From the time the Harry Potter books first crossed the pond from England there has been both praise and disparagement of the books. Most of the criticism came from Christian voices raising concerns about the glorification of magic and the dangers of the occult. Now that the final book has been around for some time and before we see the arrival of the final two movies (the last book is being split into two films because of the density of content as well as Hollywood squeezing every last dime it can from the franchise) we can take a step back and think a little more critically about these ...

Creation 2009 • Rated PG-13 Directed by John Amiel Coming soon to America: widespread fear, angry debate and frequent name-calling all because of a new movie about the life of Charles Darwin and his writing of On the Origin of Species. This film has been in release around the world for some time now but because of controversy and fears of a public relations battle with the "religious right" the film struggled to find a US distributor (interestingly enough it will be distributed by New Market films which also handled Mel Gibson's The Passion of the Christ). Based on a book by the ...

Avatar 2009 • Rated PG-13 Directed by James Cameron Warning: minor spoilers ahead Avatar is an scrumptious feast which sets a new standard for visual effects and imaginary worlds. That alone makes up for James Cameron using standard fare storytelling and tired cliches. The colors are so vivid and the imagination so active that I hardly noticed the flaws until the movie was long over. An oft repeated phrase in the film is “I see you” which the characters use to communicate a personal knowing and recognition. It is reminiscent of Native American language (as is much of the ...

Many people consider TV shows and movies good bad based on the amount of violence, sex or language present. In recent years several films have challenged this notion. The Passion of the Christ was embraced by many Christians despite its R rating while the Harry Potter films (rated PG) were rejected due to perceptions of occult material. Can we judge entertainment so easily? I don't think so. I believe we need to develop skills of discernment and eyes to see beyond the surface issues. In this article (thanks to Craig Dunham for finding this) in Time magazine author Nancy Gibbs provides ...

In recent decades, the word “Christian” has taken quite a beating in our culture. Though I have some older relatives who do not follow Jesus, I am certain they’d be offended if I said they weren’t Christians. This is because “Christian” has become synonymous with “nice, decent, respectable American.” Were I to suggest that these nice, decent, respectable Americans—who were raised attending Sunday school, no less—weren’t “Christians,” I have ...

Adapted from a sermon given at Reformed University Fellowship, University of Oklahoma Women are beautiful. Women want to be beautiful, be seen as beautiful, be told they’re beautiful and on and on. There is a place in each woman’s heart for beauty. But what is beauty? Fergie is Fegalicious. She sings, “Fergalicious”: Make them boys go loco
 They want my treasure So they get their pleasures from my photo

 You can see me, you can’t squeeze me 
I ain’t easy, I ain’t sleazy 
I got reasons why I tease ‘em
 Boys just come and go like ...