It’s hard to believe that it has been seven years since I last directed a movie. I filmed Holy Ghost and Holy Ghost Reborn together, and in the time since I transitioned into making television shows and creating my streaming service, WP TV. But the time has come to get back in the director’s chair and make the movie I was born to create. It’s called The God Man, and the goal is to make the Jesus film for a new generation. Here’s the story of how it happened.
Most of my life was spent in a kind of spiritual malaise. I loved God, but I didn’t trust Him, and therefore I was terrified of Him. I was terrified of what He would make me do if I gave myself over to Him fully and surrendered everything to Him. I was a toothless Christian, a poser. I was more in love with the concept of God than I was with God Himself. I also thought Christianity was just about the most boring thing in the world.
But then I made my first movie, Finger of God, and a new world opened up to me. Miracles. Spiritual warfare. The Father’s heart. The prophetic. What it looked like to partner with the Holy Spirit. For 10 years I jumped into the deep end of God’s kingdom, and along the way God shaped, molded, pruned and shook me into someone who wants only to be best friends with Him. And even while I was making all these films, I always knew where the ending would be. I always knew where this journey would conclude: at the feet of Jesus.
The God Man will not be my final film, but it will be my most important. Over the years, my films have been both embraced and rejected. They certainly don’t allow much room for a lukewarm response. It seems you either love them or you hate them. As an artist, I’m interested in exploring things, challenging myself and my viewers a bit, and embracing the journey of faith. But The God Man is going to be different.
There is an urgency to this film that I’ve never felt before. The world is on fire right now, and it’s as if battle lines are being drawn, camps are digging their trenches and everyone is screaming while no one listens. It sounds trite in this climate, but the truth is, the world just needs Jesus. They need His love, His grace, His conviction, His righteousness, His salvation and His heart. There is a boiling cauldron in my spirit that is spurring me on to make this movie, this movie for this world. The time is now.
It’s almost as if the world, and in many ways even the church, has kind of set Jesus aside for the time being while we all debate with one another about politics, sexuality, morality and whatever else bothers or incites us. But it’s time for Jesus to be brought back front and center. To reduce belief in Jesus to a one-time decision as a kind of get-out-of-hell-free card is to turn Jesus into simple currency.
But Jesus is not currency. He’s not a one-time prayer. He’s not a simple belief. He’s a person who is alive. He’s God, the ruler of all. He’s also the most wonderful, most loving, most incredible person in the universe, and He isn’t looking for your decision; He’s looking for your heart.
The God Man will exist to show that truth to a dying world. We Christians may not be able to agree on much anymore, but we can certainly agree on how wonderful Jesus is. To make a movie about my best friend is the greatest honor I could ever hope for. I hope you all join me on the journey.
