Redeeming the Screens

How does the future look to us? Well, clearly we realize we now live in a world of screens, from the microcosmic universe of to smartphone . . . to the imposing vigil of the multiplex giants, looming over us in Imax and 3-D--more ""real"" than real--and to all the screens in between, from computers to iPads, to muted, high definition flat-screens pouring out images in homes, restaurants, banks, businesses, schools, doctors' offices, and hospitals, and on and on everywhere we turn. We cannot change this reality, so what these Christians, and so many like them are doing is trying to find ways to redeem what we put on these screens: what message we are sending out in word and image to the watching world. So, clearly, our task, whether we have been called to create or not, is to join these artists as ""screen redeemers,"" assisting the Holy Spirit in reconciling the world to God (2 Cor 5:18-19) through helping the pervasively influential means of the media adjust its goals to the mission of Jesus Christ. ""Redeeming the Screens' words endorse the challenge of bringing Christ to the modern media. I am proud to be a Catholic priest as well as a member of SAG-AFTRA, sharing my love for Jesus on Christian TV stations each week and also doing films and commercials on the secular scene."" --Michael Manning, TV host of Word in the World; Author of 15 Faces of God ""Redeeming The Screens makes such impressive sense that empowering entertainment for the sake of our Lord's glory has become possible. Anyone involved in media production will treasure this book because it provides live models of how ministers combine their passion, talents, and faith to deliver God's truth. This book has provided a superb example of how this is to be accomplished. A warm and glowing book which I will share with many of my personal and professional friends."" --Joseph Nassralla, CEO & Founder of The Way TV, Duarte, CA ""Although all Christians are called to be lights, few will ever know the depth of this calling the men and women portrayed in this book have known. Their stories will challenge, humble, and inspire you to break out of your protective bubble and go into all the world and preach the gospel, even if that world is on Sunset Boulevard."" --Michele Pillar, Speaker; Author of Untangled; three-time Grammy Award-nominated singer Jeanne C. DeFazio holds an MA in Religion from Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary. She is currently an Athanasian Teaching Scholar at Gordon-Conwell's Center for Urban Ministerial Education in Boston and a co-author with Teresa Flowers of How to Have an Attitude of Gratitude on the Night Shift (2014) and co-editor with John P. Lathrop of Creative Ways to Build Christian Community (2013). William David Spencer is Distinguished Adjunct Professor of Theology and the Arts at Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary's Boston Center for Urban Ministerial Education. He is the recipient of twenty one awards for writing and editing and is the author of several hundred articles, reviews, poems, stories, and thirteen previous books, including his latest, the urban adventure novel Name in the Papers.