Courageous

Our small group met downtown Saturday evening to see the movie "Courageous". Yes, I cried several times. And I wasn't sure I would, even though everybody warned me to take tissue along. You see, I tend to watch such movies with a very critical eye.

I'm inspired by this church in Georgia that decided to create some serious movies with Christian themes and promote them on a national scale. That's big and bold and . . . well, courageous. I had mixed feelings about their earlier efforts. "Facing the Giants" had some wonderful moments and was very well-done in a lot of ways. But then it had some scenes with some very amateur actors that were almost excruciating to watch. "Fireproof" was better, but still had some spots that just made me squirm.

With both movies, I felt like, for non-professional productions, they were pretty fantastic. But to really compete against the Hollywood establishment, they were going to need to up the ante a lot. "Courageous" does that, but I'm not sure it's quite there.

I feel strongly about the idea of having movies out there that demonstrate Christian thought and worldview in a positive way without being preachy. But to be effective, they've got to be very high quality. And again, they can't be preachy. They can't simply be a thinly veiled attempt to convert the masses. That's laborious viewing for believers and nonbelievers alike.

All this said . . . I really did enjoy watching "Courageous". A wonderful story about what it means to be a man and a father. Our world needs to hear this. Our boys -- young and old -- need to see what it looks like to be a godly man . . . and be inspired to want to be one.