It’s been a while since I did an installment from the book What Matters Now in Children’s Ministry, and this one is long overdue.  In the book Sam Luce chose the Word “Redemption” as What Matters Now.

Sam starts with a great summary of the importance of redemption:

One of the greatest messages we can give to every family we come in contact with is the message of redemption. In kids’ ministry, today, we deal with more broken hearts and broken families than ever before. I believe every family needs to experience the power of redemption.

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Why did I review this book?

When Larry Shallenberger announced several months ago that he was planning on doing a book blog tour to celebrate the fifth anniversary of his book, I eagerly signed up.  I don’t know Larry personally, but I do follow his comments on Twitter and read his blog, so I kind of feel like I know him even if he doesn’t follow me on Twitter.   Based on that presumption of relationship, and the generally laid back nature of people in children’s ministry, I will refer to him as Larry throughout this review.

Anyhow, I knew that regardless of what the book was about, Larry’ has a great sense of humor and an easy to read writing style, so I knew reading his book wouldn’t be a complete waste of time.  That said, when I found out the topic of the book was leadership, I got just a little bit leery.  It’s not that I don’t like reading about leadership or being a leader.  I actually do, but the world has plenty of books on leadership, and I have read a bunch of them.  It seems the everybody who has ever been a boss or started a ministry or had people report to them has taken it upon themselves to write a book on leadership.  After a while, they all just seem to say the same thing – do it my way and you’ll be OK, and it ultimately all runs together into a fuzzy blurry haze in my head.  Besides that, I already have a group of people whose writings, podcasts, etc. on topic of leadership I devour.  They include people like Andy Stanley, Jim Wideman, and others who I have grown to trust in this area and have learned a lot from.  With all due respect to Larry, I wasn’t sure what he could offer that hadn’t either already heard or wasn’t getting from some of the other resources I was reviewing.

There’s an old, slightly cliché, saying that “You can’t judge a book by its cover.”  I agree in principal, and Larry’s book turned out to be a prime example of this for me and another reason I try not to let pre-conceived notions totally guide what I choose to read.  Now, I’ve never recommended that someone not read this book, but if it hadn’t been for this blog tour, I’m not sure I ever would have read it either.  Had that happened, I would have missed out.

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Several months ago, I sat down to read Connect With Your Kids by Jim Wideman.  The book was so practical and engaging that I finished it in one sitting.  Not only that, I wore out a highlighter noting all the quotable passages from the book.  Unfortunately, the format of this review will not allow me to share ALL of those.  Needless to say though, I think this is a book that any parents, and everyone who works with kids, should move to the top of their reading list.

About the Book

The quip on the back of the book describes its purpose quite clearly: (more…)

Introduction

In the February installment of The Children’s Ministry Blog Patrol (February 2010), I featured an article from the blog of Donna Perugini.  That lead a brief exchange via e-mail in which she mentioned that she had written several children’s books.  She was kind enough to send me a free copy of one of her books titled “Don’t Hug a Grudge” for me to review for Dad in the Middle.

About the Author

Before jumping into the book, I like to know a little bit about the author.  Ms. Perugini’s blog indicates that she taught children the Word of God over 30 years.  Her blog indicates that her approach to teaching the Bible included “cutting it into bite-sized pieces and making it fun and entertaining.” In addition to Don’t Hug A Grudge, she has authored three other children’s books.  They include: (more…)

This book originally published by Sojourn Community Church, in Louisville, Kentucky, was written by Lindsay Blair and Bobby Giles and illustrated by Tessa James.  It was originally published under the title “Pastor Daddy,” but has since been picked up by Christian Focus Publications and republished under it’s new name Our Home Is Like A Little Church.

In the introduction to the book Jared Kennedy, the Children’s Minister at Sojourn Community Church writes,

“God intended the home to be the front line of ministry to children – not the Sunday school or public church gathering alone.  The church and the home are partners.”

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Over the last several days, I have posted a number of articles on the new book Collaborate: Family + Church. This represents the next entry in that series. Earlier entries include:

• My review of the book Collaborate: Family + Church.
• Collaborate: Family + Church (A Synopsis of Chapters 10 – 18)
• Collaborate: Family + Church (A Synopsis of Chapters 19 – 27)

28. Dr. Rob Rienow – “Building a Theology of Family Ministry”

Summary: Rob Rienow starts this chapter with the premise that family ministry is not something the church should embrace because it is the newest fad or even because it works.  He asserts that churches should adopt a family ministry approach based on a review of Biblical theology.  The point of this chapter is to demonstrate that family ministry should be built on the “inerrancy and sufficiency of scripture” and that the Great Commission is fundamentally based on the concept of family.  He then proceeds to work through both the Old and New Testaments to support 3 basic and foundational principals as follows (and I quote them from the article as I couldn’t phrase them any better): (more…)

Over the last several days, I have posted a number of articles on the new book Collaborate: Family + Church. This represents the next entry in that series. Earlier entries include:

• My review of the book Collaborate: Family + Church.
• Collaborate: Family + Church (A Synopsis of Chapters 10 – 18)

19. Kenny Conley – “Reinventing Baptism”

Summary: Kenny Conley’s article provides interesting insights into what his church is doing in the area of baptism to get families more involved in the spiritual development of their children.  Kenny notes that the best chance a child has at long-term spiritual growth is when the parent takes a leadership role in that process.

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