Film Reviews Archives

Prophetic Preaching in a Political Age: How Pastors Can Speak Truth to Power

By Liz Cooledge Jenkins

On January 21, 2025, Episcopal Bishop Mariann Edgar Budde preached at the presidential inauguration prayer service, and her words reverberated far beyond the walls of the National Cathedral.
Bishop Budde called our new leaders to build “the foundations we need for unity”: foundations that include “honesty,” “humility,” and “honoring the inherent dignity of every human being.” She called for mercy toward all people—and, particularly, mercy toward “the people in our country who are scared.” Toward queer and transgender people.

Jesus Wept

By Elli Atchison and Molly Lorden

“When the righteous cry out the Lord hears them and delivers them from all their troubles. The Lord is close to the brokenhearted and saves those who are crushed in spirit.”
Psalm 34:17-18

Jesus was no stranger to death and sorrow.

Billboards for Jesus (Or, What Kind of Christians Are We?)

By Elrena Evans

My family recently took a road trip to Florida, because we thought logging over two thousand miles in a car with five kids would be fun. It was fun, actually—not without hiccups, as all road trips are, but even the hiccups were fodder for many family memories.

Jesus Was No Stranger To Obedience

By Elli Atchison and Molly Lorden

“Love God with all your heart, soul, mind and strength. And then, love your neighbor as yourself.” Mark 12:29

Jesus was no stranger to obedience. The King of Kings came quietly at his Father’s request.

Walls of Hostility

By David P. Leong

Throughout high school, I worked in our family photo lab in Vancouver Mall, and on breaks I would walk around to see other store displays nearby. In the early to mid-’90s, there was a particular trend in a lot of the poster and gift shops, which would display large, patterned images with a “hidden 3D picture” out in front of the store.

Lenten Devotion: I Will Not Be Shamed

By Sharon Watkins and Richard H. Lowery

Read Isaiah 50:4–9a.
“The Lord God helps me… / I know that I shall not be put to shame.”

Today’s reading is from the third of the so-called “servant songs” in the portion of the book scholars call “Second Isaiah.” The songs are reflections on the experiences of a “servant,” often clearly identified as Israel as a whole, but sometimes apparently referring to some sub-group or individual among the exiles in Babylonia.

A Prayer for Our Country

By R. Maurice Boyd
O Thou who art as the shadow of a mighty rock in a weary land,
Comfort our distraught, distracted, and bewildered Nation.
Enable us to discern Thy judgements and Thy grace in the distress, confusion, and anxiety of our time.

The Lord Forbid

By Fred Clark

You probably haven’t heard many sermons about Joshebbasshebeth the Tahchemonite. His story is tucked away in 10 verses at the end of 2 Samuel and besides, not many preachers want to pronounce names like Joshebbasshebeth from the pulpit.

The Woman Under the Palm Tree

By Jenny Rae Armstrong

I was nine years old when it happened, peering out the window of our second-story apartment in Monrovia, Liberia. The multiplex we lived in was in a good area, popular with internationals; the families on the top story were from India, the Peace Corps volunteers across the hall were American like us, and Mrs.

A Conversation Worth Having

By Jan Johnson

Imagine three women standing in a town square, facing each other and reflecting on the current Middle East situation. These three women have just come from their respective places of worship. The oldest woman is Sarah, a Hebrew woman, the wife of Abraham, and matriarch to Isaac and Jacob.

Lenten Devotion: Jesus Heals the…

By Sharon Watkins and Richard H. Lowery

Read Luke 7:1–10.
“A centurion there had a slave…”

People of the United States* reading this passage need to stutter at the word slave, a reminder of our own horrific national history.

Why I’m Not So Thrilled About Madonna’s Recent Adoption

By Lyndsay Mathews

Scrolling through Facebook these days can be a dangerous venture. And let’s not even talk about reading the actual news. With all the disheartening stories in the cycle, one would think the news about Madonna’s recent adoption of twin girls from Malawi would be uplifting, not discouraging.

John/Elijah

By Laura Coulter

Every Saturday, by the highway near Wal-Mart,
you see him standing there alone.
Not much to notice about him,
nothing leaps to the eye.
Wiry hair gray as storm clouds.

Christianity Is Neither Democratic nor Republican—It’s Better Than Both

By Stephen Mattson

If Christianity means loving God with all your heart, soul, and mind, and loving your neighbor as yourself, then people of both political persuasions fall short of Christ’s central doctrine of sacrificial love.

The Kingdom of Heaven Starts at Home: Confronting Christian Male-Identified Privilege and Violence

By Derek Minno-Bloom

If the revolution doesn’t start at home, it will never last outside of the home. I kept thinking this during the worldwide Women’s March on January 21st, 2017. I was radically inspired and empowered by the intersectional visions and politics of the Women’s March organizers, and it became clear to me that it is time for male-identified Christian activists to bring the kingdom of heaven here on earth, and at home, by taking up intersectional feminism.

I Stand with the 19% Who Resisted…And I’m Not Leaving the Evangelical Church

By Karen Gonzalez

Last week I was lazily scrolling through my Facebook feed when I ran across yet another of Franklin Graham’s ignorant xenophobic statements. As a Latina evangelical it made me so angry I almost threw my phone across the room.

Believing That We Need Each Other

By Craig Wong

To those who are sanctified in Christ Jesus, called to be saints, together with all those who in every place call on the name of our Lord Jesus Christ…in every way you have been enriched in him, in speech and knowledge of every kind…so that you are not lacking in any spiritual gift…God is faithful; by him you were called into the fellowship of his Son, Jesus Christ our Lord.

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