Tag: DVD 1
Another Review of What’s in the Bible? Church Edition
November 17, 20101 Comment
A little over a month ago the Children’s Ministry at Evangelical Free Church of Wauconda, IL had a chance to test What’s in the Bible? Church Edition and we greatly enjoyed the opportunity. The new curriculum based on the What’s in the Bible? DVDs provided a great break and helped teach some Bible basics while keeping the children actively engaged.
I’ll be honest, the curriculum will work best if you are used to a video driven model (like KIDMO), which we are not. Nonetheless, our children live in a video-driven world and they easily made the transition to the video-activity- video-activity sequence. There were a few bugs that the team needed to work out, still, our children enjoyed the characters, the songs, and the learning.
As a parent, I’ve appreciated the solid teaching from Jelly-Telly.com and the What’s in the Bible? DVDs so the curriculum seemed to be another way to promote basic Bible understanding to parents. As a Children’s minister, I appreciated it’s ease of use and the engagement of our children.
We used it in our 90-min children’s church and, while it’s not yet been incorporated into our scope and sequence, we plan to find a place to use it on a regular basis. It’s something that we can use as a filler, as part of a regular program, or when we lack a large group teacher. If you think that there will ever be a week in your ministry where you’ll need something quick and simple, you cannot go wrong by having this as a backup. However, if you can find a place to use it regularly I’m sure you and your children will benefit greatly.
Curriculum Launch Week Online Directory
November 16, 2010CommentOne of our curriculum directors, Amy Dolan of Lemon Lime Kids, posted this helpful online directory for all of the things happening around the What’s in the Bible? Church Edition launch this week. Check it out and have fun!
In celebration of the what’s in the bible? curriculum release, we’ve organized a whole bunch of super fun online activities! i’ll use this post as a directory for those activities, continually updating throughout the week. be sure to visit the sites for curriculum discounts, character videos, and photo opportunities:
Look Mother! I’ve Taken Over Henry’s Blog
Cory Center for Children’s Ministry: Buck Denver Photo Op
Saved Sister: Buck Denver Photos AND Wendy’s CMConnect Post
Wayne Stocks DVD 1 Review AND Buck Denver Photos
Deborah Loyless’ Curriculum Review
CMConnect Live Chat Thursday w/ Phil Vischer
Buck Denver’s Profile Page on CMConnect
@whatsinthebible on Twitter AND What’s in the Bible? Facebook Group
Curriculum Sneak Peek
November 4, 201010 CommentsWe’re anxiously awaiting the release of the What’s in the Bible? Church Edition. Are you?
Amy posted over at her blog yesterday asking if you had any questions about the curriculum. Lots of people asked and she answered! Check it out if you are interested in some of the details.
We’re in the final stages of production before the big launch and we just got in our final cover! Take a look … what do you think?
FRONT:
BACK:
A Video Preview of the What’s in the Bible? Curriculum
October 13, 20103 CommentsLooking to learn more about the What’s in the Bible? curriculum coming out next month? Check out this training video:
The What’s in the Bible? Curriculum is coming in November!
September 1, 201023 Comments
Not every Sunday School Lady (or Gentleman!) has a magic flannelgraph … and those that don’t will soon be able to have the next-best-thing to teach children about the Bible!
Sunday School Lady, Buck Denver, Clive & Ian, and the whole What’s in the Bible? crew will be available to come to a Sunday School near you starting November 15, 2010.
DVD 1 will release November 15, and DVDs 2-4 will be ready in January 2011. Each DVD features 4 weeks of lessons and will be available physically or digitally.
Here are some highlights:
- Videos, music and more from Phil Vischer
Each lesson features videos from Phil Vischer’s new series What’s in the Bible? as well as music and interactive games. See an example at the bottom of this page.
- Bible literacy
Bible literacy-focused lessons aim to teach children more than just Bible stories, but how all the little stories fit together to tell one BIG story of God and what He’s done for us.
- Comprehensive and chronological
13 DVDs will walk your class through the Bible from GENESIS to REVELATION! It’s a comprehensive and chronological look at God’s Word.
- Flexible format
The flexible format means you can use What’s in the Bible? in the way that works best for YOU! Large group-small group? Just large group? Either one works! You can also download and customize the lessons to suit your class.
- Mobile access for leaders
Leaders will have access to a mobile web site to help them prepare for each week’s lesson from anywhere. They can also lead from their smart phone on Sunday mornings using the online leaders’ guides.
- Family interaction
Families can interact with the What’s in the Bible? characters, videos, and lessons online. Family activities and a weekly “Big Question” will help parents keep up with what their kids are learning at church and give families ways to learn more about the Bible together!
Here’s a sample video from the DVD 1 Curriculum:
What’s in the Bible? London Premiere
May 13, 20104 CommentsThe puppets are taking over London!
Not really, but the reception for What’s in the Bible? in the UK has been outstanding! While we don’t have pictures of Clive and Ian with the Queen or Agnes and Winnifred having high tea, we do have some snapshots that Phil sent home for us to share. Enjoy!
Here’s the theatre where What’s in the Bible? premiered to a crowd in Notting Hill. (Remember the movie “Notting Hill”? This is the theatre where Hugh Grant watched a movie wearing his prescription scuba mask.)
Here’s Phil in a phone booth:
Posters and punch glasses at the premiere:
Buck Denver’s Hopping the Pond!
April 14, 20108 CommentsGreat news for all of our British friends … Buck Denver and crew will be headed your way soon!
We’re excited to announce a brand new partnership with Kingsway, who will be distributing What’s in the Bible? in the United Kingdom. We expect that Clive and Ian will feel right at home and that folks abroad will learn to love them and all the other characters quite quickly. The first DVDs are tentatively set to release sometime in May. We’ll keep you posted as we get more details!
We’re really excited about all of the fun things Kingsway has planned for the series, and can’t wait to see how quickly What’s in the Bible? spreads across the globe. We’re working on a deal for Australia and New Zealand that hopefully we can announce soon.
Where else would you like to see What’s in the Bible?
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…
“Puppets give key Bible lessons” – A Review
March 8, 20105 CommentsHere’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?
February 16, 201010 CommentsWho 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!
