Faith Driven Consumer™ -- the group behind the recent IStandWithPhil.com movement that played a large role in Phil Robertson's return to Duck Dynasty, is tracking the commercial viability of major Hollywood films courting faith audiences. In 2014, the Year of the Bible Movie, studios are targeting 46 million Faith Driven Consumers who spend $1.75 trillion annually. While recent films such as SON OF GOD and GOD'S NOT DEAD are exceeding expectations at the US box office, the organization finds that NOAH has underperformed its opening weekend relative to its potential with a faith-based audience.
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Pope Francis has signaled that the Catholic Church may tolerate some forms of same-sex civil unions, though he affirmed the Church’s opposition to gay marriage. According to a translation by Catholic News Service, the pope said in an interview with the Italian daily Corriere della Sera that “matrimony is between a man and a woman” but that moves to “regulate diverse situations of cohabitation [are] driven by the need to regulate economic aspects among persons, as for instance to assure medical care.” Creation Museum founder Ken Ham announced Thursday that a municipal bond offering has raised enough money to begin construction on the Ark Encounter project, estimated to cost about $73 million. Groundbreaking is planned for May and the ark is expected to be finished by the summer of 2016. Ham said a high-profile evolution debate he had with "Science Guy" Bill Nye on Feb. 4 helped boost support for the project. A Baptist preacher has been elected as Ukraine's interim president, prompting calls for Christians to pray for the beleaguered nation and its new leader. New interim president Oleksandr Turchynov was the right-hand man of Yulia Tymoshenko, the former prime minister imprisoned by Viktor Yanukovych when Yanukovych became president in 2010. The former prime minister was released immediately following Yanukovych's removal from office Feb. 23, an ousting that came on the heels of a three-month-long protest movement in Kiev, the nation's capital. A recent poll finds that Christians are concerned that directors of a faith-based film hitting the big screen soon have fundamentally changed the core message of a Bible story.
During 2014, studios are targeting the 46 million Christian consumers who spend $1.75 trillion annually, and Faith Driven Consumer is tracking the commercial viability of Hollywood's effort. With the impending release in March of the Paramount Pictures film Noah, starring Russell Crowe and directed by Darren Aronofsky, Faith Driven Consumer has questioned members of the film's target audience about whether they are concerned about the controversial deviation from the actual biblical narrative. Anne Schleper, a defenseman on the United States women's Olympic hockey team, is an Olympian with a plan. Schleper, 24, said she approaches her team's quest for a gold medal in Sochi, Russia, as a Christ follower who invites Him onto the ice with her. The U.S. will play Thursday (Feb. 20) in the finals. "I'm a Christian and nothing happens in my life that isn't filtered through God's hands first," she wrote Feb. 6 on her Twitter account. U.S. Olympic snowboarder Kelly Clark knows some of the trappings that come with athletic success. A four-time Olympian, she has seen those temptations herself. That's one reason she decided four years ago to start the Kelly Clark Foundation to help others compete in the sport that she loves so much. "As a competitive athlete, sometimes you're required to prioritize yourself and think about yourself all the time," Clark, who won the bronze medal on Feb. 12 in the women's halfpipe competition, said. "I thought it might be better if I didn't spend so much time thinking about myself. That's kind of where my inspiration came from to start the foundation." In the aftermath of the Super Bowl, authorities announced that they rescued 16 minors in the New York City area from sex traffickers. In addition, more than 50 women who were also coerced to work as prostitutes were saved. Police from more than 50 law enforcement agencies spanning New York, Pennsylvania, New Jersey and Connecticut arrested 45 pimps in a two-week run up to the Super Bowl. Before the Super Bowl, The New York Times reported that the NYPD had already made 298 prostitution-related arrests this year through Jan. 26, a 30 percent increase over the same period in 2013. CNN also reported on a New York City high-end drug and prostitution bust last week. When I was little, I couldn’t wait to sit down in front of my television set on Thursday evenings. With my bowl of popcorn nearby, I’d munch away and laugh at the antics of iconic TV characters such as the educated and witty Huxtable family on THE COSBY SHOW and the loveable political leanings of everyone’s favorite Republican, Alex P. Keaton on FAMILY TIES. It was funny, smart, and, most of all, family friendly. Today, however, I struggle to give my family those same memories. Most network producers use suggestive dialogue, over the top violence, and gratuitous sex scenes to spice up their plots. Instead of bonding over the laughter of our favorite TV show, I cover my children’s eyes and send them to bed before the last round of Wheel of Fortune. Katy Perry, who has never shied away from talking about her faith and her Christian upbringing, recently opened up about answered prayers, spirituality and her boyfriend, John Mayer. Perry, whose given name is Katheryn Hudson, was raised in a Pentecostal home as the middle child of two traveling ministers. In an interview for the February cover story of GQ, Perry talked about how God answered her prayers about her body at age 11. “I’ve never had any plastic surgery,” the pop superstar said. “Not a nose, not a chin, not a cheek, not a t--. So my messages of self-empowerment are truly coming from an au naturel product.” |
Walter Blackwood
Associate Pastor with The Bridge Community of Faith in Kelowna BC Canada. Archives
May 2017
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