Movies

Heaven is for Real is not for Real

April 17, 2014 by mcoughlin

I had an interesting twitter conversation with a kind man named Brian today. It was predicated upon my shame that one of the leaders of a ministry called AWANA is publicly endorsing the Heaven is for Real ~~garbage~~ movie. You can read the thread here, click the links I provided in my tweets and, hopefully, see the problem that Brian had even defending his endorsement.
Here’s a snippet:

Click here to see the ENTIRE thread.

May I commend Brian for what I would call decent behavior in a world where online disagreements “escalate quickly.”

As a side note, EVERYONE is teaching something, and directly teaching something falsely about God is WAY worse than teaching me falsely about diet or rainforests, etc. Let me know what you think of the thread and if you read the book or saw the movie what you think.

If you think I cannot judge this book or movie because I haven’t read it, then I’d challenge you to go watch every porn video on sale at the local ~~pervert~~ adult bookstore and not judge the contents until you’ve watched.

And if you are one of the people who claims to be a Christian and cannot find what is wrong with this movie or book, contact me. I will help you. I’ll get my pastor to help you. I won’t mock you for ‘missing’ it. It is OK to not be very discerning, IF you have the humility to admit it and the desire to be taught. Don’t make the same mistake as the Sadducees (Matthew 22:23-33).

God’s Word is sufficient. If that statement bothers you, your problem is not with me. 🙂

The Lost Medallion – Movie Review

April 23, 2013 by mcoughlin

The Lost Medallion: The Adventures of Billy Stone: I promise, NO SPOILERS.

I will proceed with the same three measuring sticks I have used in the past to try to judge the merit of this movie. Ultimately, the question is, should you spend the resources God has provided you with to see this flick? Or would your money be better spent elsewhere…there is certainly need all around us.
I offer the three criteria I will use to discern the worth of Home Run in order of importance.

Is God glorified?
Will the movie tempt someone to sin?
Is there a practical application to the lessons learned within?

I will consider them in reverse order:

Is there a practical application to the lessons learned within?

The Lost Medallion is the story of a Billy Stone, played by Billy Unger, and his friend Allie, played by Sammi Hanratty as they go on an adventure through time to find the secret concerning a lost medallion. Billy and Allie are desperately trying to save “the future.” The story is fun in an Indiana Jones for kids sort of way.

James Hong enters the story as a sage old man who helps lead the children on their adventure to save their land from Cobra, played by Mark Dacascos. The added element of some better knows actors made the movie fun to watch. Cobra is the epitome of evil in the story, killing mercilessly. Ultimately, the fact that he lacks a truly pure heart is his downfall, a good lesson for us all.

Billy has to really dig deep to continue to battle even when the odds are against him in order to find meaning. And the team that he leads needs to learn to each use their individual skills to overcome the enemy. I won’t spoil the ending…

Will the movie tempt someone to sin?

Now we all have different sin-tendencies, I know, but I can only speak of a few of the more obvious ones. I saw no areas of the movie where a person would have a problem with sin. This is truly a well done movie safe for kids and families to enjoy!

Is God glorified?

Unfortunately, the movie does fail in this area. The appearance of Alex Kendrick was supposed to solidify a good gospel message, right? Wrong. Sadly, I don’t even recall Jesus’s name being mentioned, let alone a clear gospel. There was a single veiled reference by James Hong toward the middle of the movie where he spoke of a King who had died for him. Admittedly, I knew to Whom he was referring and began crying over love for my Savior at that time, but to someone who didn’t already know Christ – it was nothing more than a veiled reference to something they won’t understand.

Now, every movie doesn’t have to have the gospel, but, if a movie bills itself as Christian, which is how this was shared with me, I have to say it ought to at least have more attempts than The Lost Medallion had at sharing the gospel.

Generally moral, good entertainment, no Jesus. 🙁

Call it the un-animated Veggie Tales…if you will.

Concluding Thoughts

In conclusion, you are safe to spend a few dollars for the entertainment value of The Lost Medallion. It is the kind of movie I would watch over and over with my children. I think the lessons in the movie can be good springboards to spiritual discussion, but safe for all ages.

I watched this movie free from the production company. I was not required to write a positive review. The opinions I have expressed are my own. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255: “Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising.”

Breakaway – Movie Review

April 19, 2013 by mcoughlin

Breakaway, The Movie.

Is God glorified?
Will the movie tempt someone to sin?
Is there a practical application to the lessons learned within?

I will consider them in reverse order:

Is there a practical application to the lessons learned within?

Breakaway, by Word Entertainment, caught me by surprise. I was asked to review the movie, and so I requested a Vimeo link. I was pleasantly shocked when I was mailed a DVD including deleted scenes, bloopers, behind the scenes and more!

The other thing that caught me by surprise was the fact that Breakaway was not based in the US! Immediately, when we started watching the movie, the accents were nearly intolerable! But The characters were likable and once we got used to the foreign accents, we settled in to see the show.

It starts pretty quickly with the main character, Francois, a former professional athlete being laid off from his job. Francois has no success in finding employment, and the tension mounts. Seemingly on a whim, he begins a courier business, riding his bicycle all over the city to deliver mail for companies.

While riding his bicycle around town, the competitive nature in this ex pro-rugby player shines. He cannot help but race other bikers! With a desire to ride faster he visits a bike shop where he gets wisdom, friendship, and help with the bike from someone he met on a chance meeting!

The movie is about overcoming obstacles, maintaining faith in God throughout, and working together with others to achieve these goals! There is also a nicely balanced level of relying on hard work and effort to succeed which is taught throughout. I found it truly inspirational and believable.

There is an excellent underlying theme of the supportive and necessary role of a wife. Francois’ wife, played by Leone Pienaar (also the production manager), plays an integral role in his success and persistence. It was refreshing to find in the behind the scenes that this was quite intentional, and to see the honesty exhibited by the actors as they discussed their own personal lives.

Will the movie tempt someone to sin?

Is God glorified?

I believe that this movie brings glory to God. There are several references to the bible, Jesus Christ, being a Christian and a clear reference to the fact that not everyone is a Christian. We see examples of marriage, forgiveness, humility and utter reliance on God for strength. If the movie was lacking in any way, it was the lack of a clear gospel presentation – particularly man’s problem with sin.

Now, every movie doesn’t have to have the gospel, but, in the behind the scenes it was said that the gospel is in it. I don’t doubt the faith of the makers, but hopefully if they continue to make movies we will see them grow in boldness and clarity like the Flywheel –>> Facing the Giants –>> Fireproof evolution Sherwood Pictures saw.

but hopefully if they continue to make movies we will see them grow in boldness and clarity like the Flywheel –>> Facing the Giants –>> Fireproof evolution Sherwood Pictures saw.

Concluding Thoughts

In conclusion, I highly recommend you try to see this movie. It can be ordered on Amazon.

Enjoy the trailer now!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CDUWbhSu5z4

I received this movie free from Word Films as part of their Blogger Review Program, via Blogger Gateway. I was not required to write a positive review. The opinions I have expressed are my own. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255: “Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising.”

Home Run – Movie Review

April 16, 2013 by mcoughlin

I was privileged to see a preview of the soon to be public movie, Home Run. For those of you who are considering seeing it, I offer my review. I promise, NO SPOILERS.

Is God glorified?
Will the movie tempt someone to sin?
Is there a practical application to the lessons learned within?

I will consider them in reverse order:

Is there a practical application to the lessons learned within?
Home Run is the story of a professional baseball player whose life is obviously in a downward spiral thanks to his alcohol addiction. This story really hit home with me as I abused alcohol for several years. I found myself relating to the main character on many occasions in his struggle.

The main character, Cory, played by Scott Elrod is a stereo-typical irresponsible early 20-something, with a smile that you don’t think you could ever be mad at. Regardless of his alcohol use, he seems to be one of those guys who functions well at his job. A public incident early in the movie forces him to his small hometown where he must take over the coaching duties for his the little league team his brother had coached. Credit Vivica A. Fox for being a good agent.

Throughout the story, relationships develop, decades old secrets are revealed, and Cory finds out that even little people in little small towns have big problems to deal with as well. As is typical in a “recovery/addiction” movie (or real life), Cory has ups and downs to varying degrees.

Enter J.T., played by Robert Peters. J.T. is a friendly Christian man who heads up the local Christian recovery group. Cory is sentenced to attend these meetings and his apprehension is abundantly clear. The ultimate theme of the movie is a story of redemption and freedom from addiction and the healing that people can find in their relationships.

Will the movie tempt someone to sin?

Now we all have different sin-tendencies, I know, but I can only speak of a few of the more obvious ones. The sin of drunkenness which is depicted is never glorified, even though some pretty intense scenes must be developed to be true to the story. A person who is struggling or has ever struggles with substance abuse may find Cory to be a character to which people can relate. But if there is particular weakness in the area of alcohol, the movie may be best avoided.

In general, the story is very germane, but there are a few scenes where the female actresses show more skin than necessary for a movie billed as a Christian movie. As above, a weaker brother probably ought to stay away for now, but most people won’t even notice.

Is God glorified?

This is a tough one to answer fairly. I do not want to trash Home Run, but at the same time, I found this movie lacking in a few key areas.

I do not recall any mention of sin in the movie. If it was mentioned, it was in passing. In the movie, professions of faith in Christ are made, but the profession is no more than, “I’m a Christian.” Home Run lacks the things that I think would truly make a movie Christian – a reference to the gospel itself (including man’s sinfulness and God’s holiness and the redemptive work of Christ) or an overt depiction of godly or biblical events (see my review of Hosea).

The power of God is never truly put on display.

And even worse, the power of the support group mentality IS put on display. The program called Celebrate Recovery is really what gets the glory in this movie. To a non Christian, this will look not much different than an AA meeting. To be certain, the movie makers had a chance to do this right: present a clear gospel, and they chose not to. I can only assume it is because they eithe do not know the gospel or understand its power or they simply wanted to be able to entertain a larger viewing audience, but still try to get Christians to pay for tickets and form action squads.

Concluding Thoughts

In conclusion, you are safe to spend a few dollars for the entertainment value of Home Run. But if you are like my wife and me and wish to see the opportunity to share the life-saving gospel in a movie labeled Christian, you will walk away sorely disappointed. If you have non Christian friends you were hoping to invite, come prepared to lead them further toward God than the movie will.

Monumental Movie Review

March 28, 2012 by mcoughlin

Plenty of reviews of monumental have been posted. I ended up writing a friend an email about the movie and wanted to simply post my thoughts for the entire internet and the 15 people who read my blog (my wife promises me she doesn’t just click 15 times). There is more than just a review. The conversation started with me telling my friend it was “disappointing” and I sent him a link to a friend’s blog which explained many of my thoughts. Read it here.

My friend wrote me back:

From what your friend stated he was disappointed, but, he had several witnessing opportunities, what can be disappointing about that?

Here is my response with some editing:

Brother – there is nothing disappointing about witnessing opportunities. But that does not justify the means that provided the opportunity. Abortion centers provide witnessing opportunities; so does teenage pregnancy, death of loved ones and car accidents. Witnessing opportunities are what we make of them. I’ve witnessed at the same movie theater after other movies as well. So yes, I praise God Almighty that Fred Triplett as well as John Chizam preached the Word after this movie and someone I don’t know named Lance. I am glad I was able to give out tracts. But that has no bearing on the movie itself.

Now as far as the movie goes:

It was a movie about Christianity, but it was missing the gospel of Jesus Christ.
Many well known people were portrayed as “partners” with Kirk in this endeavor. In all cases, they are simply portrayed as Christians. This list includes:
a. Alveda King – who may or may not be a Christian, but she partners with Catholics in the pro-life cause.
b. David Barton – I don’t know who he is, but everything I found quickly wasn’t flattering.
c. Glenn Beck – a well known denier of the one true God, Jesus Christ. Probably biblically qualified to be considered a wolf in sheep’s clothing.
I do not think that as Christians we should partner with those who are not Christian, particularly on such a spiritual endeavor. Kirk Cameron, whether wittingly or not, lended credibility to Glenn Beck last night. The Bible says to not even greet someone like that. 2 John 1:10

3. There was a sublte but clear postmillenial slant. As members of Berean Baptist Church, we have affirmed a premillenial view of the Bible and eschatology. Many of the positive reviews I read celebrate the postmillenial slant that Kirk is now putting on things. This is actually a turnoff for me, but even if it had a premillenial slant, my other points would still apply.

4. There was a touch of pragmatism involved, although Kirk tried to stem this off at times (by talking about the necessary heart change). The following concept or idea was implied:

if we use God and His bible –>> Then we can get what we want (whether that is freedom, prosperity, whatever, often a very good thing could be the result).

First of all, God is worthy of our praise, worship and OBEDIENCE regardless of whether we think it will achieve for us our desired effect. As well…many of the people who need the gospel will be turned off by this message. They (unregenerate, unrepentant sinners) do not desire the freedom offered by the gospel…they desire their sin. Promising a homosexual or an abortion doctor or a prostitute or a hardened criminal that a return to biblical roots will offer them freedom and help our country is asinine. They do not have any desire for the freedom offered by the gospel.

What they need is to be told of God’s righteous judgment which is immminent, that His wrath is currently abiding on them, and the escape offered by grace through faith alone in the resurrected Son of God, Jesus Christ who became sin on behalf of His people. They need to know that Jesus Christ is their Lord, whether they acknowledge it or not. Attempts to convincing them that biblical basis for laws without a regenerated heart will not only be unfruitful, but somewhat insulting. You may as well tell a leopard to change his spots or an ethiopian to change his skin color…Jeremiah 13:23. You could make the argument that the country could be made better using these principles, even if people don’t believe them. That even false converts and members of apostate christian churches and groups could embrace the morality and promote it, but who cares? I’m not trying to make the world a better place from where people can go to hell. I praise God so many unbelievers still have a conscience, but their end is the same as the most violent criminal apart from faith alone in Christ alone.

Was there a lot of good in the movie? Yes, just like October Baby (which I do not recommend because of the universalist/ecumenical slant and no gospel), there were some good messages; Christian morality was exhibited and extolled. At one point, it was pointed out that not all churchgoers are Christian, and Kirk even mentioned that not all the founding fathers were Christian, yet they still saw the value in the Bible as a source of truth for governance. There was a ton of historical information which was offered (with little attribution to the source) which can pump people up for our nation. David Barton mocked secular historians for their lack of footnotes…yet this movie itself cited no source for its data either.

It was entertaining and somewhat inspiring.

But how does it inspire?

Did it inspire me to buy Kirk’s Monumental Homeschool curriculum? No.
Did it inspire me to buy Kirk’s Family Home Devotional? No.
Did it inspire me to encourage my friends to go, or my unsaved family? No. (In fact, I hope my unsaved family misses it because I’m afraid it will allow them to feel comfortable in their sin because many of them are on the right side of the morality fence.)
Did it inspire me to visit or demand others visit the demand this movie website? No.

It inspired me to do exactly what the movie itself needed to do. It inspired me to follow the Bible in my home, attempt to influence people in the same fashion, and hope that through the preaching of the gospel, the Lord will grant repentance and faith to lost souls and that the Holy Spirit will then guide their lives and we will being to live in a country that is actually converted.

Here is another review which I thought was fair by Jon Speed. You will notice the postmillenial praise (which I would expect from a postmiller) as well as a lot of very well-reasoned comments on the movie.

Anyway – I love you brother, and I’m not trying to argue. Go ahead and go see it if you want. Personally, with my budget and the abundance of gospel preaching missionaries and evangelists I know I’d have preferred to give the ticket and popcorn price to one of them, or just spent it all myself on tracts I could carry. Like I said, I love Kirk, but I think he made a mistake, and it happens to be a very public one, which requires public repentance, in my opinion.

I could be wrong about some of these things. I do believe the movie was “good.” But a missed opportunity and potentially a display of a direction that I hope Kirk isn’t headed into partnership with nonbelievers.

Courageous Preaching?

October 7, 2011 by mcoughlin

Many people seem to want to know the Bible verse from the movie Courageous. It is Joshua 24:15, As for me and my house, we will serve the Lord.

Alright, I’ll admit, the title to this post is a slight play on words. I simply want to share this video with you from September 30, 2011.

My local church invited hundreds of people, (specifically targeting law enforcement, emt, fire and military), to see the new movie Courageous on opening night. The generous God-loving folks of Berean Baptist Church completed funded the showing for about 188 people who came that evening as our guests.

Our goal was to share this inspiring movie with them, a small bag of “goodies,” and the message of hope that lies only through faith in Christ.

You can see the video below. The preaching was anything but Courageous. In fact, (I’ll chalk it up to nervousness), I failed to mention THE RESURRECTION – an essential component of the gospel. But we trust that God will provide a harvest for our labor of love.