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Entries in Biblical Worldview (27)

8:00AM

SAICFF Registration Now Open!

The festival will be held October 28-30 in downtown San Antonio, and we are excited to see the film submissions for 2010!

Submission Entry Deadlines

Early Bird Deadline: May 1, 2010 *
Regular Deadline: Feature Films: July 31, 2010 All Others: June 30, 2010

* Please note: In order for films to qualify for the Early Bird special pricing, all submissions must be post-marked no later than May 1.

Film Festival Categories

This year filmmakers have the opportunity to submit films to compete for a Jubilee Award in five categories:
- Feature Film
- Documentary
- Short Film
- Commercial Advertisement
- Promotional Media.

In addition, one of these films will take home the Best of Festival Jubilee Award, and a check for $101,000.

Awards will also be given for:
- Best Three-Page Treatment
- Best Original Score
- Best Young Filmmaker
- Best Festival Trailer
- ....and the coveted Audience Choice award.

More info can be found at, www.saicff.org

9:56AM

FREE DOWNLOAD! - Walt Disney: A Christian Critique

"In the twentieth century, no man did more to shape the values of family culture for good or evil than Walt Disney. As a motivator, innovator, and filmmaker, his efforts impacted millions across the globe through his movies, theme parks, and television shows. Disney’s work helped to define the literary and cultural sensibilities of a generation of American children and introduced enduring and iconic expressions of childhood that remain with us to this day.

Yet, despite his far reaching influence, Christians have not thoroughly evaluated the worldview and accomplishments of Walt Disney from a biblical perspective. In these three powerful messages presented by Doug Phillips, Geoff Botkin, and Isaac Botkin, the listener is treated to a never-before-heard professional insight, filling that void by providing a theological critique of Disney’s legacy, offering independent filmmakers and families important lessons to be learned from Walt’s victories and failures.

Right up until Walt Disney’s death, the nineteenth-century culture of small town America was very dear to his heart, and this ideal served as his touchstone during the cultural turmoil and decline of the twentieth century. In the small community of Marceline, Missouri, Walt was shaped by sensibilities of grateful immigrants, industrious farmers, and conscientious schoolmasters. Veteran filmmaker Geoff Botkin explores Disney’s nineteenth century values—what he terms as “Walt’s ethical default position”—and makes this observation that only by understanding Disney’s core commitments will modern filmmakers be able to rightly understand his cultural achievements and legacy.

Isaac Botkin brilliantly explains that the Christian film pioneers of the twenty first century must learn from the Disney legacy’s of entrepreneurial success in a highly competivive industry. Find out what Disney wanted his staff to be and how he led them through habits of command that set technical and story standards that have yet to be surpassed."

Titles include:

  • Symposium on Disney, Film and American Culture: A Theological Critique, by Doug Phillips
  • The Life and Times of Walt Disney: Understanding Walt's 1899 Ethical Default Position, by Geoff Botkin
  • The Rise and Fall of the Disney Studio: The Objective Pursuit of Quality in the Development of Art and Story, by Isaac Botkin
- DOWNLOAD HERE -

11:06AM

FlashForward – God’s Sovereignty Vs. Free Will

Please note, this is not an endorsement for the ABC Television show "FlashForward."

"The ambitious ABC Studios’ series explores the aftermath of a mysterious and inexplicable phenomenon that renders everyone on the planet unconscious at exactly the same moment. Millions die. Destruction of property and infrastructure is enormous. Yet during those few moments of global blackout, every man, woman and child is given a rare and precious gift. They get to see a brief glimpse of his or her life exactly six months in the future.

Make no mistake, FlashForward is not even remotely a Christian TV series. But it is a series that at least dares to ask some essential questions that Christians have wrestled with since the founding of the faith. Questions like how much of our lives are determined by divine fiat, and how much of our lives are the result of acts of free will? And what effect does knowing the future (prophecy) have on our present actions? Is the future set (fate), or can we alter the future by our actions (free will)?

I don’t ponder these issues in a vacuum. During our recent morning devotions my wife and I studied the story of Isaac and Rebecca. You remember – Rebecca was pregnant and having a tough go of it. She went to inquire of the Lord and was given a glimpse into the future. “And the LORD said unto her, Two nations are in thy womb, and two manner of people shall be separated from thy bowels; and the one people shall be stronger than the other people; and the elder shall serve the younger” (Genesis 25:23).

The scripture goes on to talk about Isaac loving Esau while Rebecca loved Jacob. Now, my wife and I have twins – a boy and a girl. They are totally different personalities and we love them both – differently, but equally. It’s hard for me to imagine a mother loving one of her kids more than the other. In Rebecca’s case, she loved Jacob so much that she perpetrated a lie to her husband. The result was that the son she loved fled the country and she never saw him again. The son she had left, I suspect, never talked to her again because of her betrayal. Rebecca lost both of her sons on that day.

Perhaps, on that faithful day when Rebecca went to inquire of the Lord, she got a brief glimpse of the future. She knew Jacob was destined (fate) to be the child of promise. But rather than waiting to see how God would bring that to pass, she intervened (free will), perhaps trying to help God out.

I think perhaps God could have worked things out the way He wanted without Rebecca’s help; particularly since her way of helping involved scheming and deceit. But I’m pretty sure I do the same thing on a regular basis. I hear a word from God and then do everything in my power to make it come to pass, rather than waiting to see how God will bring it to pass.

So the questions remain – is God Sovereign? Do we have Free Will? I think the answer to both of those questions is “Yes,” but I’m willing to admit that I could be wrong. Still, it is interesting that even the world outside the church is asking those questions through popular television shows.

Just my thoughts. I’d love to hear yours." ~Mike Parker
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Source Article

6:21PM

Donut Summit

A very creative take on health-care reform!

What does the debate over health care reform have in common with Southern hospitality? Stuart Shepard relives his Bible college quartet days in his Stoplight® commentary. - Click Here

2:20PM

What Is Missing In Films Today

What's Missing

"What's missing in movies today that movies in the past possessed in spades is charm, which is one of the qualities that endears an audience to a film and gives it longevity. Special effects have mowed down all other qualities in film, and it's time to get back to what made films in the past great. Only an empty-headed, technology-crazed society would think that special effects are enough. Charm is a quality that both characters and story need if a film is to become a classic and survive from generation to generation. It is a quality that a society needs if it is to survive. Charm is the quality that marks all Pixar pictures. What better endorsement do you need than that?

Another quality that is missing from most films today is grace. Fortunately, it does appear occasionally, as it did this year in The Blind Side. When a film has grace, audiences love it and realize there is something different about that film. It's a quality that you can't get enough of, and it makes you want what the characters in the film have. It's God's fingerprint on a film.

Another missing quality is discretion, which is the better part of valor. Directors today want to show everything. They don't leave anything to the imagination. That is not good artistry, nor is it good humanity...By showing everything, directors today are raising an ante that future directors cannot possibly meet. There will eventually be a point at which a director will not be able to show any more nudity, any more violence, any more realism. At that point, movies will degenerate into something more perverse, or disintegrate entirely. It's time to get back to discretion in film, and life.

Do you realize that while the Motion Picture Production Code was in effect, which was from 1934 to 1968, the greatest films that have ever been made - the films we today call "classics" - were produced? 1939, the year when the Code was at its height, has been called the greatest year of cinema. More classic films were produced that year than in any year since. Today, there is no Code. Producers can make anything they like, and they are churning out the trash as fast as they can... and people are buying it.

There's something to be said for discipline. Having restraint makes one more creative. If you can do anything, you will, and it will be the same old anything that everyone else is doing. I'd like to see us get back to a Production Code in this country. I think it would give us better films. But it will take the American public demanding it of our government. It was the threat of government intervention that got the Motion Picture Association of America to come up with the Code the first time. It can happen again if we make it happen." ~Waitsel Smith

Excerpted from "Waitsel's Best Movies of 2009." Text © 2010 Waitsel Smith.

12:30PM

Communist America Part 1

Communist America?!? Maybe we'll be a little more socialistic in 4 years...but communism? This is not speculation, a conspiracy theory, or scare tactics, this is meant to be a wake up call to the facts! 

"Khrushchev, a more contemporary Soviet prime minister, said: "We cannot expect Americans to jump from capitalism to Communism, but we can assist their elected leaders in giving Americans doses of socialism until they suddenly awake to find out they have Communism." 

Check out these articles I found by Googling "Communist America."
-
The Communist Takeover Of America - 45 Declared Goals
- Communist Party USA
I have been doing lots of research studying world leaders and philosophers, who they learned from, what their goals are/were, what they have been and are involved with currently, and how it has effected the United States. For instance:

MARXIST FUNDAMENTALS
by Prof. Libor Brom
From "Where is your America" August 1982

The fact is that we live in a time of fateful challenges. As a people and a nation we are under test. This challenge is, of course, Marxism-Leninism. There is no mystery in its strategies and tactics. It has always been concrete and spelled out in black and white. It has also been openly and actively tested in the economic, political, and ideological struggle for control around globe.

Lenin, the founder of the first Communist state, put it simply: "First we will take Eastern Europe, then the masses of Asia. We will encircle the last bastion of capitalism, the United States of America. We will not need to fight. It will fall as a ripe fruit into our hands." And, "We must practice coexistence with other nations, until we are strong enough to take over by means of world revolution.... We are not pacifists. Conflict is inevitable. Great political questions can be solved only through violence.... It is inconceivable that Communism and capitalism can exist side by side. Inevitably one must perish."

 

 

In other words, the so-called ditente is nothing more than a form of Marxist-Leninist art skillfully geared toward pacifying the American public by encouraging them to act ridiculously nice while the Communists kick the daylights out of them. The result is that the free world continues to shrink. Democracies cannot handle periods of low-tension confrontation. They have - an almost universal desire to believe that peace is the natural condition of man, that armies are temporary nuisances, that conflicts of interest can be dissolved simply by a policy of good will. Unfortunately, nothing is further from the truth; but for some reason free people prefer to believe it. - Read the full article here.

As Christians we need to be ready, but how? First of all, to have a Biblical worldview you need to read...kinda makes sense eh? :)

 

THE BIBLE

by GOD
If you don't have a Bible I recommend that you get one. I'm not a strict King James version type of person, but I do prefer and recommend it.

 

I have also compiled a list of other books, videos and events that are "highly recommended by John-Clay!" Actually, in my opinion these are things that should be required reading/attending for each and every Christian...they are really THAT GOOD!

Warning: These things will challenge your commitment to Christ and your view of the culture around you.

 

DO HARD THINGS
by Alex and Brett Harris "Written when they were 18 years old, Do Hard Things is the Harris twins' revolutionary message in its purest and most compelling form, giving readers a tangible glimpse of what is possible for teens who actively resist cultural lies that limit their potential. Written by teens for teens, Do Hard Things is packed with humorous personal anecdotes, practical examples, and stories of real-life rebelutionaries in action. This rallying cry from the heart of a revolution already in progress challenges the next generation to lay claim to a brighter future, starting today."  

I read this book on my plane flight to Ukraine. Now, I'm 23 so the whole "teenage years, low expectations" aspect of the book didn't really apply but the principle of "Get outside your comfort zone and do hard things" really, really challenged me. If you haven't read this book, it's worth your time and $10! You can get the book here.

OUTSIDE HOLLYWOOD
by Isaac Botkin
"In this groundbreaking book, experienced cinematographer, writer, and animator Isaac Botkin prepares Christians for successful Christ-honoring leadership as writers, directors, and producers. Botkin has worked as both a Hollywood outsider and an insider, and is a leading proponent of a new independent film industry. In Outside Hollywood, he smashes the myth of methodological and cultural neutrality and offers a paradigm for developing a family-friendly approach to this hugely important field of cultural influence."

This book is a MUST for anyone even remotely interested in Christian film making. However, it goes beyond film makers because the majority of this book is not about the nuts and bolts of film making. It focuses more on the history of Hollywood and how to be aware of the cultural impact of media. You can read more about the book here and purchase the book for $15 here.

MARX & SATAN
by Richard Wurmbrand
"Karl Marx began life in a God-fearing family. Drastic changes led him to a deep personal rebellion against God and all Christian values. By examining Marx’s writings, Wurmbrand builds a convincing case for Marx’s undeniable Satanic preference."

I have not finished reading this book yet, but it is very intriguing, insightful and important history! You can pick it up for $7 here.

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If you read this entire blog post, congratulations! Come back though, I'll be posting more in the next several days!

7:16PM

Outside Hollywood


If you are even remotely interested in film making, this is a MUST READ BOOK!

Highly recommended! I learned so much about Hollywood and how I as a Christian should approach the craft of making films.

Learn more here.

I would also recommend keeping up with Isaac's blog.

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