Thursday, May 31, 2007

Ministry Commercialism

There are many movies that lend themselves to creating commercial opportunities beyond the movie itself. One obvious movie is Shrek the Third. A certain fast food company is hawking the dolls and other paraphernalia associated with the movie. The kids just have to have this stuff. And while the family is eating a quick meal it's no big deal to add a couple of dolls to the tab. So movies often bring in more than just ticket sales. Not a bad day for capitalism. From a business standpoint it's actually a pretty good move.

I don't know if this is a trend but it appears that some movies may be doing the same thing for church ministries. A new movie, Evan the Almighty, is due out June 22. It's about a guy who is chosen by God to build an ark because a flood is coming (Wait a minute, didn't God promise that He wouldn't destroy the world again by a flood? So why is He reneging His promise?). The trailers for the movie appear quite funny. I'm actually thinking of going to see it just to see what happens. Morgan Freeman plays God (he also played God in Bruce Almighty - interesting!). Anyway, here is a link about obtaining paraphernalia from the movie for your ministry. What do you think? Is this a trend?

7 comments:

Bill Williams said...

Very interesting, Bob. The major flaw in the story line which you point out makes me hesitant to see this "...Almighty" movie. I admit to having the same sort of reservations about "Bruce Almighty", which, IMO, turned out to have a surprisingly good message.

With respect to "Ark Almighty", this seems like a good idea. I'll be interested in seeing how it turns out.

Blessings,
-bill

Anonymous said...

I liked the message from Bruce Almighty too. I guess we'll have to see what Hollywood does with this one. I guess people think Morgan Freeman's voice sounds pretty authoritative. (o; So is this movie set in the present day?

Bob Bliss said...

Lisa, yes it is present day. In fact the city in which Evan lives is NYC, I believe.

Bill, I thought Bruce Almighty had a pretty good ending as well. Actually when you stop and think about it, if anyone one of us suddenly had God's power (or close to it) we would probably abuse it in ways similar to Bruce. Just look at what the Corinthian church did with their supernatural gifts. As regards ArkAlmighty, I remain ambivalent about marketing techniques for the church. Paul told us to become all things to all men and that he would use whatever means to win people to the Gospel but I wonder how far we should take that today in our modern world. So I swing back and forth on these issues.

Neva said...

Bill,
Thanks for commenting on dancing in the light---feel free to use anything you find there including my, er her, story. :)

I can't really comment with any degree of authority on this post. I did not see Bruce Almighty--the trailers and the premise made it distasteful to me. This is the first I have heard of the other.

Have a great day.
BTW---You and Pat must have been great parents---You have a wonderful daughter. Every day I am proud to call her sister.
Peace
neva

TREY MORGAN said...

Bob, I was a little uncomfortable with Bruce Almighty, but I did see it. This movie seems like it makes a little less fun of God. That's kind of what made me uncomfortable. As for seeing it, yep. And I'm glad they're making it. Maybe people will ask questions. And I'm glad it's only rated PG.

PS - Amen on the Lisa and being good parents.

Bob Bliss said...

Neva (and Trey) thanks for the compliment. We had a lot of help from God's grace, other Christians, and grandparents. We are proud of all three of our kids.

Neva said...

Bob, I just noticed I called you Bill, I am so sorry---too many "b"s on the page. :)
please forgive

Peace
Neva