Provident Films DVD with Kirk Cameron slated for January

Unstoppable: A Live Event With Kirk Cameron has sold 260,000 tickets and reached a theatrical gross of more than $3.2 million after just two weeknights at the box office (Sept. 24 and Oct. 3). For the most recent showing, the film was the No. 3 film in box office receipts, even with only one screening in most theaters.

Christian retail customers will soon have the ability to own what Cameron calls his “most personal project,” as Provident Films will release Unstoppable to DVD Jan. 28, 2014. Churches may place orders now for a license to show the film, with showings beginning Nov. 15.

Inspired by the death of a close friend who succumbed to cancer at age 15, Cameron takes viewers on a visual journey, considering one of life’s biggest questions: “Where is God in the midst of tragedy and suffering?”

Going back to the beginning of time, Cameron investigates the origins of good and evil and how they impact lives and eternities. Unstoppable aims to prompt audiences to consider the role of pain and suffering and encourage conversation-starters on the subject. 

Learn more at  the film’s website, www.unstoppablethemovie.com.

‘Harbinger Decoded’ looks to follow sales success of messianic Rabbi Jonathan Cahn’s prophetic novel

The Harbinger has sold more than 1 million copies and spent 89 consecutive weeks on the New York Times best-seller list and more than 60 weeks on USA Today’s top 150 books list, as of press time. The Oct. 15 release of the companion DVD has met similarly high demand.

The Harbinger Decoded DVD, which sold out the first 40,000 copies its opening day, offers more information about Jonathan Cahn’s The Harbinger, published by Charisma House’s FrontLine imprint in January 2012.

The 60-minute documentary DVD, also from FrontLine, allows viewers to go deeper into the meaning and messages of Cahn’s novel and includes background material on the nine prophetic signs, interviews with top Christian leaders and the “story behind the story” of the New York Times best-seller.

The DVD portrays a fast-paced visual narrative that gives insights into the harbingers, including how they continue to be revealed with the completion of the Freedom Tower and the 2012 election. It also answers how the harbingers have been revealed, provides biblical support for the messages in The Harbinger, and urges viewers to pray for the U.S.

The Harbinger Decoded DVD is based on The Harbinger and The Harbinger Companion and Study Guide, which explain the signs and omens that come from Israel’s rebellion against God and how they apply to America today.

Rick Santorum’s EchoLight takes fired executives to court

Dallas-based EchoLight Studios filed a lawsuit Sept. 30 against two recently terminated executives for what the Christian film production company calls a “campaign of sabotage.”

The suit was filed in Tarrant County (Texas) Court against two former executives—Christopher Morrow, who served as EchoLight’s chief global strategist, and Bobby Downes, who was president of the company. The executives were fired in late September by former U.S. Senator and Republican presidential nominee Rick Santorum, who was hired as the company’s CEO in June.

The suit alleges that Morrow and Downes colluded to damage EchoLight’s reputation by making negative comments to the company’s partners and licensors, as well as hijacking its corporate Facebook account. The filing further claims that Morrow refused to turn over financial documents for an upcoming film, Hoovey, which received $1 million in studio money.

“At least two other partners/licensors of important EchoLight movie projects have communicated their desire to end their business relationship with EchoLight,” the lawsuit states.

The company seeks damages and an injunction against the former executives for breach of contract, conversion and breach of fiduciary duty, according to Courthouse News Service.

Still, leadership remains optimistic.

“EchoLight Studios is in a positive position and we are growing and expanding every day,” a spokeswoman said.

Echolight held a red-carpet premiere of Max Lucado’s The Christmas Candle in Dallas and Orlando, Fla., on Oct. 21, with the film set for national theatrical release in November. British singing sensation Susan Boyle will make her acting debut in The Christmas Candle alongside an ensemble cast of Hollywood talent. Other recent releases include Undaunted, Welcome to Paradise, Beyond the Heavens and 25 Hill.

At the International Christian Retail Show in June, Santorum introduced EchoLight as the first fully integrated faith-based film company.

“We can develop not only our own projects, but we can build this industry from the bottom out,” he said. “One of our key partnerships must be CBA and the Christian retail store, and we want to be their trusted brand.”

EchoLight pledged up to $1 million to produce and distribute a new work from the Best Film winner of 2013’s 168 Film Project, $250,000 to the San Antonio Independent Christian Film Festival, and committed to a five-year production and distribution deal with Liberty University.

Christian software company head claims discrimination

The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) froze the stock of Christian software developer Left Behind Games in the midst of a fraud investigation. Troy Lyndon, Left Behind Games founder, CEO and CFO, and Ronald Zaucha, Lighthouse Educational Ministries prison ministry founder and executive director, have been charged with conspiring to artificially inflate the software company’s revenues by 1,300%.

Lyndon issued nearly 2 billion shares of stock to Zaucha in what the SEC lawsuit alleges was a scheme to falsely inflate the company’s value by injecting millions of unregistered shares into the marketplace.

When the stock was issued to Zaucha in 2009, the company said it was for compensation for consulting services. Federal regulators alleged that Zaucha provided few, if any, consulting services, however.

Filing the suit in Hawaii, where Lyndon and Zaucha live, the SEC alleges that Zaucha, a friend of Lyndon’s, sold virtually all of the 1.7 billion shares for $4.6 million, then funneled $3.3 million back into the company.

One such way Zaucha kicked back sales proceeds was by purchasing $1.38 million in obsolete inventory at a steep discount in December 2010, then donating the software to churches and religious groups, the lawsuit alleges. The company counted the full $1.38 million as revenue.

“Lyndon and Zaucha’s scheme duped investors into believing Left Behind Games was becoming a successful enterprise when it actually was struggling to stay afloat,” Michele Wein Layne, director of the Los Angeles SEC office, said in a statement.

Lyndon has denied the charges and expressed his belief that the SEC is discriminating against him and his company. Zaucha deferred media requests for comment to his lawyer.

“I’m just a video game guy,” Lyndon said. “If any violation occurred, it would never have been intentional—and certainly never fraudulent.”

“For more than two years, I’ve asked SEC to explain how and if I have violated any rule, so that I could self-report it,” he added.

Titles developed and/or published by Left Behind Games include Left Behind 4: World at War, King Solomon’s Trivia Challenge 2, Praise Champion 2 and Scripture Chess.

Left Behind Games is described on its website as “the world’s leading publisher of Christian video games,” but the company closed its offices in 2011. Its trade names are Inspired Media Entertainment, LB Games and Cloud 9 Games.

High court ruling for or against the craft chain would provide definitive answer for contraceptive mandate

The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) has asked the Supreme Court to hear the recently appealed Hobby Lobby health care case. The latest turn in the controversial case could provide a decisive answer on whether the Affordable Care Act—also known as Obamacare—can legally require businesses to offer certain forms of contraception in violation of the owners’ religious beliefs.

Although there is no guarantee that the Supreme Court will agree to hear the case, the official request makes it more likely, as does the fact that multiple similar cases have been brought to federal courts in recent months. A ruling by the Supreme Court would remove inconsistent application across jurisdictions, which would be especially useful for businesses such as Hobby Lobby that have locations in multiple states.

“The United States government is taking the remarkable position that private individuals lose their religious freedom when they make a living,” said Kyle Duncan, general counsel of the Becket Fund for Religious Liberty and lead lawyer for the Hobby Lobby case. “We’re confident that the Supreme Court will reject the government’s extreme position and hold that religious liberty is for everyone—including people who run a business.”

In June, the craft chain won a victory before the 10th Circuit Court of Appeals, which rejected the government’s argument that David Green’s family-owned businesses—Hobby Lobby and Mardel Christian Stores—could not legally exercise religion, according to the Becket Fund. The court further said the businesses were likely to win their challenge to the HHS mandate.

The government’s petition comes the same day as a petition in Conestoga Wood Specialties v. Sebelius, another case involving the mandate.

If the petition is granted, the case would be argued and decided before the end of the Court’s term in June 2014.

New gift magazine and virtual show to help strengthen retailer-supplier connection

Christian Retailing has some new ventures in the works as we seek to better serve the Christian products industry.

As our readers know, for years we have published a sister magazine, Inspirational Gift Mart, and with the increasing reach of Christian-themed gifts, we believe it is time to relaunch this publication. 

Christian retail stores have long been more than bookstores. They now tend to be “lifestyle centers.” And the fact that stores are increasing floor space and allotting more inventory dollars for inspirational gifts shows just how important this category is. As a result, we want to further serve the retailer and the inspirational gift supplier.

Starting with the January 2014 issue, there will be a change in our gift magazine’s name as well as other developments. I’ll leave you anticipating what the latter might be, but for now let me share the new name: Inspirational Gift Boutique.

We hope Christian retailers will find our new gift magazine to be an even better resource in scanning the broader market for great gifts to offer, and we trust that inspirational gift suppliers will find the new magazine provides a stronger connection to inspirational gift retailers. We also expect to distribute the magazine through key gift marts, including AmericasMart in Atlanta.

Another exciting plan that’s coming to fruition is the relaunch of our Virtual Trade Mart, arriving soon at our website, www.christianretailing.com. There, we will provide a user-friendly, yet informative web-based program where publishers, suppliers and distributors of Christian products can reach store buyers. At a minimal cost to our advertisers, the Virtual Trade Mart will help to showcase their offerings to the industry.

Will these efforts help you build your business? We believe they will, but we’d like to hear from you. Please see all of our contact information on p. 3 of this issue, or drop in on our Contact Us page at www.christianretailing.com to get to know our editorial and advertising team members.  Most of all, thank you for reading Christian Retailing!

‘Purpose Driven’ author and pastor Rick Warren continues to win support from Christian retailers

Pastor Rick Warren had a startling revelation the day he baptized 827 adults. As he immersed all those folks he thought, “Wow! Everybody’s fat!” His second thought was, “But I’m fat too! I’m as out of shape as everyone else is!”

That revelation, which he records in the introduction to The Daniel Plan: 40 Days to a Healthier Life, became the basis for a new interest in his own health and a doctor-designed plan implemented by 12,000 Saddleback Church members starting in January 2011. Collectively they lost more than 250,000 pounds.

The name of the lifestyle plan is derived from the Old Testament account of Daniel and his friends who chose not to eat the food the king wanted them to eat, but succeeded in remaining healthy with a diet that pleased God.

On sale in stores Dec. 3, The Daniel Plan, “is the biggest release coming from HarperCollins Christian Publishers in fiscal 2014,” said Annette Bourland, senior vice president and group publisher of Zondervan Books.

The Daniel Plan is co-written by Warren, Daniel Amen, M.D., and Mark Hyman, M.D., with the two doctors helping to create and implement the Daniel Plan program at Saddleback. Dr. Mehmet Oz of the Emmy Award-winning The Dr. Oz Show also helped create the plan, but contractual obligations prevented him from co-authoring the book. Others who participated include Saddleback’s Director for the Daniel Plan Dee Eastman and exercise guru Sean Foy.

Warren has had his detractors, however, as some have wondered why he chose the physicians he did rather than professing evangelicals. For instance, Dr. Oz often talks of New Age practices on his television show. Still, Christian retailers, who have been longtime active proponents of Warren’s The Purpose Driven Life (PDL), have voiced support for the new project.

“From the onset, retailers caught the vision of The Purpose Driven Life and understood the consumer demand,” said Londa Alderink, senior marketing director for trade books at Zondervan. “This type of supportive activity—in-store positioning, sale pricing, appropriate stock levels—certainly played a part in the best-selling status of PDL.”

Bookstores ranging from LifeWay Christian Stores to independents such as Baker Book House in Grand Rapids, Mich., have vowed support of The Daniel Plan.

“LifeWay Christian Stores is excited about helping our customers understand and use the innovative products Warren has developed to achieve a healthy lifestyle,” said Marty King, director of communications for LifeWay Christian Resources. 

Sue Smith, manager at Grand Rapids’ Baker Book House, a key independent in Michigan, also supports the launch of The Daniel Plan. 

“PDL was the beginning of an understanding that Christian bookstores could handle such a hot book with huge sales,” Smith said.

That understanding continues with Warren’s The Daniel Plan. 

“We will promote the book, pairing it with Warren’s 10th-anniversary PDL so people can make the connection between the two,” Smith said.

In addition, Zondervan is releasing The Daniel Plan Journal on Dec. 3, followed by a 100-recipe cookbook in April 2014. Apple and Android Daniel Plan apps also will be available this year.

Also included in the array of related products are curriculum kits with a participant’s guide, leader’s guide and DVD featuring all three authors and Foy, who organized the fitness part of Saddleback’s Daniel Plan. The individual pieces are available Dec. 3, with kits available several weeks later. Sony Films, Saddleback and Zondervan also have fitness videos in the works.

Zondervan is offering merchandising kits that include header and shelftalkers for retail endcap displays, as well as a multi-use floor display. The display holds 24 trade-book units and 16 journal units, with a plug that hides a tray that can hold more of the original titles or 12 units of the cookbook. 

Alderink and Bourland see the book placed not in diet or exercise sections of stores, but in Christian Living or Self-Help. 

“My dream is for The Daniel Plan to transform our thinking about health and our value as a person,” Bourland said. “This is not just a book about food or fitness, which are only two-fifths of the book. There is equally weighted importance placed on faith, focus and friends.”

Dr. Amen remembers walking into church one Sunday and experiencing the following: doughnuts for sale for charity; bacon and sausage on griddles; hot dogs being grilled for lunch; and the minister talking about an ice cream social.

“During the service I prayed that God would use me to change the culture of food at church,” Amen said. “Two weeks later Rick Warren called and said he was fat, his congregation was fat—and could I help?”

Between August 2010 and January 2011, the doctors built the program, which launched Jan. 15, 2011.

“Our plan all along was to pilot the Daniel Plan at Saddleback, but to bring it to churches worldwide,” Amen said.

For Dr. Amen, a psychiatrist, the Daniel Plan is about getting the brain right, which, in turn, helps the body and soul get right.

“There aren’t just physical consequences to bad food choices, but mental, emotional and spiritual consequences,” he said.

Bourland and Alderink have fielded questions about why Warren has spearheaded such a book so soon after the death of his son Matthew. Warren, they said, believes that all five Fs of the book—faith, food, fitness, focus and friends—contribute to a mentally healthy life. Warren’s son struggled with negative thoughts and depression, and Warren sees The Daniel Plan as a first step toward mental health.

Alderink said booksellers across the world are responding. Zondervan cites retailers in South Africa, where the number-one health issue is obesity, as especially excited about the release. There also have been numerous conversations about translation rights.

“When I signed up, it wasn’t just to get Saddleback Church healthy, but to change the vision of health for the global church,” Amen said. 

Said Zondervan’s Bourland: “We see the potential of The Daniel Plan to be a movement within the church, much like The Purpose Driven Life.”