"Soul Surfer: Beaches, Bikinis... and Bibles?"

Haven't seen it; probably never will. My cynical nature looks on it like any number of "Christian lite" movies--marketed to a specific demographic ensuring their profitability. To reach the widest possible audience it will, of necessity, be light on the Gospel.

Movies, by and large, are a pathetic evangelistic tool. Among other reasons a major one has to be that Scripture never intended the Gospel to be communicated through imagery. I will toss movies a carrot, however: they can actually employ a Biblical method ("...call for Simon...who shall tell thee words whereby thou and all thy house shall be saved...[Acts 11:13-14]"), and some do more than others.

What we'll see is a plethora of churches theming Soul Searcher this, that, or the other. And, thanks to a merciful, good God, there will be some that actually respond to the little bit of Gospel that will be included in some of these endeavors, and I will rejoice with the angels in Heaven for every one of them. But what we'll have to suffer through is that there will be enough "success" stories that these feel good, Christian-lite movies, etc., will never go away. Nothing is harder to get rid of than a bad idea that enjoys a modicum of success.

I mostly agree with you, though I don't think I would fight to have less of them any more than I would to have more of them. I can just be thankful (like Paul was for the preachers who preached Christ of contention) that God can use them. I agree they are not a great tool, but their existence can be of at least some benefit. At the time the "Passion of the Christ" came out, I was able to speak to two of my unsaved friends who had seen it about things like Christ's sacrifice, why he came, etc., that had not been open to that discussion before. Neither of them accepted Christ as a result, but it gave me an opportunity I would not have otherwise had, because they listened rather than turning the conversation to something else, because they were now interested in the topic.

I haven't seen "Soul Surfer," and I wouldn't organize a viewing with a bunch of unsaved people hoping that movie would turn them to Christ, but if some see it and ended up asking me more about my faith because of what they saw, I can still both be thankful for that and use the opportunity. I can't honestly say I would want *less* of that to happen.