The Way Back

A generation ago, non-believers described Christians as Hypocrites. Judgmental. Bigots. Insensitive. Reactionary.

But today? We’re hardly described at all.

Two thousand years ago, in a backwater Roman province, a ragtag group of powerless and poorly educated fishermen committed themselves to a movement they called “The Way.” At the time, it was seen as a dangerous cult and persecuted; but within a remarkably short time, it became the world’s most influential religious faith - a force in culture, politics, literature, science, philanthropy and the arts. Against impossible odds, they astonished the world.

Two thousand years later, by any measure Christianity is retreating on all fronts. No longer credible in most cultural debates or personal decisions, "The Way" has lost its way.

In The Way Back, media and marketing experts Phil Cooke and Jonathan Bock take a hard look at the church today and reveal that as a salesforce, we’ve lost our belief in the product. We’ve lost touch with the passion, the excitement, and the commitment that two thousand years ago made such improbable and staggering growth possible.

Based on these core beliefs, The Way Back inspires and activates modern believers to learn from their ancient example and astonish the world once more.

According to former CNN journalist Paula Zahn, filmmaker and media consultant Phil Cooke is rare - a working producer in Hollywood with a Ph.D. in Theology. He’s the author of One Big Thing and Unique. He’s appeared on NBC, MSNBC, CNBC, CNN, Fox News, and his work has been pro led in the New York Times, The Los Angeles Times, and The Wall Street Journal. He’s lectured at universities like Yale, University of California at Berkeley, and UCLA. In addition to writing his blog at philcooke.com, he also blogs for The Huffington Post, and has been a contributor to Fast Company, Forbes.com, Wired.com, and FoxNews.com. Phil is a member of the Academy of Television Arts and Sciences as well as the Producer’s Guild of America.

Jonathan Bock began his career in marketing at Warner Bros. He’s the founder and president of Grace Hill Media, which has marketed more than 500 major motion pictures and television projects to Christian audiences worldwide. He is the Producer of “Hillsong - Let Hope Rise,” which chronicles the meteoric rise of the Australian worship band, Hillsong United. He is a member of the Producers Guild of America (PGA) and an Elder at Bel Air Church Los Angeles.