Displaying items by tag: entertainment

The new faith-based film Jesus Revolution opened last weekend and brought in $15.5 million - more than double the original estimate. The film tells the true story behind the Jesus Movement of the 1970s, including how Pastor Chuck Smith welcomed hippies looking for truth at his church. It gave birth to one of the greatest spiritual awakenings in American history and birthed the Harvest Christian Fellowship, in Riverside, California, which is now one of the largest churches in America. The church has sponsored its local SoCal Harvest event for three decades, making it one of the longest-running evangelistic events in the nation, attended by millions of people. Despite mixed critical reviews, the film has a remarkable 99% audience rating on the review aggregator and has earned a rare A+ CinemaScore from opening day audiences.

BAFTA actress Letitia Wright, who has starred in Black Panther, Doctor Who, and Black Mirror, is also vocal about her faith in a devotional YouVersion Bible app. She posted about her faith on Instagram and has turned down certain roles in her career. In an interview, she explained how her faith sustains her in her career and that she had temporarily stopped acting for a few months to focus on God. She said that her faith in Christ has kept her alive, but some people advise her to keep it to herself. ‘I've had people tell me to stop talking about Jesus and to keep things private that the world may not agree with. I'm not trying to force anything on anyone. I'm sharing my truth because I probably wouldn't have been able to cope without Jesus. If someone saves you and brings light and love into your life, you want to share that, not hide it.’

Polish video game company PlayWay SA has announced it will launch the first instalment of the world’s first game that allows players to simulate the life of Jesus, including performing miracles and battling Satan. The prologue, I Am Jesus Christ, is a stand-alone game which serves as an introduction; it will be available from 1 December. The full version, which will be published in the second quarter of next year, will allow players to walk in the footsteps of Jesus ‘from birth to resurrection’, recreating key events from his life, such as the Last Supper. Players will be able to perform miracles and carry out quests, including a fight with Satan in the desert. Along the way, players discover Jesus’s story from his perspective and will be able to cure the sick, help the needy and interact with over sixty characters, including Christ’s disciples.

19-year-old Climate activist, Greta Thunberg, made a surprise appearance and spoke on the Pyramid Stage during the Glastonbury Festival. The 19-year-old warned festival-goers, ‘The earth's biosphere is not just changing, it is destabilising, it is breaking down.’ She criticised world leaders for ‘creating loopholes’ to protect firms whose emissions cause climate change. ‘That is a moral decision that will put the entire living planet at risk’, she added. Gretta spoke against a backdrop of the ‘warming stripes’, a vivid illustration of how the average global temperature has soared in recent decades. But she ended with a message of hope, telling festival-goers they had the power to make a difference. ‘Make no mistake, no one else is going to do this for us.’," she concluded. ‘Right here and now is where we stand our ground.’ She also visited the festival's Park area during her visit and the crowd joined her in a chant of ‘climate justice’.

In a recent TV documentary series, the presenter met people living and working in various locations in Cumbria, from high on the fells to the rivers, flood plains, and urban settings. In one episode he met a young man aged 19 running the family farm with the help of just two friends following the tragic death of both his parents. Meanwhile young people from Brathay, an impoverished coastal town, who had little to do and few expectations or encouragement, found new abilities and achievements learning to sail, navigate and work as a team. Give thanks for the inspiration and example these young people demonstrated. Pray that others find purpose, healing and hope through engagement with the land and rural life; also pray for a growing understanding and respect among the younger generation from town and country, investment for young people in farming and rural communities.

Over a thousand festival-goers caught coronavirus after attending a 20,000-person event in Utrecht, leading the city's mayor to apologise, saying it was ‘an error of judgment’. Health authorities say the disease spread over both days of the outdoor music festival, leading to the highest count of infections that could be traced back to a single event. It was a ‘test-for-entry event’, meaning visitors were allowed if they presented a vaccination card, held a negative coronavirus test, or had had Covid-19 recently. Authorities now believe that the time frame (40 hours) for negative tests was too long. Dutch caretaker prime minister Mark Rutte apologised for his government's quick relaxation of safeguards, admitting what they thought was possible was wrong after all. Cases jumped fivefold in one week.

A gospel choir and a friar will be among the competitors in the penultimate stage of Britain’s Got Talent. In April when Fr Kelly sang Everybody Hurts, Simon Cowell said it was one of his favourite auditions ever, and many in the audience were moved to tears. His singing previously went viral on Youtube when he sang Leonard Cohen’s Hallelujah at a wedding in 2014. It received over 60 million views. The DMU Gospel Choir was the university gospel choir of the year in 2016 and has been a BBC Songs of Praise choir of the year finalist. Members impact and transform the lives of many as they engage in community outreach, visit hospital wards, do schools workshops, charity performances, and sing for societies and organisations like Global Hands (Run for Africa). See

The hip-hop musical Hamilton is now playing in the UK, delivering spiritual messages as it traverses a number of important social issues including race, gender equality, immigration and diversity. Black and minority ethnic actors play the roles of the Founding Fathers, a casting decision that turns audience expectations upside down as soon as the musical starts. After seeing Hamilton, the actress Rosie O’Donnell described it as ‘a religious experience, a spiritual cleansing. Hamilton is medicine that I need for my soul. It is vital to me; it feels like going to church’. People are saying that they are unexpectedly drawn into the presence of God as the atmosphere in the theatre changes. The audience collectively feels a weight, a tension, a presence - perhaps even the presence of God - as deeply spiritual themes saturate the musical. Hamilton built his life on the foundation of grace. See v