New Film 'Captive': True Story of How Rick Warren's 'The Purpose Driven Life' Helped Meth Addict, Captor Move Toward 'One Degree of Grace'
We all face major crossroads in life — moments when we're confronted with an insurmountable trial or challenge, or even a life or death situation. At those times, when we have to choose which way to go, only one degree separates the paths before us. Standing at these crossroads, literally one degree makes the difference between going left, toward death, or right, toward life.
Moving just one degree in the right direction is the story of Ashley Robinson (formerly Ashley Smith) in the upcoming 2015 film "Captive," released on the 10th anniversary of this miraculous true story. It's a thrilling drama about the spiritual collision of two broken lives. When Brian Nichols — on the run as the subject of a citywide manhunt and desperate to make contact with his newborn son — takes recovering meth addict Ashley Smith hostage in her own apartment, she turns to Rick Warren's best-selling inspirational book, The Purpose Driven Life, for guidance. While reading aloud, Ashley and her would-be killer each face crossroads where despair and death intersect hope.
What happened to Ashley Smith that night is literally an example of "Purpose Driven Life made flesh." It's the perfect story of what can happen when just a touch of grace enters into the darkest moments of our lives, and where two people — Ashley and her captor, Brian — should have died, both lived. And 10 years later, Ashley has never touched drugs again, healed of her addiction that very night.
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When grace enters into our broken lives, it is rarely marked with the appearance of angels and the singing of choirs, or the unrealistic, sappy scenes we sometimes see in movies. More often the action of grace is quiet, invisible, almost imperceptible — just one degree. It comes into the nitty-gritty of our lives, where sin has taken control. And it simply balances the scales, and tips them one degree in favor of life and redemption.
It's great to see a movie like "Captive" tell the story like it is, without glossing over the dark moments. It's the farthest thing from a sermon on film. Yet it's what a sermon would look like in real life. One degree of grace …with an eternal impact.
