Zach Uram's Blog

I am a credobaptist. That means I believe that a believer should only be baptized once they come to genuine faith in Christ following repentance and acceptance of the Gospel. This is known as believers’ baptism.The opposing viewpoint is paedobaptism.This is known as infant baptism, here a young child is baptized whilst still an infant. They have no repentance, and no belief. 

There is not a single instance of infant baptism in the New Testament. The Old Covenant was entered into through circumcision (for males only, females were left in the lurch), and the vast majority of Israelites who were circumcised were not saved. The New Covenant is wholly different and better. The entrance into the new covenant is the baptism of the Holy Spirit (spiritual) not water baptism (physical). And unlike the Old Covenant, all members under the New Covenant are saved.

Roman Catholics, Orthodox, Lutherans and some Anglicans, further believe that baptism is salvific. This theological position is known as baptismal regeneration. I reject this position in the strongest possible terms. It betrays a lack of understanding of the nature of salvation. No act of man (work) can force the Holy Spirit to regenerate someone. According to baptismal regeneration even if an atheist were baptized with the proper form, using the phrase “I baptize you in the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Ghost” and administered water, God would be obligated to regenerate that person! Such a position is utter blasphemy and makes a mockery of Scripture.

The best book I’ve ever read explaining believers’ baptism is: “Believer’s Baptism: Sign of the New Covenant in Christ” by Thomas R. Schreiner (Editor), Shawn Wright (Editor). With contributions from Andreas Kostenberger, Robert Stein, Thomas Schreiner, Stephen Wellum, Steve McKinion, Jonathan Rainbow, Shawn Wright, and Mark Dever. The collection of essays clearly and rigorously defends credobaptism, and shows using Scripture why paedobaptism is simply untenable.

Another related book I highly recommend is “The Distinctiveness of Baptist Covenant Theology” by Pascal Denault. In this book Denault demonstrates, using Scripture, that credobaptism best fulfills the covenants. He meticulously contrasts Baptist covenant theology with Paedobaptist covenant theology and shows that the distinct baptist position best fits the substance of the New Covenant. He does this within the context of 17th century sources.

By the way just to show there is no love lost for my paedobaptist brothers and sisters, here is an very good article written by Guy M. Richard at Ligonier making the case for paedobaptism. If you’re interested in learning more about the case for credobaptism, here is an excellent article written by Dr. Sam Renihan.

Further, I am not just a Baptist, I am a Reformed Baptist. Here is a great article explaining what makes one a Reformed Baptist.

This is my second review of the 1986 film “The Mission”. It is much more extensive than my original review, which is also posted here on my blog.

IMDB:
https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0091530/

RELEASED:
October 31st, 1986

RUNTIME:
2 hours

GENERAL PLOT:
18th century Spanish Jesuits in Paraguay, South America, try to protect a remote South American Indian tribe in danger of falling under the rule of pro-slavery Portugal. The Spanish and Portuguese both captured Indians and forced them into slavery.

ACTORS:
Robert De Niro as Br. Mendoza
Jeremy Irons as Fr. Gabriel
Ray McAnally as Altamirano
Aidan Quinn as Felipe
Liam Neeson as Br. Fielding
Ronald Pickup as Señor Hontar
Chuck Low as Señor Cabeza

The Mission was written by Robert Bolt (A Man for All Seasons, Lawrence of Arabia, Doctor Zhivago) and directed by Roland Joffé (The Killing Fields, There Be Dragons).  

The Jesuits who first went out to the remote Indian tribe met martyrdom. Fr. Gabriel’s character sent a priest who was killed by the tribe so he felt obligated to go reach them with the Gospel.

Fr. Gabriel made the arduous journey up the falls. Once he was in the jungle,  he began playing the flute. The Guarani tribe was amazed and gradually accepted him. He established a mission, San Carlos, and many of the tribe accepted Christ and thus became Christians by God’s grace! To see this violent tribe looking with awe at Fr. Gabriel’s pictures of the Blessed Mother with baby Jesus and some of the saints were in profound contrast with their former way of life. Fr. Gabriel has a run-in with Captain Mendoza who captured and killed some of the tribe.

Back in town, Mendoza finds out the woman he loves is in love with his brother Felipe. After simmering in anger for the day and thinking things over, Mendoza decides to have a duel with his brother. Felipe was no match for him and is quickly killed.

Six months later Fr. Gabriel talks with Mendoza who is punishing himself for his brother’s death by not eating. Mendoza loved his brother. He feels there is no redemption for his sin against Felipe. Fr. Gabriel convinces him to try to do penance. Mendoza lugs a very heavy bundle of armor and swords (symbolic of his old life as a mercenary and slave trader) with him as Fr. Gabriel and he and other priests travel to the Gurani tribe above the waterfalls. Mendoza has an extremely arduous and taxing journey moving slowly up the falls.

When their party gets to the top of the falls they are met by Guarani tribesmen. Covered in mud and exhausted

Mendoza sits there. Suddenly an Indian confronts him, and after a tense standoff where he holds a sharp knife to Mendoza’s throat, he cuts the rope and the heavy bundle falls into the river. Mendoza sobs and Fr. Gabriel comes over and comforts him. The heavy bundle being which was cut represented his guilt and self-hate over killing his brother.

Back at the tribal camp, Mendoza helps build the new church being erected. He also becomes a novice in the Jesuits.

In town, we see that a high official of the Roman Catholic Church, His Eminence Cardinal Altamirano has been dispatched by Rome to settle the matter of who would control the territory. The  Jesuit missions were originally built on Spanish lands, where slavery is illegal. But since a certain treaty was passed, the land has now been ceded to the Portuguese, where slavery is legal. The missions are the last refuge for the Guarani tribe, from the Portuguese slave traders. The Portuguese monarch wishes to expand his empire, and the Spanish monarch wishes to also prosper in the New World. Altamirano decides to visit the Jesuit missions before he decides the matter of who gets the land. The Portuguese put pressure on Cardinal Altamirano to judge in their favor. The Portuguese king listens to his trusted advisor who believes the Church is too powerful.

Cardinal Altamirano travels to the San Carlos mission and is amazed by the hospitality and close-knit Christian community that the Guarani have built. The Guarani sing Sancta Maria. In spite of what he saw, the Cardinal decides, tragically, that the Guarani must leave the missions and be at the mercy of the Portuguese. The king of the Guarani says they will not leave, they will fight. He says they were wrong to ever have trusted the Jesuits. Cardinal Altamirano tells Fr. Gabriel that he had already decided to give Portugal the mission territories before he came to San Carlos. His reasoning is that if the Church resists the Portuguese, the Jesuits will be kicked out of Portugal, and their order could then be removed from other European countries in a domino effect. So the missions were sacrificed.

Fr. Gabriel decides to stay at San Carlos, and remain with the tribe no matter what happens. Mendoza decides he will help the Guarani fight to live, two of the other priests will join him. The Guarani were wondering if God had abandoned him. Mendoza was showing them that he would fight as a priest to show them God’s, sacrificial love. Fr. Gabriel has a tense argument with Mendoza and tells him that what he’s about to do is deeply wrong and that fundamentally God is love.

The Portuguese military is making their way to San Carlos, with heavily armed men, cannons, and enslaved Guarani who are going to fight against their own people. Mendoza and a few men sneak into the Portuguese camp and steal kegs of gunpowder, rifles, and pistols. Mendoza is making homemade cannons to use against the Portuguese when they enter the San Carlos mission.

Mendoza and Fr. Gabriel meet for a final time, the Portuguese canoes were spotted approaching San Carlos. Fr. Gabriel poignantly says to Mendoza, “If might is right, then love has no place in the world. It may be so. But I don’t have the strength to live in a world like that.” They embrace, and Fr. Gabriel gives Mendoza his cross to wear. Mendoza and the tribesmen make some kills, but the Portuguese are too powerful and it’s asymmetric warfare. As the fighting goes on, Fr. Gabriel says mass with the women and children outside the front of the church where he has a makeshift altar set up.

The Portuguese troops set the church and village on fire, and fire muskets and cannons at the helpless women and children as Fr. Gabriel holds the monstrance containing the Blessed Sacrament. It was really hard to watch this part of the movie. The Portuguese military was absolutely heartless and brutal.

Mendoza tries to explode keys of gunpowder on the approaching soldiers, but the musket doesn’t fire. He sees a young child laying injured, and he has the choice to save the child and let him escape with his tribesmen or else to explode the trap. He chooses life and saves the child. Seconds later, the Portuguese soldiers fire on Mendoza, striking him multiple dies, he collapses to the ground. He’s still alive though, and he watches as the soldiers kill a great number of women and children as Fr. Gabriel leads them holding the monstrance. Mendoza sees his old friend Fr. Gabriel. bravely carrying the monstrance as he walks forward, suddenly multiple Portuguese soldiers fire on Fr. Gabriel killing him instantly. That was the final thing Mendoza saw, he closes his eyes and dies. We see a Guarani man pick up the monstrance and walk forward with it. At this point, I lost it and was sobbing like a baby.

Cardinal Altamirano, Señor Hontar, and Señor Cabeza (who ordered the slaughter of the Guarani) were discussing the next day what happened. The Cardinal questions Cabeza asking if such genocide was necessary and he says it was. Then Hontar says, “We must work in the world. The world is thus.” And the Cardinal, with tears in his eyes, replies “No Señor Hontar, thus have we made the world. Thus have I made it.”

We see a group of survivors, young children, get in a canoe and make their way up the river, thus returning to the jungle. One girl brings a violin she found floating in the river. Their only remains of contact with the so-called civilized world. Cardinal Altamirano says, dictating a letter to the Pope, “So Your Holiness, now your priests are dead. And I am left alive. But, in truth, it is I who am dead. And they, who live. For as always Your Holiness, the spirit of the dead will survive, in the memory of the living.”

The last thing message to us is a quote from Scripture, John 1:5 – “The light shines in the darkness and the darkness has not overcome it.”

This film showed, in my view, in a very visceral and moving way that what matters is our relationship with Christ. And if need be, we should be willing to become martyrs as Mendoza, Fr. Gabriel, the other priests, and the Guarani did. For us, death is not the end, but rather the beginning of an eternity with our Lord.

In the end, Mendoza got the redemption he was seeking, Fr. Gabriel sacrificially laid down his life for his brothers and sisters in Christ. The Guarani died as true martyrs for Christ. Theirs was a simplicity and purity of faith, that was both profound and sublime. Also, we saw a cautionary tale of when the Church gets too involved in worldly political affairs of the state.

I can say, without a hint of doubt, that this film is easily in my top 5 of my favorite films of all time. It’s not easy to watch, but it’s worth it. This film was both profound and disturbing. 

A closing thought of mine expressed in a quote:

“…Often, Christians of the present day discuss the “problem of evil.” Why does a good, loving, and all-powerful God allow evil in the world? Perhaps this question itself is misguided or based on a false premise. Not only does it presume humanity is the innocent victim of evil, but also that evil is an external force from which, it is imagined, God is failing to protect us. The reality is precisely the reverse—evil enters creation as a result of humanity’s collusion with evil spiritual forces. Humanity is the vehicle through which evil comes into the world, and it is most often directly inflicted by humans upon one another rather than by impersonal forces of nature. God’s merciful and gracious action is why this evil does not consume the creation entirely.

Nevertheless, God does allow the consequences of sin and corruption to at least partially play out in His creation. What is often labeled as God’s judgment, wrath, or punishment is really His allowing the perpetrators of iniquity to experience the full consequences of their sin. As always, this judgment is not punitive, though we may experience it as the punishment or the price of sin. Rather, to truly restore justice and order requires either repentance of the sin and evil that have disrupted the good order of creation or the removal of the unrepentant sinner.”—Fr. Stephen De Young, God is a Man of War: The Problem of Violence in the Old Testament

The cinematography of this film was stunning! Excellent directing by Roland Joffé! The ensemble cast of actors was brilliant.

Jeremy Irons and Robert DeNiro did some of their best work. Even the people playing the Guarani were good and believable.

I’ve never seen a film score so beautifully and richly complement the action and mood of a film as I did with Morricone’s music for The Mission. It evokes a range of emotions and also helps pace the film.

Here is my favorite musical piece from Ennio Morricone’s magnificent film score: The Mission – Main Theme.

The Mission won an Academy Award for Best Cinematography – Chris Menges. It also won several BAFTA awards. For a complete list of awards click here.

Here is the Catholic Film Podcast discussion of the film presented by Catholic Culture.

If you can’t watch the entire film, see this 4 minute clip which gives an overview.

The Harry Potter books/movies use spells adapted from actual magic spells, and contain the names of actual demons! It is a gateway for our kids and grandkids into the occult. We should burn the Harry Potter books and melt the DVDs of the movies! Filth. Look how it spread as a worldwide phenomenon and made Rowling a billionaire! Definitely Satan at work. And I get tired of hearing clueless Christian parents say,  “At least my child is reading!” As if there is nothing else they can read but demonic filth!

Harry Potter has popularized occult teachings and practices. The Harry Potter books have sold over 500 million copies. And the movies have been viewed hundreds of millions of times earning more than $9 billion USD at the box office. It has introduced a generation to magic and has normalized occult beliefs and practices. Harry Potter has taught children that magic and witches and wizards and the occult, in general, are cool and fun and good. It taught them to not fear magic, and to be magically minded. This is extremely dangerous!

Here is a complete list of the spells used in Harry Potter!

Please listen to this short video of Fr. Chad Ripperger talking about the Satanic aspects of Harry Potter!

Both Fr. Ripperger and Zachary King (a former Satanist) say that at least some of the spells are real. The fire spell is the main example they use. Spells are worked by the presence of a demon. This witchcraft is utterly demonic! They are real because when she did research for the books, Rowling used real spell manuals so that they would be authentic. According to Fr. Ripperger at least 60% of the demons named in Harry Potter are actual demons that he and fellow exorcists have cast out of possessed people. 

Most of the Apostles of the New Testament died as martyrs, knowing even as their bodies would fall asleep, they would rise with Christ! Here is a list of how the Apostles died. If you have corrections or further details to add please leave a comment!

1. Matthew. Suffered martyrdom in Ethiopia, Killed by a sword wound.

2. Mark. Died in Alexandria, Egypt , after being dragged by Horses through the streets until he was dead.

3. Luke. Was hanged in Greece as a result of his tremendous Preaching to the lost.

4. John. Faced martyrdom when he was boiled in huge Basin of boiling oil during a wave of persecution In Rome. However, he was miraculously delivered From death.

John was then sentenced to the mines on the prison Island of Patmos. He wrote his prophetic Book of Revelation on Patmos . The apostle John was later freed and returned to serve As Bishop of Edessa in modern Turkey . He died as an old man, the only apostle to die peacefully

5. Peter. He was crucified upside down on an x shaped cross. According to church tradition it was because he told his tormentors that he felt unworthy to die In the same way that Jesus Christ had died.

6. James. The leader of the church in Jerusalem , was thrown over a hundred feet down from the southeast pinnacle of the Temple when he refused to deny his faith in Christ. When they discovered that he survived the fall, his enemies beat James to death with a fuller’s club.

This was the same pinnacle where Satan had taken Jesus during the Temptation.

7. James the Son of Zebedee was a fisherman by trade when Jesus Called him to a lifetime of ministry.

As a strong leader of the church, James was beheaded at Jerusalem. The Roman officer who guarded James watched amazed as James defended his faith at his trial.

Later, the officer Walked beside James to the place of execution. Overcome by conviction, he declared his new faith to the judge and Knelt beside James to accept beheading as a Christian.

8. Bartholomew. Also known as Nathaniel. He Was a missionary to Asia. He witnessed for our Lord in present day Turkey. Bartholomew was martyred for his preaching in Armenia where he was flayed to death by a whip.

9. Andrew. He Was crucified on an x-shaped cross in Patras, Greece. After being whipped severely by seven soldiers they tied his body to the cross with cords to prolong his agony.

His followers reported that, when he was led toward the cross, Andrew saluted it in these words, “I have long desired and expected this happy hour. The cross has been consecrated by the body of Christ hanging on it”. He continued to preach to his tormentors For two days until he expired.

10. Thomas. He Was stabbed with a spear in India during one of his missionary trips to establish the church in the Subcontinent.

11. Jude. He Was killed with arrows when he refused to deny his faith in Christ.

12. Matthias. The apostle chosen to replace the traitor Judas Iscariot. He was stoned and then beheaded.

13. Paul. He Was tortured and then beheaded by the evil Emperor Nero at Rome in A.D. 67. Paul endured a lengthy imprisonment, which allowed him to write his many epistles to the churches he had formed throughout the Roman Empire. These letters, which taught many of the foundational Doctrines of Christianity, form a large portion of the New Testament.

According to increasingly many Democrats in America, who fancy themselves as ‘Democratic Socialists’, the free market, using capitalist principles, has brought oppression, racism, income inequality, and poverty. This is a popular refrain from socialists like AOC, Bernie Sanders, and Elizabeth Warren. Is the free market actually guilty of so much evil? Not at all! While it certainly has problems, free-market capitalism has raised more people out of poverty than ANY OTHER ECONOMIC SYSTEM in history! I am against crony capitalism. I favor morally restrained capitalism, contra the “Greed is good.” of the 1980s Wall Street yuppies!

All the data we have is clear that in the past 200 years (1820 – 2020), the rates of poverty globally have been reduced dramatically thanks to capitalism.  Both baseline poverty rates, as well as extreme poverty rates, have decreased sharply under capitalism.

Millennials and Gen-Z are being brainwashed by socialist teachers to believe that socialism/communism is superior to free-market capitalism! Nothing could be further from the truth!

According to the following article: 

In 1820, the total world population numbered around 1 billion people. Out of that 1 billion, demographers and economic historians have estimated that about 95 percent lived in poverty, and 85 percent in abject poverty. Only a small fraction of the human race had any form of material comfort, though we need to keep in mind that what was considered a comfortable existence in 1820 would be viewed as material wretchedness by most in the 21st century.
The world population has increased to over 7.6 billion people in 2018. The World Bank calculated that less than 10 percent lived in serious poverty in 2015. In 200 years, the population has grown by more than 6.5 billion people while poverty has sensationally fallen to less than 10 percent of the much larger total. If this trend continues, it is not unreasonable to anticipate that before the end of the 21st century, poverty will be a thing of the past.
All might not have the same standard of living in, say, 2075 or 2090. But the differences will likely be reduced to degrees of comfortable material enjoyment of life, not the dichotomy in which some have it while others do not. – https://www.aier.org/article/the-rise-of-capitalism-and-the-dignity-of-labor/

That is a dramatic, even miraculous, transformation!! In the past 20 years, nearly 1 billion people have been taken out of poverty thanks to capitalism! Listen to Bono, not AOC!

Catholic apologists online, make a habit, I’ve noticed, of discrediting the great Reformed Martyr William Tyndale. They use fraudulent revisionist history to do this. I’ve lost count of the times I’ve seen Catholics dismiss Tyndale’s work as 3rd rate or “riddled with errors”. The truth is that Tyndale was a consummate scholar and ranked as the preeminent translator of his day. He was the Jerome of his generation! A master scholar of eight languages, Tyndale was meticulous in his translation of the Bible’s original Greek and Hebrew, and his style of English was uncommonly beautiful.

Tyndale’s translation of the Bible was simple but elegant. As his translation spread, his plain rhetorical style also spread and began to form the basis of a new English style, one that took common speech and elevated it into comprehensible prose. Some of the most famous phrases in the English language can still be attributed to Tyndale, including “and the truth shall make you free;” “eat, drink, and be merry;” and “the powers that be.”

New translations made few changes to Tyndale’s work and wording. The Great Bible of 1539 was published by the royal authority of King Henry VIII just three years after Tyndale’s death. Ironically, this Bible was based on Coverdale’s Bible, which was essentially Tyndale’s translation with the parts of the Old Testament that Tyndale had not translated filled by translations of Latin and German versions.

The Geneva Bible was the first complete English translation of the Bible from the Greek and Hebrew. The Geneva Bible translators also consulted Tyndale’s earlier work, as would the translators of the 1611 King James Version of the Bible. In fact, 83 percent of the King James Version is based on Tyndale’s translation. Tyndale’s influence is evident in nearly every English Bible translation available today. The New International Version is based on the same principles demonstrated in Tyndale’s work—accuracy, beauty, clarity—and is inspired by his style and language.

For detective/mystery lovers here is a free ebook you’ll love! It is further exploits of Sherlock Holmes written by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle’s son Adrian together with John Dickson Carr! The 12 stories feel a bit more updated, and yet they still ring true of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle’s voice. Click the link below to download in various ebook formats.

https://archive.org/details/TheExploitsOfSherlockHolmes

The stories contained in the collection are:

• “The Adventure of the Seven Clocks” – post-scripted as “The Case of the Trepoff Murder” mentioned in “A Scandal in Bohemia”
• “The Adventure of the Gold Hunter” – post-scripted as “The Camberwell Poisoning Case” mentioned in “The Five Orange Pips”
• “The Adventure of the Wax Gamblers” – post-scripted from “The Case of the Darlington Substitution Scandal” mentioned in “A Scandal in Bohemia” (however, this exploit is not the one mentioned in the Doyle story, but is instead a second one. It does refer to the previous one, though.)
• “The Adventure of the Highgate Miracle” – post-scripted as “The Tale of Mr. James Phillimore” mentioned in “The Problem of Thor Bridge”
• “The Adventure of the Black Baronet” – post-scripted as the affair of “The Unfortunate Madame Montpensier” mentioned in “The Hound of the Baskervilles”
• “The Adventure of the Sealed Room” – post-scripted as the case of “Colonel Warburton’s Madness” mentioned in “The Adventure of the Engineer’s Thumb”
• “The Adventure of Foulkes Rath” – post-scripted as the account of “The Addleton Tragedy” mentioned in “The Adventure of the Golden Pince-Nez”
• “The Adventure of the Abbas Ruby” – post-scripted as the affair of “The Famous Card Scandal of the Nonpareil Club” mentioned in “The Hound of the Baskervilles”
• “The Adventure of the Dark Angels” – post-scripted as “The Case of the Ferrers” mentioned in “The Adventure of the Priory School”
• “The Adventure of the Two Women” – post-scripted as “The Scandal of the Blackmailer” mentioned in “The Hound of the Baskervilles”
• “The Adventure of the Deptford Horror” – post-scripted as two cases “The Sudden Death of Cardinal Tosca” and “Wilson the Notorious Canary-trainer” mentioned in “The Adventure of Black Peter”
• “The Adventure of the Red Widow” – post-scripted as “The Arnsworth Castle Business” mentioned in “A Scandal in Bohemia”

Please research the Word of Faith movement! It has deceived literally hundreds of millions of people with a false gospel of name-it-and-claim-it. And it has caused untold damage and destruction!

The theology of WoF allows for the so-called prosperity [false] gospel to function! It’s all about commanding God to actualize what you reach for by faith. I’ve even heard WoF preachers say God MUST obey you when you reach out whether it be for health or wealth or anything.

 Kabul is lost and so is Afghanistan! It’s back into the hands of the Taliban – the Islamic fanatics who treat Christians and women as sub-human! 20 years of effort wiped out. Very tragic! Watching the desperation of the Americans and Afghanis trying to escape was reminiscent of the fall of Saigon. Like the Vietnam war, the Afghanistan war was a protracted police action without clear objectives to win the war. Afghanistan is very tribal, and I think it was too much to expect a national Afghan army to be cohesive and effective. In the end, they surrendered even with a 5:1 advantage over the Taliban. I think many Americans, like Americans during Vietnam, were questioning why we were even there in Afghanistan. And the historians will probably be wondering as well in coming years. I don’t believe this will be the end of American involvement in Afghanistan. They will resume harboring Islamic terrorist groups and could launch another 9/11 style attack on America, so we’ll likely return in some form if only airstrikes. For the more cynical I leave you with this chart on poppy (used to make opium and heroin) production in Afghanistan.