Category: faith

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Godinterest – Behind Every Picture, There’s A Story

There’s a  story,  behind every picture, isn’t it obvious, considering that when we take pictures we want to seize that particular moment,  whether  that be a family photo or just a situation that you find interesting and intriguing.

All over the world and every day and every minute there is a photo somewhere being taken and each and every one of those photos, like the moment it captures, has a story.

The story maybe brief, or it may be long, or maybe not even known. The picture might even show its story, or hints of what it could be, but then maybe what is shown is not really true. None the less, for some reason we have taken these pictures, we show them, or hide them away, post them for others to see on Godinterest, and sometimes we wait to see what other people may say.

People often say that a picture is worth a  thousand words, it implies something, it means something, you take it as you want.

The exact phrase “A picture is worth a thousand words” for the first time appeared as an advertisement in San Antonio Light newspaper in 1918.

Never underestimate that feeling you get when you look at a photograph or a painting, hear the lyrics of a song and think “Yes. That, exactly. That is how I feel right now.”

The beauty of the  pictures is that it captures universal emotions and makes us feel a bit less alone.

There is a story behind every picture on Godinterest. Sad story, fun story. We hope you will enjoy the incredible story telling pictures we  gathered only for you.

If there’s a story behind every picture or image, the above story is PERFECT ♥ John 3:16  says for [God]  so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish, but have eternal life. King James Bible.  God’s love is very personal toward us. It doesn’t matter where we’ve been, it doesn’t matter what we’ve done, it doesn’t matter what we’ve experienced – God loves  us unconditionally.

Our  feet may never  come close to what these kids do. we’re  sure it’s a long tiring day for them collecting scrap woo.

Missions at Freedom Fellowship has the goal of seeing lives transformed by the power of Christ. Their  efforts are focused in India, Indonesia, China and Thailand.

July 4th was over 89 years before the 13th Amendment abolished slavery, however, human trafficking is still a problem in the United States and throughout the world.

Despair by Marcske Doubts

Street Healing By  Gil Burgos Ministries

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11 Ways to Share Your Faith Online with Godinterest

While Godinterest  is often referred to as a “photo sharing website,” in reality it is much more than that. In addition to posting photos, people  also  post funny images, quotes and text. And some people don’t post anything at all, they just “like” and comment on what others post.

Because of that we  think it’s more accurate and beneficial to think of Godinterest  as a social network where images are the primary medium.

Let’s talk about ways we can use Godinterest  to share our faith online. Here are 11 we  came up with:

1) Post pics of creation.  Give God all the praise.

2) Post pics of Christian community. Share the fun and love you experience at social events at church and within your small group.

3) Post pics of serving in your community. When you serve the poor, paint a house or join in a community service project or cause, take, upload and share photos.

4) Post pics from missions trips. Missions trips are especially good opportunities for great photos because they often provide the opportunity to mix in beautiful pictures of God’s  creation, culture and people from other  country’s.

5) Post quotes from scripture and Christian authors.

6) Post pics of Christian art.  Godinterest is a visual medium. Sometimes art – whether it’s paintings, stained glass, sculpture or other – speaks louder than words.

7) Post pics of the people you love & things you like.  In other words, be a real, authentic person.

8) Listen and engage with others. Remember Godinterest  is a SOCIAL network. Don’t just broadcast. Follow your friends, family and people in your community who use Godinterest. View their pics, comment  and  encourage them.

9) Mention your faith in your Godinterest  bio.

10) Post your testimony and/or a gospel presentation on the site your profile links toIn your Godinterest  profile, you have the ability to include a link to a website. You can use this to link to your blog or personal website where you can tell the story of how God has transformed your life and can transform others  as well.

11) Create a Godinterest  profile for your church.  If your a pastor or church communications person, you can create an Godinterest  account for your church and do all of the above on behalf of your church.

What do you think of the suggestions above? Any really resonate with you? Got any other ideas for using Godinterest  to share your faith online?  Your comment will post immediately. Comments that are not in keeping with our  comment policies  may be removed by editors.

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David Cameron: I am evangelical about Christian faith

Prime Minister David Cameron speaks up on the significance of the Christian faith.

Cameron  has declared himself an “evangelical” about his Christian faith as he criticised some non-believers for failing to grasp the role that religion can have in “helping people to have a moral code”.

David Cameron famously described his Christian faith as being a “bit like the reception for Magic FM in the Chilterns: it sort of comes and goes”. Yet recently, the signal appears to have been amplified. Mr Cameron has already praised the contribution that Christians make to society, referred to Jesus as “our saviour” and spoken of the “moments of greatest peace” that he has experienced attending the Eucharist. But in a new article in the Guardian he appears to go further than ever before, urging Christians to be “more evangelical” about their beliefs – to “get out there and make a difference to people’s lives”.

In his third effort this week to highlight his own strong faith, the prime minister said he wanted to see a bigger role for religion in Britain as a Christian country and urged fellow believers to be more confident in spreading their views.

It comes after several big clashes between the coalition and the church, including a  letter this week from 40 Anglican bishops and 600 church leaders calling on all political parties to tackle the causes of food poverty. Previous tensions have been caused by Cameron’s decision to introduce gay marriage, and deep cuts in welfare benefits

Here in Britain “we don’t do God”.

Those who know him say that the Prime Minister has always had a quiet but profound faith, one that helped him come to terms with the death of his eldest son. But this candour is not only new, but something of a departure for those in his position. Tony Blair was certainly a committed Christian, but was urged by Alastair Campbell to keep quiet about it on the grounds that here in Britain “we don’t do God”.

Actually, the British sometimes do “do God”.

How refreshing, then, to have a Prime Minister who is willing to talk openly about the values that motivate him. How refreshing, also, to be reminded that, actually, the British sometimes do “do God”.

We are a Christian country, whose laws, ethics, language and culture are the product of a particular religious foundation. True, church attendance may be falling (although not everywhere, as the Archbishop of Canterbury has reminded us). But polls show that there is a lingering popular desire for the transcendent and the meaning that it brings to believers’ lives. And Christians – along with Jews, Muslims and other faith groups – continue to play a large role in education and charity.

 

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Christmas 2014: Jesus Was Not Born in a Stable, Says Theologian?

It’s the story that everyone knows: Jesus was born in a barn, surrounded by farm animals and shepherds, because there was no room at the inn.

But now, a British biblical scholar is challenging the nativity tale, and insists that a closer reading of the Gospel of Luke demonstrates that Mary is more likely to have given birth from the comfort of a family’s upper room.

“I am sorry to spoil your preparations for Christmas,” wrote Reverend Ian Paul on his blog, an evangelical scholar at the University of Nottingham, “but Jesus wasn’t born in a stable, and, curiously, the New Testament hardly even hints that this might have been the case.”

This misconception hinges, he claims, on the mistranslation of the Greek word “kataluma”, which has historically been taken to mean inn.

The word is used elsewhere in the bible as a word to mean “private upper room” where Jesus and his disciples ate the Last Supper in the Gospel of Mark. Meanwhile, Luke uses another word – “pandocheion”, meaning a gathering place for travellers – to refer to an inn.

There’s a social context Rev Paul believes modern readers are missing, too.

He writes: “In the first place, it would be unthinkable that Joseph, returning to his place of ancestral origins, would not have been received by family members, even if they were not close relatives.”

Taking into account the fact that most people’s homes at the time would have had one room for family, and either a second room for guests and animals, or a space on the roof, it seems, he says, much more likely that there would have been no space in the guestroom.

“The family guest room is already full, probably with other relatives who arrived earlier,” he argues. “So Joseph and Mary must stay with the family itself, in the main room of the house, and there Mary gives birth.”

The manger aspect of the story is easily explained too. “The most natural place to lay the baby” would have been “in the straw-filled depressions at the lower end of the house where the animals are fed”, says Rev Paul.

So what does this mean for our religious understanding of the story? Some scholars, including Rev Paul, believe that the story as we have it today promotes the idea that Christ is somehow ostracised from society, rejected by his people and forced into a lowly cattleshed. Instead, he says, we should be seeing the newborn Jesus as arriving in a busy, loving and welcoming family home – and not distanced from humanity.

Original Article:  http://www.independent.co.uk/life-style/history/jesus-was-not-born-in-a-stable-says-theologian-9944254.html

With almost 3 billion people online now, we have never been so connected. So as followers of Christ, now is our chance to reach out to the online mission field that is at our finger tips. At Godinterest our desire is that this generation would be bold enough to stand up and make the most of what God has placed in our hands, literally, to make sure that no person journeys through their life without hearing what Jesus has done for them.

 

 

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When Technology Gets Too Smart?

We cannot quite know what will happen if a machine exceeds our own intelligence, so we can’t know if we’ll be infinitely helped by it, or ignored by it and sidelined, or conceivably destroyed by it.  — Stephen Hawking

Are we in love with how smart we are? Today, there are technology companies that have a much larger “cult following” than any religious organization. And there are millions upon millions of Americans that freely confess that they “believe in science” instead of God.

So what does this say about us? Does it say that we have discarded ancient “superstitions” and instead have embraced logic and reason?

Sadly, in most cases the truth is that we have simply traded one form of religion for another. Scientists and technology gurus have become most peoples new high priests, and most of us blindly follow whatever they tell us. But in the end, just like with so many   organizations, it is all about the money. Those with the money determine what the science is going to say, who the high priests are going to be, and what messages are conveyed to the public. For example, once upon a time the big tobacco companies had armies of doctors and scientists that swore up and down that smoking cigarettes was not harmful. In fact, many doctors and dentists in America once personally endorsed specific brands of cigarettes. Of course millions of Americans were getting sick and dying, but this was dismissed as “anecdotal evidence”. And over in Germany, “science” was once used to prove that the Germans were the master race.

We look back in horror now, but at the time the best “science” in the world was used as justification to promote some horrible untruths. And of course the same thing is happening today. We are told over and over that “the  science  is settled” regarding genetically-modified food, climate change and vaccine safety, and yet those of us that think for ourselves know that isn’t the case at all. But if you do not believe in the “official story”, you don’t get to be part of the “scientific establishment”. By definition, the only people that get to be “scientific experts” are the ones that embrace the “doctrine” of those that control the big corporations, that fund the research studies at the major universities and that own the big media outlets.

Everyone else is not permitted to be part of the discussion. (Story by Michael Snyder, republished from  EndOftheAmericanDream.com.)

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What’s Trending on Godinterest, Popular Articles Offers a Comment Free-Look

Finding the most popular articles just got a bit simpler. Godinterest recently confirmed the global rollout of a new feature called Top Articles, which creates a list of the most talked-about posts on the social media platform.

Popular Articles is a new section inside Godinterest’s search menu.  The articles included in the section will vary a bit based on the user — the section features articles that are most popular among other users that you follow.

Curating the most popular articles is also popular within third-party apps, like ifttt.

News

Get Involved

  • Tell a  friend:  Help us grow our  community by inviting all of your friends  and  family to  sign-up at:  https://godinterest.com

Around the Community

Ready to see what’s happening on Godinterest?

Sign up today at Godinterest.com

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Godinterest (the Christian Pinterest)

Godinterest

Godinterest is a photo-driven Christian social media site that allows you to share cool things that you find across the web.

Godinterest is presently being used for organising ideas including Church events, travel planning, inspirational quotes, home decorating ideas, meal planning and advice, wedding or event planning and activities for children.

Godinterest also allows businesses to create profile pages aimed at promoting their businesses online.

Sign-up:  https://godinterest.com

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Faith’s Object: Jesus Christ

Trust ye in the Lord for ever: for in the Lord Jehovah is everlasting strength. Isaiah 26:4  

His is the greatness, the power, the glory, the victory and the majesty. Let us not limit the Holy One of Israel.

What a source to which we can look in all times of trouble; the heart can have no misgivings! Man is erring, stubborn, rebellious, and defiant even against God; but the Lord is kind and patient and of tender compassion. He has heaven and earth at His command, and He knows just what we need even before we present our necessities and desires before Him.

We can see only a little way before us;

“but all things are naked and opened unto the eyes of Him with whom we have to do.”

He never becomes confused. He sits above the confusion and distractions of the earth, and all things are opened to His divine survey; and from His great and calm He can order that which His #providence sees is best.

If we were left to ourselves to plan, we should make mistakes. Our #prejudices, our weaknesses, our self-deceptions, and our ignorances would be manifest in many ways. But the work is the #Lord’s, the cause is His; He never leaves His workmen without divine directions.

Whatever burdens lay #heavily, cast them on the Lord. He that keepeth Israel neither slumbers nor sleeps. Repose in . He is kept in perfect peace whose mind is stayed on .

At times it will seem that you cannot take another step. Well, wait and know that “I am God.”

“Be strong and of a good courage; be not afraid, neither be thou dismayed: for the Lord thy God is with thee whithersoever thou goest.” …

We need to cherish faith.

You must learn the simple art of taking God at His word; then you have solid ground beneath your feet.

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Let’s Talk About Being Gracious

Let’s Talk About Being Gracious

Merriam-Webster says that to be gracious is to be “marked by kindness, courtesy, tact, and delicacy”. The gracious person is characterized by “a generosity of spirit.” Plainly, we see that the word gracious is related to grace; a term God’s redeemed people are fully familiar with. From the point of salvation we have been experiencing the grace of God day in and day out; and as recipients of innumerable favors from the hand of a gracious God, we ought to extend the same graciousness to others. This generosity of spirit is modeled to us on a daily basis. It is only fitting for God’s children to imitate Him in that same way.

Gracious To a Fault

Ephesians 4:2 explains how to be gracious to a fault. It says, “Be patient with each other, making allowance for each other’s faults.” When we make an allowance for a fault, we accept the other person’s humanity. We accept that no one is perfect. We accept that people make mistakes. We realize that we also make mistakes. We can’t always be and live right. We can never perfectly keep the standard of rightness and we know nobody else can. With this in proper view, we remind ourselves of the reality that other people will hurt our feelings and fail to meet our expectations.   And when that time comes, we are ready and able to be gracious to a fault.

It is wrong to be so hard on others when they do something wrong especially when the wrong deed was unintentional. Remember the parable of the unmerciful servant? His master forgave him of his great debt, yet he could not forgive what little debt one person had towards him. If God could be immeasurably gracious with us, how can we not extend some grace towards another?

Sometimes we become victims of repetitive abuse, where someone hurts us over and over again. Discernment must be exercised. Wisdom must be sought from God so that you may know when to exercise tough love, right love. Grace makes allowances for faults but it never condones or tolerates habitual sin.

Gracious In Speech

Colossians 4:6 says, “Let your conversation [speech] be gracious [with kindness] and attractive so that you will have the right response for everyone.” At times we are unable to keep our emotions in check. We get hurt so we lash out in anger. We’ve been treated unfairly so we retaliate with harsh words. We get frustrated so we blurt out demeaning words. Scriptures say it shouldn’t be so. The verse just mentioned puts it so well. Our speech should remain attractive. Attractive words draw people in, not repel them. Attractive words don’t refer to sugar-coated words that make little of or camouflage other people’s sins. Attractive words are right responses that have better chances of leading people to listen and accept the words being shared even if they are words of rebuke.

Sometimes we become victims of verbal abuse. The natural response is to likewise be verbally abusive or to rebuke without grace. In the exchange of hurtful, wounding words, there is rarely any profit. Things don’t get resolved; rather, they escalate. Not one is helped. The situation is not made better. Ephesians 4:29 encourages us to respond in the right way. It says, “Don’t use foul or abusive language. Let everything you say be good and helpful so that your words will be an encouragement to those who hear them.” In some situations, that can be quite hard to do. Pray for enablement. Pray for strength to remain silent while you gather your thoughts. Then, when you speak, your words will be purposeful.

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Jesus! We Can Help You Share Him Online.

Share Jesus Without Fear  

Do you want to share Jesus without fear? Perhaps the thought of sharing your faith in Jesus Christ causes feelings of fear and guilt in your heart.

Matthew 28:19-20 says, “Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.”

This command illustrates God’s desire to include us in His wonderful plan to redeem mankind.

“We believe that the Gospel and social media should go together like peanut butter and jelly. The purpose of this site is to help YOU.”

With so many people in the world connected online, the Godinterest website aim is to help Christians share their faith in Jesus. People can then engage with the  content you post  and have  an opportunity to become a follower of Jesus.

This means that whenever you post meaningful content about Jesus on Godinterest you provide an  opportunity for others to be part of the greatest story on earth.

 

Rethink Sharing Your Faith

Everyone who interacts with  the  content you post will be presented with an opportunity to engage with the gospel.

This Is Just The Beginning

Interact with those who response to the media you post.

Start the conversation about what it means to be a follower of Jesus and if it’s appropriate, try to  help  connect them with either your church or a local church group in their area.

Also encourage them to use Godinterest  to share the really great news about Jesus with their friends.

Note: If this seems overwhelming, don’t stress! You don’t have to do everything at once, and you don’t have to be perfect. Try sharing existing content with Friends and Family.  

Question: What avenues have you discovered to share Jesus with the online world? What have you found challenging in doing so?

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Hashtags: Why, Where, When?

The other day, when I was browsing my Godinterest, we noticed a post from a person that contained a frankly ridiculous number of hashtags. The post looked silly, unprofessional and the company in question seemed to be using hashtags because, you know, it’s social media and you use ! Now we’re not saying that they don’t have their uses, but it seems they have become so synonymous with social media that people have started to use them but don’t appear to know why?  

Why?

At their core, hashtags are essentially a way of indexing or grouping together posts on the same topic. They’re a way of reaching people outside of your own following, but within a particular subset of people you’re trying to target. And clearly, if you manage to get your content in front of the right people then your engagement rates should rise, which then leads to more followers and eventually  more traffic to your site. But clearly, this approach only works on certain platforms.

  • People use the hashtag symbol  #  before a relevant keyword or phrase (no spaces) in their posts  to categorize those posts and help them show more easily in Godinterest Search.
  • Clicking on a hashtagged word in any message shows you all other posts marked with that keyword.
  • Hashtags can occur anywhere in the post body – at the beginning, middle, or end.
  • Hashtagged words that become very popular are often Trending Topics.

Example:  In the section below,

Ready to see what’s happening on Godinterest?

Sign up today at Godinterest.com

 

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Exodus: Gods and Kings’ Bold and Compromising Re-enactment’

 

After Darren Aronofsky’s bible story re-imagining, Noah, became one of the most divisive films of 2014 – ruffling the feathers of both religious viewers and hardcore cinephiles alike – the release of 20th Century Fox and director Ridley Scott’s Moses movie, Exodus: Gods and Kings, was destined to carry another wave of controversy into theaters.

Ridley Scott’s version of the Exodus story focuses on the tenuous rivalry between Moses and Ramses.

“You have to work awfully hard to make a hash of the Moses story.  Yet that’s what director Ridley Scott did with “Exodus: Gods and Kings,” the Biblical tale most memorably put on film in Cecil B. DeMille’s 1956 version, “The Ten Commandments.” (There was a silent film by DeMille, and subsequent TV movies and an animated retelling.)”

Though Exodus: Gods and Kings doesn’t have the art-house edge or in-your-face craziness of Darren Aronfosky’s Noah, it still won’t be an easy sell for by-the-book evangelicals.

A lot of Christians have completely dismissed the film from the outset because of the films many deviations from the narrative in Exodus 1-14.  Moses wields a sword but not a staff; Moses is chatty but Aaron has almost no lines; Moses kills lots of people and fights in the Egyptian army; no “staff-to-snake” scene; no repeated utterances of “let my people go”; no “baby Moses in the Nile” scene.

“Getting past the obvious issues that Scott willfully to decided to cast white actors in the roles of Egyptians for no good reason, this movie’s problems go beyond that. But at least the plagues are good.”

Scott willfully to decided to cast white actors as Egyptians and non-white actors as slaves/servants, and an inexplicable preponderance of British accents.

With an atheist as its director and a lead actor who regrettably suggested Moses could be seen as “schizophrenic” and “barbaric,” the film more than invites skepticism from biblically faithful filmgoers. The hardhearted “Ramses” approach is thus the expected response from dubious Christian audiences. Is another approach is possible?

Worse, “Exodus” is ultimately undone by its horrible script, credited to four people. The movie’s technical achievements can’t drown out 21/2 hours of awfulness.  I walked out as I watched Moses chisel the tablets of stone while some creepy little boy poured tea. Need I say more?

“The only way this gets a positive rating is if it’s NOT compared to the classic “Ten Commandments”, otherwise it’s a shameful, waste of a remake. I barely got halfway through it before pulling the plug on its awfulness.”

In the end, should “Exodus: Gods and Kings” just be ignored? As Ramses said in the ’56 version: “So let it be written, so let it be done.

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Proper Church Fashions? Find Tips On Godinterest

Woman s Fashion Godinterest

This  is a guest post by Paula Mooney. It first appeared in LuckMag and is published here with permission of Paula  to whom we are grateful.

The other day I was thinking about the time when I was in the basement of my old church attending some sort of training session for us “leaders,” as churches are apt to call volunteers who are led like sheep to the slaughter into ministry work. I had donned my favorite white sweater, one composed of yarn that was knitted or crocheted into a pattern that allowed small rectangular spacing in between each section. I wasn’t crazy – I knew I’d be spending time around some holier-rolling-than-thou saints – therefore, I probably wore some kind of tank top underneath. (Unlike the time I wore the same sweater to my former job in California with just a bra underneath, and my female boss at the time kept glancing down during our conversation.)

Woman s Fashion Godinterest2

But back to the church basement. All of a sudden, this older geezer of a man sidled up next to me and chimed, “Are you cold? Are you cold?” Before I could even open my mouth to begin to formulate an answer, he responded for me to his own inquiry. “The reasons you’re cold we’ve already discussed,” he said, proudly referring to a discussion the teacher had just had with us members about appropriate church attire. I couldn’t tell if his statement reflected genuine grandfatherly concern for his “sister in Christ” or a kind of Pharisee-like creepiness.

Either way, I probably could’ve found some guidance for dressing in the fashion section for women on Godinterest.com, if the site would’ve existed back then. Years later, at a different church, I’d find myself being admonished a bit more gently and less directly in another ministry meeting, all because my cute white t-shirt with the “blinged-out” bedazzled cross on the front was apparently a little too fitted.

Ah well”¦church fashions may always be a point of controversy, especially in light of all the hubbub surrounding famous Christians like Erica Campbell and Meagan Good lately, two beautiful women whom I believe dress just fine for the entertainment industry. Besides, I hate it when some places of worship go overboard with talk about women “tempting their brothers to fall.” At least some are progressive enough to ban the men from wearing muscle shirts. At least they realize that some of the men’s Christian fashions we uncover can be just as provocative:

Men s Fashion Godinterest10

Okay, back from that trip to muscle-land.

My main point is that I’ve learned that dressing for church might have evolved over the years, but no matter what, just because you wear a skirt down to your ankles doesn’t mean you’re not a sinner in need of saving, and simply because a bit of dcolletage shows doesn’t mean you’re in a hand basket heading to hell.

Following the unction of the Holy Spirit guides us into what’s really proper attire for us to wear – whether it’s for a Sunday morning service, a Saturday night contemporary celebration, or any other day of the week. In the same way that God looks upon the heart, it’s more important to start there in gleaning where a person’s coming from, and not sum them up in one judgment based solely on their wardrobe.

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5 films that will make 2014 ‘the year of the Bible’

 

Paramount’s “Noah” and “God’s Not Dead” are among the top four films at the American Box Office.    And with a slate of Christian-centric films on Hollywood’s agenda, 2014 has been dubbed by industry press as the year of biblical movies.

“Son of God” | 20th Century Fox (February 2014)
In the Holy Land, the Roman occupation has produced a cauldron of oppression, anxiety and excessive taxes levied upon the Jewish people. Fearing the wrath of Roman governor Pontius Pilate (Greg Hicks), Jewish high priest Caiaphas (Adrian Schiller) tries to keep control of his people. That control is  threatened when Jesus arrives in Jerusalem, performing miracles and spreading messages of love and hope. Those who fear that Jesus will inspire a revolution decide that he must die.

“Noah” | Regency Enterprises (November 2014)
When God decides that mankind has become too sinful and must be wiped off the Earth, he chooses Noah (Russell Crowe), a pious man, for a great task. Noah must build an ark large enough to hold his wife (Jennifer Connelly), adopted daughter (Emma Watson), sons (Logan Lerman, Douglas Booth, Leo McHugh  Carroll) and their wives — plus breeding pairs of every animal. When the task is completed, Noah and his family witness God’s wrath in the form of an apocalyptic flood.

“Heaven is For Real” | Sony Pictures (April 2014)
Small-town businessman, pastor and volunteer firefighter Todd Burpo (Greg Kinnear) and his wife, Sonja (Kelly Reilly), are struggling to make ends meet during a tough year. After their young son, Colton (Connor Corum), undergoes emergency surgery, Todd and Sonja are overjoyed at the child’s miraculous recovery. However, the Burpos are unprepared for what happens next — Colton says that he went to heaven and back, and tells his parents things that he couldn’t possibly know.

“Exodus” | 20th Century Fox (December 2014)
Twentieth Century Fox has kept a tight lid on Ridley Scott’s “Exodus.” All we know is that the film is an adaptation of the biblical story of the ancient Israelite people’s liberation from Egypt. Christian Bale will star as Moses, and Sigourney Weaver will co-star. Critics won’t be able to help themselves from comparing the film to the 1956 movie “The Ten Commandments” starring Charlton Heston. The question will be whether this film can duplicate the classic’s box office success.

“Mary, Mother of Christ” | Lionsgate Films (December 2014)  
The long awaited prequel to “The Passion of The Christ” is scheduled to arrive before Christmas after a long set of delays. Under the reign of terror of Herod the Great and against all odds, Mary and Joseph survive as young parents in one of the most treacherous times in history. From Mary’s youth to her struggles as a young mother caring for her child, Jesus, up to the age of four years old. We will peer into Mary’s life at ages 8, 15, 19 and 27. (Written by Aloe Entertainment) We are determined to make the familiar story new to our eyes and our hearts. It’s as if in the past we were taught to love this family, rather than sharing their lives in big and small ways and letting a natural empathy develop. One of the visual leitmotifs we are intent on is seeing the tiny fragile element of Mary who is essentially up against doubters who want to stone her to death, a fallen angel trying to harness all his persuasive power to try and get her to doubt her faith, and a mad King named Herod who will unleash rivers of blood in his intent in finding and killing her son. We must think of Mary as this very young, very vulnerable warrior. For the first time we will see how she has to stand on her own to protect her assignment in a way that reflects the legendary courage mothers are known for protecting their own.

The increase in biblical movies is a testament to the ongoing power of those ancient narratives to capture the hearts and minds of the masses. And it also reminds us that Hollywood is driven by money more than by agendas.

The film industry is a mirror reflecting what society desires: sex, violence, and great stories with a touch of God in the mix.  

The Bible’s stories are an enduring draw, so Hollywood is doing what it has always done best—turning a buck by giving audiences what they want.

 

 

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