I just read an awesome interview with Phil Vischer, the creator of the immensely popular Veggie Tales animated characters on Tony Kummer’s blog Ministry-To-Children.com

I really enjoy Tony’s blog as we both share a heart for ministry to children and youth. He puts together some good content on how to effectively minister to our kids so that they grow up with a love for and a relationship with Jesus Christ.

There were a number of cool things that Phil brought up in the interview on work and the relationship with our creator. Here are some of my favorites:

On what he learned about himself and his relationship with God in his book Me, Myself and Bob :

I wrote in the book that I had been drinking a dangerous cocktail - a mix of the Gospel, the Protestant work ethic, and the American Dream. “If you commit your life to Christ your work for him will be a huge success and all your dreams will come true.”

Well, that’s a lie. We aren’t called to lives of great success, great impact, great ambition. We’re called to lives of obedience. Lives of humility. Lives of waiting on God, listening to God, walking with God. That’s where we find our joy - not in our dreams of numerical success, in our relationships with God. I realized I had made the work I was doing for God more important to me than my relationship with God. And as I have been traveling and speaking, I have discovered that I wasn’t alone.

On the limitations of the ability to do complete ministry through entertainment products, even Christian ones:

And person-to-person contact is, by far, the best way to share God’s love. There is no “electronic” replacement for a hug. A loving look. A caring smile. Nothing I can put up on a screen can replace what a leader can do in a room with a child. Nothing can even come close.

He was asked what advice he would give to a zero budget church plant trying to do relevant kids ministry in a media driven age:

Focus on the things you can do that Nickelodeon and Disney can’t. You can tell a story - with eye contact and audience participation. You can hug. You can take kids on adventures outside - parks, pools, etc. You can make things together. Never assume that because kids sit in front of a screen at home, they should sit in front of a screen at church. Get up and move around. Sing. Years from now, those kids won’t remember what shows they watched or what video games they played. But they’ll remember the church worker that loved them.

Phil’s new project is “JellyTelly” an internet -based TV network targeting Christian families that he described as a “A tiny little Nickelodeon, where kids can spend time every day watching “mini-shows” (2-8 minute TV shows about science, nature, the books of the Bible, the work of the Church around the world, etc.) and play fun, safe online games. It’s sort of a cross between a kids gaming site like Club Penguin or Webkinz, and a high-quality, premium TV service like, say, HBO.”

If you would like more information on what Phil is up to next, you can check out his site at www.philvischer.com