Over the next four weeks at actionchurch we are going to be talking about four very different movies.  We’ve chosen a “disturbing” suspense thriller, an animated Dr. Suess “classic” remade, a “chick flick” relationship movie with a little “old yeller” thrown in, and a shoot-’em-up action adventure movie with a seriously angry (and dangerous) father in the leading role.

So what “spiritual truths” can come out of Hollywood movies?  Why use movies in church?  Why not just teach the “bible stories” that Jesus taught instead of this summers DVD new releases?  (in 5D  :-)   )  

The answer to all the questions above is because of the power of stories.  Just as Jesus told his audience stories of a corrupt Judge, an “action adventure” story of  murderous rental tenants, even an instructional tale about  disgruntled workers,  stories (even fictional stories like Jesus told) have great power to communicate truth.   The characters in the stories Jesus told weren’t always “good”,  in fact they were sometimes despicable, but he used those characters to teach profound truths about God and Life that we are still benefiting from today.

So why use Hollywood movies in church?  Because they contain stories…powerful stories that can be used to illustrate timeless truth…stories that can remind us of ancient spiritual principals with fresh eyes…like Jesus did…”old-school”.