Sexualization Harms Girls and Guys

If you think society's sexual obsession is only harming us guys, think again. In this challenging commentary, Rachel Bell of the Independent (a British newspaper) looks at the consequences of our sexually charged culture on the psyches of young women and young men. It's not a pretty picture.

While Christian men often focus on the challenge of living purely in an overtly sexual world, it's not as common that we think about the damage done to our women, and how we contribute to the problem by being consumers of sex in the media.

Amazing Grace: Also Worth a Look

Two movies with good messages opening in the same week? What's going on in Hollywood?

The other film worth taking a look at this week is Amazing Grace, the story of William Wilberforce, a member of Parliament who worked for 20 years to end slavery in 18th-century England. Wilberforce became a Christian after getting elected to office and initially wanted to join the clergy. But after taking advice from John Newton (author of Amazing Grace) and others, he decided to stay in politics and commit his work there to God. Definite parallels for men in the secular workforce.

Unfortunately, the guys at New Man didn't get a chance to catch an advance screening, so we can't provide a full review.

We can tell you that others who have seen it told us it's an excellent movie. It's also getting mixed reviews from the critics, which, for this type of movie, probably means it's fantastic.

Astronaut Farmer: Surprisingly Good

Let's get one thing straight: this movie was not made for me. As a 23-year-old recent college grad with a taste for indie films and epics, I don't exactly fit the target demographic for The Astronaut Farmer, which opens today. It's cheesy, it's formulaic, it's predictable and it's totally not believable.

But you know what? I really liked it.

This is one of the rare family movies that has some depth and heart, as opposed to a lot of the shallow stuff we call "family entertainment."

The story is simple enough. Charles Farmer, a former military pilot on his way to becoming an astronaut, gets sidetracked from his dream when his father dies and he has to take care of the family farm. But Farmer won't give up on his dream and spends all his resources constructing a homemade rocket, which he is determined to launch, in spite of mounting debts, government interference and a world of naysayers.

Astronaut Farmer works because of the characters and the acting. Billy Bob Thornton is a hit-or-miss actor, but he definitely hits the mark here, playing Charles Farmer with that calm, simple country feel that he can bring out (very reminiscent of Coach Gaines in Friday Night Lights). Perfectly complementing him is Virginia Madsen, who steals the movie as Farmer's wife, Audie. The conflict within her between supporting her husband's dream and being financially responsible is fantastic, and the interaction between her and Thornton makes them feel like a real couple.

The supporting cast of family members, bumbling government agents and quirky small town residents works well and provides most of the comedy. There's even a nice cameo from Bruce Willis.

While the message of believing in yourself and your dreams no matter what is a good one, it gets hit on so much that it almost becomes tiresome. The real heart comes in the interactions of the family. It's refreshing to see a man who loves spending time with his kids in a movie. Farmer's not the perfect dad (his stewardship is highly questionable), but he shines like a beacon compared to most other father figures in movies today.

If you're looking for a movie to see with the family, you can't go wrong with Astronaut Farmer. It's not the greatest feat of cinema, but it's pretty clean (there a few innuendos and some cursing), it has a good message and it just makes you leave the theater with a smile on your face.

The Man-Church

A few weeks ago in Central Florida, a group of guys got together and held the first meeting of the Church for Men. In case you can't tell from the clever name, Church for Men is a church designed to appeal exclusively to guys. More specifically, it's designed to appeal to guys who don't come to church.

Meetings are short (no sermons over 15 min.) and filled with masculine themes. They don't have a pastor, they have a coach. Worship music? How about a little "Onward Christian Soldiers."

Church for Men is trying to provide a solution to a problem that many churches in America face: a lack of men in the pews. About 61 percent of the people in churches today are women. The church clearly has a problem engaging men, but is the solution really to build a campfire in the sanctuary and hang a "No Girls Allowed" sign on the door?

Church for Men's goal is not to compete with regular services. They meet once a month on Saturday nights. The idea is to attract men who avoid a typical Sunday morning service. The key will be whether the group can successfully draw those men into the Christian community as a whole (i.e. a regular church family). There's a problem when a group separates itself from the rest of the body of Christ.

But as long as a large percentage of guys don't feel comfortable on Sunday mornings, we can expect to see more man-friendly services and churches for men.

Super Bowl Evangelism

Tony Dungy will, once again, be the keynote speaker for the annual Super Bowl Breakfast this Saturday.

The breakfast is an NFL-sanctioned event held during Super Bowl week where Christian players and and coaches share their testimonies and talk about their faith. It's sponsored by Athletes in Action, the sports outreach ministry of Campus Crusade for Christ.

The Bart Starr Award, given to the NFL player who best exemplifies character and leadership, will also handed out out at the breakfast. The finalists, voted on by their peers, are Peyton Manning (yes, he might win another award), Warrick Dunn and John Lynch.

Last year's breakfast was the first time Dungy spoke publicly about his son's death after the funeral. He said at the time that while he always enjoyed coming, he had a dream to come not just as an invited speaker but as the coach of one of the Super Bowl teams.

So he might be a little bit happy tomorrow morning.

You can catch the event on the Sky Angel network, available to satellite dish owners, on Sunday morning from 10-11:30 ET. For those not planning on skipping church, they're also re-broadcasting before and after the game, at 4 p.m. and 10 p.m. ET.