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The LORD speaking through the prophet Isaiah said, "For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways. For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways, and my thoughts than your thoughts" (Isaiah 55:8,9).

A year ago, no one thought Mel Gibson's movie on the suffering and death of Jesus could be a success. And I doubt that evangelical leaders were looking to a Catholic movie star to give them their best chance at confronting the secular culture with Jesus' claims. But God's ways are so much higher than ours.

Incredible Highs

From the beginning we have sensed that God was in this project and now there can be no doubt. Consider what has happened in the past 90 days.

• 6 national ministries - Alpha, Evangelical Fellowship of Canada, Focus on the Family, Outreach Canada, Christian Direction and Campus Crusade for Christ - came together to promote the film and develop follow up strategies. Several other ministries have responded and developed their own outreach strategies.
  
  
• Thousands of churches of all denominations have utilized the release of the film to initiate outreach strategies. Stories abound of individual churches connecting with their community in new ways because of The Passion.
  
  
• Targeted ministries to youth, university students, athletes, government and business leaders, health care workers and others have been developed and implemented. Most recently an initiative to touch the lives of homeless people through The Passion has been developed in BC and is spreading to Alberta and beyond. More info >>
  
  
• Catholics and evangelicals have found they agree on the centrality of Christ's atoning sacrifice for the sins of the world. Instead of focusing on where they disagree, many are choosing to embrace their common foundation.
  
  
• The website www.TheLife.com was developed in record time and has had an incredible 120,000 visitors in under a month. Many are indicating decisions to accept Christ or rededicate their lives to Him. Ministries in Europe have seen the site and with our help are actively pursuing the creation of similar websites for their countries.
  
  
• 200,000 Passion themed evangelism booklets are in circulation to share the gospel with seekers. These attractive booklets are great souvenirs and ensure that people get connected to the gospel. More info >>
  
  
• Secular media have made Jesus and His atoning sacrifice the topic of conversation across the continent. This in itself is an unprecedented opportunity for Christians interested in sharing their faith.

The Negative Press

Although the film got several wonderfully positive reviews by secular media, it was hard not to be affected by those who were negative. Fuelled by months of long accusation of anti-Semitism, journalists emerged with some of the most irresponsible reporting.

Several large newspapers in the eastern regions of Canada and the US wrote scathing reviews. Even worse, some Christians in the media and some church leaders failed to see the value in the movie and reinforced the biases of those against the Gospel. Maybe you caught some of these tirades:

"The most violently anti-Semitic movie since the days of the Third Reich."

"Sadistic", "pornographic", and "the product of a distinctively perverted sensibility."

"The gospel according to the Marquis de Sade."

Comments like these make you wonder if these people saw the same movie you did. They did. But through different glasses.

It reminded me of the incredible disconnect between mainstream media and the population in general. It also reminded me of the line in the film where Jesus cries out "They don't know, they don't know."

In the end, people are voting with their wallets and their time, and the overwhelming verdict is two thumbs up for the film. I think they are also giving thumbs up to Jesus. That's where we need to be ready to help them take the next steps.

How will you be involved in the online ministry?
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A Final Word

The charge of anti-Semitism, answered directly and eloquently by Mel Gibson and myriads of respected evangelical and Catholic leaders, has never made sense to the general public. Those seeing the film for the first time are wondering why the attack on this point was ever put forward.

The charge of excessive violence, coming from those in the media who approve gratuitous violence in other films, is being seen as petty and hypocritical.

The charge of historical inaccuracies by intellectuals who don't believe in the literal interpretation of the scriptures, is falling on deaf ears. Such charges are dwarfed by the emotional impact of seeing the enormity of Jesus' sacrifice in paying for our sinfulness.

The charge of Mel Gibson being in it for the money and manipulating the marketing of the film, is laughable when you consider most people initially felt he would never recover his investment.

In the end what you are left with is a Christian man, touched by God, pouring out his life in creating a testimony of God's love for him and his love for God. The fact that it sets all kinds of box office records, and puts Jesus before the whole population, just goes to prove that God's ways are higher than our ways.

Breaking News

1. The Passion of the Christ received two thumbs up from reknowned film critics Roger Ebert and Richard Roeper. Read the review >>

2. When 18,000 visitors came to the website last Thursday our server shut down. Too many were trying to access the video clip of the resurrection and gospel presentation We added more bandwidth and over the weekend, more than 3,300 people watched it. View it here >>

3. It is exciting to get an e-mail that says "someone is accepting the Lord in the chat room right now." That was on Friday. This morning an e-mail came in from a visitor in Montreal indicating he had accepted Christ and asking "Where do I go from here?"

4. $83.8 million in an opening weekend makes the film the largest grossing February release ever. Of the $125.2 million in the first 5 days, $6.4 million was from Canada.


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