Two Thumbs Up!

So, the family and I were able to bring Hollywood into our living room last night via Pay-Per-View. Miraculous. We watched "Evan Almighty" and thoroughly enjoyed it. The movie was energetic, humorous, and at times down right silly! Now, before you assume you mistakenly stumbled upon some movie review site instead of the RUCC Blog let me just tell you... There's a lot of really sound theology in this movie.

The concept of one man, with God's help, changing the world is explored. One man standing up to criticism, ridicule, and even Congress to try and do what he believes to be right is one of the basic tenets of the film. Evan doesn't wait on the world to change, he brings change to the world.

Evan also brings to life and modernizes the "reluctant prophet". You know the type, the Jonahs of the world. It proves that there are still plenty of these among us and that same dilemmas that faced Jonah are present in our world today. It made me wonder what kind of world we could live in if we were to give up our reluctance and embrace the message.

Clearly, the most obvious (and most fun) aspect of the movie's themes in that God is still speaking. Sound familiar? Yup, it seems that even Hollywood has heard the UCC rally cry. Have we? I would also like to add that I personally think that Morgan Freeman makes an OUTSTANDING God! He's personal, direct, a little mysterious, and loving. God takes himself far less serious than Evan does and He even pokes a little fun at man's incompetence at scriptural interpretation.

This movie also touches on subjects like environmentalism, governmental corruption, family unity, the love story between God and human, and animal preservation. I would highly recommend you look into the theology of "Evan Almighty". When the film was over and the popcorn was gone I was left with a deeper sense of personal commitment to rewriting the Gospel. Two thumbs up from my living room!