Christmas Story in First Person Re-telling, How a Pro-Exodus Film Review Convinced Me All the More Not to Watch It, Ebola Medical Professionals Get TIME's Person of the Year; Frank Wolf Named Daniel of the Year

Touching Wonder: Recapturing the Awe of Christmas [Kindle Edition]  FREE for a limited time
John Blase

As summarized on Amazon: 

This bold retelling of Luke 1–2, based on Eugene Peterson’s Message translation, reads like a novel and invites readers to experience the Nativity with fresh wonder.

To Eugene Peterson’s The Message Bible translation, John Blase adds his own storytelling voice, exploring the familiar events from multiple first-person viewpoints. What emerges is the intimate story of unlikely people—a frightened teenaged girl, a worried carpenter, a collection of senior citizens, a disillusioned young shepherd—meeting up with the divine as they bumble and stumble toward the realization that the little one just born is the One.

This retold story of Word made flesh invites readers to react appropriately—with eyes opened wide in wonder, jaws dropped in amazement, and hearts rejoicing. The beautiful design and Amanda Jolman’s lively line drawings make this book a fitting gift as well as a Christmas tradition that families will treasure for years to come.

Exodus: Gods and Kings

Ten reasons to not be hardhearted toward Ridley Scott’s biblical epic.
Brett McCracken/ DECEMBER 10, 2014

This pro-Exodus by Ridley Scott movie review convinced me all the more NOT to see it. Here's why: 

Any Christian leader/mature believer who feels it is more important that the movie have "cinematic beauty," "fidelity to the time, region and culture," "craftsmanship" and "period detail" than biblical accuracy or fidelity to the Scriptures and getting some of those obvious details right worries me. Brett McCracken expresses revulsion that "other Bible themed movies often favor accuracy over artistry" and states, "Given the choice between a mediocre filmmaker committed to accuracy and an exceptional filmmaker committed to beauty, I might be more interested in seeing the latter's version of the Exodus story."

To me, if given the choice to shake my head at and pray for Christianity Today or rejoice in their most recent stories and reviews, I choose the former.

Also: Read the slander heaped on Moses by Christian Bale, the actor who plays Moses in this film

Christian Bale: Moses was 'barbaric' and 'schizophrenic'
Christian commentators alarmed by actor’s comments and by Exodus director Ridley Scott saying he needed a ‘more scientific’ explanation for the parting of Red Sea than divine intervention

"The actor said he wasn’t knowledgeable about the Bible before taking on the role, but had undertaken significant research, including also reading the Torah, the Koran and Jonathan Kirsch’s life of Moses."

According to one reviewer, Kirsch had the following to say about Moses: "Moses is shown to act in timid and even cowardly ways, throw temper tantrums, dabble in magic, carry out purges and inquisitions and conduct wars of extermination, and talk back to God" (Moses: A Life p.2).

To prepare for his role as Moses in "Exodus: Gods and Kings," Christian Bale watched Monty Python's "The Life of Brian" and Mel Brooks' "History of the World, Part One."

"And the film doesn’t depict God taking his people out of Israel — rather they revolt against the Egyptians."

Sigh ... no respect

Note: I have read enough in reviews and interviews to conclude that they are stirring controversy on purpose because they know that moviegoers respond positively to controversy. See how easy these guys make it to criticize them? How can you take someone seriously about their depiction of Moses who says what he does about him and says he prepped by watching these two comedies and reading this questionable book on Moses?  Then there's the fact that the director is an atheist (see bottom of interview for his thoughts on the Moses project). 

THE EBOLA FIGHTERS

Excerpt:
Anyone willing to treat Ebola victims ran the risk of becoming one.

Which brings us to the hero’s heart. There was little to stop the disease from spreading further. Governments weren’t equipped to respond; the World Health Organization was in denial and snarled in red tape. First responders were accused of crying wolf, even as the danger grew. But the people in the field, the special forces of Doctors Without Borders/Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF), the Christian medical-relief workers of Samaritan’s Purse and many others from all over the world fought side by side with local doctors and nurses, ambulance drivers and burial teams.

On Behalf of the Poor, the Sick, the Persecuted

CONGRESSMAN FRANK WOLF NAMED DANIEL OF THE YEAR
By: Eric Metaxas|Published: December 10, 2014 6:23 AM

"Chuck Colson called Congressman Wolf  'the patron saint of unpopular causes.'”

An excerpt:

So, what is it that motivates Frank Wolf to work so hard on behalf of others? The answer is simple: the Lord Jesus Christ—in particular, His words, “To whom much is given, of them much is required.”

As Wolf puts it, “I believe I'm going to be held accountable at the end of my life.”

He is now leaving Congress after more than 30 years. But don't expect the seventy-five-year-old to sit in a rocking chair for the rest of his days. He plans to continue his human rights work in another capacity.

There is even a book that he wrote: 

Prisoner of Conscience: One Man's Crusade for Global Human and Religious Rights

[Kindle Edition]
Frank Wolf (Author), Anne Morse (Contributor)

Anne Morse, under a review entitled, "This Congressman is One Crazy Dude," had the following to say: 

Congressman Frank Wolf sneaked into Tibet under the noses of the Chinese government, and blew the lid off the torture and imprisonment of the Tibetan people. He knows what happened to the demonstrators at Tiananmen Square: He found them in a prison factory, making socks as slave laborers. He marched boldly into a Soviet-era prison camp shouting, "I'm a U.S. Congressman! I want to talk to you!" He was almost killed when Romanian secret police tried to run him down in the dark of night after he attempted to visit a high-ranking defector's daughter, who was living under house arrest. He was almost killed again when he traveled incognito to Baghdad. He traveled through the Amazon Jungle with the son of slain missionary Nate Saint to bring help to impoverished Indian tribes. Frank Wolf is Charlie Wilson without the sleaze--a fearless defender of human and religious rights around the world. Don't miss this gripping memoir.