About Last Weekend…
Jerry Jenkins headed the list of ten Christian authors at last weekend’s Focus on the Family Author Day. On Saturday, August 9th FotF hosted its PURSUIT Singles’ Conference, and the community of Colorado Springs held its 5k run, so we ten authors drank coffee, signed books, and chatted with folks strolling through the FotF bookstore on their way to or from an event.
What a FABULOUS time we had! Thanks to Betty Morgan and the whole Focus gang for such a fun event. You’re amazing!
Have you heard?
The NEW Left Behind movie will open in theatres October 3, 2014! I was a little excited about it when I heard last spring, but I got REAL excited when I realized I’d be rubbing elbows with Jerry Jenkins at last weekend’s Author Day event.
I mean he’s a REAL author. 😉
I was more than a little star-struck when I saw him for the first time at a 2008 writers conference in California. read the Left Behind Series to our girls when they were in Jr. High, and we’d all groan at the end of each book, unable to wait for the next installment of Rayford Steele and Buck Williams!
After hearing Jerry speak in 2008, I saw his heart. This God-honoring man struggled with nouns and verbs and prologues and deadlines–just like me.
When I heard this new movie would release in October 2014, I wondered how a God-honoring man dealt with a movie deal. What lead to the decision? Was he pleased with the outcome?
I thought y’all might have some questions too…
Questions for Jerry…
I asked my Facebook tribe what THEIR questions might be about the Left Behind movie—and then I sent an email to Jerry’s publicist, asking if she might answer those questions for us!
I was both blessed and humbled to receive these answers from Jerry himself…
QUESTION: How much input did you have on the screenplay, casting, etc.?
None, but of course I was thrilled beyond words to learn they had landed an actor of the caliber of Nicolas Cage. And I enjoyed being on the set in Baton Rouge one day and getting to meet him. He was very complimentary and professional…and he did a great job.
QUESTION: (This question came up several times in the context of: “Did you have to let certain Christian values slide in some areas of the movie?”)
Of course not. We would never sell the rights to people who would ask for that.
QUESTION: Is this movie a remake of the previous Kirk Cameron movies from the early 2000’s or a continuation of the following books in the series?
It’s is what’s called a reboot. It covers the first two chapters of the first book, with a much bigger budget so better production values. If people liked those videos, they’re going to love this movie.
QUESTION: Will there be more movies made from the books? (Perhaps the whole series?)
That all depends on the success of this first movie, so I pray fans make it so.
QUESTION: Are you pleased with the outcome of the book-to-movie?
Very. Dr. LaHaye and I liked what we saw in the rough cut a few months ago (before the final special effects and music), and we can’t wait to see the final product.
QUESTION: Any regrets about having the book made into movie?
After the first three mediocre videos, yes. After this one, no.
QUESTION: How did you see Christ moving during this filming and/or process as a whole?
There are many more Christians in the cast of this production than there were the first time around. To my knowledge only Kirk Cameron and his wife and Clarence Gilyard were professed believers. In this one Jordin Sparks, Lolo Jones, and several others are, and I believe they had a positive impact on the rest of the cast and crew.
For more information:
I’ve never met a multi-million-published author with a more tender heart toward new authors than Jerry Jenkins. If you’d like more information on his Writer’s Guild or other ways Jerry’s writing continues to impact our world, visit: https://jerryjenkins.com/
Tweet-Ables!
- Jerry Jenkins answers your questions about the LEFT BEHIND MOVIE! https://jerryjenkins.com/
- Will the new LEFT BEHIND MOVIE be a remake or continuation? Find out here! https://jerryjenkins.com/
- See the LEFT BEHIND MOVIE trailer and a personal interview with Jerry Jenkins today! https://jerryjenkins.com/
Today’s Question:
- Which was your favorite Left Behind book, and why?
Comments 5
Awesome! Awesome! Awesome! What a terrific interview…and HOW exciting you got to ‘rub shoulders’ with this famous and godly man. Thanks for sharing this…I smiled all the way through it.
I didn’t really rub shoulders. I got so nervous about talking to him, i just sort of said, “Hi, and thanks again for the interview.” He was so nice, but another customer came up behind me, so I moved back to my corner of the store. I’m such a goof-ball. 😉
Great interview, Mesu! I hope that this version of Left Behind is wildly successful…I enjoyed the books. Maybe this will be a catalyst to bring some unbelievers to Christ:)
[Hi. I spotted this item on the web. Would love your reaction.]
The Pretrib Rapture Jackpot!
by Bruce Rockwell
Attention, writers. You can make a fortune by promoting the pretrib rapture!
First, some background. As you know, pretrib began in Scotland in 1830. The earliest developers, including Edward Irving and John Darby, admitted that it was then a totally new view that had never been part of any church’s theology.
They also admitted that it had suddenly sprung from only OT and NT “types” and “symbols” and not from any clear Bible statement!
As late as 1957, pretrib expert John Walvoord admitted in “The Rapture Question” (p. 148) that “pretribulationism” is NOT “an explicit teaching of Scripture”!
Since the early 1900s pretrib has been sold by novelists like Sydney Watson (in 1913) and by Salem Kirban whose “Left Behind”-type novel “666” came out in 1970 – the same year Hal Lindsey’s “The Late Great Planet Earth” started breaking sales records.
The very first rapture novel titled “Left Behind” came from the joint pens of Peter and Patti Lalonde in mid-1995, resulting in some competitors being left behind.
The pretrib rapture view, which admittedly is only an “inference” and not “explicit,” rests basically on verses in John 14, I Thess. 4, and I Cor. 15, none of which have either a “taken/left” separation or exciting, nail-biting scenarios that can “sell” pretrib.
You have to go to Revelation’s action-packed chapters instead. When you do, you discover they can be tied to end time details found basically in the Olivet Discourse.
As you know, pretribs believe in two stages; Stage 1 is the pretrib rapture which supposedly occurs several years before Stage 2 which is the posttrib second coming to earth.
Since the three “rapture” chapters listed above don’t have any clear rapture-type separation between the “righteous” and the “wicked,” your best launching pad if you want to be a bestselling author is “the one shall be taken, and the other left” phrase in Matt. 24:40, 41 and Luke 17:34-36.
Trouble is, Dr. Walvoord and many other pretrib leaders declare that the “one taken” are the “wicked” taken in judgment while the “righteous” are left! But since the average pew-sitters don’t seem to know this, you can easily convince them that the “one taken” is a sort of code for an any-moment pretrib rapture!
And the pew-sitters don’t know that Walvoord etc. also teach that the same phrase is part of “non-imminent” Stage 2 which is posttrib (and not pretrib) and is on “Jewish” (and not “Church”) ground!
In order to preserve and emphasize Stage 1 (the pretrib rapture), pretrib merchandisers in recent decades have been stretching forward various aspects found in Stage 2 and quietly applying them to Stage 1. Aspects include “the day of the Lord,” “God’s wrath,” “the taken/left phrase,” “the unknown day and hour,” and Christ’s coming “as a thief” (which is always tied to Armageddon and other posttrib events).
(For more on the above Google “The Correct Answer to Who’s Taken” etc. on Joe Ortiz’s blog of Apr. 12, 2010. Also Google “Pretrib Rapture Stealth.”)
Yes, I’ve told you how you can turn yourself into a bestselling, wealthy author.
But unfortunately you have some competition because Tim LaHaye and Jerry Jenkins have already become opportunists and made millions of dollars that are destined to be left behind!
For more on them and their partners, Google “The ‘Left Behind’ Rupture,” “LaHaye’s Temperament,” “Jerry Jenkins Apologizes for Being Seen Gambling in Casinos,” “Pretrib Rapture Diehards,” “Thomas Ice (Bloopers),” “Walvoord Melts Ice,” “Famous Rapture Watchers,” “Margaret Macdonald’s Rapture Chart,” “Pretrib Rapture’s Missing Lines,” “Roots of Warlike Christian Zionism,” “Evangelicals Use Occult Deception,” “Pretrib Rapture Secrecy,” “Letter from Mrs. Billy Graham,” “Pretrib Rapture Politics” and “Pretrib Rapture Dishonesty.”
In closing let me say that Jeremiah 17:11 warns that “he that getteth riches, and not by right, shall leave them in the midst of his days, and at his end shall be a fool.”
And you can bet on this!
Hi Naomi!
This article isn’t the first controversy about Jerry Jenkins I’ve seen. In fact, I had a few folks unsubscribe from my blog and “unlike” my Facebook page after I ran this article.
Honestly, I don’t know when Jesus will return for His Church, and anyone who says he/she does is dancing on a dangerous line.
The thing I think folks sometimes forget is that Jerry and Dr. LaHaye wrote a series of NOVELS–FICTIONAL accounts of what might happen if the rapture occurred pretrib. What they did with the profit from those books is between them and the Lord. I cannot–and will not–stand in judgment of any man (or woman). It’s not my job…or responsibility–thank goodness!
Maybe it’s because I grew up in a household full of theological debate that I tend to let people have their own opinions about the non-essentials. Does it really matter if I think the rapture will happen pretrib, midtrib, or post-trib? I’d better be living the same holy life no matter what I think!
The only thing I’ll go toe-to-toe on with anyone is the doctrine of my Jesus–who He is and what He accomplished on the Cross. We MUST get that right to live eternally. Everything else we can figure out in heaven.
You said you wanted my reaction…that’s it. I won’t make it a debate. Only sharing my opinion. I hope it’s sufficient. 😉 Thanks for asking!