VeggieTales Coming to NBC

This blog is normally about evangelism, but please allow me to make a brief diversion...



Phil Visher, co-creator of VeggieTales, has announced that America's favorite cartoon vegetables are coming to NBC Saturday mornings this fall. I'm very excited to see such a quality Christian product getting a wider exposure. Unfortunately, NBC wants the show's religious content be watered down or even removed altogether. In other words, these veggies might be lacking in nutritional value. Vischer is not thrilled with the decision, but it sounds like he didn't have much choice. Here's how he describes it:

"At first we were told everything was 'okay' except the Bible verse at the end. Frankly, that news really surprised me, because, heck, we're talking about NBC here. God on Saturday morning? It didn't seem likely. Since we've started actually producing the episodes, though, NBC has gotten a little more restrictive. (I think they actually sat down and started watching a few VeggieTales videos. "Hey wait - these are religious.") So it's gotten trickier, and we're having to do a little more editing. More than I'm comfortable with? Frankly, yes. But I had already committed to helping Big Idea with this, and I really didn't want to leave them in a tight spot. Plus, the new stuff we're coming up with is really fun, and at least some new kids will meet Bob and Larry on NBC, and maybe wander into Wal-Mart and buy a video with all the God still in. So it could be better, but overall it's not a total loss. The new stuff is really cute. You'll like it."

Let's hope the anti-religious editing isn't too extreme. The first episode is tentatively scheduled to air Saturday, Sept. 9 at 10am EST. Then at 11am EST NBC will air more Big Idea programming, either Larryboy or 3-2-1 Penguins!. Be sure to watch. It might also be a good idea to contact NBC and let them know you support VeggieTales, Bible verses and all.

Repentance and the Crocodile

I first heard this moving story from evangelist Ray Comfort at a seminar in Minneapolis. Usually anecdotes and anologies don't do much for me, but this one kicked me in the gut. It really helped me to realize what a life of repentance should be about. (Taken from the book, How To Win Souls & Influence People by Ray Comfort):

A father and son once went on a camping trip. When they arrived at the site, the father pitched the tent and said, "Son, see that river; it's full of crocodiles. If you want to do any fishing, fish off the wharf." The son reluctantly agreed that he would stay on the wharf.

After three days of fishing, the son began to think about the excitement of fishing amidst the crocodiles in the safety of a boat. So, that is what he did. He obtained a boat, and in a sense of bravado, rowed out into the river.

He had only been fishing for a short time when a crocodile came alongside the small boat and hit it with its tail. The terrified boy was thrown into the water. The father heard him scream, saw what had happened, and without hesitation dived into the crocodile-infested waters. He grabbed his beloved son and pulled him to the safety of the shore.

When the boy opened his eyes, he saw a grisly sight. A crocodile had wrapped his massive jaws around the father's legs, leaving him in bleeding shreds.

The following thought is unthinkable. Imagine if the son looked at his father lying in agony, bleeding to death, and said, "Dad, I really appreciate what you just did for me. But I found it exciting out there with the crocodiles- you wouldn't mind if I got another boat and went out again, would you?"

If the son could think, let alone say such a thing, the blind fool hasn't seen the sacrifice his father has just made for him!

If we have any, even hidden desire to go back into the sinful excitement of the world, we haven't seen the sacrifice of the Father.

If that son has seen what his father has just done for him, a sense of horror will consume him at the cost, the extreme, the length, the expense his father has just gone to, to save him. He would pour contempt upon the very drops of water that still cling to his flesh.

The true Christian has seen that God in the person of Jesus Christ, without hesitation, dived into the very jaws of Hell to save him from the folly of sin. A sense of horror consumes him at the cost, the extreme, the length, and the expense his Father went to, to save him. He cries,

"And when I think, that God His Son not sparing, sent Him to die, I scarce can take it in; that on that cross, my burdens gladly bearing, He bled and died to take away my sin."

The Christian pours contempt upon the sinful desires that still cling to his flesh. The true convert is crushed by a sense of his own foolishness and yet at the same time, he has inexpressible gratitude for the "unspeakable gift" of the Cross. He has seen Jesus Christ "evidently set forth and crucified." He says with Paul, "God forbid that I should glory, save in the Cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, by whom the world is crucified to me, and I to the world." After seeing the sacrifice of the Father, how could he ever go back to the exciting pleasures of sin? To do so, he would have to trample underfoot the blood of Jesus Christ. He would have to count the sacrifice of Calvary as nothing.

Instead, he willfully crucifies himself to the world, and the world to himself.

He whispers with the hymnist:

"When I survey the wondrous cross, on which the Prince of Glory died, my richest gain I could but loss, and pour contempt on all my pride."

As the songwriter says, "The Cross has become the Tree of Life for me." The world cannont attract him any longer. They that are Christ's have crucified ther affections and lusts.

New Blog: Recovering Student Ministry

A new group blog has come to my attention: Recovering Student Ministry. No, its not some sort of AA group. It's about recovering as in "taking back" student ministry. It's a good collection of thoughts and musings on various issues related to evangelism and ministry. I especially recommend one of their first posts, "Persecution in Rome". Check it out!

Testimony of a Former Muslim

Do you need some encouragement in your Christian walk? Read this amazing testimony. Nabeel Qureshi was a very devout Muslim, now a Christian. His intellectual and spiritual journey is a powerful tale. Most amazing are the dreams/visions God used to lead him to Christ. I had heard through the missionary grapevine that God seems to be using dreams to convert many Muslims, but this was the first time I had read one of those stories. Normally I tend to look for "hard evidence" and turn a raised eyebrow towards anything subjective (like a dream), but these particular dreams sent a chill down my spine. They just sound so...authentic. I like to think I understand a lot about Christianity, but Nabeel's story made me realize that when it comes to the "heart" of my faith I still have a long way to go.

I was also challenged by the high personal cost Nabeel has had to pay to follow Christ. His relationships with his peaceful and loving parents has been torn to shreds:


"After my family learned of my conversion, they have not been the same. My mother has tears in her eyes whenever I see her, a quiver in her voice whenever I hear her, and absolute despair on her face in sleep and while awake. Never have I met a mother more devoted to her children than my mother, and how did I repay her? In her mind, decades’ worth of emotional and physical investment ended up with her son espousing views that are completely antithetical to everything she stands for. My father, a loving, gentle, and big-hearted man with every ounce of the emotional strength expected of a 24-year veteran of the U.S. military, broke down for the first time that I had ever seen. To be the cause of the only tears I ever saw fall from his eyes is not easy to live with. To hear him... the man who stood tallest in my life from the day I was born, my archetype of strength, my father... to hear him say that because of me he felt his backbone has been ripped out from behind him, feels like patricide. It was then that I wondered why God had let me live; why had God not just lifted me to Himself when I had found the truth? Why did I have to hurt my family so much, and practically eschew the ones who loved me more than anyone else?

The answer was sought and found in God's word. After accepting Him, it is my duty to work for Him and walk His path. For now, my loss was to be comforted by His words found in Mark 10:29-30:

"I tell you the truth," Jesus replied, "no one who has left home or brothers or sisters or mother or father or children or fields for me and the gospel will fail to receive a hundred times as much in this present age (homes, brothers, sisters, mothers, children and fields, and with them, persecutions) and in the age to come, eternal life."

But there was more. I have to inform my parents of the Truth, no matter how painful, because they need to be saved. Not just them, but I also have friends that need to be saved. At least billions upon billions of souls in this world need to be saved. Can I do these things? Can my parents be saved, even pulled from Satan'’s trap itself? Am I really supposed to spread the message to the ends of the earth?

Paul says in Philippians 4:13 that I can do these things through God. He tells me in II Timothy 2:25-26 that I must gently instruct everyone, even my parents, in hopes that they will be saved from the trap of the devil. And Christ Himself informs his apostles in Matthew 28:19 to make disciples of all nations. Thus, much like Paul in Acts 20:24, my life's meaning is this: to testify to the gospel of God's grace. And in doing so, He comforts me, and gives me fortitude."


It makes me ashamed of my own Christian walk. I struggle to work up the courage to talk to family and friends about Christ, I would much rather have their love and approval. God, please forgive me and grant me the courage to follow you no matter what the cost.

(Thanks to Doug TenNapel for the link.)