From Christian Book Reader magazine, March/April 2008...
A Walk on the Wild Side with John Eldredge
The Wild at Heart author gets personal about his walk with God
To many Christian men today, John Eldredge is a modern-day Joshua: a godly man with a warrior’s heart who inspires them to action. Ever since his 2001 book Wild at Heart, Eldredge’s writing has resounded with the hearts of men around the world by making it OK for them to be a Christian and still be a “guy.”
In a time of increasing gender confusion, Eldredge’s books proclaim that masculinity is not only acceptable but essential. God places in the heart of young boys the desire to become heroes and live life as an adventure, he said, encouraging them to continue that dream as men.
Since its release, Wild at Heart has had a huge effect on the American church, selling 2.9 million copies and inspiring men’s groups forming to study the book in congregations across the country.
Eldredge’s subsequent books, including Epic and Waking the Dead, deal with similar topics and have sold very well, making him one of the top Christian authors of today. In 2005, he co-wrote the book Captivating with his wife, Stasi, as the female counterpart to Wild at Heart, looking at the deepest desires of women. It has sold 1.5 million copies.
The Eldredges both work with John’s ministry, Ransomed Heart, and live in Colorado with their three sons, Sam, 18, Blaine, 16, and Luke, 14.
Eldredge recently talked to Christian Book Reader about his ministry and his latest book, Walking With God, which releases in April.
How did Walking With God come about?
John Eldredge: Well, I found myself enjoying the incredible gift of learning to hear God’s voice. At the same time, I’d share these stories with my friends about how God was speaking to me, and they’d sort of look on with a sadness that made me realize a lot of really good people haven’t been taught how to walk with God in an intimate, daily, real way—in a way that lets us hear Him speaking to us.
So what I decided to do was open up my journals from an entire year, tell a bunch of stories of what it looks like (to walk with God on a daily basis), and in those stories teach folks how to hear God’s voice and follow Him.
Was it hard to write from such a personal perspective?
Yeah, in a way. It’s pretty vulnerable, opening your life up for other people to look in on. But I think the best way to learn is by listening to someone else’s story.
When Stasi and I were first married, we used to love to hang out with couples who had been married for 20 years or more. We learned so much from hearing their stories, the good and the bad. You probably learn as much from their mistakes as you do their successes.
That’s what I wanted to do with Walking With God, just invite people into what it looks like to walk intimately with God and to find the life He really offers. I figured it was worth the risk.
Does this book give a more detailed look at your views on the spiritual life?
Exactly. It’s probably the most practical book that I’ve written, yet in some ways, if books like Epic and Sacred Romance were sort of the big picture, then this is down in the details. This is in all the ins and outs of life.
It has stories about stuff like having an argument with your kids. What do you do? How do you walk with God in that? What do you do when you’re praying and you don’t hear anything from God? What do you do when you lose the family dog? It’s a book that is down in where we all live life.
How did you come to Christ?
It’s a wild story; I’d better tell the short version. I was not raised in a Christian home. When I became a teenager I tried just about everything that was available to American teenagers in the ’70s—the drug culture and New Age and Eastern mysticism. I was really hungry and searching spiritually.
When I was 19, I came to Christ pretty directly in the sense that I didn’t have anybody share Christ with me. I saw one of my buddies become a Christian, and I was real intrigued by that.
I was also reading a New Age book that had Jesus in it, but they were trying to equate Jesus with all these other religious teachers. You know, He’s just like Buddha, and so on. It was amazing because in that moment something in me said: “No, that’s not true. He’s different. Jesus is different.”
One night in my bedroom I just prayed something like, “Jesus, I really need help, and I think You are the one to help me.” That was my salvation prayer. And it took, because six months later I was a completely different person.
How did you meet your wife?
We actually met in high school. We were both in the same drama class. She was in charge of taking attendance, and I was always cutting class. So, I needed to charm her to get her on my side, and she actually did think I was charming.
We didn’t actually date in high school, though. Part of the sweet story of that is neither of us were Christians in high school. Then at 19, when I became a Christian, I led Stasi to Christ. It was after she accepted Christ that we kind of hit this romantic interest in each other and started dating then.
What was it like to write Captivating with her?
I was a little nervous about how that was going to go. There’s enough to navigate in any marriage without throwing a book in there. But it ended up being an incredible experience. To encourage one another, to share what we were learning and to teach Stasi what I’ve learned about writing was a joy. I hope we get to do it again.
Why do you place so much emphasis on stories?
Story is the language of the heart. If you want to talk to somebody, one of the first things you start telling one another are stories. Facts just don’t do it. “How was your weekend?” “It was fine.” It’s not enough. You want them to tell you a story.
Then you look at the scriptures and you see, well, that’s how God speaks. He gives us a whole book of stories and Jesus teaches in stories. The reason for that is not entertainment. It’s actually the way human beings understand things.
Seriously, isn’t that the most memorable part of the sermon? Wouldn’t you rather go see a movie than read the phone book? It’s all story.
The problem is modern Christianity reads like a tax form. That’s why people are so disconnected from it, because it’s just rules, tips, doctrine and principles, and we’ve lost the whole story of it.
You’ve said before that it’s important to know what stories we like because it tells us a lot about ourselves. What are your favorite stories?
For movies, I love A River Runs Through It. I also love the novel it was taken from. Obviously I love Braveheart—I talked about that a lot in Wild at Heart. I also love World War II movies like Saving Private Ryan, Band of Brothers.
For books, I like to read a whole variety of things. I love military history. I love reading some of the older Christian saints, back to Thomas à Kempis and St. John of the Cross. C.S. Lewis said reading classics is like “opening ourselves to the clean breezes of the centuries.” I also love Lewis and George McDonald.
Because I love the outdoors, I love outdoor narratives like Into Thin Air, Jon Krakauer’s book about climbing Everest.
How have your books been received outside of the U.S.?
Phenomenal, unbelievable, it’s just exploding. It’s the coolest thing to see.
We just got a letter at our ministry from an 80-year-old nun who lives in Poland. Captivating had just come out in Polish, and she was writing to tell us that for the first time in her life she understands the love of God. That’s just incredible. That’s what we’re in this business for, isn’t it?
You know what’s really fun is that they’re using Wild at Heart in the Amazon. I mean, if you think there’s a group of men who kind of get that, who don’t really need it, they would be it. But what’s amazing is the universal nature of the human heart.
All over the world, all across time and history the human heart is the same. The things we long for, the things we fear, the things that wound us, it’s all the same. Which is beautiful because that’s the way God made us.
What does Ransomed Heart Ministries do?
We’re a message ministry. What we do is we hold conferences and retreats here in the U.S. and around the world. We put out a lot of teaching resources.
People who read my books might want more or might want to go deeper on some particular subject, like the masculine heart or prayer, so we have a lot of audio resources. We’re doing what we can to help people go deeper.
How often do you get to go camping?
Not enough. The thing we’re all fighting right now is the crazy pace of life and busyness, and you have to be deliberate about that.
I have three boys, and that’s what gives me the impetus and the encouragement to get out. Just to go out and do special things together. Luke and I went mountain climbing this summer, and Blaine and I went bow hunting for elk this fall.
What’s your favorite place to go?
Oh, the Tetons. We go there every summer as a family. It’s a deep tradition now in the Eldredge household. We go there, we camp for a week or two, we canoe the Snake River, swim in the lakes, do some hiking. It’s incredible
Monday, June 30, 2008
"Confessions of a Former Member of Bedside Baptist," from Excel Magazine
From Excel Magazine, Spring 2008...
"Confessions of a Former Member of Bedside Baptist"
During my first semester of college I found the most comfortable place to attend on Sunday mornings. It was a warm, cozy spot where nobody gave you a nasty look if you showed up late or took off early for lunch. Unfortunately, after several months I discovered that my bed wasn’t doing much for my spiritual life.
It’s not that I didn’t want to go to church, it’s just that I liked staying up with my buddies on Saturday nights. And I liked to sleep. And let’s be honest, if you miss a week here or there, it’s not that big of a deal.
Actually, I was even good my first few weeks and tried out some churches. But I didn’t really like them. They weren’t as good as my home church, and I didn’t have anyone to go with. When facing the buzzing alarm at 8:30 on a Sunday morning, the choice between listening to a sub-par sermon in a lonely pew or a few more hours with my head on a pillow felt like choosing between a health shake and a milk shake. I rarely turn down milk shakes.
After a while, however, I looked at my life and realized that my lack of a church home was really affecting me—and not in a good way. No matter how many “Christian” activities you do, nothing realigns your heart to and lifts your eyes from the dullness of life like a worship service with a body of believers.
Eventually, after a long and somewhat painful process, I found a congregation that, by the end of college, felt more like home than my church from high school. So, to spare you the same long and painful process, here are five tips to finding the right church at college.
Wake Up!
It may seem obvious, but just waking up on Sunday mornings overcomes the main hurdle to finding a good church home in college. Mom’s not banging on your door, and God doesn’t have attendance sheets or tests like your professors do to motivate you. Plus, you’ll never have more opportunities for things to do on a Saturday night for the rest of your life.
Finding a church is a numbers game in many ways—you’ve got to keep going until you get a hit. If you’re only going to church every few weeks, you’re not giving yourself many chances.
Different people have different methods for waking up. Some will actually go to bed at a decent hour on Saturdays. I could never get that to work, so I discovered the joy of Sunday afternoon naps. Whatever your method, getting out of bed is half the battle.
No Excuses
The two most common justifications for Christians not going to church in college are: (1) “there are no good churches around here” and (2) “I don’t need church for my Christian faith.”
Typically the only people that say “there are no good churches around here” are the people who have only visited two or three. This is a fantastic excuse because it gets you out of church while making you seem spiritually superior.
The truth is that there are almost always a few decent churches around, and even if there aren’t, you’ll still get more out of a less-than-stellar service than not going at all.
The second excuse —that Christians don’t need church—is trendy right now. There’s even a small bit of truth in it, because your faith isn’t measured by your church attendance, and you can surround yourself with a great community of believers outside of a church—friends, Christian college groups, Bible studies. It’s easy to think this way, because when I was in college my friends had a bigger impact on helping me grow spiritually than my church.
But here’s the thing: the only people I’ve ever known who say they don’t have to go to church are the people who really need to.
Shop Around
College is the time when we shake off our parents’ Christianity and make our faith our own. It’s a time to explore what you truly believe and why you believe it.
Learning about different churches is part of this. At first you’ll hate it, especially if you loved your church back home. Everything is different and you don’t know anybody.
But for me, after a while I found that I loved trying out different forms of worship. I grew up in an Episcopal church with readings, liturgy and communion every week. So to sit through a breezy Baptist service where you’re in and out in an hour and 15 minutes was liberating. I went to a charismatic Vineyard church, a hardcore Calvinist Presbyterian church, and—for one week—a Church of God in Christ with an almost entirely black congregation. Good times.
The more variety you experience, the more you’ll realize what you like.
Bring Your Friends
This is so crucial, because if you don’t you’re just going to feel alone at every church you visit. You need to have a familiar face with you when you step in the door.
Some people get together and try out a bunch of churches together. This is great for keeping each other accountable, but it’s usually hard to keep the same schedule.
I just visited all the different churches my friends would go to. If someone was attending a church I hadn’t been to yet, I’d tag along. It makes all the difference in the world if you have someone to sit next to.
Stay in Town
Many freshmen make the mistake of going home every weekend and it ruins their whole year. Going home on the weekends not only gives you no chance to find a new church home, but it also makes you miss out on the primary time to build relationships.
You can always tell who went home a lot by sophomore year, because they’re the ones without any good friends.
During my first semester, I didn’t go home for 3 months even though I only lived two hours away. My mom almost killed me, but during those weekends I met my best friends—the guys who are going to be the groomsmen in my wedding.
"Confessions of a Former Member of Bedside Baptist"
During my first semester of college I found the most comfortable place to attend on Sunday mornings. It was a warm, cozy spot where nobody gave you a nasty look if you showed up late or took off early for lunch. Unfortunately, after several months I discovered that my bed wasn’t doing much for my spiritual life.
It’s not that I didn’t want to go to church, it’s just that I liked staying up with my buddies on Saturday nights. And I liked to sleep. And let’s be honest, if you miss a week here or there, it’s not that big of a deal.
Actually, I was even good my first few weeks and tried out some churches. But I didn’t really like them. They weren’t as good as my home church, and I didn’t have anyone to go with. When facing the buzzing alarm at 8:30 on a Sunday morning, the choice between listening to a sub-par sermon in a lonely pew or a few more hours with my head on a pillow felt like choosing between a health shake and a milk shake. I rarely turn down milk shakes.
After a while, however, I looked at my life and realized that my lack of a church home was really affecting me—and not in a good way. No matter how many “Christian” activities you do, nothing realigns your heart to and lifts your eyes from the dullness of life like a worship service with a body of believers.
Eventually, after a long and somewhat painful process, I found a congregation that, by the end of college, felt more like home than my church from high school. So, to spare you the same long and painful process, here are five tips to finding the right church at college.
Wake Up!
It may seem obvious, but just waking up on Sunday mornings overcomes the main hurdle to finding a good church home in college. Mom’s not banging on your door, and God doesn’t have attendance sheets or tests like your professors do to motivate you. Plus, you’ll never have more opportunities for things to do on a Saturday night for the rest of your life.
Finding a church is a numbers game in many ways—you’ve got to keep going until you get a hit. If you’re only going to church every few weeks, you’re not giving yourself many chances.
Different people have different methods for waking up. Some will actually go to bed at a decent hour on Saturdays. I could never get that to work, so I discovered the joy of Sunday afternoon naps. Whatever your method, getting out of bed is half the battle.
No Excuses
The two most common justifications for Christians not going to church in college are: (1) “there are no good churches around here” and (2) “I don’t need church for my Christian faith.”
Typically the only people that say “there are no good churches around here” are the people who have only visited two or three. This is a fantastic excuse because it gets you out of church while making you seem spiritually superior.
The truth is that there are almost always a few decent churches around, and even if there aren’t, you’ll still get more out of a less-than-stellar service than not going at all.
The second excuse —that Christians don’t need church—is trendy right now. There’s even a small bit of truth in it, because your faith isn’t measured by your church attendance, and you can surround yourself with a great community of believers outside of a church—friends, Christian college groups, Bible studies. It’s easy to think this way, because when I was in college my friends had a bigger impact on helping me grow spiritually than my church.
But here’s the thing: the only people I’ve ever known who say they don’t have to go to church are the people who really need to.
Shop Around
College is the time when we shake off our parents’ Christianity and make our faith our own. It’s a time to explore what you truly believe and why you believe it.
Learning about different churches is part of this. At first you’ll hate it, especially if you loved your church back home. Everything is different and you don’t know anybody.
But for me, after a while I found that I loved trying out different forms of worship. I grew up in an Episcopal church with readings, liturgy and communion every week. So to sit through a breezy Baptist service where you’re in and out in an hour and 15 minutes was liberating. I went to a charismatic Vineyard church, a hardcore Calvinist Presbyterian church, and—for one week—a Church of God in Christ with an almost entirely black congregation. Good times.
The more variety you experience, the more you’ll realize what you like.
Bring Your Friends
This is so crucial, because if you don’t you’re just going to feel alone at every church you visit. You need to have a familiar face with you when you step in the door.
Some people get together and try out a bunch of churches together. This is great for keeping each other accountable, but it’s usually hard to keep the same schedule.
I just visited all the different churches my friends would go to. If someone was attending a church I hadn’t been to yet, I’d tag along. It makes all the difference in the world if you have someone to sit next to.
Stay in Town
Many freshmen make the mistake of going home every weekend and it ruins their whole year. Going home on the weekends not only gives you no chance to find a new church home, but it also makes you miss out on the primary time to build relationships.
You can always tell who went home a lot by sophomore year, because they’re the ones without any good friends.
During my first semester, I didn’t go home for 3 months even though I only lived two hours away. My mom almost killed me, but during those weekends I met my best friends—the guys who are going to be the groomsmen in my wedding.
Sunday, June 29, 2008
"Lights, Camera, Fiction!" from Christian Book Reader
From Christian Book Reader magazine, Jan/Feb 2008...
Lights, Camera, Fiction!
Christian storytellers fill the big screen
Right now in Hollywood, the world of Narnia is more appealing than a tin of Turkish delight.
The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe was the second highest grossing movie of the year in 2005. The sequel, Prince Caspian, is one of the most hotly anticipated movies of 2008, and now a film version of one of C.S. Lewis’ other books, The Screwtape Letters, is underway.
Films based on Lewis’ beloved fantasy series are leading the way into the world of movies for books from the Christian market, and many others are following.
In addition to Lewis’ books, top Christian authors such Ted Dekker, Frank Peretti and Karen Kingsbury all have multiple projects in development, classics such as Milton’s Paradise Lost are being produced, and many more authors are finding a place for their novels in the DVD market.
Revealing a Market
This surge of interest in Christian literature has a number of factors. Probably the most important is the bigger trend in the entertainment industry to cater to the Christian market, which was kick-started by the success of The Passion of The Christ. The smash hit movie that grossed more than $1 billion worldwide revealed an underappreciated market and opened all kinds of doors.
“I think that Hollywood and New York have recognized that we didn’t create a market, we revealed a market,” said Jerry Jenkins, best-selling author of the apocalyptic “Left Behind” series, who has had several of his books turned into films.
Karen Kingsbury, a best-selling women’s author, has two movies releasing next year, Like Dandelion Dust and Gideon’s Gift. She agrees with Jenkins.
“There’s a lot of us out there saying that we don’t want a more and more twisted view of entertainment,” Kingsbury said. “We’re out there, middle America, we’re raising families, we’re going to church on Sundays, we’re trying to live a life that’s honoring to God, and we’re trying to have fun while we’re doing it. We need something to watch, and we have money.”
Another element is the continuing success of Christian fiction in the general marketplace. While sales of many book genres have been down in recent years, Christian novels continue to do well and, with their increased visibility, continue to get into more hands.
“As a practical fact, Christian books are becoming more and more widely available,” said Chip Flaherty, executive vice president of Walden Media, which makes the Narnia movies. “That availability and that exposure has people interested.”
Many would argue that not only has the availability improved, so has the quality.
“I think Christian publishers and writers are writing more mainstream. They’ve really stepped away from the ‘having to preach’ mentality,” said Christian author Robert Liparulo. “There are better writers, and there are more of them writing for Christian publishing houses now than there were just 10 years ago.”
Liparulo is a fairly new author on the scene who has had a decent amount of success in the Christian thrillers market with books like Comes a Horseman and Germ. He has several books in the early stages of development to become major motion pictures.
A Critical Time
Of course, for this trend to continue, movies made from Christian books not only have to make it into theaters, but they also have to sell tickets.
While some films have hit it big with audiences—such as The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe and Amazing Grace—others have not fared as well on the big screen.
Producer and industry insider Phil Cooke believes the discrepancy lies in the fact that the Christian audience is too big for one particular brand of movie.
“The reason The Passion of The Christ was so successful is because it was the central core story of our faith that everybody can pretty much agree on,” said Cooke, the president of Cooke Pictures. “But, once you veer off that central, core story and you start doing a suspense thriller or a family drama or a comedy, then all bets are off. You’re not going to get that huge, giant audience.”
Figuring out how to reach this powerful but elusive audience is crucial to Christian filmmakers now that they have their foot in the door. Jenkins said that right now Christians have an open window, but that it’s a “dangerous spot” to be in.
“If people start doing schlacky stuff and it fails, all of a sudden Hollywood’s on to something else, and we’ve missed it,” he said.
Ralph Winter, a Christian and the producer of the “X-Men” and “Fantastic Four” films, has also helmed a number of Christian movies, such as Thr3e and Frank Peretti’s The Visitation, and will be working on The Screwtape Letters next. He agrees that this is a critical time.
“The stakes are very high as we tackle books that have a high profile in Christian circles, like the Screwtape book,” he said. “We think we have one shot to get it right, and there will be lots of critics waiting for us.”
Ted Baehr, publisher of Movieguide, is worried that the move toward adapting Christian books will actually hurt Christian films because, in his words, “books make lousy movies.”
“The fact is that all novels are difficult to make into movies, whether it’s secular, Christian or whatever else,” he said.
He’s worried that if these movies don’t turn out well, the studios will blame the Christianity of the movies, rather than the difficulty of turning a book into a film.
However, others disagree with Baehr’s opinion that adapting films from Christian books will create bad movies.
Winter said that adapted movies have a built-in audience from the book that will be interested in the movie as soon as they hear about it. Liparulo, who has worked on both novels and screenplays, agreed that it’s difficult to do a good adaptation—particularly if the book is complex—but said that just because it’s difficult doesn’t mean it can’t be done.
Most experts believe the key is simple, and that is to make sure they’re producing quality products.
Books and DVDS
For the original books themselves—the stories these movies are coming from—the impact of movies can be huge.
Alicia Mey, vice president of marketing for Zonderkidz, said that sales of The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe took off as soon as the movie’s trailer released. Many people wanted to read the book before they saw the film. Once the movie hit theaters, sales of the book were usually 10 times higher than normal—sometimes 20.
“One of the things we’ve found is that there’s a huge correlation between the two,” Mey said. “People who read a book will go see the movie, and people who see a movie will read the book.”
That’s the kind of inclusive audience filmmakers look for when they consider movies that release straight to DVD or television, increasingly the route for Christian films.
“For a lower budget project—a niche kind of thing—sometimes going straight to DVD is the most effective way to do it,” Cooke said. “You’re able to target your audience a little bit more effectively.”
Christian fiction writer Beverly Lewis’ novel The Redemption of Sarah Cain was originally planned as a theatrical release, but ended up going to television and then DVD. A number of Janette Oke’s novels, such as Love’s Unending Legacy, have been smash hits on the Hallmark Channel.
Jerry Jenkins now has his own studio, Jenkins Entertainment, which produces movies for DVD release. His son, Dallas, directs and produces the films, such as Midnight Clear starring Stephen Baldwin.
Even the movies that haven’t done very well at the box office, such as Ted Dekker’s Thr3e and The Nativity Story, have had strong DVD sales.
Lights, Camera, Fiction!
Christian storytellers fill the big screen
Right now in Hollywood, the world of Narnia is more appealing than a tin of Turkish delight.
The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe was the second highest grossing movie of the year in 2005. The sequel, Prince Caspian, is one of the most hotly anticipated movies of 2008, and now a film version of one of C.S. Lewis’ other books, The Screwtape Letters, is underway.
Films based on Lewis’ beloved fantasy series are leading the way into the world of movies for books from the Christian market, and many others are following.
In addition to Lewis’ books, top Christian authors such Ted Dekker, Frank Peretti and Karen Kingsbury all have multiple projects in development, classics such as Milton’s Paradise Lost are being produced, and many more authors are finding a place for their novels in the DVD market.
Revealing a Market
This surge of interest in Christian literature has a number of factors. Probably the most important is the bigger trend in the entertainment industry to cater to the Christian market, which was kick-started by the success of The Passion of The Christ. The smash hit movie that grossed more than $1 billion worldwide revealed an underappreciated market and opened all kinds of doors.
“I think that Hollywood and New York have recognized that we didn’t create a market, we revealed a market,” said Jerry Jenkins, best-selling author of the apocalyptic “Left Behind” series, who has had several of his books turned into films.
Karen Kingsbury, a best-selling women’s author, has two movies releasing next year, Like Dandelion Dust and Gideon’s Gift. She agrees with Jenkins.
“There’s a lot of us out there saying that we don’t want a more and more twisted view of entertainment,” Kingsbury said. “We’re out there, middle America, we’re raising families, we’re going to church on Sundays, we’re trying to live a life that’s honoring to God, and we’re trying to have fun while we’re doing it. We need something to watch, and we have money.”
Another element is the continuing success of Christian fiction in the general marketplace. While sales of many book genres have been down in recent years, Christian novels continue to do well and, with their increased visibility, continue to get into more hands.
“As a practical fact, Christian books are becoming more and more widely available,” said Chip Flaherty, executive vice president of Walden Media, which makes the Narnia movies. “That availability and that exposure has people interested.”
Many would argue that not only has the availability improved, so has the quality.
“I think Christian publishers and writers are writing more mainstream. They’ve really stepped away from the ‘having to preach’ mentality,” said Christian author Robert Liparulo. “There are better writers, and there are more of them writing for Christian publishing houses now than there were just 10 years ago.”
Liparulo is a fairly new author on the scene who has had a decent amount of success in the Christian thrillers market with books like Comes a Horseman and Germ. He has several books in the early stages of development to become major motion pictures.
A Critical Time
Of course, for this trend to continue, movies made from Christian books not only have to make it into theaters, but they also have to sell tickets.
While some films have hit it big with audiences—such as The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe and Amazing Grace—others have not fared as well on the big screen.
Producer and industry insider Phil Cooke believes the discrepancy lies in the fact that the Christian audience is too big for one particular brand of movie.
“The reason The Passion of The Christ was so successful is because it was the central core story of our faith that everybody can pretty much agree on,” said Cooke, the president of Cooke Pictures. “But, once you veer off that central, core story and you start doing a suspense thriller or a family drama or a comedy, then all bets are off. You’re not going to get that huge, giant audience.”
Figuring out how to reach this powerful but elusive audience is crucial to Christian filmmakers now that they have their foot in the door. Jenkins said that right now Christians have an open window, but that it’s a “dangerous spot” to be in.
“If people start doing schlacky stuff and it fails, all of a sudden Hollywood’s on to something else, and we’ve missed it,” he said.
Ralph Winter, a Christian and the producer of the “X-Men” and “Fantastic Four” films, has also helmed a number of Christian movies, such as Thr3e and Frank Peretti’s The Visitation, and will be working on The Screwtape Letters next. He agrees that this is a critical time.
“The stakes are very high as we tackle books that have a high profile in Christian circles, like the Screwtape book,” he said. “We think we have one shot to get it right, and there will be lots of critics waiting for us.”
Ted Baehr, publisher of Movieguide, is worried that the move toward adapting Christian books will actually hurt Christian films because, in his words, “books make lousy movies.”
“The fact is that all novels are difficult to make into movies, whether it’s secular, Christian or whatever else,” he said.
He’s worried that if these movies don’t turn out well, the studios will blame the Christianity of the movies, rather than the difficulty of turning a book into a film.
However, others disagree with Baehr’s opinion that adapting films from Christian books will create bad movies.
Winter said that adapted movies have a built-in audience from the book that will be interested in the movie as soon as they hear about it. Liparulo, who has worked on both novels and screenplays, agreed that it’s difficult to do a good adaptation—particularly if the book is complex—but said that just because it’s difficult doesn’t mean it can’t be done.
Most experts believe the key is simple, and that is to make sure they’re producing quality products.
Books and DVDS
For the original books themselves—the stories these movies are coming from—the impact of movies can be huge.
Alicia Mey, vice president of marketing for Zonderkidz, said that sales of The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe took off as soon as the movie’s trailer released. Many people wanted to read the book before they saw the film. Once the movie hit theaters, sales of the book were usually 10 times higher than normal—sometimes 20.
“One of the things we’ve found is that there’s a huge correlation between the two,” Mey said. “People who read a book will go see the movie, and people who see a movie will read the book.”
That’s the kind of inclusive audience filmmakers look for when they consider movies that release straight to DVD or television, increasingly the route for Christian films.
“For a lower budget project—a niche kind of thing—sometimes going straight to DVD is the most effective way to do it,” Cooke said. “You’re able to target your audience a little bit more effectively.”
Christian fiction writer Beverly Lewis’ novel The Redemption of Sarah Cain was originally planned as a theatrical release, but ended up going to television and then DVD. A number of Janette Oke’s novels, such as Love’s Unending Legacy, have been smash hits on the Hallmark Channel.
Jerry Jenkins now has his own studio, Jenkins Entertainment, which produces movies for DVD release. His son, Dallas, directs and produces the films, such as Midnight Clear starring Stephen Baldwin.
Even the movies that haven’t done very well at the box office, such as Ted Dekker’s Thr3e and The Nativity Story, have had strong DVD sales.
"Letters to Myself," from Excel Magazine
From Excel Magazine, Spring 2007...
"Letters to Myself"
A recent college grad reflects on what he wishes he'd known years ago
Dear freshman me,
Forget about high school. There, I said it.
It may have been wonderful, it may have been awful, but either way it’s over and it’s time to move on. You can keep in touch with your old friends during the holidays and on Facebook. Just don’t be the guy who goes home every weekend, or you’ll be the guy without any friends during the week.
Meet as many people as you can, and when you like a group, stick with them. Make both Christian and non-Christian friends. College is a great time to get to know people you never would otherwise. And definitely live in the dorms—it’s the best and fastest way to get to know people for who they really are.
Have a lot of fun. You may not realize it, but the classes you take this year are actually pretty easy. You’ll have more free time this year than you ever will—probably for the rest of your life. So enjoy it.
Please, please, don’t try to date. You’re still growing into your own skin, and you don’t know yet what you really want in a girlfriend. Years from now, you’ll fondly remember the time you got with the guys.
Make your faith your own. You no longer have your parents and youth pastor to help you know what to do in each situation, so you need to mature and take the next step in your relationship with Christ.
No one is going to make you go to church or spend time with the Lord. This is why it’s crucial to find a group of solid Christian friends who will keep you accountable. It’s probably the most important thing you can do this year.
Try out all the campus ministries and small groups, and see which one fits you best. Get plugged into a local church. Find one where you can make friends of all ages. You’re going to be around your peers the rest of the week, so seeing some younger or older faces on Sunday morning could be really refreshing.
Finally, take advantage of your summers. You only have three of them, so make them count. Do things that will either build your faith or your career, or take advantage of once-in-a-lifetime opportunities. Mission trips, summer projects, internships and study abroad programs—there are so many options!
Dear sophomore me,
It’s great to be back, but everything has changed. You don’t live in the same place. You never see some of your old friends. And there’s all these new, wide-eyed freshmen walking around. Get used to it. Things change every year in college. People move, graduate, start dating or break up. I guarantee you that your gang from freshmen year will have changed some already.
Now that you know some people, make sure you choose your roommates wisely. You can either live with non-Christian or Christian friends. There are advantages and disadvantages to both.
Living with non-Christians can be the best evangelism opportunity of your life, but it can also be very challenging. It can drag you down and put you in tough situations. If you’re going to live with non-Christians, it’s crucial that you meet regularly with your Christian friends to stay uplifted and accountable.
Living with Christians can be an amazing opportunity for spiritual growth. However, it’s easy to get stuck in the Christian bubble and neglect your friendships with non-Christians. Don’t let this happen. Your goal is to be a light for Christ in the world, but you can’t do that unless you’re in the world.
Regardless of where you live, take advantage of your Christian friendships. You’ll learn more about your faith from talks with them than from anything else during college. Find an older believer who is willing to disciple you, and help out some of those wide-eyed freshmen.
And take advantage of your summer.
Dear junior me,
It’s time to start growing up, spiritually and career-wise. Stick with a major, or else you’ll be an undergrad for six years. Get realistic about finding a job or going to grad school, because by this time next year it will be too late.
Classes are consuming a lot of your time now, so learn to work hard at them. You’re going to have a job sooner than you realize, so get serious about dropping those bad work habits.
Continue to make your faith your own. Question why you believe certain things, and then search for answers in the Word or among older believers. Meet daily with the Lord in prayer. I can’t overemphasize how important prayer will be to you during college.
Start investing in younger believers. You may not feel like you’re very mature in your faith, but you’ll be surprised at how much you have to share with younger students, and how powerfully God can work through you.
Invest more time with your best friends. It’s better to have a few truly meaningful relationships than to be exceedingly popular. Try to talk with them about what’s really going on in your lives. It helps if you plan to meet for lunch, because that is specifically setting aside time to talk about significant things, rather than just everyday stuff.
And take advantage of your summer.
Dear senior me,
Before you get here, I hope you’ve put yourself in a position to get a job when you graduate. It will make this year a lot less stressful.
This is your last year, so enjoy it. It will be a weird, surreal time. You’ve been going to school your entire life, and pretty soon it’s all going to be over. Take advantage of the opportunities that college still offers you. Go on road trips, stay up late talking to your friends, soak in the last bit of that campus atmosphere. Look forward to the future, but live in the present.
You’re really old and wise now, so keep sharing with your younger friends, and keep spending quality time with your best friends. Get together and pray for your futures, that God will guide you and provide for you, and that you will never stop pursuing him.
Whatever you do in college, never stop pursuing Christ, because nothing else in these four years, or the rest of your life, will fulfill you the way the love of God will.
Sincerely,
Chris
"Letters to Myself"
A recent college grad reflects on what he wishes he'd known years ago
Dear freshman me,
Forget about high school. There, I said it.
It may have been wonderful, it may have been awful, but either way it’s over and it’s time to move on. You can keep in touch with your old friends during the holidays and on Facebook. Just don’t be the guy who goes home every weekend, or you’ll be the guy without any friends during the week.
Meet as many people as you can, and when you like a group, stick with them. Make both Christian and non-Christian friends. College is a great time to get to know people you never would otherwise. And definitely live in the dorms—it’s the best and fastest way to get to know people for who they really are.
Have a lot of fun. You may not realize it, but the classes you take this year are actually pretty easy. You’ll have more free time this year than you ever will—probably for the rest of your life. So enjoy it.
Please, please, don’t try to date. You’re still growing into your own skin, and you don’t know yet what you really want in a girlfriend. Years from now, you’ll fondly remember the time you got with the guys.
Make your faith your own. You no longer have your parents and youth pastor to help you know what to do in each situation, so you need to mature and take the next step in your relationship with Christ.
No one is going to make you go to church or spend time with the Lord. This is why it’s crucial to find a group of solid Christian friends who will keep you accountable. It’s probably the most important thing you can do this year.
Try out all the campus ministries and small groups, and see which one fits you best. Get plugged into a local church. Find one where you can make friends of all ages. You’re going to be around your peers the rest of the week, so seeing some younger or older faces on Sunday morning could be really refreshing.
Finally, take advantage of your summers. You only have three of them, so make them count. Do things that will either build your faith or your career, or take advantage of once-in-a-lifetime opportunities. Mission trips, summer projects, internships and study abroad programs—there are so many options!
Dear sophomore me,
It’s great to be back, but everything has changed. You don’t live in the same place. You never see some of your old friends. And there’s all these new, wide-eyed freshmen walking around. Get used to it. Things change every year in college. People move, graduate, start dating or break up. I guarantee you that your gang from freshmen year will have changed some already.
Now that you know some people, make sure you choose your roommates wisely. You can either live with non-Christian or Christian friends. There are advantages and disadvantages to both.
Living with non-Christians can be the best evangelism opportunity of your life, but it can also be very challenging. It can drag you down and put you in tough situations. If you’re going to live with non-Christians, it’s crucial that you meet regularly with your Christian friends to stay uplifted and accountable.
Living with Christians can be an amazing opportunity for spiritual growth. However, it’s easy to get stuck in the Christian bubble and neglect your friendships with non-Christians. Don’t let this happen. Your goal is to be a light for Christ in the world, but you can’t do that unless you’re in the world.
Regardless of where you live, take advantage of your Christian friendships. You’ll learn more about your faith from talks with them than from anything else during college. Find an older believer who is willing to disciple you, and help out some of those wide-eyed freshmen.
And take advantage of your summer.
Dear junior me,
It’s time to start growing up, spiritually and career-wise. Stick with a major, or else you’ll be an undergrad for six years. Get realistic about finding a job or going to grad school, because by this time next year it will be too late.
Classes are consuming a lot of your time now, so learn to work hard at them. You’re going to have a job sooner than you realize, so get serious about dropping those bad work habits.
Continue to make your faith your own. Question why you believe certain things, and then search for answers in the Word or among older believers. Meet daily with the Lord in prayer. I can’t overemphasize how important prayer will be to you during college.
Start investing in younger believers. You may not feel like you’re very mature in your faith, but you’ll be surprised at how much you have to share with younger students, and how powerfully God can work through you.
Invest more time with your best friends. It’s better to have a few truly meaningful relationships than to be exceedingly popular. Try to talk with them about what’s really going on in your lives. It helps if you plan to meet for lunch, because that is specifically setting aside time to talk about significant things, rather than just everyday stuff.
And take advantage of your summer.
Dear senior me,
Before you get here, I hope you’ve put yourself in a position to get a job when you graduate. It will make this year a lot less stressful.
This is your last year, so enjoy it. It will be a weird, surreal time. You’ve been going to school your entire life, and pretty soon it’s all going to be over. Take advantage of the opportunities that college still offers you. Go on road trips, stay up late talking to your friends, soak in the last bit of that campus atmosphere. Look forward to the future, but live in the present.
You’re really old and wise now, so keep sharing with your younger friends, and keep spending quality time with your best friends. Get together and pray for your futures, that God will guide you and provide for you, and that you will never stop pursuing him.
Whatever you do in college, never stop pursuing Christ, because nothing else in these four years, or the rest of your life, will fulfill you the way the love of God will.
Sincerely,
Chris
Saturday, June 28, 2008
"Glorious Memories," from The Gainesville Sun
"Glories Memories," features section cover from The Gainesville Sun, Sept. 2, 2006
"A Man of Many Faces" from The Gainesville Sun
"A Man of Many Faces," features section cover from The Gainesville Sun, July 16, 2006.
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