LET THERE BE LIGHT....(NOT YOUR TYPICAL MOVIE REVIEW)

This is a review of a paying customer to a local AMC Theater. It is totally unsolicited, just like all reviews posted on this site. Thank you.
As mainstream Hollywood flounders under the weight of itself, the increasing abundance of some amazing Christian films is just astounding. Let There Be Light (LTBL) is one such film. While Pure Flix has become the "Warner Brothers" of Faith and Family big time movies and streaming services, LTBL is in independent movie produced by none other than the top U.S. Cable News Host - Sean Hannity of the Fox News Channel.

The official Let There Be Light website describes the movie thus, in part:
"....But even with all the fame and success, Sol is empty and distraught on the inside and his increasing reliance on alcohol to numb the pain is only making things worse. His New York party lifestyle has isolated him from his ex wife Katy and their two remaining sons.  Their unrelenting faith in God is something that Sol has actually grown to resent and he tells Katy that he just got sick and tired of her praying for his soul. Sol’s self-destructive habits eventually catch up to him and a serious car crash leaves him clinically dead for four minutes before he is finally resuscitated by some heroic first responders.  It’s a miracle that he’s still alive, but what really changes Sol’s outlook on life is what happens during those four minutes.  It’s a four word message that refuses to let him go despite his best efforts to deny it"...and those words are "LET THERE BE LIGHT".

Right off the bat, as the movie swings open, a big debate is going on between a polished, apparently mainstream evangelical Christian TV show guy and the celebrity atheist and superstar author Dr. Sol Harkins, played by "Hercules" - Kevin Sorbo. The debate happens in front of a huge lecture crowd which is actually representative of a lot of professing "Christians" these days. While the evangelical debates from familiar talking points, the accomplished celebrity author is able to not just passionately proseltyze as a pagan to the weak minds out there, but then go Elmer Gantry on them, with raw emotion. You see, even atheists know there is a God. Just ask Richard Dawkins, who once remarked "Oh my God...." when he forgot the full title of the book "Origins of the Species" by Darwin!

I have read other reviews of LTBL, by Biblical solid christian websites and blogs I always rely on for good discernment, and I could not disagree with them more. One of them is Patheos. This is NOT a cheesy Christian film. On the contrary, as anyone can see from the articles on this blog, I only promote the Bible and what it says - as far as life is concerned. I see the heresy out there and leave it to great people like Challies and Patheos or Dr. Al Mohler to talk about those things. My calling is to alert those who are open to it and what that scene, where the great Kevin Sorbo and his character shows is just how gullible and easily led into oblivion, the majority of people are. It was almost infuriating to watch our God being blasphemed by "Dr. Sol Harkins" (Sorbo) and people sit there and applaud him for doing so. These are some of the same people who will show up in a megachurch, the very next weekend and singalong with the latest Hillsong worship song, while sipping a caramel macchiato from the coffee shop in the church lobby. This is my first takeaway.

The movie DOES takes several turns from here on out as Sorbo's character embarks on a search for the meaning of those four words - LET THERE BE LIGHT. I see nothing hoaky or cheesy about it, just some good screenplay writing and as an evangelist and author myself - Gospel preaching. What some of our own evangelical critics of this movie may have forgotten is that the prime focus of a Christian and Faith-based movie is the Gospel. Using a former Italian 'wise guy' who spent 10 years in the joint and got saved when someone gives him a Gideon New Testament - his only companion for "three years in the hole" is genius. After all, the movie background is New York City and some of the best churches in NYC are in Brooklyn - the biggest being the Brooklyn Tabernacle, which covers every single nationality in the world. (Never mind the movie was filmed in Birmingham, Alabama! Lol).

Two hundred Gideon New Testaments 

like the one in the movie, handed out

at Inner City Trunk or Treat, 90 

minutes, to people who have never

had their bibles  - IN AMERICA! 

What Pastor "Vinny" does in his simple, funny and "goomba" - speak is to explain the Gospel of Salvation to an atheist better than some real preachers on TV and whom I know personally, who spent four years in seminary! He does that while having us laughing out loud.

I have been a Gideon Bible Society man for going on 23 years and have handed out 1000's and 1000's of Bibles to so many people as well as tens of thousands of tracts. I have had one man come looking for me at a Christian men's conference years ago, who said I gave him a gospel tract in front of a bar, during a parade once, and he didn't want to take it, but his wife did. These things have eternal consequences. As one who is hands on involved in evangelism no matter the neighborhood (from college campus to the inner city), there is something happening when the Word of God changes hands from me to a recipient. I just finished handing out 200 Orange New Testaments (student) to child and adult alike at an inner city "Trunk or Treat" Halloween replacement party for almost 400 people in a disadvantaged neighborhood. The hugs and love were icing on the cake. This was the second takeaway from LTBL - Pastor Vinny's Gideon bible from jail.

Kevin Sorbo and wife Samantha with real life son.
They all had a part in Let There Be Light.

My final takeaway, which actually had me teary-eyed, was Dr. Harkins' wife Katy (who is actually Kevin Sorbo's real-life wife, Samantha) and her explanation to her two (also real-life) sons as to why God chooses to answer prayers the way He does. Her two surviving sons were praying for her healing from a terminal disease and worried God was not listening to them. THIS is the sort of thing which each one of us as Christians and believers will ultimately face in life, as sure as we live and breathe. If we cannot explain it to someone else, or understand it ourselves, then there will be bitterness, doubt and even unbelief.

For me, this last portion of the Hannity-Sorbo creation was worth the entire endeavor - first, the risk of these great men taking a chance to make a movie like this and secondly, to have solid Bible based doctrine to apply to real life, and then write it into a screenplay like this. I think the misunderstanding of what a Christian movie, whether it is Let There Be Light or God's Not Dead (1 or 2) and some others is expectation.  Sure we want to be entertained and have high standards due to the production quality of mainstream Hollywood.  But a Christian movie is more than just watching Star Wars in IMAX and going "wow" for about 5-10 minutes afterwards. 

We expect something more life-enhancing, rich, solid and sound when we watch a Faith Based movie, whether is by Sorbo or David A.R. White or the Christiano Brothers. The good thing is - these men never disappoint and I for one, will continue to support these movies in the theaters. I have already started word of mouth among my own circle of friends of LBTL. Let's continue to do pass the word along, this holiday season!

Roll Tide

CAN UNBELIEVING PARENTS TEACH ABOUT JESUS?

PART 2 - THE ANSWERS 

The very thought provoking column by William Hageman of the Chicago Tribune which sparked these last two blog posts also tried to offer some solutions to this increasing crisis of Faith. (The column is headlined "TEACHING KIDS ABOUT FAITH WHEN YOU DON'T PRACTICE ONE").  Some of them are worth implementing immediately. 

Hageman threw in some ideas from authors whose books have sold well in Christian circles (like Sticky Faith).  He said that the topic of God is going to come up in the daily lives - mostly at school - of these kids who are not raised in households of faith. I would add, that God has His people, no matter how young or old, EVERYWHERE. Even in some crime-ridden public school in the worst-in-the-nation system in Chicago, we are finding out from my Gideon Bible brethren that sometimes the principal or an administration person may actually be a real Christian.....and as happened in a school in Springfield yesterday in a bad neighborhood, they actually want the Gideon New Testaments handed out in their schools. We are finding this a lot, on an anecdotal level, in school districts across the country as more and more responsible adults realize that sinful mortal men and women do not have the true answers to give these poor kids any real hope!

To build on Hageman's point, if a parent has no faith or practices none BUT is concerned about their children's future, when the child brings up the fact that he or she saw a bunch of Christians holding hands around a flagpole in the school yard wanted to join them - then please do not make fun of that child for wanting to know more about, for example, SEE YOU AT THE POLE! This year's event is on Wednesday September 26.  We will remind folks of this in a couple weeks, but be ye prepared for that big day in the life of a school child as the academic year gears into full speed! Even if the parent could care less about God or church or the Bible or prayer (except when something bad happens) etc etc....if you try to stop a young person who is seeking answers which you, in your evil rebellion against God cannot or do not want to give - you will be judged harshly by God, if you do not repent and make it right, period. This is a promise from Jesus "And whosoever shall offend one of these little ones that believe in me, it is better for him that a millstone were hanged about his neck, and he were cast into the sea" (Mark 9:42).

So we know kids are going to find out about God somewhere - either how to disobey Him more, or hopefully, through peers - seek to know why Susie or Joshua or Brittany have such a wonderful shine on their face and smile, even through adversity and even bullying in school. The least an unbelieving parent can do, is NOT get in their way. If there is an athletic program in the school, there will most likely be a Fellowship of Christian Athletes huddle (Bible Study group) in there. I would encourage the kid to join one of those groups - even if the child is not a full time jock or a swimmer or just plays chess. They will not refuse him or her entry to the group. Huddle leaders are students just like them, except the huddle leader is usually a born again older teen who is grounded in the Bible. It has to be the Bible and nothing else.  The article mentioned above got input from people from other faiths and NO faith. While it may be worth looking into their methods whereby they share their world-based philosophy, you may use some of them but base it 100% on God's Word!

If an unchurched or unsaved parent wants the best for their kids' life, they would allow them to seek purpose in their lives on their own, if they are not willing to do it the right way. The right way is what God says. God gave the example in the Book of Deuteronomy to show how we are supposed to teach our kids His Word. "You shall love the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your might. And these words that I command you today shall be on your heart. You shall teach them diligently to your children, and shall talk of them when you sit in your house, and when you walk by the way, and when you lie down, and when you rise. You shall bind them as a sign on your hand, and they shall be as frontlets between your eyes. You shall write them on the doorposts of your house and on your gates. (Deuteronomy 6:5-9 ESV)

Most western parents, and increasingly, most Christian parents do not even follow 15% of that recommendation from Abba Father! They will drop their kids off at youth group and never check to see what they are learning while they themselves talk about Golf, football and Starbucks in church with their adult friends. This is no different from what an unsaved parent does....except it looks better because the parent goes to a (mostly country-club) American church.

So think on these things, my friends. Are there answers to these things which are occurring with frequency? Yes...and none of them are easy. In fact, some of them will seem impossible. An increasing number of churches are abandoning their jobs and missions to reach these folks "because it is too hard....and we have to take care of our own"!!! This is disobedience and these pastors and church boards will be accountable for that...do not go to these people. Find someone you trust, a co-worker who is fired up for Jesus or an obvious active Christian and seek their counsel. Most times, nine of out ten, this type of person will go out their way to help!! Therefore, Open the Eyes of your Heart my friends, see the need, and act accordingly.

NEXT UP - "PRACTICAL ATHEISTS"

(photo by Tampa Bay Online & google images)

DO YOU HAVE THE NEXT PAGE....

START YOUR OWN USED BIBLE DRIVE TO HELP POOR VILLAGERS WORLDWIDE

Do your best to present yourself to God as one approved, a worker who has no need to be ashamed, rightly handling the word of truth (2 Timothy 2:15 ESV)

Most Americans have a large number of Bibles sitting on their shelves with almost all of the collecting dust. There may even be a coffee table version adorning the center table in the living room, which may or may not be a family heirloom.


As more and more of our professing Christians ignore the Sufficiency and Timeless Principles of the eternal Word of God, we will see even less people with a Biblical Worldview. Why is this important? It is significant, because in these evil times, with every single one of God's commands, statues and the nuclear family under assault, we see a church and its pastors so weak that they cannot even defend the fundamental principles of Biblical Christianity.

However, in the extremely poor and needy Third World countries, there is a massive hunger for the Word of God. This led a friend of my family, and extended family - Steve Schmidt - to start LOVE PACKAGES in Butler, Illinois in 1975. Steve was called by the Lord Who showed him that the vast amount of used Christian literature sitting in his closet, could be used by folks around the world who could never afford the materials we take for granted and throw away here in America! Butler is about less than an hour away from my home, but has had such a massive impact on the world that Steve keeps getting requests from countries, now in the Western hemisphere, asking for Bibles and Sunday School materials!


Over the 37 years of this ministry, which has been featured in national media (both secular and Christian) most of the major evangelical publishers from LIFEWAY to Standard and others now ship Love Packages truck loads of resources (new and used) directly, which hundreds of volunteers sort out and package into easily identifiable skiffs for shipping in 20 Foot containers to more than thirty five countries! You can read more about this ministry and their outreach by clicking here: LOVE PACKAGES.


One of the stories I hear more and more from Love Packages and independent missionaries and even American Soldiers on duty in some of the past wars include people sharing pages of the Bible. There are people in far away villages who share pages from the same ONE Bible, then swap them after they are finished reading them and so on and so on, until the pages cannot be read anymore.


One poor woman was so proud of her Bible one day, she showed an American missionary her Ziploc bag full of SIX pages of the Holy Word! When the American gave her a copy of her own Bible, there were tears everywhere! This story is repeated many times around the world. We all know the stories of the Communist Vietnamese using the pages of the Bible for toilet paper and US GI's volunteering for latrine duty, so they could retrieve those pages, wash them off and saving them to read! In a small village in Ghana called Guno, we have a story which is repeated several hundred times worldwide - an ENTIRE VILLAGE with just ONE thoroughly-used Bible and THAT one, in the safe custody of the chief Village Elder!


I have been a Gideon Bible Society member since 1995 and been involved in Bible distributions in Colleges, nursing homes, outside High Schools etc and the apathy, outright hate and disrespect for the Living Word of God is incredible! U.S. Colleges are becoming more and more hostile to our outreach, even though we are legally entitled to stand on public streets and hand out free copies of the Book! Yet in Russia, the Caribbean, the Phillippines and elsewhere, we would be fortunate if the local pastor has ONE copy of the Word of God.


The bottom line of all of this - Cherish His Word. The more you read it, the more you will love it. When your bible has gotten so old and used because you read and study it so much, please don't leave it on the shelf, but start a used Bible drive in your church. Ask the church leadership to put out a box in the foyer and ask others to do the same. Then call up Steve Schmidt at Love Packages at 217-532-6701 and ask him how to get the package of used bibles out to him. The Lord will provide the means and fund to ship them out. In the meantime, pray for those who are less fortunate than you, and watch the blessings flow! Amen.