One of the interesting things about this show is that it demonstrates how a little lie can turn into a big lie in short order.

How often have you found that you have to tell a new lie, or embellish an old one in order for it to keep up its believability factor?

The funny thing about lying is not that the truth eventually gets out– that’s the scary part.

No, the funny thing about lying is that, usually, the better a story the person thinks they’re building, the worse of a job they’re probably doing.

Why?

Because the more statements you make when telling a lie, and the more you need to think about your story, the more you look like you’re lying!

In any case, how big of a lie is a lie?  Even the smallest one.  There’s no such thing as "a little white lie."

Tomato Sawyer (Bob the Tomato) only wants to do what he has to to help Little Jimmy Gourd get back to his mother in St. Louis.  Huckleberry Larry (Larry the Cucumber) wants to make sure to help until Jimmy gets home.

This is how Tom feels as he gets a ticket back to his homestead site until his fishing pole is broken and the announcer could have prevented it.

Yep, a little hokey there when you describe it plainly.

The point of the story, though, is important for the Christian to understand and digest.

It’s not enough to not do something

Too often we see people that are in need, or someone that is being picked on, and we choose to stand by and let it happen, or worse—walk away.

The point is that we see situations around us each and every day, but do we take a moment to realize that God may have placed that person in our path, may have had us at that location, so that we can make a difference in someone’s life?

Life Saving

When I was trained on CPR back as a senior in high school, one of the things stressed to use was that even though many people may know how to save a life, in the moment that someone falls down without air, many will just stand and look—and not take action figuring that someone else will.

As a Christian, many souls are lost, dying and going to Hell today.  I am a witness to the salvation offered freely through Christ—I have a way to help save them.  The Spirit can use me to bring that message.

What I should do and what I do are not always the same thing.

If we do not help, we are hurting

Whether it’s physical needs or spiritual needs, we should be those that strive to meet those needs.  For the glory of our Father that is in Heaven.  For the love of others.  Because we are no better than they, and Christ died for them as well.

Why do I call this DVD the return of Phil Vischer?  It’s not because he and Big Idea have a new deal in place.  It’s not because he wrote this script.  It’s not because his voice is in the commentary track (for it isn’t).

It’s because this is the first story in a while that had his imprint all over it.

Vischer’s Finger-Prints

From the very beginning of this story it feels like one of the VeggieTales stories of old.

For one thing, when they’re floating down the Mississippi River, and they come to Muskateen (whoever heard of this town—sorry for those who live there!) the sign reads “Birthplace of Phil Vischer).

Next, we haven’t heard Jimmy and Jerry start joking about how much they could eat for a long time.

And when was the last time that someone called Larry a Pickle instead of a Cucumber?

It’s like Phil went back and watched some of his old shows and started putting VeggieTales back to where it started—or at least bridged the older stories to the new ones for those of us who have been long time fans.

JellyTelly

It makes you start to wonder.  When Phil said a short while ago on his blog that he was Disappointed that Big Idea said that none of Phil’s creations for them (VeggieTales, 3-2-1 Penguins, etc.) would be able to appear on Jelly Telly, that Phil might soon be done even voicing or writing for them.

He made this comment:

My contract with Big Idea doesn’t include additional writing, but, yes, I could end up doing voices for their online stuff. At least for the next year or so.

Of course, a lot could change when JellyTelly starts up, and I’m not quite sure VeggieTales could survive without his voice talent.

In any case, glad to see this episode, and I’m looking forward to the next releases coming up.

What I believe Aslan is trying to say is that the two older ones have learned all they are going to for now, and the next adventure will be for the younger.  (I’m actively reading the books now with the little ones so I’ll let you know…)

Suffice it to say, each believer has a chosen path, different gifts and talents, different things that they will be called on to do– and different experiences.  We can’t all expect to be like Elijah or Joshua of the Bible days.  We can’t believe that God wants all of us to tell the Sun to stand still, to call fire down from Heaven, or to never taste death.

What we can expect, however, is that the God of these Old and New Testament saints is the same God of today– He is still at work, He still has a plan, and He’s still calling us to join Him in the work.

Lucy asks Aslan if it was truly him that she saw earlier, and Aslan asks her why she didn’t follow Him.  She replies that it would be hard for her to do it alone.  And then she asks the question that hurts the most…

She asks Aslan what would have happened had she followed him– could it have kept the Narnians from being killed because they would have believed her and waited.

Ouch, what a question– it makes me wonder about the times when I knew I should witness, or those times when God’s wanted me to do something, and I’ve chosen a different path.

Aslan’s answer is on target– what has happened has happened, and there’s nothing that can be done about it now.  However, we still have choices to go– there are still things that can and need to be done.

So, believer, if you’ve chosen the opposite path in the past, don’t dwell there.  Take heart, there are still things to be done.  Focus on following Him through the path ahead.

Then Lucy speaks, implying that they should wait for Aslan– since that is how they won last time.

To this, Peter responds that maybe they were brought there to act, not to wait.

It is here that I started to think about how the average church functions today– and the average Christian.  I believe that we’ve gotten so infiltrated by the world that we’ve forgotten the source of our strength and have replaced waiting and leaning on God with the wisdom of man.

Just as Caspian and Peter both believed they had great human strategies (in which Peter’s ends up killing half their army), Lucy’s point that Aslan was the real winner the last time, and that they should wait on him proved correct.

How many times do we as believer or the church as a whole act because that’s what we think is best, using human strategies, “strategic planning committees”, and hand out surveys to people, rather than focusing our energy on what God is doing and waiting to hear His voice.

In this part of the movie, I heard a strong rebuke for those that would charge ahead with their best plan, praying that God would bless their wisdom, instead of seeking Him and His ways, and joining Him in what He’s already doing.

They come to a ravine where there’s a stream running many feet below, and they decide that they must go around somewhere down the river.  Then Lucy sees Aslan, and he’s seeming to signal that she should follow him.

There are four different reactions to her statement:

1. The dwarf doesn’t believe there really is an Aslan.
2. Peter wonders why Aslan wouldn’t have made himself visible to him.
3. Edmund says that they shouldn’t question Lucy because she’d been right before.
4. Susan wonders why no one else saw them.

It is to Susan that Lucy makes a very good response– “Perhaps you weren’t looking for him.”  — Ouch.

And yet I believe that this a big problem for Christians today.  We sing about a living and ever present God.  We say that we believe that He is at work, and yet do we actually look for Him?

By this I mean, to what do we give credit to the things that happen in our lives?  To what do we attribute blessings?  Who sustains us and allows us our very lives?

I don’t think that many of us look for God because we have a degree of mental assent.  We believe that we cannot see Him, and we mistakenly believe that He’s not communicating with us.  Oh, we read our Bible and pray.  And we believe that that is it.  We think that He might heal our sickness or help us get a job, but we can be truly oblivious to what He is at work doing right now in our area or in our own hearts.

Lucy’s right on here.  Many times we don’t see God because we aren’t looking for Him.  We’ve explained Him away with some scientific process, or we’ve attributed something that is His provision to ourselves, our abilities or our job.  What foolishness.

As it proved to be the case in terms of crossing the ridge.  It ended up that He was there, and He did have a direction.  But like Lucy asks later– what was the cost of not following when God called?  We’ll look at that a while later.

I’m going to try to go about this from memory and work my way chronologically, but we’ll see how it goes. (If you don’t want the movie spoiled, you may not want to read past this part.)

The first lesson that really struck me was the continued reference to the children in their size and abilities. This also happened in The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe, where the Narnians were expecting great kings and they got children instead.

In this one, the four children save a dwarf from the Talamaranes only to be questioned as to whether they’re truly the people that the horn promised it would bring. Then, an amusing demonstration is in order– Peter has the dwarf sword fight Edmund who handles him easily.

These children were skilled– their small stature was something that many thought was a liability. How often do we treat those that are younger or that seem weaker as less important to the body of Christ, when in fact these may be the prayer warriors, they may be they which are truly strong.

It’s all part of not thinking of ourselves more highly than we ought.

It leads me to the the question, when there’s Word World, new 3-2-1 Penguins almost every week, and that “My Friend Rabbit” that comes on before them on Qubo (not to metion Curious George and Sesame Street), for what ages is VeggieTales appropriate, and when do you think they’ll just become tired a bored?

It was one thing when they were the only 3-D animated show out there, now that they’re one of many…

I’m waiting for the episode that either begins with Petunia and Larry doing the introduction, or where Bob and someone do the introduction because Larry’s out on a date with Petunia.  Or is it just something that they do for the cameras?