5 Must See Christian Movies

God could certainly be considered the best story teller of all time.  He has left us with the king of books "The Holy Christian Bible" which contains the greatest stories ever told.  So when we get to see some of those stories played out on screen it can be quite memorable.  I know for myself that a lot of the valuable lessons of life I have learned through watching movies.  So when you have a good movie that is faith based and centered around Christ, you've got my attention.  Here is a list of 5 movies that I consider to be "must see" quality.  If you haven't seen all of these movies I highly recommend checking them out.

"The Truth" Psalm 30:5 For His anger is but for a moment, His favor is for a lifetime; Weeping may last for the night, But a shout of joy comes in the morning.

5. The Ultimate Gift

This is a movie based on a best selling book written by Jim Stovall.  The Ultimate Gift is a story of inheritance.  Our main character Jason thought he was in line to inherit money and lots of it, but he is in for a big surprise when he finds out his Grandpa has left a series of tasks for him to complete in order to receive his inheritance.  This story teaches a lot of valuable lessons and shows how to overcome adversity in the pursuit of a better life.

Favorite Quote: "You don't start living until you've lost everything."

Stealing The Show-  Stealing the show here is young Abigail Breslin as her character proves to be the glue between the romantic interests in the movie.

Box Office: 3,438,735

4.  The Nativity Story

(2006) Stars: Keisha Castle-Hughes, Shohreh Aghdashloo, Oscar Isaac; Writer: Mike Rich; Director: Catherine Hardwicke

This is a movie centering around the story of Mary and Joseph and their journey to Bethlehem. We see all of their ups and downs on this pre-destined path leading up to the birth of the Messiah.

Stealing The Show: Keisha Castle-Hughes got a lot of attention in the mainstream media for her role as Mary.

Box Office: 37,629,831

3.  Fireproof

(2008) Stars: Kirk Cameron, Erin Bethea, Ken Bevel; Writers: Alex and Stephen Kendrick; Director: Alex Kendrick

This is an all around great movie from the Kendrick Brothers with an outstanding performance from Kirk Cameron.  You can see Kirk's real life passion for Christ shining through in his character.  This movie is accompanied by the book "The Love Dare" which is a 40 day experiment of love and unity in a marriage.  This movie was very successful in the box office and was shown in many churches around the world.

1 Corinthians 13:7-8 Love bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things, Love never fails.

Favorite Quote: Caleb Holt-"Marriage isn't fireproof." Michael Simmons-"Fireproof doesn't mean the fire will never come.  It means when the fire comes that you will be able to withstand it."

Favorite Quote 2: Caleb Holt-"How am I supposed to show love to somebody over and over and over who constantly rejects me." John Holt-(touches, then leans against cross) "That's a good question"

Stealing The Show: Of course the nod here goes to Kirk Cameron who sought out the role of Caleb Holt, this casting was a homerun.

Box Office: 33,456,317

2.  Facing The Giants

(2006) Stars: Alex Kendrick, Shannen Fields, Jason Mcleod; Writers: Alex and Stephen Kendrick; Director: Alex Kendrick

This is a true underdog story of a losing coach on the verge of being fired coaching an undersized team.  He will try to change their win/loss record and their lives forever by demonstrating a  deep faith in Christ.

Favorite Part:  Undoubtedly the best part of this movie is during a football practice when the coach Grant Taylor challenges linebacker(team leader) Brock Kelley to do a bear crawl.  This time however he wants him to do it blindfolded.  He would normally only go 20 yards and stop but now that he can't see he has no sense of just how far he's gone.  With the coach cheering and challenging him to push himself to his limits, Brock ends up going a full 100 yards end zone to end zone.  This proves to be a turning point for the entire team when coach displays how far faith can take you.

Favorite Quote:  "You can't judge your father by his actions, and yourself by your intentions."

Favorite Quote 2: Brock-"I'm about out of strength." Coach Taylor-"Then you negotiate with your body to find more strength, but don't you give up on me."

Box Office: 10,178,331

1.  The Passion Of The Christ

(2004) Stars: Jim Caviezel, Monica Belluci, Maia Morgenstern; Writers: Benedict Fitzgerald, Mel Gibson; Director: Mel Gibson

Do not miss this movie, if there was ever a must see it is this film.  This is the "main event", The crucifixion and the subsequent resurrection are what we as christian base our faith and worship around.  Mel Gibson does such a beautiful job of portraying a realistic vision of events that gives the viewer an intimate and unique point of view.  This work recieved a total of 3 Academy award nominations and still reigns as the all time Christian movie box office king with $370,782,930 in world wide sales.

The Passion Of The Christ- Trailer

This is the water mark for the industry and looks like it will be for a long time to come.  Unless we can get Mel to do some kind of Christian movie follow up.  I know Mel has had plenty of issues in the media since the release of the movie but that is the beauty and message of christianity is to repent and you shall be forgiven. Like it says in Matthew 7;1-2 speaking of not passing judements on others. So I am hoping to see Mel Perform in the capacity of director again and hopefully on a faith based project. I also recommend his other directorial work "Apocalypto" which was also spectacular and thrilling, a story of the will to live around the time of the ancient mayans.

Matthew 7:1-2  Judge not, that you be not judged.  For with the judgement you pronounce you will be judged, and with the measure you use it will be measured to you

Favorite Part: Many favorite parts in this story but to see Jesus stand up there in front of Pontius Pilate and turn away from his threats stating "My kingdom is not of this world".  Those words leave me feeling a sense of how little understanding we have while we are here on the physical earth of what awaits us in Heaven.

Bonus Favorite Part:  I love the scene with Jesus praying as Satan stalks him reminding him of the enormous task at  his hand.  Satan saying" One man can't bear the entire weight of sin", but Jesus goes onto to pray that his will be his Father's will.  Mel does a great job with imagery when Jesus stomps on the serpent.

"Stealing The Show"- Jim Caveiezel definitely overachieved in his portrayal of the Messiah, I felt that one of the best parts was the fact that they were speaking aramaic which gave this movie in contrast to others it's authenticity.

Box Office: 370,782,930

These are all great movies and I hope you have or will enjoy watching them.  For me The Passion Of The Christ was a major turning point for me in my faith.  To be able to have that visual experience of the final hours of our Lord was jaw dropping, life altering, and heart changing.  The Kendrick brothers have become the present and future of the industry by trailblazing an independent path of faith like no other movie makers ever had before.  After their recent release of "Courageous" the Christian community is clamoring with excitement to see their next project. One thing is for sure, movies are good but christian movies are the best.

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