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Equipping Christians to think, speak, and act

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The Boxcar Children

Animated / Children’s
2013 / 81 minutes
Rating: 7/10

The Boxcar Children is the first title in a popular and still expanding children’s series of books. And just like the book, the film is about four children – two brothers and two sisters – who have lost their parents, and have been told they will have to live with their grandfather. But Henry, Jessie, Violet, and Benny don’t know their grandfather at all, and imagine that, because he never came to visit, he must be a cruel man. So they run away.

The first part of the story is about how they get by, day to day, all on their own. It’s when they find an old, long abandoned, railway boxcar that things start looking up for them. Then the older brother can go into town to do odd jobs, and the other three can start setting up the boxcar as a real home for them.

This is a children’s story so, of course, it has a happy ending. And I don’t think I give away too much to say it involves their cruel grandfather not being cruel at all.

CAUTIONS

The only cautions would concern language: in one instance a character says “holy mollie” and in another someone utters “oh my gosh,” but that is the extent of it.

CONCLUSION

While there are a few moments of tension – especially early on when they are being chased by a couple who wants to put the children to work in their bakery – this is a pretty gentle movie. The plot is also simple, and I say that not as a criticism, but only to note this is more of a children’s film than something the whole family will enjoy. Mom and dad won’t mind too much, but I don’t expect teens will enjoy sitting through it.

But if you have children who have been reading the Boxcar Children series, then this will be a treat. The first book in the series, The Boxcar Children, was published in 1924, but the series really started gaining in popularity in 1942, when it was reissued. The author, Gertrude Chandler Warner, went on to write a total of 19 stories about the four siblings (and I’ve been told that these 19 are much better than the more than 100+ that have followed). There’s no Christian content in the book or the film but as you might expect from a story written almost 100 years ago, there’s nothing all that objectionable either.

So it is a good safe film that kids will love, and parents won’t mind. And now there is a sequel, The Boxcar Children: Surprise Island, which we review here.

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Animated, Movie Reviews, Watch for free

The George Müller Story

Animated / Biography / Drama 2019 / 30 minutes Rating: 8/10 In his day, I'd imagine George Müller (1805-1898) was accused of being irresponsible, or maybe even insane. He ran orphanages that helped thousands of children, and yet he never sent out an appeal letter or solicited donations. Instead, he went to the Lord to ask for help. And again and again the Lord delivered what Müller and his orphans needed. One of the most extraordinary examples of God's providence – an account that made it into this fantastic animated biography – is the morning that there was no food for the children for breakfast. So, Müller and the children prayed, and shortly thereafter a baker showed up with fresh bread for the children that, as he put it, God had put it on his heart to donate. And a milkman came knocking, wondering if the children might like his milk, since his truck had broken down nearby, and the milk would spoil anyway. Müller's orphanages served 18,000 children over the years, all of them helped without a request being made to any but the Lord. Cautions I knew a man whose multiple sclerosis had trapped him in a wheelchair. His suffering was physical, but also brought on mentally and spiritually by the brothers and sisters in his Pentecostal circles who questioned if the reason he was in his wheelchair was because he hadn't yet prayed for healing with enough faith and trust. They thought, if you prayed the right way, then God had to do what you say. And that's not so. Our children watching this need to understand that yes, God does provide, and in extraordinary fashion sometimes – twenty years later, this same man was able to walk away from his wheelchair, his MS in remission. But God also answers in ways that might not match with our hopes, and we will simply have to trust that He knows what is best for us, even if that means difficulties and even death. Other cautions could be offered with regard to some of Müller's views, but this video doesn't really get into them. Still, he had his faults and confusions. Parents can address this, not so much by researching him and finding those flaws, but simply by directing young hearts to where their admiration most belongs. George Müller was quite a man, but he served an astonishing God! Conclusion I've seen God act in amazing ways in my own life at times, and I don't think it a coincidence that it was at times when I stepped outside my own comfort zone and acted in obedience to meet a need that I knew was beyond my own ability. I've seen the same happen, all the more so, in others' lives who have been all the more obedient to act in faith and trust. I know of how God has precisely answered prayers, sometimes providing the exact sum required and not a penny more – whether it was as small as a nickel raise, or as large as a cheque for $30,000. Müller got his milk, yes, and that's not the first story I've heard of a Christian having milk arrive out of the blue on their doorstep. I've been told of a needed house downpayment appearing in the hands of a mysterious stranger who was never seen again. Our God is our Father indeed, and He loves us, and generously provides for us. And I do wonder what He might work through us, if we were bolder still, like a Müller, a Corrie ten Boom, or a Brother Andrew (of God's Smuggler fame). This, then, is a film to watch to see what God has already done with a man obediently acting in such faith. And you can watch it for free below. ...