The Lego Church

You have probably seen this amazing site, but if not, here is a link. Pretty good recreation of a Crystal Cathedral -style church, made out of, yes, those little plastic block you remember from childhood.

Movie Review: Peretti on DVD

The Visitation is one of my favorite Frank Peretti novels; I always thought it was under-rated, more subtle than some of his other works. Anyway, it got made into a movie starring Edward Furlong and Randy Travis, and was just released on DVD.

Let's say at the outset that Christian movies have made a huge leap from the days of the church basement. Scripts, actors, budgets -- they are all better than they used to be. So the problem when reviewing a Christian movie is . . . . what do you compare it to? Not every movie has Narnia's budget or Mel Gibson's personal backing, so those are not fair comparisons.

But to the movie at hand. The Visitation compares favorably to old church movies and to low-budget independent-type films. The subtlety was lost in translation from book to film, as was some of the drama. I do not remember the specifics of the book, so I can't say how close it stuck to the original, but it the movie did seem a bit predictable, and I don't remember the book being that way.

Next up -- the Steve Taylor/Michael W Smith movie.

My Catholic Teacher

Scott Hahn is a former presbyterian who "Poped" about 15 years ago and has become a leading lay apologist for the Catholic church. I am a Catholic-friendly Protestant and find his works interesting. There are some assumptions and conclusions I can't go along with, but there are many areas of commonality that I would not have expected, as well as areas of faith and practice that speak strongly to me.

His works that I have read are: Hail, Holy Queen, about Mary, who I absolutely love; The Lamb's Supper, which ties the Mass to the Book of Revelation; and Lord Have Mercy, a work on confession.

There are about 10 more, many of which I expect to read in the next few years.