God's Not Dead: A Light in Darkness Page #6

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I don't want to lose sight

of my work, you know.

Well, let me know when and where.

I'll be there for sure.

Hey, we're back.

Oh, I turned it off.

What? Don't you want to see

if they get the diamond?

Don't you knock?

- What are you doing?

- I'm on the phone!

- Who you talking to so late?

- None of your business.

Is that Pearce?

Tell him I said hi.

Meg says hi.

- Hi, Meg.

- Let me call you back.

Ooh, what's

the deal there?

There's no deal.

She's a friend of mine.

She runs one of the

ministries we support.

- What do you want, Pearce?

- Nothing.

- Is that my shirt?

- Yeah.

[dog barking]

[chopping]

- What are you doing?

- I told you, this tree's dead. It's gonna fall on the house.

I didn't ask you to cut it down!

I can do it myself!

- Can you, now?

- Yeah, I could.

- Go for it.

- All right, fine.

You might want to back up.

- Gotta do better than that.

- It was a warm-up.

[clears throat]

Still warming up?

Careful with that

weak heart of yours.

Ha-ha. Funny guy. Watch this.

Get ready

to yell "timber."

I got a better idea.

[electric saw revs]

Oh, now we're talking.

Yeah!

- Okay, give it a push.

- All right, hold up.

- Tell me when you're ready.

- Yeah! Go!

Ah! We almost got it!

Oh! Yeah!

- [grunts]

- Yes!

Just promise me you'll

plant something new here.

Mom liked

pomegranate trees.

Do you even believe

in what we're fighting for?

Do I believe in your right

to keep your church? Yes.

But the rest of it,

you know the answer.

So, why help me?

What do you think

I do for a living?

Do you think I need

to have the belief system

of every crackhead

I defend to defend 'em?

So, religion has no value except

for the laws that protect it?

Value? I don't know.

But people have evolved.

Science has replaced

superstition.

- Church has outlived its usefulness.

- Wow!

Okay, I don't expect you to agree, but

that's okay 'cause this is healthy.

It's a healthy discourse.

Pearce, people are broken.

They're... They're lost.

They're searching

for meaning, for purpose.

Church is the answer

to those problems, huh?

Church is a place for people to seek, to

grapple with those difficult questions.

To find hope and...

and truth.

And you know that.

Or at least you used to.

Why do you need me to agree with you

about everything? I'm just your lawyer.

I didn't come here to debate

religion or do your landscaping.

But, man,

you're my little brother.

And I don't like to see

people push you around.

And that's why

I'm helping you.

And right now, that answer's

gotta be good enough for you.

[Pastor] Now, this whole situation

brings you to the cross.

And the cross is both

vertical and horizontal.

Vertical is me and God,

God and me.

My relationship with Christ.

The horizontal part,

you and I.

Sometimes we get so

caught up in the vertical

we forget the horizontal,

forget each other.

Yeah, but it's at the intersection

where Jesus comes in.

That nexus, and that's where Paul's words in

Galatians are so powerful and compelling.

Even Jews and gentiles

are fellow citizens.

So, with all the noise

and anger out there right now,

it's peace

that we have to think about.

And it's gonna require one thing...

It's gonna require sacrificing.

At the end of the day, we can't

forget that Christ's forgiveness

came about via the conduit

of the sacrifice.

And we are called, believe

it or not, to do the same.

[chattering, laughing]

- Hey.

- Hey.

How are you?

Been better.

Do you know why my mom

divorced my dad?

He used to beat her.

I was nine...

when she left him.

You know what

our church did?

They called her a sinner.

They said that if she married

again, she'd be an adulterer.

They humiliated her.

What I remember most

about that time

is the sound of my mother

crying herself to sleep.

I'm so sorry. I...

So, yeah,

I get angry sometimes.

But I didn't... I didn't mean

for anybody to get hurt.

I know you didn't.

[sighs]

For what it's worth,

I prayed about it.

And?

No answer.

- [all laughing]

- And did you believe him?

Of course

I believed him.

I was seven years old. I

believed whatever he told me.

"Dave, you can make

your own 7 Up.

All you need is just

water and salt."

- Did you drink it?

- [Dave] It was terrible, obviously.

But I kept adding

more and more salt,

just waiting for

those little bubbles.

Oh, poor guy. He drank the whole bottle.

Two liters of saltwater.

[chuckling] But I gotta

hand it to Pearce.

He waited by my bedside all night

long to make sure that I didn't die.

Yeah. That's what brothers do.

They look out for each other.

- Hear, hear.

- Hear, hear, Brother.

Thank you.

- I really thought you were gonna die.

- [Meg laughs]

Hadleigh University is being flooded with

calls and e-mails from angry citizens,

and it seems

Chancellor Ellsworth,

well, taking the brunt

of that anger.

Kayla's asking

for her bedtime story.

[cell phone buzzes]

Don't answer it, Tom.

Hello?

Hello!

Hel... Stop calling me.

[glass shatters]

- What was that?

- Stay here, stay here!

What?

[Kayla] Daddy!

Kayla! Come here, baby.

[tires squealing]

What was that?

Go on upstairs.

It's okay, baby.

It's okay.

[Meg] I'm very proud of you.

Of me? For what?

I get the feeling fighting's

not really your thing.

But it's important,

what you're doing.

It's inspiring.

I was just thinking

about that sculptor,

chiseling away

at that rock.

It's okay to be broken,

Dave.

It means God's

still shaping you.

- [car approaches]

- I'm honored to be a part of it.

[brakes squeal]

Tom?

I'm getting

death threats, Dave!

Somebody threw a brick

through my window!

- Okay, just take it easy, okay?

- No, Kayla could've been hurt!

- I don't know anything about that. I'm sorry.

- No, no. You did this!

Hey, hey, hey.

- [grunting]

- Pearce!

Hey! Get off him!

You brought

the fight to us, Tom.

[car door slams,

engine starts]

I'll get you some ice.

- You all right?

- Yeah, I'm fine.

Maybe we should

just call it a night.

Yeah. I'll...

I'll just get my stuff.

I didn't realize

Tom was a psychopath.

Well, he's just scared.

Thanks.

Way to impress the lady,

by the way.

Well, it's kind of

my signature move.

Invite a girl over and then

get punched in the face.

Works every time.

Let's see.

[sighs]

Ow. What'd you

do that for?

You'll be all right.

[Josh] Cottonwood Christian Center vs.

Cypress Redevelopment Agency?

I got that.

Give me something else.

Hey, I got

some leftover pizza.

Yeah.

Josh, you're a smart kid.

Why'd you give up on law school?

Well, I wouldn't say

I gave up on it.

Once I spent time

on a college campus,

I realized there was

a real need there.

Ministry's just another way

for me to serve.

What kind of law

were you studying?

Same as you.

Civil rights, social justice.

Really? 'Cause you don't

strike me as a liberal.

- Give the kid a break.

- What?

I don't think standing up for the oppressed

is exclusive to a political agenda.

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