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Speaker 1: Life Audio.

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Speaker 2: And so you're talking about these gen z. They want

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Speaker 2: to see God on display in an authentic way. They're

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Speaker 2: not going to learn about it by other people's interpretation

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Speaker 2: through their phones. They're going to look at it by

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Speaker 2: looking up and seeing the culture today and saying, I

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Speaker 2: want to do something about this.

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Speaker 1: Hey, I'm here with Joshua Ink and Jonathan Blair, who

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Speaker 1: are part of an exciting new film called A Great Awakening.

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Speaker 1: It's the story of the first great spiritual awakening in America.

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Speaker 1: And guys, welcome to the podcast. And you know it's

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Speaker 1: been said, the fame of revival spreads the flame of revival,

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Speaker 1: and I think it's important for us to tell revival stories.

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Speaker 1: And our nation, in fact, I would say, is grounded

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Speaker 1: in what happened in the spiritual awakening that was led

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Speaker 1: primarily by a man named George. But not the George

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Speaker 1: we think, not George Washington, though he plays clearly a

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Speaker 1: significant role in American history, but another George. Who was

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Speaker 1: that George?

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Speaker 2: That was George Whitfield, the one and only known for

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Speaker 2: his voice, this profound, powerful, supernatural voice. He was like

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Speaker 2: a trumpet blast from heaven. And he wanted more of

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Speaker 2: Christ and less of him. And that's why, you know,

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Speaker 2: we don't hear his name.

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Speaker 1: A whole lot.

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Speaker 2: He didn't want a bridge named after him or denomination

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Speaker 2: named after him, but he was known as the spiritual

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Speaker 2: founding Father.

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Speaker 1: What's interesting about Whitfield is that in his day he

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Speaker 1: was like a rock star. He was more well known

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Speaker 1: than Benjamin Franklin. And yet today we know about Benjamin Franklin,

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Speaker 1: but very few know about George Whitfield. And I think

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Speaker 1: that's going to be corrected by this film in a

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Speaker 1: good way, because it's important that we know this guy

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Speaker 1: was from England, but he played a significant role in

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Speaker 1: what became the United States of America.

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Speaker 2: Yeah, he did you know that the Biblical definition is

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Speaker 2: like thirty years. I've read the definition you know of

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Speaker 2: a you know of generation is thirty years.

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Speaker 1: And it was.

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Speaker 2: From seventeen thirty nine to seventeen seventy that the first

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Speaker 2: Great Awakening occurred. So that's an entire generation of people

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Speaker 2: who became self governing and it's they dealt with the

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Speaker 2: tyrant within themselves first until they, you know, when they

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Speaker 2: saw the tyrant across the sea. So it's not like

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Speaker 2: they just woke up. You know in July fourth, seventeen

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Speaker 2: seventy six and said let's be self governing. They had

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Speaker 2: thirty years of revival and as complete cultural overhaul, led

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Speaker 2: by men like George Whitfield. And there were others as well,

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Speaker 2: but Whitfield was absolutely because of his partnership with Ben Franklin.

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Speaker 1: That's quite a story. So, Jonathan, you play the role

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Speaker 1: of George Whitfield, and you did such an amazing job

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Speaker 1: because when you read the sermons of Whitfield, it's hard

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Speaker 1: to feel the vocal power the personality behind them, and

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Speaker 1: you brought him to life. How do you prepare for

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Speaker 1: a role like this?

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Speaker 3: First off, thank you, Greg. That really means a lot

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Speaker 3: coming from you. How do you prepare? I think this

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Speaker 3: was the most nervous I've ever been preparing for a

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Speaker 3: role because of everything you just said. He was so renowned,

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Speaker 3: He was so almost mythic in his scope and his

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Speaker 3: abilities and his accomplishments. How do you portray someone and

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Speaker 3: live up to someone that was the first known celebrity

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Speaker 3: throughout the entire colonies. He was the first unifying force

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Speaker 3: throughout the colonies when he came along. And I really,

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Speaker 3: honestly just kind of had to go and reverse counterintuitively,

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Speaker 3: go not how can I live up to that? But

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Speaker 3: how can I get out of the way of that

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Speaker 3: and let the Lord do what he's going to do?

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Speaker 3: You know, true to the story, like Whitfield had an

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Speaker 3: amazing ability, but it was surrendering that ability to the

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Speaker 3: Lord and allowing that to really take hold that the

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Speaker 3: awakening was sparked.

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Speaker 4: And I knew that.

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Speaker 3: I mean, I'm no Whitfield myself, but there's nothing I

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Speaker 3: can do to really ignite that. I have to surrender

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Speaker 3: my agenda and what I think it should be.

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Speaker 4: To Okay, Lord, what do you think it should be?

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Speaker 4: Let's go for it, and yeah, surrender.

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Speaker 3: After surrendering it was just like Okay, I felt like

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Speaker 3: he said, I'll carry you through it.

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Speaker 1: Yeah, you know, yeah. You know, when you look through

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Speaker 1: the Bible, the people that God chooses, his spirit comes

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Speaker 1: upon them, and we don't always know why God chooses

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Speaker 1: certain people. I mean, David comes to mind, little shepherd

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Speaker 1: boy watching over his flock of sheep, and the Lord

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Speaker 1: sets King Saul aside and calls David, and then you know,

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Speaker 1: you look at Gideon least in his father's house. Then

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Speaker 1: you fast forward to the New Testament, and really these

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Speaker 1: men that Jesus called were extraordinarily ordinary. Yeah, you know,

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Speaker 1: I mean the Apostle Paul was very learned, trained under

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Speaker 1: the famed Gamelio. He was quite the student, quite the intellect,

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Speaker 1: but he was a Christian killer prior to becoming a

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Speaker 1: gospel preacher.

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Speaker 2: Yeah.

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Speaker 1: And it's almost as though the Lord goes out of

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Speaker 1: his way to choose unusual people. And of course the

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Speaker 1: Bible says God chooses the foolish things of the world

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Speaker 1: that confound the wise. Yeah. So who would have ever

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Speaker 1: thought that this guy named George Whitfield, who was an

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Speaker 1: actor naturally an actor, and that's portrayed in the film,

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Speaker 1: isn't it. Yes?

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Speaker 4: Absolutely, I mean you said it so well.

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Speaker 3: He was a poor kid from a fairly poor family

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Speaker 3: that had aspirations to be an actor, and you know,

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Speaker 3: he had an amazing natural gift.

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Speaker 4: But who would have expected that.

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Speaker 3: Kid from that little inn to then basically change the

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Speaker 3: course of Western history?

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Speaker 1: That's right.

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Speaker 2: Yeah. His mother had an inn called the I think

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Speaker 2: it was the Bell Inn in England, and he had

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Speaker 2: an abusive stepfather.

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Speaker 1: Well, and he had this.

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Speaker 2: Supernatural voice and everybody recognized it and so he started

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Speaker 2: to you know, you know, do plays in his mother's

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Speaker 2: tavern on stage. And there's a really beautiful moment in

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Speaker 2: the film where it reminds me of my mom where

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Speaker 2: she gives him a hug and she says, you were

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Speaker 2: meant for bigger stages, and it's a sweet moment because

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Speaker 2: she knows intuitively what's going to happen here with her

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Speaker 2: son and boyle boy, did he have bigger stages?

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Speaker 1: Wow?

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Speaker 2: Like thirty thousand people in Market Street and November seventeen

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Speaker 2: thirty nine in Philadelphia and setting up his pulpit in

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Speaker 2: the middle of a coal field where they're all underground

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Speaker 2: working and he starts to just proclaim liberty, and his

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Speaker 2: journal says, like black ants they came up out of

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Speaker 2: the ground and came to his pulpit, and he said,

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Speaker 2: I knew the Holy Spirit got a grip on them

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Speaker 2: when I saw white streaks going down. They're blackened faces.

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Speaker 2: Just a phenomenon.

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Speaker 1: Yeah, it's incredible really how the Lord used him. And

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Speaker 1: here's this scene from your film where Whitfield is now

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Speaker 1: become a Christian. And by the way, I love the

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Speaker 1: way that you showed his conversion when the Wesley brothers

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Speaker 1: who were part of something called the Holy cl which

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Speaker 1: sounds very odd to us today, but actually there were

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Speaker 1: just a group of committed Christians was at Oxford University

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Speaker 1: at Pembroke College, and they took an interest in young George,

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Speaker 1: who is being mistreated by some of the other students,

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Speaker 1: and showed the love of Christ to him and won

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Speaker 1: him over. And I thought there was handled beautifully to

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Speaker 1: show the change that was happening in his heart. But

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Speaker 1: now he feels called to preach, and so he writes

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Speaker 1: a letter to his mother later and says God's called

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Speaker 1: me to preach. But when he preaches in this church,

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Speaker 1: he's not exactly welcomed with open arms.

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Speaker 3: No.

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Speaker 1: When you were performing that scene as Woodfield, Jonathan, I mean,

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Speaker 1: I always feel like it was it was an anointed

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Speaker 1: preaching scene like that. It really came across. I kind

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Speaker 1: of jumped out of my seat. But I'm an evangelist,

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Speaker 1: you see, this is what I do, and so I

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Speaker 1: get this. I understand what an evangelist is supposed to do,

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Speaker 1: very different than a pastor. You know, I'm a pastor

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Speaker 1: as well. You know, a pastor is to teach and

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Speaker 1: to equip and to feed the flock of God. An

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Speaker 1: evangelist is called to wake people up. He's called to

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Speaker 1: get people's attention and in a clear way call them

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Speaker 1: to Christ. You know, when you preach evangelistically, you effectively,

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Speaker 1: from beginning to end, are preaching for a decision. That's

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Speaker 1: not true of most sermons. Most sermons you expose it

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Speaker 1: a text, you develop it, you explain it, and it's

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Speaker 1: cultural context, what the languages mean, and of course how

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Speaker 1: it applies to the listener. But an evangelist, I'm calling

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Speaker 1: you to Christ, and I'm going to ask you to

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Speaker 1: respond to what I have just said. And I thought

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Speaker 1: you captured the essence of that in this scene that

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Speaker 1: maybe one of the greatest preaching scenes in cinema I've

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Speaker 1: ever seen. Wow.

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Speaker 3: Wow, that's just like tremendous obviously to hear that from

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Speaker 3: you being an evangelist. Yeah, the only thing I can

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Speaker 3: say really is that I tried to allow my feelings

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Speaker 3: towards that topic to come out.

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Speaker 4: You know, I'm just you know, I feel the same way.

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Speaker 3: Obviously I wouldn't go about it the same means, but

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Speaker 3: I feel the same way about people who, you know,

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Speaker 3: just don't really consider the truth of what they're proclaiming.

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Speaker 3: They have dynamite in their hands, and they're treating it

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Speaker 3: like it's nothing.

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Speaker 1: Very good.

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Speaker 3: Yeah, and so yeah, I mean, I just tried to imagine,

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Speaker 3: really meditate on the reality.

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Speaker 4: I mean, he says it in the scene.

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Speaker 3: He says, people in the pulpit, you know, usually talk

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Speaker 3: about real things as if they're make believe, and actors

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Speaker 3: talk about make believe things as if they're real. So

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Speaker 3: he marries both together and talks about real things with

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Speaker 3: the urgency that they require.

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Speaker 1: Yes, yeah, you know you're how old are you? Jonathan thirty? Thirty? Okay,

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Speaker 1: so your gen Z are you don't?

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Speaker 4: I don't know.

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Speaker 1: I think I'm millennial.

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Speaker 3: I think I'm the last of the millennials, the last

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Speaker 3: of the millennials.

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Speaker 1: That's of your book, Less of the Millennials, Jonathan Blair. Well,

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Speaker 1: but you know, we hear about so many gen Z

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Speaker 1: kids coming to Christ right now. You know, Bible sales

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Speaker 1: are up. It's gen Z kids, specifically young men. Church

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Speaker 1: attendance is up again gen Z specifically men. And what

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Speaker 1: I would like to see is a generation of young

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Speaker 1: men and women who discover the power of the Scripture

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Speaker 1: and see a whole new generation of George Whitfield, D L. Moody's,

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Speaker 1: of Billy Graham's, because that's what this culture needs. You

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Speaker 1: mentioned Dynamite's interesting. Paul says, I'm not ashamed of the

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Speaker 1: Gospel of Christ, for it is the power of God

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Speaker 1: unto salvation to everyone who believes. And the word that

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Speaker 1: Paul uses for power is dunamous. And when Alfred Nobel

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Speaker 1: discovered this explosive element, he wanted to give a name

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Speaker 1: to it. So we went to a friend who is

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Speaker 1: an expert in Greek and said, I've developed this explosive

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Speaker 1: element and I don't know what to call it. What

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Speaker 1: is the Greek word for power? And he said dunamus.

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Speaker 1: So from that no Bell called it dynamite. So basically

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Speaker 1: what it's saying is and it's true, there's built in dynamic,

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Speaker 1: dynamite power in the message of the Gospel. Yes, if

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Speaker 1: we don't complicate it, if we don't add to it,

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Speaker 1: if we don't take away from it, our job is evangelist.

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Speaker 1: And even as Christians sharing their faith is let the

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Speaker 1: lion out of the cage. I think Whitfield did that. Yeah.

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Speaker 1: And another thing I say, Jonathan about your portrayal of

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Speaker 1: him is there was a warmth and there was a

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Speaker 1: kindness because you know, preachers can sometimes appear aloof and disconnected.

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Speaker 1: But you know, Whitfield, Josh was a very compassionate man.

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Speaker 1: In addition to being a great preacher. He started orphanages

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Speaker 1: and really cared about people. He preached the slaves. He

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Speaker 1: treated them as equals when he brought the gospel. You know,

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Speaker 1: he reached every level. He reached the elites, he reached

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Speaker 1: ordinary people, He spoke to the slaves. He just wanted

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Speaker 1: to bring the Gospel to everyone. Yeah.

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Speaker 2: And one of the first things that he had Franklin

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Speaker 2: print for him, you know, was a rebuke you know,

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Speaker 2: against Maryland and Pennsylvania and a few other states because

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Speaker 2: of their cruelty towards slaves and for keeping the Gospel

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Speaker 2: from them, right, and so you know he which.

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Speaker 4: Was unheard of. Yeah, for someone to say.

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Speaker 1: That that was controversial in that day. Today we look

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Speaker 1: back on it, well, why didn't they do this or

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Speaker 1: do that? But in the day, that was really pushing

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Speaker 1: the envelope for him to do that.

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Speaker 2: Yeah, no, absolutely, And you know it was a time

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Speaker 2: where again, like I like what John said earlier, you

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Speaker 2: know about you don't know you're an awakening while it's happening.

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Speaker 2: You know, it's good to look back. You can look

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Speaker 2: back and see, Wow, that was a mighty move of God.

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Speaker 2: But I actually think that Whitfield knew something was happening

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Speaker 2: that was beyond himself. Yes, because he would ride in

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Speaker 2: one of his missions trips to the colonies, he went

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Speaker 2: five thousand miles on horseback from Georgia up to the

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Speaker 2: New England States. He preached three times day. He'd wake

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Speaker 2: up at like four in the morning and spend two

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Speaker 2: hours with the Lord before he ever even got behind

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Speaker 2: a pulpit. He built his own pulpit. You know, people

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Speaker 2: don't do that for stardom or for ego. They do

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Speaker 2: that because they have a broken heart for the lost.

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Speaker 2: Because he knew it was like to be in the dark, yes,

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Speaker 2: and so I think that's where his power and love

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Speaker 2: came from, so as he had first hand experience with it.

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Speaker 2: And I felt like when directing John in this film,

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Speaker 2: like it's one thing to have a big, powerful, loud voice, yes,

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Speaker 2: but you have to woo the people to Christ with

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Speaker 2: that big, powerful voice. And I felt like he did

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Speaker 2: an incredible job of striking that balance and power with love.

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Speaker 1: I think so. And that pulpit, So he had a

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Speaker 1: pulpit that could be sort of put together, that was

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Speaker 1: strapped on us or that's insane. Yeah, But what I

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Speaker 1: think it's really a relevant point is we all have

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Speaker 1: a pulpit. Yeah, you know, we don't have to strap

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Speaker 1: it on a horse or our car. You know, we

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Speaker 1: have a platform in social media, and we have a

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Speaker 1: platform and our influence in our neighborhood. We have a

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Speaker 1: platform of influence at our workplace. So every Christian has

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Speaker 1: a pulpit of sorts that we can use for the

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Speaker 1: glory of God or we can use for other purposes. Yeah.

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Speaker 2: Amen, No, that's what we hope that this film does.

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Speaker 2: There's a line in the film that Josiah Franklin said

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Speaker 2: to a young Ben Franklin because he worked at a

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Speaker 2: candle shop and his dad was Josiah Franklin, and he

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Speaker 2: said to him, one tiny candle illuminates a thousand and

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Speaker 2: then later on in the film, Ben Franklin says that

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Speaker 2: to his grandson as he's telling him the story of Woodfield,

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Speaker 2: and then at the end of the film, his grandson

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Speaker 2: says it to Ben when he's about to step onto

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Speaker 2: a major platform and give one of the greatest speeches

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Speaker 2: in American history, which is in this film. And so

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Speaker 2: I think, you know, one tiny candle illuminating a thousand

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Speaker 2: really is a heart you heartbeat of this that people

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Speaker 2: will catch on. You're talking about the gen Z generation.

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Speaker 2: My daughter is a gen Z and they're searching for authenticity.

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Speaker 2: They're looking for authentic movies. And it's a very smart

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Speaker 2: and savvy audience we have out there. They consume a

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Speaker 2: lot of media and they can sniff when it's phony.

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Speaker 2: And I think with these guys that were talking about

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Speaker 2: George Whitfield being won, there was nothing phony about it.

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Speaker 2: And I think that's what I hope this That's what

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Speaker 2: I hope this film does it. It's an authentic move,

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Speaker 2: not a movie, and so that's what our prayer is.

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Speaker 1: I love that. And his relationship with Ben Franklin was fascinating,

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Speaker 1: and Ben Franklin, all of our founding fathers were such

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Speaker 1: colorful characters. Oh yeah, from Thomas Jefferson to Benjamin Franklin,

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Speaker 1: to John Adams too, of course George Washington and then

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Speaker 1: George Whitfield, who really preceded them. What year did Whitfield.

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Speaker 2: Die seventeen seventy.

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Speaker 1: Yeah, he just short of the actual revolution. And I

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Speaker 1: like a line that you've used in some of your

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Speaker 1: promotional materials. Before there was a revolution, there was a revelation.

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Speaker 2: Absolutely one hundred percent thirty years, a whole generation. You

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Speaker 2: think about somebody who was born in seventeen thirty nine

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Speaker 2: when the first grade awaking agan. They were thirty five

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Speaker 2: years old when the revolution came, and so they were

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Speaker 2: under this canopy of this Judeo Christian structure. They became

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Speaker 2: self governing people. In fact, one of the delegates at

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Speaker 2: the Constitutional Convention said, we don't need laws. Our own

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Speaker 2: moral code is law enough. Can you imagine?

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Speaker 1: And no, I can't not today, but we've drifted so

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Speaker 1: far from we have.

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Speaker 2: But yeah, Ben Franklin, you know, he knew five languages,

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Speaker 2: he invented dozens of everything. Well into his late years.

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Speaker 2: He has lived to be like eighty three years old.

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Speaker 2: And how amazing is it? This is one of my

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Speaker 2: favorite things about this story that we discovered his father.

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Speaker 2: So Ben Franklin was the tenth son of thirteen, no,

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Speaker 2: eighteen children, seventeen children.

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Speaker 1: That's incredible.

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Speaker 2: Yeah, and he was the tenth son. His father Josiah

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Speaker 2: set him apart as a tithe to the Lord to

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Speaker 2: be a preacher, and actually sent him to school to

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Speaker 2: be a preacher. We all know Ben Franklin ran the

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Speaker 2: opposite direction, only to find out years later that he

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Speaker 2: was the greatest promoter of the greatest and most formative

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Speaker 2: event in American history called the Great Awakening.

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Speaker 1: And he knew what he was doing, he has been.

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Speaker 1: Franklin profited off the sales of materials given by Whitfield.

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Speaker 1: But yet he defended him. Yeah, he did. And when

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Speaker 1: he was attacked, and when Whitfield was attacked, and you know,

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Speaker 1: and at that point his fame and an influence had

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Speaker 1: grown because he had a genuine affection for George Whitfield.

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Speaker 1: So tell us more about this interesting relationship between Franklin

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Speaker 1: and Whitfield.

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Speaker 2: My goodness, I mean, it's truly like opposites attracting, I mean,

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Speaker 2: providentially for the Lord to put you know, arguably the

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Speaker 2: most powerful evangelist to ever step foot on the United

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Speaker 2: States soil, George Whitfield, with arguably the most prolific communicator

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Speaker 2: and inventor, Ben Franklin.

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Speaker 1: What age would Franklin have been at that point in

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Speaker 1: what age Wood Whitfield have been.

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Speaker 2: Yes, so Whitfield would have been in his probably late twenties.

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Speaker 1: So still a very young man.

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Speaker 2: Yeah, yeah, the.

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Speaker 3: Only thirties maybe, yeah, then maybe early thirties, and Franklin

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Speaker 3: was a little less than a decade older, I think yeaties.

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Speaker 1: Yeah.

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Speaker 2: But they had a long friendship, like thirty years of

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Speaker 2: a friendship, and they wrote to each other, you know,

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Speaker 2: and Whitfield is always begging Ben to consider the truths

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Speaker 2: of the Gospel. They have a very dynamic relationship that

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Speaker 2: has lost to history. And so our heart with this

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Speaker 2: film is to put Whitfield back on the pulpit and

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Speaker 2: to put Ben Franklin back at the at the printing press.

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Speaker 2: That's what our hope is.

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Speaker 3: So I feel like it's really prominent today culturally to

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Speaker 3: say I'm searching for truth, I'm searching for God, but

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Speaker 3: it's not as popular to say I found him, I

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Speaker 3: found the truth. And I feel like Whitfield represents a

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Speaker 3: man who was searching for truth and then found it

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Speaker 3: in the person of Jesus Christ, and Ben Franklin represents

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Speaker 3: the other side, which is I'm searching for truth, but

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Speaker 3: I don't know if that really is it, So we

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Speaker 3: through the audience, are able to make that decision for ourselves.

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Speaker 4: That Whitfield poses, what do you make of Jesus Christ?

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Speaker 2: Yes, and with Ben Franklin, you know, in his witty way,

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Speaker 2: I mean he's got just a book of quips and

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Speaker 2: quotes now or Richard.

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Speaker 1: Yeah, he wrote under any names.

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Speaker 2: Yeah, you know, Martha careful and you know Anthony Afterwit.

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Speaker 2: You know, he had all these pseudonyms, which is so

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Speaker 2: so fun, you know. But he was famously said, you

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Speaker 2: know when then people asked him the question about being

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Speaker 2: born again, he said, if I ever had this born

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Speaker 2: again experience, I would never give you or anyone else

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Speaker 2: the opportunity of knowing it.

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Speaker 1: Wow.

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Speaker 2: And so it's the privilege of knowing it. And so

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Speaker 2: you know, he was a prideful man that way. But

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Speaker 2: you know that there was so much stirring inside of

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Speaker 2: his soul when you hear him say what he said

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Speaker 2: to the convention in June of seventeen eighty seven. You

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Speaker 2: know that came back.

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Speaker 1: That's where your film opens.

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Speaker 2: That's yeah, that's it and and ends and closes with

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Speaker 2: that moment, that speech, and it's a it's a speech

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Speaker 2: that that American needs to hear again.

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Speaker 1: I mean, because they were at a crossroads and we

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Speaker 1: had won the American Revolution, but yet there was division

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Speaker 1: in the ranks, much like there is today. And of

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Speaker 1: all people, it was Benjamin Franklin who spoke up about

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Speaker 1: the need of turning back to God. Because every people

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Speaker 1: will say, oh, he was the deist. Well, but he

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Speaker 1: did believe in God. Yeah, you know. Now, he never

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Speaker 1: seemed to have made a commitment of Christ that we

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Speaker 1: know of, but yet he understood the value of prayer.

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Speaker 1: Oh yeah. And he was the one that brought it forward.

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Speaker 1: And if anyone else had done it, it wouldn't have

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Speaker 1: had the impact that Franklin had bringing.

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Speaker 2: It for exactly. Yeah, that was the person. He was

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Speaker 2: the patriarch in the room. He was the oldest one,

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Speaker 2: and he wasn't going to be the one that you

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Speaker 2: think of, the first one to stand up and talk

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Speaker 2: about this most powerful friend and this Father of lights

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Speaker 2: and these answered prayers when we were in a contest

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Speaker 2: with Great Britain. And so that's why I believe that

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Speaker 2: the Lord stirred his heart to stand up and say

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Speaker 2: that this was amazing words. And you know, like I said,

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Speaker 2: you can't. You can't say those words in front of

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Speaker 2: fifty five delegates from thirteen colonies just because you think

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Speaker 2: it's a good idea.

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Speaker 1: Right.

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Speaker 2: It obviously came from a place of belief, And when

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Speaker 2: you look at his friendship with George Whitfield, you can

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Speaker 2: start to put dots together and say, oh, my goodness,

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Speaker 2: he was exposed to one of the most incredible communicators

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Speaker 2: of the Gospel that has ever lived. And so that's

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Speaker 2: a very very special special scene.

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Speaker 1: Okay, so this is a film that's going to be

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Speaker 1: in theaters Easter weekend, and give me the elevator pitch. Okay,

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Speaker 1: let's say that that I'm just some person you randomly

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Speaker 1: met and you want to tell me about this film.

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Speaker 1: Why would I, as a film goer want to go

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Speaker 1: to a theater and buy a ticket and sit down

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Speaker 1: and watch.

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Speaker 2: This Because in the two hundred and fiftieth anniversary of

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Speaker 2: our nation, the word liberty is going to be used

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Speaker 2: in many, many circles and people. It's something that everybody wants.

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Speaker 2: Everybody wants liberty, but they have different definitions of it.

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Speaker 2: Some people think that ultimate liberty is no rules at all,

437
00:21:57,445 --> 00:22:00,085
Speaker 2: but we know that all leads to bondage, and then

438
00:22:00,244 --> 00:22:03,804
Speaker 2: others know that there's a construction, there's a moral code,

439
00:22:03,925 --> 00:22:06,845
Speaker 2: and that follows what truely liberty really is right. And

440
00:22:06,925 --> 00:22:09,564
Speaker 2: true liberty for us is the belief in Jesus Christ

441
00:22:09,604 --> 00:22:11,884
Speaker 2: to be set free from our sins. And that is

442
00:22:11,925 --> 00:22:14,004
Speaker 2: what's on that liberty bell that rings out in our

443
00:22:14,044 --> 00:22:17,365
Speaker 2: city of brotherly Love, proclaim liberty throughout all the land

444
00:22:17,405 --> 00:22:20,764
Speaker 2: until all the inhabitants thereof This film, A Great Awakening,

445
00:22:20,804 --> 00:22:23,965
Speaker 2: coming out April third in theaters nationwide, is going to

446
00:22:24,004 --> 00:22:27,964
Speaker 2: proclaim the true definition of liberty through two unlikely people

447
00:22:28,284 --> 00:22:33,284
Speaker 2: who providentially came together, you know, and not just was

448
00:22:33,324 --> 00:22:36,604
Speaker 2: a part of the Great Awakening, but sparked the Great Awakening,

449
00:22:37,044 --> 00:22:40,605
Speaker 2: and it became an inferno and literally changed the culture

450
00:22:40,844 --> 00:22:43,084
Speaker 2: of this nation and gave it its identity.

451
00:22:43,244 --> 00:22:45,644
Speaker 1: Yes, you know, God can really use film, Jenna. We

452
00:22:45,685 --> 00:22:49,925
Speaker 1: made this film Jesus Revolution, about the last great spiritual Awakening,

453
00:22:50,524 --> 00:22:53,564
Speaker 1: and people would go to the theaters and see it,

454
00:22:53,604 --> 00:22:57,524
Speaker 1: and we heard stories that people coming to Christ, weird

455
00:22:57,685 --> 00:23:00,405
Speaker 1: stories that people wanting to go be baptized. We heard

456
00:23:00,405 --> 00:23:04,764
Speaker 1: about people like getting baptized in the fountain outside of

457
00:23:04,764 --> 00:23:07,244
Speaker 1: the theater after they saw it amazing. So you know,

458
00:23:07,284 --> 00:23:11,205
Speaker 1: it's Hopin said that art imitates life, so in this instance,

459
00:23:11,324 --> 00:23:14,284
Speaker 1: life is imitating art imitating life. But it was a

460
00:23:14,324 --> 00:23:17,964
Speaker 1: true story to start with, and I feel like that

461
00:23:18,084 --> 00:23:19,844
Speaker 1: was captured in the film. And I feel like it

462
00:23:19,885 --> 00:23:23,805
Speaker 1: was really captured in your film as well. Those scenes

463
00:23:23,844 --> 00:23:28,084
Speaker 1: where Whitfield is preaching, there's one in particular where he's

464
00:23:28,125 --> 00:23:31,484
Speaker 1: standing on the balcony of the building. Was where was

465
00:23:31,524 --> 00:23:32,525
Speaker 1: that scene shot?

466
00:23:33,004 --> 00:23:35,604
Speaker 2: That was Well, the scene took place on Market Street

467
00:23:35,645 --> 00:23:38,564
Speaker 2: seventeen thirty nine in November. But we actually built that

468
00:23:38,645 --> 00:23:41,524
Speaker 2: set in our back lot behind our great Yeah, thank you,

469
00:23:41,645 --> 00:23:43,965
Speaker 2: behind our we call the story Baring, where the writers

470
00:23:43,965 --> 00:23:46,764
Speaker 2: and producers work out of and it was an incredible

471
00:23:46,764 --> 00:23:47,205
Speaker 2: set piece.

472
00:23:47,244 --> 00:23:47,445
Speaker 1: Yeah.

473
00:23:47,445 --> 00:23:50,605
Speaker 2: We we had Philly, downtown Philly right in our own backyard.

474
00:23:51,165 --> 00:23:53,925
Speaker 2: It was really awesome, man, and it was Sitan Sound

475
00:23:54,004 --> 00:23:56,845
Speaker 2: is an incredible team. We have eight hundred employees celebrating

476
00:23:56,885 --> 00:23:57,484
Speaker 2: fifty years.

477
00:23:57,524 --> 00:23:58,605
Speaker 1: My goodness of bringing.

478
00:23:58,405 --> 00:24:00,685
Speaker 2: The babble of life on stage and A Great Awakening

479
00:24:00,685 --> 00:24:03,925
Speaker 2: is our second feature film. Yeah, and in your first ones,

480
00:24:04,125 --> 00:24:06,805
Speaker 2: I Heard the Bells. It came Outchristmas of twenty twenty two.

481
00:24:07,125 --> 00:24:09,445
Speaker 2: We call it The Little Movie That Could. And Jonathan

482
00:24:09,524 --> 00:24:11,204
Speaker 2: was in that film as well. He played the role

483
00:24:11,244 --> 00:24:14,844
Speaker 2: of Charlie Longfellow. And it's the story of the famous

484
00:24:14,885 --> 00:24:16,804
Speaker 2: Christmas song I heard the bells on Christmas Day and

485
00:24:17,165 --> 00:24:19,965
Speaker 2: climbed the number two in the box office. And that's

486
00:24:19,965 --> 00:24:21,284
Speaker 2: why we call it The Little Film That Could.

487
00:24:21,365 --> 00:24:26,165
Speaker 1: You know, people are hungry for hope, they want to

488
00:24:26,205 --> 00:24:29,125
Speaker 1: be inspired. When you look at the Oscars this year,

489
00:24:29,405 --> 00:24:30,925
Speaker 1: did you watch any of those films?

490
00:24:31,004 --> 00:24:33,165
Speaker 2: So it's funny on the air flop on the plane

491
00:24:33,244 --> 00:24:35,004
Speaker 2: ride here, what was the one that.

492
00:24:34,965 --> 00:24:37,325
Speaker 3: I that the capined on after another.

493
00:24:37,484 --> 00:24:40,124
Speaker 2: Lasted ten minutes. Ten minutes is all I had and

494
00:24:40,645 --> 00:24:41,125
Speaker 2: turned it off.

495
00:24:41,244 --> 00:24:43,524
Speaker 1: I just thought, this is pushing an agenda.

496
00:24:43,645 --> 00:24:45,684
Speaker 2: Yeah, I couldn't do it. And I'm like, I'm not

497
00:24:45,725 --> 00:24:48,484
Speaker 2: going to feed my soul. No, you know that, because

498
00:24:48,484 --> 00:24:50,645
Speaker 2: you hunger what you feast on, and I don't want

499
00:24:50,645 --> 00:24:51,445
Speaker 2: to feast on that.

500
00:24:51,484 --> 00:24:53,564
Speaker 1: You know. And I like film like you know a

501
00:24:53,604 --> 00:24:56,564
Speaker 1: lot of my favorite films. It's like The Godfather wanted

502
00:24:56,685 --> 00:25:01,164
Speaker 1: to Brave Heart, the Patriot. My idea is what is

503
00:25:01,205 --> 00:25:04,244
Speaker 1: the message to give me? Ultimately? And in a lot

504
00:25:04,284 --> 00:25:08,004
Speaker 1: of these, like Godfather as an example, it certainly didn't

505
00:25:08,044 --> 00:25:11,844
Speaker 1: glorify that life ultimately had showed what it led to,

506
00:25:12,125 --> 00:25:16,045
Speaker 1: you know, the emptiness of it and the tragedy of it.

507
00:25:16,445 --> 00:25:19,965
Speaker 1: But when I watch a film and it's immediately pushing

508
00:25:20,044 --> 00:25:23,284
Speaker 1: an agenda, in effect preaching at me, I don't like it.

509
00:25:23,324 --> 00:25:25,044
Speaker 1: And I felt the same way when I started to

510
00:25:25,044 --> 00:25:28,884
Speaker 1: watch about ten minutes of Sinners. No thanks, Oh sure,

511
00:25:29,205 --> 00:25:33,524
Speaker 1: this wasn't grabbing me, but Hamnett moved slower. But you know,

512
00:25:33,645 --> 00:25:36,725
Speaker 1: and I have to I fell asleep. But when I

513
00:25:36,804 --> 00:25:39,605
Speaker 1: woke up, I thought that was really a beautiful story.

514
00:25:39,764 --> 00:25:41,924
Speaker 1: So I went back and watched the parts I fell asleep.

515
00:25:42,604 --> 00:25:45,364
Speaker 1: That was kind of a neat story in that film,

516
00:25:45,445 --> 00:25:48,604
Speaker 1: And but that was, you know, that was an outlier

517
00:25:48,685 --> 00:25:51,965
Speaker 1: that And I just think this whole world that they're

518
00:25:52,044 --> 00:25:55,564
Speaker 1: so myopic, and they just create these films that a

519
00:25:55,564 --> 00:25:57,404
Speaker 1: lot of them don't even do that well in the

520
00:25:57,445 --> 00:26:01,124
Speaker 1: box office, and they just sort of live in their

521
00:26:01,205 --> 00:26:05,244
Speaker 1: little alternate universe. And of the restaurants are called Planet Hollywood.

522
00:26:05,484 --> 00:26:07,924
Speaker 1: I feel like these people live on Planet Hollywood. It's

523
00:26:07,965 --> 00:26:11,685
Speaker 1: your own world and it's not the world of everybody else.

524
00:26:12,165 --> 00:26:14,324
Speaker 1: And a lot of people, not just Christians, but I

525
00:26:14,324 --> 00:26:18,205
Speaker 1: think just Middle America, regular folks. They want to go

526
00:26:18,284 --> 00:26:21,284
Speaker 1: to a movie, they want to escape, they want to

527
00:26:21,324 --> 00:26:24,365
Speaker 1: be inspired. You know. I went and saw this new

528
00:26:24,445 --> 00:26:29,764
Speaker 1: film called The Hail Mary Project. That was, you know, wow, comparatively,

529
00:26:30,365 --> 00:26:32,884
Speaker 1: it was a great film. It's sort of a throwback

530
00:26:32,925 --> 00:26:38,004
Speaker 1: to Spielberg type films. Yeah, and even referenced Rocky and

531
00:26:38,165 --> 00:26:42,365
Speaker 1: other films you know that we're more inspiring. And I said, look,

532
00:26:42,405 --> 00:26:46,284
Speaker 1: you can make a good film that entertains that. And

533
00:26:46,365 --> 00:26:48,885
Speaker 1: I even felt it had kind of a redemptive message

534
00:26:48,925 --> 00:26:51,364
Speaker 1: to it. So I think there's a place with that,

535
00:26:51,484 --> 00:26:53,244
Speaker 1: and people are hungry for that. Yeah.

536
00:26:53,244 --> 00:26:53,885
Speaker 4: Absolutely.

537
00:26:54,244 --> 00:26:57,085
Speaker 3: I haven't seen Hail Mary yet, I've heard good things

538
00:26:57,084 --> 00:26:59,684
Speaker 3: about it. I did see Hamnet, and I thought that

539
00:26:59,844 --> 00:27:04,284
Speaker 3: was a really cool reflection on how art heals, like

540
00:27:04,365 --> 00:27:07,645
Speaker 3: how she goes at the end, you know, and sees

541
00:27:07,685 --> 00:27:11,004
Speaker 3: what he's turned his grief into. Yes, spoiler, he writes Hamlet,

542
00:27:11,284 --> 00:27:15,644
Speaker 3: and it's just to see how he's transformed his experience

543
00:27:15,685 --> 00:27:18,124
Speaker 3: into something that's one of the most famous pieces of

544
00:27:18,205 --> 00:27:19,925
Speaker 3: art in Western culture.

545
00:27:20,004 --> 00:27:20,164
Speaker 1: You know.

546
00:27:20,284 --> 00:27:22,364
Speaker 4: It's just I thought that was fascinating to.

547
00:27:22,405 --> 00:27:24,764
Speaker 2: You know, I'm the youngest of three boys, you know,

548
00:27:24,885 --> 00:27:26,725
Speaker 2: and so I was always the one in the back seat,

549
00:27:26,844 --> 00:27:28,764
Speaker 2: the backseat of the car, you know, looking out the

550
00:27:28,804 --> 00:27:32,284
Speaker 2: window and daydreaming and thinking. And I'd always watch people.

551
00:27:32,324 --> 00:27:34,085
Speaker 2: I'd watched my mom and my dad talk. I'd watch

552
00:27:34,165 --> 00:27:36,524
Speaker 2: my brothers talk. I'd watch people. And I was a

553
00:27:36,524 --> 00:27:40,044
Speaker 2: people watcher. And and that was my classroom, you know.

554
00:27:40,205 --> 00:27:42,364
Speaker 2: And I think what people are looking for today and

555
00:27:42,405 --> 00:27:46,644
Speaker 2: film are truthful moments, you know, without an agenda, but

556
00:27:46,725 --> 00:27:50,605
Speaker 2: the human condition exposed in a way that we can

557
00:27:50,645 --> 00:27:53,284
Speaker 2: connect to it. And so like with this film, A

558
00:27:53,324 --> 00:27:57,084
Speaker 2: Great Awakening, you know, it's it's not an event driven film.

559
00:27:57,445 --> 00:28:01,084
Speaker 2: It's a relationship driven film between two unlikely people. And

560
00:28:01,125 --> 00:28:03,885
Speaker 2: I think when you when you give permission to when

561
00:28:03,885 --> 00:28:06,765
Speaker 2: you give people permission to enter in the personal lives

562
00:28:06,925 --> 00:28:09,205
Speaker 2: of these people that we think we know about, and

563
00:28:09,205 --> 00:28:10,924
Speaker 2: then you actually get into the heart and soul of

564
00:28:10,925 --> 00:28:13,125
Speaker 2: what makes them tick. I think they look up from

565
00:28:13,165 --> 00:28:15,364
Speaker 2: their phones and they start looking at humanity again and

566
00:28:15,405 --> 00:28:18,004
Speaker 2: say and actually looking at the mirror at themselves and say,

567
00:28:18,365 --> 00:28:20,405
Speaker 2: you know, what am I here for? What's my purpose?

568
00:28:20,885 --> 00:28:20,965
Speaker 1: Like?

569
00:28:21,004 --> 00:28:23,965
Speaker 2: Why can't I be one tiny candle that illuminates a thousand?

570
00:28:24,445 --> 00:28:28,044
Speaker 2: George Whitfield was a boy with a single mom and

571
00:28:28,084 --> 00:28:31,284
Speaker 2: a tavern in England with an abusive stepfather. And look

572
00:28:31,284 --> 00:28:33,925
Speaker 2: what he did. He turned the world upside down. If

573
00:28:33,965 --> 00:28:36,084
Speaker 2: he could do that, well then why can't I do that?

574
00:28:36,445 --> 00:28:39,684
Speaker 2: And so you're talking about these gen z males, you know,

575
00:28:39,725 --> 00:28:42,805
Speaker 2: who are coming back like they want to see God

576
00:28:42,844 --> 00:28:46,165
Speaker 2: on display in an authentic way and that they can

577
00:28:46,205 --> 00:28:48,805
Speaker 2: be a part of that. They can do that. It's

578
00:28:48,844 --> 00:28:52,285
Speaker 2: not it's not They're not going to learn about it

579
00:28:52,365 --> 00:28:55,124
Speaker 2: by other people's interpretation through their phones. They're going to

580
00:28:55,165 --> 00:28:56,924
Speaker 2: look at it by looking up and seeing the culture

581
00:28:56,965 --> 00:28:59,045
Speaker 2: today and saying I want to do something about this.

582
00:29:00,245 --> 00:29:03,725
Speaker 1: You know. And I just feel like people they're tired

583
00:29:03,805 --> 00:29:07,405
Speaker 1: of special effects for the sake of special effects. They're

584
00:29:07,445 --> 00:29:10,645
Speaker 1: tired of having an agenda pushed on that this movie

585
00:29:10,765 --> 00:29:14,965
Speaker 1: has preaching in it without apology. But other movies have

586
00:29:15,084 --> 00:29:18,404
Speaker 1: preaching in them too, but with the wrong message. And

587
00:29:18,485 --> 00:29:22,085
Speaker 1: I think this is a great moment for Christian filmmakers

588
00:29:22,165 --> 00:29:26,565
Speaker 1: like yourself. You're filmmakers and you're producing art but with

589
00:29:26,645 --> 00:29:30,525
Speaker 1: a Christian worldview, and you're not compromising your faith to

590
00:29:30,565 --> 00:29:33,565
Speaker 1: make it, and you're not compromising your art to make it.

591
00:29:33,565 --> 00:29:38,845
Speaker 1: It's a beautifully done film, fantastic cinematography, the scoring is incredible,

592
00:29:38,925 --> 00:29:42,285
Speaker 1: you have a amazing original song that was written for

593
00:29:42,405 --> 00:29:46,685
Speaker 1: this film, So on every cylinder of entertainment it fires.

594
00:29:47,205 --> 00:29:51,805
Speaker 1: But then there's this powerful inspiring message that resonates through

595
00:29:51,844 --> 00:29:55,364
Speaker 1: the film, and I think you might see stories of

596
00:29:55,445 --> 00:29:58,365
Speaker 1: people coming to faith watching this film. I think that'd

597
00:29:58,405 --> 00:30:00,005
Speaker 1: be the ultimate success.

598
00:29:59,604 --> 00:30:03,245
Speaker 3: When absolutely yeah, I think it's been a long time

599
00:30:04,645 --> 00:30:07,805
Speaker 3: since we saw films that really meant something, that had

600
00:30:07,965 --> 00:30:10,965
Speaker 3: real meaning, that were worth your time, that could alter

601
00:30:11,125 --> 00:30:13,325
Speaker 3: the way you look at things. And I feel like

602
00:30:13,445 --> 00:30:17,365
Speaker 3: the ingredient, the secret ingredient in this is conviction, the truth.

603
00:30:17,565 --> 00:30:21,725
Speaker 3: There's actual truth, foundational truth here that people are so

604
00:30:21,844 --> 00:30:24,525
Speaker 3: hungry for. And my hope is that they would see

605
00:30:25,245 --> 00:30:28,164
Speaker 3: Christ all the clearer through that portrayal of Whitfield. Even

606
00:30:28,205 --> 00:30:30,325
Speaker 3: Whitfield himself would have been the first person to be like,

607
00:30:30,565 --> 00:30:35,005
Speaker 3: it's not about me and my story. Everything beautiful about

608
00:30:35,045 --> 00:30:37,645
Speaker 3: Whitfield that you see on those stage is the heart

609
00:30:37,645 --> 00:30:41,005
Speaker 3: of Christ coming through to those people. That's what resonated,

610
00:30:41,084 --> 00:30:43,245
Speaker 3: and that is what I'm so excited for.

611
00:30:43,245 --> 00:30:43,885
Speaker 4: People to see.

612
00:30:44,045 --> 00:30:44,325
Speaker 1: Yeah.

613
00:30:44,565 --> 00:30:46,844
Speaker 2: Yeah, And in a culture where we just want to

614
00:30:46,925 --> 00:30:49,525
Speaker 2: keep tearing people down, and once they had one flaw,

615
00:30:49,965 --> 00:30:51,925
Speaker 2: you know, all of a sudden to the baby out

616
00:30:51,925 --> 00:30:54,725
Speaker 2: with the bathwater. And for us, we like to move

617
00:30:54,765 --> 00:30:58,205
Speaker 2: toward those flaws. There's a scene in the film. It's

618
00:30:58,245 --> 00:31:01,844
Speaker 2: probably one of my favorite deliveries and exchanges in the film,

619
00:31:01,885 --> 00:31:04,685
Speaker 2: and it's a confrontation between Ben Franklin and George Whitfield.

620
00:31:04,844 --> 00:31:06,725
Speaker 2: And they actually did a falling out in real life.

621
00:31:07,604 --> 00:31:11,005
Speaker 2: But Ben Franklin calls George Whitfield out on the topic

622
00:31:11,965 --> 00:31:13,805
Speaker 2: that was a flaw in his life and a stain

623
00:31:13,885 --> 00:31:17,285
Speaker 2: in his past. And George Whitfield, he says, do not

624
00:31:17,405 --> 00:31:21,445
Speaker 2: base your faith upon my flawed life. Do not base

625
00:31:21,525 --> 00:31:25,045
Speaker 2: your faith upon the cold religion of your father. Base

626
00:31:25,125 --> 00:31:27,805
Speaker 2: it upon what he has done on a cross of wood.

627
00:31:28,445 --> 00:31:30,805
Speaker 2: And the reason that I love that is because we're

628
00:31:30,805 --> 00:31:33,325
Speaker 2: not trying to put a man up on a pedestal

629
00:31:33,325 --> 00:31:36,604
Speaker 2: that doesn't belong there. Only Christ belongs on that pedestal.

630
00:31:37,005 --> 00:31:40,644
Speaker 2: And so people are already you know, commenting on you know,

631
00:31:41,084 --> 00:31:43,164
Speaker 2: you're going to try and prove that Ben Franklin's a Christian.

632
00:31:43,325 --> 00:31:46,164
Speaker 2: Did you know that George Whitfield, you know, had you know,

633
00:31:46,245 --> 00:31:49,765
Speaker 2: some things in his past that were you know, you

634
00:31:49,805 --> 00:31:51,845
Speaker 2: know a stain of our culture, you know, with slavery

635
00:31:51,885 --> 00:31:53,884
Speaker 2: and things. And it's like, oh, yes, we do know

636
00:31:53,965 --> 00:31:56,525
Speaker 2: all these things, and we're addressing all of those things

637
00:31:56,765 --> 00:31:57,725
Speaker 2: in a powerful way.

638
00:31:58,645 --> 00:32:01,685
Speaker 1: God can draw a straight line with a crooked stick.

639
00:32:02,245 --> 00:32:04,164
Speaker 1: And if you look through the pages of the Bible,

640
00:32:04,205 --> 00:32:06,885
Speaker 1: you tell me one character that God used in the Bible.

641
00:32:07,084 --> 00:32:10,725
Speaker 1: It didn't have flaws. Now, some more than others, like Joseph,

642
00:32:10,805 --> 00:32:14,005
Speaker 1: it's hard to find many flaws. And like same as Brat,

643
00:32:14,285 --> 00:32:16,925
Speaker 1: Yeah right, maybe you know, hey, man, you're right in

644
00:32:16,965 --> 00:32:19,684
Speaker 1: your brothers out that's not cool, but you know, and

645
00:32:19,805 --> 00:32:22,765
Speaker 1: Daniel pretty similar. You don't see many flaws in his left.

646
00:32:22,805 --> 00:32:26,045
Speaker 1: But my goodness, Jonah, if I was Jonah, I would

647
00:32:26,045 --> 00:32:28,565
Speaker 1: have never written the last chapter of the Book of Jonah.

648
00:32:28,885 --> 00:32:32,084
Speaker 1: Or he literally throws himself under the bus and shows

649
00:32:32,084 --> 00:32:34,165
Speaker 1: that he was upset with God when the Lord said

650
00:32:34,165 --> 00:32:37,725
Speaker 1: his spiritual awakening. And Moses of course, murdered a man.

651
00:32:38,245 --> 00:32:41,164
Speaker 1: And Moses wasn't even allowed in the Promised Land because

652
00:32:41,205 --> 00:32:45,684
Speaker 1: of his of his impatience with the people. And David,

653
00:32:45,725 --> 00:32:48,925
Speaker 1: of course, you know, with their sins of murder and adultery,

654
00:32:49,125 --> 00:32:52,404
Speaker 1: and the list goes on. But God uses flawed people,

655
00:32:53,205 --> 00:32:55,765
Speaker 1: and you know, but but he gets the glory ultimately.

656
00:32:55,805 --> 00:32:59,445
Speaker 1: So Whitfield is flawed, everyone's flat. I'm glad we're all flawed. Hello,

657
00:32:59,525 --> 00:33:01,725
Speaker 1: welcome to the human race. Or are you going to

658
00:33:01,805 --> 00:33:05,205
Speaker 1: find a perfect person? Answer? You aren't. But it gives

659
00:33:05,205 --> 00:33:07,925
Speaker 1: hope to all the people out there who have failed,

660
00:33:07,965 --> 00:33:09,805
Speaker 1: because we serve a god of second chance.

661
00:33:09,925 --> 00:33:12,525
Speaker 2: Hey men, we do. That's what's so beautiful. I believe

662
00:33:12,525 --> 00:33:14,765
Speaker 2: about the stories that we tell, whether it's on stage

663
00:33:14,965 --> 00:33:16,684
Speaker 2: or on screen, you know, is we're not trying to

664
00:33:16,925 --> 00:33:19,325
Speaker 2: sugarcoat things. We're not trying to make it syrupy. So

665
00:33:19,325 --> 00:33:22,205
Speaker 2: people come to the box office or to our theaters

666
00:33:22,205 --> 00:33:24,045
Speaker 2: and Lankster or Branson, Missouri.

667
00:33:24,165 --> 00:33:27,285
Speaker 1: Yeah, but tell us a little about your theaters. Sure. Yeah.

668
00:33:27,325 --> 00:33:30,685
Speaker 2: They're actually celebrating our fiftieth anniversary as a ministry. It's

669
00:33:30,685 --> 00:33:34,485
Speaker 2: called Site and Sound Ministries for our theater fifty are

670
00:33:34,525 --> 00:33:38,405
Speaker 2: you well? I am fifty? And so my father in

671
00:33:38,485 --> 00:33:40,164
Speaker 2: law and mother in law started it back in nineteen

672
00:33:40,205 --> 00:33:43,725
Speaker 2: seventy six, and he was a photographer and a painter,

673
00:33:43,844 --> 00:33:47,045
Speaker 2: and they'd set his paintings and photographs to music, and

674
00:33:47,045 --> 00:33:49,045
Speaker 2: they tore them all over the country and they build

675
00:33:49,084 --> 00:33:50,844
Speaker 2: a theater and then the rest is history. We have

676
00:33:50,885 --> 00:33:53,765
Speaker 2: two theaters, one in Lancaster and there large they yeah,

677
00:33:53,805 --> 00:33:55,725
Speaker 2: twenty seventy seed theaters, and.

678
00:33:55,725 --> 00:33:57,325
Speaker 1: You bring Bible stories to light.

679
00:33:57,525 --> 00:34:00,205
Speaker 2: Yeah, so all the all the people that you mentioned

680
00:34:00,205 --> 00:34:02,445
Speaker 2: from the Bible, we've done shows on them. Noah's on

681
00:34:02,565 --> 00:34:06,045
Speaker 2: Moses and Daniel. Right now we're running. Joshua opened so

682
00:34:06,125 --> 00:34:10,005
Speaker 2: we could go and then our films are meant to bring,

683
00:34:10,085 --> 00:34:12,765
Speaker 2: you know, the stories of figures from history that changed

684
00:34:12,805 --> 00:34:14,645
Speaker 2: the world because Christ first changed them.

685
00:34:14,685 --> 00:34:15,445
Speaker 1: So who's next?

686
00:34:16,205 --> 00:34:17,365
Speaker 2: You almost got it out of me.

687
00:34:17,845 --> 00:34:19,645
Speaker 1: That was good. That was good. I'll keep trying.

688
00:34:19,805 --> 00:34:20,325
Speaker 2: That was good.

689
00:34:20,365 --> 00:34:21,285
Speaker 1: That was good. Yeah, we're working.

690
00:34:21,365 --> 00:34:24,325
Speaker 2: We're a year into our third film, and so we're

691
00:34:24,365 --> 00:34:27,245
Speaker 2: super excited about the future of SIT and sound films,

692
00:34:27,765 --> 00:34:29,045
Speaker 2: a great Awakening which comes out.

693
00:34:29,085 --> 00:34:32,285
Speaker 1: You're not going to answer my question. That's okay, I'm

694
00:34:32,285 --> 00:34:33,404
Speaker 1: sure it's good. Great.

695
00:34:33,485 --> 00:34:35,085
Speaker 2: We made a deal before this. You'll be one of

696
00:34:35,125 --> 00:34:36,285
Speaker 2: the first to know I told you that.

697
00:34:36,485 --> 00:34:41,045
Speaker 1: So all right, Well, we were so thankful for what

698
00:34:41,165 --> 00:34:43,045
Speaker 1: you've done with this film. You know, it's a funny thing.

699
00:34:43,605 --> 00:34:45,845
Speaker 1: I didn't really know you guys at all. You know,

700
00:34:45,885 --> 00:34:49,965
Speaker 1: I'm friends with John Irwin, Andy Irwin, Kingdom Story Company

701
00:34:50,005 --> 00:34:52,805
Speaker 1: and the Wonder Project, and we've worked on some films

702
00:34:52,845 --> 00:34:55,645
Speaker 1: together and we're working on some things in the future.

703
00:34:56,045 --> 00:35:00,005
Speaker 1: But I love I love the idea of Christian films.

704
00:35:00,045 --> 00:35:02,444
Speaker 1: I love what we can accomplish to them. I've seen

705
00:35:02,485 --> 00:35:06,045
Speaker 1: incredible stories of lives that have been changed. But I

706
00:35:06,125 --> 00:35:08,965
Speaker 1: just saw your trailer. I thought, could this movie be

707
00:35:09,005 --> 00:35:11,525
Speaker 1: as good as this trailer? And then we reached out

708
00:35:11,565 --> 00:35:13,525
Speaker 1: to you, and you graciously gave me a link to

709
00:35:13,565 --> 00:35:16,845
Speaker 1: see the film, which I posted immediately on x and

710
00:35:16,885 --> 00:35:20,325
Speaker 1: a lot of other people. It's not joking, you believe

711
00:35:20,485 --> 00:35:24,125
Speaker 1: from them. I was getting there, no so but and

712
00:35:24,165 --> 00:35:26,325
Speaker 1: I thought, this is an amazing film. And then I

713
00:35:26,405 --> 00:35:28,805
Speaker 1: reached out to you, and you were kind enough to

714
00:35:28,845 --> 00:35:31,765
Speaker 1: come out and do this podcast and spend some time

715
00:35:31,805 --> 00:35:34,125
Speaker 1: at our church because I thought, I want people to

716
00:35:34,165 --> 00:35:37,165
Speaker 1: see the story. Thank you. And it's a powerful story,

717
00:35:37,205 --> 00:35:39,805
Speaker 1: and it's a story that needs to be told because

718
00:35:39,925 --> 00:35:42,525
Speaker 1: I don't think there would be a United States of

719
00:35:42,565 --> 00:35:45,965
Speaker 1: America if it were not for this spiritual awakening that

720
00:35:46,045 --> 00:35:50,245
Speaker 1: preceded it, primarily to the work of George Whitfield. And

721
00:35:50,485 --> 00:35:53,765
Speaker 1: there is cause and effect to these things. And there's

722
00:35:53,845 --> 00:35:57,445
Speaker 1: no nation on Earth. Maybe Israel in America, we have

723
00:35:57,685 --> 00:36:01,805
Speaker 1: many parallels together, but there's no nation on earth like

724
00:36:01,845 --> 00:36:05,445
Speaker 1: the United States of America. I believe God is stuff

725
00:36:06,165 --> 00:36:08,725
Speaker 1: as a nation, and I believe the world's a better

726
00:36:08,845 --> 00:36:14,925
Speaker 1: place because of America. Despite our flaws and despite our shortcomings,

727
00:36:15,245 --> 00:36:18,725
Speaker 1: we've done so much good for so many. And I

728
00:36:18,845 --> 00:36:21,525
Speaker 1: believe that our best days could still be ahead of

729
00:36:21,605 --> 00:36:25,005
Speaker 1: us if we turned back to God. And I believe

730
00:36:25,005 --> 00:36:29,525
Speaker 1: we're really overdue for another spiritual awakening. You know, it's

731
00:36:29,565 --> 00:36:33,005
Speaker 1: been fifty years plus since the Jesus Movement. I'm praying

732
00:36:33,005 --> 00:36:37,365
Speaker 1: for another George Whitfield, another D. L. Moody, another Billy Graham.

733
00:36:37,685 --> 00:36:39,965
Speaker 1: And I think you made a really good point. When

734
00:36:39,965 --> 00:36:42,645
Speaker 1: you're in a revival, you don't necessarily know you're in one.

735
00:36:43,045 --> 00:36:46,045
Speaker 1: When I came to christ in nineteen seventy, the Jesus

736
00:36:46,085 --> 00:36:49,405
Speaker 1: Movement was in full swing. I'd never been to church before.

737
00:36:49,445 --> 00:36:51,125
Speaker 1: I was raised in a home where my mom was

738
00:36:51,645 --> 00:36:54,645
Speaker 1: married and divorced seven times. I had no background on

739
00:36:54,685 --> 00:36:57,965
Speaker 1: the Christian faith. I had no understanding of the Bible.

740
00:36:58,285 --> 00:37:02,285
Speaker 1: But I walked into this awakening where church was filled

741
00:37:02,325 --> 00:37:06,125
Speaker 1: with people no one ever arrived late to They all

742
00:37:06,205 --> 00:37:09,205
Speaker 1: had Bibles. They were eager to hear the word of God.

743
00:37:09,525 --> 00:37:14,485
Speaker 1: We saw contemporary Christian music born before our eyes. People

744
00:37:14,565 --> 00:37:18,285
Speaker 1: were getting saved all the time, you know, invitations were given,

745
00:37:18,325 --> 00:37:21,005
Speaker 1: people were coming to Christ. And now we look back

746
00:37:21,125 --> 00:37:23,365
Speaker 1: on it later and said, wow, that was a revival.

747
00:37:23,485 --> 00:37:24,445
Speaker 2: Yeah, yeah, you.

748
00:37:24,405 --> 00:37:28,285
Speaker 1: Know, a botofight revival. So when it's happening, it's happening.

749
00:37:28,365 --> 00:37:28,805
Speaker 4: Yeah.

750
00:37:28,885 --> 00:37:31,565
Speaker 1: I don't think we can make it happen. I don't

751
00:37:31,605 --> 00:37:35,404
Speaker 1: think we can organize it, but perhaps we can agonize

752
00:37:35,445 --> 00:37:38,765
Speaker 1: for it in prayer and pray the Lord do it again.

753
00:37:38,925 --> 00:37:43,525
Speaker 1: Maybe this movie will throw some gasoline on some revival fire. Yeah.

754
00:37:43,565 --> 00:37:45,645
Speaker 2: I feel like it's a prophetic film in that it's

755
00:37:45,725 --> 00:37:48,125
Speaker 2: laying a foundation. You know, this year, on our two

756
00:37:48,205 --> 00:37:51,405
Speaker 2: hundred and fiftieth anniversary of this nation, it's a jubilee year,

757
00:37:51,405 --> 00:37:53,444
Speaker 2: and part of the jubilee experience is to look back

758
00:37:53,685 --> 00:37:56,485
Speaker 2: to reflect and before you know, the fireworks and the

759
00:37:56,525 --> 00:37:59,765
Speaker 2: cannons and the explosions of the Fourth of July this year,

760
00:38:00,045 --> 00:38:02,285
Speaker 2: this film goes out ahead of it and lays a

761
00:38:02,285 --> 00:38:05,404
Speaker 2: foundation of what true liberty really is and how it's

762
00:38:05,605 --> 00:38:08,525
Speaker 2: this it's really you know, shared through this incredible story

763
00:38:08,565 --> 00:38:12,485
Speaker 2: of these friends. They said that the First Great Awakening

764
00:38:12,525 --> 00:38:15,525
Speaker 2: was the first shared experience in the colonies because they

765
00:38:15,565 --> 00:38:18,765
Speaker 2: were all kind of like individually governed in things. It

766
00:38:18,805 --> 00:38:22,245
Speaker 2: was the first unifying experience in the colonies. And George

767
00:38:22,245 --> 00:38:26,365
Speaker 2: Whitfield was heard by over eighty percent of the colonists.

768
00:38:26,365 --> 00:38:29,645
Speaker 2: Can you imagine today if eighty percent of the people

769
00:38:29,645 --> 00:38:32,844
Speaker 2: would hear George Whitfield's voice again, you know, to put him.

770
00:38:33,085 --> 00:38:35,205
Speaker 2: He's in that cloud of witnesses right now, you know.

771
00:38:35,285 --> 00:38:37,365
Speaker 2: Can you imagine what he's thinking, if he's able to

772
00:38:37,405 --> 00:38:40,325
Speaker 2: see from heaven what is actually about to happen that

773
00:38:40,365 --> 00:38:44,125
Speaker 2: his voice is about to be released again and hopefully igniting,

774
00:38:44,165 --> 00:38:46,645
Speaker 2: you know, the same kind of revival fire. Like, that's

775
00:38:46,685 --> 00:38:49,365
Speaker 2: just a crazy thought and a humbling thought that we

776
00:38:49,365 --> 00:38:50,805
Speaker 2: could be a part of that kind of history.

777
00:38:51,085 --> 00:38:56,605
Speaker 1: That's great. So, like, list maybe your top five or

778
00:38:56,645 --> 00:38:59,525
Speaker 1: six favorite films. Here's how I define a favorite film.

779
00:38:59,805 --> 00:39:03,485
Speaker 1: If I'm looking at TV and I'm flipping channels and

780
00:39:03,525 --> 00:39:06,685
Speaker 1: I come to one of my favorite films. Maybe it's

781
00:39:06,725 --> 00:39:10,365
Speaker 1: Brave Part, maybe it's Tombstone. I've seen them so many times.

782
00:39:10,525 --> 00:39:13,085
Speaker 1: If I stop and watch it till the next commercial.

783
00:39:13,405 --> 00:39:16,125
Speaker 1: That's one of my favorite films. I know what's gonna happen.

784
00:39:16,205 --> 00:39:19,205
Speaker 1: I may even own the film, right, but because I

785
00:39:19,365 --> 00:39:22,925
Speaker 1: just oh, I love this scene. You know by that definition.

786
00:39:23,005 --> 00:39:24,445
Speaker 1: What are some of your favorite films?

787
00:39:24,485 --> 00:39:27,485
Speaker 2: Oh my goodness, I love talking about this. I was

788
00:39:27,485 --> 00:39:30,485
Speaker 2: born and raised in a non Christian home, and I

789
00:39:30,565 --> 00:39:33,165
Speaker 2: feasted on films, and I was allowed to watch anything.

790
00:39:33,165 --> 00:39:34,965
Speaker 2: I couldn't believe it, but I got saved when I

791
00:39:34,965 --> 00:39:38,205
Speaker 2: was nineteen, so I watched I watched them all. But

792
00:39:38,285 --> 00:39:40,445
Speaker 2: I will tell you the films that I was a feeler.

793
00:39:40,565 --> 00:39:43,085
Speaker 2: I grew up, you know, just having a deep feelings,

794
00:39:43,085 --> 00:39:45,565
Speaker 2: and movies would make me feel something. And so when

795
00:39:45,605 --> 00:39:48,445
Speaker 2: I saw Platoon, you know, and I dodge you for strings,

796
00:39:48,445 --> 00:39:50,325
Speaker 2: and I know when people laugh about that, but I

797
00:39:50,405 --> 00:39:53,285
Speaker 2: felt something that was very deep at my young age,

798
00:39:53,285 --> 00:39:55,205
Speaker 2: and I'm like, what just happened there. When I was

799
00:39:55,205 --> 00:39:58,245
Speaker 2: a senior in high school, we were doing a mock

800
00:39:58,405 --> 00:40:01,725
Speaker 2: trial for Nuremberg Trials World War Two, and we would

801
00:40:01,765 --> 00:40:03,805
Speaker 2: get extra credit if we brought back the ticket stuff

802
00:40:03,805 --> 00:40:06,165
Speaker 2: from Schindler's List was a nineteen ninety four of us

803
00:40:06,165 --> 00:40:09,005
Speaker 2: I've Seen, I went. I saw that film by myself

804
00:40:09,405 --> 00:40:11,765
Speaker 2: and sat in the theater surrounded by World War Two

805
00:40:11,845 --> 00:40:14,525
Speaker 2: vets who were just all weeping. That changed my life,

806
00:40:14,725 --> 00:40:16,485
Speaker 2: The Passion of the Christ. I went to a pre

807
00:40:16,565 --> 00:40:20,165
Speaker 2: screener where Mel Gibson was there in person talking about

808
00:40:20,205 --> 00:40:23,805
Speaker 2: the film. That film changed my life, Dances with Wolves.

809
00:40:23,845 --> 00:40:26,885
Speaker 2: When I hear that scope, that that score, and I

810
00:40:26,925 --> 00:40:31,165
Speaker 2: see that scope, and I see what happened to that

811
00:40:31,165 --> 00:40:34,365
Speaker 2: that people group. You know, I felt something rocky.

812
00:40:34,565 --> 00:40:35,525
Speaker 4: Oh my gosh.

813
00:40:35,605 --> 00:40:37,565
Speaker 2: Every time i'd see a Rocky I'd be that kid

814
00:40:37,565 --> 00:40:39,645
Speaker 2: with the hoodie, you know, running up and down the

815
00:40:39,725 --> 00:40:40,645
Speaker 2: hill near my house.

816
00:40:40,725 --> 00:40:40,925
Speaker 1: You know.

817
00:40:41,045 --> 00:40:43,965
Speaker 2: So just to mention a few like Forrest Gump and

818
00:40:44,405 --> 00:40:47,525
Speaker 2: like big banner films, and I think I'll end it

819
00:40:47,565 --> 00:40:51,405
Speaker 2: with this. I love anthems, and I love banner films.

820
00:40:52,005 --> 00:40:55,365
Speaker 2: I love cultural films that that change in shape of culture.

821
00:40:56,165 --> 00:40:58,765
Speaker 2: And so it's those big films, the Spielberg films that

822
00:40:58,805 --> 00:40:59,365
Speaker 2: really moved me.

823
00:40:59,525 --> 00:41:03,125
Speaker 3: Yes about Jonathan, Yeah, Passion of the Christ. I think

824
00:41:03,165 --> 00:41:04,165
Speaker 3: I watched that every year.

825
00:41:05,245 --> 00:41:07,405
Speaker 1: It's it's just so an easy film to watch now, No,

826
00:41:07,605 --> 00:41:10,405
Speaker 1: but it's so realistic. Yes, it almost feels like you're

827
00:41:10,445 --> 00:41:12,525
Speaker 1: going back into absolutely and watching the.

828
00:41:12,485 --> 00:41:14,805
Speaker 4: CRUCIFIXI exactly, it's so transportive.

829
00:41:15,085 --> 00:41:18,364
Speaker 3: I forget that I'm watching a movie and same thing

830
00:41:18,405 --> 00:41:21,165
Speaker 3: with like Saving Private Ryan. I could watch that every

831
00:41:21,205 --> 00:41:23,725
Speaker 3: couple of years, and I just anytime I see a

832
00:41:23,765 --> 00:41:25,485
Speaker 3: piece of it, I just immediately get sucked in the

833
00:41:25,525 --> 00:41:25,885
Speaker 3: same thing.

834
00:41:25,925 --> 00:41:26,325
Speaker 4: I feel like.

835
00:41:26,285 --> 00:41:30,125
Speaker 3: I'm just there experiencing what these men are experiencing.

836
00:41:30,445 --> 00:41:33,285
Speaker 1: And the end of it is profound where the man

837
00:41:33,405 --> 00:41:37,125
Speaker 1: is going to the cemetery and he's asking his family,

838
00:41:37,685 --> 00:41:39,725
Speaker 1: you know, I forget the question he asked them my

839
00:41:39,845 --> 00:41:42,525
Speaker 1: good money? Am I a good man? And going back

840
00:41:42,565 --> 00:41:46,925
Speaker 1: to Schindelder's list, you know where Schindlers struggling talking to

841
00:41:46,925 --> 00:41:49,685
Speaker 1: the character played by Ben Kingsley when he says I

842
00:41:49,685 --> 00:41:52,645
Speaker 1: could have saved one more Those are proferable moments. I've

843
00:41:52,725 --> 00:41:55,085
Speaker 1: used that in a message like, you know, when we

844
00:41:55,165 --> 00:41:56,725
Speaker 1: get to the end of our life, we think, could

845
00:41:56,725 --> 00:42:00,045
Speaker 1: I have reached one more person with a gospel? You know,

846
00:42:00,325 --> 00:42:02,605
Speaker 1: and have what kind of a life have we lived?

847
00:42:02,685 --> 00:42:05,725
Speaker 1: R you know, coming back to Saving Private right in

848
00:42:06,045 --> 00:42:08,885
Speaker 1: So I love movies that have kind of a takeaway

849
00:42:08,965 --> 00:42:13,605
Speaker 1: message end ahead. No, Yeah, Pee's Big Circle.

850
00:42:15,365 --> 00:42:17,245
Speaker 2: Absolutely, I think you nailed it.

851
00:42:18,325 --> 00:42:20,045
Speaker 4: Nailed it was on the tip of my tongue.

852
00:42:20,365 --> 00:42:24,205
Speaker 2: Yeah, I do like a good laugh, don't get me wrongy.

853
00:42:23,125 --> 00:42:27,765
Speaker 3: Python, Holy Grail, you know the Killer Rabbit always, I

854
00:42:27,765 --> 00:42:28,725
Speaker 3: will never turn that off.

855
00:42:29,045 --> 00:42:30,685
Speaker 4: Some call me.

856
00:42:31,605 --> 00:42:34,965
Speaker 3: The Wizard hot Rod when he had just fallen down

857
00:42:35,005 --> 00:42:37,685
Speaker 3: the Yeah, that's so cinematic Casablanca.

858
00:42:38,005 --> 00:42:39,685
Speaker 4: I think it's just close to a perfect movie.

859
00:42:40,045 --> 00:42:43,965
Speaker 3: Yeah, so good, and I love there will be blood

860
00:42:44,645 --> 00:42:47,245
Speaker 3: pta film. Paul Thomas Anderson, who just did you know

861
00:42:47,365 --> 00:42:49,045
Speaker 3: one Battle? I haven't seen that one.

862
00:42:48,925 --> 00:42:51,765
Speaker 2: But I have Interstellar is one of your top Interstellar?

863
00:42:51,885 --> 00:42:53,525
Speaker 4: Yeah, I could. I saw that.

864
00:42:53,525 --> 00:42:55,205
Speaker 3: That's the only movie that I've seen three times, and

865
00:42:55,325 --> 00:42:56,845
Speaker 3: when it was out in the final in the theater,

866
00:42:57,565 --> 00:42:59,565
Speaker 3: I just kept going back. It was the only film

867
00:42:59,565 --> 00:43:02,485
Speaker 3: that I saw with multiple people, and after each showing

868
00:43:02,525 --> 00:43:05,285
Speaker 3: of it, we had like three hour conversations afterwards, just

869
00:43:06,045 --> 00:43:07,725
Speaker 3: picking it apart and talking about it.

870
00:43:07,725 --> 00:43:08,885
Speaker 4: It was just so fascinating.

871
00:43:09,165 --> 00:43:09,364
Speaker 1: Yeah.

872
00:43:09,365 --> 00:43:12,045
Speaker 2: I got goosebumps when you mentioned about Oscar Schindler. When

873
00:43:12,085 --> 00:43:15,245
Speaker 2: I was in Israel in twenty sixteen, I had an

874
00:43:15,285 --> 00:43:18,405
Speaker 2: opportunity to lay a rock on Oscar Scher's grave in Jernshalem.

875
00:43:18,445 --> 00:43:21,325
Speaker 1: The Lives He said, Oh my goodness, it's amazing. You know,

876
00:43:21,365 --> 00:43:23,445
Speaker 1: one movie that really moved me profoundly when I was

877
00:43:23,485 --> 00:43:27,805
Speaker 1: a kid was ben Her Yes, and you know, I

878
00:43:27,845 --> 00:43:30,805
Speaker 1: had no background in the church, but when I saw

879
00:43:30,845 --> 00:43:35,005
Speaker 1: those scenes of Christ, which are interesting because the director

880
00:43:35,045 --> 00:43:37,565
Speaker 1: never showed the face of Christ, and there was a

881
00:43:37,605 --> 00:43:41,685
Speaker 1: certain musical score that would play whenever Jesus was appearing.

882
00:43:42,285 --> 00:43:46,765
Speaker 1: And then you know when he helped spind Her with

883
00:43:46,885 --> 00:43:49,765
Speaker 1: the water, and then later ben Her is there as

884
00:43:49,885 --> 00:43:52,405
Speaker 1: Christ is carrying the cross and he tries to do

885
00:43:52,485 --> 00:43:56,765
Speaker 1: the same and then kind of them believing towards the end.

886
00:43:57,125 --> 00:43:59,485
Speaker 1: I was so moved by that. Yeah, and he kind

887
00:43:59,525 --> 00:44:02,364
Speaker 1: of set things in the motion for me to hear

888
00:44:02,445 --> 00:44:06,125
Speaker 1: the gospel. Yeah. Wow, because I saw cinematic Jesus and

889
00:44:06,445 --> 00:44:09,645
Speaker 1: I wished I could know that Jesus, but he's just

890
00:44:09,685 --> 00:44:12,565
Speaker 1: a figure in a film. And I remember I came

891
00:44:12,605 --> 00:44:15,125
Speaker 1: out of seeing that film when they re released it

892
00:44:15,165 --> 00:44:18,245
Speaker 1: in the theater, and so I came out of the

893
00:44:18,285 --> 00:44:21,565
Speaker 1: movie and a couple of people walked by and they said, hey, man,

894
00:44:21,685 --> 00:44:24,885
Speaker 1: Jesus loves you, it says prior to my conversion, and

895
00:44:24,925 --> 00:44:26,765
Speaker 1: I made it connect him for the first time of

896
00:44:26,805 --> 00:44:31,085
Speaker 1: my life. Jesus in film Jesus in real life, these

897
00:44:31,125 --> 00:44:34,205
Speaker 1: people have a relationship with you. Is that possible? Yeah,

898
00:44:34,445 --> 00:44:36,685
Speaker 1: so it was sort of setting the stage. That's the

899
00:44:36,725 --> 00:44:38,805
Speaker 1: power of a film. Oh yeah, so I think of

900
00:44:38,925 --> 00:44:42,005
Speaker 1: the power of your film, which is far more overt

901
00:44:42,565 --> 00:44:47,165
Speaker 1: and has actual beautiful sermonic material in it and really

902
00:44:47,285 --> 00:44:49,884
Speaker 1: takes it to the next level. Who knows what God

903
00:44:49,925 --> 00:44:50,964
Speaker 1: could do with it. Yeah.

904
00:44:51,045 --> 00:44:53,245
Speaker 2: No, and Greg, thank you for that. And you know,

905
00:44:53,285 --> 00:44:57,485
Speaker 2: it's if the Son of God, you know, who had

906
00:44:57,525 --> 00:45:00,685
Speaker 2: three and a half years to share what the kingdom

907
00:45:00,685 --> 00:45:04,205
Speaker 2: of Heaven is and he chose powables and storytelling. Yes,

908
00:45:04,885 --> 00:45:07,525
Speaker 2: there is an pointing on the storyteller. Yes, And if

909
00:45:07,525 --> 00:45:10,805
Speaker 2: we can move people's hearts towards truth through the power

910
00:45:10,845 --> 00:45:13,325
Speaker 2: of story, it's not going to be a head knowledge

911
00:45:13,365 --> 00:45:15,165
Speaker 2: that they will go out and use. It's going to

912
00:45:15,205 --> 00:45:17,485
Speaker 2: be heart and it's going to move them. And I

913
00:45:17,525 --> 00:45:20,405
Speaker 2: believe that that's I think there's an anointing and power

914
00:45:20,725 --> 00:45:22,444
Speaker 2: happening right now with the storytellers.

915
00:45:22,565 --> 00:45:22,725
Speaker 1: Yes.

916
00:45:23,365 --> 00:45:25,844
Speaker 2: In music, you know, and all the arts, I think

917
00:45:25,845 --> 00:45:28,565
Speaker 2: they're being redeemed. The word redemption is one of my

918
00:45:28,565 --> 00:45:31,365
Speaker 2: favorite words. It's to buy something back that was stolen

919
00:45:31,405 --> 00:45:35,245
Speaker 2: or taken away, And how dare the devil? How dare

920
00:45:35,325 --> 00:45:36,884
Speaker 2: he steal art from us?

921
00:45:37,045 --> 00:45:37,365
Speaker 1: Yes?

922
00:45:37,485 --> 00:45:40,525
Speaker 2: Right, and so let's get out there with films and

923
00:45:40,605 --> 00:45:44,485
Speaker 2: banners and songs and anthems that change the world because

924
00:45:44,805 --> 00:45:46,245
Speaker 2: of the message of the love of Christ.

925
00:45:46,405 --> 00:45:50,285
Speaker 1: Yes, here would be my word to musicians and filmmakers.

926
00:45:51,165 --> 00:45:54,285
Speaker 1: You have an extraordinary talent to reach people, to touch

927
00:45:54,325 --> 00:45:57,364
Speaker 1: them in ways that some of us preachers maybe can't

928
00:45:57,405 --> 00:46:01,925
Speaker 1: touch them. But use your platform for the gospel. You know,

929
00:46:02,485 --> 00:46:05,925
Speaker 1: as we mentioned earlier, there's power in the mess of

930
00:46:05,965 --> 00:46:09,365
Speaker 1: the Gospel. Don't be ashamed of it. And I appreciate

931
00:46:09,405 --> 00:46:11,445
Speaker 1: the fact that you are not ashamed of the Gospel

932
00:46:11,485 --> 00:46:15,205
Speaker 1: of Christ. And sometimes in Christian films, I feel that

933
00:46:15,325 --> 00:46:18,405
Speaker 1: they could elevate it more and they could step forward,

934
00:46:18,525 --> 00:46:21,085
Speaker 1: be more bold. I'd say the same of Christian music.

935
00:46:21,565 --> 00:46:24,325
Speaker 1: You know, when we saw Christian music born, it wasn't

936
00:46:24,325 --> 00:46:27,925
Speaker 1: called contemporary Christian music. We just called it Jesus music.

937
00:46:28,325 --> 00:46:30,605
Speaker 1: And it's interesting to note that many of the songs

938
00:46:30,645 --> 00:46:35,005
Speaker 1: were evangelistic in nature. In other words, they were talking

939
00:46:35,285 --> 00:46:38,685
Speaker 1: to the secular culture about what Christ had done for them,

940
00:46:39,405 --> 00:46:41,685
Speaker 1: Like one of the songs that says, we're all gathered

941
00:46:41,685 --> 00:46:44,405
Speaker 1: here because we all believe if there's a doubter or

942
00:46:44,405 --> 00:46:46,805
Speaker 1: in the crowd, we ask you not to leave. Give

943
00:46:46,805 --> 00:46:49,884
Speaker 1: a listen to the story, hear the message that I bring.

944
00:46:50,125 --> 00:46:51,965
Speaker 1: So it was sort of like, let me tell you

945
00:46:52,085 --> 00:46:54,525
Speaker 1: my story. And I don't see that so much in

946
00:46:54,645 --> 00:46:57,205
Speaker 1: Christian music today. I'd like to see more of that.

947
00:46:57,645 --> 00:47:00,725
Speaker 1: Talk to the culture about how Christ changed your life,

948
00:47:00,965 --> 00:47:03,884
Speaker 1: how He can change their life. Same with film, Yes,

949
00:47:04,165 --> 00:47:08,245
Speaker 1: do it beautiful cinema. You have to produce art that

950
00:47:08,445 --> 00:47:12,645
Speaker 1: is believable and watchable. But having said that, get the

951
00:47:12,645 --> 00:47:15,685
Speaker 1: gospel in it, and that is a powerful combination. And

952
00:47:15,765 --> 00:47:18,645
Speaker 1: you guys did it in a great awakening. Thank you

953
00:47:18,685 --> 00:47:19,085
Speaker 1: so much.

954
00:47:19,125 --> 00:47:19,405
Speaker 4: Thank you.

955
00:47:19,485 --> 00:47:21,645
Speaker 2: I'll tell you if there's anything that can make my

956
00:47:21,725 --> 00:47:25,485
Speaker 2: skin crawl, it's when Christians think that there's a formula

957
00:47:25,965 --> 00:47:28,525
Speaker 2: or that there's a fad, you know, to chase in

958
00:47:29,085 --> 00:47:31,805
Speaker 2: film or in music or whatever. And it's if we

959
00:47:31,885 --> 00:47:34,364
Speaker 2: created a certain way, we're gonna, you know, do well

960
00:47:34,365 --> 00:47:36,965
Speaker 2: at the box office. And that's the fear of man. Yes,

961
00:47:37,045 --> 00:47:40,565
Speaker 2: that's in contrast to the fear of God. And so

962
00:47:40,965 --> 00:47:44,005
Speaker 2: for us to have be responsible someday to go to

963
00:47:44,085 --> 00:47:46,325
Speaker 2: our father and say, what did you do with your resources.

964
00:47:46,525 --> 00:47:48,165
Speaker 2: What did you do with the time and the money

965
00:47:48,205 --> 00:47:50,165
Speaker 2: you had to make that film a Great Awakening? Did

966
00:47:50,165 --> 00:47:52,085
Speaker 2: you do it to please man? You know how to be

967
00:47:52,125 --> 00:47:54,884
Speaker 2: safe and not offend or not be too Christian with it?

968
00:47:55,165 --> 00:47:56,565
Speaker 2: Or are you going to please me with it? And

969
00:47:56,605 --> 00:47:58,925
Speaker 2: we answered it with the second We're like, Lord, what

970
00:47:59,005 --> 00:48:01,205
Speaker 2: do you want We're going to do. God ideas not

971
00:48:01,325 --> 00:48:03,045
Speaker 2: good ideas, And that's where we're at.

972
00:48:03,645 --> 00:48:07,165
Speaker 1: God ideas are not good idea. That's right. Well, listen,

973
00:48:07,285 --> 00:48:13,925
Speaker 1: Joshua Spielberg, Joshua Hank Cans you call yourself, and Jonathan Blair,

974
00:48:14,365 --> 00:48:17,365
Speaker 1: thanks for this time, and we pray that God blesses

975
00:48:17,445 --> 00:48:20,805
Speaker 1: this film and touches many lives all around the country

976
00:48:20,845 --> 00:48:23,565
Speaker 1: and ultimately around the world. Thank you for making a

977
00:48:23,645 --> 00:48:26,845
Speaker 1: Great Awakening, and I encourage all of you to go

978
00:48:26,885 --> 00:48:29,844
Speaker 1: out and see it. Support it in your theater, take

979
00:48:29,885 --> 00:48:32,285
Speaker 1: people with you that don't know the Lord, and let's

980
00:48:32,285 --> 00:48:34,285
Speaker 1: see what the Lord will do with it. Because, as

981
00:48:34,325 --> 00:48:37,805
Speaker 1: I said earlier, the fame of revival spreads the flame

982
00:48:37,885 --> 00:48:42,485
Speaker 1: of revival. This is a true revival story that was

983
00:48:42,565 --> 00:48:46,405
Speaker 1: pivotal in the establishment of the United States of America.

984
00:48:46,885 --> 00:48:49,205
Speaker 1: And we're praying that God will do it again.

985
00:48:49,645 --> 00:48:50,365
Speaker 4: Man Amen,