Author: Jesse

A Bible Study Format for Adults

September 12, 2014

I am immersed in the world of Children’s Ministry, but sometimes I am reminded that there are adults in the world. A few weeks ago, I was asked to lead some breakout workshops for adults at a family camp. I will admit that I was a little nervous because I am more “at home” in…
Read More: A Bible Study Format for Adults
Presenting the Gospel to Children by Matt Rucker

September 12, 2014

This presentation of the Gospel comes from a friend of mine named Matt Rucker. Everything below is from him. I cut out a few of the diagrams (and their instructions) because they did not translate between his format and my format. But the core content is all here….. Gospel Message for Children *Before you present,…
Read More: Presenting the Gospel to Children by Matt Rucker
Praying for Missionaries

September 2, 2014

Another one of our worship response stations at camp a few weeks ago was a station where kids could pray for world missions and the missionaries scattered around the globe. This was a very simple station – we simply hung up a large world map on the wall – at the eye level of kids.…
Read More: Praying for Missionaries
Prayer Counseling in Children’s Ministry

August 28, 2014

In a previous post, I explained the idea of worship response stations and their use in ministry to children. I am going to unpack each station in a series of posts, starting with the prayer station. The Bible teaches us to “pray without ceasing” (1 Thessalonians 5:17), so I believe prayer is essential to Children’s…
Read More: Prayer Counseling in Children’s Ministry
How to Memorize Scripture

August 12, 2014

I personally learn how to memorize things better when I associate the thing I want to memorize with something else that is unique and/or familiar to me. For example, if someone tells me their name is John (a very common name), I might quickly imagine that person dressed up as John the Baptist baptizing Jesus…
Read More: How to Memorize Scripture
Juggling Down a Zipline

August 8, 2014

Video evidence of my adventure juggling rocks while flying down a zipline! According to the laws of physics, the balls are flying forward WITH me as I toss and catch them. I don’t have to compensate for my forward motion. I simply juggle as if I was standing still in place. It’s actually quite amazing…
Read More: Juggling Down a Zipline
Worship Response Stations

August 7, 2014

I recently returned from Pine Creek Camp in Gore, VA. I was the camp pastor for two weeks with several hundred preteen kids and their chaperones from Assembly of God churches around Virginia, Maryland, Pennsylvania, D.C., and West Virginia. I speak at many camps each summer, but this one stuck out because of the format…
Read More: Worship Response Stations
Back to School Party

July 29, 2014

Looking forward to the Back to School Party in Bakersfield this weekend. Then the Kids Explosion event is on Sunday and Monday nights! Check out this video: http://vimeo.com/100754506
Read More: Back to School Party
Juggling for Palestinian Children

July 20, 2014

It was the middle of October, 2000. I was studying abroad for the semester. One morning, a local pastor picked me up at my school in Jerusalem and started the short five-mile journey towards the West Bank, one of the two Palestinian Territories. He had heard that I was a juggler and wanted to have…
Read More: Juggling for Palestinian Children
Whatever is Excellent or Praiseworthy

June 21, 2014

Paul finishes out his list of “virtues of the mind” with “if anything is excellent or praiseworthy, think about these things….” (Phil 4:8). Excellence is something we as Christians often put to the side. We figure that we are children of God, so anything we produce is going to be just fine without the same…
Read More: Whatever is Excellent or Praiseworthy
Whatever is Admirable

June 11, 2014

The sixth virtue in Paul’s Philippians 4:8 list is “whatever is admirable.” When we say that we “admire” something, we are speaking of it as something we aspire to, something we want to be like, and something that is worthy of respect and honor. When we fill our minds with things that are admirable, our…
Read More: Whatever is Admirable
Whatever is Lovely

June 10, 2014

God is love (1 John 4:8,16). So anything that is of God is lovely. And all things lovely are of God. This includes, but is not limited to, the love we share between one another in various relationships such as friends and family. In fact, all people are God’s creation and we are called to…
Read More: Whatever is Lovely
Whatever is Pure

June 5, 2014

When Paul tells us to think about pure things (Phil 4:8), I believe he is talking about keep our thoughts free from clutter, dirt, garbage, and sin. Purity is about cleanliness. When we take a shower, we are cleaning off the dirt and starting fresh with a pure body. So also our thoughts become darkened…
Read More: Whatever is Pure
Whatever is Right

June 3, 2014

Paul tells us to think about things that are right (Phil 4:8). What is right? There is right and there is wrong. As Christians, we believe in a divine Creator who is also the moral standard for the universe. Without a moral standard, how can we know right and wrong in the first place? Does…
Read More: Whatever is Right
Why Children Matter – Even in the Summer!

May 30, 2014

I got a phone call this morning from an old friend who currently volunteers with the 3rd and 4th graders at his church. He said that kids often get forgotten in church, especially in the summer time. And I don’t mean getting lost from their parents (though even Jesus did that once!). I mean that…
Read More: Why Children Matter – Even in the Summer!
Whatever is Noble

May 30, 2014

The second type of virtuous thought Paul tells us to have in Philippians 4:8 is that which is “noble” or “honorable.” This is the Greek word semnos, which is used only four times in the Greek New Testament, all by Paul. Here are the four uses (copied from the teknia.com website in the Greek Dictionary…
Read More: Whatever is Noble
Whatever is True

May 22, 2014

Paul tells us in Philippians 4:8 to think about things that are true, noble, right…. (and a long list of other virtuous things). Let’s look at the first one: True. True is a term that represents the standard for something. You can travel northward and go generally north or you can go “true north”, which…
Read More: Whatever is True
Finally!

May 21, 2014

Lots of young people are graduating from something right now. I remember my final month of high school – it was the longest month of my life. It seemed that the teachers were just trying to fill time and space when all of us seniors had already checked out and preparing for college or whatever…
Read More: Finally!
What Not to Say to a Juggler

May 6, 2014

I have one of those careers that most people don’t have a category for – Juggler. When you’re a teacher, lawyer, doctor, firefighter, salesman, etc, you have a job that most people are familiar with and therefore they know how to ask follow-up questions when you tell them what you do for a living. But…
Read More: What Not to Say to a Juggler
Juggling Fire

May 1, 2014

Read More: Juggling Fire
The Death of Jesus

April 19, 2014

According to the Gospel of John, Jesus died before the other two men crucified next to him (John 19:33). John explains that the Jews did not want Jesus’ body hanging on the cross during the special Sabbath, which was the day following the crucifixion. So Pilate gave special permission for the bodies of the three…
Read More: The Death of Jesus
Art and Christianity

April 5, 2014

Five hundred years ago, the church was one of the largest patrons of art in the Western world. Stroll through some of the churches and city squares in Italy and you’ll see the height of the Rennaisance, flooded with Biblical themes and narratives. What happened in the past five hundred years that has caused the…
Read More: Art and Christianity
Easter Sunday Lesson Idea from a Great Children’s Pastor

March 22, 2014

My friend, Cindi Nigh, has been running a great Children’s Church program at Wooster Church of the Nazarene (Wooster, OH) for many years. I asked her to take a few minutes to share some nuggets of wisdom along with how she got into children’s ministry. Take a minute and gain from her experience…. 1. How…
Read More: Easter Sunday Lesson Idea from a Great Children’s Pastor
The Upward Show When My Luggage Didn’t Arrive

March 14, 2014

In nearly 15 years of doing shows, there have been two times where my luggage did not arrive in time for the show. The first time was on Easter weekend about five years ago. My flight was diverted (due to weather, I think) to a different city than originally planned. I rented a car and…
Read More: The Upward Show When My Luggage Didn’t Arrive
Alone with Michelangelo

February 17, 2014

There is a lesser known Pieta sculpture by Michelangelo in the Duomo’s Museo in Florence, Italy (also known as The Deposition or The Florentine Pieta). His famous one is the Pieta with Mary and Jesus on display in St. Peter’s Basilica in The Vatican City. The one in Florence depicts Nicodemus (whose face is a…
Read More: Alone with Michelangelo