I learned that old phrase years ago while attempting to be an insurance/investment salesman straight out of college. I was great at getting to know the customer, but saying that I wasn’t born to sell insurance is an understatement. Because of my experience [...]]]>
I learned that old phrase years ago while attempting to be an insurance/investment 
salesman straight out of college. I was great at getting to know the customer, but saying that I wasn’t born to sell insurance is an understatement. Because of my experience I will forever admire the great salespeople of the world.
Then while at a great church service last night listening to two young men who grew up on the streets of Tajikistan, I was reminded to be the HANDS and FEET of Jesus. NOT just the MOUTH! And that if I am to BE the Church then it will require caring more for people with my actions than I do with my words. Words are cheap and easy. Actions speak louder. So my personal prayer is that my heart would be molded more into the purposes of Christ so that my CARE LEVEL will increase. Join me.
]]>The China Daily newspaper recently released family planning statistics once considered secret that only boggle the mind. Here’s the article from the Associated Press.
The newspaper reported “that about 13 million surgical abortions are performed in Chinese hospitals and 10 million abortion pills are sold every year.” The surgical [...]]]>
Pray for China. No really. Pray for China.
The China Daily newspaper recently released family planning statistics once considered secret that only boggle the mind. Here’s the article from the Associated Press.
The newspaper reported “that about 13 million surgical abortions are performed in Chinese hospitals and 10 million abortion pills are sold every year.” The surgical abortions alone are equivalent to aborting the entire current population of Oklahoma, Arkansas, Kansas, and Nebraska in a single year.
The most heart-breaking fact, however, is at the end of the AP article that states: “The government says its family planning controls — sterilization, contraception and abortion — have prevented an additional 400 million births over the past three decades.” And that would be aborting the entire United States since the ’70s. Hard to even comprehend.
I’m at a loss for words, so I’ll simply and strongly say again, “Please pray for China”.
]]>When talking to people about Eureka Springs, a frequented comment is “they have gay pride parades there”. It almost sounds like a warning, and it might be. But something interesting that Pat [...]]]>
My wife and I went on a recent vacation to Eureka Springs, AR. And we had a blast! No children, no work, no worries.
When talking to people about Eureka Springs, a frequented comment is “they have gay pride parades there”. It almost sounds like a warning, and it might be. But something interesting that Pat and I found out about the earthy/hippy folks of Eureka Springs is that they are a community! And they share life together in a powerful way. And, yes, they also have gay-pride parades. But that got me thinking…
When was the last time the Christians in your community packed the main streets to passionately celebrate their King? Is he not worth celebrating? Is he not worth the recognition? I guess we’re all too worried that we might offend somebody! That sure hasn’t stopped other groups.
I’m not exactly certain of this, but maybe as Christians we’re offended because homosexuals show more public celebration about their lifestyle than we do about our reason for living.
]]>As a jumping off point, please teach them the biblical truth that the Holy Spirit is a Person. Not an “it” or a “thing”. [...]]]>
As a jumping off point, please teach them the biblical truth that the Holy Spirit is a Person. Not an “it” or a “thing”. The Holy Spirit is not: an angel with wings, or like “the force” in Star Wars, or some mysterious life form floating around like a mist. In John 16:5-15, Jesus himself refers to the Holy Spirit, the Counselor, several times using the words “he” or “him”. And we should do the same with our children.
Since the Holy Spirit is a person who lives IN US, our children should gain an understanding of how personal it is to have God living in them. It’s so cool when a child begins to realize that they have the same power that raised Jesus from the dead! And this power, coming from the Holy Spirit, lives inside their temple, which is their body.
]]>But how do you know if it’s a good movie or not?
["Good" meaning 1) wholesome, good morals, good life lesson, minimum or zero "bad stuff", and 2) not a lame, complete-waste-of-time movie.]
Glad you asked! I’ve used a couple of these for some time, but recently [...]]]>
Everybody loves a good movie at least once in a while!
But how do you know if it’s a good movie or not?
["Good" meaning 1) wholesome, good morals, good life lesson, minimum or zero "bad stuff", and 2) not a lame, complete-waste-of-time movie.]
Glad you asked! I’ve used a couple of these for some time, but recently learned of some new ones through another blog I follow. Maybe you can remind me whose it was?
Here are the great resources for Christian parents to review a movie before wasting good $$.
Plugged In Online (James Dobson’s “Focus on the Family” movie review)
ChristianityToday Movie Review
Rotten Tomatoes (not a Christian site, but helps you avoid dumb movies)
Kids-In-Mind (pay an annual $12 subscription to this site)
Screen It (another site requiring membership, but solid resource)
IMDB (not a review site, but most popular movie database site)
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For 4 years our Kid’s Ministry has been writing a mid-week curriculum that has a month-long focus on “Eternity”. And every year we address the topic of heaven & hell with the kids. We just finished our last lesson on Eternity in this 4-year journey, so this comes a little late…but I greatly desire your input on this one to keep growing and learning.
Here’s my question, which is a little vague on purpose, but feel free to address any aspect of heaven you’d like:
- What are some great tips/analogies/object lessons/Scripture!/discussion pieces that you have used (or read in a book or ripped off from somebody else…I don’t care) to talk to kids about heaven? (assuming they helped)
Let’s hear them folks! Bring them on! Please share your God-given wisdom on how to talk to kids about heaven so we can be a light to them!
]]>To read the article, click HERE.
To those of you who read it, here are the 2 great questions:
- At what age should we as a church begin approaching tough topics?
- What do you think is the best way to teach tough topics to students?
]]>
More than alarming statistics found on the ChurchRelevance blog, by Kent Shaffer.
To read the article, click HERE.
To those of you who read it, here are the 2 great questions:
- At what age should we as a church begin approaching tough topics?
- What do you think is the best way to teach tough topics to students?
]]>What was the name of the trucking company? Drumroll please…”On Time”! On Time was 2 [...]]]>
I had to laugh. A good friend of mine, who will go unnamed, shared a story with me of a trucking company who failed to deliver a product on time. As a matter of fact, it was 2 days late! Yikes!
What was the name of the trucking company? Drumroll please…”On Time”! On Time was 2 days late. Needless to say, On Time hasn’t been asked to help out anymore. (don’t think the logo is them!)
I wonder if it’s the same way for some people when observing The Church? Not just my church, although it’s included, but every church in the body of Christ. Do they look at us and think, “are they really as advertised?” Are they really acting like Jesus? Would I be shown compassion, mercy, love and forgiveness by those people? Maybe they already have their answer based off experience.
I sure hope that we, in our churches, are advertising The One with our lives in a way that honors Him. Because if we don’t, are we the next “On Time”?
Go light your world!
]]>Are they too late for you?
This is GM, people! An American icon! And look how quickly people lose faith and trust in their organization.
You probably saw this coming, but how quickly (and [...]]]>
So GM wants to gain back the trust and confidence of the American public by starting their new “Total Confidence” campaign. I’m just curious…
Are they too late for you?
This is GM, people! An American icon! And look how quickly people lose faith and trust in their organization.
You probably saw this coming, but how quickly (and for much smaller reasons) can the Church lose the confidence of it’s people? For what reasons, if any, have we lost the trust of our younger generations?
My quick opinion: People are done listening to Christians. They want to see what a Christian should actually look like and be like. And then they will trust us.
]]>What I gathered [...]]]>
In the first chapter of his book, “Raising a Modern-Day Joseph”, Larry Fowler introduces the concept of the “Most Difficult Moment” in parenting. The catch is that there is not necessarily just one MDM, but potentially several for each family. The easiest example of an MDM is sending your baby off to college.
What I gathered from Fowler’s book is that an MDM is really any moment when a parent has a loss of control. No matter how big or small of a loss it is, it’s still frightening for parents they feel the grip of control slipping from their hands.
How do we as a church help parents walk through these difficult moments?
And if the church doesn’t have the answers, where will they turn?
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