This is the first post in a series of reflections on a Children’s Ministry White Paper written by Doug Paul from Eikon Community (you can view the original document here). Ultimately, we want the same things for our kids that we want for ourselves: We want them to be disciples of Jesus. To help us […]
Starting on Saturday, January 21, 2012, a series of posts will go live on this blog over the course of 10 days (10 posts total). These posts are meant to start and sustain a discussion surrounding a white paper written by Doug Paul from Eikon Community Church called: CM White Paper | Why we do […]
It’s cool to see (and hear) stories of how God “orchestrated” events in the lives of people to lead them to Him. Everyday your life is filled with seemingly insignificant events, but little do you know that every moment that is made is part of a larger orchestration. source Vimeo
If our premise, or core values if you will, for this small group experiment is to: build community share life model Christ-like character engage in creative content and prayer radically goof off together …then with a small group of 6th grade boys, we would start with radically goofing off together! So we did. I’ve amassed […]
This is the second post in a series on Middle School Small Groups. CORE group provided something that I had not had up to this point in youth ministry at Hayward Wesleyan Church: a small group. Okay, the number in CORE group numbered about 20-25 students, which is hardly a “small” group, but at least […]
For the last couple of months we’ve been repeating a sort of mantra with the girls at bed time. We say: “Who loves you?” The girls reply: “Mom, Dad and God.” Then we ask: “Why did God make you?” To which the girls answer: “To love God, and to love others.” The other night I […]
This is the first post in a series on Middle School Small Groups. Our intent, for both the middle school and high school youth arenas, was to deepen disciples of Jesus. Pastor Loretta Sunderland and I, at the end of one school/ministry year, were less than enthusiastic about youth group on Wednesday nights. We were […]
Woah… there’s like a TON of rules in the Bible… 613 to be exact. And some of the rules overlap, so a priority structure was put into place, but then different groups of people argued over which rules, or commandments were more important that the other. This is the backdrop of Jesus’ teaching… a religious […]
I purchased this book after reading and reviewing Halfway Herbert by Francis Chan. It’s a neat story about a tractor that a “little village” uses sort of incorrectly. The tractor does it’s main job of plowing a field, but the village people push and pull it instead of start it up. As a result, the […]
Why did the [ancient Roman] emperors persecute Christians? Sometimes it was just because they hated Jesus and the Christians who followed him. Other times, Christians were killed or tortured, not because they worshiped Christ, but because they would not also worship false gods. The Romans believed that their many gods made the empire rich and […]
@ CPC 2012, breakout session speaker, Kit Rae made a great comment about normal, average, everyday life. He said: Redeem the time you currently have with your children. One lady I know has redeemed bath time. She prints off characters of the Bible stories they learned in children’s ministry the past weekend, laminates them, then […]
Is it possible to gain the whole world and still lose? John DeButts was the CEO of AT&T just prior to its breakup in the 1980’s. At the zenith of his power, he had more than 1,000,000 employees around the world. DeButts retired as a very wealthy man. Not long after that, he needed to […]
When I was in college the quote below was a popular one that we batted around often (I heard a variation of it @ CPC 2012): What you call people with is what you call people to. What you call people to that you must sustain. If you do ministry with hype and prize giveaways, […]
Are you ever at a loss for words with your teenager? Need a few ideas to start a conversation with? Sometimes all we need are some prompters… I came across a series of graphics and downloadable PDFs on Conversation Starters for Young Men that just might help. Even though the graphics and documents are peppered with […]
True story: An All Pro Dad we know was at work one day when his wife walked in, holding their infant first-born, tears streaming down her face. She handed him the bawling child, said “I’ve had it!”, and walked out. He didn’t know if she’d gone home, gone somewhere else, or left the state. They […]
CPC is known for their Resource Center. They’ve got a lot of publishers, content creators and services. Before the first General Session, they opened the Resource Center to the masses that are attending this conference, and I did a preliminary walk-thru. Here are some things I came across that I liked: The Gospel Project Lifeway […]
These 5 Initiatives are the titles of the 5 General Sessions here @ CPC 2012.
Everynone.com made an anti-bullying video called: Losers. **Caution** There is some offensive language in this video. HT Dad-O-Matic source Vimeo
I’m at CPC 2012 in Orlando, FL this week. The Children’s Pastor Conference boasts lots of content providers, publishers and resources all under one roof in one place, as well as speakers, breakout sessions, and great networking opportunities. I plan to blog about as many things as I can. I’m excited to look through all […]
A couple days ago it was 5 Things Every Parent Must Stop. Today the EpicParent reverses direction and implores his audience toward few things every parent must do: 5 Things Every Parent Must Do I’ll give you the first one… Reverse the Curse.