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Jesus Loves Me – Behind the Music

August 18, 2009 in Children's Ministry, Music with 5 Comments

In the following post from Ed Hird’s blog, he looks at the history behind one of the most famous children’s hymns of all time.

http://edhird.wordpress.com/2009/08/13/jesus-loves-me-this-i-know/

I enjoyed reading it so much, and learning about the history of this simple song, that I thought I would post it here on Dad in the Middle.  While I was doing some online research for this article (thinking I might be able to expand on Mr. Hird’s article) I found two things.  #1 – There was not a lot of additional information about the song (kudos to Mr. hird for being thorough), and #2 – I found an amazing story about this song, a child and her father.  I wish I still had the link, and I am sure I will butcher this paraphrase, but here was story:

One day, a little girl went to see her father to ask him some questions for a class project.  She asked him what he thought great astronomers might say to people when they were asked about astronomy.  He answered “twinkle, twinkle little star.”  She asked him a similar question about what great theologians might say when asked about God.  He responded, “Jesus Loves me this I know for the Bible tells me so.”

I think that story reosnated with me because its profound truth.  In a simple kids’ hymn that has been sung millions of times in churches all over the world are some of the greatest theological truths of all time.  Jesus Love Me, this I know for the Bible tells me so.  Jesus loves me.  God is love (1 John 4:16) and we love because he first loved us (1 John 4:19).  God so loved the world that he came to earth took on human flesh and died on the cross for our sins (John 3:16).  And, God doesn’t just love us collectively, he loves me individually and went to extreme measures to prove it (John 15:13).   And, how do we know all of this, because the Bible tells us so (John 20:30-31).  God’s word endures forever (Psalm 19:19) and every word of it is true (2 Timothy 3:16).  Now, that’s a lot of theology packed into one line of a children’s hymn!

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ABC’s of Children’s Ministry

August 5, 2009 in General Kidmin, Personal with 1 Comment

abcs

I was reading a blog article recently from one of my favorite blogs on the ABC’s of salvation.  The inspired me to put together this ABC’s of Children’s Ministry.  I had to resist the urge to write more for each letter, so you may see future posts about some of these! J

A is for ACTIVE.  Many kids learn best when they are ACTIVE.

B is for BOYS.  BOYS present some of the greatest challenges and some of the greatest rewards.

C is for CREATIVE.  God created us in his image.  So, even those of us who are “craft-challenged” are CREATIVE on some level.  Take advantage of that creativity in your Children’s Ministry.

D is for DEDICATION. A good Children’s Ministry volunteer must be DEDICATED to the greater goal.

E is for EXPECTATIONS.  We must have high EXPECTATIONS for our kids.  To have anything less sells them short.

F is for FUN.  Our time with kids must be FUN to keep them wanting more.

G is for GIRLS.  GIRLS may be easier as a general rule, but there are always exceptions.

H is for HUMOR.  Kids like to laugh.  Engage them in age appropriate HUMOR.

I is for INTELLIGENT.  Just because they’re kids doesn’t mean they are not INTELLIGENT.  Never underestimate the kids in your room.

J is for JESUS. At the center of any successful Children’s Ministry is CHRIST.

K is for KIDS.  The reason we do what we do is because of KIDS, and we should never forget that they belong to God.

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Someday

July 30, 2009 in Personal with 1 Comment

ClockOK, so during my recap of my Go Dark week (Http://waynestocks.com/2009/07/25/going-dark-the-recap/) I mentioned that I had written a poem during one of my drives to work.  OK, I didn’t actually write it during the drive.  I came up with it during the drive and wrote it down later.  Maybe I never should have mentioned it, but since I did, here it is.  I call it:

Someday

God was around before the start of days.
And he created man on the sixth day.
Man sinned and fell on a fateful day.
Then man rejected God for a lot of days.
So, God dwelt amongst them for a few days.
Jesus died on the cross on a bad day.
He rose and conquered death on the third day.
And he went back up to heaven after forty days.
Now, we still sin against him every day,
But he’ll be coming back again someday.
So, it’s time to get right with him today.
So we can live with him past the end of days. Continue Reading…

Going Dark – The Recap!

July 25, 2009 in Personal with 1 Comment

DarkSo, I’m done with my “Go Dark” week.  “It’s finally over,” or “is it over already?”  I guess it depends on your perspective.  Either way, I’m all plugged back in now. I’ve been through about 300 e-mails, and I’ve caught back up on facebook and twitter. It’s amazing how little time it actually took to check in on the important things. It makes me wonder why I waste so much time on it. I did notice tonight that I have so many articles waiting in Google Reader that it doesn’t give me the actual number – just says 1000+. My best estimate is around 1,500. I’m thinking I may need to reduce the number of my subscriptions.

In case you didn’t read my article (Http://waynestocks.com/2009/07/13/im-going-dark-join-the-challenge/), I decided to turn off all my electronic gadgets for a week (except during work and for work).  I started last Saturday at midnight and finished this morning at midnight.

As I said in my original article, I am not adverse to technology.  It is a wonderful tool and offers limitless possibility.  The problem seems to be when, instead of using technology, we allow it to master us.   When technology starts to dictate that which I do and that which I do not do, that’s a problem.  When technology robs me of time with my God and with my family, that’s a problem.  When checking facebook or looking at the stats for my blog becomes an obsession, that’s a problem!  I’m not sure I was at that point, but I decided to do this little experiment to make sure that I was still in control rather than the technology being in control.  So, the plan was it would all go off for a week, and we would see what happened.

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What If Cartoons Could Worship?

July 25, 2009 in Kidmin Videos, Music with 0 Comments

One of the first “Christian songs” my kids ever heard after I came to Christ was Chris Rice’s “Cartoon Song.” In fact, Chris Rice was the first artist both my son and daughter ever saw in concert. We still love to jam to this song. This video was put together by a fan with a puppet and a green screen. The words aren’t quite right, but don’t let that detract from the rest of it, it’s great:

I’m Going Dark! (Join the Challenge!)

July 13, 2009 in Personal with 4 Comments

DarkI was driving home this weekend from dropping my eight-year old son off at horse camp.  My wife had a baby shower to go to, and she had the other kids with her.  So, it was just me and my thoughts.  I started to reflect on all the electronic gadgets that we fill our time up with every day.  We have TVs in every room, DVD players, IPods, Computers, the Internet, Blogs, Facebook, Twitter, Newsreaders, Radios.  The list goes on and on.

Now, I am not opposed to technology.  I rather enjoy it!  Sometime though, I wonder if I am letting it consume me to the detriment of other more important things in my life.  To me, those things that may be suffering are my relationship and quiet time with God including time in his word, my relationship with my wife, my relationship with my kids, and my other reading.

So, I made a decision.  It is something I have been thinking about for a little over a year, and I think it’s finally time to do it.  Starting this coming Saturday at 12:00, I am eliminating electronics from life (mostly).  In essence, this is an exercise in self-control.

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Happy Birthday America

July 4, 2009 in Music with 0 Comments

I love the simplicty of the following video, and the song is still one of my favorite 4th of July Traditions. God Bless!

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