June 15, 2005

John Debney battled demonic forces while writing score for "The Passion of the Christ"

It's often a given that when we as people of faith try to take back territory from the enemy and reclaim it for the Lord, Satanic attack will be the result. We must clothe ourselves with God's protection by putting on the "full armor of God." Satan is trying to deflect us from our God-given tasks. In spite of everything, our duty is to forge ahead. Never mind what Satan throws at us! In the realm of the spirit, we as Christians need to fight courageously as battle-hardened warriors--as Paul did in Ephesians 6:10-20 (RSV):

6:10 Finally, be strong in the Lord and in the strength of his might. 6:11 Put on the whole armor of God, that you may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil. 6:12 For we are not contending against flesh and blood, but against the principalities, against the powers, against the world rulers of this present darkness, against the spiritual hosts of wickedness in the heavenly places. 6:13 Therefore take the whole armor of God, that you may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand. 6:14 Stand therefore, having girded your loins with truth, and having put on the breastplate of righteousness, 6:15 and having shod your feet with the equipment of the gospel of peace; 6:16 besides all these, taking the shield of faith, with which you can quench all the flaming darts of the evil one. 6:17 And take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God. 6:18 Pray at all times in the Spirit, with all prayer and supplication. To that end keep alert with all perseverance, making supplication for all the saints, 6:19 and also for me, that utterance may be given me in opening my mouth boldly to proclaim the mystery of the gospel, 6:20 for which I am an ambassador in chains; that I may declare it boldly, as I ought to speak.

While composing the musical score for "The Passion of the Christ," John Debney attests to just such a demonic attack.

Assist news.net

Sunday, February 27, 2005

A PASSION FOR MUSIC…A BATTLE WITH SATAN

Despite not winning the Oscar for Best Original Score, John Debney, can be proud of his extraordinary achievement in writing the musical score for THE PASSION OF THE CHRIST despite the spiritual battles that he went through

By Dan Wooding
Founder of ASSIST Ministries

HOLLYWOOD, CA (ANS) -- John Debney is used to writing movie scores for comedies like ELF, LIAR, LIAR and BRUCE ALMIGHTY, and on Sunday, February 27, and he came close to winning the Oscar at the 77th Annual Academy Awards in Hollywood for his most serious work -- composing the original score for Mel Gibson’s powerful movie, THE PASSION OF THE CHRIST, which he admits was the most difficult assignment of his life. The winner was Jan A.P. Kaczmarek for FINDING NEVERLAND.

In an interview last year, Debney told ANS how composing this extraordinary score turned out to be a battle between good and evil that he had never experienced before in some 20 years in Hollywood.

"I don’t think I will ever be given the opportunity to write again for a movie as powerful as this one," he said during the media interview in Beverly Hills, California, just before the release of the film. "I was stretched every which way but loose. I was stretched by Mel Gibson. I was stretched by the Guy Upstairs and also I was stretched by the guy downstairs. What it did was completely strengthen my faith and I have realized something very interesting. I had never before subscribed to the idea that maybe Satan is a real person, but I can attest that he was in my room a lot and I know that he hit everyone on this production."

Debney said that the battle he felt with Satan as he wrote the music became "really personal between us." He went on to say, "I had all these computers and synthesizers in my studio and the hard drives would go down and the digital picture that lives on the computer with the music would just freeze on his [Satan’s] face. Then the volume would go to ten and it would happen all the time."

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