What do you get when you cross “The Office”-style humor with Christian music? You get “Jesus People,” an mockumentary about four music artists who have come together to form a Christian dance band. Trouble is, they bring with them insecurities, failings, and emotional baggage, and a whole lot of Christian parody.It’s laugh out loud funny in some spots, amusing in the rest, and thought provoking all the way around. One of the group members isn’t really a Christian although the others don’t know. When in the second episode she suggests the name Trinity Four for the band, they explain Trinity means three, as in Father, Son, Holy Spirit, but never question why she didn’t know that. They just tell her it’s mathmatically incorrect and kinda dumb. Another member is an uber-Christian with a whole lot of issues. Another a washed-up CCM artist whose husband left her in a scandal, and the last a single father with a “nephew” constantly in tow.It’s a great satirical look at Christian music and Christian culture, filled with Christianese and jargon, empty words and judgement. And it’s all funny, and maybe even a little painful if you see yourself in there once in a while.And the best surprise are the guest stars.In episode two, for example, MAD TV’s Stephnie Weir plays Cynthia Sambells, a Christian romance author who becomes a prayer partner with the band. She tells the camera, “I don’t write about sex, I write about Christian sex, which is the best kind.”Kate Flannery, better known as Meredith from “The Office,” guest stars in episode three as Sharon Nyenhuis, “best selling songwriter and multiple Dove Award winner,” who tells the band that by “taking a popular song and making it into a Christian song you can actually open those doors for the listeners.”Yeesh, any of this seem familiar?Well here, you can watch the first two episodes and see for yourself. Remember, this is parody, folks, but it seens so real. Frightening.You can see more episodes at www.jesuspeople.tv
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