Tag: film

Standing in the Gap

After more than two months now “standing in the gap” with livestreaming Sabbath worship services from our home studio, and with the greater awareness that the society around us is overtly becoming not “church friendly” in both legislation and practice, we can be comforted and compelled by Jesus’ prophetic words that the church He’s building is and will be in an environment where “the gates hell” are notoriously evident. Thus we stand leaning into the headwinds of the times we live in on the promise and the power of the Holy Spirit, discerning each moment and embracing each challenge with alacrity. We’ll continue improving each week’s livestreaming, in one small way or another, and are patiently and faithfully working behind the scenes to advance His Kingdom and His righteousness. Media we know today plays a significant role in this.

When we started media streaming two decades ago, little did we realise the cacophony of dissonance emanating from tens of millions media sources and their many keyboard warriors. I recall someone twenty years ago saying, “One day, your video work will be swallowed up in ten thousand video channels.” It was hard to imagine back then. The surety of navigating the journey ahead is to simply focus on the calling and then, in the words of Jordan B Peterson recently, “Shield yourself from bad news sources.”

John Classic
By John Classic

Why all this effort?

We are currently refurbishing our film studio in Western Australia, adding another cinema camera, as well as working on better lighting. By God’s grace and providence, we’ve just uploaded our 631st gospel video.

The cameras we’ve been using in our more recent films has been the Canon EOS 80D, the BMCC 2.5k, and we now have a new BMCC4K on order. This will allow us to film each clip from multiple angles. Over the past 22 years, we’ve used a variety of cameras, including some old VHS cameras, various prosumer cameras including Canon and Sony, as well as a range of DSLRs. But, whether originally written on parchment, or conveyed by digital film, it?s the same timeless message that centres on Jesus Christ.

We?re all aware of the role that media plays in our lives. With the continual roll-out of better and faster technologies throughout the world, and the windows of opportunity that still exist in the free world, whether written on parchment or conveyed in bytes and bits, the follower of Christ has a commission and mandate to share the good news everywhere – to the ends of the earth.

We invite you to partner with us in this labour. Please pray that the LORD of the harvest would call and commission many more disciples, who with fervent vision and Christ-centred identity, embrace with diligence the work of supporting this and other ministries. We need capable media producers, presenters, researchers and those skilled in apologetics who can speak into this generation. We need those who are prepared to sacrifice in the name of Jesus that one more person may hear the good news. More than that, Jesus wants you to step up into his vision.

Someone once asked me, ?Why all this effort into sharing the gospel?? I suppose it?s a fair question, considering the apathy and lack of scriptural integrity that exists in parts of the Christian community. How would you answer? Perhaps mine would be: “Taste and see that the LORD is good!” After all, he is the Bread of Life!

John Klassek,
Producer

Visual Gospel

We’ve just returned from the International Ministerial Congress meeting of the Church of God (Seventh Day) in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. It was a wonderfully inspiring time together with leaders from Myanmar, India, Pakistan, Malaysia, Indonesia, Philippines, Australia, USA and Mexico.

Among the numerous presentations shared was one I titled “A Visual Culture Demands A Visual Gospel”. Our work for the past 17 years has been to share the gospel using media streaming, and I believe we’ve barely scratched the potential this has for introducing the gospel to millions and millions of people in South East Asia and beyond.

A missionary must understand the culture to which he or she is sent. To ignore the language, customs, religion and more if we’re to effectively convey and minister the gospel is to fail before we’ve started. Today’s culture is increasingly immersed in multimedia. The film industry and media generally are powerful influencers at every level of society, affecting attitudes and social mores.

IMC_Malaysia

The disciples of two millennia ago understood this. Matthew wrote his testimony with a Hebrew audience in mind. Paul preached to those in Athens, understanding the Greek culture of the day. What about us, today?

May we have ears to hear where God is sending us, eyes to see the harvest ripe, and a heart and hands to minister where God beckons.

(For additional photos of the IMC meeting, please visit our gallery).