GOD'S NOT DEAD 2 - A REVIEW FROM A MOVIEGOER

GOD'S NOT DEAD 3 STORY SET?
"...atheists can't take away the pain, but they sure take away the Hope"...thus says the character Walter Wesley, played by well-known Christian actor and singer Pat Boone to his daughter - Grace Wesley (expertly and powerfully portrayed by well-known TV actress Melissa Joan Hart). What followed is one of the most critical movies for the Body of Christ in 2016 America, if our fellow citizens are really paying attention.

God's Not Dead 2 (GND2) is a compilation of several actual court cases where the religious freedom of students (high school and college) and teachers were denied by an increasingly hostile anti-Christian God mindset. This mindset was coming for decades, from the days of Supreme Court Hugo Black, a former member of the Ku Klux Klan, who was part of the Warren Court in the 1960's which removed the Bible and Prayer from American schools. Black reintroduced the long dormant "separation of church and state" concept and set the stage for the eventual spiritual decline of the United States. Some of the actual cases listed in the movie credits were the backdrop for this warm yet deadly cold reality. The reality is the fine line which some Christians have to walk daily in a country that was founded on Religious Liberty for the Christian.

Now what is apparently coming in God's Not Dead 3 is just the natural progression of such extra-constitutional activism. It is recommended to movie-goers to sit through the entire roll of credits at the end of God's Not Dead 2 to see what is coming next. A minor subplot during GND2 involves the popular late US Senator/Actor Fred Dalton Thompson where a group of pastors are ordered by local government authorities to hand over all their sermons for the centralized authority to vet. This is a storyline based on what actually occurred in 2014 when the Mayor of Houston threatened Houston preachers to hand over their sermons or else….an action which resulted in a massive national outcry and backlash.  For those who are interested in a growing Christian movie culture fueled by current events, this is something to look forward to.

God's Not Dead 2 revolves around the story of an Arkansas high school teacher - Grace Wesley - who answers a seemingly innocuous question in her AP History Class about the heroes of non-violence (Gandhi and King) and the greatest non-violent hero in history - Jesus. Another student in the class immediately texted his atheist parents during the class that his history teacher was basically turning the class into "Sunday School". Grace Wesley, an immediately likeable single teacher, wonderfully portrayed by Melissa Joan Hart, a popular mainstream television actress (and Christian), is soon brought up before the school board. They demand an apology and more from her, which basically amounted to a tacit denial of her testimony of faith in Christ. Grace Wesley declines and decides to take her chances in court, with an apparent green public defender whose youth and penchant for not losing a case overrides his lack of Faith in Jesus Christ.

At stake in this case is Ms. Wesley's job and all that she has. This includes the small idyllic home where she cares for her aging father (Pat Boone). She stands to lose not just her job, teaching license and home, but the plaintiff's attorneys courtroom skills initially make mincemeat of Grace Wesley's young, under-dressed defender for most of the trial. This all changes at the end when Grace's attorney (Jesse Metcalfe of "Desperate Housewives") finally calls his client up to the witness stand as a hostile witness and ends up winning the case. He does so in some of the finest courtroom writing and hijinks written in any type of drama - Christian or secular! 

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Two great real-life authors gave outstanding testimonies on the "witness stand". The great Lee Strobel, the former atheist legal reporter for the Chicago Tribune who set out to prove the bible wrong and ended up a Christian gave a sterling apologetic for the Faith...making, as it were, the "Case for Christ". Equally as impressive was the testimony of real life L.A. Detective & Christian apologetics author J. Warner Wallace whose book Cold Case Christianity (2013) is a cold hard look from another former atheist (Wallace) at the Gospels to see if the facts of Jesus' life and death hold up to scrutiny. What Wallace found led him not just to Faith in Christ, just like Strobel, but into active ministry for the Lord in missions and outreach.

In the final analysis, this Pure Flix masterpiece by David A.R. White and his team marks a significant direction for this long time Christian movie making company. The advance questionable reviews of the secular press attest to the success of the entire storyline, the screenplay, content and especially the inclusion and testimonies of the two former Atheists- Authors Strobel and Wallace. The mainstream secular velvet broadside, across the board, is proof that God's Not Dead 2 not only bowls a strike, but will also influence a lot of doubters who were formerly convinced that God did not exist. 

TEN DAYS OF PRAYER FOR THE PERSECUTED CHURCH: OCTOBER 24-NOVEMBER 2, 2014, Day 9

Today is the International Day of Prayer for the Persecuted Church (Sunday November 2, 2014) and more intentional prayer meetings - in church buildings as well as online (and telephone conference calls) are going on all day, worldwide on behalf of our brethren ALL over the world. This is a grassroots and para-church led movement which is given short (or no) mention in most wealthy western churches, where the level of persecution we see in Africa, the Middle East and Asia, is not reached as of now (in the western hemisphere).

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However, while the entire Body of Christ is being decimated worldwide, for standing for the Gospel of Jesus Christ, the small remnant of western and American Christianity is just being felt on this continent. We see bakers and photographers' religious freedoms (guaranteed by the First Amendment) being violated while the official church stays silent. This changed in Houston, in the past few weeks, when the Houston Mayor subpoenaed the sermons, texts and emails of five Houston bible-preaching pastors. This is unheard of in the west and the rising up of the true church has led to an event called 'I STAND SUNDAY" at 7 pm (Eastern) 6 pm (Central) and 4pm (Pacific).

I STAND SUNDAY is a live FREE simulcast available for all churches and home and can be accessed by clicking here, where more information is available. Speakers include President Ronnie Floyd, of the largest Protestant denomination in the world - Southern Baptist Convention; Pastor Mike Huckabee; Duck Dynasty's Phil Robertson and his pastor son Alan; Religion writer Todd Starnes and more. The five Houston Pastors whose free available online sermons were still subpoenaed will be featured speakers.

In addition, Open Doors is having another powerful and spirit-filled free LIVE Webcast tonight led by David Platt, well-known author (RADICAL) and leader of the Southern Baptist International Mission Board (IMB); Nik Ripken and musical guest SELAH. Click on the webcast link provided in the photo below to sign up for FREE/

http://live.opendoorsusa.org/?_ga=1.212539676.94793898.1412731225 

Jesus told His disciples in John 15:19-20a "If you were of the world, the world would love its own; but because you are not of the world, but I chose you out of the world, because of this the world hates you. Remember the word that I said to you, 'A slave is not greater than his master.' If they persecuted Me, they will also persecute you."

There are religions and even Christian churches and certain well-known leaders which the world loves. They are loved by this corrupt world system because of compromise, complacency and even colluding with the culture. But the Lord Jesus said that you and I are not to be like them - because He has called His true church out of that system. These are the ones which the world hates. These are the ones who stand, like Martin Luther did - on the Book of Romans. These are the ones who are "Not ashamed of the Gospel, for it is the Power of God under salvation" (Romans 1:16).

So Father, in the Name of Jesus, the Strong and Mighty Name - the Name above EVERY NAME, the Name Which is forbidden to speak of and mention as God in most countries, including this one, Father God we pray for Your saints, those whom You have called and elected worldwide, those who stand firm on the Truth of Christ, not just on Sunday but 24/7/365. 

We pray on this, the International Day of Prayer for the Persecuted Church that You cause Your Face to shine its  Beauty, Glory, Power, Majesty and its Compassion to those who are in chains, those who are under the gun, those who are on the run, those who hunger and thirst in the natural, those who teach with limited or no resources except Your Spirit Who abideth in them. Lord we lift them up to Thee. 

We particularly remember in prayer and intercession before the Throne, those who are among the KURDS in Northern Iraq, and are being decimated just like our brethren in the first 200 of Christianity. Lord these saints in Northern Iraq are left out to dry in no-man's land by the enemies of Christ, who are on all sides against Your people.

Father we also pray for our pastors in Houston and the remnant in the west who will stand, as the Scriptures says - for the Gospel, on Christ the Solid Rock. We pray for the men and women of God who shall not be moved by the culture, the world, sin, sex and satan, even when it is easy and convenient to so do. Father I also pray for the I STAND SUNDAY event in Houston where the top Christian leaders of America will stand for religious freedom, under the Authority of the Master, Creator and Commander in Chief of the whole universe - Jesus Christ and proclaim from the "mountain top" - the Truth, the Whole Truth and nothing but the Way the Truth and the Life, Whose righteousness we all seek for follow and live daily.

Father God, we love you and praise, adore, magnify, glorify and lift up Your Name to be praised because You alone are worthy, through the Name of Jesus Christ, the Ancient of Days, the Amen and the Alpha and Omega, amen and amen.