A Greenwood minister is working to make sure the message of the new movie “Courageous” goes further than the theater.
Travis Agnew, worship pastor of North Side Baptist Church, was one of the writers on the new Bible study, “Honor Begins at Home.” The study, available at LifeWay Christian Resources, is designed to go alongside the new film from Sherwood Baptist Church in Albany, Ga., which was released in theaters Sept. 30. Agnew says he is hoping to challenge families across the country with the eight-week curriculum.
Travis Agnew, worship pastor at North Side Baptist Church, Greenwood, preached recently during a series of messages based on the themes presented in the movie “Courageous.” Agnew also helped write the film’s accompanying LifeWay Bible study.“A lot of people are unaware of some of the clear biblical descriptions of what a father is supposed to be,” said Agnew. “In this study, we’re going to have to face the reality of what God’s call is, and either choose to accept that or turn away from it. Any man on his best day is one mistake away from ruining his life.”
“Courageous” is the third film to successfully hit theaters across the nation. “Fireproof” and “Facing the Giants” preceded the newest film.
After seeing an advertisement for the new movie in February of 2010, Agnew began to take interest.
“I began praying for the film and for the people who were going to be involved with the movie after I saw the ad,” said Agnew. “It’s going to sound like I am making this up, but moments later I get an e-mail from someone who works at LifeWay. The e-mail title said ‘Courageous.’?”
Agnew says he jumped on an opportunity to meet with LifeWay and Sherwood representatives. After the meeting, Agnew joined the work for the new study.
“They asked me to share my story,” said Agnew. “As I was sharing different pieces of my testimony, they were getting really excited and teary-eyed. They said, ‘Do you realize how many areas of your life match up with what’s going on in the movie?’ It was just a God thing.”
Agnew said he went through some strong spiritual warfare while writing the study, and at times it seemed like he was being attacked from all sides.
“There was a lot of conflict in my life up until the day I turned the stuff in,” said Agnew. “I think that knowing there was a whole crew at Sherwood praying for me, as well as the people here at North Side, really helped.”
Agnew says his study relates many of the movie themes to day-to-day situations.
“The Bible study is built around a lot of different concepts that are in the movie,” said Agnew. “It is geared toward fathers, but men and women can go through it and benefit from it.”
Not only will Agnew be impacting lives throughout the nation with his Bible study, but his influence with the film also helped land showings in Greenwood.
Alan Quigley, pastor of South Main Street Baptist Church in Greenwood, says Agnew played a major role in bringing the movie close to home.
“I had Travis come and speak about the film and his role. Immediately, our association rallied around the cause and believed in the message of the film,” said Quigley.
Since then, the movie was able to pre-sell more than 1,000 tickets in Greenwood, and Quigley, who will be using Agnew’s Bible study, says he wants to see a major impact in his congregation.
“What we’re hoping to see is our men taking on a new commitment to their home and their family. We also hope to see some mentoring from our men take place in the surrounding community.”
The Bible study is available for purchase now, and will re-release with DVD clips included in 2012.