This is a movie; it is fiction. The message is very Godly. We have further attenuated (as a species) into Godless war-mongers and militants who believe that violence is the answer to everything. We look upon Gods planet as a commodity that we have the right to rape and plunder, control and exploit. This movie and others, point to the madness – the insanity – which scripture actually predicts. It also predicts that billions will claim to be Christians, but they are frauds and hypocrites. That too, has happened. “The Day the Earth Stood Still” is yet another fictional example along this thinking. Without a radical internal transformation, humans are doomed, and no amount of religion will alter that outcome. However, God will!

Professional Religionists are Godless-Loveless-Faithless: I call them the GLF’s. They, like multitudes before them, use fear, religion, tradition and ritual to suck mammon resources from the simpleton masses. These people are as emotionally retarded, ego damaged and acceptance-dependent, as any other non-transformed person. They just do weekend church for a tithe and speak Christianeze. Otherwise they are as Godless as any dedicated atheist. If a person does not have the intellectual capacity to enjoy a fictional story, no matter the similarities to any other religion, they expose their faithlessness. They feel challenged, as if any and all fiction must not include anything that violates their narrow-minded and ethnocentric view of the world.

Mark isn’t in it for the money, he’s talked time and again about how profits from his book sales go directly to Mars Hill’s funds (funding which takes care of simple needs like utilities and paying the salaries of staff members who need to feed their families), and not to his own pockets.
Also, all the content on the church’s website is absolutely free. Driscoll has said many times that this is because you can’t put a price tag on the Gospel.

As to the heart of this article, I would agree that there are many movies that you could say are more satanic and demonic than Avatar (if one can measure these things), but I would raise to points. First, Mark was most likely engaging in hyperbole to drive a point home; I’m willing to bet that he’d be the first to say that there are movies that could be classified as being more intensely demonic. Secondly, all hyperbole and exaggeration aside, he is making a valid point in stating that Avatar preaches elements of pantheism and new age paganism which are both antithetical to what God has preached about the difference between Himself and what He has created. This view of God as an impotent force that is one-and-the-same with and inseparable from all of creation is demonic in origin. So, whether or not Mark overstated his evaluation of the demonic message in Avatar compared to other films, the point still stands that the spiritual concepts in Avatar are in opposition to biblical truth about who God is.

In my own opinion, I think most of the people who have commented on this video, clearly have not listend to anything from Mark Driscoll except for this 4 minute video excerpt (anyone who has listened to Mark, knows that he doesn’t just talk for 4 minutes – try finding what this clip is an excerpt from – chances are, it is part of a much larger sermon, and this was only a single point). Having listened to several of Mark’s sermons (and discussed with others who have as well), while comparing his teaching with what is found in scripture, I see Mark Driscoll as a passionate man, who is concerned about others.

Love of money…I think not. The proceeds from his book sales don’t even go to him, they go to his church.

” His citizenship should removed and he should imprisioned for threatening women, children, and promoting hatred and violence to anyone with the brains to disagree with him.” – Wow, that is quite a statement…Have you even listened to Mark’s sermon on “Marriage and Men”

I have my own personal convictions in regards to Mark’s style of teaching and Mars Hill church in general, that would keep me from attending his church with my family, but overall, I see Mark as a man who is doing his best to serve the one true God.

I’m going to go out on a limb here and guess that as this article was authored, it was not really from an objective view. To call it pagan is a big statement, but you cant deny that there are extremely potent Hindu undertones in the film.
The ethos of the entire film is about nature, and humankind’s interconnectivity with it.

I also don’t think that opening with ‘I’ve taught Sunday school’ qualify’s you to open an attack upon theology, as if you have any empathy with Driscoll. Above all, I simply think you loved the film, and his opinion on it has hit a raw nerve.

ultimately in light of saying that if he didn’t like it, simply return it rather than make comments… surely you could have listened to his sermon and thought “what tripe, I’m not going to give any time to this”, but instead you really doing the same with a counter argument?

Remember – paragraphs are our friends.

The whole way through the movie I was reminded of the situation in West Papua, where western interests focus on the world’s largest gold and copper mines, paying the corrupt Indonesian military to defend the mines against the “savages” around them. The indigenous Papuans object to the mines because they are pushed off their land without any say, their rivers are poisoned and their lives are ruined. Roughly 100,000 West Papuans have been killed by the Indonesian military since the mid 1960′s, and both the Australian and US governments tidy up the details to protect their mining interests. Indonesia has been working to have the West Papuans and their spears declared as terrorists so that it becomes our moral duty to wipe them out.

I long for the day that people like Mark Driscoll get their heads enough into the Bible to see that God says repeatedly throughout it how he “hates” us doing church if there is injustice, if the weak are victimised and that the land “mourns to him” when no one takes it to heart.

Avatar is a bold attempt to expose the way we are able to make evil look good when we worship money and comfort. The fact that the story was presented with a “pagan” edge to it is because the people like Driscoll who should have been carrying out their duty to tell the story have turned their backs on their prophetic role. What is evil and satanic is the fact that Avatar is not too far off target with its warnings about injustice and environmental cruelty, and that too much of the western church is too caught up in the materialism to see it.

Satan doesn’t have horns and pitch fork, who only cameos in Blair Witch movies.

Thats absurd, he’s a deceiver and shows up in ways you least expect. Most people commenting i see have already taken the bait.

Gotta pick your Team…. and there are consequences either way.

Team A(Jesus Team): Avatar not so kewl….
Team B(Satans Team): Avatar so kewl….

See Easy!!!

As for those who think they are on Team A and missed spiritual issues by focusing on the awesome(and it was incredible) production… your probably on Team B….

Ultimately, the reason why Mark hates Avatar is because he hates the devil and the devil’s deception in our lives, specifically now, through that movie. He says, “Satan wants you to emotionally connect with the lie.” Which is true. It’s how the devil works and that why you, The Movie God, reacted so strongly (angrily) to his sermon. It challenges you because you connected emotionally with Avatar. You can’t deny that because you are angry and you can’t and never will be agnostic because you believe in a god… yourself.

We are all sinners and destined for a life of eternal damnation. God sent Jesus Christ to forgive us for our sin and have the chance to live in eternal life. For those of you who are searching for truth, who want to live, don’t look for it in the world… you have to look for it in someOne that exists outside humanity’s limited ability to problem solve. Jesus Christ. He is our hope and the answer. I pray, Mr. The Movie God, that one day you will return to your faith. You WILL be forgiven if you repent.

Peace, friends.

Avatar is just a story, but a great one, in my opinion.