Nativity Story: No Ordinary Joe December 1, 2006
Posted by Steve in : Weblog, Movies , 1 comment so far
The Nativity Story See trailer
Opens Today, Dec 1
Rated: PG (some violence)
Running Time: 1:42
Principal Cast:
Mary - Keisha Castle-Hughes
Joseph - Oscar Isaac
Anna - Hiam Abbass
Joaquim - Shaun Toub
King Herod - Ciaran Hinds
Elizabeth - Shohreh Aghdashloo
Today, we took our whole staff to see The Nativity Story, starring Keisha Castle-Hughes as Mary and Oscar Isaac as Joseph. My instant review is that it is faithful to the Biblical story, given that there is not a lot of scriptural text to work with in making the film. I agreed with Peter Chattaway of Christianity Today who said ” Castle-Hughes was a bit of a blank”.
Overall, I felt the strongest character was Joseph, who faced a cultural uncomfortable situation, (pregnant fiancée), yet continually showed us that he would do the right thing and make the right decision, in leading and guiding his family. In this film, Joseph is freed to show us the struggles that he faced – no whitewashing of the strain he felt in his home village and the sense of betrayal by Mary. Yet he shows us a sense of humor on the journey.
I think this was brilliantly filmed in Morocco, Italy, Nazareth and France and served as an authentic story-telling of the Nativity story when the God of the universe stepped into our reality and allowed His son to be born of a human mother.
Joseph: The High Cost of Righteousness November 28, 2006
Posted by Steve in : Powerful Passages, Missional , add a comment
From LeadershipJournal.net:
As the film “The Nativity Story” (see the trailer) arrives this Friday to theaters to great fanfare, John Ortberg has a great article this week looking at Joseph, and the high cost of righteousness in Joseph’s life. Typically Joseph is a bit player in the Christmas story, and is relegated to a supporting role during most of our Christian Christmas pageantry. However, Ortberg really gives us an insight into the cost of righteousness. I love this article and shared this with our leaders this week — it is a powerful reminder that there is a cost to following Christ.
