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Friday, June 08, 2007

Eric Bumpus, 2003 Alumni - Author News

ASSIST News Service (ANS) - PO Box 609, Lake Forest, CA 92609-0609 USA

Visit our web site at: www.assistnews.net -- E-mail: assistnews@aol.com

 

 

Monday, June 4, 2007

 

Authors encourage prayer for Hollywood as they write about the Culture War

 

By Michael Ireland

Chief Correspondent, ASSIST News Service 

Cease Fire book cover.

LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA (ANS) -- According to Eric Bumpus and Tim Moranville, authors of CEASE FIRE: THE WAR IS OVER, there is a spiritual war that is taking place, and it will wage on until Christ’s return. But the fight Christians are involved in is not a battle with guns and tanks, but the 'culture war' rumbling through America.

 

Bumpus and Moranville, who will be offering 50 percent of their book’s royalties, earned from April through June of 2007, to the Hollywood Prayer Network (www.hollywoodprayernetwork.org), say: "Christians have lost because they have adopted the political techniques of those around them."

 

The authors contend that Christians have become just like the world they seek to "clean up."

 

"Many would rather fight other people, to the point of physical brute force, just to 'bring the country back under a godly moral code', at whatever cost. There is certainly nothing wrong with wanting to 'clean up America,' but it cannot be done through boycotts; bombing of abortion clinics or picketing funerals of those holding different worldviews," the authors say in a media release obtained by ANS.

 

"As Ephesians 6:12 has clearly pointed out, our war is not against each other, but “…against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms.” That’s the war we should be focusing on, not the ‘culture war’. When we pray for others, God will handle the changing of hearts, not us," they say.

 

Eric Bumpus' two main academic interests were united in 1998 while taking a Video Yearbook course and a Theological survey course at Lenawee Christian High School. It was through the mentorship of Mark Eckel and Jeff Schaap that Bumpus pursued further education in the Entertainment industry. Bumpus received his Bachelor of Science degree in Communications from Indiana Wesleyan University (IWU) in 2003 and a certificate of completion from the Los Angeles Film Studies Center of that same year.

 

Bumpus' primary experience has been as a video editor through his production company: Meliora Productions. He is currently working on credit sequences for Starship II: Rendezvous with Ramses, and will be the editor for MagicHouse Production’s latest film: Plausible Deniability, tentatively planned for production late this summer.

 

His co-author, Timothy Moranville originally felt that he was called to be a youth pastor. After being chosen to participate in a television production class during his junior and senior years of high school, he re-evaluated his calling, and chose to major in Communications at Indiana Wesleyan University.

 

During his four years at IWU, Moranville looked for any opportunity he could find to get behind a camera. In his sophomore year, he served as the director of photography on the short film Charity, a fictional tale of a young Jewish girl and her German friend during World War II. For his senior project, Moranville teamed up with Joletta Sells to make the feature length Red Moon, a story about a sleepwalking doctor whose patients kept getting murdered. After graduation, Moranville worked on several freelance projects in the Marion, Indiana area. In addition to co-writing Cease Fire, Timothy Moranville is currently writing a semi-autobiographical screenplay, as well as a spiritual autobiography chronicling his conversion to Roman Catholicism.

 

Eric Bumpus was asked why he wrote the book?

 

"I had taken a course in Biblical Integration in High School where I was taught to look at all of life through the lens of God’s Word, and the lens of God’s World. In viewing much of the anger flying through culture, over religious morale, I’ve been striving to see a peace treaty between culture and many of modern day Christians. I felt many books had tackled the subject of what is wrong with culture, but very few that dealt with forming a positive theology of culture; to see culture how God intends it to be. There are great resources available, such as Brian Godawa’s 'Hollywood Worldviews' and 'A Matrix of Meanings' by Craig Detweiler and Barry Taylor, but the majority of books on the film industry try to persuade Christians to shun culture and 'hide their light under a bushel,' so to speak. I had hoped to create an additional resource that serious Christians could use to make a change within their culture, as Paul did on Mars Hill in Acts 17."

 

Bumpus said he went to his friend Tim Moranville to help him write portions of this book because of his extensive knowledge of church history and of how the stance of many Christians towards art has affected our cultural relevancy.

 

What does Bumpus mean by saying "Cease Fire, the War is Over!" and that Christians have lost?

 

"I believe there is a spiritual war that will wage on until Christ’s return, but the war in which I refer to is that of the 'culture war.' Christians have lost because they have adopted the political techniques of those around them. We have become just like the world we seek to 'clean up.' Many would rather fight other people, to the point of physical brute force, just to bring the country back under a godly moral code, at whatever cost. There is certainly nothing wrong with wanting to “clean up America”, but we can’t do it with boycotts; bombing of abortion clinics or picketing funerals of those we disagree with. As Ephesians 6:12 has clearly pointed out, our war is not against each other, but '…against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms.' That’s the war we should be focusing on. When we pray for others, God will handle the changing of hearts, not us."

 

He continued: "Granted, Christians have been the object of persecution in America as well. But, Christians are called to a higher standard, and we need not play the, 'But they started it' game. If anything, we should show our difference, by praying for those who persecute us, and showing love towards them. Christ came to die for every soul, including those who influence culture. No matter how we are treated, or think we are treated, we must 'turn the other cheek' and 'walk with our "enemy" two miles when they’ve only forced us to walk one.' We must stop looking at Hollywood as the enemy and treat them as those whom Christ came to redeem."

 

Bumpus was asked to describe the battle he believes that Christians in America have been involved in.

 

"The battles many Christians face in America, I believe, are mostly an emotional backlash by those whom we have persecuted. We will have to do a lot of backtracking and apologizing before I believe anyone will listen to what we have to say. It’s not that our intentions are wrong, or even that our viewpoints are bad ones to propose, but we must check our attitudes at the door, and find less militant ways to act upon our moral beliefs."

 

Bumpus said he has two goals in mind for this book.

 

"The book is written much like a textbook, but without the textbook price. I would love to see this book brought into Christian High Schools and Universities to help prepare Christians become great producers of culture; specifically Television and Cinema," he said.

 

He added: "This book was also written for use as a study aid for anyone with a mild or extensive interest in media. Just as it is important to have good producers of culture, we must also learn how to become smart consumers of culture."

 

What two or three main things Christians need to know and understand about Hollywood and it's culture?

 

"The residents of Hollywood (and the Entertainment industry as a whole), are no different than the tribes of Africa, or the insurgents in Iraq. There is a song that I try to listen to at least once a week, to remind me of this simple truth. 'Breathe Deep (the Breath of God)' by Terry Scott Taylor’s band 'Lost Dogs' simply goes through a lyrical list of people from all walks of life. Then, it gently reminds us that we are all formed from that single breath of God. Let’s not forget that Hollywood is a Mission field, if not the most influential' Mission field," Bumpus said.

 

Bumpus explained that Hollywood, as a whole, does not hate Christians. "Sure, some do. But there are always haters in every group. And those who do hate Christians. So what?? Let’s love them and pray for them anyway," he said.

 

"The best way to support a film is to go to the theatre, on opening weekend. Don’t wait for the DVD or TV broadcast. If you want to 'send the message' to Hollywood that you want better films, you have to make your vote known on opening weekend. Hollywood bases the success of a film based on its opening weekend. If a film were to fail on opening weekend, but break records on that second weekend, Hollywood may still consider the film to be unsuccessful because that ballot box closed after that first weekend."

 

What are some of the strategies Bumpus says Christians should employ?

 

"Well, instead of militant political activism, we might try prayer. There is nothing like going to God. We need to quit relying on our own efforts, or our Government’s efforts, and start relying on the efforts of the Almighty Creator.

 

"Instead of boycotts, we might purchase more, and then write letters of how we are avid fans or customers of the company’s products or services. We might add that we would like to continue buying their products, but are concerned with issue X, Y or Z. We can be polite about our likes and dislikes instead of our shouting from behind our picket signs. If we send the message that we will never buy their product, we are really sending the message that we don’t matter since their income is not dependant upon us. Oh, and I might add the thought, when was the last time you ever heard of someone coming in to the saving knowledge of Jesus Christ from being the recipient of a boycott?"

 

He was asked why should Christians take his approach?

 

"Christians should take this approach because, quite simply, this is what the Bible teaches. It is what we are called to do. [Leviticus 25:24, Psalms 24:1, Daniel 1, Matthew 5:14-16, John 3:16 (and 17), Acts 17-18 (Note the different methods employed based on each culture. ie: 17:16-34), and 1 Peter 3:15-16.]

 

He concluded: "One ministry that Tim and I deeply share a passion for is the Hollywood Prayer Network. From April through June 2007, we have offered to donate 50 percent of all royalties earned back to HPN.

 

The authors would welcome anyone interested in knowing more about HPN to check out www.HollywoodPrayerNetwork.org.

 

Eric Bumpus and Tim Moranville ask Christians across America to join them as they pray for the residents of Hollywood (the greater Los Angeles area) and offer support for the Hollywood Prayer Network. For questions or comments about CEASE FIRE: THE WAR IS OVER, email: ceasefire_strategies@yahoo.com  

 

 

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** Michael Ireland is an international British freelance journalist. A former reporter with a London newspaper, Michael is the Chief Correspondent for ASSIST News Service of Lake Forest, California. Michael immigrated to the United States in 1982 and became a US citizen in September, 1995. He is married with two children. Michael has also been a frequent contributor to UCB Europe, a British Christian radio station.   

 

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