I Can Only Imagine – Jon Erwin
On this episode of The Educate for Life Podcast, we explore how Christian storytelling, apologetics, and biblical worldview training intersect in one of the most impactful faith-based films ever produced. Filmmaker Jon Erwin, co-director of I Can Only Imagine, joins Kevin Conover to unpack the heart behind the movie and why stories grounded in Scripture are so influential for Christian education, homeschool families, and anyone seeking to strengthen their faith in a culture hungry for hope.
Behind the Film: The Power of True Stories that Point to Christ
Jon Erwin has become one of the most respected voices in Christian filmmaking, known for directing emotional, gospel-centered movies that spark conversations about God’s grace. With multiple award-winning projects under his belt—October Baby, Mom’s Night Out, Woodlawn, and now I Can Only Imagine—Erwin shares how his journey began, what shaped his passion for storytelling, and why he believes true stories hold unique apologetic power in today’s world.
In this episode, Jon opens up about the real-life testimony behind MercyMe’s record-breaking song I Can Only Imagine, written by Bart Millard about his father’s dramatic transformation through Christ. Families, educators, and students will resonate deeply with themes of forgiveness, emotional healing, and the biblical worldview message that no one is ever too far from God’s redemption.
Jon also explains how the film industry serves as both a mission field and a megaphone for the gospel, offering Christian parents and teachers practical insight into how faith and media can work hand-in-hand to shape the next generation. His reflections give biblical clarity to conversations surrounding Christian parenting, cultural engagement, and the role of faith and creativity in modern storytelling.
Key Takeaways
- Why true stories are such powerful tools for Christian apologetics and worldview formation
- How Bart Millard’s testimony reveals God’s ability to transform even the most broken relationships
- What Christian parents and educators can learn from the filmmaking process
- How I Can Only Imagine became one of the most impactful Christian songs and films in history
- Practical insights for young believers pursuing careers in film, media, or creative ministry
Today on Educate For Life, Kevin has as his guest Jon Erwin. Jon Erwin is the co-writer and director of a new movie called “I Can Only Imagine” based on the hit song by the Christian band MercyMe. It’s the song that brings ultimate hope to so many … often in the midst of life’s most challenging…
Today on Educate For Life, Kevin has as his guest Jon Erwin. Jon Erwin is the co-writer and director of a new movie called “I Can Only Imagine” based on the hit song by the Christian band MercyMe.
It’s the song that brings ultimate hope to so many … often in the midst of life’s most challenging moments. Amazingly, the song was written in mere minutes by MercyMe lead singer Bart Millard. In reality, those lyrics took a lifetime to craft. Although he found faith at a young age, life wasn’t easy for Bart. He leaned into an active imagination and his love of music as escapes from a troubled home life. As he grew older, Bart turned to football in hopes of somehow connecting with his abusive father. But a career-ending injury—combined with the vision of a teacher who saw unlimited potential—set Bart on a musical pathway.
Chasing a dream while running from broken relationships with his father and Shannon, his childhood sweetheart, Bart hits the road in an old, decrepit tour bus with his new band MercyMe—named for his grandmother’s favorite expression. With the guidance of a grizzled music-industry insider, the band begins a journey none of them could ever have imagined.
A gripping reminder of the power of forgiveness, “I CAN ONLY IMAGINE” beautifully illustrates that no one is ever too far from God’s love—or from an eternal home in Heaven.
Tune in for an inspirational story and to learn more about the directors and the movie. To find a theatre and get tickets for the movie, head over to https://icanonlyimagine.com/themovie.
This episode first aired on March 17, 2018.
How We Can Help You
At Educate for Life, we believe powerful stories—whether in Scripture, film, or personal testimony—strengthen a believer’s confidence in the truth of God’s Word. If this episode encouraged you, you’ll love exploring our resources designed to help families build a strong, biblical worldview.
Our Comprehensive Biblical Worldview Curriculum, Christian Apologetics Courses, and Creation Science Curriculum equip parents, students, and homeschoolers with tools to stand firm in their faith and engage culture with grace and truth.
Here’s a short excerpt from the episode:
- Kevin Conover: “Welcome to Educate for Life. My website is educateforlife.org… and my guest today is Jon Erwin. If you’ve heard the song I Can Only Imagine, there’s now a movie about the story behind it—coming out this Friday, March 16th.”
- Kevin: “Jon and his brother Andy have produced music videos for artists like Amy Grant, Michael W. Smith, Casting Crowns, and Switchfoot, before transitioning into feature films.”
- Jon Erwin: “We want to tell stories that showcase God’s transforming power—stories that matter, stories full of hope.”
- Jon: “For millions of people, I Can Only Imagine became an anthem of hope during seasons of loss and pain.”
- Jon: “No matter who you are, or what you’ve been through, God can change anything. God can redeem any relationship.”
Read the Full Transcript
[00:00:00] your host Kevin Conover bring your time
[00:00:06] welcome to educate for life I’m your host Kevin Conover my website is educate for life toe RG there’s all kinds of
[00:00:12] resources on there that will help you there’s 40 online classes defending the truth of the Bible and my guest today is
[00:00:19] John Erwin if you’ve heard of the song I can only imagine what you probably have there’s a movie coming out that has a
[00:00:27] back story in the song it’s coming out this Friday March 16th and John is the
[00:00:32] co-writer and co-director of the movie John has his brother Andy they are a
[00:00:38] directing team that focuses on creating faith-based and inspirational feature films just a little bit of background on
[00:00:43] these guys in 2002 the Irwin brothers started their own production company they’ve produced and directed videos for
[00:00:49] platinum artists like Amy Grant michael w smith Casting Crowns Switchfoot’s skillet and others they’ve received 11
[00:00:55] nominations they’ve been honored with wins for music video of the Year at the GMA Dove Awards for three consecutive
[00:01:01] years in 2010 the Irwin brothers shifted their focus and began exclusively developing dramatic feature films their
[00:01:07] debut feature was released by Samuel Goldwyn it was October baby you’re probably familiar with that if you’ve a very
[00:01:14] popular Christian movie that came out talking about a girl who actually finds out that she her mother was thinking
[00:01:23] about aborting her she survived an abortion that opened as a top ten movie in America eventually earned more than 5
[00:01:29] million at the box office their second feature film was moms night out that was released in 2014 and then in 2015 they
[00:01:37] released Woodlawn a very powerful movie about segregation and then coming out
[00:01:43] this Friday March 16th as I can only imagine it’s their fourth feature film very exciting so John thanks thanks for
[00:01:50] being on the radio today thanks for having me on the show it’s just exciting you tell stories that matter you know
[00:01:57] and stories that are entertaining and emotionally relatable you know hopefully no matter what you believe but stories
[00:02:03] that showcase you know the gods transforming power and and the hope that
[00:02:10] is in the gospel and jazz the you know I can only imagine to me
[00:02:17] it’s just one of the more powerful stories we’ve ever come in contact with and of course it’s an incredible song
[00:02:22] that has touched touch millions of people I’m one of those people so it was an honor to get to be the ones to bring
[00:02:27] this story to life yeah it’s it’s phenomenal every time I hear that song it makes me want to cry so but yeah this
[00:02:35] my understanding is that this is the most listened to Christian radio song is
[00:02:43] it in history yeah actually soluble Laden video in history it’s the
[00:02:50] best-selling most played Christian song of all time and you know it really
[00:02:56] became an anomaly it went far beyond the Christian space in the pop and country charts and became the most requested
[00:03:01] song on many top 40 stations as well and I think the reason like I remember I
[00:03:06] fell in love with the song during a time of loss in our family and in our
[00:03:13] extended family was dealing with cancer and I probably imagine our dimes
[00:03:18] you know just dreaming in the world about pain and sorrow and death and and I think it became a you know a beacon of
[00:03:25] hope you know or an anthem of hope for me and and not me only for millions and
[00:03:30] millions of people around the world it’s been amazing to see yeah trailers so
[00:03:38] take us go ahead oh I was saying to cherish the film I’ve been viewed 130
[00:03:43] million times oh my witness loathes me away but on earth of thousands of comment and most
[00:03:49] of them are people sharing their stories like the one I just shared about myself with the song and so this is just a very
[00:03:54] sacred thing for many of us and and I think once people know the story behind
[00:04:00] the song it’ll make it that much more special that is so fantastic so tell us how did you how did you I’m curious how
[00:04:07] do you come up with you know the movies that you’ve chose you have October baby moms night out Woodlawn and now I can
[00:04:14] only imagine and they’re all very different movies how did you decide to
[00:04:19] do the movie I can only imagine when when was that going through your mind that hey I I think I want to make a movie about this you know for any
[00:04:27] it’s a very simple kind of test it just has to be a story that blows us away and
[00:04:33] blues us and and becomes like a splinter in our mind so if like if we can’t stop
[00:04:39] thinking about it that’s a good sign that we should be involved and for me I
[00:04:45] then my brother is good friends with with Bart who’s Lisa Murphy being and
[00:04:52] we’ve all become great friends but his students appreciates mine and they were talking about I think Bart was at a
[00:04:57] screening of mom’s I doubt and Bart said hey would you guys ever look at my story and and you know the studio has been
[00:05:05] developing it and Andy said you know it’s interesting they finished the script this morning and so she began to
[00:05:11] explore it and I remember said to me I know God is real because of the change I
[00:05:17] saw my dad he said I watched a monster turn into my best friend and then I wanted to become and God healed this
[00:05:23] broken relationship between a father and son and and that is the inspiration I
[00:05:30] only met don’t you know like you know he mentions AMA Evan we don’t know is it the Sun singing for his father and and
[00:05:38] it’s a relationship that was reconciled and to see Dennis Quaid portray that
[00:05:44] reconciliation is amazing I mean when he signed on to the project he said I’ve never played transformation on film like
[00:05:50] this before well and and you know to take a character this dramatically over
[00:05:56] the course of a film from from point A to point B he said this is amazing that these like this could happen and it began to change him it changed
[00:06:03] all of us really and and you know that’s the great message of this film is that
[00:06:08] you know no matter who you are no matter what you’ve done no matter I what is the
[00:06:14] status of a relationship in your life God can change anything I can change anyone god give your communion situation
[00:06:19] or any relationship and he can make beautiful things out of it even out of the pain that we go through it kind of
[00:06:24] becoming our inspiration with it for Bart and so just a very special story and and and it was when we found out how
[00:06:32] powerful the real story was that we decided to to make the film it wasn’t
[00:06:38] like we got to find a story because songs so popular hmm our love of the song brought us to the project the the
[00:06:46] nature of the story and how powerful it was is what brought the film to the street because it was just unbelievable
[00:06:52] you can write it if it didn’t really happen yeah and it’s gonna resonate I mean obviously it already has 100 130
[00:06:58] million views on the trailers alone and it’s gonna resonate with so many people who have those family relationships that
[00:07:03] are broken or painful or seem irreparable and yet here you have that
[00:07:09] testimony that’s that’s fantastic yeah it’s pretty cool to see you know just I
[00:07:16] think a lot of relationships are going to be restored as a result of the movie even in test screenings we’ve had all
[00:07:23] these reports of people finding there was one guy in Sioux Falls South Dakota that found his dad in the theater hadn’t
[00:07:31] eaten she was 14 years old kind of on Facebook and scheduled a meeting within the next day and records haven’t forgave
[00:07:38] him and and it kind of yield them both and I think forgiveness can really be
[00:07:44] the most powerful form of love but it takes a lot of courage sometimes and and so and I hope that the movie helps give
[00:07:51] that courage to people that need to take that stuff and forgive as they have been forgiven you know by God as the Bible
[00:07:57] says and that could be an incredible outpouring from this film and it’s so
[00:08:03] cool to watch I just have everything that we’ve done this is by far the most special and most powerful experience in
[00:08:10] the theatre dumb guys watch this movie that’s what I was going to ask you is that of all the all four films here
[00:08:16] you’ve done a lot of work here this one is the one that you feel the most excited about is that is that right yeah
[00:08:23] I mean all the films are special in their own way right but there’s just something magical about being in the
[00:08:30] theater watching this film with people it’s to hear them laugh and cry and Cheer and I would just get to space that
[00:08:39] special of a story I mean really as a filmmaker I was just stepping back and letting the story do its work in the performances do their work and that
[00:08:46] really is what makes this film shine but as an experience yeah to me it’s a leap
[00:08:52] forward and yeah I’ve loved all the other films that we’ve got to do Woodlawn I think it’s
[00:08:58] where we discovered the power of a true story there’s been tens of thousands of people who have come to Christ because
[00:09:04] Woodlawn mostly teenagers and I think just because you can’t argue with the truth
[00:09:10] when people see something that really happened I need that in my life and so I
[00:09:15] think that’s the power of a true story yeah but but with this one there’s just
[00:09:20] some sort of I don’t know there’s some something very very special emotionally
[00:09:25] it’s just a powerful and I think it comes back to I remember talking to Bart
[00:09:30] and saying what is the phenomenon that I can only imagine why would an independent Christian pan from Texas
[00:09:37] write the best-selling most the Christian song of all time and he said
[00:09:43] it’s a rushed hope and that’s that’s what drives it and I think that’s what
[00:09:48] you feel and I hope that’s what you feel when he asked the movie yeah absolutely it is in a much greater way that same
[00:09:54] rush of hope that you heard that you felt when you heard the song for the first time well my guest today is John
[00:09:59] Irwin he’s the co-director of I can only imagine you can check it out this Friday March 16th you can also go online and
[00:10:06] learn all about the movie the back story it’s at I can only imagine calm please take some time to look at it we’re gonna
[00:10:12] be right back and we’re gonna continue this discussion with John Irwin who has been producing movies and music videos
[00:10:19] ever since he was a kid with his brother and we’ll learn more about his story also stay with us we’ll be right back
[00:10:27] hi this is Jason hall president of team home loans a branch of synergy one
[00:10:32] lending I just want to take this opportunity to thank Kevin Kahn over for the profound impact he’s had on mine and
[00:10:38] my wife’s spiritual life as well as being an incredible teacher while our kids were his students his knowledge and
[00:10:43] passion have taught us all how important it is to be defenders of our faith it’s our honor and privilege to support Kevin
[00:10:50] and his show is our sincere hope and prayer that you will continue to learn to be defenders of your faith through
[00:10:55] Kevin’s radio show and through his educate for life teachings thank you Kevin from the hall family and team home
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[00:12:38] thanks for listening today I’m your host Kevin Conover this is educate for life radio my website is educate for life 0rg
[00:12:45] if you’re not aware if you’re in Southern California in May we’re gonna be having a big event on May 15th it’s
[00:12:51] meant to inspire Christians and education parents teachers administrators and students and our goal
[00:12:58] is to encourage you about your freedom to share your faith in schools and there’s so much freedom that we have
[00:13:04] that a lot of times we don’t aren’t aware of we’re gonna have an expert talking about it his name is Eric Brewer he’s with gateways to better education
[00:13:10] he’s an expert on the California State Education Code and he’s gonna tell you what’s legal and where the lines are
[00:13:16] that you don’t want to cross and it’s gonna be really just the time of encouragement and inspiration and just blessing we’re also gonna have Danny ray
[00:13:23] he’s a world famous illusionist who also shares the gospel he’s gonna be sharing the gospel of Jesus Christ and my guest
[00:13:28] today on the radio is John Erwin he is just about that their movie that they’ve been how long have you been working on
[00:13:34] this movie John this is the the end of a two-year journey for us and it’s been a
[00:13:40] it’s in the movie actually has been in development for longer than that the original producer Cindy bond there’s a
[00:13:46] wonderful friend and she’s a great true leader a champion of this first dreamed
[00:13:51] of an option the rights for the story about eight years ago oh my good a long time and development it’s been shorter
[00:13:56] for us yeah but but sometimes the key is just to never give up on what you believe then what so what does this week
[00:14:03] look like for you before the movie comes out oh you know well you know I for a
[00:14:09] filmmaker released week is a bundle of every emotion that you can imagine a combination of a presidential election
[00:14:15] and the Superbowl you know it’s it’s I heard someone say a filmmaker knows on Friday night whether the last two years
[00:14:21] of their life has been worth anything you know it’s so but the the the early
[00:14:26] indicators at least Thomas look really spectacular and and we’re very very
[00:14:33] honored and privileged again like Milan Woodlawn had about three million views
[00:14:38] of the trailer the trailers and liners these clips and everything and about 130
[00:14:43] mute views for a hundred thirty million views I should say for I can only imagine and so it’s just an enormous fan
[00:14:50] base but oh my those people that this song really test
[00:14:55] our light it’s gonna be fun we’re going to hop on the MercyMe buses they finished their tour yesterday and at least this stage of it and we’re
[00:15:02] going to drive all around we’re going to hit Oklahoma and Texas where the band is strong and Bart’s going to go to his
[00:15:07] home town will be facebooking live to all these screenings that we have this week and and it’s going to be a lot of
[00:15:14] fun and we’re gonna kind of do it it’s it’s a music movie so we’re gonna do our own tour yeah I had to open the film it
[00:15:20] could be a lot of fun that is yes so for those of you listening or streaming if you this song you know if I if I say a
[00:15:27] few of the lines from the song you’ll you’ll recognize it right away it says I can only imagine what it will be like
[00:15:33] when I walk by your side I can only imagine what my eyes will see when your face is before me I can only imagine I
[00:15:39] can only imagine surrounded by your glory what will my heart feel will I dance for you Jesus or an all you be
[00:15:45] still will I stand in your presence or to my knees will I fall and I I mean
[00:15:50] that song is so powerful and according to the stats for those of you listening
[00:15:57] Bart Millard he’s the lead singer of the Christian band Mercy Me he’s the one who wrote the song and what the movie is
[00:16:03] essentially showing us is that he actually wrote this song about his father who and correct me if I’m wrong
[00:16:10] John who who Heath he thought in a sense was beyond hope because his father was so
[00:16:17] messed up by alcohol but then his father accepted Christ and and it radically changed his life yeah yeah basically you
[00:16:25] know Bart in his own words says if there was someone that I thought you know
[00:16:30] could not be changed by the gospel it was my dad and yet it happened and God
[00:16:38] did change it and and that what a cool story what an amazing idea
[00:16:43] that God can change the unchangeable and when his dad found out he had cancer it
[00:16:48] woke him up spiritually and brought him to Christ and his kind of dying wish was to reconcile with his son and and the
[00:16:57] tables were turned in the sense and and the great scene in the movie where Dennis Quaid is is asking for
[00:17:05] and the decision to forgive involves a lot of courage sometimes and and Bart is
[00:17:12] wrestling with it it’s amazing to see these two actors going at it on screen but it was that forgiveness in that
[00:17:18] reconciliation that Redemption with their relationship that inspired the song so so at the BART set father’s
[00:17:26] funeral he said his grandmother said I can only imagine what he’s seeing up there and
[00:17:32] that really stuck with Bart and he and a journal every time you Gerald he would just write these words I can only imagine I can only imagine so finally he
[00:17:39] was in their tour bus and he was looking through his journal and it was on every page ha ha and it was just a sign that
[00:17:46] this is your song to sing you know and it was a song that touched the world and it’s just an amazing story and I think
[00:17:54] that you know there’s a father-son story it’s just incredibly relatable yeah incredibly rude because everybody so
[00:18:01] many of us have those struggles where we wanted more out of a relationship maybe with our father or we felt we wish it
[00:18:08] had been better and for whatever need for whatever reason God has put deep in our hearts this desire to be connected
[00:18:17] with our parents and in a lot of ways especially with our father and so yeah
[00:18:22] like you’re saying that’s really gonna affect us so yeah I agree revelation 21:4 says he will wipe away
[00:18:29] every tear from their eyes and there will be no more death or mourning or crying or pain for the former things
[00:18:34] have passed away in revelation 21:3 it says and I heard a loud voice from the
[00:18:39] throne saying behold the dwelling place of God is with man and he will live with them they will be his people and God
[00:18:45] Himself will be with them as their God so for those of you listening out there
[00:18:52] who have you know you’re struggling in your relationships maybe with your parents maybe that relationships not everything
[00:18:57] you were hoping it would be this is a great opportunity you know they say a
[00:19:03] picture’s worth a thousand words and a movie really just brings home everything
[00:19:08] we we’re hoping you know or striving for and I I’m so excited to see this movie
[00:19:13] I’m gonna see it right away and I think it’s gonna be a huge blessing John it special it’s a special special film yeah
[00:19:21] in a special date it comes out on 316 how cool is that you know I tell people I’m John and my movie opens on three
[00:19:27] sixteen how about that oh wow and the next time I am at next time no
[00:19:33] accident next time we just we just you know we knew the band’s tour ended on
[00:19:38] the 11th yeah we thought well that Sunday we’ll release on Friday and the next time Friday lands on the 16th of
[00:19:46] March lands on a Friday is 2029 so what a cool little detail and and another
[00:19:52] reminder of a Father’s love for us times and it’s so grand so yeah it’s pretty
[00:19:57] amazing detail and please everyone come out to the theaters this weekend it won’t disappoint you yeah and and it
[00:20:04] helps create something we call FOMO which is a cultural phenomenon fo mo it’s a fear of missing out and it drives
[00:20:12] culture today if we make it up noise we can get a generation back that this slipped away from the church a merry
[00:20:18] ASSA t yeah and family family is where it’s at you know I mean family is the cornerstone upon which God builds
[00:20:25] healthy communities and those families can only be healthy when they will revolve around Jesus Christ and so
[00:20:33] that’s what but big part of what you’re doing hey I have a question for you that’s a little bit change a topic but are you guys ever gonna do anything like
[00:20:39] sci-fi or fantasy oriented wouldn’t that be fun I’m a huge fan Syfy whether it’s
[00:20:45] Star Wars or or you know anything you know of that you know in that genre
[00:20:51] expands on CW super on sci-fi super cool I’m a big fan of that genre yeah nothing
[00:20:57] has come across in that genre but hard to get a true story a true story on
[00:21:02] sci-fi right yeah yeah unless it was like one of the lunar missions or whatever but it’s uh yeah it’s you know
[00:21:09] it I we don’t only do true stories I think we’ve landed that we love true stories the most yeah but who knows
[00:21:16] there there might you know some of the best projects you know come along at the
[00:21:21] most in the most unexpected ways and at the most unexpected times I did not expect to be October baby first but I
[00:21:27] just heard Gianna Jetsons story and I’m so moved by it yeah and I felt I needed to you know we need
[00:21:33] to make a film about it and and you know I can only imagine just came along out of nowhere and so you never know
[00:21:39] you never know where projects come from and I would certainly as a filmmaker of course love to do something in that in
[00:21:46] that range but you know it has to fit the idea that the story’s powerful and
[00:21:51] the story uplifts people and and showcases what it’s true yeah and draws people to it you know and as you can do
[00:21:58] that I mean Lord of the Rings and the Narnia series and they prove that you can if you take all kinds of different
[00:22:05] stories and use them as tools to showcase truth yeah God is so creative and has put that creativity in us you
[00:22:12] know I have another question for you and I’m gonna let you answer it when we come back we have a quick break here but if
[00:22:17] you had an unlimited budget let’s say there was no no limit to your budget what film would you do or do you have
[00:22:23] anything in mind that you would do my guest today is John johner when he is the co-director of I
[00:22:29] can only imagine as well as other films to October baby moms night out Woodlawn all these awesome films Christian films
[00:22:36] so stay with us what would kind of movie would he do if he had an unlimited budget we’ll be
[00:22:41] right back [Music]
[00:22:48] I will bring my heart Luke Gibson of LT equipment supports
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[00:23:23] on conover tires wheels and service in oceanside for a full range of affordable options in all the brand’s you trust see
[00:23:30] their great customer reviews at special offers online hours Tuesday through Friday 7:30 to 5:30 and Saturdays 7:30
[00:23:37] to 5:00 called Dan and his team at seven six zero four three nine sixteen thirty one Conover tires wheels and service
[00:23:44] 24:05 oceanside boulevard in oceanside seven six zero four three nine sixteen
[00:23:49] thirty one hi this is Jason hall president of team home loans a branch of synergy one lending I just want to take
[00:23:56] this opportunity to thank Kevin Kahn over for the profound impact he’s had on mine and my wife’s spiritual life as
[00:24:02] well as being an incredible teacher while our kids were his students his knowledge and passion have taught us all
[00:24:07] how important it is to be defenders of our faith it’s our honor and privilege to support Kevin and his show is our
[00:24:13] sincere hope and prayer that you will continue to learn to be defenders of your faith through Kevin’s radio show and through his educate for life
[00:24:20] teachings thank you Kevin from the hall family and team home loans
[00:24:34] we would like to teach you through the proclamation of the gospel how do you
[00:24:45] think you can like us on facebook or
[00:24:52] visit us at YouTube at throughout all ages thanks for tuning in to educate for
[00:25:02] life I’m your host Kevin Conover I hope you’re joining us so we’re streaming live and we’re also gonna be this this
[00:25:08] program will be rebroadcast on Saturday 2:00 to 3:00 KPRC radio here in Southern
[00:25:13] California and my website to educate for life.org you can pick up a recording of
[00:25:19] this show or lots of other past shows also recently interviewed Thomas Purefoy is Genesis history that was a phenomenal
[00:25:26] movie also that came out about a year ago and just a little while ago interviewed Keisling and she she is
[00:25:35] actually a woman who was conceived in rape and she talks about that experience
[00:25:41] what she went through finding out that her mother was raped and that she was considered for abortion my guest today
[00:25:48] is John Erwin he is the co-writer and co-director of I can only imagine calm I
[00:25:54] can only imagine the movie the the song was written by Bart Millard he’s the lead singer of the Christian band Mercy
[00:26:00] Me it’s now the most played radio single in Christian music history and it was
[00:26:06] inspired by a transform relationship with his father who was addicted to alcohol and the the whole point of the
[00:26:12] movie is it’s illustrating that nobody is ever too far from God’s love or too
[00:26:18] far from our eternal home in heaven and we are very privileged to have John on
[00:26:23] the air with us today John so so I know that money is a big issue when producing film scores yeah
[00:26:30] yeah so so if you had an unlimited budget do you have a dream movie that
[00:26:36] you you want to produce or is that just something you’re waiting on the Lord to bring about yeah you know I’m the
[00:26:41] earlier several I would say I think you know overall
[00:26:47] one of the things that we would love to attack eventually is and I can’t I don’t
[00:26:55] want to say exactly what story within it we would attack first but is to kind of
[00:27:00] reinvention the Bible in a way that is to the scale of Lord of the Rings and kind of like what Christopher Nolan did
[00:27:07] to the Batman franchise you know the Batman franchise is very cheesy yeah yeah and he really made it real yeah he
[00:27:14] made it and he gave it an epic scale but still in an accurate way to the fans and
[00:27:20] I just think the Bible the stories in the Bible one in particular not there
[00:27:27] several I think that there would be a way to do it bigger and better and in a
[00:27:32] way that is much much more visceral and emotional and I think sometimes you have
[00:27:39] a lot of a lot of Christians that maybe have not taken the time to master their
[00:27:45] craft which is the journey that we’re on no or they just don’t have the resources
[00:27:50] to compete to create a world like that and so that the stuff is pretty bad and
[00:27:55] then you have the some great filmmakers like Ridley Scott who did you know
[00:28:01] Exodus but they’ll just never be able to embrace what drives the story of the Bible because what drives the story is
[00:28:07] the sinfulness of man and the idea that we are broken and in need of redemption we need a Savior because of what we’ve
[00:28:15] done so Hollywood will never embrace that consciously or unconsciously so you
[00:28:22] have in these bigger budget movies like Noah or Exodus you have that core theme replaced with environmentalism and Noah
[00:28:29] with revolution in Exodus and and the story falls apart you know yeah and and
[00:28:36] so to me I would love to earn that but that’s you know that’s a big thing a film is like the size of the film is
[00:28:43] based off it’s like a house you’d only build a house as big as the foundation that it sits on and the foundation is
[00:28:48] the brand so we’d have to get our brand a lot bigger over over the course of time to be able to do that but that’s
[00:28:54] one of the things that I would love to reintroduce a generation to the Bible in
[00:28:59] all its scale and all it’s relatable emotion and
[00:29:05] it kind of it kind of uh brings a tear in my eye Minaya the way it’s portrayed right now
[00:29:13] you know often and that would be some we’d like to to work up towards I think
[00:29:19] as an ultimate life’s goal we’ll see yeah God gives us the opportunity it’s no time soon but well who knows with uh
[00:29:27] with Friday maybe maybe things will be moving in that direction well who knows
[00:29:32] we’ll see yeah well I’ll be praying I’ll be praying for your success as the first one but but it’s probably
[00:29:39] still aways away so I don’t wanna give it away but I will say this we work for the fans anybody promoting the film or
[00:29:45] that goes to see the films we work for you you’re our boss and you’ve given us an amazing job and the more people that
[00:29:52] go see them the bigger and better we can make the movies and the more we can learn about the craft of film and and
[00:29:57] get a team and and we’ve only begun to see what a Christian film could become I
[00:30:02] dream of a day where someone’s used what the gospel can compete with Star Wars I don’t think that anything stops us
[00:30:08] yeah I agree on how far we’ll be able to go in that journey but that can happen and if we can play the trail for the
[00:30:14] next generation that would be really cool you know and talking about the next generation there’s a ton of young people
[00:30:20] obviously it’s all over YouTube a lot of young people they they want to do what you’ve done and what you’re doing with your life what kind of advice would you
[00:30:28] give them as far as that is concerned I mean has this been uh has this been an easy road has this been a hard road for
[00:30:34] you what kind of oh no the the the film industry is uh is brutal
[00:30:40] it’s one of the most shark-infested competitive businesses that you can work in but you know if God calls you to it
[00:30:46] he’ll provide a way and and and you know I think Rome was also dangerous in the
[00:30:52] first century yes God calls us the place that places outside of our comfort zone and I would say if you know the biggest
[00:30:59] thing is I tell people like if there’s anything else you can do and be happy
[00:31:04] other than entertainment you should do it but if you just can’t not do it if you just there’s something in you that
[00:31:10] you have to do it well I took good indicator that you might be called to it and if you’re called to it the key is to
[00:31:16] never give up is just to keep going and never give up and remember the words of
[00:31:22] Winston Churchill is that you know let me say failures not success is not final
[00:31:27] failure is not fatal it’s the courage to continue that counts you know and and I
[00:31:32] think just remember that success is long obedience in the same direction and just wake up every day and take a couple more
[00:31:38] steps at that mountain and and have patience and you know my dad that allows
[00:31:43] very young said if you get 20 years to your life of your life to anything you know you’ll master it well it’s been 20
[00:31:49] years since I neglected to inform ESPN of my age at fifteen and was the
[00:31:55] cameraman to somebody got sick and and you know my career started so it takes
[00:32:02] longer than you think but it’s worth it and I think we forget that the Bible is filled with stories of long seasons of
[00:32:08] preparation for short seasons of influence and just don’t give up and just keep going and just learn a little
[00:32:14] bit every day I consider film to be a craft much more than an art form and a craft is something that you learn
[00:32:19] incrementally over time and you give yourself to the master and so any I say
[00:32:25] look we’re master we’re we’re storytellers serving the master storyteller serving the greatest
[00:32:31] storyteller of all time and we’re trying to learn our craft and I think having that kind of attitude is best and and
[00:32:39] then just practice practice practice Andy and I made a ton of music videos before we ever make them goofy you know
[00:32:46] and so but but I hope that we can usher
[00:32:51] in a new generation of talent into the entertainment industry we need it and as Christians and we want to be a part of
[00:32:57] it and Andy I want to blaze the trail I remember vividly Sean Astin told me instead of wood Lonnie said I see 180
[00:33:04] esplen tears within pioneers and I said thanks Charlotte’s is never gonna be our place trail he said you know John most
[00:33:09] frontiersman died out on the path of that but the trail will be clearly marked for this next generation and we
[00:33:16] will be frozen pointing to the summit you know we all just hop up on each other’s shoulders and we take the next
[00:33:21] step and I think if we continue to do that as Christians we will realize that we’ve only begun to see the potential of
[00:33:28] what Christian films could become yeah that is so great I have one I have another question for you about this and
[00:33:34] that is um you know my son is very interested in this he’s constantly asked me dad I want to make my youtube channel and he’s videotaping himself skateboard
[00:33:40] and doing all this stuff and and but it makes me a little nervous because I feel like there’s so many bad influences in
[00:33:47] like you said you said Hollywood is brutal so when we get back I want to ask you how do you avoid the pitfalls how do
[00:33:54] you keep going in the right direction and avoid these big pitfalls my guest today is John Erwin he is the co-writer and director of I can only imagine
[00:34:01] coming out this Friday March 16th you can find out more about it I can only imagine calm stay with us we’re going to
[00:34:07] be right back for 36 years Fastlane kayaking has
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[00:34:41] landing marina across from SeaWorld six one nine two two two zero seven sixty-six hi this is Jason hall
[00:34:48] president of team home loans a branch of synergy one lending I just wanted to take this opportunity to thank Kevin
[00:34:53] Conover for the profound impact he’s had on mine and my wife’s spiritual life as well as being an incredible teacher
[00:34:59] while our kids were his students his knowledge and passion have taught us all how important it is to be defenders of
[00:35:05] our feet it’s our honor and privilege to support Kevin and his show is our sincere hope and prayer that he will
[00:35:11] continue to learn to be defenders of your faith through Kevin’s radio show and through his educate for life
[00:35:16] teachings thank you Kevin from the hall family and team home loans educate for
[00:35:21] life helps you build your life on the rock LG equipment helps builders build on good soil Luc Gibson’s team at LG
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[00:35:50] when you need tires our service count on conover tires wheels and service in oceanside for a full range of affordable
[00:35:56] options in all the brand’s you trust see their great customer reviews at special offers online hours Tuesday through
[00:36:03] Friday 7:30 to 5:30 and Saturdays 7:30 to 5:00 called Dan and his team at seven
[00:36:08] six zero four three nine sixteen thirty one conover tires wheels and service 24:05 oceanside boulevard in oceanside
[00:36:15] seven six zero four three nine sixteen thirty one [Music]
[00:36:24] welcome to educate for life I’m your host Kevin Conover my website is educate for life dot o-r-g if you like
[00:36:30] apologetics I have all kinds of Christian apologetics information on my website that’s what I do for a living
[00:36:36] I’m a teacher at a Christian high school I’ve been teaching apologetics for 11 years and also doing this radio program here for over three years now we’ve got
[00:36:43] all kinds of amazing guests on the radio program they’re on YouTube their podcast we have dr. james tour one of the top 50
[00:36:49] scientists in the world and he goes through why chemically from a chemical perspective there’s no way evolution can
[00:36:56] take place we have people on the show like Dale Tackett the the gentleman who
[00:37:02] helped produce and taught the truth project talking about the movie he was recently hosting his Genesis history
[00:37:08] I’ve got dr. John Baumgardner on there he’s a geophysicist he goes through all
[00:37:13] the science behind a worldwide flood and those sorts of things all kinds of amazing guests I’ve also got patty Hite
[00:37:21] who left the homosexual lifestyle and met Jesus Christ supernaturally had a
[00:37:27] supernatural experience talks about how Christ changed radically changed her life just so many testimonies from
[00:37:33] people who described how God has stepped into their lives and transformed their
[00:37:38] lives and is now using them to be a light to other people and give hope and encouragement to other people and my
[00:37:44] guest today is John Irwin and that’s exactly what his vision is is giving hope and inspiration to people through
[00:37:51] film through stories which is just what Jesus Christ did through the parables and everything and so John I was just
[00:37:59] when we cut off the last segment there I was asking you you know you started at
[00:38:04] 15 years old you said getting involved in moviemaking and and being a cameraman
[00:38:09] for ESPN and everything and how do you go from 15 to where you’re at now
[00:38:15] without stepping into those potholes I’m nervous for my own son to be involved in
[00:38:21] making because it seems like there’s so many temptations out there that can get
[00:38:26] you off base with your walk with God you know yeah well first I have an incredible foundation you know I think
[00:38:33] my my my dad you know and mom were such great
[00:38:38] influences and my grandfather as well the logo to our company is my
[00:38:44] grandfather’s playing for world war ii he received the Medal of Honor in World War two and really taught us what it
[00:38:50] meant to go above and beyond the call of duty and and so you know I have a great
[00:38:55] heritage and a great family and a great foundation first of all and I think that’s important
[00:39:00] secondly I think it’s you know it’s interesting when I was 15 you know I
[00:39:06] went from talk about culture shock I went from you know being this kind of Southern Baptists you know Republican
[00:39:13] conservative homeschool kid from Alabama to overnight you know I was thrown into
[00:39:19] this world where I went from not knowing anyone who didn’t he wasn’t a Christian to being the only Christian in this crew
[00:39:27] of pirates you know for ESPN and and I’d lead up that’s when my faith really became real to me because there had to
[00:39:32] be mine you know and and it was a good transition and so I think there’s some sort of balance there and I think my dad
[00:39:38] dropped me off before the game picked me up right afterwards and I did that for a little while you know as I started
[00:39:44] working for ESPN so I think it’s important to have a blend of a great
[00:39:50] foundation but also don’t you know it’s like it’s like that butterfly illustration if you help the butterfly
[00:39:56] out of its cocoon or whatever you can its wings you know I think you know we’re called to be in the world not
[00:40:03] of the world but in the world and and that’s a tough thing for parents and I look my oldest is nine so I don’t I
[00:40:10] don’t even want to think about it right now but but it’s you know it’s one of those things where I think you know
[00:40:17] sometimes to go out there can be a good thing and I would just say you know I don’t live in LA for a reason because
[00:40:23] it’s the capital of narcissist right yeah in the entertainment industry and in Los Angeles I mean I love Southern
[00:40:30] California other places but you know I I stay home I stay rooted you know and and I Alabama
[00:40:40] and in the south and I want to live with the people that are buying the tickets to our stuff and and I have a great
[00:40:47] community around me and a great team and I think accountability is a big
[00:40:52] deal and have people walking beside you that can slap you upside the head if you get cocky yeah you know I don’t know I
[00:40:58] don’t know what the worst sin is but I can tell you what the most deadly sin is and that’s you know pride ego you know
[00:41:03] you got to have people in your life that can speak honestly with you you know
[00:41:08] when when you’re when you’re maybe you know you know full of yourself yeah
[00:41:14] which has happened multiple times you know with me and so and then I would
[00:41:19] just say it’s you know it’s it’s a you know that the advantages to your son are the same as the disadvantages there’s
[00:41:26] never been a generation that had this kind of access it’s a professional gear you talked about a youtube channel you
[00:41:32] can go buy a $1,200 DSLR and have a mac computer or even a PC whatever and you
[00:41:38] can be doing professional stuff you know wasn’t like that when I was growing up so you don’t have to go to film school
[00:41:43] to get to professional gear well the other reason is the other downside of that is every other kid in the world has
[00:41:50] an access so you know competition has never been higher which is which is what
[00:41:56] makes the entertainment industry so brutal and honestly so much fun it’s just highly competitive yeah that’s what
[00:42:02] I was going to ask you what do you foresee for the future of moviemaking it because there is such easy access to a
[00:42:08] professional gear and everything what do you see how future yeah well you know what you see it right now
[00:42:15] entertainment it’s just changing rapidly because of something called the law of accelerating returns which means that
[00:42:24] basically change does not happen on a linear curve it compounds and so they’ll
[00:42:29] say reycarts the guy however you see a lessening of a guy that coined that term does a lot of TED Talks says that we’re
[00:42:35] not going to experience you know 100 years of change in the 21st century we’re going to experience something like
[00:42:40] 10,000 years to change just because of the rate of Technology and acceleration
[00:42:46] so so that it creates a lot that disruption creates a lot of
[00:42:52] opportunities for Christians because you know my industry doesn’t doesn’t make
[00:42:59] money off people consuming entertainment it makes money off how people consider entertainment and it takes a little time for the de forma financial model around
[00:43:06] something whether that’s a blu-ray or a DVD or the theater or Netflix which we call s VOD so it’s changing so fast and
[00:43:15] so much disruption is hitting the space a lot of these studio mechanisms which took a hundred years to build by the way
[00:43:21] are bleeding and they’re begging for us for safe bets and we can provide that
[00:43:28] for them we can provide them a safe bet and they in a great return of revenue
[00:43:34] and profit and yet we can also use their machine to get the gospel to the world
[00:43:40] in our time we’re really the first generation that could say that the Great Commission is now possible yeah if you
[00:43:46] think about the Great Commission the Bible Jesus gives the Great Commission to to a group of guys and the continent
[00:43:53] that we’re standing on right now wouldn’t be discovered for over 1,400 years so it’s obviously meant for more than just them and we’re the first
[00:43:59] generation that could say this is possible in our lifetime the gospel to the entire world and what that would
[00:44:05] mean is we’d have to use some of the modern mechanisms like film – – or like
[00:44:11] radio you know to transmit the gospel to the world but we have enormous
[00:44:16] opportunities I think the way it changes for us is our stance we’ve got to go
[00:44:22] from defense to offense there’s really no stopping technology and its influences on our children we can try we
[00:44:29] can try to slow it down but unfortunately the cellphone has kind of wedged its way between the parent and
[00:44:35] the child and so has the TV set and so is the iPad and so is the movie theater so we got to start playing offense as
[00:44:42] Christians on those platforms we got to take the gospel to those platforms by the way my Bible says on this rock I’ll
[00:44:49] build my church and the gates of Hell will not prevail against it now Maine is not a weapon nobody’s gotta throw a gate at you no
[00:44:55] let’s go attack you with the gate a gate is that you got a storm gates you know so we’re built for offense I think and I
[00:45:01] think it’s it’s time to to take the gospel to these places and and there’s a
[00:45:07] lot of opportunities so what I would say to your son is there’s never been as much competition but there’s also never
[00:45:12] been as much opportunity so the key is to just start early about your niche and practice practice
[00:45:18] practice practice you know and get better and better what you do that’s question really is the key yeah
[00:45:24] my guest today is John Erwin he has been involved in the moviemaking industry since he was 15 years old if you can
[00:45:32] believe that and John when we come back I’m curious if you’ve ever acted in any of your movies or if you’ve wanted to
[00:45:37] act in in your movies yeah one more segment left with John and so I hope you’re enjoying the program
[00:45:43] stay with us we got one more segment we’ll be right back when you need tires
[00:45:50] are serviced count on conover tires wheels and service in oceanside for a full range of affordable options and all
[00:45:56] the brand’s you trust see their great customer reviews at special offers online hours Tuesday through Friday 7:30
[00:46:02] to 5:30 and Saturdays 7:30 to 5:00 called Dan and his team at seven six zero four three nine sixteen thirty one
[00:46:09] Conover tires wheels and service 24:05 oceanside boulevard in oceanside seven
[00:46:15] six zero four thirty nine 16:31 this is all angels ministry with Joe and Stacey
[00:46:21] if you would like to appeal me to share the gospel with confident in a physical and effective way we would like to teach
[00:46:28] you through the proclamation of the gospel
[00:46:35] on one evangelism how do you think you can get to happen Oh Agis calm like us
[00:46:44] on Facebook or business at YouTube and throughout all ages Luke Gibson of LG equipment supports
[00:46:50] educate for life with Kevin Conover Luke grew up in the construction industry and now serves LG’s commercial and
[00:46:56] residential customers throughout Southern California whether you need grading paving hauling demolition on-site bulk water service
[00:47:03] water trucks tankers and towers call LG equipment at six one nine nine nine
[00:47:08] eight zero nine two four learn more at LG equipment comm six one
[00:47:14] nine nine nine eight zero nine two four hi this is jason hall president of team
[00:47:19] home loans a branch of synergy one lending i just wanted to take this opportunity to thank Kevin Kahn over for
[00:47:25] the profound impact he’s had on mine and my wife’s spiritual life as well as being an incredible teacher while our
[00:47:30] kids were his students his knowledge and passion have taught us all how important it is to be defenders of our faith
[00:47:36] it’s our honor and privilege to support Kevin and his show is our sincere hope and prayer that you will continue to
[00:47:42] learn to be defenders of your faith through Kevin’s radio show and through his educate for life teachings thank you
[00:47:48] Kevin from the hall family and team home loans
[00:47:56] welcome to educate for life I’m your host Kevin Conover my web sites educate for life dot o-r-g I know it’s a little
[00:48:02] ways off but I’m still promoting it early May 15th we’re having a huge event if you want to register it’s AFL Danny
[00:48:08] Raycom you can actually get free tickets if you use the coupon code register early register early and you can get
[00:48:15] free tickets to the event we’re gonna pack it out it’s going to be an awesome time of fellowship fun and illusions
[00:48:21] Danny ray is going to be using illusions to share the gospel so bring your friends who don’t know the Lord and
[00:48:26] aren’t real comfortable stepping into a church it’s a great opportunity to just come and have a lot of fun and let
[00:48:32] people hear the hope of Jesus Christ my guest today is John Irwin and when we left off last segment I was asking him
[00:48:38] John have you ever thought about acting in any of your movies I have not acted in any of my movies
[00:48:49] although I love working with wonderful actors except to say that a moms night out Andy I had a little cameo in this
[00:48:56] kind of running monologue sequence we had filmed it you know it’s black and white kind of
[00:49:03] thing and you know Sarah drew in the movies talking about how she feels like
[00:49:09] you know somebody’s gonna kind of lock her up she’s such a bad mom or whatever yeah yeah her monologue of moms and when
[00:49:14] wife and I went and saw that film it was really funny yeah it’s like a love letter to my wife never liked her anyway
[00:49:19] we filmed it as a as a temporary placeholder and they were going to go out to our good friend Gary Sinise to
[00:49:25] see if she would do it I doubt he ever would but but I you know he just got the voiceover for this documentary we did
[00:49:32] Steve McQueen American icon and and but what we ran out of time so it stayed in there so I do get I do get like you know
[00:49:41] Screen Actors Guild royalty checks from that real small like 60 bucks two quarters and I’m like I should do this
[00:49:48] more often you know there’s money here but but it’s not you know my passion is behind the camera and and crafting these
[00:49:55] things and working with wonderful actors anything I’ve had a had a you know an incredible incredible privilege to work
[00:50:04] with you know Jon you know Jon Voight and Sean Astin and Dennis Quaid and this
[00:50:10] one it’s in the Steve McQueen movie and you know they’ve become you know we’ve
[00:50:18] learned a lot that is so cool and they’re they’re wonderful people and God’s changing them like gods changing
[00:50:24] Dennis Quaid right now yeah hazing to see and kind of come back to his faith and his Baptist roots and he
[00:50:30] wrote a song we’re gonna launch later on this week for his mom a gospel song that is cylinder on her 91st birthday he
[00:50:35] wrote it on the set of I can only imagine so it’s good to be an influence with these people because I think Jim
[00:50:41] Carrey said it best he said I wish everyone could be rich and famous and have everything they’ve ever wanted to know it’s not the answer
[00:50:47] yeah people are kind of miserable at the top yeah and and it’s good to be able to have a relationship with and you get to
[00:50:54] be that light how do you know who Larry Poland is dr. Larry Pollard you not you should look him up sometimes he’s
[00:50:59] getting older up there but he is a guy who I interviewed maybe two years ago and he has this master media ministry
[00:51:07] where what all he does is he prays for all the actors direct oh yeah sure yeah
[00:51:12] yeah and I appreciate their ministry and and and what they do yeah what you were
[00:51:18] saying there reminded me of him because here you are you know you love the Lord you’re going in here you’re making these
[00:51:24] films where you’re passionate about Jesus Christ you’re not just telling a story you’re telling you’re telling a
[00:51:30] story that you because you believe in God and you believe in Jesus Christ and and so you’re this light in a dark place
[00:51:35] where and a lot of people I think are looking for that light and so they they reach out and they go hey this guy’s authentic he’s real he believes in the
[00:51:42] truth of God’s Word you know yeah cool what what is your hopefully first of
[00:51:48] many we need more Christians inside the entertainment industry and this is one of the most powerful tools of
[00:51:53] communication and the world’s ever seen it’s America’s second largest export
[00:51:58] mined agriculture and in fact there’s these amazing things called outfit deals that if a film becomes successful in
[00:52:04] United States it takes itself to the entire world it actually triggers these
[00:52:10] things called output deals and countries that are persecuting Christianity pay to have the right to try to translate the
[00:52:16] movie and give it to their people because it’s a successful piece of American entertainment which the world worships there’s 20 movie theaters
[00:52:22] opening every day in China so it’s uh it’s an amazing time
[00:52:27] and this is the medium we have to figure out the incredible incredible evangelistic opportunity now will you
[00:52:34] ever make a movie that isn’t overtly Christian or are you going to stay specifically you know communicating
[00:52:41] those messages that’s a great question I mean I think you know the Bible says
[00:52:46] that we we make our plans but God you know decides our steps and I think you
[00:52:52] know everything there’s a lot of things that have in my life that have been surprises you know how the audience you
[00:53:01] know and that’s kind of a part of larger debate of how we categorize these films what we call them yeah but but I’ll
[00:53:10] leave that to to others and to marketers and to to the audience from my
[00:53:17] perspective you know one of the things that I say is we we believe in the
[00:53:22] return of Frank Capra meaning the great legendary director It’s a Wonderful Ison and mr. Smith goes to Washington and the
[00:53:28] why we fight series general or to and what I need to say is we need we hope and optimism and we need entertainment
[00:53:34] that uplifts us and and and draws out you know draws us to what’s true and
[00:53:40] what’s good I’m most passionate about getting the gospel to my generation on film yeah I love that passage in acts
[00:53:48] that said they would serve the purposes of God in his generation and fell asleep I think the message of the gospel never
[00:53:54] change but the methods used to get it to people change with the time you know it changes with technology and we have to
[00:54:00] there’s a way to serve God in your time in your in your generation and I want to do that and I want to harness film as a
[00:54:07] tool to share the Gospel through story I remember I remember hearing TD jakes say
[00:54:13] Jesus was a was a storyteller so if he was around today I think he’d be a filmmaker you know I don’t know if
[00:54:18] that’s right or not or theological or not like I’ll feel it it’s great yeah so I think I think there’s something to
[00:54:25] that I think story is the language of our hearts and mass entertainment is the language of our time and so a movie is
[00:54:31] the unification of the tube I you know so I just have to make a film that I
[00:54:36] believe deeply in and I leave that the world needs and something that will enrich their life and draw
[00:54:41] them toward what’s true could there be a situation like my granddad’s World War 2 store now he’s a devout Christian but
[00:54:49] that’s one that we’ve always tinkered around with in his Medal of Honor story how would that be categorized I don’t
[00:54:55] know but I’ll tell you this I we wear our passions on our sleeve and and if
[00:55:01] you if you trust us and if you come if you’ll take the ride with us and and believe in and support our work you know
[00:55:06] by God’s grace we won’t let you down we’re here to stay we’re not trying to get through middle America and through
[00:55:12] the church to Hollywood we’re trying to bend the Hollywood to the church and into the purposes of the gospel and
[00:55:18] that’s a lifelong calling it’s all we do it’s not a slice of you know diversified
[00:55:23] pie and each story will be something we believe deeply in and believe that the
[00:55:29] world needs and people need how people categorize them is really their call but
[00:55:36] and the other thing is trust means a lot to us we’re not going to we’re not going to offend you we’re not gonna make you
[00:55:42] feel betrayed I hate when I go to a movie with my kids and there’s like language or whatever and and there’s
[00:55:48] some alternative message that you didn’t expect exactly yeah if it has our name on it
[00:55:53] you can trust it you can trust it with our family yeah I with this story even in context of a broken father-son
[00:56:00] relationship and you know Bart getting abused you know physically by dad we
[00:56:05] treat it in such a way that it’s PG it’s like the shark in Jaws or you can feel its presence but you don’t see it which
[00:56:12] by the way makes it scarier yeah and and it’s not in a way that’s accessible for the for the entire families we were very
[00:56:17] passionate about telling this story that was that’s so great my guest today is John Erwin he is the
[00:56:23] co-writer and director of I can only imagine as well as multiple other films and this comes out March 16th this
[00:56:29] Friday please go out and check it out support it the more we spread the word
[00:56:35] about this amazing film the more that these guys are going to be able to make other awesome films and like you said
[00:56:40] it’s they’re they’re really doing a lot of amazing work here steering people towards Jesus Christ giving giving them
[00:56:46] the hope of Christ and John if people want to get involved in is there that they can support you or follow you
[00:56:53] or really just stay in touch with you know what you’re doing and what you’re trying to achieve what what absolutely I
[00:57:00] mean we promote our films much better than we promote ourselves so for now I would say you know I can only imagine
[00:57:07] calm it’s what everything is for this movie and and I can only imagine movie
[00:57:13] it’s where we are on Facebook and again there’s been such an enormous traction for this movie on social media so you
[00:57:20] ever do like euro fund me I’m kind of things to raise money for projects or is it purely like angel investors work I’ve
[00:57:27] got a great track record I mean heh stated I’m like wouldn’t try that sure we’ve had a wonderful we had wonderful
[00:57:35] success with with with Christians of means and and and an ability you know
[00:57:41] backing worker and being a patron to the work and we’re very grateful for everyone else the movie ticket really is
[00:57:49] your vote it triggers something called FOMO which is the fear of missing out which drives culture today this
[00:57:56] generation oddly enough is being called the most connected generation of all time it’s being called the generation of
[00:58:01] loneliness how about that these these devices in our hands are separating its from real relationships so out of that
[00:58:07] this need to belong and fear of missing out are dominating their behavior so in
[00:58:13] any group of people makes a lot of noise people want to be a part of whatever it is whether it’s Hamilton on Broadway or
[00:58:19] black panther or whatever we want to be a part of these cultural conversations we can do that as Christians there’s
[00:58:25] enough of us so we asked you to join its opening weekend at the theater that is really like Joshua in the Battle of
[00:58:32] Jericho the walls came tumbling down when everyone yelled at the same time and and that’s what we need and and so
[00:58:38] join us there and then after this movie we’re thinking about strategies to really educate Christians on how to use
[00:58:46] mass entertainment as a tool and then also how to educate those that want to enter the industry we’re really trying
[00:58:52] to attack those things but we need a hit first I love it we’re concentrating on on I can only imagine but after that we
[00:58:59] really want to develop some ongoing strategies and we’ll well we are out of time
[00:59:04] thank you so much for being on the air with us today I really appreciate your time and I’m gonna be playing it hard for your success and Andy success thank
[00:59:11] you hey thanks for getting the word out and God bless and I will see 360 now let the hello to cool days amen particularly
[00:59:18] met this Friday okay for those of you listening thanks for joining us today really appreciate you listening in and
[00:59:24] look forward to being with you next time I hope you have a fantastic day and keep
[00:59:30] keep on keeping on focus on the Lord keep your hearts set on Jesus Christ he
[00:59:36] is the hope of eternal life and he is all we can depend on we love just love
[00:59:41] having you here and I hope you have a great day god bless you did you miss part of today’s program don’t worry we’re con mitad to helping
[00:59:48] you get the info you need okay that was dumb but for real visit educate for life con for podcasts and
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Finding Strength for Your Walk with Christ
If this conversation with Jon Erwin stirred something in your heart, we encourage you to keep deepening your understanding of God’s Word and how it shapes every part of life. The story behind I Can Only Imagine reminds us that no one is beyond God’s reach and that His grace can rebuild even the most broken places in our lives.







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