Sunday, January 24, 2010

Halfway there.

posted by 36 Parables at Sunday, January 24, 2010 2 Comments

Thursday, December 31, 2009

Community - 36 Parables Monthly Newsletter - 12/31/09

Dear Friends,

And who is my neighbor? This is possibly the most important question asked of Jesus during His life on Earth. And the answer Jesus gives in The Parable of the Good Samaritan is equally significant. Jesus shifts the emphasis of the question from generating criteria by which you determine who is and who is not your neighbor to what is required in order to define yourself as a neighbor. Simply put, you are a neighbor when you have mercy on your fellow man.

By directly linking the word neighbor with a particular action that demands a recipient Jesus perfectly harmonizes His answer with one of the many beautiful melodies resonating throughout the Scriptures; you are not alone. From the Ten Commandments to the Beatitudes the Bible represents the human to God relationship in light of how we behave in community with others. As soon as you take away your fellow man from your Theology, your foot has set upon a very slippery slope that inevitably ends in the quagmire of Christian Nihilism.

We were created to live in community with God and our fellow man, not alone. And what determines whether or not our fellow man is our neighbor is not race, gender, culture, geography, or even religion. The single determining factor for whether or not someone is our neighbor is how we treat them. If I stand back and ask myself who qualifies as my neighbor, I am missing the point. The Parable of the Good Samaritan makes this point perfectly clear. We don’t get the luxury of deciding who is and who is not our neighbor before we decide to have mercy on them. The Samaritan was the man’s neighbor because he had mercy on him.

Go and do likewise.

He prayeth best, who loveth best
All things both great and small;
For the dear God who loveth us,
He made and loveth all.

From The Rime of the Ancient Mariner Part VII
Written by Samuel Taylor Coleridge - 1798

Forward a friend this link to sign up for the
36 Parables Monthly Newsletter:
http://36parables.blogspot.com/

Content & Resources:

Illuminating Understanding,

The Cinematographer
Stewart H. Redwine
C: 310-770-0448
E: sredwine@36parables.com

posted by 36 Parables at Thursday, December 31, 2009 0 Comments

Saturday, December 19, 2009

“Together” Gary, a middle-aged alcoholic must choose to stay sober or live his old life when his attempt to keep his relationship with his daughter backfires. Based on the Parable of the Wheat and the Weeds (Matthew 13: 24-30); approx 5 min.
Watch a Sneak Preview of Together at Vimeo: http://vimeo.com/7334649
Password: 36sneakpreview

“Wise/Foolish” A college girl who procrastinated all semester is forced to make a choice between cheating on her final paper or going on a date with her new boyfriend. Based on the Parable of the Wise and Foolish Builders (Matthew 7:24-29, Luke 6:46-49); approx 5 min.
“Charlie” A young jazz saxophonist struggles to make a living as an artist. Based on the Parable of the Mustard Seed (Luke 13:18–19, Mark 4:30–32, Matt 13:31-32); approx 5 min.

posted by 36 Parables at Saturday, December 19, 2009 0 Comments

Monday, November 30, 2009

Wisdom - 36 Parables Monthly Newsletter - 11/30/09

Dear Friends,

One of the many beautiful threads weaving the Old and New Testaments together is wisdom. Simply put, “The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom"(Proverbs 9:10). If you fear the Lord you will listen to Him, love others, and in doing so put yourself last (Dueteronomy 6:1-9, Mark 12:28-34 ). Throughout the Book of Proverbs in the Old Testament wisdom is presented as practical advice delivered in potent one liners like, “A man’s own folly ruins his life, yet his heart rages against the Lord” (Proverbs 19:3 ).


Seven hundred years before Jesus’ life on Earth the Book of Proverbs was compiled by King Hezekiah during a spiritual awakening in the Kingdom of Judah. At the time leading up to this awakening Isaiah the Prophet declared, “The Lord says: ‘These people come near to me with their mouth and honor me with their lips, but their hearts are far from me. Their worship of me is made up only of rules taught by men’" (Isaiah 29:13 ). Centuries later Jesus quoted this exact scripture to the Pharisees and teachers of the law. The Book of Proverbs, like Jesus, teaches wisdom is found in fearing the Lord.

There are 31 chapters in the Book of Proverbs and I challenge you to read one chapter a day, one for each day of the month, this December. As you do you’ll see the Old and New Testaments draw closer together before your very eyes. Wisdom is found in fearing the Lord, obeying Him, praying to Him, forgiving much, speaking little , loving always , and apologizing when we sin. Jesus Christ said everyone who hears His words and puts them into practice is like a wise man who built his house on a rock (Matthew 7:24).

Four hundred years before Jesus another great teacher, Socrates, said he was the wisest man alive because he knew he knew nothing. How true, for when we can admit we know nothing we then have the ears to hear Christ’s words and put them into practice. Wisdom is not found in what we know, it is found in whom we listen to. Does not wisdom call out? Does not understanding raise her voice? Click here if you are ready to listen.

Forward a friend this link to sign up for the
36 Parables Monthly Newsletter:
http://36parables.blogspot.com/

High Quality Christmas Videos:

36 Parables News and Reviews:

Events:

Content & Resources:

Illuminating Understanding,

The Cinematographer
Stewart H. Redwine
C: 310-770-0448
E: sredwine@36parables.com

posted by 36 Parables at Monday, November 30, 2009 1 Comments

Friday, October 30, 2009

Together - 36 Parables Monthly Newsletter - 10/30/09

Dear Friends,

This month I finished reading John Steinbeck’s The Grapes of Wrath. Though the story deals with the migration of Okies to the west coast during the first great depression, I couldn’t help but see the obvious parallels to the present. The book revolves around the journey of the Joad family from Oklahoma to Southern California after they are forced from their forty acres because they were unable to pay their mortgage. Sound like anyone you may know or be related to right now? As job losses and foreclosures continue people are once again on the move and willing to work for much less then they would have even 12 months ago.

The book ends with the unforgettable image of a young woman literally nursing a starving man at her breast. Her baby died during labor, the man is dying from a parasite, there is no more food, and so his only chance of survival is milk from the mourning mother of a stillborn child. John Steinbeck’s classic challenges everyone who reads it to care for others even when they're the one who is down and out; whether you're bankrupt, grieving, have no place to lay your head, or all of the above. Like the Joad family many of us don’t know what is going on; whether this is a V or W shaped recession, an epidemic or pandemic, or how we’re going to pay for any of it no matter how everything shakes down. The point of The Grapes of Wrath is that we’re in it together. For better or worse, we can’t ever forget that. We’re in it together.

That’s why I’m offering you a sneak preview of 36 Parables' upcoming short film Together. Based on the Parable of the Wheat and the Weeds (Matthew 13:24-30), Together will be available February 2010 on the 36 Parables Lime DVD.

To watch a Sneak Preview of Together:
1) Follow this link (http://vimeo.com/7334649)
2) Enter the password: 36sneakpreview

Whether your neighbor, brother or sister, mother or father, boss, staff, or volunteers are Wheat or Weeds in your life right now… remember… we’re in it together. Christ’s call to love resonates like thunder through the ages… if you can hear it, you can do it. Together.

Three ways you can help "set the oppressed free" today.
(Isaiah 58:6-11):

  • Higher M-Pact - Offering Hope to High Risk Urban Youth
    http://www.highermpact.org/
  • Care Net - With the support of Care Net and its network of pregnancy centers, people facing unplanned pregnancies are choosing life and hope everyday.
    http://www.care-net.org/
  • Rapha House - Rapha House exists to love, rescue and heal children who have been rescued out of slavery and sexual exploitation.
    http://www.raphahouse.org/

36 Parables News and Reviews:

Events:

Content & Resources:

Illuminating Understanding,

The Cinematographer
Stewart H. Redwine
C: 310-770-0448
E: sredwine@36parables.com

posted by 36 Parables at Friday, October 30, 2009 1 Comments

Tuesday, October 27, 2009

posted by 36 Parables at Tuesday, October 27, 2009 0 Comments

Monday, October 26, 2009

Students, the Student Ministry at First Baptist Church of Geneva IL, uses 36 Parables to Illuminate Understanding:
http://www.fbcgstudent.com/parables-2/

posted by 36 Parables at Monday, October 26, 2009 0 Comments