Revelations, The Movie: Stick with the book

I am always suspect whenever I hear someone refer to the last book in the Bible as “Revelations.” True, sometimes it’s a cultural or geographical thing (I tease my dad all the time about the state north of us having an “r” in the spelling, as in “Warshington.”) But sometimes it reflects ignorance, or worse yet, mockery of the very words of God. Such appears to be the case of NBC’s current mini-series Revelations, which seems to have ignorance and mockery all wrapped up in one, six-hour, commercial-laden package. While trying to cash in (cash being the operative word) on the successes of “The Passion of the Christ,” and the “Left Behind” series of books, reviews by Believers who have seen at least portions of the thing have revealed many of the other bottom-lines of what is sure to be an interest-sparking wink at spiritual-ness. Tim LaHaye, the creator of the Left Behind series and a prophecy scholar, described the show as “unbiblical” and “weird.” “This story is based on some writer’s imagination about the Book of Revelation,” LaHaye said. “However, the writer clearly has not studied the book or maybe even read it.” There’s going to be a lot of this stuff gang. “The Last Temptation of Christ,” “The Da Vinci Code,” and even what could be considered slams by those who are really believers but have a different take than perhaps you or me on the end times like “The Last Disciple,” are gaining ground, influence and mentionability. No, I haven’t seen it. No, I don’t intend to. But, I also don’t need to. You see, Revelation (singular), chapter one has this great promise in it: “Blessed is the one who reads the words of this prophecy, and blessed are those who hear it and take to heart what is written in it, because the time is near.” (Revelation 1:3) I have a great idea! Let’s just read it! —Pastor Terry