Author: Jesse

The Ultimate Church Van

August 2, 2013

Found this van at Highland Lakes Camp this week. Talk about going to camp in style. Zoinks!
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MVOTW!

August 1, 2013

A crazy new word has entered my vocabulary this summer – MVOTW. It stands for “Memory Verse of the Week.” I have learned that elementary kids and preteens love weird words. They also love doing silly motions to spell out or act out something. So each week at camp this summer, I have taught the…
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Teaching Kids to Use Their Bibles

July 30, 2013

Summer camp is a great place to teach kids how to navigate through their Bibles, but this can be done at home, in church, or anywhere for that matter. Here are some things I’ve learned along the way about showing elementary and preteen kids how to move about their Bibles. 1. Tell the kids ahead…
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Paintball in a Pool

July 26, 2013

I’m at Highland Lakes Camp in Spicewood, TX this week. They built a new pool facility and this is how they re-use their old one…as a paintball arena.
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Kids and the Bible

July 24, 2013

Following the theme of yesterday’s post, I have another thought about kids and the Bible. I like to get kids to bring their Bibles to church and camp services – so we can all physically open those Bibles together and read God’s Word from the pages. Yes, it takes more time to open those Bibles…
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Stick to the Word

July 23, 2013

Last night, as I was setting up for my speaking/juggling presentation at Crosspointe Church in Norman, Oklahoma, my host wanted to make sure I was going to really teach the Bible rather than just entertain and then briefly mention the Bible at the end. He told me how he has seen some entertainers simply do…
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Large Group Game: First Time on the Potty

July 15, 2013

I have a toddler, so potty time is full of excitement, celebration, and incentive awards. Here is a large group game that is hilarious with any age group (especially elementary-aged kids) that plays on the theme of potty time. I use it at camps and other events. I learned it from my good friend Justin…
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Hello, My Name Is…..

July 15, 2013

A few weeks ago, I got to speak at Covenant Cedars Bible Camp in Hordeville, Nebraska. The weather was sunny, breezy, and in the 70’s all week. It is a wonderful camp on a river in the middle of rural Nebraska – a perfect location for a retreat from the noise and busyness of everyday…
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When God Surprises You

July 1, 2013

I know God and His supernatural workings in the world shouldn’t surprise us (he is, after all, God). But often God does something that we just didn’t expect or see coming, and last week was one of those times. I had the privilege of teaching over 1,200 pre-teen children at one of the Christian summer…
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Is the Holy Land Really Holy?

June 12, 2013

This is a question I have pondered for some time now, especially since recently visiting Israel. You would think that all the fighting over the Levant throughout history would make this land pretty unholy. Another way of looking at it is to say the land is fought over so often because too many mutually exclusive…
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Israel: The Land of the Bible

June 4, 2013

Just last week, we returned from our 10-year wedding anniversary trip to Israel and the West Bank. Most of our time was spent in Israel proper, but we did get a chance to see Bethlehem and Herodian, which are in the Palestinian Territory of the West Bank. I was here 13 years ago for school…
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Why Does Thomas Get all the Blame for Doubting?

May 9, 2013

As I was preparing for a teaching lesson for this Sunday, I looked at the “Doubting Thomas” passage. Jesus appears to his disciples after he rose from the dead. In John’s account (John 20:24-29), Thomas missed the first post-resurrection appearance of Jesus. When they told Thomas that Jesus was alive, he wanted hard evidence. The…
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4 Great Apps for Teachers

April 25, 2013

I love using big fun visuals for kids when teaching or leading games. These are some apps I recently found that I will definitely be using for my camp teaching this summer. I’ve been looking for apps likes these. It is important to note that these are apps that work best when you can use…
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The Wordless Book

April 16, 2013

I have created a Power Point presentation that follows a version of The Wordless Book, sometimes known as the Colors of Salvation, or the Salvation Colors. This presentation is technically not “wordless” because I put the Scripture references in there. But that’s all. Each color is shown by a colored circle, then the corresponding Scripture…
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Can God Lie?

April 15, 2013

“Paul, a servant of God and an apostle of Jesus Christ for the faith of God’s elect and the knowledge of the truth that leads to godliness — a faith and knowledge resting on the hope of eternal life, which God, who does not lie, promised before the beginning of time…” (Titus 1:1-2). Compare that…
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10 Ways to Know You are the Parent of a Toddler

April 12, 2013

10. You can have an entire conversation with your spouse while spelling out all the key words. 9. Your trips to Lowe’s or the grocery store always begin with a choice between red race car cart or blue race car cart. 8. Your diaper-changing skills have immensely improved over the past two years: from 2-minute/5…
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Team Building Game – The Water Bowl

April 8, 2013

I learned this game years ago in graduate school. It requires a group of seated barefoot people to move a bowl of water from one point to another using only their feet – without spilling the water, of course. This works best with 5-10 people using a salad bowl full of water. Here are the…
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How to Kick Off Easter Week

March 25, 2013

Despite the current weather conditions around here (SNOW, SNOW, SNOW), it is actually Easter week. I can’t remember the last time there was snow on Palm Sunday in Virginia (or any other state I’ve lived in for that matter). While snow may be a unique way to kick off Easter week, I found a more…
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What’s the Tallest Building in Your State?

March 22, 2013

I love lists like this. When I was a kid, leisure time for me was reading through almanacs, world record books, and “top ten lists”-type books (and juggling of course). I found it amazing that the tallest building in Vermont is only 124 feet tall. Many cities in America have plenty of buildings at that…
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Happy Birthday Bach

March 21, 2013

My favorite classical composer, J.S. Bach was born on this date (Old Style date) in 1685. That would make him a whopping 328 years old today (peanuts compared to Methuselah). Enjoy this video that plays his Easter Oratorio:
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Bobby May: The Classy Juggler

March 14, 2013

We all have influences in our craft. One of mine is a fellow named Bobby May. He died in 1981 and started performing in 1922 (alongside Bob Hope). He is considered one of the greatest jugglers, particularly of American jugglers. He worked the Vaudeville circuit and performed flawless routines with ease. He also had tons…
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What They Didn’t Teach Me in Sunday School about Jonah

March 12, 2013

You know the story of Jonah and the Whale – the story that is widely taught to children around the world about the guy who gets swallowed by a sea monster. I thought I knew it too. But in preparation for teaching it to the Milan Free Methodist (Michigan) Winterblast kids last Friday night, I…
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Busy Days

March 11, 2013

This is “Upward Season”, as is known to many of us Upward entertainers. We are all criss-crossing the country, performing at some of the 3,000-4,000 Upward awards programs across the land. I’ve done 11 shows in the last two weekends alone. I love it, but it uses a good amount of energy. Today, I’m enjoying…
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A Father’s Prayer for His Daughter

February 27, 2013

A Father’s Prayer for His Daughter by Jesse Joyner Father in heaven, Please help me raise my daughter, to love her with your unfailing love, and to always tell her of her God-given beauty. Please protect her from harm and trouble. Empower her with love, grace, and compassion. Strengthen her with wisdom, courage, and integrity.…
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The Best Family Ministry Event

February 26, 2013

In my opinion, the best family ministry event a church can host surprisingly doesn’t include the whole family. But in a way, it does. I’m talking about the Father/Daughter Banquet. Some churches call it the Daddy/Daughter Dance or some other similar title. My own church in Richmond, VA has been doing this for 3 years…
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