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Never Ashamed (film)

Never Ashamed is a 1984 Christian drama film which was written, directed, and produced by Edward T. McDougal. The film follows the story of a young Christian, Tim Hughs, and the struggles he face in a public high school.

Plot
Tim Hughs is an all-American youth having some fun during the summer with his best friend, Marty Sullivan. The two of them get arrested after the steal an ice cream truck and giving away much of its contents to random children at a beach. Seeing Tim's bad conduct, his mother is concerned for Tim and she convinces Mr. Hughs to send him to a Christian summer camp in an attempt to "shape up" his behavior. Tim comes home from the camp a born-again Christian much to the dismay may of his parents (his father is a secular humanists with his own TV show.) Tim starts hanging around the 'upper-class' Christian clique at his school but he is really confused about what to do about his best friend Marty. Becky Olson is one of the girls in the pious Christian clique where most of them have a 'holier-than-thou' type of attitude toward nonbelievers. Tim still wants to be Marty's friend but because Marty smokes and drinks Tim is unsure if it is still alright to be around Marty. When Tim asks Becky what to do about Marty she tells him to just ignore his old best friend and sooner or later Marty will figure it out. Tim is still undecided about how to treat Marty and it is a conflict which he is conflicted with regularly. Plus, he's too ashamed of his new faith to openly admit in front of his class what he believes about Jesus Christ and the Bible. He even tries to hide his Bible in his notebook so that no one will see it. Also, there is another group of Christians at the school, but they are not popular and are even shunned by the self-righteous Christians. Meanwhile, Tim's parents become more and more worried about their son. Mr. Hughs says that he wishes that Tim would just be like regular kids his age instead of just hanging around his friends from his church. One day Tim and Becky go to an amusement park together where they go on rides and play games. Just before they leave Tim confides in Becky that he really wanted to talk to her about something which is that he really feels like he has let the Lord down lately. Becky only scoffs at Tim's concern. She also likes Tim and she wants them to paddle in the same canoe at the up-coming Christian retreat that their youth group is going to. Mr. and Mrs. Hughs have a meeting with Tim's teacher because they are worried about him. Mr. Hughs even thinks that Tim is in a cult and he is concerned for his son's well-being and 'normal' young-adult life which in his eyes are being squandered. Mr. Hughs is also disappointed with his son because Tim wants to be a missionary when he grows up. After a big confrontation with his family Time decides to associate himself with the unpopular Christians at school and he helps them in their various community out-reaches. Later, Tim's youth pastor goes to a Cubs games with him and afterwards they talk for a while and Tim shares his dilemma about how he wishes he could tell his best friend, Marty, about Jesus Christ but Tim feels that the Bible says that Christians "aren't supposed to hang around kids who smoke, dope, and drink." Tim's youth pastor tells him to read a passage in Scripture which says,

'But the Pharisees and the teachers of the law who belonged to their sect complained to his disciples, "Why do you eat and drink with tax collectors and 'sinners'?" Jesus answered them, "It is not the healthy who need a doctor, but the sick. I have not come to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance."'

Tim then reads Luke 5:30-32 NIV again while he is at home and he realized that Jesus was not ashamed of reaching out to those who had bad reputations. After adopting this more radical teaching of Jesus Tim Hughs is subsequently ostracized by the pious Christian clique at his school and Becky Olson even tells him to find himself another canoe partner. Later, Tim sees Marty go into a church and Tim follows him in. Marty reads in the open Bible in the front of the church in John 15:13 which says (in the NIV,)

"Greater love has no one than this, that he lay down his life for his friends."

After reading that verse Marty remembers how cliquish the Christians at school are and how they do not practice what Jesus preached and what they also claim to believe as identifying as Christians. Tim confronts Marty and he apologizes to Marty for shunning him at school as he explains that he did so because he was too ashamed then but now he offers to help Marty. However, Marty has had enough of Tim and his "Bible buddies." Later, Tim invites Marty to come to the canoeing event with him and the youth group. When Marty gets into some bad rapids and is thrown from his canoe Tim decides to trust in Jesus even until the point of death and decides to risk his life to try and save Marty's just like Jesus talked about in John 15:13. Tim was barley able to help rescue Marty but he himself was washed down stream in the white water and wound up nearly dead in the local hospital. Tim's parents are notified about their son's condition and they finally give in to praying for their son's life to be preserved besides their previously being atheists. Tim then miraculously recovers and he receives a very prestigious award from his high school for risking his life to rescue Marty Sullivan. When Tim is at the podium after being awarded for his bravery he is given takes his speech

Awards
Never Ashamed was voted Best Film of the Year by the 400-member Christian film and video trade organization, the International Christian Visual Media, and it also won some awards at international film festivals.

Cast

 * Timothy Elwell as Tim Hughs
 * Jonathan Jancovic Michaels as Marty Sullivan
 * Denyse Leahy as Meg Hughes
 * Lori Overdorf as Becky Olson