Fast Day 18

Mountain of Influence: Arts and Entertainment

Day 3 – Proclaim

John 6:9, 11

“Here is a boy with five small barley loaves and two small fish, but how far will they go among so many?”
Jesus then took the loaves, gave thanks, and distributed to those who were seated as much as they wanted. He did the same with the fish.'

God does impossible math. Who would have imagined a 25-minute short film on a friend’s farm in Illinois for a church Christmas production would become the #1 Crowdfunded Media Entertainment Project in history, initially raising $10 million from over 19,000 people globally? This unprecedented revenue made the way for an independent, faith-based film director to create The Chosen, the first-ever multi-season show about Jesus. Distributed by VidAngel, to date, over 50 million people have watched The Chosen in more than 180 countries across free streaming services, and this is just the first eight episodes of season one.

The director? Dallas Jenkins. Picking up the story from yesterday, despite his box office setback, Dallas remained faithful to his craft, to his church, and to God. What was a relatively small movie production for his church, God turned into a global phenomenon, a contemporary presentation of the Gospel streaming worldwide for free. One VidAngel co-founder said the world is waiting for people to stand up and do something different. In fact, the world is hungry.

Going back to the story of Jesus feeding the 5,000, they were hungry too. In some respects, Jesus caused the crowd’s hunger; after all, His teaching held them there until evening. That hunger positioned Jesus for one of his most incredible miracles: feeding the masses with a boy’s small offering.

Could it be there are audiences equally hungry? A world looking at arts and entertainment for something new and different? Could the Holy Spirit be positioning you to bring your loaves and fish, so he can do impossible math?

Your Turn

Prayer:

Imagine a little. No, imagine a lot. Ask God, “How can you use me in arts and entertainment to see Your kingdom come?”

Fast Thoughts:

Your gifts make room for you. Dallas’ did. Perhaps your greatest audience is within the church, the community, the hungry people God has already placed in front of you.

Song:

Walk On The Water by Matthew S. Nelson, Dan Haseltine, & Ruby Amanfu