Tag Archives: Christianity

Video of the Day: Clip from 2015 film “The War Room”

Bible Verse of the Day:

You see, at just the right time, when we were still powerless, Christ died for the ungodly. ⁷ Very rarely will anyone die for a righteous person, though for a good person someone might possibly dare to die. ⁸ But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us, Romans 5:6-8.

Biblical Connection:

The War Room follows a successful couple with a great future, but appearances can be deceiving. Adults have a knack of projecting a positive outlook externally, but on the inside are afraid to let others know that they’re hanging on by a thread. Karen Abercrombie is Clara Williams, an elderly woman who begins to mentor Elizabeth Jordan, Priscilla Shirer. When Elizabeth and her husband Tony (T.C. Stallings) begin to drift apart, Clara introduces the concept of a spiritual war room. This closet is where Clara meets with God, pours out her heart and wages war through prayer against demonic forces in the spiritual realm, Ephesians 6:12. However, prayer is only effective when Christians begin to forgive those who have hurt them.

The apostle Paul lays out the spiritual condition present inside of all human beings. Two chapters earlier in Romans 3:9-12, Paul references the words of Moses about mankind’s failure to follow God’s commands. As Clara uncovers Elizabeth’s reluctance to forgive her own husband, she points to today’s Bible passage. God didn’t send His one and only son, Jesus, to die on a cross because we deserve this loving act. Rather, God sent Jesus to die on a cross, while we were still sinners. The disciple whom Jesus loved expresses this act of grace and love in John 3:16-17. Jesus didn’t come to condemn the world, but to save the world through Jesus. This is the relationship between God’s grace and love.

Closing Song:

May the words of Thank God I’m Not Jesus help illustrate the relationship between God’s grace and love.

by Jay Mankus

Video of the Day: Scene from the 2011 film “Courageous”

Bible Verse of the Day:

 Impress them on your children. Talk about them when you sit at home and when you walk along the road, when you lie down and when you get up. ⁸ Tie them as symbols on your hands and bind them on your foreheads. ⁹ Write them on the doorframes of your houses and on your gates, Deuteronomy 6:7-9.

Biblical Connection:

Courageous follows the lives of four men with one calling: To serve and protect. As each police officer faces their own individual challenges at home and on duty, their faith is put to the test. Through a series of events, a courageous calling from God prompts each man to make a public demonstration of faith. Known as a Father’s Resolution, there is a public ceremony held where each man vows to become an agent of love for their wives and children. Unfortunately, not everyone keeps their vow. Today’s scene follows this ceremony.

Consistently living out your faith in a secular world isn’t easy. This often involves failure and humility. Today’s passage of the Bible reveals God’s calling to Jewish men. Faith begins in the home, demonstrated and modeled by parents. Whenever God’s commands in the Bible are lived out inside of a home, this creates a loving climate. Yet, Moses doesn’t stop here. Conversations about God should continue outside. A father’s love is demonstrated by submersing their homes with biblical symbols and verses to train children up in the way they should go.

Closing Song:

May the power of the Holy Spirit move you this February to become captured by God’s love, thereby passing this on to others through the fruits of the Holy Spirit mentioned in Galatians 5:22-23.

by Jay Mankus

Video of the Day: Scene from the 1982 film “The Last American Virgin”

Bible Verse of the Day:

For you created my inmost being; you knit me together in my mother’s womb.¹⁴ I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made; your works are wonderful, I know that full well.¹⁵ My frame was not hidden from you when I was made in the secret place, when I was woven together in the depths of the earth.¹⁶ Your eyes saw my unformed body; all the days ordained for me were written in your book before one of them came to be, Psalm 139:13-16.

Biblical Connection:

An exegesis is a critical analysis focused an interpretation of a text like Scripture. However, as secular universities have exchanged faith in God for lived experiences, Hollywood’s concept of love is vastly different from the Bible. According to Chandler and Munday, lived experiences belong to people who have gained knowledge through direct and first-hand involvement in everyday events. The lived experience in The Last American Virgin is that teenagers should follow their sexual desires even if that results in getting a girlfriend pregnant. As a teenager at the time of this movie’s release, this film teaches that a young man should take responsibility by paying for an abortion.

Since the Greek language is much more descriptive than English, the Bible uses 4 words to express love: eros, philia, agape and storge. The Last American Virgin limits it’s understanding of love to eros, a sensual and sexual expression of love. Philia refers to a brotherly love, agape reflects God’s unconditional love and storge is the natural affection that exists between a child and their parents. While writing today’s Psalm, King David receives a rhema from God. This message is that God sees and knows each unborn child. There are no mistakes in God’s eyes as each life has a purpose and reason. While this may not be revealed for years in the form of God’s will, Romans 12:2, God’s love is extended to all in the form of grace, Romans 5:3-5.

Closing Song:

Rather than having a Hallmark Channel ending where once you find the right person you’ll live happily ever after, the final scene of The Last American Virgin highlights the pain of sensual love. When you’re not attractive or popular, life can be lonely with years of lived experiences without love. Rather than lower your standards or force the issue like Hagar, stay the course until the Holy Spirit reveals what you are supposed to be. As you wait for love, draw near the Lord for comfort.

by Jay Mankus

Video of the Day: Scene from the 2006 film “Facing the Giants”

Bible Verse of the Day:

“Enter through the narrow gate. For wide is the gate and broad is the road that leads to destruction, and many enter through it. ¹⁴ But small is the gate and narrow the road that leads to life, and only a few find it, ” Matthew 7:13-14.

Biblical Connection:

The dimensions of a typical high school field goal post are 10 feet high, 23 feet, 4 inches wide and 22 feet tall on either side with some up to 25 feet. As David transitions from soccer to a field goal kicker, he struggles to get a feel for kicking footballs. Whenever an athlete begins to lose confidence, doubt enters their minds. If this doubt enters a belief system, kickers will think they are going to miss before they even try. This is where the special teams coach intervenes, using today’s passage as an image, a target to shoot for.

Jesus uses a similar illustration when speaking to his disciples in Matthew 21:18-22. According to a disciple who was with Jesus on this day, everyone was in awe of Jesus’ ability to immediately wither an unproductive fig tree. Reading the faces of His disciples, Jesus talks about the relationship between belief and faith. Whenever doubt interferes, prayers offered up to God come back empty. Subsequently, whether you’re trying to kick a game winning field, pass a test in school or be successful at work, you must believe in God’s power to alter your situation and grant you success. A lack of faith is keeping many Christians from removing the mountain, obstacle and roadblock currently standing in their way. Confront your fears today by following the less traveled road.

Closing Prayer:

Don’t be afraid to seek help as we all need to be rescued from a dying confidence when storms of failure come crashing upon the shores of your life.

by Jay Mankus

Video of the Day: Scene from the 2011 film “Undefeated”

Bible Verse of the Day:

“Therefore everyone who hears these words of mine and puts them into practice is like a wise man who built his house on the rock. ²⁵ The rain came down, the streams rose, and the winds blew and beat against that house; yet it did not fall, because it had its foundation on the rock,” Matthew 7:24-25.

Biblical Connection:

Some high school athletic programs are a lost cause. This was the condition that Coach Bill Courtney found the Manassas football team in when he began volunteering. Due to severe underfunding, Undefeated is a documentary that follows the journey of underprivileged students that comprised the student body of Manassas High School located in Memphis. Once considered the worst football program in the state of Tennessee, Coach Courtney’s leadership began to give locals hope. When a new core group of 8th graders show up in the weight room, these upcoming players provide the building blocks Coach Courtney uses to transform Manassas into winners.

At the end of the Sermon on the Mount, detailed in Matthew 5-7, Jesus concludes this moving message with a call to action. While speaking on a mountainside overlooking the Sea of Galilee, Jesus uses an analogy, likely pointing to rock on this mountain and toward the sand on the shoreline. Using common sense, Jesus doesn’t want those in attendance to leave this place and forget everything that He taught. Rather, Jesus urges this crowd to put into practice the words spoken. Jesus highlights teaching in the Old Testament and demonstrates how these commands can be lived out in the first century. This is how modern-day Christians can develop a spiritual foundation of faith built upon the words of the Bible.

Closing Song:

May today’s song inspire you to develop a faith built upon the Word of God, the Bible.

by Jay Mankus