Greg Laurie Teases Animated Series That Teaches the Gospel
By Movieguide® Contributor
Pastor Greg Laurie recently shared two cartoon characters he created that he wants to turn into a show to teach people about the Gospel.
“These are my 2 characters that I have been drawing for years, ‘Ben Born-Again and Yellowdog.’ These images look different [than] the way I draw them because these are the fully animated versions! We are working on some cartoon adventures that will reach our kids with the Gospel. More to come later,” Laurie shared on Instagram.
Ben Born-Again is a character that Laurie developed in the ‘70s, soon after he came to faith, as a way to share his belief with a larger audience. The character was featured in multiple tracts, sharing the Gospel in a more approachable way through cartoons.
“Drawing and art played a huge role in my development,” Laurie shared. “It was a place for me to escape to get away from the crazy life that was happening around me and to connect to something bigger than myself and my circumstances.”
According to Laurie, the character is a caricature of himself, and Ben Born-Again has been a way for him to share his story.
The new adaptation of Ben Born-Again will allow the character to reach a new generation. Laurie believes his animated show will be valuable and entertaining for an audience of any age.
He hopes that teaching the Gospel in a more casual medium will allow audiences to let down their guard and allow the message to wash over them.
“Through the adventures of Ben Born-Again and Yellowdog, we feel like we can take animation and sort of turn it on its head with something they haven’t seen before–an animated cartoon that has a wholesome, good, family-oriented message but, even more, a message of the Gospel,” Laurie concluded.
Laurie isn’t the only person taking this approach to sharing the Gospel. Movieguide® previously reported:
The upcoming video game, Gate Zero, seeks to bring scripture to life through an interactive story set in 1st-century Israel.
“The game starts out in the year 2072 in the dystopian world of Terrapolis,” a synopsis of the game reads. “You and your cousin Hector receive a cryptic mission from your eccentric late grandmother. She offers the chance to win her whole inheritance if you unlock the secrets of her mysterious ‘pearl.’ You and Hector decide to solve this mystery by going back to the source in his time machine, Gate Zero.”
In an age of short attention spans and low scriptural engagement, the team behind Gate Zero – Bible X – wants to present key Gospel moments in a new, immersive way. They believe the Bible will come to life as players become eyewitnesses to the miracles that Jesus performed and take in the sights and sounds of 1st-century Israel along the way.
