bible_study/Podcasts/Prophecy Pros/Season 1/S1E4: Phil Cooke – Prophecy, Culture and Hollywood.md

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Jeff:Welcome to the Prophecy Pros Podcast. I’m Jeff Kinley, along with Todd Hampson. And we have a very special guest today, who we’re super excited about. And I’m going to let Todd tell you a bit more about him.

Todd:Oh yeah. Today, we are privileged to have Phil Cooke on to interview with us. And I’ve known Phil for a few years remotely. We’ve pitched a few things in L.A., and connected with him there, and have just seen what he’s been doing over the years. I love this quick blurb from his website. It says “Phil has produced TV and film programming in more than 60 countries around the world, and in the process have been shot at, survived two military coups, fallen out of a helicopter, and, in Africa, have been threatened with prison. And during that time his company, the Cooke Media Group in Los Angeles, California, he’s helped some of the largest Christian and nonprofit organizations in the world use media to tell their story in a changing, disrupted culture.”

Todd:And the reason we’re having him on the show is because we want to get his take on how we can convey Bible prophecy to a new generation. And another exciting aspect is we really want to see what he’s seen internationally as he travels around the world. What is the sense of the church in terms of the end times and Bible prophecy and the urgency to share this message? So, we are thrilled to have Phil on with us today, and let’s get started.

Jeff:All right. All right. Welcome to the Prophecy Pros Podcast. Today, we have an extremely special guest we’re interviewing, and it’s Phil Cooke from Cooke Pictures. This guy has done so many amazing things in the world of ministry and branding and messaging. And we just were thrilled to have him on to talk to him about various aspects of how we can communicate what we’re doing to a new generation. Phil, welcome to the show.

Phil:I am thrilled to be here. This is really going to be fun.

Todd:We got the communications guru here, okay?

Jeff:Absolutely.

Phil:I don’t know about that.

Todd:This is the guy. He’s got the head gear. Everything. It really, really fits well.

Jeff:Well, we, with Bible prophecy, obviously, it’s a complex topic. There’s different views and stuff like that. We have a particular view pre-trib. But really what we’re trying to do is communicate that to new generations in a way that helps them see the Bible is God’s word from Revelation to… I mean, from Genesis to Revelation and you can study it, you can count on it, you can figure this out. You don’t need a PhD to figure it out.

Phil:Right. I really think that when it comes to prophecy, it’s interesting that you’re releasing all this stuff at this particular time. When I grew up, prophecy was either super scary, they were going to put guillotines in the streets if you didn’t take the 666 thing, or we just didn’t understand it and blew it off. And I think today, in the age of Marvel movies and The Avengers, suddenly these epic, cosmic stories make a lot of sense to people. And I think the idea, particularly with what you’ve been doing, making it human, making it real, making it normal, these are real characters telling real stories, and God is just giving us insight into what’s about to happen. I think it’s fascinating for people. I just see a wave.

Phil:I may be crazy, I don’t know, but I see a wave of people suddenly… or I should say a wave of us suddenly getting people’s attention because they start to realize “This is more interesting than I thought.” And maybe it’s because I’m a filmmaker based in Hollywood. I see all the Marvel movies. I know the guys that directed Doctor strange and all these Epic movies like that. But I just see all of a sudden, people are more open to what some of these stories are all about in Revelation and “I don’t fully understand it, but I get this. This is interesting.”

Todd:Absolutely. I mean, they see kind of the world falling apart, so to speak, and there’s some scary things. So, that’s got their attention. And, like you said, with films and movie, the veil between the unseen realm and the seen realm is being thinned-

Phil:Blown away.

Todd:… even for people that aren’t Christians.

Phil:That’s right. That’s really true. And I’m finding, it’s funny, in Hollywood, a lot of Christians criticize Hollywood, think it’s really anti-God, anti-Christian. But, in my experience, it’s not anti-Christian at all; they’re ignorant of Christianity. These guys didn’t grow up in a Christian family. They don’t get it. And I’ve discovered they’re remarkably open to the supernatural, this idea that “There’s something out there I don’t understand, but this can’t be all there is.” And so, you guys are now stepping in with, “Well, let me explain Revelation in a whole another way. Let me show you what prophesy means.” I think it’s fascinating.

Todd:Awesome. Thank you. And I love the fact that you guys are in Hollywood. A couple times, I’ve been out to Burbank to pitch some shows and stuff. I think you were on the other side of the world each time we came-

Phil:Yeah, I usually am.

Todd:… so, we met with some people from your team. But you and your wife has had a great impact in-

Phil:Well, thank you.

Todd:… Christian’s influencing Hollywood. So, I just want to throw that out there too to anybody listening, that if that’s your dream, do it. We need you in that space.

Phil:Oh yeah. I actually get emails from moms saying, “Is it okay? Is it safe for my son to come to Hollywood? Or my daughter to come to Hollywood?” We could criticize Hollywood all we want. I would rather send missionaries to Hollywood. I don’t look at it as the enemy; I look at Hollywood as a mission field. So, let’s try to get people…

Phil:I mean, what do missionaries do? They develop relationships. They get embedded in that culture. They start building a reputation. And then you start sharing Christ. So, let’s get people in there, producing and writing and directing and acting.

Phil:And I’ve just discovered that… One of the big things I tell young filmmakers to do when they come to Hollywood is “Don’t lead with your faith; lead with your talent.” So many people come to Hollywood and say, “God’s called me to Hollywood. I’m going to change this place.” You get laughed off the studio lot. Nobody takes that seriously. But if you come out and you show that you’re a brilliant director of photography, a brilliant writer, a brilliant producer, then when they respect that, they’ll listen to anything you have to say.

Phil:And Hollywood is not that strange. I know people that hug trees and worship rocks, so being a Christian is not that weird. And if you could just develop those relationships, it makes a huge difference.

Todd:That’s the key phrase right there, is relationships. How important are relationships in getting into that space and helping people see our perspective?

Phil:Absolutely life and death. What I’ve discovered is all the major churches in Los Angeles have an outreach to the industry. And so, you’d just be amazed at how many Christians are in high-level places in Hollywood. We’ve had studio presidents who are Christians. We’ve had major producers. One of my closest friends is Ralph Winter, who produced X-Men, Wolverine, Planet of the Apes, Star Trek. I mean, he makes a living producing $200-million movies. And he’s a really strong Christian. And yet, he keeps working and he’s highly respected. And so, I could name people all up and down the food chain of Hollywood that are believers.

Phil:It’s funny, I have another friend who’s a director of episodic dramas. He directs cop shows for a living. And he told me one day, he said, “I never make a big deal on the set that I’m a Christian. But it’s interesting. I work with about 60 people on my crew every day. And whenever somebody’s going through a marital problem or an alcohol problem or a drug issue, they always find their way to me.” Isn’t that interesting?

Todd:Yeah.

Phil:And I think just coming to Hollywood, being extraordinary at what you do, and having that kind of Christian character, you don’t have to fly your flag. You don’t have to give out tract on the set. Just be who you are. And I think the Holy Spirit will bring people to you.

Jeff:I think it’s a great point, that the word you used was “embed,” which I think is a really operative word there. And it’s like if you’re a Christian lawn maintenance person, you don’t have to like mow an ichthys in their yard to be a witness to them kind of thing. Just be a great lawn maintenance person, and they’re going to notice that there’s something different about you.

Jeff:And a good buddy of mine who’s a stuntman in Hollywood, he’s done the X-men movies and Spiderman movies and that kind of thing, and Batman, all that stuff. That’s what he said. He said, “Look, there are Christians everywhere. God has his people everywhere. We’ve got a Christian stuntman’s Bible study that we do every week.” That kind of thing. So, it’s so encouraging to know that in a world where Christians tend to pull back… We have different responses to culture, right?

Phil:Right.

Jeff:We want to pull back. We want to insulate. We want to isolate, and all this other stuff. But God wants us to go into culture, to be where the people are because how are you going to reach people? You can’t just lob gospel grenades from the walls of the castle, or the church and hope they get it kind of thing. You got to be the incarnating Christ, where you… I thought Jesus did right?

Phil:That’s right.

Jeff:And he modeled that for us. And how did he do it? And I always tell people this, that when Christ came, he didn’t really give these huge theological diatribes. I mean, he talked about birds and seed. Why? Because that’s where their culture was.

Phil:Have simply told stories.

Jeff:Yeah. And that’s what you’re doing. Tell us a little bit about how what you do helps tell the story of Christ in a creative way to this generation.

Phil:I think that’s really well-said. I think there’s two ways to look at Christian media and… or Christians, I should say. Christians doing media. One is sometimes we criticize Christian television or Christian movies because they’re not at the quality level we’d like them to be. But rather than criticize that, I have direct TV at home and in Hollywood. And I’ve got home remodeling channels, sports channels, racing channels, gay channels, every channel you can imagine. So, why shouldn’t there be a Christian channel helping Christians be better Christians? I’m cool with that.

Phil:However, on the other side, I’m also really encouraging people to “Just get into mainstream Hollywood.” Every movie doesn’t have to be a Christian movie. Every movie doesn’t have to have an altar call at the end. Let’s just be extraordinary in what we do because very often, we can be a powerful witness just being placed where we are. And so, Mark Zoradi used to be the president of Walt Disney Studios. Very strong Christian Guy. Now, he’s CEO at Cinemark Theaters. And here’s a guy who spent his whole life at the highest levels of the industry. Like I say, he doesn’t make a big deal about it. He is who he is. And I mean, I don’t know anybody that doesn’t like Mark. Everybody really is attracted to Mark. He’s just a brilliant guy. And when you have that kind of testimony out there…

Phil:I think a big mistake Christians make, you mentioned this earlier, we’ve spent the last 30 or 40 years just criticizing culture. And what has that done for us? I can’t think of a single social issue where we move the dial in a positive way at all by criticizing. A few years ago, I remember we boycotted companies when their employees said “Happy Holidays” instead of “Merry Christmas.” Wow. Boy, that caused a revival in the end, didn’t it?

Jeff:Right.

Phil:Big deal that made.

Todd:Yeah, exactly. Nobody [crosstalk 00:09:44].

Phil:Yeah. Years ago, a major denomination boycotted Disney because they didn’t like the movies they were going to do. And after seven years, Disney’s profits were going through the roof. And it made the denomination look stupid. In fact, the head of the denomination called me and said, “Could you arrange a meeting with the chairman of Walt Disney Studios so we could just kind of end this thing? Because we’re not looking good.”

Phil:And so, I’ve learned over the years that boycotts and criticism has to be very strategic, or it can come back and really bite you. And so, what I’d rather do is instead of… God didn’t call us to criticize culture; he called us to change culture. And so, I think if we could go out there, be part of it, start changing it from the inside…

Phil:And by the way, let me say, as somebody working in the industry, when Christians corporately criticize Hollywood, it makes it more difficult for the Christians that are there working on the inside. Suddenly, we get marginalized. We take the heat for that. And so, the good that we were doing on the inside suddenly gets nullified.

Phil:So, I really call on Christians to support. Find that filmmaker in your church, that young filmmaker, that really wants to do something. Support him. Help pay his expenses to come to Hollywood. Put him up in an apartment. Anybody that is a young writer, designer, pick out the artists in your church because I can tell you, artists are the ones that really impact culture in a positive way.

Todd:And I’ll tell you, as a Hollywood outsider, years ago, Sean and I pitched a bunch of concepts to Disney Cartoon Network. And we had that mindset that everyone there’s anti-Christian, but we’re going to go in and try to be salt and light. But what we found was the more people we connected with in every one of those places, in Sony Animation for example, there’s a bunch of Christians, solid guys, and I’ve got to know some of them. So, we were blown away at how many believers there are in the industry.

Todd:And also, from a prophetic standpoint, I think that lines up with what scripture says will happen in the end times. It’s a post-Christian culture. We can’t expect the things we used to do to work now. So, I think it’s all the more important that we build those relationships that you’re talking about, and speak in a way that people can relate to, and, like a missionary going on the mission field, knowing where their head is at at the moment. What language do they speak? What are their cultures? How can we build a bridge? And then introduce the gospel to them.

Phil:Well, it’s funny. The missionary thing is a good illustration. What do missionaries do? They don’t go to a third-world country, find a village, surround it, hold up picket signs and protest and say, “We’re not going to share the gospel with you until you change. We’re not going to buy your stuff until you change.”

Todd:“Put on those shirts and we’ll… “

Phil:Exactly, exactly. If that doesn’t work for missionaries, it’s not going to work in Hollywood, or it’s not going to work in the gay community, or anywhere else. We have to build those bridges, cross the… Nobody’s going to change. Criticism doesn’t make people change. Trust makes people change. And when they trust you and they feel like, “Okay, maybe this guy’s got a point,” that’s when people think, “Maybe it’s worth the shift.”

Todd:Nobody cares what you know until they know that you care.

Phil:That’s right, yep, amen.

Todd:Curse the darkness or light a candle.

Phil:True, true.

Jeff:That’s two kind of different things things there. Years ago, I wrote a book about zombies. And I went to… They had me speak-

Todd:You got to hear this story.

Phil:Oh, you have a lot of problems.

Jeff:I went to Zombiecon, okay? So-

Todd:Some would [crosstalk 00:12:42].

Phil:Awesome.

Jeff:It’s like Comic-Con only Zombiecon. 7,000 zombie enthusiasts. Every horror show actor you’ve ever seen. Daryl from The Walking Dead got a copy of the book. I mean, the whole thing is… But the great thing about it was, with all these people in gear and all dressed up coming by my booth, they couldn’t believe there was a book about zombies written by a Christian. And they were like, “So, is there a Christian character in this?” It’s like, “No, no, no. It’s blood, brains, gore. It’s the whole thing you expect from a zombie novel, but it’s about- “

Todd:The sin nature.

Jeff:Yeah.

Phil:That’s interesting.

Jeff:It’s kind of [crosstalk 00:13:14] sin nature. But the point was is that it was a bridge-builder. And that’s what you have to do. I mean, we can burn bridges or we could build bridges.

Jeff:And even within the Christian community, I mean, there are subjects like Bible prophecy that are considered taboo because of various reasons, people being all sensational and speculative or just being kind of crazy, kind of like the sandwich-sign guy, the nonprofit guy, that guy.

Jeff:But, at the same time, there is an opportunity. And I think as people look around and see how dark the world’s becoming right now, it presents a great opportunity for us, as believers, to say, “We can stand back and just wait and let the world go to hell, so to speak, or we can get into this thing.”

Jeff:And, like you were talking about, Phil, about missionaries, we don’t go and just read the English Bible to the tribe in Papua New Guinea. We have to translate, you know?

Phil:Mm-hmm (affirmative).

Jeff:So, that’s what we’re doing. We’re translating things, translating Bible truths.

Jeff:Now, you travel the world. You go everywhere, teaching, and doing films, and you’re working with Christian groups, your leadership conferences, stuff like that. What are you seeing, among Christians worldwide, that tells you that the world is ready more to hear the message of Christ than ever before?

Phil:That’s a good question. And by the way, I do travel way too much. I had a bit of a meltdown about five years ago. I thought, “If I have to get on one more plane, I’ll kill myself.”

Jeff:There’s no glamor in travel, right?

Phil:Yeah. It was like I had this moment of revelation. It was like the Lord saying, “But you have no other skills. This is all you know how to do.” And so, I bought nice luggage. And I joined the airline club. And that’s my office now. So, I just live on the road. It’s pretty funny. But it’s nice when the Lord is honest, brutally honest, with you. You have to realize what life is all about.

Phil:But you’re exactly right. I get a amazing opportunity to travel all over the world. We’ve been working on a documentary on the rise of Christianity in Asia. So, we spent all of November filming in India, Mongolia, China, Korea, and Japan. And I just find out there that…

Phil:I am so on fire. My wife and I launched a nonprofit called The Influence Lab a few years ago because, at any given moment, I have at least 10 requests on my desk of people internationally asking me to come bring a team to teach them about how to use media, how to use your website, how to use social media, short videos to share the gospel.

Phil:And there’s such a hunger. And we’re trying to raise money to help fund that. We’ve been doing it out of our pocket for years. But there’s such a hunger internationally to learn how to use media to share the gospel.

Phil:I’m almost getting frustrated at American Christians because I wrote a book a couple of years ago called The Way Back: How Christians Blew Our Credibility and How We Get It Back. And we started that book thinking the reason we’re being marginalized in the culture… They used to criticize us; now, they just ignore us. And the reason we’ve lost that traction is because we’re not telling our story well. “It’s a marketing problem. It’s a branding problem.” But the more we studied and looked at research, we realized “It’s not a branding problem; it’s a Salesforce problem. Christians don’t believe in the product.” We looked at Barna, LifeWay, Gallop, research. We did some Pew research. We discovered that 40% of church-going Christians read the Bible once a month, rarely, or never.

Jeff:Wow, that’s sad.

Phil:Excuse me, hello? We found 63% believe prayer’s important. And I thought, “Well, that’s a win. That’s a majority.” And then I realized, but that means 37%, more than a third of Christians in the pew today, don’t believe prayer’s important. And, of course, giving. Forget giving. And you’re now considered a regular at your church if you show up 18 times a year. That’s it. How low is that bar?

Phil:So, the culmination of all that is, in America, it’s like going into a meeting at Coke and you find everybody drinking Pepsi. I just think there’s a reason that the culture, if we did a man-on-the-street interview outside here, I think there’s a reason when you ask people, “What do you think of when you think of Christians?” they say, “Hypocritical, phony, judgmental,” because we are. I mean, statistically, we really are.

Phil:And so, I thing I get so frustrated that Americans are not taking this more seriously, that I just see that internationally there’s just an explosion of interest. There’s an incredible passion for sharing the gospel over there. And they don’t get into this whole secular-spiritual divide; everything is one thing. And so, it’s just really fascinating when I’m speaking. And I was in India in October, speaking at a big media conference there. And just the hunger’s really remarkable.

Todd:I found the same thing. Just got back from the Philippines. And there are just tens of thousands of people. And they’re showing up at church each week. And it’s actually important to them. And they’re actually taking it seriously.

Phil:My wife and I spoke at a church in Manila last summer. 60,000 members. They’re-

Todd:CCF?

Phil:Yes.

Todd:Yeah, yeah. I was there. Yeah.

Phil:Their church seats 20,000 people, and you have to have three services. What a problem to have.

Jeff:Yep. That’s a mega church.

Phil:Oh yeah. In fact, I spoke to the small group leaders and it was 2,000 people. 2,000 small-group leaders. So, it’s just really interesting that when you see that, you realize that some amazing things are happening.

Jeff:And I think that’s one reason for this podcast and our approach with Bible prophecy. Everybody has these weird little niche interests.

Phil:Which is good.

Jeff:Ours happens to be Bible prophecy. And we’re so passionate about it because sadly, and… It’s sad, but it’s also compelling. We feel like we have to be missionaries to Christian culture, where you can trust God’s word. Here, put on these infrared goggles, you’ll see a whole new world that will light your faith on fire so you want to share your faith and you want to reach people for Christ.

Todd:Yeah, that’s so true. And I think, Phil, what you’re doing is so strategic. I mean, people think, “If I’m going to make a big impact for Christ, I need to be ordained as a minister and be a pastor somewhere. And that’s the way you do it.” But you know what? We need more people that are not pastors; we need more people that are Christian plumbers, Christian landscapers, Christian filmmakers, because that’s where most of the people are out there. And there’s a relatable bridge-building concept there, that if you’re a pastor, you kind of lose that sometimes. So, it’s very important that we get Christians out into the world and send them out in the world. The world doesn’t care what we do on Sundays. They don’t care. But we need to get the salt out of the salt shaker out into the world each week. And that’s what you’re doing with your ministry.

Phil:It’s funny you say that because in our book, The Way Back, we have a line that “If someone comes to you, if a friend comes to you and says, ‘I really would like to know more about this Jesus thing,’ and your first thought is ‘I need to call my pastor,’ you have a problem.”

Todd:Them them to church.

Phil:You have a problem. Yeah. So, yeah. We need to get more real, and get out there.

Todd:Yeah. A lot of verses in the Bible about Christians going to the world, but not one verse about non-Christians coming to the church.

Jeff:Right. Come here to hear what our message is.

Phil:That’ll preach.

Todd:Yeah, it will.

Jeff:Absolutely. “That dog [crosstalk 00:19:42]” is what you say in the South.

Todd:Yeah.

Jeff:And now, with your international travels, what do you see as the sense of the church internationally in terms of the nearness of the Lord’s return, the relevance of the Lord’s return? Not in a sensationalistic way, but in a real, faith, looking-at-what’s-going-on-in-the-world kind of way.

Phil:I think the answer to that is urgency. They sense this urgency out there. They’re not fooling around. And we act like it’s never going to happen, this whole second return of Jesus thing, and we just go about our lives. But overseas, they are really driven by this.

Phil:And earlier, you talked about this narrow niche of prophecy. I think the narrower the better. We work with a lot of ministries and churches, helping them rebrand and really find out who they are and what promise they’re making to their community. And I’ve just discovered the more narrow the brand, the more likely you are to get noticed. And so, I think what you’re doing is absolutely critical.

Phil:And in years past, there was some famous prophecy ministries out there, but a lot of them have fallen by the wayside. And there’s nobody out there speaking in a… I should say speaking in a contemporary way that nonbelievers would understand. I want to do something a raging pagan will get. They may not agree with my message, but I want them to say, “Wow, that made a lot of sense.” And so, I think you’re doing that. And I think it’s fantastic.

Todd:Thank you.

Phil:But internationally, they get it. They totally get it. And what you get, more than anything, is this sense of “We’ve got to do it now. Our time’s short.” And there’s a real sense of urgency.

Todd:That’s very-

Jeff:A lot of crisis across the world. And some countries are feeling that more than we are right now. We’re kind of insulated that way.

Todd:That’s very affirming. And I got to plug one of your other old books.

Phil:Please. Okay.

Todd:And that’s One Big Thing.

Phil:Thank you.

Todd:That really helped me. That hit me at a critical time, when I was looking at my background as an artist, my background as an animation producer, my love for theology and Bible prophecy. “How do I mix all of that into one big thing and find my calling?” And I’ve had kind of a lifelong pursuit of my calling, but I feel like that book helped me in particular. And I feel like right now, I’m literally doing what God called me to do. I’m doing that one big thing. So, I appreciate your contribution there.

Phil:Well, I read a quote by Michelangelo, the great sculptor in the Middle Ages, in Renaissance. And somebody asked him one time, “How do you carve such amazing statues?” He said, “I don’t carve statues; I just remove the excess stone so the angel inside can come out.” And I really feel like that’s what churches, and ministries, and people, individuals need to do. We’ve got so many things we’re doing. We’ve got so much stuff that we thought was a good idea five years ago, but really didn’t work out. So, we pursued that for a while. And if we could just carve all that stuff away, cut all that stuff away and find the essence of what God’s really called us to do, that changes everything.

Todd:It’s niche for every believer because once we chip that away, we all have a niche market.

Phil:My book, One Big Thing, that you mentioned really came out of an earlier book called Unique: Telling Your Story in the Age of Brands and Social Media, that I had written about ministries and churches. And then I realized all those principles really apply to people. We have to find out what that one big thing is in our lives. I’ve discovered that most people will tell me “Well, Phil, I’m pretty good at a lot of things.” Trust me, those people never get noticed. The people that get noticed are the people that are extraordinary at one big thing. And when I say “noticed,” it’s not about ego; it’s about getting your message out there, getting your calling out there.

Todd:That’s right. It’s cluttered out there.

Phil:It is! Really cluttered.

Jeff:And the hope that I think every believer has is that each person does have something to contribute, each person has a unique niche, a unique personality, a unique sphere of influence or whatever it is. So, you don’t have to be in charge of a ministry or a corporation or a communications corporate; you can actually have an influence for Jesus Christ wherever you are. And that’s the hope that we have.

Jeff:And I think, Phil, part of what you’re doing is giving people that kind of creative hope, being innovative, and being able to reach into pockets, where perhaps a traditional gospel influence might not go. It’s like you said earlier, we’re incarnating the gospel wherever we go. And every person can do that in an individual way.

Phil:Well, I would say this for your listeners, is to leave them with this, and that is that when we were doing the book, The Way Back, we discovered, research indicated that 76% of Americans don’t know their neighbors’ names. So, let’s just start there. You don’t have to start a church. You don’t have to start a ministry. Just go get to know them. And you don’t have to take a tract. You don’t have to witness to them. Don’t even witness to them. Just take them up a pie. Just go over there and start a conversation. Invite them over for coffee. And if we can do that, at least it starts us moving toward what God’s really called us to do. So, just go meet that lady behind you or the guy next to you, whatever.

Jeff:Love it, love it.

Todd:Absolutely.

Jeff:Well, was there anything, any cool project you got upcoming or anything you want to talk about? Feel free to share that. And also, we want our listeners to know how to find more about Cooke Pictures and other things that you’re doing.

Phil:Well, you can find out about us at philcooke.com. Phil Cooke with an “E.” C-O-O-K-E. That’s my blog and kind of the homebase for everything we do. Our Cooke Media Group, our production company, has a website. But you can find everything at philcooke.com.

Phil:And I’m just really all about the intersection of faith, media, and culture. If you want to talk about how we engage the culture with media, I just really… My passion is that we live in a media-driven culture, which is why I love what you guys are doing. We live in a media-driven culture. And if we don’t learn to speak that language in the 21st century, we are going to lose a generation. We simply have to do it.

Phil:I read a statistic, I think The Wall Street Journal released it a couple of years ago, that we’re so cluttered, we have so many distractions, so many other things to do, that when you meet somebody for the first time, you decide what you think of that person within the first four to eight seconds, which means you haven’t had time to talk to them, get to know them, know anything about them. But we’re being pulled in so many directions, we’ve changed our behavior in this digital world to start making decisions and judgments within the first four to eight seconds.

Phil:So, I tell pastors, “I’m glad your sermon’s anointed. I’m glad your worship is fantastic. But in an eight-second world, what’s your lobby look like? What’s the parking lot like in your church? Or who’s the first person a new visitor meets when they walk in the door? Because trust me, they’re making judgements before they get to the pew.” And so, I think that knowing, trying to educate people on that, particularly Christians, in getting them to understand that those things kind of matter, I think that’s a real passion for me.

Todd:It’s like the old TV commercial. You never get a second chance to make a first impression.

Jeff:Oh, it’s so true. Especially today.

Todd:Yes, exactly. Phil Cooke, thank you so much for being with us today.

Phil:This has been really fun. Thank you. Great questions.

Todd:Awesome. It’s been a pleasure having you, man. I can’t thank you enough for taking the time.

Phil:Thank you. This has been great.

Todd:Hey, thank you so much for listening. We’re really excited you found us. Make sure to subscribe, if you have not done so already. And if you liked what you heard, please let us know by leaving a review. That does us a huge favor and helps us out a lot. For more resources or to ask questions or find more about our ministries, go to prophecyprospodcast.com. and a major thank you, major shout out to Harvest House Publishers for helping us with this podcast.