Well last night my wife picked the movie “Father Stu” starring Mark Wahlberg and Mel Gibson and she wanted to go see it so I went along with her pick. I hadn’t even heard of this movie, but was told it was about a guy living a rough life that decided to become a catholic priest. So here are the takeaways for anyone wondering if this is a Christian movie or anything that a Christian should go and see. The “cons” There is an obvious slant towards the catholic perspective of the faith and I know some evangelicals be more “Protestant” than others in thier feelings towards Roman Catholicism - however that is the perspective, so you have to expect it. There is also a lot of salty language to be prepared for, but again, this movie is a true story and it seems to me that they could not be true to this man’s background and family life if everyone was saying “oh darn, shucks, gee whiz Wally” This movie was actually very real, I felt. This man came from a family background of two atheists who became angry at God because their younger child (father Stu’s younger brother) died as a child and you could feel the pain that this caused that they did not know how to cope with and took out their hurt on God. So on to the “pros” of the movie - again this movie was very real and very believable. This movie was all about the change that Jesus can make in a life and how powerful grace and forgiveness can be if you recognize and accept it. The Gospel of Jesus Christ was also clearly presented at least twice in the movie that I remembered and probably a third or fourth time that was more alluded to and not as clearly presented - but the fact that the Gospel was clearly presented was a BIG plus to me. The fact that the Gospel was presented to bitter, atheistic parents, who the unbelieving real world watching this movie can probably readily relate to was a very big plus. What happens to father Stu and these unbelieving parents at he end of the movie? Well I can tell you it is not a rosy ending like you would see in a Pureflix film, but without giving any spoilers away in case you want to watch this film, it leads you to believe that the Gospel has indeed softened yet another hard heart and changed yet another life for the better. So over all, yes, I would say a good movie pick by my wife, and if you can take the salty language (which for Geri and I is just Italian grandparents at a card game lol) I would say, yes, this is a great movie and well worth a watch. oh darn, shucks, gee whiz Wally” so it’s not 1966 Batman! ? which for Geri and I is just Italian grandparents at a card game lol You can include me in that group! LOL My great grandmother was a devout Roman Catholic straight out of Italy but she absolutely loved Jesus! She would talk about Him and you could tell she had a close relationship with Him. What is comforting in that for me is that it shows me that many in the Catholic system are actually saved. I grew up Episcopalian which is basically “Catholic lite” so am pretty familiar with the customs but thankfully my mother raised me on Jesus instead of the saints and Mary. Odd now that I think about it, my mother was raised Catholic yet we never one time prayed to Mary in our home. She is actually the reason I became a Watcher way back in the 70’s. Yesterday my brother and sister-in-law took me out to dinner for my belated birthday and on the long drive to the restaurant and back we were talking about our former neighbor who we were really close to. He was a carpenter and even built my parent’s home and his bumper sticker on his pick up truck read “My boss is a Jewish Carpenter”. My dad used to speak to him all the time about Jesus and He claimed to have gotten saved but his roots are … Episcopalian and started studying to be a priest. His wife would do home Bible studies and I would drive on over for them on occasions … but it all stopped when covid hit. They have since moved to upstate New York and he is a priest in an Episcopalian church. He is well loved up there. So I was just questioning if he was truly saved … after looking at a few pictures on his church facebook site … it just looks one step away from Catholicism to me. My brother claims he spoke to him and he sounded saved by claiming he has the right foundation. Then he reminded me there are believers in some of these church’s … and mentioned in Catholic catechism class … he had a teacher in the neighborhood that had to be a believer because she taught his class about Jesus dying for our sins and rosed again and we need to place our trust only in Him for salvation … no works at all. Then we are guaranteed heaven. She was a volunteer mom that taught his class and looking back he could see now she was on a mission in reaching kids with the Gospel. He recalls she gave out the Good News every week and would end the class with an invitation to pray to ask Jesus to be your Lord and Personal Savior. I told him WOW … I wish I had her for a teacher! Instead I had a nun and she only taught us Genesis 1-2 (just the creation story) and stopped there. She never covered Chapter 3 with the fall of man. I told him every time mom came to pick me up she would ask … what did you learn today? My reply was always … “nothing” LOL. Then this was the catalyst for mom to finally leave the Catholic Church for good. They had all the classes meet in the main church building and the arch bishop from Rome bought over a statue of Mary and wanted us to bow down to it and we have to say a gazillion hail Mary’s and Our Father’s and then they handed out these scapular felt necklaces and said if we ever took these off we would go to hell. One boy raised his hand and said what if we are in the shower or bathtub can we take them off? They said NO. I was so scared I double knotted it. :mdrmdr: That fear factor “church” service of indoctrination went over time … so my mom was waiting in the car and said why so late? I then told her what happened and she is freaking out and told me to take off that necklace right now and I never argued with her and I said NO, if I do I will go to hell! So she knew I was old enough to to hear the TRUTH and when we got home in the kitchen she shared John 3:16 and Ephesians 2:8-9. I couldn’t wait to get that ugly necklace off and asked for a scissor and then I prayed to Jesus to take away my sins and to be my Lord and Savior. And even as a 3rd grader whose sins were … taking bubblegum from my mom’s purse without asking, to eating all the candy sprinkles, to not making my bed or picking up my toys … I felt instantly a change person and had real joy and peace (fruits of the Spirit) in knowing I was now heaven bound. So I’m puzzled when I read people say when I got saved I felt nothing … I can’t relate to “their” lack of experience at all. Having from an early age believed and respected God, so when I committed my heart to Christ I was happy to be in a relationship! But other than that, I did not experience anything supernatural surrounding my conversion! It seemed orchestrated by God with ever increasing depths of relationship! I loved Him and knew He loved me! It all seemed so natural! TR Growing up in suburban Chicago, most of my friends were Catholic so I learned a lot about the way that they practiced faith and I saw many people that seemed very earnest and others who were just doing some things habitually. When I moved to the south, I learned about the different branches of Protestantism here and let me tell you there are A LOT!! I found that there are hypocrites and sinners in every church, most denominations get something wrong about their doctrine and you are very likely to get your feelings hurt in church as well.....but once I realized that everyone else is imperfect just like I am and I stopped expecting them to always be better than regular society; it became easier to get over the hurt feelings and go to church to worship the Lord. Thankfully my husband and I have been fortunate to find a good church home and so has my son and daughter in law in the town where they live. Like many people in different denominations of Protestantism I believe people that are truly seeking Jesus will find Him....sometimes in spite of the churches, denominations, and bad leadership. Well said! The light of Christ will either shine through or not! All still being human we struggle with sin! That said, there should be some contriteness from believers when we sin, not justification! No matter what brand of religion you subscribe to if you can put on a good show for your friends then God's heart does'nt matter! Hippocrates wear many hats! TR 
