why do christian movies stink?

O.K., the title to this post may not be fair. But, if you love the movie industry, you must agree that a vast majority (95%-99%) of Christian films stink.

Now, I’m not talking about the big budget Hollywood extravaganzas, such as The Ten Commandments or Passion of the Christ. I’m talking about the movies made in the past two decades produced specifically for the “church going” market. Duds like “Time Changers” and “Facing the Giants.”

Those are all well-intended flicks, but they’re awful because they are not relevant and in order to appeal to what they feel is their target market, they use dialogue that only Ned Flanders could appreciate!

Continue reading

what is connection?

We have got some great volunteers at LifePointe church. And, we’ve got a bunch of them! Half of our church are active volunteers, and that’s nothing to sneeze at when it comes to church statistics.

But, I often worry about connection. And by connection, I mean a deep-rooted attachment to one’s surroundings and a committment level to service that exceeds the average.

That’s what I mean by connection.

I always wonder if the people that volunteer under me are experiencing a level of connection that they deserve. You know…the one that God has in store for them.

How can i know? What are the signs? If there is no connection, will interest level stay at a high?

It’s kind of like being married, i guess. There has to be some communication. Asking, listening, lunches…whatever it takes. We only have one shot at helping someone connect with the community, with God, and we can’t screw it up. Eyes wide open should be the motto.

Do me a favor…if you think you’re not connected, or are connected and want to take it to a higher level, tell me! Just like my wife tells me when I’m not taking our relationship to the next level.

Only…I promise I won’t tell you to wait until the commercial comes on.

Is there a God?

Ahhhh…that is the question. The one question that secular humanists have been asking themselves for centuries.

You know, I think to help answer this question, i’m going to put on my “atheist hat.”

If God doesn’t exist, and man is truly all by himself on this big, blue marble, and everything we’ve accomplished up til now can only be attributed to man’s greatness, then what do we have?

Well, according to the latest count, there are 2.1 billion Christians in this world. If there were no God, then there are 2.1 billion (yes…I know that not all Christians act in a Christian way) people that are trying to be the nicest, the best humans they can be. 

2.1 billion people giving portions of their paychecks to help others, buying groceries for the needy, smiling at someone having a bad day, hugging someone that just experienced a tragedy.  

2.1 billion people building houses for the poor, risking their lives to get medicine to the sick in third world dictatorships, trying to spread hope in the most hopeless parts of the world.

2.1 billion people just trying to help.

Now, if there were no God, and these Christians were following a false hope…well, is there a better false hope to follow?

And, by the way, I think that 2.1 billion people promoting that same hope proves that there is a God.