I hear and read several comments about how terrible the acting was - saying it was so bad some people couldn't sit through the movie. Sure, some of the kids' acting could have been a lot better, but the majority of the acting and dialogue was more real than some of the stuff I hear in multimillion dollar movies today. I sit in some movies and ask "who really talks that way?"
Another argument I hear concerns the fact that God performed so many miracles in the movie and the supposed implication that if you become a Christian, and really want something that God just gives it to you. Does God really perform miracles like that? You bet your sweet bippy He does. Does he give everyone what they ask for. Nope. An example of why this theory doesn't work is that Coach Taylor and his wife are already Christians, yet they haven't been able to have a baby in 5 years. If God gives us what we want when we become Christians why don't they have a child when the movie opens? The problem with the argument is that the critics miss the whole point of what is happening. They are focused on the blessings (stuff for me) like the world always is. Go back and watch the movie - God doesn't give a single blessing until each person that is blessed gets right with God and then surrenders to the fact that they will still love and serve Him EVEN IF HE DOESN'T give them what they desire. That's the key. Want to see God bless? GENUINELY surrender to Him and to the fact that you will continue to serve and love Him if He NEVER blesses you again.
OK, last point, but most important - this movie was awesome because God used it to restore a marital relationship that had been broken for 4 years. In the movie, Brock and the guys were building "stone walls". Well, last Sunday night, during a service at our church where we watched the movie, God blasted a stone wall of seperation to dust. There is not a single stone left to try and rebuild it. What exactly caused the healing? The message screamed throughout the movie - SURRENDER. Now there's a word the non-Christian world (and sadly some Christians) don't want to hear. Surrender is definitely not "what's best for me" as far as the world is concerned. Me? I'm not concerned about the world.
"If anyone wishes to come after Me, he must deny
himself, and take up his cross daily and follow Me" Luke 9:22-24
