Films shape culture. As our nation becomes more divided, cinema is leading people away from each other, but because it’s such a powerful art form, there’s great potential for Christian filmmakers to bring people into the Kingdom and center them on the right things.

As an actor I see a steady flow of casting calls drop into my inbox. Often it’s quite easy to see that it’s a project I don’t want to spend time pursuing. Themes, nudity, blasphemy, and profanity catapult my finger to the delete button. But I also pray over those productions.

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The Lord also directs my prayers through the audition process by highlighting patterns of what’s coming, allowing me to pray into them.

I’ve watched the slippery slope of these casting calls plummet to further and further immoral depths. Many go out these days calling for “any gender,” but the other day I got an invitation to audition for Poly Love: “MAJOR NETWORK looking to find core cast for a compelling reality TV series following the lives of polyamorous families. … Are you a couple looking to become a throuple?”

Wait! Wasn’t legacy media just telling us we ought to be ashamed of ourselves for suggesting that the LGBTQIA+ bloc would be pushing for polyamorous marriage?

And yet, here we are. And secular filmmakers are largely responsible for leading the way.

But there’s good news!

We know the answer to a divided culture is not for Christians to embrace the pagan morality just because it’s becoming more popular. Christians must be more Christ-like and draw the lost into His Kingdom. Thankfully God is raising up Christian filmmakers to inspire us to do just that.

At the final San Antonio Independent Christian Film Festival in 2013 Stephen Kendrick, one of the Kendrick Brothers, said that Christians, having stayed out of media for so long, were catching up. He said they may have started crawling, but he predicted they’d be walking, running, and eventually driving and flying.

They’re soaring now!

The Kendrick Brother’s latest release, The Forge, about prayer fueled discipleship, earned an A+ CinemaScore and increased their number of theaters for their third weekend.

Reagan, also in theaters, focuses on Ronald Reagan’s passion for fulfilling his calling to defeat communism. In Keith Guinta’s article, “Ronald Reagan and the Divine Plan,” he describes how a young Pat Boone met with the Reagans and Christian broadcaster George Otis Sr., who prophesied to Reagan — governor of California at the time — “If you walk uprightly before Me, you will reside at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue.” Guinta posted on Facebook, “I almost fell out of my comfy chair at the movie when they highlighted that exact scene!” In the film we’re first introduced to Boone, played by Chris Massoglia. Then we’re introduced to Otis, played by Boone!

Social media was blocking promotion of the film, and critics in legacy media are panning the film, but it has a 98% approval rating from viewers on Rotten Tomatoes, and it was the number one new film at the box office.

In one month the film Average Joe, about Coach Joe Kennedy, will show how he was inspired by the Kendrick Brothers’ film, Facing the Giants, to pray on bended knee after every football game his team played, win or lose. Kennedy took it a step further and prayed at the 50 yard line, something he did for years until someone from another team thanked his principal for letting him do it. That led eventually to him being fired, but his case made it to the Supreme Court, where he won for every schoolteacher who no longer needs to leave their faith at home.

Kennedy told me he’s praying the film will “inspire relationships and love of our country.” After seeing the film he asked humbly, “Why us?” He hopes with their story on the big screen that people will be emboldened because, “God can use even guys like me.”

The website, www.AverageJoeMovie.com shows only one date, October 11. It’s being distributed by Fathom Events, and they often choose one night to release a film, but if you click through to tickets there are now eight possibilities. Kennedy believes if they sell enough seats producers will add dates.

More good news!

Last week The Wall Street Journal ran an article titled “Religious Movies Are Sweeping Hollywood. Rich Investors Are Pouring In Millions.” The tag line is, “Christian filmmakers have surprised the world with a series of box office hits. Their success could change the entertainment industry.”

The article cites the surge of investment in films with religious themes coming from recent hits like The Chosen, Jesus Revolution ($54 million), and The Sound of Freedom ($250 million).

The Erwin Brothers (October Baby, Jesus Revolution, Ordinary Angels) have helped create the Wonder Project, an independent studio, which has raised more than $100 million in seed funding. Their inaugural project is a series about King David called House of David.

Even secular filmmakers are investing in faith stories. There’s a film on Netflix right now called The Deliverance, inspired by a true story. The director, Lee Daniels, recognizes that demons are real. Daniels knew he and his team needed spiritual protection on set. He told Variety that the first day they prayed on set, a rep from Netflix said, “This [prayer] could be offensive to people and you can’t.” Daniels insisted they offer prayer for those who wanted it, which turned out to be most of the 200-person crew. Daniels said they “knew that they wanted to be protected.”

But Daniels actually brought on someone whose ministry is focused on deliverance to make certain things were done right. Our prayer with this film is that those who are already watching horror films and/or may be plagued by demons will be moved toward faith in Christ and freedom. We often pray that people are not demonized by watching films that portray the occult, magic, and the demonic, and we pray the same for this one. The movie is rated R “for violent content, language throughout, and some sexual references.”

I was blessed to attend the premiere of Ordinary Angels, and at the after-party, I asked Andy Erwin how we could pray for him. He said their prayer used to be that they could get money to film the projects the Lord put on their hearts. Those projects have succeeded financially, which has opened wallets to the filmmakers. Now his prayer is that they’ll have God’s wisdom about which projects to choose.

Join us in praying for the Lord’s wisdom for the Erwin Brothers and other Christian filmmakers to create media that unites us as it shapes the culture.

Here’s the trailer for Average Joe:

What Christian films are you looking forward to? Pray for them in the comments below.

Rich Swingle has presented in 42 nations on six continents, mostly with his own one-man plays. He’s performed in about 50 film projects, and his bride Joyce Swingle, another contributing writer for IFA, have 41 screen children. The Swingles live in New York City. www.RichDrama.com