God's Words and Our Responsibility

Over the past few months I have been reading from the prophets in the Old Testament. I have been challenged by much of what I have read, but this passage from Ezekiel chapter 3 really hit me between the eyes: 

17-19 "Son of man, I’ve made you a watchman for the family of Israel. Whenever you hear me say something, warn them for me. If I say to the wicked, ‘You are going to die,’ and you don’t sound the alarm warning them that it’s a matter of life or death, they will die and it will be your fault. I’ll hold you responsible. But if you warn the wicked and they keep right on sinning anyway, they’ll most certainly die for their sin, but you won’t die. You’ll have saved your life." (The Message)

This is a huge responsibility that God laid on Ezekiel. He was commanded to not keep anything that God had revealed to himself. If he did, he would be held responsible for the death of the people. 

What is our responsibility with the words of God that we have been freely given? What are we to do with the information we have about the love of God and his Son, Jesus? If we have heard and have experienced it, can we keep it to ourselves? Jesus makes this clear in Matthew 28:18-20: 

Jesus, undeterred, went right ahead and gave his charge: “God authorized and commanded me to commission you: Go out and train everyone you meet, far and near, in this way of life, marking them by baptism in the threefold name: Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. Then instruct them in the practice of all I have commanded you. I’ll be with you as you do this, day after day after day, right up to the end of the age.” (The Message)

People all around us are dying in their sin. And, like Ezekiel, God has asked us to share with the dying people around us the information that can keep them from that death. 
WOW! Am I doing that? Am I truly proclaiming life? 

Here at IMM we are proclaiming life to those that watch or listen to our programming. I feel it is such a privilege to be a part of this proclamation, but what about me personally, in my relationships with others, as I interact with people on a daily basis? 

Please join with me in this prayer as we rub shoulders with people who look like they are alive on the outside, but yet their souls are dying on the inside: 

Jesus, use my words and my life to proclaim life today. Give me discernment and wisdom as I encounter people today who need to know the love and life you want to freely give them. Holy Spirit, speak through me! Amen. 

The Roman Era and the Christian Era

Living near Madrid has given me the opportunity to go to the National Archeological Museum of Spain. When I looked at the artifacts from the time of Roman rule, there were metal idols that homeowners placed in their gardens for good luck. Sculptors made stone idols to position by the streets in hope that they would bring good fortune to the passersby. Parents gave an amulet to their young son to wear around his neck for protection.

The next display after the Roman era was from the Christian era. A plaque by a table said that type of church furnishing often had a shelf for holy relics. An object from an ancient church had an inscription intended to protect Lucius and bring him prosperity. I marveled at the similarity between the Roman era and the Christian era. In place of the gods, artisans began to make images of saints. I gained the impression that in general during both eras, a relationship with God did not count but, rather, the convenience and prosperity of individuals and families.

We can smugly say we know better than that, but Jesus said to take up our cross daily because as humans who forget, we need to continue to evaluate our priorities in light of the cross.  Have materialism and the quest for entertainment, comfort, and pleasure become our idols? As we consider our priorities, these statistics from Bible.org give us food for thought:

• Ninety-five percent of all Christians have never won a soul to Christ.
• Eighty percent of all Christians do not consistently witness for Christ.
• Less than two percent are involved in the ministry of evangelism.
• Seventy-one percent do not give toward the financing of the Great Commission.

The Cutting of the Tsiiyéél--Triumph Over Trauma

I recently finished editing the documentary entitled, “The Cutting of the Tsiiyéél - Triumph Over Trauma” and it is now available for you to view at: https://vimeo.com/171600705. (The password is: Susie)

What’s it about? In 1879, the Indian Boarding School system was founded. Here was their stated purpose:

“...that all the Indian there is in the race should be dead. Kill the Indian in him, and save the man . . .”

"Strip children of their culture and remove them from the influence of their families and nations.”

Pretty brutal, but not only was this the United State's policy, Canada and Australia also followed this flawed line of reasoning.
           
Susie Silversmith went through the often horrendous Bureau of Indian Affairs residential school system. Susie’s story will be used to help others, who went through the same system, come to grips with their experiences and find faith in God, who has given Susie eternal hope. In addition, it will help Native American young people understand what many of their parents and grandparents went through. 

Please pray for God to use Susie’s story to bring hope, forgiveness, and healing to those who went through the boarding school system. May it also bring understanding to the children and grandchildren who suffered their own forms of neglect and abuse because of what their parents and grandparents went through.

http://www.10xproductions.org/

International Media Monastary?

The Book of Kells (left) is an illuminated manuscript containing the four Gospels. This shimmering work of art was created  in an Irish monastery during the 8th century in a time known as the Dark Ages. The Roman Empire had already fallen and Barbarians fought one another and raided across Europe. That this book should survive and project its wonder to us today is somewhat stunning, and yet, the Word never returns void.

Further South in Spain, the arrival of the Muslims signaled the Apocalypse to a learned Spanish Monk who vividly illustrated the Book of Revelation. The golds, reds, and warm flames within the Beatus (right) are no less stunning than the illuminated manuscript in Ireland. Both were created in order to pass along the Light of God’s hope and love to a world which, in their creators’ minds, was about to be buried in further persecution and confusing darkness.

Thomas Cahill, author of “How the Irish Saved Civilization” argues that “these holy men single-handedly refounded European civilization throughout the (European) continent." If you have had the chance to gaze at either of these manuscripts, one cannot help but notice the passion, precision and devotion that went into these two priceless works.

Here at International Media Ministries, dedicated workers who value the Word of God labor with the same passion, precision and devotion, illuminating the boundless love of Christ for the world to see.

It can be argued that our world is once again about to be buried under broken systems, broken religions and warfare. Will this be the end that signals a new beginning? Perhaps. Regardless, laborers at IMM who generate pixels with electricity instead of brushing ink on animals skins, will continue to strive as our early Christian brothers and sisters in order to shine the Light into the darkness.

Bathsheba: A Life Recovered

Bathsheba, mentioned by Matthew as significant in the line of Christ, was a virtuous woman. For the past several weeks, our team at IMM has been working day and night to recount these virtues. In one scene in the movie, we see Bathsheba doing many of the things that a great woman does according to Proverbs 31. But what was it in her character that propelled her to do these virtuous things?

From what we know of Bathsheba, she endured tragedy, made mistakes, and kept on believing for something better. Here we see her in sackcloth and ashes at a low point in life when she probably wondered if God cared for her.

The remarkable character exhibited by Bathsheba (and David) is marked by humility and surrender before God. As David wrote in Psalm 51,

“Create in me a clean heart, O God.

Renew a loyal spirit within me.”

On the days we filmed David and Bathsheba confessing their adultery, we wanted to invite God to search each of us on set, in the attitude of Psalm 51. We prayed together and sang Keith Green’s “Create in Me a Clean Heart”. What a sweet time it was!

What is the source of the virtues that we are known for? Our beliefs and attitudes directly influence the actions that are seen by the outside world. I encourage you to take time today to pray David’s prayer, “Search me, O God and know my heart; test me and know my anxious thoughts!”

Considering Cutting Edge Technology For A Timeless Story

This week, we are entering the casting phase for Bathsheba. Along with casting for actors and actresses, we are also considering the use of two very different cameras for the shoot. For the past two editions of the Women in the Bible series, we have shot on the RED ONE camera system, a prestigious camera with lots of great professional features. For this shoot, we’re also considering the new Sony A7sii camera, a much smaller camera that is also 10 years newer. 

It’s amazing how much different the two cameras are, and how far technology has come in 10 years. We’re weighing the pros and cons of each camera system, doing lots of tests on how each serve us both in production and in post-production as we push the footage to the limits to recreate biblical Jerusalem, digitally.

As I think about the technology and how much things have changed in a decade, I’m also struck by how timeless the stories are that we are telling. The story of redemption in Bathsheba is still as relevant today as it was thousands of years ago when it occurred. The same God offers the same mercy to us as He did for David, even in his extreme weakness. We are telling this story using the latest technologies and with modern filmmaking techniques, to tell today’s world an old story that shows the unchanging, incredible love of God. 

Preserving the Past

At IMM, we have a library of tapes with previously recorded videos such as the Open the Gospel series. Using the Teranex, I am able to play old videotapes and record them in widescreen digital format.

IMM personnel have spent thousands of hours writing scripts, creating period specific costumes and props, hiring actors, and shooting the videos. In the past, they recorded the videos on tapes. These videotapes that carry the priceless message of the gospel are in danger of sticking together and becoming unusable. With the Teranex, I am able to preserve the videos.

After using the Teranex to reformat the videos, some of them that are in languages such as Farsi can be used immediately. For example, IMM personnel can upload the videos to a device called the Hope Box. The Hope Box is a router from which refugees and others who are hungry for God’s Word can download videos, Bibles, and teaching on their telephones. Other videos are in music and effects (M & E) format. These are ready to take into another country so that an IMM team member can work with people there to translate the video script into their language and record it. After working to record the video, the people it that country can broadcast it or we can upload it into the Hope Box. I am thankful to have a part in using the videos to spread God’s Word.

Greetings from Indian Bible College!

One of the objectives IMM has set for itself is to share the wealth of our experience as media producers. One way we do this is to teach media production classes. Over the past four years I have had the privilege to travel to Indian Bible College in Flagstaff, Arizona and spend a week or two teaching things like classes on PowerPoint, camera operation, lighting, editing, etc...

One of the things we try to do is, as soon as possible-either the first or second day, get the students actually using the equipment and producing something.

ne of the challenges I’ve faced is that most of the students don’t own a computer…which makes it challenging to teach media production! Early this year a local ministry donated 10 used laptops. It's been great having the laptops for the students to use! They've been able to work on PowerPoint projects as well as begun editing the two scene scenario we are shooting in the photo to the left.

Thank for your prayers for both myself and the students.

Awake at Night

Yesterday I finished my part in the post-production of Tamar. The IMM team has been working hard to lock down their completed portions.Sunday is the premiere in a small cafe in Madrid. From there it will follow the path of the two previous stories in the Women of the Bible Series. The stories of Ruth and Rahab have gone into places unknown, and still continue on the long distribution road that Biblical stories seem to travel.

Each story has been a learning curve for me and everyone involved. The IMM team has been audacious with every story and brave enough to move forward without regard to all the ways in which we could have fallen flat on our faces. I’ve had to learn and use different compositing software on each story, with names like Shake, Nuke and now the more familiar After Effects. I have poured myself into each of the 25 frames in every second of footage. I don’t bother counting after 90,000. I have sweated under technological challenges that have stalked me through many restless nights, and have struggled to quiet the accusations of the loudest critic: myself. I know that everyone involved in these productions have wrestled with similar doubts and challenges in the hours when the mind and body should have been getting rest and respite.

However, all of our travails mean nothing compared to the privilegeof watching the stories of women in the line of Christ develop year after year in the chilly basements of IMM. I have not seen fairy-tales emerge from our work. What I have observed more closely resembles stories ripped from the headlines. I have seen refugees, genocides, famine, cultural corruption, selfishness, lust, and women who are our Savior’s great, great, great, great, grandmothers (I didn’t count) caught in the no-man’s land between these all too familiar forces that sweep the Earth. They prevail and God’s plan always redeems the circumstances. I love working in the basement. 

The Reason We're Together

“It's the reason we're here together,” he said.

His name is Jamlin Sam and he was born and raised to an average family in India. I was also born in an average family in Montana. But that wasn't the reason we were now friends.

Jamlin attended an Assemblies of God Bible school in India. I attended an Assemblies of God university (or two) in the United States. Normally, though, I don’t leave my family behind to connect with other alumni.

Jamlin loves music, video, and a life in full-time ministry. But that wasn’t enough for me to have traveled all that way to see him.

None of these things are really the reason we met. Fitting that on Good Friday, my last day in India, Jamlin recognized that it was all because of the Cross. Because of the Cross, our lives have taken the paths that they have. Because of the Cross, we consider dying to ourselves. Because of the cross we were together on Good Friday eating hot cross buns and drinking chai.

I’m so thankful for what Jesus did for me on the Cross, and that he did it for all. It’s what allows me to recognize his work in myself and in others as not my own goodness, but his. I’m thankful for those like Jamlin who become my friend for life because we share in being part of God’s family.

Spring - The Celebration of New Life

Here in Spain the countryside is usually varying shades of brown. During the extreme heat of summer and the bitter cold of winter, the rolling hills around Madrid are dry and brown. But in Spring, with a bit of rain and mild temperatures, the hills become incredibly green. It is truly beautiful to me, having spent most of my life in the Pacific Northwest of the United States and the tropical, green climates of the Philippines. It reminds me of "home." In our family, this week is not only the first week of spring, but also my dad's birthday. If he were alive, he would be 80 this week.

With the green around me and remembering my dad, I am feeling quite nostalgic. Sometimes, it is good to look back to appreciate what God has done in our past, just as I am doing this week as I remember my earthly father and all he meant to me. But SPRING is about looking forward to new life and new adventures.

Think of your life before embracing God's love, living in the parched land of your sin. Then came the day you accepted his gift of love into your life and were able to drink of the living water, the same water that Jesus offered to the woman at the well in Samaria, moving from being parched, brown, and dying to being "green," alive and growing. This is where our adventure begins. We are changing, growing, and moving into the adventure that God has for us. Never to remain stagnant, but to always be willing to take on new challenges and to share the reason for our "spring" when the world around us is still in the dry and parched winter.

Thank you, Lord, for your gift of SPRING.

Fernando Loves Dinosaurs

Fernando loves dinosaurs. He also believes in evolution.

Easter is a big event in Spain. There are processionals to represent Jesus walking to Calvary, but it’s very solemn and ritualistic. Fernando doesn’t like the ritual of going to church and the things you must do, especially confession.

Once a week, I teach English to young Spaniards. Just like young kids anywhere, they are very impressionable. Since this week starts spring break for most of them we do Easter-themed games and activities in class. It was at this point Fernando told me he believes “we came from monkeys.”

They know I’m a missionary, so I was easily able to explain that I believe what the Bible says. We talked about how dinosaurs lived millions of years ago. I told him I think dinosaurs did exist, but based on the Bible, the Earth isn’t that old. Of course, he strongly disagreed and moved on with “I don’t like going to church because I don’t like having to confess every little thing I’ve said or done. It doesn’t change anything.” He went on to say it doesn’t make sense that we have to confess to a person.

My response was simple: “I believe all you have to say is ‘Jesus, I’m sorry, please forgive me’.” His immediate response was, “That's so much easier than going to confess!”

Please pray I am able to show these kids that Jesus is accessible without the need for ritual!