October 2006 Archives

(To view this video clip, you must have QuickTime 7 installed — available as a free download.)

One of the highlights of the Christian Filmmakers Academy was an in-depth, behind-the-scenes look at how a family works as a team to produce a a three-minute CGI film short. Isaac Botkin walked film students through every step in the process from the storyboarding, to building the CGI characters and set, to special effects, scoring, and more. Isaac’s careful explanation of the importance and benefits of careful pre-production was enormously beneficial. The presentation was a great hit. Special thanks to Isaac and the Botkin family for generously agreeing to allow the film to be posted on Doug’s Blog.

To learn more about the process of making a CGI film short, and for Isaac’s helpful insights on technology and filmmaking, make sure to spend ample time at his Web site: www.outside-hollywood.com. Isaac’s blog is an indispensable supply of resources and helps for the beginning filmmaker.

Posted by Doug Phillips on October 31, 2006 | Permalink

At this year’s Christian Filmmakers Academy, I delivered a message which asked and answered the question: “Is it lawful and wise for Christians to present pagan gods and demigods, witchcraft, or occult imagery as righteous, positive, or endearing representations in Christian literature and film?” The highly controversial message, entitled “My Friend Jack,” is available this month when you make an online donation of any amount to Vision Forum Ministries and specifically request the CD.

In the meantime, may I recommend that you download and read my article “Harry Potter and the Lavender Brigade.”

Posted by Doug Phillips on October 31, 2006 | Permalink

Posted by Doug Phillips on October 30, 2006 | Permalink

(To view this video clip, you must have QuickTime 7 installed — available as a free download.)

I am enormously proud of the Vision Forum team behind our Jonathan Park adventure series under the direction of Pat Roy. So today I am presenting the following clip for my blog readers to give you a behind-the-scenes look at the creation of this internationally broadcast drama about a home school family and their many adventures in defense of the Genesis account of origins. If you are already a fan of Jonathan Park you will enjoy meeting the talent behind the characters in our story. Special thanks to Nathaniel Darnell for putting this clip together for us.

Our latest release “The Hunt for Beowulf” is probably our best. Whether you listen to Jonathan Park by radio or CD, we hope it will be a tremendous blessing for your family. Also, make sure to visit www.jonathanpark.com.

Posted by Doug Phillips on October 30, 2006 | Permalink

(To view this video clip, you must have QuickTime 7 installed — available as a free download.)

The documentary Acts of Mercy presented a compelling and beautiful story about the blessing of Christian compassion onboard a ship of mercy serving West Africa, the Anastasis (translated as “resurrection”). A 522-foot floating hospital “gives back life” to the rejected souls that come out in droves to be treated by volunteer surgeons onboard. Shunned by society, these victims of gross deformities come with hope for healing. Acts of Mercy shares their stories and introduces you to the doctors who ease the suffering of the afflicted. We were astonished to watch as the patients were surgically transformed through miraculous medical “makeovers.” Without the help of Mercy Ships, many of these patients would die. You can view the documentary Acts of Mercy on the Best of the 2006 SAICFF DVD series.

Posted by Doug Phillips on October 30, 2006 | Permalink

Most men fill their heads with silly, raucous, mindless, uninspiring sound masquerading as modern music. Those in attendance for the SAICFF got a delicious dose of virile, meaningful, uplifting songs of faith, bravery, and manhood from America’s premiere balladeer, Mr. Charlie Zahm, who performed on the San Antonio Riverwalk.

Posted by Doug Phillips on October 28, 2006 | Permalink

Kim Coghlan — second-generation home schooler, mother of seven daughters and one son, the eldest of fourteen children, and bride to Perry (Vision Forum director of fulfillment) — at the SAICFF with her daughter Lydia. Kim recently amazed all of us by live blogging through contractions during labor. Unbelievable!

Posted by Doug Phillips on October 25, 2006 | Permalink

Kevin Turley, our Director of Operations, with his son Justin who serves on our design team.

Posted by Doug Phillips on October 25, 2006 | Permalink

From a Sponsor, Concerning the Film Academy

It truly was an honor and privilege to serve Vision Forum at the Academy. It was such a blessing to sit under the teachings of yourself, Mr. Phillips, Mr. Carpenter, Mr. Rasmussen, Mr. Kendrick, and the young Mr. Botkin. I thought the range of topics was perfect for the audience with a great blend of theological, technological, and practical presentations. The Vision Forum staff was extremely helpful and courteous all week. Their flexibility was revealed most when our travel plans changed and they were able to quickly arrange for transportation and lodging for us. Countless attendees came up to our family after the academy and continuing through our stay for a day and a half of the festival to tell us how much they enjoyed using the technology and thanking us for making it available.

From an International Attendee at the Film Festival:

What a blessing last week has been for me and my family, even though they could not be there with me. The day after I came back we watched Facing the Giants in the cinema and my family was stunned. What a work God had done through these brothers at Sherwood. The same day I told my wife we had to come up with a concept to take our children out of public school and start home education. Yesterday I scheduled an appointment to have a vasectomy reserval operation to reverse a bad choice that I had made in the old life. This and much more is what God had prepared for last week and had used you and those lovely people to accomplish it.

From a Catalog Reader

I want to thank you for your company! My folks had a catalog of yours once and I drooled over it at their house, then requested one for us. We love your stuff! Your characteristics of beautiful girlhood and courageous boyhood have been an encouragement to my husband and me. It gives us a point of reference for the training of our children (we have one of each so far). My husband is an Army chaplain in Iraq right now, and your lists have provided a helpful resource for us. We want to raise our children in a godly way, but it can be hard to know where to start, or what to emphasize.

From a New Reader

What a surprise to pick up your charming Christian Catalog!! So well done, so inspiring. In this day of being sickened by the contents of most publications, even my Avon book I have to keep from my 10 year old - because of immodest dress of the models, this catalog of yours was a refreshing joy to look at! I am SO impressed. I am going to copy some of your site, send the site address and tell all my friends about this..We HAVE to support companies like yours or we’ll turn around and there will be none. God Bless You!!!

Posted by Doug Phillips on October 25, 2006 | Permalink

My father visits with Jim Bob Duggar (father of sixteen biological children) in between sessions at the San Antonio Independent Christian Film Festival.

Posted by Doug Phillips on October 25, 2006 | Permalink

San Antonio, Texas — October 24, 2006 — More than seven hundred participants representing states from New York to Washington and foreign countries from Scotland to Switzerland were on hand for the presentation of the Jubilee Awards during closing ceremonies at the third annual San Antonio Independent Christian Film Festival, held at the Lila Cockrell Theatre in downtown San Antonio this last weekend.

“Our goal with the Jubilee Awards is to reward the work of Christian filmmakers who have artfully communicated a Christian worldview through their film production,” explained Doug Phillips, founder of the San Antonio Independent Christian Film Festival.

“With more than 130 film submissions to this year’s festival, selecting the winners was no easy task,” noted Phillips, who also served as one of several film competition judges. “Yet we are now delighted to recognize our winners — all worthy films that give glory to our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ.”

The “Best of Festival” Jubilee Award — a $10,000 grand prize — went to The Oath of Desormeau, a fifty-five minute film written, produced, and directed by Richard and Kristena Ramsey of Aletheia Stage and Film Company. Set in Napoleonic France, The Oath is a gripping allegory which shows how one man’s vow to protect two orphaned children is carried out even after he himself dies.

In addition to landing the festival’s top honor in 2006, The Oath of Desormeau was voted the Audience Choice Award by a runaway margin. The Oath gave the Ramseys their second Audience Choice Award in two years as they claimed the same prize for Washington’s Cross at the 2004 San Antonio Independent Christian Film Festival.

“We are excited and honored that both the judges and the audience supported The Oath so overwhelmingly — that they were receptive to the film’s message of honor, integrity, and faithfulness,” remarked Mr. Ramsey. “It is really encouraging to get this affirmation.”

The top honor in the “Best Narrative” category was awarded to Day of Reckoning, a Western drama written and directed by veteran stuntman, Jason Rodriguez. The story is one of a family man who must face the debt he owes for wrongly taking another man’s life — and how he makes peace with his family and his God.

“I am so humbled that this film has touched so many and done so well,” observed Rodriguez. “I know that this festival will continue to grow in the future and inspire other filmmakers to make films for His glory. I know it has me.”

Acts of Mercy, a powerful documentary which shares the hope that the Mercy Ships have brought to victims of deformities in West Africa, garnered the “Best Documentary” Award. Hosted by Bill Kurtis, veteran A&E journalist and former CBS Morning News anchor, and co-produced by Jerry Rose, president of the Total Living Network, Acts of Mercy chronicles the service performed by surgeons onboard the Anastasis, a 522-foot floating hospital. Mr. Rose, a former three-time president of the National Religious Broadcasters, was on hand to receive the award.

The “Best Biblical Family” Award went to White Handkerchief, a twelve minute film that explores one man’s deep desire to reconcile with his parents. Written and produced by eighteen-year-old Philip Leclerc and his sixteen-year-old brother Chris for a price tag of $200, this short film not only took the top honor in the “Best Biblical Family” category, but won runner-up for “Best of Festival.”

Eighteen-year-old Chase Johnson received the “Young Filmmaker’s” Award for his gripping abortion film entitled, The Choice. The twenty-five minute film — which plot twist takes the abortion ethic to its logical conclusion — also took runner-up in the “Best of Narrative” category.

The top award for “Best Animation” — a new category for the 2006 festival — was presented to Sam Lawlace for Winston Churchill: Escape from Pretoria. Sam made the film as a senior homeschool project. While the film features lego-style animation, Sam explained how seriously he took the story: “God used Churchill’s successful escape to bring him into the favorable light of pre-World War England and set him on the course of his life.”

Other winners included: A Lifetime of Childlike Faith, which garnered the runner-up award in the “Best Documentary” category; Hero Dad and the Incredible Cave Rescue, which took home the “Best Biblical Family” runner-up award; and Wars of Humanity II: Price of Rebellion, which came in second place in the “Best Stop Motion Animation” category.

The “Best Trailer” Award, an honor for the trailer that best promoted the festival, went to Cory Taylor.

Posted by Doug Phillips on October 24, 2006 | Permalink

Posted by Doug Phillips on October 23, 2006 | Permalink

A highlight of the 2006 San Antonio Independent Christian Film Festival was the precious message of the Duggar family. Now on their fifth television series with Discovery, this humble home school family of sixteen biological children shared the blessed harmony, the practical economy, and the joy which can be achieved through a commitment to Deuteronomy 6 discipleship and living.

Posted by Doug Phillips on October 23, 2006 | Permalink

Posted by Doug Phillips on October 23, 2006 | Permalink

“Intimate familiarity with anti-Christian films is neither a foundation nor a requisite for the mastery of the filmmaking craft. Occasionally, familiarity with the business of the present film markets and industry standards will be necessary during the transition in pioneering a new industry.”

Posted by Doug Phillips on October 23, 2006 | Permalink

Posted by Doug Phillips on October 23, 2006 | Permalink

Thanks to the many dear friends and families who helped to make the 2006 San Antonio Indepenent Christian Film Festival a success.

Posted by Doug Phillips on October 23, 2006 | Permalink

Most men fill their heads with silly, raucus, mindless, effeminate, uninspiring sound masquerading as modern music. Those in attendance for the SAICFF got a delicious dose of virile, meaningful, uplifting songs of faith, bravery, and manhood from America’s premiere balladeer, Mr. Charlie Zahm, who performed on the San Antonio Riverwalk.

Posted by Doug Phillips on October 23, 2006 | Permalink

Jessica Rondina (pictured above) and her brother Anthony, along with Nathan Brown, won runner-up for Best Animation at this year’s SAICFF. Their film Wars of Humanity II: Price of Rebellion presented a delightful rendition of the biblical account of the Hebrews wandering in the wilderness.

Posted by Doug Phillips on October 23, 2006 | Permalink

Ethan and Dustin Ledden, and Nathan Webster, were filmmakers behind The Heartwood Dagger, a finalist for Best Biblical Family Film.

Posted by Doug Phillips on October 23, 2006 | Permalink

On behalf of the San Antonio Independent Christian Film Festival, good friend George Sarris presents a literal dramatic presentation of the Bible before a packed audience of believers and non-believers on the San Antonio River Walk.

Posted by Doug Phillips on October 20, 2006 | Permalink

The Botkin family produced a phenomenal three-and-a-half minute CGI short called Man O’ War as an instruction tool for the film students. Tomorow, Isaac Botkin will be giving a blow-by-blow demonstration of the technical and artristic technique behind this film.

Posted by Doug Phillips on October 20, 2006 | Permalink

Pictured Above: Colin Gunn, executive producer of The Monstrous Regiment of Women. In production.

Posted by Doug Phillips on October 20, 2006 | Permalink

Part of the vision of independent Christian filmmaking is righteous cultural influence within the context of a family vision of victory. That is why each of our faculty (Botkin, Carpenter, Rasmussen) is a home educator and faithful father who delights in taking opportunity to have his sons beside him when he is performing his craft. These sons are not mere spectators. They are benefiting from the ancient Hebraic philosophy of walk-along, talk-along, father-to-son discipleship. In the process they become contributing, productive members of one of God’s most important vehicles for cultural influence and evangelism—the Christian family.

Several participants at the 2006 Christian Filmmakers Academy mentioned that the most valuable teaching tool was observing the professionals work along side their children. Above, two of David Rasmussen’s three sons prepare fixtures for a discussion on lighting.

Benjamin Botkin assists his father in a special presentation dedicated to analyzing motion picture soundtracks. Benjamin is a composer and gifted performer who simulated silent movie themes and musical motifs on the key board. Benjamin is one of seven children the Lord has given to Geoff and Victoria.

Film producer Ken Carpenter takes a call with two of his eight children beside him.

My eldest son Joshua assists me and the speakers in a demonstration of proper lighting and interview technique.

My son Justice assists me in giving a diploma to Geoff’s daughter Elizabeth Botkin.

It is simply impossible for any of us fathers who enjoy the privilege of having our children beside us to communicate the blessing, the joy, the honor of doing the work of the Lord with the sons and daughters which the Lord has given to us. Thank the Lord for our sons and daughters. Thank the Lord for the blessings, authority, and opportunities he gives to the Christian household.

Posted by Doug Phillips on October 20, 2006 | Permalink

Congratulations to Brett and Alex Harris for bringing live blogging to an exceptional level of professionalism. The Harris twins have provided a much needed service that is benefiting tens of thousands. If you were unable to attend the Christian Filmmakers Academy take time to see their reporting and view their clips. Live blogging is curently being presented by Alex and Brett Harris for the SAICFF at www.therebelution.com..

Posted by Doug Phillips on October 20, 2006 | Permalink

Posted by Doug Phillips on October 19, 2006 | Permalink

Most students brought three essential tools to each morning’s session of the Christian Filmmakers Academy: Laptop, electronic demographic device, and notebook. Coffee: optional.

The event was filmed on HD cameras.

Electronic polling provided by our sponsor Extreme Meetings allowed for real-time testing and demographics of our nearly 250 students.

Posted by Doug Phillips on October 19, 2006 | Permalink

Posted by Doug Phillips on October 17, 2006 | Permalink

Two of the film industry’s leading providers of professional camera equipment merged this month when Panavision acquired Plus 8 Digital. The Christian Filmmakers Academy was delighted to feature them together in their first public appearance as a newly formed company. Special thanks to Panavision for sending Matthew Cook and James Finn to the event, large cameras in tow.

Jubilee Phillips looks through the lens of a 35mm film camera.

David Rasmussen explains 16mm camera technique.

Posted by Doug Phillips on October 17, 2006 | Permalink

The Pearl Stables are providing the perfect location for the 2006 Christian Filmmakers Academy. Just under 250 filmmakers from around the nation have gathered for instuction on biblical principles of culture and filmmaking, script writing, film technology, marketing strategies, and more.

Live blogging is being presented by Alex and Brett Harris at www.therebelution.com.

Posted by Doug Phillips on October 17, 2006 | Permalink

Speaking before the 2006 Christian Filmmakers Academy last night, noted filmographer David Rasmussen wowed the audience with his accounts of high altitude adventure photography and documentary work.

“I felt like I was in the presence of the Lord,” Rasmussen explained of his journey up the dangerous West Trail of Everest. David’s tremendous professionalism, his humility, and his down-to-earth style of instruction allowed the students to get a uniquely Christian perspective into the life of a home schooling father, an accomplished cameraman and documentarian, and a proficient mountain climber.

Especially precious were the letters David received by email when he was on top of Everest—letters sent from his young sons back in Montana. David interspersed photos and video footage with the letters of his children to provide an extremely compelling behind-the-scenes perspective on his adventure.

David also provided a very practical look at the changing nature of technology on professional shoots like his Everest climb. He explained that while his preference will always be to shoot on film, the practicality, portability, and the advanced technology available through the new HD cameras provides high altitude cameramen with a flexibility previously unavailable.

Posted by Doug Phillips on October 17, 2006 | Permalink

Posted by Doug Phillips on October 16, 2006 | Permalink

The following is an important announcement which details the groundbreaking work of our courageous friend, Mr. Randy Stinson, and his boss, Dr. Al Mohler.

October 13, 2006 by Jeff Robinson

LOUISVILLE, Ky. — The School of Leadership and Church Ministry at The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary will take a new approach to equipping students for local church ministry, but it will be centered around creation’s oldest institution—the family, new dean Randy Stinson told seminary trustees Tuesday during the board’s annual fall meeting.

In recent years churches have fragmented families by segregating them according to gender, age or other categories, Stinson said. Southern Seminary hopes to change that by teaching future leaders how to integrate local church ministries in a way that builds healthier families and churches, Stinson said.

“Most local church ministries tend to act independently of one another,” Stinson said. “You have a women’s ministry doing its thing over here, and you have a men’s ministry doing its thing, and you have youth ministry and children’s ministry, and they tend to act independently of one another.

“Consequently, they tend to lack a unified vision. [When] everything is segregated by age or gender or in some other way, it inadvertently ends up fragmenting the way that the family should operate.

“We are going to seek to reinforce spiritual growth as it occurs as a family. This will be done by integration of various church ministries...in a way that they reinforce each other and keep a unified vision of how they are supposed to operate and what they are supposed to be doing.”

Stinson was appointed dean of Southern’s School of Leadership and Church Ministry in August. Stinson succeeded Brad Waggoner, who served as dean for five years before becoming the director of research at LifeWay Christian Resources. Stinson also serves as executive director of the Council on Biblical Manhood and Womanhood.

Stinson said the new vision of local church ministry will equip students to:

• Integrate women’s ministries in local churches with children and youth ministries so that older women are teaching and mentoring younger women in a Titus 2 mold.

• Coordinate men’s ministries that work directly with ministries to women, children, and youth to provide male leadership for families, widows and orphans in a James 1:27 vein.

• Promote a philosophical unity between the various ministries of the local church to include unified views of marriage and parenting as well as a unified vision of gender roles in the home and church.

• Equip and encourage husbands and fathers to serve as spiritual leaders in their homes.

• Aim all local church ministries toward evangelism. “I see this operating in a way that there is a specific evangelistic component in all of this so that when a father recognizes that there is a young boy in the church that doesn’t have a father,” said Stinson, “he reaches out to that young man, so when he takes his boys to a ball game or a fishing trip, he is bringing this young man with him and in turn will eventually meet the boy’s father and will eventually have the opportunity to share the Gospel with that father. The same thing would be true for women’s ministry in the Titus 2 format.”

Seminary President R. Albert Mohler Jr. said the family-centered vision of church ministry is unique among Christian institutions of higher learning.

“I don’t think we realize how revolutionary this kind of vision is,” Mohler said. “No other school on the planet is trying to do quite what we have just described here. There is something very unique that God has given us the opportunity to do here and Randy Stinson is the man to do it.

“I believe that God created him for this purpose because when we were looking to the future of this school, to set its future in terms of direction, it was just really clear that the issue of family ministry was at the very heart of what we wanted to see take place in our local churches through this school.”

To read the full story which appears on TowersOnline.com, click here.

Posted by Doug Phillips on October 13, 2006 | Permalink

Posted by Doug Phillips on October 13, 2006 | Permalink

SAN ANTONIO, Texas, Oct. 12 /Christian Newswire/ — Stephen Kendrick, the co-writer and producer of Facing the Giants, will tell the behind-the-scenes story of his highly successful independent film as part of the Third Annual San Antonio Independent Christian Film Festival to be held in the Alamo City on October 19-21. This will mark Kendrick’s first festival appearance since Facing the Giants opened in theatres nationwide two weekends ago.

Produced on a donated budget of $100,000 using volunteer actors, Facing the Giants outperformed many big-budget Hollywood films during its opening weekend, grossing $1.4 million on only 441 screens. With a per-screen average of $3,149, it was fourth among the top ten grossing films for the weekend and ranked twelfth for national box office receipts.

Stephen Kendrick, along with Ken Carpenter (producer of Facing the Giants: The Making Of) will share a behind-the-scenes look at the production process for Facing the Giants during the festival’s Friday evening keynote, following the showing of Facing the Giants: The Making Of. A copy of the complete schedule and production notes for the feature film will be available to festival attendees for a small fee.

More than forty separate films chosen as semi- finalists will be shown on three screens during the third annual festival. Each semi-finalist will compete for the “best-of” award in one of the following four categories: Documentary, Narrative, Biblical Family, and Stop-Motion Animation. In addition, each semi-finalist is eligible to win the “Best of Festival Award” — a $10,000 Grand Prize. To view all the semi-finalists, visit http://www.independentchristianfilms.com/program/.

Posted by Doug Phillips on October 13, 2006 | Permalink

“Notwithstanding she shall be saved in childbearing, if they continue in faith and charity and holiness with sobriety.” (I Timothy 2:15).

“To censorious men it might appear absurd, for an Apostle of Christ not only to exhort women to give attention to the birth of offspring, but to press this work as religious and holy to such an extent as to represent it in the light of the means of procuring salvation. Nay, we even see with what reproaches the conjugal bed has been slandered by hypocrites, who wished to be thought holy than all other men. But there is no difficulty in replying to these sneers of the ungodly. First, the Apostle does not speak merely about having children, but about enduring all the distresses, which are manifold and severe, both in the birth and the rearing of children. Secondly, whatever hypocrites or wise men of the world may think of it, when a woman, considering to what she has been called, submits to the condition which God has assigned to her, and does not refuse to endure the pains, or rather the fearful anguish of parturition, or anxiety about her offspring, or anything else that belongs to her duty, God values this obedience more highly than if, in some other manner, she made a great display of heroic virtues, while she refused to obey the calling of God. To this must be added, that no consolation could be more appropriate or more efficacious than to shew that the very means (so to speak) of procuring salvation are found in the punishment itself.”

John Calvin, Commentaries on the First Epistle to Timothy (Grand Rapids, Michigan: Baker Books, 2003), p. 71.

Posted by Doug Phillips on October 13, 2006 | Permalink

The days of wine and roses for Internet assassins may be coming to an end. The unmarshalled wild, wild west of the blogosphere may soon have a new sheriff in town — accountability. Where the church has failed to be an influence of restraint and self-governance, not only on the nation as a whole, but with those who profess faith in Christ, the state is coming in — and with a vengeance. It appears that the courts are beginning to apply standard principles of defamation and libel to anyone who publishes defamatory material.

This morning, USA Today reports that “a Florida woman has been awarded $11.3 million in a defamation lawsuit against a Louisiana woman who posted messages on the Internet accusing her of being a ‘crook,’ a ‘con artist,’ and a ‘fraud.’” According to reporter Laura Parker:

Legal analysts say the Sept. 19 award by a jury in Broward County, Fla. — first reported Friday by the Daily Business Review — represents the largest such judgment over postings on an Internet blog or message board. Lyrissa Lidsky, a University of Florida law professor who specializes in free-speech issues, calls the award “astonishing.”

“People Are Using the Internet to Destroy People They Don’t Like”

USA Today further reports:

“What’s interesting about this case is that (Scheff) was so vested in being vindicated, she was willing to pay court costs,” Lidsky says. “They knew before trial that the defendant couldn’t pay, so what’s the point in going to the jury?”

Scheff says she wanted to make a point to those who unfairly criticize others on the Internet. “I’m sure (Bock) doesn’t have $1 million, let alone $11 million, but the message is strong and clear,” Scheff says. “People are using the Internet to destroy people they don’t like, and you can’t do that.”

Read the article.

Free Speech, I Corinthians 6, Excommunicants, and More

Years ago, I was studying Constitutional Law under Judge Robert Bork. When we began to study the subject of free speech and defamation, I remember Judge Bork emphatically stating that the Framers only designed the First Amendment to protect political speech. His point was that there is no constitutional “free speech” right to say anything you want to say.

When it comes to speech, most bloggers (including some professing Christians) borrow more from the reasoning of the ACLU than the Holy Scriptures, the common law, or the Constitution. To these individuals, “free speech” means absolute freedom to say whatever they think or feel. Alternatively, they argue that (notwithstanding the fact that they are publishing to the entire world), they should not be held accountable by the same standards that others would be held to account. For these bloggers, the Internet is a place where men and women can be profane, vile, and defamatory; a place were historic rules of journalistic integrity or academic responsibility no longer apply — a place where you can say pretty much whatever you want to say because, hey, “I am only a blogger, I am not a professional.”

It appears as if this reasoning is being shattered.

Stay tuned to Cross-Examination as Vision Forum examines biblical ethics and the blogosphere. Future articles address the potential legal liability associated with blogs; the tragedy and impropriety of Christians suing Christians under 1 Corinthians 6; the violation of the heart of 1 Corinthians 6 by “Christian” bloggers who seek to prosecute fellow Christians before the world on the Internet; the non-applicability of 1 Corinthians 6 to excommunicants; and the proper and improper place of secular courts to prosecute unlawful behavior where professing Christians lack formal ecclesiastical accountability, and will not submit themselves to such. For additional discussion on when, if ever, is it appropriate for Christians to sue men who profess to be Christians, consider the CDs from the Witherspoon School of Law and Public Policy.

Posted by Doug Phillips on October 11, 2006 | Permalink

What Past Attendees Are Saying:

“We can’t tell you enough how wonderful the event was. The teachers at the academy were very inspiring, encouraging, and eager to talk to us about film/projects/equipment/etc. The amount of knowledge we took home far exceeded our expectations.” —Candle S.

“The Christian Filmmaker’s Academy was incredible! The encouragement, the inspiration, the instruction, the vision...unbelievable!—David T.

“As a homeschooling father, elder in a local church, law professor for a Christian law school, author of a number of federal court opinions, and father of aspiring Christian filmmakers, I was...surprised by this Film Academy. You and the other members of the faculty laid the proper orientation and sound theological foundations necessary for any Christian’s participation in this powerful medium of communication. Upon this foundation, the faculty then provided effective practical instruction in the art of filmmaking, equipping our children not only to understand the role of the Christian filmmaker today but to carry it out. On top of this, you have facilitated a vital and growing network of these talented and inspired culture changers to share ideas, work together, and increase their effectiveness in advancing our Lord’s messages through film...” —Robert S.

“[T]hank you for the fabulous film academy that my daughter Caroline and I attended. We were so encouraged by the teaching and the examples set by the men who taught. We had opportunity to personally interact with most of the speakers as well as sit under their teaching and this was such a blessing! In addition to all of the great theology, doctrine and vision, we especially benefited from Ken Carpener’s session featuring a mock production meeting. It was so practical for the young filmmakers there like my daughter...”—Cathie B.

Posted by Doug Phillips on October 10, 2006 | Permalink

At this year’s Third National Conference for Uniting Church and Family, I presented a message entitled: “Feminism, Youth Culture, and the History of the Sunday School Movement.” The first purpose of the talk was to offer perspective concerning the historic foundations of some of our most popular extra-biblical, family-fragmenting, modern church traditions. The second was to encourage believers to be more self-conscious of the theological presuppositions behind practices widely embraced by the modern church.

The talk built upon foundations laid previously in the conference by Dr. Voddie Baucham’s message, “The Centrality of the Home in the Evangelism and Discipleship of the Next Generation,” and my message: “Semper Reformanda: The Reformation Roots of the Movement to Unite Church and Family.”

“Feminism, Youth Culture, and the History of the Sunday School Movement” traces the historic battle between relationship-based discipleship and efficiency models of education. The Hebrew vision of covenantal discipleship was contrasted with the Greek emphasis on youth and the Platonic program to separate children from their parents. Related issues were addressed in the context of Tertullian’s dialogue pertaining to the schools of Jerusalem and Athens.

Distinctions between the early American Puritan vision for family-integrated Sunday training and the Sunday school as a family-fragmenting and evolutionary theory-influenced late nineteenth century proto-feminist movement were examined.

The evolution of the Sunday School Movement (SSM) was traced from its early days as a well-intentioned “Social Gospel” outreach to children without Christian parents, to its twentieth century manifestation as an unfortunate substitute for father-directed discipleship of the children of Christian parents. I examined the noble vision of Robert Raikes in the late eighteenth century to create a para-church Sunday school movement as an outreach to the illiterate children of chimney sweeps and other socially and economically depressed members of English society. Also discussed were the early family-based “Sunday schools” conducted in northern England in the late eighteenth century.

Those attending the lecture were exposed to the methodological tension between the theology of the spiritual fathers of the Great Awakening, with the “new measures” of Charles Finney, the latter of whom probably did more than any other Christian leader of the nineteenth century to introduce pragmatic and man-centered notions of evangelism into the nineteenth century American church.

The SSM was examined in terms of four historic stages, each of which reflected the changing theology and ethics of its time. By the second or third generation of the SSM, the Sunday school played a key role in the transformation of the local church from the historico-biblical, male-taught and male-directed community of faith to a woman’s society. As Robbins has noted in The Church Effeminate (Page 238):

During the 19th century there were three major movements in American Protestant Churches that began the process of feminizing their leadership. The first of these was the Sunday school movement. The second was the foreign missions movement; and the third was the deaconess movement. Before the last quarter of the 18th century, Sunday schools did not exist, missionaries were men, and there was no such office as deaconess. During the 19th century the feminists, many of whom were not women and most of who were moderate by today’s standards, began their drive to control the churches. The drive began first with the Sunday school movement.

By the twentieth century, the SSM would go through its most revolutionary transformation. Having accepted the myth of methodological neutrality, the diminished role of fathers, the delegation of children to the state, and the feminized model of church life presented in the prior generation, the SSM of the American church was now ready for its most revolutionary transformation. Influenced by the educational methodology of evolutionary humanists like Darwin, Haeckel, Hall, and Dewey, the Evangelical church in America adopted the grade-based, age-segregated, adolescent theory-influenced training model of the government school systems, a model self-consciously designed by some of the most vigorous enemies of Christianity in the history of the West. In its final incarnation, the SSM would give birth to two other modern inventions: children’s church, and the church youth group.

As Otto Scott has pointed out in “The Invention of Adolsecence”:

Hall’s work provided a basis for segregating school children by age. Elementary school children were segregated from secondary schools along the lines of his “observations.” Twelve was the age of the break. The new fashion spread even into religion, and the clergy began to aim different lessons at special age groups: the Bible was too much for the young...There are many variations of this development — from youth gangs to the forced retirement. In fact, we have almost achieved a society nearly completely segregated by age in which the generations have been narrowed from the traditional thirty years to far fewer. Age now separates us more than ever before in any society; persons raised only a few decades apart find one another nearly incomprehensible.

I want to encourage anyone who is interested in studying the origin and transformation of one of the most influential movements of the modern church to please consider listening to this tape.

For the rest of the month, the conference CD, “Feminism, Youth Culture, and the History of the Modern Sunday School Movement,” is available for an online gift of any amount to support the work of Vision Forum Ministries.

Posted by Doug Phillips on October 10, 2006 | Permalink

I enjoyed a delightful interview today with Focus on the Family correspondent Joshua Montez who interviewed me for a story they are running on the blessing of children and the renewed interest on the part of many to have have large families. You can catch the story this week wherever Family News in Focus is broadcast.

Posted by Doug Phillips on October 9, 2006 | Permalink

We are thanking God for what may have been the most moving and meaningful national conference for uniting church and family in the history of Vision Forum Ministries. More than five hundred shepherds, churchmen, and families attended the event held in St Louis, Missouri.

Attendees (like these church leaders from Arizona, pictured above) listened to a wide diversity of messages which covered issues as distinct as the biblical doctrine of church membership and church discipline, to the history of the Sunday school movement, to remedies against tale-bearing and gossip in the church and evangelical community, to the care of single mothers, the handicapped, and the fatherless in family-integrated churches.

Pictured above is the Thomas family of Massachusetts.

Some speakers from left to right: Strauch, Swanson, Hart, Einwechter, and Botkin.

The messages were filled with rich insights and provided numerous opportunities for note-taking. (Pictured above: Best buddies from Houston, Texas.)

Posted by Doug Phillips on October 9, 2006 | Permalink

Read the comments on “The Plague of Tale Bearing,” offered by Alexander Strauch, author of Biblical Eldership, at the Third National Conference for Uniting Church and Family, St Louis, Missouri, October 8, 2006.

Posted by Doug Phillips on October 9, 2006 | Permalink

Dr. Voddie Bauchum launches the Third National Conference for Uniting Church and Family with the opening keynote on “The Centrality of the Home in the Evangelism and Discipleship of the Next Generation.” This was the second Vision Forum Uniting Church and Family conference in two years at which Voddie spoke.

Voddie, who helped to lead the charge within the Southern Baptist Convention calling for families to exodus the government school system, once again threw down the gauntlet, this time against the penchant of the modern church for family-fragmenting, youth culture-driven programs.

Posted by Doug Phillips on October 9, 2006 | Permalink

Everyday News Network (ENN) correspondent Adam Myers, interviews Dr. Voddie Baucham after his two talks: (1) “The Centrality of the Home in the Evangelism and Discipleship of the Next Generation”; and (2) “Answering Objectons to the Family-Integrated Church Model.”

Posted by Doug Phillips on October 8, 2006 | Permalink

In any event, Hall’s work provided a basis for segregating school children by age. Elementary school children were segregated from secondary schools along the lines of his “observations.” Twelve was the age of the break. The new fashion spread even into religion, and the clergy began to aim different lessons at special age groups: the Bible was too much for the young...There are many variations of this development — from youth gangs to the forced retirement. In fact, we have almost achieved a society nearly completely segregated by age in which the generations have been narrowed from the traditional thirty years to far fewer. Age now separates us more than ever before in any society; persons raised only a few decades apart find one another nearly incomprehensible. Dr. Hall, therefore, can be said to have influenced us as much (and perhaps more) than Darwin or Dr. Freud, and like these more celebrated “thinkers” has brought us at least an equal load of distress, disturbance, and unhappiness.

Read the article at Cross-Examination on the Vision Forum Ministries website.

Posted by Doug Phillips on October 8, 2006 | Permalink

A note from Wesley Strackbein, Managing Editor of Vision Forum Ministries’ website:

In the month to come, through a series of articles to be released on a weekly basis at Cross Examination, Vision Forum Ministries hopes to answer the questions of many families who have called and written us, often heartbroken, over their concern about the use of gossip, revilings, motive judging, and personal attacks by our Fundamentalist brothers at SharperIron.org to discredit proponents of unity between church and home. Through at least seven widely-discussed articles and their commentary sections (often laced with acrimony and defamatory material), the Fundamentalists at SharperIron.org have targeted proponents of unity between church and home for public censure. At Vision Forum, our concern is not over legitimate, brotherly, academic discussion and criticism — which is completely fair and reasonable — but over expressly unbiblical behavior in the form of spreading false witness, bringing public charges without even contacting brothers in Christ in advance, publishing gossip and revilings, etc. — all contrary to the Word of God.

Documentation of this behavior will be presented and a charitable appeal to our brothers to re-examine the use of their site as a forum for defamation and gossip will be an ongoing theme. Next week, Vision Forum’s Cross Examination will post: “Biblical Integrity and The Fundamantalist Anathema,” which examines the far-reaching charges presented on the SharperIron.org website, including a call to Christians to formally recognize proponents of church and home as false teachers and to dissasociate with them. Next week, we will post the second installment of Bill Einwechter’s blow-by-blow critique of SharperIron.org’s three-part series opposing Vision Forum Ministries. Also coming next week is an analysis of the ethical and legal responsibility of all blog hosts for any libelous and defamatory material published through the open commentary section of their websites.

The rise of the Internet and the blogosphere have created a wonderful new forum for discussion and research. But the same forum which can be used as a tool for good also provides an easy avenue for the rapid mass dissemination of gossip, revilings, and defamation against Christian men and ministries. The ease of publishing information through a blog and the lack of accountability for what is published has contributed to the relaxation of journalistic and academic standards (not to mention principles of brotherly charity) when critiquing others that often results in Ninth Commandment violations. Even legitimate criticism, however, must be subject to biblical, academic scrutiny. Those who use the Internet to discredit the name and work of others must be prepared to have their own critiques cross-examined.

The purpose of the Cross Examination section of our website is to do just this. With malice toward none and gratitude for the freedom the Lord provides and for a free society which fosters dialogue in the spirit of Christian charity, we pray that the light of God’s Word will reign paramount in every controversy between Christian men. It remains our vision that all Christians will embrace the spirit of the Bereans who, as Luke tells us, “were more noble than those in Thessalonica, in that they received the word with all readiness of mind, and searched the scriptures daily, whether those things were so” (Acts 17:11).

Posted by Doug Phillips on October 5, 2006 | Permalink

“Other farewells were also painful, for he realized that they might be final. In early February he wrote a parting letter to his closest friend, Sir William Spring. Opening with his wonder at how God had blessed him, “a poor worm, and raised but yesterday out of the dust,” with Spring’s love and esteem, he stated that he had loved Spring “before I could think you took any notice of me” and now had come to esteem and value their mutual affection, which was such that his “soul is knit to you, as the soul of Jonathan to David.” “Were I now with you,” he continued, “I should bedew that sweet bosom with the tears of affection,” for “[o]h, what a pinch will it be to me, to part with such a friend.” Yet though their parting was final in terms of this earth, he was confident that ” we shall meet in heaven, and while we live our prayers and affections shall hold an intercourse of friendship.” It may have been around this same time that, according to Thomas Hubbard’s seventeenth-century account, Winthrop, “at a solemn feast among many friends a little before their last farewell, finding his bowels yearn within him, instead of drinking to them, by breaking into a flood of tears himself, set them all aweeping...while they thought of seeing the faces of each other no more in the land of the living.”

John Winthrop: America’s Forgotten Founding Father by Francis J. Bremer, Oxford University Press, 2003, pp. 169-170.

Posted by Doug Phillips on October 4, 2006 | Permalink

“The base, poltroon and cowardly talebearer will always act in the background.” Andrew Jackson

Earlier this year I published an article entitled “Honor as a Defining Principle for Life,” which briefly addressed — among other issues — the blogosphere and the rise of the Internet assassin and the sport slanderer. This week, USA Today demonstrates that such bloggers may no longer be able to defame with impunity. An increasing number of private citizens, companies, and even ministries are turning to the courts for legal remedies against those individuals who would use their blogs to bring a false witness.

In “Courts are asked to crack down on bloggers, websites: Those attacked online are filing libel lawsuits,” Laura Parker writes:

The case reflected how blogs — short for Web logs, the burgeoning, freewheeling Internet forums that give people the power to instantly disseminate messages worldwide — increasingly are being targeted by those who feel harmed by blog attacks. In the past two years, more than 50 lawsuits stemming from postings on blogs and website message boards have been filed across the nation. The suits have spawned a debate over how the “blogosphere” and its revolutionary impact on speech and publishing might change libel law. Legal analysts say the lawsuits are challenging a mind-set that has long surrounded blogging: that most bloggers essentially are “judgment-proof” because they — unlike traditional media such as newspapers, magazines and television outlets — often are ordinary citizens who don’t have a lot of money. Recent lawsuits by Banks and others who say they have had their reputations harmed or their privacy violated have been aimed not just at cash awards but also at silencing their critic...

Robert Cox, founder and president of the Media Bloggers Association, which has 1,000 members, says the recent wave of lawsuits means that bloggers should bone up on libel law. “It hasn’t happened yet, but soon, there will be a blogger who is successfully sued and who loses his home,” he says. “That will be the shot heard round the blogosphere.”...

“People take advantage of the anonymity to say things in public they would never say to anyone face-to-face,” Cox says. “That’s where you get these horrible comments. This is standard operating procedure.”...

At its best, the blogosphere represents the ultimate in free speech by giving voice to millions. It is the Internet’s version of Speaker’s Corner in London’s Hyde Park, a global coffeehouse where ideas are debated and exchanged...

The blogosphere also is the Internet’s Wild West, a rapidly expanding frontier town with no sheriff.

Posted by Doug Phillips on October 3, 2006 | Permalink

Dear Vision Forum:

I am a 27 year old woman who was in the Marine Corps for three years. I was so excited to see your articles about this growing trend of women in the armed forces. I orginally thought it was a noble thing to go serve my country in the military. Now, as a stay-at-home wife and mother, I am so glad to be done with that lifestyle. Women have no place in the military, especially the Marine Corps. We were struggling to be like our male co-workers and yet were not physically or mentally able to keep up. All femininity had to be placed on the back burner to accomplish the same goals. I am so thankful God took me out of the Marine Corps and now I can pass on my knowledge to my friends and my sisters.

Thanks, Jana L.

Posted by Doug Phillips on October 3, 2006 | Permalink

Dear Mr. Phillips,

Two and a half years ago we attended the Indiana Association of Home Educators conference where we heard you speak about the blessing of having lots of children. We were content with our two children, but were wondering if God would have us have another child. Your talk seemed to be the push that we needed.

Now, we have Isaiah Gideon, who will be 5 months old on October 9, to join our brood and are looking forward to the many more children God will give to us in the future. Thank you for your commitment to families and children. Isaiah is such a blessing to us. We can’t imagine NOT having him around.

Blessings, Ann C.

Posted by Doug Phillips on October 3, 2006 | Permalink