The Gospel of John from FishFlix.com ~ a TOS review

I was very happy to have an opportunity to review a product that brings the Good News to life. FishFlix.com is a neat company that has been bringing fantastic products to market and Gospel of John is just one more example of their products.

FishFlix.com is a company that brings high-quality Christian films to those that are seeking them. From documentaries to fictional stories with a Christian theme, there are thousands of movies to choose from. FishFlix.com believes that there is no reason to sacrifice good videography and story lines just because you are wanting something more than main-stream Hollywood has to offer. So, they bring it to us through a huge selection of DVD and Blue-Ray discs.

Whether you are looking for feature length films or animated series, you have options at FishFlix.com. Looking for a Bible study? Something in French, Portuguese, or another language? They probably have something for you.

We were given The Gospel of John DVD for the purpose of this review. I was excited about this because I think word-for-word Bible videos are of great value. This video is a recreation of the entire gospel John. It is live-action and word-for-word. The translation used is one I didn’t know – American Bible Society’s Good News Bible. For the most part, I didn’t have a problem with the translation. It gave an interesting difference that I was happy to pay attention to and definitely made me think differently about some of the passages due to the wording.

The joy of this video was seeing the book of John come to life. Not only did I hear the actor speaking the words of Jesus and the teachings of Jesus, but I was able to see the countryside and the towns created in similarity to what was probably around in Jesus’ time. The rich costuming – the live animals – the sets – the actors and actresses – the emotion. All of these came together to create a visual encounter with the gospel. See Jesus encounter John the Baptist, reason with the Pharisees, heal the blind and lame, weep over Lazarus, and face being my sacrifice with sadness and determination. Truly, this is touching.

Because I believe that if you are going to teach about God, it needs to be Biblical and correct, I watched the video with my Bible open in front of me. I followed along, checking the passages, though I was using an NIV. I feel like this was a very helpful thing. I will not worry about showing this to my girls now because I have checked the accuracy of the video against God’s word and found it was not misleading or deceiving. I would recommend doing this the first time you watch the video because then you will have checked the accuracy for yourself, which is what we are instructed to do in God’s word. (Acts 17:11 Now the Berean Jews were of more noble character than those in Thessalonica, for they received the message with great eagerness and examined the Scriptures every day to see if what Paul said was true.)

If you have any concern about the portrayal of the beating and crucifixion, please preview it. I felt like this video did a good job of showing the horror of it without being too graphic. The flogging was done so that you saw the man raising the whip but you did not see Jesus. You do not see the forcing on of the crown of thorns but you will see Jesus covered in blood from the flogging and the crown. The scenes of Jesus on the cross are hard to view but not because they are too graphic, in my opinion. It is because it is hard to think that Jesus was there for me. The worst part for me was when they broke the legs of the thieves and pierced Jesus’ side. That was a little closer to actually being shown. Definitely preview.

Meet Jesus through The Gospel of John DVD from FishFlix.com or find one of their other wonderful videos. We have reviewed Exploring Ephesus and Living Waters before. All three of these give me confidence in saying I think you will be pleased with what FishFlix.com offers.

At Home.

Others from the Review Crew were given:
War Room
Woodlawn
The Ultimate Gift
My Son My Savior
Theo
Superbook: A Giant Adventure
Captive
Owlegories: The Ant, The Fruit, The Butterfly
Agenda 2