Jelly Telly is online
Phil Vischer (creator of Veggie Tales) has started a great new online venture in recent months :: Jelly Telly.
On his blog last year he walked through several of the big problems facing kids and media – specifically Christian kids and Christian media.
One of the problems he points out is that Christians are defined by what we hate – not who or what we love.
…there has been a price for this political focus. Today, 80% of non-Christians in America have a negative view of Christianity. When asked what word first sprang to mind when the term “Evangelical Christian” was mentioned, the number one answer from young adults in America was not “loving” or “self-sacrificing,” but rather, “homophobic.”
He also points out that most Christians aren’t really living out what it really means to be a follower of Christ and that Protestant Christians can no longer define “grace.”
So issue number one – we need an education.
Since God has given Phil a passion and a burden for kids, he naturally wants to begin this education with kids (hence Veggie Tales).
Issue or problem two – there’s no platform for Christian Media.
There’s no American Idol, Nickelodeon or Disney for Christian media creators to launch their characters from. People aren’t walking into Christian bookstores like they used to and with the constant barrage from other media sources the Christian media content is quickly getting drowned out.
He also mentions that without platforms to launch media from, the creators aren’t likely to create the content. Sure a 24/7 cable network for kids would be great, but as Phil mentions, it could easily cost $100 million to get off the ground.
So along with these issues and the fact that Phil seems to feel the tugs of an “upside down King and Kingdom” interested in doing amazing things with Mustard Seeds (my words not his), he’s launched a new online network for kids.
I’ve checked out the site and I think it has a lot of things going for it but I’d love to get your input.
So check out the site and/or bring a kid over to check it out for you. Let us know what you/they think.
And in the meantime, here’s a quick “About us” video for all the parents…
