Tag Archives: Christianity

Video of the Day: Trailer from the 2007 movie “The Last Sin Eater”

Bible Verse of the Day:

The law was brought in so that the trespass might increase. But where sin increased, grace increased all the more, ²¹ so that, just as sin reigned in death, so also grace might reign through righteousness to bring eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord, Romans 5:20-21.

Biblical Connection:

A 10-year-old girl feels responsible for her little sister’s death. Subsequently, Cadi Forbes is consumed by guilt which leads her to search for redemption. This journey leads Cadi to uncover a secret sin haunting her community of Welsh immigrants living in Appalachia. Straying from biblical beliefs, Cadi’s meets the sin eater at the funeral of her grandmother. This spiritual figure is like God’s plan revealed in today’s passage, sending a second Adam to restore what was lost.

The apostle Paul explains the consequences of original sin, what Adam’s fall in the Garden of Eden meant for mankind. Luke uses Jesus’ encounter with a tax collector named Zacchaeus to illustrate a similar point in Luke 19:10. Jesus is the last sin eater, sent to seek and to save that which was lost. For anyone who grows up outside of a Christian church, it’s easy to see how someone like Cadi can embrace a man-made tradition like a sin eater. Yet, Jesus died once and for all sins, 1 Peter 3:18.

Closing Song:

As April comes to an end, it’s important to remember the message of Resurrection Sunday. The Last Sin Eater is Jesus of Nazareth, who came to deliver human beings from the bondage of addiction and the chains of sin.

by Jay Mankus

Video of the Day: Clip from the 1991 movie “Hook”

Bible Verse of the Day:

No one serving as a soldier gets entangled in civilian affairs, but rather tries to please his commanding officer. ⁵ Similarly, anyone who competes as an athlete does not receive the victor’s crown except by competing according to the rules, 2 Timothy 2:4-5.

Biblical Connection:

Peter Pan grows up to be a cut-throat merger and acquisitions lawyer played by Robin Williams. The stress of being an adult prevents Peter from having any fun which causes him to neglect his fatherly responsibilities. This sets the stage for Captain James Hook, Dustin Hoffman, to kidnap Peter’s son Jack. Trying to win Jack over, Captain Hook hosts a game where Jack is the star, making his father Peter, jealous as an undercover observer.

The apostle Paul writes a second letter to a first century teenage pastor that he is mentoring. Paul compares Timothy to a solider of God, passing on the truth of the Gospel to his congregation. Yet, just like an athlete who is competing, Timothy has to play by the rules. Unfortunately, modern day public education often teaches students to resist rules because it restricts them for having fun. However, joy is a fruit of God’s Spirit and rules are necessary to prevent chaos and disorder.

Closing Song:

Before electronic devices and game systems, children would spend hours at a playground entertaining themselves. Unfortunately, adults can become so absorbed with their job or making enough money to pay their bills that fun is put on hold. If you find yourself losing your joy for life, take some time weekly for recreation so that you’ll remember what it’s like to have fun again.

by Jay Mankus

Video of the Day: Clip from the 1994 movie “Forrest Gump”

Bible Verse for the Bible:

Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles. And let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us, ² fixing our eyes on Jesus, the pioneer and perfecter of faith. For the joy set before him he endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God, Hebrews 12:1-2.

Biblical Connection:

Forrest Gump appeals to downtrodden individuals who were teased as a child. Forrest’s only friend was Jenny who had her own issues at home which allowed these two to form a special bond growing up. As a former runner, not many athletes ever embrace and fall in love with the concept of running for fun. Yet, when the braces placed on Forrest to straighten out his back break, Forrest is liberated and set free, able to successfully run for his life which opened up doors for Forrest in the future.

Today’s passage immediately follows a chapter known as the Hall of Faith. This highlights people of faith in the Old Testament. After touching on pillars of the Jewish Faith, the author lists other members followed by what they did to make this hall, champions of the faith. If you want to be considered worthy enough, you must throw off anything that is currently entangling you or hindering your Christian faith. Then, run with perseverance, fixing your eyes upon Jesus.

Closing Song:

The Bible compares the Christian life to a marathon. When you run with your head down, you lose sight of where you’re going. By fixing your eyes on Jesus, you’ll see that life is a journey of faith where you may need to run for your life to be set free from sinful addictions. However, as things begin to trip you up, throw off everything that is prohibiting a full stride to keep pace with faith.

by Jay Mankus

Video of the Day: Clip from Season 1 “Joan of Arcadia”

Bible Verse of the Day:

For none of us lives for ourselves alone, and none of us dies for ourselves alone. ⁸ If we live, we live for the Lord; and if we die, we die for the Lord. So, whether we live or die, we belong to the Lord. ⁹ For this very reason, Christ died and returned to life so that he might be the Lord of both the dead and the living, Romans 14:7-9.

Biblical Connection:

Amber Tamblyn plays Joan Girardi who was raised in a Catholic Church. After Joan’s older brother was paralyzed from the waist down, she had a crisis of faith until God began to speak to her during her junior year of high school. Still a novice at sharing her faith, Joan becomes a babysitter for a young boy who has a severe medical condition. Joan uses Rocky’s obsession with death as an open door to share her personal experiences with God.

When I was Joan’s age, I often stumbled when talking about God. I was an infant Christian trying to figure things out on the fly, leaning on my friends from the Fellowship of Christ Athletes to help me grasp the new relationship that I entered into as a sophomore in high school. Several fatal car accidents and two suicides led me to depressing funerals early on in life. This is what inspired me to find out what the Bible says about death and how Jesus’ resurrection ties everything together.

Closing Song:

Despite my successful rise as an athlete, I spent several years in school as a loner. When I got serious about my faith, this separated me further from my peers. However, the deaths of friends prepared me for my first sermon during Lay Witness Mission weekend in college as I used these life expressions as an open door to talk about God.

by Jay Mankus

Video of the Day: Clip from the 2008 movie “Fireproof”

Bible Verse of the Day:

Be wise in the way you act toward outsiders; make the most of every opportunity. ⁶ Let your conversation be always full of grace, seasoned with salt, so that you may know how to answer everyone, Colossians 4:5-6.

Biblical Connection:

Marriage is one of those steps people take in life like going to college. In the film Fireproof, Growing Pains star Kirk Cameron plays Caleb Holt, a fireman whose marriage is falling apart. At some point in Caleb’s life, he started going through the motions. Rather than seek a personal relationship with Jesus, church was something Caleb did on Sundays. Overtime Caleb began to set his heart on temporary pleasures instead of pouring his heart and soul into his marriage.

As you read today’s devotion, there is someone like Caleb in your own life that immediately comes to your mind. Depending upon their personality, this individual may to be open and teachable. However, this is where you have to be delicate when you weave Jesus into a daily conversation. As Caleb’s father confronts his son with God’s standards for living, tension begins to brew. This is where sharing your own faults, mistakes and weaknesses opens the door for grace and mercy.

Closing Song:

I participated in Evangelism Explosion at my church in college. Every Wednesday night a small group of us greeted members and recent visitors. With televisions often playing in the background, we were taught to try to make an instant connection at a surface level to earn someone’s trust. If the timing was right, one of us would weave Jesus into this conversation. Although not everyone is gifted in this area, these conversations plant seeds of faith for future discussions.

by Jay Mankus

Video of the Day: Clip from the 1994 movie “The Shawshank Redemption”

Biblical Connection:

Then they gathered around him and asked him, “Lord, are you at this time going to restore the kingdom to Israel?” ⁷ He said to them: “It is not for you to know the times or dates the Father has set by his own authority. ⁸ But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you; and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth,” Acts 1:6-8.

Biblical Connection:

Tim Robbins plays Andrew Dufresne, an innocent banker sent to prison for murdering his wife. Today’s scene occurs after Dufresne is attacked by the Sodomites at Shawshank Prison. This surprise inspection by Wardon Norton serves as a test to see if Dufresne can be trusted. In the days that follow, Andy becomes a financial advisor to prison staff, working directly for the Wardon. This is the beginning of Andy’s redemption story.

Every Christmas and Easter, prodigals return to church seeking some sort of spiritual reboot. If there isn’t a special connection made, these individuals will disappear for months until Christmas. One of the reasons for this abandonment of faith is that Christians don’t know what to do after Easter Sunday. Luke provides the answer in today’s featured passage. Faith is a journey, not a sprint, where you become witnesses for Jesus everywhere you go. This is the Great Commission.

Closing Song:

As I have wrestled with God’s will for my life since moving to South Carolina, I stumbled upon today’s song. When I’m having a bad day at work, I have turned the lyrics of I Give Myself Away into a prayer. Whenever you find yourself wondering, “what should I do now, “give yourself to Jesus.

by Jay Mankus

Video of the Day: Clip from Season 1 Episode 11 “Joan of Arcadia”

Bible Verse of the Day:

Afterward Jesus appeared again to his disciples, by the Sea of Galilee.^[a] It happened this way: ² Simon Peter, Thomas (also known as Didymus^[b]), Nathanael from Cana in Galilee, the sons of Zebedee, and two other disciples were together. ³ “I’m going out to fish,” Simon Peter told them, and they said, “We’ll go with you.” So they went out and got into the boat, but that night they caught nothing. ⁴ Early in the morning, Jesus stood on the shore, but the disciples did not realize that it was Jesus. ⁵ He called out to them, “Friends, haven’t you any fish?” “No,” they answered. ⁶ He said, “Throw your net on the right side of the boat and you will find some.” When they did, they were unable to haul the net in because of the large number of fish. ⁷ Then the disciple whom Jesus loved said to Peter, “It is the Lord!” As soon as Simon Peter heard him say, “It is the Lord,” he wrapped his outer garment around him (for he had taken it off) and jumped into the water, John 21:1-7.

Biblical Connection:

Following the events of Good Friday, some of the disciples went back to their former trade of being fishermen. Whenever a crisis of faith arises, human nature leads people back to an area of strength. As for Joan of Arcadia, a high school junior, God appears in the form of people who give her an assignment. Joan reached out to a loner who got kicked out of a dance for drinking. Joan sought to calm him down, jumping into his pickup truck before police arrived to intervene.

After following their leader around for 3 years, Jesus was dead. Once the shock of this reality set in, Peter, Andrew, James and John went back to work as fishermen. Unfortunately, after this long period away from fishing, they got shut out, about to come home empty handed. Initially, Jesus appears as an innocent bystander, inquiring on how their day was going. However, after talking with this man for a few minutes, Peter realizes that it is the risen Lord.

Closing Song:

Trusting God during dark times in life is difficult. Modern day Christian don’t have the luxury of encounters with Jesus like today’s featured passage. However, Jesus did leave behind the Spirit of Truth, John 14:15-17, to guide you during your own crisis of faith in 2025.

by Jay Mankus

Video of the Day: Clip from the 2004 movie “The Passion of the Christ”

Bible Verse of the Day:

Surely he took up our pain and bore our suffering, yet we considered him punished by God, stricken by him, and afflicted. ⁵ But he was pierced for our transgressions, he was crushed for our iniquities; the punishment that brought us peace was on him, and by his wounds we are healed. ⁶ We all, like sheep, have gone astray, each of us has turned to our own way; and the Lord has laid on him the iniquity of us all, Isaiah 53:4-6.

Biblical Connection:

I was a high school Bible teacher when the Passion of the Christ first debuted in theaters. I recall large church groups and Christian organizations purchasing nearly all the tickets for one showing. While Jesus on the cross receives most of the attention on Good Friday Services throughout the world, the 24-hour period leading up to this moment began with a sleepless night. This was followed by accusations, betrayal, having his face bashed in and whipped beyond recognition.

The Good News about Jesus Christ can be summed up in Romans 5:8, “while we were still sinners, Jesus died for us.” This is the vision that the prophet Isaiah wrote about thousands of years ago. The author of Hebrews compares Jesus to the Great High Priest who was able to empathize with our weaknesses but did not sin, Hebrews 4:14-16. Finally, one of Jesus’ own disciples writes that Jesus died once and for all, paying the debt of our sin, 1 Peter 3:18. This is the hope of Good Friday.

Closing Song:

I played this song following the first sermon that I preached in college. One of the stanzas in the lyrics talks about playing games with God. May the lyrics to Feel the Nails inspire you like it did for me 30 years ago on this Good Friday.

by Jay Mankus