Today’s guest article is from State Missionary Doug Rogers who serves the Alabama Baptist State Board of Missions as our Director of Communications.
Three faith-based movies are opening soon and I wanted to give you a heads-up about them.
The first is “Risen” which comes to theaters today (actually had early previews last night). I haven’t had the opportunity to preview this one, but everything I’m hearing about it is really good. It’s being embraced pretty widely by the Christian community as a powerful depiction of the days following the Resurrection seen through the eyes of a skeptical soldier charged with finding Christ’s body and his journey toward finding out the truth for himself. It’s been endorsed by many Christian leaders whom I trust. Here’s a link to an article by Fox News correspondent Todd Starnes which will give you more information: http://www.foxnews.com/opinion/2016/02/18/its-miracle-hollywood-finally-tells-great-bible-story.html
“Miracles from Heaven” opens March 16, the Wednesday before Palm Sunday. The film stars well-known actress Jennifer Garner and tells the true story of a young girl named Annabel Beam with incurable digestive disorders who is miraculously healed following a 30-foot fall down a hollow tree. I had the opportunity to see this film a few weeks ago and it is very moving and faith affirming. It comes from the producers of “Heaven Is for Real” and while there is an element of “a moment in heaven” (Annabel tells her parents about seeing Jesus and being told she would be healed), that’s not the focus of the film.
The movie is not as strongly evangelistic as other recent faith-based films, but it is an encouraging, amazing story of how God chose to work in the life of the Beam family. Here’s a little more about the movie and the story behind it: http://insider.foxnews.com/2015/04/14/miracles-heaven-near-fatal-fall-cures-sick-little-girls-symptoms
“God’s Not Dead 2” opens April 1 (yes, April Fools Day). This follow up to 2014’s “God’s Not Dead,” which surprised Hollywood by earning $60 million on a $2 million budget, tells the fictional story of a high school teacher put on trial for using scripture and talking about Jesus in her classroom. A good bit of the movie centers around the trial and features several recognized Christian apologists, including Lee Strobel and Gary Habermas, who help make “the case for Christ,” and even a cameo from Mike Huckabee. It’s a timely film, especially in this day when religious liberty is is being challenged on multiple fronts. The film has several familiar faces in it, including Melissa Joan Hart, Pat Boone, Robin Givens and Sadie Robertson (and Fred Thompson in his last screen appearance before his death last November). Here’s the link to the movie’s website: http://godsnotdeadthemovie.com/
Amidst all the negative messages being shown on our movie screens, it’s refreshing to see more and more faith-based, family-friendly films being produced. I encourage you to send a message to Hollywood by supporting these films when they come out. I believe in every case you’ll be glad you did.
