Christian entertainment for children

Christian entertainment for children

Here are some thoughts on Vision Forum 's Jonathan Park .
 

For children, Christian entertainment plays a very important role in their character building. Children play to learn. The audio program Jonathan Park by Vision Forum is one of the best Christian entertainment programs I have seen.

Why audio programs, not TV? Because it is verbal. God primarily communicates with us through His word. Verbal communication is the foundation of the covenantal relationship between God and His people. Something visual is secondary. Giving the top priority to visual communication, often--though not always--paves the way to paganism. This is the reason many TV programs or computer games prove dangerous for Christian children. (Fine arts are an exception, since the symbolism is something foundational in the case of fine arts.)

If we are only supplied by verbal descriptions, we have freedom to imagine all the rest. Imagination is an essential skill for man. Lack of imagination may at times, cause mental and emotional disorders for children. One of the main reasons today's youth are violent is due to their lack of imagination. They cannot imagine other people's feeling, pain, and joy.

That's why Jonathan Park's "audio environment" is important. When we read the Bible, our ability of imagination is very crucial for appreciating its contents. Imagination plays an important role even in appreciating sermons preached from pulpits. Each story of Jonathan Park is actually a short message aimed at children. This way, children learn how to receive spiritual food through the pulpits. The pulpit is the greatest media of communication in the world, which neither TV nor Internet should equal. By listening to Christian radio programs, children are prepared for Christian adulthood.

Jonathan Park series is one of the best Christian entertainment programs I have seen for character and apologetics building of children.

In the programs, characters often discuss about science. They show how bogus Darwinism is and how God's truth in the Bible stands strong.

What about the situation in Japan? There are almost no Christian entertainment programs in Japan. Usually children of Christian families are fed by secular entertainment. Surely they have to face the dualism. Among the many things that occupy their week, only Sunday School is Christian. What about their entertainment? They cannot afford any Christian entertainment in Japanese. They have no other alternatives but manga, anime which are based on humanism, paganism, etc. This is the one of the main reasons why churches in Japan are losing children. As far as the Christian community in Japan (Japanese speaking Christians) is concerned, the size of the market is so small that there is almost no space for Christian entertainment like Vision Forum's program. Churches in Japan are losing their children and the size of the market is shrinking accordingly. This is a vicious circle.

CONCLUSION

Christian children need Christian entertainment. Secular entertainment does more than simply harm them. When they are fed by Christian entertainment, their character building takes place in a Christian environment where they can build a Christian worldview. When they are fed by secular entertainment, their mind set is formed in a schizophrenic situation which can lead them in the direction of secularism, paganism, or humanism.

Especially because children play to learn.

Get more information about Jonathan Park from their website at http://www.jonathanpark.com/ or Vision Forum's website.

(Jonathan Park is a property of Vision Forum )