5 Reasons to See “Risen” THIS WEEKEND

Yes, I am aware you know how the story ends. I also agree with you how expensive movies are today and that Red Box, Netflix, and all the other ways of watching movies at home are much friendlier on your wallet. But let me give you five quick reasons why Christians need to go see Risen at the movie theater this weekend.

1. If you don’t support it, who will? Why would someone who doesn’t believe in the resurrected Jesus go see a movie about the investigation of the empty tomb? He wouldn’t . . . unless you and millions of other believers go see it this weekend and begin creating some buzz and piquing their curiosity.
2. It’s not Deadpool or Zoolander 2. Last week the hardcore R-rated Deadpool brought in $132 million, and Zoolander 2 made audiences dumber nationwide. Do you want more of these types of movies or more faith-based ones? Then go show it with your wallet . . . this weekend. (It’s all about the opening weekend, if you haven’t caught on yet.)
3. Shakespeare and Draco Malfoy are in it. That is, the actors who played them, not actually the famous playwright and the Harry Potter nemesis—though that might’ve gotten more people to see it had that been the case. But even still, if there’s anything I’ve learned from watching BBC America, it’s that Britain has much better actors than the U.S., including those typically found in faith-based films these days. (Don’t look at me like that—you know it’s true!) So with Joseph Fiennes and Tom Felton we should get some solid acting.
4. At least one reviewer online who said he was not a Christian called it “non-preachy” and “it makes you think.” There you go. That’s all I needed to hear. It’s a faith-based movie that doesn’t just preach to the choir. Can I get an amen?
5. When you get out of the theater, you can buy another ticket for Star Wars. Certainly it’s almost out of the theater, right? See it on the big screen again before it’s gone forever!

Kevin Harvey is the author of two books, including the 2015 HarperCollins release All You Want to Know about the Bible in Pop Culture, available at Barnes and Noble, Wal-Mart, Sam’s Club, and Amazon. You can also find him keeping up with the latest goings-on in pop culture on Twitter: @PopCultureKevin

Why “The Force Awakens” Is the Best Star Wars Movie Yet

Yes, I said it. Deal with it. For those of you too hipster to get caught up in the excitement of J.J. Abram’s Star Wars movie that is exploding everywhere right now, or too stubborn to ever think that a Star Wars movie could ever be better than The Empire Strikes Back, let me tell you just how wrong you are. I typically wait to make opinions like this until I have seen something on a 40-inch TV screen, rather than a 100-foot mega-screen with surround sound, and also to make sure I am not getting caught up in a prisoner-of-the-moment type situation. (Like when I was a kid and thought that each new Star Trek movie was better than the previous. Whoops.) But after a weekend of pondering, discussing, and reading others’ thoughts on The Force Awakens, I have concluded that the final blockbuster of 2015 (and first of 2016) deserves the top spot in the Star Wars collection.

But let’s be honest here. No one over the age of five would ever think one of the prequels is better than Episode VII. Maybe about 10 percent would argue for Return of the Jedi, followed by about 30-40 percent in favor of Star Wars being better. But an overwhelming number have already concluded that, like Floyd Mayweather, The Empire Strikes Back has remained the indisputable, undefeated champion of the world.

And here is why they would be wrong*…

*NOTE: We will only be dealing with Star Wars and The Empire Strikes Back. Those who believe Return of the Jedi is better have an unhealthy love for Ewoks that needs medical treatment, of which I am not legally allowed to prescribe.

The Director

J.J. Abrams versus Irvin Kershner (Empire) versus George Lucas (Star Wars).

To judge a director, one must look at their full body of work, not just the three Star Wars movies we are discussing. George Lucas has five other movies he directed, three of which are the prequels. ‘Nuff said. The other two, both before Star Wars, are THX 1138 and American Graffiti, which have IMDb scores of 6.8 and 7.5. I bring up the scores here because without doing an exhaustively long, opinionated comparison, fan reviews are the next best way to judge how a movie was received.

Irvin Kershner has directed a dozen or so movies, but I would simply like to take the IMDb scores of his last four (not including Empire). Why four? Because that is the number of movies to Abram’s directing resume. Kershner directed Robocop 2 (5.7), Never Say Never Again (6.2), Eyes of Laura Mars (6.1), and The Return of a Man Called Horse (6.1). How many of those are in your Blu-ray collection?

It’s crazy to realize, but J.J. has only directed four other movies: Mission: Impossible 3, the two latest Star Trek movies, and Super 8. Of those, MI3 received the lowest IMDb score (6.9), with the others receiving scores of 8.0, 7.8, and 7.1. In other words, before The Force Awakens, J.J. successfully resurrected the only other sci-fi series that can even come close to Star Wars, he breathed new life into a spy franchise that John Woo and his pigeons had previously crapped all over and almost ruined, and he made this generation’s E.T.

J.J. Abrams is far and away the best director of the three.

The Cast and Characters

We all know it to be true: Mark Hamill has never been a good actor. In fact, the funniest parts of Star Wars are when he’s whining to his uncle Owen like a little schoolgirl. Hamill is probably the only person alive who liked Hayden Christenson’s performance in the prequels, because he makes Hamill look like an Oscar winner. Even today, if you ask fans of his to talk about what else they have liked him in, they all point to his role as the Joker—that is, the voice of the Joker in an old Batman cartoon.

So between Hamill’s acting and George Lucas’s flat character development given to Luke, we never really care too much about Luke or become anxious to learn more of his backstory. His father fought in the Clone Wars? Okay, whatever that means. Luke has the Force in him? Cool. Let’s see more of this “Force.” But honestly, we don’t really care which of the protagonists uses it. Luke’s dad is Vader? No way! Can we learn more about Vader’s backstory? (That was our mistake to ask that of George Lucas.)

Similar things can be said about Han and Leia. They were certainly likeable characters, but we didn’t leave the theater dying to find out more about them. They made good sci-fi heroes to root for and fun action figures to play with, but not much else. Even the recent talk about doing a young Han Solo movie might be fun, but just because it’s Star Wars. Not because we need to know what a twentysomething Han Solo was doing when he was smuggling for Jabba the Hut. Remember, Han Solo was not the most likeable person when we first meet him, caring more for money than saving Leia.

But the two main heroes of The Force Awakens, Rey and Finn, were written with fantastic depth and played tremendously by Daisy Ridley and John Boyega. Every time Boyega is on screen, his presence demands your attention. He’s doing too much with his expressions to miss him. And Rey, the pseudo–Luke Skywalker character, clearly has a backstory that we are dying to know more of. In fact, I would say that is my only complaint of The Force Awakens, because I fear that all of our speculation for the next year and a half will only lead to disappointment when we (hopefully) learn more about her in Episode VIII. But we certainly care about her and fell in love with her quicker than she called for Luke’s blue lightsaber in her climactic battle with Kylo Ren.

Speaking of Kylo Ren… Anyone else now recognize how flat Darth Vader was as a villain? I absolutely loved seeing Kylo throw temper tantrums as he played the role of the “far from all-powerful” villain. And when Adam Driver took off his mask and reminded us of the human he really is, despite all the evil he was quick to dispense upon others, once again it added a depth to his character that we never saw in Vader, even when we discovered who he was. Kylo Ren is a human, a son, who showed us his internal struggle. For 99 percent of the original trilogy, Vader was more robot than anything else.

The Story

Okay, I understand. Many people are complaining about the similarities in the stories between Star Wars and The Force Awakens. I get it. I saw it right away too. But this was not like The Hangover 2 doing the exact same thing as The Hangover, because they didn’t know how else to pull off another good movie. Director J.J. Abrams, just like the rest of us, was simply a huge fan of the original Star Wars, and I believe he wanted to honor that movie by resurrecting the universe with many similarities to the 1977 movie that has affected multiple generations now in ways that no other movie has even come close to.

And if you do it better, as I have proposed here, then what is wrong with doing it similarly? Hidden plans in a droid? If that droid is the thumbs-up giving BB-8, then awesome! An orphan searching for purpose and meaning to her life? We’ve already concluded how great Daisy Ridley is as Rey, especially when compared to Mark Hamill’s Luke from Episode IV. Going into the next movie, I am more intrigued to learn more about her than about where Luke has been. A giant space station that can destroy planets? Okay, I can agree that the First Order should’ve come up with some other way to menace the galaxy. But it was pretty cool seeing how it took its power from the sun, at least.

But for those too stubborn to leave “Team Empire Strikes Back,” can you tell me what was so great about its story? It began with an incredible battle scene on Hoth, and then… not a heckuva lot else. Luke swings from trees with Yoda on his back. Han can’t ever get the Falcon’s lightspeed fixed. That’s pretty much it until the final act in Cloud City. And even there, we get a decent lightsaber battle but nothing else besides the good guys losing.

Give me the battles, humor, and intriguing characters of The Force Awakens any day.

***

The Force Awakens is certainly not perfect, but no movie is. In fact, that’s one of the things I love about those too stubborn to say something negative about The Empire Strikes Back. You have forgotten its imperfections! Bravo! That is a wonderful characteristic to have. It’s even quite godly, as the Bible tells us that God remembers our sins no more.

And right now, the “sins” of The Force Awakens are still fresh in your mind. But give it time. Go see it again. And again. And again. Watch it on Blu-ray in a few months, followed immediately by your other favorite Star Wars movies. You will see it as I already do.

Join me on the Dark Side, you will.

 

Kevin Harvey is the author of two books, including the 2015 HarperCollins release All You Want to Know about the Bible in Pop Culture, available at Barnes and Noble, Wal-Mart, Sam’s Club, and Amazon. You can also find him keeping up with the latest goings-on in pop culture on Twitter: @PopCultureKevin

 

Star Wars: “The Only War” in the Galaxy

Not but a few minutes into Star Wars: The Force Awakens, a thought came to me. How did the galaxy get back to this point again, in only the span of a single generation? After the destruction of the Empire, as well as the Emperor himself, in Return of the Jedi, peace was supposed to stretch across the galaxy, causing humans, Wookies, droids, Ewoks, and creatures everywhere to hug it out and sing “Kum Ba Yah” to the slow beat of tapping Stormtrooper helmets with sticks.

But only a generation later, there is already an evil leader of the Dark Side killing people mercilessly with the Force, a gigantic army of Stormtroopers that would’ve rivaled the Clone Army at its peak, a battle station that eats Death Stars for breakfast, and people living in fear everywhere of the First Order who can fly in at any time and destroy or take anything they want.

So what did we actually accomplish in Return of the Jedi? What was it all for?

About the halfway point of The Force Awakens, director J.J. Abrams kind of answers this in an almost throwaway comment from newcomer Maz Kanata, a thousand-year-old pirate whom Han Solo takes Rey and Finn to see. In their conversation, Maz Kanata mentions “the war,” to which Rey asks, “Which war?” Maz responds, “The only war,” and then shares how she has seen the same evil take multiple faces, from the Sith to the Empire and now the First Order.

“The only war.” And it is never-ending. No matter what Han, Luke, Lando, and all the rest in Return of the Jedi did, the war would always be going on. Because evil will always find a face.

***

Perhaps without even realizing it, J.J. Abrams touches on an eternal truth that I believe we need to be reminded of. Turn on the news and choose your “war” to talk about. There is of course ISIS, Al Qaeda, and all things Middle East. There’s North Korea and Russia. Lone wolf terrorists in America.

Or perhaps you are thinking of wars closer to home and the family. Planned Parenthood and abortion. Homosexuality and traditional marriage. The transgender debate. Immigration. Gun control. Just pick your war. There are plenty to choose from.

But even more than wars to choose from, there are people’s countless solutions to try and end them. Every presidential candidate, plus the president himself, has their plans on how to put an end to mass shootings, or illegal immigration, or lone wolf terrorists, or nuclear missiles in the wrong hands, or evil dictatorships in the Middle East, or terrorist groups causing chaos and fear throughout the world. Politicians, leaders, voters, media—they all think they know how best to end their “war.”

But any solution they have would be just like in Return of the Jedi. You might think there’s peace in the world, but in less than a generation, we’re right back to where we started. Because the war is not about gun control or terrorism. The war is not about abortion or marriage. It’s not about immigration or education or health care.

“The only war” is sinful man versus a perfect God.

This does not mean actions should not be taken in the Middle East. This doesn’t mean laws shouldn’t be made or that the Supreme Court shouldn’t discuss social issues. And I certainly do not believe activists of any kind should drop whatever their cause is and not try to bring about change. But let’s be clear what the real problem is.

Though there is turmoil in the Middle East, we do not have a terrorist problem. Though there are lone wolf attacks in the U.S., we do not have an immigration problem. Though we have mass shootings becoming more frequent, we do not have a gun-control problem. Though the traditional views of marriage are being ridiculed and persecuted in our country, we do not have a homosexuality problem. And though doctors in our country kill over a million babies a year with support of our country’s laws, we do not have an abortion problem.

We could completely turn the tables on any of these situations, and “the only war” would still exist. For none of these are the real problems; we have a sin problem. And we always will on this earth. That is the problem to address. That is the problem to point others to. And the answer to our sin problem is not laws, wars, or bans. It is Jesus, who won “the only war” when he died on the cross.

***

The new evil faces of Star Wars such as Kylo Ren and Supreme Leader Snoke will probably die or turn from the Dark Side by the time this new trilogy is over with. But Disney will keep rolling Star Wars movies out and coming up with new stories and bad guys. Because “the only war” will keep on going, and evil will simply find a new face. This is simply a reflection of what it’s been like for mankind ever since the garden of Eden.

Kevin Harvey is the author of two books, including the 2015 HarperCollins release All You Want to Know about the Bible in Pop Culture, available at Barnes and Noble, Wal-Mart, Sam’s Club, and Amazon. You can also find him keeping up with the latest goings-on in pop culture on Twitter: @PopCultureKevin

The Gospel According to Creed

I saw the gospel portrayed in a movie this weekend, and it was a wonderful reminder of what I am most thankful for, not only on Thanksgiving, but every single day of my life.

Adonis Johnson is the son of former heavyweight champion boxer Apollo Creed. However, he never knew his dad. The boxer had an affair with a woman who was not his wife, then shortly after died in the ring against the Russian boxer Ivan Drago. Adonis’s mother died not long after as well, causing the boy to live most of his younger years in and out of group homes, as well as juvenile detention.

He grew up believing he was “illegitimate” and “a mistake.” No parents. No one who cares about him. No one to mentor him. No one to love him.

No one at all.

And then came Mary Ann Creed, the wife whom Apollo cheated on. Perhaps the last person you would expect to love this boy, a constant reminder of her husband’s indecencies.

And she took him into her home—literally a mansion—and raised him as though he were her own son. Whatever was hers became his. Most importantly, Adonis had someone who loved him. And it was someone he would’ve never dreamed he could’ve asked to love him as she did.

Adonis was not a mistake. He was not “illegitimate.” He was Mary Ann’s son.

***

As I said above, this was a gentle reminder of what I find myself most thankful for today. My background is nothing like Adonis’s, but I still find myself with one giant common denominator—I have been adopted into royalty and treated like a son by the Creator of the universe, even though the messy sin in  my life should appear as a constant reminder of the sacrificial death of his only Son.

But Mary Ann Creed never looked at Adonis and saw her husband’s sins; and God doesn’t look at me and see my sin. Through Jesus, I have been made clean and righteous, given a spot at the Lord’s table.

This is the gospel. Given to us in the seventh film of a franchise most thought long dead. But Rocky is alive, and thank Jesus so am I.

What an IronMan Taught Me about…Iron Man

This past weekend I competed in my first IronMan race. Rather, it was “only” a half-IronMan—I’m not totally crazy, only half. Now, I’m not a tri-athlete by any means, despite what the magnet on my truck says. I’m merely a marathoner who was looking for the next challenge.

Bucket list item checked.

Back to running only.

Without a doubt, my biggest concern leading into the race and during it was the 56-mile bike trek taking the long route from Wrightsville Beach to Wilmington. (It’s only 10 miles by car! What’s wrong with that route?) More specifically, my concern was getting a flat tire in the middle of the interstate and having to fix it on my own.

I had a repair kit under my seat and two “fix-a-flats” duct-taped to my bike, so I was as prepared as I could be. But with every metal grate on the bridges I went over, every bump in the road that gave me a jolt, during the long sections of interstate that badly needed smoothing over, as I passed by others who were fixing flat tires or other bike problems, I prayed. And I prayed and I prayed and I prayed.

“Lord, please hold these tires together. Please keep them filled with air.”

For three hours I prayed this. Heck, for three months previously I prayed this. I prayed for air in my bike tires. During a race that only idiots take part in. Well, half idiots.

This wasn’t exactly praying for God’s kingdom on earth. But I prayed it, “without ceasing,” nonetheless.

And at the end of the 56 miles, when I dismounted my perfectly held-up bike and began my half-marathon, I became so overwhelmed with gratitude for an all-powerful God who cares even about the air in my bike tires. I won’t lie—it may have been partly due to both physical and mental exhaustion, but I got a little choked up as I began running.

“Thank you, Lord. Thank you, Lord, for hearing even the smallest of prayers. Thank you for caring even about this.”

God cares even about things that we don’t typically think he should or would care about. And that might be what I love about him the most.

But wait. This is “The Bible in Pop Culture.” What does an idiot praying for air in his tires have to do with pop culture?

If God cares even about the “small” things that are so important to us, then if we are to love others as Jesus loves them—as we’ve been commanded—shouldn’t we care about the “small” things that are also important to the mission field here in the Western Hemisphere?

Turn on the E! Network. Look at the magazines in the grocery store. Listen to radio stations whose letters don’t begin with “K” and end with “LOVE.” Go to a sports bar. Check out the record-breaking pre-sale numbers for a Star Wars movie that doesn’t come out for another eight weeks. (Got mine!) People overwhelmingly care about sports, movies, TV, music, celebrities, and the like. Perhaps too much. Perhaps in unhealthy ways at times. But our opinion of that doesn’t change that they—our mission field—care about pop culture.

And for that reason, so should we.

I wonder how many in the church today, if they had been alive two thousand years ago and were advisors of Jesus during his ministry on earth, would have recommended that for his first miracle he turn water into wine so that a wedding party could keep on rocking? Wouldn’t a good, old-fashioned healing miracle have been the better way to start things off? Heal a leper maybe. Or a little blind girl. Yes, it’s too soon to raise Lazarus from the dead—you don’t want to rock the boat too early. But making wine for a wedding? No, I’m sorry, Jesus. I can’t advise that. It’s not worth your time. We should probably leave here anyways before somebody tweets a picture of you with a goblet of wine in your hand.

But Jesus cared. For his mother. For his friends getting married. For their families. For all the guests wanting to celebrate. And so he did something about it.

I’m not arguing that all Christians need to make sure they keep track of the Nielson ratings and stay up to speed on all the top shows. And trying to keep up with Top 40 radio or YouTube videos is like jumping over waves at the beach. They keep coming and coming and coming. When will they ever stop? But if your nonbelieving neighbor absolutely loves The Walking Dead, why not give it a try and find some common ground to build a relationship on? Plus, if you put on your “God goggles,” you may be surprised with some of the biblical metaphors found in the show to talk about.

The world has gone crazy over the Marvel universe. Iron Man. Captain America. Thor. They keep coming and they’re not stopping. The mission field here in the West more than cares about these superheroes; they’re obsessed with them. And there’s nothing wrong with the church sharing in this obsession with them. Care because they care.

Do you have a co-worker who has a Yoda bobble head on his desk and his iPhone wallpaper is Princess Leia in the golden bikini? How about a friend in yoga class who is always talking about Kardashians and Real Housewives? Don’t shun them. Don’t say you don’t have time for stuff like that. Don’t invite them to watch God’s Not Dead at your house on Friday night. Do what Jesus did. Care because they care. Find a way to connect.

Put simply, enter their world in order to bring them into God’s.

Isn’t that exactly what Jesus did?

And listen—I watched all the Kardashians and Real Housewives I could handle during the writing of my book. There’s a lot of content in movies and popular cable shows that I can’t stomach any longer. So I know everyone is going to have their limits—as they absolutely should—with what they take part in. But we can still care. We can still love others as Jesus loves them. We can still enter their world through another door.

God cared about the air in my tires because it was important to me. What do you need to care more about because it’s important to someone Jesus has asked you to love as he loves them?

Kevin Harvey is the author of two books, his most recent titled All You Want to Know about the Bible in Pop Culture, available at Barnes & Noble, Wal-Mart, Sam’s Club, and Amazon. You can find him on Twitter @PopCultureKevin writing about the latest TV,  movie, and other pop culture entertainment taking up probably too much of his time.

Worth More Than a Martian

There’s a scene about two-thirds of the way into The Martian where the crew of the Hermes is discussing a plan to rescue astronaut Mark Watney off of Mars. The plan would require many sacrifices on their part, not the least of which is further time away from their families and possible court-martial for the two soldiers on board. And every extra day in space was a day where something could tragically go wrong, resulting in their deaths. So the crew is understandably having a roundtable discussion on the pros and cons and if they should attempt the plan.

Except there really was no discussion. In each of their minds already, there was nothing to decide. The life of one man—in this case, their friend Mark Watney—was worth whatever sacrifice was needed.

And the sacrifices didn’t stop with the crew of the Hermes. Countless men and women worked with NASA round the clock for years, spending untold billions attempting to form ways to communicate with Watney and get him off of the red planet.

China’s space program offered up their help and resources also in providing the equipment needed to attempt the last-ditch rescue. Their sacrifice would mean a setback for their own personal space exploration, but there was no hesitation on their part either.

Later, during the climactic rescue attempt, we see shots from all around the world of crowds watching the news together, waiting to hear if the rescue was successful.

All this, for the life of one man. Just one stranded botanist most had never met.

What is the life of one man worth?

To answer that, I believe we can do so just as we answer the value of a car, or a house, or a baseball card. These items and others are worth whatever someone is willing to pay for them.

Mark Watney was worth untold tax dollars. He was worth a setback in China’s space program. He was worth hundreds of NASA employees spending 24/7 away from their families in order to bring him home. He was worth being court-martialed. And he was worth the possible sacrifice of his crew members.

Now that is a valuable man. Wouldn’t we all like to be valued as such?

What if we are? Scratch that—what if our value is even higher than that given to Mark Watney in The Martian?

My value, your value, Mark Watney’s true value (if he was a real person), is equal to that of Jesus the Son of God.

That’s right. The Son of God, one-third of the Holy Trinity, who was there at the world’s creation and reigns in heaven above, carries the same value as you, because Jesus is what God the Father offered up to purchase you from your debt of sin.

First Corinthians 6:23 says that we have been bought with a price (the price being the sacrifice of Jesus). Acts 20:28 says that God purchased the church (you and me) with his own blood. First Peter 1:18-19 says that we were not bought with perishable things like silver or gold but with the precious blood of Christ.

God paid the amount of Jesus for you.

What are you worth? You are worth Jesus to the Father.

While watching this movie centered around the attempted rescue of a character played by Matt Damon, I was reminded of another film centered around rescuing Damon playing a different character—Saving Private Ryan. Steven Spielberg’s World War II drama was certainly a magnificent film of its own, filled with similar characters such as are in The Martian, who are willing to sacrifice their lives for the life of one soldier they didn’t even know. Except one thing always bothered me about the movie, and perhaps it stems from Spielberg’s orthodox Jewish heritage.

In the final battle scene, Private Ryan has been found and rescued, but at the cost of many lives, including that of Tom Hanks’s character Captain Miller. As he takes his final breaths, Miller manages to utter to Ryan, “Earn this.” Meaning, live a life worthy of the price paid for his rescue. Miller has died, others have died, all so that Ryan could return home to his parents. And now Miller burdens Ryan with the task of somehow earning the great price paid for his life.

Earn this? No, we cannot earn back the price paid for our life. Not Ryan. Not Watney. Not those of us purchased by the blood of Jesus.

Jesus doesn’t say, “Earn this.” He merely says, “Take this.”

And then God says, “You are worth this.”

Go see The Martian, if you haven’t already. It’s a fantastic film that makes you feel great about being part of humanity, God’s greatest creation. And when you see the huge sacrifices paid to try saving Mark Watney, just one stranded botanist once thought dead, recognize that you are worth even more than that. You are worth Jesus to the Father.

The Highs and Lows of the Pop Culture Summer

The streets are filled with buses, football is underway, and there’s not much good on television or at the movies anymore. It must be the end of summer.

How would you rate the summer of 2015? I’m not referring to your tan or your vacations but to the movies released, the television given us to pass the time in between our favorite shows, and all other areas of pop culture?

In no particular order, here are my highs and lows of the summer that was:

HIGH: Movies! Movies! Movies! I cannot recall a summer blockbuster season that I enjoyed more than the one that just ended. Beginning with Avengers: Age of Ultron, then the guilty pleasure Pitch Perfect 2, May hit us with a bang right out of the box. (And I’m not even including Mad Max: Fury Road, which everyone loved who saw it, though it wasn’t one I found time to see.) In June, we found out we had not, in fact, had enough of dinosaurs yet, in Jurassic World, which was immediately followed by the instant Pixar classic Inside Out. Add in July’s Ant-Man (a surprisingly great Marvel movie) and Mission Impossible: Rogue Nation, and there’s only one conclusion to come to: this summer movie season was simply fun. (Which means my Blu-ray winter purchase season will be expensive!)

LOW: The Inappropriately Named Fantastic Four: Those who know me know that I have a lot of grace toward movies. If it entertains me for a couple of hours, I’ll find something good to say about it. But August’s Fantastic Four was simply terrible. I’d rather spend two hours watching on Repeat the dialogue scenes between Ioan Gruffudd and Jessica Alba from Tim Story’s Fantastic Four. But the good news of this tragedy is that hopefully it’s the rock bottom that 20^th Century Fox needed to convince them to let Marvel take over with the family of superheroes.

HIGH: TV Family Time: For the most part, scripted television during the summer is terrible. We all know that. These are the shows that couldn’t even get a mid-season release, so they were banished to die in the hot summer heat. So our family tried some unscripted television this year…and had a blast. America’s Got Talent has now become a family favorite (the kids even vote). For some reason my 7-year-old daughter is addicted to American Ninja Warrior. She can’t get enough of these super-athletes attempting to cross obstacle after obstacle. Even Food Fighters found its way on the family tube occasionally. And the weekend became the Geekend, the term the Science Channel coined to describe its endless marathons of Outrageous Acts of Science, combined with Outrageous Acts of Psych, Race to Escape, and of course Mythbusters marathons. Who knew science could be so fun? My teachers never taught me this kind of stuff. They stuck with photosynthesis and the periodic table. Snore.

LOW: The Jim Gaffigan Show—non-family friendly: Don’t get me wrong. I really love this half-hour sitcom from the pale comedian who loves Hot Pockets, bagels, and donuts. But after thoroughly enjoying and laughing until my belly hurt some of his stand-up shows with my son, I was really hoping that the self-proclaimed family friendly comedian who loves his five kids just as much as he loves making jokes concerning his Catholic faith would have given us a sitcom that my kids can enjoy too. But unfortunately, too many of the topics are for adult comprehension only, so it has become simply something to enjoy with my wife. But no worries. We have ABC’s new Muppets show this fall that should fill that void of family comedy.

HIGH: Wayward Pines episodes 1–9: For nine episodes I was thrilled to have my one-time favorite filmmaker M. Night Shyama…something…trying out television. What started out as what appeared to be your typical “guy gets trapped in a creepy, small town” story quickly became a mind-bender zombie story with a lesson on how quickly man is corrupted and that no society can ever be perfect. However…

LOW: Wayward Pines episode 10: After ten weeks of watching this show live every week (yes, not even on the DVR—I couldn’t wait to watch it each week!) we are given just another conclusion that has unnecessary sacrifices (I’m looking at you, Hunger Games: Mockingjay!) and the most unlikable snot-nosed punks of the whole story winning in the end. No return for your investment whatsoever. What I thought was going to be Unbreakable ended up being The Lady in the Water.

LOW: Celebrity Marriages: Ben Affleck and Jennifer Garner. Blake Shelton and Miranda Lambert. Gavin Rossdale and Gwen Stefani. Brian Austin Green and Megan Fox. And those are just the divorces with people I’ve heard of. When even gossipy Hollywood websites are writing articles about something being in the water these days for celebrity couples, you know it’s bad. But these are not just actors and singers; they are God’s children with children of their own who now have to spend the rest of their childhood jumping from parent to parent. It’s not funny at all. I wish I could grab hold of every single person who has made the marriage vow and attempt to convince them that there are no “irreconcilable differences” when you have a union blessed by God. And parents, your kids want nothing more than for mom and dad to be together. Work it out! Job’s wife from the Bible literally told him to curse God and die! Yet they persevered and God blessed them double of everything they had lost.

HIGH: The Cubs Are Back, Baby! As of today, August 25, the lovable losers of Chi-town are 72-51, the fourth best record in all of baseball and have won 20 of their last 24 games. With less than 40 games to go, the Cubs have a 6.5 game lead on the final wild card spot in the National League. All this means, Wrigley Field is getting ready to sell playoff tickets! Woo-hoo! For the first time in several years, the summer has not just been the miserable desert in between hockey and football. Baseball is fun again for Cubs fans! There’s nothing like winning at Wrigley to soothe the pain of Fantastic Four, Wayward Pines, and all the other low points of summer.

So what would include on your list of highs and lows for the summer? What was your favorite movie? Your biggest disappointment? Have you tried watching the Geekend on the Science Channel? I’m telling you, it’s addictive.

Kevin Harvey is the author of two books, including the 2015 HarperCollins release All You Want to Know about the Bible in Pop Culture, available at Barnes and Noble, Wal-Mart, Sam’s Club, and Amazon. You can also find him keeping up with the latest goings-on in pop culture on Twitter: @PopCultureKevin

Every Church Needs a Fantastic Four in Leadership

The latest movie version of Fantastic Four is bland, uneventful, a lot of build-up with hardly any payoff, filled with dull personalities, and instantly forgettable the moment you walk out of the theater. A movie reviewer from Ain’t It Cool News labeled it as “the reason audiences are tiring of comic book films,” which sums up perfectly this second failed rendition of Reed Richards and his super-powered friends.

Bland. Uneventful. Dull personalities. Instantly forgettable. The reason audiences are tiring. Basically, every phrase you do not want used to describe your church. But if you believe the latest Fantastic Four film might resemble any part of your church in recent years, the solution to overcoming these accusations might also be found in looking at the same group of superheroes to resurrect your church from its forthcoming demise. It may be too late for Twentieth Century Fox and its most recent adaptation of Marvel’s favorite superhero family, but there’s still time for you and your church to diagnose and fix what may be missing from your church.

And it starts by looking at the Fantastic Four—the four personalities every church should have as part of its leadership.

Reed Richards (Mister Fantastic)

The genius leader of this group of super-powered astronauts can stretch, twist, and reshape his body into inhumane proportions. As dull as his personality may be at times, there is basically no shape he can’t adapt to or object he cannot grab with his stretching hand. Basically he is flexible, stretchable, and able to adapt, and he is needed in church leadership today.

The world Jesus sent his followers into is constantly changing, and that includes your church’s specific community. Whether you’re in small-town Alabama, inner-city Los Angeles, or always-trendy Nashville, your church’s community and the mission field within it are different than they were in years past. Which means a church’s missional strategies, worship styles, and perhaps even its building décor needs to evolve with it. But it takes flexible, stretchable, adaptable leaders in order to lead these sometimes Titanic-maneuvering progressions.

This does not mean compromising with biblical beliefs based on a progressive culture’s constant need to interpret the Bible in ways that make it feel better about its lifestyles. But the church does need to be sure to know exactly what to label as “unchanging gospel truth” and then tag its methods for sharing it with the world as “open for discussion.” A church that is unwilling to adapt is a church that is unwilling to go into the community Jesus placed them in. It must have leaders in charge who can stretch, flex, and contort their styles to meet the present needs.

Johnny Storm (Human Torch)

The adolescent hothead of the group is brash, rebellious, and sometimes a little obnoxious. And oh yeah, he can light himself on fire and set anything or anyone around him on fire too. Though he’s not always the best at following orders, he is a problem solver and believes he can kick-start a little fire into his companions fighting alongside him.

The personality he represents may simultaneously be both the most unpopular and also the most needed part of any church leadership team.

Show me a church with a bunch of “yes men” leading the way and I’ll show you a church—oh, wait, I can’t show it to you anymore. It’s gone. Never mind. It died when the pastor died and left his leadership team and congregation not knowing how to voice opinions and make decisions of their own.

Brash, rebellious, and obnoxious may not seem like the kind of person a church wants in their leadership, but who would say they didn’t need anyone lighting people on fire for the gospel in their church? And chances are, they’re only perceived as brash, rebellious, and obnoxious by those around them who don’t have the same charismatic excitement for reaching out into the community and transferring to them this amazing, transforming power of the gospel that has shaken up their lives.

A church leadership that avoids at all cost having any brash hotheads kick-starting some excitement into its congregation is probably also lacking its flexible, adaptable Mister Fantastic. Both are equally needed to take the gospel into its community as Jesus commanded.

Sue Storm (Invisible Woman)

The girlfriend and future wife of Reed Richards has the ability to bend and manipulate light in order to render herself and others as invisible. She later learns how to generate force fields with her powers, to be used in defending herself and her companions from their enemies’ attacks.

If only more people in church leadership could make themselves invisible at times and not always try to be so front and centered with every situation (especially the controversial ones) that comes about.

There are times to speak up and be a voice of truth in a matter that needs kingdom-building servants of God vocalizing the gospel. But there are also times when those same people need to stay seated, put a sock in their mouth, and love others as Jesus loves them in a not-so-verbal way. A person cannot help but have his or her own opinions on a matter; that is perfectly natural. But simply having thoughts and opinions isn’t reason enough to stand on a soapbox and voice them aloud. Church leaders should know when to speak up and when to appear invisible. Those who know when to wisely make themselves invisible in a matter may find that doing so causes them to later be the most approachable and the ones others come to when they are ready to seek help.

And like the Invisible Woman later learned, church leaders should also be able to generate force fields around themselves and their companions in the gospel when the enemies attack. Because indeed there will be attacks. However, church leaders would be wise to remember the apostle Paul’s armor of God that he wrote about in Ephesians 6—all defensive save for one offensive part of the armor: the sword of the Spirit, or the Word of God. Focus on defense and protecting your colleagues in the gospel, not attacking with offense unless it’s specifically from the Word of God and directed by the Spirit of God.

Speaking of attacks . . .

Ben Grimm (The Thing)

Ben Grimm is Reed Richards’s best friend who was transformed into a monstrous humanoid with rock-like skin and super-strength. He oftentimes is filled with anger and becomes “the heavy” of the group, but over the years he has become known just as well for his honest and direct way of handling tough situations. Watch out for when he says, “It’s clobbering time!” because you don’t want to be caught in the destruction.

Every church needs a leader who’s not afraid to be honest, direct, and “the heavy” when he sees something within his church that needs a little “clobbering.” Hopefully there have been leaders in place who were flexible and adaptable to the changing culture. In the best of churches, there are brash hotheads who know how to light a fire for the gospel in those around him. And churches everywhere need its leaders and congregation alike to know when to be more visible and when to back away. But when these leaders aren’t in place, when leaders are stubborn and unchanging, cold for the Great Commission, and too vocal in controversial matters, they need a Ben Grimm to say, “It’s clobbering time!” and start tearing things down. Every church needs leaders who aren’t afraid to get dirty, to make some people upset, and to destroy the man-made in order to make room for God’s work.

Who in church leadership hasn’t wanted to say, “It’s clobbering time!” to those around him doing a lackluster effort in spreading the gospel to the community, instead holding stubbornly to traditions, protecting their self-image, and seeking out only their own interests? But most don’t voice their differing opinions and therefore change never happens. Every church needs at least one or two Ben Grimms willing to get dirty and do some clobbering for the sake of the gospel.

Entertainment-wise, there is not much to take from the film adaptations of the Fantastic Four, especially the most recent train wreck in theaters right now. But church leaders would be wise to look to the super-powered team of family and friends and see how they can turn the bland, uneventful, dull, and instantly forgettable in their churches into being more adaptable, brash, invisible, and destructive (in a good way) so as to better reach the unchurched in their community and bring the gospel to an ever-changing culture.

It’s clobbering time!

Kevin Harvey is the author of two books, including the 2015 HarperCollins release All You Want to Know about the Bible in Pop Culture, available at Barnes and Noble, Wal-Mart, Sam’s Club, and Amazon. You can also find him keeping up with the latest goings-on in pop culture on Twitter: @PopCultureKevin

In Defense of the Modern-Day Parable

“The kingdom of heaven is like . . .”

And here begins a common phrase used by Jesus to introduce his popular way of teaching to his disciples and the crowds around him. “The kingdom of heaven is like . . . treasure hidden in a field .  . . a merchant looking for fine pearls . . . a net that was let down into the lake . . . a king who prepared a wedding banquet for his son .  .  .” And so on and so on.

Jesus told us about the kingdom of heaven by telling us stories. Uncomfortable, scandalous stories like the good Samaritan. Stories of estranged families like the prodigal son. Stories with so-called ridiculous premises like the laborers in the vineyard. Stories that were confusing and needed immediate interpretation like the parable of the sower.

It seemed Jesus was never without a great idea for a parable to use as an illustration to teach about the kingdom of heaven and to advance the gospel in new ways to a variety of crowds. Though humans certainly cannot come remotely close to having the omniscient knowledge of the eternal Son, Christ followers today still have an almost unlimited number of resources to pull kingdom-building parables from. But these don’t begin with the phrase “The kingdom of heaven is like .  .  .” Instead you’ll find these stories beginning with “Paramount Pictures presents . . .” Or “Disney Pixar Animation presents . . .” Or “Ridley Scott presents . . .”

I challenge all Christians concerned with reaching a pop culture–obsessed world to start looking at how many of today’s movies and television shows can be used as parables to communicate the gospel to a variety of crowds. And I’m not talking about only “church approved” movies like God’s Not Dead and Fireproof. I mean to imply the uncomfortable, scandalous stories, the stories of estranged families, the stories with so-called ridiculous premises, the artsy movies that are so confusing that they need immediate interpretation (Birdman anyone?). Just like Jesus’ parables.

“The kingdom of heaven is like . . . an astronaut drifting alone into eternal space who is found by the only person with the means to save her. At the cost of his own life, he provides for her all she needs to make it to the ship that can return her home.” (See 2013’s Gravity.)

“The kingdom of heaven is like . . . a mixed martial-arts fighter who is harboring so much resentment and lack of forgiveness for those in his life who have done him wrong that he cannot stop running from his own sins. In fact, he is so lost and his heart so hardened that he does not recognize his own need for forgiveness until it’s graciously offered to him freely by his enemy in the ring.” (See 2011’s Warrior.)

“The kingdom of heaven is like . . . a group of a cappella singers who need to win the international championship—” Okay, so not everything works well. But that’s okay. There are plenty of great options out there.

“The kingdom of heaven is like . . .” And fill in the blank. Could there by an analogy to make concerning The Walking Dead and those who look alive but are actually dead? What about the recent string of dead-coming-to-life shows like Resurrection and The Returned? Man of Steel and its forthcoming 2016 sequel Batman v. Superman are filled with stories about the world’s need for a Savior, even when they don’t agree or understand it completely. When all if finally revealed in this week’s Wayward Pines finale, I have to believe there’s going to be something deep to share. (And I will find it and write about it quickly, I promise!)

My fellow missionaries (and that’s all of you saved by Jesus, by the way), do not be afraid to use today’s parables told by Hollywood to teach truths about the gospel and the kingdom of heaven. Not everyone in your church crowd will love it all, or approve of it, but I don’t recall Jesus considering the opinions of the scribes and Pharisees before he knowingly told stories that would upset them. But they did reach the hearts of those who needed to hear it, just as you will when you use some of these favorite stories of theirs for the advancement of the gospel.

Kevin Harvey is the author of two books, including the 2015 HarperCollins release All You Want to Know about the Bible in Pop Culture, available at Barnes and Noble, Wal-Mart, Sam’s Club, and Amazon. You can also find him keeping up with the latest goings-on in pop culture on Twitter: @PopCultureKevin

The Original Superhero Origin Story

I love a good superhero origin story. This week we get treated to Hollywood’s version of the origin of Ant-Man, a.k.a. Scott Lang. Without having seen it yet, I can still honestly say Ant-Man has an uphill battle in comparing to some of the recent superhero origin stories we’ve seen.

The first Iron-Man was way more fun than I think anyone was expecting, and Robert Downey Jr. made us quickly forget that he had ever played any other role before he so smoothly became Tony Stark. Jon Favreau’s instant classic is tough to beat.

I’ll always have a special love for Sam Raimi’s Spider-Man origin story too. While I admittedly loved Andrew Garfield’s Peter Parker portrayal, it’s hard to beat Toby Maguire putting on a hood and wrestling in a cage for money (with Bruce Campbell as the fight’s emcee!).

But probably my favorite recent superhero origin story would be Christopher Nolan’s Batman Begins. Bruce Wayne’s metamorphosis from scared little boy to revengeful student to a man unsure of how to bring both justice and redemption to the city he once loved blew out of the water the stories told to us by way of Michael Keaton, Val Kilmer, and (pause to swallow my vomit) George Clooney. Added to the fun was how Bruce and Lucius Fox slowly pieced together the armor that would eventually become Batman’s disguise.

In my recent book, All You Want to Know about the Bible in Pop Culture, I include a chapter entitled “Maybe the S Stands for Savior,” in which I compare recent superhero stories to that of Jesus Christ, Son of God, the real-life Superhero many of these DC and Marvel heroes have more in common with than one might initially think. One thing I didn’t consider in the short chapter was the origin story.

I wonder how a Hollywood director would handle Jesus’ origin story. Instead of being born in a manger with some farm animals sniffing his amniotic sac, would they place his birth amidst a garden of newly bloomed flowers, with royalty and media all around soaking up the incredible moment? Instead of having King Herod be hunting Jesus down by killing every male baby in the region, would they allow all to escape peacefully, with Herod repenting of the evil inside of him before any blood was shed? And how about the virgin birth? No way could someone in Hollywood portray that without implying at least a little that Joseph and Mary may not have been the innocent virgins we believe them to have been. Come on, they’re only human after all!

Yeah, Jesus’ origin story, if told truthfully, wouldn’t be the greatest Hollywood depiction. The typical director would most likely make some changes to the biblical story. No doubt it would be one of those “inspired by true events” films that takes major liberties with its storytelling.

Except, come to think of it, Jesus doesn’t even have an origin story! Do you think the virgin birth, manger, and shepherds story we hear so much about at Christmastime is the story of Jesus’ origin? Wrong. In Genesis 1:26, during the creation of the universe, God said, “Let us make man in our image.” Us. As in, God, Jesus, and the Holy Spirit. The Holy Trinity. And John 1:1–2 says, “In the beginning was the Word [Jesus] and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God.”

Jesus, the ultimate Superhero, always was. He has no origin story, for he has existed for all time. Like you, my mind cannot wrap around that, because we can’t think about time in any other way than with definite beginnings and ends. Batman once was not. Then he was. And at his death, he will be no more. A baby once was not. Then he was. And at his death, he will be no more (on earth, that is). Beginnings and ends. It’s the only thing that makes sense to us.

Which is what truly makes Jesus the Superhero he is. He is and always will be truly unique. No other religion even makes such a claim, let alone can stand next to it.

Ant-Man may end up being a classic when it comes to superhero origin stories. Maybe the future stories coming concerning Wonder Woman, Dr. Strange, the Fantastic Four, and (yet another) Spider-Man will be surprisingly great too. But for me, the best origin story will always be the one that doesn’t even exist. The one of Jesus our Savior.

Kevin Harvey is the author of two books, his most recent titled All You Want to Know about the Bible in Pop Culture, available at Barnes & Noble, Wal-Mart, Sam’s Club, and Amazon. You can find him on Twitter @PopCultureKevin writing about the latest TV,  movie, and other pop culture entertainment taking up probably too much of his time.