We finished our iPod Giveaway yesterday, loaded all the entries into a random number generator, then pressed the button. The lucky number was 626 and belonged to Don Gale of Cordova, Tennessee. (It is also, by the way, the same number of pieces Mozart wrote in his lifetime.) We’ll be sending Don an iPod Nano 4GB with all our films loaded onto it.
Our Blogger contest ended yesterday as well, and we tabulated all the numbers. The results showed us that rockstarwannabee.com was the winning site. We’ll be sending out an Apple TV 40GB loaded with all our films to that happy blogger.
If it’s any consolation to those of you who didn’t win, I’ve never won anything like this either. But here’s what I can to do. For the next week, you can go to modernparable.com and use the code IWIN at checkout to receive 10% off any of the items in our online store (with the exception of digital downloads). For a brief second, perhaps, you too can feel like a winner.
Modern Parables is releasing all its parable studies on single DVDs. The first two titles in the series (Hidden Treasure and Samaritan) are now available here. The other four will be available in late May and mid-July.
If you are interested in digging deeper into the parables and the Kingdom of God, there is a wealth of great books available to you. Modern Parables is now offering a number of these books on our site.
“LifeWay Stores is very excited to be the exclusive retail distributor of this new DVD driven film study that provides solid biblical teaching to all ages using the parables that Jesus taught,” says Donnie Baldwin of LifeWay.
Hidden Treasure and Samaritan will be the first two titles to be released in May, with The Shrewd Manager and The Widow and Judge following in late June, and The Sower and Prodigal Sons in early August.
If you would like to purchase the individual DVD’s from LifeWay, go to your local LifeWay store and ask for Modern Parables.
In celebration of our recent release of digital downloads, we’re throwing a free iPod contest. Entry for this giveaway is free and the contest will run for a month. Sign up and find out more info here.
Also, if you’re a blogger or have a website we have a separate contest for you. Find out here about loading this trailer on to your site and winning an Apple TV.
Modern Parables films, application videos, and study materials are now available for digital download! We’ve been working hard this past month developing a new site that will enable our customers to buy our films and related materials one parable at a time. Each downloadable package includes one parable film, one application video, a director’s commentary, and a combined Student Book/Teacher’s Guide on PDF. Each download provides you with two full lessons plus one bonus lesson for teaching in a variety of settings. The downloads are available in DVD and HD quality. You will need either Apple QuickTime or Windows Media to use.
And for a limited time we’re offering only our parable films as a FREE iPod quality download.
Check out our new digital store for more detail and instructions on how to download.
Sojourners: faith, politics, and culture magazine, just noted Modern Parables in their March 2008 issue. In the ‘New and Noteworthy’ section of ‘CultureWatch,’ you’ll find:
Visual Storytelling
“Sometimes seeing rather than hearing biblical stories makes their message more clear. That’s the idea behind Modern Parables: Living in the Kingdom of God, a set of DVDs that dramatize six of Jesus’ parables in film form. The parables of the sower, the Good Samaritan, and the Prodigal Son, among others, are put into a modern setting, after which participants discuss the lessons and ways to apply Jesus’ teachings. The 12-lesson series includes student and teacher discussion booklets.”
We just added a Homeschool Teaching Sequence to our Additional Materials page. This downloadable word.doc will allow teachers and self guided students to follow our films and parable study more specifically.
Last night, Thomas was interviewed by Lee Webb on CBN News. The interview started after Webb and Wendy Griffith aptly stated,
“Many times during his earthly ministry, Jesus spoke to his disciples in parables. One of them was called “hidden treasure,” found in Matthew 13:44. It was about the man who sold all that he had to buy the field where the treasure was hidden. What would that parable look like in a modern setting?
Then after the trailer of Hidden Treasure was shown, Thomas was asked a few questions about the Modern Parables films and curriculum. You can watch the interview at CBN.com by following this link.
When I begin studying a new director, I usually try to watch as many of his films as I can get my hands on back-to-back (and hopefully in chronological order). I also look for any interviews or authoritative books on him and read through those at the same time. Although secondary sources are good, there’s really nothing quite like hearing what a director thinks in his own words.
