Gospel.com Blog

Mel Gibson’s Apocalypto is out, and Christian critics are weighing in. It might not be the sort of film that usually appeals to evangelical movie-goers, but between Gibson’s anti-semitic remarks earlier this year and the Passion of the Christ phenomenon, a lot of Christians are curious about his latest film.

At Past the Popcorn, Jenn Wright is less than impressed with Apocalypto. While praising the film’s success in avoiding the sorts of stereotypes often employed when ancient cultures are portrayed, she laments that Gibson tainted the film with “wildly out-of-place and terrifically inappropriate comic relief.”

Phil Boatwright at Preview isn’t thrilled with the movie either. In his view, the extreme violence and over-the-top brutality drowns out whatever moral core might lie at the heart of the story. Unlike The Passion of the Christ, Apocalypto‘s violence lacks a moral core to justify its excess.

Darrel Manson at Hollywood Jesus largely concurs. While acknowledging that violence can sometime add an important element to a film, as in Saving Private Ryan or Hotel Rwanda, the violence in Apocalypto is simply beyond what is required for the story. From his review:

The film becomes more about the carnage than the story. When violence takes precedence, a film is badly off track. And even though this story may need violence, viewers are assaulted with more cruelty than this film’s theme or artistic level merit.

If do you decide to see Apocalypto, at least you’ve been warned! It sounds like it’s certainly not for the squeamish.

Modern medicine can heal a lot of physical ailments. And counseling can help a lot of emotional and spiritual problems. But what can we do when a psychological or developmental problem can’t be narrowed down to a simple physical or mental problems to be fixed?

In the latest Been Thinking About column, Mart De Haan writes about the challenge of caring for a friend suffering from serious mental and emotional problems. In this case, there wasn’t an obvious medical cure, and traditional Christian responses to illness–prayer, counseling, and encouragement to “think right”–weren’t producing a positive change either. De Haan talks about difficult cases like this, about our unfortunate tendency to apply overly simple solutions to complex problems, and about the need to be flexible in our response to spiritual and physical ailments.

The Gospelcom.net Alliance is now accepting applications for membership!

The Alliance is a community of hundreds of Christian organizations–including small, one-person ministries, large publishers, and everything in between–all united by their desire to do online ministry. The Alliance provides both technical and strategic help for Christians trying to make their online ministry as effective as possible. The Alliance also gathers each year at the Gospelcon internet ministry conference for training and fellowship.

This is the first time in two years that we’ve opened the Alliance to new members. If your ministry is looking to expand its reach and effectiveness, consider applying to become part of the Alliance. At the Application site, you can tell us a bit about your ministry and why you think it would be a good fit for the Alliance. You can also read more about Gospel Communications, the organization behind the Alliance, and about the Alliance’s goals and purpose. Stop by and show us how you’re doing online ministry!

Looking for something to laugh at this holiday season? Or maybe you’re looking for something fun to include in your church bulletin this Christmas? The Reverend Fun cartoon archives contain over 50 Christmas-themed cartoons that’ll make you smile.

You can view all the Christmas cartoons at the above link, and you can also download black-and-white versions for use in a bulletin or other publication–for low-circulation publications (like a church bulletin), reprinting RF cartoons is free (read the details of RF’s reprint permissions). Stop by and check out some of these RF holiday classics!

This Christmas, how can you and your family go about creating holiday memories of your own? What are some ways you can take a break from the holiday hectic-ness and enjoy some family activities focused around the real meaning of the holiday? Two articles at the Mothers of Preschoolers ministry offer some good advice to parents.

The first looks at some ways you and your family can go about crafting your own memorable and meaningful holiday traditions. A second article suggests a number of family Christmas activities that you can involve your young children in–read all about how to have a kid-friendly Christmas. If you family is looking for ways to add meaningful family time to your holiday experience, give these two articles a read!

Looking for something light-hearted this Christmas season? Mikey’s Funnies is a daily clean humor email list. Beginning on Monday, December 4, the Funnies will feature their popular, annual series of Christmas-themed humor. The series also periodically features a more serious, reflective thought on the season. These are great to use in newsletters, messages/sermons, or just to enjoy!

The Nativity Story is out. Does it live up to the hopes of those looking for a kinder and gentler counterpart to The Passion of the Christ? And is it a good movie?

Bill Fentum of Preview has only good things to say about it, giving it their highest rating for both content and moral acceptability. From the review: “The Nativity Story is truly an antidote to the secularized holiday entertainments that flood the market this time of year, and it deserves to be seen and applauded.”

Over at Past the Popcorn, Michael Brunk finds the movie enjoyable, but is surprised by a number of its elements. He suggests that it will likely prompt more discussion amongst Christians about its narrative choices than it will provoke serious interest among non-Christians, and that its greatest significance may lie in what it says about the future of Hollywood’s relationship with Christians.

Check out both reviews, and decide if it sounds like a movie worth seeing!

As Christmas approaches, we’ll be looking at some of the many Christmas devotionals and other resources from around the Gospelcom Alliance.

With the first Sunday of Advent coming up in just a few days, it seems appropriate to note the Advent Bible Reading Guide over at Scripture Union. The Guide is a daily Bible reading and short reflection designed to help prepare you for Christmas, and is available as a daily email or download (for printing). Advent season is beginning; take the opportunity to begin focusing your devotional life on the coming celebration of Christ’s birth!

Who says history had to be boring? The Christian History Institute has long set out to make the history of Christianity more accessible, and they haven’t left kids out of the picture. The CHI for Kids section of their site has a very large number of history-related games and resources for kids. A few highlights:

• a complete list of “hero stories” from their Glimpses for Kids publication, telling inspiring stories from church history.
• a large number of quizzes based on those stories–in honor of CS Lewis’ birthday, try this quiz about CS Lewis (after reading the article about him, of course).
• a form where kids can submit their history questions to be answered on the site.

There’s a lot of good material there. (While you’re there, take a look at their Glimpses for Kids children’s bulletin inserts–a lot of the material on the website is drawn from them.)

You hear a lot of talk about families in the church today–there are calls for family values to be reflected in society, for stronger families to form the cornerstone of the church.

Few Christians would disagree that stronger families are a good thing. But in a recent article in Every Thought Captive, Jay Barfield cautions us to remember that strong families are a means to an end–they are not the end in themselves. While it’s important that we focus on strengthening marriages, raising children, and cultivating healthy families, we mustn’t forget the reason we are called to do such things. When our priorities get mixed up,

Our family (or worse yet, the family-integrated ministry model) becomes a sort of idol. Idolatry is when we substitute or place a created thing in the rightful place of the Creator. When we get ourselves backwards and pursue as our primary goal the family-integrated thing, the homeschooling thing, the patriarchy thing, the breeding thing, the modesty/home-baked bread thing, or the “making sure our boys are tough warriors and not wimpy” thing, instead of God’s glory, idolatry is just around the corner. Don’t get me wrong. There is nothing wrong with any of these things I have just mentioned. But they are means, not ends.

It’s a good reminder to give careful thought to what God would have us do through our families, and to be wary of talking about family ministry as if it’s just another buzzword. Read the full article for Barfield’s thoughts.