remlezar(@remlezar) instagram tagged download - imginn.com

Instagram story viewer> @remlezar> Tagged

@remlezar

undefined

POSTS STORIES REELS TAGGED

THE X FILES s1e18 “Miracle Man” 🛸 What if someone was really bad at faith healing? In all our years of watching Christian media, we’ve never once seen media explore this scenario, until we watched a certain episode of THE X-FILES called “Miracle Man.” THE X-FILES is considered one of the most beloved classic shows of the y2k era. Its quirky and sometimes disturbing sci-fi and horror plots have cemented it as nostalgic to millennials and fascinating even to younger generations streaming today. The friendly tension between FBI special agents Mulder (David Duchovny), highly open to the supernatural and conspiracy, and Scully (Gillian Anderson), a more rational “left-brained” investigator who looks for scientific explanations, provides unending narrative variations, mimicking the two sides of our own minds when we approach information alien to us (no pun intended). Their opposing yet complementary tactics are put to the test in “Miracle Man” when the pair investigate Rev. Calvin Hartley, an evangelical revivalist preacher whose young son Samuel is accused of using the power of God to kill members of his congregation. The agents confirm with their own eyes Samuel’s miraculous ability to heal the sick and raise the dead, but after two congregation members died tragically, his confidence has been tested. He’s become a disillusioned young man developing alcoholism, concerned that God is punishing him. But is God to blame, or could it be one weird man with pure white rubbery skin who always wears a trench coat and sunglasses? Is the weirdest-looking freak of them all sabotaging the healings behind the scenes? We gotta admit, the ending was pretty predictable for an X-FILES twist, but it was still compelling to see Mulder and Scully investigate Christian miracles. The episode raises compelling discussion points about what faith healing actually does — is it channeling God’s power, or does it use the power of suggestion to cause a suffering person’s mind to will positive effects onto the body? The mind is the most powerful thing we have, although God is more powerful still — as long as a pale, rubbery freakazoid doesn’t get in the way of His plans. 🛸 boysbiblestudy.com

18

0

𝘯𝘦𝘸 𝘦𝘱𝘪𝘴𝘰𝘥𝘦 𝐖𝐀𝐋𝐊𝐄𝐑, 𝐓𝐄𝐗𝐀𝐒 𝐑𝐀𝐍𝐆𝐄𝐑 s6e8 “Brainchild” 🧠 The eyes of the robot are upon you. In this extremely prescient episode of America’s greatest television show WALKER, TEXAS RANGER, a supercomputer named Art keeps a watchful eye on his boy master, a brainchild named Chad who has powerful psychokinetic abilities. Portrayed by 7TH HEAVEN’s David Gallagher, Chad is being held captive by the evil science lab Futures R&D, who force him to do grueling psychokinesis displays until his nose starts bleeding. To rescue Chad from his STEM career are our heroes, Walker (Chuck Norris) and his faithful sidekick Trivette (Clarence Gilyard). Walker and Trivette chat with the boy on an online chess website, eventually triangulating his location to Futures, and in the process locate Chad’s genius mother, who built Art to protect the child she was told was dead. The amazing thing to know about the comedy of WALKER, TEXAS RANGER is that Walker and Trivette do not bat an eye whatsoever about this young boy using telekinesis to steal bacon from the breakfast table. The style guide of the show seems to state that Walker and Trivette should never once seem to be losing in combat, nor should they ever be intimidated by paranormal forces. These silly creative rules lead a lot of people to believe that WALKER is a substanceless show. While it was definitely slop in its day, revisiting episodes in big 2026 is a revelatory experience, because every episode is packed with interesting sets and a fully bespoke soundtrack. The care and love that went into chud chungus TV in the 90s puts even our prestige efforts of today to shame. BRAINCHILD is one of the best episodes of a genius television show, predicting the rise of AI agents and wowing us with paranormal plots while throwing in some good old fashioned Christian prayer. WALKER, TEXAS RANGER does an amazing job of keeping us surprised, even though its titular character doesn’t even know what the word surprise means. 🧠 Free episode available on boysbiblestudy.com

37

2

𝘯𝘦𝘸 𝘣𝘰𝘯𝘶𝘴 𝘦𝘱𝘪𝘴𝘰𝘥𝘦 𝟕𝐓𝐇 𝐇𝐄𝐀𝐕𝐄𝐍 s10e12 “Got MLK?” feat. Jarred Endres of @thegrimyghost 🥛 The capstone of our 7TH HEAVEN September series shows the Camdens, in a bizarre later-series arrangement, taking on powerful social issues. This is “Got MLK?” the irreverently named racial reckoning episode in season ten, where Martin (an “accessory Camden” who used to live with the pastor’s family) becomes the victim of a hate crime despite being a white man. The crime? A slur painted on his car, probably by his baseball team cohort Brad, but we don’t know for sure. It all starts in class with a report on Martin Luther King. Alex (a black student) wants to do one, but his teacher Mrs. Porter rudely asks him to wait for the next MLK Day. She relents when Martin makes a comment that baseball is more important than MLK, proving the importance of additional focus on black history. Unfortunately, students have to redo their reports, causing resentment that may have led to the “racial remarks” painted on Martin’s car. What follows is an insane dialogue tree of arguments and consequences, where no character handles the potential helter-skelter situation gracefully. In typical 7TH HEAVEN fashion, the writers seem to be asking — how does this impact white people? But this is a special episode for us — we get an inside scoop into the filming of “Got MLK?” via our friend Jarred Endres, who “starred” in it as “Student #8.” Jarred, of popular re-edit Instagram account and YouTube channel Grimy Ghost, was a teen actor at the time and nailed his audition to read a report on Thurgood Marshall to end the episode. Finally, with the inside scoop on the Camden hijinks once and for all, we can rest on our laurels and take the lessons we learned from the Camdens (mainly Protestant guilt and anxiety) into our next life — as soon as we can escape samsara. 🥛 Bonus episode available on patreon.com/boysbiblestudy

50

4

𝘯𝘦𝘸 𝘦𝘱𝘪𝘴𝘰𝘥𝘦 🖕🏻 𝟕𝐓𝐇 𝐇𝐄𝐀𝐕𝐄𝐍 s4e7-8 “Sin an Expiation” 🖕🏻 The Camden family of 7TH HEAVEN are preoccupied with a lot of things. Their spiritual and social anxieties generate most of the show’s drama, and the interesting ways they trigger each other in various combinations creates the intrigue that keeps us coming back week after week. SIN AND EXPIATION, a gripping two parter with character arcs for almost everyone in the family, is 7TH HEAVEN at its best: a pressure cooker of Protestant anxiety. Youngest son Simon begins the episodes completely in the dog house because he’s caught extending the middle finger at school in an effort to be “one of the guys”. His older brother Matt is feeling guilty about wanting to move out of the family home at age 18 despite that being the most normal feeling a legally adult teenager could ever feel. Lucy is the star of her high school’s fascist Student Court. Ruthie is alienating everyone with her armpit farting (called “underarm honking” in this Christian household.) Mary (Jessica Biel) has it the worst — after her basketball team is suspended for the season for bad grades, they vandalize the gym, causing Mary to be arrested and almost ruin her life forever (a story arc 7TH HEAVEN fans consider “the beginning of the end” for her character.) Lastly: patriarch Eric is recovering from a heart attack and matriarch Annie is just plain annoying and bipolar as usual. It’s no wonder that the second part of this two episode storyline features Simon and Ruthie visiting various churches of all different major world religions trying to alleviate the guilt they feel inside. This family seriously needs a break from Protestantism. Camdens: have you ever heard about a silent Buddhist meditation retreat? It seems like you guys could really use the peace and quiet, and some space from each other. However, if they ever got that, 7TH HEAVEN would never be the same. 🖕🏻 Free episode available on boysbiblestudy.com

36

3

new bonus episode 𝐇𝐎𝐌𝐄𝐋𝐄𝐒𝐒 𝐇𝐄𝐍𝐑𝐘: 𝐓𝐇𝐑𝐎𝐔𝐆𝐇 𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐓𝐄𝐀𝐑𝐒 (𝟐𝟎𝟐𝟎) 🚐 A duo of homeless do-gooders drive from town to town in an old van with Toys ‘R Us lettering on the side, spreading Christian cheer to everyone they meet. Does this sound like a dream scenario to you, or a nightmare? If the former, you will enjoy HOMELESS HENRY: THROUGH THE TEARS, a melodramatic romp through some of the best Christian movie tropes, wrapped together in an entertaining 50 minutes. The titular Henry is played by Jae Head, an accomplished actor with a Hollywood career that began when he was a child, most notably featuring in BLIND SIDE. Henry adopted father, Billy, rescued him after Henry’s mother was killed by “a crack-headed pimp”. The two live an extremly humble life, frequently camping outside when they need to rest, but count their blessings and trust in God regardless. When driving through a sleepy Texas town, they meet Trip, a kindly man who takes them in, only asking in return help with chores. This simple favor becomes deep kindness when Henry and Billy try to help Trip reach out to his estragned son Hank, a raging alcoholic who abuses his daughter, Heather, a teen girl that Henry meets in his new high school and develops a crush. The stage is set for a gripping family drama. The scenes of drunken domestic abuse in HOMELESS HENRY are violent and drawn-out in a way you almost never see in DIY films. An ending scene involving a loaded gun comes out of absolutely nowhere and completely changes the tone of an otherwise tender moment. HOMELESS HENRY: THROUGH THE TEARS is the kind of film you see on Letterbox’d with amazing art that only your weirdest mutual has watched, and you think, “Hm, maybe I should put that on.” We are here to tell you you should. Director Lee Kelley has fashioned a DIY but extremely competant faith-based film that wastes no time getting to the exploitative, lurid details that we love about Christian movies. 🚐 patreon.com/boysbiblestudy

20

0

28

1

DROP THE BEAT (2022) 💿 This movie about a famous rapper who takes a career risk by giving his life to Christ feels like it was written by someone who has never listened to a rap song. That writer is Jason Campbell, one of the most prolific auteurs active in the Christian movie scene. Campbell has produced 88 films since 2013, and per iMDB has 29 upcoming. When you make that many films, the adage “write what you know” can’t apply anymore, because you have too many ideas and need to do something new. Maybe that’s why Campbell decided to take on the world of hip-hop despite knowing little about it, even basic terms. In the first scene of DROP THE BEAT, rapper Ace Jay is in the studio laying down some conscious rap when his producer says “You need to hit the beat harder,” and the rapper replies “What beat? I hit all of them!” This is not how any rapper has ever thought about music, and it’s a fundamental misunderstanding of music itself. But Campbell persists, writing a script about Ace Jay’s disillusionment with the industry that made him rich. Ace goes back to his roots, touring the performing arts school whose scholarship was his ticket out of “the hood” and into the big time. Meanwhile, his record label schemes against him, planting a rumor that his delayed album stems from drug trouble. The problem with DROP THE BEAT is there’s no story or atmosphere in the script or design that supports the plot. We meet Ace Jay at the start of the film saying he’s disillusioned, but why? We see nothing of his former life that gives motivation for a redemption arc. Also, Ace simply has no swag; he looks put together, but not like the most famous rapper in the world should look. Fortunately, frequent Campbell collaborator Dean Cain shows up to inject some life into the film, stealing the show for one scene. Per an unsourced iMDB trivia item, Cain was paid $15,000 for his tiny role. This begs the question: how much money is DROP THE BEAT actually making, and did it turn a profit? It’s a mystery, but one thing is for sure: Jason Campbell is an absolute machine of Christian movie making, it’s just too bad the films themselves feel cold and mechanical. 💿

12

0

THE BLOOD OF JESUS (1941) 💃 This historically important film with an all black cast takes a unique narrative approach in its depiction of the Christian afterlife. THE BLOOD OF JESUS was directed by Spencer Williams, an accomplished black actor and filmmaker with a prolific media career in the 1920s-40s before starring in the television adaptation of AMOS ‘N’ ANDY. The highly-rated show featured black actors in starring roles, but was eventually cancelled in part due to pressure from the NAACP objecting to its stereotypical depictions of African-Americans. Nonetheless, Spencer Williams should be considered a trailblazer in black American media. In fact, THE BLOOD OF JESUS could be considered the most commercially successful “race film” (low budget independent films meant for black audiences at segregated movie theaters). Even 85 years later, the film’s confident narrative and resourceful low budget effects make it engaging. Williams also stars in the film in addition to writing and directing; his character Ras Jackson is a spiritually apathetic man who undergoes a transformation when, returning from a hunting trip, he accidentally shoots his wife Martha, a recent and enthusiastic convert to Christianity. Most of the action depicts Martha’s soul retrieved by angels and forging a path to the afterlife. THE BLOOD OF JESUS is refreshingly different from almost every other Christian film we’ve watched because it portrays the path from death to heaven as a purgatory-like obstacle course where dream logic reigns and the deceased Christian has one more chance to succeed or fail at getting to the gates of Zion. Most Christian films portray deliverance or damnation as instant — say the wrong words before death, and you’re plummeted to hell. THE BLOOD OF JESUS is a way more forgiving and imaginative take on the trope. Scored by recordings of a black choir singing hymns and spirituals, the film is evocative and atmospheric, capturing a period of black American history with the confidence of a media craftsman. It’s a rewarding and essential watch for anyone interested in film history, black history, or religious studies. 💃 patreon.com/boysbiblestudy

32

0

ABSOLUTE DOMINION (2025) 🤼‍♂️ This Christian-leaning film directed by a martial arts expert preaches a confusing mix of liberal pro-science atheism and Christian deism that would be way more interesting if the fight scenes weren’t such a slog. Director Lexi Alexander has a genuinely interesting career and an obvious expertise and passion for combat sports. Her most notable film is possibly PUNISHER: WAR ZONE (2008), a commercial failure at the time that has since become a cult classic. She was notable for being the first female director of a Marvel franchise film, but the gritty and hyper-violent take on PUNISHER didn’t land well with critics or audiences. Alexander had some famous defenders though — comedian Patton Oswalt has repeatedly gone on record praising the film. It’s probably not a coincidence that he and fellow celebrity fan Alex Winter both appear in ABSOLUTE DOMINION in supporting roles. Oswalt plays a fictional influencer/streamer named Fix Huntley who goes viral in the year 2085 AD pitching the idea for a worldwide martial arts tournament where the major world religions each send a champion to fight for religious dominance. In the war-torn dystopian future of 2085, society jumps at the chance for a civil Mortal Kombat-style tournament instead of scattered warfare and bloodshed. The three major world religions, Celestians, Pentotities, and Dashafaris, all send champions, but a last-minute rogue entry named Sagan Bruno steals the show. Sagan represents the Institute for Humanism in Science — a perfect fighter born of a eugenics project, to a scientist mother and athlete father, neither of which have a relationship with him. Bruno quickly jumps to the top of the competition, but his worldview is rocked when blessings from a supernatural force begin to guide his combat. Could this force be none other than capital “G” God? Or is it just a miracle of logic and reason? It’s too bad ABSOLUTE DOMINION couldn’t stick the landing because it is undoubtedly a breath of fresh air in a sea of Christian movies with the exact same stereotypical evangelical perspective. 🤼‍♂️ boysbiblestudy.com

28

0

𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐏𝐫𝐨𝐩𝐡𝐞𝐜𝐲 (𝟏𝟗𝟗𝟓) 📖 This intense Bible fanfiction thriller starring Christopher Walken is now heralded as a cult classic despite not being critically understood at the time of its release. The New York Times described it as “…bad enough to end the recent proliferation of religious thrillers.” It’s true that the 1990s were filled with religious thrillers — we at Boys’ Bible Study have extensively covered the “angelslop” and “devilslop” that proliferated through the era, with audiences fascinated by Christian pop culture moral frameworks imbued on human life. But the New York Times is completely wrong — THE PROPHECY has stood the test of time as the BEST of the 90s religious thrillers, in part because its timeless tone doesn’t rely on the groan-inducing “smart, sexy, funny” humor typical to the decade. THE PROPHECY is instead gritty and otherworldly, with impressive visual effects and character design that rival the HELLRAISER franchise. Its well-researched Biblical scripture lends it credibility, and its fictional expansion of the Bible — centering on a lost 23rd book of Revelation, known only to angels — is written so convincingly it feels nearly realistic. The film takes place in contemporary Los Angeles, where a priest-turned-LAPD detective (Elias Koteas) uses his knowledge of Christianity to solve a case of biblical proportions. A mysterious dead body carrying an ancient Bible with unknown additional text is autopsied to reveal biology in common with an unborn fetus, initiating the detective into a modern-day war between angels and demons over the soul of a disgraced cannibal Korean War veteran whose power could tip the metaphysical scale of evil and turn earth into a second hell. The film is notable for its A-list cast, including a show-stealing appearance by Viggo Mortensen as Satan, and for its respectful treatment of Native American mythology. THE PROPHECY is the rare religious-themed film that is both entertaining and well-researched, stimulating on whatever spiritual level the viewer receives it. 📖 boysbiblestudy.com

34

0

new episode 𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐁𝐮𝐭𝐭𝐞𝐫𝐂𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐦 𝐆𝐚𝐧𝐠: 𝐒𝐞𝐜𝐫𝐞𝐭 𝐨𝐟 𝐓𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐬𝐮𝐫𝐞 𝐌𝐨𝐮𝐧𝐭𝐚𝐢𝐧 (𝟏𝟗𝟗𝟑) ⛰ This sequel to what is now regarded as one of the most beloved Christian films of all time (THE BUTTERCREAM GANG) misses the mark by messing with the original ButterCream formula. Released only one year after the original film, THE BUTTERCREAM GANG: SECRET OF TREASURE MOUNTAIN feels like a completely different series by focusing on a GOONIES-style adventure subplot instead of the friendship between the ButterCreamers. The original idea of the ButterCream Gang is that they were a group of neighborhood boys who do good deeds; the new generation of ButterCreamers now admits girls (woke much?) and seems to have forgotten entirely about helping the community, save for a lemonade stand fundraiser here and there. Several of the original cast members returned for round two, yet SECRET OF TREASURE MOUNTAIN picks a new boy named Eldon and introduces conflict based on his insecurity over not being seen as a “hero” among the band of do-gooders. Fortunately for Eldon, an opportunity to gain some much-needed recognitizion arrives when he stumbles upon an old document, written in Spanish, that appears to be a treasure map based on what is now the property line of beloved neighborhood figure Mr. Graff’s store. Conveniently, a Spanish archeologist named Dr. Almodovar has recently come to town and can help the children follow the map to a myserious treasure they hope will raise the much needed funds to help Mr. Graff save his property. Little do Eldon and the ButterCreamers know that Dr. Amodovar is actually the descendent of a Spanish conquistador, who we the audience see in a flashback sequence at the beginning of the film, attempting to find hidden gold that has been cursed by monks. This is the first Christian movie we’ve ever watched attributing to monks the ability to put curses on things, but sure enough, Eldon follows the trail to a myserious local monastery. Can Eldon’s pure heart put the gold to good use, preventing him from falling to the curse that has harmed everyone else who tried to snatch it? ⛰ boysbiblestudy.com

35

2

30

1