October 2012 - Vol.  63.

Movie Master 
..
Taking a stand for good culture
and right morality
.
by Michael Shaughnessy 

There are Christians who simply avoid watching movies altogether. Most, however, go to the cinema at least now and then. Those aged 12-24 are twice as likely to be frequent movie-goers.

Choosing what movie to see can be a challenge. Picking "the best there is" often can yield a pretty bad result. However, it is not that hard to make a good decision if you avoid just judging by the movie trailer and rating. Go to a couple of movie review sites and get more information. It takes just a few minutes. Here are a few. Add them to your browser toolbar:

To master the movies, make a practice of walking out of inferior or offensive movies. Surely you have seen a movie and thought, "This is lousy." Next time, get up, walk out and ask for your money back. You will probably get your money and also be taking a stand for good culture and right morality!

This article was first published in the August 2012 Issue of the Kairos North American Youth Culture Newsletter..
 
Mike Shaughnessy is an elder in The Servants of the Word and the Director of Kairos in North America. Kairos is an international federation of outreaches to high school, university and post university aged people. 

> See previous articles related to the Media



He's Not My Superhero
.
by Dr. Dan Keating 

There is a superhero model of salvation: the people are in trouble, an evil character has gained control and is about to enslave the people. Just when it looks most hopeless, the superhero arrives and defeats the bad guy in the nick of time. The people applaud and cheer as the superhero leaves to return to his alter-identity. The people have their ordered, peaceful life back until the next bad guy arrives on the scene.

This superhero view of God is quite close to what American teens think about God. They believe he exists, is good, and watches over things, but he doesn’t get particularly involved in our life unless things go really wrong. That’s when we call upon him. He rescues us and then goes off again to a safe and convenient distance.

Unfortunately, this is NOT a good model for what Christ has done for us. Jesus did not fly in, defeat our enemy and then go off again leaving us pretty much the way we were.

Although he came to defeat the devil, he didn't leave when that was done. He remains among us and is changing us. He took on our nature so we could take on his – and by rising from the dead he received a glorified human nature. This "super" nature is what he is passing on to us. We aren't just rescued. We are remade.


 [Dr. Daniel A. Keating is professor of theology at Sacred Heart Seminary in Detroit, Michigan, USA and an elder of The Servants of the Word, a lay missionary brotherhood of men living single for the Lord.]
.
 (c) copyright 2012  The Sword of the Spirit
publishing address: Park Royal Business Centre, 9-17 Park Royal Road, Suite 108, London NW10 7LQ, United Kingdom
email: living.bulwark@yahoo.com
.