Tag: Movies

Why So Mad at Phillies Karen?

From time to time, a seemingly insignificant event is caught on camera, and it galvanizes the nation. Such an event took place this past week at a Phillies/Marlin game.

A homerun was hit into the upper deck of the left field seats, which, as usual, prompted a massive scurrying of fans to collect the much-coveted souvenir. A father came away with the ball and handed it to his son.

This situation plays itself out hundreds of times throughout the course of every baseball season. A ball is hit into the stands, fans scurry for it, the victor claims his prize, and on some occasions, there is a confrontation over who the rightful owner of the ball is. Again, this happens all the time.

What happened this time, however, is that the lady confronting the man over the ball was so adamant, the man wound up taking the ball from his son and giving it to her.

Recently, I took two of my kids to a Round Rock Express game. We got free admission to the left-field upper deck with the donation of canned goods. During the game, a homerun was hit into our section. My son pursued the ball, only to break off the pursuit when he saw the father of a young child going after it.

Again, these situations happen all the time.

Just me and a couple of my kids taking in a ballgame

So, why is the entire country mad at this one woman? Here’s why, and it’s an answer that the country is not ready to discuss at this moment.

A father taking his son out to a baseball game is one of the last remaining safe-havens of childhood. Few things remain as a part of childhood that are as pure, innocent, peaceful and fun as that.

Think about it. We still sing “Take Me Out to the Ballgame” during the seventh-inning stretch. That song is obviously written from a child’s viewpoint.

“Buy me some peanuts and Cracker Jacks. I don’t care if we never get back.”

If you go to a minor-league game, you will see that the entire event (except for the beer sales) is centered around creating a wholesome event for the family… for parents and children.

Everything from the team name (What is a Sodpoodle anyway?), to the games they play between innings (Tricycle races, etc) which are usually played by kids picked at random from the stands.

Baseball is still America’s pastime. It is still where people go to leave their problems at the gate and enjoy some peaceful, fun time with the kids, and to make memories.

There’s nothing like the view from the cheap seats. Dell Diamond, Round Rock, TX.

And… on occasion, the families are able to take home a souvenir, whether it is a t-shirt shot into the crowd, or a baseball hit into the stands. The baseball is the ultimate prize. You take home a piece of the game, handled by the actual players, and catching it (or retrieving it) is the ultimate accomplishment.

To have your dad catch a homerun ball at a major league game? That’s the kind of formative memory that sticks with you. That’s a story you tell your grandkids when they come visit you in the nursing home 70 years later.

This is why, when Shannon Stone died trying to catch a ball for his son at a Texas Rangers game, it became a national tragedy. As a local reporter, I covered the funeral, stationed next to ABC News, Univision, ESPN, CNN and others.

If any other fan had died in the same way, it would have been written off as a tragic accident, and no big deal would have been made. But in this case, it was a father, looking for a souvenir for his son, who called out to Josh Hamilton for the ball. Reached out for the catch, lost his balance, and fell.

In a press conference following the tragedy, Rangers owner Nolan Ryan said, “This hits us at the core of who we are.”

As a way of helping fans grieve, recover and move on, the Rangers erected a statue of Stone and his son outside the gates of the stadium, to remind us who we are, and why we bring our kids to the game.

Which brings us back to Phillies Karen. The father catching (or retrieving) the ball for his son is an emblematic moment, in this case shattered by the selfishness of an irate individual.

The audacity not only offended fans at the game, but the TV commentators, the Phillies organization, and social media. Why?

Because without even realizing it, this moment encapsulates the ongoing war our culture has with the innocence of childhood.

Let’s be honest. Our culture is at war with childhood. The sad part is, that war was never officially declared. It just sort of happened. And those warring against childhood often don’t even realize that they are.

Like the situation with the baseball at the Phillies game was driven by the selfishness of adults, the war on childhood is driven by the selfishness of adults.

Kids can no longer just enjoy playing summer baseball. Now, every level of youth sports is seen as a preparation for the major leagues. Sure, the leagues now hand out participation trophies, but I believe that is even driven by the selfishness of adults.

Does a 5-year old joining his first T-ball team really hope the league prepares him for the next level? No. He just wants to play and have fun. It’s the parents who are looking for validation from the child’s on-field performance. And the problem is not limited to youth sports either.

Recently, Snoop Dogg drew criticism for saying he was afraid to take his grandkids to the movies for fear of having to explain same-sex relationships (and other adult themes) when they are depicted in children’s movies. Now, Snoop is shrugging off the controversy and stands by his statements, but that controversy raises another question…

When was the last time Hollywood truly produced a movie for kids?

When was the last time they produced something as benign as “Bambi,” as adventurous as “The Jungle Book,” as fantastical as “Mary Poppins,” or as sentimental as “The Land Before Time?”

When was the last time a movie was produced for kids for the sole purpose of taking them on a big adventure?

Today, even the children’s movies have an agenda to advance the cause of certain adult groups.

So, we’ve ruined youth sports. We’ve ruined movies. The kids cannot open a lemonade stand without getting a tax-use permit and a permit from the health department (because cities now lack the capability to distinguish between legit businesses and kids trying to pass the time and make a quarter.)

I could go on citing different examples from different areas of life, but that would be exhausting for both you and me. The war on childhood and the innocence thereof is a complex issue that requires much discussion.

And it’s hard to encapsulate that issue and how it truly makes us feel. That is, until a random stranger at a ballgame we aren’t watching takes a ball from a child whose father just gave it to him. Then it all comes to a head.

To a large degree, I believe some correction is needed on our part. We need to allow youth sports to return to the simplicity of a season played, with scores kept, wins and losses, and a champion crowned. But when the season is over, let the kids do something else for a while.

We need to let kids be in the moment, and enjoy the simplicity and the joy of the moment. Not every activity needs to be a preparation for a competitive career.

And finally, we need to quit making the minds of our children the latest battleground in the culture war.

We need to restore childhood to what it ought to be, an innocent period of discovery and imagination. A time of learning and of play.

If we accomplish that, angry adults may still take homerun balls away from kids during the game. But, if they do, it’ll be far less triggering.

The Jesus Revolution’s Frisbee Problem

Let’s face it… for fans of The Chosen, Jonathan Roumie sold The Jesus Revolution. Roumie’s portrayal of Jesus in The Chosen has earned him a following, a ministry, and has contributed to a national conversation about Jesus, leading many to seek the truth about Jesus, and many have professed faith in Christ as a result.

So, it comes with a bit of irony that in The Jesus Revolution, Roumie portrays a young Lonnie Frisbee, whose emotionally compassionate outreach and charismatic preaching sparked The Jesus Revolution of the 1960s and 1970s, thus sparking a national conversation about Jesus which led to many salvations.

Neither man (Roumie or Frisbee) is without controversy, as is neither character portrayed. Jesus was controversial in His day, and remains so to this day. And with a resurgence of post-morten fame on the heels of Jesus Revolution, Frisbee finds himself in the middle of controversy as well.

At the center of Frisbee’s controversy are his theatrical antics, and his struggles with homosexuality. Critics point to the former to discredit his ministry, and they point out the latter to discredit Christianity in general.

To their credit, the filmmakers of The Jesus Revolution were open about the character flaws of each of the leaders of the movement. Smith was a bit opportunistic and judgmental, and struggled with seeing the church blossom under someone else’s leadership. Laurie struggled with drugs early on and struggled with faith toward the end of the movie.

Frisbee demanded the spotlight, neglected his wife, and stormed out in a hissy fit when the spotlight was taken away. Yes, his struggles with homosexuality were omitted from the movie, but were not an issue during the time portrayed in the movie.

Frisbee was raped as a child, and as many who endure that atrocity do, experimented with homosexuality during his adolescence and early adulthood. Frisbee reported coming out of that lifestyle when he came to know Jesus, but relapsed in the 1980s. Frisbee confessed that his behaviors were sin, and were as sinful (but no more than) other sins.

When confronted, Frisbee confessed. He prayed for forgiveness. He tried to help others find forgiveness. He did not cling to the lifestyle, and did not advocate that others live the lifestyle.

It would be sinful and unproductive to try to determine Frisbee’s salvation status, or whether his faith was real, and his ministry motivated by faith and a genuine heart for the Lord. We leave the judging of the living and the dead to God.

However, a quick internet search into Frisbee’s life reveals a struggle with sin which is not unlike the struggle with pornography, addiction, anger, gluttony (I confess that!), hate, covetousness or dishonesty.

As Christians, we often find ourselves easily ensnared in sin that rapidly gets out of hand and gruesome pretty quickly. Sometimes we deceive ourselves into thinking that our sin isn’t that big of a deal, but it is.

And we can usually find a worse sinner to point out to make ourselves feel better about our sin. And in this case, that worse sinner is Frisbee.

However, the political fireball surrounding his sin neither discredits the Bible, the Gospel, nor the film, because all three uphold the fact that God works through the broken, and through weakness we are made strong.

Frisbee struggled with homosexuality, but Abraham committed adultery, Jacob was a crook, Judah hired a prostitute, King David committed adultery and murder, and Solomon dabbled in idolatry. Yet, Scripture holds those men up as patriarchs of the faith, and some even wrote scripture.

Scripture does not affirm their behavior, but God used them in spite of their brokenness, and God uses us in spite of our brokenness.

Why would God do that? He does that because the premise of the Gospel is that the broken can be healed, the sinner can be cleansed, and the condemned can be redeemed. Further, this all happens not because of how great the person is, but because of how graceful and powerful God is.

And that’s the power of the Gospel, that the death and condemnation of our sins was placed on Christ when He hung on that cross, and when He died, that death and condemnation were sent to Hell instead of us.

And because of that redemption, because Jesus took it all on our behalf, we can go free. We can place our faith in Him and make ourselves available for God to use to do big things… or maybe small and simple things. Either way, it’s a blessing.

So I’m not offended that one of my favorite actors portrayed a man who struggled in homosexuality, and I’m not discouraged that such a man was a key figure in a national revival, because I have routinely seen God use broken people, including myself, to lead others to redemption and healing.

God uses the broken to advance the Gospel, and He is glorified in it. Or as the Apostle Paul wrote in Romans 3, “For if the truth of God hath more abounded through my lie unto his glory; why yet am I also judged as a sinner?”

So let’s review. God is good. Redemption is real. The Gospel saves. The Jesus Revolution is a good movie. And God has used the broken to spark a national conversation about Jesus. Let’s have that conversation, and point people to the redemption in Christ Jesus that is found at the cross, and not let ourselves be distracted by one man’s sin from 40 years ago.

The Jesus Revolution

The more things change, the more they stay the same. Seriously, listen to any Billy Graham sermon from the 1970s, or any J. Vernon McGee sermon from the 1960s, and you will find the same issues being addressed from the pulpit.

The breakdown of the family, the rise in sin and immorality, an up and coming generation that seems unreachable, with a lifestyle and value system that seems incomprehensible, a deeply divided country, civil unrest, economic uncertainty, and foreign threats… these are all issues that plagued our country back then, and they are issues that haunt us now.

The upcoming film, Jesus Revolution, depicts how the ministries of Chuck Smith and Greg Laurie were revolutionized by the introduction of Lonnie Frisbee. Smith is depicted as struggling to establish Calvary Chapel in California as a Biblical-centered congregation, who struggles to understand the hippie movement of the 1960s. Smith then meets Frisbee, who encourages him to engage the marginalized youth and preach the Gospel to them.

History records what followed as The Jesus Movement, recorded by Greg Laurie in his book Jesus Revolution. There was a revival among the Hippie communities of California, which sparked a new wave of evangelism and worship music. The result was countless converts, the rise of Calvary Chapel as we know it today, and contemporary Christian worship music.

Jesus Revolution is a film based on a true story, it is not a documentary. How the film will tackle the controversies surrounding Smith’s ministry, Calvary Chapel, and Frisbee’s issues with sin have yet to be seen. All are worthy of discussion as we come to a fuller understanding of God’s grace and redemption.

However, the theme of the movie appears to be how the Gospel of Jesus Christ is exactly what our dark and deeply divided nation needs to hear, and if we are willing to reach out to those whom we fear or don’t understand with the Gospel, souls will be saved and lives will be changed.

In essence, if the church of God will re-center itself on the Gospel and return to the mission of God, which is the preaching of that Gospel throughout the world, who knows what kind of revival we may see in our day.

Like our forerunners in the 1960s, we face a rise in sin and immorality, a rise in Godlessness, a rise in darkness and division, with an up and coming generation with a lifestyle and values system that scares the very generation that brought us the hippie movement.

Our options are simple. We can, like Kelsey Grammer’s depiction of Chuck Smith early in the film, sit back on our couches and complain about the direction of society. Or, we can, like Jonathan Roumie’s depiction of Lonnie Frisbee, reach out into that darkness with the light of the Gospel and show a lost generation that God’s door is open to those who repent and believe.

My prayer is that we do the latter, which is why I am excited about this film. I hope it inspires our current generation of churches, and a new generation of churches to truly commit to, and do, the Great Commission.

Scars, stars, bazaar: The Greatest Showman rocks our imaginations

Forget everything you know about P.T. Barnum. The Connecticut-born son of a tailor who so coveted high society that he swindled and cheated his way into mass fortune died 126 years ago. All that remains of him is the name of a circus.

The P.T. Barnum depicted in “The Greatest Showman” is a fictitious character, an energetic, benevolent man whose blind ambition led him to make occasional mistakes in his relationships.

Portrayed by Hugh Jackman, P.T. Barnum whisks his love, Charity, away by imploring her to use her imagination, adding that the world is what they make of it. A running theme throughout the musical is how they can change their stars, and create their own world, being limited only by their own imaginations. His love, dreams and enthusiasm lights the hearts of his wife and daughters, and inspires his followers, a rag-tag group of misfits including the bearded lady, the world’s smallest man, a theatre director and even a world-renown opera singer.

The movie maintains a happy tone, even when the characters deal with very difficult situations, ranging from rejection, personal pain, and hopelessness. The darkest of times are quickly abandoned for the next adventure, and the next song.

The ongoing theme of “The Greatest Showman” is that of acceptance. P.T. Barnum struggled to gain the acceptance of high society, while his cast of odd characters struggled to accept themselves, and struggled to gain acceptance of mainstream society.

Having gone from pauper to prince with the financial success of Barnum’s Circus, Barnum enlisted the help of a popular theatre director to “win the high brows.” This resulted in an audience with the queen of England, which connected Barnum to the famous opera singer Jenny Lind, with whom Barnum strikes up a partnership for a North American tour.

Regardless of all that happened, Barnum never really gains the acceptance of high society. He is then reminded of the true value of the friends he has, and learns to quit living to impress people that he doesn’t really like in the first place.

The cast of odd-characters struggle throughout the movie. Rejected not only by their own mothers, many had trouble accepting themselves. Throughout the course of the movie, they learn to accept themselves, and to see their oddity as a gift. They also find comfort in each other.

I came away from this movie inspired and happy. I was reminded to dream big, to be myself, and to love those around me. And for that reminder, I give the movie a thumbs up!