By REY FLORES
“My God’s not dead. He’s surely alive. He’s living on the inside, roaring like a lion” chorus lyrics from the song God’s Not Dead by The Newsboys.
I have always wondered why atheists waste so much time and energy fighting against something they don’t believe exists. It’s written in the heart of every man that God does truly exist; do atheists fight that truth inside them instead of embracing it as we believers do?
In the third installment of the successful God’s Not Dead film series from Pure Flix, we encounter yet another challenge from the angry, but weak secular forces who could never out force God, despite their hateful, intolerant, and persistent efforts.
In this film, the Rev. Dave Hill faces a growing animosity against his church, as it sits on a public university campus, a church which was there before the campus, and helped establish it as a once-Christian university.
In the main plot of the story, a drunk, despondent, and angry young man feeling slighted by his Christian girlfriend inadvertently throws a rock through the church basement window, somehow prompting a gas leak which causes an explosion, causing extensive fire damage to the church, and causing a much greater tragedy, which I won’t disclose here.
While the incident is labeled as a hate crime, the school officials nevertheless take advantage of the damaged building to try and rid the campus of the church once and for all, causing even further divisions in an already tense community.
The divisions go much deeper with some of the film’s main characters. There’s the division between the pastor and the dean of the school, played by actor Ted McGinley, who happens to be his longtime friend and is under pressure from the university’s board to get rid of the church.
Facing a legal battle, Hill soon seeks help from his estranged brother — a big-city lawyer and atheist — who is played extremely well by actor John Corbett, in a fight to help stop the demolition of the church and help rebuild it.
Oscar winner Tatum O’Neal plays one of the university administrators who wants the church gone, and does a pretty good job portraying what many university administrators are probably like.
The first God’s Not Dead film released in 2014 became a smash hit with Christians of all denominations, much of it with the help of the accompanying smash title song of the same name by Christian rockers The Newsboys.
In that film we had a scenario which repeats itself across academia every day: Christian youth being brainwashed into the cult of atheism by arrogant atheist college professors. In that story, one brave Christian student challenges his bitter atheist professor and goes on to prove that God is indeed . . . not dead.
Later in this new film, the student responsible for the church damage, and the deeper tragedy, is found out, violently confronted by the church pastor, further fueling the legal battle for the fate of the church and the future of the campus. It doesn’t help any of the personal relationships between the characters either.
Thankfully, like most Christian movies, there is the running theme of forgiveness, love, and redemption, which is what Christianity is all about.
I have really enjoyed watching this series of films, particularly because it addresses the challenges many young Christians face on school campuses today. By continuing the series, the filmmakers are cleverly using the powerful platform of cinema, and pop music, to fight the real battle going on in the real world.
In this film, I really enjoyed one specific scene where the brother of, and lawyer for, Rev. Hill seeks a judge’s signature on a Sunday to stop a wrecking crew from knocking his brother’s church down. Of all places, the judge is found at Mass. While the denomination wasn’t specified, I like the fact that this Protestant film made the effort to bring other Christians into the picture — literally.
I wasn’t particularly fond about one part when a young man refers to Jesus as a “the ultimate social justice warrior,” because while Jesus certainly was just and seeks justice for us all, He is our savior. Using a current and hip term to describe our Lord is just silly in my opinion.
As an aside, but certainly related, I read a news item how the Christian film I Can Only Imagine, which I reviewed a few weeks back, beat Oprah Winfrey’s silly movie at the box office on a recent weekend.
With Paul, Apostle of Christ playing, and now this new God’s Not Dead movie opening on Easter, all I can say is I’m smiling from ear to ear. Praise God. Grab the popcorn and let’s all go to the movies!
God’s Not Dead: A Light in Darkness opened in theaters Easter weekend. Let’s all show up in full force as soon as possible and continue to show Hollywood that Christian films are what will save their dying industry. Visit www.godsnotdead.pureflix.com to watch the trailer and order group and individual tickets.
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(Contact Rey Flores at reyfloresusa@gmail.com.)
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