Signs & Wonders Blog

Alex and Stephen Kendrick are the producers of popular Christian movies such as “Fireproof”, “Overcomer” , and “War Room” (which reached number one at the box office in 2015). This past Thursday, I saw their latest release “The Forge.” Webster’s Dictionary defines a forge as “a furnace or a shop with its furnace where metal is heated and wrought” and “a workshop where wrought iron is produced or where iron is made malleable.” The main character in “The Forge” is Isaiah Wright, a 19-year-old African-American (played by Aspen Kennedy). His mother Cynthia (Priscilla Shirer) is tired of him doing nothing except play basketball and video games. She instructs her son to find a job and come up with rent money within one month or move out. Isaiah eventually lands a position with a manufacturer of fitness products. Owner Joshua Moore (Cameron Arnett) helps his new employee find direction and witnesses to him. In a private moment in his bedroom, Isaiah reads a “Romans Road” tract and asks Jesu...

Alex and Stephen Kendricks are former pastors from Georgia who have gone on to become successful filmmakers. The two brothers have put together six powerful faith-based movies over the past sixteen years. Their 2015 release “War Room” reached number one at the box office. Hopefully, their latest production “ Overcomer ” does likewise. I saw it two days ago. Alex plays John Harrison, a high school basketball coach who loses players due to a local manufacturing plant shutting down and families moving away. Meanwhile, the principal (played by Priscilla Shirer who starred in “War Room”) asks John to oversee the school’s cross-country program. The coach is reluctant but agrees to do so. Only one student shows up for the tryout: a fifteen-year-old girl with asthma. Despite Hannah’s handicap, she gradually improves her running skills.  During a hospital visit with his pastor, John inadvertently meets another patient who had lost his sight and legs due to diabetes. As they get t...