At first, the movie ran for nearly two hours, but not we’ve got it down to 97 minutes and the movie, in my “objective” opinion, is singing. Seriously, it’s getting great reviews, and this is without color correction or sound editing, two factors that take a movie over the top.

So far, we are getting about 45% of the audiences saying the movie was excellent, about 49% saying it’s “very good” and the rest liked it a little less. Out of the thousands who have screened it so far, only 6 people rated the movie as “poor.” Of course, that’s going to happen no matter what we do, but we are still making the movie even stronger and by the time it hits theaters I think people are going to be pleasantly surprised.

The number one comment we get when we screen the film is “finally.” And by that they mean “finally a film that talks about faith that feels normal, not preachy, not heavy on agenda but heavy on meaning, cinematically beautiful and disarmingly honest.” Those are all from the notes we’ve received on our surveys.

As many of you know, this movie was funded by nearly 4500 backers on a website called Kickstarter. Since then, other investors have joined us and are still joining us on a much larger scale to get this movie released in theaters. That said, amazingly, our director, Steve Taylor has called more than 3000 of the backers and thanked them personally, and intends to call each of you before the film hits theaters. I’ve called hundreds myself and every conversation gives me the same sense of gratitude that we had when we first started filming. This movie was truly made with passion and creativity and mostly love.

If all goes according to plan, the movie will release on April 13 of 2012. 

Here’s an interview Steve did recently at a National Youth Workers Convention with Tic Long.

Update on Blue Like Jazz the Movie is a post from: Donald Miller's Blog

David was a dramatic guy. He was a passionate leader, or at least a passionate writer (something tells me he was a bit more sober in person as passion inspires but leadership needs to be measured). Regardless, the thought occurred to me that we often need to pray against ourselves.

I was taking communion a few weeks ago in Nashville, at one of my favorite churches. My friend Jim Chaffee happened to be delivering communion that day and as I stood in line to go forward, I prayed about what to pray. Literally, I asked God what He wanted me to say to Him as I took communion. I don’t normally do this, but I thought it would be a fun way to connect with God, to just talk to Him during the process as opposed to only remembering Him.

Anyway, what came to my mind was just a simple phrase: “Christ, defeat me with your goodness.” I liked the phrase because it meant God was good and I was not, and yet He would not defeat me with His anger or His wrath, but His kindness, His grace and His goodness. I like to think the phrase came from God, but that’s not provable. We do know God’s kindness brings us to repentance, though.

Another truth in that statement is there are very real desires in me and real ambitions that are not good. Some of the actions that stem from my personality are selfish, and damaging to others. They are manipulative and lack truth and so stifle relationships. These characteristics must be defeated because God wants His family to be close, and so each of us must be defeated by God, by God’s kindness. His kindness endears me to a personal commitment to tell the truth, into the thrill and humiliation and generosity of that very risky place where we walk into the world saying “I’m not too much and I’m not too little but this is who I am” and also that “there but for the grace of God go I.”

So here we are, temporary beings, with little to do but navigate our days in truth and humility. Perhaps it not the bigness of our personalities, but our smallness, our selves being defeated that will change the little bit of world God has appointed to us for caretaking. We connect with God when we ask Him to defeat in us all the ways in which He cannot connect, all the untruth and games and manipulation and we come to Him finally saying, okay, I get it, you really are good, defeat in me the lack of faith, let your goodness rid me of the stuff that doesn’t connect with you or the world around me.

Intimacy with God Comes When we Accept His Kindness is a post from: Donald Miller's Blog

That decision saved the lives of his men, as seconds after exiting the house the floor collapsed. If they’d have stayed in the house, everybody would have been killed.

When interviewed about his decision, the fire chief couldn’t explain his decision logically. Some of the men under his command attributed the command to a higher force, a sort of guardian angel. But guardian angel or not, by design our brains work to protect us from making mistakes, and often we have no explanation as to why.

On further investigation, several things were happening in that fire that worked to inform the fire chief’s subconscious. The first was that the firemen already on the seen had been pouring water into the kitchen, where the fire was supposedly focussed. With a normal fire, this would have solved the problem and put out the fire. But in this case, no amount of water helped. The second oddity that fed the fire chief’s subconscious is that the fire was unusually quiet. Fires normally rage and they are loud. But when entering the house, the fire wasn’t making a sound that aligned with what the fire chief was seeing.

Without knowing it, the chief subconsciously understood something really basic, and that’s that he didn’t understand what was happening. And because he didn’t understand, he knew his men could be in danger. By commanding the evacuation, he was pulling his men from a situation in which he did not know how to guide them, protect them, or solve the problem of the fire.

What was really happening in the house was that the fire was not in the kitchen, it was just burning up through the kitchen. The fire was actually raging in the basement, burning the underside of the wood floors. This would not be understood until later.

All this to say, as leaders, intuition matters. But we should also understand, perhaps in hindsight, why we are feeling cautious about a situation. Here are some tips on better using intuition:

1. When something seems wrong, back off and use caution.
2. Look for conflicts in patterns. If you’re wanting to hire somebody but they’ve been through three jobs in the last two years, there is a pattern conflict. A person who is dependable and productive should be able to keep a job longer than a few months. Inquire as to why their pattern is in conflict with their ambition to hold a job.
3. If you suspect something is amiss in a situation, don’t interrogate whoever you suspect too soon. Wait and watch and try to understand why your intuition is sending alarm signals. Once you identify some problems in patterns, sit down with the person you’re dealing with and ask them to explain the pattern conflicts.

How about you? How do you use intuition in your decision making process?

How Should we use Intuition in Decision Making? is a post from: Donald Miller's Blog

Matthew doesn’t know me very well but I’m a fan of his music. Over dinner he talked about where he was in his career and how he’s returning to his heart, to his love for self expression as a way to connect with others. As I listened, I knew he’d evolved as an already talented songwriter into an artist who longed for a more personal relationship with his audience and wanted to serve them as a friend. Matthew writes songs about his life and the way it echoes throughout the whole of the human story, reminding the rest of us we are not alone. We’ve been listening for years, and with his new effort he seems to be reminding us he’s quietly grateful for the love his fans have given him over the years. Listening to him, I knew whatever came next was going to be good.

I was pleased, then, when Matthew invited us to participate in his new project. Last night I backed the project on Kickstarter, not just because I’m a fan, but because I want to support any artist who has fallen in love with their audience. Those of us who write, make films or sing songs usually spend the first chunk of our careers begging for validation. But after we get validated, something very meaningful can happen. An artist can turn a corner and their desire to give can trump their desire to receive. I recognized that spirit in Matthew and longed for more of it myself. I can’t wait to hear what comes next from Matthew Perryman Jones. If you want to support Matthew’s record, you can do so here.

Thoughts on the Evolution of an Artist is a post from: Donald Miller's Blog

STOP TAKING SOCIAL CUES FROM YOUR PEERS.

Instead of taking social cues from people your age, take cues from people ten and twenty years older than you. Are you looking for a church that has a lot of people who are your age so you can hang out? That’s fine, but try looking for one where most of the people have families and perhaps a little grey hair. Why? Because the sooner you can relate to their priorities, the sooner you’ll be ready for the next stage of life. I’m in my late thirties but I’m more interested in hanging out with people who are retired. What’s it teaching me? It’s teaching me what matters later in life is friendships, family and love. In matters of faith, what matters to them is not theological debate, but closeness with Jesus and unity with believers.

Element of Success: Make Old Friends Old Friends is a post from: Donald Miller's Blog

Today I got to show Don around the ICU.

I’d tell you I was afraid of dying, but I wasn’t. In my cage in the ICU, I can see all the critical patients that come in. Their cries are very scary. I do get scared at the thought of pain. I wonder if I’m next, if they are going to put me on the table after the other dogs have to be on the table. But that hasn’t happened yet. But I have seen animals die. It sounds very cryptic but it isn’t. That’s another difference between dogs and people, you know. We are afraid of pain but we are not afraid to die. We don’t even know about death, to be honest. It isn’t a concept we’ve been told about, so we never think of it. The only way I can really explain it is to say we live in complete and total trust when it comes to the afterlife.

People don’t live in trust. They fear pain but they also fear death. They don’t fear death because of what they don’t know about death, they fear death because of what they do know, and what they do know is that they know so little. Dogs are fine with knowing little. We don’t even think about it because we don’t realize that we don’t know anything. The problem isn’t with knowing little, the problem is with knowing too much. People know they can’t prove the afterlife. They know nobody ever comes back. They know their days are numbered. People try to fill their heads with beliefs about the afterlife, thinking beliefs will comfort them, but beliefs are just beliefs, even if they are true they are just lucky charms, just the rubbing of a rabbits foot. You can’t place your trust in a belief, you have to place your trust in a person. If I were a human, I wouldn’t place any trust in a belief at all because a belief doesn’t have any agency. It isn’t even animated. Belief is not a being, and when you are dying, I’d rather trust a being with agency than a belief. I doubt Alex Trebek is going to be standing at the pearly gates quizzing people to see if their beliefs are right.

Dogs don’t have any problem trusting God. We don’t know how to not trust God. My question to people is, who told you so much about death? How did you find out about it in the first place?

Lucy’s Blog Post Pt 9 – The Thing About Death is a post from: Donald Miller's Blog

So I’ve been in the hospital lately.

Being sick hasn’t taught me anything, honestly. It hasn’t taught me anything other than I don’t like being sick. But I did learn something in the hospital. It all happened on Sunday, when our normal clinic was closed. We had to go to the ER at Dove Lewis. Sunday is their busy day, and we were sitting in the lobby with the other pet owners and sick pets. It was all the basic stuff, itchy skin or throwing up. Nothing to worry about. I was feeling awful so I jumped up on the bench and laid all over Don’s lap. That made me a little more comfortable. And that’s when a woman walked in carrying an empty cat crate. She had been crying very hard, and she was walking slowly. The automatic door opened and behind this woman was her daughter, who was carrying a cat in a blanket, very close to her chest. The little girl wouldn’t come into the ER, but the mom went up to the counter to let them know they were there. Apparently they were expected. Then the mother went back out to comfort the little girl, who was sobbing and holding her cat even closer in the blanket. Then the doctor took them in back so they could their goodbyes.

Don and I sat and watched and were sad for them. And that’s when it hit me how remarkable a humans capacity to love really is. A human can get attached to a person, to people, to a pet, to a home, to a job, to a painting or a piece of music, to their work and so much more. You guys call it love but I don’t know what it is. We don’t have a word in the dog world for whatever it is. But it’s this feeling that you want something else to be better than you are. It’s a kind of willingness to die, and the more willing you are to die, the greater the love. It’s an actual desire to suffer so somebody else doesn’t have to suffer. Sure, Dog’s have it, and we have a lot of it, but it’s different with humans. It’s more beautiful and more robust. I know there are all the jokes about opposable thumbs, but what sets humans apart is something more special than that, it’s their remarkable capacity to love. There isn’t a heart in all the animal kingdom that can produce as much love as a human. It’s their greatest and most distinguishing quality. And when they fail to develop that quality, they are a bit more like animals than humans.

It’s obvious they have to fight within themselves to be more and more human, and less and less animal like, but I think it’s a worthy fight. I hope the girl with the cat is okay. It hurts to love, but it’s worth it. Love wouldn’t be so beautiful if you didn’t have to die a little bit to create it. Love has always cost pain.

The doctors are saying I might get out of the hospital tomorrow. I hope so.

Lucy’s Blog Post Pt. 8 – What Sickness Taught me About Love is a post from: Donald Miller's Blog

In real life, the bad guy doesn’t always get killed off, but that doesn’t change the fact we don’t like him. And ultimately, bad guys get what they deserve. They end up alone, or worse, surrounded and yet lonely. They may take advantage of people but the world doesn’t run on money or fame, it runs on love, and when you take advantage of people, you end up without love.

The other problem with real life is it’s hard to tell whether or not you are the bad guy. We all believe we are the good guy or that our words and actions are justified. The other day I lost my temper at a stranger. I really let them have it. I still feel like they deserved it. It was a bully situation in which somebody was being threatened. But I went too far, honestly. I pretty much said things that person will be thinking about for years. I went for the jugular and put him in his place. Or perhaps it went in one ear and out the other, I don’t know. But regardless, I was thinking about that today, and realized that the things I said could be placed word for word into a film in which the character that said it got “what they deserved” at the end and nobody would really care. Stink. Can’t believe I said those things.

The point is, story can teach us something about what we should and shouldn’t say or do. Before you unload on your spouse or kids, ask yourself if a character in a movie treated their wife or husband the way you are about to treat your wife or husband, would they be the good guy or the bad guy? Story can help us step outside ourselves and see a dynamic with more wisdom.

The sad truth is, good guys often get taken advantage of. When I lose my temper, it’s usually because I don’t want to get taken advantage of, I don’t want to be disrespected. I’ve stepped into a game in which people are keeping score, and I’m determined not to lose. But the truth is, there is no game, it’s just a hoax, and the only way to show others there is no game is to lose and show how much it didn’t matter. Perhaps that’s why Jesus asks us to turn the other cheek, to give our shirt to somebody who asks for our coat and so forth. He wants us to show people we aren’t playing their game.

Let Story Guide You Pt. 1 – Would the Hero Say That? is a post from: Donald Miller's Blog

When we attach conditions to our love, what we are really doing is attaching a negative association with us! People don’t sit around saying, man, if I just didn’t have this fault or this opinion, that person would love me. What they actually think is this: Wow, that person is a jerk, and all they represent, including their morality and political beliefs must make people jerks. I never want to be like that, so I will seek another community that accepts me as I am.

It’s interesting to me that Jesus never forced anybody to agree with Him. Instead, He has a quiet confidence. He was responsible to say the truth and to be Himself and he let others take responsibility for their lives. He did not use love like money, paying some and withholding from others in an effort to control them. He spoke the truth, He wasn’t offended when people didn’t agree, and He gave them their own will to do as they wish. But what’s more, He loved them regardless. He loved them whether they followed Him or tried to kill them. He even loved them while they were killing Him.

If you have an opinion, and somebody disagrees, let them. Just make it know what you think about the issue, listen to them closely, and then love and care about them regardless. If they keep trying to change your mind, gently explain to them that you simply don’t agree, but you don’t want it to interrupt your friendship. If people can only be friends with others who think the way they think, this is a weakness in character.

The Jesus kind of love, the love that speaks the truth and yet does not try to control, is supernatural. It is a very confident position and it comes from God. Will it always win? No, but the point is not to win, the point is to love, even to our deaths. So make this commitment, I will tell the truth to the best of my ability, I will not try to control, and there is nothing anybody can do to get me to stop loving them.

I’d Rather be Hated than Loved with Conditions is a post from: Donald Miller's Blog

I hate exercise. It’s completely stupid. I’d no sooner stand around in a gym lifting weights than you’d eat your own poop. Eating your own poop makes complete sense because it’s filled with vital nutrients but standing around in a gym lifting weights makes no sense at all. I never, ever exercise. Call me lazy if you want, but I don’t exercise and don’t see the point of it. I don’t set fitness goals, I don’t plan out my week, I don’t work with a trainer (not the kind of trainer you’re thinking of. I work with a trainer sometimes and fitness trainers could learn something from my trainer, actually. If fitness trainers threw a mini-snickers at their clients every time they did a push up people would want to do more push ups but that’s off the subject.) The thing is, I like my body. I don’t think about it’s limitations at all, or the fact that I’m a bit more pudgy than I was only a year ago. I don’t sit around wishing I was a more fit dog and I never will. So my only advice about exercising is never, ever think about it or want to do it or plan it or hire a trainer (unless they have a fannie pack of mini-snickers bars.)

So that’s all the advice I have for you about exercise.

That said, here’s what I love. I love to run after a ball. I love to fetch and I could fetch all day. It’s my absolute favorite. My favorite favorite fetching is when Don throws the ball into water. If we are at the river, Don throws it way down the beach and I run down the beach and tackle the ball in the shallow water like it was a baby antelope. I make a huge splash about it and if the ball is in deeper water I swim as hard as Michael Phelps and when I get the ball I take it down like an alligator drowns a swimming cat. Then I run it back to Don and drop it at his feet and he throws it again. We do this for hours. If we are at the reservoir it’s a whole different system. Don throws it into the water and I dive off the edge like a cliff diver in Rio and land flat on my belly with such a loud splash that everybody in the park turns and points at me in time to see me catch my stride, making a two-inch wake in front of my snout, reeling the ball in by feet per second. I sometimes get distracted by ducks so I lose the ball. Ducks are complete jerks because they make you swim around in circles. I’d seriously like to get my teeth into a duck. I can see their little buts under their feathers just a half inch above the water and I want to bite their duck butts. But then I go get the ball and bring it back. I do this until I am completely tired and I can’t walk anymore. Then I lay down in the shade. When I want to chase the ball again, I pick it up and lay it down next to Don and get into a hunting position, very frozen, you can’t move an inch, you just have to stare at the ball like you’re a statue and then Don picks it up and you get to start the whole thing over again.

But I never, ever exercise. Exercise makes no sense at all.

Lucy’s Blog Pt. 7 – How I Stay Fit Without Exercising is a post from: Donald Miller's Blog