- [Gordon] The brothers whotook a stand for their faith

and lost their TV show because of it,

David and Jason Benham sayGod can use your boldness

and your brokenness.

Plus, are you content?

Daniel Ritchie says heis even with no arms.

Find out how you can be too ontoday's 700 Club Interactive.

Welcome to the show.

Here's Efrem Graham withthis week's top five

from Studio5.

(swoosh)

- [Efrem] At number five.

- Good evening and welcome

to the one millionth Academy Awards.

- [Efrem] Snapshotsand moments to remember

from this year's Academy Awards.

- [Reporter] 29.6 millionviewers watched the Oscars

Sunday night, an 11%increase over last year.

- [Reporter] Diversity alsoa big winner Sunday night

with Regina King ofBeale Street Could Talk

and Mahershala Ali of Green Book clinching

Best Supporting Oscar wins.

- God is good all the time.

(applause)

- [Reporter] Spike Lee wonhis first ever Academy Award

for his BlacKkKlansman screenplay.

- [Efrem] And in the much anticipated

Best Picture category.

- And the Oscar goes to Green Book.

(applause and cheering)

- [Reporter] Green Book,the segregation era

road trip drama crowned Best Picture.

(swoosh)

- [Efrem] At number four.

(swoosh)

- It's not easy being Queen.

- [Efrem] Queen Latifahgraces this year's Oscar stage

but the star is scoringan even golder moment

back in her hometownof Newark, New Jersey,

making a splash of headlines

for a multimilliondollar housing investment

she's making in the city.

- [Reporter] In a couple years

this empty block on Springfield Avenue

is expected to look like this.

♪ Just another day living in the 'hood. ♪

- [Efrem] That $14 millionplan for Latifah's old 'hood

includes 23 family townhomes

and a 76 unit apartment building

with at least 16 affordable apartments.

- Queen has always representedNewark and East Orange.

- Yes, I think it's good.

- This development isexpected to begin to open up

by December of 2020.

- [Efrem] And the Queen's building project

may not be the only onecoming to Brick City.

- We have been havingongoing conversations

with a few othercelebrities so stay tuned.

(swoosh)

- [Efrem] At number three.

(swoosh)

- We got them beat.

- [Team] Yeah.

- It's in our feet.

- [Team] Yeah.

- It's in our hair.

- [Team] Yeah.

- It's everywhere.

- [Efrem] Run the Race, TimTebow's first theatrical film

opens in the box office in the top 10.

- What do you think of yourfiance's first feature film?

- I couldn't be more proud but most of all

I'm so proud of the reason andthe meaning behind this film

and hopefully that isto bring people closer

to our Lord and savior, Jesus Christ.

- I've coached hundreds of kids, man.

I've never made kids like these boys.

And they've been dealt a tough hand

and they've been through a lot

but somehow it managedeverY single day to make it.

(swoosh)

- [Efrem] At number two, another newcomer

to the film industry.

- [Woman] Today is your moment to shine.

- [Man] Don't show us what you've got.

- [Woman] Show us what you've been given.

- So do I have a second callback?

- [Efrem] These arescenes from Bethel Music's

Bright Ones' first feature film.

- I don't want to perform.

- I think this is your time to be seen.

- Do you want to write this weekend?

♪ Get your hopes up ♪

♪ Get your head up ♪

♪ Let your faith arise ♪

(screaming)

- [Principal] Gentlemen.

- Principal Franken.- Principal Franken.

- [Efrem] Bright Ones isin theaters, nationwide,

for one night April 22nd.

- You ever wonder about your real parents?

- [Boy] Nobody wants theold dog from the pound.

(swoosh)

- [Efrem] At number one.

(swoosh)

- You think I'm dead now, Mabel?

- [Tyler] Didn't eat nopork and look at him.

We done outlived him, layin' there dead.

We still alive.

- [Man] Are you satisfied?

- [Efrem] It's the end of anera for Tyler Perry as Medea.

- This is the last Medea film.

It's been a wonderful run, I'm so grateful

but I'm turning 50 andI certainly don't want

to be her age playing her.

So I think she's had a great run.

I'm really grateful for it.

- [Efrem] It's the lastMedea movie and play.

Perry's been traveling the country

with Medea's Farewell Tour.

(crowd talking)

And this week he stops in New York City

to premiere A Medea Family Funeral.

- It's been a good run.

All good things must come to an end

and a lady always knows when to leave

so she knew to leave.

- Yeah, you have to go to court.

- I don't go to court, okay.

I'm dragged to court.

I don't just go to court 'causethe judge said go to court.

I'm a thug.

(quirky music)

- Well, Efrem joins us now.

Let's start with the Oscars.

- Okay.

- Any surprises from your standpoint?

- Not really.

I guess I was really grateful to see

what Black Panther did manage to score.

It was a first for at leasttwo African Americans.

We saw one woman take homethe award for best set design.

I believe her last name is Beachler

and then we saw RuthCarter who is a graduate

of Hampton University whichis right here in our backyard.

She take home the Oscar for Best Costume.

That was, I think, her third nomination,

which was also great.

We saw Spike Lee takehome Best Screenplay.

And I don't think anybody was more excited

about that Oscar than he was,

jumping in the arms of Samuel Jackson.

And I think it was definitely--

- You can say it was about time.

- Yeah, about time for him.

He's been at this for a while.

Regina King gave a really moving speech.

Her mom was there in the audience.

Her mom is a teacher, was ateacher in Cincinnati, Ohio,

obviously a family of faith

and we heard that in her speech repeatedly

as she said, thank you Mom for telling me

that God has always beenleaning in my direction

and God is indeed good all the time.

Because she's been in thebusiness for a very long time,

since a child, and it'sso hard for a child actor

to start as young as she did

and to stay in the industryas long as she has.

- And to stay sane.

- And to stay sane.

Family woman, a mother herself, divorced

but still raising her son

and making a difference.

I think this year shecommitted that I think,

75% of the projects she isgoing to do from her on out

she is going to see to itthat there are more women

working behind the scenes thanever before on her projects.

And she challenged other women to commit

to the same thing, just tomake sure that filmmaking

becomes even more diverse.

And to see her win anOscar, it was about time.

Glad to see it.

- Were you surprised with Green Book?

- I guess I was kind of torn.

Everyone was saying that I think,

it was Roma was going to win instead.

But Green Book is, it's apowerful film, although--

- [Gordon] You really liked it.

- [Efrem] I did like it.

- You said it on the show.- Yes, I really did like it.

- It's a great film.

It taught me things that I didn't know

and that I had to go backand then start asking

my family, said, wellyou guys never told me

about a green book.

There was a green book?

And I learned new things.

And the relationship between these two,

two real life charactersand the concert pianist

shared his story with filmmakers before

and said you can't make thefilm though, until I die.

And so after he died, theydied just months apart

so they were friends for a very long time.

And then to see this playout, it was really good,

really good to see.

- There was some controversy over that.

- There was some controversy,

his family, yes, Spike Lee didn't like it

because he said it was astory that's been done before.

He compared it to Driving Miss Daisy.

The whole idea--

- [Gordon] And he lost in that one.

- [Efrem] And he lost in that one too.

- [Gordon] So maybethat was just personal.

- [Efrem] Yeah, 'causeany time there's a story--

- About somebody driving

somebody else.- Somebody driving somebody

I'm not (laughs) gonna win.

And his family, theconcert pianist' family

did not necessarily like the film

but they said it wasn't because

it wasn't truthful.

There were just elements of his life

that they wanted to seeincluded that weren't there.

For example, part of hisreason for touring the country

the way he did was to go tohistorically black college

and universities to performto expose those children

to the work that he as doing.

And we did not see that in the film.

That was something that they wished--

- That was completely left out.

- Yeah, that was left out.

- The whole, why are you doing this

was also left out.

- Yeah.

- And so I think that wouldhave filled in that gap.

This is why you're doing it.

You're going to these other places

where there's still open discrimination.

You doing that to pay thebill so that you can go

to the black colleges and show those kids,

here.- What's possible.

- Here's what you can do.

- Absolutely, absolutely.

- Alright, Tim Tebow's goinginto the film business.

- Yes he is.

And a great first fun.

This project for him has beenseven years in the making.

For the actual gentlemanwho wrote the film,

it was 10 years in the making.

Tim Tebow and his brothercame along three years in.

- [Gordon] Now, that's a project,

so three years, I think that's forever.

- [Efrem] Yeah, I know.

- [Gordon] And you're gonna do 10?

- - [Efrem] Yeah, hewas at this for 10 years

and he said, I had a chance to talk to him

on the red carpet as well,

to ask where did this story come from

and was it true?

He he goes, well, what itwas was where he grew up.

He took elements of things that he saw

so that he could tall you any part

of that story.

He can tell you, well that'sactually my friend this

and that's my brother going through this,

which is significant tragedy that unfolds.

Don't want to give too much away

because it's still in theaters.

People can certainly

go see it.- 'cause you want people

to go see it.

- [Efrem] I want you to go see it.

It is a first great runfor Rob and Tim Tebow.

And he said in the interview,'cause I think I asked,

I said, so you've doneone, will you do this again

even though this isn't what you intended?

And he said he absolutelywould to it again.

It's hard work, he admits.

He goes, seven years for him,10 years for the filmmaker,

it's hard work but they would do it again.

- Well, that's sort of the untold story.

Everybody has a dream ofstanding on the stage,

holding the golden statue.

(laughing)

But you don't realizethe shear amount of work

that goes into it.

It is some of the hardest things.

And I thought I knew about live TV.

Then I thought, okay,let's take on animation.

But then you start doing feature films,

it's a different level.

- It is indeed, and in talking to people

who were working with the film,

they go, you know youmay think it's a big deal

they got it in 10 years, I've got projects

that I's still sitting onthe shelf that I'd like

to see come to fruition.

- Well, sitting on theshelf, doesn't, I'm sorry,

that doesn't count.

If you've been workinghard on it for 10 years

that's a different thing.

- And they were non-stop on this one.

- Alright, what do youthink of Bethel Music?

They're coming out with one too.

- It looks good.

I'm actually screening it right now.

I'm about half way through the film

so when I leave here I'mgoing back to my desk

to finish the film.

It's beautiful becausethis focuses on Bethel kids

essentially, Bethel Music'schildren's department.

It's one that I will certainlypush for the children

in my own church to seebecause it celebrates

being creative and usingyour creative juices

to bring glory to God, whichis something I don't think

we necessarily focus on enough.

- I would say mostchurches don't focus on.

- Not enough.

- You keep hearing the story,I started in the church choir.

You keep hearing that andthen for whatever reason,

churches aren't getting that, to say,

well, okay, let's be veryintentional with our children

and let's walk themthrough, how do you do this?

- Bethel gets that.

They're helping to tellthat story with this movie.

And I think it shouldencourage us all to do that.

I'm certainly gonna goback to my own congregation

and begin to look at our children and see

okay, how can we do this?

- You gonna criticize your--

- Not gonna criticize, no, no, no.

I'm gonna--

- You're gonna be constructive?

- I'm gonna be constructive.

Let's figure how we can--- You're gonna build up?

- How we can make this work.

- Efrem the edifier.

- Yes, you got it.

- Alright, well for thelatest in entertainment news

you can check out Efrem'sthe Edifier weekly show.

It's called Studio5.

You can watch it on theCBN News Channel or online

at CBN.com/Studio5.

And Efrem, thanks again for being with us.

- Good to be here.

- Well, coming up, theyplayed professional baseball

and started multi-milliondollar businesses.

Now these brothers saythey want to build a bridge

between heaven and earth.

David and Jason Benhamjoin us live to explain

right after this.

(positive music)

Well, baseball playersturned real estate tycoons,

David and Jason Benham,are known for being bold.

Still, they say when itcomes to winning people

to Christ, boldness isonly half the equation.

- I'm Jason Benham.

- My name's David.

Our business- Our business

is named after me.- is named after me.

- [Reporter] That businessis the Benham Companies.

It's a multi-milliondollar real estate empire

founded by twin brothers,David and Jason Benham.

In 2014, the twins madeheadlines when they were hired

then fired by HGTV because of their stance

against same-sex marriage and abortion.

Today the Benhams encourageChristians to stand

in the gap for their faith and others

and explain why we need tobe that vital connection

between people and God intheir book, Bold and Broken.

- Well, Jason and David are here.

And welcome to the show.

- Thanks- Thanks for having us.

- You've got a new bookout, Bold and Broken,

Becoming the BridgeBetween Heaven and earth.

Alright, so Jason, I'mgonna start with you.

This book came out of a conversation

with a molecular biologist?

- (laughing) Actually, no,but that is a great chapter

in the book that talks aboutthat cell adhesion molecule

inside of our bodies called laminin.

And when you look at that, itliterally gels together cells

and it keeps them connectedto our muscle tissue.

And the pattern of thatmolecule is in the shape

of a cross.

And so I didn't have the conversation.

It was something I got from Louie Giglio.

But man, that is phenomenal, how the cross

brought the connection.

- Okay, and so that's the bridge?

- That's right.

- It's the adhesion thatholds everything together.

- Yeah and so as I was upearly one morning praying,

thinking about Ezekiel 22,you know where God said,

I'm looking for a man to stand in the gap.

And I prayed through theLord's prayer and then I got

to the part where itsays, your kingdom come,

your will be done, onearth as it is in heaven.

And I thought about that gap.

And then I thought, you knowin today's cultural context

the importance ofChristians standing boldly

for their faith, to stand in that gap,

it takes boldness.

But we wrote the book to showChristians through story,

that there are ditches onboth sides of that road.

Boldness apart frombrokenness makes you a bully.

We've found some folksthat have been there

and we've been in that ditch as well.

But on the other side,and this is where a lot

of Christians findthemselves, is that brokenness

apart from boldness makes you a bystander.

So the ditch on either side of the road

is that you can be a bully on one

or a bystander on the other.

What David and I say in this book

is that your boldness needs tobe fueled by your brokenness.

And when you do that, you'll discover

you become a bridgebetween heaven and earth.

And you actually becomethe answer to the prayer

that we pray, your kingdomcome, your will be done

on earth as it--

- And you become that cross.

- You become that bridge.

- The continued connection.

- Alright, David we'regonna let you talk now.

- Okay, thank you.- No, don't let him.

He talks all the time.- We'll take the conversation

up a few notches.- Finally, finally.

(laughing)

Alright, let's get intoone of the stories.

Right after you got bounced off of TV

you got a message from someonethat was just scathing.

- We had hundreds of thousands of messages

coming to us and especially on Facebook

in the Messenger and for some reason,

I know it was the Holy Spirit,

I remember I popped open my cell phone.

We had probably beenfired three or four days

and I just saw this one message.

And it was from a young man in Chicago.

And he said things about Jason and me

I never even knew existed.

It was just horriblethings and the Holy Spirit

really just softened my heart for him.

Instead of trying to win a point,

you wanna win a person.

And so I just simplysaid, Bro, I think you're

speaking through your pain.

Well, the next message he sent to me

was almost like a book.

I just read and he justpoured out his life story

and the abuse and thesethings and my heart

really broke for him.

So that started a conversationover about a two day

period of time.

And I found out during that conversation

that he's a huge Chicago Cubs fan.

So I reached out to Jason.

I said, hey man, let'sput him on the front row.

The Cards are about to be in town.

Let's go onto Stub Hub, buy some tickets,

send him a link and puthim right on the front row.

And so we did that.

And he was blown, he couldn't believe,

he was like, I couldn't believe you guys

are doing this for me.

Well, couple of days later--

- Did the Cubs win?

- You know, I don't remember.

(laughing)

I should know that.

- It was the Cards- They played the Cardinals,

no they probably didn't win.

- I am sure if they wereplaying the Cards they lost.

Well, couple of days later after the game

he responded back to meand he sent me an email.

And in it was a link to a Mercy Me song,

I Can Only Imagine.

And he said, for the last two days,

he said, after you guyssent me those tickets

I have been listening to thissong over and over again.

And I am so overwhelmed by God's love

that I've chosen, he saidthis, to surrender my life

to the Lord and walkaway from the lifestyle

I've been living.

And it was just amazing.

Now, it doesn't always work that way

but God wants to connect people.

- [Gordon] When it does work that way--

- That's right, it's amazing.

God wants to connect with people.

Because everybody's broken,

everybody needs a touch from the Lord.

And so oftentimes, if we'relooking at the culture

around us, we as believerswant to engage boldly

and we do need to engage boldly.

But it cannot come apart from brokenness

that really wants to touchpeople with compassion

and the love of Jesus Christ.

- Why is it so hard to get there?

I will say, I felt likea lesser Christian.

If I'd gotten a messagelike that, I don't know

if I would have done anything.

- We look at scriptureand this is 28 chapters

filled with stories soit's very practical.

And we talk about several scriptures

and the one case studyis the life of Peter.

And you see what happenedwith Peter in the Garden.

When he was asleep, and he was awakened

to the captors who were coming for Christ,

what did he reach for?

A sword, yeah.- Sword.

- So that's what happens with us.

And when he takes that dude's ear off,

Jesus instantly says, no.

Look, you're responsecannot be to harm people,

not to hurt, but to heal.

So we have to, as believers, our first

as we are waking up and realizing,

oh my goodness, look atthis spiritual battle

that's waging in thisnation, New York City,

expanding their abortion laws.

We're redefining marriageand redefining gender

and people are gripped by an identity

of their feelings and passions.

We really need to speak the truth in love

but we can't awaken tothis and reach for a sword

and hurt people.

No, we want to bring healing.

And so that's Peter the bully.

But then on the other side,just a few verses later,

you see Peter, now Jesusis walking to the cross

and he's following him at a distance.

He's beginning to distance himself now.

And then a young girl says,hey, I know you were with him.

And three times he denies the Lord.

That's Peter, the bystander.

But then in the book of Acts,

after the Holy Spiritcomes, all of a sudden,

Peter arises to his feet and speaks boldly

with a heart of compassionand has been broken

and boom, that's now the rest is history.

God used him as a bridge.

- Alright, Jason back to you.

I'll give you a bridgefrom what David was saying.

We just are seeing, whatI never thought I would

see in my life, where you have legislation

that says a child can be born alive

and it's still okay to kill that child.

How do you reach that?

- Well, that's the culture of death.

And we see that the gatesof hell will never prevail

against the church.

This is the moment wherethe church should stand

and be the leading voice that says look,

all life is sacred from conception

all the way through to death.

All life is sacred.

And so on stuff likethis that's happening,

what we see is the ceilingalways become the floor.

There was a time where theysaid, we just wanna abortion

up to six months.

And now, all of a sudden,we see what's happening.

But that's why it takes bold believers

to actually stand up andsay, no, wait a second.

God is the one who createslife, defines life.

And we have a responsibilityto protect all human life.

We need to start talking about it.

That's number one, isthat we just be willing

to actually enter the conversation.

If we get there, we'll besurprised at what God does.

- Okay.

It's got me mad.

- Sure it's a righteousindignation, that's it.

- It's like, you've got to be kidding me.

What have we come to?

And it's got me looking atsome Old Testament judgments

that happened when Israel

started sacrificing their children.

- You know, one of the things that we did

is we were asked to speakat the Day of Mourning

at the Capitol in Albany in New York.

And we actually had a moment of mourning.

This was a time where weshouldn't be rejoicing

over these thingsbecause these legislators

in New York were--

- Standing ovation for them and then got a

blessing over it.- And then you light

up the building.

No, so we have to as thechurch, we are the salt

and the light.

We are the ones that have respond to that.

So we went to the Day of Mourning.

But from that positionof mourning, we now need

to lead to action.

Because it's one thingto be against abortion.

It's another thing to be pro-life.

There are mothers that are out there

that feel, an overwhelmingmajority of them,

they feel that abortionis their only choice.

And we're like, no, no, no.

- There's no option for me.- There are

a myriad of options for you.

But the church can't belike the priest and Levite

in Luke 10, walking by onthe other side of the ditch.

They're over there on theother side of the road.

They might have preached a great sermon

or prayed a great prayerabout the man in the ditch

or maybe one day a year,held up sanctity of man

in the ditch Sunday.

While I go to those marches, it's vital

that we get down into the ditch

and really help our neighbor.

- But this is where spiritual leaders

need to take the lead.

You see, Gordon, we're at a huge problem

in our culture when our spiritual leaders,

their income, theirinfluence and their image

is all tied to people liking them.

When you're there, we're in big trouble.

We need for our spiritualleaders and all of us,

to individually, toactually lay those things

on the alter and realize thatany platform that we have,

that's not just meant for you to stand on.

It's meant for you to lay on as an alter.

And let it burn.

Let it burn.

That we're willing to stand and say,

no, all human life is sacred.

Look, God defines marriage.

We can't redefine marriage andwe start talking like that,

what we'll discover is a lotof us'll lose our platforms.

So be it.

But we'll stand for thetruth and let the Holy Spirit

do what the Holy Spirit does.

And that's to set people free.

- Yeah, you're speaking from example.

You did that.

You absolutely did that.

And let's just pray in agreement

that we can have aculture where every mother

wants their children.

Wouldn't that be a great thing?

- Amen.

- Let's incentivize that.

Let's praise mothers,let's congratulate them.

Because it's a risk,you're actually saying

there's hope for the future,there's hope for my children.

And let's give them that hope.

- Yes.- Amen.

- Amen.

The book, it's calledBold and Broken, Becoming

the Bridge Between Heaven and Earth.

It's available wherever books are sold.

And Dave and Jason, thankyou for being with us.

- Thanks for having us.

- Thank, Gordon.

- Still ahead, a man born withno arms asks God a question.

- God, how am I gonna havejoy when I know my situation,

my physical situation isnot gonna get any better?

- Daniel Ritchie shares the Bible verse

that changed his perspectiveright after this.

Daniel Ritchie was born with no arms.

So when it comes to every day tasks

like brushing his teeth, combing his hair,

making coffee, he uses his feet.

And even though Daniellearned to live independently

he still felt incompleteuntil he discovered

the secret of contentment.

- Hey, guys.

My name's Daniel Ritchie andI wanna take a couple minutes

just to share with you about what it means

to be content in Christ'cause that's something

I have struggled with my entire life

because I was born without arms.

And I look around and I see the rest

of everybody in my life,living life with hands

and using their thumbs.

And I look at what I do and who I am

and I'm not that.

And I know that my situationis never going to get better.

And so I sit here and goGod, how am I gonna have joy?

How am I gonna have peace when I know

my situation, my physical situation

is not gonna get any better?

And I love what Paul saysin Philippians chapter four.

He just says, I've learned to be content

in whatever I'm in,whether I have nothing,

whether I have everything.

He goes on to say in Philippians 4:13,

I can do all things through Christ

who gives me the strength.

And that's coming from aguy who writes those words

as he sits in a prison cell, not knowing

if he's gonna live or die.

But he can say, I can becontent in whatever I'm in.

And it's simply because of Jesus.

And that was somethingfor me, that I started

to realize that mycontentment doesn't come

from having arms.

My contentment doesn't comein my life getting better.

My contentment is found in Jesus

and in Jesus alone.

That's the only thing that doesn't change.

That's the only thingthat doesn't go away.

He's my hope in this life and in the next.

And so if you're sitting there right now

and thinking, God, mysituation's not gonna

get any better, how is there hope in this?

Our hope isn't in this life.

Our hope isn't in pain going away.

Our hope is in Jesus, in his love for us,

in his plan to use us, even in our pain,

knowing that one day,when faith becomes sight,

our pain goes away.

- It's the hope of our calling.

Paul said, godliness with contentment

is great gain.

And it's sometimes hard toget that contentment part.

The godliness, that can be hard too.

And that comes from a belief and a belief

that Jesus died for you,

that he paid the price sothat you wouldn't have to,

that together we died with him

and together we wereraised to new life in him.

So that godliness equation,

God has taken care of all of that.

That contentment is up to us.

And so the question weall have to ask ourselves,

is the cross sufficient?

Do I need something more

to make me happy?

Do I need something more thanmy relationship with God,

my security in knowingthat I will be with him

for all eternity?

When you look at it that way,

now contentment gets very easy.

And then you get tothe point where you say

yes God, this is great gain.

Here's a word for you.

I have learned the secret of being content

in any and every situation.

Whether well fed or hungry,whether living in plenty

or in want, I can doall this through Christ

who gives me strength.

(positive music)