SpongeBob Gets Phil on Fox News!
September 15, 20119 Comments
Hey y’all – sorry it’s been so long since I’ve posted. We’ve had a wild summer! (I’ll fill you in later.) But here’s the craziest news… This Saturday morning I’ll be appearing on Fox News, courtesy of none other than SpongeBob Squarepants.
Ya see, earlier this week a study was published that showed fast-paced shows like SpongeBob can have an immediate negative impact on kids’ abilities to focus and delay gratification. The national news media has picked up the story, and I have been offered up as an “expert witness” from the world of children’s media. I’ve done 3 radio interviews in the last 24 hours on the topic, and now I’ll be appearing on Fox News this Saturday morning at 9:20am ET for a roundtable discussion of kids, TV, and the little yellow spongy guy. Yes, that’s awfully early in the morning, but you’ll probably be able to find the segment online afterward.
So anyway… God works in mysterious ways. SpongeBob affects little brains, I get to be on TV.
I’ll keep you posted as things develop further…
What’s in the Bible? Episode Plan
September 21, 201017 CommentsThanks for all the great feedback on What’s in the Bible?! A number of you have been asking for a bit of a roadmap for the rest of the series, so you have a better feel for how we’re moving through the Bible. So here goes…
DVD #4 will be in stores in another week or so, and takes us through the book of Ruth. DVD #5 covers the establishment of the monarchy and the reigns of Saul, David and Solomon (1 & 2 Samuel and half of 1 Kings), and will be released in early 2011.
DVD #6 will cover the divided kingdom and subsequent falls of both. DVD #7 will cover the exile, return, and restoration, taking us through the book of Esther. DVD #8 will summarize all the Prophets, and #9 will cover the Writings. #10 will deal with the four Gospels, #11 with the “outward movement” of the book of Acts. DVD #12 will touch on each of Paul’s epistles, and then, last but not least, DVD #13 will cover the general epistles and the book of Revelation.
Whoo! Are you tired?!? I’m exhausted just thinking about it!
You know, a few people have pointed out that we’d probably sell more DVDs if we started with Jesus and didn’t spend all this time slogging through the Old Testament. They’re probably right. But God didn’t start his rescue plan with Jesus. God’s rescue plan starts with Abraham, and then slogs its way through the entire history of Israel. Why? Because if we don’t see how impossible it was for Israel to live under the Law, we really don’t understand why the incarnation was so necessary. We can’t please God on our own. Israel tried, and tried, and tried. And failed, and failed, and failed. Man’s inability to live up to God’s standard is the problem. Jesus is the solution. If our kids don’t fully appreciate the problem, should we really be surprised if they fail to fully appreciate the solution?
So… slog away we shall. And we hope you’ll come along for the ride!
DVD #4 is headed your way …
August 27, 201012 CommentsWell, we wrapped up the fourth “What’s in the Bible?” DVD, which takes us through the book of Ruth. It should start showing up in stores around the beginning of October. I’m now in the midst of writing DVD #5, covering the lives of Samuel, Saul, David and Solomon. Fun stuff! That one will come out in the Spring of 2011. Response to the DVDs has been great, though we still need to keep getting the word out to churches and families who don’t know what we’re up to.
The church curriculum version of What’s in the Bible? is coming along well, and will probably be available this November. (Yes, we had hoped for an earlier date, but, well, we haven’t made Sunday School curriculum before! We’re getting the hang of it…)
On the JellyTelly front, we’re deep in talks with our partner Focus on the Family about plans for JellyTelly over the next few years. Too soon to say, but we’re talking about some fun stuff. We’re also looking at ways to create a TV series out of some of the stuff we’ve created, perhaps for Christian television. Oh, and 24 episodes of “Clive & Ian’s Wonder Blimp of Knowledge” are headed to your local Awana Club this Fall! (They’ll also probably show up on JellyTelly, but I’m not certain when that will happen yet.)
So… yeah… we’ve been busy. On top of that, our editor, Bill Ebel, has spent a bunch of the summer helping the Kendrick brothers (Facing the Giants, Fireproof) with their next feature film. Bill had a co-editing credit on Fireproof, and will probably have another one on the next film. He’s learning lots about theatrical production that could come in handy as we take on progressively more elaborate productions here at Jellyfish. We had a couple great interns in from our friends Huntington University to help out while Bill was gone. They were up to their elbows in Awana episodes!
Hmm… what else… oh, Sunday School Lady may be coming to a radio station near you to give Beth Moore a run for her money as America’s favorite female Bible teacher! We’re producing a series of 1-minute radio shorts where Sunday School Lady teaches different facts about the Bible. Those shorts are being picked up by numerous radio networks, including Moody and American Family Radio, so our slightly-deranged Sunday School teacher should be popping up all over the country!
What does it all add up to? Well, the goal is to provide multiple ways for kids and parents to bump into good, in-depth biblical teaching. We live in a world where 65% of our kids are walking away from the church as soon as they graduate from High School. We’re losing a generation. I recently spoke at the national Christian retail show, and, in reference to the shrinking budgets facing Christian producers everywhere, I said that if I have a chance to work with Pixar-sized budgets to produce Pixar-caliber animation, I will. If not, I’m going to grab a puppet and start shooting. Our kids need the content. We need to be resourceful enough to get it to them in as many ways as possible.
So… back to the lab! There’s more work to be done!
DVD #3 … and off to England!
May 7, 20107 CommentsWe just got a couple of cases of DVD #3 in the office here in Wheaton, and they look great. They should be arriving at your local Christian bookstore any time now. If you can’t find them there, you can order from our own website starting on Monday. DVD #3 finishes the Pentateuch, and ends with a big musical number with a whole mess o’ puppets on a riverboat that summarizes the first five books of the Bible. It’s a hoot. We also spend a lot of time explaining to kids exactly what the word “holy” means, and why it was so important to God that Israel practice all his laws for holiness. It’s really interesting stuff, and I actually learned a lot myself doing the research!
In related news, Lisa and I are off to jolly old England on Monday to officially launch What’s in the Bible in the UK! Neither of us have ever been (amazing considering all the British characters I’ve put into my films over the years), and we’re really excited. I’ll be speaking at the big UK childrens ministry conference next week, and our UK distributor Kingsway will be premiering the first DVD in an old, classic theater in downtown London on Wednesday. If you’re in the UK, stop by and say “cheerio!” (My wife keeps saying, “Promise me you won’t talk with a British accent the entire week.” I’m going to try really hard, but I really love British accents.)
Fun stuff! DVD #4 is going into production as we speak – it takes us through Joshua, Judges and Ruth. (“What’s with all the KILLING?!?” Fun!)
Onward and upward!
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iPad, you Pad, we all Pad…
April 22, 20109 CommentsOkay, I got an iPad. On day one. It wasn’t my plan… I don’t know what happened. I was going to wait and let other people go first – let other people remind us why we shouldn’t buy “generation 1″ of any new product. But then the glowing reviews started to hit… then I found myself in the vicinity of a Best Buy… found myself calling just to see if they had any left (they did)… found myself looking for justification (“I’m going to by one eventually anyway…”).
And then, boom. There I was, walking out of Best Buy with an iPad in my hands. And I really, really like it. My kids and I were all snuggled in bed the night before last, watching “The Muppets Take Manhattan” streamed directly from Netflix to my iPad. Whee! This morning I was thumbing through today’s issue of USA Today on my iPad while eating my cereal. (Honey Nut Cheerios, if you’re interested.) We’ve been taking it out to eat with us, and we’ll all play shuffleboard on the iPad together while we wait for our food to come. Unlike a little iPod Touch or my iPhone, the iPad games just yell out “play together!” It’s family fun. And I think it’s going to catch on.
Why is that relevant to this blog? Well, maybe it isn’t. But technology is always changing, and we need to figure out how to use what’s next to help kids learn about God. So as we adapt What’s in the Bible to be used in Sunday Schools, one of the ideas being kicked around is creating activities to support the teaching that leaders would walk kids through on an iPad. Maybe we’re ahead of the market there, but an iPad is cheaper than a laptop, and much easier to use and more interactive than a tiny little netbook. So we could be on to something here.
By the way, thanks again for all the Big Bang – Genesis 1 comments, and the continued civility of the discourse. I’m not going to jump in to the discussion with more opinions of my own, because fundamentally what I’m trying to do with WITB is teach the essentials of our faith, and recognize when there is an area that is unresolved. Genesis 1 is an unusual genre of Scripture known as “exalted prose” and has been confounding theologians since the time of Augustine. Once the majority of conservative Evangelical scholars come to agreement on how best to interpret this tricky bit, I’ll present their conclusion clearly and with zest! Until then, though, in the words of the leading Intelligent Design proponent Philip Johnson, when there is a controversy, “teach the controversy!” We’ll talk about the major positions and let you decide which you believe is correct. Hope you don’t mind!
On that note… here’s a really nice review of What’s in the Bible we just came across today… (click here to read it).
The Bible and the “Big Bang”
March 26, 201034 CommentsIf you’ve watched “What’s in the Bible?” #1, you probably noticed that I made a very brief, joking reference to the “big bang theory” when we talk about Creation. I’ve had a few fans write to complain about the joke, because they believe the big bang theory is anti-Christian, and therefore shouldn’t be mentioned in any way in a Christian video. At first I was surprised by the response, since the reference was just a humorous aside, but I’m thinking now I probably need to address it head-on before too many people get concerned at Phil making “un-Christian” jokes. So let’s talk a bit about the big bang theory, because it actually isn’t un-Christian at all. Actually, it’s quite the opposite.
Here’s what I mean: The big bang theory states that the universe is expanding in all directions from one point (which is verifiably true), and therefore must have come into existence at one point in time and space. In other words, the universe has a beginning. This was a very radical thought at the time it was suggested because many scientists, especially atheist scientists, previously maintained that the universe was “eternal.” It “always was.” This was their best way of getting around a need for God. “We don’t need an eternal God to explain the universe,” they would say, “because the universe itself never had a beginning. The universe itself is eternal.”
When other scientists discovered the expanding universe and suggested that the universe DID in fact have a beginning (the “big bang” theory), many atheist scientists initially opposed the new idea because it sounded too much like the Genesis account of Creation. If the universe had a beginning, once again we need to explain who or what made it start. Who set off the “big bang” that flung the universe into existence? Scientists who aren’t opposed to the idea of God of course said, “God! He’s the force that created the universe!” In fact, the astrophysicist who found the evidence proving the universe is expanding actually said it was like “seeing the footprints of God.” He knew his discovery once again supported the idea that there was a Creator behind the universe.
A stickier issue is when to date the big bang. When did it happen? Some scientists, of course, would say “billions and billions of years ago,” whereas some Christians would say, “No, if Genesis 1 is literal, it couldn’t be more than 6000-7000 years ago.” The big bang theory doesn’t speak to a date at all. So either point of view could be true, and still work just fine with the big bang theory. Which is why I felt comfortable making my reference in “What’s in the Bible?”
I hope that explanation helps. Again, rather than feeling the big bang theory is “anti-biblical,” many scientists believe it actually supports the Bible. The big bang theory cries out for a Creator. That’s why I included it in my show.
As always, I hope any of you who have a concern about something you see in one of my films will drop me a note and ask about it. I really do think these issues through, and I’m more than happy to explain my reasoning to the people I’m serving with my ministry!
Now I’m going to get back to trying to explain all the violence in the book of Joshua…
I’m a little bit hoarse …
February 10, 20108 Comments
… because I spent four hours in a room with an 80 year-old Sunday School teacher. Well, okay, she’s a puppet. Named Sunday School Lady. I’m filming scenes for the third “What’s in the Bible?” DVD, and I had to cover about 20 pages of script with Sunday School Lady yesterday, which left me a little hoarse. (It’d be more fun if it left me with a little horse, but it never works out that way.)
The third DVD was a real challenge to write, because it covers Leviticus, Numbers and Deuteronomy. Whee! What fun! No wonder we tend to skip those books when we write Sunday School lessons. (“Let’s see… we’re done with the exodus – what’s next? Jesus!”) But we managed to write through them, and it’s interesting stuff! Three different animators are hard at work on the animated portions, and I’m locked away in the studio with the puppets. The original songs are produced and done, just waiting for the puppets to lip-sync their way through them like Milli Vanilli (who were also puppets, weren’t they?).
When you start out by saying, “We’re going to walk your kids ALL the way through the Bible!” it doesn’t really dawn on you at the time that you’ve just committed to walking kids ALL the way through the Bible. Even the hard parts. Even Leviticus, for heaven sake! But so we are, and so we shall! And we’ll all learn a thing or two in the process! (Yes, even me. I confess I hadn’t spent a ton of time in the book of Leviticus – until now. Leviticus and I have become very well acquainted. First name basis.)
This third DVD will be in stores this summer, with the fourth coming in the Fall. We’re flying!
Well, I need to drink some tea and get back in the studio… it’s “Clive and Ian” day. (Ian is convinced the “Levites” are the folks who make his blue jeans. Clive has to set him straight on that one.)
Only 3 weeks until launch time! Stay tuned for more news…
Is God in this?
January 29, 20106 CommentsThis morning in my devotions I was rereading the notes I had taken from Henry Blackaby’s study on the book of Samuel, and I came across this quote from Mr. Blackaby:
“To tell the people that He is with us in all of His power when there is no evidence of it in our lives is a betrayal to God’s people.”
This convicted me when I first read it 7 years ago, and it convicted me again this morning. It’s so easy for us as leaders to stand up in front and proclaim God’s awesome power. They hear it in our messages and our praise choruses. But do they see it in our lives? I mean, really? Is God’s power visible in our lives? Or is it just lip service?
I’m about to launch a series of DVDs that rather boldly proclaim God’s power. We’ve shown samples to the children’s ministry leaders of several denominations, and they’ve found it so impactful they’re looking for ways to use it across thousands of churches. One curriculum leader at a major denomination said, “There is nothing like this out there. There has never been anything like this out there.”
Wow. That’s pretty exciting to hear. It makes me feel like we’re on the right track – like we’re on to something here.
But… this will only reach its potential if God shows up in it. If His power is manifest in this work, and, more importantly, in my life. Am I just giving God lip service? Just repeating things I’ve heard in a million praise choruses? Or am I bearing witness to a God who has made Himself present in my life? Am I focusing on the work, or on God?
How about you guys? The world doesn’t need to see how clever we are. The world needs to see the manifest presence of God in our lives. The power of God. On the canvas of humanity. It doesn’t matter what comes out of my mouth, if it isn’t coming out in my life.
Thanks for the reminder, Henry.
Welcome to the start of something new!
January 19, 20104 Comments20 years ago, watching a smiling, one-toothed cucumber take his first tentative steps across my computer screen, I had no idea what I was in for. The birth of VeggieTales® in my spare bedroom would lead to a wild rollercoaster ride over the next decade as we learned what an effective teaching tool limbless vegetables could be.
Throughout the 1990s, as the home video revolution swept Bob and Larry into households across America, we were able to bring key Bible stories and biblical values to life in a whole new way. But even at the peak of “veggie-mania” in the late 1990s, it was beginning to dawn on me that we were teaching Christian values, but not really teaching Christianity. We were teaching key Bible stories, but not teaching the entire Bible.
It was easy to present exciting, cinematic stories like Daniel and the Lion’s Den or Jonah and the Whale, but much harder to teach abstract concepts like, say, sin, redemption or God’s grace. Yet that is what we need most of all. Half of adult Protestants in America today can’t define the word “grace.” Christian colleges report that incoming freshmen – kids from Christian homes – know less and less about the Bible each year. Do they know the story of David and Goliath? Sure. They saw it in VeggieTales. But do they understand how the stories of David and Israel fit in to God’s redemptive plan for history – the one that they’re still a part of today? Not a clue.
According to the latest research, 65% of kids from Christian homes today stop attending church as soon as they graduate from high school. Our kids don’t find our faith meaningful enough to stay engaged into adulthood. Many experts believe real, meaningful engagement begins with a thorough understanding of the Bible – of why we’re here. The purpose of life. Knowing individual Bible stories is beneficial. But knowing the overall story of God and what he’s done for us through history is absolutely vital.
And so it’s time to start something new. It’s called What’s in the Bible? – and it is an attempt, over 13 DVDs, to walk kids all the way through the Bible from Genesis to Revelation, creating a foundation for them to build on for the rest of their lives. Call it “Christianity 101.” The beginning of a lifetime spent walking with God.
It is, frankly speaking, the most challenging – and exciting – project I can imagine.
Welcome to a whole new way to pass on our faith to our kids!
