A La Carte (5/23)

The Big Picture – The Big Picture has a gallery of photos of the devastation in Oklahoma. Also, these before and after pictures are startling and display the power of the storm. Modern Parables 2 – I have often expressed my appreciation for the Modern Parables series of films. Well, they are now using Kickstarter to try to fund a second series of films. Check it out and consider being part of it! (And if you’ve never checked out the …

Modern Parables

Modern Parables is a Bible study series that uses short films to teach the parables of Jesus. The idea behind it all was to use film to recapture or recreate the kinds of emotions that Jesus’ 1st-century audience would have felt when first hearing those parables. It is remarkably successful. These are high-quality films that have merit both artistic and theological. The films are geared towards use for youth groups, small groups, evangelism or even home schooling curriculum and the set features …

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Church History DVDs

Gary Wilkinson is an independent Christian television producer and one who has been hard at work creating quite a list of excellent little church history documentaries. I recently received several of these DVDs and have very much enjoyed them, and perhaps especially the ones that deal with characters who are not quite so well known. I believe he currently has 5 DVDs for sale through Vision Video. I have watched and enjoyed the following: John Newton – This documentary explores Newton’s …

Dispatches from the Front

There are few things that thrill me more than learning what God is doing in other parts of the world. The Lord works in amazing ways and calls to himself people from every nation and tribe and tongue. Yet even in a world that is rapidly shrinking through the new media available to us, we hear far more than we see. Dispatches from the Front is a series of DVDs created by Frontline Missions that gives us a glimpse of …

What I Learned From ‘Human Planet’

I’ve got a thing for documentaries, and especially for nature documentaries. I loved Planet Earth and Blue Planet and Life and Nature’s Most Amazing Events–some of the recent major productions (all of which come from the BBC, as it happens). Human Planet is the same but different. It features the same stunning, high-definition footage of the planet and its inhabitants. But this time it focuses far more on people than on plants or animals. It focuses on the human element …

Life

I’ve got a bit of a thing for nature documentaries and maybe it’s because I’m not exactly the traveling type. I don’t ever anticipate being able to visit South America or Africa, to walk through the jungles and savannahs and to see so many of the wonders of God’s creation (at least on this side of eternity). Nature films, though, provide a glimpse of some of those things I guess I won’t ever see except through the lens of a …

Free Stuff Fridays

With another Friday (it’s amazing how quickly they come and go) we have another edition of Free Stuff Fridays. This week’s sponsor is Frontline Missions International. For nearly 20 years Frontline has worked among people in areas of war, persecution, and poverty, primarily in restricted-access countries, seeking to strengthen the Church, give voice to persecuted Christians, and proclaim the Good News. Recently, FMI has developed a new DVD series on 21st-century missions entitled Dispatches from the Front. Dispatches is suitable …

Review – John Piper DVDs

Desiring God and Crossway have partnered together to create some interesting new products. They have recently released three small group studies which combine lessons on DVD with book-format study guides. I will provide a brief description of each and then share my thoughts on the series: Why We Believe the Bible. “With the deluge of communication around us–books, newspapers, blogs, journals, and magazines all insisting that their view of the world is most compelling–which should we trust? This is no …

DVD Review – The Late Great Planet Church

I am no authority on eschatology, on the theology of the end times. In fact, I need all the help I can get in understanding it and in separating one view from the next. It is an area where seemingly small distinctions can make profound differences and where tensions often run high. It was with some interest, then, that I turned to The Late Great Planet Church, a new documentary by NiceneCouncil. It is hosted and produced by Jerry Johnson …

The Richard Wurmbrand Story

The Torchlighters video series is a series of animated DVD’s dedicated to “Highlighting the honor, integrity and life-changing experiences of those well-known and little-known Christian men, women and children who in response to God’s call, dedicated their lives to a life of whole-hearted commitment and passionate service to Jesus.” It is a production of Christian History Institute along with International Films and Voice of the Martyrs. The series recently expanded to six videos with the addition of The Richard Wurmbrand …