Watered-Down Gospel.
It usurps the authority of God over the soul.
Whether a preacher boldly proclaims the Word of God or not is ultimately a question of authority. Who has the right to speak to the church—the preacher or God? Whenever anything is substituted for the preaching of the Word, God’s authority is usurped. What a prideful thing to do! In fact, it is hard to conceive of anything more insolent that could be done by a man who is called by God to preach.
It removes the lordship of Christ from His church.
Who is the head of the church? Is Christ really the dominant teaching authority in the church? If so, then why are there so many churches where His Word is not being faithfully proclaimed? When we look at contemporary ministry, we see programs and methods that are the fruit of human invention, opinion polls, neighborhood surveys, and other pragmatic artifices. Church-growth experts have in essence wrested control of the church’s agenda from her true head, the Lord Jesus Christ. Our Puritan forefathers resisted government-imposed liturgies for precisely this reason: They saw that imposition as a direct attack on the headship of Christ over His own church. Modern preachers who neglect the Word of God have yielded the ground those men fought and sometimes died for. When Jesus Christ is exalted among His people, His power is manifest in the church. When the church is commandeered by compromisers who have an agenda or priorities other than the Lord’s, the gospel is minimized, true power is lost, artificial energy must be manufactured, and superficiality takes the place of truth.
It hinders the work of the Holy Spirit.
What is the instrument the Spirit uses to do His work? The Word of God. He uses the Word as the instrument of regeneration (1 Peter 1:23; James 1:18). He also uses it as the means of sanctification (John 17:17). In fact, it is the only tool He uses (Ephesians 6:17). So when preachers neglect God’s Word, they undermine the work of the Holy Spirit, producing shallow conversions and spiritually lame Christians—if not spurious ones.
It demonstrates appalling pride and a lack of submission.
In the modern approach to “ministry,” the Word of God is deliberately downplayed, the reproach of Christ is quietly repudiated, the offense of the gospel is carefully eliminated, and “worship” is purposely tailored to fit the preferences of unbelievers. That is nothing but a refusal to submit to the biblical mandate for the church. The effrontery of ministers who pursue such a course is, to me, frightening.
It severs the preacher personally from the regular, sanctifying grace of Scripture.
The greatest personal benefit I get from preaching is the work the Spirit of God does on my own soul as I study and prepare for one or two expository messages each Lord’s Day. Week by week, the duty of careful exposition keeps my own heart focused and fixed on the Scriptures, and the Word of God nourishes me while I prepare to feed my flock. So I am personally blessed and spiritually strengthened through the enterprise. If for no other reasons than those, I would never abandon biblical preaching. The enemy of our souls is after preachers in particular, and the sanctifying grace of the Word of God is critical to our protection.
It clouds the true depth and transcendence of our message, therefore crippling both corporate and personal worship.
What passes for preaching in some churches today is literally no more profound than what preachers in our fathers’ generation were teaching in the five-minute children’s sermon they gave before dismissing the kids. That’s no exaggeration. It is often that simplistic, if not utterly inane. There is nothing deep about it. Such an approach makes it impossible for true worship to take place, because worship is a transcendent experience. Worship should take us above the mundane and simplistic. So the only way that true worship can occur is if we first come to grips with the depth of spiritual truth. Our people can rise high in worship only in the same proportion to which we have taken them deep into the profound truths of the Word. There is no way they can have lofty thoughts of God unless we have plunged them into the depths of God’s self-revelation. But preaching today is neither profound nor transcendent. It doesn’t go down, so it doesn’t go up. It merely aims to entertain.
By the way, true worship is not something that can be stimulated artificially. A bigger, louder band and more sentimental music might do more to stir people’s emotions, but that is not genuine worship. True worship is a response from the heart to God’s truth (John 4:23). You can actually worship without music if you have seen the glories and the depth of what the Bible teaches.
It prevents the preacher from fully developing the mind of Christ.
Pastors are supposed to be undershepherds of Christ. Too many modern preachers are so bent on understanding the culture that they develop the mind of the culture and not the mind of Christ. They start to think like the world, and not like the Savior. Frankly, the nuances of worldly culture are virtually irrelevant to me. I want to know the mind of Christ and bring that to bear on the culture, no matter what culture I may be ministering to. If I’m going to stand up in a pulpit and be a representative of Jesus Christ, I want to know how He thinks—and that must be what I want for His people too. The only way to know and proclaim the mind of Christ is by being faithful to study and preach His Word. What happens to preachers who obsess about cultural “relevancy” is that they become worldly, not godly.
It depreciates, by example, the spiritual duty and priority of personal Bible study.
Is personal Bible study important? Of course. But what example does the preacher set when he neglects the Bible in his own preaching? Why would people think they need to study the Bible if the preacher doesn’t do serious study himself in the preparation of his sermons? There is now a movement among some in ministry to trim, as much as possible, all explicit references to the Bible from the sermon—and above all, to never ask people to turn to a specific Bible passage, because that kind of thing makes “seekers” uncomfortable. Some churches actively discourage their people from bringing Bibles to church lest the sight of so many Bibles intimidate the “seekers.” As if it were dangerous to give your people the impression that the Bible might be important!
It prevents the preacher from being the voice of God on every issue of his time.
Jeremiah 8:9 says, “The wise men are put to shame, they are dismayed and caught; behold, they have rejected the word of the Lord, and what kind of wisdom do they have?” When I speak, I want to be God’s messenger. I’m not interested in exegeting what some psychologist or business guru or college professor has to say about an issue. My people don’t need my opinion; they need to hear what God has to say. If we preach as Scripture commands us, there should be no ambiguity about whose message is coming from the pulpit.
It breeds a congregation that is as weak and indifferent to the glory of God as their pastor is.
Such preaching fosters people who are consumed with their own well-being. When you tell people that the church’s primary ministry is to fix for them whatever is wrong in this life—to meet their needs, to help them cope with their worldly disappointments, and so on—the message you are sending is that their mundane problems are more important than the glory of God and the majesty of Christ. Again, that sabotages true worship.
It robs people of their only true source of help.
People who sit under superficial preaching become dependent on the cleverness and creativity of the speaker. When preachers punctuate their sermons with laser lights and smoke, video clips and live drama, the message they send is that the people in the pew could never extract such profound material on their own. Such gimmicks create a kind of dispensing mechanism that people cannot access on their own—they can’t use it to serve themselves. So they become spiritual couch potatoes who just come in to be entertained, and whatever superficial spiritual content they get from the preacher’s weekly performance is all they will get. They have no particular interest in the Bible because the sermons they hear don’t cultivate that. They are wowed by the preacher’s creativity and manipulated by the music, and that becomes their whole perspective on spirituality.
It encourages people to become indifferent to the Word of God and divine authority.
Predictably, in a church where the preaching of Scripture is neglected, it becomes impossible to get people to submit to the authority of Scripture. The preacher who always aims at meeting felt needs and strokes the conceit of worldly people has no platform from which to confront, for example, the man who wants to divorce his wife without cause. The man will say, “You don’t understand what I feel. I came here because you promised to meet my felt needs. And I’m telling you, I don’t feel like living with this woman anymore.” You can’t inject biblical authority into that. You certainly wouldn’t have an easy time pursuing church discipline. That is the monster created by superficial preaching. But if you are going to try to deal with sin and apply any kind of authoritative principle to keep the church pure, you must be preaching the Word.
It lies to people about what they really need.
In Jeremiah 8:11, God condemns the prophets who treated people’s wounds superficially. That verse applies powerfully to the preachers who populate so many prominent evangelical pulpits today. They omit the hard truths about sin and judgment. They tone down the offensive parts of Christ’s message. They lie to people about what they need, promising them “fulfillment” and earthly well-being when what people really need is an exalted vision of Christ and a true understanding of the splendor of God’s holiness.
It strips the pulpit of power.
“The word of God is living and active and sharper than any two-edged sword” (Hebrews 4:12). Everything else is impotent, giving merely an illusion of power. Human strategy is not more important than Scripture. The showman’s ability to lure people in should not impress us more than the Bible’s ability to transform lives.
It puts the responsibility on the preacher to change people with his cleverness.
Preachers who pursue the modern approach to ministry must think they have the power to change people. That is a frightening expression of pride. We preachers can’t save people, and we can’t sanctify them. We can’t change people with our insights and cleverness, by entertaining them, or by appealing to their human whims and wishes and ambitions. There’s only One who can change sinners. That’s God, and He does it by His Spirit through the Word.
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Updated stream list
I've been getting a lot of questions/requests regarding possible streams and thought it might be helpful to catalog everything we've watched so far! I'll keep it pinned and updated moving forward.
Longtime crowd favorites (streamed at least three times) are marked with a single asterisk.
Why isn’t [specific actor/video] on this list?
The video is currently marked not for trade.
We haven’t gotten to it yet.
The footage does not exist or is too incomplete.
It isn't on a platform I can stream it from.
There's something particularly off-putting about the video or actor.
How can I get a copy of a video listed here?
There's a list of publicly available bootlegs here, and there are many other adaptations on the Phantom Retrospective channel. Otherwise, contact @glassprism (or another trader) for a possible trade, or check her website for info on which master(s) to contact.
For general stream info, please see the Saturday Streams FAQ.
On to the list!
Andrew Lloyd Webber's The Phantom of the Opera
1988 Broadway: Michael Crawford, Sarah Brightman, Steve Barton
1989 Broadway: Cris Groenendaal, Rebecca Luker, Steve Barton
1989 Los Angeles: Michael Crawford, Dale Kristien, Steve Barton
1990 Los Angeles: Michael Crawford, Mary D’Arcy, Reece Holland
1991 Los Angeles: Michael Crawford, Dale Kristien, Michael Piontek
1993 U.S. Tour: Franc D’Ambrosio, Tracy Shayne, Ciaran Sheehan
1993 Vienna: Alexander Goebel, Luzia Nistler, Alfred Pfeifer*
1994 Sapporo: Eiji Akutagawa, Hisako Hanaoka, Masayuki Sano*
1994 Toronto: Peter Karrie, Teresa DeZarn, David Rogers
1995 Broadway: Davis Gaines, Tracy Shayne, Ciaran Sheehan
1995 London: Ethan Freeman, Jill Washington, Simon Bowman*
1998 Broadway: Thomas James O’Leary, Tracy Shayne, Gary Mauer
1998 Los Angeles: Davis Gaines, Marie Danvers, Lawrence Anderson*
1998 San Francisco: Franc D’Ambrosio, Lisa Vroman, Christopher Carl*
1998 Toronto: Peter Karrie, Elizabeth DeGrazia, David Rodgers*
1998 Broadway: Thoms James O’Leary, Tracy Shayne, Gary Mauer
1999 Broadway: Howard McGillin, Adrienne McEwan, Gary Mauer
1999 Toronto: Paul Stanley, Melissa Dye, Laird Mackintosh
1999/2000 Mexico City: Saulo Vasconcelos, Irasema Terrazas, Jose Joel*
2000 Antwerp: Hans Peter Janssens, Inneke van Klinken, Michael Shawn Lewis
2000 London: Scott Davies, Meredith Braun, Matt Cammelle
2000 London: Scott Davies, Charlotte Page, Matt Cammelle
2001 Hamburg: Ian Jon Bourg, Colby Thomas, Kyle Gonyea
2001 Hamburg: Ian Jon Bourg, Olivia Safe, Kyle Gonyea
2001 Hamburg: Michael Nicholson, Olivia Safe, Christopher Morandi
2002 London: John Owen-Jones, Celia Graham, Robert Finlayson
2003 Broadway: Howard McGillin, Adrienne McEwan, Jim Weitzer
2003 Broadway: Hugh Panaro, Julie Hanson, Jim Weitzer
2003 Broadway: Hugh Panaro, Lisa Vroman, John Cudia
2003 U.S. Tour: Brad Little, Lisa Vroman, Tim Martin Gleason
2004 Madrid: Luis Armando, Teresa Barrientos, Armando Pita
2004 Stuttgart: Thomas Schulze, Maike Switzer, Carsten Axel Lepper
2005 Broadway: Hugh Panaro, Julie Hanson, John Cudia
2005 Broadway: Hugh Panaro, Sandra Joseph, Tim Martin Gleason
2005 Broadway: James Romick, Marie Danvers, John Cudia
2005 London: John Owen-Jones, Rachel Barrell, Oliver Thornton
2005 U.S. Tour: Gary Mauer, Marie Danvers, Michael Shawn Lewis
2006 Essen: Ethan Freeman, Anne Gorner, Nikolaj Brucker
2006 Essen: Uwe Kröger, Beatrix Reiter, Lucius Wolter*
2006 London: Earl Carpenter, Rachel Barrell, David Shannon*
2006 São Paulo: Saulo Vasconcelos, Kiara Sasso, Nando Prado
2006 U.S. Tour: Gary Mauer, Elizabeth Southard, Jim Weitzer*
2006 U.S. Tour: John Cudia, Jennifer Hope Wills, Adam Monley
2007 Broadway: Gary Mauer, Jennifer Hope Wills, Jason Mills
2007 World Tour: Simon Pryce, Julie Goodwin, John Bowles
2008 Broadway: Howard McGillin, Elizabeth Loyacano, Jeremy Stolle
2008 Las Vegas: Anthony Crivello, Kristi Holden, Andrew Ragone*
2008 World Tour: Simon Pryce, Ana Marina, Alexander Lewis
2009 Australia: Anthony Warlow, Ana Marina, Alexander Lewis
2010 London: David Shannon, Gina Beck, Simon Bailey*
2010 London: David Shannon, Gina Beck, Will Barratt
2010 U.S. Tour: Tim Martin Gleason, Trista Moldovan, Sean MacLaughlin
2012 Broadway: Greg Mills, Marni Raab, Kyle Barisich*
2012 Broadway: Hugh Panaro, Trista Moldovan, Kyle Barisich
2012 London: Marcus Lovett, Anna O’Byrne, Simon Thomas
2013 Broadway: Jeremy Stolle, Samantha Hill, Greg Mills*
2013 Broadway: Peter Joback, Samantha Hill, Jeremy Stolle
2013 Broadway: Peter Joback, Elizabeth Welch, Kyle Barisich
2013 London: Marcus Lovett, Sofia Escobar, Simon Thomas
2014 Broadway: Greg Mills, Mary Michael Patterson, Jeremy Hays
2014 Broadway: Hugh Panaro, Sara Jean Ford, Jeremy Hays
2014 Broadway: Hugh Panaro, Elizabeth Welch, Jeremy Hays
2014 Broadway: Jeremy Stolle, Mary Michael Patterson, Jeremy Hays
2014 Broadway: Laird Mackintosh, Kaley Ann Voorhees, Jeremy Hays*
2014 Broadway: Laird Mackintosh, Sara Jean Ford, Jeremy Hays
2014 Broadway: Norm Lewis, Sierra Boggess, Jeremy Hays*
2014 Broadway: Paul Schaefer, Mary Michael Patterson, Jeremy Hays
2014 Hamburg: David Arnsperger, Lauri Brons, Nicky Wuchinger
2014 Hamburg: Mathias Edenborn, Daniela Braun, Nicky Wuchinger
2014 Moscow: Dmitry Ermak, Tamara Kotova, Evgeny Zaytsev
2014 Moscow: Ivan Ozhogin, Tamara Kotova, Evgeny Zaytsev
2014 U.S. Tour: Cooper Grodin, Grace Morgan, Ben Jacoby
2014 U.S. Tour: Cooper Grodin, Julia Udine, Ben Jacoby
2014 World Tour: Brad Little, Kristi Holden, Anthony Downing
2015 London: Geronimo Rauch, Harriet Jones, Richard Munday
2015 Moscow: Ivan Ozhogin, Tamara Kotova, Ivan Rak
2015 Prague: Marian Vojtko, Michaela Gemrotova, Tomas Vanek
2015 Prague: Marian Vojtko, Monika Sommerova, Tomas Vanek
2016 Broadway: Laird Mackintosh, Julia Udine, Jeremy Hays
2016 Moscow: Andrey Schkoldychenko, Elena Bahtiyarova, Evgeny Zaytsev (act 2 only)
2016 Oberhausen: Brent Barrett, Elizabeth Welch, Max Niemeyer
2016? Prague: Marian Vojtko, Michaela Gemrotova, Tomas Vanek
2016 Stockholm: Peter Jöback, Emmi Christensson, Anton Zetterholm
2016 U.S. Tour: Derrick Davis, Kaitlyn Davis, Jordan Craig
2018 Broadway (Sept.): Ben Crawford, Ali Ewoldt, Jay Armstrong Johnson
2018 Broadway (Oct.): Ben Crawford, Ali Ewoldt, Jay Armstrong Johnson
2018? Prague: Radim Schwab, Monika Sommerova, Tomas Vanek
2019 Copenhagen: Tomas Ambt Kofod, Sibylle Glosted, Christian Lund*
2019 London: David Thaxton, Kelly Mathieson, Jeremy Taylor*
2019 London: Josh Piterman, Kelly Mathieson, Alistair So*
2019 São Paulo: Fred Silveira, Giulia Nadruz, Henrique Moretzsohn
2019 São Paulo - Fred Silveira, Lina Mendes, Henrique Moretzsohn
2019 São Paulo: Thiago Arancam, Daruã Góes, Fred Silveira
2019 São Paulo: Thiago Arancam, Giulia Nadruz, Fred Silveira
2019 World Tour: Jonathan Roxmouth, Meghan Picerno, Matt Leisy*
2021 Broadway: Ben Crawford, Meghan Picerno, John Riddle
2021 Broadway: Jeremy Stolle, Emilie Kouatchou, John Riddle
2021 London: Killian Donnelly, Holly-Anne Hull, Rhys Whitfield
2022 Broadway: Ben Crawford, Kanisha Marie Feliciano, Paul A. Schaefer
2022 Broadway: Ben Crawford, Emilie Kouatchou, John Riddle
2022 Broadway: Ted Keegan, Emilie Kouatchou, John Riddle
2022 Broadway: Ted Keegan, Elizabeth Welch, Bronson Norris Murphy
2022 Broadway: Jeremy Stolle, Emilie Kouatchou, Jordan Donica
2022 London: James Hume, Holly-Anne Hull, Matt Blaker
2022 London: Killian Donnelly, Anouk van Laake, Rhys Whitfield
2022 Sydney: Josh Robson, Georgina Hopson, Callum Frances
2023 Broadway: Ted Keegan, Emilie Kouatchou, John Riddle
2023 Broadway: Laird Mackintosh, Julia Udine, John Riddle
2023 Broadway: Greg Mills, Emilie Kouatchou, John Riddle
2023 Broadway: Greg Mills, Julia Udine, Paul A. Schaefer
2023 London: Earl Carpenter, Paige Blankson, Ralph Watts
2023 London: Earl Carpenter, Eve Shanu-Wilson, Connor Carson
2023 London: Killian Donnelly, Lucy St. Louis, Matt Blaker
2023 London: James Gant, Holly-Anne Hull, Matt Blaker
2023 London: James Gant, Paige Blankson, Matt Blaker
2023 Shanghai: Ayanga (various clips)
2023 Shanghai: He Liangchen, Yang Chenxiuyi, Li Chenxi
2023 Thessaloniki: Tim Howar, Harriet Jones, Nadim Naaman
Love Never Dies
2010 London: Ramin Karimloo, Sierra Boggess, Dean Chisnall
2011 London: Ramin Karimloo, Sierra Boggess, Dean Chisnall
2013 Vienna concert: Drew Sarich, Milica Jovanovic, Julian Looman
2018 U.S. Tour: Bronson Norris Murphy, Meghan Picerno, Sean Thompson*
2023 London concert: Norm Lewis, Celinde Schoenmaker, Matthew Seadon-Young
Other adaptations
1925 The Phantom of the Opera (film, Lon Chaney)
1937 Song at Midnight**
1943 Phantom of the Opera (film, Claude Rains)**
1962 Hammer Horror: The Phantom of the Opera (film, Herbert Lom)**
1974 Phantom of the Paradise
1983 The Phantom of the Opera (TV movie, Max Schell)**
1987 The Phantom of the Opera (animated film)
1989 Phantom of the Mall: Eric’s Revenge
1989 The Phantom of the Opera (film, Robert Englund)**
1990 The Phantom of the Opera (TV miniseries, Charles Dance)
1993 Yeston/Kopit’s Phantom (stage show, Richard White)**
1991 The Phantom of the Opera (stage show, David Staller)
1992 Tom Alonso’s The Phantom of the Opera (stage show)**
1993 Yeston/Kopit’s Phantom (Wichita, Richard White)
1994 Lamb Chop in the Haunted Studio (TV special)**
1995 Pantin’ at the Opera (Wishbone episode)
1995 Phantom of the Opera on Ice*
2000 The Tale of the Last Dance (Are You Afraid of the Dark? episode)
2004 The Phantom of the Opera (film, Gerard Butler)
2011 Spiritual Twist’s The Phantom of the Opera (stage show)
2013 The Phantom of the Opera (Ken Hill stage show, Tokyo)**
2019 Spiritual Twist’s The Phantom of the Opera (stage show)
2018 Yeston/Kopit’s Phantom (stage show, Takarazuka Revue)
2018 Yeston/Kopit’s Phantom (stage show, Seoul)
2020 Sasson’s Das Phantom der Oper (stage show, Germany, with Uwe Kröger)**
2021 Yeston/Kopit’s Phantom (stage show proshot, Seoul)
Miscellaneous
2017 Broadway: Prince of Broadway (in honor of Hal Prince)
Stolleboot (fan edit starring Jeremy Stolle as the Phantom, Raoul, Piangi, and Passarino)*
*Longtime crowd favorite (streamed at least three times)
**We’ve watched it, but it was technically streamed by another host I used to alternate with.
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