Chapter Thirteen
Where Is Your Treasure?
What is your treasure? What are you working hard to obtain or to maintain? Why is it important to you? When you get it, where do you keep it? If suddenly, it vanished, what would you do? How would you feel? We have dear friends who lost everything but literally the clothes on their backs in the Palisades fire. What life-changing devastation. How would you cope if that happened to you? Where is your treasure?
Jesus talked a lot about treasure. For instance, in Matt 6:19-21 He said, “Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy, and where thieves break in and steal. But store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust destroys, and where thieves do not break in or steal; for where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.” Of course, most people, including those who claim to be Christians do exactly the opposite of what He commanded. We want earthly security and that means money.
I’ve been sharing some of my experiences in Hollywood. From the very beginning over 100 years ago, the heart of the entertainment business has been centered on money and power and the perks they can bring, the treasures of this world. And Hollywood success can suck you completely into that powerful treasure hunting system. For ten years in Hollywood, I drove a Corvette convertible, a car I had dreamed of owning since I was a teenager. One day I pulled up to stop sign in Beverly Hills. Suddenly, two attractive women in a car next to me rolled down their window and asked, “Are you somebody important?” That’s not something you expect to hear at a stop sign. I told them, no. Then, they asked, “Can we have lunch with you?” Absolutely not. I was glad my car had a lot of power to speed away. If you have any kind of success in Hollywood, the treasures of money and power will open a candy store in front of you. But all the candy is poison.
As I’ve said before, I wasn’t in Hollywood to hunt the treasures of money and power. Success, given by the Lord, did come. The fact is that only the tiniest percentage of Hollywood writers are ever able to create a TV series that actually makes it to the screen. Within a period of five or so years, three of mine made it to the screen and that is a miracle. But every one of them brought war and loss.
In the last chapter, I told you about the first one, Gabriel’s Fire, and my sad experience with the great actor, James Earl Jones. It was a series about redemption. The second one I sold went to USA network. If I had been rejected for stories about redemption in my first series, why not go even harder in number two? Just because you are attacked doesn’t mean you give up.
My second series I based on the scene that I had written for The Equalizer about a hitman who had gone to hell and had come back. I sold the concept to a senior vice president in charge of new series development, and I had a great time working with her. In this version, the hitman is brought back then told he’s going to live a different life. In each episode, he receives an assignment about someone who is going to do something terrible that will destroy them. It will be his job to stop them before it’s too late. A kind of supernaturally empowered Equalizer.
Each assignment was brought to the hitman by an unusual angel messenger from Heaven. How unusual? One of them was played by Kareem Abdul Jabar. The hitman was portrayed by the great Canadian actor, Nick Mancuso. A strange fact or two. I titled my series, Matrix. It was the name I gave my hitman. This was years before the Matrix films were produced. Also, I cast as a series regular a talented young Canadian actress named Carrie Ann Moss, who became a star of the Matrix films along with Keeanu Reeves.
There were many challenges in producing the Matrix TV series. It was a Canadian co-production. I had never been involved in anything like that and it was not easy. There were rules that had to be followed, and our budget was inadequate. Nevertheless, Carel and I and our daughter, Cherissa, who was still in high school, moved to Toronto and production began. We weren’t shooting a pilot. We had been picked up for 13 episodes.
Though it was so hard to do, finally we had a rough-cut of the first episode, in which the hitman goes to hell, comes back and finds out what his life will be. The rough-cut went to the USA vice president and I got a note from her saying that it was a step up in quality for their whole network. But then it went to the president. Apparently, she had been totally unaware of anything we had been doing. Which was bizarre, even for Hollywood. When she saw the rough-cut, she said, “I won’t allow a series like this on my network.” Very soon, I was fired.
We went back to LA. A short time later, Nick Mancuso called me and he was angry. He said, “They’re trying to make me into the happy hitman from hell.” It didn’t work. Very quickly the series failed. For me, losing Matrix was sad, but it was about to get much sadder. Why are there so few servant warriors for Jesus in this world? Because those who claim to believe in Him refuse the life that He said was going to come if a person gave everything into His Hands. He warned that His followers would face persecution, rejection and loss in a lifelong wrestling match with the powers of darkness that the Apostle Paul wrote about in Ephesian chapter six. People refuse this kind of life because their treasure is in this world. And the false prophets of the Prosperity Gospel train them to believe that financial success will come if they follow God’s rules.
What did the loss of the Matrix series mean for my family? The US production company that I had been working for refused to pay a significant amount of money that was owed on my contract. I had to sue them. Most of it was finally paid, but not in time to save our home. We lost it. We had purchased it five years before and had wanted it to be a kind of ministry center. Over the years many groups had met there. But for me, the saddest part of losing it was that we had built a large art studio in the backyard for Carel, who is a painter. All gone. My servant warrior wife didn’t bat an eye when we lost our home. As much as we loved that house, it wasn’t our treasure.
God has never failed us. When we left that home for the last time, another one was waiting. Years before, in the strangest way, God had guided us to purchase a home in the mountains of central California. It was there that we went when our LA home was gone. And we are still here. As beautiful as it is to live in the mountains, this is not our final home either. It is not where our treasure is stored.
The last series that I sold was through Universal. Eventually after Matrix I went back to the studio for a short time to assist in writing and producing one of their series. When it was finished, I stayed. A meeting was arranged for me with the president of UPN, the United Paramount Network, an organization that doesn’t exist anymore. I liked this man a lot. In the meeting, I asked him if he could do anything, what kind of series would he like to see on his network? He said something completely unexpected. He said he would like to see a series about the medical and the mystical. That was the beginning of my last series, The Burning Zone.
In my pilot script I wrote about archaeologists who open a cave in a Mexican mountain that has been sealed since before Noah’s Flood. In doing so, they release a virus that has been dormant for eons. But this virus is like no other. It is the master virus that controls all the other viruses in the world. And it has a collective consciousness, so when it invades a person it takes control and speaks through them. If it is not eradicated, the human race will come under its complete domination. The mystical aspects of the virus were clear. It was a metaphor for supernatural evil.
In the pilot episode a small group of expert virologists are brought together by the U.S. government to combat this enemy. The leader of the group was played by a very young Jeffery Dean Morgan in his first series lead. He later became a major star in The Walking Dead. Our pilot shoot went very well. Quickly, the series was picked up for 13 episodes.
My producing partner, Jim McAdams, and I were called for a meeting at UPN. This should have been a kind of honeymoon event to kick off the project. But when we got there, we met someone new, the woman who was the CEO of the network. The president, the man I had dealt with, wasn’t in the meeting and I never saw him again.
Ten or twelve members of the woman’s team were gathered in the room to meet us. When we entered, she was yelling at them about nothing that had to do with our series. We had barely sat down when she turned to me and yelled that she never wanted to see the virus in our pilot episode again. But that was what the series was about. I asked her why she had picked us up if she didn’t like what we had created? She yelled that she loved The Burning Zone.
When the meeting was over and Jim and I were waiting for the elevator, I said to him that I heard distant pounding. He asked what I meant. I told him they are nailing together my cross. And so it was. Within ten agonizing episodes I was fired. Jeffery Dean Morgan tried to defend me. They fired him too, just as his career was beginning to take off. You can watch scenes from the pilot episode of The Burning Zone on my showreel on this website.
Each of the three series I created became a body blow to my career. And each was a test. Why was I in Hollywood? What treasure was I working for? Let me tell you about the real treasure. One day during production of The Burning Zone, Jim McAdams walked into my office and sat down. It was clear that something was wrong, but he was silent. This was the third series that we had worked on together. I knew that Jim was a very private man. He was an executive producer of the old school with a string of impressive credits that went back decades. Before The Equalizer he had produced the Kojak series starring Telly Savalas, and before that other great shows. But I knew under the image of a consummate professional, like so many in Hollywood, he was a brokenhearted man.
This day, I didn’t ask him what was wrong. After sitting a while together in silence, I felt impelled to ask him something. I said, “Jim, have you ever prayed and asked Jesus to be your savior?” He said, “No.” “Would you like to do that right now.” He said, “Yes.” So, there in my office at Universal Studios, Jim and I prayed together. And a soul that Jesus loves so much that he died for him, received forgiveness and eternal life. Jim’s life began to be transformed.
Being there for that moment was worth more to me than all the wealth, success and awards that Hollywood could ever bestow. Loss, rejection and failure meant nothing compared to that. My dear friend and brother, Jim McAdams, entered Heaven 18 years ago. He’s waiting for me there and it can’t be too long before we meet again. What a joy. To be used in some small way in the salvation of a soul is worth more than all the wealth in this world. As Jesus said in Luke 15:10: “I tell you, there is joy in the presence of the angels of God over one sinner who repents.”
Whatever treasure Carel and I have is not stored here. If you give your will to Jesus Christ, telling Him to do anything with your life that He wants, you will find a life filled with the greatest joys and the greatest challenges. As the years pass and you continue to give your life to Him each day your entire value system will be transformed into His eternal value system. And you will be a servant warrior for the King. Satan does not waste resources. Live a life worthy to be attacked, and don’t be surprised when you are. In fact, as James, the brother of Jesus, wrote in James 1:2-4 “Consider it all joy when you encounter various trials, knowing that the testing of your faith produces endurance. And let endurance have its perfect result, so that you may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing.”
So, where is your treasure? Instead of using the gifts that God has given to you for yourself, isn’t it time to give them back to Him? What are the needs that you see around you in lost and hurting people? How can you meet some of those needs? How can you introduce people to the King? It all begins with praying for them each day.
And whatever God has called you to do, don’t give up. For us, just because we faced such war over our TV series years ago, doesn’t mean that we have given up. Recently, we created a concept for a new television series that presents the truth of Jesus as never before. You can watch our dramatic presentation of Sanctum of Shadows on our YouTube channel and on this website. Also, for several years we have been producing our YouTube series, Patterns of Supernatural Phenomena to open people’s eyes about what is really happening as we race toward the return of, Jesus, our King. Season three is coming soon. Though our resources have decreased, our vision to serve the Lord continues to increase.
So, my friend, what kind of treasure hunt have you been on? Has it been worth it? Isn’t it time to start working for treasure that will never fade away?
Bible Study and Small Group Discussion Questions
- What does Scripture teach about where true treasure is stored?
- Passage: Matthew 6:19–21, “Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth… but store up for yourselves treasures in heaven.”
- From the chapter: “If suddenly, it vanished, what would you do?… Where is your treasure?”
- Question: What earthly treasures do you find yourself trying to protect, and how might Jesus be calling you to shift your heart toward eternal treasure?
- Why is the pursuit of earthly success spiritually dangerous?
- Passage: 1 Timothy 6:9, “Those who want to get rich fall into temptation and a snare…”
- From the chapter: “If you have any kind of success in Hollywood, the treasures of money and power will open a candy store in front of you. But all the candy is poison.”
- Question: Where do you feel the pull of worldly success, and how can you guard your heart from being seduced by it?
- How does God use loss to reveal what we truly value?
- Passage: Philippians 3:8, “I count all things as loss compared to the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord.”
- From the chapter: “We lost it… As much as we loved that house, it wasn’t our treasure.”
- Question: When have you experienced loss that exposed what your heart was clinging to, and how did God meet you in that moment?
- What does it mean to live as a servant warrior who expects spiritual conflict?
- Passage: Ephesians 6:12, “For our struggle is not against flesh and blood…”
- From the chapter: “Each of the three series I created became a body blow to my career. And each was a test.”
- Question: Where do you sense spiritual resistance in your life right now, and how might God be strengthening you through it?
- Why does Heaven rejoice over one transformed life?
- Passage: Luke 15:10, “There is joy in the presence of the angels of God over one sinner who repents.”
- From the chapter: “Jim and I prayed together… Being there for that moment was worth more to me than all the wealth, success and awards that Hollywood could ever bestow.”
- Question: How does Jim’s story reshape your understanding of what truly matters in a life of ministry?
- How does God reshape our value system as we surrender to Him?
- Passage: Romans 12:2, “Be transformed by the renewing of your mind…”
- From the chapter: “As the years pass… your entire value system will be transformed into His eternal value system.”
- Question: In what areas is God currently transforming your values, and what resistance still remains?
- Why must trials be embraced rather than avoided?
- Passage: James 1:2–4, “Consider it all joy… knowing that the testing of your faith produces endurance.”
- From the chapter: “Live a life worthy to be attacked, and don’t be surprised when you are.”
- Question: How might your current trials be producing endurance, maturity, or deeper dependence on Christ?
- What does it look like to use your gifts for eternal treasure rather than earthly reward?
- Passage: Colossians 3:23–24, “Whatever you do, work heartily… knowing that from the Lord you will receive the inheritance.”
- From the chapter: “Instead of using the gifts that God has given to you for yourself, isn’t it time to give them back to Him?”
- Question: Which of your God‑given gifts are you tempted to use for personal gain, and how might you redirect them toward eternal impact?
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