Tag: Bible
What Did You Get Jesus for His Birthday?
As you’re busy putting the last strand of twinkle lights away in the attic, the last thing you probably want to read is something to do with Christmas, right? It was great, and a good time was had by all, but come on Lisa, it’s January and we want to get on with the newness of our year and look forward– not back.
I get it. I really do. But I wanted to share a little something with you guys that impacted the way I entered into this this new year, and it all started on Christmas Eve.
I’m not overtly materialistic, but I need to reign things in on Christmas morning so I don’t become overwhelmed in all the “presents” and forget to celebrate His “presence”. Does that happen to you, too? Do you struggle to keep CHRIST in Christmas?
On Christmas Eve it’s our tradition to sit around the tree and discuss what it is we are about to celebrate. We reign each other in before the craziness of Santa Claus and the reindeer and the toys take over our every thought. Right before bedtime we read the story of Jesus’ birth from the book of Luke. Thankfully, my kids understand first and foremost it’s Jesus’ birthday that we are celebrating!!
This year after we read from our family Bible, my youngest son asked me a little question that has had a great impact on me. He asked, “What did we get Jesus for His birthday?” As I sat and thought about that question, I had no idea how to answer him. Truthfully, I was sort of speechless. Gee, What DID we get Jesus for His birthday?
My son knows that in our house, birthdays are a big deal! It was a perfectly great question, and I was left wondering, what does Jesus want for His birthday, anyway?
The answers can vary, and I assume, be pretty personal. I did some research and after looking into scripture, LOVE seems to be a pretty big deal to our Lord!
When we turn to The Word we see that the love Jesus teaches us to emulate is an action, not simply a feeling. Love God, with your whole being—all you’ve got,”with all your passion and prayer and muscle and intelligence” (Luke 10:27 The Message) and, love your neighbor as yourself.
In another setting, Jesus responds to a question about God’s final accounting (Matthew 25:31-40). Those who inherit the Kingdom (receive God’s blessing) are those who feed the hungry, give drink to the thirsty, provide a room for the homeless, clothes for the poor, and spend time with the sick and those incarcerated. This is true faithfulness and love for Christ: “Whenever you did one of these things to someone overlooked or ignored, that was me—you did it to me” (Matthew 25:40 The Message).
Later, to Christians, Paul spelled it out even more: Love must be genuine (Romans 12:9). Genuine love is expressed through mutual affection (being really good friends), playing second fiddle, energetically persevering in caring, inventive, entrepreneurial in hospitality to strangers and good friends alike, blessing enemies, sharing the laughter and tears of others, living in harmony with all, with humility. Real love refrains from revenge and judgment, looks for the best in everyone, lets God judge, and takes the initiative in doing simple acts of kindness and generosity.
Is it just me, or does this sound exactly like Christmastime?
Christmas is the one time of the year when most of us really try to actively love our fellow man. We give MORE of ourselves, we judge others LESS and we LOVE without hesitation. In fact, the act of forgiveness is more abundant during this season than any other time of the year!
What if for his birthday present we choose to give Jesus the gift of following His “love plan” throughout the whole upcoming year? Living like it’s Christmastime towards our fellow man for the next 365 days; sharing the Light of the World all year, not just one month out of the year!
That’s my resoultion for 2011. Its inception came about on Christmas Eve, thanks to a child who was innocently wondering how we could celebrate a very special birthday.
Merry rest of the year, my friends!!
Transformed by the Word
Probably like many of you, turning the clocks back this weekend has made me feel out of sync. My body got used to Daylight Savings Time, and I liked the routine I had developed over the summer months. Yes, I know that by mid-December I will have re-learned what 7AM feels like in Standard Time, but why do we have to change? I’m not sure I enjoy having my pre-scheduled life interrupted, transformed or shuffled around.
Change is difficult. It’s something that’s not naturally embraced. Routine, on the other hand, is reassuring and comfortable. But change does occur, and as Christians we are called by Christ to change (transform) our very character. A transformation of self into more of what God has created us to be.
We spend a lot of time talking about Bible literacy and how that literacy applies to our children. But what about us? Being scripturally literate may seem like a natural process when one is raised in the Church. No doubt, most of us know our Bible stories. Many of us may even have significant knowledge about the history of the Israelites, the early Christian Church and we can probably rattle off some pertinent facts about the Reformation. But is that what it means to be truly Biblically literate?
There is a difference between knowing what’s written in the Bible, and being totally changed by the Word. Perhaps that’s where we must start when defining our own Biblical literacy.
We know that the Bible is more than just a book. The purpose of God’s Word is to transform us. He gives to us His Spirit to assist us in applying that Truth; not only in our own lives, but in ways where we are called to become His hands and feet in the lives of the rest of the world!
I remember reading a blog post that equated merely reading the Bible, without applying its truths, to that of having a sports car sitting in the garage and never using it. Every now and then the owner might simply sit in the car and pretend to drive it; but in reality it would never move out of the garage. That awesome car would never be used! What a waste!
What about this “transformation”? How will I know when God has worked this miracle within me and I’m not just staggering around, sort of like I was this morning, trying to embrace an uncomfortable change?
When we think of being transformed by God’s Word, the one example that comes to mind are the fruits of the Spirit. “But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control. Against such things there is no law. Those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the sinful nature with its passions and desires. Since we live by the Spirit, let us keep in step with the Spirit. Let us not become conceited, provoking and envying each other.” Gal. 5:22-26
We are called to not only know what’s written in God’s Word, but to live it. It’s an action-verb, not merely a state of being.
Perhaps that is Bible literacy in its truest form. Being changed from within, and being able to model God’s own character to the world.
Of course we need to make getting into God’s Word a priority in life. Studying it, letting it envelope us; transforming our minds and hearts, and then asking for Wisdom in how God is asking us to use this new heart for His Kingdom. I’m personally in need of greater accountability in this area, because I have many times let my priorities go haywire!
My prayer today is for those of us on this site; that God continues to transform our minds and hearts to be more like His, and that we choose to invite that life-altering transformation into our lives!
Let’s discuss this further. How has God’s Word transformed you?
Meet Liz from Jellyfish Labs
Meet Liz, a Jellyfish Labs team member in our Chicago office. Liz writes, reads, researches, administrates, and does pretty much everything else we ask! She’s pretty fantastic and will be blogging fairly regularly about all the behind-the-scenes happenings at the studio. And all of those behind-the-scenes photos on Facebook? Yeah, that’s Liz too.
Here’s some of the Jellyfish Team in Denver. Phil’s on the far left, then Paul (Chief Creative), Liz, and Tim (Business Affairs).
There are only a few of us who occupy the Jellyfish Labs studio so my days are sometimes filled with the most miscellaneous of projects. But my absolute favorite task has been working on the 100+ scripts I’ve gotten to write for JellyTelly and Jellyfish Labs.
The first scripts I wrote were comedy segments like Pirate Etiquette and God’s Amazing Animals. Clive and Ian quickly became my favorite characters to write for–Getting to play both sides of a straight man/funny man duo is such a treat! Then a couple years ago came the assignment to write for Clive and Ian as they talked about faith and values. Not a big deal right? Well maybe not for a mom or an older sibling….but for me, well, I quickly hit a wall.
You see, I’ve almost always been the youngest one in the room. Youngest sibling, youngest student and now youngest coworker. And while being quite childlike myself, I haven’t had much experience with children and have limited experience talking to them, let alone teaching them! How exactly…was I supposed to explain the whys and hows of values and scripture to kids? I was a little befuddled but ever grateful for the opportunity to figure it out.
As I muddled my way through the first few scripts I would often pop into our business manager’s office to ask a question about how old a child would need to be to understand this or that theological concept. And I would often be reminded that I was making it too complicated. We have a funny way of doing that with God, don’t we? Not only was I making the scripts too complicated, but I quickly saw how I had made my application of theology and values too complicated in my own life.
Over the next 20-30 scripts, God simplified things. He slowly re-walked me through the hows and whys of values and the hows and whys of knowing Him more deeply. He reminded me over and over until it sunk in, that we don’t live out values because they always make our lives better—sometimes they make things tougher. He reminded me that we don’t pursue values because they’re nice but because they are characteristics of Christ and we are called to be transformed into His image. And most importantly He reminded me that it was not my job to transform myself and discipline myself to do these values but that it’s the work of the Holy Spirit IN me that transforms me.
I don’t have any children at the moment, but I am thankful to know that when the time comes for kids, that I won’t just have the information to teach them, but also the example to model for them. Not just because of what God is doing in my life personally, but because I am blessed to work in an office where we don’t just try to come up with the right answers—we desire to live out the truths we are sharing. And in the midst of work assignments and scheduling, we are given the grace and space to allow the Holy Spirit into what we do so we all end up transformed.
Finding your life verse
Do you have a life verse? If you are unfamiliar with what this is, it’s a verse from scripture that speaks to your heart, almost as though it was written for just you. It’s very personal, and usually there is a story behind why we are drawn to that particular Bible verse.
This concept of a “life verse” was pretty foreign to me until about ten years ago, when I started hearing many Christian speakers talk more and more about their own “life verse” and tying it into their personal testimonies. I liked the idea, and sought out my very own life verse.
Like trying on dresses, I looked in some of my favorite books of the Bible, starting with Romans. Good stuff, but nothing seemed to fit. I went on to Psalms. David was so lyrical when writing this book; surely I could find something beautiful that fit my own life. Nope. I liked a lot of verses, but as soon as I closed the Bible, I couldn’t remember the verse. Like Cinderella’s step sister who wanted that pretty glass slipper to fit over her rather large and not-so-pretty foot… these verses were lovely, but didn’t fit me.
Over the next several years, I put the life verse search out of my mind since I was truly busy with my own life, children and marriage. Honestly I began to think that maybe I didn’t need one. If asked, I was just planning on saying something really pseudo-intelligent, like “How can ONE verse define my life when the whole Bible is so full of truth and relevance?” Truth is, even in this, God’s timing was different than mine.
Let’s fast forward ahead to October 2006. Our marriage had gone through quite a rough patch, and just as we were getting our lives back on track, my husband was diagnosed with a life threatening auto-immune disease that had caused him to go into renal failure. While my husband fought to get into remission for several months, it was in the spring of 2008 that we received the diagnosis that my youngest son had autism.
It was a crazy time for my family. I felt so unprepared to deal with everything that I had been given. There were days I felt like I was carrying the weight of the world on my shoulders. Through it all, I never felt God had abandoned us, but I was so scared. I remember trying to devour books on all the medical conditions and treatment options that my loved ones were going through. If I inundated myself with facts, it would take my mind off of the “what if’s”. It worked… for a little while. Then the knowledge itself overtook my fear of the unknown! What is that saying? — Too much knowledge can be a bad thing? Yes, it can be!
We were left fighting a disease that would not respond to traditional therapies. My husband, now on dialysis, was in need of a kidney transplant. But we couldn’t even begin that process until he reached a state of remission. The transplant process, once started meant more months (or years) of waiting and watching! Would we find a donor or would he be placed on the almost ten-year waiting list? Would his disease flare within that time period and knock him off the list?
At this point he was so ill, that all he could do was work a little then come home and sleep. Because of my background in medicine, many of the medical decisions were left up to me. It was a frightening place to be. I felt so inadequate, but at the same time, knew that we had no other advocate. So I pressed on, and continued to pray.
My prayer became one of desperation, “Please God, tell me what to do… Give me a direction.”
It was during one of my husband’s chemotherapy infusions that I was reading my Bible. I came across Proverbs 3: 5-6 “Trust in the LORD with all your heart, and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways acknowledge Him, And He shall direct your paths.”
Upon reading this passage, the weight seemed to lift off of my shoulders! The tears that streamed down my face were the validation that I had finally found my life verse. It was a verse that would never have meant as much to me in the years before I had lived through this season of life. But at that moment, I felt as though that verse had been written just for me. It defined me, inspired me, and to this day, still strengthens me.
Almost a year after being diagnosed, and several therapies, my husband did finally reach remission. After going through a year and a half of dialysis and being placed on the UNOS waiting list, he was blessed to receive a healthy kidney, donated by his cousin, in November of 2008. He is still in remission! He and his new kidney are doing great!
Have you found your life verse? Please share it with us, and if you are willing to tell us, we’d love to hear your story!
Teaching the simple truths that shape our faith
My main goal on the days I blog here is build relationship through dialogue. Agree or disagree…let’s talk! I’d love to hear your opinions on the subjects about which I write. Do they touch you? Anger you? Bless you? Do you agree with a hearty AMEN!–Or desire to discuss why I’m way off base? Look for my blog posts every Tuesday and every other Thursday. It’ll hopefully be a little diversion from the usual…
Organic. It’s my new favorite word. It even sounds clean and simple. Plus, I think I’m at a place in my life where simplicity totally trumps extravagance! I grew up in the fat 80’s, so take my word on this!
Today I went to the local Farmer’s Market and picked up a bunch of produce for the coming week. I love knowing that the stuff I feed my family is not sprayed with toxic pesticides or other synthetic chemicals. Fruits and veggies, fresh from the farm. Simple. — And yeah, a little dirt and a few bugs. But that stuff is just all part of the “organic” experience. Ask any organic food user; seeing the dirt, pebbles and tiny bugs wash off the lettuce, strawberries and spinach and then down the drain, is cathartic in some strange way! Washed clean.
It got me to thinking. In my walk of faith, I wonder if I can apply the term “organic” and still be in line with God’s Word. What do you think? Are we called to live an organic faith IN Jesus? What does that even mean?
When I looked up the definition for “organic”, the three words that were used to define it, were: fundamental, systemic and living. Further decoding of these words to get to their meaning, was an amazing revelation:
Fundamental: Our foundation.
Systemic: Affecting the whole body
Living: Referring to life– to exist
Wow! Is it just me, or does that sound exactly like what the Bible and our faith is all about? Even what Jesus’ whole message is about!– and let’s not forget the mystery of our salvation, through grace! Big, yes. HUGE, in fact! But a simple truth.
I’m not saying that following a life of faith is EASY. It’s not even remotely easy. It’s application in our lives can be down-right difficult! The “building character” part of our walk can cause emotional and even physical pain! Unfortunately, simple and clean DO NOT necessarily equal easy and painless.
What about the pesticides? What things can be toxic to my faith-walk? My best, yet condensed answer would be, anything that keeps us from our growing relationship with Jesus. Whether that means the world, self, or even (..and I’m hiding behind my computer desk as I write this…) RELIGIOSITY! Because Organic faith means Christ ALIVE in us!
Perhaps that’s why for many of us parents and ministry leaders, we gravitate so comfortably into the Christian children’s media genre. Speaking for myself, I just love the no-nonsense approach that a product like What’s in the Bible? uses to teach. It is 100% truth…not watered down, but simply-stated. I like that! My very tired mommy-brain likes that, too!
Most of the time I don’t need all the bells and whistles when it comes to learning about or growing in relationship with Christ. I’m done jumping through all the man-made hoops in order to feel worthy of His love, truly forgiven, or saved. He is my gift. I accepted Him fully into my heart, and realize that He now is in charge of my life– even if my human nature / control freak / OCD kicks in throughout the day, and I momentarily forget.
Grace; Clean and simple, but sometimes difficult to totally comprehend.
One of my favorite choices for comparing wording and having a cleaner application to Scripture is, The Message. While most of us know John 3:16 by heart, this is John 3: 16-18 (The Message):
16-18″This is how much God loved the world: He gave his Son, his one and only Son. And this is why: so that no one need be destroyed; by believing in him, anyone can have a whole and lasting life. God didn’t go to all the trouble of sending his Son merely to point an accusing finger, telling the world how bad it was. He came to help, to put the world right again. Anyone who trusts in him is acquitted; anyone who refuses to trust him has long since been under the death sentence without knowing it. And why? Because of that person’s failure to believe in the one-of-a-kind Son of God when introduced to him.
Organic, indeed!
What are your thoughts on this? Is this approach too small or simple for something so big??
What’s in the Bible? Episode Plan
Thanks 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!
Guest Blog: “Bible! Bible, please!”
Here is this week’s guest blog from our friend across the pond, Ruth:
As a Brit ‘What’s In The Bible’ only arrived in my life, and therefore the lives of my family, about a month and a half ago. It all started when my Mum sent me a link to the YouTube clip of Phil promoting the DVD with the comment “What do you think?” In response to this, being a huge VeggieTales fan of old and trusting Phil would not let me down, I immediately sent her a message back saying “Looks good, just bought them!” DVD’s 1 and 2 (the only ones currently available in the UK) arrived in my house 4 days later and one or other has been watched at least once every day since.
I always thought my Bible knowledge was ok, but my knowledge of church history was (is!) pretty poor. The ‘Pirate’s guide to Church History’ is sheer genius and has such a wonderful way of presenting information that I now actually feel able to explain how the books of the Bible ended up as they are. Did I think that would ever happen? Not until I started watching this.
In my ‘previous life’ as a high school science teacher I was regularly quizzed with the “How old is the Earth?” dilemma. I’m so pleased to see that these DVD’s are embracing the ‘Tricky Bits’ that children have no qualms about asking because I know that my children will want to know the answers (or at least the options for the answers) too!
Now, as the mother of a very inquisitive 21 month old boy and a 4 month old girl I wondered how they would handle the concept of ‘What’s in the Bible’. I needn’t have worried! Granted, they might not understand everything that is being explained but the day (2 weeks after getting them) John looked at the DVD player and TV and said “Bible! Bible please!” (See video!) I laughed with much joy. He loves the fast pace, now knows some of the characters and dances to the songs with a huge smile on his face. His particular favourites are the theme tune and the Genesis song by the Fabulous Bentley Brothers. If he learns the words for those as quickly as he has learned to say ‘Bible’ then I will indeed be a happy Mummy. What more could I ask than my children grow up with a love of God, a faith in Christ and a desire to know more about Him and to get into His word? It looks like these DVD’s are already going a long way to fulfil the latter of those hopes and I am so grateful.
My only quibble is this, why do we Brits have to wait so much longer than our American friends to get the next episodes? Perhaps this is just another of the ways God is teaching me patience?!
“Puppets give key Bible lessons” – A Review
Here’s a great review from Marketta Gregory at the Rochester Democrat and Chronicle. Thanks, Marketta, for capturing the heart of What’s in the Bible? so well!
PUPPETS GIVE KEY BIBLE LESSONS
I’ve heard many feisty sermons — the kind that step on toes and challenge even good, moral people to improve. Those are the sermons you remember years later.
Sometimes those sermons are delivered by clergy. Sometimes by a frail grandmother who refuses to complain. Or, in my case, by a kids’ show.
The guy who created VeggieTales, Phil Vischer, just came out with a new DVD series this month called What’s in the Bible (Tyndale, $14.99). Even though everyone loves his singing vegetables with their great lessons, Vischer wanted to provide more context — more of the big picture — for kids and the adults they hang out with.
“Through Sunday School and kids’ videos like VeggieTales, kids get snapshots from the Bible. Moses. Noah. Jesus. They’re like pictures in a photo album,” Vischer told me. “What we’re missing is the ‘connective tissue.’ What does Jesus have to do with Moses? What does any of this have to do with Adam and Eve? How do all these stories fit together to tell one story, and how does that one story explain our world today?”
I kept that in mind as I watched the first video. I thought my 11-year-old was going to roll off the couch laughing at some of the clever jokes and silly songs. But I was busy thinking of something else: the realization that I have never read the Bible cover to cover.
I’ve tried to read it straight through several times, and I know I’m not alone — even local places like Browncroft Community Church in Penfield have huge initiatives to get people reading more. But this is one time I don’t feel comfort in numbers.
I’ve done lots of devotionals and Bible studies that are based on one book or one theme. I’ve jotted notes as ministers read from the pulpit. I’ve even considered myself pretty knowledgeable about the Bible, when in reality, I’ve only read the CliffsNotes. And I haven’t even read those in order.
I’d never open up another bestseller and start reading in the middle and then jump back to the second chapter. That would make it almost impossible to follow the plot. Yet I do that all the time to a book that’s central to my faith. And it took some puppets to teach me that.
Thank God for challenging sermons, no matter how they are delivered.
Do You Know What’s in the Bible?
Who translated the Vulgate?
What IS the Vulgate?
Can you name Noah’s 3 sons? What about Noah’s wife?
What does “Genesis” mean?
How many books are in the New Testament? The Old? Both?
Did the answers to those questions pop into your head as soon as you read them? Did you have to stop and think? Did you know all? Some? None?
What’s in the Bible? aims to confront the growing crisis of Bible illiteracy within the Church. It’s more than a DVD series; it’s a movement aimed at our children and their families, at churches and pastors … at Christians who know Bible stories, but may not know all that much about the Bible itself.
We want to test your Bible knowledge, with questions like the ones we’ve listed above. Are you up for the challenge? Here’s how it works:
- Go to Facebook and click the “sweepstakes” tab or Twitter
- Enter the sweepstakes
- Take the 8 question quiz to see if you know What’s in the Bible? (all of the questions are from DVD 1 & 2)
- Tell as many of your friends as you can!
We will announce TEN winners of a special AUTOGRAPHED DVD on Monday, Feb. 22!
Have fun!
