 out of the lion's den and walking into victory. We're so glad that you're joining us for Hope Today. I'm here with Tom and Amy, and we are super excited for you to be joining us. We have an action-packed show, so Amy, tell us what is coming up. Lions and tigers and bears, oh my! Listen, maybe you've heard of a little minor character in the Bible named Daniel, or maybe you've heard of the lion's den, or maybe you've heard of Shadrach, Meshach, and Bendigo, or King Nebuchadnezzar, and the fiery furnace. If you love great stories in the Bible, if you love to see them come to life, then you're going to love our guest today, Katie Miller, from Are You Ready? The Sight and Sound Theater in Lancaster, PA, with another location. I forgot somewhere in the country. Branson. Branson, yes, Branson, Missouri, oh yes, and I cannot wait to unpack. They are doing Daniel. The secret is out, and we, Tom and Sydney, are going to get first dibs on the secret sauce of what makes this extremely spectacular and makes the Bible come to life. I love it. I love what Sight and Sound does. We went out and saw David last year, and I mean it is, it was unbelievable. It surpasses anything that you can imagine into all kinds of things you can't even imagine. Even if you know the story well, they do it so well. We love this, so we're super excited. It's going to be such a treat for you, so hang tight, because we're going to have just such an action-packed and front show, and speaking of fun, Tom. We're going to try to stump the hosts. Oh, great. It's been a while since we've just done Stump the Host, and guess what we're going to do, guys? A Daniel theme? Are we all ready to read Daniel last night? Okay, question number one, please play along with us. We have not seen these questions. We hope we know the answers. Maybe you know them. Where was the book of Daniel written? Babylon? Babylon, Persia. But was it? The book of Daniel, I would say Babylon. I would say Babylon. Let's go with Daniel, I think it's Harry. Thanks for thinking that, Joe. Amy, I think you got the next one. All right, are you ready? Who were the four men who entered King Nebuchadnezzar's service? Easy. Shadrach, Meshach, Abednego, Daniel. There we go. Can't stump us. Yes, belts are. Oh, they want the Hebrew names. They gave them different names. You know, my mom is very big on this. She's going to love this. She likes calling them their original names. Yeah, that's what mom, you're watching. This is for you. This question, she loves it. She always brings this up. I don't know. I'm never going to be able to get away from Shadrach. She knows them all. Well, here's the last one. Which angel gave Daniel the meaning of the vision of the ram and the goat? Gabriel. I think it was Gabriel because he mentions Michael that he was standing with Michael, but we're going to go with Gabriel. I think it was Gabriel. Yeah. Oh, okay. That was a long pause. Daniel, eight, 16. You know, three for three, guys. That was good. We didn't even have to go to our lifeline. I mean, we had no lifeline, but Jesus. The book of Daniel is so good. If you even reread it today, the stories of faith, the stories of how God showed up, the stories of government and God working together for God's people, it's extraordinary. One of my favorite Old Testament scriptures is when the three children of Israel are standing and they say, you have to bow and they say, we're not going to bow because our God can save us. But even if he does not, okay, know that we're not going to bow. I still get chills. I get chills. Just say it. You know, I love about Daniel is how he prayed, like how he would bow down and always pray. And that's something I always just love about Daniel is just like his faith. And I think that having that discipline, I just think about those 21 days when the Prince of Persia and he was praying. It just gets me excited. I was like, let's be like Daniel and pray like even if it cost him his life, yeah, he was willing to do it. Well, if you love seeing the Bible come to life, then the site and sound theater and Lancaster PA is the place to be coming in 2024 is the brand new spectacular theatrical production of one of the most beloved characters of the Bible, Daniel. Check out this trailer. Wow. Joining us now is Katie Miller and she is the director of marketing and communications at site and sound theater. Katie, what a fun job and we are so excited to have you back with us on hope today. Good morning. It's absolutely wonderful to be here. I wish I was actually sitting in person with you guys, hopefully next time. But thank you so much for having me. Last time we were talking about David and I went and saw David. I about melted when the snow fell on me and how he's washed our sins white as snow. Tell us about Daniel. We need to know everything. Yeah, so when our team started tackling the story of Daniel, it was similar to David in that it we have so much like sometimes with different Bible characters that we've done shows we've done in the past, we only have little snippets of their lives and there's gaps in the story and you aren't entirely sure where to start and where to stop the story. And in some ways, that's how Daniel felt because there are so many central characters ones that I'm super excited about to watch come to life because, yes, when we think of the story of Daniel, we think of Daniel and we call them the three boys, Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego, they're kind of like this little band of brothers that start out as young teens in just horrible circumstances, like literally ripped from their families. I think sometimes we forget that we're like, oh yeah, Daniel, these boys, but like it, they were young and they lost everything and they were taken into this very dark, it was a very dark culture and a dark society at the time and so we kind of forget about that, you know, we love to gloss over these Bible stories and be like, Daniel in the lion's den, it sounds so cool, but there was, it was a real life, you know, situation for them and the characters that I'm actually most excited to watch unfold are the characters of Ezekiel and Jeremiah, the two prophets that are walking alongside. They were, we, you know, I think sometimes one of my favorite things that we get to do is tie these Bible stories together. So we read Daniel as one book and we read Ezekiel as one book and we read Jeremiah as one book, but they were all unfolding at the exact same time and so to watch that really start to take shape and come to life, at least for me, even as a parent, it helps me with my kids be like, this is what these scriptures mean, like you can read these prophet books, at least for me and they're hard to understand and wrap your mind around and then when you start to realize that they were written to an exiled people and not just people, you know, in a generic sense, but Daniel, like this character that we feel connected to, it just brings the scripture to life in a whole, a whole new way. So the show itself is going to have all of the spectacular things that we are, you know, that we're known for. We're going to have live animals. We have some brand new animals that we're introducing. We have, we're going to have big sets like the Babylon Empire is beyond spectacular. In a similar way to Queen Esther, you're going to truly be sitting inside the Babylonian Empire, Nebuchadnezzar's hanging gardens. There it is just going to be this unbelievable, spectacular, beautiful moment in the show and of course we have the fiery furnace and the lion's den, like all the things that we have, but really at the end of the day, the story is so full of hope and so relevant to so much of what we're walking through today and that's the thing that aside from the sparkle and the animals and all the exciting things, like the story and the message is what we get just so passionate about being able to share. What is the process? You know, do you just have an idea? Let's do Daniel and does it, how long does that take? Six months, six years? Yeah. Yeah. So it's a lot of prayer and I don't just say that. I don't just say that it truly is. We have multiple different teams, our leadership team, our story team, our director's team that kind of all come together, seeking the Lord, saying what message, what story do you have for us next? And a lot of times what we have found is that the Lord really starts to lay a few different stories on what we call our story team. There are writers, directors, producers, hearts and so they'll kind of write some heart summaries of like I could be really passionate about telling this story or I could be really passionate about telling this story and they kind of bring it and we spend some time praying, seeking the Lord, you know, and it really comes down to yes, what character, what story he wants us to portray, but it's almost as much what message is he calling us to and what story in the Bible encompasses that message. And what we are just overwhelmed by, we chose the story of Daniel. It was already in production before COVID hit and before the last few years that we've all walked through. And so when we realized that what was in coming down the pike for us to tell is Daniel, which is this story of hope in the midst of immense trial. And that was what the Lord was calling us to tell. It was just this overwhelming, we just had so much gratitude of like, thank you Lord for letting us be a voice in the midst of this world right now to bring a voice of hope in the midst of so much that swirling around us all the time. I don't think that there's a better message we could have right now. One of my favorite things in the story is when, now I'm escaping me, if it's Jeremiah or Ezekiel, but the children of Israel that are exiled into Babylon, they are writing to these prophets saying, what are we supposed to do? Do we fight? Do we escape? Like, what are we supposed to do? And his message to them is, thus sayeth the Lord, live your lives. Like, it literally says, make homes, integrate into society, live with integrity, live with the goodness of God in the land that you are in. And one of the most poignant songs in the whole show is Daniel missing home, missing his family, but the line in the song goes something like, but Lord, if this is where you are, then this is where I want to be. And I think that that's such a powerful message for us today. If this is where you have us, Lord, you put us in this society, you put us in this time in history, and we want to be here because you're here. And it's just such a cool thing. So all of today, I didn't totally answer your question. It takes about four years from the time we choose a story until it premieres on stage, it's about four years. Katie, my question kind of goes along with that. You all do such a fantastic over-the-top quality job on everything that you do. How many people do you have working on a production like this? So specifically working on the production is about 125 people between our two locations here in Lancaster, Branson, Missouri, our films team, our theaters production team, we have just about 800 employees right now, but about 125 are specifically in the writing design and construction of a show. Last time you were here, you gave us a secret about the sheep in the production, that they are actually auditioned, that there are, I will never forget that there are lead sheep, there are the tail-in sheep, the understudies. Do you have any more animal secrets? Because I lived on that for a whole year. Yeah, I absolutely can give you a sneak peek of the animals in Daniel. So we have two, we'll have all of our normal animals, camels, donkeys, sheep, goats, birds, all those animals will be in the show, but we have two new animals that we're really excited about. One, we have a pair of Maine Coon cats, and I don't know if you guys are familiar with these, but they they grow to be like 35 pounds, like they're bigger than my dog, and they are so wonderfully fluffy, and they are going to be in the show, which we're really excited about. And then we also have two bearded dragons. So there is a priestess who is, you know, she's the bad lady, and her pet is a lizard, these bearded dragon lizards. So she will walk around with these lizards on her arm, and they're they're super cool. So they're the two new animals that we have joining our our animal cast this year for Daniel, which we're pretty excited about. She needs a bonus for having a bearded dragon on her arm. Okay. Yeah, we were joking about that. I mean, it was it's a literally like it's part of the, you know, when we're casting, it's like, hey, just so you know, this role involves a lizard. Are you okay with that? We have, you know, we have to do this. You know, this role might involve horse riding. Are you okay with that? So there's a lot of different things that go into casting beyond the incredible talent that our cast brings to the stage. Oh my. Okay, so before Daniel comes out, there is actually the miracle of Christmas that is currently playing. Can you tell us a little bit about that? Yeah, we're super excited about this Christmas season. We have some really exciting things coming down the pike right now. So miracle of Christmas is on stage here in Lancaster, and it is our second run as longest running show we've ever done. So we first premiered the show in 1996. And while we've made some updates throughout the years, we it really is for the most part, still the original, the original score, the original script. And for the very first time ever just last week, we finished capturing it on film. We are 100% sold out this year. We literally do not have one ticket left for the rest of the run at this point in time. And so we are putting it on Sight and Sound TV for a live broadcast, not a live broadcast, but a broadcast of the show. And we've never done that for this one before. So we're super excited to be able to just invite people all over the world to join us for the holidays if they can't come in person this year. I'm so bummed. I can't get a ticket. I'm serious. I was going to take the whole family. That is what happens in the show and my yes. Well, it's so funny. My son is in the show and my in-laws, my husband's parents were like, Hey, can we get tickets to see him? And I was like, Yeah, absolutely. And I jumped in and I was like, Oh, no, there's nothing. I'll keep watching. Sometimes we get cancellations. I'll try to grab a few tickets at some point in time. Okay, if you can't get a ticket, then there's no I don't know what to do right now. But we do we will it is the full show captured live in front of a live audience. And we're just so excited. It looks I actually just watched act one last night. And it is just spectacular. You really do get a different angle and an up close and personal experience with the shows when we capture them in this way. So you can have a home movie night with your family and still have a Christmas experience with us. Well, and now you don't just do live productions, but now you're into the movie business. Tell us about I heard the bells that was just released on DVD. Yeah. Sure. So last year, we debuted our first ever feature film. It was something that was in the works for several years. We had really felt the Lord calling us to continue to expand our ministry beyond the stage. And so we launched our films division and our passion there is to tell true stories of people and events from history that changed the world because Christ first changed them. So I heard the bells is this true story of Henry Wildsworth Longfellow and his life story that led him to write the poem. I heard the bells, which now is the Christmas Carol that we all know and love. And it's a hard story, but it's also a story that's full of hope. And, you know, the God is not dead nor does he sleep. Like that is just such a powerful moment in the song and becomes a theme of the whole film. So last year, it debuted a movie theaters. It far surpassed what our hopes and expectations were. And this year, we were really grateful to be able to partner with universal pictures for home entertainment. So it's now available on site and sound TV for digital viewing, but also the DVDs are available pretty much wherever you purchase and buy and buy movies. So we're very excited for just all the different things that the Lord is doing this Christmas season. Katie, one last question, you know, right now your life is dedicated to communicating and marketing the story of Daniel. How has the story in the book of Daniel personally impacted your own life? Yeah, you know, one of the things about the about Daniel himself, the Bible describes him as being meek in character. And so he was I believe this like quiet, steadfast man of God in a culture that was anything but quiet. It was loud and it was heavy and it was dark. And to be able to watch Daniel in the face of one trial after another, just maintain his steadfast faith is just remarkable. And what I think, you know, I say, when I grow up, I hope to be because it just when you read these these stories about these characters and what they faced and how they stood firm. It's such an encouragement and a reminder of us today as we continue to face different trials in our own lives. So that's probably the way that Daniel has impacted me the most. That's beautiful. Katie, how can we purchase tickets for Daniel? How can we watch the movie? What information do we go to what website? Yeah, if you want pretty much anything sight and sound, you can visit our website, which is site dash sound.com. And if you want to go directly to sight and sound TV, it's site dash sound dot TV and Miracle of Christmas. And I heard the bells will be there this holiday season. Oh, I love it. Thank you so much, Katie, for being with us. Thank you for giving us the down low on everything sight and sound. And Daniel, we so look forward to hearing you again. Of course, thank you so much. Can't wait to be with you guys hopefully next time in person. We really appreciate you. Thank you. Stay with us because when we return in 60 seconds, we'll share our takeaways and take a look at a powerful scripture from the book of Daniel. We'll be right back. In this month of Thanksgiving, we're excited to send you this special daily gratitude journal with your best gift. This easy to use journal will encourage you to bookend each day with short personal reflections that bring insight and intentionality to your busy and always changing life. How can six simple questions help you better navigate life's uncertainty? Bestselling author Tish Oxenwriter invites you to lean into the rhythms that each morning and evening offers with a twice daily thought exercise focusing on gratitude, truth, grace and more. As you reflect on three key questions near the beginning and end of your day, you will be more poised and prepared for whatever God has for you in the hours between. Request your gratitude journal today when you give. Call 888-665-4483 or donate online at ctvn.org slash donate. Thank you for giving to Cornerstone Television. We're so grateful you're joining us on Hope Today. We want to say a big thank you to all of you who support Cornerstone Television Network because through your giving, we're able to bring you stories and what's coming up in the kingdom of God like Daniel, I know Tom, Amy and I, we were just over the break. Just so excited to see how God is moving and one thing that I think is so beautiful about sight and sound is like they're from the theater and they're expanding and just talking about the movies that are coming out. I love that when you see God is really moving and the arts and Amy, I know you have a passion for the arts and theater and production. So I just think it's beautiful. I think it's beautiful. So awesome. Yeah. It gives you this creative outlet because when I was in college way back when the only option was to go to Broadway or you know the cruise ships were there or the you know the big theme parks were at our at our university but it's like to do something for the kingdom. It's so amazing that just how they built the stage and they do it with such extreme excellence. Extreme excellence and what's great about it is so often in a few generations past and you know the Christians kind of held the line of well we don't want to go, we don't want to be involved in that but God redeems things and he redeems from those things that are are worldly and he can take them and we can use things that are you know they're they're kind of neutral in themselves but they can be used for evil like the world does or they can be used for good like sight and sound is doing with theater and with drama and with music and all those things Sidney we can take those things and and God brings them to a place of redemption and to a place of even reaching people that otherwise might not hear the gospel. Yeah I think like even in this season I know a lot of times we talk about the seven mountains there's like education and government but when you look at arts and entertainment God is truly moving and I think you know a lot of times sometimes I have like this difficulty like I think we separate things of like oh it's the world in this but God can train you in things of you know like being in mainstream the world to bring it to life in the kingdom and I think that's exactly what we're seeing with sights and sound theater and I just like my spirit was just leaping just here and Katie talk about you know how they're expanding and how they're taking you know the production so even just want to encourage you today that you know maybe God in this season that you have a gift that is deep inside of you and you've worked maybe in corporate or you worked in different places but God wants to use your gift in a different way or the abilities and the talents and the leadership that you have God is calling for all of us because truly I feel like what we're seeing Amy is such a move of God where he is using different spheres in different places so we can get the kingdom we can get the gospel so people will know who Jesus is the most frustrating thing is to watch somebody that God designed to be an engineer try to be in ministry and or they are like a pastor ministry it's like use your gift of engineering and bring the kingdom there and build the kingdom and be the ministry it's not like you don't want your pastors being engineers either you don't want your pastors building a bridge right no we want to share this the scripture there's so many powerful scriptures and Daniel I love just so many of them and Daniel 12 3 is one of those those who are wise will shine like the brightness of the heavens and those who lead many to righteousness like the stars for ever and ever that's you that's you you are one that can lead someone to righteousness you know again the the second half of the book of Daniel is a lot about a prophecy and this this scripture is talking about those who understand the times those who understand what God's purposes are those who understand where the world is going and where the kingdom of God is going we can be those that shine and our stars and bring the gospel and bring good news and bring the love of God to people you're created to do that sight and sound does it in a dramatic way but it can be done in quiet ways too it can be done just reaching out to your neighbor just whatever they need at that time reaching out to them and touching their life you're bringing those things to them those purposes of God to them be that star you are you're a rock star yeah you're rock star you know Thomas you're just talking God just dropped in my spirit that he is calling for us and calling for you specifically for the spirit of wisdom when you seek the Lord and you begin to listen to him and get into his presence he will begin to download he will begin to speak he will begin to give you vision he will be able through his word to navigate you to the places that you're called to be so I know a lot of people are like oh the end of the year is coming listen we got a whole lot of time left and God can speak in just in a moment God can speak right today or tomorrow whatever it may be and so just in this season I really felt that God was saying seek his wisdom for the rest of the year seek his wisdom to hear where he wants to send you where he wants to bring you what doors that he's leading you to this is the season to seek for him because you know those who fear him they like God reveals his wisdom to and that's what we want for you today to walk in the plans of God and the purposes of God so it's not just for our good and for our own blessings but it's so we can use our gifts to serve others the purpose and the plans and the call in your life is not just for you and to bless your family and all those things it's so that the world may know who Jesus is Amy what are your final thoughts another translation of that scripture is he who wins souls is wise and will shine like the stars in the heaven if there's ever a time that we need to win souls it is now host a friend's giving with your neighbors take gifts drop them off at the doorstep whether you're getting your car going to the dentist going to the office going to the hospital wherever you are you are in contact with God's people and it's time for you to shine and it's time to win souls so others can experience hope today on tomorrow's hope today married couples discover your guide to help you thrive enneagram and marriage expert prista harden explores how the enneagram tool can strengthen your relationship and draw you closer to your spouse don't miss tomorrow's hope today cornerstone television wishes to thank all our faithful viewers whose consistent prayers and financial support have made this program possible