that increasingly drifts toward the form rather than the substance, which embraces the superficial, lives to play, will pay almost any amount of money to be amused, and prizes fun as the highest pursuit of life. Conviction has been replaced with thrill and few seem to notice.” Gary Gilley

The problem is that many Christians have been seduced and trained by the same forces that have enticed society as a whole.

“Too many Christians, just like their unsaved counterparts, are impressed by appearances rather than structure; are seeking thrills and excitement rather than substance; are more apt to respond to emotional manipulation than to rational discourse.” Gary Gilley

We need to remember that the main business of entertainment is to please the crowd, but the main purpose of authentic Christianity is to please the Lord. The Bible and history have both repeatedly shown that it is impossible to do both at the same time for very long.

We Strive for Holiness

“Whether, then, you eat or drink or whatever you do, do all to the glory of God.” 1 Corinthians 10:31

Holiness, in mind and body, is every Christian’s mandate.

“Strive for peace with everyone, and for the holiness without which no one will see the Lord.” Hebrews 12:14

This is our responsibility and duty; we cannot shy away from it. We are to look and act differently than the world. We need to care about what we put into our minds. Ideas have consequences. No movie is neutral – each one has a message – sometimes it just takes a little digging to find that message. We should never switch off our minds – we tend to do that when we watch a movie. But think and ask yourself these questions the next time you watch a movie: Am I wasting my time, what else could I be doing right now? What is this movie’s message? Is this edifying? Does this movie bring glory to God? Would I watch this movie if Jesus Christ was sitting next to me? Should I be watching this movie? We as Christians need to be awake and alert, ready to at any moment defend and share our faith. We cannot afford to sit at the feet of the world and be indoctrinated with their messages. Entertainment is not a grey area.

“But in your hearts honor Christ the Lord as holy, always being prepared to make a defense to anyone who asks you for a reason for the hope that is in you; yet do it with gentleness and respect.” 1 Peter 3:15

Let us THINK

“We are destroying speculations and every lofty thing raised up against the knowledge of God, and we are taking every thought captive to the obedience of Christ.”2 Corinthians 10:5

It has been said:

“Only 5% of the people think, 15% think they think and 80% of the people never think! The 5% who think need books, seminars and documentation. The 15% who think they think need leaflets, newspaper articles and video documentaries. The 80% who never think only respond to TV sound bites, slogans on T-shirts, bumper stickers and posters.”

“Christianity was designed by God to be a ‘thinking’ faith. If so, something appears to be seriously wrong…God desires His people to consider, reason, analyse and study. He has given us His Word in propositional form; a Word that must be carefully dissected if it is to be understood, “Do your best to present yourself to God as one approved, a worker who has no need to be ashamed, rightly handling the word of truth.” 2 Timothy 2:15

To allow ourselves to be pressed into the world’s mould of entertainment without careful reflection based on the Bible is a terrible loss. God is not calling His people to a life of grumpiness, but surely if we, like the saints of Biblical times, are looking for ‘the city which has foundations, whose architect and builder is God’ (Heb. 11:10), it will shape the way we live and enjoy our time on this earth.” Gary Gilley

Nothing in our culture is passive or neutral. We as the Body of Christ, His ambassadors on earth cannot be either. We need to be critical about what we put into our minds. We have a limited time here on earth; let us use it as most effectively as we can! All things need to be brought under the authority and obedience to Jesus Christ, every evil thought, sinful memory, impure scene in our mind, and earthly passion, must be crucified and brought into subjection to Christ our Lord. We cannot afford to deny the Lord with the things we allow to enter our minds, evil things will enter – we live in a sinful world; but it is shameful if we allow and welcome them in.

Onto Our Main Topic:

Making an Impact on our World Through Film

“Can common movies serve as the fuel of cultural regeneration? No, but uncommon movies can reach a suffering, addicted people who obtain all their theology and worldview from the medium of motion pictures. We can get Western viewers off the poison and false doctrine and onto something more nourishing.” Geoffrey Botkin

We Have a Message

We, as Christians, always have a message. It is a message that can change the world. We need to know how to most effectively communicate that message to a lost and dying world, but a world that is strongly opposed to our message. Film is a powerful tool to spread our message and we shouldn’t hesitate to use it to impact our culture for Christ.

“Do Christians need movies…? No. We are not on earth to amuse ourselves, or divert ourselves with those things that dull the senses. We are here to be as alert as we can be, to wage war with the sharpest attention to the needs and afflictions of the perishing. When entire cultures are enslaved to corrupt institutions and customs that can be overturned, or turned to Christ’s advantage, we must not flinch where we can set captives free. The question becomes “who needs us?” not “what do we need?”

It is not a good “witness” when believers, who have a world-changing gospel, retreat from opportunities to engage the culture and cultural institutions that seek to maim, kill, and destroy.” Geoffrey Botkin

Use Language Effectively

We need to consider how to use our words in a powerful, beautiful and persuasive way today and realize the power we can have with our words – we do, I believe consider the negative ways, but it is the positive ways we need to study a little more. We tend to formulate our vocabulary with what we allow to enter our minds. Movies tend to use the weakest forms of vocabulary, using the most modern and “hip” language. Sadly, the language used in movies today is the language used by the common man tomorrow. We have all been affected by this. We need to think about what we say and how we say it. The people of early times knew how to use words in a very powerful way; Biblical language dominated the language of the common man, at one point in time, people spoke the way the old versions are written. The Bible determined vocabulary and proper usage of words. The Bible was the first book written in many languages, and it served as a guide to the people who spoke the language. It preserved the most beautiful forms of linguistic excellence in all languages. Entertainment has, in more ways than one, substituted the Bible in its impact on society on every level. Instead of reading the Bible so much that it determines the way we speak, entertainment, the movies we watch and the music we listen to, now dictates our vocabulary.

May it be said of us, as of the Apostles in the book of Acts, “These men who have turned the world upside down have come here also.” Acts 17:6

Let us turn the world right side up!

With that said…

As Christians, in everything we endeavor, we must strive for excellence. We serve the King of kings and Lord of lords. His creativity, goodness, glory, beauty, and absolute power must be reflected in our every project.

We must teach ourselves to love beauty and excellence. God is a God of order, goodness, and splendor. Everything He creates is “good” and that is what we strive for in our work.

“And God saw that it was good.”Genesis 1:10, 12, 18, 25, 31

10 Practical Movie Making Points

1. Identify your motives.

Why do you want to make a movie? Ask yourself, has this message been communicated elsewhere; could I really do it better? Is my desire to glorify God and make an impact on our dying culture, or am I seeking my own glory?

“The good person out of the good treasure of his heart produces good, and the evil person out of his evil treasure produces evil, for out of the abundance of the heart his mouth speaks.”

Luke 6:45

The true intentions of the heart are reflected in the arts. Your motives and intentions will come out in the end.

“For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, who by their unrighteousness suppress the truth.”

Romans 1:18

“For although they knew God, they did not honor Him as God or give thanks to Him, but they became futile in their thinking, and their foolish hearts were darkened.
Claiming to be wise, they became fools,
and exchanged the glory of the immortal God for images resembling mortal man and birds and animals and creeping things.”

Romans 1:21-23

This is what happens when we create a god to please ourselves – an idol that we would rather please than God – this idol can be ourselves, money, fame, glory, pride or covetousness. Let us pray that the Lord will give us grace to keep our motives pure and our intentions true to the glory of the immortal God.

2. Learn from good movies.

Some of the most valuable methods of movie-making are found simply by observing good techniques. Think critically about the movies you watch. Determine what you think could have been done differently and why. Never switch off your brain! Use every opportunity to learn. Thinking about movies in this way also helps to avoid absorbing mind-numbing entertainment. Keep your mind engaged and learn from the good and the not so good. Be aware of every detail. How does the music affect the emotion of the scene? How was the background set created to affect the mood of the scene? What are the characters wearing, how do the color of their clothes affect their role? How did the cameraman use different angles on the actors and how does that change the viewer’s perspective of the scene? What background noises did the makers allow me to hear and what is that telling me about the scene? So much is communicated without words in a movie and we need to be sensitive to this. We can easily watch a movie and never notice these things, but it is to a great extent these small details that make a movie good or bad quality.

Do not conform

We never have to feel like we need to conform to the world’s standard – we need to set the highest standard, the Biblical standard. At this time in our society, the arts are influencing our culture, rather than our culture influencing the arts. Arts are meant to portray the culture and influence it positively. In our time, with the arts dominated by the humanistic worldview, the arts portray a negative message and a mostly unrealistic picture of reality. Think about a typical movie about a family. The father is usually a stupid, brainless idiot. The mother is feministic and runs the family as best she can without the father’s input. Any input given by him is scorned and tossed aside as foolish. The children are unhappy and rebellious. Their best friends are outside the family circle, and there is tension and bitterness in their relationships with their siblings and disrespect is the norm in their relationships with their parents. I believe this is a mostly unrealistic portrayal of a normal family.

However with the humanistic worldview having taken over the film industry, this family portrait was portrayed as normal and acceptable – and so it became. Families have succumbed to the proposed “normal” and today many families do look like this. Films do not necessarily portray true life, yet it molds it. We need to return to using the arts to portray the culture in a positive, realistic and Biblical way.

In any case, our culture, and especially our family life, should be so firmly founded on the Scriptures that even when the humanistic worldview tries to sell us its version, we should immediately be able to identify and counter it. Strong families make for strong societies and nations, and the Scriptures have a lot to say about families and their importance in the Kingdom of God. No wonder that this is the one institution attacked the most vehemently by the secular humanist worldview, in movies and many other forms of entertainment. So learn to discern and do not be bullied into the worldly way and norm of film making.

3. Identify your genre.

Know who your audience will be and what you want them to know and do after seeing your project. Will it be an informative and relevant documentary with a must-be-told message that will inspire and encourage, or a powerful drama that will lead sinners to their knees in repentance?

4. Have a definite, defined message.

This is the most important aspect of your film, if your message is weak and watered down your whole project is a failure. The reason for making the movie lies in the message of the movie.

As stated before, Christians have a message, but we need to know how to accurately and strongly communicate that message without losing its power and authority. Christian movies today sometimes really lose the true Christian message and try to make it out to be another just another moral and supposedly fulfilling way to live life, if you so choose. We need to be careful that our motive to make movies remains true to the Gospel message and the glory of Christ. Our motive cannot simply be to give people what they want, mindless entertainment, only under the “Christian” banner. Have a strong main plot, of course other sub plots will arise, but make sure the viewer knows exactly what the movie was about at the end. My family has, and we are very selective about the movies we watched, watched several supposedly Christian movies where at the end we would look at each other and say, “What on earth was that?!” We don’t want that to be the response of our viewers!

5. Use Biblical messages.

What is the Biblical Message?

We are bombarded with messages in every ungodly movie we watch. We are bombarded with messages in every ungodly movie we watch. As mentioned earlier about how the family is portrayed, some other messages include animistic beliefs, the homosexual agenda, interfaith ideas, Hindu teaching, and strong feministic philosophies. Even when making or watching a Christian film we need to remember that it is the Gospel that will change the world.

“For I am not ashamed of the gospel, for it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes, to the Jew first and also to the Greek.” Romans 1:16

A “Christian” film without a true portrayal of the Gospel is not a Christian film. Not even good morals are enough to substitute the true Gospel.

Jesus is the only way, truth and life – if our film lacks this message, it lacks the Gospel and should not be labelled as Christian. Sin, unrighteousness, man’s depravity, judgement, the righteousness and holiness of God, the salvation of lost sinners, and the cross of Christ must be addressed and explained. If atheists, Muslims, humanists, and lukewarm pew-warmers are comfortable with your movie it is not Christian.

We often see this trend in “Christian” movies, they tend to present the Christian belief system without presenting the Gospel, the teachings of Christ without the Christ of the teachings.

The world doesn’t mind too much about good morals, they are opposed to Jesus Christ. We cannot separate the two. Honorable morals without regeneration is not Christian. It is the Gospel we are to proclaim, not simply good morals.

The Bible is our guide for life and godliness. It is our ultimate authority. When we make films we are not trying to sell our own message. Our focus is reclaiming the world for Christ; He is our message and He has revealed Himself in His Word and we can only accurately portray Him when we use His own inspired Word.

Only Bible Stories?

Does this mean we only make films about Bible stories? Not necessarily, but think about what the messages of the Biblical accounts are. Take for example the book of Jeremiah. A rebellious people – a nation that has turned away from God. One man rises up and proclaims God’s message of hope and grace, but he and his message is rejected. The Lord judges the rebellious people and they are commanded to return to Him. Beautiful and powerful language is used to describe the Lord’s love and protection in spite of the defiance and stubbornness of their hearts.

Let us look at an excerpt:

“The word of the LORD came to me, saying, “Go and proclaim in the hearing of Jerusalem, Thus says the LORD, “I remember the devotion of your youth, your love as a bride, how you followed Me in the wilderness, in a land not sown.
Israel was holy to the LORD, the firstfruits of his harvest. All who ate of it incurred guilt; disaster came upon them, declares the LORD.” Hear the word of the LORD, O house of Jacob, and all the clans of the house of Israel.
Thus says the LORD: “What wrong did your fathers find in Me that they went far from Me, and went after worthlessness, and became worthless? They did not say, ‘Where is the LORD who brought us up from the land of Egypt, who led us in the wilderness, in a land of deserts and pits, in a land of drought and deep darkness, in a land that none passes through, where no man dwells?’ And I brought you into a plentiful land to enjoy its fruits and its good things. But when you came in, you defiled My land and made My heritage an abomination. The priests did not say, ‘Where is the LORD?’ Those who handle the law did not know Me; the shepherds transgressed against Me; the prophets prophesied by Baal and went after things that do not profit. “Therefore I still contend with you, declares the LORD, and with your children’s children I will contend. For cross to the coasts of Cyprus and see, or send to Kedar and examine with care; see if there has been such a thing. Has a nation changed its gods, even though they are no gods? But My people have changed their glory for that which does not profit. Be appalled, O heavens, at this; be shocked, be utterly desolate, declares the LORD,
for My people have committed two evils: they have forsaken Me, the fountain of living waters, and hewed out cisterns for themselves, broken cisterns that can hold no water. “Is Israel a slave? Is he a homeborn servant? Why then has he become a prey? The lions have roared against him; they have roared loudly. They have made his land a waste; his cities are in ruins, without inhabitant…And now what do you gain by going to Egypt to drink the waters of the Nile? Or what do you gain by going to Assyria to drink the waters of the Euphrates? Your evil will chastise you, and your apostasy will reprove you. Know and see that it is evil and bitter for you to forsake the LORD your God; the fear of Me is not in you, declares the Lord GOD of hosts.” Jeremiah 2:1-19

This is our message to the world, and a powerful message it is.

Remember, “An unjust man is abominable to the righteous, And he who is upright in the way is abominable to the wicked.” Proverbs 29:27

The world will certainly not rave about our message, it is not popular, otherwise everyone would be proclaiming it.

6. Keep everything relevant to the message.

When you have a defined and definite message you want every aspect of your film to support the message. Just watch any well-made film. Nothing in the film is an accident. Everything is focused and so orchestrated, many times without the viewers’ notice, to strengthen the message, be the message negative or positive. It is very irritating to watch a film where you don’t know why certain scenes were included – that should never be the case. When making an excellent film every action, line, word, and suggestion should say something to the viewer about the ultimate message of the film.

7. Define your characters.

Another aspect of a poorly created movie is failure to identify and define the characters. You want to introduce and expound your characters as soon as possible in the beginning of your film, and their character and personalities should be built on and expanded throughout the film. You want the viewer to know exactly who the movie is about and why as soon as possible.

8. Try to keep an outsider’s point of view.

Many times a certain scene makes perfect sense to us, but when we take a different point of view, we sometimes realize that it really makes no sense! So while writing or editing a film try to stay objective and critical of your own work. Does it make sense? Will someone who has not read the script understand the message?

9. Get good, mature critique.

Our father has helped us so much in defining and supporting the message of any of our movies. Whether it is a promo, story or documentary, he has helped us to refine our projects and make them much more hard-hitting. Get another point of view and be willing to make changes.

10.D0 ALL to the glory of Jesus Christ.

“And whatever you do, in word or deed, do everything in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him.” Colossians 3:17

The Gospel is Our Message!

We can us this medium to impact our world, but we need to be careful with it. As ambassadors of our Lord all must be done to make His Name known in every part of the world. We dare not degrade or reduce His Name or His authority through negligence or lack of preparation and forethought. An accurate description of our God and His Gospel of salvation should never be lacking in our movies.

This does not only apply to film-making, we need to reclaim every area of our culture for Christ. Even if film-making does not interest you, you can still use the principles we have given to be moral, upright, blameless, and respectable in our modern day and do something to turn our nation to the Lord. Let us turn our God-less, God-hating culture into a God-honoring, God-fearing society in all areas; we all have that job to do. The Gospel will change the world – that must remain our message.

“This is not merely “fooling around” with movies. If done carefully and well, with the right ingredients, changing cinema will change culture and change history.” (Botkin, 2010)

“Whatever you do, work heartily, as for the Lord and not for men, knowing that from the Lord you will receive the inheritance as your reward. You are serving the Lord Christ.” Colossians 3:23-24

That should be enough for us to do anything for His Name! He has done so much for us, what have we done for Him?

“And Jesus came and said to them, ‘All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to Me. Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age.’” Matthew 28:18-20

“I appeal to you therefore, brothers, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is your spiritual worship.
Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that by testing you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect.” Romans 12:1-2

Berdine and Michelle Frew