April 10th, 2012

Greetings,

It was a tremendous blessing in celebrating the Lords’ Last Supper this past Thursday at Church.   Jesus celebrated the Last Super, His last Passover Feast with the 12…Humbling Himself, washing each of the Disciples feet, even the one that would betray Him, was a very moving act of loving kindness to reflect on and to see how high He set the mark only so that by sharing in His suffering we could also witness and to be able to share His amazing Love to others.

I often fall short of loving those who have hurt or offend me…

King, Savior, Lord of Lords, showing selfless and humble Loving-kindness the night before He was to suffer unimaginable pain, suffering, hurt, and betrayal.

In less than 48 hrs after the last supper,  by suffering Roman execution through crucifixion, Jesus would continue LOVING until his last breath. One of the last thoughts Jesus had while dying on the cross was for us, “Forgive them Father for they know not what they do.”

Can I comprehend that depth of love, forgiveness and sacrifice?

Truly Amazing Grace!

It is an exciting time of year to be a disciple of Jesus Christ…the stone was rolled away.

It is also an exciting time for the Lord’s vision, ”JesusFreaks” or “JF.”

We are thrilled to announce that “JesusFreaks” is now in distribution in the South Pacific…Aus and New Zealand and the islands associated with this region i.e. Papua, New Guinea.

Heritage (HM) has given Circle of Belief Productions a 5 year deal to release and distribute the critically acclaimed documentary, “JesusFreaks.” Through Church screenings, Home Entertainment, Broadcast sales, and Electronic Distribution, the JF media franchise has been released through a media distributor other than ourselves.

Circle of Belief Productions made the leap of faith first in Dec.2010 by going into self distribution by beginning to sell the feature length documentary from our website www.JesusFreaksMovie.com.  Now in 2012, by securing our distribution deal with HM, who has developed a successful record of distributing faith friendly projects, we are thrilled to be part of their media show case.

Another Divine Placement is in the final stages as well…

Circle of Belief  is wrapping up the negotiations with the reality TV producers for the television lifestyle series, “JesusFreaks.”  We rest in knowing that we serve a God of completion and that He alone has opened this door. We will keep you posted as to the final outcome.  If you are reading this, please stop now and pray for the Millennial Generation… That through this series, they will be able to see what “doing life with God” is all about.

On another note…I have begun a new film project titled, “Burden of Holiness-Views from the Temple Mount.” The goal of this project is to bring deeper understanding between the three great monotheistic faiths; Judaism, Islam, and Christianity.  All three faith traditions can be traced back to Abraham…each called a Son of Abraham.  So why have the 37 acres in Jerusalem known as “The Temple Mount,” to Jews and Christians and called  by Muslims-”The Holy Sanctuary,” a place considered Sacred and Holy to all the sons of Abraham, has  also been a place of bloodshed and strife between each religion, again and again at different times in History?

That maybe just maybe through this documentary all 3 religions can find a bridge to peace, to find a way to co-exist better side by side. The hope is through this film, it will create a platform for dialogue to increase, a better understanding of one another, and tolerance may begin to grow?

By God blessing me with an excellent formal education, (I have a M.A. from University of Denver in Conflict Resolution and a B.A. from SMU in History with an emphasis in Middle Eastern/Islamic history,)  giving me the vision and experience of directing and producing ”JesusFreaks,” and building a diverse and passionate team around me,  filming this story of the most contested fought-over piece of real estate on earth is a challenge that I am well prepared and excited to begin.

My beliefs are my beliefs that’s not what this project is about…the documentary will give equal voice to all three sides and allow the viewer to form his or her own opinions.

Jews, Muslims, and Christian believers, will make up the production team as well as the cast of pilgrims who will embark on a spiritual journey through the Holy Land.

My hope is to bring exposure to the epi-center, the pulse of the never ending conflict between Arabs and Jews as well as to spotlight the religious crossroads of all three religions.

To dream a dream that this special place which is so Revered, Sacred and Holy to so many people of faith may one day also be a place of PEACE, TOLERENCE, and UNDERSTANDING?

You can watch the trailer here:

November 21st, 2011

Katherine and I had a wonderful time at the New Orleans Film Festival…One of the shorts, “Day of Remembrance,” was an official selection of the festival and I would like to say THANK YOU !!! to NOLA Film Festival for the exposure given the “JesusFreaks” project and for being so generous as to provide us a complimentary suite, which is a first.

What was so impressive about this festival was the multitudes of activities that were provided for film makers to interact with each other.  The facts are, one of the things we learned along the way is that relationships matter in this industry, and you can never have enough contacts.  Also, there is something about sharing “war stories” with other independents…it is comforting to know that other people are out there changing how the world is portrayed through film.

Our favorite evening was having the opportunity to watch the “Louisisana Shorts Program” and we saw some outstanding films…the short that won the title, “Best Louisiana Short,”  was “Chasing Dreams,” that documented the story of the famous New Orleans restaurant, Dookie Chases, which has been opened since 1946 in the black neighborhood of Treme.

It was wonderful to see and meet Mrs. Leah Chase,  the founder of this iconic NOLA restaurant.

As Mrs. Chase walked through the door into the theatre before the program, everyone present knew that they were in the company of “New Orleans Royalty.”   It is amazing that at 88 years old she still cooking up that good Lousisana Creole soul food-what a treat to see her and watch a film showing what a unique NOLA landmark she and her husband have owned and operated for 60 plus years-I wish her the best in her continued success.

Immediately following the NOLA Festival,  I was honored to attend the Heartland Film Festival in Indianapolis, Indiana. The receptions and venues were first class.  The Indanapolis community really comes out to support the film community and especially the traveling film makers who attend. We were fortunate enough to have our documentary, “JesusFreaks,” be recognized as an official selection in 2009 and then to be welcomed back and acknowledged again as an “Official Selection” of the Heartland Film Festival in 2011 with the “JesusFreaks” shorts has been quite the honor.

2011 has been another successful year for the “JesusFreaks” Project.

The most important aspect of this year was being able to continue to bring the Millennial Generation into a relationship with The Living God.

Along with that, the Lord has provided for us over and over the opportunity to share with others of the Vision that is in the final stages…having JesusFreaks the Reality Series become the first faith-friendly reality series on a secular network.

This is our 7th year in spear-heading the vision of JesusFreaks, and we have not lost sight of the goal.

Biblically, the number 7 represents “COMPLETION.”

Below is fortune we recently received…we couldn’t agree more.

Thank you, Jesus, for the continued open doors and provision to persevere.

A Generation is Waiting…

In Christ,

Katherine and Charles (Chad) B. Cobb

 

August 21st, 2011

The journey continues and God continues to be faithful.  JesusFreaks (JF) continues to gain more recognition and acclaim through the JF shorts. Thank you, Lord!

We prayed and mulled over the decision to produce the JesusFreaks(JF) shorts for quiet some time before going back into the footage and producing 16 shorts. Now, sitting where we are now it seems like a no brain-er…but before making the final decision to go back into the footage and produce/edit the shorts; it was like most big decisions on this JF journey- we were pulled in many different directions…what to do with all the great content not utilized in the JF documentary?

After the filming was over in 2008 we had over 160 hours of footage-after producing JF a 96 minute feature film documentary-there was still 158 plus hours of footage never seen and enjoyed…We had so many more great story-lines that did not make the final cut onto the feature film documentary.

Like everything on this JF journey it was a battle to get the shorts produced. Raising the capital, re-editing the footage, audio sweetening, and creating new motion graphics.

In addition many voices out there, including my own at times saying,  ”…just get JF, the feature-film documentary out there in distribution.”  Voices out there saying, “… you used all your best stuff already; why put more money into producing new content-utilize what is in the “can” now;  and put all your time, energy, and effort in marketing “JesusFreaks,” a critically-acclaimed documentary.  The shorts are not needed and just an added expense.”   etc. etc.

Sometimes you just have to block out all of the NOISE;  from yourself, from the the king of lies (he is always on duty to spread- lies, fear, and doubt) and others (whose intentions are usually pure but often misguided) and do ultimately what we believed God was leading us to do.

Thank God, we did.

Since producing the shorts last Oct. 2010, it has enabled JF to be celebrated all over again. I’m so grateful the shorts are being seen and celebrated  throughout the world and being well received on the film festival circuit. Just this last week we found out one of the shorts, “Day of Remembrance,” is being recognized as an official selection to the New Orleans Film Festival. This is the third film Festival in 2011, that has recognized and celebrated this particular short Film-thank you Lord.

This particular short is also being recognized by a 4th film festival, which is recognized by the industry as a Top 10 film festival to have your film recognized by-They have not made their official announcement yet…so I’m not at liberty to share the name of this festival with you today but as soon as the official announcement is made-I shall.

We are producing a new JF trailer that captures conflict and conflict resolution that occurs during a Discipleship Training School(DTS).

Furthermore, we are producing an additional version of “JesusFreaks.” Our current JF documentary has a running time of 96 minutes…our goal is edit another documentary with a running time of 70 to 80 minutes.  With so much wonderful , unseen content we are producing another film that will bring in new story-lines, additional characters and scenes from the original to produce this new cut.  Title of the next film coming soon…It ‘s all a work in progress.

We are excited to share with you the new JF conflict trailer and the additional film.

Both should be complete by the end of October 2011.

We thank you all for your continued support and prayers as you guys have continued to engage and enjoy the JesusFreaks media franchise.

On another note…

I want to give a big HOLLA, to the Circuit Riders, who are the front-liners making waves in Orange County, CA…this week YWAM is spearheading an eight day spiritual uprising. It is being held at the Hilton Hotel in Huntington Beach, CA-If you get a chance go check out their Facebook page at O.C. Uprising 2011.  On opening night Aug.19- Pastor Jay Alabamy Haizlip, a former professional vertical skateboarder was the first speaker to take the stage to kick off the 8 day event.

Here are a couple initial reports from the O.C. Uprising 2011, one from the Director of YWAM Denver- Peter Warren (a great friend, our spiritual covering, and our partner in the JesusFreaks media franchise), who had this to report, ”A bunch of people surrendered their lives to Christ, some were healed and others delivered from demonic oppression. And this is only the second night!”

An additional testimony  from a YWAM’er- one of our boys, and former roommate of ours- Matt Watson,

“Revival is literally breaking out in Orange County, CA! If your not here get here and if you live here meet us at the Hilton waterfront Hotel of PCH and Huntington at the big white tent @ 7-10pm Bring your sick God is healing people like crazy!”

A famous quote from the “JesusFreaks,” short, “Prayer over Addiction,”…”there is a Spiritual Power that comes to bare when we lay hands on you, and pray for you.” (John Murphy)

All the reports are confirming-that at the O.C. Uprising 2011-people are calling on God and miracles are happening!!!

Although we are not physically there in the O.C. , we are there in spirit and prayer.  We wished so bad to have been a part of it in some small way, but it was not to be.  Katherine and I have such full plates…we decided to divide and conquer.

Our heart and prayers are with YWAM-Denver and YWAM-Kona, the two bases spearheading this move of God-the “O.C. Uprising 2011.” I pray blessings and protection for the YWAM’ers out there in the O.C. showing the love-

WE LOVE YOU GUYS.   YOU ARE OUR HEROS!

Please continue to pray for our efforts as we take these next pivotal steps on the JF journey.

We will not rest until, “JesusFreaks,” God’s love story to the Millennial Generation is able to break into the American mainstream in a mighty way!

We appreciate your continued prayer and support as we walk out this vision.

A Generation is Waiting…

Blessings,

Charles(Chad) Cobb