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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...

The Power of the Cross and Children’s Ministry

woodencross I have been drawn recently to a particular verse in scripture which I have read hundreds of time but which only recently started to grip my heart.  It was written by the Apostle Paul to the church in Corinth:

For I decided to know nothing among you except Jesus Christ and him crucified. [1 Corinthians 2:2]

Nothing!  Nothing but Christ and Him crucified.  The cross of Christ is the one essential piece of knowledge in this world, and our role as children’s ministers is to impart that to kids.  So often, we get sidetracked in children’s ministry and miss the bulls eye which is the cross of Christ.  We worry about what games we will play, what crafts we will do, how we will keep the kids occupied and under control, and we throw in the gospel when it fits.  We start to feel like we have to come up with ways to entice kids with the Cross of Christ and ignore the power of God to effectuate change in the lives of kids.

So, here is my challenge and my question.  First, the challenge – resolve in your children’s ministry to make the Gospel of our Lord central to everything you do.  Now for the question, what does this look like in your ministry?  What would your children’s ministry look like if the cross of Christ was central to all that you do?  I can’t wait to hear your ideas and thoughts – please leave a comment below.

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