.
.
with comments by David Bruce

PLEASED
Subject: ELO review
Date: Mon, 11 Mar 2002
From: Jim

 Sir,
I read your review of ELO's (Jeff Lynne's) ZOOM and was quite pleased. I have been a fan of ELO since I was around 14 or so. I am now 37 and still a great fan. Your review was complete and detailed. It is obvious you are a fan and its nice to be associated with yet another one. The CD definately has a lighter sound. I loved it as I heard it for the first time and it only gets better the more I listen to it. It still amazes me at the effects Mr. Lynne has had on the music industry yet seemingly no one knows who he is except fans of ELO. I think that is very credible to Mr. Lynne because it seems he cares little be noticed. Fantastic artist with what seems to be endless talents.

I may also be interested in a newsletter is one is still available.

- Jim

HALLELUJAH!
Subject: Dyan_Cannon
Date: Mon, 11 Mar 2002
From: Jill

Dear Dyan:
Hallelujah! May God continue to use you mightily that others may come to the saving grace and knowledge of Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.
With the Love of Christ,
Jill

 Chocolat` -- a great-hearted movie about all the values Christians are called to embody. Sadly, sometimes we have to look outside the church to see that done well!

GET REAL
Subject: Gary_Busey
Date: Mon, 11 Mar 2002
From: Easter

 It's amazing how uptight we get when someone famous decides to give his life to Christ. All of a sudden we forget our own rotting cesspool of sin and we start scrutinizing the lives of the people who have to be in the public eye every day. Very Christian indeed. Might I remind you all that not one person in the Bible, not in the New Testament or Old, lived a sinless life. Not one. To the man who sent a 'threatening letter' you don't owe Gary a piece of your theological mind. You were called to love him in Christ, that's all. To those who would call him a hypocrite, have you sinned today? Did Christ die for a bunch of sinless church goers, or did He die for you? Here we are ready to hurl stones again. Remember Jesus' position while was standing between a bunch of church goers and a whore fresh out of bed. What did He do? What are you doing? Whose the hypocrit! e? We know this age is as good as done. We should encourage those that have the ability to minister to the lost through the media, seeing that most so called Christians never minister further than the four walls of their preferred religions. And while we are at it, we should put back biting and division away. The only Biblical personality that acts like that is Lucifer. So who are we supposed to imitate again? As for Gary Busey, sir if you ever get this message, I am profoundly touched that you profess Christ. I have all confidence in Him and I know that He will never leave you or leave you forsaken. I do not envy your life, all eyes are on you. But I pray that you continue to walk in Christ and that you allow Him to do His work in you. May our God keep us all from falling.
Peace.

 As an art patron and collector I'm stunned at what Thom Kinkade is doing to the blind christian right who spend their money on his trash. Thom sell prints of paintings as collectible items when in fact the numbers are so high that they will never realize any real value. Some editions run 4,000 in number (PER SIZE) ..... so a single painting may be printed in 4 different sizes and each size will have a "limited edition" of at least 4,000. Reputable artists like Shavaiko and G. Harvey limit their reproductions to around 300 to 500. Any representation that there is any value in Kinkade's prints is outright fraud. These works are not even signed by a human being, they are signed by a machine.

 Kinkade has made himself the self appointed art god. If he personally signs a print, he calls it an artist proof, limits it to a 100 or 50 and tries to sucker $5,000 or more from an art buyer. If he personally highlights the print (the process of slapping real paint on top of a print to make it look real) the he limits those to 20 or 30 and asks $50,000 for them.

 Truely the emperior has no clothes and when the public realizes this he will sink faster than a Russian sub. What makes the whole Kinkade sharade criminal, is that fact that he pitches Christian beliefs and faith on the shopping channel and in literature to con the Chrisitan right into buying off on his brand of religious hype. According to Kinkade, "You wanna get to heaven? Then buy my prints because I'm a Christian spreading the peaceful faith through my art and you should support me."

 Thom reminds me of the money changers in the temple who had their tables turned over and had themselves thrown out of the temple by Jesus. Although not in a temple or church, he certainly stands at the front door like a street vendor, hawking his sudo-Christian wares to anyone weak enough to belive his phoney message.
Robert.
roberteb@segler.net

The story was about the car accident that my son and his fiancee died in
on March 31, 1997. My wife and I are strong believers in angels. We know
that Touched by an angel is a show with actors portraying angels. This show,
and The Promised Land have been our favorites from their beginning. It even
rates higher than football to me and I love to watch football. The messages
in each show have been very inspirational. As a firefighter, it gets very
difficult sometimes to go to work because of the things we encounter. I love
the job and teaching fire safety, first aid and CPR on the side. It really
got to me when I got the the call at my fire station while on duty that my
son was killed in an accident. My days in helping others seemed to be over.
Now it keeps me going. Lately a series of events has caused some doubt
again. I was just wondering if anyone there, or if Della Reese ever received
what I originally sent. My wife, Cheryl was really doing badly. I was
afraid of losing her. That's why I wrote Della, in hope that she or someone
there might write her some words of inspiration for comfort. Nothing ever
came. Our church was there for us though and the many young people that were
our son's friends and His fiance (Ghia's) also. Cheryl has a collection of
angels. Three of them are from Della's line, the African American, Native
American, and Caucasion angels. On Sept. 11, I was fighting a forest fire
180 miles from here. We were in shock and disbelief at what we heard over
our strike team leaders car radio. Even though our loss of a son and future
daughter in law was great to us, I have to stay as a firefighter and teacher
and remain in the Army Reserves, for all of those that need help, protection,
and I will also continue to be someone who cares for them whether I know them
or not. I hope that what I teach makes a good difference in the lives of my
students. My reward is when they tell me how the training enabled them to
help someone injured or ill and or saved a life. Please let me know if you
received this.May God bless you. There is a song I like and it goes like
this, I am the whisper of the wind, quietly, peacefully, you'll find me,
you'll find me.

Sincerely
John Zimmerman
Vallejo, Ca. 94589

Thanks again.
Gabe
(please don't display my e-mail)

GREAT MOVIE
Subject: We_Were_Soldiers
Date: Sat, 9 Mar 2002
From: Harry Diehl

 I saw the movie today and I cried through half of it. It was weird for me because I was in the 7th Cavalry in 1958, only seven years before the events in the movie take place. It certainly is an anti-war movie, because after seeing it, no one in their right mind would want to see human beings go through what these heroic soldiers went through. It also was refreshing to see a man who practices his faith praying with his children at bedtime, and frequently thanking God for His mercy in battle. Yes, it's pretty gory, but so is war. I think every young male 16 years old and up should see it, so he can appreciate the price that was paid for the freedom we sometimes take for granted.
Harry Diehl,
Johnson City, TN

David, and to anyone else who's reading this:
The nature of comments and argument surrounding Harry Potter has caused me to feel very sad. Personally I haven't seen the movie, but what I have seen is a great amount of hate and ignorance evident in the comments on this site. Christians slamming pagans, and vice versa....this makes me sad for two basic reasons:

 1) That any people who have faith in a facet of religion that has a core of love (such as Christians and pagans) should be so ready to exhibit hatred for one another. I believe that all religions stem from the same place (God, however it is that you perceive God), and that makes us brothers and sisters. We shouldn't give in to ignorance, but should explore the so-called facts of other religions. I know that in my life, exploring other religions has done nothing other than enrich my own faith.

 2) Haven't we seen enough hate in this world? Just think back to September 11th, and beyond that, to the injustice and violence that occurs EVERYDAY, all over this world. Any people that believe in doing good over evil should band together, learn from one another, and work to make the world the loving and sharing place it could be. We shouldn't waste our time and energy on this fruitless feuding.

Please use YOUR energy to its fullest potential: Choose love over hate, truth over untruth.

"Do unto others as you would have them do unto you." It means the same thing regardless of whether you're a Christian, Pagan....whatever. Choose love!
Always,
Valarie SageWind

COMMENTS ABOUT AI_Artificial_Intelligence

THE MUSIC
Subject: AI_Artificial_Intelligence
Date: Sat, 9 Mar 2002
From: Josh Terrell

 It had been awhile since music in a film affected me greatly. I could not stop the tears from coming down my face in the theater the first time I'd heard it. The scene at the end of the film is so rich with emotion that pure war escalates in me. Every time I hear the music, I feel like calling my mom. It's incredible. I loved the feeling of necessity within the film, what one needs, hell, what everyone needs. The real treasure of the world is what we could all have if we would give in and do what is right, a beautiful message, one of many in the film. Although, my view is a bit narrow at this point for "what is right" does not really explain anything to me. It's difficult to decipher a film where emotion is so unwillfully unearthed. I cannot suppress it; I consider the act futile now. I truly hope the score to AI Artificial Intelligence receives an oscar, haha, not that Mr. Williams needs another one, but I believe his music deserves one.
Josh Terrell

ALIENS/ROBOTS
Subject: AI_Artificial_Intelligence
Date: Sat, 9 Mar 2002
From: Josh

 Most people I"ve talked to believe the beings, at the end of AI Artificial Intelligence, to be aliens. I know for a fact that they are actually robots, hence their interest in David who is an earlier model resembling a human. Just watch the making of video on the DVD; the creators even say they are futuristic robots. Besides, Gigolo Joe even foreshadows robot existence after humans; the beings are that later existence. I've even read excellent reviews that say the beings are aliens. So far, I've met one other person who saw the beings as robots during the first viewing of the film, myself being another. It's just strange to find so many lacking that common sense. The robots even DOWNLOAD to one another. I wouldn't understand an organic life form having that ability since modems aren't made of flesh.
Glad to talk to ya.

BELATED AI COMMENTS
Subject: AI_Artificial_Intelligence
Date: Fri, 8 Mar 2002
From: Lelia

I have just (finally) watched AI on video, and read a few of the reviews and comments.

 I note there is one thing that is either left out or misconstrued, which is also an issue: the unfailing cruelty of children. Martin (David's 'brother') -- contrary to one man's comments -- never did anything to protect David. At poolside David grabbed Martin thru his own fear of being injured... he did not give him a chance to protest or refuse.

 Through jealousy and hatred of the 'interloper' (ref. Jacob and Esau), Martin's motivation was to get rid of David any way necessary. And, in the end he succeeded. Like most mothers, Monica chooses her 'natural born' child over the 'replacement.' (Like many step-parents and adoptive parents, unfortunately.)

 One more thing: if you watch the beginning carefully enough, the behavior of the other Mechas whom David meets becomes clear. They are programmed to behave in certain ways; this is not real emotion like David's. He IS truly unique.

This was indeed a wonderful, complex, thought-provoking tale... and while I am not entirely reconciled with the ending (I am a 'happy-ending' fan), I wouldn't re-write it.

I was just wondering if you knew about the movie adaptation of Joseph Girzone's novel entitled Joshua, which comes out in April. I just saw a preview for it tonight on television. It stars Tony Goldwyn, F. Murray Abraham and Giancarlo Gianinni. It looks quite interesting. There is a website for the movie: www.joshuathemovie.com. I would like to know what you think of this. Most movies put out directed specifically at a "Christian" audience seem to be of a MUCH poorer quality than those put out by "secular" studios, and often seem to just serve one purpose--a visual, extremely OBVIOUS sermon with no reality to them. However, this film, put out by Epiphany Films, seems, at least in the trailer, to be of a much higher quality. I loved the Joshua novel, and I am hoping this is a quality film-hopefully it will be much better than the awful (bad acting, bad e! diting, bad everything, in my opinion) Left Behind movie. Please let us know if you've heard about this upcoming movie. (I will -David)

 One last thing- I read your review of the movie Amelie, and was enchanted. However, it never appeared in any theaters in my area. Is it now on video or dvd, or will it be soon (do you know?) Any help would be appreciated. (Soon, but sure of date -David)

Thanks so much for reading this, and keep up the good work. We all could use a little more of the grace you extend. (Thanks -David)

In Christ,
Davida Thompson

MORE COMMENTS ON NEWSLETTER 32

LOOKING OUTSIDE THE CHURCH
Subject: Biggest_impact_films
Date: Mon, 11 Mar 2002
From: Genie

 Chocolat` -- a great-hearted movie about all the values Christians are called to embody. Sadly, sometimes we have to look outside the church to see that done well!

RECENT NEWSLETTER
Subject: Newsletter 32
Date: Mon, 11 Mar 2002
From: Chrissy

Dear David-
I read the recent Hollywood Jesus Newsletter and I can understand why you're
so upset. I think that it is refreshing that there's such a spiritual
newsletter online that strengthens the faith of everyone who reads the
newsletter. Those who wanted to flame the newsletter don't have much of
faith. I think you should continue to run the newsletter because like myself
I am sure there are others who enjoy reading the many aspects of the
newsletter. Well I have to go now but I just wanted you to know that I do
enjoy reading the Hollywood Jesus Newsletter.
God Bless,
Chrissy

MORE HOLLY-ROLLER DRAMA
Subject: 'i_agree_and_do_not_throw_rocks-nl_32
Date: Mon, 11 Mar 2002 10:32:01 -0800
From: Chris Utley

 >From my standpoint, the problem...and the reason why Holy-Rollers (i.e. the people who send you hate mail) exist is because they haven't grasped Matthew 16: 13-18.

 Holy-Rollers camp out at verses 13 and 14. They're the first to tell you "who do men say He is". When they praise Him, they only recite what they've learned from years and years of sitting in church. Christ's goal for us is answer as boldly and strongly as Peter did in verses 15-17. When Peter declared that "Thou art the Christ, the Son of the Living God," that was an answer that can only be birthed out of PERSONAL EXPERIENCE. Hence Jesus' response that "flesh and blood didn't reveal that to you."

 Everybody's always jumping on you and sending you these emails questioning your very salvation and stuff. They're doing that because, if the truth be told, they don't know Jesus. They know God...His righteousness and holiness and and His power. But they don't know Jesus...His grace and mercy and love and lovingkindness. Most of the people who criticize you probably have the most rotten lives you'll ever see. Church (the buliding and all it's activities) is all they have. Without that 2 1/2 hours they spend on Sunday morning, their lives are empty. Their marriages are bad, their kids can't stand them (which is probably why they resorted to other religions).

The whole concept of finding God/Jesus/The Holy Spirit in places other than The Bible/Church/TBN is absurd to them. Why? Because men say that He can only be found in Chruch/The Bible/TBN.

 But David, you know Him. You have sought to find Him in places no one has ever imagined to find Him. And 4 years and 50 million hits later, you continue show us the way to Him in those most unlikely places such as movie theatres and rock music. You have no idea how much fruit you are bearing. You have no idea of the seeds you're planting in the hearts of Wiccans, Muslims and others. If and when Jesus saves them, the time they spend at HollywoodJesus.com will prove to be one of the impact points in their life that helped guide them to The Way.

 DON'T STOP. Keep on moving...and keep those commentaries coming! The Father and Son are pleased...and so am I!

Chris Utley

MERCY TO THE PEOPLE
Subject: I_agree_-Newsletter_32
Date: Fri, 8 Mar 2002
From: Margaret

 I see these people as "prophet people" not "mercy people". They are right in condemming the sin, but forget to show mercy to the people. Jesus taught us to hate the sin but love the sinner. Since it is easier to condem than to forgive, sin and sinner get lumped together.

THROWING ROCKS
Subject: I_agree_-Newsletter_32
Date: Fri, 8 Mar 2002
From: Melanie

 It just goes to show that although, as professing Christians, we're forgiven, we're still sinners. We still make errors of judgment, such as criticizing without love, judging without knowledge, and prejudice without basis. We have to be willing to admit that we could be wrong! Approach others with an open mind; God gives common grace to all people, not just Christians. You never know what you might learn.

I appreciate your website and the effort to draw people's attention to the good ideas in movies. "Whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever ispure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable-think about such things" Phillipians 4:20 NIV

Melanie
Lethbridge, Alberta, CanadaDISGUSSTED EX-CHARISMATIC SPEAKS
Subject: Newsletter 32
Date: Fri, 8 Mar 2002
From: Jeff Hamilton

As a non-churchgoer, disgusted ex-charismatic, etc...I was lifted simply by your printing of the text of the story of the woman caught in adultery.

It draws me to whatever the Jesus figure was....

Jeff Hamilton

 as Jesus loves us. So simple yet most People,(christians included) are clueless, on the practice.

 I say bravo! to David Bruce, and Hollywood Jesus for listing comments , from non- christians. [ yes, i know about christian wiccas but that`s another can of worms]
Keith w. Kunz

sent with joy and love! †
http://community.webtv.net/KeithWK/PSALM45
http://community.webtv.net/KeithWK/Thepottersclay

 Hello David, I just wanted to say thankyou for your newsletters. I can't remember how I came across your site first of all, maybe a link from somewhere. I enjoy your newsletters, sometimes I have to wait a couple of days to get time to read them, as they arrive at work. But it keeps me in touch (I am British, living in France).

I do think it's a great pity some folks are so - well, bigoted - (should
that have 2 t's, it looks funny), and refuse to see what they have in common
with others. Some of the comments you quoted, they are so self-righteous.
I remember (from years ago, before I was a Christian) George Harrison's song
lyrics, "you will see we are all one and life goes on within you and without
you". My view is, there is one God, we all see him in different ways,
according to our cultural backgrounds or heritage, and according to our
needs - spiritual needs are so important and so individual. I became a
Catholic twelve years ago this coming Easter, baptism, confirmation, first
Holy Communion, all at the Easter Vigil. The mystical nature of the
Eucharist is important to me, and as a woman I like to think that Our Lady
is looking after us too. This may be difficult for you to understand as you
are Protestant, but I trust that you are openminded about it! As
Shakespeare said, "There are more things in heaven and earth, Horatio, than
are dreamt of in your philosophy" !! We really do not know a lot about
"life, the universe and everything", do we? Christians of different
denominations lay emphasis on different aspects of Jesus' message, that's
what I feel. And so you go to the Church that suits you. But we must be
tolerant of each other - one of Jesus' most important messages was
forgiveness. And there is precious little of that in some of the letters
you seem to get.

Anyway! Enough! I like your site and I like the way you see very positive
elements in most films. The section where you review the spiritual messages
of the Oscar-nominated films is just great, and refreshing and surprising!
We need to look with the eyes of faith, that is something our priest said to
us during our preparation course twelve years ago. I think you do that, and
I appreciate it.

Thanks - carry on the good work! And may God continue to bless you.
Best wishes,
Sandra

Response: Thanks Sandra. Nice uplifting letter. -David

 As a rotten speller myself, I force my self to try and look for errors and try to remember the correct spelling. I find it a good exercise when others point out the errors and I am forced to look for them. But David, on this posting of "Hollywood Jesus", your heading"2. VIEWING THE ACADEMY AWARDS THROW SPIRITUAL EYES " just jumped right at me. I think the word you were looking for was "through" Better get an new prof redder!

Response: Opps! Thanks, David

 I have to say having been a christian for around 16-18 years (sheesh has it been that long?!), I have been no part of a church for several years, in part because of such attitudes(is that the correct spelling?). I still beleive the part of the Bible that speaks most directly to the church these days is probably when Jesus addresses the pharisees - after all the church is now the spiritual establishment as they were then.

I think HJ is an excellent site - balanced and mature.

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