“Widow’s Might” Gets Theatrical Release

(April 9, 2009)  It’s always a great coup to see small independant films making it into theatrical Distribution.  Daniel Millican has four feature length independent films under his belt so we asked him if it was possible to buy your way onto a local theater screen for a showing or a weekend.  His response:

Yes, although to get 100 screens is a monumental undertaking.  The term in film is called “Four Walling”.  It’s where you strike a deal with a theater to show your movie.  Sometimes you just buy the theater outright (by the four walls).  Or you do a revenue share with the theater. 

For a one-off screening, it’s not too difficult.  But to do any kind of multi-day run gets more complicated-especially if you plan to screen during Friday or Sat night.  The theaters have contracts with the studios to show it on so many screens etc… They don’t mind bending the rules for a one off deal, but Warner Bros will get pretty mad if a theater cuts their tentpole movie on a Friday night so that some indie film can be shown.

It took a lot of time and energy to do 7 screens around Dallas and Houston last October for Imposter for a Sun-Thur run.  I can’t imagine 100 screens and trying to get bodies in the seats.  It’s tough.  

When we talked with Millican it was concerning a recent release called, “The One Lamb” which, even though it was not technically ready for a theatrical release, was accepted into Carmike Cinema’s Independent Film Series which gave the film screen time in about 100 theaters across the U.S.

Now, the award-winning film called “The Widow’s Might by 19-year-old John Moore and his best friend David Heustis is following that same path.

(EXCERPT) On April 13, 19-year-old director John Moore’s independent film, “The Widow’s Might” will open in 94 U.S. cities across the Midwest and South as part of Carmike Cinemas and Dalton Pictures’ Independent Film Series. 

“The Widow’s Might”, is a feature length musical comedy produced by nineteen-year-old John Moore and his best friend David Heustis, and is the film that won the largest cash prize in the country, 101,000 dollars, at this year’s San Antonio Independent Christian Film Festival.

“The Widow’s Might” is the story of two aspiring filmmakers with the dream of winning a national film festival. When an elderly widow faces losing her home due to escalating property taxes, the filmmakers take action, along with their friends. Through political smears and on-set mishaps, the filmmakers face challenge after challenge.

Geoff Botkin, veteran film producer and film festival judge, marked “The Widow’s Might” as a milestone in Christian filmmaking. “‘Widow’s Might’ is a groundbreaking film, even though it is a first feature film from a teenaged director. It is one of the most original high-concept features in recent film history. The story is innovative in ways that can inspire the next generation of filmmakers, many of whom are looking for ways to break out of tired cinematic cliches.” Botkin also added, “This film attempted and achieved a wholesome family message, illustrating the difficult-to-capture functional family environment…”

Read the full article on the Christian Newswire

Theatrical locations and times are listed at the film website,www.WidowsMightTheMovie.com. 

For more information, or to schedule an interview with John Moore, please call 214-934-6850 or e-mail Jennifer Langen atContact@TheWidowsCry.com.

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Christian College Shines in Pro-Life Movie

(April 7, 2009) This article was posted to the ChristianNewswire.com recently.

(EXCERPT) Patrick Henry College in Northern Virginia is the real-life setting for a new Christian film that presents a stunning legal strategy for overturning Roe v. Wade. Released nationally on DVD by Provident Films, the movie “Come What May” tackles the immorality of abortion while accurately portraying the College as a legal debate powerhouse. 

The College is an apt setting for “Come What May,” a pro-life, pro-family film that tells the story of two PHC students who find moral strength to “do the right thing” at the national moot court championship. They put their title hopes at risk by arguing to overturn the 1973 Supreme Court decision, Roe vs. Wade, while unveiling a legitimate legal framework for doing so.

Released in late March by Provident Films, the nation’s most successful distributor of Christian films such as “Fireproof” and “Facing the Giants,” “Come What May” has garnered praise in nationwide screenings. The movie’s strong pro-life message deals frankly with abortion, issues of marriage, courtship, and traditional values. 

Read the full article at the Christian Newswire

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168 Film Festival Winners

(April 4, 2009) Nathaniel Bluedorn of ChristianFilmmakers.org posts this article about the results of this year’s 168 Film Festival.

(EXCERPT) A film about a retired naval pilot flummoxed over his long-absent wife’s sudden return and whether he and his daughters should let her back onboard their family, soared here tonight at the Bible-verse-illustrating 168 Film Festival, winning six awards, including Best Film, Scriptural Integration, Supporting Actor, Cinematography, Editor and Sound Design.

“You put someone like Wes with a DP like Brandon and a cast and crew like theirs and you’re just gonna get magic, as we can see from ‘Up In The Air,’” Ware continued.  “The power of the verses in the 168 shorts Wes has made over the years comes through every time.  As the 168 attracts more and more talent, the grandeur of God’s Word is reinforced and re-experienced.”

Follow the whole story at ChristianFilmmakers.org

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Trailer Released: The Penny

From the production team at Filmweavers.com comes the story of “The Penny.”  Here’s a recent update from their blog

Production of “The Penny” has arrived at yet another mile marker on it’s continuing journey with the completion of the second rough cut!  The edit and pacing of the film is continuing to be refined and polished and it’s surprising to see how much better it’s already looking compared to the first rough cut.

But we aren’t pulling over for a pit stop or celebrating yet.  We continue to push ahead with the editing work and preparations for our upcoming pick-up shooting this spring.

For those of you who may be unfamiliar with the project, here is a brief synopsis:

“The Penny” is a drama/thriller that follows a series of seemingly insignificant events in a number of people’s lives. Hidden amidst their “bigger” problems, these disconnected pieces of their lives go unnoticed until they begin to fit together in a totally unexpected way. Suddenly these strangers are thrust together by what some would call luck, chance, fate, coincidence, or even destiny. But is it something even bigger than that?

Here’s the trailer:

The Penny Teaser from Filmweavers LLC on Vimeo.

The Business Plan: Market Analysis

So you’ve finally optioned/written that script that’s going to change life as we know it in the film industry.  Now it’s time to do some honest homework because your potential investors will  want to know many, many things before they write that check.  One of which is, “How have similar style and budget films performed in the theater?”

Wired4Film is here to help!  By spending some time browsing the interwebs (especially BoxOfficeMojo.com and IMDb.com) we were able to compile a list of theatrically released Independent films with budgets ranging from $60K to $10M.  

Don’t be mislead.  These are not all Faith-based films by any stretch of the imagination.  But, if a film on this list has a bunch of similar qualities (genre, locations, casting requirements) to what your script is, then it’s easier to forecast similar results.  Not that your film will achieve similar results, but right now the burden of proof is on you to show that your idea could conceivably work in the marketplace.  

Unless your investor is just looking for a write-off.  In which case, just grab your buds,  a handicam from school and knock that thing out over your Spring break.

These films are listed in order of their Production Budgets.  It’s also a fair assumption that because they were shown in the Theater, that half of those Box Office Receipts stay with the Distributor.  Just something to think about.  It’s not all gravy.

FILM	DISTRIB	Released	Theater Gross	Budget
End of the Spear	Rocky Mountain Pictures	Jan 2006	11,748,661	$10M
Omega Code	Providence	Oct 1999	12,614,346	$8M
Pulp Fiction	Miramax	Oct 1994	213,928,762	$8M
Monster	Newmarket	Dec 2003	60,378,584	$8M
Juno	Fox Searchlight	Dec 2007	143,495,265	$7.5M
Crash	LionsGate	May 2005	52,772,342	$6.5M
Diary of a Mad Black Woman	LionsGate	Feb 2005	50,633,099	$5.5M
Bottle Rocket	Sony/Colombia	Feb 1996	1,040,879	$5M
Lost in Translation	Focus Features	Sept 2003	119,723,856	$4M
Waiting For Guffman	Sony Classics	Jan 1997	2,923,982	$4M
Loves Abiding Joy	The Bigger Picture	Oct 2006	252,726	$3M
Hustle & Flow	Paramount Classics	July 2005	20,654,561	$2.8M
Garden State	Fox Searchlight	July 2004	35,825,316	$2.5M
Thr3e	The Bigger Picture	Jan 2007	1,008,849	$2.4M
Get on the Bus	Sony	Oct 1996	5,754,249	$2.4M
The Last Sin Eater	The Bigger Picture	Feb 2007	$388,390	$2.2M
Boys Don’t Cry	Fox Searchlight	Oct 1999	11,540,607	$2M
November	Sony Classics	July 2005	192,186	$1.5M
Lock, Stock & Two Smoking Barrels	Gramercy	Mar 1999	3,753,929	$1M
Junebug	Sony Classics	August 2005	2,678,691	<$1M
Saints & Soldires	Excel	Aug 2004	1,310,470	$780,000
Mercy Streets	Providence	Oct 2000	173,599	$600,000
Open Water	Lions Gate	August 2004	30,610,863	$500,000
Fireproof	Samuel Goldwyn	Sept 2008	33,456,317	$500,000
Brick	Focus	Mar 2006	2,075,743	$475,000
Napoleon Dynamite	Fox Searchlight	June 2004	46,118,097	$400,000
Facing the Giants	IDP	Sept 2006	10,178,331	$100,000
Blair Witch	Artisan	July 1999	140,539,099	$60,000

The One Lamb Film Opens in Theaters

(March 11, 2009) AlphaOmegaNews.org has a news story about a church team from Charlotte , NC that is trying to ride the coat tails of the successful “Fireproof” and releasing their new film “The One Lamb” in Theaters across 34 states.  

(EXCERPT) The One Lamb, an emotionally gripping film produced by University City United Methodist Church over the past three years, is set to hit select cities nationwide on March 30, 2009. A small church in Charlotte, North Carolina, very far removed from the scene in Hollywood, will release the feature film with a remarkably wide spread launch, opening in 100 theaters in 34 states across the U.S..

An inspirational story of hope and redemption, The One Lamb captures the elements of life transforming films such as Chariots of Fire and the recent Fireproof, telling the poignant story of the rise and fall of a promising campaign manager/lawyer named Jackson Price, played by Bryan Forrest, who is battling cancer and competes in the New York City Marathon as part of a personal spiritual rebirth. Although Price is facing an enormous battle against the cancer rapidly destroying his life, his biggest struggle is the fight against the mistakes of his past. Price is befriended by a cranky, retired pastor who helps find redemption for his past failures and hope for his future.

The movie is written and directed by visionary Bryan Forrest who turned to a grassroots marketing plan similar to the recent blockbuster hits “Fireproof” and “Facing the Giants,” having developed the film over the past three years. “Every part of me, creatively and spiritually, was consumed by this story,” he said. “I had to get it out or I was going to go crazy.”

The article can be read in full at AlphaOmegaNews

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Advice From the Inside: Robert McKee

Robert McKee is one of the premiere Hollywood scriptwriting gurus.  He is studied by writers and wannabe’s from coast to coast and around the world.  He has a 3-day seminar which is also condensed into his must-read book, “Story” which explores the roots of narrative and myth.

In a recent interview, he had some great nuggets for writers.  For starters, a little timesaver I like to call weighing your idea’s worth and merit.  

Q: What are the critical questions that a writer should be asking prior to crafting a story? 

Robert McKee: Beyond imagination and insight, the most important component of talent is perseverance-the will to write and rewrite in pursuit of perfection. Therefore, when inspiration sparks the desire to write, the artist immediately asks: Is this idea so fascinating, so rich in possibility, that I want to spend months, perhaps years, of my life in pursuit of its fulfillment? Is this concept so exciting that I will get up each morning with the hunger to write?  Will this inspiration compel me to sacrifice all of life’s other pleasures in my quest to perfect its telling? If the answer is no, find another idea. Talent and time are a writer’s only assets. Why give your life to an idea that’s not worth your life? 

If it sounds like writing is hard work and requires a lot of blood, sweat and tears, it’s only because it is…and it does.  Otherwise you end up with subpar work.  How do you recognize subpar work?

Q: What are the typical weaknesses you find in scripts?

Robert McKee: Three that jump to mind: 

Dull scenes.  For reasons of weak conflict or perhaps the poor shaping of beats of behavior, the scene falls flat.  The value-charged condition of the characters’ lives at the tale of the scene is exactly what it was at the head of the scene.  Activity never becomes story action.  In short, nothing actually happens, nothing changes. 

Awkward exposition.  To convenience the writer, characters tell each other what they all already know so the eavesdropping reader/audience can gather in the information.  This false behavior causes the reader/audience to lose empathy.    

Clichés.  The writer recycles the same events and characters we have seen countless times before, thinking that if he or she writes like other writers have, they too will find success. 

There is also the temptation, especially amongst the God squad, to feel like our God-inspired first draft is the 10 Commandments, set in stone and nothing can be changed or rewritten because “that’s the way God gave it to me.”  

In truth, the first draft is usually about 60% where the final story needs to be…if you’re a seasoned writer.  Welcome to the creative process.  The story may be God-inspired but it’s poured through an earthen vessel so there’s much work to be done, to reshape it back into perfection.

Q: How important is the process of rewriting?

Robert McKee: Rewriting is to writing what improvisation is to acting.  Actors improvise scenes countless ways in search of the perfect choice of behavior and expression.  The same is true for writers.  All writers, no matter their talent, are capable of their best work only ten percent of the time.  Ninety percent of any writer’s creative efforts are not his or her best work.  To eliminate mediocrity, therefore, fine writers constantly experiment, play with, toss and turn ideas for scenes tens of different ways, rewriting in search of the perfect choice.  The perfect choice, of course, is dependent of the writer’s innate sense of taste.  The unfortunate truth is that most struggling writers are blind to their banality. 

Ouch.  Blind to our own banality?  What is he saying?  That we don’t realize our own work is boring stuff?  Not MY script!  My script is gonna change the WORLD.  It’s gonna set the bar by which all other scripts are written.  That’s why I write in Courier 20 font….because Courier 12 just can’t contain all the goodness.

Right?  Riiiiiiight.  Now hop down off the pedestal and go rewrite!

Q: In the Story Seminar you say the best way to succeed in Hollywood is by writing a script of surpassing quality. If you have a great script, how do you get past the Hollywood system so that your script ends up in the right hands? 

Robert McKee: If you write a lousy script, you haven’t a prayer.  But if you create a work of surpassing quality, Hollywood is still [a longshot].  Because unless you can network a back pathway to an A-list actor or top-shelf director, you must sign with an agent.  And the first thing to understand about literary agents is that although they may or may not have taste, they all have careers.  Selling scripts is how they put gas in their BMWs.  What’s more, like everybody else, they want their gas money today.  So they have little or no patience for spending months or even years submitting your work, one submission at a time, to dozens of production companies, and then waiting forever to hear back.  They want to read work they can sell and sell fast.  So the quality of the writing absolutely matters, but what any particular agent feels is fresh vs. clichéd, arty vs. commercial, hot or cold, who can say?  Luck is a big part of a writer’s life. 

[But] to get started, first rent every recent film and television show that is somehow like your script.  Write down the names on the writing credits.  Call the WGA, ask for the representation office and find out who agents these writers.  This creates a list of agents who have actually made money selling scripts very much like the one you’ve written.  Next, go to Amazon.com and buy The Hollywood Creative Directory and find the addresses of these agents. Do not call them.  Instead, write an intriguing letter about you and your story and send it to every agent on your list.  Wait, God knows how long, to hear back.  If your letter captivates curiosity, and if you send out enough of them, the odds are that a few agents will actually want to read what you’ve written.  When that happens, pray that your work is of surpassing quality.     

And actually this is sage advice whether you’re knocking at Universal or Cloud Ten Pictures, Fox Faith or Sherwood Baptist.  Do your homework.  Find the right person.  Ask if they want to read it.  If not, don’t send it.  If so, there’s a door that has just opened up by a crack….not enough for you, but just enough for your script of AWESOMENESS that’s going to change the world and redefine filmmaking forever.

And then what?

Q: What’s the best advice you can give for emerging screenwriters today? Is there one thing that you could say is most important when trying to break in?

Robert McKee: Go to the gym and work out.  Writing burns you out, but then you have to get up off your tired [butt], put your script under your arm and knock on every door ’til your knuckles bleed.  That takes the energy of a five-year old, the concentration of a chess master, the faith of an evangelist and the guts of a mountain climber.  Get in shape.

Find out more about Robert McKee’s STORY seminar on his site.

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Kindle Threatens Comic Book Business

Alright Filmmakers.  We’re branching out with this Advertising Age YouTube clip to expand our horizons because distribution methods continue to change and we need to be in the know about what is effecting our Cousin Industries (Music Biz and Publishing Biz) because it will affect us in the Film biz.

Comic books and Graphic Novels are great for filmmakers because when you think about it, they’re storyboards.  It’s a gigantic shortcut, because a lot of the previsualization process has already been done.  In fact, creating a Graphic Novel from your script can be a great way to have a sale-able Product in hand, as well as a fantastic pitch product to Networks and Studios.

Of course, this works best in the very visually driven Fantasy or Sci-fi worlds…less so if your script is a “Fried Green Tomatoes” or talking heads piece.   But, I digress….

Arab Christians Premiere Film in Syria

from “CURIOUS DEVELOPMENT IN SYRIA”
by Joel C. Rosenberg

(WASHINGTON DC – MAR. 2, 2009)  On Monday night, something remarkable is going to take place in the capital of Syria. More than 1,100 senior Syrian government officials, journalists, business leaders and religious leaders — Muslim, Catholic and evangelical Christian — will attend the gala premiere of a major motion picture entitled Damascus, written, produced and directed by entirely Arab Christians.  The film, part documentary and part narrative drama, tells the story of how Saul of Tarsus — one of the first prominent persecutors of Christ-followers in the Holy Land — himself became a follower of Jesus during a miraculous encounter with Jesus on the road to Damascus and eventually became known as  the Apostle Paul, going on to write much of the New Testament.

It is unheard of in the Middle East to have a major Christian film about the events of the New Testament debut in a Muslim-majority country run by the secular Ba’ath Party, much less have the premiere supported and attended by senior government officials. That’s what makes the Damascus docu-drama project so extraordinary. What’s more, the film is hosted and narrated by one of the most well-known Syrian TV newscasters who explains the historic events of the life of Paul in the very places where those events occurred. Numerous events in Paul’s life are then dramatized using famous Syrian Muslim actors playing the part of Jews and Jewish followers of Jesus.

After the premiere, the film is expected to be launched throughout Syria and the rest of the Muslim world. Sources indicate senior Catholic leaders in the Vatican recently reviewed the film and were favorable. 

The FULL ARTICLE can be read HERE.

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About Joel C. Rosenberg

 

Joel C. Rosenberg is the New York Times best-selling author of The Last Jihad, The Last Days, The Ezekiel Option, The Copper Scroll, andEpicenter: How the Current Rumblings in the Middle East Will Change Your World, with more than one million copies in print. He is also the founder and president of the Joshua Fund, a nonprofit charitable and educational organization that provides humanitarian relief for victims of war and terrorism in Israel and the Muslim world.

W4F Classics: Art Talk of Peculiar People

(Digging through some more Archives we found this Article.  Again, an insightful piece from at least a decade ago that is a little thicker theologically speaking than we generally prefer, but has some interesting points on God & Art.  Enjoy.  W4F EDITOR)

Art Talk of Peculiar People
by Charlie Jones

 

              What will be written on your gravestone?  Ever want to make a difference?  Ever put your head on the pillow at night and wonder if your world will be better as a result of your existence, efforts and talents?  Ever look at our society and wonder how things got so bad, so quickly?  Ever want to change the world?  Well, that is what the Arts can do when used and appreciated under the rule of a mighty God.

 

            My desire is to give you a glimpse of God’s love in the Arts.  Artists – men and women who have tuned their hearts to be receptive to God – teach us how hope and wholesomeness can speak to a dying culture.

            The scenario is typical.  Tortured artist cuts off ear in fit of passion and depressive feelings of rejection.  Okay, perhaps the ear stuff is not that typical, but the artist in torment is a common, if not stereotypical, caricature.  Who understands this kind of angst and raging emotion?  Who can identify with someone who cries one moment and laughs the next; someone who screams, curses, doubts, fears then vows courageously to walk the line of fire – where angels fear to tread?  Who can relate to one whose inner life resembles a tornado of thoughts, ideas, insights, hopeful imaginings and despairing fears? Who can relate?  From the beginning of time it has been the artist who has attempted to look at life in ways others don’t – perhaps to see deeper, sharper or fuzzier, broader or narrower – to see life from various vantage points, so that we may all delight in this God-given thing called Art, hence to live life more robustly.

 

WHAT IS GOD LIKE?

 

            We must first be very, very basic and ask a very simple (yet profound) question: What is God like?  After all, we are commanded to be like our Father in Heaven; therefore, if I am to imitate Him, I must know what He is like.  For the sake of time and space, I will not make this a summary and commentary on the attributes of God.  There are plenty of books out there on the subject.  But I would li8ke to focus in on the question: What is God like in relation to beauty, art story and drama?  Now it begins to get interesting, doesn’t it?  Can you think of God and how He has dealt with mankind without thinking of these ideas?

 

GOD: THE CREATOR OF BEAUTY

 

            This is the easy one!  Just look out your window (that is providing you don’t live next to Anton’s Pizza and Chainsaw Repair).  We have but to look around us in order to surmise God’s thinking and philosophy of beauty.

            Let’s go back to creation.  You must understand that God could have been very “practical” about creation.  When He made trees, He could have made one variety.  Or better yet, He could have made one variety of artificial trees that that would not die, would not need watering and would always look great.  Or perhaps He could have made stainless-steel poles with green fronds extending from them, which would have served a similar purpose as those things we know as trees.  And of course, you may extend this thinking to just about every created thing.  God could have been much more mundane and simplistic in His approach to creation.

            Obviously, and fortunately for us, God is not so boring.  He is exciting and excited about beauty, variety, wonder and life!  We have so watered down the excitement of the creation story in our minds and hearts that it is hardly worth reading.  We read God’s exclamation, “It is Good!” as if He were a USDA meat inspector stamping cattle carcasses with a droning chant “It’s not rotten…Next.”  Go reread the creation story and imagine that God, who has been planning the creation of the universe for all eternity, finally comes to the day of creation.  This three-personed God is beside Himself (no Trinitarian pun intended) with joy as He speaks all things into being.  As this marvelous creation unfolds before Him, He shouts with the sound of 10,000 thunderclaps, IT IS GOOD!”  The Father, Son and Holy Spirit dance with joy as they perform the many intricate acts of creation.

            Beauty is His trademark.  God demonstrates what His attitude is towards beauty in creation.

            Before we move on, remember that the creation we see now is cursed and is groaning to be released from the ravages of sin in order to be really beautiful again.

 

GOD & ART: THE IDENTIFICATION OF THE DIVINE

             As Israelites were delivered from Egypt and slavery, one of the natural questions that arose was: “What is this God like?” The Jews had been in captivity for hundreds of years. Their race had barely begun when they were taken in by the Egyptians as slaves.  They had not been allowed to worship as they pleased and, for most of them, the god of Abraham was only a story their parents had told them.  They had not yet encountered God in a dynamic way.  So as they come out of Egypt the longing, nagging question asserted itself as never before:  What is God like?  They, of course, had just seen this mysterious Being work many miracles for their deliverance, so their faith in the existence of God was not the question; but rather, His nature.

 

            To answer this question God instituted the building of the Tabernacle.  It is in the Tabernacle that the Israelites were to get a picture of the Divine; a holy snapshot, if you will.  Therefore, God gives absolute, detailed instructions on how the Tabernacle should be built.  And guess what…He commands that it be filled with art.  He gives prescriptions for color and light, for smells and sights.  He commands a lamp stand to be placed in the Tabernacle but He makes certain the cold practicality of men does not take over here.  He commands that the lamp stand should look like an almond tree.  And the places where the candles should go, they should look like almond buds.  Amazing!  One of the first official commands concerning worship and the house of worship includes so many details about art.

              As a matter of fact, in Exodus 31, we have the first person ever mentioned in the Bible to receive a special anointing of the Holy Spirit and, you guessed it, he is an artist.  Bezalel is given a special measure of the Spirit so that he can create the works of art that God calls for.  Looking closely at God’s anointing of Bezalel, He does not just give him deft fingers to create quality art but He also gives him wisdom and intelligence.  This is very significant in our theology of art, touching the very question of quality and purpose in our art.  Why did Bezalel need wisdom and intelligence for his artwork?  After all, he was just carving wood and fashioning bronze items.  Why would he need wisdom and intelligence for this?  Because our art is to communicate to the human heart.  We need wisdom for this monumental task.  We need intelligence to know how to use our raw materials in order to craft them and turn them into lines of communication that will resonate with the hearts and minds of others.  This is where much of modern art has lost its soul.  It cares nothing for the hearts and minds of others but rather thrusts its selfishness and its ideas on others with the violence of a switchblade attack.  Wisdom is absent and intelligence is lacking in both their behavior and their art.

            The important thing about God’s command of art and artistic designs is the intended effect.  You see you could look at the “impractical” commands of art as less than functional.  The commands concern nothing more than aesthetics and have little to do with worship or “real” life.  But that is where you would be dead wrong.  God knows our hearts.  He knows how we are made and He knows that we resonate with beauty and art.  The special art of the Temple caught the hearts of the worshippers and brought them closer to their God.  Isn’t this the ultimate purpose of life?  The chief end of man is to love God and enjoy Him forever.  God institutes art to help us achieve that goal.

 

STORY: ONE OF GOD’S COMMUNICATION FORMS

 

            We begin to learn more about God and His love of art (most especially Drama!) when we look at the manner in which He communicates to us.  The template of the Scriptures is story.  Our God is in love with story.  If it were not so then our Bibles would be just lists of commandments, rules and proverbs.  Instead, the Scriptures come alive with human dramas played out upon the Stage of Life with our God as Director.

            In 1 Corinthians 10:9-11, Paul makes an interesting point concerning the children of Israel and their trials in the desert: “We should not test the Lord, as some of them did – and were killed by snakes.  And do not grumble, as some of them did – and were killed by the destroying angel. These things happened to them as examples and were written down as warnings for us, on whom the fulfillment of the ages has come.”

            Look closely at the purpose for Israel’s trials.  Or better yet listen to the New Charlie Version of the latter part of this passage: God wrote a play: The Exodus.  Chose His characters: the Jews.  Set the stage: the desert.  And produced this immense drama for us to watch.  In watching this play we learn from their drama, their mistakes and their glories.  As we learn, we are properly warned by the Almighty not to make the same mistakes.

            God does not and has not wasted a single story of history.  I have heard it said that in heaven, we will see the Tapestry of Time spread out before us and we will be amazed at what God ahs done.  In this life, we see only the backside of the tapestry with all the knots and frayed ends.  And we see (in this life) only a couple inches of a Tapestry that is more than 20 miles long!  One day all the stories of God will come together in a beauty and a splendor such as we cannot possibly imagine.  Stories shall be the language and the praise of heaven.  Of course that is so or God would not have chosen to communicate so completely in the form of story.  Stories are His glory.  We will tell our stories in heaven.  There and then, we will have the full perspective of our stories.  We will shout and cry and weep with joy at the Story of Redemption and His grace…a story that includes us as characters in His play.  Glory! Mercy! Shouts of Praise!

              Now let’s quickly look back on your past views of God.  Has it included His love of art, beauty, story and drama?  Does this not resonate with your being?  Of course it does: You were made in His image.  Does it always resonate with the Evangelical subculture we are in?  Sadly, so often, we have chosen to instead focus on a sort of Condescending Evangelism, Theological Correctness and Political Power, rather than quietly and strongly redeeming the culture around us with art, grace and sacrifice.

 

DRAMA: GOD’S LOVE FOR MANKIND

 

            In a relationship with another person and most specifically a husband/wife relationship, the worst thing that can happen to a couple is a lack of communication.  Lack of communication is usually the foundation of all other problems in a marriage or a friendship that falls apart.  So it is with great care, love and gentleness that God chooses to communicate to us not only in the written Word but also in the acted Word.  I ask you, once again, to remember that God knows us completely and He knows how we are made, therefore drama is not an arbitrary form of communication.  It is the most effective form given the type of creatures we are.  The primary examples of God’s dramatists are the prophets.  God calls His prophets to proclaim the Word but He is also concerned that His word be proclaimed in a way the people will understand, therefore He gives the prophets mini-dramas or plays for the people to observe so that their understanding will be enlightened.  Let’s just take a few examples from the dozens of dramatic illustrations commanded by God.

            In Jeremiah 19, the prophet is told to go to a potter’s house, taking with him some elders and wise men from the people.  He is told to take a pot and smash it on the ground, telling the people that this is how god will deal with them unless they return and repent.

            In Ezekiel 4:10-12, Ezekiel is told to go to the town square and to bake bread.  However, he should not use wood as fuel for the fire; rather, he is to use human excrement.  This was an object lesson for the people to see how they have corrupted and spoiled a good thing (their relationship with God = bread) and have made it detestable with their sin (the human excrement).  Quite a dramatic example.

            Elijah on Mt. Carmel produced a huge play solely for the dramatic effect.  The sacrifice consumed by God gave us a clear indication of who wrote the script for such a drama.

            Nathan was sent to King David with a script.  His story was produced for the desired emotional response in David and thus he had a very successful run of his one-man show!

 

JESUS CHRIST: THE DRAMA OF GOD MADE FLESH

 

            We must be careful when we assign titles and intentions to Jesus as the subtitle above.  But I am convinced that, in deed, Jesus was sent here to represent the Father.  He said that if one had seen Him then one had seen the Father.  So it is no surprise to find that Jesus comes to us teaching in story.  He gives parables after parable to explain the Kingdom, the human race, the horrors of hell and the glories of heaven.  He gives dramatic illustrations over and over again.  When someone came to Jesus and asked, “What is the Kingdom of God like?”  Jesus found the nearest chalkboard and began a point-by-point lecture on the theological inferences of the Kingdom, right?  No!  He bent down, scooped up a little child and said, “THIS!  This is what the Kingdom of God is like!”  What a drama!

            Beyond the obvious illustrations given above it is also necessary to remember that the book of Job was written in an unusual manner, giving rise to the consideration that it was written to be a play of the ancient world.  Likewise, there is no question that the Song of Solomon was written as a play complete with characters and Greek Chorus.  The Bible is an outrageous book.  It is not a religious book.  It is a record or glory, sin shame, exaltation, love, lust, greed, war, grace, honor, praise, murder, betrayal, anger, adultery and redemption…to name a few.

            So, there we have it: beauty, art, story and drama.  God created art.  God loves art.  God uses art to communicate truth.  God reveals Himself through art.  And He calls us to do the same.

 

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