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Reviews & Resources

Books, Reviews and Online Resources

On this page you will find books to read, movie reviews and online web resources to help you grow on your spiritual journey.   
 

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Rick's Picks

Curious about what Rick is reading these days? Looking for a good read that will compliment our weekend series? When available, Rick's book suggestions will be posted here.

If you have a favorite book that's the buzz in your circle of friends or small group, email the title and author's name to Rick. You'll never know...it just might become one of Rick's Picks!  
 
Descending Into Greatness by Bill Hybels, is Rick's Pick as we head into our July series, The Biggest Spiritual Loser. 

Book Summary: Downward mobility: that means hand-outs, self-sacrifice, cutting back, putting others first---not exactly laudable behavior in our upscale, up-and-coming, upwardly mobile society. But for Christians following a Lord who humbled himself, downward mobility means fulfillment. Discussing servanthood, humility, power management, the human will, dying to self, and joy, Hybels and Wilkins show how you can descend into a greatness that effectively advances the Kingdom of God.
 

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Movies in Review 

'Reeling' in your summer movie viewing plans? Michael Miller, a fellow AC3'r, will be reviewing and sharing some of his thoughts from a personal perspective in this section monthly on current movie releases. 

Michael's first article below was inspired by AC3's June series called Moved by a Movie.

Reel Life
In one college class I had, I read the book “Reel Spirituality” (Robert K Johnston), and I must say it was an interesting class. The class helped us to see something different about Hollywood movies when many Christians will tend to dismiss it all as the devil’s entertainment playground. Sadly, it can be and is just that.

Ralph Winters, producer of such movies as Star Trek IV & VI and X-Men, said of the book “Reel Spirituality”, “As a filmmaker, I am sometimes too close to my own movies and the process to step back and see the perspective of a movie’s impact on our culture … [A]ccurately describing the intersection of culture and Christianity [is an] issue not all Christians have embraced yet.” I quite agree.

It’s difficult to discern goodness amidst the obvious garbage we see in movies. The Bible, though, does make it clear that we ought to “fix [our] thoughts on what is true, and honorable, and right, and pure, and lovely, and admirable. Think about things that are excellent and worthy of praise” (Philippians 4:8, NLT, emphasis mine). When we have learned what God finds worthy of praise, we can pull it out from all the muck and junk we see surrounding it. That doesn’t mean we need to purposely dive into the pit of immorality to search for the possible bit traces of goodness, but it does mean we can cherish the good we do find when it’s there. A diamond in the rough, if you will.

Still, with so little Hollywood-quality productions out there that also have God’s moral values and appropriateness in tact, what are we to do? I certainly wouldn’t recommend going to extremes by tossing out all your secular DVDs or buying everything that looks entertaining in hopes of finding something worthwhile. It’s important to be cautious and selective.

Consider, instead, what redeeming qualities each movie you own might have. True, a movie will always be a movie. Once it is cut and “in the can”, it’s a done deal. And many are terribly and crudely produced, unfortunately; but not all are so bad.

Some of my favorites are Pay It Forward, the X-Men and Spider-Man trilogies, Independence Day, 50 First Dates, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (the live action and CGI versions), and many, many others. None of these movies come close to being what we might call “Christian”, and yet, each one manages to transcend its secular origins, carrying with it a strong sense of Truth that we would find in God’s Word.

Pay It Forward encourages helping those in significant ways no matter who they are. X-Men speaks universally about protecting those who would persecute us. In Spider-Man, Peter Parker faces unending battles against deadly foes and the internal battle of pursuing his own wants as they conflict with his deep sense of responsibility and duty. Independence Day flies in the face of defeat and triumphs, encouraging unity where once there was separation. The widely known crude comic, Adam Sandler, delivers a powerful (and hilarious) story of loving someone no matter how difficult it is to do so in 50 First Dates. And the Ninja Turtle movies emphasize the importance of family and working through external and internal conflict together.

None of these movies are perfect. They contain sensual or sexual elements, cussing, and/or violence. In no way are these things to be passionately endorsed or passively dismissed. We ought to consider their negative impact on us. Yet each of these things we face in real life. We can’t deny that, either.

Here’s the thing, though: amidst and through these issues depicted on screen, we can often find trace whispers of God speaking to us, making clear His Word where once we might have been confused, to inspire us in the direction He wants us to go, or convict us when we’ve gone astray. We live in a world that yells above God’s voice; so attuned to the noise are we that God will find a way to speak to us when we thought we were listening to something else.

It is then that God uses reel life to reach us, too.

By Michael Miller, Jr. ~ His Blog Site @ http://naitoofnarnia.xanga.com/
May 23, 2010
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Are you on Facebook? Comment on Michael's article and enter a FB Topic Discussion with him @ AC3 FB Discussions. 

Find additional online reviews for videos, TV, games, music and other movies @ http://www.pluggedin.com/.

All books, reviews and links posted above contain editorial and personal opinions and do not necessarily reflect the views of AC3. 
 

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Online Resources

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Got other resources you would like to suggest? Contact us and let us know what you would like to include here.

AC3 does not necessarily endorse the above websites, links or their advertisers. 

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