#2 - Why the church should laugh at itself

Continuing on with our list of things where the church should laugh at ourselves ... Last time we talked about living in the Christian Bubble.


#2 -- Is anyone reading the Bible?

We are facing an illiteracy problem in our country. It’s not that people can’t read ... It’s that people aren’t reading the Bible. I am not even sure of the source of the problem. Has the Bible lost its authority because our preaching isn’t Bible-based enough? Is there so much to read that the Bible gets lower and lower on people’s priority list? Are we used to the 3rd grade USA Today writing style and the Bible intimidates us?

However we got here ... if we don’t know the Bible we can’t carry out God’s plan for us and the world. Our Bluefish team wanted to highlight this issue in a funny video called “How to Avoid Misusing the Bible” that’s part of our Laugh Volume 2 DVD.

What do we do to turn the tide on Bible illiteracy?

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3 Reasons the Church Should Laugh At Itself

Sometimes the best way to get people thinking about an issue is to get them laughing. I love the church and I love that Bluefish TV is providing resources for the church. But if you take a step back, there’s plenty to laugh at when you consider how we do things in the church sometimes. Truthfully, the reason we laugh is because we know it’s true and deep down it stings a bit.

Over the next few posts, I’ll share some things worth laughing at ... And hopefully after laughing we can start doing something to change it.

#1 Living in the Christian Bubble

There’s a lot of talk about how Christians can tend to isolate themselves from the world and before you know it — we have our own “bubble” that we’re living in. I know I struggle with it because I work around a great group of Christians at my office, I am involved heavily at my church (again Christians all around) and even in my neighborhood a lot of people are church-going people.

I step back and realize most of my weeks are spent around Christians. It’s frustrating and challenging. We’ve invited Dan Kimball to our LeadNow events where he has challenged pastors to lead people to engage in the Kingdom and not the Bubble. Dan humorously points out that you can buy Christian socks, Christian candy, Christian playing cards, t-shirts ... even Christian poker chips.

With that in mind, our product team has created a great parody called “Bubble Creek Canyon.” It’s one of the six funny clips on our Laugh Volume 2 DVD.

You can see the 3-minute Bubble Creek Canyon video on our site here.

If you move into this neighborhood, you won’t have to worry about interacting with a heathen world ever again!

So besides poking fun at ourselves — how can we as the church move people beyond the bubble? I’d love to hear your thoughts. What are you doing in your church? What really works?

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Introducing the New 2009 Video Sermon Illustration Kit

Our team recently finished up producing the DVDs that make up the 2009 Video Sermon Illustration kit. The kit is back from the press and we’re excited to announce that it has just been released.

Our purpose in creating the 2009 Video Sermon Illustration kit is for you to use this unique tool to help you deliver Biblical messages in a culturally relevant way. Over 200 video illustrations, motion loops, countdowns and still images are in the kit for you to choose from.

Our Story Behind the Hymn and Advent illustrations are two of my favorite DVDs within the kit. Our Story Behind the Hymn videos illustrate the triumphs and tragedies behind classic hymns you’ve heard today, like Come thou Fount, ‘Tis so Sweet to Trust in Jesus, and Amazing Grace.

The Advent illustrations will give you chills all around! They will help you celebrate the birth of Jesus as they take a powerful, cinematic look at the events surrounding the birth of Christ.

If you’re looking for illustrations to lighten up the mood in your congregation, Laugh Vol. 2 is perfect for just that. Laugh Vol. 2 includes six hilarious video illustrations that display exaggerated scenarios in order to pave the way for biblical and practical teaching. Our hope is that you and your church will laugh with us, and, through humor, your congregation will be open and ready for teaching.

I’ve only touched the surface of the quality that’s in the 2009 Video Illustration Kit. I hope you will check it out for yourself.

Have you used any of Bluefish’s Video Illustration kits in the past? If so, we’d love to hear how they worked for you.

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Uprising DVD series with Erwin McManus launches today

Today Bluefish TV is launching a new DVD series with Erwin McManus called Uprising. 14 months ago I was in Los Angeles meeting with Erwin. We were brainstorming about potential resources to create for small groups. He shared that at his church, Mosaic, the content from his book Uprising is the most used resource for discipleship training in small groups. After hearing that, it wasn’t hard to put our creative team at Bluefish to work on taking that content and making it available on DVD to small groups across the country.

What I love about Uprising is that Erwin walks through scripture teaching that God is the only one that can transform our character — but there’s a response that scripture commands from us. Erwin’s teaching is always inspiring and challenging. We found several real-life stories to shoot and edit that match each of the sessions throughout Uprising. I believe those stories really help bring the teaching down to everyday life where we see people’s triumphs and tragedies in working through character transformation.

Our crew traveled to Los Angeles to shoot in some very LA locations like the Hollywood Hills and Venice Beach. (That’s me holding the boom mic — yes, a glamorous job)

You can see a preview of the Uprising DVD series here on the BluefishTV.com site.

Erwin has written several good books, speaks at conferences across the country and has worked with Bluefish on several video resources. What’s a teaching moment from Erwin that has impacted you and your church the most?

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G'day Mate! BluefishTV small group studies soon to be available in Australia

Today I’m wearing my official Jacaru hat from Australia around the office. After the occasional odd look and stare, I get the chance to tell our team that we’ve just setup two partnerships with Koorong and Word–Australia ... some incredible ministries from the land down under.

I’ve really been encouraged to hear from the guys at these ministries how God is using messages from Louie Giglio, Don Miller and Erwin McManus to encourage the younger generation in Australia to live out their faith.

So, next week some of our best Bluefish TV small group studies will hop on a plane and make their way to Australia for the first time. We’re thrilled to be partnering with these guys and for those Aussie’s tuning in, look for the resources to come online at Koorong and Word in the coming weeks!

Of course, all this talk about Australia has me day dreaming of using some frequent flyer miles to head down there and hike through the outback. Anyone up for a road trip?

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