On the heels of a successful Christian film, War Room, is another Christian film about faith, Woodlawn. I predict that this new film will do well as more people hear about it through word of mouth.

The movie is a powerful story of what happened in the early 1970s at Woodlawn High School in Birmingham, Alabama. Racial conflict broke out because of government-mandated desegregation. In the midst of this, Hank brings a gospel message to the football team. More than 40 of them give their lives to Christ, and that changes the team and begins to change the high school and the community.

The football team begins to make a run at the state playoffs led in large part by their running back Tony Nathan (who later played at the University of Alabama and then for the Miami Dolphins). Not only is the dialogue realistic, the football scenes are realistic. Mark Ellis choreographed other movies like Any Given Sunday, Varsity Blues, and The Longest Yard and was consulted on this film.

The biblical message isn’t blunted in this film either. The movie’s tagline is: One Hope. One Truth. One Way. This is obviously a reference to John 14:6. Key to the spiritual revival is the message Hank brings to the team after attending Explo 72 in Dallas and hearing a message by Billy Graham in the Cotton Bowl.

I had DeVon Franklin (President of Franklin Entertainment) in my radio studio to talk about the film. He plays the black preacher in the movie and was excited that the film is coming out at the time when racial tensions and violence are in the news. The revival that took place in Woodlawn shows how the gospel brought a level of racial unity to Birmingham. We need that message today.

We are blessed that there are a number of positive, Christian movies in the theaters. Now we need to go out and support them.