In 1998 there were only a handful of studies researching the subject of forgiveness. By 2005 that number had climbed to 950. The Power of Forgiveness, the latest documentary from Martin Doblmeier, traces the growing scientific interest in forgiveness during these years, ironically reflecting my own journey in those same years as I developed my own expertise on the subject, not so much from studying it at Seminary, preaching it as a pastor, or being such a generous giver of it as much as from making life decisions that made me desperately aware of how much I longed to receive it.

Testament is a gorgeously written re-telling of the story of Jesus of Nazareth — not the story of the divine Son of God, but of a compelling and complex human being in first-century Galilee. The story is told in four parts from the perspective of four different characters — Judas Iscariot, Mary Magdalene, Mary the mother of Jesus, and an extra-Biblical character of the author’s own invention, Simon of Gergesa.

Expelled: No Intelligence Allowed, written by Kevin Miller and Ben Stein, begins with intense footage of the building of the Berlin Wall. As the introductory credits roll, the confusion and shock at the wall’s construction is made very real as several young boys kick around a ball. As the ball is kicked into the air it flies up and over the wall, apparently lost forever.

I’ve always appreciated Philip Yancey’s books because he writes as a pilgrim, not a pastor. Not that I don’t appreciate pastoral perspectives, but often they seem to skip over the doubts, questions, and laments that I have.

Miss Pettigrew Lives for a Day is a rollicking adventure set in England in the days before World War Two. Guinevere Pettigrew (Frances McDormand) is a governess who finds herself out of work, again.

Darius Weems is just your average 15-year old teenager. He loves cracking jokes, kicking it with his friends, watching MTV and trying his hand at rapping from time to time. However, Darius deals with one thing on a daily basis that is far from the common teenage dilemma, Duchenne muscular dystrophy. It is a form of muscular dystrophy that is classified by the decreasing of muscle mass and function within male children.

True confessions. I write this more as an evangelist than a reviewer. Or perhaps like a lover who’s still crazy after all these years.

Just a reminder that this month's book club selection is Prayer by Philip Yancey.

Just a reminder that this month’s film club pick is The Power of Forgiveness, a documentary from the producers of Bonhoeffer. Here’s a short summary:

Although we haven't addressed the passing of screen icons in this space before, when the man who represents the iconic Biblical character to many dies, it seems fitting to pay attention. Over at the Belief Net blog, Gareth Higgins has some interesting thoughts about this complex man and screen legend. Here are some excerpts: