Normal.dotm 0 0 1 704 4014 CBN 33 8 4929 12.0 0 false 18 pt 18 pt 0 0 false false false This week, I came across a really thought-provoking column by a philosophy professor and writer named Tom Morris. Morris, who has written several popular books that combine classic philosophical ideas to cultural reference points (If Aristotle Ran General [...]
Recently, The Vatican’s official newspaper L’Osservatore Romano named the top 10 rock/pop albums of all-time. According to the paper, the list is only “semi-serious”, but either way, it’s stirred quite the controversy (which also happens to be only semi-serious). Some Catholic officials have posted objections to the content of list, in some cases jokingly criticizing the merits of some of [...]
In the week leading up to the Super Bowl, the Drew Brees/Peyton Manning match-up isn’t only football topic being debate—both players seem to be overshadowed by another story involving a different quarterback. University of Florida superstar QB Tim Tebow (who enters the NFL draft this year), is at the center of a controversy stemming from an ad that will reportedly [...]
The Washington Post has an interesting story about how religious Hollywood has gotten in the last year. The story notes how many movies openly discuss issues of faith—some praising religious values others questioning, or even openly mocking, aspects of religion. In the article, HollywoodJesus.com editor Greg Wright is interviewed and says, “Hollywood gives audiences what audiences want to see. If [...]
This morning on The 700 Club, Gordon interviewed American Bible Society President Lamar Vest. (The interview is embedded below). Vest discusses a new project ABS has partnered with World Vision to produce, called “The Poverty and Justice Bible”. The idea behind this Bible is to highlight every verse that deals poverty and justice. Scholars combed through the scriptures and found [...]
While there’s been much talk in recent months about the recession hitting Hollywood, Twentieth Century Fox doesn’t appear to be shying away from the big-budget epic. According to this story from Variety, the movie giant will produce a large-scale retelling of the story of Moses. The film was reportedly pitched as a “300-like” visual epic with lots of action. Executives [...]
Eduardo Returns Eduardo Verastegui, the actor who gained mainstream notoriety for his role in the 2007 breakout indie film Bella, is returning to the screen. His latest is for the Doorpost Film Project, a short film competition with a mission to “to encourage truth-seeking visionaries by honoring their creativity as filmmakers, serving them in the context of building community and [...]
Eduardo Returns Eduardo Verastegui, the actor who gained mainstream notoriety for his role in the 2007 breakout indie film Bella, is returning to the screen. His latest is for the Doorpost Film Project, a short film competition with a mission to “to encourage truth-seeking visionaries by honoring their creativity as filmmakers, serving them in the context of building community and [...]
Rock ‘n Roll Leadership U2 frontman and AIDS relief activist Bono and former British Prime Minister Tony Blair are among the speakers who will be featured at the leadership summit this weekend being organized by the Willow Creek Association. Willow Creek Church, which is one of the most influential evangelical churches in America, will broadcast the summit to affiliated churches [...]
You may have noticed the lack of activity on the blog recently. First off, I apologize for the inconsistent updates lately. But you may have also noticed a new feature that launched—my.CBN.com. For the last several months, the CBN.com team has been working to create our very own social network; a place where users can create profiles, connect with others, [...]
Sorry for the lack of new posts lately. As you can see from poking around the site, we’ve been pretty busy with some changes and new features (CBN Radio, CBN TV, the new CBN News). Thanks for your patience! Here’s a few stories from around the web that caught may attention this week: Marketing the Church With the numbers of [...]
The Belief Decline There has been a lot of research lately that looks at the decline in traditional Christian beliefs in the United States (including this recent Newsweek cover story, “The End of Christian America”), but now a new study shows it’s not an isolated decline in North America. A poll conducted North of the border shows that the number [...]
Ted Haggard update … Ted Haggard is heading to the Divorce Court. He and his wife will on the TV show April 1. Don’t worry, it’s not what you think. Before there was the Da Vinci code … According to a new BBC documentary, CS Lewis hid a secret code in the Chronicles of Narnia books. Apparently, each of the [...]
Christopher Hitchens Promoting Christian Books? What do Don Miller, Max Lucado, Don Piper and … Christopher Hitchens have in common? They will all be appearing at the Christian Book Expo in Dallas this weekend. Hitchens, the well-known atheist and author of the best-seller “God Is Not Great”, will be debating several Christian apologists. Idol Worship American Idol + MTV.com + [...]
The new American Religious Identification Survey has been getting a lot of press in the last two weeks. The study, done by Trinity College, measures the religious orientation of the American public throughout the last two decades. Although the study breakdowns a lot of interesting numbers about people’s religious affiliations, there are two stats that stick out: More American Christians [...]
Just a quick update today. Here’s a handful of links from around the web that caught my eye over the weekend. Church Shopping Slate has an interesting story about “Why American churchgoers like to shop around” when it comes to choosing a church. It includes some stats like this one about American churchgoing: “One in seven adults changes churches each [...]
My latest feature on the front page of CBN.com has gotten some interesting feedback through email. You can read “Michael Phelps and Ted Haggard: The Connection” here. Some readers emailed me and said they don’t feel like it is a fair comparison, and that Michael Phelps was a victim of his own insecurity, whereas Haggard should be held to a [...]
The Oklahoma-based Tulsa Bible Church is the latest congregation to try its hand at filmmaking. Inspired by the success of Georgia’s Sherwood Baptist (the church that produced Facing the Giants, Flywheel, and Fireproof), Tulsa Bible Church’s pastor approached member Brian Shoop, a 58-year-old Tulsa-area actor, to see if he would be interested in trying his hand at writing a script [...]
Hey There Delilah According to Variety, Warner Bros. is planning on releasing a film based on the biblical story of Samson and Delilah. The “futuristic retelling” of the classic Old Testament story will be directed by Francis Lawrence, the man behind the camera on the recent sci-fi blockbuster I Am Legend. This isn’t Lawrence’s first foray into Old Testament filmmaking—he’s [...]
Just a quick update today … What’s the Problem? Christianity Today has an interesting editorial that looks at the world’s “Greatest Social Need”. They contend that it’s not AIDS, poverty, clean water or peace and looks at if the evangelical church is forgoing evangelism in its humanitarian efforts. Friday on Friday Pop-culture blogger Brett McCracken laments over the final season [...]
UPDATE: Since this was originally posted, GodTube has deleted all of the comments associated with the trailer for Not Easily Broken and has posted a new trailer that is edited and overdubbed not to include the profanities. This blog was written prior to the action taken by GodTube. The Houston Chronicle has posted an interview and feature story on megachurch [...]
One of my favorite things about Christmas time is hearing new takes on classic songs. But along polished, department-store background songs, I love hearing artists who restore a sense of reverence to Christmas. One singer (who many of my co-workers now know I’m a big fan of thanks to my own Christmas playlists) is Sufjan Stevens. Years before he became [...]
Today I’m introducing a new segment to the Morning Five: The Friday Playlist. Every Friday, I’ll post a new rundown of songs for you to rock-out all weekend long with links to listen the songs and to purchase the album if you really dig it. (And remember, if you really want to support the artists, I encourage you to buy [...]
Medicine vs. Miracles A new survey has found that Americans have more faith in God than doctors when it comes to life-threatening health scares. About 57 percent of those surveyed said they thought God could miraculously intervene in a dire health situation even when physicians can’t. Megachurch TV Slate has this story about megachurches that are using video conferencing to [...]
Here’s the weekend’s edition of The Friday Playlist … let me know what you think! Derek Webb – “A New Law” The former Caedmon’s Call singer has broken from his CCM roots in favor of more edgy singer/songwriter rock n’ roll. But with lyrics that challenge everything from ideas about money and stewardship to legalism and faith, his gritty sound [...]
Here’s the latest five … To the Moon … In what sounds like a sci-fi novel plotline-meets-the Tower of Babel, officials in Japan are outlining a plan to build an elevator to outer space. The plan is to build a 22,000 mile elevator using nano-carbon cables attached to a satellite that would transport occupants and supplies into space. Japan is [...]
I usually try to avoid celebrity gossip-type stories, but in light of all marriage/divorce discussion going on stemming from the success of the movie Fireproof, I thought that this interview from CNN with Bill Murray was really transparent about the topic. Murray—who is doing press for his latest film City of Ember—spoke candidly about his high-profile divorce and the toll [...]
Need an escape from all the depressing financial news and non-stop political coverage? Here’s a list of links of some other interesting stories on the Internet today that offer a departure from the economic/political media freight-train: According to this report, Religulous filmmakers Bill Maher and Larry Charles purposely duped some of interviewees in the comedy/documentary that attempts to debunk organized [...]
A little change of pace for today’s post. Because of all the Wall Street headlines dominating the news, here are several stories that are examining the intersect of faith and finance. “Christian” Real Estate The Washington Post is running an interesting story that looks at a new trend in the real estate world—agents using their Christian faith to promote their [...]
As Fireproof approaches the $25 million in box office receipts, more churches may be looking to filmmaking as a form of outreach. New Song Community Church in Oceanside, California is currently in the production phase of its own movie, How to Save a Life. The film, which was written by the church’s youth pastor as a way to reach young [...]
Sorry for the delay in blog posts. I just returned from a trip to LA to attend the press a junket for the new Disney film Bolt, which releases on Friday (my review will be up Friday morning). And even though getting a tour of the Disney Animation Studios was amazing and getting to interview animation guru John Lasseter is [...]
With the Olympics kicking off this weekend in China, much of the focus is on the restrictions being placed on the athletes and what they are not allowed to say while staying at the Olympic Village. And in a country where religious speech is as closely guarded as political talk, that means athletes will be legally limited as to what [...]
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