Posted on February 6, 2010 - by rfrank

Twitter Weekly Updates for 2010-02-06

• Worshipping and singing "He is Exalted". Stepping up to preach in 10 min. #fb #
• 2nd service is underway. It's been a great morning at LBC! Getting ready to preach again. #fb #
• Eating some of Beth's killer chili. Yummy. #fb #
• Cleaning out my attic right now. Here's what I think about it. http://bit.ly/cC3fNC (via @gina_mcclain) // great thoughts Gina! #
• Writing blog posts for http://www.ryanfrank.com. #fb #
• Watching 24. #24 #fb #
• Happy ground hog day! #fb #
• Catching up on email. #fb #
• Preparing for KidzMatter staff meeting in an hour. I can't wait! #fb #
• RT @rogerfields: To everyone's shock, new study finds abstinence works! http://bit.ly/abstinence-works #kidmin #
• Been reading effective executive, scheduled my week yesterday, and looking forward to a great time budget! (via @hayesandrew) // way to go #
• 6 people in front of me in line at Subway. Should I wait? #
• Spaghetti and meatball night. #fb #
• It's 45 degrees and I'm wearing shorts to the gym (via @jimwideman) // I could have gone without a mental pic of Jim Wideman in gym shorts! #
• It's my writing night for K! Mag. Tina will be proud of me. #fb #
• Watching Idol and writing for K! Magazine at the same time. This might not be easy. #fb #
• Bikini boy all the way. #fb #
• Enjoying the morning off. #fb #
• Rocking out some more K! Magazine content for March/April. I might get my part done tonight! #kmag #fb #
• One thing never changes: things always change. #fb #
• Random question: If someone gave your ministry $50,000 what would you do with it? #fb #
• Previewing a "That The World May Know" DVD for a midweek elective I am teaching tonight. We are doing "Fire on the Mtn" – great series! #fb #
• My stapler doesn't like me today. Thought you should know that. #
• New post on my blog: Adjectives http://tinyurl.com/yesmgbd // Steve Jobs love. (via @kidzmatter2me) // Great post from Evan. #
• u can raise the bar or u can wait for others to raise it, but it's getting raised regardless. Seth Godin (via @lgrace2) #
• We're gonna get a lot of snow this weekend in Indiana! Woo hoo. #
• Sitting in on an #Awana leaders meeting. #
• Getting ready to watch The Office on the DVR from earlier tonight. I hope it's a good one. #office #fb #
• Hostess Suzy Q's are calling my name. I must go. #
• It's snowing! #fb #
• Snow snow snow. #
• From Proctor & Gamble's 99; #44: Be a Good Coach. A boss tells you what to do; a coach helps you learn as you do it. (via @Barbaragraves) #
• Got stuck in the ditch this morning right in front of my house. I hate snow sometimes. #fb #
• Making a homemade Paula Dean sugar cream pie! Come on over in an hour if you're hungry. http://bit.ly/dBubyI #fb #
• Luci has had her bath and is in bed early. #

Posted on February 6, 2010 - by rfrank

What I remember about Veggie Tales

I remember the first time I heard about Veggie Tales. It was 1994. I was in college and a children’s ministry director named Jaena told me I need to check them out. She had a story about how her cousin (or friend of a cousin, or friend of a friend of a cousin) was a college roommate with the guy who started making these cartoons on his computer. She introduced me to Bob and Larry for the first time.

I remember the first time I showed a Veggie Tales movie to the kids in my church. They loved it. My adult workers loved it even more. Back then you could show Veggie Tales to a room full of kids and most of them had never heard of it. Good luck doing that anymore.

I remember the first Bob and Larry stuffed toys I bought for my office. My office was a baptism changing room at the time, but gosh was this young children’s pastor excited to have Bob and Larry sitting on my shelf. Why? I was relevant.

I remember when 3 2 1 Penguins hit the market in 2000. Man was I excited to see a new line of videos. I was so bored with Adventures in Odyssey and McGee and Me.

I remember the first time I heard that Big Idea Productions was being sued by Lyrick over distribution issues. This was before K! Magazine and before I had “connections.” I couldn’t pick up the phone and call someone to see what was happening, I had to rely on Google, and Google confirmed the story.

I remember the spring/summer of 2003 when the court found in favor of Lyrick and awarded them $11 million in damages. I remember hearing the news that Big Idea (as it had been known) was dead.

I will always remember hearing Phil Vischer speak at Children’s Pastors’ Conference 2009. Since I’m on the board at INCM, I had the opportunity to meet Phil before the session when he spoke and talked to him for a few minutes back stage. What a great guy. I remember sitting in that room with 2,000+ other children’s pastors with my wife one one side and Evan Doyle on the other side. There, Phil shared his story. He shared the tough lessons he had learned about business – but most importantly – the lessons he had learned about his relationship with God. I bought the DVD of that session and have shared it with so many people.

Is Veggie Tales over? Obviously not. The company has new leadership and they are cranking out new products  like mad. I got something in the mail at the church this week about their new DVD called Pistachio.

Is Phil Vischer done? Nope. He has a new company called Jelly Telly. That’s another blog post of it’s own. I’m real excited about a new DVD series that Phil is creating called What’s in the Bible. It’s designed to walk kids and families through the entire Bible. The 13 DVD-series will release beginning March 1, 2010.

Some of my friends (Todd and Sean at Timbuktoons) have been working with Phil and the team on this project. Timbuktoons is the company that does the animation and video enhancements on our Kitchen videos. I got a sneak peak at What’s in the Bible a few weeks ago when I was meeting with Awana. It’s going to be great stuff that every Christian parent and children’s pastor will want to snatch up.

Enough rambling about Veggie Tales. All this food talk has made me hungry. I better hit the fridge.

Posted on February 4, 2010 - by rfrank

God works in the desert

We all experience pain in our life. The death of a loved one. The loss of a job. The stress of finances. Natural disasters. Terminal illnesses. If you aren’t in the desert right now, you will be before long.

God works through our pain. The children of Israel left Egypt and headed to the land flowing with milk and honey – the Promised Land. Before they could get there, God led them into the desert. The desert is dry, lonely, and requires total dependence on God. It is in the desert that God prepares you for the promised blessing.

Look what God said about Israel’s desert experience. “Remember how the LORD your God led you all the way in the desert these forty years, to humble you and to test you in order to know what was in your heart, whether or not you would keep his commands.” Deuteronomy 8:2

Are you experiencing the desert in your life? Is pain’s presence real in your life? Remember, God has a plan while you are in the desert. The important question is not “why” you are in the desert, but how will you respond in the desert?

You can respond two ways. One, trust that God is in control and that He will guide you into what’s best (even though you may not know what that is). Second, you can take your life in your own hands.

May God bless you as you trust Him – even in the desert.

Roger Fields, curriculum and the new purple gorilla

by rfrank on February 4, 2010

Standard Publishing VBS program voted “Best VBS”

by rfrank on February 3, 2010

Books that every children’s pastor should read

by rfrank on February 2, 2010

American Idol and Children’s Ministry

by rfrank on February 1, 2010

Twitter Weekly Updates for 2010-01-30

by rfrank on January 30, 2010

Have you seen Kidscreen?

by rfrank on January 27, 2010

Kaleidoscopes and Kid’s Ministry

by rfrank on January 26, 2010