The Vision

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Film Synopsis

"As the Father has loved me, so have I loved you. Now remain in my love" (John 15:9).

Decades have passed since Jesus walked the land of first century Israel.  The humble home of the aging Apostle John is crowded with "seekers" hungry of heart.  As the screen swells with heavenly images of the time before creation "Old John" begins to share Jesus... "In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God..."

The screen explodes with the heavenly glory of Jesus then we gently transition into His earthly reality.  For the next twenty-one chapters of Spirit-inspired Scripture, leaping back and forth across time from Old John's evangelical sharing to his younger days at Jesus' side, the Gospel unfolds in all of its passion and power, revealing its "Center" in unquestionable magnificence and intimacy: The Person of Jesus, Israel's long-awaited Messiah, and His promise of salvation!

Jesus "comes alive" before our eyes—His teachings, miracles, confrontations… His deity, His compassion, His joy, His genuineness… His power, His authority, His tenderness, His love… His tears, His laughter, His affection, His warmth… The raising of Lazarus, the Bread of Life; the Samaritan woman, the Light of the World… The cross and the empty tomb! It is all breathtakingly dramatized and displayed Scripture by Scripture, Word for Word, every moment revealing Jesus, "Yeshua," the fulfillment of the Law and Prophets, King of kings and Lord of lords!  Glory to His wondrous Name!

"Jesus did many other things as well.  If every one of them were written down, I suppose even the whole world would not have room for the books that would be written."  As the Gospel gently climaxes, in closing with a final "fade into eternity," the gloriously loving face of Jesus explodes across the screen. He smiles a sin-shattering smile.  He looks deeply into every viewer's heart.  Through His eyes He silently whispers the most wondrous, most life-altering invitation...  "Come, follow Me!"  Glory to Jesus!

"And this gospel of the kingdom will be preached in the whole world as a testimony to all nations…" (Matthew 24:14)

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The Lord's Leading

"Make this tabernacle and all its furnishings exactly like the pattern I will show you…. See that you make them according to the pattern shown you on the mountain" (Exodus 25:9, 40).

The Lord initially led us to pursue a film production of John several years ago.  Since that time, in prayer, we've felt specific "leadings" from God regarding the scripting and filming.  Among those leadings are…

• Each "scene," as clearly composed in the Gospel, is to be scripted and filmed so as to "stand on its own."  In crafting the screenplay, the Lord gave Bruce the structural sense of a string of pearls, each scene being its own specific "pearl;" each proclaiming Jesus and salvation through His blood.

• John must be scripted and filmed with the most uninformed non-believer in mind.  In other words presume nothing and explain everything.  In so many Jesus films the viewer must already be familiar with Jesus and the Gospel events to understand the story.  John must reveal the Gospel clearly even to those who have never heard of Jesus in their lives.

• Simplicity is of the utmost importance.  The clear exposition of the Gospel and reality of Jesus must be the film's objective.  Though excellence is priority there will be no "fancy film-making" that might distract the viewer from Jesus and His precious Word.

• Jewish authenticity and reality are of the highest priority.  Along those lines we hope to actually film in Israel as difficult as it might be.  If this truly is His directive He will make it possible.

• Characterize Jesus in "kingdom authority."  In Matthew the world discovered Jesus in joy and passion.  In John we feel the Lord would have us add a fresh dimension of authority to those realities.  In other words: as gentle, warm, and "down-to-earth" as Jesus is there will be no doubt that this Man is the Son of the living God!

It is our sincere commitment to walk this road entirely on our knees -- seeking God, and seeking God.  As much as is humanly possible we are committed to seeking His voice and obeying His direction so that John will be made not in man's wisdom or human effort but in God's leadership and His Spirit's touch.  May God give us the grace and faith to lay ourselves down and simply follow Him.  Glory to Jesus!


"On this mountain the LORD Almighty will prepare a feast of rich food for all peoples, a banquet of aged wine the best of meats and the finest of wines" (Isaiah 25:6).

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Developing the Screenplay

"Wait for the LORD / Be strong, and take heart / And wait for the LORD" (Psalm 27:14).

In 1998/1999 a script for John was written, however in 2005 Bruce felt the Lord leading him to toss that script away and pen an entirely new script which is now completed and is being fine-tuned.

There are so many challenges in scripting a film like John.  It isn't merely a matter of placing Jesus in the appropriate environment and rolling the camera, and it most certainly isn't a matter of trying to "create a story" that would make the Gospel more "viewer friendly."  It is a matter of accuracy and truth—and more than anything else, getting out of God's way so that He, through His Word and Spirit, can do what only He can do.

The Apostle John so specifically chose each story in his Gospel for a specific purpose and there is so incredibly much truth "beneath the surface" of every story.  Jesus phrased every sentence He spoke to proclaim specific truths, call attention to Messianic prophesies, declare His deity over and over...  It is all so rich and deep—far richer and deeper than most of us realize.

All that to say one of the great challenges in scripting John was to explore those depths and bring them to the surface for the viewer wherever possible, all the while maintaining the simplicity and genuineness which were undoubtedly the order of the day 2000 years ago; all the while presenting Jesus in "reality" as opposed to "religiosity."

Another scripting challenge was to "be still" and "wait on the Lord" to write nothing outside of the Lord's leading.  There were times of writing nothing for days and then quite suddenly an entire chapter would flow in a single afternoon.  On the other hand there were times when the flow was so rapid and constant that scene constructions had to be audio-recorded otherwise they would be lost to memory.

Then of course there were those times when the Lord would reveal a direction entirely out of nowhere—while Bruce was driving or whatever—and the challenge there was to recognize it and stop to write it down lest it be lost to distraction.  But most importantly, please know that many people have been praying for the scripting process;  Bruce has been praying and praying, waiting on Him and waiting on Him, and looking to God to lead every step of the way.

Through it all God has brilliantly displayed His faithfulness.  One short testimony:  There is a set of tapes Bruce received long ago, back before he knew Jesus.  He never listened to them but for some unexplainable reason he kept them.  He said every time he looked at them, year after year, he would think, "Why am I keeping these?" but still he hung on to them.  Then by the time he was saved he'd forgotten about them.

As Bruce began writing this new script the Lord brought those tapes to mind.  They were a verse-by-verse teaching of John's Gospel, and they became the cornerstone of Bruce's research and his most-revealing reference guide.

Yes, long ago the Lord knew Bruce would need those tapes for this very purpose and this very time.  Even back before he knew Jesus as Savior, Jesus was "equipping" him. What a marvelous testimony!  What a wonderful encouragement for us all!

So the script stands bathed in prayer, pursued in waiting, having painfully thrown out an early script that represented two years of work.  Be assured that Bruce has done and continues to do his best to seek and obey so that John will reveal Jesus and His Gospel in the anointing of God and the life of His Word.  The Gospel According to John!  Glory to Jesus!

"See that you make them according to the pattern shown you on the mountain" (Exodus 25:40).