Jesus action figure is coming

[tom_roberts]

merchandisers:ohno
this is unrelated but relevent, at lest to me--
Jesus said make not my fathers house a house of merchandise.

The word translated merchandise is the Greek word emporion {em-por'-ee-on}.


This is where we get our word emporium and it means a place where trade is carried on, a mart, or market


''And, if Jesus or Paul gets a little too chatty, just pause him while you contemplate what you've heard so far.''

Jesus action figure is coming
by Newsday

Move over, Transformers. Shove off, Spider-Man. There's a new line of toys trying to muscle its way into toy boxes this month and some might say it's divine.
Tales of Glory, a line of biblical toys created by Valencia, Calif.-based One2Believe, includes a 12-inch-tall talking Jesus, a muscle-bound Samson and villainous Goliath, as well as a nativity scene and other figurine sets.
"We think they'll have mass appeal," One2Believe spokesman Josh Livingston said of the Judeo-Christian-themed fully posable figures that were three years in the making. "These are toys parents can play with with their children."
http://www.dailymail.com/story/Life/2007083079/Jesus-action-figure-is-coming/

[I Believe!!!]

You know Tom, I totally see where you're coming from, and you're right there is a merchandising of God's house going on. :nod But, as a parent I'd rather buy one of these than let's say a doll from a cartoon that represents mid east philosophies. It's nice to have options that reflect my families values!

My kids have been raised on Vedgie Tales, and while I do feel that there is a bit of a money making aspect to them (toys are kind of spendy, much more than these dolls in fact) I'm so glad to have these cartoons as an alternative and important biblical resource.

One of the first things that came to mind was hoping that children of unsaved parents would be drawn to them in the stores (perhaps by the Holy Spirit) for buying and hopefully some scriptures being said at home by these dolls would cause a further drawing to look into the bible a bit more. :yay Can you imagine the questions some of these kids might start asking their parents? :thumb

Then, what if these talking dolls are donated to Salvation army after the children are done (even children of Christians) and other children buy these toys there. How about their friends who can't read that come over and listen to these scriptures.

It will be interesting to see what happens. :)

[tom_roberts]

Vedgie Tales ?

forgive my ignorance but what are they?

i have a 5 month old , maybe these be good to let her play with?

[Beth O]

Vedgie Tales ?

forgive my ignorance but what are they?

i have a 5 month old , maybe these be good to let her play with?


The Comfort of Jesus Dolls
http://www.thebereancall.org/node/1864

Search the Scriptures Daily Program #1406b Transcript follows: RELIGION IN THE NEWS Now, Religion in the News, a report and comment on religious trends and events being covered by the media. This week’s item is from Garrison Birmingham News, January 27, 2006, with a headline: Jesus wouldn’t want you to be afraid dolls. The following are excerpts. About ten years ago Mary England moved her five-year old son into a basement room, and he was terrified. To comfort him, England put a statue of Jesus in the bed with him. I put it under the blanket and told him, Jesus wouldn’t want you to be afraid, she said. He was fine with it. I said, I’m sorry it’s not soft. When I left the room I thought, I wonder if there is a Jesus doll. There is now, and plenty of them. England created what has become known as, “My loving Jesus doll” which sells for $19.95. It’s about a foot tall, a squeezeable soft doll with outstretched arms dressed in a robe. It comes with a linen scroll addressed to a child explaining who Jesus is. Dolls are important companions for children, she said, and can be used as a tool to introduce children to Jesus. If you can plant that seed early it doesn’t go away, England said. When I was a girl I talked to my dolls, I loved my dolls. Another more expensive Jesus doll has also made an appearance, made with molded rubber face and hands the soft saint’s dolls sell for $98.00 apiece. We can barely stay ahead of the demand, said Terry O’Toole, founder of “soft saints” based in Anaheim, California. She said she began making and selling her realistic looking dolls in 2000. She offers several Jesus dolls including an infant Jesus, and she sells a virgin Mary holding a baby Jesus. There are 28 historical characters including Joan of Arc, Pope John Paul 2, St Francis and mother Theresa with four new ones coming out this spring. Another entry in the Christian doll market is, Faith filled friends, small plush religious toys made by Jazu in Vista, California, including Jesus and other saints in a simple style like stuffed carnival toys selling for $16.95. These really are wholesome dolls available now, O’Toole said. Tom: There really are wholesome dolls available now, Dave, O’Toole said. Where do we go with something like this? You know I just wonder if some people who profess to be Christians are ever thoughtful, ever think anything through. I have five children, Dave, two girls, three boys, the girls had dolls. I can remember clearly, what did they do with their dolls? O, sure, they loved their dolls, they wanted to be with their dolls, but they told their dolls what to do. You know, they scolded, they corrected their dolls, and so on. You going to do this with a Jesus doll? Dave: Well, Tom, it’s worse than that. Tom: I know it is, but that thought should pop up in somebody’s mind. Dave: Right. A Jesus doll, come on! But people have pictures of Jesus. Tom, I’m not going to get into that, that’s an abomination, it doesn’t look like Jesus. What’s the difference between a Jesus doll and a Barbie doll, except one is male and one is female, but they’ve got--- Tom: Four months to raise a doll now. Dave: They’ve got---it’s degrading and demeaning to Jesus Christ who is God manifest in the flesh to make some pitiful looking doll that certainly doesn’t look like him. Furthermore, he is not a baby anymore, he is not someone to be treated like a doll, that’s blasphemy, that’s an abomination! It’s an idol, the Bible says, you’re not to make a likeness of God, but Jesus is God, God manifest in the flesh. Tom, you’re just trying to get me angry. Tom: Dave, what’s an idol? Isn’t an idol something that teaches something erroneously about either a religious idea or a being, and so on and so forth? Dave: Well, Paul says that behind every idol---well he says the things that the Gentiles offered to idols they offer to devils, to demons, because behind every idol is a demon. So, they think this is representing Jesus. This did not represent Jesus and this is a delusion that Satan himself will take advantage of, for little children? Tom: Well again, Dave, if these things are teaching, and this is what the woman says, you know, she wants to be able to teach them something about Jesus. What is she teaching them? She’s certainly not teaching them anything biblical about Jesus. Now Dave, I see your veins are popping just a little bit, let me raise the temperature. You know, we have dolls here that are supposed to comfort children, and so on, and take their fears away, I mean, that’s their intention. But Dave, I’ve got---you know, you don’t go into my office too much, but I’ve got other things in there, ads for Jesus action figures. Now, how about that! You’ve got an action figure that you’re going to put down with your G I Joe, and switch clothes if you want---you can have it take on Godzilla, or something like that. I mean, look what we are doing, look what we are teaching our kids, this is insane! In Showtime for the Sheep? I talk about the trivialization of, not just the scriptures, but of the patriarchs, the people in scripture. We are trivializing them, turning them into cartoons. Dave: Yeah, or Veggie Tales. Tom: Well, you know, folks, okay, you’re a little, O, an eyebrow went up here or there or maybe, you know, the radio went off. But Dave, I’d like somebody to tell me how we are not trivializing the Word of God by introducing these entertainment kind of things supposedly to teach our children. What are we teaching them? Dave: You’re not teaching them from the Bible. You know, Tom, of course I’m over the hill long ago, my next birthday I’ll be eighty, but when we were in Sunday school, and I can remember it very well, we didn’t even have Sunday school materials published by some publisher whose---I’m sorry---motivation was making money. We had the Bible, we loved it. You can’t teach kids out of the Bible---Wow! We loved it! We learned the Bible, we memorized it. And I can tell you we knew the Bible, as little children, three, four, five, six years old, we knew the Bible itself. We didn’t need any props, or you know, Jesus dolls, or Moses dolls, or anything like that. But of course now we have videos and so forth, which is really, again, I am sorry, an abomination. The Bible is written in words, we’re going to learn the Word of God. We learned the Word of God, now we are getting picture books. Tom: Yeah, and Dave, the difference between the two is one that is incredibly subjective. We are not teaching our children anything that’s objective about the Word of God and about truth. We’re giving them ideas and letting them kind of wade through this objective mire that’s not teaching them. It’s a point of fact. Dave: Pictures that will lead astray. You can’t represent God. You can’t represent Jesus with a picture. And yet, you know--- Tom: Dave, all of the idolatrous nations work their way through imagery. Only the Israelites were taught---they taught their children how to read and write because they needed to learn the scriptures. Why can’t we get back to that? You are listening to Search the Scriptures Daily, a radio ministry of The Berean Call. Still to come, Dave and Tom continue their weekly in-depth study of the Doctrine of Salvation, please stay with us.

[extreme4jesus]

well i for one am very thankful for veggie tales movies as they do explain biblical principles in a fun way that kids enjoy.

[I Believe!!!]

I suppose we need to get rid of flannel story boards used in Sunday school too.

[Beth O]

I suppose we need to get rid of flannel story boards used in Sunday school too.

That's a little extreme isn't it. Not what is being talked about in the article I posted. Maybe you could just address what was talked about in the article. flannel story boards are great tools to tell the stories in the Bible to children.

[extreme4jesus]

veggie tales is simply a tool to make learning about the Bible fun for kids. it shouldnt be there only exposure to bible stories obviously, but they are wonderful for even very young children and they teach great christian values

[Skywalker]

Tom:
Check out Veggie Tales for yourself before introducing your child to them. I don't have a problem getting the videos (I think they appear on a few channels on Direct TV....not sure) for the kids in my family. If you can get past any resentment of Joseph being portrayed by a talking tomato I think you'll see the value of this series. :)

They're definitely "Bible-lite" but are an excellent choice for younger kids (IMHO).


Beth:

I believe I agree with you about the dolls. At best, the child is going to need a thorough explanation of the nature of Jesus / God when they get through that stage.

I do take issue with the comment about pictures/paintings' being idols. I possess several "artist's perception of Jesus" works that were left to me by my maternal grandmother (and I can assure you that you never
met a more Hard-shell East Texas Baptist ). These representations are not worshipped or considered sacred in any way so the second commandment doesn't really apply here.

The part about V-Tales is overreaction (once again, IMHO). I really don't feel that God takes issue with an animated version of the Word created for the sole purpose of helping children understand His ways. I learned the Bible by having my Mom plop me down in the middle of the floor with a huge illustrated (with paintings) version. I knew the Bible story before I could read.

I believe that you have to get the Bible into a child's mind by whatever means necessary. They may depart from it (I certainly did) but there will always be that tiny grain of truth imbedded in their psyche. :thumb

[I Believe!!!]

but when we were in Sunday school, and I can remember it very well, we didn’t even have Sunday school materials published by some publisher whose---I’m sorry---motivation was making money.

I wasn't trying to be flippant, sorry, it's just that I think this perspective is kind of extreme myself. He seems to be advocating not using any materials whatsoever.:scratch My son has grown up with bibles with pictures in them and we read and looked at the pictures together....he knows his stories and the pictures were wonderful aids in drawing his interest. As a Sunday school teacher myself I've enjoyed the aids provided to draw the interest of our children. They've been vital in creating questions about who the characters are and why they did the things they did in the bible.

Veggi Tales always makes sure to have a scripture at the end of the show and does a very good job showing how to practically apply God's scriptures to life.

I'd have to say this guy is a bit extreme in his analyses of what I'm pointing out.

The Jesus doll......like I said before, I can see where people may have issues with this....but these dolls are saying the Word of God...I could see this being used in a positive way, and frankly if kids are bowing down and worshipping a doll (which I have yet to ever see) then there is something more going on than having a Jesus doll in the house! Just my two cents.....I may be completely wrong.:idunno