San Antonio Independent Christian Film Festival 2013

I went to this year's San Antonio Independent Christian Film Festival this past weekend for the showing of one of the episodes from our DVD series Discerning History: Causes of the Civil War. Here are some pictures taken along the way:

Confederate center

Doug Phillips opening the festival

Charlie Zahm and Tad Marks

The Wintons and Phillips

The Alamo

Vision Forum Audio Series Giveaway

We are having a giveaway of one free ticket to Vision Forum's new 20 message audio series on Family Strategies. Every Thursday a new message will be sent out for download. The messages will be:

1. How to Organize Your Home to Promote Family Unity
2. How to Cultivate a Love of Reading with Your Children
3. How to Make Mealtime Meaningful
4. How to Prepare for a Year of Home Education
5. How to Take Children Safely Through an Airport
6. How to Involve the Whole Family in Family Worship
7. How to Address the Plague of “Jive Talk” in Your Home
8. How to Encourage Masculinity in Sons
9. How to Encourage Femininity in Daughters
10. How to Handle a Social Worker Visit
11. How to Wage War on Sibling Rivalry
12. How to Use Household Decorations to Teach Character
13. How to Talk to Your Children about Miscarriage
14. How to Involve the Whole Family in Hospitality
15. How to Build an Entrepreneurial Spirit in Your Children
16. How to Watch a Movie As a Family
17. How to Cultivate a Love of Meaningful Poetry with Your Children, and Why Doing So Is Important
18. How to Prepare Your Children to Listen to a Symphony
19. How to Take a Road Trip with Your Family
20. How to Select the Best Locations for Family Vacations

You can read more about it here.

To enter the giveaway, please fill out the form below by February 27th. One entry per family. Winner will be notified by email.

The contest has been closed and the winner has been randomly chosen. Thanks for participating!

The Mysterious Islands Premiere

Tuesday night we went to a premiere of The Mysterious Islands at the Carolina Theater in Durham. Over 800 people attended. It was very well done, and it is very interesting and exciting. The Mysterious Islands is the story of a team from Vision Forum that went to the Galapagos Islands off South America. They did this because the Galapagos is where Charles Darwin went and got the ideas for the theory of evolution. 2009 is Charles Darwin's 200th birthday, and the 150th anniversary of his book, On the Origin of Species where he first set out his theory of evolution. The movie shows how evolution is scientifically impossible through the animals of the Galapagos. It also shows that evolution led to the bloodiest century in the last millennium, through people like Margret Sanger and Adolf Hitler. Evolution caused all this bloodshed because people were attempting to speed up natural selection by killing off 'lesser' human races. The film was very well done, and we would recommend it. For more information, visit their website. For pictures see Mr. Phillip's post.

At the far end of the world, there exists a strange and unusual chain of islands, resting above vast tectonic plates.

This is the world of the Galápagos Archipelago, home to salt-spitting marine iguanas, flightless cormorants, and giant tortoises that can live to be more than 150 years of age. It is also the birthplace of Darwinism, for here in 1835, a young Charles Darwin began to formulate a theory which would turn the world upside down. More than a century and a half later, these mysterious islands remain at the center of a controversy that has shaped the way modern men perceive science, religion, and life itself. The unique ingredients found on the Galápagos have led many of Darwin’s followers to describe it as Darwin’s Eden — a “laboratory of evolution.”

Now, for the 200th anniversary of Darwin’s birth and the 150th of his seminal work, On the Origin of Species, Doug Phillips leads a team of Christian scientists and investigators to this “ground zero” in the war of the worldviews. Seen through the eyes of 16-year-old Joshua Phillips, who joins his father and noted researchers like Dr.John Morris of the Institute for Creation Research, The Mysterious Islands is the story of one boy’s search for answers to the great controversy of the modern world. It is a refreshing father-and-son adventure that combines cinematically breathtaking footage with high adventure. The quest: to determine whether the Galápagos Islands are a laboratory of evolution, or a testimony to creation.

This beautiful, ninety-minute documentary takes viewers deep beneath the ocean waves, among hundreds of white-tip sharks, into volcanic craters with giant lizards, and to the unusual habitat of the Blue-footed booby. Featuring the only team of Creationists and Christian scientists to shoot a documentary on the Galápagos in 2009 — Darwin’s anniversary year — the film brings a fresh perspective on the Theory of Evolution and presents stunning cinematography of one of the most desolate and fascinating locations in the world.

For more information on The Mysterious Islands, visit their website.

ENN: The Craters of Normandy

Vision Forum posted the Everyday News report we did while we were in Europe.
from here.

ENN: The Craters of Normandy from Joshua Horn on Vimeo.

The quality is not the best because we did not have much time while we were there.

Reformation 500: Day 4

On day 4, we got up at 7:30 so that we could go to the children's parade. There were a lot of people at the children's parade, and a lot of them were in costume, like us. The children's parade went around the Boston Common and through the streets back to the hotel.

Some of our friends

Some Reformers

Marching (walking)

Joshua

At the hotel in the main ballroom there were some speeches, and Charlie Zahm sung some songs. Since we were going to leave as soon as it was over, we went up to our room during the first break,and changed our clothes. When we got back, it had already started so we missed some of the graduation ceremonies of the Vision Forum Interns. When we were about to leave some people rang the Liberty Bell, at 2:00, the exact time that they really did. The Muses got to ring it because they won the treasure hunt. You can watch the video below.

Charlie Zahm singing "Jolly Jolly Soldier"

Charlie Zahm Sings 'For the Honor of George Washington' from Vision Forum on Vimeo.

Ringing the Liberty Bell

Ringing the Liberty Bell from Vision Forum on Vimeo.

Reformation 500: Day 1

This was the first day of the Reformation 500 conference. We had two mini-tours scheduled before the opening ceremonies, so that later we would not miss any talks. The first thing we went to was a meeting for the treasure hunt. We were late, because we did not have time to check email the night before. We got a coded message to translate. Here are some pictures of the meeting on Mr. Phillips' blog.

After the meeting we left for our first mini tour. It was of the Granary and King's Chapel burying grounds with Dr. Joe Morecraft and Richard Holland. Dr. Morecraft is a preacher from Georgia and he knows a lot about the Reformation. He was on the Scotland Faith and Freedom Tour with us last summer. Richard Holland lives in Boston, and he does Christian history tours in Boston. First we went to the Granary burying ground. It is called the patriot's grave yard. John Handcock, Samuel Adams, Paul Revere, James Otis and other famous people are buried here. Mr. Holland spoke on the people buried here, and Dr. Morecraft spoke on the War for Independence.

Park Street Church, where one of the evil Unitarian abolitionist
preached before the Second War for American Independence

Dr. Morecraft and Mr. Holland, in front of Benjamin Franklin's parents' grave

Next we visited the King's Chapel burying ground. It is known as the preacher's graveyard. John Winthrop was buried here, along with the first person to get off the Mayflower and the gravestone that was the inspiration for The Scarlet Letter by Nataniel Hawtorne, which was written against the Puritans.



Our next tour was the Old South Meeting House with Dan Ford. Mr. Ford has a lot of very old books and documents which were important, and he shows them on his tours. The Old South Meeting House was a church in the time of the War for Independence. It was where they met before the Boston Tea party. Mr. Ford talked about the beginnings of the War for Independence here. We next went to the Old State House, where the Boston Massacre took place. Here Mr. Ford talked about the Boston Massacre and the doctrine of interposition. The last stop on the tour was the Benjamin Franklin statue. Mr. Ford talked about his life, especially how he was a diplomat before the War for Independance.

Old South Meeting House

Mr. Ford

Benjamin Franklin

After the tour ended, we went with some of the Breagys to a bookstore that Mr. Holland recommended, Brattle Street Books. Daddy bought lots of books, which our friends the Damings brought back to NC for us since we flew. We went back to the hotel, and we went to "Meet the Reformers." Vision Forum had about 40 people who were re-enactors of the Reformers. If you got 30 of them to sign your program, you got a ten dollar gift certificate. We also had to ask them a certain question so that they would give us clues for the treasure hunt. After this there were the opening ceremonies. Mr. Phillips spoke, and each of the speakers gave a brief summary of their messages. Charlie Zahm also sang some songs.

The Book Store

Ten P's in a Pod

Until the end of March, the audiobook Ten P's in a Pod is free at Behemoth.com. To download it, click here. Also, the book is 60% off. This book is really funny, and it is also convicting. Daddy thought it was convicting when he said that since you feed your family three times a day, it makes sense that you should feed your family from the word of God three times a day.

CLEP

About a month ago, I (Joshua) took a CLEP test. I took the Information Systems and Computer Applications test. I had been studying for about a month using InstantCert. I passed it! I think that InstantCert was very helpful in my preperation. I am taking it so that I can earn college credit before I graduate from high school, so that it will be less expensive and quicker to get a college degree. From passing this test, I earned 3 credit hours. We first learned about CLEP tests from a book called Accelerated Disance Learing by Brad Voeller. I am currently working on English Composition, which I will take in a couple of weeks. I am hoping to pass 2 or 3 more CLEP tests before my birthday, May 5, because my father asked me.

Vision Forum Affilate Program

Today I would like to write about Vision Forum's affilate program. What happens is you join it, and they give you links to put on your site. When someone clicks on your link, and orders something from Vision Forum, you get a 8% commission! We do not get many orders through this blog, but at least we get 8% from our orders!

So if you clicked here and bought the entire G. A. Henty collection, we would get $58! (By the way, if you actually do ever want to buy something and do not want to get your own account, why don't you click here?)

The only bad part about it is that you only get paid when you get over $50.

Become a Vision Forum Affilate

Alba Gu Bra
Joshua Horn

Scotland CDs

Loch Levin Castle, where Mary Queen of Scots abdicated the throne as a prisoner (we went here after the Faith & Freedom tour)

Vision Forum has published the CDs of their Scotland Faith and Freedom Tour. To Buy, Click Here. These talks on the CD take you back to the early centuries studying the early church fathers from all over Scotland and how they effected America. These talks explain the history of the early church fathers, the things leading up to the Reformation, and the Reformation itself. Some have said that John Knox, one of the Scottish reformers, effected America more that anyone else. If you buy them you will certainly enjoy them. The speakers are Doug Phillips, Bill Potter, Dr. Joe Morcraft III, and last but not least the Celtic Balladeer singer Charlie Zahm. Enjoy!

Other books about Scotland:
Scotland Reading List,
Bonny Prince Charlie,
Crown and Covenant Collection,
In Freedoms Cause

Scotland - Day 10

On day 10 the bus left at 5:45am to get on a  ferry to the Isle of Mull. The first ferry was a 45 minute ferry ride, after about an hour drive. Once we were landed we got on the buses to drive across the Isle of Mull to get on a ferry to the Isle of Iona. Iona is the place that Columba first came to. Many missionaries left from there to go to all parts of the world. One of them was Brendan, who went all the way to the equator. In his diary it says, "We came to one place where all there was to eat was long yellow fruit that you had to peel." These were bannanas so we know he made it to the equator. There is evidence that some of them made it to North America. We went into the oldest chapel, which is tiny, for a talk by Doug  Phillips. Then we went into a bigger chapel that is still used as a church  for a talk by Doug Phillips and then one by Dr. Joe Morcraft. Then we went into the abbey that is also used as a church for a concert by Charlie Zahm. Then we  went into the graveyard and listened to a speech by Doug Phillips on some of the people that were buried there. There were 48 Scot kings, Pict Kings, Irish kings, and Viking kings. There was also a talk by Bill Potter on the Picts and their lifestyle. Then we went to the Iona Book Store which had old used books and we bought some. After we ate lunch we went to a building which had ancient tombstones and other important stones to protect them from the weather. After that we went down to the beach. Then we went to some souvenier shops but did not buy anything. We waited for the ferry and when it came we got on. When we arrived on the Isle of Mull  we drove back across the Island to the other ferry location.We got on the ferry to the mainland and arrived safely. Then we got on the buses and arrived at the hotel at 9:00pm. We had to pack up because we were leaving the next day.

Scotland - Day 8

On Monday we first went to Urquhart Castle, on the shores of Loch Ness. It has an incredible history, which includes the friends of Wallace, of the covenantors, of Cromwell and Bonnie Prince Charlie. When we arrived Mr. Phillips gave a speech on the Loch Ness monster, Nessie. He said that if we did find a Loch Ness monster, it would be a very serious problem for the evolutionists, because if their worldview is correct, all dinosaurs would have been dead for more than a million years. After this speech, we explored the castle. We went to this castle, and several of the other sites on our trip to Scotland two years ago. You can read our blog posts on it here.





After the castle we went to a little town about a mile away for lunch, and a Loch Ness exhibit if the families wanted to. We went to the exhibit, which is the 'original' exhibit that gives a more favorable view of Nessie's existence. We enjoyed this, as we had gone to the 'new' visitor's center on our previous trip. At the visitor center they had a couple bookcases of used books for only one pound each. ($2.17)

Our next stop was Culloden battlefield. Mr. Potter told us what happened there, Mr. Zahm sang, and we did a reenactment charge. After visiting the battlefield, we walked to the visitor center, which was updated since two years ago. One exhibit was a 360 view of the battle, and a map that showed the movements of the troops. We really enjoyed this, and could have spent more time there, but it closed.



After this we drove back to Fort William, and tried to find a place to eat, and we went to a bad Chinese restaurant, and then we back to the hotel.

Scotland - Day 6

Here are some pictures.

Right now we are on the bus driving to Fort William, a town in the highlands of Scotland. Last night Stephen got sick, and he has not been feeling well today, but he persevered. Since Stephen was sick, we got a taxi which took some of us and our luggage to the bus. Our first stop was the town of St. Andrews. There there is a castle and cathedral, and many Christians were martyred there. We went to the graveyard at the ruined cathedral, and saw the grave of Samuel Rutherford, a famous early reformer who wrote the book Lex Rex. There is a tower that is not ruined, and there are great views of the castle from the top.


Next we went to where Patrick Hamilton was murdered. He was the first man killed in St. Andrews. Next we saw where George Wishart was killed in front of St. Andrew's Castle, before all the students of the college. These men were killed for things like not believing in purgatory and not praying to the Virgin Mary.

After seeing these places, we were able to go in the castle. At one time the English and French were besieging a group of covenanters in the castle. They dug a mine to try to destroy the wall. The defenders tried to reach their mine, and after several false starts, they were able to break through. We were able to go into the mine and counter mine. I enjoyed this very much.

After this we went to the Ceres Highland Games. These games are the oldest continuous games, being founded by Robert the Bruce himself. There were several bicycle races, running races, shot put, hay bale throwing, pole throwing and wrestling. We really enjoyed them.


----
Joshua

200 Year Plan Conference: Saturday and onward

Saturday

On Saturday was spend another day listening to messages at the conference. The conference went on all day. We ate lunch and dinner in downtown San Antonio. We enjoyed the messages. Vision Forum now sells the messages from the 200 year plan conference. You can buy them here:

200 Year Plan Conference

Sunday

The church service for people attending the conference was held in a hotel San Antonio. Mr. Phillips preached a message on the family table, which he did not have time to do Saturday. After the service, everyone was invited over to the Phillip's house for the afternoon. We went, and fellowshiped with people who where at the conference.

Monday

On Monday we drove around San Antonio looking for a place where Daddy could buy a new cowboy hat. He could not find a leather one like he wanted. Then we drove and found a bookshop in San Antonio which we went to. We got some books, and crammed them in our bags. We where supposed to fly home that evening, so we went to the airport. Our plane to Dallas was delayed because of storms, but finally we made it there. Daddy had a business meeting the next day, and we were supposed to fly home, but because our flight was delayed, we did not make it in time for our flight to RDU. We decided to stay the night in Dallas with Daddy, and stay there for the business meeting and leave the next day with him, rather than get home a 1 a.m. of later. We got a rental car, checked in to the hotel, and went to dinner with Daddy's employees.

Tuesday

We left in the afternoon, so in the mean time we did some things in Dallas. We went to a park and some stores there. We picked Daddy up from his meeting, flew out and arrived safely home that night.

200 Year Plan Conference: Thursday

Recently we went to the 200 Year Family Plan conference hosted by Vision Forum. The speakers were Doug Phillips and Geoff Bodkin. It was at the Empire Theater in San Antonio. We arrived on a Thursday, and left on a Monday. We got up early in the morning on Thursday, and flew into San Antonio with a layover in Dallas. We got there before lunch, and ate lunch in downtown San Antonio and then went to the Alamo. We learned about how the men defended the Alamo against Santa Anna, and how they were all killed. One interesting thing that we saw was Davy Crockett's rifle, powder horn and other equipment which were on display at the Alamo. One interesting thing that we learned was that the distinctive curved top of the Alamo was added after the battle by the United States government. This was very interesting.

After going to the Alamo, we walked around downtown San Antonio, but did not go to the Riverwalk. We went to a little toy soldier store, but did not buy anything. After walking in San Antonio, we went back to the hotel, which was near the airport because the ones in the downtown were very expensive, and got settled in. We went to dinner with one of Daddy's employees and her husband that live in Texas. We met them at a restaurant in a shopping center called the Rim. It was a Mexican grill restaurant, and it was very good. After dinner we went home to get a good night's sleep, and get up in the morning to go to the conference.

One day left for Vision Forum Give Away

There are only 24 hours left to enter the drawing for the League of Grateful Sons!

If you would like to enter, please send your name, email, and shipping address to hornj@datatek-net.com by noon on December 20.

For more information about this give away, visit: http://hornherald.blogspot.com/2007/12/vision-forum-give-away.html

Bill Brown, one of the heroes in the video, wrote a book with his wife on their life in Alaska. It is called, From Cowboy Boots to Mukluks: Six Years in the Territory of Alaska.

You can buy it from Amazon by clicking on:
From Cowboy Boots to Mukluks: Six Years in the Territory of Alaska

Vision Forum Give away

For 6 days only, we will be offering one free gift from Vision Forum. We will give away one copy of the DVD of League of Grateful Sons, a great video about honoring our fathers which was produced by Vision Forum. Even if you already have the video, you can enter anyway, it is a great video to give to others!



To enter the contest, please email your name, email and shipping address to hornj@datatek-net.com. We will only accept one application per family. All applications must be received by December 20, 2007. The winner will be notified by December 24, 2007. You will probably receive your free gift in 2-3 weeks. Please email any questions to hornj@datatek-net.com.

Mr. Bill Brown and his wife go to our church. He is one of the heroes featured in the film.


Vision Forum also sells a book about Mr. Brown, Coming In on a Wing and a Prayer, written by Kelly Bradrick, his granddaughter who went to our church before she was married.

To learn more about this great movie click here: League of Grateful Sons
To buy more products from Vision Forum, click here: Vision Fourm

We hope you enjoy this contest.

The Horn Family