Boys' Bible Study

Before there was TOUCHED BY AN ANGEL there was HIGHWAY TO HEAVEN, an 80s sitcom that may be the blueprint for the angel media craze that swept American pop culture at the end of the 20th century. HIGHWAY TO HEAVEN was created and directed by American television legend Michael Landon, who also stars in the series as the angel Jonathan Smith. Landon, known for his roles on all-American historical dramas BONANZA and LITTLE HOUSE ON THE PRAIRIE, enlisted his former LITTLE HOUSE… co-star Victor French to play Jonathan Smith's buddy Mark Gordon, a retired policeman (and mortal human) who accompanies Jonathan on his weekly assignments to use angelic influence to improve people's lives. God is referred to as “The Boss” in the series; this world-building is consistent with TOUCHED BY AN ANGEL's commitment to never discussing Jesus's sacrifice or the concept of sin on network television. Both series only refer to a faceless God and His angelic messengers who can impact earthly forces. This week on BBS, we chose to explore this historical television series in our ongoing study of angel media, focusing on an episode with a trope we love: body swap. On previous BBS episodes ME AGAIN and SWITCHED we discuss the sub-genre of Christian body swap stories, and HIGHWAY TO HEAVEN s1e20 “The Banker and the Bum” is a triumphant new entry in that category. When homeless man Willy the Waver (Ned Beatty) has 24 hours to live, he makes a simple wish to tell elitist mayoral candidate Melvin Rich (also played by Ned Beatty) to “be nice”. Angel Jonathan Smith grants this wish by swapping the two men's positions, teaching Melvin Rich an important lesson on empathy for others. The character of Willy the Waver reminds us of a common trope in Christian media: the homeless person who does unnecessary “kindness” to others that no one asked for in order to prove his unfortunate life is cheerful (in this case, waving to random cars on the road on a strict schedule like it's his job.) “The Banker and the Bum” is both a charming tale of acceptance and a reminder of the shallow understanding much Christian media has of homeless people. View our full episode list and subscribe to any of our public feeds: http://boysbiblestudy.com Unlock 2+ bonus episodes per month: http://patreon.com/boysbiblestudy Subscribe to our Twitch for livestreams: http://twitch.tv/boysbiblestudy Follow us on Instagram: http://instagram.com/boysbiblestudy Follow us on Twitter: http://twitter.com/boysbiblestudy

Subscribe today for access to our full catalog of bonus episodes, including 2+ new episodes every month! www.patreon.com/boysbiblestudy For the first time in the history of our podcast, we are reviewing a film in which we co-starred. This is CHI ANN BLAZE OF FURY, the brand new film by 3Angels Power, a Canadian film production company based in Cornwall, Ontario, Canada. In 2019, BBS co-host Julian struck up a friendship and artistic relationship with the Karam sisters (Gladys, Mona Lisa, and Jeanne d'arc) whose films he found by accident after misspelling a search term on YouTube. He was immediately captivated by the creative writing and directing of the sisters' 2013 feature film FRANCESKA FINGER NAILZ, a 3 hour long epic about a misunderstood spirit wreaking havoc on a rural Canadian town. Julian wrote to the 3Angels, offering to film any script they sent to us with a troupe of actors. Weeks later, we had a script in hand for several scenes of a film that would become CHI ANN BLAZE OF FURY. We got about 20 of our friends together, drove to Marina del Rey and recorded a long scene on a beach in which a group of people discuss love and philosophy while fielding phone calls warning them to the existence of yet another evil spirit named Chi Ann. A long time passes and we are unsure about the status of the production; six years later, 3Angels surprise posts the film and we get to watch in its entirety. As fans and promoters of DIY filmmaking, it was so exciting to yield our will to filmmakers we admire and do whatever they asked us to do to realize their vision. 3Angels have a unique command of language and storytelling. No films look and sound like theirs. We're proud to be involved, and we hope our review inspires lovers of film to watch CHI ANN BLAZE OF FURY, subscribe to 3Angels' channel, and stay tuned to their electrifying updates. Watch CHI ANN BLAZE OF FURY for free on YouTube: https://youtu.be/NWUde4NBhSM?si=9ptEXxdSHb2pN810 While watching, please like and subscribe 3Angels' channel to support creative DIY filmmaking.

In the 1990s, filmmakers and audiences seemed obsessed with “magic men” who caused chaos in their communities while teaching everyone an important lesson. Some of these men were angels; some of them were just weird little freaks who made a big difference. Some examples of this: POWDER, MEET JOE BLACK, PHENOMENON, and another John Travolta starring film called MICHAEL. MICHAEL is an interesting hybrid magic man/religious film where this “magic man” archetype is also the archangel Michael from the Bible. This device allows the film to be safe-religious while not directly invoking Jesus, a storytelling technique also used by popular Y2K-era television show TOUCHED BY AN ANGEL. In the film, Michael is an angel discovered living in Iowa by tabloid reporters who specialize on documenting unexplained phenomena. When they travel to meet Michael, they find out he is indeed a real angel, but not in the way that most of us would expect to experience one. He is sweet, but with bad manners, and prone to seducing earth women because he's very interested in sex with them. Michael also introduces new rules of angel encounters on earth: for instance, angels are only allowed to visit earth 26 times and they can only perform small miracles. Inventing fake angel tropes outside of the Bible is a very common device of these safe religious 90s films, usually used to tie up plot continuity issues. In the end, Michael's secret mission is to unite the characters Frank (played by William Hurt) and Dorothy (played by Andie MacDowell) in a romantic love they will treasure forever. Although it's a sweet but ultimately quite stupid film that uses half-baked angel powers as a cop out, MICHAEL is an extremely interesting study in trends of biblical imagery in mainstream pop culture of the recent past. View our full episode list and subscribe to any of our public feeds: http://boysbiblestudy.com Unlock 2+ bonus episodes per month: http://patreon.com/boysbiblestudy Subscribe to our Twitch for livestreams: http://twitch.tv/boysbiblestudy Follow us on Instagram: http://instagram.com/boysbiblestudy Follow us on Twitter: http://twitter.com/boysbiblestudy

This infamous sci-fi film is perhaps the church of Scientology's biggest attempt to ingratiate itself with mainstream culture. BATTLEFIELD EARTH is based on a novel by Scientology founder L. Ron Hubbard, whose end goal was to adapt this book into a Hollywood film. Hubbard made an attempt in the mid-1980s to produce the adaptation himself, but it failed, and Hubbard died in 1986. Hubbard had hinted to John Travolta, a prominent Scientologist, that Hubbard would have liked Travolta to star in the film. Travolta took it upon himself to bring BATTLEFIELD EARTH to life in the mid-90s, eventually co-producing and starring as Terl, the dreadlocked 9-foot-tall antagonist of the film. Travolta's character Terl is a “Psychlo”, a colonial race of humanoid aliens on a universe-wide mission to strip less powerful planets of their resources. 3000 years in the future, earth is one of these planets. Johnny Goodboy is a human “man-animal” living like a post apocalyptic caveman and being hunted by the Psychlos. When Terl meets Johnny, Terl enslaves the human, thinking him inferior, but Johnny quickly adapts to Psychlo civilization and reads the historical Declaration of Independence which inspires him to thwart his captors with a daring escape. Although BATTLEFIELD EARTH doesn't demonstrate much about the Scientologist doctrine, perhaps it proves that Hubbard's main spiritual goal was aimed at the lowest heights possible — achieve fame and attention in the Hollywood system.  View our full episode list and subscribe to any of our public feeds: http://boysbiblestudy.com Unlock 2+ bonus episodes per month: http://patreon.com/boysbiblestudy Subscribe to our Twitch for livestreams: http://twitch.tv/boysbiblestudy Follow us on Instagram: http://instagram.com/boysbiblestudy Follow us on Twitter: http://twitter.com/boysbiblestudy

Subscribe today for access to our full catalog of bonus episodes, including 2+ new episodes every month! www.patreon.com/boysbiblestudy We're back with coverage of TOUCHED BY AN ANGEL, the television series that may hold the key to understanding the American psyche once and for all. The popular 90s and 2000s era show uses an “angel of the week” format as each story is about different angels inflicting themselves upon the lives of hapless humans. This week we focus on SIGN OF THE DOVE, a dueling angel experience which interweaves stories of Andrew (angel of death, portrayed by John Dye) and Monica (the show's protagonist, played by Roma Downey) helping two humans whose life paths have woven for generations. Andrew tells us the story of a human family he's been taking to heaven since the 1200s, including delightful time travel skits in period costumes (such as Revolutionary War-era powdered wigs.) Ben Mason is the last of this family; unfortunately he doesn't know he's about to perish in a bombing by his neighbor Nick Freeman, who doesn't mean harm to Ben but wants to collect insurance money and will kill Ben by accident. The history of a freed African American slave could be the key that unlocks Nick's humanity and prevents him from setting the fateful bomb. While we're waiting at the edge of our seats, we ponder the angel logic of TBAA. Why don't angels drink alcohol? Why do they make themselves visible to some humans but not all? What is it they can really do? TOUCHED BY AN ANGEL reviews have become our favorite fodder for podcast episodes because they are so dense with insane moments and inconsistent world building. Hopefully our review of “The Sign of the Dove” will be one you write about in your family Bible to remember forever. View our full episode list and subscribe to any of our public feeds: http://boysbiblestudy.com Unlock 2+ bonus episodes per month: http://patreon.com/boysbiblestudy Subscribe to our Twitch for livestreams: http://twitch.tv/boysbiblestudy Follow us on Instagram: http://instagram.com/boysbiblestudy Follow us on Twitter: http://twitter.com/boysbiblestudy

This stylized post-apocalyptic thriller is a unique example of a mainstream Hollywood blockbuster with overtly Christian themes, even if it stops just short of a true Christian message. Directed by the Hughes Brothers (MENACE II SOCIETY, DEAD PRESIDENTS, FROM HELL) and starring beloved leading man Denzel Washington, THE BOOK OF ELI depicts the Bible as a source of tremendous power in a fallen world. Eli (Denzel Washington) is a survivor of a nuclear holocaust, wandering westward on a mysterious mission with few possessions except for a large book that he treasures. When Eli crosses paths with local warlord Carnegie (Gary Oldman), Carnegie suspects that Eli's book may be the Bible, which Carnegie himself has been seeking because he believes reading it will give him the power to control large groups of people. Carnegie is perhaps a metaphor for hypocritical conmen religious leaders who use Christianity as a way to acquire power and money, whereas Eli could represent Christ or even just a true honest believer who has made it his mission to spread faith into the world. This metaphor becomes even more clear when Eli's quest is revealed to be delivery of the Bible to an enclave of secret archivists who will reprint and preserve it forever. The authenticity of Eli's faith becomes even more clear when Carnegie does steal the Bible, only to be upset to find it is written in Braille, revealing Eli to have been blind the whole time. Despite being mortally wounded by Carnegie, Eli makes it to the archivists in time to speak the entire Bible to them as an oral tradition, ensuring its preservation. In the final scene of the movie, we see the archivists putting the newly reprinted Bible on a shelf alongside the Torah and the Quran. This ending, which is obviously inspired by the novel FAHRENHEIT 451 by Ray Bradbury, shows that THE BOOK OF ELI is not a truly Christian genre film — few faith-based films would equate the Bible and the Quran. To view THE BOOK OF ELI through the lens of faith-based film criticism is to see it as a religious cop out; hinting that the Bible is the source of spiritual truth but ultimately dismissing it as “just another book on a shelf.” View our full episode list and subscribe to any of our public feeds: http://boysbiblestudy.com Unlock 2+ bonus episodes per month: http://patreon.com/boysbiblestudy Subscribe to our Twitch for livestreams: http://twitch.tv/boysbiblestudy Follow us on Instagram: http://instagram.com/boysbiblestudy Follow us on Twitter: http://twitter.com/boysbiblestudy

We dip into cinematic classics of the silent age (before people learned how to talk) with 1923 classic SALOMÉ, co-directed by married couple Charles Bryant and Alla Nazimova. The latter stars as the titular SALOMÉ, a Bible character who has achieved historical infamy despite not being officially referred to by her first name. The story is provocative: a teenage princess dances seductively for her stepfather King Herod who promises her anything in reward; she picks the head of prophet John the Baptist, who is summarily executed and presented to her on a platter. Bryant and Nazimova's SALOMÉ takes cues from the Oscar Wilde play on the subject, adding extra-historical depth to the characters to portray Herod's throne in the throes of self destructive decadence. Male characters are simpering and devilishly gay (note that Alla Nazimova herself was openly bisexual, so this feels like intentional camp rather than homophobia.) Fashions are extravagant and imaginative, seeming both historical and futuristic. Physical acting is taken to extremes: SALOMÉ is a truly exciting watch, showcasing how much depth of character is possible from a silent film. To watch SALOMÉ is to not only experience an avant-garde take on Bible story, but also to see human ingenuity on full display with no boundaries to self expression despite limitations by emerging technology. Unrelated, in this episode the Bible Boys also discuss our new obsessions in ultra contemporary media: Harmony Korine's BABY INVASION and teen orthodox Jewish influencer Flynn Goldstein. View our full episode list and subscribe to any of our public feeds: http://boysbiblestudy.com Unlock 2+ bonus episodes per month: http://patreon.com/boysbiblestudy Subscribe to our Twitch for livestreams: http://twitch.tv/boysbiblestudy Follow us on Instagram: http://instagram.com/boysbiblestudy Follow us on Twitter: http://twitter.com/boysbiblestudy

Subscribe today for access to our full catalog of bonus episodes, including 2+ new episodes every month! www.patreon.com/boysbiblestudy If we had to nominate one piece of broadcast media to be “the best episode of television of all time”, in the shortlist would be this compelling TOUCHED BY AN ANGEL episode about human cloning, with a cameo by (an actor portraying) the legendary Albert Einstein. TBAA (as our listeners are well aware by this point) is a famous y2k era TV drama where a Greek chorus of angels inflict themselves upon humans going through moral crises. In this episode, a genetic scientist named Dr. Conover (portrayed by Annabella Sciorra who notably plays Gloria Trillo in THE SOPRANOS) is desperate for a child to call her own, so she fuses her personal longings with work and decides to give birth to a baby cloned from Albert Einstein. This doesn't sit right with our favorite angels, Monica, Tess, and Andrew, who see human cloning as sacrilegious means for humans to “play God.” Monica becomes a bioethicist to monitor the doctor closely; meanwhile Andrew and Tess go back in time to tend to the dying Albert Einstein in his final days of life, to show Dr. Conover that even a brilliant man like her idol Einstein would be conflicted by the harmful effects caused by his life's work. Like most TBAA episodes, “The Face of God” takes a hard ideological stance using incredibly convoluted evidence written by humans and delivered by fictional angels as a means to completely eschew narrative continuity and moral consistency. But UNLIKE most TBAA episodes, this one is the origin of the character Gloria (Valerie Bertinelli) who is by far our favorite angel and is created by God out of thin air in this episode as a “flex” by humans for wanting to make cloned animals. Get good! View our full episode list and subscribe to any of our public feeds: http://boysbiblestudy.com Unlock 2+ bonus episodes per month: http://patreon.com/boysbiblestudy Subscribe to our Twitch for livestreams: http://twitch.tv/boysbiblestudy Follow us on Instagram: http://instagram.com/boysbiblestudy Follow us on Twitter: http://twitter.com/boysbiblestudy

This Christian feature film about an aspiring DJ feels like a remake of the 2015 Zac Efron-fronted EDM movie WE ARE YOUR FRIENDS, but unfortunately is lacking a lot of substance both in its spiritual and musical themes. FACE THE BEAT is the story of Zack aka “ZDJ Grey”, a teenager who wants to escape the rat race by kickstarting his career as a DJ and music producer. The film uses a lot of EDM stock music to represent Zack's creative output, which confusingly runs the gamut from chill house to lo-fi hiphop. Zack's support system includes his divorced parents (a working-class nurse mother and a father who works in the music industry), his rich playboy friend Cooper who books him for gigs, and his vocalist girlfriend Ava who is played by notable Christian singer V. Rose. Zack feels discouraged in realizing his dream as a successful DJ, but eventually his dedication (and some crucial financial support from his father and Cooper) pay off to being discovered by a “music influencer” and artist representative at his first big gig, hinting toward a successful future in Christian music. You would think a movie like this would explore the sacrifices one must make to preserve personal faith in a secular industry, but it really doesn't do anything like that at all. However, the film did inspire us to ruminate on what it takes to actually be a career DJ. Our DJ friend Pretty R1cky (@sobasedsopretty) joined us in the studio to discuss Los Angeles DJ politics, music as a force that comes directly from God, and their viral crucifixion tattoo that has earned them internet infamy.  Stream "DJ" by Pretty R1cky feat. Ash Nerve on Spotify Follow Pretty R1cky on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/sobasedsopretty/ View our full episode list and subscribe to any of our public feeds: http://boysbiblestudy.com Unlock 2+ bonus episodes per month: http://patreon.com/boysbiblestudy Subscribe to our Twitch for livestreams: http://twitch.tv/boysbiblestudy Follow us on Instagram: http://instagram.com/boysbiblestudy Follow us on Twitter: http://twitter.com/boysbiblestudy

Subscribe today for access to our full catalog of bonus episodes, including 2+ new episodes every month! www.patreon.com/boysbiblestudy We were very intrigued to find out just how deep this cartoon anthology series of Bible stories would go into the story of Sodom. GREATEST HEROES AND LEGENDS OF THE BIBLE is a y2k era animated series of biblical stories tied together by live action segments hosted by none other than the legendary Charlton Heston. Heston is well known for his portrayal of Moses in THE TEN COMMANDMENTS, one of the most famous  Bible adaptations in American film history, so he's the closest thing we have to a primary source for life in Bible times. Heston delivers his narrator lines with the poise of an aged Hollywood legend, but the cartoons themselves are unremarkable and low budget, clearly cutting on key frames to save time and money. The low quality animation does a huge disservice to the tale of Abraham, one of the most notable characters in biblical history, who rejected idol worship and did the first circumcision. But all would have been redeemed if the cartoon were brave enough to condemn Sodom directly for the sin of homosexuality. Unfortunately, it does not — the most wickedness we see in Sodom is a man laughing at another man being whipped (non-sexually.) But the director of this series, William R. Kowalchuk, has a sexy secret: his only feature film credit is on an obscure Canadian soft core porn comedy called SUMMERLUST, which looks extremely stupid and is about two men going on a sexy fishing trip (finding hot babes, not fucking each other.) When will God destroy Canada for its sins of lust and pornography? View our full episode list and subscribe to any of our public feeds: http://boysbiblestudy.com Unlock 2+ bonus episodes per month: http://patreon.com/boysbiblestudy Subscribe to our Twitch for livestreams: http://twitch.tv/boysbiblestudy Follow us on Instagram: http://instagram.com/boysbiblestudy Follow us on Twitter: http://twitter.com/boysbiblestudy

Veteran Christian film director Rich Christiano is back with a riveting parable about a magician named Dexter whose life story is obviously meant to represent the life of Jesus. Dexter is a stage performer specializing in mentalism, drawing huge crowds with his special trick where he guesses audience members' secret words and then gives them extremely specific life advice. Dexter's advice is so good that audiences have started to believe he is a miracle worker. This draws the ire of the Pharisee-like Magicians' Association, an elite club trying to maintain the sanctity of stage magic, who believe Dexter is tainting the art form by refusing to deny claims of his own supernatural ability. The Association ambushes Dexter with a public test, which he passes, but is punished anyway in a shocking plot twist. We recommend fans of Rich Christiano (and his brother Dave) tune into this genuinely entertaining new drama to enjoy the surprise for themselves, but we at Boys' Bible Study will reveal that Rich Christiano is still in top form after over three decades of regular output in the faith-based movie space. We were a bit disappointed with 2020's PLAY THE FLUTE but thought MINDREADER was an exciting new entry in the virtuoso director's catalog. Joining us to review MINDREADER is our friend Brad Roelandt, a longtime associate of ours in the Los Angeles found footage comedy scene, whose feature-length found footage film IMG0000 (2023, co-directed with Collin Lapinsky) creates thrilling associations between thousands of unrelated unlabeled YouTube videos uploaded from phone cameras with default titles. Fast-paced editing weaves together the self-documented life stories of thousands of ordinary people, finding joy and order in the hilariously mundane chaos of human existence, the way a magician might reach into an empty hat and find a rabbit. Watch IMG0000: https://bradroelandt.com/img-0000 Watch JOEY EARNS REWARDS USING THE MCDONALD'S MOBILE APP: https://www.nobudge.com/videos/joey-earns-rewards-using-the-mcdonalds-mobile-app-megh-and-clev-discuss-their-future-together View our full episode list and subscribe to any of our public feeds: http://boysbiblestudy.com Unlock 2+ bonus episodes per month: http://patreon.com/boysbiblestudy Subscribe to our Twitch for livestreams: http://twitch.tv/boysbiblestudy Follow us on Instagram: http://instagram.com/boysbiblestudy Follow us on Twitter: http://twitter.com/boysbiblestudy

Subscribe today for access to our full catalog of bonus episodes, including 2+ new episodes every month! www.patreon.com/boysbiblestudy THE GUARDIAN (2012) & FOSTER CARE (2013) Inspired by our rediscovery of one of our favorite Christian directors on our episode last week with guest Louise Weard, we decided to spend this week immersing ourselves once again in Barbara Sundstrom's work, getting a few notches closer to having watched her entire catalog. Barbara Sundstrom is a Texas-based former youth film ministry director with a career spanning several features and shorts, primarily focused on empowering a youth cast and crew by giving teens real film production experience. Each one of Sundstrom's Cross Wind Productions films has a very unique story but tends to focus on “social realism” themes of sin and suffering among ordinary people. Sometimes, they dip into the supernatural: for example, 20 minute short film THE GUARDIAN, which is written by a film student of Sundstrom's, portrays a miracle that occurs when a “hobo” might be an angel in disguise. Christian teen Tara loses her father in a car crash but gets a second chance to say goodbye when she meets the homeless Leroy who coincidentally received Tara's father's eyes in a cornea transplant after the fateful accident. Faith also brings an orphaned teen to unlikely protectors in FOSTER CARE, a story by Sundstrom about how Christians' good intentions need follow-through to make a positive impact. When teen Bridgette is suddenly orphaned by her mother's intentional drug overdose, she is taken in by a family at her local church who aren't ready for the commitment they agreed to when housing a troubled teen. Bridgette fortunately is able to find herself with yet another more suitable couple in church, which has got to be one of the luckiest stories about the foster system ever told. Blurring the line between stark realism and complete fantasy, Barbara Sundstrom remains the kind of compelling voice in faith-based film that keeps us as Christian film podcasters hunting for the next big thing. View our full episode list and subscribe to any of our public feeds: http://boysbiblestudy.com Unlock 2+ bonus episodes per month: http://patreon.com/boysbiblestudy Subscribe to our Twitch for livestreams: http://twitch.tv/boysbiblestudy Follow us on Instagram: http://instagram.com/boysbiblestudy Follow us on Twitter: http://twitter.com/boysbiblestudy

This dark, gripping teen drama about a girl suffering from an eating disorder begins with a surreal carnival dream sequence where protagonist Nicole sees herself distorted in a funhouse mirror, seemingly instigating a pattern of binge-eating candy and purging. Stuck traveling in between the houses of her divorced parents, Nicole's disorder becomes life-threatening after an electrolyte imbalance causes her to faint while horseback riding on her father's remote ranch. Director Barbara Sundstrom is a lesser known but accomplished Christian film ministry director whose work we've celebrated for years on our podcast, especially her 2007 magnum opus THE SABER (about a marine recruit battling porn addiction.) Sundstrom does not shy away from intense themes in her work, which primarily stars the teenagers who work with her as a part of her film ministry project Cross Wind Productions. Teens deal with intense emotions, so Sundstrom must feel that teens can handle powerful artistic truths. The dark subject matter of IN THE MIRROR DIMLY combined with its forays into the surreal, sometimes intentionally and other times unintentionally through bizarre visual storytelling, make the film an essential watch for anyone who appreciates unique film experiences. Joining us for this week's review is another singular filmmaker, but from a very different realm: Canadian edgelord auteur Louise Weard, whose star is rising with the recent success of her crowdfunding campaign for upcoming feature CASTRATION MOVIE PT. II. This will be a sequel to CASTRATION MOVIE PT. I, which last weekend drew two nights of sold out crowds at screenings in the Los Angeles area. Taking a break from her touring schedule to join us in the studio, Louise discussed the parallels between IN THE MIRROR DIMLY and her own work (mainly, tons of vomit sequences) and also dropped hints that Christian influences might creep into her upcoming CASTRATION MOVIE sequel. Download Louise Weard's films CASTRATION MOVIE and COMPUTER HEARTS on Gumroad: http://louiseweard.gumroad.com View our full episode list and subscribe to any of our public feeds: http://boysbiblestudy.com Unlock 2+ bonus episodes per month: http://patreon.com/boysbiblestudy Subscribe to our Twitch for livestreams: http://twitch.tv/boysbiblestudy Follow us on Instagram: http://instagram.com/boysbiblestudy Follow us on Twitter: http://twitter.com/boysbiblestudy

Subscribe today for access to our full catalog of bonus episodes, including 2+ new episodes every month! www.patreon.com/boysbiblestudy We're getting deeper into our exploration of popular American TV with Christian themes, now scraping into this seemingly forgotten spinoff series of TOUCHED BY AN ANGEL, also created by TBAA executive producer Martha Williamson. PROMISED LAND launched with a “backdoor pilot” in the third season of TOUCHED BY AN ANGEL where audiences met their new favorite family: the Greenes (Dad Russell, mom Claire, son Josh, daughter Dinah, mother Hattie, and roguish redheaded nephew Nathaniel.) Recently homeless, the family decides to nomadically drive their trailer around America after being told by an angel that their purpose is to help others. The American promise is a major theme of PROMISED LAND, leaning more heavily into an explicit endorsement of American values than TOUCHED BY AN ANGEL ever does. In fact, pilot episode “The Expatriate” centers around the Greene family helping a man who is moving from America to New Zealand after suffering a spinal injury from gun violence. It seems reasonable that a man who suffered a traumatic injury might want a change of scenery, but the Greenes (and thereby the logic of the show's writers) seem to think it's a sin to abandon America. It's “ask not what your country can do for you, but what you can do for your country” taken to an extreme and delusional degree, with the Greenes adding value to America by inflicting themselves on average people's lives who hold reasonable opinions. To get a broader sense of the vibe of PROMISED LAND, we also watch a late series episode where the show has completely abandoned the trailer-roaming angle of the show and the Greenes have settled down in Denver, CO. In the episode “What's in a Word?” Nathaniel overhears cool black teenagers saying the “soft ‘a' n-word” among themselves and, innocently not understanding the racial context, repeats this word to his own black friend in school the next day. This causes a massive stir within his community and ignites a conversation, poorly handled by the show's writers, about racial dynamics in America. The conclusion? America is the greatest country on earth, no matter the cost. View our full episode list and subscribe to any of our public feeds: http://boysbiblestudy.com Unlock 2+ bonus episodes per month: http://patreon.com/boysbiblestudy Subscribe to our Twitch for livestreams: http://twitch.tv/boysbiblestudy Follow us on Instagram: http://instagram.com/boysbiblestudy Follow us on Twitter: http://twitter.com/boysbiblestudy

Prayer, Love, Unity, Respect: in this topical episode of popular 90s/y2k era TV drama TOUCHED BY AN ANGEL, angel-in-training Gloria goes to a rave and actually does ecstasy with the human teen boy she's supposed to be protecting. Raves were a huge point of anxiety in pop culture in the y2k era. Although their colorful futurism and utopian optimism inspired a generation of media and fashion, people also had safety concerns about the newfound popularity of club drugs like ecstasy, leading to a large-scale moral panic. In the U.S. in 2003, then-Senator Joe Biden co-sponsored the RAVE Act (Reducing American's Vulnerability to Ecstasy) aimed at bringing harsh legal punishment not just to drug dealers but also party promotors. It's no wonder then that the writers of TOUCHED BY AN ANGEL felt they had to get the angels to mission to ravers directly: rave media is great fodder for exploitation, titillating with radical imagery only to deliver an anti-fun message. In HEAVEN'S PORTAL, angels Tess, Monica, Andrew, and Gloria meet a teen named Nick who is upset with his parents' separation and has taken to smoking weed and looking at websites about techno. When he gets info about rave 40 miles away, he drives there with the gullible Gloria, who was only crated by God recently and knows little about the world. Immediately, friendly ravers in silly costumes hand them pills to try. What happens when an angel takes ecstasy? Does the world end? We invite our good friend Woodrow White, an artist and scholar of rave-themed media, to return to the show to debate moral dilemmas about raves, pleasure, and sin. Follow Woodrow on Instagram: https://instagram.com/woodrow_white/ View our full episode list and subscribe to any of our public feeds: http://boysbiblestudy.com Unlock 2+ bonus episodes per month: http://patreon.com/boysbiblestudy Subscribe to our Twitch for livestreams: http://twitch.tv/boysbiblestudy Follow us on Instagram: http://instagram.com/boysbiblestudy Follow us on Twitter: http://twitter.com/boysbiblestudy

Subscribe today for access to our full catalog of bonus episodes, including 2+ new episodes every month! www.patreon.com/boysbiblestudy Our new favorite classic television series is WALKER, TEXAS RANGER, a thrilling and campy show starring action film hero Chuck Norris in one of his most legendary roles. It's a police procedural with the unique twist of depicting Texas Rangers as being skilled in martial arts and frequently involved in supernatural or otherwise extraordinary plots involving elements such as hostile Native American ghosts, white supremacist gangs, time travel, and deadly poison gas. We at Boys' Bible Study have also recently been TOUCHED BY AN ANGEL, an intriguing companion piece because both shows were extremely popular 90s/y2k era franchises that blend conservative cultural values with pulpy, supernatural plot lines. This is evident in the WALKER episode we focus on for this week's review: PARADISE TRAIL is a story where Walker and friends are being read a story about a 19th century bounty hunter in the Old West guiding a wagon crew of Mormon settlers crossing treacherous wilderness to get to Utah. The WALKER cast imagine themselves in various roles of the story, singing hymns and cooking meals with their pure and extremely Aryan-looking Mormon friends. The episode actually borrows plot points from real historic episodes involving Mormon settlers in the U.S., but like all good propaganda, misrepresents and distorts information to protect the honor of its sympathetic subjects; in this case, white American Christians. WALKER, TEXAS RANGER is much more successful than the Christian movies we usually watch at distilling Christian conservative values while still having broad cultural appeal. View our full episode list and subscribe to any of our public feeds: http://boysbiblestudy.com Unlock 2+ bonus episodes per month: http://patreon.com/boysbiblestudy Subscribe to our Twitch for livestreams: http://twitch.tv/boysbiblestudy Follow us on Instagram: http://instagram.com/boysbiblestudy Follow us on Twitter: http://twitter.com/boysbiblestudy

We are so thrilled to celebrate the 5 year anniversary of Boys' Bible Study with you that nothing could hold us back — not even all the plagues and natural disasters God could throw at us as if to say, “It is not a very good idea for you spend this much time on your blasphemous podcast.” We attempted to record this episode two weeks ago, and right as we went to take a break, the power went off at Ash's apartment, which led to a saga where Julian and Ash and many of our fellow Los Angeles friends had to evacuate the city to flee wildfires. But like Job, we endured our hardships and came back with our faith restored, ready to ask the hard questions that came up from yet another year of watching Christian films. For instance: what ultra-specific sect of Christianity can I join to further alienate me from my friends and loved ones? If Christ is dead, then why did He hug me in the bathroom? Should I install the “kill kill kill command” in my brand new robot? As is our tradition for celebrating another lap around the sun as a podcast, we spend the first half of the episode discussing the major themes we encountered in the previous year's viewing, and then we honor Christian film excellence by giving out Golden Calf Awards in categories of our own choosing. Stay tuned to the 2nd half of the episode to see who won our 2024 Best Picture award. For those who dutifully tuned into the show over the past year, we think you'll agree with our decision.  View our full episode list and subscribe to any of our public feeds: http://boysbiblestudy.com Unlock 2+ bonus episodes per month: http://patreon.com/boysbiblestudy Subscribe to our Twitch for livestreams: http://twitch.tv/boysbiblestudy Follow us on Instagram: http://instagram.com/boysbiblestudy Follow us on Twitter: http://twitter.com/boysbiblestudy

Subscribe today for access to our full catalog of bonus episodes, including 2+ new episodes every month! www.patreon.com/boysbiblestudy As we await the great new Christian film of 2025, we realize there are still quite a few new offerings from last year that we at Boys' Bible Study haven't yet reviewed. Meet director Mignon Pinson, a faith-based film auteur as of yet unfamiliar to us, who seems to have begun her career in 2020 with a series of shorts and then a string of features primarily focusing on black Christian family life. MY PRIVATE LINE TO GOD is her latest film, which appears to be inspired by the famous verses Matthew 18-20 “Where two or three are gathered in the name…” It uses an adoption story to enforce key themes about the power of prayer and the importance of nuclear families attending church together. Married Christian couple Janice and Calvin are overjoyed to adopt their daughter, Joy, after being unable to have a child themselves. Joy is the answer to all of their prayers, but it seems that settling into life as parents causes them to take their blessings for granted. The couple start bickering about relatively minor things such as how many guests to invite to Joy's 7th birthday party. Janice stops going to church because she becomes convinced the pastor “only cares about the tithes.” This confuses Joy, who retreats into prayer by calling God directly on the brand new phone she receives as a birthday gift. MY PRIVATE LINE TO GOD ends up being a film about how the precocious and sincere prayers of a faithful little girl can work real world miracles. It's a wholesome Christian family film, but not without its narrative inconsistencies: Janice and Calvin's fights are completely arbitrary and their stated viewpoints are frequently conflicting dialogue from earlier in the film. Dialogue is often delivered in a stilted tone that feels inhuman and unrealistic. Still, we're always excited and intrigued to add a new directorial voice to the BBS “pantheon” and think Ms. Pinson has a lot to contribute to the faith-based film scene as a contemporary 2020s voice. View our full episode list and subscribe to any of our public feeds: http://boysbiblestudy.com Unlock 2+ bonus episodes per month: http://patreon.com/boysbiblestudy Subscribe to our Twitch for livestreams: http://twitch.tv/boysbiblestudy Follow us on Instagram: http://instagram.com/boysbiblestudy Follow us on Twitter: http://twitter.com/boysbiblestudy

Due to evacuating from the Los Angeles fires, for the first time ever in our 5 year run as a show, we were unable to deliver a new weekly episode. Instead, please enjoy this unlocked bonus episode from our Patreon vaults of one of our favorite things we watched in 2024. We are actually working on our special 5 year anniversary roundup/clip show, so we'll be back soon with brand new content. Thanks so much for your support! --- One of the most bizarre and singular pieces of Christian media we've ever watched is this dreamlike documentary from the minds of father/daughter writer/director team Derek and Vanessa Frank, who assembled some of the biggest names in Christian film history to shake the Protestant Reformation down to the “demonic conspiracy” at its very core:  the anti-Semitic teachings of Martin Luther and John Calvin. In LET THE LION ROAR, Kevin Sorbo, Stephen Baldwin, Eric Roberts, John Schneider, and young up-and-comer Ben Davies star as 16th-century European historical figures who don funny hats and monologue their virulently anti-Semitic views to the camera for extended scenes, some lasting for several minutes at a time. Writer Derek Frank believes that the major weakness  that plagues Protestantism is its insufficient respect for the Jewish faith and an unwillingness for the Christian church to become fully “grafted into Israel.” Mr. Frank has written five more “theses,” to add to Martin Luther's famous 95 Theses of 1517, that propose full deference to Jews from Protestants that he hopes will heal Christianity and save it from vague, unitarian sluggishness that he reads as weakness. This is an ambitious and extremely boring goal to try to sell to an audience, but the Franks make it fun with uncanny corporate stock footage and a series of costume changes that make Derek Frank look like the Architect from The Matrix, if that character were a hardcore Zionist. In general, Derek Frank's extreme passion for his case of “finishing” the Protestant Reformation is what sells this documentary — he gazes directly at the audience severely like a cat that has just cornered a mouse and wants to talk to it about Israel for an hour before dealing the death blow that will wipe it out of existence forever. The Lion of Judah is a lion after all, and Derek Frank teaches us that to hammer your point home, you must approach your argument with the ferocity of an apex predator. View our full episode list and subscribe to any of our public feeds: http://boysbiblestudy.com Unlock 2+ bonus episodes per month: http://patreon.com/boysbiblestudy Subscribe to our Twitch for livestreams: http://twitch.tv/boysbiblestudy Follow us on Instagram: http://instagram.com/boysbiblestudy Follow us on Twitter: http://twitter.com/boysbiblestudy

Subscribe today for access to our full catalog of bonus episodes, including 2+ new episodes every month! www.patreon.com/boysbiblestudy There's a chance that the long-running CBS drama TOUCHED BY AN ANGEL is responsible for the contemporary American spiritual sickness as it manifests today. (Even if that's not true, it feels true, and that's what's important.) The extremely popular y2k era TV show depicts a troupe of angels trying to help humans on earth while adhering to a weird corporate power structure that dominates life in heaven. Tess (Della Reese) is the mother angel; Monica (Roma Downey) is a “search and rescue” angel who reports to her; Gloria (Valerie Bertinelli) is training for life on 21st century earth and is really bad at it; Andrew (John Dye) is an angel of death. Together they are case workers helping humans in need. We've previously reviewed another season 8 episode “Chutzpah” where the gang of angels meet a self-hating Jewish antisemitic cartoonist. Today we review “Minute by Minute”, where a nun with a dark past must prevent a Columbine-style bombing of a Catholic school before it's too late. Time is of the essence, but you wouldn't know it from the angels in this episode, who spend tons of time frittering away at the local diner or refusing to use their powers to even encourage a human to pull the fire alarm or call the police. The lore of how angels are allowed to interfere with human lives in this show is incredibly confusing, especially noticeable when trying to prevent a mass casualty event. That's why MINUTE BY MINUTE is an incredible piece of television that has undeniably influenced the way Americans view Christianity. Angels in American life are beautiful and wholesome yet ideologically confused, clumsy poltergeists. View our full episode list and subscribe to any of our public feeds: http://boysbiblestudy.com Unlock 2+ bonus episodes per month: http://patreon.com/boysbiblestudy Subscribe to our Twitch for livestreams: http://twitch.tv/boysbiblestudy Follow us on Instagram: http://instagram.com/boysbiblestudy Follow us on Twitter: http://twitter.com/boysbiblestudy

With Christmas season suddenly in our rearview mirrors, it's time to move foward and acknowledge that we are one year closer to Jesus's return. Something about the year number switching on Jan. 1 feels very apocalyptic, so we return to rapture themes in Christian media with the obscure and extremely entertaining THE GATHERING. Director Danny Carrales is an artist we respect for his work on a few key features in the faith-based film scene, especially his most recent CGI-heavy work HEAVEN'S WAR (2018). We also look forward to formally reviewing ESCAPE FROM HELL, a film we like but haven't covered yet, which is directed by Carrales and also stars hunky Christian leading man Daniel Kruse who appears in several Carrales features from the 2000s and seems to be a muse of his. Daniel Kruse had a stint in the 2000s as a TV and film actor both in secular and Christian spheres; he brings his soap opera gravitas to his role as Michael in THE GATHERING, a high-powered white collar worker in the corporate world who has a “come to Jesus” moment and begins to suspect his company has a foundational role in the coming of the Antichrist and the New World Order. Michael is also visited by several apocalyptic visions that convince him Jesus's return is imminent. These revelations come much to the chagrin of his wife Lisa, who feels jealous at the newfound role of Jesus in Michael's life. Lisa's mother Alex is also threatened by Michael's Christianity, since she is an avowed atheist college professor who delights in owning her pathetic Christian undergrad students with logic and reason (as professors frequently do in these movies.) But when Alex and Lisa start experiencing visions of their own, the promise of Jesus's second coming is too powerful even for them to ignore. THE GATHERING is a well paced and pulpy rapture thriller that we recommend for it's over-the-top dialogue and one of the best “characters discover a scary website” scenes in all of Christian media. View our full episode list and subscribe to any of our public feeds: http://boysbiblestudy.com Unlock 2+ bonus episodes per month: http://patreon.com/boysbiblestudy Subscribe to our Twitch for livestreams: http://twitch.tv/boysbiblestudy Follow us on Instagram: http://instagram.com/boysbiblestudy Follow us on Twitter: http://twitter.com/boysbiblestudy

Respect for CEOs is at an all time high this holiday season, so there's no better time to enjoy this Hallmark movie about corporate hierarchy. Christmas (that's her name!) is the high powered girl-boss CEO of CJ Toys, a company she co-founded with her former best friend John, who left the company because he felt that maximizing profits impacted the wholesome mission of making toys. Anyone who has ever watched a Hallmark movie knows that what a successful woman needs is a free-spirited man to chill her out a bit, so it's no surprise that CHRISTMAS CEO is about the rekindling of Christmas and John's friendship into a romance of opposites. Hallmark movies reinforce traditional gender roles by pretending to break them. Women are go-getters in the corporate world while men have abdicated breadwinner status to enjoy independent yet domestic lives. However, man and woman's souls are empty without each other, and it's clear that each party's charming quirks are merely cope for anxieties of not being able to live up to their sexual stereotypes. CHRISTMAS CEO concludes with John giving Christmas an ultimatum to choose between her lifelong dream job or romance with him, and of course she chooses him! CHRISTMAS CEO is typical brainless Hallmark fun for the whole family that makes being a CEO look really easy as long as you don't get on the wrong person's “naughty list.” View our full episode list and subscribe to any of our public feeds: http://boysbiblestudy.com Unlock 2+ bonus episodes per month: http://patreon.com/boysbiblestudy Subscribe to our Twitch for livestreams: http://twitch.tv/boysbiblestudy Follow us on Instagram: http://instagram.com/boysbiblestudy Follow us on Twitter: http://twitter.com/boysbiblestudy  

Subscribe today for access to our full catalog of bonus episodes, including 2+ new episodes every month! www.patreon.com/boysbiblestudy We pride ourselves on staying on the cutting edge of Christmas movies, especially those made for Christians by Christians. That's why we were excited to visit our local theater to see the new, widely-released Dallas Jenkins film based on the popular children's novel of the same name. Originally authored by Barbara Robinson in 1972, THE BEST CHRISTMAS PAGEANT EVER tells the story of the Herdman family, affectionately dubbed “the worst kids in the world”. The Herdmans effectively run their small town of Emmanuel because no one can control their bad behavior. The town always had a sanctuary away from the mischief in church, but this seal was broken when the Herdman kids discovered the free snacks offered and insisted on participating in the yearly Christmas pageant. A cherished town tradition in Emmanuel, the Herdmans risk destroying the Christmas Pageant through their destructive irreverence, but instead their sincere, outsider curiosity about Christianity ends up winning over the hearts and minds of the rest of the congregation, creating a special memory of THE BEST CHRISTMAS PAGEANT EVER. Director Dallas Jenkins (son of Jerry B. Jenkins, co-author of the original LEFT BEHIND book series) was apparently so passionate about bringing THE BEST CHRISTMAS PAGEANT EVER to life on film that he set a daily reminder in his phone to pray for acquiring the rights to the story. It's a shame that this passion didn't manifest in the final project, which is styled so blandly and portrayed so literally to the text that the story comes across as cruel and inhumane toward the Herdmans instead of whimsical.  View our full episode list and subscribe to any of our public feeds: http://boysbiblestudy.com Unlock 2+ bonus episodes per month: http://patreon.com/boysbiblestudy Subscribe to our Twitch for livestreams: http://twitch.tv/boysbiblestudy Follow us on Instagram: http://instagram.com/boysbiblestudy Follow us on Twitter: http://twitter.com/boysbiblestudy

Christmas season 2024 is here! As usual, we at Boys' Bible Study will be spending all of December pondering the reason for the season with Christmas movies made by Christian directors. We're huge fans of director Chip Rossetti, but so far we've only ever watched his films written by and starring the singular Donald James Parker, aka “Gramps” (such as GRAMPS GOES TO COLLEGE, which we love.) So, to kick off the new Christmas season, we took a chance on a script written by Rossetti himself… and we were not disappointed. In fact, we were thrilled. THE BORROWED CHRISTMAS is a wholesome and hilarious watch about a man who makes insane life decisions and a woman who loves him for it. John Dale is a lonely rich man who dreams of the “Normal Rockwell Christmases” of his past but can no longer access the vibe due to grief over the death of his parents. He stumbles into Anne Weston's store, whose business it is to “rent everything”, and John asks Anne to rent him the perfect Christmas. Money is no object. He asks for a wife, five kids, and carolers… the works! Anne is clearly intrigued by this handsome eccentric and sets out upon her greatest challenge yet. She secures (traffics?) orphans from the nearby orphanage to portray the kids and casts herself as the wife role after she is unable to hire an actor from the nearby Actors' Guild (?). The Christmas that transpires is perfect in every way and ends up making a consequential impact on the life of John Dale, his two spacey maids, and everyone involved in the production. THE BORROWED CHRISTMAS is fun, snappy, and ethically dubious, so we can't think of a better start to your Christmas season then to gather in the TV room and watch this with all of your favorite orphans. View our full episode list and subscribe to any of our public feeds: http://boysbiblestudy.com Unlock 2+ bonus episodes per month: http://patreon.com/boysbiblestudy Subscribe to our Twitch for livestreams: http://twitch.tv/boysbiblestudy Follow us on Instagram: http://instagram.com/boysbiblestudy Follow us on Twitter: http://twitter.com/boysbiblestudy

Subscribe today for access to our full catalog of bonus episodes, including 2+ new episodes every month! www.patreon.com/boysbiblestudy Intermission is over! We return back to the 7TH STREET THEATER to watch  our favorite stories about the fictional lives of Christian stage actors. This meta-media soap opera by Dave Christiano has always been one of the biggest examples of Christian fantasy to us, because it imagines a world where a Christian theater would be popular and high-earning enough to keep drawing in crowds week after week. We did an episode on 7TH STREET THEATER a few years ago where we covered more of the background about this show. We've basically forgotten all of our research since then, so we decided instead to focus on a four episode storyline called “THE LETTER”. In this arc, Christian stage actress Andi gets an admiring fan letter from a man who says he sees her show every week and has been praying to God for a Christian woman to enter his life. Andi has never seen this man, but his letters fill her with a mixture of excitement and confusion, especially when he says he is “attracted to her in every way.” Andi's coworkers at the theater seem unreasonably excited for her and practically beg her to meet the guy, but Andi has doubt and decides to pray to God about it, resulting in a confusing plot-line about prayer as magical thinking. The admirer asks Andi to send a signal to him from the stage, but Andi's signal is thwarted unknowingly by her cast members, blocking the meeting. Is this really a sign from God, or is it the beginning stages of mental illness? Almost every aspect of this scenario, from Andi's reaction, to her coworkers' reactions, to the insane letters themselves, seems wildly off base for how someone in real life would handle this situation. It's a pretty bizarre plot from a show that usually tries to be as tediously realistic as possible. That's why there's no better introduction to prolific Christian creator Dave Christiano's mind than THE LETTER.  View our full episode list and subscribe to any of our public feeds: http://boysbiblestudy.com Unlock 2+ bonus episodes per month: http://patreon.com/boysbiblestudy Subscribe to our Twitch for livestreams: http://twitch.tv/boysbiblestudy Follow us on Instagram: http://instagram.com/boysbiblestudy Follow us on Twitter: http://twitter.com/boysbiblestudy

This amateur but ambitious work of CGI animation has developed a cult following online for its bizarre aesthetics. JOSHUA AND THE PROMISED LAND is the passion project of animator Jim Lion. Coincidentally (or not?) all of the heroic characters in the film are anthropomorphic lions. The film centers around Joshua, a young lion living in modern times. His bickering parents ask him to get out of the way as they prepare dinner, so Joshua goes to his room and uses his vivid childlike imagination and the powers of his imaginary best friend Chris (a floating dog made out of TV static) to warp back in time to the Old Testament era. Joshua and Chris meet Moses and join his wandering band of Israelites in the desert hunting for the Promised Land, and protagonist Joshua becomes the Joshua of the Bible, mentored by Moses to take over leadership of the Israelites after Moses's death. Joshua rises to the challenge and prepares for battle with the walled city of Jericho, one of the most famous Old Testament stories from Joshua 6. Jim Lion built a legitimately fascinating visual world of CGI for these famous bible characters to inhabit. The smooth, simple polygons and bright colors of Lion's visual language are a powerful tool for communicating the surreal awe of Old Testament stories. The Old Testament is very hard to depict visually because the huge scope of its supernatural stories of death and destruction don't get a lot of breathing room within the Bible's terse, compact prose. It's obvious that JOSHUA AND THE PROMISED LAND is not an “accurate” depiction of these happenings, but the film does faithfully translate how seeing these events unfold with your own eyes would completely break your brain. View our full episode list and subscribe to any of our public feeds: http://boysbiblestudy.com Unlock 2+ bonus episodes per month: http://patreon.com/boysbiblestudy Subscribe to our Twitch for livestreams: http://twitch.tv/boysbiblestudy Follow us on Instagram: http://instagram.com/boysbiblestudy Follow us on Twitter: http://twitter.com/boysbiblestudy

Forget French body horror or the return of Francis Ford Coppola: real heads know the cinematic event of 2024 was this star-studded retelling of the life of REAGAN. With experienced director Sean McNamara at the helm (ON A WING AND A PRAYER, BRATZ, THE EVEN STEVENS MOVIE) we at Boys' Bible Study were confident this film's depiction of Ronald Reagan would be respectful and thorough. Besides, many Americans are gearing up to vote in the most consequential election of our lifetimes, so it felt only right to review REAGAN and look back at the political values we cherish from our recent past as inspiration for casting our ballots. Dennis Quaid stars as Reagan using what appears to be a combination of prosthetics and digital de-aging (for Reagan's younger years) that creates an otherworldly effect. He's joined by other “who's whos” of conservative Hollywood (Jon Voight, Robert Davi, Kevin Sorbo, Marshall Teague, and more) as well as some other surprising cameos. We were particularly excited to see Scott Stapp (former lead singer of Creed) in a quick cameo as Frank Sinatra. Much of REAGAN is re-told through grating narration of Jon Voight doing a bad Russian accent, representing the Soviet agents and politicians who the film claims monitored Reagan's every move during his life, disturbed by his crusade against communism. REAGAN takes a nonstop glowing tone in its framing of the conservative president's life and actions; everything Reagan done is perfect and in deliberate service to his master plan to fight the Soviets. Even the big bowls of jellybeans Reagan was known for keeping in the White House were a clever personality test for evaluating his cabinet, by seeing which flavors they chose. It seems clear that the REAGAN film is a piece of cultural warfare trying to inject some positive reviews of conservatism into the popular mindset, made by Hollywood conservatives who might relate to Reagan's own background as an actor. Ultimately, this choice to uplift Reagan's career at all costs makes the film a laughably ridiculous puff piece. Whatever your political values, t's simply not serious to reduce the life of a consequential politician to the level of complication of a YA novel. View our full episode list and subscribe to any of our public feeds: http://boysbiblestudy.com Unlock 2+ bonus episodes per month: http://patreon.com/boysbiblestudy Subscribe to our Twitch for livestreams: http://twitch.tv/boysbiblestudy Follow us on Instagram: http://instagram.com/boysbiblestudy Follow us on Twitter: http://twitter.com/boysbiblestudy

Subscribe today for access to our full catalog of bonus episodes, including 2+ new episodes every month! www.patreon.com/boysbiblestudy In Bible verse Matthew 18:20, Jesus says, “For where two or three are gathered in my name, there I am with them.” To which we ask: two or what? G-g-g-ghosts? This Christian horror film featuring a predominantly black cast gets a touch of celebrity from notable costars Luenell and Faizon Love. It's the only feature film directed by Roy Belfrey, and although it's competently shot with some genuinely scary special effects, it suffers from narrative weakness by not coherently connecting the film's haunting to its overtly Christian message. The film centers around a recent high school graduate named Michelle who has perfect grades and a hardworking drive that gets her a full ride scholarship to a pre-med program at a college in Minneapolis, MN. Although her tight-knit Christian family has trepidations about letting their baby stray so far from the nest, they relent because the family happens to own property in the city. Unfortunately, this property has a problem: a ghost problem. It appears to be haunted by the spirits of Russian women who were killed on the property 100 years or so ago after refusing to cell their house to greedy businessmen. The haunting of the Wilshire house escalates the tensions explored in the film between the natural world and the spiritual world; Michelle is always trying to convince her superstitious family that there is a rational explanation for everything, but even Michelle can't explain the terrifying things happening to her. Finally, the haunting drives Michelle back with her loving family, although it's unclear to us what Michelle learned from the experience, and how anything the film showed us has to do with the Bible verse Matthew 18:20, which was supposed to be the focal point. We at Boys' Bible Study are still in search for a Christian horror film that threads the needle of its messaging instead of choosing style over substance. View our full episode list and subscribe to any of our public feeds: http://boysbiblestudy.com Unlock 2+ bonus episodes per month: http://patreon.com/boysbiblestudy Subscribe to our Twitch for livestreams: http://twitch.tv/boysbiblestudy Follow us on Instagram: http://instagram.com/boysbiblestudy Follow us on Twitter: http://twitter.com/boysbiblestudy

Christian filmmaking auteur Kenya Cagle consistently stuns us with his ambitious, surreal features that stretch the possibilities of narrative. We at Boys' Bible Study are addicted to reviewing his films; this is our fifth selection of Cagle's, including FATHER DAD, MY KING, THIRTEEN MONTHS, and arguably his magnum opus THE BOY WHO SAW CHRIST. All of these films will surprise you with riveting plot twists and cryptic dialogue. SIN APPLE was perfectly suited to our month spotlighting Christian horror because it portrayed a malicious “obeah” witch named Madam Latasha and her evil love curses that work so well, their victims will do anything to break them. Protagonist Richard is obsessed with a woman named Lola so much that he asks Latasha to cast an unbreakable obsession spell. He then follows Latasha's instructions by taking a selfie with Lola after the curse is in effect, disposing of the phone afterwards. But Richard messes up and his auntie Rhonda unknowingly retrieves the enchanted smartphone. Hell literally breaks loose as Richard gets devil eyes and goes on a murder spree around both Las Vegas and New York City. Sin City… and the Big Apple? Sin… apple… it's all coming together. View our full episode list and subscribe to any of our public feeds: http://boysbiblestudy.com Unlock 2+ bonus episodes per month: http://patreon.com/boysbiblestudy Subscribe to our Twitch for livestreams: http://twitch.tv/boysbiblestudy Follow us on Instagram: http://instagram.com/boysbiblestudy Follow us on Twitter: http://twitter.com/boysbiblestudy

Subscribe today for access to our full catalog of bonus episodes, including 2+ new episodes every month! www.patreon.com/boysbiblestudy This stylish Christian horror film, possibly inspired by the SILENT HILL franchise, is based on a novel co-authored by the two titans of Christian supernatural fiction: Frank Peretti and Ted Dekker. These writers each sold millions of copies of their respective books throughout the 2000s, identifying and filling a niche for Christian supernatural thriller literature with exciting stories that still promoted a wholesome message. HOUSE is a collaboration between Peretti and Dekker, adapted into a feature film by director Robby Henson (THR3E) in a very lurid, saturated way that nowadays feels dated to the late 2000s, and could have been influenced by the burgeoning video game adaptation genre of cinema at the time. HOUSE as a film has interesting ideas but is barely held together with no narrative follow through. A couple experiencing domestic issues gets into literally three or four car crashes within the first ten minutes of the film, then stumble upon a remote cabin hotel with eccentric hosts who try to kill the couple before telling them the legend of the Tin Man, a psycho wearing a wooden mask who claims to have killed God. Weird southern gothic set dressing and video game-style quests hurtle the plot toward a disappointing climax where (spoiler alert) the Tin Man is defeated by light. It's barely coherent and barely Christian, and doesn't compare to other Peretti film adaptations we enjoyed such as HANGMAN'S CURSE (2003), but at least it's weird and funny with bold, bright colors that remind us how Christian cinema tried to merge with the secular in the chaotic and very silly decade of the 2000s. View our full episode list and subscribe to any of our public feeds: http://boysbiblestudy.com Unlock 2+ bonus episodes per month: http://patreon.com/boysbiblestudy Subscribe to our Twitch for livestreams: http://twitch.tv/boysbiblestudy Follow us on Instagram: http://instagram.com/boysbiblestudy Follow us on Twitter: http://twitter.com/boysbiblestudy

This Christian domestic horror begins with happy newlyweds Grant and Christie planning their new life together in the small Virginia town of Courtland, not knowing that their inability to understand each other will soon be the catalyst to disturbing supernatural events that will tear their relationship apart forever. Grant seems excited to provide for Christie at his new job fixing up foreclosed and abandoned houses, but is much less enthusiastic to fix up their own home with tons of problems, including a hole in the ceiling and a snake infestation. Grant's inaction has effectively made Christie a prisoner in her own home;  when her car breaks down and Grant gets mad at her for nagging him to fix it, Christie is left unable to go job hunting or even to the grocery store. But is this by Grant's design? Meanwhile, Grant's Bible study group is having discussions on the “curse of Eve” and Christie is beginning to see ghostly apparitions around their property. THE CURSE OF EVE is one of the most interesting Christian films we've watched for our podcast because it's not just meant to flatter its Christian audience, but offers a feminist critique of Christian social groups. This is rare for a genre of movies that thrives on its own persecution within secular pop culture, feeling like it's always under attack from the world, so why point out its own insular problems? We at BBS consider Jasmine Deanne Andrews one of the most intriguing and talented DIY filmmakers in the faith-based genre right now not only for her compelling storytelling but also for her creative and sometimes truly bizarre take on digital cinematography.  View our full episode list and subscribe to any of our public feeds: http://boysbiblestudy.com Unlock 2+ bonus episodes per month: http://patreon.com/boysbiblestudy Subscribe to our Twitch for livestreams: http://twitch.tv/boysbiblestudy Follow us on Instagram: http://instagram.com/boysbiblestudy Follow us on Twitter: http://twitter.com/boysbiblestudy

The newest film by the legendary Kendrick brothers, currently playing in theaters, feels impeccably focus-grouped for maximum impact of a Christian movie in 2024. We're not surprised that director Alex Kendrick and producer Stephen Kendrick were able to create another competent and successful Christian film. They have a history of huge box office success stories on relatively low budgets, including WAR ROOM (2015) which notably became the #1 film in America during its second week of release. On a reported budget of $5 million, THE FORGE has already grossed $26 million in its first month, which is huge in the faith-based genre. THE FORGE seems like a spiritual sequel to WAR ROOM; it casts a lot of the same actors from WAR ROOM in extremely similar roles, including Priscilla Shirer (daughter of mega-church pastor Tony Evans) as a strong but exasperated mother struggling with family issues. In THE FORGE, newcomer Aspen Kennedy plays recent high school graduate Isaiah Wright, a directionless 19-year-old without a father who is unemployed and seems to have no passions in life beyond video games and basketball. When he gets a part time job at local business Moore Fitness, CEO Joshua Moore (played by Cameron Arnett) takes Isaiah under his wing and becomes the father he never had. With the help of an exclusive Christian men's club called “The Forge”, Isaiah finally feels motivation to become the man he has always wanted to be. But unspoken in the film's plot is how the setting of THE FORGE, Moore Fitness, is meant to resemble an Amazon fulfillment warehouse. THE FORGE attempts to bring dignity and motivation to fulfillment center employees through an unimaginable plot line where Isaiah and his coworkers volunteer to work a 24 hour shift to save the company. Sadly, this feels laughably out of touch for a film that otherwise does an eerily good job of elevating the mundane of an everyday Christian's life in today's fallen world. View our full episode list and subscribe to any of our public feeds: http://boysbiblestudy.com Unlock 2+ bonus episodes per month: http://patreon.com/boysbiblestudy Subscribe to our Twitch for livestreams: http://twitch.tv/boysbiblestudy Follow us on Instagram: http://instagram.com/boysbiblestudy Follow us on Twitter: http://twitter.com/boysbiblestudy

Body swapping is a time-honored film trope, especially in family-friendly inspirational comedies, where a character might “wish upon a star” to switch lives with someone who makes them jealous. Since God can make anything possible through prayer, Christian genre films are a perfect fit for this concept. SWITCHED lulls its audience into a false sense of security by beginning as one might expect a Christian teen body swap movie to go: a socially anxious Christian girl named Cassandra prays her school bully, the famous social media influencer Katie, could experience a day in the lives of her bullying victims. The two girls awaken the next morning in each others' bodies, and the high jinks begin in school as both must train each other to carry out their their day-to-day lives without being able to explain their unbelievable circumstances. Katie must learn how to play folk guitar for a Julliard audition; Cassandra is now interviewing for a prestigious influencer position on “The Glam Slam”. It's cute in theory, but SWITCHED ultimately fails because of some bizarre plot choices. Although aiming for originality is admirable, why would Cassandra (who is now inhabited by Katie's soul) flirt with her own biological brother? Why would Katie's parents (portrayed in celebrity cameo roles by John Schneider and Denise Richards) be so lackadaisical about Katie's influencer career, even though they quit their jobs to support her work? SWITCHED is full of delightfully campy moments, like the UI of fictitious social media network The Social, but its desire to be perceived as easily watchable family fare that is light on the Christian message is thwarted by a confusing story that doesn't stick the landing. View our full episode list and subscribe to any of our public feeds: http://boysbiblestudy.com Unlock 2+ bonus episodes per month: http://patreon.com/boysbiblestudy Subscribe to our Twitch for livestreams: http://twitch.tv/boysbiblestudy Follow us on Instagram: http://instagram.com/boysbiblestudy Follow us on Twitter: http://twitter.com/boysbiblestudy

Subscribe today for access to our full catalog of bonus episodes, including 2+ new episodes every month! www.patreon.com/boysbiblestudy The collaborations between Baptist preacher Estus Pirkle and the Ormond family of filmmakers are considered some of the most legendary Christian genre films ever for their shocking imagery and urgent sermonizing. With our review this week of THE BELIEVER'S HEAVEN, we here at Boys' Bible Study have now reviewed the entire trilogy, which also includes IF FOOTMEN TIRE YOU, WHAT WILL HORSES DO? and THE BURNING HELL. All three films feature fiery narration by Estus Pirkle intercut with colorful, dramatic vignettes by the Ormonds. THE BELIEVER'S HEAVEN is unique in the trilogy for focusing on the pleasure of heaven rather than the tragedy of earth or the horrors of hell (but don't worry — we still get enough of those in this piece to keep our interest piqued.) “In My Father's House there are many mansions,” says Estus Pirkle quoting John 14:2. He then proceeds to take us on a tour through a real mansion to hype us up for the delights of heaven. This gleeful literalness drives the rest of the film, which includes lots of time spent filming Christians with physical disabilities to prove to non-disabled viewers that they should be excited to take on “glorified bodies” in heaven. However, the close-up shots on the deformities of disabled people remind the viewer that the Ormond family first made their mark in vaudeville and carnival entertainment, where the disabled were frequently displayed as sideshow “freaks”. By titillating the viewer at the expense of the disabled and in the name of religious education, the Ormonds show their talent as “mondo” genre filmmakers, a style marked by a moralizing tone that barely disguises the actual purpose of selling the audience on morbid or lurid imagery. The contrast between the exploitative tone of the Pirkle/Ormond films and their seemingly sincere moral message makes THE BELIEVER'S HEAVEN, and the rest of the trilogy, one of the most fascinating watches in all of faith-based film. View our full episode list and subscribe to any of our public feeds: http://boysbiblestudy.com Unlock 2+ bonus episodes per month: http://patreon.com/boysbiblestudy Subscribe to our Twitch for livestreams: http://twitch.tv/boysbiblestudy Follow us on Instagram: http://instagram.com/boysbiblestudy Follow us on Twitter: http://twitter.com/boysbiblestudy  

This silent movie that graphically depicts the famous epic poem Inferno by Dante Alighieri was a box office success in its day, grossing $2 million worldwide due to its longer-than-usual runtime for the era (about 70 minutes) and its titillating imagery, including hundreds of nude actors. L'INFERNO's aura is still creepy more than 110 years later because the practical effects and camera techniques deployed by the filmmakers are extremely creative and sophisticated. We at Boys' Bible Study found L'INFERNO a fascinating watch because it caused us to ponder some of the same questions we ask of Christian genre films from the 2020s, including: is this film truly Christian or hiding behind the claim of a wholesome message to sell graphic scenes of sex and violence? Is a shocking depiction of hell on film an effective missioning tool, or does it simply arouse the senses? We suspect in this case the filmmakers simply thought Dante's Inferno was thrilling source material to explore using the burgeoning medium of film, but perhaps L'INFERNO sold some tickets to curious Christians who wanted a moral excuse to enjoy risqué entertainment. We also theorize that Dante's Inferno completely changed society's idea of hell as a concept — perhaps contemporary Christianity's idea of fire and damnation doesn't come directly from the Bible, but instead from Dante's impressive Bible fan-fiction. Either way, this film inspired us to avoid being “simonists”, who Dante depicts as being buried upside down in hell with their feet above ground and tortured for eternity. Nasty stuff! View our full episode list and subscribe to any of our public feeds: http://boysbiblestudy.com Unlock 2+ bonus episodes per month: http://patreon.com/boysbiblestudy Subscribe to our Twitch for livestreams: http://twitch.tv/boysbiblestudy Follow us on Instagram: http://instagram.com/boysbiblestudy Follow us on Twitter: http://twitter.com/boysbiblestudy

Subscribe today for access to our full catalog of bonus episodes, including 2+ new episodes every month! www.patreon.com/boysbiblestudy Let's journey deeper into the twisted mind of Tim Chey, the Christian movie auteur responsible for some of our favorite films about the evils of money, Hollywood, and sports. Last week on this podcast, we congratulated Mr. Chey on the success of his newest film THE FIRING SQUAD, which we saw in theaters. This week we catch up on his most recent filmography we've neglected: 2022's JOURNEY TO HELL. This is Chey's take on the Divine Comedy trope of a guide leading a mortal spirit through hell, but the film is actually based on a John Bunyan novel instead of Dante. In Chey's adaptation, protagonist Shane Badman is a successful entrepreneur and unsuccessful Christian who believes himself to be saved but is shocked after he perishes in a surfing accident only to wake up trapped in Hell for eternity. As we watch flashbacks of Shane's corrupted earthly lifestyle, including an extremely meta scene where he makes fun of a bad Christian film, we also enjoy a guided tour of hell and all of the strange characters Shane meets along the way. Shane talks to Mao Zedong, the Zodiac Killer, the Columbine shooters, Vegas shooter Stephen Paddock, an unnamed “iPhone CEO”, and even a certain Führer who you might remember from history class. They're all there on a mission to humble Shane and get him to realize that his meager faith on Earth was no match for his pride, which was ultimately his downfall. JOURNEY TO HELL is a sobering depiction of the consequences of a life without God, where demons are depicted as micromanaging human labor for all of eternity… which honestly just sounds a lot like Earth. View our full episode list and subscribe to any of our public feeds: http://boysbiblestudy.com Unlock 2+ bonus episodes per month: http://patreon.com/boysbiblestudy Subscribe to our Twitch for livestreams: http://twitch.tv/boysbiblestudy Follow us on Instagram: http://instagram.com/boysbiblestudy Follow us on Twitter: http://twitter.com/boysbiblestudy

We here at Boys' Bible Study jump at the chance to see a brand new Christian movie in theaters, especially one made by a director we trust as much as Tim Chey. THE FIRING SQUAD is the sixth film of his we've reviewed for the pod and we found it to possess some of the quirks and qualities we expect from a Chey joint: groups of hunky guys having fun together, D-list stunt casting, evangelical Christianity, and a bizarre hatred of sports. THE FIRING SQUAD finds established Christian genre superstars (Kevin Sorbo, Eric Roberts), a fallen former Oscar winner (Cuba Gooding Jr.) and newcomer James Barrington in a nonsensical plot set in an Indonesian prison, allegedly based on a true story (it's not; we can't find info on these events anywhere.) Several foreigners facing the death penalty for drug charges in the draconian Indonesian justice system band together in the prison chapel to share the word of the Lord, resulting in some unlikely conversions and a feeling of peace despite the tragedy of impending death by firing squad. Now, we at BBS are all about DIY filmmakers using their big imaginations to tell stories beyond their means, but some of THE FIRING SQUAD's asks of its audience to suspend our disbelief were a bit much. How did Cuba Gooding Jr., stuck in maximum security prison, acquire three formal suits that fit the protagonists perfectly so they could pretend to be “the media” and escape? Why are the prison doors always open, with guards and prisoners fraternizing like a freshman year university dormitory? Then again, the plot inconsistencies were so perfectly Chey that we think THE FIRING SQUAD might be the prolific anti-sports director's most solid and enjoyable film yet. View our full episode list and subscribe to any of our public feeds: http://boysbiblestudy.com Unlock 2+ bonus episodes per month: http://patreon.com/boysbiblestudy Subscribe to our Twitch for livestreams: http://twitch.tv/boysbiblestudy Follow us on Instagram: http://instagram.com/boysbiblestudy Follow us on Twitter: http://twitter.com/boysbiblestudy

One of the most bizarre and singular pieces of Christian media we've ever watched is this dreamlike documentary from the minds of father/daughter writer/director team Derek and Vanessa Frank, who assembled some of the biggest names in Christian film history to shake the Protestant Reformation down to the “demonic conspiracy” at its very core:  the anti-semitic teachings of Martin Luther and John Calvin. In LET THE LION ROAR, Kevin Sorbo, Stephen Baldwin, Eric Roberts, John Schneider, and young up-and-comer Ben Davies star as 16th-century European historical figures who don funny hats and monologue their virulently anti-Semitic views to the camera for extended scenes, some lasting for several minutes at a time. Writer Derek Frank believes that the major weakness  that plagues Protestantism is its insufficient respect for the Jewish faith and an unwillingness for the Christian church to become fully “grafted into Israel.” Mr. Frank has written five more “theses,” to add to Martin Luther's famous 95 Theses of 1517, that propose full deference to Jews from Protestants that he hopes will heal Christianity and save it from vague, unitarian sluggishness that he reads as weakness. This is an ambitious and extremely boring goal to try to sell to an audience, but the Franks make it fun with uncanny corporate stock footage and a series of costume changes that make Derek Frank look like the Architect from The Matrix, if that character were a hardcore Zionist. In general, Derek Frank's extreme passion for his case of “finishing” the Protestant Reformation is what sells this documentary — he gazes directly at the audience severely like a cat that has just cornered a mouse and wants to talk to it about Israel for an hour before dealing the death blow that will wipe it out of existence forever. The Lion of Judah is a lion after all, and Derek Frank teaches us that to hammer your point home, you must approach your argument with the ferocity of an apex predator. View our full episode list and subscribe to any of our public feeds: http://boysbiblestudy.com Unlock 2+ bonus episodes per month: http://patreon.com/boysbiblestudy Subscribe to our Twitch for livestreams: http://twitch.tv/boysbiblestudy Follow us on Instagram: http://instagram.com/boysbiblestudy Follow us on Twitter: http://twitter.com/boysbiblestudy

This lurid and captivating film about a family besieged by demons after attempting to contact their deceased loved one via an occultist could only have been produced from the singular vision of the Ormonds. To us at Boys' Bible Study, writer/director Ron Ormond, his wife June and their son Tim are the “first family” of Christian movies. Some of the Ormonds' most famous films, such as IF FOOTMEN TIRE YOU, WHAT WILL HORSES DO? (1971) and THE BURNING HELL (1974) are still considered Christian genre classics decades later, known for their gripping exploitation-style treatment of Christian messaging that likely emerged from the family's shared background in vaudeville performance. This same showbiz charisma could also explain why the Ormonds' films were financially successful, widely distributed through church tours that were sometimes accompanied by a live presentation by Tim Ormond saving the souls in the audience who had just been moved by a shocking film experience. THE GRIM REAPER is plenty shocking; the Ormonds are skilled at DIY costuming and special effects to depict the supernatural horror of the world of demons, making Satan come to life for viewers to effectively demonstrate why tampering in the occult could doom their souls forever. Celebrity guest preachers Jerry Falwell (!) and Jack Van Impe (!!) also stop by the Ormonds' set to deliver sermons addressed directly to the camera, hammering down the central theme of THE GRIM REAPER: hell, Satan, and his demons are very real. If you don't believe in demons, you may as well not be a Christian. View our full episode list and subscribe to any of our public feeds: http://boysbiblestudy.com Unlock 2+ bonus episodes per month: http://patreon.com/boysbiblestudy Subscribe to our Twitch for livestreams: http://twitch.tv/boysbiblestudy Follow us on Instagram: http://instagram.com/boysbiblestudy Follow us on Twitter: http://twitter.com/boysbiblestudy

Subscribe today for access to our full catalog of bonus episodes, including 2+ new episodes every month! www.patreon.com/boysbiblestudy Merry Christmas in July! We love Christmas movies for their tedious pleas for a return to small town values despite clearly being written by effete big city media types. CHRISTMAS WITH A CAPITAL C is one of the most glaring examples of this we've ever encountered, which makes it extremely charming. Dan Reed (Ted McGinley) is the affable mayor of a small Alaskan town with the seemingly perfect life, until his former high school rival Mitch Bright (Daniel Baldwin, who sounds almost exactly like his brother Alec) returns to Alaska after making it big in the city with a plan to dethrone Dan as mayor and finally separate church and state by removing the Nativity display from city hall. It's pretty obvious that this is a stupid idea and our hero Dan is going to prevail, which he quickly does, humiliating Mitch by revealing that his “rich and successful” act is a total lie. What's more interesting here is how CHRISTMAS WITH A CAPITAL C reveals that many adults are perpetually stuck repeating their high school humiliations, living their lives according to whether they were designated a “winner” or a “loser” at age 15. Also, the film is notable for a show stealing performance by Christian stand up comedian and film producer Brad Stine, who wrote the song that inspired the story of this film and who doesn't let a scene of his go by without completely chewing up the scenery. Don't believe in CHRISTMAS WITH A CAPITAL C? Get on the mic at your local city council meeting and let them have it. View our full episode list and subscribe to any of our public feeds: http://boysbiblestudy.com Unlock 2+ bonus episodes per month: http://patreon.com/boysbiblestudy Subscribe to our Twitch for livestreams: http://twitch.tv/boysbiblestudy Follow us on Instagram: http://instagram.com/boysbiblestudy Follow us on Twitter: http://twitter.com/boysbiblestudy

This DIY surf thriller about the son of a military spy superstar is way more than meets the eye, revealing its intense Christian and poly-spiritual themes in an audacious 45 minute long opening monologue. SURFER: TEEN CONFRONTS FEAR is the first feature film by writer and director Douglas Burke, a physics professor at USC with a lifelong passion for surfing and theater. Burke seems interested in the ways the physical and metaphysical intertwine; most of the dialogue of SURFER attempts to explain the unseen cosmic forces that guide our observable physical reality. In the film, a young surfer played by Mr. Burke's real life son Sage experiences a near death experience while surfing that causes him to abandon the sport. He is visited by the reanimated spirit of his dead father, played by Douglas Burke himself, who warns Sage that the new physical body which has been crafted for him by God using “squid and electricity” will only survive for a short enough time to reignite Sage's passion for surfing. This scene between Douglas and Sage is truly astounding — it lasts for 45 minutes (nearly half of the film's total runtime) and constantly escalates in emotion. After this transformative exchange, Sage finds a top secret military hospital, where a doctor called Banks (Gerald James) has information that could change the way Sage understands his world forever. We at Boys' Bible Study were lucky enough to catch the Los Angeles premiere of SURFER back in 2018 before we ever had a podcast. We're excited to share this bizarre and wonderful film with our listeners while also diving deep within its fascinating spiritual worldview. It's your whale, boy! Visit the SURFER: TEEN CONFRONTS FEAR official website View our full episode list and subscribe to any of our public feeds: http://boysbiblestudy.com Unlock 2+ bonus episodes per month: http://patreon.com/boysbiblestudy Subscribe to our Twitch for livestreams: http://twitch.tv/boysbiblestudy Follow us on Instagram: http://instagram.com/boysbiblestudy Follow us on Twitter: http://twitter.com/boysbiblestudy

Subscribe today for access to our full catalog of bonus episodes, including 2+ new episodes every month! www.patreon.com/boysbiblestudy Billing itself as a light-hearted Christian family film, MOMS' NIGHT OUT is accidentally a chilling indictment of millennial parenting. Allyson is a busy full-time stay-at-home mom with aspirations to run a famous mommy blog. Feeling unfulfilled in her role as a mother, she decides to decompress with a night on the town accompanied by her two best friends Sondra and Izzy. Despite the full support each mom gets from her family for a well-deserved break, the act of the moms leaving their respective houses triggers a series of chaotic and traumatic events that are supposed to be funny but are actually extremely stressful. Every character is a terrible communicator, and you get the sense that moms having fun disrupts some kind of ancient social order to the point of severe consequences for everyone involved. Directed by the Erwin brothers (I STILL BELIEVE), MOMS' NIGHT OUT is a competently-produced and commercially successful film, drawing appeal from its relatively star-studded cast including Sarah Drew (GREY'S ANATOMY) Sean Astin (LORD OF THE RINGS), Patricia Heaton (EVERYBODY LOVES RAYMOND) and country singer Trace Adkins. Even more important to us at Boys' Bible Study are featured performances by Christian film scene veterans Andrea Logan and also Alex Kendrick, one of the famous Kendrick Brothers, who have created and starred in some of the highest grossing Christian movies of all time. We were excited to watch MOMS' NIGHT OUT for Mothers' Day, but forgot, so we watched it for “Mothers' Day In July” and ended up being horrified by the film's grating millennial humor and depiction of each character as simultaneously whiny and helpless yet obsessively self-important. Bible Boy Julian calls the depcition of family in MOMS' NIGHT OUT “scarier than THE HANDMAID'S TALE” and we think our gentle listeners will agree. View our full episode list and subscribe to any of our public feeds: http://boysbiblestudy.com Unlock 2+ bonus episodes per month: http://patreon.com/boysbiblestudy Subscribe to our Twitch for livestreams: http://twitch.tv/boysbiblestudy Follow us on Instagram: http://instagram.com/boysbiblestudy Follow us on Twitter: http://twitter.com/boysbiblestudy

The ominously named Wallbuilders organization, founded by David Barton, have a mission to “[help] Americans remember and preserve the true history of our great nation.” That's great I guess, but what exactly is it that they… do? One of their main cultural outputs seems to be a documentary series affirming the Christian history of the United States, so we at Boys' Bible Study couldn't think of a more fun and enlightening way to celebrate Fourth of July than spending two hours absorbing THE SPIRITUAL HERITAGE OF THE UNITED STATES CAPITOL. Basically, someone let David Barton in the Capitol Building in Washington D.C., and he spent his night there filming a guided tour of the art and artifacts within the space, showing how each piece proves that the mission of the Founding Fathers was explicitly Christian. We learned a ton about the Christian habits and exploits of the greatest guys of all time, and we see fun art objects such as a painting of the baptism of Pocahontas, and a cool statue of an astronaut (not Christian.) Curiously, David Barton and the Wallbuilders never say in the documentary what the conclusion is that they draw from poring over all of this evidence. It seems like they want to say that the idea of a separation between church and state should be abolished, but they don't ever actually say that — instead, they just kind of drone on about how it's sad that public schools don't teach that John Quincy Adams read the Bible once per year. Despite there being some genuinely interesting facts dispensed, and they filmed fun historical reenactments of guys in powdered wigs talking about stuff, we can't help but conclude that if the Founding Fathers thought Christianity should be the explicit law of the United States, they would have written it in the damn Constitution. No one was stopping them. Next! View our full episode list and subscribe to any of our public feeds: http://boysbiblestudy.com Unlock 2+ bonus episodes per month: http://patreon.com/boysbiblestudy Subscribe to our Twitch for livestreams: http://twitch.tv/boysbiblestudy Follow us on Instagram: http://instagram.com/boysbiblestudy Follow us on Twitter: http://twitter.com/boysbiblestudy

Subscribe today for access to our full catalog of bonus episodes, including 2+ new episodes every month! www.patreon.com/boysbiblestudy We continue our study of the great Kenya Cagle's filmography with this psychological thriller about the most dysfunctional family to ever live… and die. Stacy's family is haunted by tragic violence, from the disappearance of her mother to the imprisonment of her brother Leroy in a mental institution after he killed their father. Stacy now hides with her grandma “Momma” in a remote cabin in Long Island, but their plans to lay low are thwarted one dark and stormy night when Leroy shockingly turns up at their door, having escaped the institution. Leroy fixes himself a sandwich in an excruciatingly long scene as Stacy and Momma plan their escape. Guns are drawn, tires are slashed, and a helpful policemen is stabbed as the grandma/daughter duo attempt to reason with Leroy, who they're worried could kill them in a confused rage. But is Leroy really the danger here? Food related memories, from Leroy's bologna sandwich to Stacy and Leroy's favorite gumbo as a child, could unlock the secret to twisted family history. This “Caglevision” film is barely a Christian movie, but it's worth a watch to experience yet another one of Cagle's overwrought family dramas where a mother figure is painted as the ultimate evil. Kenya Cagle is a truly inventive storyteller who directs compelling performances out of amateur actors, and even though he has a tendency to “lose the plot” and focus on story details we as viewers really don't care about at all, it's always impressive and entertaining to see what he can accomplish on a shoestring budget. View our full episode list and subscribe to any of our public feeds: http://boysbiblestudy.com Unlock 2+ bonus episodes per month: http://patreon.com/boysbiblestudy Subscribe to our Twitch for livestreams: http://twitch.tv/boysbiblestudy Follow us on Instagram: http://instagram.com/boysbiblestudy Follow us on Twitter: http://twitter.com/boysbiblestudy

To celebrate Father Dads' day, we watched another film by the genius Kenya Cagle, the auteur behind the extremely watchable faith-based films THE BOY WHO SAW CHRIST and MY KING. We've noticed that all of Mr. Cagle's films have in common that they are not afraid to show edgy adult themes in the context of presenting a faith-based message. FATHER DAD is no exception — it's the first Christian film we can ever remember watching with an extensive rape scene. In the film, Madge has remarried a kindly man her kids call “Father Dad” after healing from her previous relationship with the evil Lucius, who until recently has been in prison for attempted murder. Lucius is out now and will do anything in his power to destroy Madge's new life to get his kids back. Lucius's evil schemes reveal dark truths about the prison system, mainly that many inmates are having gay sex with each other behind bars and becoming infected with HIV, endangering the women they pursue once they are free men. It's a thrilling tale about sex, lies, and intrigue that never lets up its breakneck pace for the entire 2 hour runtime, a very rare quality in Christian films, so we can't recommend FATHER DAD enough. Show it to your father who stepped up on this special Sunday. View our full episode list and subscribe to any of our public feeds: http://boysbiblestudy.com Unlock 2+ bonus episodes per month: http://patreon.com/boysbiblestudy Subscribe to our Twitch for livestreams: http://twitch.tv/boysbiblestudy Follow us on Instagram: http://instagram.com/boysbiblestudy Follow us on Twitter: http://twitter.com/boysbiblestudy

Subscribe today for access to our full catalog of bonus episodes, including 2+ new episodes every month! www.patreon.com/boysbiblestudy Happy NBA Finals! Helmut Brink is a little German boy who wants nothing more than to play the brand new sport called “basketball”. I know what you're thinking. Didn't we just fight a World War against the Germans? Why would we let them enjoy our (second) national pastime? But Helmut is a special little boy — he and his sister Brigitte were adopted as war refugees by a kindly Reverend of a little farming town in Washington, USA. They do their chores and say the Pledge of Allegiance like any other American schoolchildren, so they are allowed to have a little basketball as a treat. That's the philosophy of school teacher Martin Conlon (played by Peter Coyote) in THE BASKET, a feature film for families released theatrically in the year 2000. Martin sees the men of his town struggling to pool their finances together to buy a new harvester machine, so he hatches the crazy scheme of putting together an amateur basketball team to compete for a tournament's cash prize, having been trained in the exotic art by none other than basketball inventor James Naismith himself. Christians seem to love movie plots about people playing old timey sports — we're reminded of SPIRIT OF THE GAME, a more recent Kevin Sorbo-fronted film about an early basketball tournament set in Australia. But THE BASKET goes beyond sportsmanship to weave a surprisingly complex plot with themes of war and immigration, set around the story of a fictitious opera DER KORB that was actually originally written and composed for this film. It's still hard to imagine a film like this would ever have broad enough popular appeal to be released in theaters — it's slow, goofy, pastoral, and much of the dialogue is delivered in a fake German accent. It speaks to a bygone pop cultural era where Christian stories were accepted in secular contexts because people appreciated their overt wholesomeness. Although THE BASKET may not be the most exciting sports film, it does feature one of the most shocking endings to a basketball game ever imagined. We can only hope James Naismith is smiling down at this film from heaven — in between teaching Jesus how to land the perfect free throw. View our full episode list and subscribe to any of our public feeds: http://boysbiblestudy.com Unlock 2+ bonus episodes per month: http://patreon.com/boysbiblestudy Subscribe to our Twitch for livestreams: http://twitch.tv/boysbiblestudy Follow us on Instagram: http://instagram.com/boysbiblestudy Follow us on Twitter: http://twitter.com/boysbiblestudy

Since the beginning of recorded history, it has never been possible for people with opposing viewpoints to agree on anything — until now. Los Angeles-based media company Jubilee Media describes their extremely popular MIDDLE GROUND YouTube series as a “social experiment” bringing together individuals with opposing identities or viewpoints for some civilized discussion (for a change.) Some of these matchups that were viewed millions of times include “Flat Earthers vs. Scientists”, “Men's Rights vs. Feminism”, and “Millionaires vs. Minimum Wage Workers”. These are all juicy concepts, but this week Ash and Julian choose to review MIDDLE GROUND's format by discussing their episode “Progressive Christians vs. Conservative Christians”, where Biblical literalists and deconstructionists smack down over discussion topics like abortion, LGBT rights, Black Lives Matter, and more.  We notice that MIDDLE GROUND's flawed format is actually a great way for both sides to reveal their own classic biases and fallacies. Conservative Christians tend to claim their favorite Bible passages are literally true while blatantly ignoring others; meanwhile, progressive Christians love to just make stuff up that sounds nice and claim Jesus would support it. We spin our wheels about this for a while before moving on to a debate between Polyamorists vs. Monogamists, for no reason other than to gawk at its participants. We conclude that Jubilee Media, like Dhar Mann (another popular YouTube media production company who we have studied in multiple Boys' Bible Study episodes), thrives on creating emotionally exploitative content that disguises itself as wholesome and balanced. No matter who wins on MIDDLE GROUND, we lose! View our full episode list and subscribe to any of our public feeds: http://boysbiblestudy.com Unlock 2+ bonus episodes per month: http://patreon.com/boysbiblestudy Subscribe to our Twitch for livestreams: http://twitch.tv/boysbiblestudy Follow us on Instagram: http://instagram.com/boysbiblestudy Follow us on Twitter: http://twitter.com/boysbiblestudy

Subscribe today for access to our full catalog of bonus episodes, including 2+ new episodes every month! www.patreon.com/boysbiblestudy God wants you to be kidnapped! Or at the very least, Christians are particularly equipped to endure a kidnapping because their faith in God keeps them patient and strong. This is the experience of Ruth Peterman, an ordinary Minnesotan woman whose life was turned upside down when she was kidnapped by two incompetent thugs who used her as bait to try to procure money from her husband, who works at a bank. We can't find a lot of information on Ruth and her alleged kidnapping, nor can we find much of any info about the production of the film HELD FOR RANSOM, which is loosely based on her story. Her character has been renamed Eunice for some reason. Eunice is abducted from her own driveway in broad daylight and held for days by two criminals she names “Bill” and “Jerry”, who are continually stunned by her calmness and strength while being kept prisoner in a farmhouse in Minneapolis, Minnesota. She engages her kidnappers in lively conversation, attempts to convert them to Christ, and listens to hymns on the radio, while her faithful husband works with the FBI to ensure her safe return. Most of the dialogue in the film appears to be improvised for some reason, lending a weird gonzo tone to an eerily calm crime film set in the ultra-polite northern midwest region of the USA. There is a 20 minute section of the film that seems to be barely connected shots of cars driving around Minneapolis at night. It would be an otherwise straightforward crime film with an inspirational message, but bizarre production choices such as these and a luridly saturated color correction that make HELD FOR RANSOM a strange artifact of faith-based filmmaking. The message of the film is that faithful Christians need do no more than sit back, relax, and pray through the toughest moments in their life. Apparently Ruth's faith was so inspiring it caused her real life kidnappers to write to her from prison, begging for her forgiveness; you'll be begging Ruth for forgiveness too if you don't add HELD FOR RANSOM to your watchlist! View our full episode list and subscribe to any of our public feeds: http://boysbiblestudy.com Unlock 2+ bonus episodes per month: http://patreon.com/boysbiblestudy Subscribe to our Twitch for livestreams: http://twitch.tv/boysbiblestudy Follow us on Instagram: http://instagram.com/boysbiblestudy Follow us on Twitter: http://twitter.com/boysbiblestudy

This Christian thriller shows how even a situation as scary and inconvenient as a bus hijacking can become a one-way ticket to salvation. Izzy is a privileged yet rebellious goth teen with a streak of dye in her hair, much to the disappointment of her Christian parents, who accidentally reveal to Izzy that she is adopted during a heated family discussion. Izzy's life suddenly becomes a quest to find her birth parents. Fortunately, her boyfriend Grayson has an uncle Rex who is a private investigator and is able to locate Izzy's mom, inspiring Izzy and Grayson to hop on a bus to meet her. Suddenly, a nightmare becomes reality — the bus is hijacked by a group of goons who kidnap Izzy, Grayson, and other passengers, demanding Izzy's father pay  $2 million for her safe return. The psychological torment the kidnappers inflict on the passengers is the focus of most of SENSE OF URGENCY, and a series of bizarre plot twists transpire that would surely keep viewers on the edge of their seats if any of the surprises followed a coherent internal plot logic. Since none of them do, the final shocking reveal that spurs our protagonists to accept Jesus Christ as their Lord and Savior is way more insane than inspiring. Still, SENSE OF URGENCY is a fun and watchable faith-based film because it understands that a lurid story about domestic terrorism is more exciting than a dull chamber drama of people talking to each other about God. But what if I wanted a dull chamber drama about God? Don't worry — since every character is trapped on a bus for an hour, we have plenty of time (and hostages) to kill. View our full episode list and subscribe to any of our public feeds: http://boysbiblestudy.com Unlock 2+ bonus episodes per month: http://patreon.com/boysbiblestudy Subscribe to our Twitch for livestreams: http://twitch.tv/boysbiblestudy Follow us on Instagram: http://instagram.com/boysbiblestudy Follow us on Twitter: http://twitter.com/boysbiblestudy

A short documentary that arguably changed the media landscape forever, KONY 2012 became a viral international sensation due in part to its evangelical tone, inspiring everyday people to gain a quasi-religious awareness of the “original sin” of Ugandan warlord Joseph Kony who could be defeated through the power of collective consciousness.  It's no surprise that the mastermind behind the KONY 2012 documentary, Jason Russell (founder of Invisible Children) is a devout Christian who grew up in a family dedicated to Christian ministry through youth theater, although Russell intentionally chose not to broadcast his religious views in order to make the KONY 2012 movement palatable to as broad of an audience as possible. Still, the documentary, which at the time of its release was a media phenomenon and the most “liked” video ever on YouTube, shows strong evidence of Christian influence. The video argues that the belief of a group of people creates a tangible psychic force with the ability to affect world events, and it promotes the hypothetical arrest of Joseph Kony as a cathartic cleansing event that will lead to global harmony. KONY 2012 even contains a Millerite rapture-esque ritual in its “Cover the Night” happening, meant to take place on April 20, 2012, when the anti-Kony faithful would blanket their entire city in Kony propaganda overnight so that sleepers folk would awaken the next day to a completely new world of full Awareness. Unfortunately, the evil Joseph Kony was not arrested and is still at large to this day, but Jason Russell's movement left a noticeable impact on society at the very least by creating an internet video with full cultural penetration, something that is basically impossible to do nowadays in the ever-expanding universe of social media. The larger-than-life success of KONY 2012 also impacted Jason Russell's life when he suffered a public mental breakdown weeks after the video's release and was arrested for stripping naked and ranting on a public street, an event that was captured on video by phone cameras and disseminated through the same internet channels that Russell had used to spread his gospel in the first place. Many humans throughout history who encountered the divine dealt with issues that we now recognize with contemporary scientific framing as possibly being “manic episodes”; Joan of Arc is just one example. It's possible that Jason Russell's public struggles are simply another piece of evidence that KONY 2012 is the work of a modern-day prophet. View our full episode list and subscribe to any of our public feeds: http://boysbiblestudy.com Unlock 2+ bonus episodes per month: http://patreon.com/boysbiblestudy Subscribe to our Twitch for livestreams: http://twitch.tv/boysbiblestudy Follow us on Instagram: http://instagram.com/boysbiblestudy Follow us on Twitter: http://twitter.com/boysbiblestudy

Subscribe today for access to our full catalog of bonus episodes, including 2+ new episodes every month! www.patreon.com/boysbiblestudy A random act of kindness can make someone's day… but what if I really didn't need my day to be made? In A WAVE OF KINDNESS, a man named Ernesto shows kindness to strangers by waving at them from the side of the road every day while wearing a hat that says “I ❤️ JESUS”. No one can really explain why this is kind or helpful, but Ernesto does it nonetheless, and attracts a local reputation for his efforts. When Ernesto fails to show up to his usual spot for a few days, a young journalist named Lance (played by Braeden Sorbo, son of Kevin) decides to try to locate and profile him, after his boss at the local paper (Kevin Sorbo) threatens to fire Lance if he can't come up with a happy, inspiring news story by the end of the week. Working on the story about Ernesto has a healing effect on Lance, who has buried himself in his work ever since the death of his mother in a texting and driving accident, a tragedy that fractured his family. Lance's father drinks and Lance's younger sister stays out late partying and smoking cigarettes, but when Lance finds Ernesto in the hospital, the whole family unites to help him the way that he helped them. A WAVE OF KINDNESS would be a heartwarming movie except for the fact that it is completely incoherent from start to finish, and it never proves its claim that Ernesto's actions have any effect on the world around him. It's a common Christian pop cultural trope that symbolic actions can have real world power, but A WAVE OF KINDNESS still manages to be one of the least believable faith-based films ever made, despite its very simple premise. View our full episode list and subscribe to any of our public feeds: http://boysbiblestudy.com Unlock 2+ bonus episodes per month: http://patreon.com/boysbiblestudy Subscribe to our Twitch for livestreams: http://twitch.tv/boysbiblestudy Follow us on Instagram: http://instagram.com/boysbiblestudy Follow us on Twitter: http://twitter.com/boysbiblestudy