Is it worth it...
One day in heaven I will meet her—and so will you. I received an email shortly after our first movie was released. The producers redacted her name so I’ll never know this side of heaven any more than what I am about to share with you. It rocked my world and changed eternity.
Here are the words as best as I can remember them. “I just needed to write you and let you know that last night I was in a very dark place. I put my young son to bed early so that he would be asleep when I took my life. I nervously turned on the TV to pass some time and found nothing to watch. I went to a movie channel and saw a new movie with Robert Duval, Seven Days in Utopia. It caught my attention, so I clicked on it and watched it. The message saved my life. I went to the web site at the end and buried the lies that were leading me to take my life. And then I read and prayed the prayer you provided to receive Jesus as my savior. This morning my son woke to a hug from his mother. Thank you. Your movie saved my life.”
The movie ended with a question in everyone’s mind, “Did He Make the Putt?” For the believers, they were satisfied and knew in their heart that “It didn’t matter.” But for the seekers, the curious, those that we were after, it compelled them to seek the answer. This single mom, a few minutes from ending her life, was compelled to find the answer. She received more. She met Jesus, the answer to her pain. She found the truths that replaced the enemy’s lies. In the past 14 years, 25,000 others did the same thing. They all sent us their lies that they asked us to bury in Utopia and prayed to receive Jesus as savior. Thousands of others buried their lies in their back yards.
Did he make the putt? A simple question following a compelling movie, changed eternity. I’ll never be the same and neither will they. The battle to end the movie in such an unconventional manner was nothing short of a spiritual war. I was opposed, slandered, threatened, and bloodied. It took 14 years for me to deal with the residual of that pain. What got me through was this lady’s email and 25,000 new pairs of feet in heaven, and a new call from our Father in heaven that I will share below. And also, my investors that believed in me and the message that God had given me. They stood as one, never wavered and for that I am grateful and humbled.
The question before us is this. Is the cost of making a movie worth the return. My answer, she was worth it. Her son was worth it. And the 25,000 others were worth it. This isn’t about a financial return, this is much deeper. It is eternal…
So, today, we continue the journey. We are announcing our plan to make a movie from the sequel to Seven Days in Utopia. Our executive team from our ministry met this week to launch this initiative. It will be funded through our ministry. We are looking for the team that the Lord has already identified that will bring the movie sequel to life. We are inviting donors, called to this team by the Holy Spirit, to message me independently for the plan. I invite every reader to join with me and our team in prayer for this audacious Holy Spirit led adventure to reach many with the Gospel of Grace, especially the desperate one clicking the remote late at night.