‘War Room’ DVD slated for Dec. 22 release
NASHVILLE (BP) — The box office hit “War Room” by Stephen and Alex Kendrick will be released on DVD and Blu-ray three days before Christmas.
Pre-orders of the DVD through LifeWay.com will receive a free “Positively Prayer” CD, a LifeWay Christian Resources music release featuring such popular Christian anthems as “In Christ Alone,” “Here I Am to Worship,” “Mighty to Save” and “Lead Me to the Cross.”
The movie, released in theaters in August, tells the story of a prayer warrior grandmother (played by Karen Abercrombie) who mentors a young mom (Priscilla Shirer) facing a troubled relationship with her husband (T.C. Stallings).
The film is accompanied by various resources from LifeWay Christian Resources and its B&H Publishing Group trade books division, including a “War Room Bible Study” and Church Campaign Kit five-week small group study, sermon outlines and promotional items; a book by the Kendrick brothers, “The Battle Plan for Prayer”; a book by Shirer, “Fervent”; and “War Room” the novel by Chris Fabry.
Also available are two children’s books by the Kendricks: “Prayer Works: Prayer Training and Strategy for Kids” and “Peter’s Perfect Prayer Place.”
War Room, made on a $3 million production budget, had garnered more than $67 million in domestic box office receipts between its Aug. 28 release and Dec. 6, according to Box Office Mojo. It is the fourth box office entry by the Kendrick brothers, beginning with “Facing the Giants” in 2006, followed by “Fireproof” in 2008 and “Courageous” in 2011.
The Kendricks, former staff members of Sherwood Baptist Church in Albany, Ga., initiated their filmmaking efforts through the church beginning with the 2003 movie “Flywheel.”
The DVD for “Woodlawn,” another top Christian film of 2015 about a football team’s racial reconciliation in Birmingham, Ala., is slated for release on Jan. 19 of next year.
For more information about War Room resources, visit Lifeway.com/WarRoom.
‘Huckabee: The Authorized Biography’ released
NASHVILLE (BP) — A new 344-page biography of Republican presidential candidate Mike Huckabee “doesn’t try to convince you to vote for him, or even agree with him,” Missouri Baptist pastor Gary L. Shultz Jr. writes in The Pathway, newsjournal of the Missouri Baptist Convention.
Instead, Shultz, in a Nov. 24 review, writes that biographer Scott Lamb “does what all good biographers do: helps us understand who Mike Huckabee is and why he does what he does.”
Shultz then adds: “You don’t have to be a Mike Huckabee supporter to read this book and appreciate his life and its impact, but you might be one when you’re done.”
“Huckabee: The Authorized Biography,” released Nov. 3 by Thomas Nelson, currently ranks 406th among Amazon.com’s biographies and memoirs.
Huckabee, meanwhile, stands at 1.8 percent in RealClear Politics’ average of five key polls as of Dec. 11, behind Donald Trump at 30.4 percent; Ted Cruz, 15.6 percent; Marco Rubio and Ben Carson, both at 13.6 percent; and, among others, John Kasich and Carly Fiorina, both at 2.2 percent.
Lamb’s career includes research work as a Ph.D. student under R. Albert Mohler Jr., president of Southern Baptist Theological Seminary. He currently is executive director of the Presbyterian Lay Committee; president of Reformation Press in Nashville; and an analyst for The Washington Times. Lamb is the co-author of a biography of Major League star Albert Pujols, with Tim Ellsworth at Union University in Tennessee, and he assisted home improvement personalities David and Jason Benham with their book, “Whatever the Cost.” Lamb also has been a pastor in Alabama, Missouri and Kentucky.
Shultz, in describing the Huckabee biography, said Lamb “draws together interviews with Huckabee, interviews with Huckabee’s family and friends, Huckabee’s personal and professional files, and a host of newspaper and magazine articles to offer a comprehensive account of Huckabee’s life.”
“The book is structured in four parts,” Shultz wrote. “Part One concerns Huckabee’s backstory and birth, and gives us insight into the people, places, culture, and faith that helped shaped him. Part Two explores Huckabee’s childhood, highlighting his family life, salvation experience, achievements in school, and his love for music. The final two parts of the book focus on Huckabee’s career, first in Christian broadcasting and the church (Part Three) and then in politics (Part Four).”
Huckabee announced his candidacy for the Republican nomination May 5 in his hometown of Hope, Ark., also the hometown of former President Bill Clinton. He finished second in 2008 to Sen. John McCain for the Republican nomination to face then-Sen. Barack Obama.
He ended his Fox News “Huckabee” weekend show on Jan. 3 after a six-and-a-half-year run to begin laying the groundwork for his campaign.
Huckabee was governor of Arkansas from 1996-2007 and lieutenant governor from 1993-96. A former pastor, he led Beech Street Baptist Church in Texarkana from 1986-92 and Immanuel Baptist Church in Pine Bluff from 1980-86. In both churches he engaged in local TV ministry.
He was president of the Arkansas Baptist State Convention from 1989-91.
He is a graduate of Ouachita Baptist University in Arkadelphia, Ark., and a former student at Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary in Texas, which named him a distinguished alumnus in 2012.
Microenterprise fund to extend Mike Barnett’s passion
NASHVILLE (BP) — In life, Mike Barnett had a deep passion for helping people in need. As a professor at Columbia (S.C.) International University, he drew on his experience as a businessman to help impoverished families start businesses that would lead them into better lives. He was among the founders of Baptist Global Response, a Southern Baptist relief and development organization.
When Barnett died unexpectedly Aug. 10 at age 62, family and friends wanted to see his 25 years of commitment continue to Christian humanitarian mission and marketplace missions with the International Mission Board. BGR has launched a memorial campaign for microenterprise projects to help impoverished families gain skills to run a small business that can improve their lives and give them an awareness of God’s love and a hope for the future.
Poor farmers in western Honduras, for example, are seeing the benefits of microenterprise projects in their families. Obando Velásquez, an agricultural extensionist with the Chorti Agricultural Development Center in Cabañas, Honduras, is teaching others how to colonize honeybees. The bees not only produce honey that can be sold, but they also pollinate plants, which helps increase crop yield — important benefits for subsistence farmers dealing with deforestation and drought.
“Mike’s involvement in the formation of Baptist Global Response nine years ago demonstrated his passion for helping people in need,” said Larry Cox, chairman of BGR’s board of directors and longtime Barnett colleague. “Mike was a businessman before the Lord called him and his wife Cindy into overseas missions ministry. This campaign will continue his legacy by helping entrepreneurs in impoverished corners of the world start their own businesses to support their families.
“Mike had a passion for sharing and showing the love of Jesus with people in need in places where His love is not known,” Cox added. “He loved the idea of providing microenterprise loans to help people start their own businesses and raise their families and communities out of poverty.”
For information about the Mike Barnett Business Initiative Memorial Fund, go to gobgr.org/Barnett or call 866-974-5623. Contributions designated to the fund can be mailed to Baptist Global Response, 402 BNA Drive Suite 411, Nashville, TN 37217.
