All who are led by God’s Spirit are God’s sons and daughters. 15 You didn’t receive a spirit of slavery to lead you back again into fear, but you received a Spirit that shows you are adopted as his children. With this Spirit, we cry, “ Abba, Father. ” 16 The same Spirit agrees with our spirit, that we are God’s children. 17 But if we are children, we are also heirs. We are God’s heirs and fellow heirs with Christ, if we really suffer with him so that we can also be glorified with him.
Growing numbers of church leaders are discovering that many films are able to impact viewers with Gospel truths almost as well as a good sermon. Former pastor and longtime reviewer of films Ed McNulty offers this guide to help church leaders enter into dialogue with contemporary films. McNulty carefully crafts a theology of movies and then provides practical suggestions for creating and leading movie discussions with groups. In addition, he provides people from all across the theological spectrum with a framework to understand whether the overall message of a film outweighs concerns over profanity, violence, or sex in the film. He concludes by introducing twenty-seven films and including provocative questions about each that will prepare leaders to assemble and facilitate a group. Popular films explored include The Color Purple; Crash; Hotel Rwanda; The Matrix; Million Dollar Baby; O Brother, Where Art Thou? and Shawshank Redemption.
Edward N. McNulty is an author and speaker on the topic of film and religion. He is founder and editor of Visual Parables, a monthly newsletter, and is author of Praying the Movies and Praying the Movies II, both available from Westminster John Knox Press.