My daughter, Sari, is almost 4 years-old. I can’t believe how fast time flies! It seems like only yesterday that Amanda and I were childless and living the kidless life! My how things have changed! Sari is a pretty smart young girl. Our daycare ladies tell us often how amazed they are at her mental […]
Regime change seems to be difficult sometimes. It was no different in the early years of Israel’s monarchy. King Saul had reigned for a while, then was killed in battle. Normally one of his sons would be installed as the next king, but God had rejected Saul’s kingship and passed it on to David. As […]
a come-from-behind-story of the King Once upon a time, there was a King. Everything the King did was good. The people in his kingdom adored him and followed him as their King. The King found time to spend with each person in his kingdom. He loved everybody no matter what they were like. He had […]
As a parent who is almost done with the messy diaper changes, I laughed because I can’t wait to not have to do this again. I find it amazing that there are willing volunteers in our church nursery who do this on a regular basis with babies! What a way to kindly serve in one […]
I love football season (both college and professional)! The TV is on all day on Saturdays and Sundays at my house and it’s great! I’ve never really claimed allegiance to one team over another (other than OU). Until this last Sunday. I’ve lived in WI almost 8 years now and I’ve enjoyed the rivalry between […]
David is successful in whatever Saul sent him to do, then Saul got jealous and tried to kill David a number of times. In the process, David and Saul’s son Jonathan became best friends and looked out for each other. This is the story of that friendship… source Vimeo
@ msy YOUTH this past school year, we have been thinking through the statement: “The Bible is about God continually working to fix this world through his kind of special people in order to make his kind of world.” We’ve interacted with this statement by walking ourselves through Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, Deuteronomy, Joshua, Judges, […]
Rachel South interned @ Hayward Wesleyan for a couple of months last summer. She had the opportunity to experience the end of our Main Street Sunday morning ministry in May, and then she “created” and crafted a curriculum for the students over the summer months. She ended up self-publishing her curriculum: This past fall semester […]
I know I’m a few days late on this, but I just came across it and felt it worthy to share! source YouTube
King Saul’s oldest son, Jonathan, was a man of courage and bravery… quite unlike his father! Here is a story about one of his exploits. Found in 1 Samuel 13:23 – 14:52 Below are 2 videos: the first is from this past Sunday and the second is from 3 years ago when we did this […]
We are planning VBS (Vacation Bible School) for July 11-15, 2011 @ Hayward Wesleyan Church from 6:oo-8:3op (for preschool children potty-trained up through grade 5). Web landing page for future info: www.hwcyouth.org/vbs For as long as I can remember we have used Group Publishing‘s curriculum for VBS. And while it has served us well over […]
The other day I was disciplining Sari about something and I was talking with her about “why” we (her parents) discipline her. I said something like: “We want you to grow up and be a girl who doesn’t hit people, a girl who is kind to other people and makes good choices. Basically we want […]
I received this in an email yesterday! It’s great! Take a minute to check out this wonderful video our 5th graders put together for our Christmas Program. Jim Barthelman our 5th grade teacher who is the brain behind this is now kinda famous:) Seriously check it out it will make your day! Merry Christmas! Rachel
I get this video every year around this time, and I always like it! The creator of this light show does a great job!
I am always intrigued (and amused) by the imaginative re-telling of ancient stories in new ways. I think ways of storytelling like the video above help us to re-imagine this ancient story in a way that our 21st century culture would experience it. In a unique way, it actually helps place us in the shoes […]
I was sent this great instructional video on what to do in the event of an oil fire in the kitchen. Typically, my wife will pull out the fire extinguisher when she is cooking with oil, just to be ready, just in case. But this video provides an alternative that might work better in an […]
The Israelites were wrong in asking for a king. After all, God was their king, so choosing a human king pretty much told God where they wanted him to go. God is gracious and compassionate, and he lets the Israelites have a king: Saul. Through Samuel, he told the people (and Saul) that as long […]
My Dad sent me this video yesterday. It’s the simple story of Jonah as we’ve all been told it. However, it’s the unique story-teller and expressive delivery that makes it such a fun video to watch! source Vimeo
Even before I was the children’s pastor @ Hayward Wesleyan, I’ve thoroughly enjoyed approaching the Bible as a story, a narrative. After all, the primary form God chose to communicate His Word was through stories (remarkably not a “systematic theology” textbook!). Now, after over 7 years worth of Bible story-telling, I’m more convinced of this […]
Samuel turns the nation of Israel around and sets them back on the right path to looking like the actual representatives of God in this world. With the Lord’s help, they conquered the Philistines for a while. But then Samuel wants to turn leadership over to his sons, but they were evil, so the leaders […]