“Remember my affliction and my homelessness, the wormwood and the poison. I continually remember them and have become depressed. Yet I call this to mind, and therefore I have hope: Because of the Lord’s faithful love we do not perish, for his mercies never end. They are new every morning; great is your faithfulness! I say, ‘The Lord is my portion, therefore I will put my hope in him.’” (CSB – Read the chapter)

One of my absolute favorite hymns is the great classic, It Is Well with My Soul, by Horatio Spafford. He wrote it while reflecting on his grief over losing all four of his daughters when they ship they were taking from the U.S. to Europe sank on the voyage. It is a powerful expression of faithfulness in the face of pain and tragedy. A new musical series from Angel Studios offers up a take on the classic that captures the same heart of faithfulness but with a bit of modern flair. Let’s talk about why a series that’s really cheesy is still completely worth watching.

In 2021, Netflix released a musical called A Week Away. The movie was one of a series of unashamedly Christian films the streaming behemoth has released over the last several years. It was about a Christian camp called Camp Aweegaway. A young man who has been in and out of the foster care system and reflects all the personal brokenness and jadedness you might expect from such a life winds up there as a last chance instead of going to juvie. There, with the help of a young lady who is deeply committed to her faith, he has an experience with Jesus, turns his life around, and sets himself on a much better path. Oh, and the two fall in camp love with each other.

The movie was cringy, but fun. It never took itself very seriously, but still managed to make some serious points. And the music was really fun, especially considering much of it was updates of popular Christian music from when I was little from artists like Michael W. Smith, Stephen Curtis Chapman, and Amy Grant (the last two of whom both had cameos). Well, the good folks over at Angel Studios decided it was time for a sequel. But this time, instead of a movie, they released it as a series. And appropriately enough, the series is in seven parts; one for each day of the week.

A Week Away: The Series is perhaps even cringier than the original film. The acting is all over the top. It’s really cheesy. It’s basically the same plot as the movie except with new characters (with the exception of camp director, David, played by David Koechner, who wonderfully leans into the silliness of his role). But thankfully, it doesn’t take itself any more seriously than the original, and the music is just as good.

I won’t explore the plot very much here because we haven’t finished watching it, but there’s really no question where it’s going to go. What I am appreciating more and more with each episode, though, is that the primary antagonist is the daughter of the camp’s founder who, in her efforts to keep the camp from closing, is relentlessly focused on “the numbers.” She wants to be able to report large numbers of salvations, rededications, and baptisms, and to do so using stories of changed lives. And she wants to lean into the spectacle of the whole thing. Whether or not the conversions are genuine or the kids are followed up with to be discipled is totally immaterial to her. Essentially, she justifies all the cynicism the main character (not to mention many, many skeptics in real life) has about Christianity. Watching as a pastor, her attitude really is disgusting. She may be a caricature of a stereotype, but the stereotype exists for a reason, and it shouldn’t.

What has caught my eye to write about before I’ve even finished watching the series is the same thing that led me to want to watch the series in the first place. In the third episode, the main song (there are two per episode) is called “For the Hell of It.” The main guy, Max (Antonio Cipriano from the National Treasure series on Disney Plus), who is basically a carbon copy of the original main guy, and the main girl, Lennie (Cozi Zuehlsdorff from A Dolphin Tale), are walking together in the woods as they share about their respective lives.

Max has had a terrible past and is understandably jaded by it. He’s been made to go to camp by a foster parent who just wants to get all of the kids out of the house for a week. Lennie is more closed about her past, but some statements indicate it has been pretty bad as well. Unlike Max, though, she started following Jesus early on in her life, and as a result is joyful and kind and gentle in spite of the pain of her past.

Reflecting on the pain she has experienced, Lennie sings about how she has learned to thank God for the bruises and the brokenness because of how He has redeemed it to reveal Himself and to shape her to be more reflective of Him and His character.

The song, inspired by the hymn, It Is Well, is a profound reflection on the kind of faith in the God who is good that gives us the strength to persevere through hardships without falling apart or being consumed by cynicism. We may be broken, but He is whole, and He can redeem what is broken in us to reveal His goodness.

Like Jeremiah declared from out of the midst of a place of incredible pain and brokenness, His mercies are new each day and His faithfulness never ends. Because God is good, we can find goodness and redemption in even our worst circumstances. The kind of faith that is willing to trust in Him like this, is the kind of faith that can see us find real life in all things. This is a faith very much worth having. And then, when the whole thing gets mashed up with the original hymn, things get even more powerful.

Rather than talking more about the scene today, I’ll just let it stand on its own two feet. Enjoy.