FRANCO MASADA MEETS JESUS FACE TO FACE

 

A frightened pregnant 16 year old girl is home in the bathroom trying to perform an abortion on herself by inserting a wire hanger and plastic to pull the fetus out when suddenly the bathroom door violently bursts open and her mother quickly yanks the hangar and plastic out of her daughter and exclaims at the top of her voice, “God is going to use this child!” I was BORN...

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One rainy morning I missed the bus to school so my dad drove me to school instead but by the time he got ready to leave for work and dropped me off, school had already started. I walked up to the classroom and stood outside in the pouring rain as I watched through the windows my teacher teaching class to the students. I then turned around, walked that long mile back home in the rain to face a shocked mother in the kitchen. I said to her, “I’m not going to be late to class or I’m not going at all!” It was kindergarten and I was only 5 years old.

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I walked out to the front porch one evening to witness my mother crying all alone. And when I asked her what was wrong she said, “You’re dad lost his job and we have to sell the car to pay the rent.” I said, “Don’t worry mom, everything’s gonna be alright.” She walked back in the house and I looked up to the stars in the heavens and said, “God, I make a vow this night that I will never be poor!” I was only 7 years old.

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One of my favorite teachers in school was Miss Rydeen and one morning she walks up to me and says, “You’re not in trouble but the principal wants to see you right now”. When I arrived to the principal's office, he greeted me with a warm and proud smile and said, “These 3 men came all the way from Washington, D.C. to meet you because your S.A.T. scores are so high.” I looked up at these 3 men in black suits, white shirts, black ties and black sunglasses and one of them said, “We’re just gonna sit down and talk for a while and ask you some questions, OK?... because you’re what we call a genius!" I remember they mentioned I had scored so high in problem solving with those diagrams in choosing which piece belonged to the illustration or which didn't, and they needed to know if it was a fluke that I had scored so high because there was no class for my comprehension level. They said I was at 11th grade high school level. I was only in fifth grade at the time and 10 years old.

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During my youth and into my teenage years, I remember so clearly two large pictures that hung on my bedroom wall along with a giant American Flag. One picture was of two little children crossing a dangerous old partially broken wooden bridge over a river below with an ANGEL helping them across safely. The other picture was of Jesus walking and carrying a LAMB in His arms as the rest of His flock of sheep followed Him. I was raised in a catholic home and I always loved God and America from as long as I can remember, but one day it came time to make my confirmation as a catholic by kissing the Bishop's ring and I refused and told my mother, “I don’t know for sure what the difference is, but someday I want to be a Christian!” I was 12 years old.

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My father played guitar and sang all the time around the home and at family picnics and even at restaurants and bars people would ask for my dad to play and sing. Besides being a straight A student my whole life, I began playing guitar at a very early age and became very good to the point I started my own Santana-Chicago-Tower of Power latin funk rock band, playing for High Schools, Colleges, Weddings, Private Events, State Fairs, New Years, and became one the most popular Bay Area bands for the next 4 years. I started my band at 13 years old.

 

Then in 1973, one August evening around midnight I was staring up at the stars above and one bright star caught my attention as it twinkled. In that very instant the black sky ripped open with a blinding white light, like paper being torn from behind and it peeled back from the center of the sky like two scrolls with flaming edges burning away this black paper sky with fire and suddenly the face of Jesus Christ appeared and his face filled the entire sky and universe... I fell flat on my back under the power of his glory!

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The Lord was angry and full of wrath and I began screaming, “I’m too late, I’m too late! He really did come back to earth again, like they were saying!” His hand then reached down as He pointed his index finger to me, almost touching my nose and shouted with a voice that shook the heavens, “YOU!!!”. I screamed back frightened, “What God? What do you want?”

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He continued to point His finger and shouted, “I WANT YOU!” I felt his voice like a flood of waters rushing through my very being as if my body was a screen and I was terrified! I screamed back even louder, “Please don’t kill me God, I’m sorry, I’m sorry. What do you want?” He pointed His finger again, just inches from my nose and shouted, “YOU!!!”, and then disappeared. I was so frightened that for the next 24 hours my skin tone became a gray white death color and I was totally convinced God was going to kill me. I was 17 years old when I met Jesus face to face.

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A month later I was given a recording contract with a new Latin-Rock band from Los Angeles and moved to Hollywood on my 18th birthday, September 24, 1973. But God had other plans and on the same day I flew into Hollywood and settled in my first new apartment near Hollywood Blvd and Vine St, I heard the plan of salvation and knelt in my apartment all alone and asked Jesus to forgive me and to come into my heart… and He did, as I wept and felt His spirit, power and glory!

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A few months later I found a place to go into full time ministry and walked away from the music, the band, the touring and performing and knew it was time to get serious with God. Not long after the band leader came looking for me and said, “We just got signed for a complete U.S. tour across the states and we need you! You can still serve God on the road, this is what you’ve always talked about and dreamed of, right?” I simply said with no hesitation, “No thanks, my dreams have changed and I’m going to serve the Lord where the Lord wants me.” I was 18 years old.

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A few years later, ministry and music brought me to Nashville where I soon became an ordained minister under AOG but always remained Non-Denominational. My ministry and music soon was meshed with my new career in the clothing business and wardrobing the stars and I soon was catering to celebrities such as Waylon Jennings, Johnny Cash and Tammy Wynette and pop stars as well like James Brown, Gladys Knight, Motley Crue and Whitesnake.  

 

I eventually owned and operated my own retail and wholesale clothing company with clients such as Tim McGraw, Garth Brooks, Tanya Tucker and Eddie Money. By 1995 I was invited to the Jay Leno Tonight Show where I presented a custom shirt to Jay personally and Jay and I appeared on the cover of Key Magazine in Nashville. Then suddenly one day while walking down a quiet street with no one in sight, I heard the audible VOICE OF GOD for the second time in my life with some alarming details of my calling. I remember looking around to see where the voice was coming from, then to see if anyone was watching me as I reacted to what I was experiencing. And as big as that year was, little did I know my life was about to drastically change again and that this was only the beginning.  I had just turned 40 years old.

 

So by 2000 I returned to San Jose, California for personal reasons and to be around my family. I became involved with another very large ministry and soon became the band director for local and international events and conferences and by 2002 I started the Masada Band, known as the Santana-Chicago-Tower of Power Christian Latin Rock Funk Band. We recorded 4 CD’s and ministered and performed everywhere from small to large churches to concerts, festivals and world conferences with audiences of 20,000 to 30,000.  At the same time I also became the #1 salesman and sales trainer/motivational speaker for one of the largest print advertising companies in America  making a very healthy six figure income.

 

Around this time I had the idea that if someone spirit filled produced movies in Hollywood that it would change the world. In this revelation I did not comprehend that God was actually talking to me because it just made sense to me that someone should do this so that they can influence the entire world instead of through the traditional church and religious structure of today.

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And then suddenly I got a download for a movie idea and I could hardly write fast enough and then copyrighted it. Immediately I had two more movie ideas as it felt like I couldn’t turn it off. But somehow I knew these movie ideas were to be worked on in the future and filed the ideas away for a season.

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Then in the summer of 2008, a year after rebounding from producing the largest concert festival of 2007 in the San Francisco Bay Area featuring Sly & The Family Stone, Average White Band, The Latin Sensations with Malo, El Chicano & Tierra and Pete Escovedo on 7/07/07 in obedience to the Lord, the Lord then reminded me of the movie idea and that now was the time to move on it. I soon found a local writer that worked in Hollywood as a script reader then turned script writer and being that he was a Christian and knew many friends of mine, I hired him for $5,000 to be ghostwriter of my script.

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Soon I was extorted to paying the writer almost $10,000 and ended up with only a partial badly written script. On top of that, the writer registered the script under his name and stole the movie idea unless I continued to pay him more to complete the script. A Christian attorney soon convinced the writer to release the rights back to me since contracts proved the movie idea was originally mine.

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After this horrible experience, I was attending a 3 day conference with Kim Clement at Jubilee Church in San Jose and I put a fleece before the Lord to be answered or I would not pursue the movie project anymore and walk away. I told the Lord to show Kim Clement who I am in the spirit and for Kim to call me out in the midst of over 3,000 attending the service.

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On the final day of the conference, just when Kim was winding up his preaching to give Pastor Dick Bernal a chance to take the offering, Kim looked at me and said, “you there, stand up!” Then Kim prophesied and the first thing he said was, “I’ve been watching you and the spirit of the Lord has been showing me you all these days….and the Lord says your dream will come to pass!” He prophesied much more in great detail. See the video clip at the top of this page. I wept.

 

So in November of 2008 I made a trip to Hollywood by faith to spy out the land and start pitching my movie. I flew out one of my best friends Jack Baxter, a movie producer from New York, to meet me in Hollywood since Jack had lived there before and knew many people in the industry. Doors opened for more than twenty-one contacts including Shawn Boltz, who sensed my movie project was from the Lord and he immediately called Lance Wallnau and set up a meeting for me to meet Lance in the near future. I returned home with a renewed conviction to develop this movie and with new inspiration from my friend Jack, I then hired him to rewrite a fresh script for $4000.

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By early 2009, I cold called Motive Entertainment (marketing company behind the success of The Passion & Narnia) to see if my movie idea was good enough for Hollywood and they accepted my synopsis. The next day I received a phone call from the CEO, Paul Lauer and Paul said, “tons of material comes across my desk, but this one got my attention.” Soon we met and I struck a deal for Motive to meet me half way on the fee to develop a 40 page business and marketing plan with an executive summary for future potential investors.

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But now I felt I had to really hear from the Lord before investing $20,000 and while in heavy prayer and questioning why God wanted me to make this film, I had an open vision. I beheld the entire world filled with billions of lost souls in horrific anguish, all going to hell and the Lord said, “that’s why I’m sending you into Hollywood!” I began weeping uncontrollably for an hour as the encounter resonated through my very heart and soul. I knew this was much more than just making a movie.

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Still I felt I had to put one more fleece before the Lord so on the final day of a 3 day Benny Hinn crusade, I brought a copy of the movie synopsis, held it up before the Lord and requested of the Lord that I meet Benny Hinn that day. I had been seated on the platform amongst the pastors with Benny several times in the past since I am still an ordained minister. But I was not sitting on the platform at this crusade and I was in the audience. After the event and while the stage was being taken down, Benny came out to shake hands with a small handful of people that were still fellowshipping. Benny then looked towards the back of the room where I was talking with some friends and suddenly pointed at me and said out loud, “You sir, come over here, I want to meet you. Who are you?” My fleece was answered a second time.

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A few months later in April of 2009 I received a postcard invitation from a local church announcing special guest actor Jim Caviezel was coming to share his story of making the movie The Passion and was promoting his new bible on CD using top actors as the characters in the bible. I ignored the postcard but then someone at work handed me the same postcard and then I sensed the Lord was on this. So I called and asked Paul Lauer, the CEO of Motive Entertainment if I should try to meet Jim and pitch the movie. Paul said that he had recently had dinner with Jim and told me if I get the opportunity to speak with Jim, to tell him the movie is a winner!

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I waited till the long autograph line ended and I shook Jim’s hand and gave him a prophetic word that his gift to this world was his heart of compassion and that God would soon restore him financially. Jim was so moved and touched by this that he gave me his full attention as I then shared about Motive Entertainment being involved with my film project and the message from Paul that this film was a winner. Jim was intrigued with the movie concept and remarked it was powerful. Me being the salesman I am, I then asked Jim if he would be interested in being involved with the movie and Jim gave a very solid yes. Jim then gave me advice in recommending a certain top producer in Hollywood and said to keep in touch on the progress. I met Jim again a year later in 2010 and Jim thanked me for the update on the project moving forward with the focus on the script while still putting feelers out for possible investors.

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I then flew to Sedona Arizona with an appointment to meet Lance Wallnau since Lance was the guest speaker at a David Herzog conference. I was already friends with David from the past and shared with both Lance and David my movie project and the path the Lord has had me on. Lance met privately with me in length and said there was no doubt the favor of the Lord is on this movie project and gave sound advice to me on how to cautiously proceed in prayer and wisdom. Lance has kept in touch with me by email and has continued to encourage me and he is encouraged as well that I have stayed the course. Lance recently met with me and believes the time is now.

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In 2010, Shawn Bolz invited me to a conference in Pasadena by Pastor Che Ahn focusing on the vision of Hollywood and the Church. Many key leaders attended like David Herzog, Shawn Bolz, Cindy Jacobs as well as key people in the Hollywood industry sharing on what God is doing in Hollywood and to encourage those attending to step into their calling if they have a passion for the arts & media. Then something happened the day I was checking out of the hotel. While waiting for the elevator, Cindy Jacobs exited. I greeted her and shared how the Lord was sending me into Hollywood.

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Cindy intrigued, wanted to know more about me and began asking questions of my past and about the movie concept. After sharing how I was a former clothing designer to many celebrities and ran multi businesses over the years, Cindy began to prophecy over me and said if the Lord hadn’t taken me out of the entertainment industry the first time and had I gone into Hollywood back then that I would have been destroyed. Cindy continued, “But now the Lord has prepared you for such a time and just as the movie is a Joseph story, that you are also a “Joseph”. Cindy went on to say that she does not say these things lightly and that she spoke this prophecy by the Holy Spirit. I just stood there in the hotel hall weeping under the anointing. Cindy gave me her personal email and cell phone and said to keep in touch and that she would be praying.

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As I was driving home that same day after speaking with Cindy Jacobs, I received a text from Shawn Boltz who was also attending the conference. Apparently he had run into Cindy shortly after she had spoke and prayed with me and his text said, “I ran into Cindy Jacobs and Gabe Ahn and we’ve been talking about you… want you to know we love you and that you are a JOSEPH Franco!” I wept again and worshipped the Lord as I drove back to San Jose being encouraged again from the Lord that I was on the right path.

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A few years ago, I sold my home in Northern California, moved to Los Angeles in obedience to the Lord to produce movies for the kingdom and to disciple nations with the power of His influence through Hollywood and movies. As they say on the popular TV show, "The Shark Tank"... I'm all in and have invested over half million dollars over the past 9 years and by 2018 it will be officially 10 years pursuing this vision that God has given me and the responsibility to accomplish this... for His glory alone!