Thursday, March 3, 2011

Support Production of the Late Great Planet Church: Volume 2




A WORD FROM A SPONSOR

Dear NiceneCouncil.com,


"Thank you so much for allowing me to contribute to this project.  My husband told me he didn't know what he wanted for his birth-day and I was racking my brain to come up with something.  He was very surprised, not to mentioned pleased when I told him I made a contribution in his name to be a sponsor of The Late Great Planet Church 2 (he loved the first one). He was excited to hear that his name will be listed in the credits for all to see.  God Bless and have a great year." -- Marilyn McKnight

CONTRIBUTE ON-LINE

We have made it possible to contribute to the upcoming production of The Late Great Planet Church Volume II on-line using VISA, Master Card, Discover or American Express (if you have a PayPal account you can even use an electronic check).

NiceneCouncil.com and Apologetics Group would like to thank the following friends who have helped sponsor this project:

Dr. John H. Dickinson, Rick Zimmerman, Jonas Alexis, Kurt Stauff, Gary Scrimpshire, Carol & Herb Johnson, Stefan Fehlinger, Jan Borgland, and Patricia Bane.

NEW CONTRIBUTORS AS OF FEB. 25, 2011

Scott Midson, Linus Chua, William Donelson, John (Digger) McKnight, Wayne Rogers, and Kevin Ridley.

To help make this project a reality or to become a sponsor please click HERE! 

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Have you ever wanted to be a part of something? Something that will have profound influence on the gospel, the church, and culture at large? Are you tired of seeing Christians draw another proverbial line in the sand only to have secularists, humanists, naturalists and atheists and a host of enemies of the Lord Jesus run headlong to cross that line - double daring Christians to do something about it?

And when the modern church does attempt to respond they fare no better than former President Jimmy Carter and his failed attempt to rescue the American hostages held for four hundred and forty-four days by
Iran. Are these simply signs that the "end times" are upon us? Is there no hope for the next generation? What has caused our impotent response (if we respond at all)? Why is the modern church so apathetic? 

As most of you who are receiving this are aware, Apologetics Group and NiceneCouncil.com are fully committed to the theology of the Reformation. And we believe that the Westminster Confession of Faith (1647) is the best summary of that theology and the Word of God. By the grace of God , we have not fallen victim to the pop-theology and proto-prophecy of the day - one that is leavened with the leaven of dispensationalism. We still maintain the glorious theology embodied in the venerable Westminster Standards.

With this said we invite you to read the following proposal on our newest documentary - The Late Great Planet Church Vol. II: The Glory of the Lord has Departed. We hope that you will become a part of this historic, life-changing, and hopefully cultural changing work. Christians, once again we urge you not to despise the day of small things (Zech
4:10). We urge you to put your hand to the plow with us as we sow God's word in God's world.

By His Grace & For His Glory,

Jerry Johnson, President &
Kenneth L. Gentry, Director

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 Table of Contents

I.   Specifications
    A. The Basic Concept
    B. The Target Audience
    C. The Documentary Style
    D. The Scholarly Interviews

II.   Budget 
    A. Pre-production
    B. Production
    C. Post-Production
    D. Promotion and Sales

III.  Schedule

IV.  Sponsorship
    A. $500 Donors
    B. $1,000 Donors
    C. $5,000 Donors
    D. $10,000 Donors

V.  Reviews 

VI.  About NiceneCouncil.com

For more information contact Jerry Johnson
Toll free phone: 866.735.9582
Email: jerry@NiceneCouncil.com 

I. SPECIFICATIONS

About  Late Great Planet Church Vol. II: 
“ The Glory of the Lord has Departed”

A. The Basic Concept

In Volume One of The Late Great Planet Church: The Rise of Dispensationalism, we surveyed the historical beginnings of dispensationalism, including its developers and their beliefs, motivations, and promotional activities. We focused particularly on three very important matters: 
 
There we noted dispensationalism's relatively recent development in history. Second, we introduced dispensationalism's most influential proponents,  men like J. N. Darby, C. I. Scofield, Lewis Sperry Chafer, and Charles Ryrie.  And third, we highlighted dispensationalism's stormy history, spotlighting the contentions and divisions it has caused within the Church of the Lord Jesus Christ.

In Volume Two, we're going to examine dispensationalism as a theological system, highlighting its distinctive and innovative doctrines. We will also note some of the negative implications of its theological errors. We will engage these tasks by shining the light of God’s infallible, inerrant, and authoritative Word on it. Throughout our expose our guiding concern will be: “Let God be true.”

Our special focus will be on a number of the key features of the most popular and dominant form of dispensationalism. We will, however, occasionally refer to the latest form of dispensationalism, known as “progressive dispensationalism.” We do this for historical purposes and additional information — and so that we might illustrate how “the plain, simple” understanding that dispensationalism claims is in a state of radical transition.

To guide us through this process we will adopt the Old Testament word ICHABOD from 1 Sam 4:21 as an acrostic. This will help us present the main theological tenants of dispensationalism systematically and to better anchor this material in your mind.

But why have we chosen the unusual word “Ichabod”? In the Old Testament, this name was given to Eli's grandson when news was delivered that the Philistines had captured the ark. “Ichabod” literally means “the glory has departed.” In its biblical context it means, of course, that the glory of the Lord has departed because the ark of His presence was removed from
Israel. Sadly, as it was in the days of Samuel, so it is now in the days of Scofield: God's glory has departed from His church. 

With this said, here is how we plan to use Ichabod as an acrostic and what each letter means.
 
I =
ISRAEL
 
We will examine
Israel as the natural descendants of the patriarchs and answer from Scripture who is and is not true Israel — according to Christ and His Apostles.
 
C = CHURCH

We will turn our attention to the doctrine of the Church to see that Christ and His Apostles contradict dispensationalism by defining the church as one people of God spanning both testaments of Scripture. We will discover that the new covenant phase of the church presents her as the Israel of God.

H = HERMENEUTICS

Next we will critique the dispensational view of hermeneutics (method of interpretation) in demonstrating that their so-called “plain, literal” hermeneutic is both disingenuous and misleading. We will also provide evidence showing that despite their proud boasts, literalism is inconsistently employed in the system. 

A = ANTINOMIANISM

In this section we will show how dispensationalism has antinomian (against God’s  Law) tendencies. We will demonstrate that, in several respects a different gospel has emerged.

B = BREAKING COVENANT

As a result of this lawless gospel, dispensationalism has led the modern church into ignorance of the covenant requirements so that individual Christians and whole evangelical churches are breaching their covenantal obligations before God.

O = OTHER WORLDLINESS

This section will prove that the dispensational view of the pre-tribulation rapture is neither an historical doctrine of the church nor an actual doctrine of Scripture.

D = DECLINE

Finally, we will examine the consequences of rapture theology which has caused most of the church to withdraw from true cultural engagement. We will show that this has led to the decline of Western Christianity and the departure of the glory of the LORD.

B. The Target Audience

Many Christians read their Bibles through the lens of pop-prophecy books like Hal Lindsey's The Late Great Planet Earth and Tim LaHaye's Left Behind series.  The average Christian today naively accepts the theological presuppositions and blindly follows the prophetic schemes expressed in these and other fictional writings. They assume that these doctrinal positions have been held by Christians down through the centuries. However, that is far from the truth.

The goal of this documentary is to appeal both to Christians who know what the word “dispensation” means and those who are not even aware of the term. We want to reach those who have adopted the system by osmosis, simply because it permeates, not only the church, but many levels of western culture  from movies, books, and video games — and even the foreign policy of western countries.

C. The Documentary Style

Late Great Planet Church: The Glory of the Lord Has Departed will be a feature-length documentary and will be filled with:
∙ provocative information
∙ theological insights
∙ scholarly interviews
∙ dramatic vignettes
 
The movie will be scored with classical music and a varied underscore. It will be replete with state-of-the-art “motion graphics,” a technique that adds significant visual depth and pace to the documentary text and images.

D. The Scholarly Interviews

Below is a list of those whom we hope to interview for this project.  The ones with an asterisk after their name have already been confirmed.

∙     Dr. Gary DeMar*, President, American Vision and author of Last Days Madness
    
∙     Dr. Kenneth L. Gentry*, Director of NiceneCouncil.com, author of Before Jerusalem Fell: Dating the Book of Revelation and the Made Easy Series from ApologeticsGroup.com

∙     Dr.  Ken Talbot, President*,  President of Whitefield Theological Seminary and author of Calvinism, Hyper-Calvinism and Arminianism.

∙     Dr. George Gatgounis*, Esq., Gatgounis Law and Consulting Firm, graduate of  Dallas Theological Seminary and
Harvard University.

∙     Dr. Michael Haykin*, Professor, Church History, Southern Theological Seminary 

∙     Mr. Grover Gunn*, Pastor, graduate Dallas Seminary and co-author of Dispensationalism: Yesterday, Today and Forever.

∙     Mr. David Lutzweiler*, former assistant to A. W. Tozer and Spiros Zodhiates, and author of The Praise of Folly: The Enigmatic Life & Theology of C. I. Scofield.

∙     Dr. Tom Nettles*, Professor, Church History, Southern Theological Seminary and author of By His Grace and for His Glory.

∙     Dr. R. Fowler White*, Vice President for Academic Affairs, Professor of Biblical Studies at
Ligonier Academy.

∙     Dr. E. Calvin Beisner, Spokesman for the Cornwall Alliance for the Stewardship of Creation and author,God in Three Persons.

∙     Dr. Robert L. Reymond, Pastor of Trinity Presbyterian Church, retired professor Covenant Theological Seminary, and author of A New Systematic Theology of the Christian Faith.

∙     Dr. Tom Ascol, Pastor,
Grace Baptist Church, Editor of the Founders Journal.

∙     Dr. John Frame, Professor, Professor of Systematic Theology and Philosophy at Reformed Theological Seminary, and author of Cornelius Van Til: An Analysis of his Thought.

∙      Dr. David Murray, Professor of Old Testament and Practical Theology, Puritan Reformed Theological Seminary

∙     Dr. Joel Beeke, President of Puritan Reformed Theological Seminary and Professor of Systematic Theology, Church History, and Homiletics


II. BUDGET

The cost of this project is estimated at $100,000. Budget available upon request.

A. Pre-Production: $14,000

 Produce a Teaser Trailer, research and writing of script, Purchasing new camera equipment, website.

B. Production: $30,000

Travel for filming the interviews, transcribe the interviews to find the best sound bites, filming of vignettes.

C. Post-Production: $45,000 

Editing, update software, occasional additional filming, purchase of copyrighted material to be used in final release (music, film, etc.).

D. Promotion and Sales: $11,000

Packaging and Branding: Includes national broadcast and print Campaign, online Advertising, and blog outreach.

III. SCHEDULE

The film will be produced over a 12 month period in the Summer-Fall of 2011. It is scheduled for a late 2012 release.

IV. SPONSORSHIP


NiceneCouncil.com is accepting contributions from Churches, ministries, individuals, seminaries, private companies and institutions, but we are offering a limited number of sponsorship opportunities at varying levels of commitments as follows:

A.  Silver Contributor

For a $500 donation we will give you a special thanks in the end credits to you, your family, Church, ministry or company.  For example:
Individual:  The Mark Sanders Family
Church or Ministry:  First Baptist Church of Concord
Company:  Mark Sanders Enterprises of Greenville, SC
You will also receive 5 DVDs when production is finished.

B. Gold Contributor

For a $1000 donation you will receive the same as the Silver Donor, plus:  Contact information and worldwide web address if desired. You will also receive a
Backstage Pass with personal login to the film website and be able to watch interviews we did not use. You will also receive 10 DVDs when production is finished.

C. Platinum Contributor

For a $5000 donation you will receive the same as the Gold Donor, plus: A personal filmed thank you from Jerry Johnson and Ken Gentry in the bonus section: For example:

Individual:  Your name and anyone in your family you would like us to mention.  For example: 

We would like to thank the Sanders Family, Mark and his wife Melisa and their children Mark Jr., Michael and Maggie.

Church:  The name of your Church, location, times of service, web address, e-mail, phone number, etc.

Company:  Name, service or products[s], location, web address, etc.

 You will also receive 20 DVDs when production is finished.

D. Diamond Contributor

For a $10,000 donation, you will receive the same as all previous levels above, plus: Top billing, opening acknowledgment:

“‘Brought to you by the generous benevolence of Mark Sanders Enterprises or First Baptist Church of Concord (followed by company or Church web address) or The Sanders Family; Mark, Melisa, Matthew, Michael and Maggie.”

You will also receive a limited edition in hardback of  the scripts signed by the whole staff, plus 50 DVDs.

If you would like to be apart of this production and would like your contribution to be placed on a credit card please call Jerry Johnson toll free 866.735.9582 or send a check with contact information enclosed to:

NiceneCouncil.com
Box 411
Draper, VA 24324

V.  Reviews

The following are reviews of Late Great Planet Church (Vol. I):

The Late Great Planet Church (DVD) is a welcome and much-needed rebuke to the error of Dispensationalism which, for the last 180 years, has misrepresented the Scripture’s teaching on the unity of God’s purpose in the church.  The historical facts presented reveal the fallacious foundation of dispensationalism’s hermeneutic and theology.  Dispensationalism is serious theological error and NiceneCouncil.com ought to be thanked for its diligent work in exposing the history of this movement.” — Rev. Stephan R. Van Eck, Minister of Congregational Life, Coral Ridge Presbyterian Church, Fort Lauderdale, Fla.

The
Late Great Planet Church: The Rise of Dispensationalism has the potential to be one of the best Christian documentaries of the year.  I appreciate the time and research that went into it and the style in which it was presented.  This is a must see for our Left Behind generation.”  — James F. Dietz, Director of Student Services, Knox Theological Seminary, Ft. Lauderdale, Fla.

“NiceneCouncil.com’s newest production The Late Great Planet Church: The Rise of Dispensationalism is to be commended for drawing attention to the early development of today's phenomenon called dispensationalism.  I encourage every Christian to view this important documentary.” -- Dave MacPherson, author, The Rapture Plot

“The flawed system of theology known as Dispensationalism has had a negative influence on the Christian church over the last 150 years or so. The debilitating results of this errant theology needs to be corrected for the church of Christ to be about her work of fulfilling the Great Commission given to her by her Lord (Matthew 28:18-20). Volume One of The Late Great Planet Church: The Rise of Dispensationalism is a much needed work to aid both in the unraveling of Dispensationalism and the propagation of biblical, covenantal theology.” -- Dr. W. Gary Crampton, author, Calvinism, Hyper-Calvinism & Arminianism

“Volume One of The Late Great Planet Church: The Rise of Dispensationalism is a powerful tool that will create a good deal of discussion and dialog for all on both sides of this issue.  The arguments presented do not come across in an attacking or sarcastic style.  They present the truth in a loving and heartfelt manner. I recommend that students of God’s Word -- especially those who have received dispensationalism via the popular culture -- view this incredible presentation.” -- Dr. D. Randall Talbot, Academic Dean,
Whitefield College and Theological Seminary,  Lakeland, Fla.

“This documentary, The Late Great Planet Church, is one of the best productions, both in style and substance I've ever seen and a must watch by followers of Christ everywhere. Allow me to congratulate Jerry, Ken and the whole NiceneCouncil.com staff.” — Dr. Thom Van Devender, Pastor Emeritus, New Hope Baptist Church, Blandville, Kan

Click Here to read a review by Tim Challis


Click Here to read a review by Nathan Pitchford

Click Here to read a review by Joel McDurmon


VI.  About NiceneCouncil.com

Jerry Johnson, M.A.C.S., M. Phil.
, D.Min (in progress)
President, Apologetics Group
& NiceneCouncil.com


Writer/Researcher/Narrator

Jerry has earned a Master of Arts in Christian Studies and a Master of Philosophy in Theology and Apologetics from Whitefield Theological Seminary. He is currently working on a doctorate from Knox Theological Seminary in
Fort Lauderdale, Florida.  Jerry serves as a Ruling Elder at Grace Reformed Presbyterian Church in Dublin, VA,

He was also the senior writer and researcher for the best selling documentaries Amazing Grace: The History & Theology of Calvinism, The Marks of a Cult: A Biblical Analysis and Late Great Planet Church Volume I: The Rise of Dispensationalism.

He is a member of the Board of Regents for Whitefield Theological Seminary and serves as an adjunct professor at Knox Theological Seminary and Veritas Theological Seminary.

Since 2005, Jerry has been a Chaplain for Baseball Chapel serving the Seattle Mariners' minor league team, the Pulaski Mariners.

Jerry and his wife, Traci have been married for going on twenty-three years and have four children, all of whom have professed faith in Christ and one grandchild. 

Kenneth L. Gentry, Jr., M.Div., Th.D.

Director, Apologetics Group
& NiceneCouncil.com


Writer/Researcher/Interview

Ken was born in
Chattanooga, Tennessee and he and his wife Melissa were married in July of 1971. This union has produced three grown children all who have confessed Jesus Christ as Lord and God. 

Ken received his B.A. in Biblical Studies from
Tennessee Temple University (1973, cum laude). After graduating he enrolled at Grace Theological Seminary in Winona Lake, Indiana. After two years at Grace Seminary (1973-1975) he left dispensationalism, having become convinced of a covenant and Reformed theology. He transferred to Reformed Theological Seminary in Jackson, Mississippi (1975-1977). Upon completing studies at Reformed Theological Seminary he was awarded the M.Div. in 1977. After several years of pastoral ministry, he earned a Th.M. (1986) and a Th.D. (1987, magna cum laude) from Whitefield Theological Seminary, both in the field of New Testament. 

While at Reformed Theological Seminary he studied under Greg L. Bahnsen, a leading presuppositional apologist. Though Gentry initially resisted the distinctive ethical and eschatological views of Bahnsen, he was eventually persuaded of both theonomic ethics and postmillennial eschatology and became a staunch co-defender of them with Bahnsen. Over the years he developed a close friendship with Bahnsen, often lecturing with him in conferences, co-writing a book with him (House Divided: The Break-up of Dispensational Theology). 

He has authored or co-authored some 20 plus books, Ken is perhaps best known for his book Before Jerusalem Fell, which argues that the Book of Revelation was written before the destruction of
Jerusalem in A.D. 70. He holds that many of the dramatic events in Revelation correspond to the persecution of Christians under the Roman imperium as well as to the Jewish War against Rome which resulted in the destruction of Jewish temple.

Tyler W. Johnson
Production/Director


Director/Post - Production Editing

Tyler heads up production, editing and graphic design for NiceneCouncil.com. He is the eldest son of Jerry and Traci.  He was born into a Christian home in 1989 and made a profession of faith at an early age. After being examined by the church session, his profession was deemed credible and he was admitted to the Lord's Table at the age of nine. A homeschool graduate, Tyler started the Trinitas Production Company while still in high school. He is currently enrolled at New River Community College and is one semester away from graduation.  He hopes to pursue a degree in graphic design and video.

Tyler was married on July 25, 2009 to Ms. Beth Anne Dawson.  One year later the Lord blessed them with a beautiful baby boy.

Cameron Coble
Consulting Director/Associate Producer


Assistant Director/Camera/Lighting/Sound 

Cam serves as webmaster, and technology consultant for NiceneCouncil.com and The Apologetics Group, Inc under his company DoubleClickData.
Cam has a background in data communications, computer programming and film making.

Cam served and was honorably discharged from the United States Army in 1994, and holds two Associate degrees in technology. He has two homeschooled children taught by his devoted wife. He is a member of Draper's Valley Presbyterian Church (PCA) and serves as a deacon were he has pushed the expansion of it's ministry to the online community through webcasting of it's Sunday sermons. 
© 2010 NiceneCouncil.com™ 
1.866.735.9582 •
Box 411 • Draper, VA • 24324


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