See “Fixer Upper’s” Chip and Joanna Gaines Tell Their Story on “I Am Second”
It’s no secret that Chip and Joanna Gaines, the down-to-earth personalities of HGTVs reality TV show Fixer Upper, are committed Christians. But you probably haven’t heard their story like this. In an interview with I Am Second, the couple opens up and tells the moving story of their faith and their marriage. It is a […]
Vodcast: Is The Birth of a Nation’s Grittiness Actually a Good Thing?
The new Birth of a Nation movie is rated R, and rightfully so. But its subject matter has us wrestling again with a tricky concept: maybe, just maybe, harsh content can sometimes serve a purpose. The truth of the matter is this: Life—both modern and historical—is not as cut and dry as we like to make […]
Vodcast: How Messy, Gritty Religion Invades The Magnificent Seven
Villains aren’t the only ones who use faith for less-than-shiny purposes. Sometimes the good guys do it, too. Sometimes we use our faith in ugly ways, like when we use it to justify actions that are entirely self-serving. We may catch ourselves using it as an excuse to do what we want to do. We can all […]
Vodcast: Is the New Ben-Hur Better Than the Old Ones?
Judah Ben-Hur just gets better and better with age. And, depending on who you ask, the same is true of his movies. The latest retelling of Lew Wallace’s epic 1880 novel, Ben-Hur: A Tale of the Christ, limped through the box office during its opening weekend—perhaps not altogether unlike some of the horses in the […]
Vodcast: The Little Prince and the Beautiful Mess of Story
Stories are so misunderstood. As much as we all enjoy them, we often fail to recognize—or just flat out misunderstand—their importance and power, both for ill and for good. Which is why it’s nice when a story comes along that reminds us of the beauty that a good story can unveil and the ways they can […]
Vodcast: What Parents Need to Know About Pokemon GO
A Clinton is running for president and people all across the United States are going bananas over Pokemon. You’d be forgiven if you wondered for a moment whether or not you had accidentally traveled back in time to the 1990s. Even if you’re not already trying to catch ‘em all yourself, you’ve likely heard something […]
Vodcast: The Dark Side of Angry Birds
Angry Birds has a deep, dark secret. Their insidious secret? They don’t really care about the eggs. They’re after something much, much more precious. Something each of us can only dream of acquiring more of. Something men and women have chased for thousands of years. And they aren’t working alone. They have cohorts. We’re all surrounded. […]
Vodcast: What Does the Bible Have to Say About Captain America: Civil War?
Captain America: Civil War is rolling in much more than cash these days. It’s also rolling in controversy. Not because of any external conflict, but because of the central conflict within the film itself. You see, people just can’t decide—even after seeing the flick—whether they should be Team Cap or Team Iron Man. As much as […]
Vodcast: How Porn and Pop Culture Intertwine
Here’s a surprisingly controversial statement for you: pornography is a problem. There it is. We said it. We mean it. Not only has pornography been linked to what many are beginning to call a public health crisis, it is—in and of itself—a problem. And a big one at that. Pornography and the use of it […]
Vodcast: The Quality and Theology of Batman v Superman
How good, or how bad, is Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice, really? No one can seem to agree on whether its actually a good or bad movie. (Which is rather fitting, given the subject matter of the film itself.) The vast majority of reviews from film critics blasted the flick to shreds, yet the […]