A few weeks ago, Phil had the opportunity to give the keynote speech at the Children’s Pastors Conference in Orlando, Florida.
In Part One, he talks about how he struggled after the bankruptcy of Big Idea and tells the story of how he found his motivation to produce Christian children’s media again.
“Then one day as I was sitting there on the park bench, eating my sandwich, two little girls ran across in front of me. They were sisters, like 5 and 3. And they were chasing each other and they were climbing up on stuff and they were going around the fountain and then I saw their mom, chasing after them with the stroller, trying to keep them safe, trying to keep them out of trouble.
And my heart went out to her because I have girls – they’re older now – and I know what the world has for those girls. I know how short the time is when they will go from Barney and Blues’ Clues to MTV and Abercrombie & Fitch, how the cute, innocent smiles of 4 and 5 year old girls would quickly change to the jaded looks of 13-year-olds who know their only value is in their ability to attract the opposite sex. And my heart went out for her, and I wanted to help her. “What could I – how could I help that mom?”
And I thought, “Ok. We live in such a media-saturated culture and we’re so brand aware, if only I could create some kind of media brand that she could trust … “. And then in an instant I thought, “That’s what Big Idea was supposed to be. That’s why I started all this in the first place.” In an instant, all of the bankruptcy proceedings and the lawyers and the insurance and all the mess disappeared and I could see all the way back to the beginning, to the call I felt to help a messy world find a holy God.”
You can watch Part Two here.
