America Entering Era of Religious Renaissance?

Is America actually starting to experience a religious renaissance?

A fair question to ask with the current rise in the faith-based movie industry.  What kickstarted this trend?  Could this enthusiasm lead to other areas of entertainment?  

I decided to research this to get a pulse on whether or not we are on the brink of something bigger, and I am sharing some findings of interest.

In order to project, we first need to review.

It used to be that just advertising and doing a media tour to create buzz around a new release of a faith-based film was not nearly enough.  According to an April 2017 article by the web's largest business news site, Business Insider, this specialized film market used to have to go the extra mile down a longer road that led across the country, building "a grassroots marketing campaign focused on certain congregations and churches, bus them to movie theaters, and let word of mouth build."

2004's "The Passion of the Christ"

Such was even the case a decade ago for Mel Gibson's blockbuster movie, "The Passion of the Christ".  This path of national organizing and outreach paid off particularly big for this 2004 breakthrough film.  "The Passion of the Christ" still holds the record for the highest grossing R-rated movie all of time.

Even Roma Downey, in her new book "Box of Butterflies", shares that after her TV show "Touched by An Angel" aired its first episodes on CBS in 1994, the series needed better ratings to secure a contract with the network for more episodes.  Both the cast and crew realized that it was necessary to journey nationwide for the personal touch in outreach to churches and youth groups.  These efforts were successful in eventually building a large enough faithful following, culminating into millions of viewers, to convince the network to make the program a part of their regular Sunday night line-up.  "Touched by an Angel" went on to become  the number one show and aired for a total of 9 seasons.

Now, however, as the Business Insider article from last year pointed out, two major developments over the past couple of years have emerged to make faith-based motion picture marketing a whole new ball game.  Both the upsurge in use of internet movie streaming and even the conservative reemergence in Washington's political leadership, as made evident in the Trump presidential victory, have improved the climate for this industry and created new opportunities. 

Invigorated, faith-based film fans are now even more freely seeking out the authenticity of values while still acknowledging the complexity of issues, as  film marketer/producer Erik Lokkesmoe pointed out in the Business Insider story.  Lokkesmoe, who runs Aspiration Studios, said the faith-based film industry has outgrown being limited to direct outreach to librarians, community leaders, teachers and pastors to grow fan support; the industry more needs to connect with the rising comeback influence of the Conservatives.  This community's ardent support for faith-based entertainment partially comes from feeling that their faith is under attack and their show of support serves as an affirmation.

Such people believe their film favorites can change the world, according to The Business Insider story's interview with studio/distributor Pure Flix.  Considered the Netflix of the faith-based film industry, Pure Flix has more than 5,000 titles available to stream and believes their audience, which many now call the "aspirational" audience, are looking for a message.  According to the company's CEO Michal Scott, "You have to drive the message first and then wrap an organic story around the message."  If it's just a great story, than it's just another mainstream Hollywood release.

Scott further shared that if a film accomplishes that formula, the aspirational audience tends to further engage by buying the book that the movie is based on and/or by starting community outreach. 

In a 2016 interview with MovieMaker.com, Jon Erwin, co-director of the religious sports drama "Woodlawn", described the faith-based film movement as a "mini revolution".  He sees himself and the others who presently lead this niche industry as the early pioneers who are blazing a trail as they take it to the next generation.

In the same article, "God's Not Dead" star Kevin Sorbo described, "TV today is full of so much violence, hate, and one-sided politics.  People are starving for projects like "God's Not Dead"."  His movie succeeded in becoming the number one Christian film in 2014.  Sorbo continues to be cast in a variety of other faith-based films. 

Sorbo went on to share that a good percentage of the faith-based film enthusiasts comprise Middle America, what Hollywood and New York have dismissed as "the flyover states".  "Those flyover states have millions of people that have morals and values that still mean something."


With these millions craving morals and values, indeed the renaissance in this one art form of motion picture may very well spread to other art forums and influencing platforms.  And if the success of faith-based films is any indication and even continues to swell still more, than those of us in those other forums and platforms should be preparing our surfboards to ride its spillover effect across America...from sea to shining sea.


For further reading, visit the articles referred to in this site:
 
http://www.businessinsider.com/faith-based-movies-in-trump-era-2017-4
https://www.moviemaker.com/archives/moviemaking/directing/box-office-prophets/
and the new book release, Roma Downey's "Box of Butterflies"

The Morning Brew Book Review: BOX OF BUTTERFLIES by Roma Downey

Can Roma Downey, forever loved for her hit series "Touched by An Angel" and a leader in the faith-based television and film industry, also have the midas touch in the literary world?  Is her new book, "Box of Butterflies: Discovering the Unexpected Blessings All Around Us", worth opening?

If it has Roma Downey’s name on it, one has come to expect quality.  I am happy to report that this autobiography even exceeded my own high expectations.  It is due to be released on March 6, and throughout my read I kept thinking to myself what great timing it is for such a transformational book to go out into a world that is full of so much pain and need.  

 

"Box of Butterflies" is Roma’s testament to faith as tied into her personal journey through life.  The title refers to a joyous gift Roma received from her husband, Mark Burnett, who knew how special the butterfly is to Roma and what it has come mean to her over the years.  The butterfly is the perfect constant metaphor that mirrors Roma’s own life of highs and lows--while a creature that is ultimately admired and prized, it nonetheless endures humble beginnings as a caterpillar, faces and survives the dark of the cocoon, and must go through much struggle to emerge as a beautiful being that reaches for the sky in flight--such an existence reflects Roma’s own start in life during a grim chapter in Ireland’s recent history, her tragic sorrows, her disappointments and struggles as she drew strength from her beautiful, vibrant faith which continuously lifts her up and carries her.  

Roma doesn’t just recount her past; she bares her soul as she reveals deeply personal and painful moments, like when she lost each parent while still very young.  But Roma also describes how leaning on God and trusting Him sustained her.  As we all must go through such painful rites of passage, her story  actually achieves being life-changing for the reader—benefiting one with its guidance through familiar  tough times and its encouragement on surviving them.  As I read it, her relatable experiences touched upon many of my own memories, she has a way of making the reader feel as though he or she is a twin of fate.  I can’t recall ever having been so choked up as a reader with the range of emotional experiences Roma brings to life on each colorful page, while at the same time being incredibly edified in the faith by her wisdom and perseverance.

The biblical passages, poetry, artwork, and motivational adages all harmonize for maximum effect, deepening Roma’s narrative and adding layers of increased understanding and emotional attachment for the reader.  

The book contains a table of contents that identifies chapters comprised of various virtues and universal feelings, each section delving into that particular topic as reflected in Roma’s life and written in a way that we can all identify with or aspire for.

Della Reese & Roma Downey

On one especially sad note for this book, Roma’s former "Touched by an Angel" co-star and motherly friend, Della Reese, passed away before its release.  But not before she wrote the foreword for it, making this message all the more priceless.

While Roma Downey is an accomplished actress and producer, I can attest that her writing lives up to the same high caliber for the ability to connect, move, and entertain.  It is no coincidence that you do truly feel touched by an angel with this story!

ASH WEDNESDAY IS THE VALENTINE'S DAY FOR GOD

Most everyone knows what Valentine's Day is all about:  Celebrating Love. 

The main commercial thrust defines this as a holiday celebration of romantic love, yet it can also mean celebrating the love within family bonds such as between father and daughter.  But with Valentine's Day falling on Ash Wednesday this week, this offers the unique opportunity for one to accentuate affection for the greatest love of all:  The Love of God.

Ash Wednesday represents the first day of Lent in the Western Church, occurring 46 days prior to Easter.  It is marked by services of penitence, during which the ashes of burned palms from the preceding year's Palm Sunday are blessed and used by the priest who traces a cross onto the forehead of each worshiper to signify a better appreciation of the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ.  Each time the priest draws this, he recites, "Remember, man, that dust art thou, and unto dust thou shalt return".  (Genesis 3:19 KJV)  This commencement of the Lenten period of time leads

Priest traces cross onto parishioner's forehead

believers to devote themselves more fully to an increased self-examination, repentance, prayer, fasting, and self-denial.

While this description of Ash Wednesday may sound more grim and painstaking than anything that resembles Valentine Day's pleasure of love, the whole idea is to demonstrate the beauty of the ultimate sacrificial love reserved solely for God Himself.  All of the above-named practices, themselves true expressions of love, are the combined preparations for not just any death but for a holy one in order to be eternally--and blissfully--joined together with God.

The origin of Ash Wednesday is not biblical, but actually came later in church history.  

The idea for it began with the formation of Lent itself,which was accepted into the beliefs of the Church at the Council of Nicaea in 325 A.D.  The Council adopted the 40-day duration, beginning on the 4th Sunday of the year, for fasting which became known as Lent.  While repenting, fasting, and focusing on God are  important all year long, this period of time encouraged a more keen rededication of these practices which remains an annual opportunity to this day.

The exact origin of Ash Wednesday itself is unclear, but in 601 A.D. Pope St. Gregory I (the Great) moved the beginning of Lent on the calendar from the 4th Sunday of the year to the day that was to became Ash Wednesday; now 46 days before Easter, this change allowed for 40 days of fasting along with 6 Sundays counting as Feast Days.  This raised the total to  46 days for Lent.  It is believed that Pope Gregory, as found in the earliest existing copies of the Gregorian Sacramentary, then went on to institute the "Day of Ashes" as the onset of Lent.  This later became the Catholic tradition of Ash Wednesday, the ritual of marking the forehead of each worshiper with ashes in the shape of the cross.

There are biblical roots for the actual practice of using dust or ashes to demonstrate regret for sin as found in Esther 4:1 with Mordecai, Job 42:6, Jonah 3:5-6 with the inhabitants of Nineveh, and in  Daniel 9:3-4.  In biblical times, this show of repentance was often followed by fasting.

Repenting (feeling remorse for disappointing God), Fasting (practicing self-denial to build the spiritual strength needed to overcome obstacles to a closer relationship with God), and a greater focus on God (expelling selfishness for the unrivaled exaltation of God), are all Christian acts that fittingly testify to the greatest love of all.  And these practices, as believers well know, carry far more value than the traditional Valentine's Day gifts of chocolates, bouquets, or even diamond jewelry. They are the actions that speak volumes in securing unification with the utmost of all loves.

LITTLE HOUSE ON THE PRAIRIE Still Stands Tall

The Cast for the Ingalls Family on Little House

Despite the passage of time, the wooden ranch house of the Ingalls family--for which the title of the classic television series "Little House on the Prairie" is named for--symbolically remains standing more solidly today than even that old fairytale one fortified of brick that a wolf failed to blow down.

More than a generation later, "Little House" makes its home on INSP TV. It conveniently airs at 5 p.m. then again at 6 p.m., Mondays through Fridays.

Through the magic of television, I can say I "grew up" with Melissa Gilbert's Laura Ingalls. I enjoyed the series back in the 1970's, and a happy memory associated with it was that my maternal grandmother (who did not live nearby) also watched the show. It gave us something to talk about over the phone and share during a visit, making it a special bonding experience.

The characters of Laura Ingalls and Dr. Baker

I also watched it with my mother, who would comment how much more neighborly and what better Christians people seemed to be back in this era of the late 1800's, which were the years that "Little House" was set in. I remember asking my mother if she had a choice, would she chose to live back then or in the present? She had to think about it, but decided that it was better to live in the present because we have better medicine and people back in the 1800's died of what had become very curable things by comparison. The great irony of this is that my mom ended up dying at age 64 from lung cancer, a disease that modern medicine still has yet to overcome.

At the present, about 40 years later, once again for the first time in all these years, I am watching "Little House". With my mature prospective, I have a deeper appreciation for the talent that went into the program. Especially for the multitude of jobs Michal Landon worked to make it a quality series. His positions ranged from executive producer, producer, writer, director, and actor. His series "Bonanza" airs right after "Little House" on INSP, so I am able to view his growth as an actor, even sometimes as a director and writer. And in

Michal Landon in Bonanza

this age of the internet, I am able to look up stories behind the series that only adds to the appreciation of Michal Landon's many talents in specific as well as of his programs in general.

Sometimes my husband will watch "Little House" with me. He is a decade older than me and did not watch this show when it first aired back in the 1970's, although he did watch "Bonanza".  With his fresh prospective on "Little House", my husband is particularly moved by the hardships depicted, and agrees that we live in the lap of luxury by comparison.


"Little House" remains the showcase for powerful writing and performances. This classic reminds everyone that TV was expert at how to tell a story and its stars were masters at  how to give unforgettable performances.  We are reminded that there was a time American television realized the value of family values and good principles. "Little House" serves as evidence that American television wasn't always the present day version of unscripted, and even oftentimes sloppy, Reality TV.

With Melissa Sue Anderson and Melissa Gilbert around my own age, I've thought to myself what a feeling it must be to have your childhood frozen in time! Their youth is recorded

Melissa Gilbert & Melissa Sue Anderson

forever for future generations to be entertained by. And with sequels and nostalgia being so popular today, wouldn't it be something to see the two Melissa's recreate their roles as grown women in the next century? Even just as one made-for-television movie, we could return to watching Mary and Laura facing another era with the virtues and class that Charles and Caroline had instilled. This fresh blast from the past is just what Doc Baker would prescribe to inspire us anew.

For the past year I've gone through a round if not two of viewing "Little House on the Prairie" again in its entirety. I do wonder, should I live long enough and still have access to viewing the series, what the next 40 years might bring to my prospective toward the storytelling of that small but sturdy home on the frontier? It is hard to fathom where the institutions of faith and family will be by the year 2058.  But at least there is this recorded volume that demonstrates faith and family are actually timeless by nature and only with the bonding of both--these two durable materials of which "Little House" is truly constructed of--can humans firmly retain their capacity for the delicate virtue of humanity itself.