(upbeat music)

- And welcome to Studio 5.

A new film shines a bright light

on contemporary Christian music's story.

Kirk Franklin creates a virtual choir

with children living inpoverty around the world,

and Skillet's John Cooper has music

and a message to share.

We're sharing those stories today

as we count down thisweek's top five stories

in the world of uplifting entertainment.

So, let's get started.

At number five.

- I work at the Moondance diner.

(bright music)

- Check.

- One sec.

Do we take reservations?

No, we do not take, we're a diner.

- [Host] It's a Studio 5 firstlook at video and visuals

from Tick, Tick, Boom,

a film inspired by thetrue story of a playwright

who felt called to bringa musical to Broadway.

- Hey, boy genius.

- [Playwright] I have spent

the last eight years of my life writing.

- You're getting out.

You're gonna be rich and famous.

- [Playwright] And rewriting.

- Did you crack it yet?

- Oh, I'm getting so close.

And rewriting.

- [Girl] Can I hear it?

- Any day now.

Eight years.

And the time keeps ticking.

(clock ticks)

Tick, tick.

- You need to ask, are youletting yourself be led by fear

or by love?

- Fear, a hundred percent fear.

- [Host] This also marksHamilton's Lin Manuel Miranda's

feature directorial debut, andit's in theaters next month.

♪ Fear or love, baby ♪

♪ Don't say the answer ♪

- [Host] At number four.

- Sit down.

Thank goodness.

Hello, everybody.

- [Host] Poet Amanda Gorman isamong those Variety magazine

recently honored at itsPower of Women event,

recognizing women fortheir philanthropic work.

- To you to do my best to be an example.

- [Host] Singer Katy Perryand actress Rita Moreno

were also among those being celebrated

at this year's return of the event.

- Well spoken.

- TobyMac, Amy Grant,Steven Curtis Chapman,

Lauren Daigle, Kirk Franklin,

that's just the start ofthe long list of artists

featured in a new documentary

tracing the roots ofcontemporary Christian music.

This powerful untold storyis called The Jesus Music.

Singer Michael W. Smith is in the film,

and he's also one of its producers.

He's here to share more, but first,

let's take a look at asegment from the film.

- For a better part of this last year,

I was on the road with a young man

that's been a friend for about 10 years.

I found out that hewas in Atlanta tonight,

and there's no way wecan be in the same town

and not be on the same stage,

so would you pleasewelcome Michael W. Smith.

(audience cheers)

- And Amy and I would end the show

with "Friends" every night.

(audience cheers)

♪ Friends are friends forever ♪

♪ If the Lord's the Lord of them ♪

♪ And a friend will not say never ♪

♪ 'Cause the welcome will not end ♪

- Friends are friends forever.

What a beautiful scene there

from the documentary The Jesus Music,

and the man you justsaw there with Amy Grant

joins us right now: Michael W. Smith.

So good to have you.

First, what surprised you most

in the retelling of the storybehind the music, if you will?

- Well, I think probablyhearing everybody's story,

the backstory of other artists,

of the struggle,

you know, the fight,

you know, what people havegone through, adversity,

and how they survived and how they came,

came out on the otherside of it, you know.

I always think that's fascinating

we get to hear somebody else's story,

and I applaud all the artists in this film

that were very vulnerable.

I mean, they,

there was some heart-wrenchingthings that were said

and revealed, which I thinkwas really, really good.

That's, I think that's whatmakes the film so appealing

is that it's prettyauthentic and pretty real.

So, yeah, but I knew that was coming

because we all have a story and, you know,

we all, obviously all of ushave had our ups and downs

figuring this thing outand walking this journey

through this amazingthing that we get to do,

this thing called music,

which is the most powerfuluniversal language in the world.

I've always said that,and I still believe it.

- We see your face on the poster.

We know that you've workedclosely with Amy Grant, toured,

and I think you even credither for your success,

if you will.

What made you say yes to beinga part of this storytelling?

- Well, I've always wanted to see this

come to the big screen at some point;

I think the story needed to be told,

but it wasn't until the Erwinbrothers, John and Andy,

approached me, who are great storytellers,

I guess approached me'bout two, three years ago

about doing this documentary

and asked if I would be involvedas an executive producer,

and it helped speaking to it, and I just,

it was adamantly yes.

I mean, it was a no brainer for me.

So I knew if anybody could pull it off,

and especially for theseguys who are so talented,

but kind of cut their teethon this music growing up,

I'm thinking these guys can pull it off,

and they certainly did.

- Now I am sure that this project

with someone like yourselfbeing involved in it

is bathed in prayer.

What's your prayer for whathappens because of this?

- Well, probably a lot of things.

I mean, the first thingthat comes to my mind

is that you'll have awhole new group of people,

could be millions of peoplewho discover this music

for the very first time.

And if history is any measure

of what this music hasdone to millions of people,

then I think you could potentiallyhave millions of people

that are affected by this.

I think ultimately,

at least deep down insidemy spirit gut, I call it,

is that maybe this movie is the catalyst

of this next revival thatwe've been praying for

for so long.

How sweet that would be.

And my, my hunch or my faith tells me

that I think it's a great possibility.

- Again, the documentaryis called The Jesus Music.

The keyword there: Jesus,

right there at the center of it all.

Michael W. Smith, thankyou so much for your time.

- I appreciate it. Thanks for having me.

- Thank you.

And you can see The JesusMusic in theaters right now.

Still ahead:

- All over the world, we say:

♪ I am here ♪

- [Host] See why Grammywinning artist Kirk Franklin's

latest recording--

♪ Through the glory I can see ♪

is touching 120 children living in poverty

in 25 countries around the world.

♪ Glory when you (indistinct) ♪

The full story is next.

(bright music)

- Orphan's Promise iscommitted to loving and serving

at-risk children, to helpingkeep families together

and to creating opportunities

for strong and sustainablecommunities around the world.

We're working in over 60countries around the world,

and with your help, we can do even more.

There's an old Africanproverb I love that says,

"If you want to run fast, run alone.

"But if you want torun far, run together."

At Orphan's Promise, we want to run far,

so we can touch thelives of as many orphaned

and vulnerable children as possible,

but we don't want to go alone.

We're out to change the world,

one child, one family,one community at a time.

Will you join us?

(upbeat music)

- [Host] At number three.

- Let's face it.

Your God, your book, they're in the way.

- [Host] This is the lastnight to see the latest chapter

of the God's Not Dead story in theaters.

It's called God's Not Dead: We The People.

It's the fourth in the franchise,

and this one deals with freedom of speech,

homeschooling, and religious freedom.

- Remember the visit that we got

from social services the other day?

- I'm here to review yourhomeschool environment.

- Religion has beenremoved from our schools.

They're teaching kidsthat they don't need God.

- And Antonio Sabato Jr.,certainly good to see you

join the God's Not Dead family.

Tell me what made you say yes.

- Listen, this film is,it's close to my heart,

it's close to who I am as an American

and as a faithful follower of Christ,

as a father, as a husband,

so I can relate a lot to him,

to Michael, the character I play.

- If your children donot show up at school

a week from Monday,

you will be chargedwith contempt of court,

meaning you will be incarcerated.

- [Host] At number two.

- I just wanted to createa night that was gonna

bring people together andpeople could just let go

and enjoy themselves.

- It's a Studio 5 first lookat Justin Bieber: Our World,

a documentary about the makingof his New Year's Eve concert

streaming to Amazon Prime, Friday.

- [Justin] Prepping for aperformance during COVID

has been challenging.

- We have built the whole stage up here.

With the live stream,

the show is going to be seen by millions.

- We haven't done a show since 2017.

I'm kind of nervous.

- The first time I'm coming out,

I'm going to feel all the eyes on me.

I'm gonna want to move;I just know myself.

Show day.

- New Year's Eve, baby.

- Happy New Year!

♪ You are the only one I'll ever love ♪

- We began this show with The Jesus Music,

a new documentary

on the story of contemporaryChristian music,

and both of our next guests

are actually featured in the film.

First up is Kurt Franklin,

whose latest project is touching children

living in poverty around the world.

It's a virtual choir of 120 children

from some 25 countries, hand-picked

from Compassion International'schild development programs.

With the help of technology,

Franklin was able to weavetogether a new recording

of his classic hit "Lean on Me."

(gentle music)

- All over the world, we say...

♪ I am here ♪

- The Compassion Choir,

you visit the DR withCompassion International,

and we sit here with theCompassion Choir now?

- Yeah, hi.

You know, it's that

I think that, that musicis the great unifier.

And I think that it cutsthrough all of the political

infrastructure, I think thatit just cuts through every

social construct that, that,

that we have established to beable to separate each other,

to be able to divide us intothe socioeconomic areas that,

that, that really do none of us any good.

And so I was very grateful andexcited to bring back a song

that's over 20 years old

and, and to be able to use it as a tool,

to be able to get these kids that,

that are sometimesinvisible to the rest of us

because we are so busyscrolling and we're so busy

trying to be bossesand to be entrepreneurs

and be about that bad.

And that's sometimes theleast of us get forgotten.

A little kid somewherethat needs to be reminded

that they matter.

And, and so that's my job.

My job is to do that.

♪ All over the world ♪

♪ The world, the world, the world ♪

- So we're talking young people

from some 25 differentcountries, countries,

poor, impoverished, as you mentioned,

how difficult was this technically

to pull off this recordingwith all these kids

in all these different parts of the world?

- It was crazy.

(host laughs)

It was crazy.

These time zones, all ofthe, it was just crazy.

It was crazy.

You know, what is it?

Necessity is the mother of invention.

And I think that these last 18 months,

we've been able to find outwhat certain buttons do.

And it's like, oh.

It's like, it's like, it's like,

oh, I can do that if I push that.

And so that's what we've been doing.

And then you look upand now you can record

kids from different continents,different times zones,

and have this moment wherethey're just reminding each other

that even in the darkesttimes, here's my shoulder.

You can lean on me.

- [Host] Take us back to,

I guess, you said thissong is now 20 years old.

- Over 20.

- Over 20 years old.

Writing it then,

any idea that it would stillhave such relevance now?

- One thing about the economy of God

is that you can neverunderestimate his shelf life.

Nothing is ever out of time.

That, that, that's theamazing thing about him

is that he can, that he does what he does,

how he does, how he chooses,

even pass our ownintellectual understanding.

- One of the things I was reading

from the things that the children said,

and they seem to all have been touched,

not by just the voicelessons that you gave them

or learning the music,

but by you sharing your story with them,

that hearing your story made them believe

that their dreams are possible in Christ.

How did that make you feel?

I'm sure that you're probably seeing

even more than I'm seeing.

- It is very difficult to trust God's hand

in some of your darkest moments,

and you're not realizing that, that the,

that the construction of testimony

is what he is always behind,

is that his job wasnever to make me happy.

His job was to make me is.

And then making me is,you become an Oracle,

you become a conduit tobe able to say to people,

and not only say to people,

but to be able to live in front of people,

"If he did this forme, there's no question

"about the amazing endof story you will have

"once you trust in his love for you."

You don't have to worry.

♪ You don't have to worry ♪

- Something tells me that whenit comes to these children

and you and this song,this isn't the end of it.

Any idea of what else youmight be cooking up with them?

- I have no idea whateverGod has in the future.

Of course, I'm gonna rock with it.

So whatever he wants to do, let's get it.

♪ Here's my shoulder ♪

♪ Here's my shoulder, you can lean on me ♪

- Let me tell you,

this is an amazing projectthat's taken months to complete,

but all proceeds from sales,streams, and downloads

will go right back intoCompassion International's work

with these young people.

We turn now from that musical story

to our weekly story in pictures.

Here's a look at your Studio 5 snapshot.

A Studio 5 shout-out toBubba Wallace and his car 23.

Wallace made history Monday

becoming only the second black driver

to win NASCAR's cup series race.

Wallace is the first blackdriver to win this series

since 1963,

when NASCAR hall of fame driverWendell Scott led the race.

Wallace and his mom calledthe win an answer to prayer.

These winning Wallace images

are this week's Studio 5 snapshot.

Coming up next:

♪ Surviving the game ♪

♪ I can be unstoppable ♪

- "Surviving the Game" is thelatest track from Skillet.

- We're all gonna be sufferingdown here to some degree.

You know what I mean?

And that's what "Survivingthe Game" is about.

- The band's front man, John Cooper,

takes a break from the stageto sit down with Studio 5.

♪ I am all that (indistinct) ♪

(upbeat music)

- Woo hoo! Hi, Superbook fans.

Here's something else you'll love. Whoa!

New Superbook Bible apps.

It's packed with games,activities, and Superbook episodes

that you can watch for free.

(character shouts)

There's trivia, a fun daily devotional,

and answers to Bible questions.

Plus an easy-to-understand Biblethe whole family will enjoy

You can even create yourown Superbook character.

Tada! Whoa.

- (indistinct) calls me--

- Oh, sorry, pardon me.

Sorry, excuse me.

Ouch.

- Are you getting this?

- Earn super points towin daily prizes too.

And so much more!

Time to get back to my adventures.

See you soon.

It's the new Superbook Bible.

Free downloads on iTunes,Google play, and Amazon.

- Welcome back to Studio 5.

The band Skillet has its own place

in the story of contemporaryChristian music,

as we see in thedocumentary The Jesus Music.

And Skillet's storycertainly is continuing.

"Surviving the Game" isthe band's latest track.

The front man, John Cooper,

takes a break from thestage to sit down with us

in Studio 5.

(upbeat music)

♪ To be more than a conqueror ♪

♪ You have to learn to enjoy the pain ♪

♪ If you want to survive the game ♪

- When we were coming up withthe title, Surviving the Game,

it just felt right to me.

(heavy metal music)

You are, you're surviving it, you know?

You're, you're optimistic,

but it doesn't ignore the difficulty.

Sin is causing us to suffer.

We're all gonna be sufferingdown here to some degree,

you know what I mean?

And that's what "Survivingthe Game" is about.

♪ Fighting for my focus ♪

♪ Give the pain a purpose ♪

Christ has won thatbattle over death and sin,

but we are still here andthere is still some suffering.

There's a lot of battlethat we have to do.

♪ Who never bowed a knee whenit's do or die (do or die) ♪

History on this earth isgoing to be a perpetual thing.

It's a daily decision.

Now that, you know, spiritually,the victory has been won,

but you got to walk through it.

♪ Survive, surviving the game ♪

I can be unstoppable,

gonna walk through hell,gonna shake the walls.

I mean, that's the lyrics of the chorus.

And that, to me, summarizes all of that.

I know I can be unstoppablebecause of Christ.

(heavy metal music)

When that guitar riff comes in,

it feels very, like, out of control.

And I think that people recognize,yeah, I feel chaotic too.

And they should.

I mean, the world is justabsolutely insane right.

♪ And I won't ever let this kingdom fall ♪

The best part of the job, honestly,

is knowing that your song hastouched someone in some way.

And you see it, when youplay live, you see people.

The first show we cameback and played this year,

I mean, there were people crying.

People, like, cried.

They were so happy, they were crying.

I remember thinking, atfirst I was thinking,

I can't believe it, but Ikind of felt emotional too.

It was so wonderful to see people unify.

♪ Livin' the impossible ♪

♪ I'm the champion,indestructible (survive) ♪

♪ Survive, 'cause I'm surviving the game ♪

There are lyrics in the song about,

you know, the not bowing your knee.

Not bowing the knee couldhave political implications,

civil implications, religious,

well they can have all these implications.

But if I could look atthe box of Christianity,

there is a lot of pressure

for people in the entertainment industry

to stop being so blatant about the gospel.

You're even losing support invast swathes of Christianity

where they're like,"That's just too radical,

"you shouldn't be saying it that radical."

♪ Survive, surviving the game ♪

♪ Livin' the impossible ♪

♪ I'm the champion,indestructible (survive) ♪

♪ Survive, 'cause I'm surviving the game ♪

So I think a lot of our fans,

they pick up on what these lyrics mean.

When I say never bow theknee when it's do or die,

they know what you're talking,what I'm talking about,

even if they can have allsorts of other implications,

and I hope it encourages peopleto stand up (indistinct).

♪ Survive, 'cause I'm surviving the game ♪

(heavy metal music)

- And we have more fromJohn Cooper coming up

in just a little bit.

We need to take a quick break right here,

but before we do,

we have made it to the biggest story

in this week's countdown:

the top five upliftingentertainment stories.

At number one.

- Brother Travis would like tosay something this Saturday.

Let's give him a hand.

- Thank you.

- I'm seeing you onTravis Green's project.

Of course you're involvedwith Tamela Mann's project.

What else can we see, look forward to?

- You know, man, that (indistinct).

(host laughs)

- Come on, give me some scoop.

And we now have a bit of scoop

on a new project from Kirk Franklin.

His gospel drama series KingdomBusiness with Devon Franklin

and Holly Carter is now in production.

- How soon can you guys be ready?

- [Host] Saints & Sinnersstar Malachi Malik

is one of the actors in thenew Franklin production.

BET green lights gospel dramaseries Kingdom Business.

You connected to that?

- Just a little bit.

So I'm playing a father,

who's good, I'm not a bad guy in this one.

I'm playing a father, and my wife and I

are very heavily in the church.

We have this daughterof ours who's a handful,

without giving the story away.

We have to deal with something very tragic

that, you know, happens to our daughter.

- [Host] Just moments away.

♪ He's good (how manyy'all know he's good) ♪

♪ Our God is good like that (yeah) ♪

- [Host] Kirk Franklin is backwith some more music company.

♪ If I had a dollar forevery time they said ♪

♪ God wasn't gonna come through ♪

♪ I'd be a millionaire ♪

(bright jingle)

(water drips)

- [Narrator] Life is betterwith a good night's sleep.

Get your free DVD or bookletof Protect Your Sleep.

- [Announcer] As the worldwatches from the outside.

- It's a big diplomatic tug ofwar here in the Middle East.

- [Announcer] Go inside thestory with Jerusalem Dateline.

- Israeli archeologists aretalking about a discovery

that could change the thinkingabout the Temple Mount.

- [Announcer] Join CBNJerusalem Bureau Chief

Chris Mitchell,

and get the biblicalperspective on the events

shaping the world.

- What starts in Israel thenends up going to other places.

- [Announcer] Watch Jerusalem Dateline,

Friday night at 8:30 onthe CBN News Channel.

(gentle piano music)

- [Narrator] Life: it'smeant to be lived fully.

(piano music)

Jesus said it: I came to give you life.

Life to the fullest.

Life in your family.

Life in your finances.

Life in your body, mind and spirit.

Life in your every day.

(bright piano music)

At CBN.com, we're takingwhat Jesus said seriously.

(bright piano music)

We're here to help you discover life.

(bright piano music)

Life.

Live it fully: cbn.com.

(bright piano music)

- And you are back in Studio 5.

We sat down with Kirk Franklin

a little bit earlier in theshow, and he is back now

helping to serve upthis week's soundtrack.

He joins Tauren Wells withthe song "Millionaire."

Take a listen, and hear why this track

is what's playing in my ear.

♪ If I had a dollar forevery time they said ♪

♪ God wasn't gonna come through ♪

♪ I'd be a millionaire ♪

♪ (laughs) Oh, yeah ♪

♪ Sounds good ♪

♪ If I had a dollar forevery time they said ♪

♪ God wasn't gonna come through ♪

♪ I'd be a millionaire, oh ♪

♪ God is good like that ♪

♪ Yeah, he's good likethat (God is so good) ♪

♪ My God is good like that ♪

♪ He's good ♪

- "I'd Be a Millionaire."

Love that tune.

On that musical note, let'stake a look ahead right now

and see what's comingup right here next week.

- I'm in a fight right now

to keep what my daddy gave me.

- The black owned farmsjust received a notice

invoking seizure of their land.

- The hit series QueenSugar has a new face.

Malachi Malik has landed arecurring role on the OWN drama.

You are a new face inthis very populous series.

Tell me about getting the role;how did you feel about that?

Malachi sits down in Studio 5

with a sneak peek into themind of his new character.

- Maybe this is how we findout what we're made of.

(gospel music)

- I've been officially laid off.

- The last thing I'mgonna do is let my pride

get in the way of me supporting my family.

- And we certainly hopeyou'll join us for that story

and so much more next week.

But before we say goodbye this week,

we wanna wrap The JesusMusic edition of Studio 5

with a final word fromSkillet's John Cooper.

(heavy metal music)

♪ Heart leaves adrenaline ♪

♪ The fire I breathe is where I live ♪

♪ Stay with me (incredible) ♪

- No, we don't supportviolence in the name of Jesus.

♪ Never give up, never give in ♪

We're not going to get violentin order to make our stand.

We make our stand with arguments.

We make our stand by civildisobedience, perhaps.

And if you believe it, and youdon't want to bow the knee,

then you have to be ready togo to prison for it, you know,

but I'm not about to graba gun and go, you know,

take care of business for what, you know?

So that stuff shouldn'tbe confusing Christians.

We need to get back to the word of God,

and let's have the argumentbased on the word of God.

- John Cooper, thank you.

That is a great final wordfor this edition of Studio 5,

and this week's look atuplifting entertainment.

Until next time, make timeto uplift someone around you,

and then please, come on back,

and see where Studio5 takes you next week.

Bye bye; thank you for watching.