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…

staring encounter peeps ::

• Dave McHam
• Briana Treadaway
• Tim Parady
• Heather Treadaway
• Tammy Parady
• James Lynch
• Bryan Parady
• Brian Treadaway

We’re never fully alive until we’ve experienced the freedom of forgiveness from God. When we do, it spills over into every other relationship. This Sunday “Fully Alive” will serve as a springboard into greater discussion of forgiveness in our own lives.

Fully Alive was written, filmed, and produced by Bryan Parady for an upcoming Christian film festival.

don’t show up at the civic center! we won’t be there!

find a meeting location around ellis county and join other encounter peeps there for some great fellowship and discussion.

we hope the redesign is beneficial and helpful and provides you with all the information you’re looking for. as you browse the new site, we hope you’ll take notice of some of the new features we’ve added to make the site more enjoyable and easier to use.

• encounter podcast:
  we’ve added a new way to view, download and listen to our weekly podcasts. you can now listen to each week’s message directly on our site or via a small pop-up player.
• submitting prayer needs:
  we’ve added a new online form to help make sharing your prayer needs with the encounter body easier and faster.
• new chat room:
  we’ve added a chat room that’s available for you and your friends or community group to gather and discuss matters that are important to your life.

this are just a few of the “front-end” things we’ve changed to make the site better for you and your family. we hope you enjoy the changes. feel free to leave us a comment or drop us an e-mail if you have any questions or comments.

thanks! and enjoy the new encounterthis.com

I believe he may be going fishing with Roy Bob Ketchum and Sheriff Josh Cofield.