36 Parables

2010-08-02T14:39:00.000-07:00

"It is so important to create thought-provoking and imaginative experiences for people to explore faith and meaning. 36 Parables has done that very well."

-Michael Novelli, Author / Speaker

2010-04-01T16:37:00.000-07:00

What Cory Edwards Has to Say about 36 Parables:

"36 Parables is not only a great idea, it's an idea executed very, very well. I don't think I've ever seen quality like this in a "church video." And that term is hardly relevant to the way these filmmakers are communicating. The cinematography, acting and directing are in good hands here, and compete with anything in the mainstream. This is what the church needs now: a way to speak timeless truths in a modern language that audiences are hungry for. I'm thoroughly impressed!"

-Cory Edwards
Writer/Director "Hoodwinked" & "Fraggle Rock: the Movie"

2010-03-28T17:34:00.001-07:00

Use these five simple steps to get the most out of 36 Parables with your group.

Pray - ask the Lord to speak to during your time together

Watch - watch one of the short films

Read - give your group time to read the parable the short film is based on

Discuss - find points of connection between the short film and the original parable

Repeat - following your group’s initial discussion watch the short film again and see if there was anything you missed the first time around

Get the 36 Parable DVD bundle at YouthSpecialties.com

2010-03-20T10:37:00.000-07:00

What People Are Saying About 36 Parables:

I've been a "36 Parable guy" from the beginning... mostly using them with my youth group (who absolutely LOVES them!). However, I recently finished a sermon series called "GROW UP: Jesus' Parables on Growth"... and our closing parable was the Barren Fig Tree. I was able to use the piece "Sean" as the intro to my sermon. It was the perfect lead-in to the message... and allowed the people to start 'thinking outside the box' on interpreting the parable. Plus, as always the production value was excellent. 36 Parables is top notch, relevant & engaging! Mahalo nui loa! www.aumc.us"
- Jim White (Aiea, Hawaii)

"You asked about adults. I only use the videos with adults - in worship, and in a parables study during Lent, which is mostly adults but one mature teen. They're really excellent; spark marvelous conversation! "
- Beth Galbreath

"My name is Shibu Mathew and I am the Director of Jr. High Ministry at Heartland Community Church in Overland Park, KS. Currently I am a 2nd year seminary student in MAP (Ministry Apprenticeship Program) at Heartland. I have had a lot of success in using 36 parables Yellow with my Junior High Youth Group. These films are an extremely relevant way to communicate the life-changing truths of Jesus. Our students love these films; and they keep asking when we can watch the next one. I've used 'Yellow' in a few different settings; both to lead into discussions about the Biblical text and as a visual before I begin teaching. As our church strives to be relevant to the world we live in, 36 Parables helps us to communicate the stories of Jesus in ways we have not before."
- Shibu Mathew

"I have 4 of the 36 parables. I downloaded them from your website. I teach at a Christian high school and I used them to lead 4 weeks of devotions for the students. The high school students enjoyed the videos. The videos were well done - "not corny". They displayed a good sense of humour. Our favourite was "buen vecino". The videos were good starting points for lots of discussion. I also used the PDFs to lead the small the group discussion. Thanks for your excellent work!"
- Dianne Van Rooyen

"i used the parable of the push ups for my churches jr. high ministries sunday school class. i gave this story to my pastor and he said that it would be a huge help and that it was a really neat parable. i thought it was really cool, and it was a very moving story."
- Naz Girl SE

"While participating in 2 earlier sessions using 36 Parables in our adult Sunday Small Group and leading 1 session, I found that the DVD stories were to the point and brought home the messages of the parables in a present-day situation. Besides that, they have been crafted skillfully. The background material and questions in the associated PDFs lent themselves to thought-provoking discussion within the class. "
- Joe Christoffel

"Many thanks to you for your weekly inspirational messages and keeping us updated on what's happening with The 36 Parables. May Father God abundantly bless you and The 36 Parables ministry as the good work of spreading the gospel and salvation of His Son, Jesus Christ, is "performed" through a "popular medium" of which the secular world is likely to turn a curious ear (and eye) to...and, God willing, will produce an abundance of "good fruit" for the honor and glory of our LORD! Shalom! "
- Hope Pryor

"Please do the rich young ruler--and use a teenager"
- Terri Orr

"Praise God for your willingness to communicate Christ's stories! Thanks so much! The account worked great with the download of the video and the Bible study. My wife showed the video to her reading class at our Christian international school here in Bangkok. The kids had a lot of questions like . . . 1. Why was the "owner" so mean? 2. The guy who didn't paint, didn't look like an artist. 3. Why didn't the guy paint? 4. What was the point of the video? 5. Why was the video named, "Buried Talent"? Needless to say, we had some explaining to do! We opened God's Word, and then started applying it to their lives. The Holy Spirit planted seeds . . . What will we paint on the canvas of our lives? Each of us has been given a blank canvas - our life here on earth. The Bible says that our time here on earth is a gift from God (whether we are Buddhists, Sihks, Muslims, or other religions - God has blessed all of us with today, and with life, energy, and talent). The Owner will be coming & his reward is with him! Jesus is coming sooner than we expect! (the fact that the owner was coming at an unknown hour) So what will we do with our talents, our time, and our lives today? Will we accept the golden gift of Grace to color our lives? Or will we miss the golden opportunity to paint God's loving character, His justice & mercy - by wasting our time playing video games, watching bad movies, etc.? I can't wait to get back stateside to see the other videos that you've mailed to us! -- Let's Uplift Christ! "
- Bangkok Church Planters

"I lead the Jr High Student Ministry for my church. I came up with a series idea I call "Truth AND Dare". Many kids like to play "Truth or Dare". My idea is to teach them the Truth that Jesus taught and then Dare them to follow it. Through discussions with adults who have had trouble understanding some of the parables themselves I thought the parables would be the basis of the series. Of course I began my research by digging through the gospels myself to create a comphrehensive list. It was when I started looking on Google for any material that might be a help that I came across 36parables.com. I'm using them as an intro to my lessons and use some of the bible study pdf questions along with many of my own. I can hardly wait until ALL the videos are done and that I can hardly wait to introduce the videos to the small groups as well."
- Ryan Duffy

"I am a big fan of the 36 Parable Series! The films really help me understand what Jesus meant when he shared stories in the Bible for us to live by. We have had great discussions because of films and can't wait for the rest of the series to become available. We also think the acting is great! It's like watching a short movie."
- Caitie Yoder

"I use 36 Parables because participants get more from my seminars when the sessions include a variety of communication media. I have used 36 Parables videos in several of my Stewardship workshops and the response has been nothing short of sensational – and right across the age spectrum from teenagers to seniors. The 36 Parables videos bring the gospel alive in the context of the 21st century where people spend their daily lives. Participants have enjoyed the contemporary gospel messages in the videos very much. Based on my experience, 36 Parables helps stimulate reflection and discussion in a creative and dynamic way."
- Steve Foran

"We enjoyed "Spilt Milk" quite a bit. Our church (Hosanna! Christian Fellowship in Lititz, PA) recently began a multi-week series on Jesus' parables, and this past Sunday, the sermon began with your video. The congregation enjoyed it quite a bit, laughing (and/or groaning) at all the right spots! It also helped that the little boy strongly resembled the son of our worship pastor! I'm sure we'll be back."
- Jeff & Jeannine Burkholder

"I have been showing these DVD's to a group of mostly older adults (over 60). They are people who have studied these parables over and over again. They have loved the films - and received fresh insight! The senior High School class that meets next door got curious - so now they're beginning to watch them too. Thanks for a wonderfully creative and well executed idea."
- Dr. Deborah Stevens

"As a public high school English teacher, I am not allowed to use the “36 Parables” films to teach biblical concepts. However, I am able to use the short films as a teaching tool for literary devices. So far I have shown 3 of the 9 available films. I have used “Buen Vecino”, “Out of Reach”, and “Found” to teach plot elements: exposition, rising action, climax, similes, protagonist, antagonist and metaphors. This makes an explicit introductory lesson lasting 15 minutes at the most, perfect for high school students with short attention spans."
- Rebecca Redwine

"Cyan - loved it. You guys are really starting to find a rhythm with this project, it seems. Spilt milk - the image of the chunky milk coming out of the container - and out of the boy's mouth - will stick in my head for a while! (And because I'm a Trader Joe's fan, the fact that the TJ milk was fresh in contrast to the other stuff wasn't lost on me. I hope you got some product placement bucks from Joe's for that one!) Loved the boy looking right into the camera toward the end of the video! a few weeks later - Watching this man mechanically processing all of his wife's stuff brought back memories of doing this task when my dad died a few years ago - right down to the casual "Why don't you just take some of this?" comment to the neighbor. I found myself getting a bit restless as I watched this - where was this man's emotion? You had me waiting for it for what felt like a long time in the story arc. When he finally broke down at the end, after feeding the birds - the image of crumbs contrasted with the piles of stuff was just perfect! - I actually got a bit choked up myself. This was my experience with my dad's belongings, as well. And that final shot of the windows....bulls eye. You caught the essence of this parable perfectly. Beyond Beautiful - Who doesn't love a love story? Though the set up for the date had to navigate all of the questions with exposition about why this beyond beautiful girl didn't have a date for "Much Ado" (a clever choice) - once you got us in the rhythm of watching Charlie watch the clock, I was hooked. This sense of rightness and responsibility - of doing the right thing even if our first inclination is to bag out - is at once an accurate statement about the frailty of human nature as well as a look at the thing Jesus values most - not our words, but our actions in response to Him. Loved the payoff - a promise of a really happy ending for Charlie and his blind date. I am so thrilled to see what God is doing through your team. These stories ARE God's story, being told in our lives. In Him,"
- Michelle Van Loon

"I was talking to the senior pastor of my church last Thursday. He was working on a sermon to be delivered Sunday – a sermon of hope and healing in the aftermath of the Virginia Tech massacre. We wondered together if there were youth and young adults in our midst that we should be reaching out to in love. I told him about my favorite and most cherished episode of 36 Parables, “Sean”. He asked to borrow it from my lending library as a sermon illustration. I was so glad I had one of my three copies of “Purple” available. Usually, they are all checked out. Part of “Sean” was included in the sermon and it had a big impact on people. It was the perfect mini-sermon to help people respond to the terrible events in Virginia. Thanks for your important work."
- Susan Dal Porto

"I stumbled across “Found” on the Internet maybe a year ago and had decided to buy when more were finished. Then I totally forgot how I found “Found”! I went on my own frantic search fearing that I had lost a jewel of a parable-retelling. I finally found it on YouTube with no credits, but with continued searching found an article about the project which led me to your website. Thank you for artfully retelling the parables. Your group impresses me again with how God will speak out in so many voices despite the many fears and traumas in this world. I’m sure the Spirit of Jesus has blessed all who worked on these parables as well as each one who now buys them. Keep it up! Do all 36! I am boosting them from my corner of the US."
- Principal Jim Weller

"Aloha, Stewart and the rest of the 36 Parables crew... My small group of Waipuna Chapel regulars met again tonight and interacted with the first video on Cyan: "Spilt Milk." Our group is getting very comfortable with this format. It is so rewarding to see since the majority of our members felt this was a very strange thing at the beginning. We did a wonderful job of interacting with the video, the scripture, and the study sheet. But what I really want to share with you is the prayer our facilitator had written out to use to begin our study tonight... Dear Lord, we are here to learn to be people of the light by studying your parables. They make the abstract concrete. They bring great principles of Christianity home to us in ways we can visualize. The parables you told us about 20 centuries ago still live. Please, Lord, help us to apply their timeless inspiration to our daily lives. Amen. Isn't that just great? I was blown away. This was written by a previously non-audio visual retired man in his 70's. I am thrilled. Once again, thanks for producing the tools for God to use to bring about this level of insight. Keep up the good work"
- Pastor Donn W. Anderson

"I’m not sure how I stumbled across “36 Parables.” I can tell you that we are using it for a summer series – and it promises to help us overcome a summer slump. We are coordinating both worship services AND Sunday School around the parables. It will be a multi-media extravaganza for us; video, live skits, discussion groups, games (for the younger ones) etc. Our drama team plan on presenting a one-person drama (skit) to the combined group, then we will separate into three groups (age appropriate) and experience the parable. Thanks! God bless,"
- Dr. Douglas R. Miller

"I am saddened that the next DVD will not be out until 2008. But whenever, I will be ordering it. I have used 36 Parables on youth retreats, School Chapels (elementary and high school), and a Bible study series with adults to help them rethink the parables in todays life. I think they are fastastic, and it really opens the groups up for discussion and soul searching. In fact, just this morning I gave my copy, I forget what color, but the one with "Buen Vecino" the remake of the Good Samaritan, to one of the faculty members of our High School. He asked me for resources on the parable. Keep up the good work, and I will pray that God would speed up the production of the next DVD. Blessing,"
- Pastor Jim Weller

"I am the church librarian at Epworth United Methodist Church in Indianapolis. I try to have a great selection of interesting, cutting-edge materials for our Sunday School classes to use. I anticipate that 36 Parables will be perfect for our youth programs and our Young Adult Sunday School class. What usually happens is that our older, more staid adult classes try the materials that the younger classes use in order to feel hip, and then end up growing and learning in new ways. Nearly half of our congregation is active in Sunday School classes (!) and I believe these DVDs will be enjoyed by most of them ultimately. I heard about 36 Parables from the resource librarian at the South Indiana Conference of the UMC, our governing body. If you have librarians on your side, you'll have many converts and supporters! Thank you for your good work,"
- Susy Murphy

"We have loved the 36 Parables DVD's we purchased and have used them for both high school and adult class studies. It creates a wonderful connection between kids/youth and adults when they know they've all studied the same thing and can discuss their encounters with the material. I stumbled upon 36 Parables when I found a copy of Cyan in our Presbytery's library last summer. I took it home to preview as a possible short-term study to finish up our summer Sunday school class for youth and was immediately taken by it. We promptly ordered the other two DVD's that were available and look forward to the release of future installments. Thanks so much for your ministry!"
- Dawn Raelene Flippin

"Purple - Out of Reach, The Car Lot and Sean were really good, especially Sean. We had a former high school nurse in our adult group and she added extra insight to this. I really appreciated the comments from the pastors and professors on these three themes. They gave a different perspective to them than we would have probably thought of. I feel of the two DVDs we have used so far that this was the best. We will be using Cyan next. Am anxiously awaiting any new ones. Our adult group of about 20 meet every Wednesday night at church. Feel this would work well with the high schoolers also. Thank you so much. Thank you."
- Shirley Kersten

"I have been teaching 6,7 or 8th grade Sunday school for the last five years. I decided last summer to really focus on the Parables with my 7th grade class this year. I went out looking for some teaching aides and found your video series on the Internet. I think that the videos are a fantastic teaching tool and the young people really like them. They look forward to the next DVD in the series. Their favorite so far is the good Samaritan one which they refer to simply as “Pool Boy“. If there is time at the end of Sunday school they will actually voluntarily watch it. I have wondered what it is about “ Pool Boy “ that they like so much. I have not asked them yet but I might try to get some answers from them later when they have seen more videos. Please send me any information, commentary or Bible studies that you have."
- Gerry Fahrenthold

"I just used the parable about 'Sean' in my sermon this past week. Absolutely positive affect all around. Really touched hearts. Youth and parents alike really responded. Many compliments on a newer style of preaching. Anyway.. thanks for your video's. They are going to be part of our overall approach to the new year. God Bless!"
- Pastor Rick Mills

"I watched all three films at home with my 19 year-old college student son on his X-Box 360 last night. He was captivated by "Beyond Beautiful" and was disappointed when it ended at 5 minutes. He didn't necessarily get the Biblical/scriptural connection and I didn't push it at this time. Later I will do that. He just loved the films as a strong piece of filmmaking. He could have gone for a feature length film with the storyline and the characters of Beyond Beautiful. I watch the documentary pieces this morning and they were helpful. I found the vineyard images for the Parable of the Two Sons quite amazing. Kudos on your screenwriting credit on "A Few Weeks Later". That one was just haunting. I also am fond of some particularly memorable shots such as the close up of the impish face of the kid in "Split Milk" looking into the refrig. Also, the Behind the Scenes really helped me critique a rough cut of a new film on Baptism which I received from United Methodist Communication today. The quality of the 36 Parables films has made me more discriminating on other things that I see. You guys have really raised the bar. Thanks & continued blessings,"
- Susan Dal Porto

"The videos are incredible. I am a Family Minister in Austin and have been using these as the basis for a class I’m teaching to high school students and their parents. We have over 200 teens and adults in that class and they are riveted by the videos. So well done and so to the point of the parable. I preached on New Year’s Eve Sunday to the church in the absence of the regular preacher on resolutions and used the parable of the fig tree as my text. After talking about the parable for a minute, we showed the video up on the big screens (Sean). The response afterward was tremendous. So many people were touched by that rendering of this parable! I know God used it to drive home very important points about giving someone a break and getting back in the game if one has been on the sidelines. I can’t tell you how much I appreciate your work. Videos connect in a way words cannot and I will use them until I’m blue in the face or until they cease connecting! I’m looking forward to Amber and to the rest after that. This is Kingdom work God has laid on you and you have been and are being faithful. We are the beneficiaries of that."
- Rick McCall

"Aloha from Maui... Just wanted you to know how your efforts to bring Jesus' parables to contemporary life are touching people you never imagined. Several times a year I get the privilege of teaching men and women from developing countries all over the world how to use audio visuals for evangelism. Just this last week, I taught 58 women from over 30 countries. For our final workshop I had them focus in on the parable of the Good Samaritan. We looked at a "no tech" way to present it, a "medium tech way" and then a "high tech" method. Then I challenged them to literally see this parable in a whole new way. I showed them "Buen Vecino." How I wish you could have been in the room to watch all these internationals experience your creativity."
- Pastor Donn W. Anderson

"A lot of the stuff I see marketed for churches is kinda cheesy. The few segments I’ve been able to watch from you folks, however, has been anything but cheesy. The segment called ‘Found’ is so creative & disarming in its approach that I was immediately drawn into the story. That, I believe, is what made Jesus’ parables so powerful. Listeners were drawn into his stories. 36 Parables seems to be faithful to Jesus’ gift of storytelling."
- James A. White

"You gave us an opportunity to review your work and I really enjoyed your presentations. For Easter this year we we’re doing a “Lost & Found” theme. You’re Yellow feature entitled “Found” was just what we were looking for. We had the concept we wanted with appropriate music and Bible verses. We wanted a way to make it come alive visually. You helped us to do that. It was wonderful. Mature believers and new seekers were all moved by the piece. I find it makes preaching a sermon so much easier when people’s hearts have already been opened by artist experiences like yours before I take the podium. Thank you."
- Dr. David White

"Subject: Purple Got it. Love it. You nailed it. You just provided my next 3 weeks of Sunday morning scripture study curriculum."
- Drew Moser

"I ordered the first installment of parables a couple months ago. I wanted to say well done. The stories are great - the video done well - and the message enhanced through the new "filter" of the parables. Thank you for stepping out and doing something powerful and creative. I count my experience as very positive! Keep it up!"
- Jake Knodel

"Thank you for the opportunity to preview 36 Parables. Every person who viewed one or more of the vignettes was profoundly impressed with the work done. The message of each is so simply stated, yet so profound it the presentation. ACSI normally will not consider a video/DVD for inclusion in our catalog but 36 Parables is unique. We see its utility in the Christian school to be very appropriate. Nearly every content area would find these parables to be quite useful as an instructional component for the classroom. The three parables I have viewed are superbly done. They are authentically presented and accurately represent the biblical account. I cannot wait to put this product before our member schools."
- Steven C. Babbitt

"Recently I agreed to teach a class at our church. I began searching the web looking for good material to use. I found the run-of-the-mill stuff that provides a list of rhetorical questions or fill in the blank type forms and workbooks. I stumbled onto your videos being offered at another web site and soon realized that I had found exactly the kind of material I yearn to use and teach with. It has truly been a delight to use the videos as we've drunk deeply of the truths that Jesus taught. The variety is so refreshing and the freedom to teach the way I do fits with the videos like hand in glove. Thanks so much for your labor of love in producing this series."
- Clayton Gibbs

"I loved these videos! They all made sense. For people like me who have trouble understanding the Bible these would be really good for them."
- Grace - High School Freshman

"I enjoyed watching the parables. Most of them made sense to me. Sean is my favorite one that we have watched so far. It made the sense to me and it kept me interested. These parables have been good so far." - John - High School Freshman
"I liked the videos because they had a different perspective on how the parables can relate to us in real life and they were entertaining and cool but, a few of them were hard to understand before we discussed them. Then I understood what they were trying to say."
- Christina - High School Freshman

"For Lent this year I used your scripture outline and used a few of your videos as well. My favorite one is "Spilt Milk" because it gives new perspective through the eyes of a child. After studying the scripture and having a discussion about wine I showed the video and it sparked a whole new dialogue. Thanks guys, I am excited for the new videos to be released."
- Ryan Caldwell

2010-02-25T17:48:00.000-08:00

Halfway There - 36 Parables Newsletter - 02/25/10

Dear Friends,

Many of you have been with 36 Parables since 2005, when we released our first film, Found. The January 2010 release of 36 Parables' Lime DVD marks the official halfway point of our original vision; 18 of the planned 36 Parables are completed. We are thrilled to see 36 Parables made it this far, and we could not have done it without your support along the way. The Lime DVD not only marks the half way point, John and I both agree it is our best DVD to date.

This is most likely the last newsletter you will receive until one of the following happens:

1. Our publisher decides to complete the last half of the series.

or

2. We obtain additional funding to complete the series independently.

John and I have not been paid for our work with 36 Parables, it has been a labor of love we desperately want to see through to completion. Most of you have been with us since the beginning so we thought it wouldn't hurt to ask, are any of you willing to help us finance the completion of the series? It could be you, your church, ministry, company, or someone you know. Please contact me if you want to help us finish what we started 5 years ago with Found.

Thank you for all your support over the years, we endeavored to make the very best short films we knew how with every DVD. Please continue to use 36 Parables to illuminate understanding by pointing people back to Scripture and the lover of their souls, Jesus Christ the Lord.

Illuminating Understanding,

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

2009-12-31T08:36:00.000-08:00

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:

"Buen Vecino" - Based on the Parable of the Good Samaritan
http://www.illuminatingunderstanding.com/?id=5167028
36 Parables Bundle at YS.com
http://36parables.blogspot.com/2009/08/36-parabels-bundle-at-ys.html
MyCatholicVoice.com - Connect. Explore. Share.
http://www.mycatholicvoice.com/
Eric Samuel Timm - Christian Speaker and Artist
http://www.nooneunderground.com/
Leading Pre-Teens: A Growing Ministry Guide by Patrick Snow
http://www.amazon.com/Leading-Preteens-Growing-Ministry-Guide/dp/0784721807
One Time Blind - Mini Movies
http://onetimeblind.org/resources.html
Family Drive - Protect, Preserve, & Share your Family's Precious Memories
https://secure.familydrive.com/cartV2/
StewartHRedwine.com - designed by Able Parris
http://stewarthredwine.com/

Illuminating Understanding,

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

2009-12-19T06:48:00.000-08:00

36Parables.com
Lime DVD
Available February 2010

“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.

2009-11-30T12:46:00.001-08:00

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:

Dan Stever's "Christmas in a Nutshell"
http://www.sermonspice.com/product/29240/christmas-in-a-nutshell
OneTimeBlind's "I Am Here"
http://www.sermonspice.com/product/21236/i-am-here
SermonSpice.com Sermon Illustration Holiday Content
http://www.sermonspice.com/sermonspicechristmas2

36 Parables News and Reviews:

What Albert Tate Has to Say about 36 Parables
http://36parables.blogspot.com/2009/10/what-albert-tate-has-to-say-about-36.html
What Hayley Neal Has to Say about 36 Parables
http://withoutashepherd.com/2009/09/05/creative-gospel-36-parables/
What Cory Edwards Has to Say about 36 Parables
http://36parables.blogspot.com/2009/08/what-cory-edwards-has-to-say-about-36.html
Encounter Church Illuminates Understanding with 36 Parables in Helena, Montana
http://www.encounterhelena.org/2009/08/36-parables-discussion-on-august-25.html
Pastor Jon McClarnon Illuminates Understanding with 36 Parables in Garner, North Carolina
http://36parables.blogspot.com/2009/07/pastor-jon-mcclarnon-illuminates-truth.html

Events:

Christ in Youth - Believe - Junior High Event
http://www.ciy.com/believe/
Christ in Youth - SuperStart! - Preteen Event
http://www.ciy.com/superstart

Content & Resources:

36 Parables Bundle at YS.com
http://36parables.blogspot.com/2009/08/36-parabels-bundle-at-ys.html
MyCatholicVoice.com - Connect. Explore. Share.
http://www.mycatholicvoice.com/
Leading Pre-Teens: A Growing Ministry Guide by Patrick Snow
http://www.amazon.com/Leading-Preteens-Growing-Ministry-Guide/dp/0784721807
Christ in Youth Videos now available at Sermospice.com!
http://www.sermonspice.com/producers/profile/1680
One Time Blind - Mini Movies
http://onetimeblind.org/resources.html
Family Drive - Protect, Preserve, & Share your Family's Precious Memories
https://secure.familydrive.com/cartV2/
StewartHRedwine.com - designed by Able Parris
http://stewarthredwine.com/

Illuminating Understanding,

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

2009-10-30T04:14:00.000-07:00

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:

What Albert Tate Has to Say about 36 Parables
http://36parables.blogspot.com/2009/10/what-albert-tate-has-to-say-about-36.html
What Hayley Neal Has to Say about 36 Parables
http://withoutashepherd.com/2009/09/05/creative-gospel-36-parables/
What Cory Edwards Has to Say about 36 Parables
http://36parables.blogspot.com/2009/08/what-cory-edwards-has-to-say-about-36.html
Encounter Church Illuminates Understanding with 36 Parables in Helena, Montana
http://www.encounterhelena.org/2009/08/36-parables-discussion-on-august-25.html
Pastor Jon McClarnon Illuminates Understanding with 36 Parables in Garner, North Carolina
http://36parables.blogspot.com/2009/07/pastor-jon-mcclarnon-illuminates-truth.html

Events:

National Catholic Youth Conference
http://www.mycatholicvoice.com/ncyc
National Youth Workers Convention - YouthSpecialties
http://www.nywc.com/
Christ in Youth - Believe - Junior High Event
http://www.ciy.com/believe/

Content & Resources:

36 Parables Bundle at YS.com
http://36parables.blogspot.com/2009/08/36-parabels-bundle-at-ys.html
MyCatholicVoice.com - Connect. Explore. Share.
http://www.mycatholicvoice.com/
Leading Pre-Teens: A Growing Ministry Guide by Patrick Snow
http://www.amazon.com/Leading-Preteens-Growing-Ministry-Guide/dp/0784721807
Christ in Youth Videos now available at Sermospice.com!
http://www.sermonspice.com/producers/profile/1680
One Time Blind - Mini Movies
http://onetimeblind.org/resources.html
Family Drive - Protect, Preserve, & Share your Family's Precious Memories
https://secure.familydrive.com/cartV2/
StewartHRedwine.com - designed by Able Parris
http://stewarthredwine.com/

Illuminating Understanding,

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

2009-10-27T08:40:00.000-07:00

Holston Conference of The United Methodist Church
Illuminates Understanding with 36 Parables
http://www.holston.org/ministries/connectional-ministries/audiovisual-library/programs/whats-new/

2009-10-26T13:00:00.001-07:00

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

2009-10-11T09:54:00.001-07:00

36 Parables Featured at Zondervan.com

2009-10-06T14:27:00.000-07:00

What Albert Tate has to say about 36 Parables:

Albert Tate is the Intergenerational Pastor at Lake Avenue Church in Pasadena, CA.

2009-10-01T06:56:00.000-07:00

Victims - 36 Parables Monthly Newsletter - 09/30/09

Dear Friends,

Victim. Definition: one that is acted on and usually adversely affected by a force or agent. That definition includes everyone who has ever lived on the planet Earth. We’re all victims. Some people have no trouble admitting this. Life has been hard on them and they can’t see any way things could have worked out differently. To others those who are comfortable being victims appear complicit in staying down and out. The polarity of those who admit to being victims and those who detest them have loaded the phrase “victim mentality” with so much cultural, socio-economic, gender, or racial baggage it’s best to never describe some one that way who is actually standing in the room with you.

The idea that we’re all victims, whether we want to admit it or not, comes with the territory of living in a world where others can “do unto us however they want”, whether we like it not. A few weeks ago I noticed this theme in every single one of the parables our films are based on. The characters inside these stories are all victims, harmed as a result of a particular force or agent. Most often the inciting incident in each parable we have adapted is something harmful; unfair judgments, inconvenient invitations, poor job performance, an unexpected late night visitor, or even getting mugged. The rest of the parable unfolds along the lines of the main characters’ response to their given circumstance, whether it is of their making or not.

However, some of the parables seem devoid of inherent conflict, and thus you may be hard pressed to find a victim in them. One such parable is the Parable of the Mustard Seed. The Lime DVD(available Feb. 2010) includes a short film called “Charlie” based on this parable. The original parable recounts a relatively benign chain of events, a seed that is planted and grows into a tree. Though the sequence of events in this parable could appear completely automatic at first glance, if you take a harder look you will see the seed is a victim. It did not choose where it would be planted, and perhaps it is emotionally scarred from being forced to leave mom and dad. Then there are the inevitable winters, the droughts and parasites, and potentially a gardener who needs to do some pruning.

The parables of Jesus are often referred to as stories about everyday people and events told in such a way to make a Heavenly point. When you look at the parables with a victim mentality you see they are stories about everyday people and events told in such a way to make a point about everyday people and events. If you haven't been already, you will be a victim at some point in your life. Everyone is a victim. The message of the parables is simply this, how will you respond when the victim is you?

Isaiah 58:6-10 calls us all to help out the victims of this world. Here are two organizations that exist to help those who cannot help themselves, at risk urban youth and the unborn.

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/

NEWS:

What Hayley Neal Has to Say about 36 Parables
http://withoutashepherd.com/2009/09/05/creative-gospel-36-parables/

What Cory Edwards Has to Say about 36 Parables
http://36parables.blogspot.com/2009/08/what-cory-edwards-has-to-say-about-36.html

Encounter Church Illuminates Understanding with 36 Parables in Helena, Montana
http://www.encounterhelena.org/2009/08/36-parables-discussion-on-august-25.html

Pastor Jon McClarnon Illuminates Understanding with 36 Parables in Garner, North Carolina
http://36parables.blogspot.com/2009/07/pastor-jon-mcclarnon-illuminates-truth.html

CONTENT/RESOURCES:

36 Parables Bundle at YS.com
http://36parables.blogspot.com/2009/08/36-parabels-bundle-at-ys.html

Leading Pre-Teens: A Growing Ministry Guide by Patrick Snow
http://secure.ciy.com/store/ps-119-7-leading-preteens-a-growing-ministry-guide.aspx

Christ in Youth - Believe - Junior High Event
http://www.ciy.com/believe/

One Time Blind - Mini Movies
http://onetimeblind.org/resources.html

MyCatholicVoice.com - Connect. Explore. Share.
http://www.mycatholicvoice.com/

Family Drive - Protect, Preserve, and Share your Family's Precious Memories
https://secure.familydrive.com/cartV2/

StewartHRedwine.com - writing and videos - designed by Able Parris
http://stewarthredwine.com/

Illuminating Understanding,

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

2009-08-31T21:03:00.001-07:00

Heroes - 36 Parables Monthly Newsletter - 08/31/09

Dear Friends,

It must have been January last year, because when I pulled up to the church around 6:00 AM the air was cold enough to wake up my coffee. That morning the men’s group watched one video from a series discussing manhood. I felt well prepared for the course because the month or two before I had seen 3:10 to Yuma, I Am Legend, and Children of Men . The self-sacrificing heroes in these films had me ready to lay down my life for a greater cause. Despite the fact all three of these films end with the hero sacrificing his life in an attempt to save others, the speaker on the DVD denounced Hollywood for destroying the male role model by portraying men as either little more than sex obsessed apes or feminized weaklings. Apparently he hadn’t been to a movie theater in a while. I checked the DVD and found it was outdated by at least a couple years. Still, it seemed this guy must have been living under a rock since 9/11.

Like me, I am sure you have grown accustomed to hearing from pulpits, on blogs, or in conversation how self-indulgent, morally lax, and feminized the males in America are. On a personal note, this bothers me because I am none of those things and neither are many of the men I know, both Christian and non-Christian. The standard attack goes something like this; Hollywood is playing a major role(and potentially a pre-mediated one) in the destruction of American culture by omiting or destorting male role models in films. And yet this summer I witnessed Marcus Wright(played by Sam Worthington) in Terminator Salvation and George Kirk(played by Chris Hemsworth) in Star Trek both willingly give up their lives in order to save others. Not only that, up to the point of their sacrifice they had acted with dignity and compassion.

The stories a culture tells reveals volumes about the people who live in it. It is clear the people of America are hungry for heroes. Don't be trapped in the Hollywood hatred rhetoric any longer. I can't think of one time, and correct me if I am wrong, that Jesus Christ ever criticized the theater? In fact he quoted it when he confronted Paul on the road to Damascus. “It is hard for thee to kick against the pricks” was a line from the Greek theater.

The five films I have mentioned in this newsletter could easily be used to discuss Christ's heroic sacrific for all mankind. After any of these films just start a discussion around John 15:13, "Greater love has no man than this, that he lay down his life for his friends". If you stop listening to the criticism long enough to watch, you'll see Hollywood is putting Christ in the mainstream.

P.S.

News:

What Cory Edwards Has to Say about 36 Parables
http://36parables.blogspot.com/2009/08/what-cory-edwards-has-to-say-about-36.html

Encounter Church Illuminates Understanding with 36 Parables in Helena, Montana
http://www.encounterhelena.org/2009/08/36-parables-discussion-on-august-25.html

Pastor Jon McClarnon illuminates understanding with 36 Parables in Garner, North Carolina
http://36parables.blogspot.com/2009/07/pastor-jon-mcclarnon-illuminates-truth.html

StewartHRedwine.com - writing and videos - designed by Able Parris
http://stewarthredwine.com/

Content:

36 Parables Bundle at YS.com
http://36parables.blogspot.com/2009/08/36-parabels-bundle-at-ys.html

Leading Pre-Teens: A Growing Ministry Guide by Patrick Snow
http://secure.ciy.com/store/ps-119-7-leading-preteens-a-growing-ministry-guide.aspx

Christ in Youth - Superstart - Pre-Teen Event
http://www.ciy.com/superstart/tour-info/

One Time Blind - Mini Movies
http://onetimeblind.org/resources.html

MyCatholicVoice.com - Connect. Explore. Share.
http://www.mycatholicvoice.com/

Care Net - Changing Hearts, Saving Lives
http://www.care-net.org/

Family Drive - Protect, Preserve, and Share your Family's Precious Memories
https://secure.familydrive.com/cartV2/

Illuminating Understanding,

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

2009-08-14T08:31:00.000-07:00

36 Parabels Bundle at YS.com - Save 20%
Amber, Blue, Cyan, and Yellow DVD
Gone are the days of the flannelgraph. Well, we hope so anyway! Students today are looking to connect with the teachings of Jesus, but often the stories they hear or read about Jesus sound like just that?stories. Using thought-provoking short films from 36 Parables, and the free downloadable discussion guides, you can help your students truly experience the parables of Jesus.

2009-07-31T10:44:00.000-07:00

Themes in Parables

Dear Friends,

In his book Kingdom, Grace, and Judgment Robert Farrar Capon fits all of Jesus’ parables into one of those three categories. Jesus began His ministry by preaching about the Kingdom of God and then shifted His emphasis to Grace. As the time of the crucifixion grew near His parables were predominately focused on Judgment. Though John and I are re-telling 36 of Jesus' parables, we aren't adapting them all. We have to pick and choose. And how do we decide which parables to adapt? Often times it feels much more like the parables choose us. Something in our life happens or we are struck by a story we hear and then a light comes on and we see one of the parables in the situation.

Sometimes it isn’t an event or story that inspires us; it may simply be an object, place, or character. For instance, for the upcoming short film "Charlie", based on the Parable of the Mustard Seed (Mark 4:30-32), we simply wanted to do a parable about a saxophonist. It was like one of the parables called to us in the sounds of a saxophone. Of the 12 parables we have produced so far six of them fit in one category; judgment. Perhaps 50% of our films are based on parables of judgment because of where John and I are at in our faith, or because we both suffered major losses at the outset of our journey together, or simply because we both have a penchant for tragedies. The point is, we draw inspiration for our modern adaptations of Jesus' parables from our daily lives. When preparing His parables Jesus must have drawn from His own life experiences in much the same way.

I don't think it calls His deity into question to suppose He was inspired by His childhood memories, late night conversations with friends, a remark He overhead in passing at the market, or savoring the taste of a fresh picked fig. There is a mystery to Jesus' humanity and it comes out in His stories. Just think, maybe the day before Jesus told the parable of the Prodigal Son for the first time He was sitting among the cedars and happened to see an old man running to meet someone in the distance who very well could have been his long lost son.

Jesus must have faced the challenges and enjoyed the elation of telling a good story just like anybody else. Sometimes it is easy to remember Jesus' humanity solely in the terms that He was tempted and never sinned, and so we can too. But there is a lot more to being human than avoiding temptation. He also told stories, and some of them were great and some of them fell flat. So whatever it is you find to do try to remember this, Jesus was fully human just like you. When you find inspiration in your life to keep going, to love, to laugh, and just stand in the sun and enjoy the warmth you are taking part in the one theme that runs through all the parables. Life. Savor every single moment.

P.S.

News:

Pastor Jon McClarnon illuminates understanding with 36 Parables
http://36parables.blogspot.com/2009/07/pastor-jon-mcclarnon-illuminates-truth.html

StewartHRedwine.com - writing and videos - designed by Able Parris
http://stewarthredwine.com/

Content:

36 Parables DVDs at youthspecialties.com - Blue, Cyan, Yellow, Amber, & Purple (October 2009)
http://www.youthspecialties.com/shop/index.php?manufacturers_id=157

Christ in Youth - Believe - Junior High Conference
http://www.ciy.com/believe/

One Time Blind - Mini Movies
http://onetimeblind.org/resources.html

MyCatholicVoice.com - Connect. Explore. Share.
http://www.mycatholicvoice.com/

2009-07-29T06:18:00.000-07:00

Pastor Jon McClarnon illuminates understanding with 36 Parables at True North Church in Garner, NC.

2009-07-17T06:38:00.000-07:00

36 Parables Illluminates onetimeblind
from Collide Magazine

The creative team behind Zondervan’s 36 Parables series, John Schimke (co-producer/Director) and Stewart H. Redwine (co-producer/Director of Photography), recently partnered with the drama group onetimeblind in order to bring their stage show to the small screen.

We asked Ryan McCullough, onetimeblind’s front man, and Schimke about their experience collaborating together to adapt onetimeblind’s material for the camera. (read more)

2009-06-30T17:15:00.000-07:00

How the Tithe Saved Western Civilization

Dear Friends,

Over 500 years ago an Italian Friar named Luca Pacioli wrote a book on accounting titled, “Everything about Arithmetic, Geometry, and Proportions”. In it he recorded and further developed the dual accounting system used in Venice during the Italian Renaissance. To this day Luca Pacioli’s work is what accountants everywhere use to balance the world’s books. We can never underestimate the impact the Catholic Church continues to have on Western culture because of how they spent their money during the Middle Ages, the Renaissance, and beyond. The reason you can use QuickBooks and it works is because some local Italian parishioners gave their tithe dutifully a few hundred years ago.

Whether or not the money the Catholic Church collected throughout much of Western history has been given freely or through compulsion can be argued ad infinitum. What did Europe experience as a result of the massive amounts of tithe money the Catholic Church accumulated since the establishment of Parishes around the 9th century? Advances in the arts and sciences that changed the world. As Thomas E. Woods puts it in his book, How the Catholic Church Built Western Civilization , "One can scarcely find a significant endeavor in the advancement of civilization during the Middle Ages in which monks did not play a major role". Does the tithe still have this kind of impact on civilization?

The commonly accepted idea that there is some sort of division between secular and sacred pursuits has helped drive the tithe dollar away from the arts and sciences in the last two hundred years. Accepting this dualistic concept results in one of two approaches on the part of most churches, they either try to insulate themselves from secular culture or just go head to head by offering an alternative sub-culture. The Church does not have to participate in culture, or even combat culture, because when people of faith decide to give their hard earned money to artists and scientists once again the Church will be the one creating culture.

P.S.

Your Stories of 36 Parables:
Please let us know how you're using 36 Parables with your group, congregation, or classroom.
I especially would like to hear your thoughts on these questions:
-Have you used 36 Parables in "big church" or with an adult bible study?
-Do you think 36 Parables appeals to adults?
Please post your experiences and anwers here: http://www.illuminatingunderstanding.com/discuss

News and Reviews:

StewartHRedwine.com
My brand new personal website, featuring my writing and videos, designed by Able Parris.

The Kingdom Divided
A short I recently produced for DCLA2009 featuring Jeremy Collins brilliant artwork and Jason Livesay's excellent original score with animation provided by Three House Media using a DSLR and Dragon's stop motion animation software.

CIY.com
I am now a full time video producer at Christ in Youth. I wil continue to produce 36 Parables as well as write the monthly newsletter, and can say in the loop with what I am doing at StewartHRedwine.com.

Content and Sites:

36 Parables DVDs at youthspecialties.com - Blue, Cyan, Yellow, Amber, & Purple (October 2009)

Christ in Youth - Move - High School Conference - Request a Free DVD

One Time Blind - Mini Movies

MyCatholicVoice.com

Illuminating Understanding,

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

2009-06-19T04:50:00.000-07:00

Failure
Stewart's June article at Christian Video Magazine
I distinctly remember sitting back stage at my Performance Art final when my stomach turned to lead and sunk to the Earth’s core. At least, that is what it felt like when I realized the intricately designed live switching between performance, remote camera, several audio feeds, and pre-recorded video was not patched correctly. I couldn’t figure it out; I had everything worked out perfectly just before the show. Then it dawned on me, that at the last minute one of the other students wanted to switch the order of performances so I patched her video deck into the projector. You guessed it! At the end of her performance I forgot to patch my master audio/video feed back in. I felt like I was going to throw up. But I couldn’t because my stomach was made out of lead and was now located in the Earth’s core. (Read More and get the entire Christian Video Magazine June PDF)

2009-05-30T08:23:00.000-07:00

Love One
JCVD(Directed by Mabrouk El Mechri/2008)
vs.
SYNECDOCHE NEW YORK (Directed by Charlie Kaufman/2008)

Both of these independent films are about a father who has a broken relationship with his daughter. Both are introspective and deal with regret. In doing so both endeavor to break down the fourth wall of the screen, merging reality and cinema to such a degree you are not sure what you are watching. One of the films is full of hope while the other ends in utter despair. Both heroes spend the majority of their respective films remembering the mistakes they have made. Synecdoche New York ends with the hero, Philip Seymour Hoffman, dying alone with nothing but a swath of destroyed relationships in his wake. JCVD ends with the hero, Jean-Claude Van Damme, serving a prison sentence for his mistakes.

Though the films contain many of the same themes they are built on two different foundations. In exploring the meaninglessness of life through one man's introspection Synecdoche seems to end smuggly at a place often quoted from the Book of Ecclesiates, "Meaningless! Meaningless!" says the Teacher. "Everything is meaningless!"(Ecclesiastes 12:8). JCVD offers a stirring monologue from Jean-Claude when he literally floats out of the movie set and shares with the audience his deepest regrets and love for his fellow man. This introspection of his mistakes causes him to rise to the occasion and help save lives.

JCVD stands as a testiment to some very important verses immediately following the previous statement from Ecclesiastes. "Now all has been heard; here is the conclusion of the matter: Fear God and keep his commandments, for this is the whole duty of man. For God will bring every deed into judgment, including every hidden thing, whether it is good or evil." (Ecclesiastes 12:13-14). Synecdoche left me empty because it presented the sadness of a man exisiting all alone. JCVD soars because it's hero embraces the beautiful truth that none of us are alone, and if their is breath in our lungs, our cheif duty is to keep God's commands; namely, to love God and love our neighbor.

At the very end of JCVD Jean-Claude's daughter comes to visit him in jail. He is overwhelmed by the site of her and the sound of her voice. None of his mistakes have any bearing on his love for her. Synecdoche had no such scene. In fact, the final grotesque confrontation between Philip Seymour Hoffman's character and his daughter revealed her inability to forgive him even on her death bed.

Synedoche falls flat because it begins and ends with a man alone who can neither love nor be loved by others. Though he tries desperately to carve out a meaning for himself in the infinite loop of introspection and regret he is ultimately left just as he has chosen to be, alone. JCVD has all the force of a Van Damme kick to the stomach because it embraces the only chance of escape a person has from the trap of introspection and regret, the God given ability to love someone else.

"A new command I give you: Love one another.
As I have loved you, so you must love one another."
John 13:34

-Stewart H. Redwine

2009-05-20T14:09:00.001-07:00

The Matthew Principle

Dear Friends,

In order to understand Jesus’ penchant for speaking in parables look to “The Matthew Principle” found in Matthew 13, which is perhaps the single most illuminating chapter in all of the Bible concerning parables. In this chapter Jesus tells several parables; two of which I will be focusing on: The Parable of the Sower and The Parable of the Net. Immediatlely following Jesus’ telling of the Parable of the Sower the disciples come right out and ask what many people since have struggled to answer, “Why do you speak to the people in parables?”.

To this day people disagree over why Jesus used parables. Some would argue Jesus chose to teach in parables in order to keep His distance from any dialectical confrontations with His opposition, while others might say His creative language was a revelation of God’s inherent creativity. Jesus' answer to this direct question is apparently too mysterious to satisfy most and so the deabte continues. His response has come to be known as “The Matthew Principle” and goes like this: “Whoever has will be given more, and he will have an abundance. Whoever does not have, even what he has will be taken from him.” (Matthew 13:12).

This mysterious principle is explored in Jesus' explanation of the Parable of the Sower. The story is basically a list of different soils and what happens when the good seed of the message of the Kingdom is sown in them. Using the two most extreme cases from the parable: rocky soil has no chance for the seed to take root while good soil yields a massive crop. This parable was so elusive to the disciples when they heard it they requested Jesus explain what He meant. They seemed to be confounded by the apparent determinism found in “The Matthew Principle”; namely, only certain soils will be able to produce a crop once they have been given the seed and those that cannot produce a crop will be the same as if no seed had ever fallen on them.

Fast-forward to the end of the chapter and Jesus is sharing with His disciples the Parable of the Net. Unlike the Parable of the Sower, the disciples understand this one. He explains in this parable that at the end of the age angels will come and separate the wicked from the righteous. You have to remember the disciples were most likely anticipating Judgment Day would occur during their lifetime. Jesus was the Messiah after all. Immediately following the parable Jesus asks His disciples if they understand and for once they respond with a simple “Yes”. What they didn’t realize was the Messiah’s mission might be radically different from what their culture was anticipating. Once again “The Matthew Principle” was at work.

Saint Matthew doesn’t just leave us at the end of Chapter 13 with little more than an eschatological “what if” to ponder and debate. The brilliance of the writing in this chapter is captivating. Saint Matthew begins with the Parable of the Sower and an explanation of “The Matthew Principle” and ends the chapter with Jesus returning to his hometown, where He and His disciples experience “The Matthew Principle” at work. When the people of Jesus’ hometown dismiss Him as the carpenter’s son Jesus responds, “Only in his hometown and in his own house is a prophet without honor” and then He departs. With this sobering story the quintessential chapter on parables comes to a close and the “The Matthew Principle” rings true yet again.

The very thing Jesus’ hometown had, the Messiah, was taken from them. God is limitless, but we are not. Like those in Jesus' hometown we are restricted to being in one place at one time. So when you are presented with those moments where you must choose between the message of the Kingdom and the weeds of this world remember "The Matthew Principle":

Whoever has will be given more, and he will have an abundance. Whoever does not have, even what he has will be taken from him.
(Matthew 13:12)

P.S.

Your Stories of 36 Parables:
Please let us know how you're using 36 Parables with your group, congregation, or classroom.
I especially would like to hear your thoughts on these questions:
-Have you used 36 Parables in "big church" or with an adult bible study?
-Do you think 36 Parables appeals to adults?
Please post your experiences and anwers here: http://www.illuminatingunderstanding.com/discuss

News and Reviews:

Matthew McNutt, the Youth Pastor at Brandywine Valley Baptist Church and a former contestant on NBC's Biggest Loser where he lost 176 lbs, reviewed 36 Parables: Blue.
http://matthewmcnutt.com/2009/04/07/36-parables-blue/

DCLA 2009: Are you going? If so, let me know so we can meet up in LA June 25th-28th! (my company, Heart Initiative, is producing some of the video content!)
http://dcla2009.com/

Watching Movies: an insightful article courtesy my 36 Parables co-producer and the series Director John Schimke
http://scienceblogs.com/cortex/2009/05/watching_movies.php

Products:

36 Parables DVDs at youthspecialties.com - Blue, Cyan, Yellow, Amber, & Purple (October 2009)
http://www.youthspecialties.com/shop/index.php?manufacturers_id=157

Drive to Church - a funny video about one man's "real" behavior on the way to church
http://www.sermonspice.com/videos/11456/

Designed & Broken - The Story of Creation and the Fall of Mankind in Kinetic Typography:
Designed: http://www.sermonspice.com/videos/20552/
Broken: http://www.sermonspice.com/videos/20553/

I Have a Dream - a short documentary
http://www.sermonspice.com/videos/23435/

Prayer - a "lightwriting" stop-motion photography devotion
http://www.sermonspice.com/videos/20611/

onetimeblind at worshiphousemedia:
http://www.worshiphousemedia.com/producers/170/Onetimeblind

MyCatholicVoice.com - Catholic content and social networking
http://www.mycatholicvoice.com/

Illuminating Understanding,

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

2009-05-20T06:47:00.000-07:00

Matthew McNutt, the Youth Pastor at Brandywine Valley Baptist Church and a former contestant on NBC's Biggest Loser where he lost 176 lbs, reviewed 36 Parables: Blue.

http://matthewmcnutt.com/2009/04/07/36-parables-blue/

2009-05-09T08:17:00.000-07:00

Check out 10 mini movies John Directed and Stewart Shot/Produced for OneTimeBlind:
http://www.worshiphousemedia.com/producers/170/Onetimeblind

2009-04-22T13:34:00.001-07:00

Dear Friends,

Starting today I am switching from a weekly to a monthly newsletter. That means those of you who actually read this will only be allowing me the great privilege of inspiring and challenging your thinking in regards to Art, Faith, and Culture once a month. It is humbling to see how many of you read my words and now I will have much longer to prepare each newsletter for your enjoyment and edification.

Single-Mindedness
Jesus Christ says to us, “Simply let your 'Yes' be 'Yes,' and your 'No,' 'No’”(Matthew 5:37). We all know there is nothing quite like a person who has said Yes to something and meant it. When one accepts and acts on the simplicity of this “on or off” approach to dedication astounding stories of accomplishment spring forth. Simply saying Yes to something does not mean the pursuit will be easy. However, part of truly saying Yes is following through. What I am getting at is this, if you say Yes and don’t do it, you didn’t really say Yes. Yes is a word you say with your mouth but has to be accompanied by action.
Take Mackintyre Kindol McDill-Garton, a 9 year old boy who recently died of a brain aneurysm, who since he was 6 years old talked about the church he would build on his grandparents land. Guess what? His parents and grandparents are building the church. Or Rick Hoyt, who wanted to compete in marathons, and since he cannot speak or walk his father has made his dream a reality by pushing him. My last example is Susan Boyle, a living testament to what thirty years of saying Yes to a dream can get you, even when the cover of the book is quite misleading.

Are you saying Yes to the dream God has put on your heart?

Mackintyre Kindol McDill-Garton’s Church

Rick Hoyt’s Race

Susan Boyle’s Song

Other News and Products:

36 Parables DVDs at youthspecialties.com - Blue, Cyan, Yellow, Amber (May 2009), & Purple (October 2009)

Drive to Church - a funny video about one man's real behavior on the way to church
http://www.sermonspice.com/videos/11456/

Designed - The Story of Creation in Kinetic Typography:
http://www.sermonspice.com/videos/20552/

I Have a Dream - a short documentary
http://www.sermonspice.com/videos/23435/

Prayer - a "lightwriting" stop-motion photography devotion
http://www.sermonspice.com/videos/20611/

Christian Manifesto: C.E. Moore - 36 Parables Yellow Review
http://thechristianmanifesto.wordpress.com/2009/02/12/36-parables-yellow-a-review/

Christian Manifesto: C.E. Moore - 36 Parables Cyan Review
http://thechristianmanifesto.wordpress.com/2008/12/09/36-parables-cyan-a-review/

onetimeblind "the stool" at Sermonspice.com
http://www.sermonspice.com/videos/21240/the-stool

MyCatholicVoice.com - A great place for Catholic content and social networking
http://www.mycatholicvoice.com/

Illuminating Understanding,

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

2009-04-01T05:51:00.000-07:00

Check out our upcoming ad we will be running in the May/June issue of Relevant!
Be sure to pick up a copy of the magazine at a Barnes & Noble or Borders near you in May!

2009-03-31T06:47:00.000-07:00

Here is a little teaser from "Together" one of the films we shot on the RED camera for the 36 Parables Lime DVD, available February 2010.
Get Blue, Yellow, Cyan, and pre-order Amber and Purple today at YouthSpecialties.com so you can start to Illuminate Understanding!

Together, tells the story of Gary, a middle-aged alcoholic who 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)

2009-03-30T08:19:00.000-07:00

36 Parables Lime DVD Principle Photography Wrapped!
Thank you to everyone who helped us out on the Lime set. Our first experience with the RED Camera created some fantastic images and we can't wait to share the next 3 parables in the series with you!

Stewart H. Redwine(on left) and John Schimke(on right)

2009-03-16T20:22:00.000-07:00

Dear Friends,

Last week I saw Zack Synder’s much anticipated film adaptation of the renowned graphic novel “Watchmen”. Because of the films’ shock and awe approach to violence, including the brutal attempted rape of one woman and the point blank murder of a pregnant woman, one of the main hero’s observations about the depravity of man is driven home with intense clarity. During a disturbing interview with a psychologist the films' most savage antagonist, Rorschach, declares, “It is not God who kills the children. Not fate that butchers them or destiny that feeds them to the dogs. It’s us. Only us". Since his comment is framed by three hours of wholesale wickedness, including the impending destruction of Earth due to nuclear holocaust at the hands of the worlds' superpowers, as an audience member you have a hard time disagreeing with him.

So what is the point of all this mischief and mayhem?

**SPOILER ALERT**

I’m not sure what Zack Synder was trying to explore with three hours of gratuitous violence and outlandish sexuality but I can venture a guess. Dr. Manhattan, a walking super-human metaphor of the United States military industrial power and influence in the 21st Century, decides the world is worth saving because of the woman he loves. He monologues about the miracle of human life. Specifically, how his love interest, Silk Spectre II, is the child of a man and woman who utterly despised each other. This pro-life sentiment is echoed in Rorschach’s mother’s exclamation that she should have had an abortion. And yet she didn’t. The fact that Rorschach and Dr. Manhattan’s lover were born meant humanity could endure the cruel machinations of even the most well intentioned villain.
My advice to anyone who has the stomach for “graphic violence, sexuality, nudity and language” and still wants to see what the Watchmen is all about? Go rent David Fincher’s “Seven” instead. Though you will be confronted with equally disturbing imagery of man’s depravity, in my opinion, it is a better story that makes the same point. As Morgan Freeman's character puts it at the end of Seven, "Ernest Hemingway once wrote, 'The world is a fine place and worth fighting for.' I agree with the second part."

Other News and Products:

onetimeblind "the stool" No.1 at Sermonspice.com!
http://www.sermonspice.com/videos/21240/the-stool

MyCatholicVoice.com - A great place for Catholic content and social networking
http://www.mycatholicvoice.com/

Are you going to be at DCLA 2009?
http://dcla2009.com/

Christian Video Magazine: Cover Story - 36 Parables Illuminates Understanding
http://www.christianvideomag.com/

Christian Manifesto: C.E. Moore - 36 Parables Yellow Review
http://thechristianmanifesto.wordpress.com/2009/02/12/36-parables-yellow-a-review/

Christian Manifesto: C.E. Moore - 36 Parables Cyan Review
http://thechristianmanifesto.wordpress.com/2008/12/09/36-parables-cyan-a-review/

Designed - The Story of Creation in Kinetic Typography:
http://www.sermonspice.com/videos/20552/

I Have a Dream
http://www.sermonspice.com/videos/23435/

Prayer
http://www.sermonspice.com/videos/20611/

2009-03-10T08:31:00.000-07:00

Dear Friends,

I have had a hard time writing this particular newsletter. It is a difficult thing making a Saint out of an ordinary man. Or is it?
Saint Gorman. I very much doubt any of you have heard the tales of this holy man’s life because he is not written about in any great books. He is merely a man, who among other things is a very dear friend of mine. He lives with his family in Southern California and goes about his Saintly duties drawing little attention to himself. In Colossians 3:12 Paul gives a good description of the lifestyle Saint Gorman leads, “Therefore, as God's chosen people, holy and dearly loved, clothe yourselves with compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience.”
You see, in the midst of my struggle to go sober I would sometimes call up Saint Gorman when I was battling the urge to use. But I wouldn’t tell him why I was calling. We would talk about movies, or stories, theology, philosophy, and what it means to be human. Little did I know Gorman was contending for me in prayer while his conversation with me was full of compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness, and patience. Since I have been sober for almost six years I honestly had almost forgotten about Saint Gorman’s significant role in my repentance.
It was a couple weeks ago when I was driving home from a shoot fighting a different battle, one of nerves. My wife and I were counting down the days to my interview for the American Film Institutes’ MFA in Cinematography program, my creative partner John was in town to prep for the sixth installment in the 36 Parables series for YouthSpecialties, and we had just wrapped production on our next set of mini-movies for onetimeblind. I was spinning out mentally and then I thought to call Saint Gorman. We talked for a few minutes and once I pulled up to my house I felt more peace than I had before I called him.
Saint Gorman had been there for me in the hardest struggle of my life and he was there for me again when all I needed was someone to listen to my anxieties and encourage me. What I want you to know is, sometimes that is all it takes to be someone’s Saint.

Other News and Products:

onetimeblind "the stool" No.2 at Sermonspice.com!
http://www.sermonspice.com/videos/21240/the-stool

MyCatholicVoice.com - A great place for Catholic content and social networking
http://www.mycatholicvoice.com/

Are you a "Biblical Literalist"?
http://religionblog.dallasnews.com/archives/2009/03/percentage-of-biblical-literal.html

Christian Video Magazine: Cover Story - 36 Parables Illuminates Understanding
http://www.christianvideomag.com/

Christian Manifesto: C.E. Moore - 36 Parables Yellow Review
http://thechristianmanifesto.wordpress.com/2009/02/12/36-parables-yellow-a-review/

Designed - The Story of Creation in Kinetic Typography:
http://www.sermonspice.com/videos/20552/

Illuminating Understanding,

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

2009-02-28T15:07:00.001-08:00

Dear Friends,

This month 36 Parables is featured as the cover story for Christian Video Magazine! You can read the beginning of the article here and just click the link at the end to get the whole article and downloadable magazine.

36 Parables Illuminates Understanding through modern day retellings of Jesus’ parables

The two producers behind 36 Parables are John Schimke, the series Director, and Stewart H. Redwine, the Director of Photography for all 36 short films. After getting picked up by Zondervan’s YouthSpecialties publishing company last year the creative team has put out three DVDs to date, Blue, Yellow, and Cyan, with a fourth, Amber, to be released in May 2009.

Go to Christian Video Magazine to read more.

Other News and Products:

"Validation" - A short film worth it's 15min(John introduced me to this short and really digs the main character's emotional arc)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Cbk980jV7Ao

Christian Manifesto: 36 Parables Yellow Review
C.E. Moore reviews the 36 Parables Yellow DVD for the Christian Manifesto blog.

I Have a Dream - A short documentary available at SermonSpice.com:
http://www.sermonspice.com/videos/23435/

Enjoy the artwork of Guy Kinnear, our friend and occasional storyboard artist:
http://www.guykinnear.com/folio.php?series_id=19

Designed - The Story of Creation in Kinetic Typography available at SermonSpice.com:
http://www.sermonspice.com/videos/20552/

Illuminating Understanding,

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

2009-02-23T08:48:00.000-08:00

Dear Friends,

This week John and I wrapped production on our second installment of 5 mini-movies for the live performance group OneTimeBlind. We have had a blast working with Drew, Kat, Laura, and Ryan on their new set of mini-movies over the last few months and look forward to collaborating with them on more content in the future.

Probably the most challenging aspect of converting their stage work to the screen has been the translation from theater language to cinematic language. In film and video you are able to plan and choose what you ultimately desire the audience to experience while on the stage each performance must stand on it's own for the duration of the work regardless of what happens in the live setting. The raw creative material is the same but the presentation is very different. In the case of theater the script is rehearsed and then performed in real time, for better or worse. In film and video, you are able to repeat the performance for each camera angle, but since there are only so many hours in a day you cannot continue to shoot forever, you have to get what you want in a limited number of takes.

We had to choose what visual tools we could use to enhance the performance of OneTimeBlind for maximum effect on the screen. In adapting from stage to screen we use the visual creative tools of the screen; such as dolly shots, close ups, pans and zooms, as well as costume, prop, and production design in order to serve the story. Ultimately any story, whether it is a book, script, stage performance, short story, or even a poem can be adapted to the screen if you know how the language of cinema works. There is nothing quite like thinking you are saying one thing in a foreign language when you are really saying something else. OneTimeBlind knows the stage, and we know the screen, so we made a great creative team in adapting their successful stage plays into successful videos.

OneTimeBlind's mini-movie The Stool has almost 80,000 hits on Tangle.com and you can purchase all their available mini-movies as DVD or Downloads.

Other News and Products:

Christian Manifesto: 36 Parables Yellow Review
C.E. Moore reviews the 36 Parables Yellow DVD for the Christian Manifesto blog.

I Have a Dream - Please take the time to watch this short documentary for Black History Month at SermonSpice.com:
http://www.sermonspice.com/videos/23435/

Enjoy the artwork of Guy Kinnear, our friend and occasional storyboard artist:
http://www.guykinnear.com/folio.php?series_id=19

Satisfied - Episode 5 of Enroute: The Official Digital 15 Minute Bible - The Story of the Passion as Kinectic Typography:
A creative visual retelling of Easter and the Passion of the Christ (Luke 4:14-22, John 17:1-23, John 19:16b-24, and John 19:28-30). Episode 5 of 7 from Enroute - the official digital 15 minute Bible. Enroute tells the entire story of the Bible in 15 minutes using the language of our digital age available at SermonSpice.com. All seven videos are offered at a 55% discount in the bundle "Enroute - The Official Digital 15 Minute Bible".

Illuminating Understanding,

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

2009-02-14T07:06:00.001-08:00

Dear Friends,

For the past two weeks I have been on the road shooting with Christ in Youth, a ministry that provides opportunities for young people to experience God and His Word in a way that transforms their lives through conferences, service projects, and mission trips. The hardest part of traveling is being away from my wife and little baby girl Olivia. Thankfully I will be with my two sweethearts on Valentines’ once we wrap up shooting this afternoon. The scene we are shooting today calls for a skating rink with 17 actors. Actually only two of them will be on skates. You’ll have to see the video to find out what the other 15 are doing… but you probably won’t be able to guess what it is.
The last two weeks with Christ in Youth’s staff has been encouraging and almost non-stop laughs on set, when we’re not hard at work of course. It is a strange dichotomy to wake up each morning at the hotel, turn on the TV, and hear the days financial and political news as it slips continually from bad to worse; in spite of everyone’s best intentions, and then go to set where we are working to proclaim the only good news out there. The other day on set I realized the content we were creating was the best investment opportunity possible, guaranteed by the Most High, because the finished product would be proclaiming the Word of God… which never, ever, ever returns void.
It is on the Word of God's complete power and authority over all men's lives that Christ in Youth bases their ministry approach. Christ in Youth’s events for teens are simple; they ground them in the Word of God and encourage them to be proactive in the Kingdom. The content we have been filming the last couple weeks is for their 5-day 2009 high school events all over the country, called Move. If you are a youth pastor, parent, or teen looking for a high school event that will give you a good return on your investment in these uncertain financial times I encourage you to look into Christ in Youth's Move events.

You can check out a video about Move here: http://www.ciy.com/move/videos/

Now for my investment advice... read God's word and do it. I base this approach on Mr. Isaiah’s self-titled book, The Book of Isaiah, which takes a hard look at the global political and economic arenas throughout all of human history and gives a simple yet profoundly optimisitc outlook on the market forecast for God’s Kingdom:

Isaiah 55:10-12 (New International Version)

As the rain and the snow come down from heaven,
and do not return to it without watering the earth
and making it bud and flourish,
so that it yields seed for the sower and bread for the eater,

So is my word that goes out from my mouth:
It will not return to me empty,
but will accomplish what I desire
and achieve the purpose for which I sent it.

You will go out in joy and be led forth in peace;
the mountains and hills will burst into song before you,
and all the trees of the field will clap their hands.

Illuminating Understanding,

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

2009-02-13T18:50:00.001-08:00

Dear Friends:

There is possibly no other character in the Bible whose name is mentioned so few times and yet inspires so much imaginative speculation, mystery, hypothesizing, and at times outright fear mongering as the Anti-Christ. Some say he has already come and gone (interpretations of Revelation 13, Daniel 7 and 8). Others argue that the Anti-Christ is a “spirit” that rears its head again and again (1 John 2:18 and 2 John 1:7 ). Some believe that he does not and will never exist (the absence of his outright mention in the Gospel’s outside of some speculation on John 17:12).
For me it seems inevitable that sinful mankind will eventually produce a world dominating “man of sin”(2 Thessalonians 2:3-10). Whether you want to call him the Anti-Christ or not, it is certainly obvious from the Bible (the Tower of Babel for starters) and a quick look at history (Rome, The Huns, and Nazi Germany) that humans are driven by the desire to unify under one banner at almost any social price in the name our sole dominion of the world. Power corrupts and absolute power… produces an Anti-Christ.
Many, myself included, who believe the Anti-Christ will appear in our future, often feel that he will spring from Western culture. This belief ensnares us in the “man of sin,” selfishness. I often wonder about the citizens of Russia, North Korea, Rwanda or another war torn country. A much stronger case could be made for one of their leaders to become the Anti-Christ than any American President who has ever lived. They have much less accountability and have committed genuine crimes against their own people.
We don’t have to concern ourselves with who the Anti-Christ will be because each one of us has the potential to become him, to fall prey to sin’s Narcissistic ultimate end. If anything, the Anti-Christ should be pitied and prayed for. Instead of waiting for Armageddon with the Anti-Christ at the head of an all out world war resulting in the destruction of many lives, perhaps we should concern ourselves with today. As the Risen-Christ says in Matthew 6:34, “each day has enough trouble of it’s own” and John 16:33 “I have told you these things, so that in me you may have peace. In this life you will have trouble, but take heart! I have overcome the world ”… and, I might add, its Anti-Christ.

Other News and Products:

I Have a Dream - Please take the time to watch this short documentary I produced for Black History Month at SermonSpice.com:
http://www.sermonspice.com/videos/23435/

Enjoy the artwork of Guy Kinnear, our friend and occasional storyboard artist:
http://www.guykinnear.com/folio.php?series_id=19

Satisfied - Episode 5 of Enroute: The Official Digital 15 Minute Bible:
A creative visual retelling of Easter and the Passion of the Christ (Luke 4:14-22, John 17:1-23, John 19:16b-24, and John 19:28-30). Episode 5 of 7 from Enroute - the official digital 15 minute Bible. Enroute tells the entire story of the Bible in 15 minutes using the language of our digital age available at SermonSpice.com. All seven videos are offered at a 55% discount in the bundle "Enroute - The Official Digital 15 Minute Bible".

One Time Blind:
A collection of 5 short films we produced for the theater performance group One Time Blind are available at Worship House Media.
One of the videos, The Stool, has hit almost 75,000 views on GodTube.com!

Illuminating Understanding,

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

2009-02-06T12:31:00.001-08:00

Dear Friends,

This week the final installment in a three part short story called The Witch.

Before you jump right in you can get caught up on the first two installments by following these links:

The Witch Part 1 – “Whoever is not against you is for you”

The Witch Part 2 – “Surely He was the Son of God”

The Witch Part 3 – “Covenants”

Nathaniel could hardly believe what he was seeing. The enormous curtain was torn in two. He had heard it took 300 priests in order to carry the 60-foot by 30-foot 4 inch thick curtain. How it became torn down the middle was hard to understand. “It must have been that earthquake,” Nathaniel thought. There were a few Priests in the temple but no one seemed to know what to do. Nathaniel couldn’t help himself. He looked through the tear into the Most Holy Place… there was someone in there.

He forgot the 30 pieces of silver he owed Diana the Witch and began walking towards the Most Holy Place. One of the Priests saw where he was headed and shouted “Unclean!”, but as Nathaniel stepped beyond the curtain the entire room seemed to fill with smoke. There was a man there, in the Most Holy Place. The man in the smoke was terribly beaten, bleeding from two gaping wounds in his wrists. He was standing before something Nathaniel had always been told didn’t exist; the Ark of the Covenant. The bleeding man was sprinkling his blood on it.

Nathaniel felt a hand grab his shoulder and pull him back from the Most Holy Place as the ground began to shake even more violently than it had before. A great crack opened in the floor of the temple all the way behind the curtain. Then something struck Nathaniel so hard on the head everything went black.

Diana the Witch was standing over him, he was outside the temple surrounded by Temple guards. “Well?” Diana asked, “Where’s my money?” Before Nathaniel could even think to form a thought some one else spoke up from beyond the ring of guards surrounding the two of them. The guards parted before Caiaphas, the High Priest. He addressed them in his annoying monologue manner of speaking,

“Some very strange things have happened today. Very strange. The earthquakes caused great damage to the temple and I suspect something of great value to Israel has been lost for all time. I know you two had nothing to do with it and in exchange for your discretion in this matter I gratefully accept your donation of 30 pieces of silver to the Temple, I am sure it will go to a good cause… you know had you come for it last night I probably would have had you both imprisoned. For one, you wouldn’t have found it and we were quite busy, but then the money came back just this morning… and so much has changed… and yet nothing has changed.”

The High Priest finished his speech and ordered the guards to follow him into the temple and sent a couple away to find some sturdy ropes good for climbing. Nathaniel stood up, looked at Diana, and hugged her. “Thank you for bringing me back, Jesus of Nazareth you say?”

“Yes” responded Diana, mostly out of shock.

“I’ll have to look him up, I wonder where he is nowadays?”

“Who knows, probably off working miracles,” said Diana the Witch as she shrugged, “So what did you see in there… what was Caiaphas talking about?”

Nathaniel and the Witch started to walk towards the north side of town, to see what all the commotion up there had been about. “You wouldn’t believe me even if I told you.” Diana stopped to think. In the last few hours she had seen a man brought back from the dead, the head of the religious elite talking like a lunatic and suspected the earthquakes were much more than just mere coincidences. She put her arm in Nathaniel’s and said, “Some things are better left a mystery… let’s go find this Jesus character.”

Other News and Products:

I Have a Dream - Please take the time to watch this short documentary I produced for Black History Month at SermonSpice.com:
http://www.sermonspice.com/videos/23435/

Enjoy the artwork of Guy Kinnear, our friend and occasional storyboard artist:
http://www.guykinnear.com/folio.php?series_id=19

Enroute: The Official Digital 15 Minute Bible:
If you are looking for more study material for 2009 check out Enroute: The Official Digital 15 Minute Bible. There are seven 2-3 minute videos that cover the entire breadth of the Bible from Creation to Revelation!

One Time Blind:
A collection of 5 short films we produced for the theater performance group One Time Blind are available at Worship House Media.
One of the videos, The Stool, has hit over 70,000 views on GodTube.com!

Illuminating Understanding,

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

2009-01-30T08:41:00.000-08:00

Check out Stewart's Monthly Column in Christian Video Magazine:
http://www.christianvideomag.com/
"Hide it Under a Bushel? No... I'm going to advertise." - January 2009 Column

2009-01-24T07:55:00.001-08:00

Dear Friends,

"The Witch" Part 2:
"Surely He was the Son of God."

“Nathaniel?” asked Diana the witch, taking a cautionary step towards what may only be a hallucination. It took her a few seconds to realize what had happened but once she accepted the simple truth that Jesus’ of Nazareth name really did have the power to raise people from the dead she remembered why she had brought the recently dead man back.

“Yes?” replied Nathaniel as he patted himself down feeling for something. “My tumors are gone!” he exclaimed and jumped into her arms. She hugged him impulisively, then pushed him away.

“I brought you back for a reason.” The witch grabbed her risen debtor by the arm and hurried back to the temple. She wanted the 30 pieces of silver. Rising from the dead is a lot like waking up, only the disorientation lasts much longer. Nathaniel dutifully followed the witch asking only occasional questions.

Menacing dark and sick green clouds filled the sky. “What time is it?” he asked as they approached the city. “I don’t know, afternoon time I suppose, We’ve been in the cave since morning”. She huffed and puffed taking the stone steps of the Sheep Gate two at a time, once they made it through the maze of High Sabbath merchant stalls they would be at the temple.

People were pouring out of the Sheep Gate, so what should have been a brief climb was more akin to salmon swimming up stream. It was clear the earthquake that shook her cave had hit Jerusalem too. The merchants were sweeping up shattered pottery, attempting to put their stalls back together, or chasing livestock all over Solomon’s Porch. One merchant, who was preoccupied herding pigeons, failed to notice Diana reaching down to grab a priestly garment from a stack he was selling at his stall. She handed the robe to Nathaniel. “Put this on.”

The temple was as much a stir as the market around it. Even the Priests and Temple Guards seemed worked up about something going on. “Perfect.” said Diana, “They’re distracted”. She grabbed Nathaniel by the shoulders and stared him in the eye. “Jesus of Nazareth saw to it that you could get a new lease on life today. For whatever reason I couldn’t heal your tumors permanently and they killed you. The way I see it, you still owe me for my services, and especially in light of the fact if it weren’t for me, you would still be dead.”

Nathaniel stared at her for a moment, then felt his arms and abdomen again. “So I am supposed to just walk into the Temple and demand my money back?”

She replied, “With my magic, I will cast a spell on you, so that you look like Caiphas the High Priest himself.” She patted him on the arm reassuringly, “When I finish my spell, go straight into the Temple and find my 30 pieces of silver!”

She raised both hands high into the air and took a deep breath. Then she screamed at the top of her lungs and fell to the floor. Nathaniel had no idea what to do. Guards ran to help. Before they were close enough to see, she opened one eye and whispered, “Now go you fool!” Nathaniel suddenly remembered her spell was to make him look like Caiphas. Walking boldly to the Temple entrance he shouted commands at the guards to help the woman at once. The guards looked at him quizzically, but nonetheless obeyed his orders.

The guards helped Diana to her feet just in time for her to see Nathaniel enter the Temple unimpeded. “Funny,” she said to herself. “All I did was tell him he looked like some one else, where’s the magic in that?”

Other News and Products:

Read Stewart's story of sobreity at Relevant.com: http://www.relevantmagazine.com/god_article.php?id=7579

Enroute: The Official Digital 15 Minute Bible
If you are looking for more study material for 2009 check out Enroute: The Official Digital 15 Minute Bible. There are seven 2-3 minute videos that cover the entire breadth of the Bible from Creation to Revelation!

One Time Blind
A collection of 5 short films we produced for the theater performance group One Time Blind are available at Worship House Media.
One of the videos, The Stool, has hit over 70,000 views on GodTube.com!

Illuminating Understanding,

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

2009-01-22T15:31:00.001-08:00

Dear Friends,

“The Witch” Part 1
“Whoever is not against you is for you.”

The dead man stubbornly refused to come back and the poor sot owed her a lot of money. Well if at first you don’t succeed, the witch thought... the light of a few candles illuminated a little nude figurine of Astarte, the mother of all whore witches, in one of her favorite caves on the east side of town. Still she was hesitant to use the Rabbi’s name a second time. When he started healing a couple years ago her business had dwindled to the point of desperation. Many of the spirits she knew had warned her about him. She suspected he must be truly powerful, and very important. He may even be what he claimed: The Son of God.

Deity or not, he was cutting into her profits. Recently, she had modified her approach and began using his name, a technique that might not sit well with her sister Witches. Diana had proudly and exclusively worked as a Witch for her entire career. In truth, she was still a virgin at the age of 52 though no one who knew her or her family would ever believe her. The last four generations of her maternal line had been Mediums and Healers, the softest way to say Shrine Whore/Witch. The women of her family had prospered because they believed that discretion is the better part of valor while the Rabbi was anything but discrete. He didn’t charge for his miracles, unless you counted the few dim-witted women he had convinced to bank roll his operation. He was a man who was clearly on a crash course with the religious elite. His miracle working days would likely end in an unfortunate accident at best, or a cut and dry assassination at worst.

Of course she had heard about Lazarus coming back, and a sick girl, and sick boy and yada-yada. She had done her fair share of “raising the dead” as well. Most of the time, they were shallow breathers, or unconscious, or every once in a while a spirit would escort one back for her. But this fellow at her feet was obstinately dead, and yet he still owed her. His estate had been liquidated into 30 pieces of silver which was sitting somewhere in the back room of the temple. “There’s nothing for it,” she said to the dead man before her.

“We’ll see if He can raise the dead without even being around”, she sighed heavily as she lowered to her knees. She attempted to assume the most penitent posture she could muster. Just last week his very own disciples had seen her healing a sick boy with his name. It had worked and she had gotten her payment. Then she’d heard through the grapevine that "Jesus", she finally allowed herself to say His name in her mind, had said something about those who aren’t against me are for me, or some nonsense like that. All this thinking wasn’t helping her situation. The dead man was still dead.

“Ok… enough dilly-dallying” she said as she closed her eyes, leaving one barely open, and placed her hands on the man’s head, “In the name of Jesus, rise!”

Nothing. No sounds, no wind, no fire… still dead. “Fine.” She muttered as she rose to her feet and headed to the cave entrance. She was out her money and the cheap swindler could lay there in the smug satisfaction that Jesus of Nazareth apparently still wanted him dead. She turned back because she had forgotten to blow out the candles and suddenly she felt like she was losing her balance. It was an earthquake and she was in a cave. She stood still for a couple seconds as the whole cave shook violently stirring up a dust cloud from the walls, floor, and ceiling all at once. As quickly as it started it was over but she was frozen stiff. She either couldn’t move or couldn’t believe what she was seeing.

Out of the dust cloud walked the dead man and he was looking right at her.

Other Products:

Enroute: The Official Digital 15 Minute Bible

If you are looking for more study material for 2009 check out Enroute: The Official Digital 15 Minute Bible. There are seven 2-3 minute videos that cover the entire breadth of the Bible from Creation to Revelation!

One Time Blind

A collection of 5 short films we produced for the theater performance group One Time Blind are available at Worship House Media.

One of the videos, The Stool, has hit over 60,000 views on GodTube.com!

Illuminating Understanding,

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

2009-01-12T13:19:00.000-08:00

Another project John Schimke and Stewart H. Redwine collaborated on, Enroute: The Official Digital 15 Minute Bible is featured in the SpiceReview this week.

http://www.sermonspice.com/newsletters/01/12/2009

2009-01-10T17:13:00.000-08:00

Dear Friends,

My grandpa used to say if you can’t sleep at night it is probably because you have a guilty conscience. Maybe the two aren’t related but I do have to admit that a couple weeks ago I had something on my mind, something I needed to ask forgiveness for, and couldn’t sleep until I apologized. Ask anyone who knows me well and they will tell you I have a habit of asking forgiveness early and often. Honestly, my penchant for penance seems to rub a lot of my Evangelical friends the wrong way.

However, I have found my Catholic and Catholic-Lite (Lutheran, Presbyterian, Anglican, Episcopalian, etc.) friends are quite comfortable with the idea of confession, and forgiveness. The Catholics have the Sacrament of Penance as a way of dealing with guilt through the steps of contrition, confession, absolution, and penance. Of course the Catholic-Lite’s all have the Confession of Sins as a part of the Communion ceremony and occasionally at other times during the year. The Lutheran church my best friend grew up in practiced a corporate confession of sins at the beginning of every service.

All institutional religions are made up of three simple elements; creed(belief system), code(moral law), and cult(rituals). The Catholic’s have a ritual whereby it is easy to understand and practice confession. Having grown up in Evangelical and Charismatic churches it is painfully obvious there is no official corporate or even individual ritual for confession. The argument some may give is, “Private confession before the Lord is all that matters anyway”. But does it really happen that way? When is the last time you got down on your knees and asked the Lord of all Creation to forgive you for how you personally have not kept His Law of Love?

What I am getting at is simple… confession is very important and needs to be taught as well as practiced, and that includes confession to other humans. I am not by any means saying we need to lionize our sins and share every detail. What I am saying is go ahead and confess, you need to, you are a sinner and God has more than enough Grace and Patience for all of us. If you attend a church where there is already a ritual for confession and you haven’t been clearing your conscience occasionally, now is a good time to start. If your church does not have a ritual for confession, start taking time to confess at your small group or at the very least with your spouse and friends. I think we all need to be reminded from time to time,

“Jesus Christ came save sinners of whom I am the worst”.

You know why each of us individually are simultaneously the “worst sinners”? Because we have everything we need inside of us to keep God’s commands, a free will, and yet we transgress in order to put forward our will anyway. How do I plead? Guilty as charged and so I cling to Proverbs 28:13, “He who conceals his sins does not prosper, but whoever confesses and renounces them finds mercy.”

Some New Year News:

Check out a review of 36 Parables: Cyan from The Christian Manifesto, by C. E. Moore.

We’ve made a few changes to the 36 Parables website, IlluminatingUnderstanding.com, please check it out and let me know what you think. We want to give visitors an understanding of what the films are and how to use them... how did we do?

Illuminating Understanding,

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

2009-01-02T10:44:00.001-08:00

Dear Friends,

Happy New Year!

First things first, make sure one of your New Year’s resolutions is to read Malcolm Gladwell’s “Outliers”. The book is a quick read concerning “the story of success.” But instead of the typical pull yourself up by your boot straps philosophy, Gladwell asks you to consider where you came from, when you were born and how you were raised all as the foundation of what will or will not make you successful.

Bill Gates, Steve Jobs, and Bill Joy (the guy who really invented the internet) were born within 12 months of each other and their birthdays all fall in the same 3 year window as several other techonology moguls... coincidence?

Of the seventy-five richest human beings of all time, 14 were born in the USA within the same decade during the mid-1800s. According to Gladwell, when and where you were born matters.

How do those of us who believe in a kind and loving God respond to Gladwell’s insight? I believe his theory does not challenge the idea that God is in control. In fact, we should praise the work of our fellow humans, scientist, artists and authors using their gifts from God to reveal more about the nature of the universe.

Gladwell’s point is revealed in Jesus’ Parable of the Talents(Matthew 25:14-30). Essentially, everyone is given a body, a certain family, in a certain culture at a certain time; our talents. Some provide immediate advantages, like the Rockefellers and Carnegie’s born in the first Democratic Capitalist country during the Industrial Revolution. They were presented with the unbridled opportunity to amass wealth.

We don’t get to choose the story we have been placed into, all we can do is do the very best with what is given to us. But what is success? Is it amassing wealth, or writing the program that runs the world’s computers? Is it loving God with all our heart, mind, soul, and strength and loving our neighbor as ourselves while we are making buckets of money and writing those programs? Or are buckets of money and software programs just icing on the cake?

Whatever the case may be, here is to a very successful 2009 for you and yours!

Some New Year News:

Check out a review of 36 Parables: Cyan from The Christian Manifesto, by C. E. Moore.

Illuminating Understanding,

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

2008-12-30T06:54:00.000-08:00

Check out a review of 36 Parables: Cyan from The Christian Manifesto, written by C. E. Moore.

36 Parables (Cyan): A Review

GENRE: YOUTH-ORIENTED MEDIA
PUBLISHER: ZONDERVAN
RELEASE DATE: JANUARY 2009

Nutshell Version:
Zondervan has recently begun distributing a short film series titled 36 Parables. Each DVD release features three 4-5 minute film interpretations of Jesus’ parables. The guys behind 36 Parables not only communicate truth in a relevant manner, but they do so without sacrificing depth or overall quality. I look forward to reviewing the other films in this series. I highly recommend it. (click here to read the rest of the review)

2008-12-23T12:01:00.001-08:00

Dear Friends,

In 30 years will they call 2008 the beginning of the 2nd Great Depression, just another recession, or something else entirely? With the perspective of history we will look back on these days and have a better idea what exactly was happening.

Though we are eternal beings, created in God’s image and destined to be with Him, we are metaphysically marooned in the present; caught in the stream of the here and now. The world is much clearer in the rearview mirror than through the windshield. We don’t know for certain what will happen tonight let alone in 2009. Only God has the power to share information about the future with us. His most consistent message has been PEACE, and that is the message I have been getting this week.

I just read a Christmas card from a friend who reminded me, “Let His Word bring life to the lifeless places and bring peace to the restlessness we all experience”. This was the scripture verse on the front of the card:

“For to us a child is born, to us a son is given, and the government will be on his shoulders. And he will be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.” – Isaiah 9:6 (click here to watch our video "Expectant" - a kinetic typography video based on this passage)

In his Monday Morning Memo this week Roy H. Williams Jr. pointed to what the Prince of Peace had to say on this same issue. (you can read the Monday Morning Memo here)

"I have told you these things, so that in me you may have peace. In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world." – John 16:33

Do you see the trend? When God tells us about the future, He gives us peace. Being human means not knowing what is going to happen next, and yet the message from God Himself concerning the future is simple. Peace.

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!

Illuminating Understanding,

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

2008-12-12T15:16:00.000-08:00

Dear Friends:

This week the third and final installment in the short story “David”.
You can get caught up by following these links:
David Part I
David Part II "In the Garden"

David: Part III
The Soul who Sins is the One who will Die

“Dinah!?”

David the gardener couldn’t believe his eyes. He stood up, brushing away King David’s hand, and almost forgot his purpose. “How did King Saul’s tribe get a virgin to be with the King?”

King David whirled on the young girl, “What? You’re of the tribe of Benjamin?” The King’s back was turned. With pure steel in his voice the gardener took a step nearer the King and said, “You can die happy knowing the last woman you defiled was of the true King’s tribe!”

King David was a warrior and knew a trap almost before it was sprung. Shouting at the top of his voice, “Assassin!” he turned and blindly charged. David the gardener had only enough time to raise his free hand in a vain attempt to deflect the spade as it was driven under his chin. King David's gardener turned assassin laid sputtering and spitting blood onto the mosaic.

King David turned and faced Dinah. “Give me one reason why I shouldn’t execute you right now as a co-conspirator?”

Dinah backed away from the King pricking her delicate hands on the rose thorns. “Ahh!” She lunged forward. King David grabbed her. She felt strength in his arms she had not known the night before. He shook her violently. “Tell me why I shouldn’t kill you right now!”

“I’m your favorite!!!” Dinah screamed. That was all he needed to hear. King David let her slowly down to the ground where she curled up in a ball and began sobbing. She was just another poor girl in love with the King. David knew Dinah wasn’t part of the gardener’s plot to kill him. Guards had arrived and were moving to collect the dead body but King David staid them with a motion of his hand.

“So he was a Benjamite?” David asked over his shoulder. Dinah choked back more tears in order to speak but could only nod her assent.

King David kicked the still twitching body of his enemy. “You are not worthy of the name David… no one in Israel shall have my name again.” David addressed the growing throng of guards and servants in the garden as he walked through the growing pool of blood on the mosiac. “As long as the history of Israel lasts may no man share my name, it is mine alone!” David pointed at the body of gardener. “This assassin shall been known by another name, the name of my enemy, Cush.”

Everyone stood still. The sun had risen. The garden was hot save for the deep shadows. The King knelt and began to wipe away the blood from his own likeness in the tile. The servants and guards recognized the King’s mood. No one moved.

David began to sing. Songs often came to him in moments of great emotion. He wrote the song in the gardener’s blood as he sang.

“A song I sing concerning Cush, a Benjamite…

O Lord my God, I take refuge in you; save and deliver me from all who pursue me, or they will tear me like a lion and rip me to pieces with no-one to rescue me.

O Lord my God, if I have done this and there is guilt on my hands- if I have done evil to him who is at peace with me or without cause have robbed my foe- then let my enemy overtake me; let him trample my life to the ground and make me sleep in the dust.”

King David stood up and said, “Selah… yes a good spot for a crescendo… now… how should it end?” He began to pace. Everyone had spirited themselves away while he was still kneeling; writing poetry with the blood of his enemy. For when the King was composing his songs he was the most temperamental and best left alone. The guards were able to coerce Dinah into leaving and she was soon put out on the palace steps.

King David continued to sing aloud occasionally stooping down to make another mark in blood on the mosaic. “He who is pregnant with evil and conceives trouble gives birth to disillusionment. He who digs a hole and scoops it out falls into the pit he has made. The trouble he causes recoils on himself; his violence comes down on his own head.”

David clapped his hands twice. “I give thanks to the Lord because of his righteousness and will sing praises to the name of the Lord most high.”

That night King David wrote the song in it’s entirety and you can read it in the Book of Psalm, Chapter 7.

Illuminating Understanding,

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

2008-12-09T11:30:00.000-08:00

John 15:5,8
“I am the vine; you are the branches. If a man remains in me and I in him, he will bear much fruit; apart from me you can do nothing. This is to my Father's glory, that you bear much fruit, showing yourselves to be my disciples.” - Jesus Christ

2008-12-08T10:19:00.000-08:00

Dear Friends,

This week part II of “David”
(you can read the first installment here)

In the Garden

The next morning King David’s concubine awoke to the sound of servants pouring hot water into a bath, setting a small table with figs and milk and opening the curtains. After she bathed and ate, the servants dressed her but there was no sign of her King. She stepped onto an adjoining balcony that looked over the palace rose garden. She heard someone entering the bedchamber. Her heart leapt, could it be the King? She felt his strong arms wrap around her as his voice proclaimed, “Oh beautiful daughter of Naphtali! My hear pounds, my strength fails me when I look upon you.” He turned her and looked into her eyes. She replied, “Thank you my King.”

“How would you like to go to the sea this morning? Long I have pinned for a companion of your beauty and I must say… you are my favorite.” The young girl blushed. “I was actually wondering if we could go down to the rose garden this morning, my Uncle is the palace gardener.” King David walked her over to the edge of the balcony and pointed down at the rose garden and the mosaic depicting his latest victory. The King put his arm around his concubine; “Most mornings I take a walk in the rose garden and see your… uncle is it?” The girl nodded. “I want to go some place special with you.” The girl stepped toward the doorway and pulled on one of King David’s hands with both of hers. “Just being with you makes me feel special great King, I would really like to see the roses this morning, and maybe my uncle!” King David conceded and began walking with her through the palace toward the rose garden on the lower level.

“What your uncle’s name?” The King asked. “David.” She replied.

David the gardener had slept like he hadn’t in years. He rose early in time to watch the coal black of night warm to a brilliant crimson. The blood red light played on the mosaic floor in the rose garden depicting King David’s recent "victory". In truth, the King of Israel was a murderer, adulterer and tyrant. The gardener bent down, and whispered an old saying to a dying blossom, “The path of the righteous is like the first gleam of dawn, shining ever brighter till the full light of day”. He cut the blossom off the rose bush and looked to the King’s window. A servant drew back the curtains as he made his way into the shadows on the south side of the garden, against the north palace wall.

David the gardener was perfectly positioned behind a couple large rose bushes. Every morning King David came through the east gate into the rose garden and stopped at the second or third rose bush, plucked a rose, handed it to his current concubine and told her she was his favorite. As the gardener knelt down between the two bushes and cut back three or four buds he caught two silhouettes in the light pouring through the east gate. King David and his concubine were almost to the threshold of the garden. The gardener’s hand dropped to grab his chosen weapon, a simple spade, but his sleeve was caught on a thorn. He jerked and a thorn pricked deep in the palm of his hand. His tunic was stuck too! He tried not to call out or move.

The King and his concubine were through the east gate facing directly south, their backs to the hidden gardener still caught on a thorn. King David leaned over the second rose bush and plucked a beautiful blossom for the young girl. Time seemed to slow. No sooner had King David’s mouth formed the words, “You’re my favorite,” David the gardener lunged to break free of the two bushes and went sprawling on the mosaic, his bloody hand landing directly on King David’s likeness in the mosaic. King David laughed as he leaned down to help the gardener up, “I’m afraid the rose bush has beaten you my friend.”

David the gardener now had his chance, as King David grabbed his free hand to help him up he would drive the spade right under the King’s chin. The gardener pushed himself up onto his knees, one hand out for the King’s and one clutching the spade. Then he noticed the concubine, the one who was supposed to be from the tribe of Dan, if the palace gossip could be trusted. It was his niece Dinah.

“Uncle, you look frightful!”

In other news:

Last month we were featured in a Producer Spotlight interview in Collide magazine!!!

Recently John and I partnered with the live performance group One Time Blind on a series of 5 short videos and one of those videos, “The Stool”, is up for Collide Magazine’s Reader’s Choice Awards Best of 2008!

Check the whole collection out if you get a chance, they are being received very well and “The Stool” has hit over 30,000 views on God Tube in a matter of one week!

Illuminating Understanding,

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

2008-11-23T17:06:00.001-08:00

Dear Friends,

This week is Part I in a three-part short story titled David:

“Not everyone in the Kingdom of Israel loves King David."

“My father said he’ll bring true change to Israel, a new Kingdom.”

As the two servant girls walked past the gardener pruning roses, he thought to himself, “One day those two young girls will die and their opinion, high or low, of King David won’t matter." He could see the distinct footprints left behind by the girls in the heavy layer of dust on the newly laid mosaic. He pruned a few buds from one stalk, leaving only one behind to thrive off all the nutrients it no longer had to share with it's suddenly cut off brothers and sisters. "The winners write history", the gardener thought. He stared at the buds, blossoms, and stalks litering the mosiac depicting King David's latest victory. In a matter of a few hundred years only the tiles lying before him would remain to glorify the unrighteous pretender to the throne.

Though from a lesser tribe, the gardener was a religious man. He knew Israel had committed a great sin in asking God for a King. Now they were saddled with David, a war-mongering, murdering adulterer whom no one was able to call to account. To the gardener’s way of thinking there was no mystery or divine providence to David’s defeat of the giant Goliath. David was merely the privileged son who spent his days practicing with his sling on his father’s ranch or serenading King Saul. David grew up with the luxury of hunting and songwriting while the rest of Israel’s young men were defending his freedoms.

The gardener had a different opinion of David’s victory. The giant had been threatening Israel’s army from a distance. It should have been obvious that a long-range weapon could easily take the giant out without the risk of being struck by Goliath’s spear. But years of Philistine fear mongering kept the common soldiers at bay until David, chosen by Samuel and the religious elite, his father’s rich friends and probably King Saul himself, showed up and did what any number of good sling-shot wielding Israelites could have done.

Whether rich friends, his father, the King and the religious powers of the day planned David’s rise to power in advance was a moot point. David was a great sinner. David had sent a soldier to die in order to have a guilt free romp with the dead man’s wife. David abused the powers of the throne to kill untold thousands of supposed “threats to national security” and clearly had no regard for God’s law. It was time someone made all these wrongs right. King David of Israel had to die so that Israel as a nation could live without blemish in the sight of God. Someone had to kill the king. Whom better than someone who shared his name? David of Gilead, the palace gardener, believed he was called by God to be Israel’s salvation from a wicked King and that fact that they bore the same name was just another sign of God's will.

Nathan the Prophet was on his way to see King David. Some one had to kill the King before they could put their heads together and put a positive spin on the situation. David of Gilead cut one last rose, a withered stalk with thorns. He planned to be in the rose garden the next morning when King David took his walk with the latest victim of his philandering abuse of power, a virgin from the tribe of Dan according to palace scuttlebutt. The unfortunate girl would have to witness her beloved King’s death the morning after she gave her greatest level of devotion. The gardener chuckled to himself as he bent down with his spade to start removing the pruned stalks and blossoms. He was looking forward to burying his spade in the back of King David’s royal head.

Illuminating Understanding,

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

2008-11-14T08:47:00.001-08:00

36 Parables mentioned in APU limelight update nov. 2008:
http://aputheaterfilmandtelevision.cmail2.com/e/580069/4il16ta6/

2008-11-14T08:40:00.001-08:00

Dear Friends,

Imagine that a friend tells you he has become a contractor. He has purchased all the right tools at Home Depot, has state of the art blue printing software on his computer, and even a level in his iPhone. All he lacks is experience. Would you hire him?

In recent years producing videos and movies has become much easier. With computer programs like Final Cut Pro running on a laptop along with any number of affordable cameras available at stores like Best Buy, practically anyone can purchase all the tools they need to be a video producer. It seems that every week I get a business card from some one else who is a self-proclaimed video producer, sound-man, shooter, editor or jack-of-all-trades. But spending money to make pretty pictures doesn’t make one a video producer. Producing not purchasing makes you a producer, a fact that many aspiring video producers haven’t figured out.

The same often holds true in our lives. We have the very best intentions, surround ourselves with the very best stuff, buy the right books, attend the right courses, read the right scripture passages out loud to our friends, and even say we’re planning to do the right things. These things don’t make us Christians. In the Parable of the Rich Young Ruler, Jesus tells the guy who has all “the right stuff” to sell his possessions and distribute the proceeds to the poor. "I tell you the truth," Jesus said to them, "no one who has left home or wife or brothers or parents or children for the sake of the kingdom of God will fail to receive many times as much in this age and, in the age to come, eternal life." (Luke 18:29-30)

I challenge every builder, video producer and Christian to not spend another thin dime on the tools of your trade. Simply go out with your talent and do it. Start to do the things you have been reading about, praying about, or preparing for because education without application is simply entertainment. Start today.

Here are some of the new products John and I have produced recently:

*5 BRAND NEW videos John and I recently produced for the theater group One Time Blind are now available are WorshipHouseMedia.com!!!

**ENROUTE (the story of the Bible in 15-Minutes), also created by John and I, are available at SermonSpice.com!!!

***PRAYER a creative light writing video available at Sermonspice.com

****Pre-order 36 Parables Cyan(Jan. 2009) and Amber(May 2009) at Zondervan.com

Illuminating Understanding,

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

2008-11-07T04:50:00.000-08:00

Dear Friends:

A movie set resembles a circus. We set up, rehearse, put on a show, tear down and do it all over again several times a day. After the Director yelled, “Cut!” the first time my wife visited me on a set, we all went “back to one,” our starting positions, to do the shot again. She asked, “Why are you doing it again?” I told her we would do it again and again as long as the Directed wanted to. She was flabbergasted… why would we keep doing the same thing over and over again expecting something else? Isn’t that the definition of insanity?

Doing take after take of the same action without an end in sight can wear down most crews. In an interview with Peter Bogdanovich in the New York Times, Matthew Modine talked about Stanley Kubrick’s reasoning behind doing endless takes for “Full Metal Jacket,”

I once asked him why he so often did a lot of takes. He said it was because actors didn't know their lines. And he talked about Jack Nicholson: ''Jack would come in during the blocking and he kind of fumbled through the lines. He'd be learning them while he was there. And then you'd start shooting and after take 3 or take 4 or take 5 you'd get the Jack Nicholson that everybody knows and most directors would be happy with. And then you'd go up to 10 or 15 and he'd be really awful and then he'd start to understand what the lines were, what the lines meant, and then he'd become unconscious about what he was saying. So by take 30 or take 40 the lines became something else. Stanley said: ''I don't know how to do it. People don't do their homework, the only thing I can do is spend time doing multiple takes while the people are learning what their job is supposed to be.''

Despite the monotony, the crew must stay focused on the story. It is a weighty responsibility making a film. Each shot, no matter how small, needs to help tell the story. The selectivity in filmmaking is astounding. Each finished film is as much the absence of the many takes you don’t see as it is a collection of the images and sounds you do.

Waking up each day and doing what we know is right is just like doing take after take on a film set. We have to stay focused on the end product, the beautiful story of our life in Jesus Christ and His glorious Kingdom. We know no matter what ends up on the cutting room floor the parts of our lives’ that will stay in the final film will be loving our families, our neighbors, and our enemies and loving God with all our heart, mind, soul, and strength.

Action!

Illuminating Understanding,

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

2008-11-02T11:11:00.001-08:00

Dear Friends,

This week I am sick and tired. Literally. I started the week with two overnight shoots for Applebee’s and now I’m working late into the night on a feature film in Kansas City. I am exhausted and I even cut my finger with a razor blade yesterday while cutting some light gels. Yet before you pass some cheese to go with my whine, you should know that despite my lack of sleep and my cold I still have some one looking out for me.

Glenn, the Best Boy Electric on the film, is taking time to teach me new things about set lighting, electricity, and the necessity for everyone on the set to be focused on the story. He could go about his day and order me around like the small chess piece that I am but instead he seizes opportunities to teach me.

Jesus telling us to go and make disciples goes way beyond being dutiful to Jesus. Making a disciple is a pro-active involvement in someone else’s life. It is looking for opportunities to teach and instruct, not just going about our duty to the Boss. Sadly, the act of making a disciple has been misconstrued into a geographic issue. Many feel they must “go” somewhere to make a disciple. In reality your future disciple may be standing next to you at work.

I look at Glenn, the Best Boy Electric, as a model for how to disciple. He is diligent in his responsibilities and proactive, going beyond his job performance to help a little guy like me learn a thing or two. I know Glenn wasn’t born with the knowledge he has, he must have learned it somewhere as well. Being a disciple should remind us of times when we needed help, and that at times we still do.

While I am sick and tired, and lugging 100 foot pieces of massive power cables around there is still some one taking the time to help me. What does that make me want to do? Look for some one I can help. Whenever you doubt what you should do… go and make disciples. We all need the encouragement.

Illuminating Understanding,

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

2008-10-24T05:12:00.000-07:00

Dear Friends,

“The LORD God took the man and put him in the Garden of Eden to work it and take care of it.” Genesis 2:15

My wife has always taken this passage seriously. She goes through my office trashcan to recycle the paper. She insists on taking her own bags to the grocery store. During the first few years of our marriage I would ask her, “Did God really say‘ take care’ of the Garden?” I thought caring for the environment was choosing not to care for people. I now see that God meant what He said. What an incredible amount of responsibility God has given us. We can choose, by our actions, to destroy whole species God created and saw as good.

Jared Diamond’s book Collapse: How Societies Choose to Fail or Succeed reveals even more of the great power and responsibility God has given us. The Easter Islanders, the Greenland Vikings, the Maya and many other societies collapsed. These societies didn’t collapse because they were made up of evil people doing evil things. They collapsed because of greed. Too many people put short-term gain ahead of sustaining their “garden.”

Mr. Diamond also discusses Christians who claim not to worry about the future of the planet because God will return soon. I don’t believe we should adopt the attitude that God will scrap the planet and save the redeemed humans. I have a hard time finding justification for that idea in the Bible. Besides, God created man to take care of the Earth.

Our mandate as Christians is to love God and love others. We love God when we keep His commands. One of His very first commands was to care for the Earth. As for loving others, we must put others first by taking the long-view and helping sustain the planet Earth for as long as the Lord tarries. Even the simple act of recycling paper is a step in the right direction.

A new series John and I have created is available at SermonSpice.com:

Enroute
A creative visual retelling of the Bible in 15 minutes! Seven 2-minute videos for $20 each, or $65 for the set at SermonSpice.com. The first 2 Episodes are about creation and the fall of man.

Designed (2:40 min)
The story of creation and how mankind is designed for a purpose (Genesis 1).

Broken (3:08 min)
Original sin and the fall of mankind (Genesis 3).

Illuminating Understanding,

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

2008-10-17T15:27:00.000-07:00

Dear Friends:

A little change of plans for this week's newsletter. Next week I will be reviewing Jared Diamond's Collapse, an excellent book on how societies choose to succeed or fail. The change of plans is because I am pleased and excited to announce John and I have produced some new resources available through SermonSpice.com!

Prayer
This creative light writing video uses unique visuals to highlight key passages on the power of prayer (Philippians 4:6, Matthew 6:6, Matthew 18:20, 1 Thessalonians 5:16-18, Jeremiah 29:7 and 1Timothy 2:8).

Enroute
A creative visual retelling of the Bible in 15 minutes! Seven 2-minute videos for $20 each, or $70 for the set at SermonSpice.com. Here is the breakdown of the episodes:

Designed (2:40 min)
The story of creation and how mankind is designed for a purpose (Genesis 1).

Broken (3:08 min)
Original sin and the fall of mankind (Genesis 3).

Expectant (2:04 min)
Israel's history, the law, the prophets and John the Baptist (Genesis 12:1-3, Genesis 22:15-18, 2 Samuel 7:8-16, Isaiah 9:2-7 and Matthew 3:1-12).

Presence (2:50 min)
The first Christmas and Jesus' life on earth (Matthew 1:18-25, Luke 1:26b-38, Luke 2:1-20, John 6:30-46 and John 14:25-27).

Satisfied (1:58 min)
The Passion of the Christ and Easter (Luke 4:14-22, John 17:1-23, John 19:16b-24 and John 19:28-30).

Mission (1:21 min)
Jesus' resurrection and the Great Commission (Matthew 28:16-20 and Acts 1:6-8).

Restored (1:40min)
The second coming, and God's ultimate redemption of all of creation through the Risen Lord Jesus Christ (Revelation 21:1-7).

Remember, 36 Parables Blue and Yellow are currently available at Zondervan.com. Cyan may be pre-ordered for January delivery.

I hope you are able to use them to help others to Illuminate Understanding! Your continued support helps us create new resources. Please continue to spread the word about 36 Parables, Prayer, and Enroute!

Illuminating Understanding,

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

2008-10-10T13:43:00.001-07:00

Dear Friends,

We are honored that Zondervan/Youthspecialties has picked up our distribution and wish to thank Stan, Jay, Jen, Roni, the Davids, Mindi, Holly, Urb and everyone else for putting so much work into our baby! 36 Parables Blue & Yellow are now available through Zondervan’s YouthSpecialties!

Here’s the release schedule for the next 4 DVDs in the series:

Cyan – Jan 2009
Amber - May 2009* (Amber pre-orders will ship in May 2009)
Purple – October 2009
Lime – February 2010

Please tell all youth pastors, pastors, small group leaders and teachers that 36 Parables DVDs can be found at YouthSpecialties.com, Zondervan.com, as well as 36parables.com.

Response has been enthusiastic. One youth pastor wrote, “The parables are told in a way that you wouldn't expect. They are not a direct/parallel modern retelling of them per se, but they are an awesome take on these parables in a way where the videos totally relate. I'm excited to use these with my students. The videos are straight forward enough that you can totally make up your own discussions questions or an outline for a talk.”

Free bible studies may be found at Blue and Yellow at 36parables.com.

If you have enjoyed Blue and Yellow, please write a review of the product at YouthSpecialties.com!

Click here to review Blue

Click here to review Yellow

Illuminating Understanding,

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

2008-10-07T14:26:00.000-07:00

36 Parables was listed in Worship Leader Magazine's October 2008 Editor's Pick "Best of the Best" Issue. 36 Parables is one of the "people, products and properties that [Worship Leader Magazine] trusts".

Thanks Worship Leader Magazine!

2008-10-04T08:04:00.003-07:00

Dear Friends,

There are two sides to every drachma. In today’s Christian thinking the Nihilist is on one side and the Humanist is on the other. Both are extremes of essential doctrines taught by Jesus Christ during His life on earth, and after His resurrection when He visited St. John on the Island of Patmos. Either extreme is a dangerous proposition that polarizes people against each other.

The Christian Nihilist believes nothing really matters since the whole Earth will burn in a zealously anticipated conflagration. The Christian Humanist believes Jesus Christ was an outstanding community organizer whose life ought to be studied (with a heavy pre-crucifixion focus) and emulated in order to “discover what it means to be human.”

I began thinking about these polarized ideas when I imagined George Handel and Michelangelo standing before God on Judgment Day. Will God destroy Handel’s Messiah sheet music one day? Will God lay waste to the Sistine Chapel? The Christian Nihilist would tell us, “What does it matter, everything is going to burn anyway. Besides, if Handel and Michelangelo weren’t truly saved they won’t be in Heaven.” The Christian Humanist would say, “Those things were entrenched in the religious political systems of their day, pure propagnada. Michelangelo and Handel were part of a system of oppression, keeping the common man excluded from the privileges of the wealthy elite.” To me, neither of these answers gives God or the artists much credit.

I stand beside Handel and Michelangelo and say the world does matter and it is worth fighting for. Each good deed we do counts. The risen Jesus Christ is the first fruits of the Kingdom of Heaven, which is fully activated and working in the physical world right now. Everything we do on Earth matters. Jesus Christ’s sacrifice gets us back in the game; it doesn’t give us immunity from playing.

The thought that this whole world is going to burn and the “present age” doesn’t matter is not in the Bible I read. In the same way, focusing only on being a good human isn’t in the Bible either. We need to focus on both. God is with us. The Kingdom of Heaven is now, infusing our external and internal world. Like in the parable of “The Wheat and the Tares,” the good is growing with the bad. Having your ticket to Heaven punched by accepting Jesus into your heart then sitting back and waiting for the end isn’t enough, remember the Parable of the Two Sons ? In the midst of economic crisis and human influenced global climate change, let us remember that loving our neighbor includes creating artwork, building houses, economic policy, environmental stewardship, ending slavery and the sex trade, consumption habits, legislation, as well as watching your neighbors kids, cleaning their gutters, learning their names, hearing their stories, praying for them, and even passing out hugs.

Illuminating Understanding,

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

2008-10-04T08:04:00.001-07:00

Dear Friends,

A couple of years ago the future didn’t look all that bright for 36 Parables. We made the best films we could, but we didn’t have enough money to let people know about them. We thought we would have to shut off the lights.

Then we began recruiting Friends of 36. We offered the entire collection before it was completed to those who wanted to help us continue to illuminate understanding. Thanks to our Friends, we not only kept the lights on, we have achieved one of our major goals. We were offered a publishing deal with YouthSpecialties. Even though we now have a big time publisher we will ship all Friends of 36 all the upcoming titles, as they are released, starting with Blue and Yellow.

Friends of 36 have been there for us in more than just financial ways. They have prayed, supported, suggested books and movies for us to check out, corrected the grammar in my weekly newsletter, and continued to remind us to never give up.

In particular, one of our longest Friends of 36 is Walter Koschnitzke. He has been with us almost since the beginning. He helped us focus on our goals and see that what we are really doing is “Illuminating Understanding.” Walt edits my newsletter and articles, writes our ads, keeps us honest in our creativity, clear in our communication and was instrumental in our publishing deal with Zondervan –YouthSpecialties.

Thanks to our Friends of 36 we will continue to illuminate understanding as long as we can and delight in the relationships we have formed with all of you over the years while we’ve pursued our dreams.

Please tell every teacher, preacher, small group leader, or youth pastor you know about 36 Parables now available through YouthSpecialties!!!

Illuminating Understanding,

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

2008-09-24T17:30:00.003-07:00

Dear Friends,

Earlier this year a Christian filmmaker, who aspired to create a documentary on sex trafficking, said to me… “Christian’s have never led in the arts.” I responded, “Have you heard of the Renaissance?” If my friend thinks Botticelli, Donatello, Giotto, Michelangelo and Titian are brands of Italian pasta or the Ninja Turtles he’s not alone. The Christian creative community is seriously under-educated on art history, especially Christian art history. This ignorance has led to a lack of confident inventiveness and innovation on the part of Christian artists resulting in art that is an unsatisfactory copy of mainstream entertainment.

Here are some recent examples of copied mainstream work with the original in parenthesis: The Evangelism Linebacker (Terry Tate Office Linebacker), Jesus vs. Santa (Mac vs. PC) and Curb Your Evangelism (Curb Your Enthusiasm). While I was Director of Photography on Evangelism and while some of these videos are admittedly funny, sadly they remain poor copies of someone else’s work. Frankly, this copycat approach lacks creativity, appears farcical and borders on plagiarism.

The building of the Temple is a detailed account of artistic creation in the Bible, a totally new expression of God’s interaction with mankind. In the same way, Jesus Christ’s stories were a new creative expression of God’s Truth and His Kingdom. We too have the ability to create new expressions if we would but focus on the Truth rather than mainstream society.

Please take some time to study the great Christian art of the Renaissance, the achievements of the Catholic Church and artists like Francis Shaeffer. Then go experience the agony and the ecstasy of creating something new to the Glory of God and the common good of mankind, whom He loves!

Remember, 36 Parables Blue and Yellow DVDs are now available through YouthSpecialties!

Illuminating Understanding,

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

2008-09-24T17:30:00.001-07:00

Dear Friends,

Last week I shared some thoughts on “Art & Fear” by David Bayles & Ted Orland. There is no question the book is encouraging to anyone who wants to pursue the creation of art. However, the authors make a faulty assumption about making art in the post-modern age. One shared by many other Christian artists and thinkers.

Bates and Orland assert, “Other people, in other times and places, had some robust institutions to shore them up: witness the Church, the clan, ritual and tradition. It’s easy to imagine that artists doubted their calling less when working in the service of God than when working in the service of self.”

It took me three reads to get it, but if you stop and think, this is absolutely preposterous. These "other people" in a supposed idyllic time, when artists worked only at the sole calling and belief in God, some how doubted the creative process less. Would not their doubts be a thousand times greater when in the service of the Almighty than when in the service of self? The post-modern man creating for self only doubts whether he has got the chops for it. The artist in the service of God believes their communities' purpose and quality of life in this age and the age to come depends on the quality of their work. This awesome and exciting responsibility needs to be communicated to all Christian artists.

Instead, the authors of Art & Fear contend that institutions and rituals used to keep artists from doubting, and by extension thinking. Only when artists were able to break free from the binding authorities of culture and clan did they begin to create for self. What a dismal prospect. I suppose this would mean Adam and Eve's stunt with the apple was the first performance art piece.

This kind of thinking leads one to believe that any artist who creates based on a belief in God must have lower brain functions than the artist who creates based on the belief in self. Art for the sake of self is a dead end street. Communicating for the common good is where Christian artists must turn their passion in order to create the type of art that guided culture for hundreds of years. Like Bezalel (Exodus 31:1-11) we must work to create art for the common good in the service of the one being in the Universe who must be feared, Jesus Christ our Lord.

Illuminating Understanding,

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

2008-09-06T10:27:00.001-07:00

Here are links to three articles written by Stewart H. Redwine that were recently published by Christian Video Magazine and YouthSpecialties:

Confessions of a YouthGroup Drop Out from YouthSpecialties.com
http://www.youthspecialties.com/freeresources/articles/programming/confessions_of_a_youthgroup_dropout.php

2+2=5 and the Mundane Scriptures from August 2008 Christian Video Magazine
http://www.christianvideomag.com/christianvideo_backissues/cv2008_08backissue.php

Talents for the Talented from July 2008 Christian Video Magaazine
http://www.christianvideomag.com/christianvideo_backissues/cv2008_07backissue.php

2008-09-05T20:47:00.000-07:00

Dear Friends,

Art & Fear is an excellent book by David Bayles & Ted Orland. The book talks about “Observations on the perils (and rewards) of artmaking. Any artist, speaker(pastor), teacher, or person with a burning desire to paint, dance, or sing who hasn’t ever made the time to ought to give it a read. What I particularly like about the book is the author’s assumption of all human’s ability and call to make art. In the brief 121 pages of the book artists are bolstered up in order to create regardless of their fears of others, their abilities, or even themselves.
Inside the pages of the book is a strong emphasis on craft and discipline over and above the question of natural talent. The author’s opinion of talent, “Even talent is rarely distinguishable, over the long run, from perseverance and lots of hard work”. I couldn’t agree more. The work ethic demanded in Art & Fear is absolutely necessary to anyone who wants to create art. Throughout the book artists are encouraged to remain diligent and never give up regardless of their “skill level”. What is important, is to create.
Another aspect of the book, as simple title broadcasts, is fear. The author’s view of artistic fear: “the fear that your fate is in your own hands, but that your hands are weak.” Essentially they go on to dismiss your opinion, or anyone elses opinion of how strong or weak you are, i.e. your ability or skill. Their answer to Art & Fear is the relentless pursuit of creating. Though the book is not written from a Biblical perspective it reveals some Biblical truths.
Proverbs 21:31 “The horse is made ready for battle, but victory rests with the Lord”. The Artist must always make the horse ready for battle, they can’t expect their craft to improve on it’s own. Though the book is incredibly encouraging for artists there are some dangerous assumptions made by the authors concerning humanity and our purpose in the Universe.

Next week I’ll put the shoe on the other foot…

Illuminating Understanding,

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

2008-09-01T18:48:00.001-07:00

Dear Friends,

A simple story…

With the launch 36 Parables at Zondervan and finishing up our next series, Enroute, I have quite a bit on my plate. Not to mention all the other jobs I take in order to provide for my beautiful wife and healthy baby. Time is in short supply. I have so much going on and so many good opportunities I am constantly asking God for help in getting it all done.

Meanwhile, my neighbor from up the street, Alex, is legally blind and has experienced seizures since birth. For the past 8 years he has worked in food service, the previous 5 he worked at the local movie theater. I see Alex at Starbucks every Sunday. My wife and baby sometimes join us.

My wife, baby and I sit at one end of a table with our health and happiness and what is turning out to be an exciting and privileged career hoping to have enough time to get everything done. At the other end of the table is Alex, the guy who takes your ticket at the theater with a big smile, the guy you never see who washes plates at your favorite restaurant. He’s hoping too. Alex hopes he will be able to retain his insurance even though a grand mal seizure ended his last job. He hopes he will meet a woman to marry.

I hope that I learn to do as well with my talents as Alex is doing with his.

What are you doing with what has been given to you?

Illuminating Understanding,

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

2008-08-22T21:04:00.001-07:00

Dear Friends,

Don’t strain your brain looking for parables. They are everywhere. In the Gospel of Saint Matthew Chapter 13, Jesus tells a lengthy parable about how the word is received differently by different people, like seed on various types of ground. Immediately the disciples question him.

Matthew 13:10-17
10. The disciples came to him and asked, "Why do you speak to the people in parables?"
11. He replied, "The knowledge of the secrets of the kingdom of heaven has been given to you, but not to them.
12. Whoever has will be given more, and he will have an abundance. Whoever does not have, even what he has will be taken from him.
13. This is why I speak to them in parables: "Though seeing, they do not see; though hearing, they do not hear or understand.”
14. In them is fulfilled the prophecy of Isaiah: 'You will be ever hearing but never understanding; you will be ever seeing but never perceiving.
15. For this people's heart has become calloused; they hardly hear with their ears, and they have closed their eyes. Otherwise they might see with their eyes, hear with their ears, understand with their hearts and turn, and I would heal them.
16. But blessed are your eyes because they see, and your ears because they hear.
17. For I tell you the truth, many prophets and righteous men longed to see what you see but did not see it, and to hear what you hear but did not hear it.

Is Jesus saying here that He is playing a divine trick on our poor intellect? Is He out for us? I don’t think so. Jesus’ is saying that we have to look and listen for parables. Even in an age of nearly infinite communication choices you may not receive His message the way you expect it. When you look for parables cast your gaze far and wide and listen carefully, you’ll be surprised how many you’ll find.

My parable from today?

My daughter Olivia had trouble getting to sleep tonight. I held her, and rocked her until finally she fell asleep in my arms. She doesn’t know she is teething. Whether she understands what is happening or not I will still come home, lay my work aside, and rock her to sleep.

Illuminating Understanding,

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

2008-08-15T21:06:00.000-07:00

Dear Friends,

First of all, I am excited to announce that the 36 Parables Soundtrack downloads for the films on Blue and Yellow are now available!

John and I have partnered with Chris Folmsbee, author of “A New Kind of Youth Ministry” (available through YouthSpecialties/Zondervan) on a new series titled “Enroute,” available late September at IlluminatingUnderstanding.com. September is also the official launch of 36 Parables as a Zondervan product!

Enroute summarizes the entire Bible in approximately 15 minutes using motion graphics. There are 7 2-3 minute episodes on major themes of the meta-narrative found in scripture.

Designed – The creation story.
Broken – The story of the Fall.
Promise – The History of Israel up to the time of Christ… in two minutes!
Presence – The story of Jesus’ life and ministry on Earth.
Satisfied – The Passion of the Christ.
Mission – The History of the Holy Church.
Restored – The story of the physical return of Lord Jesus to reign and rule on Heaven and Earth in the New Jerusalem.

Watch for updates on the new series over the next month!

Illuminating Understanding,

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

2008-08-07T21:19:00.000-07:00

Dear Friends,

What is creativity?

Exodus 31:1-5

“See I have chosen Bezalel son of Uri, the son of Hur, of the tribe of Judah, and I have filled him with the Spirit of God, with skill, ability and knowledge in all kinds of crafts – to make artistic designs for work in gold, silver and bronze, to cut and set stones, to work in wood, and to engage in all kinds of craftsmanship”.

The element of this passage that resonates with me is “craftsmanship,” a word that has been cut off from the understanding of the creative arts, particularly in the Church.

So much of what is thought of as creativity is an expression of one’s own vision of the world. Bezalel was gifted by God to create art that would communicate, to tell stories in the medium of his day for the greater good of humanity and Glory of God rather than for his own purpose. We do not read, “See I have chosen Bezalel… and I have filled Him with his unique spirit, with style, individualism and self knowing in all kinds of crafts – to make artistic designs for his own gratification, subtle and codified, to create and define symbols, to work at his own pace, and to indulge in all kinds of creative expressions”.

As the Church continues to hold conferences to discuss what it means to be creative believers, remember this: Get very good at what you do, learn how to communicate, to tell stories, become a master craftsman filled with the Spirit of God.

Proverbs 22:29
“Do you see a man skilled in his work? He will serve before kings; he will not serve before obscure men.”

Illuminating Understanding,

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

2008-08-04T16:31:00.000-07:00

Dear Friends,

Life on a movie set can be exciting and tedious at times (really!). Here are some life lessons I’ve learned on the set.

Communication - the most valuable lesson I have learned on set is to always communicate. Everyone needs to be able to talk with and listen to each other in order to work the plan.

Planning

Block – The Director decides on the action in a given scene and collaborates with the Director of Photography as to how to represent it on screen. Blocking is like prayer, a vision for how you want the story to go.

Light – The Director of Photography decides on the lighting and camera positions to best communicate the vision. Lighting is actually taking the steps to put the tools in your tool chest to bear on the vision. In the case of life; your finances, time, and energy need to be used and based upon the plan you have developed in your prayer.

Shoot – The actors are brought on the scene and we start to capture the action. Sometimes you need to adapt. Proverbs 21:31 says, “The horse is made ready for the day of battle, but victory rests with the Lord”. It is our job to make the horse ready for battle. This is a three-step process: Prayer, Preparation and Action.

Life Is Tough Get A Helmet - When you work with people, with or without good communication, some people are going to give you a hard time. What does this mean to a sensitive guy like me? Sometimes people are mean but life goes on, don’t take anything personal. Ever.

The Lord Jesus has left us His storyboard for the film He wants to see made. We need to block, light and shoot it. Pray, prepare, and take action based on His script, the Bible, and His continual personal revelation to us through the Holy Spirit. And don’t let anything or anyone get in your way.

Illuminating Understanding,

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

2008-07-27T14:10:00.001-07:00

Dear Friends:

Last weekend I saw Batman: The Dark Knight.

At 11:55 AM Sunday I showed up to see The Dark Knight IMAX experience. It was sold out for the next 2 days so I decided on the regular old big screen. The theatre was packed with Kansans about to watch a film all about one man bent on justice and another ruthlessly bent on evil. The unending universal conflict summed up in two characters. At dinner with friends last night I asked them about the movie. Their favorite character was the Joker by far, the most intriguing in the Dark Knight. Heath Ledger’s performance is a tour de force. From the first moment to the very last, he steals the show.
The performance aside, why is evil often the most intriguing element in stories? Some say it is because our sin nature gets so tantalized by the deeds of darkness that we can’t get enough. Others say it is a sign that things are getting worse. I believe it’s a combination of both multiplied by a misunderstanding of the advancement of God’s Kingdom as taught in Jesus’ parables. In the West many believe that the cosmic struggle of good and evil is an extrapolation of the law of entropy. If good (Batman) doesn’t respond to evil, things will continue to get worse. Entropy focused morality lowers the bar, makes us throw in the towel and think, “Someone is bound to steal it sooner or later anyway.”
Jesus, on the other hand, teaches us that the Kingdom of Heaven has already arrived. His resurrection is the first fruits and things will get better and better even as they get worse and worse. In the Parable of the Wheat and the Tares, the farmer, whose field has been sown with weeds by “an enemy” says; “Let both grow together until the harvest. At that time I will tell the harvesters: First collect the weeds and tie them in bundles to be burned; then gather the wheat and bring it into my barn.”
So as the world continues to be troubled by Jokers of all shapes and sizes, remember you are fighting for the Risen King. Grab your cap and cowl and become a hero.

Illuminating Understanding,

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

2008-07-18T05:18:00.000-07:00

Dear Friends,

Trying to squeeze in a meeting with a few friends from Church is often a monumental task. Between soccer practice, night shifts, and American Idol, the amount of time anyone can commit is often no time at all. It seems that a corner stone of the Faith, “Let us not give up meeting together” (Hebrews 10:25), has become another obligation on the to do list of life. Small groups have become short groups.
There just isn’t the time to open up to people in short groups. There is nothing like sitting in some one else’s living room, completely exhausted from a hectic work week trying to talk about deep heart issues with the guy who just sang three worship songs off key. Can we at least sing on key before we start talking about our heartbreaks, dilemmas, and addictions? We need a nudge and I can’t think of a better starting place than cinema. From the Greek word kinesis meaning motion, cinema can move us to the place of feeling very quickly.
The best resources available for use in short groups are "small films". Erwin McManus’ series, Rob Bell’s Nooma and 36 Parables are all designed for time challenged groups. Our upcoming series “Enroute” is a collection of 7 small films that summarize the entire Bible in about 15 minutes You won’t find a much shorter film that covers as much ground!
Even if your short group doesn’t have any small films to use, you can break up a larger film to discuss relevant themes. Like I mentioned last week “The Son” would be a fantastic film to talk about grace. You could break up Citizen Kane into pieces and talk about issues of pride, materialism, and loneliness. Cinema has the power to move us into an emotional place where we might “feel” like talking with the guy who can’t sing on key.

Illuminating Understanding,

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

2008-07-12T07:58:00.000-07:00

Dear Friends:

Here’s my current top ten list, based on what each film taught me about story telling…

“Mosquito Coast”- For the scene that builds the conflict between father and son as they stand with their family before a crowd of natives who are enamored with the father’s recent invention of an ice machine. The camera movement employed in this scene is used almost identically in PT Anderson's recent "There Will Be Blood", also about a father and son in conflict.

P.T. Anderson’s “Punch Drunk Love” - The villain, Philip Seymour Hoffman, scares me to death even while getting a haircut.

“Back to the Future” - How a simple story drives rather than special effects.

“Decalogue 5” - The only clear narrative account that has utterly convinced me murder is always abhorrent.

“The Last Laugh” – A shining example of Weimer Cinema’s style and subjective camera use.

“Dick Tracy” - The directing, production design and cinematography working in tandem always captivates me.

“Heat” - The tagline says it all, “A Los Angeles Crime Saga.”

“The Son” – The common Biblical issue, Grace, portrayed in such a way I actually walk away with hope.

“Patton” - One of the greatest American war movies about one of the greatest American Generals.

“Unforgiven” - In my opinion, the last western. It took the conventions and themes of almost a century long genre and laid it to rest on the premise that yes the west was won, but on mercy not sacrifice.

If you haven’t seen these movies give them a few a fair viewing. And please send me your top 10 list to let me know what I may have missed!

Back to the Future
1985 Dir: Robert Zemeckis

Dekalog, piec / Decalogue 5 “Thou Shalt Not Kill”
1989 Dir: Krzysztof Kieslowski

Der Letzte Mann / The Last Laugh
1924 Dir: F.W. Murnau

Dick Tracy
1990 Dir: Warren Beatty

Heat
1995 Dir: Michael Mann

Le Fils / The Son
2002 Dir: The Dardenne Brothers

Mosquito Coast
1986 Dir: Peter Weir

Patton
1970 Dir: Franklin J. Shaffner

Punch Drunk Love
2002 Dir: Paul Thomas Anderson

Unforgiven
1992 Clint Eastwood

Illuminating Understanding,

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

2008-07-03T09:04:00.000-07:00

Dear Friends,

Every once in a while I will begin to read a book that makes me go, “Aha!” A friend suggested I read “Surprised by Hope” by NT Wright. Aha!
Like Dallas Willard’s “Divine Conspiracy,” “Hope’s” back cover does not strike one as especially brilliant or fresh, though you quickly realize what you’re reading will be discussed for years to come. In short, Wright reminds us what we are waiting for and what we should do until then. He pins his entire argument on the idea of physical resurrection and the remaking of the Creation.
This book liberates one from visions of sexless cherubs playing harps on cotton candy clouds as an image of the “after life.” In fact, the idea of an after life is very much challenged by this book. Wright focuses mostly on life after the afterlife, our bodily resurrection into new bodies where we will do new work on a new Heaven and new Earth that have become one.
In the meantime, we must do our part to fight for the Kingdom of Heaven advancing now. NT Wright stands at the end of the most gruesome century of genocide, war and environmental crimes proclaiming Ernest Hemingway’s famous words, “The world is a fine place, and worth fighting for.” Wright challenges Christians to be the avant-garde in the Kingdom’s advance by doing God’s work in remaking government policies, remitting third world debt, being leaders in the arts and doing all of this by the power of the Spirit. Mr. Wright left me holding onto the hope for modern day miracles.
The power of the Holy Spirit to heal and to speak, as witnessed in Jesus’ ministry, the book of Acts and all throughout Church history was surprisingly absent from “Surprised by Hope”. Why hope in a God who will raise me from the dead one day but can’t work miracles in the present? I suspect if Christians take up Mr. Wright’s challenge to reaffirm their hope in a God who wants to advance his Kingdom in the present they will be surprised by hope and many will be surprised by the Holy Spirit’s untamed approach to making it so.
“Surprised by Hope” leaves the arguments of modern and post-modern where they belong, in the library, and revitalizes the intellect with the idea of taking action in love. In love with God, in love with His destiny for the world, and in Love with the human race which He has set all His affection on. Aha!

Illuminating Understanding,

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

2008-06-26T09:05:00.000-07:00

Dear Friends,

SPOILER ALERT! Do not read if you want to see Indiana Jones: Kingdom of the Crystal Skull.

At the end of Indiana Jones and The Last Crusade, Indy asks his father, played by Sean Connery, what he discovered from his life-long pursuit of the grail. Mr. Connery’s charming yet illusive answer, “Illumination.” Steven Spielberg showed us the power beyond our world in the first and third Indiana Jones movies, the power of a loving God defeating the powers of darkness. You might think the next installment would take this idea of faith, of good triumphing over evil to the next level, in a film entitled, “Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of Heaven.” This was not the case.

The psychic powers attributed to the Crystal Skull are wielded by inter-dimensional life forms (which makes for great conversation about the Kingdom of Heaven being at hand) that live in the famed “city of gold”, which we come to find out means knowledge, surrounded by artifacts of the world’s religions with the notable exception of those of Judeo-Christians. I suppose Mr. Spielberg didn’t want to suggest the Hebrew’s God was an interstellar alien just passing through.

In typical Indy fashion, Jones recovers the skull, keeps it from the bad guys (Russians this time), punishes the evildoers and finally marries Marian. Everything is as it should be - except there is not even an inkling of faith; the longstanding backbone of Indiana’s struggle with fighting to protect the Ark and the Grail. We are presented with inter-dimensional beings rather than God, “science” rather than the mystery of faith. What a shame, there is much to this world we do not understand. God as the Creator is always causing new, truly inexplicable, things to occur remaking this Earth into the ultimate expression of His presence. A little more mystery and a return to the roots planted in “The Last Crusade” would have made for a much more Illuminating movie.

We’ll examine Resurrection and the Kingdom of Heaven next week when I review NT Wright’s book “Surprised by Hope”.

After Life
If you are interested in our take on part of the "unseen" please watch After Life, a modern retelling of the Parable of the Rich Man and Lazarus (Luke 16:19-31). Click here to watch.

Illuminating Understanding,

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

2008-06-19T11:00:00.001-07:00

Dear Friends,
I believe the duty of artists is to passionately pursue the creation of images, songs, and stories that illuminate the world beyond our world. We all know there is more going on than we can see with the naked eye. The arts, in the beauty of human craftsmanship, trigger that deep knowledge inside of us. When composing “The Messiah” George Frideric Handel described this sensation, “I did think I did see all Heaven before me and the Great God Himself.” To this day the “Hallelujah” chorus still moves human hearts around the world and gives us a peak at the divine.
Still, such “Aha!” moments are extremely rare and the pursuit of them sometimes drives the artist to the edge of insanity. A few years before “The Messiah,” Handel threatened to throw a singer who refused to sing his air “Falsa Imagine” out of a window. He is quoted as saying, “Madam, I know you are a devil, but I would have you know I am Beelzebub, chief of Devils.” The depths of rage and the majesty of “The Messiah” are two sides of the same coin, an artist looking through a glass dimly, striving to drop the veil and reveal the Kingdom of Heaven.
Sometimes the artist succeeds, but most of the time we must live by faith in the unseen, knowing that in the end God will Illuminate Understanding for everyone.

Buried Talent
In Buried Talent, based on the Parable of the Talents, we tell the story of a rich man who hires three painters to paint for his wife. The artists are given very little direction; only to use all the gold paint the rich man provided each of them. One of the painters is unable to paint because he is merely waiting for inspiration. The other two painters just go for it and you can see for yourself if in the end their art and their understanding was illuminated or not! Enjoy! (click here to watch Buried Talent)

Illuminating Understanding,

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

2008-06-12T18:56:00.000-07:00

Dear Friends,

There are 915 verses in the book of Proverbs, each a gem of practical advice. It is by far my favorite book of the Bible and the most helpful for me when I face real world issues in business, relationships, or story telling. The no nonsense sentimentality accepts life for what it is and gives anyone who listens instructions for dealing with the world.

Earlier this year I read Proverbs Chapter 25 shortly after viewing two of the contenders for the 2007 Best Cinematography Oscar. I found it interesting that the plots for the movies are summarized back to back in Proverbs 25:6-8.

The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford
Proverbs 25:6-7a
Do not exalt yourself in the king’s presence, and do not claim a place among great men; it is better for him to say to you, “Come up here”, than for him to humiliate you before a nobleman.

The movie opens with Robert Ford shamelessly selling himself to Jesse and his brother Frank James to become a member of the James Gang. Frank tells Robert how little he thinks of him. Robert Ford’s lust for prestige drives him to kill the object of his obsession. While it’s true that Jessie James was a far cry from being a king or even a great man, the underlying principle is the same.

Atonement
Proverbs 25:7b-8
What you have seen with your eyes do not bring hastily to court, for what will you do in the end if your neighbor puts you to shame?

In the movie, a writer in her late seventies recounts the story of how her testimony in a rape case ended in the untimely death of both her sister and her sister’s lover during World War II in Great Britain. At the end of the film it is revealed her memory was not only questionable concerning the events she thought she saw as a child but that she had been diagnosed with vascular dementia, thus throwing the entire narrative into question.

Although they often seem cumbersome, outdated and awkward, Proverbs are an apt description of how life unfolds. Therefore, they make perfect plot outlines. Though the names and faces and language may have changed (who goes to court “hastily” nowadays or knows “noblemen” anyway?) King Solomon was right, “There is nothing new under the sun.”

36 Parables DVDs perfect for kids after playing at the pool or Vacation Bible School!
You have your Bible, your flashlight, your swim suit, and sunscreen, but you
aren't totally prepared for Church camp without your complete set of the 36
Parables. Don't leave home without them.

They make great prizes for whacky church camp games too!
Order the three 36 Parables’ DVDs currently available at 36parables.com.

Buen Vecino
Speaking of pools, check out “Buen Vecino”(Spanish for Good Neighbor) based on the Parable of the Good Samaritan available on the Yellow DVD.

Illuminating Understanding,

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

2008-06-04T09:11:00.000-07:00

Dear Friends,

2+2=5
Or
The Mundane Scriptures: Inspiration for Short Films in Everyday Life

Albert and Hazel lived next door to my parents on Cleveland Street. Albert and Hazel were people of modest means lived next to my parents on Cleveland Street in a neighborhood of 50’s era one level houses. When Hazel died she left behind a lot of stuff. Closets filled with brand new clothes and the trunk of her car was crammed with merchandise. No one imagined that Hazel was a compulsive spender, addicted to shopping, including Albert. He was flummoxed and stuck with all his wife’s “stuff”. So, what did he do? He gave it away.
If the story sounds familiar it is identical to "The Parable of The Rich Fool" found in Luke 12:16-21. Apparently compulsive spending and shopping have been problems as far back as anyone can remember. 2,000 years ago Jesus called this behavior “building up treasures.” Hundreds of years before, Jesus’ great-great-great-great grandfather Solomon called it “vanity and a chasing after the wind.” Albert and Hazel’s story occurs every day somewhere in America. It’s not very special, perhaps even mundane. No waters were parted, no blind eyes healed, none of the really cool stuff found in some parts of the Bible and Charlton Heston films. Still, mundane stories teach us lessons about irreversible change.
Life doesn’t often come neatly tied with bows and ribbons and we aren’t always comfortable or fully understand the changes described in the parables. I once showed the some of the 36 Parable films to a teenage couple who were blasé about God. At the end of the Purple DVD, the boy turned to me and said, "I don't get it, what are you trying to say?" He had assumed there had to be a catch, an iron clad take it or leave it message contained in the films. I could tell he was frustrated. He asked me about the original parables and we read the bible passages contained on the DVD. He then said, "Well Jesus didn't explain it either." At that moment of illumination the boy understood. Parables make us think and ask questions. They aren't necessarily a prescription of how to live life, but a description of how life in God’s universe unfolds. If we really want to know what to "do" we must go to the storyteller and ask Him.
At first, developing scripts for our films was incredibly frustrating. My friend and Director John and I would read a parable and analyze it sequentially. This happened, then this happened, 2+2=4. Then what? When we reached a dead end, we stopped looking at the parable and started talking about life. We couldn’t see the forest for the trees until we started sharing stories we had heard or read like Albert and Hazel’s. Hazel’s compulsion led her to try to have it all. Then she died. Albert, with the help of my mom, was left to account for all of Hazel’s possessions and send them off to charity. Suddenly we saw the connection to the Rich Fool, which became the basis for the film, "A Few Weeks Later." My mom and I developed the script and a few months later we were shooting the film.
In reality 2+2=5, if you look at life from a different angle. If all you see is the story on the surface, the math doesn’t work. No one knew about Hazel’s addiction, no one would have thought to ask. She was just another obituary in the paper, another passing life. The real story lies below the surface. The information (2+2=4) is found on the obit page. The lesson (2+2=5) lies beyond the print. If you get stuck trying to develop material based on the “Proverbs 31 Woman” put the Bible down, get up, call the oldest person you know and ask them to tell you about the greatest woman they have ever known. When you find your story take it back to the Scripture and I guarantee it will match up. Look for your stories in the mundane of daily life, for that is what fills the pages of scripture.

Illuminating Understanding,

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

2008-05-28T05:09:00.000-07:00

Dear Friends,
This week is the conclusion of the 5-part short story based in Ancient Palestine. The murderer Captain Vitus will arrive just in time to hear Jesus tell an oddly familiar story, which will cause him to finally confront Jesus’ life.

To get caught up on the story follow these links.
Episode I "Mad Dogs and Romans"
Episode II "How to Stop a Murderer"
Episode III "It's All Greek to Me"
Episode IV “The Quick and the Dead”

Episode V
“When the Man Comes Around”

The Syrian was dead. The earth was rid one more of his worthless kind. Vitus hadn’t gotten his money back but no one would think to accuse him of the altercation with Pilate’s guards. The Syrian had already paid for that misdeed, with his life. Now Vitus was white as snow thanks to the spilled blood of that Syrian child trafficking pig.
Captain Vitus could now see the field where Jesus was teaching. Vitus could finally slow down. He topped the last hill and there was Jesus, in the middle of a crowd twice as big as the one Vitus left an hour before. The Rabbi paused, looked Vitus right in the eyes and said, “Now let me tell you another story….” Vitus was not one to back down, and with blood still on his hands and his adrenaline in high gear he didn’t look away. Jesus didn’t break eye contact as he began to tell the story of a servant who owed a King an enormous sum of money.
Captain Vitus began to walk through the crowd one step at a time, never looking away from Jesus. To Vitus’ men and Jesus’ apparent bodyguards, it looked like a gladiatorial stand off. As Jesus spoke about a man who owed much and was forgiven, Vitus thought, “He is talking about me. He knows. Somehow he knows.” At thirty paces, Vitus began to unsheathe his dagger. Two of Jesus’ men began to step forward. Vitus recognized them from the briefing. One was rough neck fisherman Jesus had given the gang name, Peter. The other was a former tax collector, Matthew.
Many years later one of Vitus’ descendants would become a Bishop in Rome and read the remainder of the parable Jesus told as penned by this same Matthew.

"But when that servant went out, he found one of his fellow servants who owed him a hundred denarii. He grabbed him and began to choke him. 'Pay back what you owe me!' he demanded. His fellow servant fell to his knees and begged him, 'Be patient with me, and I will pay you back.' But he refused. Instead, he went off and had the man thrown into prison until he could pay the debt. When the other servants saw what had happened, they were greatly distressed and went and told their master everything that had happened.
“Then the master called the servant in. 'You wicked servant,' he said, 'I canceled all that debt of yours because you begged me to. Shouldn't you have had mercy on your fellow servant just as I had on you?' In anger his master turned him over to the jailers to be tortured, until he should pay back all he owed. This is how my heavenly Father will treat each of you unless you forgive your brother from your heart."

As Jesus reached the conclusion of the story Vitus was within arms reach of Matthew and Peter, who were only a couple paces in front of Jesus. The crowd was silent. Vitus men were right behind him. Jesus would not look away from the Captain’s eyes. “How does he know?” Vitus thought. Vitus said, “Look away Jew,” but Jesus did not. “By Pilate and Caesar, I said look away!” Jesus did not. Vitus’ highly trained men charged. Peter and Matthew were taken down, not without a fight. Peter kicked one soldier in the teeth as they took him to the ground. Although out numbered, Captain Vitus’ men were better trained and equipped then Jesus’ posse. The fight was over quickly. Vitus brought Jesus to the ground and put his dagger to the Rabbi’s throat.
Vitus knocked Jesus’ head against the ground, “Stop looking at me Jesus or I will kill you!” As he put his dagger to the Rabbi’s throat, Vitus felt a hand on his shoulder. It was his second in command, Mustius. “This would be murder Captain, this man has done nothing wrong.”
Then Jesus spoke, “Yes Captain, this would be murder.” Vitus didn’t know what to do. He suddenly felt lightheaded. Jesus continued, “You don’t have to do this Vitus.” Vitus was sweating and began to tear up, he couldn’t believe himself. “Forgive me,” he whispered as his tears, saliva, and snot dripped onto Jesus beard. “You are forgiven Vitus.” Vitus let loose the dagger and collapsed on Jesus clutching the man like a child would a father. “What?” the Captain said. Jesus wrapped his arms around Vitus as the two men lay face to face on the ground. “I forgive you Vitus. For everything.” There in Jesus arms Vitus wept.

The End

Next week "2+2=5 and the Mundane Scriptures"

Illuminating Understanding,

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

2008-05-22T19:49:00.003-07:00

Dear Friends,

This week is Episode IV in a five part short-story set in ancient Palestine. To read the first 3 Episodes follow the links below and once you are caught up enjoy reading his weeks installment or just jump right in!

Episode I "Mad Dogs and Romans"
Episode II "How to Stop a Murderer"
Episode III "It's All Greek to Me"

Now enjoy this week's episode!

Episode IV "The Quick and the Dead"

Five to ten members of Pilate’s personal guard were running after Vitus. He wasn’t about to look over his shoulder and check, but he knew the protocol. Ten of them would have immediately formed up around Pilate when Vitus made his move while the other ten would begin pursuit. The question was the soldier whose face Vitus had caved in. Two to four guardsmen might form a perimeter around their fallen comrade. It didn’t matter. Captain Vitus knew his peers in the Roman Army would not cease their pursuit. Thankfully, his pursuers were dressed in full armor. He had them there but he knew they were in good shape and they would never give up the chase.
Before he knew it Vitus was back in the Temple. He could hear shouting behind him and felt something zing by his ear. He ran back through the garment district of the Temple grounds and lost his pursuers for precious moments in the rainbow maze of fabrics blowing in the breeze. A line of dark purple robes rode the wind like a snake on his left. One blew to the side and there was Syrian who owed him! This time he was not discreet. Captain Vitus leapt over a cart holding some dates, figs, and pomegranates taking the poor vendor, his food, and a small hen with him into his target’s back. The sex trafficking Syrian hit the ground the hen clawing his shoulder. Vitus only had seconds to work the most crucial aspect of his plan.
Vitus took off the robe he had been wearing for the past hour to cover his uniform, yanked the Syrian to his feet, shoved the robe in his pomegranate stained hands, and had his knife to the man’s throat before he could blink. Those standing nearby saw Vitus’ uniform and quickly went back to what they were doing. Vitus dragged the Syrian into a nearby alley slapped him like a woman and said, “You put this robe on and your debt is clear with me!” The Syrian heard the Roman soldiers shouting for a man in a black and white robe, “Why Vitus?” but before the Captain’s name had cleared the Syrian’s lips Vitus smacked him to the ground again, very hard.
A few moments later, the Roman guard looking for the man who had assaulted their commander found a dead body in an alley. They lionized a nearby vendor of dates, figs, and pomegranates for stopping the man and fighting him in an ugly duel to the death.
Vitus didn’t see his plan unfold so perfectly. He ran swiftly back towards his men and the Rabbi Jesus, wiping blood and pomegranate juice off his hands onto a small piece of the torn robe now covering a dead Syrian.

Next week the final installment, Episode IV “When the Man Comes Around”

Illuminating Understanding,

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

2008-05-22T18:54:00.001-07:00

Dear Friends,

This week is Episode III in a five part short-story set in ancient Palestine. To read the first 2 Episodes follow the links below and once you are caught up read this weeks installment!

Episode I "Mad Dogs and Romans"
Episode II "How to Stop a Murderer"

Now enjoy this week's episode!

Episode III "It's All Greek to Me"

Vitus ran as if Cerberus the hellhound were at his heels. “Who could have recognized me?” The only woman who came to mind was Pilate’s wife Claudia Procles. She knew him, and due to her position would not hesitate to address him openly. Vitus ran south from the Temple, through the Probatica gate. A poorly timed miscalculation. He had intended to cut through town to the east and then make his way back south where Jesus was. Now, as he frantically checked over his shoulder for pursuers, Vitus ran into two lines of soldiers accompanying Governor Pilate.
“Halt!” a soldier shouted at him in Greek. Vitus stopped but did not look up. The soldier called the company to stand on guard, the situation looked much like an assassination attempt earlier in the year. “Look at me you coward,” a stern voice ordered him but Vitus did not obey. He stood stock-still without lifting his eyes from the ground. The soldier closed the few feet that separated them. Time seemed to slow. Vitus watched an insect make its way across a rock the soldier was about to step on. The shadow of the man’s foot eclipsed the sun and all hope for the poor witless creature. Time stopped for Vitus. He couldn’t move.
Vitus thought of a time twenty years prior. He was standing in front of his sister’s home in Rome with a dead man at his feet. A soldier approached in the cool of the evening. Vitus had paid a visit to his sister with the intention of encouraging her Syrian born husband to stop hitting her. The monster had beaten his sister nightly because of a two-week affair she had while he was on a business trip in Egypt. He told her the month of beatings was her payment for what she had done. Vitus confronted his brother-in-law with the simple logic of debts and credits. His sister had created a debt by being unfaithful, a month of beatings paid double for the length of the affair. Since his brother-in-law had incurred his own debt of two weeks because of the extra beatings, Vitus took the two weeks out of him at once. A few minutes later Vitus had beaten his brother-in-law to death with an ebony walking stick.
The sound of the soldier stepping on the unsuspecting insect brought Vitus back to the present. In a flash, Vitus hatched a plan. He swung his helmet out from the hiding place under his robe and nearly took the soldier’s face off. Vitus ran towards the temple. He may not be able to murder the Syrian who owed him, but there was a slim chance he could get the soldiers on his tail to do it for him.

Next Week, "The Quick and the Dead”

Judgement and Grace are prominent themes in the bible. Jesus told the parable of the barren fig tree in Luke 13:6-9 and over the years many have interpreted it in different ways. Watch Sean to see our modern adaptation of the parable of the barren fig tree. http://www.36parables.com/buy/downloads/sean

Illuminating Understanding,

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

2008-05-12T19:15:00.000-07:00

Dear Friends,

A little departure from the plan for this week’s newsletter, I hope you understand. This week was supposed to be the next Episode in “Illuminating Understanding”. Instead I would like to share with you my thoughts on a book I finished this week, William P. Young’s “The Shack.” An email from a dear friend of 36 Parables included the following passage:

It’s an amazing story about a man’s weekend with God. Sounds hokey, perhaps, but it will change the temperature of your relationship with God.

Little did I know the book was beginning to sweep the Christian community, I heard about it everywhere. Then it showed up in my church’s bulletin and I decided I had to read it.

There are parts that read like fiction, while others read like theology text disguised as dialogue, there are moments of emotion, and pages where nothing much develops. There is a murder mystery plot that unfolds as expected and almost rides along with the story like cute bookends on a shelf reserved for the more serious reading. All in all the book felt like an amalgamation of thoughts, musings, and ideas about God, religion, the Bride of Christ, and mankind presented as dialogue between characters. In one such passage Mack, the main character, and the Holy Spirit are having a discussion concerning all the “answers” Mack was taught about God while attending seminary. Mack comments, “This weekend, sharing life with you has been far more illuminating than any of those answers.”

Right on Mack! God will always illuminate our understanding when we spend time with Him. Since He is omnipresent we always are offered opportunities too! In the end I may not choose “The Shack” to sit on my shelf next to “Pilgrim’s Progress,” “Dune,” “Moby Dick” or “Gulliver’s Travels,” all great works of fiction with incredible multilayered comments on man and God, but my friend was still right. The Shack did turn up the heat on my relationship with God. I was forced to think about the God/man problem in a new way and challenged to ask new questions about my own pride and religion.

By all means give The Shack a fair shake and as Mr. Young’s God character, a black woman named Papa, was fond of saying, “Let me know how that works out for you.”

HEART INITIATIVE
If you like the way 36 Parables are produced, shot, and howt the stories are told John and I are now making ourselves available to help tell other’s stories. We want to provide organizations and non-profits with the same high quality production we execute on 36 Parables.
Please contact me if you or any organizations you know are looking for the same high quality production you see in 36 Parables.
You can check out some of the stuff we have done at our temp site, HeartInitiative.com.

The Music Box
Like "The Shack", our film, "The Music Box", based on the Parable of a Treasure Buried in a Field(Matthew 13:44), is a picture of what happens when we as people encounter the treasure of God. Click here and enjoy our first black and white film.

Illuminating Understanding,

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

2008-05-05T12:54:00.000-07:00

Dear Friends:

Please enjoy my recently completed Director of Photography Reel.

Illuminating Understanding,

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

2008-05-04T07:57:00.001-07:00

Dear Friends:

Please enjoy reading Episode II of Illuminating Understanding. This week's installment is titled, "How to Stop a Murderer".

The heat wasn’t helping Captain Vitus’ attitude. He was ready to kill someone. His lieutenant Mustis turned to him, “Captain, it is hot as Hades and we’re all unhappy about having to baby sit this Jesus. Perhaps you should step in the shade.” Vitus was already moving down the hill. “Someone is going to die today and I am sure this man Jesus will be missed much more than some son of a whore Syrian.”
After Vitus had barreled through the crowd shouting orders at beggars, cripples, and widows he removed his helmet and tucked it under one arm without burning himself. Vitus saw a man loading cloaks onto a donkey and ordered him to hand one over. The subservient Jew knew what to do. He immediately handed over a cloak to Vitus without looking at him. Vitus covered his armor and headed for temple double time.
Vitus came into the market and took a quick look around. No Roman standards, good. If anyone saw him he could get reported to his Centurion and possibly higher. Pilate was willing to do whatever it would take to stop insurgents, including severe discipline for slackers. Pilate used the Jews own literature against his men, “He who is slack in his work is brother to one who destroys.” Vitus caught himself mouthing the words aloud. He needed to focus. The man he was looking for always wore a ridiculous yellow and purple striped outfit.
Vitus headed toward the foreign goods section of the market. The Syrian worked in imports and exports, ostensibly rugs, but truth be told, the Syrian brought young boys and girls from the far reaches of the northern Roman Empire to Palestine for the novelty of pale skin. The liar deserved every inch of Vitus’ standard issue dagger, known as a "pugio". He began to work the blade free with his right hand while navigating through draped silks and other fabrics hanging in the sunlight. Everything was light and motion around him as his eyes found the target. Vitus had killed many men in battle, but only murdered once. The judge extended the “gracious” punishment of life in the Legion, which is why he was here to murder again. The gods would admire the irony.
Vitus’ blade was barely concealed beneath his robe. The Syrian was making it too easy for him. One swift motion and his throat would be slit. Vitus could not hear himself as he waded through the pinks, reds, purples, blues, and green fabric cascading around him. A few more feet.
He heard nothing, saw nothing, and felt nothing but murder in his heart. Then Vitus heard a voice, a woman speaking Greek.

“Captain Vitus?”

Next week, “Illuminating Understanding: It's All Greek to Me.”

Illuminating Understanding,

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

2008-04-29T10:32:00.000-07:00

Dear Friends:

The long promised series, “Illuminating Understanding” begins.

This week, Episode I, “Mad Dogs and Romans”.

Captain Vitus ardently hoped the crazy Rabbi Jesus would say something stupid enough to deserve punishment. Vitus knew how to handle crazies and this one was costing him a lot of money.
In early summer, the Romans had stomped out a slew of rabble-rousers. Vitus was privately proud of participating in the sting operation on the notorious criminal Barabbas. His unit was continuing to gain a reputation for busting up Jewish rebels. They etched a palm branch with a strike through it on the inside of their armor for each nut job they imprisoned or dispatched. Barabbas had earned two palm branches after he smashed a tenderfoot’s face with a candlestick while cornered at the temple. Now the summer had worn on and a new Rabbi was apparently raising an army for himself. Just a few weeks earlier, the charlatan had convinced a crowd of a few thousand he had fed them all with only a handful of fish. Now they were ready to make him king. The intelligence the local Centurions had gathered was sufficient to warrant Vitus and his men’s involvement. They were ordered to watch and listen and only interfere if the situation called for it. Today, to Vitus, the situation called for it.
When Vitus had risen that morning, he hoped to kill two birds with one stone. A two faced Syrian who owed him three months wages was going to be at temple. So was Jesus. He’d go to the temple, listen to Jesus, have one of his guys grab the Syrian, accuse him of starting a ruckus and throw him in jail until he paid up. There was only one problem. Jesus had decided to teach out on a hill, not at temple. So while the Syrian prepared to slip away, Vitus was stuck in the relentless heat, listening to a carpenter turned performance artist because Rome wanted to be sure the quack didn’t start a revolution. The helmet Vitus was boiling his brain under didn’t help his cognition one bit but the truth was, Jesus was making no sense. People had told Vitus he only spoke in riddles. Jesus even insisted no one would understand him. Vitus chuckled to himself, “No wonder Rome is conquering the world.”
Almost reading his mind, Vitus’ second in command Mustius, a former shot put champion from Antioch, walked over and muttered to Vitus, “What sort of King would this Jew make?” Vitus didn’t shift his gaze from Jesus. “Today?” he looked at his second in command, “A dead one.”

Next week, “Illuminating Understanding: “How to Stop a Murderer.”

Illuminating Understanding,

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

2008-04-19T20:47:00.000-07:00

Dear Friends,

We’ve launched our new easier to navigate web site with exciting new features. We’ve made it easier to watch the films and you can preview the films in their entirety!
“Blue” and “Amber” films are available for download in five file formats, including 2 HD versions (Friends of 36 will receive a free download code).
“The Behind the Scenes” and “Why Parables?” documentaries are also available as downloads.

Here are the new films:

After Life
"The Parable of the Rich Man and Lazarus
After Life, based on the Parable of the Rich Man and Lazarus (Luke 16:19-31), tells the story of a middle aged woman trying to explain to her pastor that she has traveled to hell in a near death experience.

Gnobody’s Gnome
The Parable of the Wicked Servant
Gnobody’s Gnome, based on the Parable of the Wicked Servant (Matt. 18:15-35), tells the story of a middle-aged man who must find the missing member of his gnome collection... or else.

Like Father Like Son
The Parable of the Two Debtors
Like Father Like Son, based on the Parable of the Two Debtors (Luke 7:36-48), tells the story of a teenager, his father, and their unresolved issues with only a blind grandfather to see things for what they really are.

The Good Shepherd
The Parable of the Good Shepherd
The Good Shepherd, based on the Parable of the Good Shepherd (John 10:11-18), tells the story of a young girl obsessed with animals who risks a big secret in order to help her older sister’s neglected hamsters.

The Music Box
The Parable of the Treasure Buried in a Field
The Music Box, based on the Parable of the Treasure Buried in a Field (Matthew 13:44), tells the story of a collector trying to persuade a reluctant antique shop owner to sell him a familiar old music box.

Tractor Safety Tips
The Parable of the Leafing Fig Tree
Tractor Safety Tips, based on the Parable of the Leafing Fig Tree (Matthew 24:30-33), tells the story of a man failing to understand the warning signs before him as he takes his new riding Lawn Mower out for a test drive.

Please check out the site and leave your comments here: http://www.36parables.com/discuss

At whatever point you joined us on our 3-year journey so far we thank you and look forward to continuing to Illuminate Understanding with your help! Next week, "Illuminating Understanding: Mad Dogs and Romans…”

Illuminating Understanding,

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

2008-04-13T19:41:00.000-07:00

Introducing Olivia Redwine.

April 7th 2008
7pounds 14.8ounces
20.25 inches
The love of her mommy and daddy's life.

Illuminating Understanding,

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

2008-03-26T08:38:00.000-07:00

Dear Friends:

"and live a life of love, just as Christ loved us and gave himself up for us as a fragrant offering and sacrifice to God".

I am often stunned by the understatement in the Bible. "Gave himself up". A God gave up ALL POWER, became a man, and allowed himself to be killed. Talk about a far fetched story. Hardly scientific, rational, or inline with healthy relationship boundaries. If our King was so humble...

This week cut everyone a break. Please cut them a break. Take it easy on that person, coworker, former lover or spouse, child, parent, the family member you only see at Holidays, the guy who is sitting in your row on Easter Sunday, or even yourself.

Try on a little more humility for Christ's sake.

O Jesus, meek and humble of heart, hear me.

From the desire of being esteemed, deliver me, Jesus.
From the desire of being loved, deliver me, Jesus.
From the desire of being extolled, deliver me, Jesus.
From the desire of being honored, deliver me, Jesus.
From the desire of being praised, deliver me, Jesus.
From the desire of being preferred to others, deliver me, Jesus.
From the desire of being consulted, deliver me, Jesus.
From the desire of being approved, deliver me, Jesus.

From the fear of being humiliated, deliver me, Jesus.
From the fear of being despised, deliver me, Jesus.
From the fear of suffering rebukes, deliver me, Jesus.
From the fear of being calumniated, deliver me, Jesus.
From the fear of being forgotten, deliver me, Jesus.
From the fear of being ridiculed, deliver me, Jesus.
From the fear of being wronged, deliver me, Jesus.
From the fear of being suspected, deliver me, Jesus.

That others may be loved more than I, Jesus, grant me the grace to desire it.
That others may be esteemed more than I, Jesus, grant me the grace to desire it.
That in the opinion of the world, Jesus, grant me the grace to desire it.
others may increase, and I may decrease, Jesus, grant me the grace to desire it.
That others may be chosen and I set aside, Jesus, grant me the grace to desire it.
That others may be praised and I unnoticed, Jesus, grant me the grace to desire it.
That others may be preferred to me in everything, Jesus, grant me the grace to desire it.
That others may become holier than I,
provided that I may become as holy as I should.

- Rafael Cardinal Merry del Val

Next week the first in a series, "Illuminating Understanding".

The Cinematographer,
Stewart H. Redwine
c: 310-770-0448
e: sredwine@36parables.com

2008-03-12T16:14:00.001-07:00

Dear Friends:

This week: 36 Parables in the real world part 2...
Cari Williams uses 36 Parables as a writing teacher at a High School.

As a high-school writing teacher, I enjoyed exposing my students to unique experiences with their writing. Introducing the 36 Parables films as writing prompts encouraged the students to think about writing in a new way. Utilizing film, which is an art form that goes hand in hand with writing, is something that isn't often done in writing classes. 36 Parables is such a beautiful, artistic group of films that the modern-day student will be thankful for a classroom experience that has the ability to interest him/her. On top of all this, 36 Parables are made to shed light on some of the mystery that surrounds the parables that Jesus told, and anything that communicates the message of Jesus in a clear, unique way and points back to the Bible itself is a successful tool for use in the classroom.

-Cari Williams

Next week, the first in a five part series titled "Illuminating Understanding: Light, Storytelling, and the Bible".

The Cinematographer,
Stewart H. Redwine
c:310-770-0448
e:sredwine@36parables.com

2008-03-07T05:46:00.000-08:00

Dear Friends:

This week: 36 Parables in the real world part 1...

Pastor Donn Anderson uses 36 Parables in a one-week leadership-training program for students from around the world.

I showed "Spilt Milk" and "Buen Vecino" to 49 adult male students I had from the countries of Belarus, Botswana, Brazil, Burkina Faso, Burundi, Cameroon, China, Colombia, Costa Rica, Egypt, Ethiopia, Ghana, Haiti, India, Indonesia, Kenya, Malawi, Malaysia, Mauritius, Namibia, Nepal, Nigeria, the Philippines, Puerto Rico, Russia, South Africa, Sri Lanka, and Tanzania. It is a little slice of heaven to be with believers from so many different areas of the world. What a privilege!

Early in the week we watch "Spilt Milk" and challenge the students to tell me which one of Jesus' parable they think it is. Several of the students got it right away this time, which is impressive. It usually takes a bit of guessing for them to catch on to it. Part of the reason, I think, is that much of the world does not drink milk. So the metaphor doesn't work for them without a little help. So before I show it, I talk about good milk and bad milk. Then after I show it, I challenge them with this question: "During this training time together, what kind of a wine skin are you going to be?" It has a very powerful impact on them.

God's best to you as you continue to serve Him through 36 Parables...

-Donn Anderson

How are you utilizing 36 Parables films to illuminate understanding? Send us your stories and we'll share them with other readers.

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

2008-03-01T15:52:00.000-08:00

Dear Friends:

Jesus told many parables. We are adapting 36 of them. We do not intend our collection to replace scripture, merely to pay homage to the Master storyteller by adapting the tales he shared while He was here on earth as a man.

Each DVD easily provides a youth group, small group or other ministry meeting with 5 weeks of content! Here are the keys to getting the most from the 36 Parables experience:

Pray - Ask God what He wants to reveal to your group through His stories.
Watch - Watch one of short films.
Read - Read the passages of scripture that relates to the parable you just watched in as many of the Gospels as it is found in.
Discuss - Discuss with your group whatever comes to mind in relation to the stories, the scripture passages, your hearts, and God's revelation to you. We have provided free bible studies for download that you can also use to aid the discussion.
Repeat - Repeat the process in the same meeting or the next week watching a different parable, then the Why Parables? Documentary, and finish up with the Behind the Scenes Documentary.

One of our dear friends from Hawaii shared how he uses 36 Parables DVDs:

What I really want to share with you is the prayer our facilitator had written out to use to begin our study tonight...

Dear Lord, we are here to learn to be people of the light by studying your parables. They make the abstract concrete. They bring great principles of Christianity home to us in ways we can visualize. The parables you told us about 20 centuries ago still live. Please, Lord, help us to apply their timeless inspiration to our daily lives. Amen.

Tonight my Small Group finished "Purple" by viewing "Sean." Since I was facilitating, I used all the resources available on the DVD. I did that especially so the others in the group could see all the goodies you have worked so hard to make available.

First we read the parable in the Scriptures. Then I showed the segment of "Why Parables" that specifically dealt with this parable of the barren fig tree. The group found this resource especially helpful in understanding the symbolism of what Jesus was talking about. And it also helped them to spot something in "Sean" that we probably wouldn't have seen without the documentary. Watching the documentary with its repeated shots of the fig tree and the close up of the leaves and little figs helped us to see Sean's artwork piece as an almost barren fig tree with one tiny little fig on it. It was fun for me that they were able to make that connection both visually and with the parable.

As a reward for the group's faithfulness, I concluded our study of Purple with the "making of" feature. Everyone really enjoyed watching that and picking out which parable the photos went with and remembering the memorable characters. Once again, the same group member that so appreciated the cinematography of Sean was struck by the excellent black and white photos in the montage at the end of the feature.
-Donn Anderson

Remember, at the end of story is the beginning of a relationship with the storyteller.

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

2008-02-24T20:28:00.001-08:00

Dear Friends,

Why don't we just explain what the films mean?

You would be surprised how often we are asked a question along those lines. Just today in fact someone suggested we put up a video of John or I at the end of each parable to explain what the film meant.

The reason we don't?

Because our films are descriptive, not prescriptive. They are intended to cause you, the viewer, to engage with the story and ask questions. One of the writers we have looked to as we research the parables is Robert Farrar Capon. His book Kingdom, Grace, Judgment touche on the subject here:

" 'for to him who has, more will be given; and from him who has not, even what he has will be taken away' (Matthew 13:12). This seems to me to be one of those hard sayings of Jesus that cries out, not for a prescriptive interpretation, but for a descriptive one. Jesus, though he could be taken as issuing a statement about what God will do to reward or punish those who hear the parables, seems to be more reasonably understood as giving a description of the way things are."

The stories we tell are intended to be a depiction of the way things are in real life set in our day and age. What that means is our films are often not all tied up in a bow at the end. One time, I was showing the films to teenage couple who were anything but excited about God. At the end of the films from the Purple DVD the boy turned to me and said, "I don't get it, what are you trying to say?". I asked him what the films meant to him and what they made him feel and he and I could both tell he understood. It was the fact that he knew these stories were from Jesus Christ he assumed they must be loaded, or in other words "prescriptive". So then he asked me how the original parables went and we read the bible passages off the DVD menus for each film.
I could tell he was a little frustrated and then he said, "Well Jesus didn't explain it either".
Exactly. These stories, parables, are meant to make us think and ask questions. They aren't necessarily a prescription of how to live life they are a description of how life unfolds. If we really want to know what to "do" we must go to the storyteller and ask him, for in the end he knows the story in all of us.

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

2008-02-18T10:07:00.001-08:00

Dear Friends:

36 Parables films are a narrative account of connected events, a story. A story has to have a plot. A conflict that is resolved leaving something or someone absolutely and irreversibly changed. Narratives can be summed up in one sentence. When lonely boy meets girl he's absolutely and irreversible changed. The boy can never return to the state of having not met girl. You see?
This is the foundation for how John and I approach story telling. Jesus' Parables often leave us with an absolute change we might not like. Nonetheless, the conflict is resolved and irreversible change is the result. A perfect example is "The Parable of The Rich Fool" (Luke 12:16-21), summed up in one sentence:

The man who has it all dies.

An absolute and irreversible change for sure. In "A Few Weeks Later" John and I explore the rest of the story in an attempt to illuminate understanding.

Recently, a "Friend of 36" used "A Few Weeks Later" in a sermon.

I used "A Few Weeks Later" sermon clip in my Ash Wednesday sermon. Our agricultural community understands well the concept of "bin-buster" harvests that Jesus referenced in the parable, but Hazel's addiction brought it home to farmers and non-farmers alike. One woman said it powerfully convicted her about her careless shopping; another couple said "the bins are getting full" has become part of their everyday conversation. I'm leading a Lenten series based on five of the videos. Your videos connect with all generations - no mean feat. As a "Friend of 36" I look forward to more of your fantastic work! Thank you!

-Beth Galbreath

Lonely film meets girl and everyone's life is irrevocably changed.

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

2008-02-18T10:05:00.001-08:00

Dear Friends:

"36 Parables, I thought there were like... 38... 50 parables."

We are often asked one of two questions concerning the name of our company.

1. "So are there really only 36 Parables?
Or
2. "How many parables are there?

Originally, we were going to be called, "The Parable Project" but the name seemed too open ended. Then I searched Wikipedia, since Wikipedia knows everything, and found references to 36 parables. I liked the sound of "36". It was backed with the scholarly credibility of Wikipedia and I was a fan of Wu-Tang who had an album called "36 Chambers of Death." A friend who was also a Wu-Tang fan has often remarked we could be called "The 36 Chambers of Christ."

Today you'll find more than 36 parables listed at Wikipedia. For two millennia biblical scholars have debated how many parables Jesus told. It depends perhaps on the interpretation of the Hebrew word for parable, "mishal", the word Jesus and the Gospel writers were thinking of even though they may have been speaking or writing in another language. Like most Eastern languages Hebrew words are rich with meaning. Mishal is defined as a riddle, taunt, lesson or story. Different scholars use different definitions hence a different number of parables. We like 36.

36 Parables is meant to be a definitive collection of 12 DVDs with 3 modern adaptations of Jesus' parables on each one. But since there are more than 36 parables in the gospels and many more in the rest of the Bible, encourage the people you know to take some time and sit down with the 66 books of the Bible to discover many other mishals, riddles, lessons, taunts and stories. They won't be disappointed.

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

2008-02-18T10:01:00.000-08:00

Dear Friends,

The Notorious B.I.G. once said "Mo money, mo problems." How true. The production problems seem to multiply when budgets get bigger. The paradigm that money solves all problems is dangerous and wrong. Money can't replace solutions. After shooting our most recent installments for Zondervan on the Varicam, getting our sound work done at Universal Studios and our color work done at Kodak's LaserPacific I remember shooting our first film, "Found", three years ago with no budget. Even so, many people maintain that it's our best film.
Our biggest problem back then was, "How are we going to do this with so little?" We shot the whole film with the help of a few of John's childhood friends in one day. Our equipment was made up of a miniDV camera mounted on a cheap tripod, a couple lights, and a black bed sheet to block out the sun. Daniel Fritz wrote the script, acted and held a reflector board for part of the filming. We made do with what we had and we made it work. Now that the budgets are bigger and the films are more complex the question is "How are we going to do this with so much more?"
It is fun to shoot in HD and finish our films in Hollywood but I remember how we started. Whenever John and I talk about 36 Parables we always remember that we did the best with what we had. So don't let money stop you, do the best with what you have. If it is a Handy Cam or a Panavision 35mm Film Camera your responsibility to do your very best is the same. Rather than falling into the paradigm that money solves all problems, step into the responsibility of finding the very best solutions to the production problems you face with what you have.

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

2008-02-18T09:59:00.000-08:00

Dear Friends,

Day jobs?

When John and I aren't spending time Illuminating Understanding through 36 Parables, we do similar work for others where we don't have much input into the production budget.

While it's nice to have a large budget to work with, the parable of the Talents in Matthew 25:14-30 brings me back down to earth.

When the Master returned in this parable and asked the workers if they had done well with their "talents" did he ever ask if their work was in HD? No. Ok, this may seem like a strange departure from the text, and I admit it is. Of course, I see myself as a strange departure from the "text".

The Master wanted to know if His servants had done anything to get a return on His investment. The single mindedness of the Master in this story causes me to conclude He would not be the kind of person who takes pride in knowing the work was done in Final Cut or Avid, or if it was shot in HD. He seemed more interested in whether each of the individuals had done well with what He had given them.

I always endeavor to take the money entrusted to me to create moving images, and get the greatest return on the investment that I can. This means taking my day job very seriously. Part of my study is looking for people who are doing similar work and learning from them. It doesn't always require a large budget to create powerful films. Australian Scott Penna's Expio Productions(click here) "Unfair Parables" series is a prime example, produced for less than $30 per episode!

When the Master returns He will see that some have spent tens of thousands on editing suites and cameras they hardly ever use and then see Scott's incredible stewardship and creative story telling. My guess is one of those two will hear, "How much did you spend!?" and the other will hear the words we are all holding out for, "Well done, my good and faithful servant."

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

2008-02-18T09:58:00.000-08:00

Dear Friends:

Here's an excerpt from a review of 36 Parables by Amy Boerman-Cornell that will appear in Christian Home and School Magazine:

The parables are written/filmed in ways that capture attention without taking away from the original story. For example, Yellow's three segments include "Buen Vecino," (Good Neighbor) retelling the parable of the Good Samaritan with an unlikely helper - a hotel maid! - who comes to the aid of a coworker in trouble; "Buried Talent," wherein three artists must use their employers' gold paint in their creative work (but one merely saves it, as with the Biblical talents); and the Parable of the Lost Coin's "Found," an old street musician looking frantically for a special green necklace. All are thought provoking without being ponderous. Cyan and Purple, too, consist of riveting mini-movies with appealing music and graphic design, all on a shoestring budget (watch the extra features to hear amazing, true production details).

Please let us know if there is anyone you think could use the 36 Parables and we will send them a complimentary copy of Yellow!

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

2008-02-18T09:55:00.001-08:00

Dear Friends:

This may seem like an unnecessarily morbid newsletter, but I know in my heart there are a few of you have had a difficult time during the past few weeks despite Christmas lights, eggnog and presents. If so, this newsletter is for you.

Even though the Christmastime is "supposed" to be The Most Wonderful Time of the year, we all know better. Sometimes "Holidays" seem like a magnet for bringing out the worst in our families and our selves. And most of us can recall painful and tragic events associated with the season. Unlike us, Death never takes a Holiday. Last night my wife and I learned that the mother of a woman in our Bradley Birthing class had died unexpectedly last week. Five years ago today a friend of mine died in a tragic snowmobile accident. She was only 21. Every New Year life goes on despite the pain of loss, family conflict and a myriad of other difficulties.

I have been re-reading the parable of the seed (Matthew 13:1-9). We know that some seed fell on good soil but being good soil isn't always easy when we lose heart or worry about the pain and troubles of this life. If your Holidays were difficult this year remember what the Seed of Hope said to us, "Come to me all you who are weary and heavy laden and I will give you rest."

Happy New Year! May your future days be filled with Peace and Joy.

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

2007-12-20T10:26:00.000-08:00

Dear Friends:

Were the three wise men Christian?

I have been wrestling with the Christmas Story and the journey of the Magi, the Wise Men, or the "Wizards" as our friends in Austin, Texas. Click here.

Paul talks about the idea of getting to know Almighty God through His creation in Romans 1:18-20. These three Magi of the East learned about God through nature and came to visit Him where He would be.

Throughout history wise and talented people have learned of God and experienced God. From adulterous Kings, to Roman Emperor's, from anti-Christian Rabbis, to Eastern Wizards, from blue collar Shepherds, to Debauched composers, there are many characters who have experienced His Grace.

This Christmas remember the Magic of Grace, the Mystery of God's Revelation and the Joy of Christ's Mass. Remember His birthday and look for opportunities to experience and share God's revelation to others. When you're faced with the disappointment of not being able to find Halo 3, put your Halo on and buy an extra gift for all the neighbors on your block. Christmas is redeemed in the same way it was invented; through acts of love however small.

A few slack jawed shepherds and Wizards were the first to encounter the Almighty All Powerful "Baby" Jesus. They weren't Christians but I don't think He minded. He probably was just glad His mommy was holding Him.

Hold Him in your heart too.

Merry Christmas,

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

2007-12-06T19:16:00.000-08:00

Some more VFX work we are having done at RealMedia.
Before the explosion...

After the explosion...

2007-11-21T12:30:00.000-08:00

Sneak Preview
"Like Father Like Son"
rough edit version
(audio mixing and color timing is not completed)

2007-11-21T12:28:00.000-08:00

Dear Friends:

Happy Thanksgiving!

This week we want to give a special gift to all of you as our way of saying thanks for all the support!

Since YouthSpecialities/Zondervan won't be releasing the new films until Sept. 2008 we wanted to give you a special sneak preview of one of the films.

Like Father Like Son is based on the Parable of the Two Debtors (Luke 7:40-43) and will be available on the Blue DVD in Sept. 2008.

Please enjoy the film between now and Christmas as our gift to you!

You can watch it here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Mfx6qsCk4Kc

Or, at our blog: http://www.36parables.blogspot.com

The Cinematographer,
Stewart H. Redwine

2007-11-17T11:16:00.000-08:00

Dear Friends:

Before the last installment of "Confessions of a Youth Group Drop Out" here's an incredible testimonial received this week...

"I use 36 Parables because participants get more from my seminars when the sessions include a variety of communication media. I have used 36 Parables videos in several of my Stewardship workshops and the response has been nothing short of sensational - and right across the age spectrum from teenagers to seniors. The 36 Parables videos bring the gospel alive in the context of the 21st century. Participants have enjoyed the contemporary gospel messages in the videos very much. Based on my experience, 36 Parables helps stimulate reflection and discussion in a creative and dynamic way."

Steve Foran, Owner
Giveraising Development Services
Halifax, Nova Scotia
www.giveraising.com

It sounds like our far-fetched plan of Illuminating Understanding is actually working. Now...

"Confessions of a Youth Group Drop Out Part IV":

IV.

Enough preaching on how to reach teens; as a humble Director of Photography I simply ask you to “Illuminate their Understanding” with something real rather than hype. Emptiness won’t connect with a person’s heart.
I'll admit that I'm a film snob. But it beats being a smug pop culture connoisseur berating the downfall of western culture due to mass marketing on one hand while using the same tactics to connect with a teen's heart on the other. Youth Group should be an introduction into a much larger world than pop culture. The right tools touch people with the resounding vibrations of Jesus through His creation and their art.

Matthew 13:34 Jesus spoke all these things to the crowd in parables; he did not say anything to them without using a parable.

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