Tag: Phil Vischer
Phil Vischer talks to Focus on the Family about Easter
Last week, Phil Vischer was a guest on the Focus on the Family Daily Broadcast with Jim Daly, Dr. Juli Slattery and John Fuller. Phil discussed how to teach kids about Easter, as well as talked about What’s in the Bible? and parenting through the different stages of a child’s life.
You can listen to the full broadcast here.
Here are some of our favorite moments from the broadcast:
On Easter
“You had a debt you couldn’t pay and Jesus paid it for you. And that’s what we’re celebrating. So, you focus on the celebration. To move away from the secular view of Easter, I think one important point is to celebrate the whole week. Celebrate Holy Week.”
“Easter is the Super Bowl of Christian holidays, not Christmas. So, I think the first step is to put Christmas back in its place and say, “Hey, Jesus was born. Isn’t that wonderful? What does that point us towards?” It points towards Easter. Now you’re thinking of Easter all through the year.”
“That’s one of the things I don’t like about in when we turn holidays into huge productions, is that it implies that all of this meaning is confined to a certain day of the year and we’re not living in it. You know, we need to be steeped in Easter. We’re in the soup of Easter, you know.”
“We don’t go to Easter to learn about Jesus. We go to Easter to celebrate what we know already. “
On Teaching Kids of Different Ages
Jim Daly: When you look at it for your own kids, I mean, when you look at age 5, what do you really want them to understand? At age 10, what should they be grasping?
Phil Vischer: At 5, I think Resurrection Eggs are actually a really good tool, because you take something they enjoy, coloring eggs and the notion of eggs and bring the story of Jesus out of it. There are also tools like The Jesus Storybook Bible, which is a version of the Bible that points to how Jesus is the subtext behind every story. It’s an amazing little Bible storybook that’s become very popular. Those are the things you start with kids when they’re 5, tools that use things they like–picture books, eggs–to bring the story of Jesus out in a very kid-friendly way.
When you’re 10, you’re ready to look at images of the cross. So, you can actually start to feed ‘em. As you get into grade school, as you get towards 10, we need to think, okay, why isn’t the world the way you would like it to be? Why isn’t school the way you would like it to be? Why are you having conflicts with your friends? Why does nothing seem to work the way you would like it to work? Let’s talk about sin. And sin is something that is in all of us and ruins our relationships and makes everything harder and we can’t be with God, because He’s holy and we’re not. He’s perfect and we’re not. He’s got a standard that’s way up here and no matter what kind of gym shoes we have on, we can’t jump that high. We can’t meet God where He is. And that’s where you’re telling the Gospel. That’s where you’re presenting the Gospel. So, for an 8-, 9-, 10-year-old, which is why with What’s in the Bible?, which is geared for that age kids, we’re really hitting the Gospel.
Did you listen to the broadcast? What were some of your favorite moments?
Orlando CPC 2012 Recap
Phil Vischer speaks with INCM Executive Director Michael Chanley at the opening session of CPC 2012.
The What’s in the Bible? team had the privilege to travel south to Orlando for a few days last week to hang out with about 1500 amazing children’s pastors at CPC 2012 (Children’s Pastors Conference). What a joy it was to spend time with so many energetic, creative and passionate children’s ministry leaders! Phil spoke at the opening ceremony about the importance of Biblical education for the next generation – and he definitely made an impact, because there was a 2-hour wait in line to meet him afterward! We got to hear so many stories from children’s pastors who are utilizing the What’s in the Bible? Church Edition in their ministries … and I can’t count the number of times we were asked, “when is the next one coming out?” (March, for those of you wondering!)
We spent a lot of time listening to and brainstorming with people who are really on the front lines of children’s ministry. We came away with LOTS of ideas, many of which we are looking to implement over the next few months. If you’re a children’s ministry leader or volunteer and you couldn’t make it to CPC or didn’t get a chance to talk to us, we’d love to hear from you too! What are things we can be doing to better serve you? What are some critical needs in the world of children’s ministry resources? Our ears are open! Share some of your thoughts in the comments section.
An Excerpt from Phil’s Autobiography – Now for Sale!
In 2006, Phil Vischer wrote a book. Me, Myself, & Bob: A True Story About Dreams, God, and Talking Vegetables tells the story of Phil’s journey through creating the VeggieTales series, losing his production company Big Idea in bankruptcy court, and how God used that experience.
Phil Vischer’s dream, known to the world as VeggieTales, changed the landscape of children’s media. But most people have no idea of the intense struggle its creator would endure as he tried to build – then witnessed the tremendous fall – of a new media empire for God.
This is a story of dreaming big and working hard, of spectacular success and breathtaking failure, of shouted questions, and at long last, whispered answers. With trademark wit and heart, Phil shares an amazing story that shows how God can use our failures and the death of a dream to point us toward true success.
For the first time, we’re offering Phil’s book for sale in the What’s in the Bible? store! You can pick up a copy today here.
Download the first chapter to read here: Me Myself and Bob Chapter 1.
Phil Vischer on Fox News Live
What’s in the Bible?‘s very own Phil Vischer (founder of Jellyfish Labs) talked about his vision for the series and some of his favorite parts of Why Do We Call It Christmas? on Fox News Live this afternoon.
Missed it? No worries! We recorded it just for you. Let us know what you think!
SpongeBob Gets Phil on Fox News!
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…
Phil Vischer to speak on WABC on Tuesday
What’s in the Bible? and VeggieTales creator Phil Vischer will speak Tuesday, Sept. 13 at 5:50 AM CST on The Curtis Sliwa Show on New York’s WABC radio. You can listen to the show live at AM 970 The Apple’s web site.
Vischer will speak about a new study recently published which found that 4-year olds who watched nine minutes of the fast-paced SpongeBob Square Pants cartoon from Nickelodeon did worse on tasks requiring focus and self control than kids who watched a slower-paced cartoon.
But Phil Vischer, one of television’s most notable creators of children’s programs, is not surprised at all by the findings. Vischer is the creator of the animated children’s series, Veggie Tales, which sold more than 50 million copies. His newest series, Buck Denver Asks…What’s In The Bible?, uses puppets and animation to teach children about the tenets of Christianity through Bible stories.
According to Vischer, “Producers are forced to pace shows faster and faster to hold kid’s attention – to keep them from looking away. The same dynamic is also true for parents, illustrated by cable news giving us shorter and shorter stories, and packing in more onscreen graphics, crawls, etc. As if no human could possibly sit with one story for more than 30 seconds.”
Vischer says that some of the “acceleration of kid’s TV” credit goes to the popular, long-running PBS series Sesame Street. “The show was explicitly inspired by 30 second TV commercials for their format, rather than the slower, longer formats of other shows of the era such as Mr. Rogers.”
With Vischer’s own children’s programs, the producer says he tries to mix it up with a fast-paced story but bookended by slower, Mr. Rogers-style hosting segments. “Kids can be entertained by a fast-paced story, but we need to slow things down if they’re going to find meaning in the events they have seen,” said Vischer.
Shows like SpongeBob (and other elementary/’tween targeted programs) don’t have “finding meaning” as an objective, said Vischer. Therefore, the producers don’t feel the need to slow down, ever. “It’s like sitting a kid in front of a strobe light. He can’t look away,” Vischer said.
Phil Vischer at CPC 2011 – Part 3
Here is Part 3 of Phil’s speech at the Children’s Pastors Conference. You can watch Part One here and Part Two here.
Phil Vischer at Children’s Pastors Conference – Part Two
Here is Part Two of Phil’s speech at the Children’s Pastors Conference a few weeks ago. You can watch Part One here.
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Phil’s interviews at Focus on the Family (Part Two)
Last week, Phil Vischer participated in a 2-part series of interviews at Focus on the Family in which he discusses the painful lessons he learned from giving up his dreams with VeggieTales and the hope he found when God gave him a new vision for the future.
Here’s part two:
You can listen to part one here.
Phil’s interviews at Focus on the Family (Part One)
Last week, Phil Vischer participated in a 2-part series of interviews at Focus on the Family in which he discusses the painful lessons he learned from giving up his dreams with VeggieTales and the hope he found when God gave him a new vision for the future.
Listen here.
Part one:
For Part two, you can listen here.
