Roar. Samual Rodriguez, president of the Nationwide Hispanic Christian Management Convention, is on a mission to achieve the plenty with biblical reality.
His quest prolonged from the pulpit to Hollywood because the preacher delved into Tinseltown to supply hits like “Flamin' Sizzling” and “Breakthrough.”
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The fascinating mix of gospel-driven preaching and filmmaking is one thing Rodriguez mentioned first got here onto his radar 10 years in the past when he was pastoring a church and a lady got here as much as the microphone and mentioned, “Samuel, God says 'Hollywood.' “
“I had no inclination for Hollywood, no want for Hollywood, to be sincere,” he mentioned on “Increased Floor with Billy Hallowell.” “I used to be a type of evangelical pastors who preached strongly in opposition to Hollywood.
Nevertheless, the Rodriguezes quickly acquired a name from Paramount about screening “Noah” to see the way it might attain the Christian neighborhood.
He agreed and, like many commentators and Christian voices on the time, knowledgeable them that the movie was unlikely to do properly among the many evangelical neighborhood – a prediction that got here true.
Hear Rodriguez talk about religion, Hollywood and extra:
From there, superstar TV producer Mark Burnett and actress Roma Downey — the brains behind the hit TV sequence “The Bible” — requested Rodriguez to affix him in consulting on their tasks, with Christian leisure firm Pure Flix doing the identical.
It wasn't lengthy earlier than Rodriguez ended up producing “Breakthrough,” a movie a couple of boy who falls by way of ice and dies earlier than his mom's prayers deliver him again from the brink of demise.
Based mostly on a real story, the movie garnered numerous help and a spotlight.
“I noticed that story concerning the child who died at eight minutes previous the hour, and the Holy Spirit actually inspired me,” he mentioned. “One thing in me mentioned, 'You're going to make a film out of this.'
And it got here true, with “Breakthrough” grossing greater than $50 million on the field workplace worldwide. Most lately, the pastor produced “Flamin' Sizzling,” the true story of Richard Montanez, a janitor at Frito Lay who conjured up the thought for Flamin' Sizzling Cheetos and have become an enormous success.
The success of those movies led Rodriguez to different tasks to be launched sooner or later.
“It's actually by the grace of God,” he mentioned.
Rodriguez mentioned he needs to make use of these tasks and his preaching to guide folks to a religious revolution and “cultural reformation.”
“That's my job,” he mentioned. “We’re right here… for such a time.
Rodriguez mentioned there's no scarcity of chaos in as we speak's tradition, and expressed probably the most urgent problem he says plagues society.
“My primary concern concerning the tradition is — and I say this with a heavy coronary heart — the lukewarmness of those that know the reality — the apathy, the complacency, the consolation, the dearth of engagement,” he mentioned. “The Fact In regards to the Centrality of Christ.”
Rodriguez mentioned folks all around the world are questioning what had been as soon as unquestionable basic truths.
“We've hit a slippery slope,” he mentioned. “Christianity has been questioned for two,000 years, Judaism for 4,000 years – however now we’re additionally questioning arithmetic and science.”
And it’s the assault on reality that worries Rodriguez a lot as a result of too a lot of those that know higher are “complacent” and “scared of backlash” or shedding followers. However he believes the results of this dynamic are tragic.
“Sadly, we permit every era to swallow the tablet of ethical relativism and cultural decadence,” Rodriguez mentioned.
Hear extra within the interview.
