The Secrets of Jonathan Sperry

When was the last time you watched a Christian film and felt nostalgic about the good old days? I wasn’t alive 43 years ago, but a recent Christian DVD I watched made me wonder what it would have been like to hang out with Dustin, Mark, and Albert in “The Secrets of Jonathan Sperry.”

“The Secrets of Jonathan Sperry” is an inspiring faith-filled depiction of life in a small town in the summer of 1970. The story focuses in on the life of a boy named Dustin and the journey he experiences with his friends. Throughout this film, one finds Dustin and his buddies going after hot fudge sundaes, pizza, and what all boys love to talk about, girls.

But the adventure of Dustin’s summer takes a more important turn when he meets an older man named Jonathan Sperry (played by Gavin Macleod) and learns from him about the issues of life.

The innocence and simplicity of this family-friendly Christian film taught me about a time in the United States when things were more people-oriented, and less about “things.” The plot line and story of the film may have been for younger audiences, but the lessons ingrained into the script transcend age altogether.

The best reminder and encouragement I received from Jonathan Sperry was that of the importance of relationships.

I mean, really, when was the last time we put away all of our screens and distractions, and lived a life that had more to do with eye-contact rather than iPods?

In the film, Dustin and his friends are enjoying a summer long before the invention of cell phones or “The Facebook.” The focus of their attentions is on each other. And it seems that adventures happen best when in the context of relationships.

Life is needed for technology to serve a purpose, but it doesn’t work the other way around. Life can go on without too many distractions, in fact, it works out even greater that way.

I’m not a parent yet, but I’m sure that today’s Christian parents would love for their children to engage in an enjoyable, incredible life that refuses to compromise for the sake of serving a machine’s needs.

Parents would do well to get their kids together and enjoy a Christian movie night with the faith-based film, “The Secrets of Jonathan Sperry.” Once you find out the secrets, you won’t be sorry you asked!

About Arvin Sepehr

Arvin is a student at Oral Roberts University studying communications. He works for Family Christian Movies as a writer, marketer, box packer and customer service master (in no particular order.)

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How I first Heard about Home Run:

I first met Eric Newman at a church event here in Tulsa, OK. A pastor friend of mine needed help with a youth group event that was basically a gigantic good fight out in a field somewhere. Eric and I had both volunteered and needless to say, we were both and were covered in flour, mustard, and egg yolks by the end of the day.  That day, as the food was flying, Eric and I got to talking about a new Christian film he and some others had written called Home Run. It wasn’t until recently that I actually got to watch the film and realized that the gentleman I was throwing ketchup at a few months ago had written a truly inspirational movie.

Home Run is a Christian movie that goes deep into the life of a professional baseball player named Cory Brand. Cory has had to face some trouble in his life but has found a natural gifting for the game of baseball. When his career is in jeopardy due to his behavior on and off the field, Cory is forced to travel to his hometown and face the circumstances, memories, and addictions he has walked away from over and over again. The journey Cory embarks on is indicative of the journey each of us must make in order to live a truly abundant life.

Christian films often wrestle with the balance of keeping their films clear of objectionable content while presenting life as it really is.  As I watched Home Run, I was encouraged to see the issues of addiction (such as alcoholism, pornography, or cocaine), childhood wounds (sexually, psychologically, or verbally abusive parents), and past mistakes (such as walking out on one’s girlfriend after hearing she was pregnant) handled appropriately while showing the reality of the devastation these problems present.

Home Run didn’t just make me aware of the issues, but also portrayed the very real and often messy process of recovery. As I watched Cory’s life being repaired from the bitterness and alcoholism he had struggled with, I was surrounded by several other Christians in the movie theater who had taken part in the same 12-step program Cory had undertaken in the film, Celebrate Recovery. Their nods and claps throughout the film were stamps of approval showing me they had seen in the film what they’d seen in their own Celebrate Recovery programs. That level of “realness” was so encouraging.

So if you’re looking for a Christian movie that is very realistic, try the new Christian film Home Run.

The next time you want a family-friendly movie that informs, inspires, and entertains, choose Home Run.

And the next time someone throws a bunch of mushy eggs at you, ask them what they’ve been writing about lately, the answer may shock you. It sure shocked me!

You can preorder Home Run at FamilyChristianMovies.com.  It will be available July 23, 2013.

About Arvin Sepehr

Arvin is a student at Oral Roberts University studying communications. He works for Family Christian Movies as a writer, marketer, box packer and customer service master (in no particular order.)

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I took a couple minutes to review the most recent DVD from the Torchlighters series – “The Augustine Story.”   It’s a really well done animated story for kids with a good purpose.  It shows a man who is willing to stand up to the enemies of God and do what’s right.  Check out my review at the video below.

About Jake Olson

Jake manages the content on the FamilyChristianMovies.com blog and is one of the main contributors. A Christian husband and father of 2, Jake has spent over half of his adult life in Adana, Turkey, and the other half in Minnesota. He and is family currently reside in the small community of Mora, MN.

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Flight: The Genius of Birds, the new documentary from Illustra Media, blows away the typical idea of a Christian movie with scientific evidence and beautiful scenery regarding the existence of birds.

Now I know what you may be thinking…a documentary? A Christian documentary? A Christian documentary about birds? Yes. Yes that’s what I said. But after having the chance to preview the Flight: The Genius of Birds DVD, I have come to realize that even the simplest detail regarding creation is very, very complex. When watching Flight: The Genius of Birds,  you’ll find out that each feather on a bird’s body has over 1 million parts! Or perhaps you’ll find your mind blown by the fact that a hummingbird flaps his wings over 100 times every single second!

The complexity and intricate detail of every aspect of a Bird’s anatomy point to the abilities and work of a master designer who has engineered every piece to fit together like a 3D puzzle. This Christian film forces one to ask himself/herself, “If God did all of this for some birds that are smaller than most other animals, how many intricate details have gone into his building of the human anatomy?”

The curiosity inspired by Flight’s concrete evidence of intelligent design causes me to marvel at how these complex yet simple creatures that defy the laws of gravity each time they fly because that is what they were created to do.

I don’t expect you to watch this Christian DVD and think about birds every day for the rest of your life, because surely I will not either. But the idea suggested by these animals causes me to ponder what God has perhaps enabled me to do that may go against “laws” of nature. If Birds were made ingeniously to defy the laws of gravity, what was man made to defy?

What obstacles exist in our lives that our creator has designed us to intricately and easily overcome?

These questions inspire me to look further into nature and its characteristics. Families can expect to be inspired by fascinating facts and content that will spark conversations about creation and God’s work. I know that has been true for me since I have watched Flight: The Genius of Birds. I think it will be the case for you too. Check out the trailer for this moving Christian documentary;Flight: The Genius of Birds at FamilyChristianMovies.com!

Flight: The Genius of Birds Will be available on DVD – May 14, 2013

Flight: The Genius of Birds Will be available on BluRay- June 11, 2013

We’re taking orders/preorders for both.

About Arvin Sepehr

Arvin is a student at Oral Roberts University studying communications. He works for Family Christian Movies as a writer, marketer, box packer and customer service master (in no particular order.)

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I took a couple minutes to turn on the camera and share what I thought of the new Christian movie “Not Today.” As I shared in a previous blog post, I really was moved by this film.  Take a look at the quick video below, and leave a comment in Youtube letting me know what you thought.

About Arvin Sepehr

Arvin is a student at Oral Roberts University studying communications. He works for Family Christian Movies as a writer, marketer, box packer and customer service master (in no particular order.)

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Every now and then, I sit down and ponder the way life has happened. It’s not very long before I ask myself the very mysterious “What If” questions. You know what I mean by “What If” questions. They typically go like this:

• What if I had studied harder in that class?
• What if I’d picked up extra hours at work?
• What if I didn’t let my daughter/son go here/there….?

The options for What If questions are endless. Christian movies have long avoided the What If questions…until now.

“What If,” the new faith-based film from Pure Flix Entertainment and Jenkins Entertainment goes against the grain of Christian cinema and still provides a family-friendly DVD that is both inspiring and encouraging.

Kevin Sorbo (Soul Surfer, Abel’s Field,) stars as Ben Walker, a successful business man who had left his life of ministry with his girlfriend Wendy 15 years prior. In midlife, however, Ben is reminded of the life he left behind when he meets an angel, (played by John Ratzenberger – Cliff from Cheers,) and is forced to answer the question, “What If?”

Families looking for a funny Christian Comedy that still has a great message about the importance of following God and loving your family will thoroughly benefit from and enjoy “What If.”

You can check out the trailer or buy What If at FamilyChristianMovies.com

About Arvin Sepehr

Arvin is a student at Oral Roberts University studying communications. He works for Family Christian Movies as a writer, marketer, box packer and customer service master (in no particular order.)

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The founder and CEO of FamilyChristianMovies.com was finally able to watch The Bible Epic Miniseries on The History Channel on Palm Sunday (These were episodes 7 and 8).  Sorry this is going up late.

Some stories depicted in these episodes were:

1. Jesus calling Matthew, the tax collector, to become his disciple. It was very interesting to see how the director integrated the calling of Matthew to the parable of the tax collector found in Luke 18:13. In Luke 18:13, the tax collector would not even look up to heaven, but beat his breast and said, “God, have mercy on me, a sinner.” The series integrates that story to the calling of Matthew. What really touched my heart was that Matthew was crying as Jesus told the story. It was a moment of true repentance and I love it.

2. The second scene in episodes 7 and 8 of The Bible Miniseries was the depiction of the woman caught in adultery. The story is found in John 8:1-11.We all know the story, A group of Jews bring a woman caught in adultery wanting to stone her to death with Jesus’ approval. The Bible passage in John tells us Jesus was bent down to write on the sand before saying anything to the crowd. In The Bible Miniseries, this is not shown. Instead, the director takes another artistic approach and throws in a very interesting statement, “I will give my stone to the first man who tells me he never sinned.” Now, this statement is not in The Bible. But this was an artistic approach to the story. What is really nice about the event in John 8:1-11 is that we see Jesus demonstrating merciful acts rather then those of condemnation. He was the only one who could have thrown a stone at her. But instead, he chose to defend her before telling her to “go and leave your life of sin.”

At this, those who heard began to go away one at a time, the older ones first, until only Jesus was left, with the woman still standing there. 10 Jesus straightened up and asked her, “Woman, where are they? Has no one condemned you?”

11 “No one, sir,” she said.

“Then neither do I condemn you,” Jesus declared. “Go now and leave your life of sin.”

3. The third scene I really loved in this episode of The Bible Miniseries was the feeding of the 5000. Anytime I read that story in Matthew 14:13-21, I am amazed yet again. This was very cool to see on the screen. At the end, Jesus says, “Put God first and everything will follow, ask and it will be given to you.”

4. The storm on the Sea of Galilee was depicted in a very nice way. The cinematography was very well done. This scene follows Jesus as he is arriving in his home town of Nazareth. Reading from the book of Isaiah, He says, “The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, he has sent me to declare freedom for captive and give sight to blind. Today this scripture has been fulfilled. It was awesome to hear that truth on TV presented like that. I loved that this message was being portrayed on a secular network, The History Channel, instead of just being on a Christian station such as TBN (Trinity Broadcast Network).

5. Then Jesus goes to see Martha, Lazarus’ sister. At this point, Jesus dear friend Lazarus has been dead for 4 days. Jesus raises him from the dead. He then says, “Believe in me and you will see the glory of God.” Amen to that!

6. My favorite scene was when Jesus was climbing the stairs of the temple. The camera closes up on his feet and then zooms back to an angle where you can see Jesus once again climbing up on the stairs. The next shot demonstrates the magnificent structure of the Temple.

7. The last thing I really enjoyed seeing on The Bible Miniseries on The History Channel was when Nicodemus met Jesus in the garden. Jesus tells him he must be born again to enter to the Kingdom of God. Again, it was great to hear Biblical truth coming from the television. Lastly, Jesus says, “God so loved the world that he gave His only one son and whoever believes in him shall have eternal life.”

Millions and millions of people heard the Truth again on their television sets! I cannot think of a greater possible evangelism tool than this.

And finally, “don’t be afraid, trust in the God and trust in me also. You will know the way. I am the way, the truth, and the life.” These are Jesus words given for our eternal hope and joy. I love The Bible Miniseries on The History Channel. Thank you Mark Burnett and Roma Downey, well done.

This article was written by the founder and CEO of FamilyChristianMovies.com

About Jake Olson

Jake manages the content on the FamilyChristianMovies.com blog and is one of the main contributors. A Christian husband and father of 2, Jake has spent over half of his adult life in Adana, Turkey, and the other half in Minnesota. He and is family currently reside in the small community of Mora, MN.

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Not Today DVD – Many people in the United States watch movies in order to escape from the busyness of their lives for a couple hours. As a child growing up in Oklahoma, my father and I would go to the theater once a week to have “Father-Son” time. Though films have the ability to capture our emotions for the sole purpose of entertainment, some films utilize this opportunity to evoke a different type of response from their audience.

Not Today is one of those films. Set in India, Not Today is a story about a young man who has grown up in a wealthy family in the United States. His sense of entitlement and his worldview are both shattered as he attempts to vacation with his friends in India. On his journey, he discovers the horrific reality of human trafficking that enslaves over 27 million people in the world today. His involvement goes from uninterested to desperate as things get personal and he must race against time in order to help a native man find his daughter, Annika.

The ability of the film to grasp one’s attention demands undivided concern for the characters while calling to action those who are its audience. Before watching this film, men and women in the Sunday church community may have been able to ignore the tragedy of slavery that is going on in the world. But that response will be impossible as the film ends.

Not Today is a well-written, well-made Christian film that has the rare ability to entertain and call to action its audience all at the same time.

Not Today will be available on DVD some day in the future, but for now you’ll have to see it in the theaters.  It opens nationwide April 12th.  Check out the trailer here.

About Arvin Sepehr

Arvin is a student at Oral Roberts University studying communications. He works for Family Christian Movies as a writer, marketer, box packer and customer service master (in no particular order.)

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We recently conducted a poll on our home page at FamilyChristianMovies.com asked people why they purchased Christian films.

Why Christian movies? 44% of people responded that they purchased Christian films because they are safer for their family. Clearly, safety is the foremost concern when parents are choosing media to make available to their children and themselves. This makes a lot of sense.

Imagine you’ve gone to a car dealership in order to purchase a car that you’ll be using to transport your spouse and two children. After shaking hands with the over-excited salesman, you start asking about a couple different automobiles. Now imagine approaching a car that seems to be affordable and convenient. When asking the car salesman about that car, he responds this way,

“Oh this car?! It’s great! Super fun to drive and extremely smooth. But you should know, it has a terrible safety rating. In fact, the majority of statistics about this car reflect that it’s prone to be hit by other drivers, often loses wheels while driving at high speeds, and has been linked back to a high amount of deaths. Aside from that, it’s a great car. Shall I start the paperwork?”

It probably wouldn’t be very long before you left that dealership. Why? Because the safety of your family is paramount to you. When their safety is not only in jeopardy but almost guaranteed to be sacrificed, you’ll naturally walk away.

So what about when movies come out and say underneath the rating the reasons that said rating was assigned? What about when a rating box contains a description like this, “strong crude sexual content including dialogue, graphic nudity and pervasive language” Should Christian parents allow their families to climb right in and hope they grow up safely?

Our poll has demonstrated that of all the things a parent wants for their child as they are growing up to be parents of their own is safety.

Christian bumper stickers do not make you a better driver, and a Christian T-shirt won’t be more modest than a “non-Christian” one. But when it comes to what our eyes are subjected to on a daily basis, Christian movies can serve a good purpose. They don’t seek to keep us in the dark about the pains and realities of the world, but they encourage us to be aware and wholeheartedly pursue the solutions.

You can find all kinds of films that’ll encourage and entertain you and your family at familychristianmovies.com

About Arvin Sepehr

Arvin is a student at Oral Roberts University studying communications. He works for Family Christian Movies as a writer, marketer, box packer and customer service master (in no particular order.)

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With this week’s conclusion of The Bible Miniseries on The History Channel comes the story of the greater part of the New Testament. As Pharisees have made the scriptures to be nothing more than impossible moral codes, Jesus introduces himself and seems to have no trouble shattering whatever preconceived ideas people have of what God is like.

Isn’t he so great at that?

Jesus seems to take pleasure in completely destroying whatever stereotypes we assign to him.

As soon as he comes on the scene, people think he is a normal carpenter from a pitiful town known for not producing much. That’s where he heals and feeds thousands of people out of nowhere.

But when people consider him to be a powerful rebel, he demonstrates his power by laying down his life? What’s that about?

Three days later, after the reality sets in that Jesus is dead, he walks through the wall?

Paul is convinced that Jesus is a dead heretic, then Jesus makes eye-blinding eye contact with him.

Paul on the Damascus Road

But it’s even bigger than that. Jesus will take the box we build for him and instead of getting inside, he’ll step on top where the weight of his glory will break apart our ideas of him in ways that inspire awe, fear, and love all at the same time.

In the Garden of Eden, God put Adam’s body together in precise detail and called it good. He then proceeds to cut out the very rib he just breathed the breath of life into.

In the Garden of Gethsemane, God put himself in the in a body much like the one he made for Adam. But this box we built for him, as a man, a religious figure, a guy way too interested in our church attendance…this box is far too small.

The box we built for him as a man was crushed as well, on Good Friday 2000 years ago. Like Paul and the disciples learned, every box-shattering move he makes reminds us that we are actually in his box. And the box he’s built is unshakable.

Click the image below to watch the trailer for the series or to buy.

About Arvin Sepehr

Arvin is a student at Oral Roberts University studying communications. He works for Family Christian Movies as a writer, marketer, box packer and customer service master (in no particular order.)

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