A Veggie Tales Fan!!

Philippians 4:8 - Finally, brethren, whatsoever things are true, whatsoever things are honest, whatsoever things are just, whatsoever things are pure, whatsoever things are lovely, whatsoever things are of good report; if there be any virtue, and if there be any praise, think on these things.
 We are Veggie Tales fans! What is Veggie Tales you ask? Veggie Tales products are geared for children to teach them valuable lessons while having fun at the same time. Books, toys, DVDs and videos. Many of the DVDs  tell Bible stories and others just teach valuable lessons. Over the years as our boys were growing up, they have enjoyed many of the Veggie Tales videos and DVDs. I have even heard many parents say that they themselves find these movies quite entertaining. As I have written before, our daughter has down syndrome and therefore learning comes harder for her. But Veggie Tales helps her to better understand the Bible stories and life lessons. She just loves every single one of the movies Veggie Tales puts out. I am always on the lookout for the next DVD to come out. Soon to be released is one titled -  The Penniless Princess which I hope to get for my daughter shortly.
So just to give you an idea of what I am talking about I took a picture of some of my daughter's Veggie Tales treasures.

The stories are played out by many veggie characters - Larry the Cucumber, Bob the Tomato, Junior Asparagus, Laura the Carrot, Mr Nezzar etc. If you have never seen any of the movies I would highly recommend it especially for children under 14.
Some of the Bible stories are Esther - the girl who became Queen, Josh and the Big wall which is the story of Joshua defeating Jericho, the story of the fiery furnace in Rack, Shack and Benny, the stories of Gideon, Moses,  also a couple tell the stories of King David and the stories of Christmas and Easter. These movies can in no way replace the direct Bible teaching that we as parents are called to do with our children. And of course it is also advisable to discuss the content of a movie with your children before and after having viewed it.
So what is my personal favorite? It has got to be Princess and the Popstar. It is not one of the Bible story ones ( though I like them a lot also).  I like this one because it teaches little girls that the famous life is not really a fun life at all. So many children want to grow up to be like Hannah Montana etc and they idolize these celebrities. This Veggie Tales DVD teaches children the truth about the awful celebrity life and the joys of the simple life and  having a family who loves you. In the story a girl named Princess Poppyseed lives on the farm with her parents and many siblings. She wishes she could be famous like Vanna Banana - her favorite child pop singer. She has all Vanna Banana's posters and music and one day by chance, Princess meets Vanna Banana on the playground. Vanna is in town to give a concert. Vanna Banana longs for the simple life of family having seen  Little House on the Prairie on TV. Vanna dreams of having brothers and sisters and a pony etc. but all her life consists of is practicing for her next music show and performing in front of millions of people (people who do not know her and she does not know them). So when Vanna and Princess begin to talk on the playground, they discover they look almost exactly alike and they each have what the other wishes they had and they decide to switch places. So Vanna Banana experiences the ordinary farm life with a loving family and Princess experiences life as a famous person - dressing in rich clothes and singing in front of a huge crowd. Each girl realizes that the life she was longing for does not fulfill her dreams, and the story of course ends in a happy way.
So if you've never watched one of these DVDs with the children in your life, may I suggest  you do - you would have fun and it would make their day if you did!

What really matters?

Sometimes people will say that God seems so far away or that they feel like God doesn't really speak to them. The truth is that God is interested in us and that He does care to speak to us. The main way that He speaks to us is through the written Word of God which is the Bible. It is God's Word to us. He speaks to us through the Bible. We just need to get to a quiet place and begin to read. God says that His Word will not come back empty.
In Mark chapter 8 verses 36 -37, Jesus speaks these words - He asks these questions.
³⁶ For what shall it profit a man, if he shall gain the whole world, and lose his own soul?
 ³⁷ Or what shall a man give in exchange for his soul?
What is the point that Jesus is getting at here? We know that each of us is a body and we each have a soul. Our soul is the part of us where we think and reason - the "real" part of us and the soul is eternal. The body is the part of us that gets old. Sometimes when a person has a birthday especially a more elderly person, you will hear them say -" I feel like I should only be 30 yet" when in fact the birthday is more like maybe 70's. A person will feel this way because the soul doesn't get old. We only feel age in our bodies.  It is only the body that begins to show age and as much as one may try to hide the aging process, no one can escape it.
The body will die but the soul never dies. At death, the soul is released from the body and goes straight to eternity. If we have accepted Christ as our Saviour from sin through the finished work that  He did for us on the cross, then the soul goes directly into the presence of God and Heaven.  If on the other hand a person has rejected Christ and one has never commited his or her life to Jesus, then that soul will face eternal condemnation in the only other place and that is hell.
So Jesus is asking us to consider - is there any point at all to trying to gain the world here and not take care of our eternal destination. A person may have the best richest house in the world,a mansion  or the biggest farm or business, drive the most expensive car, you could be a famous actor, or a  celebrity of sorts, maybe an NFL football player or the President or Prime Minister of a country or the Queen of England. The list of possibilities is endless. BUT if you have all these earthly possessions or power, whatever possible thing there is out there in this world  and if you don't have Jesus as your Saviour, all is lost. Riches and position in life will not be enough to get anyone into Heaven. The only "ticket" so to speak that will get you into Heaven is Jesus - that you commit your entire life to Him, nothing held back. So we need Jesus, Jesus only! There isn't anything in this world that is any value at all in comparison to the value of our soul. Make your decision for Jesus today and let's be ready to meet Him.