The fifty top religious films

I found this list of the top fifty religious films today. Some of the movies on the list won't jive with your theology and some are for mature viewer only. I do think that any of these movies would be great for a small group discussion. I haven't seen many of the movies on the list but I think I will try and check out a few of them.

So I came accross wearefishermen.com today. At first I thought this was just a hoax but according to this article it isn't. On one hand I do like the idea behind it. On the other I can see alot of people getting bent out of shape about this and I can see others creating an idol out of the figures.

Wakeup call

I received this in one of those multi forwarded email chains.

Dear God:
Why didn't you save the school children at ?...

Moses Lake, Washington 2/2/96
Bethel, Alaska 2/19/97
Pearl, Mississippi 10/1/97
West Paducah, Kentucky 12/1/97
Stamp, Arkansas 12/15/97
Jonesboro, Arkansas 3/24/98
Edinboro, Pennsylvania 4/24/98
Fayetteville, Tennessee 5/19/98
Springfield, Oregon 5/21/98
Richmond, Virginia 6/15/98

Littleton, Colorado 4/20/99
Taber, Alberta, Canada 5/28/99
Conyers, Georgia 5/20/99
Deming, New Mexico 11/19/99
Fort Gibson, Oklahoma 12/6/99
Santee, California 3/ 5/01
El Cajon, California 3/22/01 and
Blacksburg , VA 4/16/07 ?

Sincerely,

Concerned Student
-----------------------------------------------------
Reply:

Dear Concerned Student:
Sorry,

I am not allowed in schools.

Sincerely,

God
----------------------------------------------------------
How did this get started?...
-----------------
Let's see,
I think it started when Madeline Murray O'Hare complained
She didn't want any prayer in our schools.

And we said, OK.
------------------
Then, someone said you better not:
Read the Bible in school;
the Bible that says
"thou shalt not kill,
Thou shalt not steal,
And love your neighbors as yourself,"

And we said, OK...
-----------------
Dr. Benjamin Spock said
We shouldn't spank our children
When they misbehaved
Because their little personalities
Would be warped and we might damage their self-esteem.

And we said,
An expert should know what he's talking about
So we won't spank them anymore..
------------------
Then someone said
Teachers and principals better not
Discipline our children when they misbehave.
And the school administrators said
No faculty member in this school
Better touch a student when they misbehave
Because we don't want any bad publicity,
And we surely don't want to be sued.

And we accepted their reasoning...
------------------
Then someone said,
let's let our daughters have abortions if they want,
And they won't even have to tell their parents.

And we said, that's a grand idea.
------------------
Then some wise school board member said,
Since boys will be boys
And they're going to do it anyway,
let's give our sons all the condoms they want,
So they can have all the fun they desire,
And we won't have to tell their parents they got them at school.

And we said, that's another great idea...
------------------
Then some of our top elected officials said
It doesn't matter what we do in private as long as we do our jobs.

And we said,
It doesn't matter what anybody, including the President,
Does in private as long as we have jobs and the economy is good....
------------------
And someone else took that appreciation a step further
And published pictures of nude children
And then stepped further still by
Making them available on the Internet.

And we said, everyone is entitled to free speech....
------------------
And the entertainment industry said,
let's make TV shows and movies that promote
Profanity, violence and illicit sex...
And let's record music that encourages
Rape, drugs, murder, suicide, and satanic themes...

And we said,
it's just entertainment
And it has no adverse effect
And nobody takes it seriously anyway,
So go right ahead.
------------------
Now we're asking ourselves
Why our children have no conscience,
Why they don't know right from wrong,
And why it doesn't bother them to
Kill strangers, classmates or even themselves.
------------------
Undoubtedly,
If we thought about it long and hard enough,
We could figure it out.
I'm sure it has a great deal to do with...

"WE REAP WHAT WE SOW"
------------------
Pass it on
If you think it has merit.
If not then just discard it...
But if you discard this thought process,
Then don't you dare sit back and complain about
What bad shape this country is in.

Why is it our children can not read a Bible in school, but can in Prison.

The Supreme Court has upheld the federal ban on partial birth abortion. This is a cause for rejoicing but there is still much that needs to be done to overturn Roe vs. Wade. Hopefully this is the first step in that direction.

Please keep all of the families affected by the tragedy at Virginia Tech in your prayers. During times like this many will try to find some meaning in the horror. I pray that God will reveal some good out of this terrible event.

I have listed some links below to other posts and articles about this tragic event:

The Virginia Tech Massacre
A New Heart
Evil exists
Responding to the Virginia Tech tragedy
9-11 At Virginia Tech

A little update on me today. I have recently accepted a job at a new company. This has been an answer to a lot of prayer. It is so cool to look back on how God has prepared me for this new opportunity. I know that if this job would have come up any sooner I would not have been ready for it. God has taught me quite a bit these last 5 years about work and how to deal with various types of people. It is just another reminder on how perfect God's timing truly is.

In the article 'No Love, No Forgiveness, No Jesus' for Imus, Kevin Jackson brings up some very good points. I think he is right that the Christian community needs to show Mr. Imus the same forgiveness that Christ has given us. I also think that Mr. Imus needs to undergo some sort of punishment.

I agree with NBC's decision to fire him. I don't know of many places of business that you could say something like that and not get fired. I know that if I said what he did where I work I would be reprimanded at least and at most fired. I think that if he would have said the remarks that he did outside of his work, in a public forum, then he would still need to apologize but not be punished for it from his employer. Unfortunately I think the only reason that NBC let Mr. Imus go is to save the bottom line.

It is true that there are others in the media have said the same or worse. However, the actions of others cannot and should not be an excuse for Mr. Imus. If we follow the "well everyone else in the media..." type of reasoning then what is next? What next will our society justify because of morality by popularity?

I can't completely know if Mr. Imus is sincere. Based on lengths that he has gone through to apologize I think he is. In the end only God can see the heart and know if someone is 100% sincere in their apology. I think it would be good for us all to send up a prayer for Don Imus, the Rutgers women’s basketball team, and our media as a whole. A prayer for hearts of forgiveness for the team, a prayer of repentance on the part of Mr. Imus, and a prayer for God to change the hearts of those in the media to uphold decency to put an end to situations like this.

Good Friday

Very early in the morning, the chief priests, with the elders, the teachers of the law and the whole Sanhedrin, reached a decision. They bound Jesus, led him away and handed him over to Pilate.
"Are you the king of the Jews?" asked Pilate.
"Yes, it is as you say," Jesus replied.

The chief priests accused him of many things. So again Pilate asked him, "Aren't you going to answer? See how many things they are accusing you of."

But Jesus still made no reply, and Pilate was amazed.

Now it was the custom at the Feast to release a prisoner whom the people requested. A man called Barabbas was in prison with the insurrectionists who had committed murder in the uprising. The crowd came up and asked Pilate to do for them what he usually did.

"Do you want me to release to you the king of the Jews?" asked Pilate, knowing it was out of envy that the chief priests had handed Jesus over to him. But the chief priests stirred up the crowd to have Pilate release Barabbas instead.

"What shall I do, then, with the one you call the king of the Jews?" Pilate asked them.

"Crucify him!" they shouted.

"Why? What crime has he committed?" asked Pilate.
But they shouted all the louder, "Crucify him!"

Wanting to satisfy the crowd, Pilate released Barabbas to them. He had Jesus flogged, and handed him over to be crucified.


The soldiers led Jesus away into the palace (that is, the Praetorium) and called together the whole company of soldiers. They put a purple robe on him, then twisted together a crown of thorns and set it on him. And they began to call out to him, "Hail, king of the Jews!" Again and again they struck him on the head with a staff and spit on him. Falling on their knees, they paid homage to him. And when they had mocked him, they took off the purple robe and put his own clothes on him. Then they led him out to crucify him.

A certain man from Cyrene, Simon, the father of Alexander and Rufus, was passing by on his way in from the country, and they forced him to carry the cross. They brought Jesus to the place called Golgotha (which means The Place of the Skull). Then they offered him wine mixed with myrrh, but he did not take it. And they crucified him. Dividing up his clothes, they cast lots to see what each would get.

It was the third hour when they crucified him. The written notice of the charge against him read: THE KING OF THE JEWS. They crucified two robbers with him, one on his right and one on his left. Those who passed by hurled insults at him, shaking their heads and saying, "So! You who are going to destroy the temple and build it in three days, come down from the cross and save yourself!"

In the same way the chief priests and the teachers of the law mocked him among themselves. "He saved others," they said, "but he can't save himself! Let this Christ, this King of Israel, come down now from the cross, that we may see and believe." Those crucified with him also heaped insults on him.

At the sixth hour darkness came over the whole land until the ninth hour. And at the ninth hour Jesus cried out in a loud voice, "Eloi, Eloi, lama sabachthani?"—which means, "My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?"
When some of those standing near heard this, they said, "Listen, he's calling Elijah."

One man ran, filled a sponge with wine vinegar, put it on a stick, and offered it to Jesus to drink. "Now leave him alone. Let's see if Elijah comes to take him down," he said.

With a loud cry, Jesus breathed his last.

The curtain of the temple was torn in two from top to bottom. And when the centurion, who stood there in front of Jesus, heard his cry and saw how he died, he said, "Surely this man was the Son of God!"

Some women were watching from a distance. Among them were Mary Magdalene, Mary the mother of James the younger and of Joses, and Salome. In Galilee these women had followed him and cared for his needs. Many other women who had come up with him to Jerusalem were also there.

It was Preparation Day (that is, the day before the Sabbath). So as evening approached, Joseph of Arimathea, a prominent member of the Council, who was himself waiting for the kingdom of God, went boldly to Pilate and asked for Jesus' body. Pilate was surprised to hear that he was already dead. Summoning the centurion, he asked him if Jesus had already died. When he learned from the centurion that it was so, he gave the body to Joseph. So Joseph bought some linen cloth, took down the body, wrapped it in the linen, and placed it in a tomb cut out of rock. Then he rolled a stone against the entrance of the tomb. Mary Magdalene and Mary the mother of Joses saw where he was laid. (Mark 15)

Images of Calvary

By now I am sure many have heard of the chocolate Jesus art show that was canceled because of heavy protests. There were even some death threats. This bothers me. Why do we, the Christian community, tolerate this kind of hate from people who claim faith in Christ? Where is the outrage from believers over the death threats? Why is there such a level of outrage over a chocolate sculpture when we could be focusing attention on the human rights injustices of North Korea, China, and the Middle East (to mention a few)?

Many folks were angered over the fact that the sculpture depicted Christ as naked and anatomically correct. I'm sorry but all the clean nice pictures of Jesus on the cross with a loin cloth on are just wrong. When the Romans crucified someone they took all of their clothes to further humiliate them. I know many people like to have a nice clean sanitized savior that never did anything "human". But the truth is that Jesus Christ, while fully God, was fully human. Jesus grew up like the other boys in His neighborhood. He probably had a skinned knee or two. He got hungry and thirsty. In Him coming down in the form of a human we can be assured that when we go to Him with a problem He can honestly say "I have been there too and I can relate".

Feeling rejected? Christ faced the ultimate rejection on the cross. Tired? Hungry? Thirsty? Sleep, food, and water are all basic human needs that we know Christ had to deal with from reading the gospels. I could go on but the point is that people need to get rid of the idea of this long wavy brown haired, blue eyed Jesus in pristine white robes saying thee and thy. He was real and He can relate to us. He wants to relate to us and have a relationship with us.

Now, back to the sculpture. I personally find a 6' chocolate statue depicting Christ on the cross unnecessary. We need to remember that Jesus is no longer on the cross. He has been taken down and is risen. Christ has defeated death and has paid the price for our sin. There is no need to put Him back up on the cross.

I can't say for sure what the intentions of the artist were but judging from his previous work (repainting a Manhattan hotel room in melted mozzarella, spraying five tons of pepper jack cheese on a Wyoming home, and festooning a four-poster bed with 312 pounds of processed ham) I am guessing he was just trying to stir up some controversy. Unfortunately it worked.