I don’t like to touch on religion a lot in my blog. It’s a subject that can go ten ways from Sunday, for lack of a better word. But after seeing “I Can Only Imagine” at the movies today, I just can’t help myself. No matter what you believe when it comes to God, this movie will bring you closer than ever before.

As much as I love the fantasy/adventure genre in most of the movies I watch, its rather refreshing to sit through a real heartwarming, family, faith-based movie. The story of Bart Millard, lead singer of the Christian band Mercy Me and writer of the song “I Can Only Imagine” is one of personal struggle, abuse, and redemption. This is the story of how he fought his demons to follow his dream of being a singer/songwriter, that ended with him writing the most popular song in the history of Christian music.

The beginning of this movie was heart wrenching. His father abused him, mentally and physically, and his mother left him behind with his abusive father. Even with the love of his longtime girlfriend, he kept the pain from that abuse bottled up inside. It caused him to almost lose the passion he had for music. Then his life changed forever, and he wrote the song that would change him, his band, and the world of Christian music.

This is a simple story… No plot twists, tricks, or things out of left field. The story flows beautifully that it draws you in with each passing moment. The music is the heart of this story and it will bring you to tears. From the moment he started to reconcile with his father until the very end, it was like Niagara Falls. It brought joy to my heart and soul, to the very end, when he sings his iconic song for the first time. You can’t help but feel the presence of God, especially at the very end.

Like I said earlier, its so nice to see a movie like this out of Hollywood. Faith-based movies are on the rise, and I think Hollywood is starting to take notice. Even the actors and actresses are beginning to see the change in the industry. Dennis Quaid, who played the father Arthur Millard brilliantly, said “I hadn’t’ heard the song, but when I read the script it hit me so profoundly in the heart in a place where I don’t even have words.”

“And that’s what the song does and it grows on you, too. Just like you grow in the Spirit, the song grows on you in that way, too. In the end, it’s just a song of joy,” he concluded.

If you need to find that something to lift your spirit, fill your heart with love, and bring you a little bit closer to God, you need to see this movie. Even if you don’t have that kind of relationship with God, see this movie. It might just change your perspective.

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Mark Piggott is the author of the Forever Avalon book series. Forever Avalon is available for purchase as a book/ebook at Amazon. The Dark Tides is available for purchase as a book/ebook at Amazon, Barnes and Noble, and iUniverse publishing. The Outlander War, Book Three of the Forever Avalon series is coming soon.