Holy Ghost

Finally, a film that accurately portrays the Holy Spirit. I was blessed to follow the making of this movie through Kickstarter. The vision behind it, is something like (lets actually listen to Holy Spirit and film where He wants us to film. If He doesn't show up, well then there's not going to be a movie.) The film is very well put together. It's visually beautiful, the soundtrack is deep and emotionally pulling. The film is put together in a way that draws you in and builds up to a dramatic climax. I love that the story is unscripted, real, and raw.

If your tired of cheese dipped faith based films, check out Holy Ghost. This film raises the bar on so many levels. If your a believer, this will challenge you to step out and believe God for the impossible, if your not a believer, this will blow your mind.

My wife and I had planned all week to go to our favorite karaoke bar. But God had other plans.

It started with an unexpected obstacle: a Hollywood thriller was shooting in the downtown area, and as a result my bus was trapped. My wife was working and could not get out of it. Should I wait 90 minutes and risk spoiling the schedule, or take the train and hope I could somehow get home from the station four miles from our house?

The Lord provided. My daughter happened to be in town, and like magic, she was actually free and able to come pick me up at the station. So I extended an invitation: would she come with us tonight? Due to a family problem, she didn't know whether she would be able to come to the karaoke. At home, while my daughter was drinking a smoothie, I thought to check the bar's Facebook page. Rats! Karaoke was cancelled and replaced by a band.

God was looking out for my daughter, who now did not have to disappoint us by rejecting the invitation. But He was also looking out for me and my wife. We had been listening to a podcast that discusses Christian movies in a less than flattering way. My wife was searching Netflix and, like it was pre-ordained, we found this movie! He is indeed a God that hides from us (Isaiah 45:15) but those who seek shall find (Matt 7:7).

Not only did we have a ton of laughs and a great conversation about arrogance, narcissism, con artistry and squandering Kickstarter money, we also have a movie to recommend to the podcasters. Instead of being disappointed that our night out was pre-empted, we got something so much more meaningful!

So GOD actually made this movie, seriously? What kind of a marketing trick is that? Sounds like blasphemy to my (Catholic) ears. Just because HE doesn't interfere with our worldly matters and lets us have our way, we don't automatically have permission to attribute lukewarm and uninspired films like this to HIM, do we?

As it says in the storyline given above: no plan, no script - oh, yes, and no inspiration either.

It's one thing to go on a mission. It's another thing entirely to create a piece of art which is truly meaningful and valuable. This film-maker, it seems, has nothing new or original to say. Somebody should tell him the road to hell is paved with good intentions (assuming he had any).

I didn't know much about this documentary going into it. Aside from the promotional videos being released I didn't know what this film was going to be until I saw it. I loved it from beginning to end. Darren Wilson's directing, accompanied by Tony Anderson's beautiful, moving score honestly makes this one of my favorite movies. I really enjoyed it, as a follower of the Christ Jesus it was a very inspiring film, and overall it was just really good filmmaking. Having the perspectives of several different people from many different backgrounds and walks of lives really helped the film... I honestly enjoyed every part of the film. Definitely recommend it to everyone.

I didn't find this movie terribly entertaining, and it certainly wasn't comfortable to watch much of the time. It involved a lot of confrontation. Of course, the confrontation was motivated by love, but it was confrontation nonetheless, and at times you could see fear/trust dynamics in operation at the beginning of an interaction.

The biggest takeaway for me was the courage of the protagonists to answer the call to bring Jesus to a world in deep need of Him, and to do so even when it meant not only inconvenience, but also danger. Thus the theme of risk-taking.

Nothing gets accomplished unless we make the decision to take calculated risk. Each of us has a choice to make - our own comfort, or to make a difference in people's lives.

I would recommend viewing this movie not as a piece of entertainment, but with a heart open to what changes might need to be made to bring your life into all it can be.