I have to admit that I’m not very familiar with the book about positive thinking but apparently it was a big enough deal where the author got a movie so that’s petty neat. I do tend to agree with positive thinking, it’s a good way to go and it’s easy to implement. I remember one of the classic steps they say online is to make sure you never start a sentence with “but” “however” or other statements that immediately show you’re going on the other side. Instead you passively address the idea and start the counter claim. That’s also considering if you even need to debate the idea at all. Generally I just take everything in stride and go from there but everyone takes these things are their own pace.

The movie introduces us to Norman who is sure that he never wants to be a pastor when he grows up. He gets teased about it a lot at school and so he’s gotten used to thinking that it is all a drag. When he grows up though, he is able to talk someone into saving her life by taking a risk and realizes that preaching actually is his calling. He is first placed in a smaller church that has seen some turnover recently. This is his chance to really make a difference and he’s nervous but it ends up going well. This is also where he meets the girl that he ends up marrying and this prepares him for the big time. Will he be able to survive in the largest church in America though? Additionally, he aims to write a book about positive thinking but it is controversial.

Since the book’s controversy is the big part lets address that right away. Basically the skeptics felt like he was putting too much power in the person. The book talks about how you and God can do anything and so some felt he was putting God in the position of being a being that takes orders. Someone to use rather than to worship. His main point was more so about believing that God can do anything as is in the scriptures. So it comes down to how you interpret the lines. Ultimately I thought what Norman was conveying was fairly clear so I didn’t have a problem with it.

In the same way that you won’t get everything you pray for, a miracle isn’t something you can command into being. Often times you won’t get the outcome that you are hoping for but there is nothing wrong with the initial ask. You then just have to keep on living and move on to the next thing. That’s just how these things work and if you do read the book under the notion that you can somehow control God then you’re going to be in for a rough spot.

Towards the end of the film we see a miracle which rekindles Norman’s faith and steels his resolve that he made the right move. It was definitely a good moment and you’re glad that things ended well. That said, things could just have easily gone the other way and it’s important to not be too held up by the outcome. Otherwise when things don’t go well you may blame God and that’s a problem you set up for yourself. If he did answer every single prayer and request then the world would be in chaos as a lot of them directly oppose each other and not every wish is a good one. So you just have to be grateful for the miracles that you do get to experience.

Meanwhile the romance plot initially is a bit on the rougher side. Norman really wants to date Ruth and so he follows her around and chases after her for a while. He figures there’s nothing wrong with the chase so long as there is a glimmer of hope. I would take a much weaker stance on his since after the second or third rejection that seemed like a closed book but ultimately she said yes so it worked out. From then on she was a strong supporter the whole way and was instrumental in helping get the book published.

It’s always nice seeing teamwork in these things so even if I had a hard time buying the romance initially, these are based on events that really happened so that’s just how it goes. The film does pretty well to balance out a lot of the origin story while also keeping in some events from once Norman got super popular. The opening half is definitely the focus though I’d say and we really see a lot of his character.

Starting out as the pastor to an already established church has to be super stressful. You’re just not sure if they will take to your style of preaching or not and you have to show up every week and get to know everybody. The atmosphere can get real thick real fast. Then once he was on a roll, having to move to another state is like restarting the adventure. To be clear he didn’t have to move but it’s one of those promotional opportunities that seems like it would be really hard to turn down. Little did he know that all of the battles would really start from there.

The writing is on point and I did enjoy the quick debates. I would have liked a more prolonged debate about the book though where each character sits down to make their points. It’s usually fast though but I understand since on Youtube the debates can be 2-3 hours but in a movie you obviously can’t spend that amount of time. Like 15 minutes would have been good though and would have strengthened some scenes like the older pastor expressing why he didn’t like the book. There wasn’t enough time to really flesh that out.

Overall, One Man’s Way is a pretty solid movie. It definitely shows how there will always be a lot of obstacles in your path no matter what route you take. Being a well loved pastor would make things a bit easier you’d think but Norman is attacked a whole lot once he gets big. That’s just going to happen though, everyone faces their trials. He ends up doing well the whole time and for my two cents, I think the book seems to be a good thing. The main issue ends up being around reader comprehension I’d say and while the critiques can be fair to an extent, his book wouldn’t rank in the top 500 in terms of controversial ones for me because at least it is positive. I’d say to check the movie out if you aren’t familiar with this guy.