NewsMax.com
Monday, Aug. 2, 2004

Following Mel Gibson’s lead, Jakes hopes pastors will rent out theaters for a modern screen adaptation of Jesus overcoming suffering.

The evangelical minister believes that the film will have an important religious message -- even if it receives an "R" rating like Mel Gibson's "The Passion of the Christ."

Jakes' pitch: "The Passion" told how Jesus was crucified. "Woman, Thou Art Loosed" tells why Jesus was crucified: to offer hope to people suffering today.

Story Continues Below

The movie, starring Kimberly Elise from 2004's "The Manchurian Candi date," tells the story of a young woman searching for hope in prison after a lifetime of sexual abuse, poverty and addiction.

"Mel Gibson proves to us perhaps the next frontier of evangelism may be the movie theater. We have to start thinking outside the box," Jakes said in promoting the film to about 60 church leaders who attended the screening at the Cleveland Museum of Art.

"I want you to own it. I want you to embrace it as people of faith," Jakes said.

Beginning and ending on death row, the film follows the life story of a woman who was abused by her mother's boyfriend as a child and her attempt as an adult to reclaim her life after falling into an abyss of prison, prostitution and drug addiction.

The movie includes graphic and powerful adult content, language and violence.

Jakes said Gibson's attempt to portray the suffering of Christ on the cross helped people in the pews realize that the Christian message needs to go beyond the sugar-coated version Hollywood and the church have given them for decades.

Editor's note: