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WAVENEY ANN MOORETimes Staff WriterPastors see tonight's viewings as a tool for evangelizing during a time of natural and manmade disasters.
Wars, rumors of wars, pestilence and natural disasters make people think about "end times," a preacher says. What better time to preview an apocalyptic Christian movie about an Antichrist who heads a world government and has devised an evil scheme to infect millions with a deadly virus?
The answer, for more than 3,200 churches across the United States and Canada, is this weekend, when they will show the third movie in the Left Behind series. Based on the bestselling Christian novels by Tim LaHaye and Jerry Jenkins, Left Behind: World at War is opening at churches instead of theaters.
At Grace Gospel Church of Tampa Bay, Pastor Tim Kelley jumped at the chance to show the film, which opened Thursday in California at Hollywood Presbyterian Church. The Left Behind books "created a conversation about the end times," Kelley said.
"When the opportunity arose, I thought this might be something people might be interested in seeing. We want to get the gospel of Jesus out."
The church will show the movie in its 500-seat Pinellas Park sanctuary at 6 this evening. Popcorn and other snacks will be provided, and monitors will be set up in the foyer and mothers' rooms. Because of the intensity of the movie, children's programs will be offered.
Pastor Gene Howard of Seminole Community Church also sees the film as a tool for evangelizing.
The recent spate of natural disasters stirred people's interest in religion, he said. "People see these things and they think back to their Sunday school classes and they begin to want to learn a little bit more," Howard said. His church will show the movie at 6 tonight and also provide programs for children.
The movie's executive producer says his Left Behind films are relevant today. "When events like Katrina, Rita and now Wilma occur, they disrupt our lives," said Peter Lalonde, chief executive officer of Cloud Ten Pictures.
"They make us lift our heads up from the daily routine of life and make us stop for a second and think about bigger things. And I think, when that happens, it's a wide open opportunity for the gospel."
Under a licensing agreement with Lalonde's company and Sony Pictures Home Entertainment, churches are supposed to screen the movies this weekend ahead of DVD sales, which begin Tuesday.
Friday, though, as Hurricane Wilma appeared to target Florida, Lalonde said he was willing to make other arrangements with Florida churches.
Trinity Baptist Church in Sun City Center, which recently showed the two previous Left Behind movies, advertised the new film's opening in newspapers, on the Internet and radio, administrative assistant Jill Haider said. It will be shown at 7 tonight and the church will collect an offering for a local mission.
Lalonde, whose company makes only evangelical films, said he has a couple of reasons for releasing the movie through churches.
The first is spiritual. "I became a Christian as a result of a church film night in 1983. It was a good film. It was called The Prodigal," he said. "It was a thunderous moment in my life. Within three weeks of that, I became a Christian, so the idea of re-creating a film night is very close to me personally."
He said churches were charged a nominal fee to screen the film, with congregations of fewer than 100 members paying about $69 and those of more than 1,000, $199.
The movie is based on the last 50 pages of the second book in the Left Behind series. The Left Behind books are based on what happens after the Rapture, an event during which some believe Christians are whisked to heaven.
A time of tribulation follows on Earth before Jesus returns. The stories are based on themes in the Book of Revelation.
Kelley of Grace Gospel said he'd like to think that the end times are near.
"I'm 47 years old and I just don't ever remember the incredible natural events that have taken place - not killing a few hundred, but thousands of people - and a volatile political climate. The Earth is groaning."
But, he said, no one can predict when the end will come.
"People have been predicting it for centuries. I'm not standing on my roof in a white robe waiting for him to come. I'm going to stay busy with the work of the Lord until he comes or takes me home."
Howard believes the Left Behind books and films are "pretty accurate."
"The main thing is that they are presenting salvation," he said. The Left Behind books and films "tell you where we're heading."