Stephen Kendrick
Faith, Family, &
Filmmaking
CONTENTS
Publisher
10 COVER | STEPHEN KENDRICK Faith, Family, and Filmmaking. How faith and family led to a filmmaking career with a focus on serving God. 7 WHAT ARE YOU MAD ABOUT? Destructive anger versus Productive anger
8 LOCAL EVENTS Find Upcoming Events Near You.
9 REACHING THE WORLD Inspiring businesspeople to see how God can use them, in their fields, in connection with his global mission.
Kristen Bland Damien Parodi Managing Editor 14 GOT FREEDOM? Why Every Day Is Independence Day For The Christian 16 GOODlife TRAVEL Explore Georgia’s Cumberland Island to witness the beauty of natural wilderness and historical intrigue. 17 GOODlife RECIPES Baked Beans with a Bite. A rich dish with a deep, sweet flavor and a fiery bite.
Gabriel Bland Editor
Autumn Burr Advertising
info@goodlifemagazine.org 770.656.4400 Creative Director Damien Parodi
Graphic Designer Matthew Button
Contributing Editor Krista Messic
facebook.com/goodlifemonthly @goodlifemonthly
COVER GOODlife Magazine features Stephen Kendrick, co-founder of Kendrick Brothers Productions. For the full story, see page 10.
GOODlife Magazine is a monthly publication distributed throughout Atlanta and Metro Atlanta. Entire contents, including design elements and logos, are copyrighted and may not be reproduced in any media without the express written consent of the publisher. GOODlife Magazine, LLC reserves the right to edit or reject any editorial or advertising content. Advertisers assume liability for content of all advertisements. All information herein has been checked for accuracy to the best of our ability. Not responsible for deletions, omissions, errors and or inaccuracies. 2016 GOODlife Magazine, LLC. All rights reserved.
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YOU
MAD
ABOUT?
What are
Today, as I’m writing this article I’m reflecting upon the tragedy in Orlando, Florida, where innocent lives were taken as a result of hate. Surrounding this massacre are so many faces of anger. There is the obvious outrage at the killer, who was so filled with hate and brokenness that he selfishly took the lives of 49 people. There is the anger at religious ideologies that drive people to commit such actions as a duty or offering to some twisted version of God. There is the anger toward a political system that drives both parties in our country to capitalize on tragedy to push political talking points and further careers. And in the midst of all of this anger, it’s tough to determine which feelings are okay and which feelings are dangerous. Anger can be very destructive. Destructive anger is born out of fear and offense. Some people refer to it as a their “temper.” It’s frustration, stress, or some sort of emotional turmoil that causes us to lash out at others. We get offended by what someone says or does to us, and we let that offense stir in in us until we become obsessed with revenge. This kind of anger can ruin your life. But there is a form of anger that is useful in motivating us to action. Most people believe that the bible says not to be angry, but the bible actually tells us in Ephesians 4 to “Be angry, and sin not…” This is an anger that is based on truth rather than on fear. I am not saying it’s okay to hate or be angry at people, but we should be angry at the lies that have manipulated people into doing truly awful things. This righteous anger is an unrest in our hearts, that causes us to take action against injustice. It is the point where we become so fed up with the way things are that we actually do something about it. On a more personal level, it’s the point where you say enough is enough and you challenge things about your life that you have allowed for too long. What are you putting up with in your life that you should be fed up with? Maybe it’s insecurity that has plagued you for years. Maybe it’s fear that has held you back from a life of happiness. Whatever it is, don’t spend another moment passively hoping things are going to get better. There is an old saying, “At some point you have to get sick and tired of being sick and tired.” So stand up and take action against what is holding you back in life. Get angry – your happiness depends on it. Craig and Janna Jones are the senior pastors of Abiding Church located in Kennesaw, GA. WWW.ABIDING.CHURCH
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Freedom Celebration Friday, July 1st at 7:30 pm Mount Paran North Church 1700 Allgood Road, Marietta, Ga. www.mtparan.com Live music, inflatables, food trucks and fireworks. Pre-Independence Day Celebration of Freedom Sunday, July 3rd 2016 at 6:00-10:00 pm City of Kennesaw hosting at Downtown Kennesaw, music and fireworks. Fourth in the Park Monday, July 4th, 2016 at 10 am City of Marietta hosting at the Marietta Square. Parade starts at 10:00 am at Roswell Street Baptist Church. Independence Day Celebration Monday, July 4th, 2016, City of Acworth and the Acworth Business Association are hosting at Cauble Park. The celebration features live music starting at 4:00 pm. World Changers Church Grace Life 2016 Conference Monday, July 11th, 2016 at 10:00 am Friday, July 15th, 2016 at 7:00 pm World Changers Church International, College Park, Ga. Burnt Hickory Baptist Church Sumer Camp Sunday, July 17th, 2016, 4:00 pm Thursday, July 21st, 2016, 11:30 am Location: Woodland Christian Camp, Temple, Ga. Rising 3rd-6th grades. The cost is $280. www.burnthickory.com 8
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Signs and Wonders Camp: Treasure Island July 25th-27th, 9:00 am - 4:30 pm This camp is designed to train and release children in wholehearted devotion to God, in radical commitment to Jesus and to experience the power of Holy Spirit by moving in signs and wonders. Rising 2nd-6th graders. The cost is $75/child for first two siblings, $50/child for each additional. www.riverstoneonline.org Night of Prayer Mount Paran North Church, July 7th between 7-8:30 pm 1700 Allgood Road, Marietta, Ga. First Thursday night of each month. Night of Healing Riverstone July 28th between 7-8:30 pm 2005 Stilesboro Rd, Kennesaw, Ga. 30152 Last Thursday night of each month.
How Businesspeople Can Reach the World Article by John Rinehart
My parents were businesspeople. My in-laws were businesspeople. And my wife and I both followed suit. As a young businessman, I believed the Great Commission was not just for pastors and missionaries, but it did seem like the ministry professionals saw the real action — that is, until I came across the stories of “gospel patrons.” These stories captivated me because they were business leaders playing a strategic role in God’s kingdom. They were not second-class Christians. They were fellow workers, partners in the work of the gospel. It was there in Scripture in the three women who quietly supported Jesus’s ministry (Luke 8:1–3). It was there in history in the wealthy cloth merchant who generously gave to produce the first English Bible. The more I investigated this idea, the more I came across people like Peter Thomas. Peter leads a growing business in central California. He’s an engineer by trade. And he’s passionate about foreign missions. He said, “With the wealth that I have, and with the wealth we have in America, we should be the hub — the American church should be the hub of doing foreign missions.” So did Peter become a foreign missionary? No. A pastor? No. Those are great callings, but Peter found his part to play as a businessman who engages in the Great Commission by partnering with others. One of these partnerships is with a globetrotting cameraman named John. Together, John and Peter are helping to stir up the Western church to be more engaged in the work of foreign missions. We believe our generation could finish the Great Commission, but it will take a team effort of all of us playing our parts. The stories of gospel patrons need to be heard because they can inspire businesspeople to see how God can use them, in their fields, in connection with his global mission. Whether we go or give, speak or send, preach or patron, we are members of one body and partners in one mission, until all tribes, nations, and peoples have heard.
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“Our story is more about how God has worked through answered prayer than it is about who we are. We tell people that the more time you spend with us, the less impressed you will be with us, and the more impressed you will be with the God we serve.” - Stephen Kendrick Stephen is one of the three Kendrick brothers who run an extremely influential and far-reaching Christian film production company, based out of Albany, GA, Kendrick Brothers Productions. Known for projects such as Facing the Giants, Fireproof, Courageous, and most recently, War Room, these brothers help to edify the kingdom of God by challenging the church and the secular world alike by addressing relatable real-life issues. But long before these stories were ever even conceived, an even grander story was unfolding – a story filled with faith, struggles, ceaseless prayer, and God’s miraculous provision. Stephen and his brothers, Alex and Shannon, grew up in a home that knew the power of prayer – an insight that was cultivated long before Stephen or his brothers were around. Their mother grew up on a farm in Georgia where she watched her father, before every crop was planted, get on his knees and pray. On that same farm, when she was six years old, a powerful tornado hit, and she remembers being curled under a table in their house while her mother cried out to God for protection, only to discover once the storm passed that the surrounding area was devastated. Buildings had been taken off of their foundations and some even lost their roofs, but her family’s house was untouched by the destruction. Those are only a couple of the many examples of prayer being a cornerstone of what would eventually become the Kendrick family. One generation to the next prayed scriptures over their children daily, and the children watched their parents live out their faith in their own lives. Stephen recalled one of the memories that truly shaped him as he watched his father’s trust in God, and in turn, see God’s faithfulness. His father received the calling from God to start a school. They had no books, lockers, desks, or any other school necessities, so they started praying. And down to the penny, God provided everything. Thus, Cumberland Christian Academy in Austell, GA was born out of a group of praying people. “Seeing our Father launch that school by faith and seeing God provide everything we needed was great spiritual training for us.” 10
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From the humble training grounds of their own home grew not only spiritual fruit, but also a passion for film that God would cultivate to change innumerable families, churches, communities, and (because of God’s hand of favor being on their works) the face of the film industry. Stephen’s brother Alex knew since the age of nine that his dream was to make feature films. While Stephen loved being involved, his only guiding desire was a passion to serve God with his life, without any clue of what that was to look like. But in a way that only God can do, He grew Alex’s skills and passions for film into not only a career that could pay the bills, but as a way for the brothers to serve God with their lives. Seeing God’s love shine through these men’s passions and talents is truly a remarkable thing, but that’s not to say their dream careers are without their challenges. In the word of God, it talks about opposition from the world against those living for the Kingdom of God – unsurprisingly, this includes the film industry. When asked about the challenges of living for God while working in this industry, Stephen had a few very insightful things to say, that everyone – in the film industry or not – should take to heart. His first major point was that they do not work to impress the world. Their purpose is to build up the church and spread the truth of the gospel to the world. God, in His infinite wisdom, had already prepared Stephen for this important mission during his time in ministry. “Having served in church ministry for 20 years really has prepared us to, I believe, make movies that are more authentic to what middle-class America and lower-class America are going through.” God knew from the day that the Kendrick brothers were born that they were going to serve His kingdom through the giftings and passions that He had given them. This level of joy in serving the Lord is for all of the body of Christ, not just a select few. The apparent calling from God on these men’s lives is inseparable from the lifestyle of prayer that has saturated their lives. Not only does this lifestyle of prayer give them greater clarity into the will of God, but also a more abundant joy in that calling. With a great sense of purpose, Stephen quoted his own brother with this, “When you are on your deathbed, you don’t care anymore about awards or money or impressing people. At that moment in your life, you just want to be right with God and you care about the most important people in your life and your relationships.” july 2016
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GOT FREEDOM?
Why Every Day Is Independence Day For The Christian
by Wayne Davies
We treasure our freedom, do we not? In the USA, we sing proudly before every sporting event that we live in “the land of the free and the home of the brave.” I’m thankful for the frequent reminders that freedom is not free; it comes at a great price. The freedom we enjoy in this country is the result of much blood, sweat and tears. For the Christian, every day is Independence Day when you read a verse like Psalm 119:45 – “I will walk about in freedom, for I have sought out your precepts.” The psalmist speaks of his life as a life of freedom. Literally, the first half of the psalm can be translated, “I shall walk in a wide place” (English Standard Version). Isn’t that a wonderful way to describe the meaning of liberty? What I find most compelling about this verse is the relationship between the first half and the second half. Note the all-important connecting word – “for” which means “because.” The psalmist says he lives in freedom, and then he tells us the reason for that freedom. He has freedom because he seeks out the Word of God. Like our blood-bought freedom as US citizens, the believer’s freedom is not free. It too comes at a price. The freedom of the believer is the result of seeking God’s truth and finding it in the written Word of God, the Bible. Once we have sought out and found God’s Word, we must spend much time reading it, studying it, meditating on it, understanding it, memorizing it, and obeying it all by the grace of God, empowered by the Spirit of God. This is what it takes to experience the life of freedom – God’s freedom. Now let’s turn our attention to the question, “Freedom from what?” The answer to this question is found in one of the Bible’s major themes, liberation from the slavery of sin. Jesus described the human condition brilliantly and succinctly: “Everyone who sins
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is a slave to sin” (John 8:34). That is our plight. We are in bondage to sin, for who can exclude himself/herself from the “everyone” of Christ’s indictment? Because of our sin, we are slaves to the ugly consequences of sin in both this life and the next. The Bible is oh, so clear about this: as sinners, the death sentence of hell is hanging over our heads (the ultimate penalty of sin – see Romans 6:23). Before God rescues us from the kingdom of darkness, we stand at the precipice of eternity, with nothing below but the lake of fire. And we live every day battling temptation on every side. Apart from the grace of God, we are doomed to succumb to the forces of evil that entice us (the pervading power of sin – see Ephesians 2:1-3). Is there any hope for us to escape the penalty and power of sin? Yes! This is one of the many reasons that the gospel about Jesus Christ is good news! Freedom from sin is found in Jesus. He came to liberate us from slavery to sin. Listen to these words, spoken by Jesus himself when he visited his hometown of Nazareth and read Isaiah 61:1-2 in the synagogue – “He (God) has sent me (Jesus) to proclaim freedom for the prisoners and recovery of sight for the blind, to release the oppressed, to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor” (Luke 4:1819). This was the definitive pronouncement of the Mission Statement of Jesus. He came to set us free from the prison of sin. He came to release us from both its penalty and power. And he accomplished this mission when he died on the cross, for his death paid the penalty of sin and unleashed God’s power into the lives of every person who embraces him as Savior, Lord, and Treasure. This is the freedom that we enjoy as blood-bought believers in Jesus Christ. And this freedom is found by seeking and finding the Great Liberator as he is revealed in the pages of God’s holy Word. May we never stop praising our King for setting us free, for when we know the truth, both written and incarnate, “the truth will set you free” (John 8:32).
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Travel Explore Georgia’s Cumberland Island to witness the beauty of natural wilderness and historical intrigue. A trip to Cumberland Island can satisfy your mind’s curiosity with its historical secrets or relax it all together with its tranquil scenery. Your journey begins in St. Marys, Georgia. St. Marys is the gateway to Cumberland Island, Georgia’s largest and southernmost barrier island. Here pristine maritime forests, undeveloped beaches, and wide marshes whisper the stories of both man and nature. Here you will board the ferry bound for Cumberland Island National Seashore, visit our museum and our visitor center. Natural Cumberland Island Cumberland is one of the largest undeveloped barrier islands along the Georgia coast. The National Park Service protects almost 36,000 acres of the island, including miles of unspoiled beaches. Preserved and protected for future generations, Cumberland Island National Seashore includes a designated Wilderness area, undeveloped beaches, historic sites, cultural ruins, critical habitat and nesting areas, as well as numerous plant and animal communities. The most intriguing part about Cumberland is its history. Once a working plantation, followed by a winter retreat for the wealthy Carnegie family, Cumberland Island is now home to the descendants of slaves and aristocrats, as well as wild horses with bloodlines that trace to the royal stables of the King of Arabia. The stories of the people weave a captivating tale of wealth, poverty, privilege, and sacrifice. Three Ways to Experience Cumberland Island Visit Cumberland Island for the day, camp overnight, or be a guest at the upscale Greyfield Inn, made famous by John F. Kennedy Jr.’s wedding. Day visitors and campers reach the island by taking the Cumberland Island Ferry from the Cumberland Island Visitors Center in St. Marys, Georgia, to the Sea Camp Dock. Guests of the Greyfield Inn take the hotel’s private ferry, the Lucy Ferguson. The boat ride itself is a wonderful way to see Cumberland’s beauty from the water. 16
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Guided Cumberland Island The best way to unlock Cumberland’s secrets, whether historical or natural, is with a guide. You can take a Jeep tour as part of your stay at the Greyfield Inn, or choose the park ranger service, which offers walking or motorized tours that start at the Sea Camp Dock, or cell phone tours that originate at the Dungeness Docks. It’s best to reserve the motorized tour when you book the ferry. You’ll cover several hundred years of history in just a few hours, all while traveling the interior of one of the largest maritime forests remaining in the U.S. Dungeness Ruins A favorite destination is the Dungeness Ruins, the remains of Lucy Carnegie’s island mansion. Lucy, whose husband Thomas was the brother and business partner of steel magnate Andrew Carnegie, once owned 90 percent of Cumberland Island and built grand homes for her children, including Greyfield. Besides the mansion, be sure to explore the out buildings. The laundry is fascinating, not only because of the cleaning machines on display, but the innovations in cooling. It must have been sweltering hot to wash clothes in the summer, yet the height of the ceiling and fans that pulled out the hot air helped keep the building relatively cool. For more information, visit www.cumberlandisland.com.
Bite!
Baked Beans with a
Being born in south Florida, I have been told (over and over) that I am not from the Real South. My accent is not as pronounced as my Georgia native friends and apparently my palate is not exactly “souther-fied” either. It is never more evident than when attending a pot-luck or barbecue. I am not a fan of southernstyle potato salad despite the conviction of every little old lady that it is just because I haven’t tried hers. Another dish I have not been a big fan of is baked beans. This dish was always too sweet and seemed to have no depth. I set out to off-set some of the sweetness with some spice, and the result is a rich dish with a deep, sweet flavor and a fiery bite.
by Krista Messic
This is easy, but takes some time and some planning. Have fun and knock their socks off at the next barbecue!
INGREDIENTS: • • • • • •
1 lb. dry navy beans, soaked overnight ½ lb. salt pork, rind left on and cut into chunks 2 med. Spanish onions, chopped thick 2 cloves garlic, diced 1 Tbs. Worcestershire sauce 1 tsp. Coleman’s dry mustard
• • • • • •
3 jalapenos ½ cup molasses 2½ Tbs. pure maple syrup 3 Tbs. Grey Poupon ½ cup ketchup ½ cup packed dark brown sugar
• • • • •
1 tsp. salt ½ tsp. black pepper 1 tsp. garlic powder 1 tsp. apple cider vinegar 6 cups water, divided
INstructions:
1. Preheat your broiler. 2. Slice off the stems of the jalapenos and slice in half lengthwise. 3. Scrape pith and seeds from the peppers. (Leave seeds to add fire – the more seeds, the hotter the dish.) 4. Line a baking sheet with foil and place the seeded peppers open side down. 5. Place the baking sheet in the oven 3-4 inches from the broiler. Let the peppers roast until they are charred and the skin is blistered. Don’t overcook as they will dry out. 6. Place peppers on a cutting board and invert a large bowl over the peppers (rest 15 minutes). 7. Change oven temp to 325 degrees. 8. Drain and rinse beans. 9. In a large Dutch oven, over medium heat, sauté salt pork until golden brown on all sides and fat has crispy edges. 10. Add onions and fresh garlic. 11. Add all other ingredients except water and jalapenos. 12. Stir and add 2 cups of water. 13. Peel jalapenos, rough chop, and add to bean mixture. Stir. 14. Place in the oven and cook for 1½ hours, stir and add 2 more cups of water. 15. Bake for 1 ½ hours covered, stir, and add 1 more cup of water. 16. Reduce oven to 275 degrees and bake for one hour, covered. 17. Stir, and if beans are not soft enough to the bite, add the last cup of water and continue cooking until they are tender – keep an eye on the sauce so it doesn’t burn. Enjoy! july 2016
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