Do you ever hear tales about spiritual persecution around the globe and really feel convicted about instances that you simply’ve taken your religion as a right? That’s how Brett Varvel felt when he learn the script for “Disciples within the Moonlight” for the primary time.
Varvel, who each starred in and directed the action-packed religion movie, which shall be streaming on Nice American Pure Flix beginning December 26, has lengthy lived by the phrases of Philippians 1:27 (NIV), which talks about standing agency and “striving collectively as one for the religion of the gospel.” And but, in that second, he couldn’t assist however marvel how far he would go for his religion.
“For days after studying the script, I couldn’t shake the ideas and questions,” he stated in a weblog submit earlier this yr. “Possibly persecution will come to America in the future; possibly not. However in different components of the world, my brothers and sisters in Christ face these conditions every day. Their response? Daring religion and pleasure. Pleasure to be thought-about disciples of Jesus. Pleasure to undergo in ways in which Jesus suffered. Pleasure to hold out the gospel of Jesus irrespective of the associated fee.”
These feelings had been the driving pressure behind the movie, which tells the story of small group of Christians who’re recruited to smuggle God’s Phrase to underground church buildings all through the Midwest after the U.S. authorities bans the Bible and replaces it with a government-approved model. With a ruthless federal agent in scorching pursuit, the believers should select between following the legislation or honoring and trusting God.
“Every day I’d name to consideration WHY we had been making this film,” Varvel stated. “Not everybody on the set shared my religion and convictions. However they purchased into the concept that this story delivers hope to individuals. We labored by our exhausting schedule realizing we had been part of an exhilarating story that’s greater than us. It’s concerning the biggest story that’s ever been informed—the gospel of Jesus Christ.”
As an outspoken Christian within the leisure business who has spent the final 20 years sharing the gospel of Christ onscreen in initiatives like “American Underdog,” “Working the Bases,” and at the moment “County Rescue” on Pure Flix, Varvel is aware of how highly effective and transformative religion movies might be for believers and unbelievers alike. However he says his seven-year expertise of bringing “Disciples within the Moonlight” to the display screen was one of the vital impactful.
“I noticed lives starting to vary. I noticed individuals who didn’t consider begin to develop into curious. I noticed long-time followers of Jesus reply with a newfound gratitude for the Bible. I noticed a group of individuals unite beneath a typical objective to convey gentle and hope. And that’s just the start of what I believe audiences will expertise,” he stated.
“That is an edge-of-your-seat thrill trip. Folks say they overlook they’re watching a ‘Christian movie,’” he added. “[But] this might [also] be the beginning of a motion in our tradition. An awakening the place individuals would treasure the Phrase of God, the place they’d need to reside their life to know and glorify God.”
Mark your calendar and stream “Disciples within the Moonlight” on Nice American Pure Flix beginning December 26!
And in the event you’ve been struggling to learn your Bible persistently, the New 12 months is the right time to reset and decide to taking the reality of God’s Phrase to coronary heart. Whether or not you discover a Bible studying plan that works together with your way of life, obtain an audio Bible for the time you spend driving to work or ready within the pickup line at your children’ college, and even be part of (or begin!) a Bible research, there are all kinds of the way you may give God’s Phrase the eye it deserves in 2025.
