Tag: Media reviews

Morning Musing: Psalm 127:3

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“Sons are indeed a heritage from the Lord, offspring, a reward.” (CSB – Read the chapter)

As the old saying goes, a broken clock is still right twice a day. For the better part of a generation, Disney has been one of, if not the, primary entertainment-producing companies in the world. But in recent years, they seem to have forgotten that they are in the business of making money, not pushing a particular cultural agenda. As a result, they haven’t been making money quite like they once were. But for all of their cultural tone-deafness, there are some signs they are starting to turn a corner and remember that one of their primary audiences is families. One of the latest such signs came in the recently completed and final season of What If?…

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Songs of the Season: Matthew 2:22-23

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“Now all this took place to fulfill what was spoken by the Lord through the prophet: ‘See, the virgin will become pregnant and give birth to a son, and they will name him Immanuel,’ which is translated ‘God is with us.'” (CSB – Read the chapter)

The Advent season is probably my favorite time of the year with the possible exception of the first real onset of Fall. What makes the Advent season so special is its music. No other season has as much good and classic music associated with it as the season of Advent. The collection of songs it boasts isn’t necessarily all that numerous (unless you are comparing with any other season in which it dwarfs the competition), but the handful of songs are so good that everyone has done their own version of all of them. Indeed, of the making of Christmas albums there is no end. And while you can perhaps try to explain that from all sorts of different angles, without Jesus the songbook itself and a host of good recordings wouldn’t exist. He is inescapably the reason for the season. As has become our tradition around here, Fridays through the season of Advent are for celebrating this great music. We’ll start this week with a reasonably old recording of a music older song that I just recently discovered. Here is O Come, O Come, Emmanuel from the Punch Brothers.

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Digging in Deeper: Proverbs 17:17

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“A friend loves at all times, and a brother is born for a difficult time.” (CSB – Read the chapter)

When the apostle Paul was describing how the church works best, he chose more than once to use the illustration of a human body. A human body is healthiest when all the parts properly play their part. No two parts are the same, and all of them are necessary for the fullest and best functioning. This is the case with the body, it is the case in the church, and, as we are going to see, it is the case in a movie. The best movies feature a team of different actors all playing unique parts. If everyone plays their part well, the movie works. I was reminded of this fact this week as I finally got to watch Deadpool & Wolverine when it made its streaming debut on Disney+. Let’s talk about what worked, what didn’t, and how even in an excessively gory, foul-mouthed, irreverent, and sacrilegious movie, the Gospel is still present.

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Digging in Deeper: Proverbs 29:18

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“Without revelation people run wild, but one who follows divine instruction will be happy.” (CSB – Read the chapter)

It’s been a little while since I’ve gotten to do something like this. Part of the blame for that lies with my own schedule of late. The other part of the blame doesn’t fall on me, though. There just hasn’t been a whole lot from the other side that has furnished me the opportunity. The opportunity for what? Another media review! It’s fun Friday, and Marvel has finally released more content onto Disney+ for us to talk about. This time, appropriately enough given the season, it was all about witches. There were broomsticks and cauldrons and cats and spooky locations and more than a little of the occult. Let’s talk about Agatha All Along, Marvel’s first attempt to take a page out of Sony’s playbook and make a series in which the hero is a villain. And, fair warning, if you haven’t seen the series yet and plan to, don’t read on. I’m going to spoil all the big reveals as we go.

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Digging in Deeper: 2 Peter 1:16

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“For we did not follow cleverly contrived myths when we made known to you the power and coming of our Lord Jesus Christ; instead, we were eyewitnesses of his majesty.” (CSB – Read the chapter)

Religion is an interesting thing. It’s a powerful thing. Some try to argue that it’s a bad thing. But the truth is that religion is just a thing. How it’s used, who’s doing the using, and for what purpose determines exactly what kind of a thing it is. It’s not all bad, and it’s ignorant to argue otherwise. Neither, however, is it all good. Only a fool would think that. It has to be taken on a case-by-case basis, and some religions are better than others. But try as we might, we can’t escape it. We’re drawn to it. That’s part of what gives it such power. What has me thinking about all of this is my recently finishing both watching and reading Frank Herbert’s sci-fi classic, Dune, in which religion plays a profound role. Let’s talk about it.

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