Cultivating the Christian Imagination

Mission: Impossible—Dead Reckoning Part One (2023), not only met our high expectations but offered something that action films rarely do: thoughtful and affirming engagement with the Christian faith.  

The imagination is a tremendous faculty and Black Mirror emphasizes that, warning us about its capacity for evil (i.e., Robert Daly). Sure, Black Mirror highlights VR technology, but it’s a metaphor for the advanced technology image bearers have: the imagination. Human beings are sub-creators, as Tolkien said. 

About eight years ago a friend gifted me a collection of her prayers called A Prayer Journal. The book is brief, only forty pages long–and it is not because she prayed only a few pages worth. No, the words reveal a woman whose heart burned for God. 

Trotter considered John Ruskin's proposal, and decided she could not pour her life into artwork and “seek first the Kingdom of God and His Righteousness” at the same time. So, she chose the latter.

Clint Eastwood’s latest film is a hidden gem. Hidden because it went straight to streaming with a limit release. A gem because, well, it is a really good film.

Today, I want to offer another reason why I review movies. I'll start with a story . . .

Four ways art dialogues with the Christian Faith.

Mildred Pierce (1945) captured my attention from the opening scene.

Here is the story behind the hymn, "Just as I am."

A film that illuminates money’s power over the human heart is Sam Raimi’s A Simple Plan (1998) based on the novel by the same title. This little known movie stars Bill Paxton, Billy Bob Thornton, and Bridget Fonda. It is a hidden gem, for sure, especially if you enjoyed movies like Fargo or No Country Old Men.