Screening of 'Courageous' and other inspirational movies will add 'new dimension' to Expolit

The largest trade show in the U.S. for Spanish-language Christian products is showcasing inspirational films for the first time this month, with a screening of Courageous—the widely anticipated follow-up from the makers of the hit movie Fireproof—which will release in theaters nationwide Sept. 30. 

To be held May 19-24 at the Doubletree Hotel & Miami Airport Convention (MAC) Center in Miami, Expolit 2011 is introducing the ExpoCinema movie segment—which will "add variety" to the event, said David Ecklebarger, the Spanish Evangelical Products Association's (SEPA) executive director and president of Miami-based Editorial Unilit. 

"Concerts have and will continue to be a big local draw, but I am excited to see the new dimension that film showings add to Expolit," he told Christian Retailing. 

The screening of Courageous will feature Roberto Amaya, who plays Javier—a Hispanic character in the movie, that "will be embraced all over the Spanish-speaking world," said B&H Publishing Group Vice President of International Sales Jim Cook. The film addresses fatherhood through the lives of four police officers.

B&H Publishing Group will promote the Spanish version of Courageous Living by Michael Catt (B&H Books), senior pastor of Courageous' film-making brothers Alex and Stephen Kendrick's home church, Sherwood Baptist Church, in Albany, Ga. B&H will also spotlight several other Courageous-related products to be released in the fall.

Other movies to be screened at Expolit include Fireproof and Poema de Salvación (The Salvation Poem)—a film based on the life of Argentinian rocker Pablo Olivares. 

"I constantly have filmmakers interested in coming to Expolit," said Marie Tamayo, vice president and director of Expolit. "We hope that (ExpoCinema) will be a regular feature of Expolit."

Also new at this year's convention will be the ARPA Awards, which recognizes excellence in Spanish-language Christian music. To be broadcast live on the TBN Enlace network, the eighth annual awards will feature performances by Manny Montes, Ricardo Rodriguez, Funky and Master Key.

Noting that Expolit's venue, MAC Center, recently went through a $18 million renovation, Tamayo said that registrations for Expolit at press time were running 18% more than last year's event. 

The show has a wide international reach, drawing an average of 140 exhibitors from all of Latin America, Spain, England and Japan. 

Several well-known authors will be featured in workshops, including Neil Anderson, Shannon Ethridge, Dr. Don Colbert and Holly Wagner. SEPA's Gala Dinner and Awards will feature author and evangelist Luis Palau as the keynote speaker. 

Concerts during Expolit will include performances by Marco Barrientos, Ingrid Rosario, Álvaro Torres and Nancy Amancio.

Cook said that Expolit is "one of the most important events" for B&H Publishing Group. "It has become the best gathering place in the Spanish market to network with the leaders of our industry," he said.

Best-selling author's 'Love Wins' views on heaven prove divisive

Best-selling author Rob Bell's latest book has sparked a "firestorm," with some Christian stores refusing to stock it due to its controversial view on heaven and hell.

The author of Sex God and presenter of the popular "Nooma" video series discussed Love Wins—which critics say promotes universalism—in an interactive, live streamed event on the eve of the book's release date in March in New York City. 

Bell's conversation with Newsweek Senior Editor Lisa Miller at the New York Society for Ethical Culture, which also featured the author answering questions from the audience and Web viewers, drew hundreds to the venue and more than 6,000 people on the Internet.

HarperOne brought forward publication of the book—subtitled "Heaven, Hell, and the Fate of Every Person Who Ever Lived"—from March 29 to March 15 because of interest in the title. Reporting on the "firestorm" surrounding the book, CNN said that the furor centered on concerns that Bell was "heading towards universalism—a dirty word in Christian circles."

In a pre-publication video promoting the book on his Web site, www.robbell.com, Bell asked: "Will only a few, select people make it to heaven and will billions and billions of people burn forever in hell?" 

Founding pastor of Mars Hill Bible Church in Grandville, Mich., Bell denied during the live streamed event that he espoused universalism—the belief that all humans end up in heaven and that hell is not a physical place.

"If by universalist we mean love doesn't win and God sort of co-opts the human heart and says, 'Well, you're coming here and you're gonna like it,' that violates the laws of love and love is about freedom," he said. "It's about choice. It's about, do you want to be here? Because that's what would make it heaven."

Bell was also vague when pressed on whether he believes there is a hell. "We see hell on earth all around us all the time," he said. "We actually see lots of people choosing hell. ... We see oppression, we see tyranny, dictators using their power." 

Tara Powers—spokesperson for Zondervan, with whom Bell has published four books, including Velvet Elvis, and the "Nooma" series—said that the company had not been offered the opportunity to publish Love Wins, which debuted at No. 2 on the New York Times Hardcover Advice & Miscellaneous best-seller list. "However, if the promotional video for the book accurately reflects its contents, it is highly unlikely that Zondervan would have accepted Love Wins for publication," she added.

Zondervan published Bell's other books and videos "because we believed they were consistent with Zondervan's mission statement and publishing philosophy," Powers said. "We still believe these titles are impactful with their message and positive contribution and intend to continue to publish them."

HarperOne Senior Vice President and Publisher Mark Tauber said
that HarperCollins expected the controversy surrounding Love Wins to help sales. 

However, LifeWay Christian Stores would "not offer" the book, according to LifeWay Christian Resources Director of Communications Micah Carter. Family Christian Stores officials declined to comment, but the chain's Web site did not feature Love Wins at pressing time.

Located within 20 miles of Bell's church, Baker Book House in Grand Rapids, Mich., ordered almost 500 copies of the book to meet the expected demand. "The proximity alone is sufficient reason to carry a couple of hundred, but now with the increased attention, we anticipate even larger sales," Sue Smith, manager of Baker Book House, said.

"We have a history of strong sales with Rob's books and the Noomas," she added. "We've sold over 500 copies of Sex God, 345 copies of Velvet Elvis and 320 copies of Jesus Wants to Save Christians. These are great sales figures, yet none of these had the Web presence and commotion that Love Wins is bringing."

Berean Christian Stores had not ordered any copies of Love Wins for its 18 locations, according to Director of Merchandising Greg Moore. "However, we have it available in our system for any of our customers that would want to place a special order," he said. "Once our management team has had a chance to read and discuss the book, we will make a decision as to whether that policy will change."

Munce Group President Kirk Blank said that Love Wins "seems to signal a departure from biblical Christianity." Munce Group would not promote the book in any of its catalogs, he said. "As always, stores can carry anything that they chose to." 

Parable Group Sales and Marketing Manager Randy Maricle said that Love Wins would not be promoted in any of the marketing group's catalogs. "We are not surprised with the controversy surrounding Love Wins," he said. "Rob Bell has always delivered his message in a very thought-provoking way, and that tends to create debate. … As independent owners, Parable franchise and Parable member stores make their own inventory decisions."

Summer show in Atlanta to open to the public for select concert events

CBA is making a shop window of its summer show this year. Atlanta-area church and community leaders are to be invited to attend select worship and concert events at the Inte rnational Christian Retail Show (ICRS) that will open to the public, said retail association Executive Director Curtis Riskey.

The move is part of a thrust at the event—which returns to Atlanta for the first time in four years, July 10-13—to promote the importance of Christian stores in their local communities. The theme: "Celebrate the Word—Impact the Culture."

"We are working diligently to use ICRS to tell churches, Christians and the general public about the role and ministry of Christian stores and the resources they carry," Riskey said. "Christian stores have a ministry role in their communities and we are helping tell that story."

By mid-February, when the event Web site—www.christianretailshow.com—went live, around 175 exhibitors were registered for the show, which will be held at the Georgia World Congress Center. When it last hosted ICRS in 2007, there were 386 exhibitors and almost 4,000 attendees.

The 2011 event will include new features to help the industry better understand where Christian retailing is going in the future, said Riskey. "All specialty retail stores, such as Christian stores, are trying to become not just stores, but local hubs for community. 

"Stores increasingly will need to define their niche in the marketplace and be a gathering center for like-minded people to offset the challenges of Internet-only competition and big-box discounters. Our new Town Center design will help demonstrate how that might happen in Christian stores."

In addition, Riskey said that CBA has been working on some other projects "that will make this ICRS one of the best ones in recent years."

Though Thomas Nelson will have international and remainder groups represented on the show floor again, the company "has no plans for a general booth presence on the trade show floor" for the third successive year, said Tom Knight, the company's senior vice president of Christian retail and ministry development group.

The world's largest Christian publisher will have a hospitality suite and "a small group of people attending" ICRS, he added. "We recognize that ICRS plays a central role as a meeting place for the industry, however, we have no plans to exhibit." 

The company "continues to support Christian retail," he told Christian Retailing, with Nelson recently hosting a contingent of store owners, buyers and managers at its spring sales conference.