Oh how I love having parents sign Permission and Release Forms! I wonder if some parents think that I relish the opportunity to get them to re-fill their information (child name, date of birth, phone numbers, email addresses, medical info, emergency contact, and on and on) many times! Now I am NOT a lawyer, so […]
I’ve written over 250 posts on this blog since June 2010. And, as I’ve discovered, blogging consistently takes time, effort and energy. So why do I do it? Why do I blog? Well, what I have discovered in teaching youth and children every week in various venues is that using media is important. There is […]
I was at Starbucks the other day and I saw this “instructional” sign in the bathroom and it made me think of something. Now, this might be a little gross, but stay with me for a second. When I am in the men’s room, whether it is at church, the airport, restaurant, wherever, I can’t […]
Yes. It is. I like Jimmy Johns and all (that’s where this photo was taken), but it’s not worthy of worship!
At the end of the school year, we have what we call the “OREO Bible Quiz” in Main Street. It’s a blend of an end-of-the-year party along with assessing what the students learned as we navigated through the stories of the Bible the past year. And we leverage the ever-popular OREO cookie to accomplish this. […]
Just like the post below, I believe in the power of a story to teach. I’ve got to admit that as a young parent, it is easy to default to the “lecture” format, but I’ve found that telling a story, whether real or make-believe, has been very powerfully effective. My friend, Jesse Smith, shares some […]
Okay, so I’m gonna try and experiment. The Twitter. I don’t use Twitter very much because the people in our area (and the teenagers) do not tend to use it. I do have a Twitter account (@jdmavis), but it is mostly filled with my blog posts that some people find helpful to receive through the […]
This is “mechanical artwork”! Great for countdown video background?! via Make: technology on your time source Vimeo
One of Heath Davis‘ passions is helping reorient the church to the overarching implications of the Gospel. Here is a recent post from Heath: What is the gospel? Social justice, community reform, personal morality should never be mistaken as the gospel itself. They are actually the IMPLICATIONS of the gospel fleshed out into our life […]
As a parent, you want the best for your children. You want to see them succeed. You want them to live up to their full potential. You don’t want obstacles to get in their way or failures to keep them down. A well-meaning parent says: “You can, you can, you can! You can grow up […]
I use Google services, pervasively. Gmail is my email client of choice, along with its built-in contacts database. Google Calendar is what I use for my personal as well as professional calendar. YouTube and Google Maps, most all of us have interacted with. Others include: Google Docs and Google Reader. These “cloud-based” services that Google […]
Don’t we all long for a perfect world? It’s not that I get frustrated with things not being perfect because I know they aren’t. But that doesn’t prevent us from longing for perfection, does it? “In a perfect world …” HT ChurchMag
I’m only a month late on this. HT ChurchMag
The Followers students venture up to The EDGE Waterpark in Duluth, MN on Sunday, May 22, 2011. We spent the entire afternoon and evening @ the waterpark which included the bus ride there and back. Good times! source YouTube
Jesus calls disciples to keep entering into this shared life of peace and joy as it transforms our hearts, until it’s the most natural way to live that we can imagine. Until it’s second nature. Until we naturally embody and practice the kind of attitudes and actions that will go on in the age to […]
This past Sunday was kind of interesting in regard to staffing our Main Street program for children in grades 1-6 during the 9:40am service @ Hayward Wesleyan Church. This was the last day for “regular” teaching through our school year curriculum. Next week is our annual OREO Bible Quiz (a review of sorts for the […]
I didn’t want to share this publicly until it was officially announced, but as of today, it is. Along with my current job assignment (children’s pastor @ Hayward Wesleyan), I will be joining the Spiritual Formation Department of The Wesleyan Church on their Children’s Ministry Leadership Team. Rev. Colleen Derr (former Children’s Ministry Director @ […]
HT ChurchMag
Does this ever happen to you? Sari hurt her foot the other day. I don’t remember exactly how, but it seems like she is always running in to stuff! Anyway, when she hurt her foot she screams bloody murder! Life is over! I know, I know… kids respond to pain in a variety of ways […]
This past Wednesday, May 25, 2011, I spoke at Hayward High School’s Baccalaureate Service. The theme was “Wisdom?” and it was on 1 Corinthians 1:18-25. During the talk, I used an object lesson with a rope, which just happened to be the school colors! (actually it was an extra yellow rope from our playground system […]