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2020-02-26 to 28 Pictures: Charleston, South Carolina

One of the few upsides of having to cancel our Spring Break trip last March at the onset of the pandemic is that we are "stuck" with a rather large voucher from one of those discount airlines. Last autumn, Tricia and I spent a weekend in Savannah, Georgia and had a...

A John 3:16 Craft for Kids

John 3:16 is one of the most well known and reassuring verses in the Bible. For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.John 3:16 (NIV) The following is a little craft I threw...

2020-03-01 Pictures: Lyndsey’s College Signing Day

This afternoon Lyndsey made it official, signing her letter of intent to play college basketball for the Hiram College Terriers starting next year. While she made the decision and committed to Hiram before Christmas, she has been looking forward to this day since her...

2020-02-13 Pictures: Lyndsey’s 18th Birthday

I am little behind on posting photos. These are some of my favorites from a couple of weekends ago when we got a chance to celebrate Lyndsey's 18th birthday. It's hard to believe that my little girl is officially an adult. It was nice to have the family all back...

What is DOCTRINE?

Introduction I love working with kids, and I love teaching them hard concepts in ways they can understand. To that end, for years I have been working on a dictionary of theological terms for kids and teens. In sharing those definitions, there seemed no better place to...

If You Want It Done Right

In all likelihood, you know how the phrase ends: If you want it done right, DO IT YOURSELF! This is a bit of a mantra for me, and frankly, something that I struggle with daily both in leadership and in my Christian walk.  In theory, this is easy to accept. ...

What Does God Hate?

This is the little and humble post that started it all. I happened to be reading through my Bible, and this passage impacted me so much that I posted a little blurb about it on Facebook. That was July 28, 2008, and I've been writing and sharing ever since. (Maybe...

ABC’s of Children’s Ministry

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 BOYSBOYS 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 GIRLSGIRLS 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.

L is for LOVE.  Without LOVE all work on behalf of God is useless (1 Corinthians 13).

M is for MEN.  It’s time MEN stood up as role models in Children’s Ministry – especially for the boys.

N is for NEW.  Kids get bored easily.  It’s important to be constantly keeping up and changing in Children’s Ministry.  Keep things fresh and NEW.

O is for ORGANIZATION.  Show up for Children’s Ministry UNORGANIZED or underprepared and your message will be lost.

P is for PREPARATION.  It is an insult to the kids and God to go into class Sunday morning without adequate PREPARATION.  God partners with us to teach his kids, and we must do our part to be prepared.

Q is for QUALITY.  The QUALITY in Children’s Ministry should be as high as anywhere else in the church.

R is for RELATIONSHIP.  Children’s Ministry is all about building disciple type RELATIONSHIPS with the kids.

S is for SILLY. Never get so full of yourself or your image that you are afraid to be SILLY with kids.

T is for TEACHING.  Children’s Ministry is not about filling the time or baby-sitting.  It is about TEACHING the Word of God.

U is for UNDERSTANDING.  We must have an UNDERSTANDING that all kids learn differently and ensure that our lessons include something for everyone.

V is for VESSEL.  God loves KIDS, and we are his VESSEL to show it.

W is for WACKY.  Kids like WACKY.  Don’t be afraid to let the kids see you being silly.

X is for XENIALXENIAL means hospitable and Children’s Ministry should always be a place where the kids feel welcome.

Y is for YUMMY.  When all else fails, something YUMMY is a sure fire motivator.

Z is for ZEAL.  In order to infuse kids with excitement, they must see us live out our ZEAL for Christ.

Image courtesy of: http://www.flickr.com/photos/michaelgoodin/ / CC BY-NC-ND 2.0

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