The Amazing Story of ‘Pendragon’

I try not to write about articles in a current issue of New Man too often, because that gets boring real fast. Yet I can’t help but draw your attention to this week’s Q&A with Aaron Burns, one of the creators of the new Christian movie Pendragon.

I’ve seen most of the film and it’s pretty a pretty incredible accomplishment. Pendragon is full-length action-adventure epic created by two homeschooling families. It has everything you want from this type of film, including sword fighting, explosions, chases on horseback, love, betrayal and a Christian message. And most of it was created in the Burns family’s backyard.

The quality of the picture is certainly not up to Hollywood standards, but it’s comparable or higher than the quality of many Christian films out there that have professional producers, actors and directors. I’m simply amazed by what this group of brothers, sisters and cousins accomplished. They wrote the screenplay and some of the score, built the sets, created the costumes and learned to use cameras as they went along.

The Burnses decided to dream big and trust that God would allow them to accomplish their dream (which is actually the main theme of the movie as well). What started out as a four-person team with $6,000 turned into a 600-person project with an $80,000 budget, and the Burnses credit all of it to prayer and God’s provision.

This movie is a testament to what God can do through you if you dare to dream and trust Him to provide along the way. That’s a lesson all of us guys can learn as we try to influence our world for Christ.

In the meantime, check out Pendragon’s Web site at www.pendragonmovie.com and look for the DVD to arrive at your local Christian bookstore by the end of February.

Obama Draws Mixed Emotions

I don’t know what it is, but there’s always a certain mystique about the American presidency. In an age where we know the most intimate details of many celebrities’ lives, it’s sometimes hard to feel a sense of awe or wonderment, but for some reason the institution of the presidency always gets to me. I’m under no illusions about the fallibility of the people who inhabit the office (Bill Clinton took care of that), but I’m a big history fan, and things like inaugurations always give me chills.

That’s why Tuesday’s inauguration (which hadn’t taken place at the time of this writing) leaves me with mixed emotions, as I’m sure it does for many Americans. On the one hand, I’m filled with a deep sense of pride and history for this moment. It is a truly special thing to witness the first African-American president in American history. It’s the kind of thing you will tell your grandkids about. Not only is it important to symbolically show how far our country has come in terms of racial relations, but it also provides a role model for a lot of minority kids in tough situations.

Yet at the same time, I wish I agreed with him on more issues. This isn’t a political blog, so I don’t plan on going into a lot of details, but like many Christians out there I find myself disagreeing with him on a variety of issues and not looking forward to the potential legislation that will be passed in the next few years.

It’s been a constant back-and-forth battle emotionally for the last week or so. He’s a great orator, but is the content of the speech what we need to hear? He invited evangelical Rick Warren to pray at the inauguration, but he also asked homosexual Episcopal Bishop Gene Robinson to pray on Sunday.

I suppose in the end all I can do is what I recommended in an earlier post, to pray for President Barack Obama. Pray that he makes the right decisions, regardless of how they line up with my ideas. Pray that he surrounds himself with good people. Pray that the Lord will grant him great wisdom, insight and energy. Pray that we as Christians will conduct ourselves with grace and truth in the debates that follow his decisions.

What else should we pray for?

Tim Tebow: A Real Role Model

My favorite athlete has always been Danny Wuerffel. I was in sixth grade when he won a national championship for my beloved Gators in 1996, and I never thought I would see such a perfect combination of athleticism, character and faith again, much less in a person that played for my favorite team.

In many ways, he was a role model for me. Interestingly enough, he was also a role model for a certain fourth grader who lived about two hours away from me, a kid named Timmy Tebow.

Tebow is very much the successor to Wuerffel in many ways, both on and off the field. But Tebow has managed to carry that standard even higher. On the field, obviously he now has another national championship under his belt. Off the field, it seems his faith-fueled good works are getting even more attention than Wuerffel’s did in the ’90s.

Nearly every time he’s talked about on TV, in print or on the radio, it seems that even the most cynical of sports figures will mention his trips to prisons or the Philippines. It’s almost comical to see some of them squirm when they talk about how many great things he does, because they don’t have an explanation for it. Tebow does so much good that it begs the question, Why? And the beautiful thing is they already know the answer, even if they don’t want to talk about it--his faith in Christ.

Tebow is a role model and not just for kids. This is the way Christians should live, overflowing with good works, living a life above reproach and boldly sharing the gospel. I’m not saying that Tim Tebow is perfect, but like many Christian athletes before him, he has taken it upon himself to use his place in the public eye to show people what it means to be a Christian. Let’s back him up on that and live that life for the people we come in contact with every day.

God at Work in the Worst Situations

This week’s lead story is not a typical one for us. It’s a reader letter, which we almost never run in such a prominent spot, but I think one read and everyone will agree that it was something special. It comes from an Army staff sergeant in Iraq who is telling us about his relationship with a young man who was running from God and his attempts to lead him back to his Savior. I won’t spoil the ending, but it’s a powerful reminder that God is always at work.

It also struck me as a great reminder for those who are dealing with dire circumstances in this country as well. The current economic situation has many of our readers dealing with stress and problems that they’ve never faced before, and I believe this story from a war is particularly appropriate for them. God is always at work in our lives. Romans 8:28 says, “And we know that God causes all things to work together for good to those who love God, to those who are called according to His purpose.”

Notice it doesn’t say that God will make our lives comfortable or easy or simple. It simply says that no matter the circumstance, He will work it for good. That’s true whether you’re in the middle of a war of whether you’ve just been fired from your job. God loves you, He is still with you, and He will work all things together for good.