Category: Faith

The Cancel Culture Is No Match for Chris Pratt

Chris Pratt is one of the most successful present-day actors in Hollywood.

He first hit it big on the small screen, where he landed the comedic role of Andy Dwyer in the NBC sitcom “Parks and Recreation.”

He then moved on to movies, where he put several more notches in his fame belt for his dramatic roles in “Moneyball,” “Zero Dark Thirty,” and the reboot of “The Magnificent Seven.”

Perhaps even more important to his professional standing, and to the earnings that go along with it, is the fact that he has become an integral part of some profitable tent-pole franchises; namely, the “Guardians of the Galaxy” films, the “Jurassic World” series, and the “Avengers” movies.

Put this all together with movies that are geared toward the youth market, such as “The Lego Movie” and “Onward,” and you have a bonafide super-star on your hands.

Obviously, Pratt works in the extremely “woke” entertainment business. Yet somehow he has been able to freely speak his mind, despite the entertainment industry’s mega-muzzle.

In the lead-up to his most recent film, “The Tomorrow War,” which is currently streaming on Amazon, Pratt posted a social media message that encouraged his followers, as well as the nation, to remember that their rights were purchased by a priceless sacrifice, courtesy of the members of the U.S. military.

“America’s exceptional armed forces have altered the course of the world for the better,” Pratt wrote. “From the Union Army defeating slave-owning Confederates, to the Greatest Generation and her Allies vanquishing the Nazis or our special operators hunting down the perpetrators of 9/11.”

He explained that those who run toward the danger “have given us the most free and decent society planet earth has ever seen.”

Pratt goes on to warn that the quality of decency is a fragile thing and can be lost if we fail to teach young people what freedom means, and if we fail to help them “learn of the selfless sacrifice of our armed service members in the face of oppressive evil.”

He turned his attention toward those who seem to be reflexively putting down our nation.

“…if you use the comments section on posts like this to b—- and moan about America, please understand there are countries in the world where criticizing your government will get you killed or imprisoned,” he said.

He went on to remind those who are seeking to express such views to “never forget your right to free expression is paid for in blood. May God give their souls rest, and may they live in our memories this weekend and always.”

What followed on the social media was disgusting. Activists of the untoward kind castigated Pratt for defending time-honored American values, acknowledging the existence of good and evil, and invoking the Creator’s name.

It’s not the first time Pratt has set off the woke’s alarm clock. In October of 2020, his absence from a Joe Biden campaign fundraiser resulted in a social media snit-storm.

The political fundraiser had offered “Avengers” fans the ability to virtually meet with a group of the series’ stars, if they contributed to the Biden presidential campaign.

Not being present at the event resulted in Pratt becoming the target of an attempted cancellation by some cyber saboteurs, who posted that his absence was an indication that he was a secret Trump supporter; this despite the fact that the actor had never spoken publicly about who he was supporting in the 2020 election.

The push-back on the web was kick-started by a television writer, who posted a meme on Twitter that consisted of four pictures of famous actors named “Chris”: Chris Hemsworth, Chris Evans, Chris Pine, and Chris Pratt. The meme’s caption read, “One has to go.”

Jumping on the post, social media mobsters used it to slander Pratt, with particular animus leveled against his choice of faith and place of worship.

Pratt has not been secretive at all about his devotion to Christianity. His Instagram bio begins with a Bible quote from Philippians 4:13, “I can do all things through Christ which strengthened me.”

He also posted on his Twitter account the words, “I love my family, friends, jokes, Jesus, movies, stories, outdoors, golf.”

He attends a biblically based church in Los Angeles and tells the story of how, when he was a just a teen in Maui, Hawaii, he was introduced to Jesus Christ by a stranger.

He shared some of the details of his introduction to his Savior with Esquire magazine.

The stranger ended up telling him, “I stopped because Jesus told me to stop and talk to you. He said to tell you you’re destined for great things.”

Pratt then made a life-altering decision, announcing to his friends, “Hey, I’m gonna go with this guy.”

He described the moment that forever changed his direction in the following way: “I gave my soul to Jesus within, like, two days. I was stuffing envelopes for his organization, Jews for Jesus.”

In 2017, when he accepted his award for Choice Sci-Fi Actor at the Teen Choice Awards, he spoke passionately about his gratitude to God for the spiritual gift he was given.

“I would not be here with the ease and grace I have in my heart without my Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ,” Pratt said.

Jerry Jenkins: ‘Left Behind’ May Be ‘Pretty Close’

Jerry Jenkins is one of the most successful authors of our time.

Best known for the “Left Behind” series, co-authored by Tim LaHaye, the set of End Times tomes quickly rose over the years to cultural phenom heights, awarding it the virtual status of a household name.

Gifted with the art of dramatic storytelling, Jenkins and LaHaye were able to take their humble talents and combine them with the ministry of Bible prophecy.

A multimedia franchise was born, one that consists of sixteen bestselling novels, three films starring Kirk Cameron, one reboot featuring Nicolas Cage in the lead, and some additional faith-based video game fare.

At the core of the “Left Behind” concept is a scripturally-based End Times precept that is woven throughout the passages of the New Testament’s final book, Revelation.

In the “Left Behind” books and attendant multimedia, those who choose to accompany the authors on their journey find themselves entering a realm of a future world in which people are desperately trying to cope with the disappearance of millions of their loved ones who have mysteriously vanished.

While on their search to find family members, co-workers, and friends, they find answers in the process to age-old questions about life here on Earth and beyond.

But ultimately revealed to them is that there is a protracted battle taking place between the Tribulation Force, which is an underground network of Christian converts, and a world-encompassing totalitarian government, referred to as the Global Community.

The Global Community is headed by an individual who is the embodiment of evil, the Antichrist himself.

It turns out that Jenkins hasn’t just been writing about End Times prophesies. As one of the most prolific writers in the country, he has been hard at work producing more than 200 books in multiple genres. Twenty-one of his books have been New York Times bestsellers and more than 72 million copies of his works have been sold.

He began his career as a sports writer and moved into a new mode of expression with a nationally syndicated sports-oriented comic strip called “Gil Thorp.”

He was anything but an overnight success. In fact, the book that launched Jenkins’s most successful series, the original “Left Behind” novel, was actually his 125th book.

Similar to many who attend Bible-oriented churches, Jenkins is non-denominational in his personal beliefs. He is often asked about his denomination, and when this happens he is ready with his two word response, “Jesus Christ.”

Because Jenkins has penned the most widely read books on biblical predictions, he is also frequently asked to comment on the unprecedented circumstances in which we find ourselves today.

He recently told the Christian Post why he believes that we are now close to experiencing the same End Times events that take place in the “Left Behind” series.

“We’re getting pretty close to the end. I think we have more reason to believe that now than we ever have,” Jenkins said. “It seems like something is coming. You just wonder how long God can carry us as sinful and restless as the world is.”

He avoids providing specific calendar days as to when these future events are to occur by pointing out the profound differences between finite human beings’ designs and the Creator’s plans and purposes.

“… God has a different economy of time than we do. He wrote in the Bible 2,000 years ago that the end was soon or imminent, and that we should watch and wait. We’ve been doing that all these years.” Jenkins explained.

“The Bible also says that to God, 1,000 years is as a day and a day is as 1,000 years. So if He waits one more day, in His mercy, that would be 1,000 of our years. Yet I don’t think there’s any more prophecy that needs to be fulfilled before the end, so it could be today as well,” Jenkins said.

Based on the idea that the end could come at any time, Jenkins views the saving of souls and the sharing of faith with others as a greater imperative than it has ever been.

“I think it’s obvious that we need to be at the task of being sure that the fewest people possible are left behind,” he said. “That means sharing our faith and being bold and not holding back. Sometimes we’re so afraid to offend somebody, we could offend them right into Hell. I think we need to just be overt, and it’s on them what they do.”

In addition to his other amazing accomplishments, Jenkins is the owner of a film company, Jenkins Entertainment, which is run by his son Dallas. The firm has produced uplifting family films since the early 2000s.

Jenkins’s son is the creator of “The Chosen,” the first multi-season television series about the life of Christ.

The story of the financing for “The Chosen” is instructive for young filmmakers. By utilizing a provision of legislation that allows crowdfunding companies to offer ownership shares to online investors, the project was able to raise more than $10.2 million from over 16,000 investors, making it the top crowdfunded film project at the time.

It now has $20 million in crowdfunding and has been viewed by over 90 million people in over 180 countries, catapulting it to the top crowdfunded media project ever.

The senior Jenkins’s latest novel is titled after his son’s hit series and will be released as a series of books. The first volume of the series is titled “The Chosen: I Have Called You By Name.” He is already in the process of writing a second installment of the series.

The author hopes that the culture can be impacted positively by “The Chosen” television series as well as “The Chosen” book series, much like the “Left Behind” series, by helping folks return to fellowshipping with God.

“That is that people … go back to their Bible, check it out, see what it says. Go back to church, return to their relationship with God or begin a relationship with God.”

Kevin Hart Takes on the Cancel Culture

For decades comedian-actor-producer Kevin Hart has been a Hollywood box-office cash magnet.

Hart has starred in a string of successful films, including “Think Like a Man,” “Grudge Match,” “Ride Along,” “Ride Along 2,” “Central Intelligence,” and the “Jumanji” franchise.

In 2015 Time Magazine saw fit to include him on its annual Time 100 list as one of the 100 most influential people in the world.

In his latest film release, “Fatherhood,” Hart expands his range of character portrayals by taking on the role of a man who struggles to raise his newborn baby girl all on his own, after his wife tragically passes away shortly after giving birth.

In addition to acting, the Hollywood A-lister has also had quite a bit of experience in hosting awards ceremonies. Two major ones in which he can boast include the 2011 BET Awards and the 2012 MTV Video Music Awards.

Following his 2012 MTV host experience, an optimistic Hart appeared to be looking forward to engaging in more work as an emcee, telling the New York Times, “Hopefully after MTV, of course we’re talking Emmys, Oscars, whatever.”

A three-time “Saturday Night Live” host, Hart went on to co-host, along with Dwayne Johnson, the 2016 MTV Movie Awards.

Then in late 2018, he almost got to check another dream host gig off his wish list. It was announced that he would be the host of the 2019 Academy Awards.

The initial excitement over the announcement would be short-lived, though. The cancel culture wound up roaring into Hart’s life in a fierce way.

After 48 hours of social media outrage over some eight-year-old tweets, Hart extricated himself from host responsibilities.

In January 2019, after receiving some strong support from previous Oscar host Ellen DeGeneres, he thought about reconsidering.

However, social media activists were not about to pull back on their attacks against him. Once again Hart announced that he would not be hosting.

The 2019 Academy Awards ceremony was ultimately held minus a host.

It was refreshing when Hart recently made the decision to weigh in on cancel culture. He made headlines for remarks made during an interview with the British Sunday Times.

“When did we get to a point where life was supposed to be perfect? Where people were supposed to operate perfectly all the time?” Hart asked. “I don’t understand. I don’t expect perfection from my kids. I don’t expect it from my wife, friends, employees. Because, last I checked, the only way you grow up is from [screwing] up. I don’t know a kid who hasn’t [messed] up or done some dumb [things].”

According to Hart, because comics are too afraid of being cancelled, comedic arts have suffered a severe blow.

“You’re thinking that things you say will come back and bite you on the [posterior],” he explained, pointing out that people often misunderstand the intent of comedy practitioners.

“There’s an assumption it’s always bad and, somehow, we forgot comedians are going for the laugh,” he added.

News media and social media trolls summarily attacked and ridiculed Hart for daring to question the stifling effects of cancel culture. Strangely, many tried to do so by belittling the actor’s success.

Hart used his twitter account of 37 million followers to respond.

“I rarely talk s***… but I felt the need to today,” Hart posted. “Stop believing these headlines and read the actual articles … you guys fall for the banana in the tail pipe trick every d*** time.”

Social media saboteurs also attempted to claim that Hart is not effective at accomplishing the primary goal of a comedian; that is to simply make people laugh.

“The ‘He’s not funny’ slander is the best … I have been the highest grossing comedian in entertainment for years now … I have also been the highest grossing comedian in the box office with over 4 billion in earnings …,” Hart posted.

Hart’s Christianity has no doubt helped to anchor him in troubled times.

In 2014, during an interview with Oprah Winfrey, he recalled a time early in his career when he was financially unable to pay his rent. He leaned upon Nancy, his faith-filled mother, for help. All she would say at the time was, “Have you been reading your Bible?”

A week went by and things looked like they were going from bad to worse. But Mom kept repeating the admonition, saying, “When you read your Bible, then we’ll talk about your rent.”

Reluctant at the time, the good son nevertheless complied.

“I go home and say, ‘Man let me open this Bible up,’” Hart explained to Winfrey. “Open the Bible up, six rent checks fell out. She put all my rent checks in the Bible.”

Hart would come to realize that more than mere rent had been paid. His Savior had paid his debt to God.

After a serious car accident in September of 2019, he expressed his profound gratitude to God for refocusing his life.

In a video post on Instagram that begins with news broadcast footage reporting the details of the accident, Hart narrates the post with some powerful and heartfelt words.

“When God talks, you gotta listen,” he says. “I swear, life is funny, because some of the craziest things that happen to you end up being the things you needed most.”

“In this case, I honestly feel like God basically told me to sit down,” he says. “When you’re moving too fast and you’re doing too much, sometimes you can’t see the things that you’re meant to see. But after my accident, I see things differently. I see life from a whole new perspective.”

Hart ends the video post with words we can all cling to, saying, “… I’m thankful for God. I’m thankful for life.”

Chuck Norris Is Living the Meme

Chuck Norris has achieved a level of Internet fame that could make a Kardashian turn green.

The multi-dimensional Norris is recognized internationally as a martial artist, actor, film producer, best-selling author, and authentic digital phenom.

His fame began when a friend and fellow actor invited him to portray a villain in a martial arts movie. The film is called “Way of the Dragon,” and the friend who encouraged him to take the role was none other than martial arts legend Bruce Lee, who plays the lead.

Norris has scores of films to his credit, including roles in “Code of Silence,” “The Delta Force,” and “Firewalker.” And he has had major success on the small screen as well, playing the long-running title role in the television series “Walker, Texas Ranger.”

One of Norris’s sterling attributes is courage, which has served him well in his capacity to speak his mind in a straightforward and bold manner, without having someone else provide him a script.

He recently criticized the current administration for policies that deepen America’s dependence on China. Norris zeroed-in on the effects of the ballooning national debt, the harm to the economy, and the potential threat to national security.

“There has been much said and written about the White House’s new world-record-breaking $6 trillion dollar budget. But what I have to say will absolutely convince you the fiscal insanity coming from the Oval Office will cripple our economy and your future and family, too,” Norris stated.

“The size, scope, growth and communist political regime of China make it the No. 1 threat to U.S. economic and national power, stability and security, according to Market Watch,” he added.

Norris’s words carry a great deal of weight, thanks to his additional status as an Internet icon.

Satirical bits about the actor-martial artist began to spring up on the web in early 2005. Initially, college students were the ones who shared the memes, but the trend soon spread to people of all ages and backgrounds.

The amusing linguistically sophisticated one-liners, referred to as “Facts about Chuck Norris,” have taken on a life of their own, and over the years have grown into a massive collection of exaggerated tongue-in-cheek statements about Norris’s superhuman capabilities.

Choice “Facts about Chuck Norris” examples include the following:

–“Chuck Norris threw a grenade and killed 50 people. Then it exploded.”

–“Chuck Norris counted to infinity. Twice.”

–“Chuck Norris’s computer has no backspace button. Chuck Norris doesn’t make mistakes.”

–“Chuck Norris makes onions cry.”

–“Chuck Norris can strangle you with a cordless phone.”

–“When Chuck Norris enters a room, he doesn’t turn the lights on. He turns the dark off.”

This phenomenon continues to spread far and wide, permeating the pop culture with books, video games, and advertising campaigns.

Norris himself has appeared on major television talk shows, commenting on the “Facts” sensation, and even making it a point to visit military fans stationed in Iraq.

He is a faithful unapologetic Christian, whose official website includes a comprehensive Christian Resource page complete with audios, videos, articles, and downloadable books to assist believers in their daily walk.

One of the many Internet “Facts” actually prompted Norris to share his personal Christian testimony.

Appearing on the web for all to see, the spoof typified the hyperbolic humor of the Norris “Facts” mania. It read as follows: “Chuck Norris’s tears cure cancer. Too bad Chuck Norris has never cried.”

He responded by talking about a real person, who has supernatural healing power.

“There was a man whose tears could cure cancer or any other disease, including the real cause of all diseases – sin. His blood did. His name was Jesus, not Chuck Norris. If your soul needs healing, the prescription you need is not Chuck Norris’ tears, it’s Jesus’ blood.”

Norris’s relationship with God was kick-started at the age of 12, when he attended a Billy Graham crusade. He has freely shared his experiences with the trappings of celebrity, which are riddled with distractions and obstacles to faith’s path.

“Unfortunately a lot of times in the entertainment industry, sometimes you lose sight of what’s really important in your life.”

When he paid tribute to his 100-year-old mom this past Mother’s Day, he shared the importance of intercessory prayer in relation to his own life experience.

“My mother has prayed for me all my life, through thick and thin,” Norris explained. “When I was born, I almost died from complications. When nearly losing my soul to Hollywood a few decades ago, she was back home praying for my success and salvation. She even prayed for me to find a woman to change my life, and it worked.”

Interestingly, one thing Norris’s admirers and detractors can agree upon is that this extraordinary man has led an impressive life.

In an interview with CBN’s The 700 Club, Norris gave credit for his life’s blessings to the Creator.

“It’s amazing because people come up to me and say, ‘Chuck, you’re the luckiest guy in the world to be a world karate champion and a movie and TV star.’ When they say this to me, I kind of smile because luck had nothing to do with it; God had everything to do with it.”

Dennis Quaid’s ‘Blue Miracle’

Dennis Quaid is one of the rarest of Hollywood celebrities. Folks truly view him as the grinning guy next door who just happens to be a big-time movie star.

Standing apart from many Left Coast dreamers and achievers, there seems to be an additional attribute that Quaid possesses. He is one of the charmed ones in life who is blessed with an immensely successful acting career but is also gifted with the wherewithal to be able to sustain it.

His launch to stardom began in the 1980s with a string of hit movies that include “Breaking Away,” “The Right Stuff,” “The Big Easy,” “Innerspace,” and “Great Balls of Fire!”

Along the fame path, though, he remained committed to being part of family friendly entertainment, as evidenced in the films “The Parent Trap” and “Footloose.”

More recently, Quaid has chosen to be a vital part of Hollywood’s subcategory of movies, faith-based films, taking on major roles in movies such as “Soul Surfer” and “I Can Only Imagine.” In the process, via his participation in uplifting projects, he has established quite a track record within the faith film genre as a verifiably bankable star.

“Surfer” reportedly cost about $18 million to produce and earned more than $47 million in global box-office revenue. And “Imagine,” with a budget of a mere $7 million, has taken in more than $86 million since its release. Both films got the head-turning attention of movie executives, due to their remarkably sizable profit margins.

Quaid is also working on some yet-to-be-released faith-based projects, which includes “On a Wing and a Prayer,” a film based on a true story in which a Dad (played by Quaid) attempts to save his family from an impending plane crash.

One of the producers of the movie is Roma Downey, whose credits, along with her husband Mark Burnett, also include the highly successful television series “The Bible.”

“Imagine”’s directors Jon and Andrew Erwin tapped Quaid to star in another upcoming film project, “American Underdog: The Kurt Warner Story.”

Regarded as one of the greatest stories in NFL history, Warner went from being an undrafted free agent to playing professional football for 12 seasons and in the process became a two-time Most Valuable Player and a Super Bowl MVP.

In observing Quaid’s career, I see a kind of enfolding of his faith within his work. He was raised a Baptist Christian. In addition to the art of acting, he is also a music artist and has written a Christian song for his mother, titled “On My Way to Heaven,” which was included in the “Imagine” film.

Quaid discussed his involvement in Christian artistic expression in a promotion video for the film and his song.

“It’s a connection to my faith roots in the sense that I grew up in the Baptist church, went to Sunday School, and got baptized when I was nine. I always loved the music from the church,” Quaid shared.

In “Imagine,” he portrays Arthur Millard, the difficult and sometimes abusive father of Bart Millard, the lead singer for the Contemporary Christian Music group Mercy Me.

In an interview at the National Religious Broadcaster’s Convention in 2018, Quaid spoke about how playing Millard’s father led to trusting in the Almighty.

“After Arthur, I started having the thought of not judging anyone else and that included myself. Because you just let God take that over; let him take care of that all. It frees you up in life,” Quaid explained.

The actor talked about a long quest that he had undertaken to find an answer to an important question.

“I went around the world in my late 20s and the question I had was ‘Who is God?’ I became a seeker. I read the Bible cover to cover and for me, the answer is Jesus,” Quaid said.

He is presently the co-star of a yet another more recent redemptive project, the newly released Netflix film “Blue Miracle.”

The script is based upon the true story of a Christian orphanage in Mexico, which suffers from severe financial troubles. Quaid’s character Wade Malloy, a past two-time tournament champion fisherman but now a gruff individual long past his glory days, reluctantly teams up with a guardian and his kids for a chance to win a lucrative fishing competition.

Malloy’s coaching helps him grow beyond his past while simultaneously creating a bond with his fishing team of underprivileged children.

“Blue Miracle” follows a framework seen in many children’s sports movies, except that the sports related activity is not the usual hockey, baseball, or martial arts. Instead it spotlights the universally beloved sport of fishing.

The movie is ably executed and features the type of highly creative variants that allows it to end up being both satisfactorily entertaining and warmly endearing.

In a recent discussion of the film, Quaid spoke about his faith and how the virtue of humility unlocks “God’s miracles.”

“God hears me every time, I pray to God and He will help you listen,” Quaid told Movie Guide.

The actor’s character in “Blue Miracle” discovers that humility is a prerequisite to fulfilling the team’s destiny.

Quaid was fortunate to experience the same virtue outside of his movie life.

“By being humbled, that’s when God’s miracles are allowed to work. Once we get out of the way”

May we all be so blessed.

How God Saved the Life of Alice Cooper

Alice Cooper, known prior to his fame days as Vincent Damon Furnier, credits his faith in Jesus Christ, along with his daily scripture readings, for freeing him from the vice-grip of alcoholism.

Cooper’s public religious professions convey an especially hopeful and deeply moving message to those who find themselves facing the same life circumstances or those of a parallel nature.

The iconic singer and songwriter is frequently referred to by music critics and pop culture aficionados as “The Godfather of Shock Rock.”

Known for his elaborate goth-tinged stage shows, Cooper’s Hollywood persona stands in stark contrast to his present day personal life. He is a devout family man who has been married to his bride Sheryl Goddard for four and a half decades. The couple has three beautiful daughters together.

The name “Alice Cooper” was originally used by a rock band, which came to fame in the 1960s. After the band broke up in 1975, the name had become so closely associated with Furnier as an individual, he began using the band’s moniker as his stage name as well as his legal name.

Having initially dubbed themselves “Nazz,” the band members discovered that another successful music group, headed by rock icon Todd Rundgren, were already using the same name. The group subsequently chose “Alice Cooper” as its new brand.

Following an audition in front of another rock music legend, Frank Zappa, the group was signed to Zappa’s new record label, Straight Records.

An interesting pop culture anecdote. The Alice Cooper band experienced an exponential surge in its trajectory at one pivotal point, due to an unusual spontaneous event that was actually severely misreported at the time by the press. The occurrence took on the apt label of “The Chicken Incident.”

In September of 1969, while the Toronto Rock and Roll Revival was raging on, a live chicken somehow managed to make its way onto the stage. The bird proceeded to nestle into a feather pillow that Cooper used during his performances.

With little familiarity or experience with farm animals, and making an assumption that chickens could fly, Cooper threw the bird up and over the heads of the crowd. Instead of flying off into the distance, the chicken fell beak first flat onto the front rows of attendees, who reportedly mishandled the poor bird and unfortunately precipitated its untimely demise.

The following morning an embellished version of the story appeared on the front pages of newspapers all over the world, where it was reported that the frontman of the band had bitten the head off of the chicken and had even drank its blood.

Zappa had become aware of the media coverage and called Cooper to ask him about the veracity of the story. When Zappa was told the details, he reportedly said, “Well, whatever you do, don’t tell anyone you didn’t do it.”

The news quickly spread and became part of the Cooper legend, which cemented the notion that he was the originator of the “shock rock” genre.

It was in the early 1980s, following a period of denial, that Cooper would come to realize that his alcohol addiction was endangering his life. Like so many other public figures who have wrestled with alcohol addiction, the rocker was able to hide his substance abuse from the public. However, as he recently described to the New York Post, it was on one crucial day that he came to the understanding his alcohol use had taken a severe toll on his body.

“I woke up one morning and I threw up blood and that’s how I kind of knew it was over. My wife grabbed my ear and said, ‘Hey, the party’s over,’” Cooper revealed.

He reminisced three years ago with the New York Daily News about this critical time in his life, saying, “Everything that could go wrong was shutting down inside of me, I was drinking with Jim Morrison and Jimi Hendrix and trying to keep up with Keith Moon and they all died at 27.”

After completing rehab, Cooper was amazed to discover that the intense craving for alcohol he had lived with before had vanished. It was a miraculous occurrence that had graced his life, and he gives full credit for his mended state to the Lord of the Universe.

“Even the doctor said, ‘This is an absolute miracle.’ I said, ‘Why?’ They said, ‘Well, you should be hiding bottles all over the house and you should be sneaking drugs.’ I said, ‘I have absolutely no desire for that at all,’” Cooper told the Post.

“Everyone said, ‘Oh you have such great willpower.’ I said, ‘No, God has great willpower. He took it from me.’ My dad was a pastor, my grandad was a pastor, Sheryl’s dad was a pastor. I had such strong prayer for me,” Cooper shared.

People are continually awestruck by the same book that Cooper reads each day. The Holy Scripture describes numerous unlikely figures that God chooses over time to fulfill his divine plans.

And so it seems fitting, within a supernatural context, that an individual who has been immersed in a secular shock rock world can be brought to a place where he can lift up others.

After God secured a victory for him over his addiction, Cooper seems to have been anointed as a kind of adjunct lay minister of the music industry. He now provides help and counsel to other rock musicians who struggle with substance abuse issues, often answering calls in the dark of night from those in need.

Much like the relatability and candor of his song lyrics, the rocker describes his religious faith in a way in which others can freely accept.

Christianity, according to Cooper, merely “has to do with a one-on-one relationship with Jesus Christ.”

Television Goes to the Movies

The lines between television and movies continue to become more and more blurred.

Even though today’s streaming programs are still called television, they have nothing in common with traditional broadcast or cable TV programming.

The made-for-streaming variety of entertainment fare is generally commercial free and able to avoid the strict timing with which traditional TV has had to contend.

Feature films almost always have a formulaic rhythm to their plotlines that locks them into fixed time slots with which the story must mesh.

With viewers binge-watching entire seasons, series that stream are able to feature similar production values as those of feature films. This allows for them to be financed with larger budgets similar to the ones that studio motion pictures enjoy, while also permitting more flexibility in the pacing of plots.

A case in point is Amazon Studios upcoming “The Lord of the Rings,” a so-called television series that is currently in production. In 2017 Amazon was able to obtain the rights to J.R.R. Tolkien’s beloved Middle Earth tale with the goal of creating a streaming series along the lines of the very successful “Game of Thrones.”

It is expected that the “Rings” fantasy streaming series will end up expending the kind of cash layout typically associated with big league studio movie projects.

As money soaked Silicon Valley companies descend on Hollywood, budgets to release long-form streaming of what used to be called television are actually expanding.

There has been a record-breaking first season production cost for “Rings” of an astonishing $465 million, according to the Hollywood Reporter. This is not a number that anyone in the industry would previously have associated with a TV production.

The project is being filmed in New Zealand, and the budget numbers were released as part of the New Zealand government’s Official Information Act, confirming that it is the highest amount spent on a so-called television series.

By comparison, HBO’s “Thrones,” with a budget that was considered groundbreaking for its time, had a tab of about $100 million per season.

Despite the massiveness of the “Rings” budget, this sum does not include the $250 million that Amazon reportedly paid to acquire the rights to the Tolkien material.

With more than 150 million copies sold, the epic fantasy novel from which the series is derived is one of the best-selling books ever written.

The Middle Earth historical saga is of particular interest to Christians in that the work features multiple Christian themes, such as the struggles between good and evil, death and immortality, and fate and free will, as well as the addictive nature of power, the virtue of hope, and the value of redemptive suffering.

Tolkien himself wrote that his book “is a fundamentally religious and Catholic work; unconsciously so at first, but consciously in the revision.”

Tolkien’s Catholic Christianity also had a profound influence on his close friend, another beloved Christian author, C. S. Lewis. Both had taught at Oxford and were members of the same literary group, and both became known for writing fictional narratives that featured Christian themes and principles.

In his autobiography “Surprised by Joy,” Lewis described himself as “the most dejected and reluctant convert in all of England.”

In September of 1931, Tolkien and Lewis, while walking together with fellow professor Hugo Dyson, were discussing the subject of mythology. It was one of those discussions between intellectuals that can go on for hours. It actually did.

Chatting into the wee hours of the morning, Tolkien posed the proposition during the conversation that the story of Christianity is a myth, which happens to be true.

A few days later Lewis wrote to a friend, stating, “I have just passed on from believing in God to definitely believing in Christ, in Christianity… My long night talk with Dyson and Tolkien had a great deal to do with it.”

Hopefully, the streaming series will stay true to the Christian themes that Tolkien painstakingly placed in his works. After all, if Amazon is spending $465 million to produce the “Rings” series, keeping the Christian audience would not only be a sound business strategy but a necessary one.

The official description of the new series gives an indication that “The Lord of the Rings” streaming series will continue in the tradition that Peter Jackson established in the film versions.

It will reportedly have a story line in which “…kingdoms rose to glory and fell to ruin, unlikely heroes were tested, hope hung by the finest of threads, and the greatest villain that ever flowed from Tolkien’s pen threatened to cover all the world in darkness.”

Look for Amazon to debut the series later this year.