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YET Productions presents Maddy, a family Christian DVD that really touches the heart.

Maddy shows an example of the hurt and blame that a person can put on themselves instead of finding healing and forgiveness from the Lord. The blame that the character Maddy has put on herself for the accidental death of her parents, puts her on the street. Literally, Maddy is burdened with guilt and feels that she does not deserve to have anything and decides to give it all away. On the streets she is loved by fellow homeless men and woman and is known to be the giver and the protector. Her grieving heart may be broken, but it hadn’t left her.

Throughout this DVD you witness how different peoples lives can be. Some have an abundance, and some have nothing. But one of the points taken away from this family DVD is that no matter where you are in life, or what you have, you always need Jesus. Several characters in this DVD exhibit the need and most of them encounter someone who wants to share the Gospel and the love of Jesus Christ. So it’s through time and trial that several of the character’s hearts begin to change toward Jesus.

Maddy, the most generous of all of the characters comes to have peace with God and receives His forgiveness and changes her life for Him. God also blesses her with more than just His love and grace, He blesses her with someone whom she has had heartache for her entire life- a brother whom she thought had been dead the entire time!

Maddy is a great family DVD that captures your heart for the lost, the homeless and for those who are caring the guilt of something they shouldn’t. It would be a great film for people that don’t know Jesus and thus don’t know to cast their burdens onto Him and find forgiveness.

YET Productions is giving a FREE copy of this film to anyone who may be interested! If you are one of those people, please send them an email at Leesleyfilms@gmail.com

To view a short trailer of this film: Maddy Trailer

Faith and Powers Pictures presents, “Daniel’s Lot“, a Dove Family Foundation approved DVD! Release date to be determined.

Daniel, played by actor and Pastor Dominic Shaw, is a man with a life of struggles. He and his wife are at odds with each other about their financial problems, their religious beliefs, and what they are to do to resolve their issues before they lose their house!

Daniel’s wife Christy, played by actress Lindsey McCabe, is victim to the enconomy and the struggling housing market as she tries to make the commission to pay the mortgage. Daniel and Christy are almost five months behind on their payments, and the job that Daniel works for pays only enough for the other bills and the food to feed themselves and their two kids. Christy begins to feel like Daniel is placing all of their financial problems on her and cannot stand that he is trying to learn more about God and faith than getting his act together and doing the only thing that she thinks will save their family- sell the lot of land that Daniel’s father left him when he passed.

But selling the lot of land is not an option for Daniel. Sure it would guarantee them the money that they needed, but he wanted to honor what his father had requested before he passed, that he not sell the land until the time was right. His father assured him that he would know when that time was, and not to sell it prematurely.

The financial battle between Daniel and Christy really put their marriage at risk. Christy chooses to reject God and take things into her own hands, even if that meant sinning against and abandoning her husband. Daniel on the other hand pursues his faith whole heartedly and discovers that God has a voice in his life and that if he is obedient, God will honor that.

With the help of a man whom he meets and later learns is a Pastor, Bill Mahoney, played by Gary Burghoff (who starred in M*A*S*H), Daniel learns what it is that God really wants him to do with the lot that his father gave him. Even though the idea does not mean profit, he trusts God and puts his faith in what he asked him to do. As a result, God really steps out in Daniel’s life and reveals blessing after blessing, taking Daniel’s land and his life to a place he would have never thought possible. And it wouldn’t have been had it not been for his obedience in God.

Daniel’s Lot is a perfect example of the situations that many people find themselves in. It shows how God works through our lives to reveal himself and his purposes. All that is required is faith and obedience in Him.

To view a trailer: Daniel’s Lot Trailer

“Lost Boy: The Next Chapter” has been Awarded the Redemptive Storyteller Award!

Lost Boy: The Next Chapter is a DVD that gives narrative to the challenging, unpredictable life story of Harvest Christian Fellowship’s senior Pastor, Greg Laurie.

The Redemptive Storyteller Award was given because Pastor Greg Laurie’s life story has the ability to resonate with people from all walks of life. God has taken him through so many different journeys, he can truly empathize. Beginning with not having a father and living his life with an alcoholic mother, to finding Christ and living to serve Him, and then through losing his son unexpectedly in 2008- Greg Laurie has seen God through it all, and gives example to the hope that others can also find in God and the love of Jesus Christ.

Pastor Greg Laurie’s ministry and partnerships are other aspects of his qualifications for winning this award. Pastor Greg Laurie has also founded The Harvest Crusades, which are evangelistic conferences throughout the United States and parts of the world. These Crusades have reached over 4 million people since 1990, and are currently reaching thousands more. Recently Pastor Greg Laurie spoke at the Harvest Crusade in Chicago, where 4,758 people came forward and accept Jesus Christ as their personal Savior. Next he will be in Seattle early November, and will continue to work through these crusades as wells as working through sitting on the board for the Billy Graham Evangelistic Association and Samaritan’s Purse to reach the lost.

All this being said, it is no surprise that “Lost Boy: The Next Chapter”, has also won:

• Best American Documentary 2009
• Audience Favorite Best Documentary Award 2009
• Best Documentary Award 2009
  

Purchase and/or view a trailer of “Lost Boy” here. Share the life story of Pastor Greg Laurie to help others see God and His purpose in their lives.

Based off of true events and the book, Amish Grace: How Forgiveness Transcended Tragedy, the DVD Amish Grace gives an account to the terrible, tragic event when a man not a part of the Amish community, goes to an Amish school house, shoots 10 and kills 5 Amish school girls.

As I watched Amish Grace (release date is September 14, 2010), I found myself crying quite uncontrollably, but for more reasons than the fact that these innocent children lost their lives so heartlessly. It was the response of the Amish community that really grabbed hold of my heart and touched me and changed my perspective on what it means to forgive.

Some of the events and the characters of Amish Grace were fictional, but it was obvious that the characters in the DVD were not far off from the people they were representing. You learn that the Amish community wants nothing in the way of their relationship with God and their ability to be like Christ. This is why very soon after the man came and killed their children and himself, the people of the Amish community reached out to the man’s wife and offers her not only forgiveness, but offers her their support and their help in any way that she and her children needed. They recognized that yes, they had just gone through a hard, terrible loss, but she had too!

Although the attitude of the Amish community was forgiveness, not every one of them could achieve it. Actress Kimberly Williams-Paisley portrays a mother who lost her eldest daughter to the school house killings and unlike her husband, she could not extend the same grace and forgiveness. She was consumed by the hurt, which transformed into anger that she could not let go of. Her character, Ida Graber, may have been fictional, but was a character that we could all relate to.

As mentioned in the DVD, Christ justifiably deals with punishment, and it spoils our hearts to hold anger against others who may have wronged us. As you watch Amish Grace, prepare your heart to witness a undeserved tragedy, but also prepare your heart to see what it means to forgive and let go of the hurt and anger, no matter the offense.

On Chuck Colson’s radio broadcast Breakpoint, he poses the question

What happens when a sincere Christian and a sincere atheist debate each other honestly, openly, and with passion? A fascinating new documentary shows us.

He goes on to talk about the film Collision which I’ve written about.

I think you’d really enjoy Dr Colson’s 3-minute take on Collision.  Click here to listen. Here is my favorite quote:

Christians can learn a lot from watching this Collision of lives. For one thing, we can learn about how to argue graciously while at the same time taking a strong, uncompromising stand for our beliefs. If an atheist as firm as Hitchens respects that kind of stand, that should tell us something. - Chuck Colson

by Philip Pfanstiel

I didn’t want to watch this movie. Knowing that “The Heart of Texas” is about tragedy and forgiveness and that it involves the death of a young child; these were all things that kept me from watching the movie. It hits too close to home. With five young children, thoughts of losing any of them to tragedy is a thought I want to avoid.

Surprisingly, when I did watch the DVD it was one of the most heartwarming, redemptive and thoughtful films I’ve seen in years. I would highly recommend it.

The premise of “The Heart of Texas” is simple; a young child is killed in a tragic accident and the film follows how the family and community responds. What is not so simple is how the family, especially the father responds.

The recommendation of Jesus to go the extra mile does not even begin to describe how the father reacts to this tragedy. I would go into more detail but the video does an extremely powerful and poignant job, so I won’t mar it.

However; I do think the practical examination of forgiveness and how forgiveness looks in real life was very powerful. I’ve shared with my students the basic premise of the movie and they are amazed that the father didn’t just “get even.”

I explained that no one ever gets even. You hurt me, I hurt you, you hurt me back … and the gift goes on and on. The teeter totter of hurt will only stop when one person decides to stop pushing back. As Gandhi wrote “an eye for an eye and the world will go blind.”

No one wins in the cycle of hurt and retribution that is glamorized by movies, TV and video games. While revenge satisfies a primal need, it in the end leaves everyone worse off. There is a power in forgiveness that the mainstream media doesn’t understand, but this film reveals beautifully.

As a recent immigrant to the Empire of Texas, I’ve often heard that things are always bigger in Texas, this film definitely proves that there is an immensity to “The Heart of Texas.”

Thanks Carol for writing another Guest Review:

Last Flight Out by the Billy Graham Association is a movie about the power of forgiveness and the strength of God’s love.

Much of the movie takes place in a village where a pilot is sent to distribute much needed supplies to the missionaries. While the village is harassed by gangs in the area, the pilot finds the commitment of the missionary staff to be both intriguing and puzzling at the same time. Why are the missionaries unafraid in spite of the circumstances? The pilot in Last Flight Out analyzes the situation and tries to convince the missionaries to flee for their lives.

It is through some of these toughest times that the pilot learns the power of God’s watchful eye over his flock. Last Flight Out is an excellent movie to share with unsaved and saved friends and family. It is filled with suspense and drama and is suitable for people of all ages.

Buy Last Flight Out

We mentioned the Last Sin Eater in our recent newsletter, and I promised to give a little more info about it here.

The Last Sin Eater is based on the popular Christian novel by Francine Rivers.  The film is directed by Michael Landon Jr, director of most of the Love Comes Softly movies, Saving Sarah Cain and a few others.

I sat down to watch it today and was pleasantly surprised.  I have to admit that every time I’ve seen the title of this movie, I imagined a movie that would be dumb, sacrilegious or both.  What I found was an engaging story, beautiful scenery, and a good cinematic illustration of contextualizing the gospel an unreached culture.

Let me give a little bit of context on the title.  Where does the term “sin eater” come from?  I learned today that belief in a “Sin Eater” was a Welsh tradition to deal with the sins of people who’ve died.   According to custom, a monster/grim reaper type figure would appear at the time of burial and “eat the sins” of the one who’d died.  In this tradition, someone would be chosen from among the community and then exiled to a life as the “sin eater” this person would only show up at funerals to sweep in and take on the sins of the dead.  Usually these unfortunate souls were considered unclean and exiled, only to be considered at the times of death.

The Sin Eater is the subject of this film, which takes place in a Welsh immigrant community in the 1850s.  They have brought this belief with them from the old world.  It is a dark belief that haunts life in this small community.  When a girl who has had some experiences with death starts inquiring about this “Sin Eater” she ends up finding the Truth when she meets a man of God who introduces her to the Jesus, the only one who can cover our sins.

The thing I found edifying in this movie was the point where the man of God is sharing the gospel with this young girl who is trying to find this monster, the “sin eater.”  The movie gave a great picture of someone finding a redemptive analogy within a society in order to share the gospel within that context.   It was this community’s false belief in this monster type creature that actually opened the door for preaching the gospel.

We are surrounded by false belief and world views that aren’t Christ-centered.  As believers, we should always be on the lookout for redemptive analogies in culture that may leave a door open to better understanding of the gospel.   This film gives a great picture of that.

Buy Last Sin Eater here

Have you heard about our film More than Dreams? Family Christian Movies is proud to carry this unique film/evangelism tool because our CEO was involved in the making of it. Carol Worley was kind enough to review it for us.

More than Dreams is truly a phenomenal look at the salvation experience through the eyes of five former Muslims. Each re-enactment tells the story of how the individuals came to know Christ through a dream or vision in which they saw Jesus, conversed with Him, and how He showed them love for the first time in their lives. I found each account to be genuine and refreshing – bringing me back to my own testimony of going from darkness into the light.

One of my first reactions to More than Dreams was seeing the desire that the Muslim people have to know God and to follow His commandments. It was amazing to see how they cried out to God in their own way and how He answered them in a way that they could understand. I think sometimes in the West we are not aware that people of other religions could have such a sincere desire to know God. At the end of each segment is an explanation of what happened to the individual in the film and an invitation to come to Christ through prayer.

Each story is told in the language of the individual, but the English subtitles are easy enough to follow along and understand. More Than Dreams is an excellent resource to witness to someone from any one of the five languages portrayed in the film – Farsi, Turkish, Indonesian, Arabic, and Hausa. Other nonbelievers – and particularly Muslims – would benefit by watching More Than Dreams and seeing the transformation that Jesus brought to ordinary individuals and what they endured as a result of their decision to follow Christ.

Because of some mature themes and language in a couple of the stories, and small amounts of violence, I would recommend More Than Dreams to ages 12 and older with parental supervision

Special thanks to Carol Worley for her guest post. We look forward to more reviews from you in the future! You can find More than Dreams at FamilyChristianMovies.com