“Though you have not seen him, you love him; and even though you do not see him now, you believe in him and are filled with an inexpressible and glorious joy….“
1 Peter 1:8
There has always been an element of entertainment in the church—especially, I would have to say, in the charismatic church. I know whereof I speak. I came to faith in a Pentecostal charismatic church in Staten Island, New York.
Most of the congregants at the International Christian Center were salt-of-the-earth types—working class people from the boroughs of New York City. A few of them were starving artists like me! The sanctuary held close to a thousand people, and in those halcyon years of the early to mid 1980s we could certainly raise the roof on things—especially during times of praise and worship.
The choir was a gifted group and backed up by some stellar musicians. But the “star” of the show most Sundays was a slender young man named Artie Tortorello. A hush came over the congregation every time he stepped forward on the dais to sing a solo. I’ll never forget the first time I heard Artie sing to his Lord and Savior. I am still not sure I have ever heard anything quite like it—nearly forty years later.
Artie was blind. Born blind, in fact. When the time came for him to sing, the choir director would gently lead him to center stage and step quietly back. Artie’s restless fingers would find the microphone and the music intro would begin. He looked so frail up there… rocking slightly… unable to make eye contact with the crowd. And then, Artie opened his mouth in song, and a voice that seemed to encapsulate everything noble and beautiful you might ever wish to know shook the sanctuary. I daresay his voice rose to the very throne room of God.
But it was more than his rich vibrato that had people jumping to their feet with shouts of praise. It was the palpable sense that God was more real to Artie—born blind—than to those of us who could see. And we all knew it. In those precious few minutes when Artie put his best on the altar, we held on to his coattails for the ride!
I am a filmmaker. I deal in images. I like to believe that I can do for you what Artie did for me. But if I cannot give you an inkling of the Invisible, my work is in vain. This material world is fleeting, folks. It’s passing away. It’s the Spirit that gives life; the flesh profits nothing (John 6:63).
I have but one goal in life and that is to point you to the living Christ. I want you to feel him in my movies regardless of what you might see (or not see). If I can connect you to him—even for a moment—then I will be content. The rest is between the two of you.
Love always,
