Brian Sanders is a man with a powerful mission. He wants to remind Christians worldwide of what he calls their “Biblical responsibility to stand with Israel.” And he plans to do that with a film.
Sanders, CEO and Executive Producer of the forthcoming documentary Why Stand With Israel, told Breaking Israel News that he was motivated to begin this ambitious project because of the lack of knowledge of some of his house guests and the church’s overall unawareness. “Several years ago, while hosting some friends at our house to celebrate the Feast of Tabernacles, I was astounded by how many Christians had so many misconceptions about Israel and were Biblically uniformed about their Judeo-Christian heritage.”
As a television and radio producer and videographer for over 20 years, Sanders naturally turned to film as a way to convey the story he wanted to tell. “I felt there needed to be an avenue to expose all these lies and misconceptions about Israel and to encourage the Church that it’s time to eradicate our long history of antisemitism and our replacement theology teaching that we somehow replaced the Jewish people as God’s chosen people.”
Persuaded by a verse from the Book of Numbers about the unchanging nature of God, he was perplexed by the fact that, “We have somehow believed this false teaching that has crept into the church.”
Hashem is not man to be capricious, Or mortal to change His mind. Would He speak and not act, Promise and not fulfill? Numbers 23:19
“It also puzzled me that the church, who loves Jesus and was fully Jewish, knows little about the land he came to and is coming back to. God never sent [Jesus] to New York, LA, Paris or London. He sent him to Israel. Not to mention that the Lord mentions no other nation more in His Holy Word than the Nation of Israel and yet this has become a big mystery in the church,” Sanders declared.
He also found that, “many in the church are torn about where they stand with Israel, simply because they are just not being taught.” And that’s exactly the void his film aims to fill.
“The film is meant to inspire and remind the global church of their Biblical responsibility to stand with Israel. Though the name of the film is Why Stand With Israel, its tag line is ‘A Film To Change Hearts.’ We believe this documentary will be the first of many films to educate the church and the world on the importance of standing with Israel,” he explained.
According to Sanders, the finished documentary will: provide Biblical facts of God’s eternal covenant with His people and Land; expose the common lies, myths and misconceptions about Israel; educate viewers about Israel both from a historical and a present-day view; inspire the Global Church and other advocates of Israel to visit the land, extend their love to the Jewish people, invest in Israeli products as an antidote to the BDS movement, as well as boldly impart truth in any dialogue concerning Israel.
The film’s 7-minute trailer includes snippets of interviews with prominent Jewish and Christian Zionist leaders, including Laurie Cordoza-Moore, Founder and President of Proclaiming Justice to the Nations, Michele Bachmann, Former US Congresswoman and Michael Oren, Deputy Minister for Diplomacy in the Israeli Prime Minister’s Office. When released, Why Stand With Israel is expected to be 90 minutes long and to include interviews with 20 different Jewish and Christian experts.
One of the interviewees, Wayne Hilsden of FIRM – the Fellowship of Israel Related Ministries, delivers the film’s core message in five brief sentences. “As Christians, we love God. And we want to love Him with all of our hearts, with all of our being. But we also have to love what He loves. And He has chosen to love a very special nation. If we’re going to love God, we must love the Nation of Israel.”
The producers of Why Stand With Israel are negotiating to hold the World Premiere in Jerusalem this coming Sukkot (Feast of Tabernacles), followed by premieres in US cities and elsewhere. The film has already been invited to two film festivals and there are plans for a “one night only” screening in theaters across the US. Further distribution is being planned in cooperation with churches and conferences worldwide. A DVD and streaming options are also expected to be available later this year.
For Sanders, this project has been a rare union of his own spiritual journey and his professional commitments.
“It is time for the Church to repent, reconcile and unite with our Jewish brothers and sisters. If we say we love God, then we need to love the things He loves. We know in His Word how much He loves the Jewish people and the Nation of Israel, whom He calls the ‘Apple of His Eye!’
“I’ve always believed that they were God’s chosen people and when I visited the land back in 2013, it’s as if the Lord gave me a deeper love for them and their land. The last couple of years, I’ve been studying the Torah and celebrating the Lord’s Appointed Feasts, which has greatly increased my love and knowledge of our Judeo-Christian roots. After all, it’s our heritage, where our faith was founded.
“It’s my desire for other Bible-believing Christians to know that as well,” Sanders concluded.
