Did you hear the news?

This weekend and every weekend for the rest of the month, one of the greatest stories ever told is coming back to the big screen.

Go to the movies and see The Lord of the Rings, giant re-released in the movie theaters.

And if you think that this is just about elves and swords and epic battles and beards, you've only been scratching the surface.

This is a story that matters because beneath the adventure, beneath the dragons and the dark lords, there is deeper magic at work.

I love how C.S. Lewis put that.

Lord of the Rings is a story about good and evil.

It's about sacrifice and mercy. It's about humility and hope. And by the end of today's

episode, I want to show you why stories like this, they don't just entertain us. They form us.

They train our hearts and minds. But first, I want to remind you that

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slash Kirk. Okay. The Lord of the Rings was written by J.com slash Kirk. Okay.

The Lord of the Rings was written by J.R.R. Tolkien.

He was a committed Catholic and a man who understood something about the world that today we have quickly forgotten.

Stories are not just entertainment.

They shape souls, especially children's souls.

Tolkien did not write allegory per se.

Actually, he famously rejected that idea,

but he did write with a Christian worldview and

Christian themes woven into every page of his stories. He once said that the Lord of the Rings

is a fundamentally religious work. And somehow, without ever preaching, his story has preached to millions.

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