Movie Review: 90 Minutes in Heaven

Movie Review: 90 Minutes in Heaven

After recommending the book, "90 Minutes in Heaven" for years I was very excited to hear that they were making a movie about Don Piper’s inspirational story.  I was certain after watching the movie that I was going to be able to write a raving review.  I am very disappointed to say I cannot in good conscious write a raving review.  Despite the fact that most scenes were tastefully presented and the strong acting performances by Hayden Christensen, who played Don Piper and Kate Bosworth, who played Piper’s wife Eva, the movie fell flat and did not live up to expectations.

The movie got off to a good start and showed promise to be one of the great inspirational movies.  In the opening scene we preview the accident and saw flashbacks to activities in the Piper house days earlier.

After the flashbacks we view the full accident, Don being pronounced dead, the arrival of another Pastor who felt called to pray, some blurry allusions to Don’s 90 Minutes in Heaven and his return to human life.  The movie appeared to be heading in a positive direction as we witnessed a flurry of activity to remove Don from the wreckage and get him to the hospital.  But once all the flurry of activity involving the accident and rescue efforts ended so did my interest. 

The movie then became very drawn out and flat.  Most scenes were of Don in his hospital bed.  While there was reference made to people praying for Don there were no scenes of the prayer vigils which took place at his church. One part Don’s recovery which could have been expanded on more was his interaction with a young lady who was undergoing similar painful treatment to her leg.  Instead they decided to waste time with a few scenes involving Don’s wife, Eva’s interactions with an incompetent personal injury attorney Dwight Yoakam (Sling Blade). It added nothing to the movie and quite frankly, Blade’s performance was some of the poorest acting I have ever seen.

Towards the end the movie regained some life and a short while was spent on some actual scenes of Don’s time in Heaven as well as some words from the real life Don Piper.  It is a shame that the opportunity to share this inspirational story with a larger audience was wasted.  If you enjoy going to movies and your budget is not limited by all means see it, but if your movie budget is limited I would recommend investing in tickets to “War Room” or wait until next month when “Woodlawn” comes out. 

Movie Review: War Room

Movie Review: War Room

I had the opportunity to watch the Thursday night preview of the new Christian movie “War Room” which premiered in theaters on Friday August 28th. This is another movie by the Kendrick brothers that promises to be a block buster. 

The Kendrick brothers’ previous hits include “Fireproof” and “Courageous”.    War Room squeezed out Compton for a first place finish at the box office on opening night and finished a strong second place during its opening weekend.  With War Room’s compelling story line and the strong performance by its cast it should continue to perform well at the box office.

The theme of “War Room” is prayer.  If your faith is on fire you will love this movie from start to finish.  But even if your faith is not on fire or even luke warm you will enjoy the movie, but there will be a few moments where you might wonder if it’s for you, but stay with it, you will be glad you did. 

War Room is a very compelling and touching story which revolves around an African American family, the Jordan’s, who are struggling as a family but this all changes when they meet an elderly God filled woman named Miss Clara (Karen Abercrombie), who introduces them to her “war room” and her prayer strategy.

Elizabeth Jordan (Priscilla Shirer) is a real estate agent who is hired by Miss Clara to sell her house.  Over a cup of coffee Miss Clara directs the conversation towards Elizabeth’s personal and faith life.  This makes Elizabeth a bit uncomfortable but agrees to think about Miss Clara’s offer to mentor her prayer life. 

This proves to be a timely conversation as the Jordan family was definitely in the need of prayer and spiritual support. Tony Jordan (T.C. Stallings), Elizabeth’s husband, is very self-centered and caught up in his career.  He is also struggling with his family relationships and integrity issues.  Their daughter, Danielle (Alena Pitts) confides in her friend that her home life is not a happy one and that her parents always fight when they are together.

Fortunately, Elizabeth decides to accept Miss Clara to mentor her in her prayer life.

I will not go into a lot of details as I do not want to ruin the movie for you but what I just told you is the tip of the iceberg. Things really begin to spiral out of control, which motivates Elizabeth to engage in deeper prayer.  At different points both Danielle and Tony find Elizabeth’s prayer room and the experience touches both of them and leads them to develop a prayer life.

With the help of faith and prayer this family overcomes the challenges they face.  This is a story that will certainly touch your heart and hopefully will help move you to consider stepping up your prayer life.  I strongly recommend this movie to all.  I feel it is the Kendrick brother’s strongest production yet.

Memorial Day: Honoring Our Fallen Heroes

Memorial Day:  Honoring Our Fallen Heroes

Today we celebrate Memorial Day.  This is an important holiday that marks a lot more than the beginning of summer.  Memorial Day is the day we honor those who gave their lives defending our country.  It is important that we not confuse this day with Veteran's Day which honors all veterans.

It is believed that Memorial Day was first observed after the Civil War with northern and southern states observing it on different days.  Eventually the observance was merged and was marked on May 30th each year.  In 1971, the date was changed to the last Monday in May.  But the date is not what it is important.  It is important to remember the more than 1.3 million of our country men who willingly sacrificed their lives so that we can have the freedom and liberty that we enjoy today.

I suggest that today before we take the first bite of the hamburger or jump into the pool that we take a moment to remember those who gave their lives so we can enjoy the freedom and liberty that we have today.  Say a prayer for their families and pray for our troops in harms way asking God to protect them so we can honor them on Veterans Day and not Memorial Day.

Baltimore -- A More Positive Side : Helping Our Youth

Baltimore -- A More Positive Side: Helping Our Youth

The picture is of signing day at St. Frances Academy, Baltimore, Maryland

With the events of the last twenty four hours attention has been focused on some of the challenges Baltimore faces.  Social media has been ablaze with posts.  Some ask for prayers, some make political statements, some provide news updates and some wonder what they can do to help.

First we must define the challenge which is not easy.  There are issues that could fill a treatise.  There is mistrust and a lack of understanding by many on all sides of the issue.  Much of the mistrust is understandable, but that is not the focus of this post. 

The issue I will focus on is one that is close to my heart.  The lack of proper mentorship and development of young men.  It is not a problem that just touches Baltimore but one that touches our entire nation and it is not a new problem but one that has existed for generations.

The past June I wrote a series on Fatherhood and one of the most popular posts in that series was about the sad reality absentee father.

In that post I quoted former Maryland Governor Robert Ehrlich who shared some of his experience.  Governor Ehrlich observed “During my tenures as Governor, Congressman and Legislator, I visited many of Maryland's juvenile and adult correctional facilities. Often, I left in a melancholy mood. These are no places for the faint of heart. The scenes are right out of "Scared Straight" and disturbingly predictable: jails full of mostly young men with little formal education. Dropouts are plentiful. Many are alcohol or substance abusers. Some suffer from mental illness. Few possess marketable skills. And a majority come from fatherless homes.”

Governor Ehrlich’s observations are supported by Department of Justice statistics which reveal 90% of all prison inmates are males.  The lifetime chance of a women going to prison is 1.8% while it is a staggering 11.3% for males.”

The reasons for this are way too many to discuss in this blog post.  Some leave their family alone voluntarily and others involuntarily.  For the purpose of this blog we are just concerned with the fact that way too many young men do not have a positive male role model in the home.

There is a bright side.  There are some people in Baltimore who are working to bridge this gap.  One such person is Messay Hailemariam and the team at St. Frances Academy in Baltimore.  St. Frances is a small private Catholic school which was founded by Mother Mary Lange in 1828 as the Baltimore School for Colored Girls with the mission of teaching children of color to read the Bible, which at the time was illegal.  In 1850 the school was renamed St. Frances Academy and is currently a coeducational institution serving students at risk in Baltimore City.  Messay wears three hats at the school.  He is the Director of Admissions, Assistant Athletic Director and Head Football Coach.  In a recent discussion with Messay he shared with me that he had no clue what true hardship was until he came to St. Frances.  Some of the students have come to St. Frances after missing school more days than the attended with college not even on their radar screen.  Over the past two years twenty six of the students earned full athletic scholarships for college.  Ten of these students clearly did not have college on their radar screen when they joined the St. Frances family. 

At St. Frances they are not only taught academics and coached athletically but they are also taught responsibility, accountability and team work. They are mentored by their coaches, faculty and alumni. For the first time in their lives they see a way out of poverty.  They have a purpose. There are many ways you can help St. Frances students but because many of their students come from underprivileged families a pressing need is scholarship funding. Donations can be sent to St. Frances Academy c/o Messay Hailermariam 501 East Chase Street, Baltimore, Maryland 21202.  Checks should be payable to St. Frances Academy Memo: Football/Tuition Donation.

Our next post will discuss SADD Students Against Destructive Decisions and what they are doing to help the young people in Baltimore.

Good Friday & Resurrection Sunday: All is forgiven

Good Friday & Resurrection Sunday: All is Forgiven

 "He is not here; he has risen, just as he said. Come and see the place where he lay." 

Matthew 28:6

The weekend is the weekend we remember God's amazing and unconditional love for us.  It is a weekend of grace and redemption.

On Friday, we remembered how God sent His one and only Son to die for us on the cross, so that our sins could be forgiven and today (Sunday) we remember Jesus' resurrection.  I have chosen to use the term Resurrection Sunday, not because I am on any mission to change the more common name of Easter Sunday, but in order to emphasize what Christians celebrate today and not the celebration of spring.  

To fully understand this importance of this weekend we must go back to the Book of Genesis and remember that we are a fallen people.  When Adam & Eve chose to disobey God, sin entered the world.  

God is all good and can not tolerate sin but the bottom line is we all sin. Sin is so offensive to God that there is nothing that we as humans can do to make up for our sin.  All the good in the world does not erase sin.  Heaven is the perfect place and sin can not be allowed to enter Heaven.   Therefore, we humans are not able to enter Heaven on our own and on our own we would be destined for eternal separation from God.

This created  a problem because God truly wants all of His children to be with Him in Heaven. There was one and only one way for human sin to be forgiven. 

The only path to forgiveness is for someone sinless to take on the sins of the world and make a blood sacrifice.  That someone was Jesus Christ, the second person in the Trinity.  He took on human form.  During His time on earth Jesus was both Divine and human.  His Divinity allowed Him to be remain sinless but is humanity allowed Him to feel pain and loss.  

We see the human side of Jesus several times in the Bible.  Two examples are when He learned of the death of His friend, Lazarus and He cried and another is when He asked God to let Him be spared Crucifixion.   

We see His Divinity by the miracles He performed, His understanding of scripture, His relationship with the Father and His teachings.

There are approximately 61 Old Testament prophecies concerning Jesus' birth, life, death and resurrection. Twenty nine of which were fulfilled in one day.  The day of His Crucifixion.  For a list of these prophecies and where they were fulfilled in the New Testament please click on this link.  

Resurrection Sunday is the day that Jesus was resurrected fulfilling a significant prophecy that confirmed He was truly the Messiah.  Jesus appeared not only to His Apostles.  He appeared on multiple occasion and these appearances were witnessed by approximately 500 people. For a listing of Jesus' post resurrection appearances please click this link.

This is the weekend we focus and remember God's grace and redemptive nature.  While we should take time each and every day to thank God for this great gift, this weekend is when we need to take time from our busy schedule and focus on it.  Let's praise and glorify God and remember this most gracious and wonderful gift.  

Watch for my next blog which will appear later this week "Just a Christian".  God bless each and everyone of you.  He is Risen. He is Risen, Indeed.

Movie Review: Do You Believe

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St. Patrick: More than Corned Beef & Green Beer. He was the Greatest Missionary (2015)

St. Patrick: More than Corned Beef & Green Beer.  He was the Greatest Missionary.  (2015)

We all realize that St. Patrick’s Day is a very popular holiday celebrated worldwide.  Many think of St. Patrick’s Day as a day of parades, parties and green beer, not about who St. Patrick was and what he accomplished.  My goal today is to let the world know about St. Patrick and the great way he carried out Jesus’ Great Commission by converting a country of pagans to Christianity.

It is widely believed that Patrick was not his birth name but a name he assumed when he became a Priest.  It is thought that his birth name was Maewyn Succat.   Imagine celebrating St. Maewyn’s Day?

Saint Patrick is universally recognized as “The Greatest Missionary”.  Legend has it that St. Patrick drove the snakes out of Ireland.  However, it is unlikely Ireland ever had snakes and it is often believed that the story is symbolic and the snakes refer to the pagans.

Now let’s examine the Great Commission and how St. Patrick’s answered Jesus’ call.

First, what is the Great Commission?  

After His Resurrection, Jesus charged His remaining eleven Apostles with carrying out the Great Commission.  The Apostles went to a mountain top in Galilee and Jesus presented them with one final command.  This command is found in the Gospel of Matthew 28:18-20.  Let me share Jesus’ words with you.

“All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me.  Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age.”

I suspect that His Apostles were surprised.  They most likely expected Him to transform the earth himself but He did not.  He left that work for them and now us.  Many Christians today have a similar expectation.  Sharing the good news cannot be the job of “ordinary” Christians.  That is the job of Pastors and missionaries but as we will learn this is not the case.  It is the job of each and every one of us.

Before we examine how St. Patrick was able to carry out the Great Commission like no other since the Apostles, I want to take a moment and unpack what Jesus told His friends when He gave them this command.  First, He said that He had all authority in heaven and on earth.  In other words,  He has the same authority as God the Father.  Then He went on to delegate the responsibility of spreading the word.  Notice He instructed them to make disciples of all nations.  This made clear that He expected them to leave the comfort zones of their home towns.  He wanted them to share what they have experienced and learned with the entire world.

Who was St. Patrick?

I would now like to transport you back in time to St. Patrick’s birth in approximately 387 AD and introduce you to him.

There is little known about St. Patrick but it is commonly believed that he was born in the late fourth century in Britain to Roman parents of some economic means.  His dad was a Deacon and his grandfather a Priest.  This was a time when Priests could marry and have families.  As a teenager Patrick was rebellious and despite his family background was not at all religious.  

When he was about 16 he was captured by pirates, taken to Ireland and sold into slavery.  As a slave he was a shepherd and tended to his master’s sheep.  During this time he began to pray and developed a vibrant and loving relationship with Jesus. 

In his early twenties God spoke to him in a dream and told him to flee his master and a boat will be waiting to take him home.  He followed God’s direction and incredibly traveled 200 miles on foot and avoided capture before reaching the boat.  When he returned home he entered the seminary and became a Priest.  God then commanded him to return to Ireland, preach the Gospel and plant churches for the pagans.

Now let’s put this in perspective.  In those days the Irish were widely considered to be illiterate drunks who engaged in wild orgies and would worship anything.  They were known to be violent, lawless, and were even known to run naked into battle.  Now that is a visual that I did not need, but it is what the history books tell me and I wanted to accurately relay Patrick's story.

In spite of the danger, Patrick did not question God’s command to return to the Irish isle where he had been enslaved.  In fact, Patrick renounced his family’s wealth to live a life of charity and poverty as an itinerant preacher.  He sold all of his possessions including his land to finance the journey so that he could share God’s word with those who held him in slavery.  

Once he got to Ireland, he had to pay large sums to Irish tribal chiefs so that he could safely travel though their lands and preach the Gospel.  Think of the fear St. Patrick must have felt and the willing sacrifices he made to comply with God’s will.

He had, what at the time was a unique strategy, to convert the masses.  He would begin by converting their leaders, praying for the sick, and casting out demons.  While we do not know a lot of the details concerning St. Patrick’s ministry we can assume he was a humble man of service and unconditional love.

St. Patrick was also a gifted teacher.  He used visual aids to convince people to put their faith in Jesus.  His most famous visual aid was a Shamrock which is a three leaf clover that grows in Ireland.  He used the Shamrock to explain the trinity.  The Shamrock, as you can see, is one leaf but with three parts just like the Trinity is one person with three parts --- the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit.  This simple visual aid was able to plainly explain one of the most difficult concepts of Christianity.

As Patrick continued his ministry he built simple churches, baptized converts, trained Pastors and moved on.  In his life time he planted 700 churches, ordained 1,000 priests and converted an entire country.  Imagine the enormity of that task. 

The foundation that Patrick built still stands today almost 1,800 years later.   In 2006 over 90% of the Irish population identified themselves as Christians and in 2009 46% of Ireland attended weekly church services.  

Most of us are not going to be able to make the sacrifice that St. Patrick made and we are probably not equipped to convert an entire country, plant 700 churches or train and ordain 1,000 Pastors. At least I don’t think I am.  But collectively Christians together can successfully carry out the command.  

Let’s examine how the church is growing today in places like, Africa and Latin American.   In the year 1900 there were only 9 million Christians in Africa, in 2000 there were 380 million.  It is estimated by 2025 there will be 633 million Christians.  In Central and South America 93 and 89% respectively are Christians.

In his book, Multiply, Francis Chan noted that “[t]he Pastor is the equipper, and every member of the church is a minister.”  God is calling upon each and every one of us to be a minister, a minister who humbly serves their neighbors.

God created each and every one of us to play a role in His plan.  He provides for us.  It is important for each of us to identify the gifts which God has equipped us with and then to use these gifts to carry out the Great Commission.

Carrying out the Great Commission is a lifelong process.   It is not something we do once and cross it off the “to do” list.  It is something we must do every day.  Most of the time we will serve others in very simple ways that we do not even realize.

Each of us must remember that we have God given gifts and abilities and what we do with these abilities is our gift back to God.

Reaching out and sharing our faith is not limited to preaching the Gospels in a formal way.  We can share the Gospel and our faith in the way we live our lives, how we serve and love others.  Today on St. Patrick’s Day might be the perfect opportunity to take a personal inventory of our God given gifts and assess how we can better answer Jesus’ command to carry His message.

God bless you and have a very happy and safe St. Patrick’s Day.