1 00:00:02,680 --> 00:00:03,600 Speaker 1: Life Audio. 2 00:00:04,400 --> 00:00:06,920 Speaker 2: Hey Michael, thanks for joining me. Thank you Michael for 3 00:00:06,920 --> 00:00:09,840 Speaker 2: having me. Michael ray lewis filmmaker who is the director 4 00:00:09,880 --> 00:00:13,720 Speaker 2: of the new documentary film Universe Designed. I really enjoyed it. 5 00:00:13,720 --> 00:00:17,759 Speaker 1: It releases December the thirteenth. Universe Designed dot Com is 6 00:00:17,840 --> 00:00:21,320 Speaker 1: the website. It explores the existence for God and it 7 00:00:21,400 --> 00:00:26,200 Speaker 1: also explores the validity of Christianity. Michael, I really enjoyed this, 8 00:00:26,400 --> 00:00:28,600 Speaker 1: the pace, the cinematography, all of it. 9 00:00:28,680 --> 00:00:32,919 Speaker 2: Really. You describe yourself as a former atheist. How did 10 00:00:32,920 --> 00:00:36,320 Speaker 2: your personal journey lead to the vision for this film 11 00:00:36,400 --> 00:00:37,120 Speaker 2: Universe Design. 12 00:00:37,880 --> 00:00:42,080 Speaker 3: Well, the evidence is really what persuaded me that Christianity 13 00:00:42,200 --> 00:00:44,440 Speaker 3: was true. You see, I grew up in a home 14 00:00:44,640 --> 00:00:47,199 Speaker 3: where I'm pretty sure most of us would say that 15 00:00:47,240 --> 00:00:49,720 Speaker 3: they believed in God, had a Bible under their bed, 16 00:00:49,800 --> 00:00:52,479 Speaker 3: but we never talked about God, we never talked about Jesus. 17 00:00:52,640 --> 00:00:54,880 Speaker 3: Obviously didn't read the Bible, and so over time, as 18 00:00:55,120 --> 00:00:59,160 Speaker 3: I got older, I started really just seeing no good 19 00:00:59,200 --> 00:01:01,560 Speaker 3: reason to believe it. On top of that, I was 20 00:01:01,600 --> 00:01:06,200 Speaker 3: watching documentaries by Bill Maher and others making fun of Christians, 21 00:01:06,840 --> 00:01:09,080 Speaker 3: and the only real interactions I had with Christians were 22 00:01:09,120 --> 00:01:10,720 Speaker 3: the ones on the street corners that were yelling at 23 00:01:10,720 --> 00:01:13,320 Speaker 3: me that I'm going to Hell, and so, I mean 24 00:01:13,360 --> 00:01:16,000 Speaker 3: I just naturally adopted atheism. I said, well, there's no 25 00:01:16,000 --> 00:01:18,440 Speaker 3: good reason to believe it anyways, and so I'm going 26 00:01:18,520 --> 00:01:22,560 Speaker 3: to just kind of adopt this materialistic mindset. Well, a 27 00:01:22,600 --> 00:01:24,880 Speaker 3: little bit later in my life, my wife ended up 28 00:01:24,920 --> 00:01:27,039 Speaker 3: coming to me and she said that she felt like 29 00:01:27,120 --> 00:01:31,440 Speaker 3: Jesus is calling her back. And I remember thinking to myself, 30 00:01:31,480 --> 00:01:33,720 Speaker 3: oh no, now I got to start dealing with all 31 00:01:33,760 --> 00:01:37,240 Speaker 3: this again because I had been pretty against Christianity, But 32 00:01:37,280 --> 00:01:39,240 Speaker 3: I said, you know what, I love her, I'll see 33 00:01:39,280 --> 00:01:41,399 Speaker 3: what this is all about. And so she dragged me 34 00:01:41,400 --> 00:01:43,680 Speaker 3: into a church and I remember looking around. I'm like, 35 00:01:43,720 --> 00:01:46,160 Speaker 3: all right, these aren't like the ones on the street corners. 36 00:01:46,240 --> 00:01:48,160 Speaker 3: But I get it that gives them something to hope in. 37 00:01:48,720 --> 00:01:52,480 Speaker 3: I just don't think it's actually true. And during that 38 00:01:52,560 --> 00:01:55,800 Speaker 3: process I started hitting her with hard questions, but no 39 00:01:55,840 --> 00:01:58,800 Speaker 3: matter what, she was adamant that it was true. And 40 00:01:59,280 --> 00:02:02,600 Speaker 3: there was one peticular moment where a YouTube video popped 41 00:02:02,640 --> 00:02:05,400 Speaker 3: up on my feed by an astrophysicist by the name 42 00:02:05,440 --> 00:02:09,760 Speaker 3: of doctor Hugh Ross, and she was showing in the 43 00:02:09,800 --> 00:02:14,519 Speaker 3: video how like science isn't incompatible with Christianity. In fact, 44 00:02:14,560 --> 00:02:17,239 Speaker 3: there are lots of good scientific evidences for the existence 45 00:02:17,240 --> 00:02:20,480 Speaker 3: of God. And I remember that was the first video, 46 00:02:20,560 --> 00:02:23,200 Speaker 3: the first moment where it kind of peaked my curiosity, 47 00:02:23,240 --> 00:02:25,360 Speaker 3: and I said, maybe there's a little something to this. 48 00:02:26,040 --> 00:02:28,880 Speaker 3: And that started a three year journey of me just 49 00:02:29,000 --> 00:02:33,000 Speaker 3: diving into everything from the evidence from the origins of 50 00:02:33,040 --> 00:02:36,120 Speaker 3: the universe, the fine tuning, the evidence surrounding the resurrection. 51 00:02:37,000 --> 00:02:39,400 Speaker 3: And at the end of that three years, I was 52 00:02:39,440 --> 00:02:42,360 Speaker 3: still very skeptical, and I was still very hesitant, and 53 00:02:42,520 --> 00:02:46,080 Speaker 3: I started asking my wife questions about scripture and she said, 54 00:02:46,080 --> 00:02:48,480 Speaker 3: you know what, I don't know how to answer these questions, 55 00:02:48,480 --> 00:02:50,079 Speaker 3: but I do have a friend of the family that's 56 00:02:50,120 --> 00:02:52,720 Speaker 3: a theologian that may be able to help you answer them. 57 00:02:53,320 --> 00:02:55,760 Speaker 3: And so she directed me to one of the friends 58 00:02:55,760 --> 00:02:57,440 Speaker 3: of the families, and I remember I walked in at 59 00:02:57,520 --> 00:02:59,640 Speaker 3: five pages full of questions. I'm ready to hammer this 60 00:02:59,639 --> 00:03:03,200 Speaker 3: guy with And I notice, I remember that every question 61 00:03:03,280 --> 00:03:05,960 Speaker 3: I asked him, he answered it using scripture. And at 62 00:03:05,960 --> 00:03:07,679 Speaker 3: the end of the conversation he looked up at me 63 00:03:07,720 --> 00:03:09,480 Speaker 3: and he said, so do you think that it's true? 64 00:03:10,200 --> 00:03:12,240 Speaker 3: And at this point I had no more objections, and 65 00:03:12,240 --> 00:03:15,440 Speaker 3: I said, well, yeah, I think so. But it didn't 66 00:03:15,440 --> 00:03:18,240 Speaker 3: really hit me until the drive home. On the way home, 67 00:03:18,720 --> 00:03:22,000 Speaker 3: I remember thinking to myself, I actually think this is true. 68 00:03:22,560 --> 00:03:25,680 Speaker 3: And that's when I realized the evidence isn't what was 69 00:03:25,680 --> 00:03:27,919 Speaker 3: holding me back. It was the fact that I didn't 70 00:03:27,960 --> 00:03:30,280 Speaker 3: want it to be true. And when I realized that, 71 00:03:30,360 --> 00:03:32,360 Speaker 3: I said, well that's not a good reason. Threw my 72 00:03:32,400 --> 00:03:34,720 Speaker 3: hands up and I said, all right, Jesus, what's next, 73 00:03:35,360 --> 00:03:38,760 Speaker 3: gave my life to christ became extremely excited about learning 74 00:03:38,800 --> 00:03:41,920 Speaker 3: more and trying to understand because this is all actually real. 75 00:03:42,760 --> 00:03:45,520 Speaker 3: And then I realized I was correct in my assumptions 76 00:03:45,520 --> 00:03:47,839 Speaker 3: as an atheist that Christians were not prepared to give 77 00:03:48,120 --> 00:03:50,480 Speaker 3: a good defense for why they believe that it's true. 78 00:03:51,160 --> 00:03:53,960 Speaker 3: And so I'd already kind of been in the film industry, 79 00:03:54,000 --> 00:03:56,960 Speaker 3: making horror films of all things, and I thought to myself, well, 80 00:03:56,960 --> 00:03:58,600 Speaker 3: I need to make something for the kingdom. I need 81 00:03:58,600 --> 00:04:00,480 Speaker 3: to do something for the kingdom. My mom my wife, 82 00:04:00,520 --> 00:04:02,720 Speaker 3: said well, why don't you do a documentary based on 83 00:04:02,760 --> 00:04:04,960 Speaker 3: the evidence that convinced you that it was true? 84 00:04:05,760 --> 00:04:07,280 Speaker 2: And so I said, you know what I'm going to do. 85 00:04:07,400 --> 00:04:09,440 Speaker 3: Just that, I send emails to some of the top 86 00:04:09,520 --> 00:04:12,280 Speaker 3: Christian apologists of books that I had read during my journey. 87 00:04:12,800 --> 00:04:15,720 Speaker 3: Bob Plane, tickets went out, got interviews, ended up with 88 00:04:15,800 --> 00:04:18,120 Speaker 3: thirty six hours of content that I had to try 89 00:04:18,160 --> 00:04:20,599 Speaker 3: to condense down to an hour and twenty five minute movie. 90 00:04:21,360 --> 00:04:24,120 Speaker 3: And what I tried to do in the movie is 91 00:04:24,160 --> 00:04:28,440 Speaker 3: to build a case strong enough to be convincing and 92 00:04:28,520 --> 00:04:31,440 Speaker 3: to show people the evidences. But I also don't want 93 00:04:31,480 --> 00:04:33,960 Speaker 3: to bore people with all the details and kind of 94 00:04:34,520 --> 00:04:36,880 Speaker 3: just do nothing but facts, and so I tried to 95 00:04:36,920 --> 00:04:39,799 Speaker 3: structure it in such a way that it flows, tells 96 00:04:39,839 --> 00:04:44,080 Speaker 3: a story, but also piques your curiosity, so that if 97 00:04:44,080 --> 00:04:47,360 Speaker 3: you're a non believer, you'll hopefully be prompted to take 98 00:04:47,360 --> 00:04:49,480 Speaker 3: a second look at all this, and if you are 99 00:04:49,520 --> 00:04:53,680 Speaker 3: a believer, you'll be encouraged and excited to know that 100 00:04:53,760 --> 00:04:55,599 Speaker 3: what we believe is actually true and we need to 101 00:04:55,600 --> 00:04:57,880 Speaker 3: be out there sharing that truth with others. 102 00:04:58,360 --> 00:05:00,400 Speaker 1: The included a views with some of the top ofogists 103 00:05:00,400 --> 00:05:03,880 Speaker 1: and thinkers in Christianity today. As you already edicated Frank Tierrich, 104 00:05:04,000 --> 00:05:07,520 Speaker 1: you ros So Lisa Jielder's season, There there's a goodness. 105 00:05:07,520 --> 00:05:09,240 Speaker 1: It seemed like a dozen or more people in this 106 00:05:09,400 --> 00:05:11,480 Speaker 1: I can't think of all of them. Tell me about 107 00:05:11,480 --> 00:05:14,040 Speaker 1: the structure of the film, because I really found it 108 00:05:14,080 --> 00:05:19,159 Speaker 1: fascinating how it begins with just the general questions about life, 109 00:05:19,720 --> 00:05:22,080 Speaker 1: Why are we here? Why is there something instead of nothing? 110 00:05:22,720 --> 00:05:25,800 Speaker 1: What's the purpose of life? And then it ends, of 111 00:05:25,839 --> 00:05:29,960 Speaker 1: course with Christianity. So what was your desire with the 112 00:05:30,000 --> 00:05:33,960 Speaker 1: structure of the film beginning with maybe the bigger questions 113 00:05:34,000 --> 00:05:37,560 Speaker 1: just design, and ending with the cross and the resurrection. 114 00:05:38,160 --> 00:05:41,720 Speaker 3: Well, I think one of the problems looking at Christianity 115 00:05:41,760 --> 00:05:46,520 Speaker 3: from my atheistic perspective was that I was told the 116 00:05:46,600 --> 00:05:50,040 Speaker 3: repent and believe language all day. But what happened was 117 00:05:50,160 --> 00:05:54,960 Speaker 3: I rejected all of that because I had roadblocks that 118 00:05:55,080 --> 00:05:58,120 Speaker 3: needed to be overcome during that three year period in 119 00:05:58,200 --> 00:06:01,400 Speaker 3: order for me to be able to fully grasp the 120 00:06:01,480 --> 00:06:04,560 Speaker 3: gospel right. And so when I decided I was going 121 00:06:04,600 --> 00:06:06,200 Speaker 3: to make this film, I said, you know what I'm not. 122 00:06:07,800 --> 00:06:09,640 Speaker 3: I need to come at it with a different approach. 123 00:06:10,080 --> 00:06:11,719 Speaker 3: I need to do it in such a way that 124 00:06:12,520 --> 00:06:15,840 Speaker 3: starts to peak people's curiosity, help them to realize there 125 00:06:15,839 --> 00:06:18,200 Speaker 3: are big questions that we all have, but we've all 126 00:06:18,279 --> 00:06:21,280 Speaker 3: stopped asking them because we get distracted, We get busy 127 00:06:21,320 --> 00:06:23,440 Speaker 3: with life, and so we need to start asking these 128 00:06:23,440 --> 00:06:28,599 Speaker 3: big questions. Then I shift gears into truth. Does objective 129 00:06:28,760 --> 00:06:32,680 Speaker 3: truth exist? Are there things we can know? If so, 130 00:06:32,760 --> 00:06:36,359 Speaker 3: what are those things? Then we shift gears into where 131 00:06:36,360 --> 00:06:39,720 Speaker 3: did the universe come from? Why does the universe seem 132 00:06:39,760 --> 00:06:42,480 Speaker 3: to have such a design to it? Why does life 133 00:06:42,520 --> 00:06:45,520 Speaker 3: seem to have such a design to it? I shift 134 00:06:45,600 --> 00:06:48,839 Speaker 3: into the topic of evolution, because that's a big objection 135 00:06:48,920 --> 00:06:53,080 Speaker 3: for non believers. Evolution has disproven Christianity, so we cover that. 136 00:06:53,839 --> 00:06:56,560 Speaker 3: Then I shift gears into well, if there is evidence 137 00:06:56,600 --> 00:06:58,560 Speaker 3: for the existence of a god, how do we know 138 00:06:58,640 --> 00:07:01,600 Speaker 3: that it's the Christian God? Well, that all comes down 139 00:07:01,680 --> 00:07:05,560 Speaker 3: to Jesus. Is Jesus who he claimed to be? And 140 00:07:05,600 --> 00:07:08,240 Speaker 3: so I cover the manuscript evidence. Why we should trust 141 00:07:08,240 --> 00:07:12,160 Speaker 3: the Bible? Why why do we deem it reliable source? 142 00:07:12,720 --> 00:07:14,640 Speaker 3: And then what kind of evidences do we have for 143 00:07:14,680 --> 00:07:18,680 Speaker 3: the historical figure of Jesus? Was he historical figure? What 144 00:07:18,720 --> 00:07:21,760 Speaker 3: do we know about the evidence surrounding the resurrection of Jesus. 145 00:07:22,800 --> 00:07:25,400 Speaker 3: I also address in the film the problem of evil 146 00:07:25,440 --> 00:07:29,400 Speaker 3: and suffering, ultimately delivering the gospel message in a way 147 00:07:29,440 --> 00:07:31,920 Speaker 3: that hopefully people will really be able to absorb it 148 00:07:31,960 --> 00:07:34,680 Speaker 3: for the first time because I've taken down those roadblocks 149 00:07:34,680 --> 00:07:36,760 Speaker 3: ahead of time, and then I just lay it on 150 00:07:36,800 --> 00:07:39,720 Speaker 3: the table and say, you know what, the evidence is there, 151 00:07:40,360 --> 00:07:41,480 Speaker 3: what are you going to do from here? 152 00:07:51,600 --> 00:07:54,360 Speaker 2: I love the pace of the film, Michael. 153 00:07:54,680 --> 00:07:58,160 Speaker 1: The footage of everyday life is in slow motion, if 154 00:07:58,200 --> 00:08:01,520 Speaker 1: it's if it's I don't know filmmaker language. This is 155 00:08:01,600 --> 00:08:03,520 Speaker 1: just me talking as a viewer, but it's almost as 156 00:08:03,560 --> 00:08:06,360 Speaker 1: if you're inviting the audience to slow down and think 157 00:08:06,360 --> 00:08:09,320 Speaker 1: about life and stop looking at your phone. 158 00:08:10,000 --> 00:08:10,560 Speaker 2: Tell me the. 159 00:08:10,520 --> 00:08:12,880 Speaker 1: Goals of that and how you would describe that as 160 00:08:12,920 --> 00:08:13,560 Speaker 1: a filmmaker. 161 00:08:14,400 --> 00:08:18,280 Speaker 3: I mean, visuals are something that I've always noticed will 162 00:08:18,760 --> 00:08:21,080 Speaker 3: and well, just the pacing of things in general will 163 00:08:21,080 --> 00:08:24,200 Speaker 3: lose people. If you pace things incorrectly, you can lose 164 00:08:24,200 --> 00:08:27,120 Speaker 3: people pretty quickly, and so you have to keep things moving. 165 00:08:27,160 --> 00:08:28,880 Speaker 3: You have to keep things flowing. And the way I 166 00:08:28,960 --> 00:08:31,360 Speaker 3: chose to do that was to do it by showing 167 00:08:31,680 --> 00:08:35,120 Speaker 3: these scholars who know what they're talking about, but showing 168 00:08:35,160 --> 00:08:37,400 Speaker 3: them kind of behind the scenes, showing them what they're 169 00:08:37,400 --> 00:08:40,720 Speaker 3: doing behind the scenes. In addition, I wanted to we're 170 00:08:40,760 --> 00:08:44,640 Speaker 3: talking about the reality of nature of what we see, 171 00:08:44,880 --> 00:08:46,280 Speaker 3: and so I wanted to be able to show the 172 00:08:46,280 --> 00:08:49,600 Speaker 3: beauty of the earth, show the beauty of space, the 173 00:08:49,600 --> 00:08:54,000 Speaker 3: beauty of what we see in nature, and while we're 174 00:08:54,040 --> 00:08:55,960 Speaker 3: talking about it, so that you can see that like 175 00:08:56,600 --> 00:09:00,960 Speaker 3: beauty itself is an argument for God, why things beautiful? 176 00:09:01,520 --> 00:09:03,960 Speaker 3: And so I wanted people you write what we tend 177 00:09:03,960 --> 00:09:06,200 Speaker 3: to do is we tend to stay in our home, 178 00:09:06,400 --> 00:09:09,319 Speaker 3: watch TV, stay on our phone. We don't get outside 179 00:09:09,360 --> 00:09:11,840 Speaker 3: of nature. And so if we're not exposed to God's creation, 180 00:09:12,520 --> 00:09:15,400 Speaker 3: how do we expect these people to see the evidence 181 00:09:15,400 --> 00:09:18,120 Speaker 3: for it? Because that's what scriptures say, look to the heavens. 182 00:09:18,840 --> 00:09:20,160 Speaker 3: The evidence is clear. 183 00:09:20,880 --> 00:09:24,000 Speaker 1: We're so busy in life that we don't ask the 184 00:09:24,120 --> 00:09:27,680 Speaker 1: questions that we were created to ask. And we live 185 00:09:27,800 --> 00:09:30,120 Speaker 1: in cities and we don't see the vastness of the 186 00:09:30,160 --> 00:09:33,800 Speaker 1: heavens that the writers of scriptures saw that led them 187 00:09:33,840 --> 00:09:37,240 Speaker 1: to write the verses that we quote. The film is 188 00:09:37,320 --> 00:09:41,040 Speaker 1: described as bridging science, philosophy, and Christian faith. 189 00:09:41,320 --> 00:09:42,120 Speaker 2: You've already kind of. 190 00:09:42,080 --> 00:09:44,040 Speaker 1: Touched on this, But was it challenging to present all 191 00:09:44,080 --> 00:09:49,160 Speaker 1: these discussions of academic topics but make it accessible. 192 00:09:49,760 --> 00:09:51,079 Speaker 2: Oh, it was very difficult. 193 00:09:51,200 --> 00:09:53,800 Speaker 3: This is partly why it took me three years to 194 00:09:53,920 --> 00:09:57,920 Speaker 3: edit it, because that's the key, right is we have 195 00:09:58,000 --> 00:10:00,840 Speaker 3: all of this information that we want people to understand, 196 00:10:01,559 --> 00:10:04,360 Speaker 3: but the hard thing is to is to get them 197 00:10:04,360 --> 00:10:06,400 Speaker 3: to be interested in it. Because this is a lot 198 00:10:06,440 --> 00:10:09,120 Speaker 3: of heavy thinking. When I was looking at Christianity as 199 00:10:09,120 --> 00:10:12,240 Speaker 3: an atheist, it's very easy to be skeptical and take 200 00:10:12,280 --> 00:10:15,319 Speaker 3: things at face value. So you hear slogans like, if 201 00:10:15,320 --> 00:10:17,240 Speaker 3: there is a good God, then there can't be evil 202 00:10:17,240 --> 00:10:22,400 Speaker 3: in the world. Evolution has disproven Christianity. Christianity is illogical. 203 00:10:22,600 --> 00:10:26,319 Speaker 3: It's this is religion, not science. Science tells us truth, 204 00:10:26,400 --> 00:10:29,760 Speaker 3: religious tells us a myth right. And so you hear 205 00:10:29,800 --> 00:10:33,720 Speaker 3: these slogans and you adopt these ideas, or you adopt 206 00:10:33,720 --> 00:10:36,440 Speaker 3: the first idea you see on Google, and you don't 207 00:10:36,480 --> 00:10:39,720 Speaker 3: dig deep enough. And so the challenge was to try 208 00:10:39,760 --> 00:10:43,840 Speaker 3: to create something that would get people to dig deeper. 209 00:10:44,559 --> 00:10:47,000 Speaker 3: And that's what I hope that I've done by the 210 00:10:47,000 --> 00:10:49,160 Speaker 3: structure of it, by the pacing of it, and by 211 00:10:49,640 --> 00:10:53,040 Speaker 3: delivering enough information to pique your curiosity, but not so 212 00:10:53,120 --> 00:10:54,360 Speaker 3: much that your eyes glaze over. 213 00:10:54,920 --> 00:10:55,160 Speaker 2: Yeah. 214 00:10:55,200 --> 00:10:59,280 Speaker 1: It begins with just questions about life in general, and 215 00:10:59,320 --> 00:11:01,800 Speaker 1: then it does get into some heady topics, but then 216 00:11:01,840 --> 00:11:05,599 Speaker 1: it goes back into maybe some less heavy stuff. So 217 00:11:05,720 --> 00:11:07,600 Speaker 1: if you do, if someone's out there watching it and 218 00:11:07,600 --> 00:11:10,200 Speaker 1: they're like a boy, that's really tough to understand, just 219 00:11:10,280 --> 00:11:10,760 Speaker 1: keep going. 220 00:11:11,400 --> 00:11:12,160 Speaker 2: It'll get better. 221 00:11:12,280 --> 00:11:15,720 Speaker 1: And you know, sometimes subjects are worth exploring, and sometimes 222 00:11:16,080 --> 00:11:17,840 Speaker 1: you do have to maybe think about it a little 223 00:11:17,840 --> 00:11:19,400 Speaker 1: deeper and rewind it and watch it again. 224 00:11:20,200 --> 00:11:23,640 Speaker 2: That's just life. Who is this made for? Let's begin 225 00:11:23,679 --> 00:11:26,000 Speaker 2: closing here. Who did you make this for? And what 226 00:11:26,040 --> 00:11:28,600 Speaker 2: do you hope the audience walks away thinking? 227 00:11:28,640 --> 00:11:30,360 Speaker 1: And I'm sure the answer to that is different for 228 00:11:30,640 --> 00:11:32,720 Speaker 1: who's watching it Christians and Christians. 229 00:11:33,000 --> 00:11:34,320 Speaker 2: Yeah, absolutely so. 230 00:11:34,440 --> 00:11:37,720 Speaker 3: Originally, when I went into making this film, my heart 231 00:11:37,760 --> 00:11:40,760 Speaker 3: was dedicated for this to be towards the non believers. 232 00:11:40,760 --> 00:11:42,640 Speaker 3: I was going to market it towards the non believers, 233 00:11:43,320 --> 00:11:46,040 Speaker 3: and that was what my audience source was going to be. 234 00:11:46,320 --> 00:11:48,160 Speaker 3: That's why if you watch the film, it takes you 235 00:11:48,200 --> 00:11:50,240 Speaker 3: a good twenty minutes before you realize you're even watching 236 00:11:50,240 --> 00:11:53,240 Speaker 3: a Christian film right now. I did that intentionally because 237 00:11:53,240 --> 00:11:56,079 Speaker 3: I want people to not reject it on the basis 238 00:11:56,080 --> 00:11:59,360 Speaker 3: of it being a Christian film. And so my primary 239 00:11:59,400 --> 00:12:03,120 Speaker 3: audience is those non believers who are open to hearing 240 00:12:03,160 --> 00:12:05,840 Speaker 3: the arguments, who are open to taking a second look 241 00:12:05,840 --> 00:12:09,320 Speaker 3: at Christianity and hopefully pique their curiosity and challenge them. 242 00:12:09,760 --> 00:12:12,640 Speaker 3: But after giving my life to Christ and realizing that 243 00:12:13,440 --> 00:12:16,320 Speaker 3: so many believers out there are not equipped, I realize 244 00:12:16,400 --> 00:12:19,040 Speaker 3: this is also a film for believers. This is a 245 00:12:19,080 --> 00:12:22,559 Speaker 3: film that if you've grown up in the church and 246 00:12:22,840 --> 00:12:25,719 Speaker 3: you've always been told that it's true, but maybe not 247 00:12:25,760 --> 00:12:28,840 Speaker 3: necessarily why it's true, this is the film for you 248 00:12:29,280 --> 00:12:32,120 Speaker 3: because this will encourage you to know that, like everything 249 00:12:32,160 --> 00:12:35,960 Speaker 3: we believe about Jesus is actually real. There are good 250 00:12:36,080 --> 00:12:38,719 Speaker 3: arguments for it, there's good evidence for it. It's not 251 00:12:38,840 --> 00:12:41,360 Speaker 3: just this emotional reaction that we have, like there are 252 00:12:41,440 --> 00:12:45,880 Speaker 3: facts like this is the reality. Christianity is true because 253 00:12:45,920 --> 00:12:48,800 Speaker 3: it's the best explanation for the reality we find ourselves in. 254 00:12:49,200 --> 00:12:51,760 Speaker 3: Whether I like it or not, it's true. And so 255 00:12:52,120 --> 00:12:54,560 Speaker 3: my hope is that this will encourage believers as well, 256 00:12:55,040 --> 00:12:57,720 Speaker 3: to excite them to take a second look at all 257 00:12:57,800 --> 00:13:00,839 Speaker 3: of the evidence and to learn that there's something called apologetics. 258 00:13:00,840 --> 00:13:04,280 Speaker 3: There's an entire field of study that can equip you 259 00:13:04,320 --> 00:13:07,160 Speaker 3: to be out there having conversations about Jesus and you 260 00:13:07,200 --> 00:13:09,520 Speaker 3: don't have to be scared to have those conversations because 261 00:13:10,000 --> 00:13:12,880 Speaker 3: we have the best explanation and if what we believe 262 00:13:12,960 --> 00:13:15,560 Speaker 3: is true, we shouldn't be scared to share that truth. 263 00:13:15,679 --> 00:13:17,440 Speaker 1: It always breaks my heart when I hear somebody be 264 00:13:17,480 --> 00:13:19,319 Speaker 1: constructed and not reading a story about them and the 265 00:13:19,440 --> 00:13:22,240 Speaker 1: question that kind of made them stumble was one that's 266 00:13:22,360 --> 00:13:22,880 Speaker 1: you know, in the. 267 00:13:23,160 --> 00:13:26,240 Speaker 2: First chapter of any basic apologetics book. I do have 268 00:13:26,240 --> 00:13:27,040 Speaker 2: one more question for you. 269 00:13:27,080 --> 00:13:29,480 Speaker 1: It seems like this this is a good time for 270 00:13:29,559 --> 00:13:31,959 Speaker 1: this film to be released. It seems like we have 271 00:13:32,600 --> 00:13:35,679 Speaker 1: an entire generation. You have young people asking questions and 272 00:13:35,720 --> 00:13:36,520 Speaker 1: searching for truth. 273 00:13:36,600 --> 00:13:37,640 Speaker 2: Right now, some. 274 00:13:37,520 --> 00:13:39,400 Speaker 1: People think gen Z is in the midst of a 275 00:13:39,440 --> 00:13:41,800 Speaker 1: revival on college campuses. What do you think about the 276 00:13:41,840 --> 00:13:43,600 Speaker 1: timing of this film's release. 277 00:13:44,200 --> 00:13:47,520 Speaker 3: It's really interesting because when I first started making the film, 278 00:13:47,600 --> 00:13:49,800 Speaker 3: I was like, oh, it'll take me a year. Well, 279 00:13:49,800 --> 00:13:52,720 Speaker 3: that year went by, the second year came and I'm like, Okay, 280 00:13:53,440 --> 00:13:55,440 Speaker 3: this is the year it's going to come out. And 281 00:13:55,440 --> 00:13:58,040 Speaker 3: then I kept making changes to it, and things kept happening, 282 00:13:58,080 --> 00:14:01,080 Speaker 3: and life happened, and because this is a passion project 283 00:14:01,080 --> 00:14:03,000 Speaker 3: for me, I start to make money to pay bills 284 00:14:03,000 --> 00:14:06,559 Speaker 3: and support my family, and so then it kept getting 285 00:14:06,559 --> 00:14:08,280 Speaker 3: pushed back and pushed back, and then I was like, 286 00:14:08,320 --> 00:14:09,760 Speaker 3: you know what, I'm going to take the time and 287 00:14:09,800 --> 00:14:11,160 Speaker 3: I'm going to raise money. I'm going to try to 288 00:14:11,200 --> 00:14:14,360 Speaker 3: get it into theaters. And I attempted that and then 289 00:14:14,920 --> 00:14:17,720 Speaker 3: everything happened, like the world started to shift and I 290 00:14:17,760 --> 00:14:21,080 Speaker 3: started to see things changing, and I don't know. I 291 00:14:21,720 --> 00:14:23,160 Speaker 3: got to the point where I said, you know what, 292 00:14:23,320 --> 00:14:25,520 Speaker 3: it's time. It's time to go ahead and release it. 293 00:14:26,000 --> 00:14:28,600 Speaker 3: And that's when I got with my distributor and I said, 294 00:14:29,000 --> 00:14:31,320 Speaker 3: let's just go straight to streaming. As much as I 295 00:14:31,320 --> 00:14:32,960 Speaker 3: would love for it to go to theaters and people 296 00:14:33,000 --> 00:14:35,040 Speaker 3: to be able to see it in a theater, my 297 00:14:35,200 --> 00:14:37,760 Speaker 3: goal is for it to just reach people. However that's 298 00:14:37,800 --> 00:14:40,440 Speaker 3: going to happen, and I just need to finally let 299 00:14:40,480 --> 00:14:41,840 Speaker 3: go of it and let God do with it what 300 00:14:41,880 --> 00:14:45,560 Speaker 3: he's going to do. And so the timing is all God, 301 00:14:45,800 --> 00:14:48,960 Speaker 3: not me, everything, every obstacle that He put in front 302 00:14:49,000 --> 00:14:52,000 Speaker 3: of me, and then just prompting it on my heart 303 00:14:52,040 --> 00:14:55,320 Speaker 3: to go ahead and release it. And so, yeah, you're right, 304 00:14:55,400 --> 00:14:58,960 Speaker 3: something's changing. I don't know what's going on, but I'm 305 00:14:59,040 --> 00:15:02,880 Speaker 3: just long for the ride. So, and it'll be released. 306 00:15:02,640 --> 00:15:05,880 Speaker 1: On all major streaming platforms in terms of renting and 307 00:15:05,960 --> 00:15:10,160 Speaker 1: buying correct correct Okay, December the thirteenth, Universe Design dot Com. 308 00:15:10,200 --> 00:15:12,120 Speaker 1: It's one of the best apologetics films I've ever seen, 309 00:15:12,160 --> 00:15:14,240 Speaker 1: so I just encourage people who have questions or. 310 00:15:14,240 --> 00:15:17,560 Speaker 2: Who want to build their faith to check it out. Michael, 311 00:15:17,720 --> 00:15:19,640 Speaker 2: thanks so much, Thank you for having me. 312 00:15:21,880 --> 00:15:24,280 Speaker 4: If you like today's episode, please subscribe and leave a 313 00:15:24,320 --> 00:15:27,280 Speaker 4: five star review. That's how we help more people just 314 00:15:27,480 --> 00:15:30,160 Speaker 4: like you find the show. A big thanks to the 315 00:15:30,200 --> 00:15:32,840 Speaker 4: team at life Audio for their partnership with us on 316 00:15:32,880 --> 00:15:35,680 Speaker 4: the podcast. If you go to lifeaudio dot com, you 317 00:15:35,680 --> 00:15:39,360 Speaker 4: will find dozens of other faith centered podcasts in their network. 318 00:15:39,840 --> 00:15:40,600 Speaker 2: See you next time.