Discovering Truth At the Movies
by David Lantz
In the fragmented, multicultural world in which we live, one vehicle provides a means to have a conversation about common values: Movies. In my podcast, Discovering Truth at the Movies, I use scenes from modern movies to link current events in the news to God's ancient wisdom found in Scripture and apply it to a a modern age. Join me each week as we have a Conversations with the Culture about the truth of God's word applied to the issues of today.
Episodes
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Episode 2: Discovering Truth at the Movies: Star Trek II Wrath of Khan
Today, we’ll take a look at the movie, Star Trek II: Wrath of Khan, In Star Trek: The Wrath of Khan, Admiral James T. Kirk is on a two week training mission with a crew of cadets who are under the command of Captain Spock. His training exercise is interrupted when they learn that a rival of…
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Episode 1: Discovering Daniel at the Movies: Hunger Games
Today, we’ll take a look at the movie, Hunger Games, in which the nation of Panem is divided into 12 districts, ruled from the Capitol. As punishment for a failed revolt, each district is forced to select two tributes, one boy and one girl between the ages of 12 and 18, to fight to the death in…
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Episode 13: Mere Christianity: The Patriot
Today, we’ll take a look at the movie, The Patriot, starring Mel Gibson as Benjamin Martin, is the story of a man with a violent past who has renounced war in order to raise his seven children. In one scene, Martin is challenged to behave according to his principles. The Colonial Commander…
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Episode 12: Mere Christianity: Mr. Smith Goes to Washington
Today, we’ll take a look at the 1939 movie, Mr. Smith Goes to Washington, in which Jefferson Smith, leader of the state's Boy Rangers, is an innocent, wide-eyed idealist who idolizes the senior senator of the state, Joseph Paine. But when Smith discovers that Sen. Paine has introduced a pork…
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Episode 11: Discovering Mere Christianity at the Movies - Tarzan
Today, we’ll take a look at the 1999 Disney carton, Tarzan, in which a baby is orphaned when a leopard kills his shipwrecked parents. Raised by an ape named Kala, he is reluctantly adopted into the family of the Great Apes. Believing the apes are his family, he discovers that he’s actually human...
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Episode 10: Mere Christianity & Forrest Gump
In the movie, Forrest Gump, a man of low intelligence tells the story of his life to people waiting at a small-town bus stop. He founds Bubba Gump Shrimp Company after returning from Viet Nam in memory of his fallen friend. Forrest has a healthy measure of practical common sense. Based on his...
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Episode 9: Mere Christianity & Chronicles of Narnia
In the movie, Chronicles of Narnia – The Lion, the Witch & the Wardrobe - four children visit the mysterious country of Narnia and find themselves in enemy controlled territory. Edward, one of the children, commits a crime for which the punishment is death. Aslan, the Lion King, negotiates his...
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Episode 8: Mere Christianity & Wayne's World II
In the movie, Wayne’s Way II, Wayne Campbell (Mike Myers) strives to win the hand of the woman he loves, Cassandra (Tia Carrere). To do so, he even challengers her father to a martial arts fight. Endearingly hilarious, Wayne and his sidekick Garth (Dana Carvey) remind us that: “We Are Not…
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Episode 7: Mere Christianity & Pay It Forward
In the movie, Pay It Forward, a social studies teacher by the name of Mr. Simonet (Kevin Spacey) assigns a project to change the world in his 7th grade Social Studies class. In response, young Trevor McKinney (Haley Joel Osment) develops a plan called "pay it forward." Pay It Forward is the story...
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Episode 6: Mere Christianity & The Return of the Jedi
In the movie, The Return of the Jedi, Luke Skywalker has spent time with the Jedi master, Yoda, and is now able to use the power of the force to do his bidding. The young Jedi master has returned to free his friends from the clutches of the evil Jabba the Hut. Since the movie was made nearly a...
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Episode 5: Discovering Mere Christianity: Pantheism & Captain Planet
Today, we’ll take a look at the cartoon series, Captain Planet, in which the Mother Earth Goddess, Gaia, gave five teenagers special power rings. She would tell them where bad things were about to happen to the planet, and just in time, the teens would put their rings together to call forth a...
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Episode 4: Discovering Mere Christianity: The Planet of the Apes
Today, we’ll take a look at the movie Planet of the Apes, in which an astronaut lands on a planet ruled by apes. There are people on this planet, but they are hunted and enslaved by the apes. At first, he thinks he’s on a different planet. But, finally, through a series of events, he comes to...
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Episode 3: Discovering Mere Christianity at the Movies: Schindler's List
Today, we’ll consider another classic movie, Schindler’s List. In that movie, there’s a scene near the end of the movie when the Nazi Soldiers are ordered to kill all the Jews Schindler has rescued. Schindler presents them with a choice: Kill them, and become murderers, or return home to their...
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Episode 2: Mere Christianity & Star Wars
Today, we’ll consider two more classic movies, Star Wars – A New Hope and Star Wars - The Empire Strikes Back. In The Empire Strikes Back, there’s scene near the end of the movie in which Darth Vader reveals to Luke Skywalker that he is Luke’s father. In A New Hope, Hans Solo returns to help his...
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Episode 1: Mere Christianity & The Ten Commandments
Today, we’ll consider two movies about Moses, the Ten Commandments staring Charlton Heston, and Exodus Gods & Kings staring Christian Bale. We’ll use both movies to help us set up a question that C.S. Lewis tackled in Chapter 1 of Mere Christianity: Does God Exist? We’ll tackle this question by...
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Episode 54: Chronicles Belteshazzar Chapter 24: Questions
In this, the final episode of The Chronicles of Belteshazzar, Auntie Dr. Sarah picks the children up to take them home. Isaiah and his siblings tell her all about the story of Daniel in the Lions’ Den. And then, she gives Isaiah some advice about “girl psychology” and a possible reason why Mary...
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Episode 53: Chronicles of Belteshazzar Chapter 23 The Hidden Prophecy of Isaiah
In this episode of The Chronicles of Belteshazzar, Grandpa concludes the story of Daniel and his battles with the evil Haman. Daniel convenes a meeting of his closest friends to reveal to them the plan of his teacher, Jeremiah, to preserve the Jewish Scrolls of God’s Word. Daniel also reveals a...
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Episode 52: Chronicles Belteshazzar Chapter 22: Timnah Testifies Against Haman
In this episode of The Chronicles of Belteshazzar: Daniel confronts Timnah, Queen of Ashkelon, with the truth of Haman’s plot to overthrow Nebuchadnezzar. In doing so, he does something she doesn’t expect – Daniel forgives her for plotting to have him killed as well. Daniel’s willingness to…
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Episode 51: Chronicles Belteshazzar Chapter 21: Daniel is Thrown to the Lions
In Chapter Twenty-one of The Chronicles of Belteshazzar, Daniel is thrown into the Lions’ Den. In the morning, when the lions’ den door is opened, Daniel emerges unharmed to the surprise and dismay of Haman and his supporters. Naaman and Daniel meet with King Nebuchadnezzar to warn him of Haman’s...
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Episode 50: Chronicles Belteshazzar Chapter 20: Naaman is Ambushed
In Chapter Twenty of The Chronicles of Belteshazzar, Naaman is attacked as he tries to prevent Daniel from violating the King’s command to not pray to his God. The Chief Priest, Haman, reveals his true intentions to rid himself of Daniel so that he can complete his plot to make himself King of...
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Episode 49: Chronicles Belteshazzar Chapter 19: Thermostats and Governors
In Chapter Nineteen of The Chronicles of Belteshazzar, Isaac comes to realize that somehow, the power to tell people who they can and cannot pray to is a very important power. He asks Grandpa a question about that. In his answer, Grandpa deals with the question of why bad things sometimes happen,...
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Episode 48: Chapter 18: Haman Makes His Plans
In Chapter Eighteen of The Chronicles of Belteshazzar, Haman plots how to move forward with his plans to destroy Daniel and overthrow King Nebuchadnezzar following the debacle of the Fiery Furnace. A letter from the Prophet Jeremiah gives him the cover he needs to lay his trap for Daniel by...
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Episode 47: Chapter 17: The Fiery Furnace
Just to let you know, The Chronicles of Belteshazzar is now available at Amazon in both Paperback and Kindle E-book. The link is https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1737611430/ In Chapter Seventeen of The Chronicles of Belteshazzar, Daniel has gone with Ezekiel to pray in the Zargos mountains while...
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Episode 46: Chronicles Belteshazzar Chapter 16: The Feast of Akitu
In Chapter sixteenth chapter of The Chronicles of Belteshazzar, Timnah wants to find Daniel and warn him of a plan Haman has to kill him. She convinces Daniel to leave Babylon and go into the Zargos Mountains to pray for King Nebuchadnezzar for ten days. In this way, he will not be present when...
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Episode 45: Unlocking the Chronicles of Belteshazzar
Sometime before the end of the month of September, 2021, my novel, The Chronicles of Belteshazzar, should be published. Today, I want to walk you through the three themes that my novel weaves together in helping a young boy learn how Daniel lived by faith, rather than cower in fear. These three...
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Episode 44: Chapter 15: Ezekiel Visits Babylon
In Chapter Fifteen of The Chronicles of Belteshazzar, Ezekiel comes to Babylon to deliver a message from Jeremiah to Daniel. When he gets to the area where his friends Abednego, Meshach and Shadrach live, fighting suddenly breaks out between competing gangs of youths. Before he realizes what is...
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Episode 43: Chronicles of Belteshazzar Chapter 14: Naaman to the Rescue
In Chapter fourteen of The Chronicles of Belteshazzar, Naaman and his guards come to rescue Daniel just as the four assassins are about to trap Daniel. After rescuing him, Naaman makes sure that nothing else happens to Daniel before he must appear before Nebuchadnezzar to interpret his dream. As...
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Episode 42: Chapter 13: Nebuchaddnezzar Summons Daneil
In Chapter thirteen of The Chronicles of Belteshazzar, God has revealed Nebuchadnezzar’s dream to him. It is the early hours of the morning, and Daniel decides to go for a walk. As he leaves his room, he does not notice that there are no soldiers guarding his quarters. Quickly, he realizes that...
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Episode 41: Chapter 12: The Plot to Kill Daniel
Chronicles Belteshazzar Chapter 12: The Plot to Kill Daniel 7/14/2021 In Chapter twelve of The Chronicles of Belteshazzar, the scene changes to reveal a conspiracy to kill Daniel. A message has been received and decoded by a mysterious spy named Reuben. He uses an Athbash Wheel, which is a tool...
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Episode 40: Chronicles Belteshazzar Chapter 11: The Magi Must Die!
In Chapter eleven of The Chronicles of Belteshazzar, Nebuchadnezzar has a frightening dream that he wants his wisemen to interpret for him. However, he won’t tell them the dream – he wants them to prove they can truly interpret it by telling him what was in the dream. When they can’t,...
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Episode 39: Chronicles of Belteshazzar Chapter 10
In Chapter ten of The Chronicles of Belteshazzar, it has been 4 months since Babylon’s failed attempt to invade Egypt. Naaman is reviewing maps and planning strategy when Daniel comes to speak with him. Daniel talks to Naaman about creating a council of exiles to try to address the violence and...
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Episode 38: Chronicles Chapter 9: Grandpa Answers Matthew's Question
In Chapter Nine of The Chronicles of Belteshazzar, Matthew and the other grandsons ask Grandpa if the meeting between Daniel and the Captain of the Babylonian Guard really took place. This conversation leads to a discussion about how a 1990s Science Fiction show, Babylon 5, inspired me to come up...
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Episode 37: Chronicles of Belteshazzar Chapter 8: Daniel Meets the Captain of the Guard
In Chapter Eight of The Chronicles of Belteshazzar, Daniel meets Naaman, the Captain of the Babylonian Guard while breaking up a fight between a Hebrew and an Askelonite. The two trade stories about what they believe, and their different understandings of the Great Flood. In reading the story of...
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Episode 36: Chronicles of Belteshazzar Chapter 7
In Chapter Seven of The Chronicles of Belteshazzar, Daniel and his friends are entered into a training program which will allow them to serve King Nebuchadnezzar. One of the things they are told is that they must eat the food of the Babylonians. Daniel and his friends do not wish to violate the...
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Episode 35: Chronicles of Belteshazzar Chapter 6: Return to Babylon
In Chapter Six of The Chronicles of Belteshazzar, Nebuchadnezzar returns to Babylon with the exiles. The Chief Priest, Hamon, greets the King. We learn that Hamon is secretly plotting to cause riots and gang warfare among the rival Immigrant groups. The Chief Priest hopes that this will trigger a...
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Episode 34: Chronicles of Belteshazzar Chapter 5: Exile to Babylon
In Chapter Five of The Chronicles of Belteshazzar, Nebuchadnezzar reviews the list of Jews exiles and makes plans to take them back to Babylon. He wonders to himself if he is living up to his father’s expectations. Meanwhile, Daniel is bitter about the fact that he is being sent into exile. As he...
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Chronicles of Belteshazzar Chapter 4
In Chapter Four of The Chronicles of Belteshazzar, the story switches to 600 B.C. and the life of the prophet Daniel. Nebuchadnezzar, the King of Babylon, had defeated the Egyptians at the Battle of Carchemish. He has now come to the gates of Jerusalem and demands that Jehoiakim, King of Judah,...
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Episode 33: Chapter 3 of Chronicles of Belteshazzar
In Chapter Three of The Chronicles of Belteshazzar, the boys gather with Grandpa in the Sun Room to begin the story of Belteshazzar – the Prophet Daniel’s Babylonian name. But just before he begins to tell his tale, Grandpa mysteriously leaves the room. I hope you’ll join me in the journey of...
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Episode 32: Chronicles Belteshazzar Chronicles of Belteshazzar Chapter 2: Praying Was Illegal
In Chapter Two of The Chronicles of Belteshazzar, Isaac asks grandpa what the phrase “separation between church and state” means when he has his bible taken from him by another student at school. Grandpa uses this question to introduce the story of Daniel and how he prayed to God when it was...
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Episode 30: Chronicles Belteshazzar Chapter 1
In Chapter One of The Chronicles of Belteshazzar, Isaac has his bible taken from him by another student at school. This leads to a conversation about school prayer with Auntie Dr. Sarah. I hope you’ll join me in the journey of telling the story as I read Chapter 1 titled “Auntie Dr. Sarah”! For...
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Episode 29: Introduction to Chronicles of Belteshazzar
Have you ever desired a way to help teach your adolescent children or grandchildren how to stand up to peer pressure like Daniel and Esther did in the Bible? I’m writing a book titled The Chronicles of Belteshazzar. Think of Grandpa from The Princess Bride, only it’s me reading my book and...
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Episode 28: At the Movies - Vantage Point
In this podcast, David uses the movie Vantage Point, to explore how Most Christians – be they progressives or of the traditional school – know little of science and math, and therefore find it difficult to reconcile science and the bible. We’ll discuss this issue as we address the Question for...
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ATM: Black Mirror
Today, we’ll be looking at the TV show, Black Mirror, episode, Nosedive, and use it to explore what is happening in China with regard to “Social Scoring.” And, we’ll look at the writings of the Apostle Paul in II Corinthians 5 as he discusses God’s Ministry of Reconciliation. We’ll see how God...
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Madam Secretary – The Things We Get to Say
Today, we’ll look at MADAM SECRETARY Season 4 TV Show episode, The Things We Get to Say. Just as in the TV show, a journalist is considering writing a “Tell All” book about the future president, we’ll look at some recent books that have been used as “hit jobs” on President Trump. Also, we’ll...
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At the Movies - Seabiscuit
Today, we’ll be looking at the movie, Seabiscuit, and use it to explore the life of Joseph in Genesis Chapters 40 and 45. We’ll see how Joseph dealt with changing climate, cultural and personal challenges – just as Americans did during the Great Depression, and even today in 2020. To Order...
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At the Movies - The Upside
In this podcast, David uses the movie The Upside to explore II Samuel 9. We’ll see that King David kept a promise to care for any surviving members of his friend Jonathan’s family – even those whom others felt was a worthless soul. We’ll discuss this issue as we address the Question for…
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At the Movies - Greatest Showman
In this podcast, David uses the movie The Greatest Showman to explore Galatians 4 & 5. We’ll discover that in those times when things seem like they can’t get worse, Jesus wants us to experience the Joy of the Lord. We’ll discuss this issue as we address the Question for Reflection: Do You...
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At the Movies - Thor
In this Podcast, David uses the movie, Thor, to explore how a father raises his sons, and then releases them to become the men they were meant to be. We’ll use that discussion to address this Question for Reflection: How Can We Become Good Role Models for Our Children? To Order Discovering…
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At the Movies: Toy Story 4
In this podcast, David uses the movie Toy Story 4 to explore I Samuel 25. We’ll see that just as Buzz Lightyear has Woody to tell him to listen to his conscience, God sent Abigail to appeal to David’s conscience. We’ll discuss this issue as we address the Question for Reflection: Will We be...
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At the Movies: The Chosen
In this podcast, David uses the movie The Chosen, and use it to explore John’s Story of Jesus Raising Lazarus and how Thomas, the Disciple, chose to follow Jesus, even if it meant his own death. We’ll discuss this issue as we address the Question for Reflection: What might it cost you to leave...
About this show
In the fragmented, multicultural world in which we live, one vehicle provides a means to have a conversation about common values: Movies. In my podcast, Discovering Truth at the Movies, I use scenes from modern movies to link current events in the news to God's ancient wisdom found in Scripture and apply it to a a modern age. Join me each week as we have a Conversations with the Culture about the truth of God's word applied to the issues of today.
Hosted by
David Lantz
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