What's in the Bible?

 

When my family was new, when my now-14-year-old son was just a tiny tot with a bowl haircut, we watched a LOT of Veggie Tales. Clever and nutritious,these videos would make my little cheese-headed-bean-boy and I laugh and laugh and laugh (over and over and over). I didn't mind the repetition because all along I felt like together we were becoming better people.

After the twins were born, as they grew and as our family grew past the Veggie years, I grew as well. A children's ministry volunteer for years before, and a trainer and conference speaker already, God eventually called me to come to be on staff at my church. A passion that already burned in my heart to help train up children in the way they should go ignited as I joined this dynamic team of amazing people with the same passion.

I wish there weren't a rule (it's a good rule, but it's in my way right this minute) against blogging about my job. If the rule didn't exist,  this is the part where I would've told you about the incredible work God did in my heart during a particularly rough patch. I would tell just exactly how I was humbled through reading a book by the Veggie Tales' creator, Phil Visher, called  Me, Myself, and Bob. It was during that time that I became a better servant and ministry leader.

If that rule didn't exist, I would also tell you a very long and incredible story about the revival God has been doing in that ministry that I'm not blogging about. I'd also mention that I've been praying like crazy about how on earth we could start reaching families and teaching them how to teach children the whole Word of God.  It was about that time when I caught word from a tweet by Whimzie about a new project by Phil Vischer's new team called What's in the Bible. As I researched and discovered the vision for this project, I flipped all the way out. I could feel something BIG ahead, and I just knew beyond a shadow of a doubt that God had big plans for this video series. A few emails later, some excited prayer, and suddenly I had a free advanced copy of the first DVD in my hands from the WITB people.

Let me just say that what I saw WAS BEYOND INCREDIBLE. The videos had the typical irreverent reverence I enjoyed so much from the Veggie Tales. The music was captivating, the puppets were hilarious, the format was perfectly paced.  But that's just the gravy... and this project is so much more than gravy.

What the What's in the Bible videos do is teach children about the word of God- literally from cover to cover.  I can tell already that they're not planning to take the easy route.  In the first two videos, they took on issues like 'Why does the Catholic Bible have more books?' and 'Was the world created in 7 literal days?'- I have to admit I held my breath, just waiting to see HOW IN THE WORLD they were going to do it. The answers were perfectly, beautifully, excellently addressed, focusing not on the details of the stories but the Author of them.  I found myself smiling, nodding, and WAIT FOR IT.... learning!  Not just how to teach these topics to my kids and the kids in the ministry, but real Biblical truths that I had never known before! *le sigh*

Truth is, there are many, many, many children in churches these days. The sad reality is that most of them will leave the church as soon as they are old enough to choose to sleep in Sunday mornings. I join Phil Vischer and crew in believing that at least part of the reason this is happening is because we are raising Biblically illiterate children.  Our kids are leaving God because THEY DO NOT KNOW HIM.  They don't know their way around the Bible, they don't know what they believe or why they believe it. To them, the Bible is filled with mysteries and words and old stories, but they don't know the treasures within.  This project, What's in the Bible, appears to be addressing this... and I couldn't be more excited for me, for my family, and for the families in the ministry I'm not blogging about ;) I love the idea of parents and children learning together... the whole give a man a fish principle put into real life application. Together, families can become people who are not just better human beings, not just better servants, but people who actually know God & His Word.

I can see that this post is just rattling on waaaaay too long, so I'm going to wrap it up by saying this: if you have elementary- aged children, you can't afford not to add these videos to your library. This is not a paid endorsement... but it is an endorsement by a girl who, after 19 years of studying, teaching, and ministering to kids thinks these DVDs are pretty much the the coolest thing she's seen in a really long time. They release in March at your Christian Retailer or here: http://whatsinthebible.com/

And that's all I have to say about that.

Teach them to your children. Talk about them when you are at home and when you are on the road, when you are going to bed and when you are getting up.

Deuteronomy 11:19