The Star of Bethlehem: WOW!
by Brooke and Greg West
Wow, wow, wow, and – WOW! I’ll say it again; backwards even, and it great big bold letters… WOW! Have I got your attention yet?!? I certainly hope so because I rarely get this excited about anything (okay, I will admit to a smidgen of hyperbole there). Just when you thought that Christmas was over and there would be no more Christmas related posts on The Poached Egg until a year from now, here I go with one more.
Earlier this month, I was posting articles about the Star of Bethlehem, and as a footnote to one of those posts, I put up a link to a documentary on DVD on the same subject. I usually don’t recommend things like that without having viewed it first hand, but it came highly recommended from a trusted source and once I saw that the reviews posted on Amazon were overwhelmingly positive (118 five star reviews out of 131) and that it was only 13 bucks, I decided to go ahead and order a copy for me and the Mrs. During the hustle and bustle of the Christmas holiday, followed by me working a stretch of 2nd shift work at my job, Brooke and I did not have a chance to watch it until tonight. Before I continue with my review and the following sales pitch, I’ll let my wife put in her 2 cents. Take it, Honey!…
Brooke’s Review:
Tonight, instead of watching the usual box office smashes, we took a side street. Everyone knows that the West household loves a good documentary. Lucky for us, a few weeks ago, my very dear friend Jheydith posted a link to a movie/documentary about the Star of Bethlehem, titled oddly enough, “The Star of Bethlehem”. I have no adequate words to explain what we just viewed. A goofy grin and “Wow” as I wipe some tears away, is completely inappropriate and lacking, but unfortunately that’s all I’ve got!
Rick Larson, an attorney, not a professional astronomer, took up finding THE Star as his hobby. In this lecture style documentary (don’t let that scare you- it is very creatively presented and completely worth your while), he shows us the outcome of his investigation into the Star. He takes us step by step through the events, backed up by Scripture, as they appeared in the heavens up to and past the birth of Jesus. It gets taken a step further to show the events in the sky, again backed up by Scripture, on the day of His crucifixion. Can we really know what the skies looked like to a person living around the time of Jesus’ birth? Some would say “no way'”, and then blather on and on about earth’s axis and sun spots and other annoying irrelevant things until I become bored and stop listening. Ah- but there’s a nifty little thing called software, and this software has been programed based on the mathematical laws that the universe runs on; laws that have been proven by believers and non-believers alike. So you can’t just write it off as something that those “conspiratorial Christians” came up with. These are facts. The stars follow and have always followed these basic principles, even before we knew what those principles were. To have this guy who is just probably a regular guy come up with these mind blowing conclusions (ok- with the help of software, and oh yeah, the Bible), is just completely amazing. Even if you chalked up the entire hour he spends dissecting the events to “circumstance”, you would still have to be pretty impressed with the amount of research and his resulting conclusions.
Obviously I’m simplifying and not even remotely giving you the gist of this DVD. I’m not near as smart as this lawyer and I’m probably not near as smart as my husband. However, I thought it was amazingly well written, and produced. It was awe inspiring, amazing, and in some spots really funny. I completely recommend it and hope you enjoy it as much as we did!
And Now, back to your regularly scheduled sales pitch…
Since I started The Poached Egg over six months ago, I’ve been accused of by more than one person, even by some fellow Christians, of using The Poached Egg as a platform to make a fast buck and that I am motivated by a desire to make money because of my links to products from Amazon.com. This is far from the truth. Would I like to see TPE put some money in my pocket? ABSOLUTELY! I would also like to see TPE eventually become a fulltime ministry, but as far as I’m concerned, that is in God’s hands. If I never make one dime from doing what I do here, I will still continue to do what I do in hopes of giving my fellow believers more confidence in their Christian walk and that it will someday be used either directly, or indirectly, to help lead unbelievers to faith in Jesus Christ.
The main reason that I offer and recommend the resources that I do is because I want to help people come to a better understanding of Christianity and to better equip Christians to be able to share the Gospel. Having said that, if I can make a buck or two to help recover some of the expenses involved in operating TPE, that would be a great blessing to me and my family. To date we have spent around two thousand dollars on TPE, and this is a pretty big chunk of me and my wife’s combined income. Most of this has been spent on advertising and the rest has been spent on web hosting and and on the resources (books. bibles, videos, etc.) that we give away to our visitors who sign up for our monthly drawings.
Now having said all THAT, let me get back to The Star of Bethlehem. This DVD is a must see. I don’t care if you purchase it from my website or from somewhere else; just get it, watch it, and more importantly, share it! The Star of Bethlehem is an awesome apologetics resource, and more importantly it is a great tool for evangelism. I guarantee that once you see this video you will want to share it with your family and friends (and possibly even random people on the street)!
Rick Larson, the man behind this presentation, takes you on a journey through the bible, history, and astronomy, to paint a picture of how the Star of Bethlehem is really the story of the Gospel of Jesus Christ. If you order this and watch it, or if you have already seen it, please leave a comment or get in touch with me and let me know what you thought of it.
If you choose to help support TPE by purchasing items from our Amazon links, I would be very grateful as I know how tough things are financially for many people these days. If you just simply like to occasionally visit TPE and enjoy the content, or if it has helped encourage you in your walk with Christ, I am equally as grateful!
I hope everyone had a wonderful Christmas and I hope you all have a safe and blessed 2011!
Peace.
The Star of Bethlehem DVD
RICK LARSON’S VERY INFORMATIVE WEBSITE>>>
MOVIE TRAILER >>>
RTB's take(s) on Larson's Star.
http://www.reasons.org/articles/review-of-the-star-of-bethlehem
http://www.reasons.org/blogs/take-two/the-star-of-bethlehem-an-astronomer-astrophysicist-and-theologian-s-perspective
Posted by: Ratio Christi UMD | 12/05/2012 at 05:10 PM
Typo fixed! Thanks for the heads up and for the kind comments!
Posted by: Greg West | 11/28/2011 at 08:27 PM
I hate typos - your link has one in it "BetlehemStar.net" - please fix!!! Pretty please!!! Thanks so much and thanks for TPE - I love it, love it and read nearly everything you post.
Please feel free to delete this comment so your typo is not made any more public! LOL!
Posted by: Mijinjax | 11/28/2011 at 07:15 PM
I love The Star of Bethlehem. I get goosebumps every time I watch it. The storyline is engaging and the intelligent research is riveting. I have recommended it many times. The attorney is humble and clearly seeks to honor God and carefully present his findings. It inspired me and increased my faith.
Posted by: Kimberly Taghon | 09/16/2011 at 10:55 PM
Andy,
Thank you for your comment. There are "ministries" out there that I'm sure are just trying to swindle people out of their $ (TBN?!?) for selfish gain, but there are also many legitimate ministries and also many worthy religious and non-religious charities that depend on donations to operate. I think that in the seven months I've been using Amazon links, I've accumulated maybe ten or twelve dollars in revenue, an you have to accumulated at least $100 before they ever cut you a check. So, yes, this is definitely not the money making enterprise some will accuse us of. But God always provides for my family and I and I will always continue to operate TPE until He leads me otherwise.
Blessings, Brother!
Posted by: Greg West | 01/03/2011 at 04:33 PM
Your quote:
"I’ve been accused of by more than one person, even by some fellow Christians, of using The Poached Egg as a platform to make a fast buck and that I am motivated by a desire to make money because of my links to products from Amazon.com. This is far from the truth."
I have been accused of the same thing on SoulJournaler along with other comments about how I should not solicit for donations because Christ freely gave I should not allow myself to accept monies. I don't sell things, am looking for minimal upkeep for the site because it is graphics intensive an I have exceeded the allowable storage space on blogger...it actually costs to post beyond a certain storage capacity. In one year I have received exactly one donation. Hardly should be considered "makin' a killing".
I beleive people are really good at spotting legalism...except when it is in the mirror.
Posted by: Andy Pierson | 01/02/2011 at 01:48 PM
Link,
Thank you for your comment. I agree. If I had saw this on television 1st, I wouldv'e ordered a copy to keep (or give away) immediately after watching it.
Posted by: Greg West | 12/31/2010 at 11:27 AM
As an alternative to ordering the DVD, this is being shown on several religion-oriented cable channels.: TBN, EWTN, NRB, GOD TV, SkyAngel, etc.
And after watching on TV, many will buy the DVD anyway...to watch again and again!
Posted by: Link | 12/31/2010 at 10:40 AM