Sunday, July 28th at 4pm, the documentary film Lori’s New Wine premiered. The film is about a beautiful red head who struggled with alcoholism, and was married ten times. Yet, true love found her when she said “I do” to Jesus, and was redeemed by Christ before passing away. The documentary was inspired by the book Lori Revised Edition by Sandy Zeigler and produced by Michael aka Malan Jones. The story is told by Lori’s family, and also interviews experts in behavioral health. We also see interviews from recovered addicts, parents of recovering addicts, and clergy. The purpose of the film is to bring light to the subject of addiction, and help anyone affected by it to take courage with the gospel of Jesus Christ.
The theater doors officially opened at 3:45pm and by 4pm the theater was full of friends, family, and attendees from Life in Christ, Church on the Street, Blessings Through Action, and Teen Challenge. A little after 4 o’ clock, Pastor John Benson from Life in Christ opened the premiere with prayer, and then Lori’s brother in law Craig Zeigler sang “Hurt” by Johnny Cash with Lori’s two sons. The song was a reminisce of Lori’s and Craig’s times doing Karaoke, but the lyrics also reminded us of how the man Johnny Cash struggled with addiction.
After the song, a friend of the Zeigler family told his story of personally knowing Johnny Cash, and how Christ saved Johny from a wasted life. Malan Jones performed Invoke the Mighty Warrior and introduced Elaine Beck founder of Blessings Through Action which seeks to unite all Christians nationwide to take a stand together against things like the addiction crisis. Next, there were door prizes, then the documentary started around 4:45pm. The documentary was followed by a Q&A with Sandy, and audience members along with Malan got to ask questions about the film.
After screening guest artist Adam Tequida performed “War Cry” and shared his testimony about how Christ helped him overcome anger and drug use. Jessiah van Dogen sang and played worship songs on piano while sharing his testimony about overcoming depression. Edie Abbott sang originals about God’s love and Seth Music shared “Inheritance” followed by his wife Meshael’s dance to “Cycles” by Jonathan McReynolds, and ended with Seth’s song “Freedom.” Finally, the night closed with Haley Benson worship leader at Life in Christ singing “New Wine” by Hillsong and her father John Benson closing in a prayer.
What’s Next?
Upcoming August 18 is a showcase of the artists who performed during the premiere. We will be making this into a full-length DVD with testimonies, and music about salvation and addiction recovery.
