I was attending a church growth conference at Saddleback Church in California in the year of our Lord, 2000. Most of my church staff was present and I was invited along as the head of our drama ministry. Most of my breakout sessions involved using drama in church ministries and I was headed for a session when Mark Sutton, my pastor, stopped me.

“Bruce, we’re going back to the hotel.”
“Who?”
“You and me.”
“Why?”
“Because they have The Matrix on pay per view.”

I remember my mouth falling open in shock. My pastor, the man who insisted his entire staff spend four days in California for a church growth conference wanted to to back to the hotel and watch “The Matrix”. But, I have always respected the authority of my senior pastor so I joined him. We watched the move and he loved every second of it.

Mark passed away in January of this year from a failing lung transplant. Mark was the best communicator I have ever met. His imagination was endless as the many dramas we wrote together testified.

But despite his seeming gentle nature, he loved movies. Gory movies. Violent movies. And he was very glib about it. “The more violent and gory, the better!” And the only person he could get to go with him was me. I don’t like ultra-violence. But neither of our wives liked movies. And our children were too young for theses type of movies.

I recall one time, he wanted to go see “Starship Troopers”, the ultra violent science fiction movie made by Paul Verhoeven. We arrived at the theater and realized we were the only ones there. Mark insisted on sitting in the third or fourth row. Closer to the action, he said. There we sat as the credits rolled and the first violent scene appears. To my shock, Mark began talking to the movie!

“Really! Come on. You can do better than that!”
Now, I insist on silence in the movies. Sean, my son, would talk constantly during a movie making sure I just saw the scene we had just seen. His mantra was:

“Hey, Dad.”
“What Sean?”
“Did you see that robot?”
“Yes, Sean.”
“Hey, Dad.”
“What, Sean?”
“Did you see who that robot shot?”
“Yes, Sean.”
“Hey, Dad.”

I called these the “Hey Dad what Seans.” By the time he was in middle school he grew out of it. Thank you God! Now, he has a son who, well you can guess.

By the time we were thirty minutes into the movie, we were both loudly commenting on each scene. It was like some weird episode of Mystery Theater 3000! At times I was certain blood, body fluids, or water from the infamous co-ed shower scene splattered on us.

When all was done, Mark smiled and laughed. These movies were cathartic for him. Having to constantly be on his best behavior as a pastor, deprived him of moments when he could just let down for a bit. But with me, he was in a safe zone.

In 2001, we took our two daughters to see “The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring.” We both had read the book in our teenage years. Our daughters were around 14 at the time. They loved the movie. They sat between me and Mark and I remember leaning over and looking at Mark with this silly grin and he would give me a thumbs up. Not because the movie was too violent but because it was such a beautiful and well done testimony to the book. After that movie, we both transitioned into attending movies with our daughters. No more Starship Troopers.

Mark has gone on to his eternal reward now. But before he passed away, he had the joy of writing two fiction books. Pitfall is a story about the war in heaven that leads to Lucifer’s downfall. And Demon Undertow is a murder mystery set in a mythical city based on Daytona Beach, Florida. In both books, he used violence but to a much muted degree than what we saw in the movies.

This weekend, I will be at GeekD Con with my books and Mark’s two books. I have a few print versions and I will also have a special ebook bundle for both books. Come celebrate Mark’s love of writing, and fiction, and books like “Lord of the Rings.”
No blood. No body fluid. No co-ed showers! Just good, clean fun!

I hope to see you there.