Thursday, October 20, 2005


Dreamer. Check out the Family Activities site. Posted by Picasa

Dreamer, A Family Movie. Hurrah!

(Spoiler) Be warned. This post is a partial rant.

BTW, folks, there's a new movie coming out tomorrow that stars Kurt Russell and Dakota Fanning, titled Dreamer from Dreamworks. It appears to be a pretty good family movie. I will have to check out the story and let you know.

I think Anne will like this film, especially because of the injured horse who gets a comeback. She likes horses and used to sketch them, although she's moved on to other interests by now. My friend Brent though has a daughter who has a long-term relationship with horses. She should enjoy this movie. Hey Brent, maybe you can stay after church to watch the movie on Sunday. (Pastor Brent's church meets at a movie theater).

For now, I'm just grateful for good movie alternatives on the big screen that you can take your family to. I'm normally a cheapskate with movies. I tend to wait for the DVD to come out if I can and just save my money. But really, if we don't go to the theaters to watch good family movies, and the movies don't make money, who's going to want to make wholesome movies. And admit it, a lot of people (Christians) paid good money to watch the Star Wars franchise, buy Star Wars toys and memorabilia, and give support to George Lucas and the Force.

Why can't we support the good family movies and in this way, encourage more good movies to be made? I hate to say it but the argument is usually true that while Christians bemoan the fact that most movies are antagonistic to their faith and that Hollywood doesn't cater to the Christian public, they don't back up their whining with their pocketbook (also checkbook, credit cards, and cash).

Enough of the rant and back to the movie. Check out the Dreamer website that includes activities for the family. You can choose the family faith activities or a small group discussion guide written by Fuller Theological Seminary's Reel Spirituality.

Also click here for an ecard and the music video based on the movie title sung by Bethany Dillon. You can send the ecard to your friends. Lyrics are copied here.

Love woke me up this morning
With a memory
Love came and whispered a story
That awakened a dream

Imagine a beautiful castle
And a beautiful king
He left the comfort of his throne
To fight for victory

(Chorus)
I am a dreamer
Take me higher
Open the sky up
Start a fire
I believe
Even if it's just a dream

Love woke me up this morning
And I ran to see
The king in the winners' circle
On the horse he won for me

(Chorus)

Only a king would do anything
To protect the kingdom
Only a king would do anything
To protect the kingdom
Only a king would do anything
To protect the kingdom

(Chorus)

CT article on the rise and fall of Big Idea

Found this link at Phil Vischer's site to the Christianity Today article onBig Idea's bankrupty and sale. I like the fact that the article focused on the person rather than the company.

http://www.christianitytoday.com/ct/2004/005/4.44.html

Wednesday, October 19, 2005


Remember Kevin of the Space Penguins? The only place you can find him nowadays is at bigideafunPosted by Picasa

When Bob (the Tomato) Met Larry (the Cucumber)

The meteoric rise and fall of Vischer and company.

I wonder how many people were aware of the true story behind Big Idea, the company that gave us Veggie Tales. This seems to be a good time to talk about this now that the latest addition, Lord of the Beans, is coming out next week.

The story relates how Phil Vischer and Mike Nawrocki started the first Veggie Tale video with their seemingly last pennies, plus the charity of Christians they knew. Then success knocked on the door, and for a while it seemed like nothing could stop the veggies from taking over the world (of children's entertainment). But success became its own trap as ambitions overcame common sense and good business practices. Soon Big Idea was faced with having to initiate corporate lay-offs, a devastating lawsuit, imminent bankruptcy and finally, the sale of Big Idea following the lawsuit defeat in Dallas. Since then, Big Idea has been bought by another media company and its leadership reorganized. With most employees laid off, a core group of its writers and artists led by Mike have moved to Tennessee from Chicago. Phil Vischer today remains a contributor to the videos though no longer officially employed, more like a sub-contractor.

Through it all, the production and sale of the videos has seemingly gone uninterrupted. I did wonder why 3-2-1 Penguins and and Larry-Boy ended their video series.

I have used Veggie Tales in our children's ministry without missing a beat since 1994 and was quite unaware of the big picture (or idea). I had actually read of the lawsuit and the business problems and possible lay-offs. But the success of the Jonah movie and continued subsequent release of other videos led me to make assumptions that everything was working out. After all, Big Idea wasn't just a company, it was a ministry too.

The reason I wanted to bring this up is that I had actually paid much attention to the rise and fall of another company during the same time, a company that exhibited a similar meteoric rise and fall. However, in retrospect I now realize that I don't have any real interest in Enron as I do with Big Idea. I don't own Enron stocks or understand much of its business trading power and how it cheated its books, etc. But I do understand Bob and Larry, 3-2-1 Penguins, and Larry-Boy. And so, I ask myself: How could I have missed it? Did I not see the signs? Is there anyone writing a book on this?

Needless to say, I am now in breathless anticipation of the book or movie, whichever comes first.

(While you're waiting for the book like me, you can read the 22-part "What Killed Big Idea?" behind-the-scenes story from Phil's POV on www.philvischer.com)

Thursday, October 06, 2005

Web-surfing: Children Matters and other articles

Browsing through the web this week I came across the Chinese Coordination Centre on World Evangelization (CCCOWE) website and took the time to browse through their online publication, Chinese Around the World.

I vaguely remember reading CATW regularly about twenty years ago while working as a part-time youth ministry staff/church librarian at United Evangelical Church of the Philippines. UECP was actively involved with CCCOWE as one of the associate pastors, Rev. Wesley Chang, served with CCCOWE in an official capacity.

This recent issue of CATW (Sept. 2005) had the theme "Children Matters" and that definitely caught my eye. It was refreshing to read how Chinese churches outside of North America were approaching children's ministry. There are a few articles of interest that represent significant progress in the thinking within the Chinese Christian community concerning the necessity and role of children's ministry in the church.

Children's Ministry and the Kingdom of Heaven by Anna Hui
Children's Ministry in Australia by Nancy Fung
Age Limit for the School of Mission by Lisa Chan
Children in Taiwan by Jennifer Su

Another article that caught my eye came from National Religious Broadcaster's NRB Magazine. Thom S. Rainer wrote an article titled "10 Predictions for the Church by 2010." Two trends are noteworthy to someone involved in children's ministry as myself. Trend #8: An increase in intentional evangelistic ministries focused on children and youth and Trend #10: The emergence of a children’s minister as the third full-time staff minister. Download a copy of the article at this link:

As Rainer said, undoubtedly these two trends are linked together as churches recognize the need and success of intentional ministries to the younger generation, they will want to find ministerial staff to lead those ministries.

Coming up soon, a list of blogs that I would recommend.