2007 Articles |
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 Presenting the Gospel to Hollywood
And he explained that mission during an interview at the glittering 15th Annual Movieguide® Faith & Values Awards Gala and Report to the Entertainment Industry, held at the Beverly Wilshire Hotel in Beverly Hills, California, on Tuesday, February 20th.
"What we are trying to do here at the gala is to present the Gospel of Jesus Christ in a loving and kind way to Hollywood," he said. "It's an amazing thing that we get to tell them that we commend their movies which have some great moment of spiritual inspiration."
I asked Dr. Baehr about the early days of the awards gala when there were not so many family friendly movies to reward.
"When we started Movieguide®, there was only one movie that had positive Christian content," he said. "It was 'Trip to Bountiful' and there was a scene where a young lady sat on a bus and talked about reading the Bible. Also, there were only six movies that we could put on the cover of Movieguide®. Now we have only five movies open a week and every week two or three or four have got family content. 
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 An interview with C.S. Lewis in 1963 (Part 1)
I drove to Cambridge, England, on May 7 [1963] to interview Mr. Clive Staples Lewis, author of The Screwtape Letters and one of the world’s most brilliant and widely read Christian authors. I hoped to learn from him how young men and women could be encouraged to take up the defense of the faith through the written word.
C.S. Lewis on Heaven, Earth and Outer Space (Part 2)
Lewis: The Screwtape Letters. They were dry and gritty going.
At the time, I was thinking of objections to the Christian life, and decided to put them into the form, ‘That’s what the devil would say.’ But making goods ‘bad’ and bads ‘good’ gets to be fatiguing.”
Wirt: How would you suggest a young Christian writer go about developing a style?
Lewis: “The way for a person to develop a style is (a) to know exactly what he wants to say, and (b) to be sure he is saying exactly that.
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 Nights With Alice Cooper
The rock shocker is now a Christian with his own radio show
Rock star Alice Cooper shocked the world in the 1970s with an alcohol-fueled stage show that explored taboos ranging from murder to necrophilia.
Years later he shocked the rock world by quietly embracing Christianity. He’s getting a lot of visibility from his syndicated radio show, “Nights With Alice Cooper,” which is heard 5 nights a week on more than 80 stations around the country. Cooper told a guest, “It’s great; I get to play the anything I want to play.”
Interestingly, his musical tastes run are far-ranging, from Motley Crue to the Beatles.
He also interviews retro rock stars like Ozzy Osbourne, Joe Perry from AeroSmith, and Brian Johnson from AC/DC.
Besides his radio program, Cooper maintains an active tour schedule. Little known to most people is that he owns AliceCoopersTown in Phoenix, Arizona, his hometown. It is a restaurant that pays homage to baseball, a sport he is passionate about.
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 AN INTERVIEW WITH RALPH WINTER ...
Two mutants come to a private academy whose resident superhero team must oppose a powerful mutant terrorist organization.”
“To save Earth from an alien probe, Kirk and his crew go back in time to retrieve the only beings that can communicate with it – humpback whales.”
Such are the loglines of movies produced, co-produced, or executive produced by Ralph Winter.
Not only has Ralph been involved in the making of X-MEN – I, II, and II, STAR TREK – II, IV, V, and VI, and MIGHTY JOE YOUNG, among many other movies, he is now working on yet another nature-gone-bad science fiction entitled FANTASTIC FOUR, after the famous comic book. Its logline reads,
“A group of astronauts gain superpowers after a cosmic radiation exposure and must use those powers to oppose the plans of their enemy, Doctor Victor Von Doom.” No way! |
JANE FONDA'S CHRISTIAN JOURNEY
Sometimes the most unlikely people become followers of Jesus, at least from the human perspective. But the Lord takes us all on a unique journey, and Jane Fonda is no exception.
The only thing about her journey that separated her from others is that she has long held a place in the public spotlight.
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 Hollywood Actor Stephen Baldwin Is Now ‘Livin It L.A.’
With Some Help from ‘The Lord’s Lounge’
He’s the brother of Alec Baldwin and is known for his role as a career criminal in “The Usual Suspects” and more recently as part of the cast of ABC’s reality show “Celebrity Mole”.
But Stephen Baldwin believes his most important role in life now is as a born-again Christian.
In an extraordinary career change, Baldwin has been busy making a series of Christian-themed DVDs of skateboarders and BMX riders called “Livin’ It” and “Livin’ It: Unusual Suspects” and I caught up with him outside the Regency Lido Theater in Newport Beach, California, on Wednesday, June 21, for the world premier of his latest film project called “Livin It L.A.”
The new Baldwin-directed movie, produced by Kevin Palau and the Palau Association, features 12 top athletes in the world of skateboarding, ranging from legends like Lance Mountain, Ray Barbee, and Christian Hosoi from the glory days of the 1970s and 1980s, to up-and-comers like Richard Mulder and Brian Sumner.
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 THE MAN CALLED CASH: THE LIFE, LOVE AND FAITH OF AN AMERICAN LEGEND
His biographer says he suffered a “very painful life” but was a “genuine Christian”
The Man in Black – suffered a “very painful life” but was a “genuine Christian.” That’s the view of British writer, Steve Turner, who has written the authorized biography of Cash called THE MAN CALLED CASH: The Life, Love And Faith Of An American Legend.
Cash, 71, the singer and songwriter, had suffered from serious health problems in recent years. Mr. Cash had had bouts of bronchitis and pneumonia, had diabetes, and also had a little known neurological condition called the Shy-Drager syndrome. Mr. Cash died in Nashville, Tennessee on Sept. 12, 2003 of the "complications of diabetes," four months after the death of his wife, June Carter Cash, 73, herself a member of a legendary musical family. (Pictured: Cover from The Man Called CASH). |
 GOSPEL ACCORDING TO JOHN, PAUL, GEORGE AND RINGO...
They may not have realized what they were saying early on, but the Beatles most certainly understood their power before they broke up in 1970. Whether anyone realizes it or not, for a number of years the Beatles had a worldwide pulpit from which millions heard their "gospel." What was their message? Let's go back.
Picture this. The state of American music in the United States, circa 1963. Elvis Presley and the Everly Brothers had returned from the Army more like pop singers than the rockabilly forces they had been before they left. Buddy Holly and Eddie Cochran were dead. Chuck Berry was in prison. Little Richard was back in the pulpit. Bill Haley was too old and Jerry Lee Lewis was washed up after marrying his 13 year-old first cousin. Payola had taken the freshness and spontaneity out of rock & roll. President Kennedy was assassinated. Many fans had abandoned rock, weary of its blandness, and headed for jazz and folk. Although no one realized it, American rock & roll was in the process of being reborn in Liverpool, England.
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