On Sunday, August 14, 2011, I preached a sermon entitled: “What’s the Point?” The message had to do with what’s the point of being a Christian, a “Gospel-Person” as we have been saying lately. It fleshed out the Gospel in narrative form rather than a bullet-list. The conversation ended up swirling around Galatians 2:20 and […]
We’ve got this running joke in our family right now: Amanda loves to plan ahead and is thinking about costumes for Halloween and Trunk or Treat @ Hayward Wesleyan for us and the girls (last year they were princesses and I was the prince). She came across an idea to do a family, four-person, collage […]
We were eating dinner and Amanda had place a handful of broccoli on Macie’s plate. As usual, Macie was dipping them in ranch dressing, thoroughly enjoying soaking her “trees” (as she calls them) and sucking the ranch off of them. While I was eating, Macie hands me one of her broccoli and says: “Dad, I can’t eat […]
Sometimes it’s difficult to describe the kingdom of God and the praxis inherent within. We, as followers of Jesus, have to have faith that when we do what is right, according to kingdom values, then that “redeems” the world… that brings about God’s will on earth as it is in heaven. Admist the riots in […]
HT Mashable source YouTube
I’m sitting in my office right now working on choosing curriculum for Followers 2011-2012. I’ve used a couple of Elevate 8-pack series in the past and really enjoyed them, but that was a couple of years ago. Since then they have exploded the series they have produced. If my count is accurate they have 27 […]
I wrote another article for WesleyanKids.org about the ministry planning season and back to school ideas. You can check it out here: How Are Your Ministry Plans Coming?
I have a lot of ideas. Sometimes more ideas than the time to accomplish them. It is really easy for me to start things… but a whole lot more difficult for me to finish things. I’m realizing this about myself. Last year, after our big remodel project in which we expanded our children and youth […]
We travel through life so fast nowadays that we forget or are often unaware that every person we walk by, drive by and/or push a Walmart cart by has a story. Maybe it’s a success story or a painful story or perhaps a disjointed, cracked story. Maybe their stories are old and they bare the […]
I came across this funny list of “requirements” or recommendations for children’s ministry leaders and volunteers (you’ll understand and “feel” them when you read them!): Sense of humour is not mandatory, but you won’t survive without it Should be quick to recover when you forget a kids name: a staple of generic names such as […]
Yesterday after work, I picked up the girls at daycare and was intending (like normal) to go straight home. The girls (actually Sari) had other plans. Sari: “I want to go to God’s house!” (that’s code for “let’s go to church and play, and possibly get some candy from Dad’s office!”) I wasn’t in a […]
Last month I wrote my first article for The Spiritual Formation Department’s Children’s Ministry Blog/Email Newsletter. It was entitled: Curriculum?! Where Do I Start? It’s a story about a ministry couple that struggled (like many of us) in the pursuit of good, usable, biblical and contextual curriculum. Check it out.
My daughter, Sari, loves her magnet dolls. And she just happened to find a new, unique home for them to abide: the fireplace!
Jonathan Cliff wrote a blog post a while back entitled: Whippersnappers, Listen Up! Here are two of the “pieces of wisdom” he shares with his “younger” friends: Influence isn’t gained by only listening to those with status. It’s gained by listening to people from all different areas of life. The big-business guy making millions can […]
Update: I haven’t had to do this yet in the lifespan of my blog, but here’s the first one. The owner of this video has removed it for whatever reason, thus killing any links others might have created to share this video across the World Wide Web. One of my core commitments regarding my blog […]
When a storm is coming (anticipation) or the power is out (curiosity), everyone becomes neighborly and communal. They are hanging out outside, checking things out, talking, sharing stories, etc. As soon as the power is restored, however, everyone retreats to the inside of their homes again.
In our ALWAYS “connected” world, how does one “disconnect” when on vacation? via Jonathan Cliff
The older I get (and I’m not that old, yet!), I feel this tendency in me to play things safe, to not risk anything because what if I fail? via Lifehacker
While we were getting ready to head out the door to go to a small group party, Sari asked me a simple question: “Why do we have a house?” Me: “To stay warm in the winter, cool in the summer, to prevent us from getting wet when it rains and cold/wet when it snows , […]