Winters can be harsh in Hayward, WI. A combination of lots of snow and below zero temperatures can begin to wear on people. That’s why Spring is so welcome to us. We love the change of seasons because they are so dramatic. Well, one Spring, as the temperature was climbing and the sun was shining, […]
One night at Youth group there was a 6th grade guy that got in trouble during a small group. The small group leader can take care of most discipline issues themselves, but when they come to the end of their rope with a student, they get sent out of their small group and our security […]
I read an amazing ebook recently called: Discipleship: Empowered by the Holy Spirit The Spirit has to do the work. Apart from the Spirit of Jesus, you can do nothing. I can do nothing. So often I rely on my “skills” or dazzling intellect or strategy rather than the supernatural work of the Spirit. “You’re […]
These infographics describe in more detail the Five Stages of Spiritual Growth as mentioned in the Real Life Discipleship Manual. I created 5 separate infographics that are designed for 11×17 paper. The Spiritually Dead Ephesians 2:1-5 The Spiritual Infant 1 Peter 2:2-3 The Spiritual Child 1 Thessalonians 2:10-12 1 Timothy 1:1-2 Philemon 1:8-11 The Spiritual […]
Every year at the Easter Eggstravaganza, we always do some fun music, a simple story about the Jesus of Easter, send the kids and their families out to do the egg hunt, and then they gather back in the building to count their “booty” and get some popcorn and juice. It’s always a meaningful time. […]
About a year ago, I taught the parable Jesus shared called the Parable of the Talents found in Mark 12:1-12. During the small group time afterward, I had a phenomenal and productive time with my 8th grade guys! It was neat to see the guys make the connection with a simple story Jesus shared and […]
When parents are in the thick of life with their children, they often take little time to stand back and reflect on the big picture. The big picture being: engaging with your children in the moments is the point of parenting, not wishing for things to be “perfect” or “right” in the moment, but messy and […]
I was listening to NPR’s All Things Considered and I came across a report called, The Teenage Brain: Spock vs. Captain Kirk. Are adolescents impulsive? Researchers created a scenario to test adolescents’ impulsiveness. Will an adolescent blow through a yellow light at an intersection more frequently than an adult would? Remarkably, when placed in the […]
Every winter I create a sledding hill of of the stairs of our deck by clearing the deck of snow and slowly creating a mound higher and higher as the winter months progress. Sari and Macie just love climbing and sledding on it. I’m pretty proud of the hills I’ve made! But that pride can […]
I was listening to NPR a while back and there was a segment about the Great Dying 250 million years ago. There is a new theory that purports the die-off of the dinosaurs wasn’t as cataclysmic as previously thought. Most traditional theories have either an asteroid or volcanic event as the main cause, but this […]
What was it like for the disciples when they saw Jesus after His resurrection? How do we describe the feeling, emotion, and huge importance and historical significance of this dead man coming back to life? In Main Street, I told a story about being at a funeral all sad and in mourning… someone everyone loved […]
1] One-year commitments. McIntosh and Arn (2013), in their book, What Every Pastor Should Know, say that “each ministry position, from the lowest level of influence to the highest, should be a one-year term [so the volunteer] can try a new activity and have the freedom to leave without guilt at the end of the […]
My daughter Sari drew this the other day and I asked her if I could scan it in and share it with others. She happily agreed!
In Main Street @ Hayward Wesleyan we focus on a Bible verse or a set of verses each month. Instead of trying to have students memorize a verse every week, we spend a whole month focused on one set of verses. For November 2014, we chose Luke 9:23-24 in the NIV: “If anyone would come after me, […]
In Main Street @ Hayward Wesleyan we focus on a Bible verse or a set of verses each month. Instead of trying to have students memorize a verse every week, we spend a whole month focused on one set of verses. For October 2014, we chose Luke 5:31-32 in the NIV: “Jesus answered them, ‘It is […]
In Main Street @ Hayward Wesleyan we focus on a Bible verse or a set of verses each month. Instead of trying to have students memorize a verse every week, we spend a whole month focused on one set of verses. For September 2014, we chose 1 Corinthians 10:13 in the NIV: “No temptation has […]
So you’ve got an amazing children’s ministry outreach event going and something inappropriate is going on… What do you do? Well, confront it. Or you can watch the video for the whole story and some tips… source YouTube
Dangerous products should be kept out of reach of children… check. Parents have known this for thousands of years. So why do we have a news story like this one? Because we are reminded that human nature likes to blame others for bad things happening rather than ourselves. Sure, at the very least, this news […]
Malcolm Gladwell addresses the biblical story of David and Goliath found in 1 Samuel 17. In large part, biblical interpretation is an imaginative enterprise. The more one can understand and gather information about how the original hearers/readers would have understood both the telling of the event as well the author’s point is helpful for modern […]
My daughter Sari, who is 7 years old, wrote the following during her inside recess time at school after her class had talked about bullying. I appreciated the emotion in it! Bulles are horabill. Bull are mean. If I see one I will skreem! And then I will comdonw and tack a depbreth but seeing […]