Sweet songs under Alberta skies
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Sweet songs under Alberta skies

“Forget about Eddie Van Halen, forget about what the idiots on YouTube say. Learn your chords. Learn C, G and F – it all starts from there, the rest comes later.” Most amateur guitar players will chuckle at this comment made by Ray Mitchell (played by Alberta country singer-songwriter Corb Lund) to his 15-year-old guitar…

It’s time to put the ‘art’ back in Christian art
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It’s time to put the ‘art’ back in Christian art

I was driving home from work flipping through radio stations when I stumbled upon Praise 106.5, the local Christian radio station here in B.C. Instead of flipping the channel off like I frequently do, I decided to give the station a chance. Much to my disappointment, my scepticism was justified as a boring pop-rock song…

Seeming fair and feeling foul
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Seeming fair and feeling foul

It begins, once again, with Galadriel telling the story of an ancient war. This time it is the story of the First Age – the story of how the elves left paradise in Valinor to journey to Middle Earth and to take revenge upon the fallen angel Morgoth. These battles are bigger of course, and…

Don’t give up!
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Don’t give up!

We are living through some challenging, “unprecedented,” and even discouraging times. I recently watched the Oscar-nominated film “Don’t Look Up”, featuring an astronomy grad student and her professor who make the shocking discovery of a planet-killing comet on a collision course with Earth. When they share the urgent news with the United States president, the…

Redemption at the movies?

Redemption at the movies?

Few pieces of media are as ubiquitous in western culture as the original Star Wars trilogy, and few endings are as well known as the climax of The Return of the Jedi. The hero Luke Skywalker, bruised and apparently beaten, is saved from death by the erstwhile villain, his father Darth Vader. Doing so fatally…

Everything is Art
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Everything is Art

Every week, I ask our church community what’s helping them get through the pandemic. As a minister, the answers I receive sometimes smack of that old joke from Sunday school where every answer is “Jesus!” no matter what the kids might first think. And, honestly, that answer is correct. For every Christian (I hope), Jesus…

Review of The Intouchables

Review of The Intouchables

There’s an excitement when we get to enter another world, and this has been particularly true for me in these latter pandemic days. I have been able to enjoy other worlds by watching fun foreign films.They’ve helped keep life fresh and interesting! If this coping mechanism interests you, I recommend a 2011 French film called…

Craft and faith in equal measure
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Craft and faith in equal measure

Mark Twain’s famous proclamation – “there’s no such a thing as an original idea” – may allow some respite to creators (me included), but there are those who set themselves up for a different kind of challenge – one of telling a story, the story, again for the gazillionth time and that too from a…

A Christian Defense of Horror
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A Christian Defense of Horror

Should Christians watch horror films? It’s a question I’m continually asked, especially every year around Halloween. I somewhat agree with the affirmative answers others have given: that by focusing on the darkness, there is opportunity to shine a light; that many horror films are built upon an undergirding of morality. But I wonder if there’s a way to push this defense a bit further. Might there be a crucial connection between how the best horror films function and a Christian understanding of fear?

New Film Tracks Peterson’s Rise to Stardom
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New Film Tracks Peterson’s Rise to Stardom

On Nov. 2, CBC premiered Shut Him Down: The Rise of Jordan Peterson, a 44-minute point-of-view documentary focused on Peterson’s journey into the public spotlight. The film compacts more than 110 hours of “fly-on-the-wall moments” filmed with Peterson and those around him.

Surprised by Disney
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Surprised by Disney

Pixar’s latest, Inside Out, is a thoroughly unique and creative story told with surprising depth of insight.

Unbroken in war, healed by grace
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Unbroken in war, healed by grace

For 50 years the option of filming Louis Zamperini’s life story sat on a shelf at Universal Studios waiting for someone to have enough confidence in the subject to make it happen. Tony Curtis was chosen to play Louis, but it never got off the ground.