Recent comments by presidential hopeful Michele Bachmann have stirred up the discussion about gay marriage once again. While speaking to a group of high school…
Movies
Last night, I watched the movie Repeaters (2010). In this movie, three recovering drug addicts are given the chance to relive the same day over and over. I won’t get into details (no spoilers). Just check out the movie. What wouldd you do if given the chance to relive the same day and over (time loop)? In the movie, one of the main characters drowned and a another is fatally shot. The next morning, they were alive and ready to relive the same day. This concept’s been used in several other stories like The X-Files – Monday (1999), Star Trek:...
Reviewing via film a “documentary poem” about creativity and faith is a little daunting for people, like me, because I am by nature a very straightforward, no-nonsense, and practical kind of person. Not that I didn’t expect to learn a few new things or find something that would be useful to friends whom I consider “creative”—but I did not anticipate the extent to which “Made as Makers” would expand my own understanding of faith. I thought that a film about creativity would be about bringing artistic elements into our worship, not about using creativity to approach our faith and our...
I have a confession to make. I’ve never liked Christian movies. They are typically thin on development, very campy, and usually serve to present the Gospel message in some way. I went to film school, had a movie script produce [badly] and worked in Hollywood for four years under some of the best film houses in the business. The level of quality that I was able to train under was phenomenal. In film school we used to lament at how bad Christian movies were and dreamed of changing things. I left Hollywood to save my own soul [another story] but...
Red State, director’s Kevin Smith’s recent venture, is a mess of a movie, and he should be applauded for it. Seriously, I hold Kevin Smith in higher regard after seeing Red State. (It still isn’t a good movie.) He abandoned every crutch from his earlier films—genre, character, dick jokes—and set out to make a film that pushed his creative and technical abilities. The story sets out on three different narratives—three boys pushing the boundaries of a normal sexual dalliance online, a family that entangles their faith with extreme violence, and an ATF officer who wants to reach beyond the role...
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Fifty Shades of TruthI’ve been hearing about a book making the rounds, Fifty Shades of Grey by E. L. James. Naturally, being a writer and voracious reader, I… -
The Redemption of MetallicaYesterday, as I was driving home from a long road trip, I shuffled through my iPod and I put on Metallica’s Fade to Black. The… -
Putting The Fallen Pastor In His PlaceIn my upcoming book, “Fallen Pastor: Finding Restoration in a Broken World,” I answer a lot of questions about ministry failure. But there’s one question… -
Blue Like Jazz The MovieI have a confession to make. I’ve never liked Christian movies. They are typically thin on development, very campy, and usually serve to present the… -
Baby Killer BluesTen years ago, on June 20, 2001, Andrea Yates drowned her five children in the bathtub, then laid them side by side on the bed. … -
Is Partial Faith Enough For God?I was raised to believe that you might as well not ask God anything if you don’t believe 100%. I was threatened with these verses…
Top Conversations
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I’ve been hearing about a book making the rounds, Fifty Shades of Grey by E. L. James. Naturally, being a writer and voracious reader, I…
The parable of the talents, we have been told, is a parable about personal responsibility, a warning of the terrible consequences of squandering our God-given…
This week, a dad disciplined his daughter. And at the time of me writing this piece, that discipline has been viewed over 14 million times….
