Crosstalk: March 21, 2017

Sharing the Gospel is an imperative as seen through the Great Commission. The preaching of the Word of God is declared in numerous ways. It takes place through the sharing of gospel tracts and even through film. This Crosstalk concentrated on the latter while providing listeners with the tools to help in that effort.

Joining Jim to discuss this topic was film writer, producer and director Dave Christiano.

Dave was 22 years old when a college girl shared the gospel with him. He'd never read the Bible before and was not seeking God. 14 months later, Dave's brother Rich accepted Christ. At that point their desire was to do films with a message for Christ.

Dave and Rich began in 1985 and have produced 16 movies, all with the direct purpose of presenting Christ via evangelism or Christian living. They've also produced a TV series called '7th Street Theater' comprised of 64 episodes that have the same goals as the movies.

Dave noted that what he and his brother are accomplishing is different from the current trend. The current trend is what's known as 'faith-based' films. He believes those efforts have no Jesus and no gospel.

One movie was discussed. 'Late One Night' is about a Christian man who stops in to a diner late one evening just before closing when he gets heckled by 3 factory workers. How do the participants respond as topics such as sin, hell, eternal life and what it means to be born-again come up?

Dave also discussed details surrounding the '7th Street Theater' series. This is about 5 Christian actors that put on a weekend stage show for their community. These are skits performed on weekends before a live audience. The episodes are about how the actors prepare the shows while others are about the weekend shows. Specific episodes discussed included:

--'May Day'--This story begins with a plane crash in the middle of the Atlantic Ocean with only 3 survivors. One is a missionary from Ireland, one is a non-believing flight attendant from England and the third is an non-believing stock broker from New York City. When the subject of 'end-times' comes up, the missionary tells the other two about the 6 different types of people alive in the days of Noah and how that relates to people today.

--'Star Mission'--This episodes has a 'Star Trek' feel. It's about 5 people that are going to fly to another galaxy to share the gospel with a hostile enemy.

--'Didn't Get the Chance'--This is a 1940's 'who done it' murder-mystery involving a detective and 4 suspects.

--'Death Row'--A man is on death row with 3 hours left to live. A preacher comes to talk to the man about sin, hell and being born-again. This episode clearly explains the gospel but has a twist ending to it.