Two Handed Warriors

A look at one of Hollywood’s thriving Millennial-focused churches: Basileia Hollywood, average age 26 Part 15 in series How Millennials Who Gave up on Church are Redefining Faith and Re-engaging Community   “Basileia Hollywood may be the only church in America where a celebrity can get up to visit the restroom and have his seat stolen [...]

Part 14 in series How Millennials Who Gave up  on Church are Redefining Faith and Re-engaging Community by Billy Roberts Bad news for churches trying to fill their seats with young people. A recent survey of Millennial values conducted by the Public Religion Research Institute offers little in the way of good news for religious affiliation and the Millennial generation. The study, [...]

Part 13 in series How Millennials Who Gave up on Church are Redefining Faith and Re-engaging Community by Robert P. Jones, Ph.D., CEO and Founder, Public Religion Research Institute Pastors and priests seeking to fill their pews with young churchgoers have a tough task ahead. According to a newly released survey, even before they move out of their [...]

Part 2 in series Leading in a Dysfunctional System. It’s natural in a dysfunctional system to respond to negative emotions with anger and frustration. This leads to a counter-productive focus on the negatives. Insecure leaders often don’t see the horizon of possible solutions because they are too caught up in the negative emotion of the [...]

Am I ashamed of the gospel? A Conversation with Randy Elrod’s: Why Christians Are Creating More “Edgy” Art, and Jeff Goin’s, Are Christians Writing “Edgy” for the Wrong Reasons? by CJ Darlington In the last couple of years I’ve noticed a trend in Christian fiction. More and more aspiring authors desire to write edgy fiction. And by [...]

Telling (and more importantly, living) stories that leave a beautiful feeling even as the credits role is the heart of genuinely Christian Filmmaking Part 3 in series The Future of Faith-Based Filmmaking by Gary David Stratton, PhD “I wondered about the story we were writing and wanted even more to write a better story for my life, [...]

Many Christians see these movies as a safe alternative to Hollywood’s immorality. Are they?  Part 2 in series The Future of Faith-Based Filmmaking by Brennan Mark Smith People have asked me to write on this for various reasons, but let me say at the outset: my goal is not to mock anyone’s creative endeavors, but to [...]

Christian Movie, Faith-based Film, or Christian Worldview Movie? Can you tell the difference? Part 1 in series “The Future of Faith-Based Filmmaking” by Mike Rinaldi What is or isn’t a Christian movie? What is the difference between a “Christian” movie and a “Faith-based” film? Many people use the terms interchangeably but they are very distinct [...]

On April 7, author, and playwright-turned-pastor Dave Schmelzer interviewed me for a podcast posted 4/19 on his website: Not The Religious Type, on the Blue Ocean platform. It was a great experience, and I really want you to listen to it. However, first I’d like you to know a few things about Dave and his [...]

Extending the Kingdom of God Among Urban Secularists and Beyond To be delivered this morning at the Society of Vineyard Scholars meeting in Minneapolis, MN (PREPUBLICATION DRAFT) By Gary David Stratton, PhD, Bethel University/Basileia Hollywood (See also, Blue Ocean Conversation with Dave Schmelzer, & 2011 Blue Ocean Summit Report, by Dave Schmelzer) The great New England divine [...]