Thoughts on War Room

  Maybe this should be on my review blog, but this isn't really a review of the movie. I have been wanting to watch it for a while since I heard so much about it, and finally got it last week with a great coupon from Family Christian Bookstore. This afternoon, I sat down to watch it. I wasn't sure what to expect. I had read some negative comments and reviews of it when it came out in the theater, but had heard far more positive than negative comments about it.

  It wasn't at all what I was expecting. The naysayers had made it sound like it was about an elderly lady who sat in her prayer closet and repeated the same prayers over and over and that the repetition got God to answer her prayers. I sure didn't get that idea from watching it.

  OK, maybe this is a review of the movie :) - it is extremely well done. The acting is top-notch, and has a great plot that emphasizes how important prayer is; and how so many of us aren't doing it right nor taking advantage of  the power of prayer.

  One college guy I am Facebook friends with commented after seeing it back in October:
"Yesterday, I decided to go to the $10-for-matinee movie theater and watch War Room. Wow. Phenomenal movie well worth the $10. I was deeply moved and brought to tears several times. What an amazing picture that movie painted of prayer... an image I don't think I'll ever forget. This morning I woke up earlier than normal and "went to war." I can't believe I've forsaken this important weapon and privilege for so long. I am ready to fight on my knees. Will you join me?"

  I can relate to what he said. The movie hit me hard. I pray every day, but I don't have much faith that most of my prayers will be answered. I worry and fret about the future, about the direction our country is going, about losing our freedoms, about the kind of world we are making for my nieces and nephews, about how often evil triumphs over good....... I am afraid my praying is mostly habit and something I feel I must do to please God.

  But what if I and all Christians approached it the way this movie presents it: going to war, having a strategy and method, praying for specific things and truly believing God is going to answer.... not just hoping that He might? Imagine what might be accomplished if we took advantage of this tool - this weapon - that is so readily available to us.

  Some books and movies can change your life. I believe this is one such movie that can do that..... and can definitely change one's prayer life. I for one, have been encouraged to do better in the area of prayer. I want to pray for the right things with the right attitude, and definitely pray for God's will in all I pray for....... but I also want to pray believing that He will answer, and not that He might answer if He feels like it.

  Prayer: our greatest weapon, and our most under-used weapon.

  Watch the movie, or read the book.

Not today

I watched the trailer for an upcoming movie around a year ago or so, and thought it looked good. I mentally filed it in my "need to watch some day" list. When it came out on DVD, I considered buying it, but didn't want to pay $19.99 for it, so I pretty much forgot about it for a while. I was in Family Christian Bookstore on Black Friday and there it was on their Black Friday specials table....... for $5. I of course purchased it, but hadn't watched it yet until last night. I got it ready to play, hit "play movie" and sat back.

We are too entertainment-minded in America. If we took our entertainment away, we'd feel lost. I love to read, and it could be considered entertainment, and often it is; yet there are times I am convicted, inspired, encouraged, and more by what I read, even in a Christian novel.

When it comes to movies, they are pretty much entertainment. I try to be careful in what I watch, and they have started to put out better Christian movies, which makes it easier to watch decent movies. This Christian movie falls into the better category. And I got more than I expected.

 Once in a while I read a book and think "everyone needs to read that book." It happens less often with movies, but it happened with this one. This is a movie everyone needs to see.

The plot in a nutshell: 20-year old Caiden is a spoiled, fairly rich boy. He used to attend church, serve God, and pray before his parents divorced and God didn't answer his prayers to keep them together. So now, he is a party boy. He and his buddies decide to go on a fun-filled trip to Hyderabad, India. A little seven-year-old girl gets sold by her well-meaning father, and Caiden feels responsible (watch the movie to find out why), and goes on a search to rescue the little girl.

 This movie is about human trafficking, and it is based on real events. It really isn't an entertaining movie, though it did entertain, but it did more than that. It helped awake me to the reality and horrors of human trafficking.

 The movie is tastefully done, but there are several times in the movie when Caiden goes into a place where you can pay for sex with little girls - or boys. Even though I knew it was a movie and they were actors, I found myself crying, thinking about how many children are living that reality.

 In one scene, Caiden has truck out again at the place he visited, but can't help himself and buys two of the little girls they brought him, trying to convince him to go with a different girl. After they left the buildig, he falls apart as he thinks about all of the ones he had to leave behind. I found tears coursing down my cheeks again..... that happened a lot in the movie.

 At the end of the movie - and no, I am not saying if he found the little girl or not, you'll have to watch it yourself - the camera bounced back and forth between the main actors as they told statistics and information about human trafficking. As the credits rolled, I put my head in my hands and let the tears flow. I cried for the countless children - and men and women - sold into slavery and to be used for sex and other purposes. I cried because I want to do something, but can't think of anything I can do to help. I cried because I am so wrapped up in my problems that I forget how blessed I am my family are.

  It is one thing to be aware. I am all too aware of abortion and the evils of it. There doesn't seem to be much I personally can do to end it, other than pray and consistently vote for politicians who are pro-life. But what can I do about human trafficking? Pray, yes, but what else?

 I weary of all of the "save the animal" posts I see on Facebook. People are way more important. Stopping abortion and human trafficking are way more important. We need to get our priorities right. I for one will be praying and asking God what I can do to help in the battle against this awful scourge of human trafficking.

 For some statistics just for America (yes, it is a problem here also), go to this site.

 For more information about the movie, go here.

Movie trailer:

God's Not Dead, but Noah Is

Christians all over have been abuzz and excited for several months, since finding out Hollywood was going to produce a movie about Noah. I was skeptical. This is the same Hollywood that is anti-God, anti-Christian, immoral, pro-gay..... the idea of them producing a movie about Noah that stuck to the Bible, seemed ludicrous to me.

   I started reading reviews a couple of weeks ago of people who had seen it, and they were not complimentary. Conservative radio host Glen Beck just gave a scathing review of it on his website.

  Ken Ham, from Answers In Genesis had friends see it and give him the run down, and he lists some problems with the movie on his website.

   And yet, I have seen several Christians via Facebook groups and other mediums urge people to go see it.

   I am not going to knock anyone for seeing it. That is your prerogative, but just because Hollywood makes a movie that is supposedly based on a Bible story/character, does that mean we must get excited about it and watch it, in spite of its flaws? Will it make Hollywood pro-God and pro-Christian? I can't see that happening.

  But again, I am not condemning anyone for seeing it. I am just questioning why so many Christian leaders and groups are urging people to see it, in spite of the bad.



  The same thing happened with The Bible mini series. It was going to stick to the Bible account, and I heard people raving about how wonderful it was. So when it came out on DVD, I watched prices, and got it for $14.99, new, free shipping on eBay. And man, was I disappointed. I never finished it. I saw many things that didn't stick to the Bible account. One that really stuck out to me was when the prophet Nathan confronted David about his sin with Bathsheba. In the Bible account, David is sorrowful and repentant. In the Bible mini series, he is arrogant and mocking....

  I just reviewed a book about the Easter story, that was based on the mini series, and again...... disappointment. Why change details and the way things happened?

  And here is my biggest problem with all of these people urging Christians to see the Hollywood produced, un-Biblically accurate Noah: There is another movie playing in theaters right now, independently produced by Christians, with a lot of, possibly all, Christian actors. But these same people urging us to see Noah, are silent. Why? Is it because Hollywood didn't produce it, so they feel there's no need to get excited about it?

  The movie? God's Not Dead. Unlike Noah, people who have seen it are giving it rave reviews, and are not finding it contradictory to the Bible at all. So why aren't the pro-Noah people urging us to see it? It sounds worth seeing, unlike Noah.

  I've seen the trailer for the movie, read the reviews, read comments from actors in the movie, and I plan on seeing it when it hits DVD. Granted, not all Christian movies are of good quality and acting, but this one seems to be, and there have been others.... so if we are going to get so gung-ho about a movie, how about getting excited about one produced by Christians that sounds like it is going to glorify God? Why support a movie that isn't Biblically accurate, just because wicked Hollywood used a Bible story to base the movie on? That is kind of like eating a pile of trash because there is a food you really like buried in the middle of it. Doesn't make sense.

  But again, I am not condemning anyone who is going to see it. That is your prerogative, but make sure you leave time to see a movie that might be more worth your time and money: God's Not Dead.

  We all need to be more careful in what we read, watch, spend our time and money on. If we are going to watch movies, we should be careful what we view. I shop a lot at Family Christian Stores, and am amazed at the selection of movies they carry that are either Christian, or at least inspirational and wholesome. And no, not all of them are good quality, but that is what Amazon reviews and other website reviews are for. Many times, I have stood in a store and looked up reviews for a book, DVD, or even a CD, before I bought it.

 I have said it before, if Christians don't buy Christian books, movies, and music, then who will?

 God's not dead, but Noah is. And Noah sounds Biblically inaccurate, but God's Not Dead sounds right on target. I know which one I want to see. And it doesn't involve a flood.