The Business of Christianity

One of the most famous stories of the Bible is when Jesus chased the merchants away from God's Temple. I know if I were around at that time I would be shamed to see people turn the House of God into a money making scheme.  I'm sure the money changers and merchants had their reasons. After all, it is a place of worship. At that time period more people went  there than anywhere else. There were no malls, amusement parks, movies, or Starbucks. The Temple stood as the center  for civilization. God's law was the Law of land. Thus the temple was where city officials, entertainers, and most of the foot traffic could be found.

Now let's zoom forward 2012 years later. Is Christianity turning into a business? How many people from doctors, lawyers, or even filmmakers fall into the niche claiming that they specialize in the Christian field. Is it because of the 2.2 billion Christians world wide let along the 250 million in the USA that they could attract?

Now you have these mega churches making mega bucks to spread their books, DVDs, websites, and of course the collection basket. Is this a bad thing? I think not...so as long as the intention is good.

The merchants that Jesus chased out may have used the Temple to put money into their own pockets.
They may have rented out space and kept whatever they could sell. However, would Jesus have thrown out these merchants if they were raising funds for the Temple knowing that the funds are for a good purpose?

I just watched a special on Joel Osteen, who currently has the largest church in the US.
1. http://www.oprah.com/own-oprahs-next-chapter/Pastor-Joel-Osteens-Full-Sermon
2. http://www.oprah.com/own-oprahs-next-chapter/Pastor-Joel-Osteen-Discusses-Sin-and-the-Path-to-God

Joel's ministry reaches seven million broadcast media viewers weekly in over 100 nations around the world. His  Lakewood Church in Houston has a seating capacity of 16,800 which reaches maximum capacity every week without fail. Joel himself has been received by Barbara Walters as one of the Ten Most Fascinating People. After listening to Joel's interviews with Peirs Morgan and Oprah I've come to the conclusion that Joe's intention is good. He does not earn a salary, rather the mansion he lives in is owned by the very church he built from ground up. To me, that's okay.

We the Daniel Team also have our own ministry. Our intention is to not just promote Christianity or the save the souls of the unsaved (God does that) but rather to strengthen the faith of those already in the path and to prepare them for what is about to come. We love Jesus and believe he is who he said he was. We love that we are glorifyingthe Lord's name. Right now, we do not make salaries. All of us have worked around the clock, coming up with ideas on how to make this movie all on our own spare time while still finding ways to pay our bills. We do it for the love of God (Jesus and the Holy Ghost) and to nurture the spirit of like-minded people of our faith, not to take advantage of the large Christian audience.  Our work is spiritual more than economical.

Therefore I will praise you among the nations, O LORD;

        I will sing praises to your name.  Psa. 18:49    

So when you make a gift to the movie project note that you are helping us to; praise His name among the nations, to encourage others in the faith, and ultimately, to prepare God's people for Himself.

As Joel said, "I believe all people are meant to experience the abundance that is God."
Amen!


Jim Hague
The Daniel Team

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New Year's Resolution

On behalf of The Daniel Team, we want to wish our supporters a very happy, safe, and prosperous 2012!

While reading through my Facebook account, I saw one of my friends declare his New Year's resolution.

My Agenda for 2012: help produce two TV comedies and two feature films in the first three months; publish two collections of short stories (one in January, and the second sometime in the first three months] and two of my novels (within first six months); get my own first feature film into production by August 1; sell my first collaborative script in the first three months as well; (re-) launch three of my business' (Faramir Arts, Total Environment Associates [architecture], as well as my film production company Illuminous Productions, Ltd.

Wow! That's a lot of work! I hope and pray that he makes all his dreams come true.

The Daniel Team has only one resolution, to see the documentary come to reality. That's it.
Of course any one who is working on this film can attest to the fact that it takes a great effort to create a movie; from pre-production, to the shooting, and eventually to release and distribution.

How many of us create resolutions trying to improve our short comings? For The Daniel Documentary to come to reality several things has to happen.

1. We need to raise funds
2. We need to have a powerful 3D animation team
3. We need to have a great script
4. We need to have great actors
5. We need to find scholars and a great host
6. We need to find distribution and ways of selling.

Jack Canfield, author of 'The Chicken Soup for the Soul' books once declared that 'all you need to do to get from California to New York at night is to have headlights flash only 200 feet ahead of you.

What he really means, is to try to focus on the smaller steps while maintaining a vision for the future.

To make resolutions for the entire year is too broad, for anything can happen during the year, good or bad.One step at a time please. Go for immediate goals over resolution.


Philippians 3:14 say, "I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus". This verse tells us that goals must have a meaning. Losing weight is just a declaration. People who have dire life threatening situation lose weight faster than those who simply want to fit in old jeans they once wore in college.


For The Daniel Team, our immediate goal is raising money. We'll worry about the other things as time comes. Instead of focusing the glitz and the glamor of making movies, be it winning critical acclaim, or interviews on talk shows, as well as riding on limos to awards shows, our focus is the immediate task at hand. No accolades exist without the work.

Instead of declaring to lose 20 pounds this year, focus on eating right the next day.
Eat right, take a long walk the 'next day.' Then when the day ends, make a goal for the following day.

When looking too far ahead into the future or looking back in the past we lose sight of the present.

2012 should be a great year.  But before I can make that declaration, I will focus on January 1st.

Happy New Year,
Jim Hague,
The Daniel Team