Batman takes the blame. Gotham gets to believe. But what happens when hope is built on a lie?

In this episode of Cinematic Scripture, we explore the haunting beauty of The Dark Knight—a film that sacrifices truth to preserve belief. We unpack the ethical ache of noble deception, the longing for a savior who can bear the weight, and the Gospel’s radical alternative: a Savior who tells the truth and still offers hope.

Through cinematic theology and biblical reflection, we ask:

- What does it mean to bear blame—but not sin?

- Can sacrifice without truth ever lead to salvation?

- And how does Jesus offer a better way—one that doesn’t mask the brokenness, but redeems it?

This isn’t just a superhero story. It’s a spiritual invitation. To name the ache. To tell the truth. And to trust the One who saves without hiding.

Watch attentively. Reflect spiritually. Lead from story. Because discipleship lives in what we pay attention to… and in the stories we dare to enter.

🛠️ And if you’re ready to move from cinematic longing to spiritual activation, join me for the 5-Day Challenge: Gospel Clarity Through Story.

I’ll guide you through a transformative process to:

✅ Awaken the ache that stories stir

✅ Decode narrative structure and worldview shaping

✅ Read Scripture as story—not just doctrine

✅ Engage film with grace, not fear

✅ Disciple through story with gospel clarity

Join now: 5 Days to Gospel Clarity Through Story challenge

What if fear isn’t just a feeling—but a formation? What if evil isn’t just in the shadows—but in the silence we’ve learned to live with?

In this haunting episode of *Cinematic Scripture*, Cyle walks us through the dread-soaked streets of *Halloween (1978)*—a slasher classic that trades gore for quiet, and spectacle for spiritual ache. Beneath the mask of Michael Myers lies a deeper question: What happens when evil refuses to stay buried—and fear becomes the lens we live by?

This episode traces Laurie Strode’s arc from innocence to endurance, diagnoses the ambient theology of fear, and confronts the cultural liturgies that disciple us into caution instead of courage. With Scripture as our lens and story as our guide, we explore:

- How *Halloween* teaches us to normalize dread and sanctify survival

- Why fear often masquerades as wisdom—and how the Gospel reframes it

- Where evil shows up in Scripture, culture, and film—and how resurrection responds

- What it means to disciple others not into anxiety, but into resurrection-shaped resistance

Because Jesus doesn’t flee the darkness—He enters it. He doesn’t wear a mask—He bears our scars. And He doesn’t leave us with survival—He offers resurrection. So if you’ve ever felt stalked by fear, shaped by silence, or tempted to treat safety as your savior—this episode is for you.

Watch attentively. Reflect spiritually. Lead from story. Because discipleship lives in what we pay attention to… and in the stories we dare to enter.

🛠️ And if you’re ready to move from cinematic longing to spiritual activation, join me for the 5-Day Challenge: Gospel Clarity Through Story.

I’ll guide you through a transformative process to:

✅ Awaken the ache that stories stir

✅ Decode narrative structure and worldview shaping

✅ Read Scripture as story—not just doctrine

✅ Engage film with grace, not fear

✅ Disciple through story with gospel clarity

Join now: 5 Days to Gospel Clarity Through Story challenge

We’ve been surrounded by stories our whole lives—movies, sermons, testimonies, Scripture. But somewhere along the way, we were taught a lie: Story is a distraction. It’s emotional fluff. Entertainment. Something to skim—not something to shape us.

In this episode of Cinematic Scripture, I unpack one foundational shift: Story shapes us. Because God didn’t wire us for bullet points—He wired us for narrative.

You’ll discover: Why the ache we feel in story is spiritual memory, not emotional manipulation How the Gospel arc mirrors the structure of every story we tell What internal, cultural, and religious resistance keeps us from letting story disciple us How Scripture itself is structured as story—and why that matters for formation What changes when we stop watching passively and start walking intentionally.

Featuring insights from Brueggemann, N.T. Wright, James K.A. Smith, and others, this episode invites you to wrestle with the ache, notice the pattern, and pay sacred attention.

🎧 Listen now and begin your journey into story-shaped theology. Because discipleship lives in what we pay attention to… and in the stories we dare to enter.

🛠️ And if you’re ready to move from cinematic longing to spiritual activation, join me for the 5-Day Challenge: Gospel Clarity Through Story.

I’ll guide you through a transformative process to:

✅ Awaken the ache that stories stir

✅ Decode narrative structure and worldview shaping

✅ Read Scripture as story—not just doctrine

✅ Engage film with grace, not fear

✅ Disciple through story with gospel clarity

Join now: 5 Days to Gospel Clarity Through Story challenge

In this episode, we return to the overture of the biblical story—Genesis 1–3. Not just the beginning of the Bible, but the ache beneath every story we carry. These chapters introduce the world, the characters, the intent, and the obstacle of Scripture. They lay down themes that echo across the canon: creation, vocation, trust, fracture, and hope.

We explore three sacred movements:

🌅 Act I — Creation and Vocation

🌿 Act II — Communion and Trust

🌑 Act III — Fracture and Exile Genesis 1–3 is more than origin—it’s architecture. It shapes our theology of God’s goodness, human dignity, partnership, and the ache of separation. It reveals gospel echoes in fig leaves, trees, gardens, and bloodshed. It introduces the Seed, the Lamb, and the second Adam—Jesus, who answers the ache.

🎥 We also explore cinematic echoes in films like Arrival, The Tree of Life, and Interstellar—stories that remember Eden, name the fracture, and dare to hope for restoration.

📖 You’ll discover: Why starting the biblical story in Genesis 3 distorts the gospel How Eden’s imagery reverberates through Scripture and culture What foundational truths are revealed before the fall How Genesis reframes creation, vocation, and redemption How story-shaped theology renews our lens for discipleship If you’ve ever longed to read Scripture narratively, to see gospel truth in story, and to disciple through sacred patterns—this episode is for you. And begin your journey into story-shaped theology. Because discipleship lives in what we pay attention to… and in the stories we dare to enter.

🛠️ And if you’re ready to move from cinematic longing to spiritual activation, join me for the 5-Day Challenge: Gospel Clarity Through Story.

I’ll guide you through a transformative process to:

✅ Awaken the ache that stories stir

✅ Decode narrative structure and worldview shaping

✅ Read Scripture as story—not just doctrine

✅ Engage film with grace, not fear

✅ Disciple through story with gospel clarity

Join now: 5 Days to Gospel Clarity Through Story challenge

In today’s episode, I share the final movement of my journey—the return home changed. Like Frodo in The Lord of the Rings, I’ve come back to familiar ground, but I carry the ache of transformation.

This episode is about laying down old lenses, rediscovering Scripture as story, and stepping into a new world where discipleship is shaped by narrative—not just doctrine. I reflect on leaving pastoral ministry, reframing my faith, and learning to see gospel echoes in film, culture, and conversation.

If you’ve ever felt stuck in shallow faith or unsure how to engage culture, this episode will help you begin interpreting film and Scripture side by side. You’ll discover a sacred lens for story, a deeper curiosity about gospel clarity, and a clear next step toward story-shaped discipleship.

🎧 Listen in to explore: Why stories disciple us—even when we’re unaware How Scripture comes alive when read narratively What it means to lead from story in a post-fragmented world

🛠 Ready to take the next step?

Join the 5-Day Challenge: 5 Days to Gospel Clarity Through Story challenge

✅ Awaken the ache

✅ Decode narrative structure

✅ Read Scripture as story

✅ Engage film with grace

✅ Disciple through story

📌 Subscribe for more episodes that help you watch attentively, reflect spiritually, and lead from story.

What happens when danger is buried—and comfort becomes more sacred than truth?

In this episode of Cinematic Scripture, we listen deeply to the story of Jaws—not to extract theology, but to honor the ache it exposes. Beneath the suspense lies a spiritual confrontation: the cost of denial, the silencing of fear, and the courage it takes to name what others ignore. From Brody’s fear of water to the town’s refusal to close the beaches, this story reveals what happens when survival is sacrificed for image—and how the Gospel enters the deep, not to shame fear, but to redeem it.

Explore how Jaws reflects our cultural liturgies, reframes fear as sacred threshold, and invites us to stop protecting systems—and start protecting people. With biblical echoes, cinematic companions, and cultural resonance, this episode helps you see fear not as failure—but as formation. Whether you’re a pastor, educator, or story-shaped disciple, this episode will help you watch attentively, reflect spiritually, and lead from story.

🛠️ And if you’re ready to move from cinematic longing to spiritual activation, join me for the 5-Day Challenge: Gospel Clarity Through Story.

I’ll guide you through a transformative process to:

✅ Awaken the ache that stories stir

✅ Decode narrative structure and worldview shaping

✅ Read Scripture as story—not just doctrine

✅ Engage film with grace, not fear

✅ Disciple through story with gospel clarity

Join now: 5 Days to Gospel Clarity Through Story challenge

The Opposition – Can the Rewrite Be Sacred?

Every great story has a moment of resistance. A force that pushes back against the action. A cost that clarifies what the calling truly demands.

In this episode of Cinematic Scripture, I share the season of opposition that nearly broke me—and the grace that refused to let go. From ministry loss to relational rupture, I walked through the ache of being misunderstood, misrepresented, and spiritually displaced. But in that ache, something sacred emerged: a gospel that reframed everything. This isn’t just a story of pain. It’s a story of pruning. Of being released. Of being rewritten.

🎬 If you’ve ever felt unseen in church spaces… If your questions were met with silence or suspicion… If you’ve longed for deeper formation and a fresh lens for culture… This episode is for you.

🛠️ And if you’re ready to move from cinematic longing to spiritual activation, join me for the 5-Day Challenge: Gospel Clarity Through Story.

I’ll guide you through a transformative process to:

✅ Awaken the ache that stories stir

✅ Decode narrative structure and worldview shaping

✅ Read Scripture as story—not just doctrine

✅ Engage film with grace, not fear

✅ Disciple through story with gospel clarity

Join now: 5 Days to Gospel Clarity Through Story challenge

Sin doesn’t just fracture our relationship with God—it distorts our worship, poisons our identity, and ruptures our brotherhood.

In this episode of Cinematic Scripture, we explore Genesis 4 as the first post-Eden descent: two brothers, two offerings, one altar—and the first murder. What begins in devotion ends in violence. But even here, mercy interrupts judgment. We’ll trace the five movements of Genesis 4, unpack its symbolic imagery, and explore how blood, cities, and calling reverberate across Scripture and screen. From Cain’s mark to Seth’s birth, this chapter aches for redemption—and anticipates the mercy of Christ. We'll explore 🎞️ Film echoes—stories where worship fractures, identity collapses, and mercy flickers in the dark.

📖 Featuring insights from Walton, Hamilton, and Wenham

🛠️ And if you’re ready to move from cinematic longing to spiritual activation, join me for the 5-Day Challenge: Gospel Clarity Through Story.

I’ll guide you through a transformative process to:

✅ Awaken the ache that stories stir

✅ Decode narrative structure and worldview shaping

✅ Read Scripture as story—not just doctrine

✅ Engage film with grace, not fear

✅ Disciple through story with gospel clarity

Join now: 5 Days to Gospel Clarity Through Story challenge

🎙️ Episode: The Action — When the Gospel Finds You in Frames. My Journey from Attention to Incarnation.

Every great story has a moment of response—a shift from ache to action, from disruption to direction. In this episode of Cinematic Scripture, Cyle Harless shares the sacred turning point in his own journey: when film stopped being entertainment and became sacred ground.

From film school to The Bible Project, from cinematic ache to gospel clarity, this is the story of how narrative became formation—and how attention became calling. We’ll explore how story structure, visual theology, and biblical resonance can shape discipleship.

And we’ll ask:

→ What realm does this story live in?

→ What does it say is good, true, or beautiful?

→ Is it telling the truth—or bending it?

This isn’t just analysis. It’s incarnation. And it’s the moment the gospel finds you—frame by frame.

🛠️ And if you’re ready to move from cinematic longing to spiritual activation, join me for the 5-Day Challenge: Gospel Clarity Through Story.

I’ll guide you through a transformative process to:

✅ Awaken the ache that stories stir

✅ Decode narrative structure and worldview shaping

✅ Read Scripture as story—not just doctrine

✅ Engage film with grace, not fear

✅ Disciple through story with gospel clarity

Join now: 5 Days to Gospel Clarity Through Story challenge

Jurassic Park: The Illusion of Control and the Gospel of Protection

What happens when we play god—and creation roars back? In this episode of Cinematic Scripture, Cyle Harless explores the sacred tension at the heart of Jurassic Park: the illusion of control, the chaos of ambition, and the quiet courage of protection. Through character arcs, visual theology, and biblical echoes, we’ll trace how awe becomes action—and how inconvenient love becomes the truest form of discipleship.

From bones to benediction, this isn’t just a survival story. It’s a cinematic parable of surrender, stewardship, and gospel-shaped transformation.

🛠️ And if you’re ready to move from cinematic longing to spiritual activation, join me for the 5-Day Challenge: Gospel Clarity Through Story.

I’ll guide you through a transformative process to:

✅ Awaken the ache that stories stir

✅ Decode narrative structure and worldview shaping

✅ Read Scripture as story—not just doctrine

✅ Engage film with grace, not fear

✅ Disciple through story with gospel clarity

Join now: 5 Days to Gospel Clarity Through Story challenge