Gospel.com Blog

This week’s film roundup from Past the Popcorn:

The big news this week is that Disney, in an effort to recapture the spirit that made the House of Mouse great, has actually succeeded with Meet the Robinsons. There’s not an awful lot there on which adults can chew; still, Greg Wright calls the film “meaning-laden children’s entertainment at its best and most idealistic.” He adds, “Kudos to the Disney team… for delivering the story without raunch, scat, or pander.”

If only we could say the same for Blades of Glory, the latest Will Farrell vehicle, which is nothing but raunch, scat, and pander. Still, observes Jenn Wright, “those who have enjoyed the humor Will Ferrell is famous for may find themselves rolling in the aisles.”

Rolling in the aisles is where no one will be with a pair of spiritual heavyweights on the art-house circuit. Beyond the Gates, which Jenn Wright calls “a palpable abyss of ethical considerations,” tells the story of hundreds of Tutsis murdered at a school compound during Rwanda’s genocide. The movie also features John Hurt as a Catholic priest martyred as helped a handful of them escape. Into Great Silence, meanwhile, is a meditative (and mostly wordless) look at the appeal of monasticism. The film”takes its time and gives us enough silence to whet the appetite for more,” says Greg Wright, “or satisfy us that we’ve had plenty, thanks.”

Rounding out the reviews this week are Mike Brunk’s look at Islander, which he describes as “a powerful reminder that often what stands between us and redemption is our own stubborn pride,” and The Lookout, which Kathy Bledsoe calls “masterfully edited, and beautifully and hauntingly shot.” She also highly recommends the ensemble performances, which click “on all cylinders.”

Uplook Ministries regularly publishes a 32-page magazine (appropriate named Uplook) filled with devotional pieces, short articles, and essays on all manner of faith-related topics. And the magazine is available for free download in PDF format–take a look at the Uplook magazine site, where you can read the latest issue; if you find it interesting, the Uplook archives have back issues of the magazine going all the way back to 1998. Most of the content in the older issues is perfectly relevant today–it’s a nice source of reading material if you’re looking for short and practical articles about Christian living.

Youth pastors, how do you respond when crises–school shootings, divorce, rape–strike the kids in your youth group? Your kids have heard all the cliches already; even if there’s a kernel of truth in those cliches, they aren’t enough to answer the spiritual questions your youth will ask. So how do you move past the cliches and provide real answers and spiritual support for hurting kids?

A new article online [PDF format] at Youth Specialties offers an overview of the different challenges you’ll face, along with ideas about how the author has approached a wide range of crises in her ministry. Your youth ministry might not have to deal with every single one of these issues, but you’ll run into one of them eventually–so give some thought to how you’ll respond without resorting to comfortable but tired cliches!

Christians talk a lot about the importance of prayer–but what does prayer mean to you? Why do you think we should pray–is it to make requests of God, find inner peace, or something else? What exactly happens, spiritually speaking, when we pray?

Those are the questions addressed this week in What Happens When We Pray?, a new article by Clara Molina at the Navigators ministry. If you’re not sure exactly what the point of prayer is, take a few minutes and read through Molina’s observations.

update: prayer must be a popular subject this month, because Lifetime Guarantee Ministries just added a new article talking about much the same topics. Check out The ‘Best’ Way to Pray by Preston Gillham.

Over at Youth Ministry Exchange, Amy Sondova has interviewed This Beautiful Republic, a new rock band that’s already making a splash on iTunes and elsewhere as they get ready to release their debut album next week. She finds the band members to be the perfect combination of serious songwriters and goofy kids–and she thinks they’re a great voice for Christ in a generation that’s struggling to be taken seriously. The interview includes sound and video clips from the band’s upcoming release as well.

Sermon Index, whose excellent collection of audio sermons and other resources we’ve mentioned before, has a free monthly magazine!

The Old Paths Magazine–available both for online reading and in downloadable PDF format–is a free monthly periodical that is made available for the entire body of Christ. Its main focus is to propagate and promote the message of genuine Biblical revival to this generation. This chief aim is expressed through many voices from Christian history.

Sermon Index has granted permission for readers to copy and freely distribute The Old Paths without permission. Stop by and read the latest issue (#13), which features over a dozen articles touching on a variety of Christianity-related topics.

If God loves us, why was it necessary for Jesus to die so horribly on the cross? If Easter is a celebration of life and God’s love towards us, why is it associated with such a terrible moment in history? Words like “sin” and “forgiveness” and “grace” are often heard around Easter, but what do they really mean for our everyday lives? Surely a loving God would not want to punish anyone for their mistakes, right?

If you feel like you’ve never quite understood the Easter story, take a look at an essay explaining all about God, love, sin, and forgiveness over at Acts International–it’s a great overview of what the Bible teaches us about these important topics. And if you’ve got all that info memorized already, the article makes a good link to send to a friend who’s struggling to understand what Easter means for them.

Time for today’s Friday film roundup from Past the Popcorn:

The best of this week’s releases is a very mature and restrained film about loss, grief, and recovery–Reign Over Me, which is rated R. Adam Sandler plays it straight, and portrays a man deeply wounded by the loss of his wife and children. Jenn Wright calls the film a “profoundly moving piece of art,” in spite of Sandler’s potty mouth.

By contrast, this week’s PG releases might be considered by some to be more offensive–at least, when comparing apples to apples. PG movies are supposed to be pretty safe even for young children; but TMNT, which Kathy Bledose calls an out-and-out “dud,” is probably too intense for much of its target audience, while The Last Mimzy deserves special attention from parents. Oddly designed and promoted as an Easter film, Mimzy is a rehash of other films and really amounts to little more than an advertisement for Astral mysticism. Greg Wright calls Mimzy “a moderately entertaining children’s film that will likely generate scathing word-of-mouth.” Caveat Emptor.

In other releases, Jeff Walls finds Shooter to be “consistently entertaining and a solid popcorn flick,” while Mike Smith finds the French-language Avenue Montaigne to be an illustration of “the firm joy of living.” Finally, Jenn Wright declares Pride “all wet,” and sends it off to the showers.

GetReligion.org has a new look! The GetReligion team has been talking about religion and the media for three years now, and in that time have made their group blog one of the top journalism blogs on the web. Recent posts have talked about journalists’ treatment of Rapture theology, efforts to reinvigorate Christian radio, and more. Stop by and check out the new design–and if the subject of the media and its treatment of religion interests you, consider giving it a place in your newsreader.

Are you feeling weighed down by anxiety, terrified by the thought of everything that could go wrong in your life? Life is filled with disappointment and stress, and the more we dwell on difficulty, the more it can come to dominate us.

In a new article at the Officers’ Christian Fellowship, Ron Prosise finds a Biblical answer to anxiety by looking at a Biblical character who went through incredible stress–and who rose above it. Can the answer to out-of-control anxiety be as simple as prayer? Read the full article to find out why Ron thinks that prayer is your greatest asset when you’re feeling overwhelmed by stress.