Now, before we get started, let’s acknowledge that Marvel is a fantastical universe and we must allow it the fancies of the genre. If Marvel decides that spider bite bestows upon its victim a truly enviable six-pack or that Tony Stark somehow finds time to exercise for a couple hours a day in addition to all his inventing/Avenging, than we can allow them those quirks.

But where do we draw the line? At what point does the fantastical just become purely improbable? Here, we will determine just that. (more…)

Over the weekend, I got a text from someone asking how I felt about Franklin Graham’s decision to move his organization’s significant funds from one bank to another.

As you may have heard, Graham was upset by Wells Fargo’s decision to include a lesbian couple in a television ad. In an act of defiance, he moved his money to BB&T. This caused no small amount of eye-rolling, as BB&T has been quite vocal in its own support for marriage equality. Likewise, a few people have taken great delight in pointing out the irony of Graham announcing his decision over Facebook, a “vehemently pro-LGBT” organization.  (more…)

In the ’90s, CCM was into two things: U2 and not having sex. Also, goatees. And ska. OK, CCM was into a lot of things in the ’90s, but having already covered that in detail elsewhere, this list will be devoted to CCM’s many admirable attempts to make sexual abstinence look fun.

A lot could be said about sexual abstinence, but let me state for the record that I bear the True Love Waits movement no ill will whatsoever. This is not about trashing the virtues of waiting till marriage, nor mocking people who are committed to doing so. This is about ranking CCM songs about keeping your pants on, so let’s get down to it.

Whatever you do, I beg of you, please do not skip the final video, which is the most incredible thing I’ve seen on the Internet in months. (more…)

For those not in the know, Plugged In is amazing. It might be the most interesting film review site on the whole entire Internet.

A branch of Focus on the Family, Plugged In reviews movies in the manner of a Louisa May Alcott-era schoolmarm rattling off a list of her students’ gravest misdeeds. Avengers: Age of Ultron is docked points for “sporadic foul language and sexual innuendo.” Boyhood is described as “almost three hours of foul language, crude capers, bad behavior…” (more…)

Webster’s Dictionary defines “hero,” as yada, yada, yada. Just kidding. That’s not how we’re going to start this post.

No, we all know what a hero is. But only I know who the best heroes of 2015 (so far) are, and I aim to share them with you now.

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There have been, by my count, two serious attempts at filming the entirety of The Chronicles of Narnia. The most recent started with an OK-ish attempt at The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe (immeasurably improved by James McAvoy’s turn as Mr. Tumnus) before settling into a Chronicle of Diminishing Returns. The death knell was The Voyage of the Dawn Treader, which somehow made a high seas voyage for the edge of the world seem boring—a notable feat in and of itself. (more…)

It is dark now and there is a finality to it, as if the sun had not sunk below the horizon but had instead died, its flames ripening into thick slimy vines, then hardening, calcifying into chalk and crumbling altogether. The night swept through Sodom like a plague, a cold darkness you could suck in and cough out in short splinters.

Lot’s wife is in her home, stirring a black pot of clotted stew while her husband trades dark words with two strange men who came into her home without addressing her. Lot had told her to make supper with such urgency she thought the strangers might be violent, but were unarmed. Even so, she feared them. She feared everyone these days.  (more…)

“Consider the work of God: who can make straight what he has made crooked?” —Ecclesiastes 7:13

The first thing that strikes you about this verse is how it spins your expectations on its head. You’d expect it to say “Who can make crooked what He has made straight?” but this is not that kind of Bible, nor is it that kind of life. (more…)

There is a certain type of Christian—usually a man, I’ve found—who’s very proud of the fact that Bible has one book in it wholly devoted to sex. Give this guy a microphone, and he’ll adjust his tie, get a crafty grin on his face, and say something like, “Let’s look at what the Bible says about sex. That’s right, folks, we say the S-E-X word here. I know, I know—” he’ll say, waving away imagined outcries of horror. “But, believe it or not, the Bible actually says God created sex to be good!” And then he’ll give you a moment to process this universe-shattering tidbit. (more…)