Top 5 Most Influential People

Have you ever stopped to think about the most influential people in your life? You can tell a lot about a person by looking at who has influenced him or her. Here's a list of some of the people who have influenced me in my Christian walk, my theology, and my business philosophy. I could give you a much longer list, but here's the top 5:

1. My father
2. Doug Phillips
3. William Einwechter
4. Geoff Botkin
5. Ken Ham

I don't know all these men personally, but they have all influenced me in many ways. Who are your top 5?

Heartstrings is still climbing!

Over the past several weeks, I have been watching Siblings: Heartstrings slowly climb the bestseller list at ChristianCinema.com.

In the "Family-Friendly" category, Heartstrings is now #3... right above Facing the Giants!!!

Further comments about Prince Caspian

A few weeks ago, I posted some of my thoughts about the Prince Caspian movie. You can read my comments here.

First of all, I know my position is radical. I realize that many people will not understand my position, and I'm ok with that.

Not surprisingly, my controversial position stirred up some good discussion. I'd like to followup on my previous comments and clarify some things.

My intention in writing that post was simply...

1. To discuss the problems I see with the movie, and
2. To give my reasons for not watching it

My intention was NOT...

1. To condemn everyone who has seen the movie, nor
2. To convince everyone to avoid the movie (though I hoped some would avoid it)

I think the director, Andrew, son of Adam, made some serious mistakes with the film. Because of that (and my current priorities), I don't intend to watch Prince Caspian anytime soon. (That doesn't mean I'll never watch it, by the way.)

Perhaps the main reason I don't want to watch Prince Caspian at this time is because I don't want my hard-earned dollars being used to fund the Hollywood system. I don't want to buy Hollywood films, and I don't want to work with Hollywood at any level.

I know this will be a hard conviction to live by, and there may be times when I'll make an exception to the general rule, but I'm committed to doing everything I can to replace Hollywood with an independent industry.

Finally, I should mention the fact that - despite our difference of opinion on PC - I still consider Josiah to be a close and dear friend. I'll let him speak for himself, but I'm sure we're still good friends.

Thanks for reading!

CBD catalog surprise!

Today, we received the latest CBD homeschool catalog. Look what we discovered on page A46...


I find it interesting that my book is listed right under Gary DeMar's God & Government series - the very series that inspired me to write God's Plan for Civil Government!

Do We Need Distributors? (Movie Distribution, Part 4)

[Note: It has been quite awhile since I started the movie distribution series. Please go back and re-read parts 1-3 to refresh your memory.]

In part 3, I explained why independent filmmakers don't need a distributor. I showed that self-distribution is a valid option. However, this time, I'm going to explain why filmmakers do need a distributor.

Huh?

The Limits of Self-Distribution
As we saw earlier, many options abound for Christian movie distribution. Independent filmmakers can pursue many of these options on their own. You can sell at your own website, sell via download stores, and even connect with a small handful of retailers without the help of a distributor.

But self-distribution only goes so far.

The plain and simple truth is that you can't get into christianbook.com without the help of an established distributor. You can't convince Family Christian Stores to stock your film unless a distributor is involved.

In short, you need a distributor if you want to reach the Christian retail market.

End of story. Case closed.

Why do we still need Christian retailers?
As I said in part 3, the Christian retail market has over 8000 stores and millions of dollars in buying power. It's still a valuable market that should be included in your overall marketing plans.

On the consumer end, there is an increasing demand for more family-friendly, God-honoring films. The Christian DVD industry is growing rapidly. Christian retailers reported DVD sales increases of 15% to 80% in 2007.[1] Christian retailers are asking for more films to meet demand.

Retailers want your films – but they don't want to work with you.

Here's why. Christian retailers have to stock thousands of products. Christianbook.com alone has over 234,000 products! Many of those products are books from established publishers. However, there are many self-published authors, independent filmmakers, and musicians who have their products at Christianbook.com. Perhaps 10,000 or more!

If you were a Christian retailer, would you want to establish and maintain a business relationship with 10,000 + individuals who might have one film, one CD, or one book for you to sell? I sure wouldn't, and neither does CBD. That's why it makes sense for retailers to only sell products from established publishers and distributors. It's much easier to work with a few hundred companies that provide dozens of products each. Doesn't that make sense? (I can assure you that those 10,000 + independent authors and filmmakers didn't get in without help from a distributor.)

So two things should be clear at this point:

1) We want Christian retailers to sell our films.
2) We need a distributor to reach Christian retailers.

It's for the above reasons that I founded SEM Distribution. We're here to meet this need. But by now some may be wondering how we can offer distribution help without falling into the pitfall of exclusive DVD distribution deals.

Good question.

I'll address that issue in part 5. Stay tuned!

[1] Source: Christian Retailing magazine, August 20, 2007 issue, “Family-friendly films welcomed as growth category.”

Thoughts on Prince Caspian

Since it has been awhile since I've posted anything controversial, I figured it's time for me to write about the Prince Caspian movie.

The following seem to be very prominent elements in the film...

Poor story
Disappointing acting
Teenage rebellion
Paganism mixed with "good morals"
Occultism

Yuck.

The more I read about the Prince Caspian movie, the more disgusted I am with it. I have read and listened to several reviews of the movie, as well as comments from other people who have seen the movie, but I have a confession to make - I haven't seen it myself!

How can I criticize a movie that I didn't watch? Easy. All I needed to do was hear from others who have seen it. My brother Shad gave me a full report. I also listened to an informative broadcast by Kevin Swanson.

I also read some reviews. And though I don't always agree with these sources, their comments can certainly reveal some of the "unsavory" elements from the movie...

Plugged In Online
Christian Answers

This movie's negative content (see above) has led me to choose not to see Prince Caspian in a theater. I have better things to do with the time and money God has given me than to waste it on a bad movie. Now don't get me wrong, I may someday watch this movie if I can get it from the library and I have nothing else to do. (ha!) But I am not going to cast my vote in support of this movie by giving Disney what it really wants - my money. They don't really care if anyone likes the movie. We can criticize Prince Caspian all we want, but if we still pay to see it in theaters (or buy the DVD), Disney will laugh all the way to the bank. I'm putting my money where my mouth is - in my pocket...or something like that.

A Bigger Reason

I have come to realize that there is another reason I must not support Prince Caspian. I don't want my hard-earned dollars going to support Hollywood. I am serious about building a replacement film industry - a God-honoring film industry. Thus - to be fully consistent - I must stop using my money to keep Hollywood alive.

I don't want to support any Hollywood movies in theaters, and I won't buy any Hollywood DVDs. I know this position will be controversial (and difficult to stick to), but I'm casting this vision, and I hope many will follow. Please thoughtfully consider these issues when you make your movie-watching plans in the future.

This is my admonition. I lay my thoughts on the table. It's up to you to decide what you want to do with them.

(Now try to keep the comments civil!)

Heartstrings climbs the bestseller list!

After only one and a half weeks of sales at ChristianCinema.com, the award-winning Siblings: Heartstrings has now climbed to #9 on their store-wide bestseller list! Why not buy a few copies to see if we can make it climb even higher?

Announcing the winner of our Father's Day Giveaway...

Congratulations to Joseph Manion, Sr. of Westlake Village, California! Mr. Manion will receive a free, autographed copy of Heartstrings, compliments of Biblical Worldview Media.

Thank you to everyone who entered! You'll be receiving your $5 coupon soon.

Coming Soon from SEM

Father's Day Giveaway!

Want to give dad something special this Father's Day? How about an autographed copy of Siblings: Heartstrings? Now is your chance to win this prize for your father!

Click here to enter.
Click here for contest rules.

Joel's Journey article in the AFA Journal

One News Now, a news feature of AFA, just posted the following article about the Morris family and Joel's Journey. This article will also appear in the AFA Journal.

"American culture has embraced a culture of death," said Terry Morris, a father who knows the truth of these words all too well. "We no longer see life as a gift from the Creator, only as an accident of some evolutionary force.little boy Even the church has been influenced by this," At the age of three, Morris' son Joel was diagnosed with Stage IV Neuroblastoma. After chemotherapy, a hospital stay and a visit home for Christmas, Joel returned for his second round of chemo only to suffer from a bleeding tumor in his head and to be declared brain dead.
To the doctor, Joel's life had ended.
To the 15-member Morris family, Joel was still alive because his blood was flowing and his heart beating. They clung to the Scripture that "life is in the blood," and they were not willing to sacrifice the sanctity of their son's life.
"The term 'quality of life' has subtly worked its way into our lives," Morris said. If some official determines that a life has 'no quality' then it can be snuffed out. This is wrong, and we must stand against it."
Joel's doctor took the Morris family to court in an attempt to force the family to take their son off life support, but the Morris family wouldn't budge because doing so would mean taking the life of their son. Both legal and medical battles ensued as the family sought a doctor to care for Joel.

Read the rest of the article here.

Back from the Witherspoon School of Law

I just arrived home today after a glorious week in Fredericksburg, VA for the Witherspoon School of Law & Public Policy. It was truly a blessing from the Lord to be there and to drink in vast amounts of information from wise men like Doug Phillips, William Einwechter, Col. John Eidsmoe, Roy Moore (and others)!

Visit Life Through a Viewfinder to see some photos from the conference.