March 30, 2004

do you wanna know how great my God is?

Man Confesses to Murder After Watching 'The Passion'

After watching "The Passion of The Christ" earlier this month, a Texas man confessed that he killed his girlfriend back in January. Dan Randall Leach II, 21, was indicted a week ago in Richmond on a first-degree murder charge in the death of Ashley Nicole Wilson, 19, the Associated Press reported. Her death in January had been tentatively ruled a suicide.
Earlier this month, Leach reportedly went to see Mel Gibson's film, which graphically depicts Jesus' final hours. On March 7, he went to church, announced that he needed to confess a crime and drove himself to the sheriff's office, "The Los Angeles Times" reported. Details of his confession were not revealed until his indictment was issued.

"It's a very strong movie," Jim Pokluda, a sheriff's lieutenant in Fort Bend County, Texas, said. "It would make a man think twice about any sin that he has committed."

Elsewhere, well-known pastor and author Rick Warren said his Saddleback Church in Lake Forest, Calif., gained 2,500 new members in the few days after the Feb. 25 release of the movie, Discipling A Whole Nation (DAWN), a global Christian research and strategy network, reported.

Robby Dobbs of the Second Baptist Church in Houston said his congregation has had "hundreds of conversions" because of the film. Along with many pastors nationwide, Warren held church services in rented cinemas.

Churches overseas are reportedly copying this style of evangelism. In Essen, Germany, the owners of the country's largest cinema allowed churches to speak for 20 minutes after each showing, DAWN reported.

Last week, "The Passion" topped the $300 million mark, becoming the fourth-fastest film to reach that figure. With $315 million after this past weekend, the movie is outpacing "The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King," which has earned about $375 million, Reuters reported. Playing in 3,214 theaters, the film will widen by 400 to 500 cinemas this Friday, with Gibson counting on a surge in business through Easter.

from here.
gid posted at 17:46