How do you decide which movies are appropriate for your family? How do you find good movies with meaning and a good message without all kinds of junk in the middle?
When was the last time you watched a movie that said this:
“There are those who claim it’s impossible to know what we’re meant to do or meant to be. But the folks who say that, tend to be looking for a God who shouts and completely miss the one who whispers.
“I side with Paul who wrote, “We see only a dim reflection as through a glass darkly, but one day we shall see face to face and what we now know in part we shall know fully but in the meantime these three things remain faith hope and love and the greatest of these is love.”
Love this quote from the movie: Finding Normal. http://ow.ly/JpfRc
Carrie and I really enjoy watching with our kids movies that have meaning. Movies that have a great message. That inspire us to action and draw us to love, give and serve. Not that all of them will be blatantly Christian, although those are the best. We want our children to be inspired and motivated to righteousness.
I also like watching action movies; thrilling movies that have you on the edge of your seat. But, I’m not willing to compromise, if those movies are filled with worldviews that corrupt.
“Whatever things are true, whatever things are noble, whatever things are just, whatever things are pure, whatever things are lovely, whatever things are of good report, if there is any virtue and if there is anything praiseworthy—meditate on these things.” Philippians 4.8
Because we take this seriously and realize how movies impact us so much, we rarely will see a movie without checking it out on www.pluggedin.com. This site, by Focus on the Family, reviews almost every movie and includes it’s: synopsis, spiritual content, violence, profanity, positive element, etc. For instance, here is their review of 50 Shades http://ow.ly/Jpnbi
Where can you go to find family friendly, motivational movies with an inspiring message? You can check out pluggedin.com for a list. You can also check out a new site I just heard about called www.IamFlix.com. There is also http://www.christiancinema.com/. Carrie often searches the Dove awards site: http://www.dove.org/. I’m sure there are others, so if you know one, please post it on our site below.
My encourage you to mix it up and declare that “It’s going to be a Movies with Meaning family night!” Be prepared for the kick-back. They probably won’t always jump up and down in excitement. The truth is these movies may have some bad acting, even some cheesy scenes, but there is Truth in these movies which is more important than always being steeped in entertainment void of the Truth.
It’s our job to lead them and guide our children to pursue the things of God and movies can be a fun, entertaining way to positively influence them. If you aren’t putting them in front of some good movies and talking about the negatives in other movies, no one else will. Help them make decisions on what they should and shouldn’t expose themselves to. And until they are mature enough to do that on their own, God has given them into your custody to “bring them up in the training and instruction of the Lord.” Ephesians 6.4
Helping You Have Homes Devoted
Jonathan
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Written by Jonathan
Rev. Jonathan Cronkhite has been serving youth and families in full time
ministry for the last 23 years. With the heart of a pastor, he encourages and equips families to have Homes Devoted, through conferences, workshops, coaching and writing. Married to Carrie for 22 years, they have 5 children, run a home school co-op, drama club and invite 50 people over once a month for airsoft battles.
Comments 1
I’m always looking for movies that reflect Christian values. We just watched On The Waterfront, one of my favorites, that has many Christian undertones. It’s getting tougher to find anything that’s not loaded with filth and obscenity.