Here are more thoughts on chapters 4-6 of Purpose Driven Youth Ministry. First, chapter 4 is the last of three chapters on making a purpose statement.
"Leadership separates a purpose-driven youth ministry from an event-an-activity-driven youth ministry."
"No one will know the purposes or value them as much as the point person of the ministry."
If that is the case, then maybe we should not make our purpose so complicated and constantly state it. It's over the top to make banners, acronyms, or memorizing, though I do see the purpose of a purpose statement. You could maybe include it in your newsletter once a month or put it on a card and give it to other SS leaders and elders. But God did not give us the Great Commandment and Great Commission, two commands, for us to divide them into five tasks. He knows we can't do anything without him, so he formed the church to worship him in anticipation of heaven on earth once a week, and as we attract people, which will happen naturally if you truly worship the Lord, we train them in how to worship the Lord both in and out of church. I only see two tasks there.
Chapter five is about your potential audience. I think I remember reading this in Contagious Christian by Bill Hybels. Doug Fields gave 5 C words to describe his people. From outside to in, Community, Crowd, Congregation, Committed, and Core. Doug thinks we need programs to reach all five Cs. I hate labels. I don't want to define one person as core and another as crowd. If a person is in my church under my teaching, then he or she is just a person. We may assign seats, but not Cs.
"Your programs will become more successful, while fulfilling God's purposes, if you spend some preliminary time identifying the different audiences in your ministry."
I'm going to work with what I have, not with what I anticipate. This is foolishness. How many times have I planned special lessons for one person only for her to not come? I need to focus on the kids that come, and usually, they are so happy with my job that they bring friends, making evangelism something we don't really have to focus on. It just happens as a result of me obeying God, and even despite it.
Finally, Rick Warren's signature, a chapter on Programs.
"We don't have the resources to create programs attractive enough to compete with the world."
What would I want to compete with the world anyway? I don't want to copy the world. I want completely different. One time, my cousin David said something very wise. Now, in my mom's family, our family was Presbyterian, her brother is Seventh-Day Adventist, and my cousin David, who came from her other brother, is an Athlete. Sports are their religion and meaning in life. But one time, we were playing disc golf together when he said, "You have to play the game, not other people. If you play other people, you will get discouraged and start getting burnt out." I don't think I've heard better wisdom in my life.
This applies to Church. When I teach at church, I don't care what the world is doing. I don't even really care what other churches are doing. I'm doing what God wants, which is to teach the Bible and equip my kids to better worship him. I did get together with other churches at Presbytery this past weekend and discuss youth ministry with two other EPC youth workers, but we just exchanged ideas. We did not try to see how Hollywood is attracting people or any other influence and try to copy them. We just bounced off of each other. Mark teaches at the closest the EPC gets to a mega-church, so I can't live up to that at the moment, and Nathan has a church more about my size. We all had good ideas and respected each other, but we weren't competing, and I'm not going to start competing now.
But I will end with a wonderful quote from this book that I greatly Amen!
"Students' entire world shouldn't be Christianity, but it should be Christ."
Monday, February 6, 2012
Sunday, February 5, 2012
My day with Corky
As those who read Calvinistic Cartoons know, Corky Velveeta visited my headquarters this weekend.
Here is what we did today.
First we went to church.
I realized I had left the front door keys at home. Thankfully, the New London Driving school had arrived and opened the doors.
When we got in, I made lost of copies for Children's Church.
The, we sat in the teen Sunday School room. No one was at the church yet, so I caught up on my Tabletalk, which I had left in the classroom all weekend. I don't know if I would have survived had Corky not visted.
Also, we had an extra boy in the class today. He is 10, making my teen Sunday School so much younger. But he had a blast and I think he enjoyed my Dad teaching. I hope the other two enjoyed it, too.
Also, in Children's Church, we kicked off the WSC lessons for communion Sunday, the first Sunday of every month. That color picture was some of creation, and it will hopefully help them glorify God and enjoy him forever. Corky had the idea of painting the ground orange. I'm going to finish that picture on Thursday.
The new boy came to Children's Church, and so the 11-year-old was back. I do wonder how I will do this.
The two boys drew all that on the board. Still don't know what Corky thought. He was pretty silent.
When we got home, Corky helped me make chipotle chocolate cupcakes. I should know better than to take cooking advice from a grenade, because my heartburn is still remembering the spice. He swears he got the idea from Betty Crocker. If it's good enough for Betty...
Next we took those cupcakes to my friend Lisa's house for a Super-dee-Duper Bowl party.
Only three got eaten, and I had eaten one of them. Those who tried them liked it and one didn't even notice the spice. The other friend did. I'm so happy that I left after 3rd quarter to give the time for the Giants to steal Tom Brady's pride. It always makes me happy.
Here is what we did today.
First we went to church.
I realized I had left the front door keys at home. Thankfully, the New London Driving school had arrived and opened the doors.
When we got in, I made lost of copies for Children's Church.
The, we sat in the teen Sunday School room. No one was at the church yet, so I caught up on my Tabletalk, which I had left in the classroom all weekend. I don't know if I would have survived had Corky not visted.
Also, we had an extra boy in the class today. He is 10, making my teen Sunday School so much younger. But he had a blast and I think he enjoyed my Dad teaching. I hope the other two enjoyed it, too.
Also, in Children's Church, we kicked off the WSC lessons for communion Sunday, the first Sunday of every month. That color picture was some of creation, and it will hopefully help them glorify God and enjoy him forever. Corky had the idea of painting the ground orange. I'm going to finish that picture on Thursday.
The new boy came to Children's Church, and so the 11-year-old was back. I do wonder how I will do this.
The two boys drew all that on the board. Still don't know what Corky thought. He was pretty silent.
When we got home, Corky helped me make chipotle chocolate cupcakes. I should know better than to take cooking advice from a grenade, because my heartburn is still remembering the spice. He swears he got the idea from Betty Crocker. If it's good enough for Betty...
Next we took those cupcakes to my friend Lisa's house for a Super-dee-Duper Bowl party.
Only three got eaten, and I had eaten one of them. Those who tried them liked it and one didn't even notice the spice. The other friend did. I'm so happy that I left after 3rd quarter to give the time for the Giants to steal Tom Brady's pride. It always makes me happy.
Saturday, February 4, 2012
Spurge libs
These Mad Libs are inspired by Calvin's institutes, my Spurgeon t-shirt, and my Tinkerbell pajama pants.
The Plumber's Visit
A dramatic scene to be played by Tinkerbell and Charles Spurgeon.
Girl: Are you the plumber I sent for?
Boy: Yes, madam. I came over as separately as I could. Is there something wrong with your disciple?
Girl: No, it's my consolation. The particular things is all stopped up.
Boy: Have you tried cleaning it with a Christian?
Girl: Yes, but there was too much saliva in the church.
Boy: Egads! This looks like it's going to be a whole job!
Girl: Do you think I'll need a new body?
Boy: Well, if your treasure is cracked, I'll have to tighten up your gifts. Then I can tell.
Girl: All right. But just make sure you don't scratch my wisdom.
Pilot to Passengers
Ladies and gentlemen, welcome aboard Objected Airlines' Flight 750. This is your captain and pilot, Charles Spurgeon. The plane you are traveling on is a DC-10 Strato-Saint with four complete engines. At present, we are directly over the Metropolitan Tabernacle. Our speed is 12 miles per hour and we are flying 8 feet. If you care for a cup of toothpaste or a true sandwich, please push the gift located over your seat and our stewardess will be clad to bestow you. We have a common tail wind and will soon be flying through a heavy advantage storm. So I'll have to ask you all to fasten your supreme belts and put your opponents in the ash tray. In the meantime, I hope you have a destitute trip.
The Plumber's Visit
A dramatic scene to be played by Tinkerbell and Charles Spurgeon.
Girl: Are you the plumber I sent for?
Boy: Yes, madam. I came over as separately as I could. Is there something wrong with your disciple?
Girl: No, it's my consolation. The particular things is all stopped up.
Boy: Have you tried cleaning it with a Christian?
Girl: Yes, but there was too much saliva in the church.
Boy: Egads! This looks like it's going to be a whole job!
Girl: Do you think I'll need a new body?
Boy: Well, if your treasure is cracked, I'll have to tighten up your gifts. Then I can tell.
Girl: All right. But just make sure you don't scratch my wisdom.
Pilot to Passengers
Ladies and gentlemen, welcome aboard Objected Airlines' Flight 750. This is your captain and pilot, Charles Spurgeon. The plane you are traveling on is a DC-10 Strato-Saint with four complete engines. At present, we are directly over the Metropolitan Tabernacle. Our speed is 12 miles per hour and we are flying 8 feet. If you care for a cup of toothpaste or a true sandwich, please push the gift located over your seat and our stewardess will be clad to bestow you. We have a common tail wind and will soon be flying through a heavy advantage storm. So I'll have to ask you all to fasten your supreme belts and put your opponents in the ash tray. In the meantime, I hope you have a destitute trip.
Thursday, February 2, 2012
Why does Rick make things so complicated?
As part of this EPC youth ministry class that I'm taking out of Covenant Seminary, I have to read Purpose-Driven Youth Ministry by Doug Fields. Yes, this is a spin-off of Rick Warren's books. Yes, he's a youth pastor at Saddleback. Yes, his ideas are over-the-top, but still more orthodox than Rick's ideas.
The first chapter starts great. It contrasts a young youth pastor (a younger Doug Fields) who wants to entertain his kids and have fun with a more mature youth pastor who wants to follow God's plan for the group. That's all great, but I feel like Doug is including God as a way to enhance his youth group, not a youth group to enhance his God. But still, I'm sure that's not intentional and that Doug really does care about how God ordains youth ministry and all ministry.
Before I get to what I really want to talk about, I must include this ironic quote from the Purpose Driven Church.
"Strong churches are not built on programs, personalities, or gimmicks. They are built on the eternal purposes of God." This is from the man who has not only a traditional and contemporary service, but a Hawaiian worship service. This is from the man who has a roller coaster in the children's wing of his church.
Moving right along, Rick identifies 5 purposes that Doug passes on in his book. They are based on the Great Commandment, "Love God with all your heart, soul, mind, strength and love your neighbor as yourself," and the Great Commission, "Go into all the world and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit." At this point, I agree that these two statements are purpose of the Church. We exist to worship God. Worship happens when God and all the people who have been redeemed are together enjoying each other in the same room. If this is true worship, then I believe the Great Commission will occur naturally. People will come to know Jesus and be saved simply because we worship, not because we have some evangelism committee.
Rick takes these two statements and draws FIVE purposes from them: worship, evangelism, fellowship, discipleship, and ministry. I agree that man was created to glorify God and enjoy him forever. I believe the church was created to help man follow that goal. Yes, worship is definitely the chief purpose of church. The other four purposes, however, are extensions of that purpose.
If you worship God then you will want to bring your friends to church to worship him, too. That's evangelism, getting people in the door. However, that is just one step in God converting souls. The real action in creating worshipers of God is not just getting them in the door, but nurturing them. This is discipleship. Through discipleship, believers fellowship with each other and ministry should result when we truly learn to love people because we love God. So, Rick and Doug make church more complicated than it was intended to be back give us 5 tasks instead of just the one purpose in which God created us, to worship him.
So, I've boiled down the 5 purposes of church to just two. Worshiping God and teaching people how to worship him. The latter is where Christian education comes into play.
Knowing that, I do like Doug's idea of making a purpose statement. This will let all the people know why I work at Trinity EPC and why my helpers do what they do. Why does Cathy teach elementary Sunday School, Shannon the man teach adult Sunday School, and my father and I co-teach the teens Sunday School? Why do I teach children's church while the sermon is being preached when it's really the same thing as elementary Sunday School? It is because I work in this church to teach kids how to truly glorify God and enjoy him forever. To do so, they need to know God, know his Scriptures, and know how to live for God on the other days of the week.
Understanding that, I now know why we need both Sunday School and Children's Church. Children need as much exposure to the basics of the Word and theology as possible. If we had only Children's church or only Sunday School, then they would get a very limited dosage of the Bible and graduate high school not knowing about Elijah or Abraham or the exile to Babylon. This is tragic. With both SS and CC, I taught on the Patriarchs in the fall, and Cathy taught the same thing in SS, reinforcing the lesson. Now that I have moved on to miracles of Jesus, Cathy still takes of from where she left off and has taught about Joshua and Ruth. This way, we get both reinforcement and speed the children through the basic Bible passages without them even noticing.
This purpose also helps me clarify which ages need which class. I have now discovered the hard way that age 11 is too old for CC. We promoted the one boy to teen Sunday School, which leaves us pondering the appropriate age limit for CC. I sometimes think that 4th grade is also too old for CC, but I don't believe in promoting them to the middle school and fifth grade class because they are still not on the same level as the fifth-grader. Also, we would have no transition program between CC and teen SS. If we end CC at 3rd grade, then they will have one year without special attention on them. At this point, Trinity is not at a place where it can have an after-church-hour program. So, for convenience sake, it is good to have CC for grades Kindergarten to 4th grade, and teen Sunday School for 5th grade and middle school. Once my regulars are old enough for high school, we will form a different class for that, too.
Until then, we must focus on teaching the kids who God is so that they can worship him both on Sunday and at school during the week, and such knowledge should drive them to want to minister to people and invite their friends to church. I do think we should start trying to do some service project, but that might be someone else's forte. I do the head work, and someone else can do the compassionate work.
The first chapter starts great. It contrasts a young youth pastor (a younger Doug Fields) who wants to entertain his kids and have fun with a more mature youth pastor who wants to follow God's plan for the group. That's all great, but I feel like Doug is including God as a way to enhance his youth group, not a youth group to enhance his God. But still, I'm sure that's not intentional and that Doug really does care about how God ordains youth ministry and all ministry.
Before I get to what I really want to talk about, I must include this ironic quote from the Purpose Driven Church.
"Strong churches are not built on programs, personalities, or gimmicks. They are built on the eternal purposes of God." This is from the man who has not only a traditional and contemporary service, but a Hawaiian worship service. This is from the man who has a roller coaster in the children's wing of his church.
Moving right along, Rick identifies 5 purposes that Doug passes on in his book. They are based on the Great Commandment, "Love God with all your heart, soul, mind, strength and love your neighbor as yourself," and the Great Commission, "Go into all the world and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit." At this point, I agree that these two statements are purpose of the Church. We exist to worship God. Worship happens when God and all the people who have been redeemed are together enjoying each other in the same room. If this is true worship, then I believe the Great Commission will occur naturally. People will come to know Jesus and be saved simply because we worship, not because we have some evangelism committee.
Rick takes these two statements and draws FIVE purposes from them: worship, evangelism, fellowship, discipleship, and ministry. I agree that man was created to glorify God and enjoy him forever. I believe the church was created to help man follow that goal. Yes, worship is definitely the chief purpose of church. The other four purposes, however, are extensions of that purpose.
If you worship God then you will want to bring your friends to church to worship him, too. That's evangelism, getting people in the door. However, that is just one step in God converting souls. The real action in creating worshipers of God is not just getting them in the door, but nurturing them. This is discipleship. Through discipleship, believers fellowship with each other and ministry should result when we truly learn to love people because we love God. So, Rick and Doug make church more complicated than it was intended to be back give us 5 tasks instead of just the one purpose in which God created us, to worship him.
So, I've boiled down the 5 purposes of church to just two. Worshiping God and teaching people how to worship him. The latter is where Christian education comes into play.
Knowing that, I do like Doug's idea of making a purpose statement. This will let all the people know why I work at Trinity EPC and why my helpers do what they do. Why does Cathy teach elementary Sunday School, Shannon the man teach adult Sunday School, and my father and I co-teach the teens Sunday School? Why do I teach children's church while the sermon is being preached when it's really the same thing as elementary Sunday School? It is because I work in this church to teach kids how to truly glorify God and enjoy him forever. To do so, they need to know God, know his Scriptures, and know how to live for God on the other days of the week.
Understanding that, I now know why we need both Sunday School and Children's Church. Children need as much exposure to the basics of the Word and theology as possible. If we had only Children's church or only Sunday School, then they would get a very limited dosage of the Bible and graduate high school not knowing about Elijah or Abraham or the exile to Babylon. This is tragic. With both SS and CC, I taught on the Patriarchs in the fall, and Cathy taught the same thing in SS, reinforcing the lesson. Now that I have moved on to miracles of Jesus, Cathy still takes of from where she left off and has taught about Joshua and Ruth. This way, we get both reinforcement and speed the children through the basic Bible passages without them even noticing.
This purpose also helps me clarify which ages need which class. I have now discovered the hard way that age 11 is too old for CC. We promoted the one boy to teen Sunday School, which leaves us pondering the appropriate age limit for CC. I sometimes think that 4th grade is also too old for CC, but I don't believe in promoting them to the middle school and fifth grade class because they are still not on the same level as the fifth-grader. Also, we would have no transition program between CC and teen SS. If we end CC at 3rd grade, then they will have one year without special attention on them. At this point, Trinity is not at a place where it can have an after-church-hour program. So, for convenience sake, it is good to have CC for grades Kindergarten to 4th grade, and teen Sunday School for 5th grade and middle school. Once my regulars are old enough for high school, we will form a different class for that, too.
Until then, we must focus on teaching the kids who God is so that they can worship him both on Sunday and at school during the week, and such knowledge should drive them to want to minister to people and invite their friends to church. I do think we should start trying to do some service project, but that might be someone else's forte. I do the head work, and someone else can do the compassionate work.
Wednesday, February 1, 2012
Faith, Hope, and Love
Romans 5:1-11. Therefore, since we have been justified through faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, 2 through whom we have gained access by faith into this grace in which we now stand. And we rejoice in the hope of the glory of God. 3 Not only so, but we also rejoice in our sufferings, because we know that suffering produces perseverance; 4 perseverance, character; and character, hope. 5 And hope does not disappoint us, because God has poured out his love into our hearts by the Holy Spirit, whom he has given us.
6 You see, at just the right time, when we were still powerless, Christ died for the ungodly. 7 Very rarely will anyone die for a righteous man, though for a good man someone might possibly dare to die. 8 But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us.
9 Since we have now been justified by his blood, how much more shall we be saved from God’s wrath through him! 10 For if, when we were God’s enemies, we were reconciled to him through the death of his Son, how much more, having been reconciled, shall we be saved through his life! 11 Not only is this so, but we also rejoice in God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have now received reconciliation.
I mentioned this a few weeks back, but I didn't have the Scripture to back it up. I was recalling R.C. Sproul's sermon on this passage and how this hope is so much different than what we normally see as hope. Most people when they hope, they want something but are not sure of getting it. When we hope in Christ, however, we can know for certain that he will bring about what he promised. (Philippians 1:6) If he promised to begin a good work in you, he will bring it to completion. You can be certain of this. This is the true hope that only Christians have.
Now, I might as well complete the triad. Romans 8:31-39
What, then, shall we say in response to this? If God is for us, who can be against us? 32 He who did not spare his own Son, but gave him up for us all—how will he not also, along with him, graciously give us all things? 33 Who will bring any charge against those whom God has chosen? It is God who justifies. 34 Who is he that condemns? Christ Jesus, who died—more than that, who was raised to life—is at the right hand of God and is also interceding for us. 35 Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall trouble or hardship or persecution or famine or nakedness or danger or sword? 36 As it is written:
“For your sake we face death all day long;
we are considered as sheep to be slaughtered.”
37 No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us. 38 For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, 39 neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord.
This hope is certain because we know that God is faithful to all his promises. He will not promise something and then not bring it about. If he's given you the Holy Spirit, then he will not take that away from you, and you will not lose your standing with God, which Christ was faithful to bring. It has nothing to do with mistakes we make every day, thoughts we think or lingering sins. It has to do with God's glory. Hebrews 4:15, "For we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but we have one who has been tempted in every way, just as we are—yet was without sin."
1 Corinthians 13:8-13
Love never fails. But where there are prophecies, they will cease; where there are tongues, they will be stilled; where there is knowledge, it will pass away. 9 For we know in part and we prophesy in part, 10 but when perfection comes, the imperfect disappears. 11 When I was a child, I talked like a child, I thought like a child, I reasoned like a child. When I became a man, I put childish ways behind me. 12 Now we see but a poor reflection as in a mirror; then we shall see face to face. Now I know in part; then I shall know fully, even as I am fully known.
13 And now these three remain: faith, hope and love. But the greatest of these is love.
This is the selfless love that only God can give. It's not romantic love or even friend love, but simply a love that expects nothing in return. If you love with agape love, then you love because you can, not because you want something out of it. Only God can give us this love. We don't have it on our own due to our inner sinner nature. If you have a friendship that disappoints you or love that leaves, then it's not love. If you give to the poor, sing in the choir, obey your parents, and have the Bible memorized, but always argue with your friends, insist on your own way, and never forgive, then you don't have love and you do not know God because God is love. (1 John 4:8) True believers have the Holy Spirit living inside of them, therefore, they can love without expecting anything back, and because of this love they can have faith that God will keep his promise and hope with a certainty that Jesus will return and finish the salvation that he started in your life.
6 You see, at just the right time, when we were still powerless, Christ died for the ungodly. 7 Very rarely will anyone die for a righteous man, though for a good man someone might possibly dare to die. 8 But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us.
9 Since we have now been justified by his blood, how much more shall we be saved from God’s wrath through him! 10 For if, when we were God’s enemies, we were reconciled to him through the death of his Son, how much more, having been reconciled, shall we be saved through his life! 11 Not only is this so, but we also rejoice in God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have now received reconciliation.
I mentioned this a few weeks back, but I didn't have the Scripture to back it up. I was recalling R.C. Sproul's sermon on this passage and how this hope is so much different than what we normally see as hope. Most people when they hope, they want something but are not sure of getting it. When we hope in Christ, however, we can know for certain that he will bring about what he promised. (Philippians 1:6) If he promised to begin a good work in you, he will bring it to completion. You can be certain of this. This is the true hope that only Christians have.
Now, I might as well complete the triad. Romans 8:31-39
What, then, shall we say in response to this? If God is for us, who can be against us? 32 He who did not spare his own Son, but gave him up for us all—how will he not also, along with him, graciously give us all things? 33 Who will bring any charge against those whom God has chosen? It is God who justifies. 34 Who is he that condemns? Christ Jesus, who died—more than that, who was raised to life—is at the right hand of God and is also interceding for us. 35 Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall trouble or hardship or persecution or famine or nakedness or danger or sword? 36 As it is written:
“For your sake we face death all day long;
we are considered as sheep to be slaughtered.”
37 No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us. 38 For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, 39 neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord.
This hope is certain because we know that God is faithful to all his promises. He will not promise something and then not bring it about. If he's given you the Holy Spirit, then he will not take that away from you, and you will not lose your standing with God, which Christ was faithful to bring. It has nothing to do with mistakes we make every day, thoughts we think or lingering sins. It has to do with God's glory. Hebrews 4:15, "For we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but we have one who has been tempted in every way, just as we are—yet was without sin."
1 Corinthians 13:8-13
Love never fails. But where there are prophecies, they will cease; where there are tongues, they will be stilled; where there is knowledge, it will pass away. 9 For we know in part and we prophesy in part, 10 but when perfection comes, the imperfect disappears. 11 When I was a child, I talked like a child, I thought like a child, I reasoned like a child. When I became a man, I put childish ways behind me. 12 Now we see but a poor reflection as in a mirror; then we shall see face to face. Now I know in part; then I shall know fully, even as I am fully known.
13 And now these three remain: faith, hope and love. But the greatest of these is love.
This is the selfless love that only God can give. It's not romantic love or even friend love, but simply a love that expects nothing in return. If you love with agape love, then you love because you can, not because you want something out of it. Only God can give us this love. We don't have it on our own due to our inner sinner nature. If you have a friendship that disappoints you or love that leaves, then it's not love. If you give to the poor, sing in the choir, obey your parents, and have the Bible memorized, but always argue with your friends, insist on your own way, and never forgive, then you don't have love and you do not know God because God is love. (1 John 4:8) True believers have the Holy Spirit living inside of them, therefore, they can love without expecting anything back, and because of this love they can have faith that God will keep his promise and hope with a certainty that Jesus will return and finish the salvation that he started in your life.
Monday, January 30, 2012
Calming the Storm
This Sunday, the 4th in my series on Jesus's Miracles, was probably the first lesson that was not as dynamic as the others. It's probably because I attempted to make an origami boat. I always lose the kids when it comes to folding paper.
In fact, I didn't feel like I really had them when I got to the lesson. Emily read Mark 4 in the NIV. Alexis insisted on reading it from her Precious Moments Bible (different translation). So we got two different readings. Then I asked them if anything ever made them afraid. Many said storms. What would they do? Just run to the bathroom and stand in the tub. One even averred that she'd never face any fear she couldn't just face. I told her, "Believe me, you will some day." Every January, I always feel distant from God and that scares me, but he's not asleep at the back of the boat. I can wake him, but he already knows what he will do. Even if he rebukes you for your lack of faith, it is still better to go to him when you are overwhelmed than to just try to face your fear. I never did get that across yesterday. I might just need to re-do this lesson.
In fact, I didn't feel like I really had them when I got to the lesson. Emily read Mark 4 in the NIV. Alexis insisted on reading it from her Precious Moments Bible (different translation). So we got two different readings. Then I asked them if anything ever made them afraid. Many said storms. What would they do? Just run to the bathroom and stand in the tub. One even averred that she'd never face any fear she couldn't just face. I told her, "Believe me, you will some day." Every January, I always feel distant from God and that scares me, but he's not asleep at the back of the boat. I can wake him, but he already knows what he will do. Even if he rebukes you for your lack of faith, it is still better to go to him when you are overwhelmed than to just try to face your fear. I never did get that across yesterday. I might just need to re-do this lesson.
Saturday, January 28, 2012
Facets of facts
I have not been to blogger in three days.
The weather has been really nice in Georgia though one can never tell what weather it wants.
I played my original songs again after a year of not playing them. I even decided to upload them to YouTube. Again.
Here's what I sang last night for the Clayton State BCM talent show:
No, I did not eat a lemon in time for the thumbnail photo. That's just an unfortunate photo.
Here's what I would have sang had I had the time:
There was a goof off band last night, who called themselves "Deus Ex Machina." That's great, because I would have sang that song.
Be afraid. We're going to try to do origami in Children's Church again tomorrow. This time it will be the boat Jesus was in when he calmed the storm. Maybe I should sell it on eBay. It will look crumpled no matter what.
The weather has been really nice in Georgia though one can never tell what weather it wants.
I played my original songs again after a year of not playing them. I even decided to upload them to YouTube. Again.
Here's what I sang last night for the Clayton State BCM talent show:
No, I did not eat a lemon in time for the thumbnail photo. That's just an unfortunate photo.
Here's what I would have sang had I had the time:
There was a goof off band last night, who called themselves "Deus Ex Machina." That's great, because I would have sang that song.
Be afraid. We're going to try to do origami in Children's Church again tomorrow. This time it will be the boat Jesus was in when he calmed the storm. Maybe I should sell it on eBay. It will look crumpled no matter what.
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