Interview on the Calvinist Movie

Apologia Studios

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Hey, this next guest we are very, very excited about. He is our friend, Les Lanphier.

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He created the Reform Pub, very popular, lively, active group on Facebook. He also co -created the

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Reform Pubcast. And he is the creator of the new movie, Calvinist, which drops

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October 2nd. Please welcome our good friend, Les Lanphier, everybody. Thank you.

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Welcome. Look at Juice, just looking good today. Yeah, I got to represent. I'm a Presbyterian.

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This is how we roll. That's right. Marcus is happy just for that one fact. He finally has another Presbyterian in the studio.

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So we're finally here, man. It's been a long time coming. Yeah, I just finished the movie right before a hurricane came barreling towards South Florida.

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So as I'm trying to upload this movie and get it all printed and stuff, I'm also putting shutters up on my house. And then we lost power.

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So I literally have been in emergency mode until I got on the plane to come here. And so this is like the first time

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I can actually say, I'm done. This movie is made. You're done. It was all predestined to work out that way, so it's fine.

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It was. So here's the box. It looks beautiful. It belongs all over the world.

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I'm excited about it. I've actually seen at least a raw cut of the film, and I think it's wonderful.

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So tell everybody, we want to hear, you created something really, it is beautiful.

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It's well done. It's your first film. Yeah. Yeah. Which is shocking. Yeah. Marcus always gives the advice, never call yourself a filmmaker until you've actually made, finished a film.

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So yeah, finally, finally there. So you're officially a filmmaker. Officially a filmmaker. It's beautifully done.

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So let's bring everyone into it. You had, of course, the Reform Pub online. It's a very popular group.

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A lot of people in it. It's having a lot of influence and doing a lot of really good things actually. And you have, of course, you actually do have a podcast.

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I do. It's on break at the moment. Right. But yeah, I do have a podcast. So, and then that led you into creating a film, a movie called

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Calvinist. Yeah. So why? Well, necessity is the mother of invention. I was unemployed.

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That's the main reason. So I've worked in the film industry in various regards over the years.

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So I didn't have a job, and I figured I kind of know how to make a movie, sort of.

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And I love Calvinism a lot. So I reached out to the spheres of influence that I kind of have, and I was able to get people, convince people to give me money and to make a movie.

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Well, let's talk about that because I think what's important to us is you have so many opportunities as Christians to influence the culture, to teach something powerful, to do something meaningful.

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And a lot of times we're afraid to take that leap, that risk, right, and just really step out and trust and say,

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I can actually do this. So talk about that. I think what was fascinating to me is how you just, you had an idea in your head, and you put it out there, and you gave it to other people, and you said, this is my idea.

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This is what I want to do. I'm going to create something beautiful and meaningful. Who's behind me? So tell everyone what happened.

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You did a Kickstarter, right? Yeah. Actually, when I look back, I think one of the key moments was actually

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ReformCon. Last year, you guys invited me and my co -host Tanner out here.

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We did a conference on reform theology, and there were these breakaway groups, and Marcus led one of them.

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And he talked about Christian media. Surprise, surprise, that Marcus would talk about Christian media.

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And just talking about, like, he talked about the legacy, basically, of the art that Christians have made over the centuries, and he was just encouraging people, if this is something you feel led in, just do something.

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So I think that was sort of in the back of my mind when I got the idea, and I put together a really rough trailer, just grabbed clips from the internet.

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And I remember you guys shared it. That was huge. And it was really just a spark of a thought, and people were so excited about the idea of a movie about this generation rediscovering

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Calvinism. I guess it just really resonated with a generation of people.

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So you were able to raise money to put this together. And you created.. Really, you have to see it because it really is truly well done.

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Thank you. So we have friends and we have fans and supporters of our ministry that aren't necessarily reformed or Calvinistic.

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So why do you think that the theology of the reformation, Calvinism, is so important, it's important enough to make a film about?

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Well, I think that the church.. I mean, it's hard to pinpoint exactly where we got to where we are now in evangelicalism.

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But the culture has so inundated the way that we think that we would never say it, but we think that we're basically in control of our own salvation.

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That it's up to us to get saved. It's essentially up to us to stay saved. And it's just not what the

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Bible teaches at all. The Bible actually says that you're unable to do all the things that we think that we're doing.

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And if we are doing those things, then they're by the grace of God. And that means that God should be honored in being the one who saved us and being the one.

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So the most important reason that Calvinism.. Or the biggest reason Calvinism is important is because we must be glorifying

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God to the greatest extent that God deserves glory. So that's why it matters.

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So when you think about how you want this movie, Calvinist, to shape minds and hearts, what's the main thing you're aiming for?

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The foundation you want to take place after this thing hits the world and it's in people's homes and on their computers and they're watching it.

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What do you want the after effect to be? Yeah, there's a few. I feel like the movie, it plays a few different roles.

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So for me and my generation, this is the movie I just want to watch. Mainly because I'm trying to go back maybe a decade and help us to revisit those first few moments of realizing that God actually loved me from the foundation of the world.

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He chose me. He refused to let me reject him.

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And when we first discovered those things, they were so beautiful, so glorious. And I think over the years, which is just human nature, we grow sort of callous to those things.

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And then we move on to the next thing and we kind of forget those foundational things. And we don't, I feel like we don't rejoice in grace as much as maybe we should.

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So that's one thing I want to do. I want to remind us why this matters, why it was so beautiful. And it was just a phenomenal time in all of our lives.

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And then the movie also explains Calvinism. So you'll be able to sit down with your family and friends who think that you've joined a cult and show them that, no, actually this is reasonable.

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This is biblical. It's historic. If you call yourself a Protestant Christian, if you're not a

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Roman Catholic or an Eastern Orthodox Christian, then actually this is the theology you're supposed to be holding to.

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So showing all of that, I think it's just going to be good. It's going to be good for people who are curious about Calvinism to learn a little bit more about it.

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It's going to be good for people who hate Calvinism to at least get a fair assessment. And then for us to rejoice it and embrace it, it will just be a celebration.

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Excellent. Did you see my shirt? Yes. Do you like it? Yeah, Gangster John Calvin. Yeah, I've got it just for this show today. I'll tell you where to get it after the show today.

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So you have a clip for us. Is this a special clip no one's ever seen before? This is a special clip no one's ever seen before.

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Right here on Next Week. This is from, so the movie goes through the five points of Calvinism, explaining each point.

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This is a clip from Irresistible Grace. Okay. Roll the clip, Marcus.

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The doctrine of regeneration is possibly the most beautiful, the most precious, most powerful doctrine in the

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Bible. I can't even see the kingdom of God, Jesus told Nicodemus. I have to be born again.

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And that's what regeneration is. It's being born again. Regeneration comes before faith, meaning we were completely without life and we had no ability to believe unless God first would grant to us new life.

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God said, I will take out your heart of stone and I will put in its place a heart of flesh. He changes that God -hating, sin -loving heart into a heart with new and righteous affections.

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By his spirit, without the sinner's permission, he opens our eyes, he removes our blindness, he raises us from spiritual death to spiritual life.

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He causes us to be born again from above so that we're now alive when we were once dead.

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And when that person whose heart has been changed, when their eyes are opened up to Jesus through the preaching of the gospel and the work of the

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Holy Spirit, they run to him because he becomes at that moment the end of all their affections.

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He's their desire. So the movie drops

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October 2nd. People can get it where? Calvinistmovie .com. There's also going to be, there's some links to Vimeo.

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You're going to be able to stream it and download it there as well. So my next question is, I think you did a wonderful job with this.

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I love it. I think it's important. My question is, are you going to do another one? I don't, my wife does not want me to make another movie right now.

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Apparently this is a very, it takes a lot of work. So right now

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I'm actually working, I'm a video editor at a studio that's making content, helping the church deal with the epidemic of pornography in the church.

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So that's something I'm really excited about working on at the moment. But yeah, I mean, if people like the movie, that's going to be the biggest question.

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If people receive it well, then of course, I'd be open to making more films. Excellent. Let's land for everybody.

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Make sure you check it out, Calvinistmovie .com. We'll be right back with some final thoughts on the show.

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Thanks for being with us, guys. Take care. Thank you. Thank you. Next week with Jeff Durbin, the late night show with the unpopular opinion.