Evangelicalism is a word religion. I’m a big fan of words, but even talking pictures aren’t fundamentally about words. Evangelical films over-explain, over-talk. They don’t trust the images to do the work.
“Take everything that’s bright and beautiful in you and introduce it to the shadow side of yourself… When you are able to say, ‘I am … my shadow as well as my light,’ the shadow’s power is put in service of the good.” -Parker Palmer
Courage, contemplation, compassion: These are the great ideals of the ancient world. And though their lights are dimming, there is still time to revive them, to examine them, and, if one is so moved, to bring them into one’s own life.
Is newer always better? Most people don’t know that current educational practice is less than a century old. Paradoxically, the harder we try to produce great thinkers similar to those of the past, the further we move from the style of education that produced them.
Hollywood and evangelical Christians don’t exactly have a harmonious history. So it’s always something of a jolt to be reminded that a group of the latter schedules regular prayers for specific showbiz leaders and media influencers.
In a truly post-Christian America, Christians find themselves ostracized, misunderstood, marginalized, and often the victims of seemingly unmerited and scathing accusations. But, the truth is Christians are some of the most giving people on the planet. What went wrong?
The lines that divide the religious from the political have always been more porous than Thomas Jefferson’s imagined “wall of separation” between church and state. Black churches exist as simultaneously religious and political institutions, and that has made them targets.
Liddell regarded as a hero in China: Winston Churchill arranged prisoner swap for the Olympic star’s release from Japanese prison camp only to have Liddell turn it down so a pregnant inmate could gain freedom instead
“The only way to know for sure if a decision is motivated purely by good ethics is when it is bad for business.” Warren K. Stratton, University of Washington School of Engineering
Reality is failing like the Chesire cat, leaving behind a smile that grows ever more alarming.
With the success of “The Bible” TV series, and “Finding Jesus” on CNN, I’ve been getting plenty of inquires from people who want to get other Christian ideas picked up by a secular network. In many cases, they’re starting from the wrong perspective.
With production values and writing that far surpass the first two installments, Mark Burnett and Roma Downey’s passion project tackles perhaps its most captivating episode tonight. TV has never seen anything like it.