.
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with comments by David Bruce

COOL CHURCH
Subject: Jesus following church Newsletter #26
Date: Sat, 30 Jun 2001
From: Van

Here is the name and address of a really cool church that I believe fits your profile of church open to world speak. The pastors name is Bruxy Cavey, and he is one smart dude. During the offering, they played this really cool music, and it turned out to be from the soundtrack of the third Myst video game. Talk about redeeming what ever is out there! It's in Oakville, Ontario, Canada for your Canadian viewers, so I encourage you to check it out. So many Christians are sooooo scared of the "the world", that many are no longer able to discern what is good or not. Only Christian stuff is good; everything else is bad. It makes for a very narrow view of things. Thanks sooooo much for your intelligent, heart-felt views. I am one Christian who craves for this kind of intelligent perspective. www.TheMeetingHouse.ca

THE BEST
Subject: Rosemary's Baby
Date: Sat, 30 Jun 2001
From: DENISE

I own this movie i can not count how many times i have seen it, just watched it again and decided to search the net and here i am. I literally have been watching it over and over again for the past few weeks, i watch it and keep rewinding it. Mia Farrow made this movie i don't feel it would have been the same without her. My true all time favorite film of all time i can not tire of watching it.
Denise
Do not post email........

THE POWER TO LOVE
Subject: AI Artificial Intellence
Date: Sat, 30 Jun 2001
From: "Mike Parnell"

AI is a true masterpiece. It has caused me to think in ways few movies have in the last few years. Spielberg has outdone himself and given us an understanding of what it means to be an abused child. The story of David's journey is a mirror of those who have been abused and yet still hold on to the belief that there is love that can be given that will redeem and renew and fulfill. There is such yearning in all the characters of the film that I was breathless when I left the theater.

What I witnessed is the power of unrequited love and that love can move, even a machine, to strive to see filling of the emptiness that is in all of us. From Monica, the mother, to Dr. Hobby, David's maker, to David, we see people trying to find a fulfillment of self, a move toward self-actualization. This self-actualization is not found within, but without. There is no completion of life until love that is given and received makes us complete. I was taken by David's determination to see the dream of the "Blue Fairy" realized. His dream is to become real in order to give the love that will make him complete and make Monica complete. He becomes human because he loves and love is what drives him. At the Flesh Fair, we see how love overcomes the human hate of that which the humans made (the mechas) that lives on beyond ourselves. Love is the factor that makes us human. For without love we are nothing more than robots that strut and fret our hour upon the stage and then are gone. Love is what makes the vapor of life, that James talks about, meaningful.

Humanity is flawed at its core, but is redeemed by the yearning to love that motivates us all. Without this yearning we lose sight of what is the purpose of life. God is love and created us to love him. We love others and that love is a reflection of the love of God.

I know that what I write sounds like rambling, but I truly was moved to the point of tears by this film. Let me say one word in closing. I was listening to NPR this morning. Scott Simon was interviewing a nun who had been tortured in her service to Christ and the church. He asked her where was God during the time of her torture. The nun replied that her God went into the place of torture, but died during the time of her captivity. When I heard that I shed tears of shame of how humans that can be so inhuman. Those who tortured this servant of Christ were able to be so devoid of love that they destroyed the relationship between this nun and God. The power of love is so great that when someone is deprived of it that it can cause them to lose sight of the greater lover of all and make them believe that the love is gone out of the world.

Thanks to Steven Spielberg and Stanley Kubrick for reminding me that the power of love (agape love)is what makes me human and thanks to the story of that tortured nun that reminded me that when we are so unloving we can kill the God of a servant of Christ.

WHO PLAYED GUSTOV?
Subject: Ever After
Date: Fri, 29 Jun 2001
From: "Sorge"

Are we allowed to ask questions over this board? Well I have one; I was wondering if anyone knows what actor played the young artist Gustov ( I think that's how you spell it).

LOT'S WIFE
Subject: Galaxy Quest
Date: Fri, 29 Jun 2001
From: "Sorge"

What I noticed most in this movie that sort of followed the Bible was when the crew were escaping from the hostile alien "Minors". Jason (Lot) tells his crew (family) not to look back at the danger behind them (in this case cannibal aliens). But Gwen (Lot's Wife) looks back. Pretty much the only difference I see is that she didn't turn to salt.

FRIENDS OF JESUS SERIES
Subject: It's me again.
Date: Thu, 28 Jun 2001
From: "MELISSA"

I just found out that JOSEPH OF NAZARETH and MARY MAGDALENE were the first in a series about the friends of Jesus. The next two are, in no particular order, JUDAS and THOMAS.

Sorry, but the misinformation I gave was late-breaking news in the UK. I meant that the three of them were to be packaged together, but nothing came of it.

ABSOLUTELY OUTSTANDING MOVIE
Subject: American History X
Date: Wed, 27 Jun 2001
From: young

This is an absolutely outstanding movie. Never have I seen such an intense movie. It really makes you think about your own life. It is so realistic and believable that you almost feel like you are there. The fact is, is that race is a part of our every day lives and people are so blinded by it that we are all falling apart and don't even know it. I think that anyone could learn a very valuable lesson by watching this movie. This movie shows what racism can do to a family and the community around you. Racism is hatred and hatred is ignorance and I think this movie does a great job at showing that and the effects of it. I'm taking an English Comp. class right now and one of our assignments is to write a review over a film, book, article...etc. I chose this movie because it's outstanding and by far the most realistic movie I've seen in a long time.

THE R-RATED PROBLEM
Subject: The R-Rated Problem Newsletter 26
Date: Wed, 27 Jun 2001
From: "Wesley Channell"

David, I just want to know I support you on seeing "R" rated movies. How are we to be in the world if we are so separate from it? I think that many Christians feel they can only relate to non-Christians in a sanitized and pasteurized environment. My image of the world we live in is like that of a pasture that cows graze in. Unfortunately, there is a lot of stink and smell and cow-pies all around. If we want to reach non-Christians we need to put up with those unpleasantries and stop demanding that the cows clean up the field so we can come out and talk to them.

It's interesting that theologians in the first 3 centuries of Christianity argued about this purity problem and Jesus. Many insisted that Jesus couldn't have been born in a stable because the conditions were too unsanitary and not suitable for him. Finally, someone objected and asked "what happens to sunlight when it shines on manure." The answer "nothing." In the same way, sometimes there may be bad things in R-rated movies, but it is the bad in ourselves that causes the pollution, not the thing we see. If we would rest in Christ who alone in us is the hope of victory, we too, could remain unpolluted and engage in the battlefield of this world. Jesus said the gates of hell would not prevail against his church. I have never heard of a gate attacking anyone, so I think many of us (like you have already done) need to get out their and get our hands dirty in the battle, instead of yelling insulting slogans at the world from the ramparts and hiding our heads behind the walls.

You do a great service and I wholeheartedly support you. God bless you, Rev. Wesley Channell
1st Presbyterian
--Atmore, PCA

Response: I love the cow pie approach. Thanks -David

YOU FORGOT MY EMAIL
Subject: hi
Date: Wed, 27 Jun 2001
From: Pokemon

hi you my emil is android_40Ahotmail.com
Bye

Response: Never post em, unless the person wants me to. -David

WHAT ABOUT TERMINATOR?
Subject: SlickDanny
Date: Tue, 26 Jun 2001
From: Danny

If a movie is not on this page, does that mean it is bad? The Terminator is not represented on your site and I was wondering if you could tell me of why it should be against all convictions of christianity if it should be.
Thanx!

Response: No. I just gave not reviewed it, because it's older than 1998 when HJ started. Terminator is about the visit of Gabriel to Virgin Mary to tell her she would give birth to the Savior of the world. T2 is about the flight to Egypt. -David

NOT FOR NOVICES
Subject: Cider House Rules
Date: Tue, 26 Jun 2001
From: "John Blackman"

I just watched the cider house rules , it really is an excellent visual aid for explaining the foundations of relativism and a good wake up call for the church that " Toto we aren't in Kansas any more" . I would not reccomend you let an adolescent watch it without intentional discussion of the slippery themes, however with that in place you could sure help them see where relativism eventually leads. The concept about the "Cider House Rules" , being "written by someone who doesn't live here" were very inisghtful. I hope the other christians out there also caught the dialogue late in the film when Homer finally reads all the rules and most of them are redundant regarding the roof. "Why don't they just say "don't go on the roof" one picker asks mockingly . As we pontificate on our never ending lists of rules and regualtions we should ask ourselves " why don't we just say Love the Lord your God with all your heart soul and strength , and love your neighbor as yourself".
John Blackman
Brantford Ontario Canada

FALLACY TO MAKE COMPARISONS
Subject: Dragon, the Bruce Lee Story
Date: Mon, 25 Jun 2001
From: adrienne

The movie Dragon was certainly interesting. However it is a fallacy to make any comparisons between Bruce Lee and Jesus Christ. Bruce Lee's life philosophy was based on the religion(s) of Asia ... the gospel of Jesus Christ is contrary to this.. There is a good little tract-booklet called: Why I Quit Karate by Bill Rudge available from BILL RUDGE MINISTRIES 220 North Buhl Farm drive Hermitage, Pennsylvania 16148-1718

Response: Yes, and so what and oh my gosh! The Gospel of Jesus Christ connects with all cultures. I do not buy into an "us and them" mentality. We are all the wonderous creatures of the one creator God. I see the world of Karate as an opportunity to connect. Not as another reason to build another stupid wall. I hope the book gets poor circulation. I think I would rather read a book called, "Why Jesus likes Karate." Love builds bridges. Jesus liked the Samaritians and so do I. HJ strongly recommends Karate. -Warmly David

STIGMATA AND THOMAS
STIGMATA
Subject: A few thoughts on the film and "Thomas":
Date: Mon, 25 Jun 2001
From: "john coleman"

Re. the film:
As a Catholic with two degrees in Catholic theology, I think I have an answer for why so many faithful Catholics cannot, as an earlier poster put it, "take the film for what it is" and be quiet about it.

It is precisely that detractors of the film *do* take it for what it is that they speak out. To wit:

1) The pop-culture view of the Catholic Church today is that of an institution of old men who hate sex telling everyone else to stop having any fun imaginable. Upon viewing Stigmata and how it portrays traditional Catholics, I did not find it to significantly in any way seek to give a more accurate portrayal of those in the Church. On the contrary, I have found the most vibrant and faithful Catholics tend to be the younger ones at colleges such as the University of Dallas and Franciscan University in Ohio.

2) From a historical perspective, the film gives a wholly inaccurate portrayal of the sigmata and saintly relics. As Roger Ebert put it in his thumbs down review, 'The blood of the lamb does not cause pain' (I admit to paraphrasing; the entire review can be found in Ebert's book: "I Hated, Hated, Hated this Movie!"). In the film, the wounds of Christ are tossed almost at random to a foul-mouthed girl because she touched a genuine Stigmatist's rosary. If the film's writers had bothered to look up the historical accounts of actual stigmatists, they would have found that this is a gift bestowed by God upon individuals of profound holiness and surprising emotional strength, and the gift is never given unwillingly.

3) As for the Gospel of St. Thomas, again, the writers did not bother to find out what the actual 'gospel' was. It was not condemned as heretical because it threatened the power of the Church; it was condemned because it claimed in its last verses that (are you sitting down?) women cannot go to heaven, unless Christ's grace converts them into men.

Again, to paraphrase, at the end of "Thomas'" gospel (not really Thomas', incidentally; by the 3rd century, 'suppressed' gospels written by shysters with apostle's names attached to them were all over Christendom. This is why we have the 72 books of the Bible today, since the Church had to meet and separate the wheat from the chaff), Christ has just ascended into heaven. Someone notices that Mary, the mother of God, has witnessed the event.

"Mary shouldn't be here," says an apostle, "she's a woman, and unworthy!"

"My grace will be sufficent to make her a man," says Jesus, "and thus worthy to enter heaven." The entire accurate text of this tripe can be found in "This Rock" magazine, though I forget the month of the issue.
Check at www.catholic.com.
John J. Coleman

I WAS WORRIED
Subject: American History X comments
Date: Tue, 26 Jun 2001
From: jamie

When I first heard about this movie I was worried. My primary concern was that the underlying message of love and tolerance would be lost on some of the audience.

I was concerned that some extremist racist groups would see this film as a form of justification or potential propaganda forum.

Often films that deal with this sort of subject matter seem to become twisted in people's eyes as was evidenced by the rise in awareness of Anti-Asian gangs in my country after the Australian movie Romper Stomper became popular.

The film crew on American History X have done a brilliant job with the story and also the visual symbolism (for instance the Black and White nature of the flashbacks reflecting Derek's racial view of the world).

The raw and brutal nature of this film was amazing and I found it to be a perfect piece that aimed to persuade viewers but not in a preaching manner as many other films do.

Unfortunately, reading some of the other comments here and through discussions with other people I have realised that, despite the valiant attempts of the cast and crew, my primary concern for this film was justified.

GOD THE DEVIL AND BOB
Subject: God The Devil and Bob
Date: Mon, 25 Jun 2001
From: "Genny Scotton"

Dear David, The series "God the Devil and Bob" has only just reached us in England. All of us in my Church community here in Woodford Halse and in my sister's community down in Plymouth think it is fantastic. We have been studying our Bibles- finding all the references used in G, the D and B. We are hoping to run a Study group to follow on from one of our "New Christian" groups using this series as an aid. Can you please tell me how (if it is possible) I can buy the series on Video?

I read some of the crit's on it on the home page written in 1999. I was very disappointed by them. We think they are Biblically sound and that they get the message across really well. Not to mention the fact that they encourage us all to read our Bibles.

Many thanks. I look forward to hearing from you soon.
Kind regards
Genny Scotton

Response: Sorry no such video yet. -David

TRY EPISCOPAL
Subject: Cool_Churches_Newsletter_26
Date: Mon, 25 Jun 2001
From: Wendy

For the most part, I think the Anglican community is tolerant of most view points. Especially conservative Episcopalians are willing to let anyone speak their mind on any subject. And we are able to stand by our own beliefs without bashing people over the head with them. We can agree to disagree when necessary. And we welcome all visitors. All baptized Christians of all denominations are welcome at our Lord's table. We aren't stingy. Naturally, this is a very broad generalization, we have our crotchety old grouches like every where else. But we try our best to keep our arms and minds open.
Ciao for now! Wendy

AN EPILOGUE FOR MY TIRADE
Subject: Pokemon
Date: Sun, 24 Jun 2001
From: "Ashley"

*sigh* Hi again-sorry to email twice, but I felt I needed to sum up the whole rant.

Parents and/or paranoid religious zealots, or perhaps both-
Pokemon, and for that matter, any violent content, is not going to make your kids into killers. Neglecting to love and care for your children, and making ill use of your time condemning things like this when there are much more serious problems at hand does more harm than any "fad" will do. You should be spending more time with your kids, and instead of taking away their cards and burning them, trying to learn more about Pokemon and get interested. I have seen way too many people who have criticized pokemon without acknowledging the positive effects, or even knowing what certain things were about-just look at the person who claims that pokemon has saved his/her life. Pokemon has made me much more creative and imaginative-and I believe that few, if any other similar counterparts (Digimon, Monster Rancher) could've done the same thing for me, to this extent. It has given me something to dream about, something to think about.

People, do your math. I don't care HOW stupid or "childish" you think something is-DO YOUR RESEARCH before condemning, praising, or criticizing; for example, if you get the concept of the pokemon game entirely wrong, someone's gonna come up to you and do your research for you. You'll be lucky if it's polite-people usually tend to smash it into your face and rub it in all of your cuts. In the end, believe me, you will look like a fool for pointing an accusing finger at the yellow mouse, blaming it for all of the word's evil-and, get this-not even being able to PRONOUNCE its name correctly.
-HyperChu

FLAT IS RIGHT
Subject: Evolution
Date: Sun, 24 Jun 2001
From: Lana

The jokes in this film are unoriginal and boring. A far better comedy in this genre is Mystery Men. Evolution was a big disappointment. The ending (Ira and his new girlfriend making plans to have quick sex) left a bad taste with me, (as did the stupid plug for Head and Shoulders before the credits.) I'm a big X-Files fan, and expected something better than this. The comedic X-Files episodes from season 5-7 are way funnier than this.

NEAT DEAL!
Subject: X-Men
Date: Sun, 24 Jun 2001
From: "Sorge"

I think it was good, fun movie except for the fact that they give the credit for the mutants' power to evolution. I hope they make a sequel.
-Sam

IT ROCKS
Subject: in gods hands
Date: Sun, 24 Jun 2001
From: "Townsley"

wow! I had never even heard of this film but it rocks! if u live near waves surf! ull regret it later if u dont! matty, u r hot, ur way cool, u 2 patrick. guys keep doin what u do and think us poor wee waveless people in ireland! c u on the pro circuit in time 2 come!
hey, matty, rock on cat

DOGMA'S CHURCH
Subject: Dogma
Date: Sat, 23 Jun 2001
From: Pastor Ken Stevenson

Grace and peace in Jesus ! In 1994, I was approached by a film company that wanted to use our church property while shooting a Paul Newman movie. I really felt led to allow it. "Nobody's Fool" was hosted for a few short days by our Church family: Everlasting Covenant. During a lunch served in our cafeteria I was given to INCREDIBLE opportunity to be able to preach a message entitled, "Nobody's Fool" based on Ps 14:1 to the ENTIRE CAST & CREW. Paul Newman spoke to our children and through tears apllauded our efforts to reach at risk children. The church got a few dollars for rent of the facilities. Several weeks later the school received the first of two grants from Newman's Own...much needed funds for a school that gives many scholarships annually. A school that teaches the children the unadulterated Word of God, but also teaches the arts. Fast-forward to Pgh (my hometown AND our first satellite ministry) and Kevin Smith and crew approach me about shooting DOGMA on site there. MOST of the film was done somewhere on our grounds. I had MUCH personal time to share with Kevin directly once even stopping the shooting to sit on the curb and discuss GOD. Again I preached to the cast and crew a message entitled DOGMA. I can tell you that those who listened were noticeably impacted. Personal impacts that brought about a desire for "lifestyle" changes....Only GOD can tell the long range results, but having been raised a Catholic, I understood how Kevin, a Catholic felt.....BUT THE "CHURCH" has ATTACKED us and few understood how or why we let it happen....IT WAS A SATIRE.....NO FOUL LANGAUGE was in the Church proper and we truIy believe seeds were planted....there is of course much more, btu I'll close for now....
In Christ,
Pastor Ken Stevenson

Response: Oh my, like wow! You are my kind of pastor. Thanks for opening up your church. Thanks for being open. -David

NEO IS NOT JESUS?
Subject: Matrix
Date: Sat, 23 Jun 2001
From: "Gabbie Potts"

One thing came to mind when I read all the comments about how Neo couldn't be Jesus because he at first doubted that he was "the One" - the movie "Dogma" (i know this isn't necessarily the best example but hear me out). Well see, when whatsherface, the last Zion, doubts that she is in fact related to Jesus, Rufus (sp.) points out to her that in the Bible, like in the gospels, you don't see anything about the early years of Jesus' life, that he had to be told who he really was and he had to come to grips with that, and that's when all the stuff you read about started happening. I mean really, would it be that easy to just be like, "Oh! That makes sense! I'm the son of God sent to save the world from their sinful ways!" I think that the fact that Neo doubted does not make him any less likely to be a Christ figure in the movie. I really like all the work you're doing on this site, it's great! Thanks! --Gabbie

INCREDIBLE!
Subject: Memento
Date: Sat, 23 Jun 2001
From: Silvanus

A Man haunted by a grievance, so haunted that it becomes his entire conceptualization of himself. A Man haunted by guilt. So guilty that that guilt spun into a recreation of the same "sin" for himself. (What you deny others you will deny yourself. Had he not denied another woman compassion when her husband lost his memory?) A man involved in insurance. What is insurance really about? A man trapped in an eternal No Exit (we do glimpse him in an asylum) where he had made his "sin" real by murdering the "killer" of his "beloved". Amazing. Simply, utterly amazing.

GOOD FOR HER!
Subject: Dyan_Cannon
Date: Sat, 23 Jun 2001
From: Silvanus

My ego tends to judge her heavy makeup, but then I realize judgment of appearances is one of the biggest traps of all. I'm really glad for her. Having been raised around so many wacko, literalist Baptists (and thankfully, some good, conscious ones, too, mixed into the stew), I'm wary of that "born again" label, even though Diane makes a great argument for it when she notes that it REALLY means "being born into a new concept of yourself", as it is but our errant conceptualizations of ourselves as just little frightened minds cut off into lonely separate bodies that got us into confusion and "sin" and this pyscho hall of mirrors in the first place. This is a level of "born again-ness I can embrace, and I understand this, as my way to an understanding and acceptance of Christ-consciousness came through attention given to A Course in Miracles which allowed me to go back and understand and own the truths in the Bible, the Rig Veda, Zen, The Caballah, and on. I think so many of us in the industry do love God, but we suffered being raised by folks who may have meant well, but had allowed their religion to become tainted with judgment, ego, orthodoxy and literalism (form before content). I mean, the figures in my childhood dream of the church were teaching me that I was indeed separate from blacks and Jews and Buddhists and gays and Catholics and on and on and on, and I rejected that entirely as utter nonsense. We didn't see much content OR love in these fundamentalist and exclusionary ideas about God (that only serve to chop a mind into even more fragmented pieces of fear), so we entertained the fantasy of running away from this idea of "God" presented to us. As we come into maturity and our own faith, we recognize we have never left home, only in our minds, a brief thought of a journey already taken. God was and is and will always be Love, Love does not Condemn, and what more could you want?

COMMENT ON THE LOTR ASCENSION
Subject: Lord of the Rings
Date: Sat, 23 Jun 2001
From: "Mike Perschon"

Greg,
I very much liked your article - well thought out, and for the most part, well researched. There were two points I would raise an eyebrow at:

You wrote:
So to what extent does Christian mythology inform the T-mythology? Much is made of Tolkien's association with C. S. Lewis, and the presumption is that Lewis' intense Christian spirituality somehow rubbed off on Tolkien and found its way into his work. But where is the hard evidence?

Read the letters he wrote his son, published in a collection - he often speaks of his faith, and of religious matters. Tolkien's association with Lewis is not some meager proof of a possible faith; it was Tolkien and others Christians in the Inklings' circle (Charles Williams) who encouraged C.S. Lewis to commit to the faith. Lewis did not "rub off" on Tolkien; it was the other way around. I will agree that the mythology of LOTR is more Judaic than explicitly Christian, but Tolkien said many times he was not setting out to write an allegory. Even our Bible's mythic occurences are in the Old Testament - references to Leviathan, the concept of Sheol, the heroism of Samson, David, Deborah, etc.

As for assuming that the end of the book is some sort of humanist look at the Ascension, you're reading WAY too much into the fiction. On the other hand, why not look at it this way: Truth be told, Jesus did leave us the task of working out his mission - and while I believe in the power of the Holy Spirit, I have to say that the effects of that power are conspicuously absent in the world today. If you're right about Tolkien's attitude, it was probably there because he hadn't really observed much 'magic' in the world around him.

One more thing; people are products of their environment. If Tolkien's work is somehow humanist, it is more than likely due to a church which has supported humanism in large amounts in the 20th century. I am a product of postmodern Christianity; yet when I read Tolkien, I don't read humanism. I read the same experiences I have, day in, day out. Some days, the Holy Spirit very present and working miracles in the midst of chaos (the Flight to the Ford) or seemingly absent (the journey into Mordor). Good article overall though Greg.
Kudos. in His grip,
Mike Perschon

COOL CHURCH
Newsletter_26
Subject: First Baptist Church Argyle
Date: Sat, 23 Jun 2001
From: kaeding

First Baptist Church Argyle
6823 Argyle Forest Blvd.
(904) 777-1238
The church mentioned above has gotten a lot of flack for it's open mindedness. The pastor Is Ken Dyal and the youth and music minister is Rick Painter.

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