Author: Jesse
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Thing Kids Say
Read More: Thing Kids SayI have started to write down some of the funny things kids say. Working in a field that involves lots of kids, I hear quite a few quotable comments. The other day, I was juggling fire for a group of kids. As I was preparing to start juggling, I overheard two 7-8 year-old girls talking:…
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Physics Question: Can You Juggle on a Zipline?
Read More: Physics Question: Can You Juggle on a Zipline?Watch the video to find out! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HFcK9yBY590 Note: I remember learning about the physics of this idea in 7th grade and it is very fascinating! Thanks to Becky for shooting and posting this video.
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A Trip to Upward Headquarters
Read More: A Trip to Upward HeadquartersSarah, Kezzie, and I just got back from a camp in Mississippi (Lake Forest Ranch). On our way back, I performed at Hillcrest Baptist Church in New Albany, MS. It was at these recent shows that I first tried out the new light-up stickman costume with LED juggling props – definitely a hit with the…
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Kitchen Before and After
Read More: Kitchen Before and AfterBefore and After #1 Before and After #2 Before and After #3 The rest of these pictures are of the new kitchen. Enjoy! If anybody has been wondering where I’ve been for the past three months, I’ve been working 3 jobs: Children’s Pastor, Traveling Juggler, and Kitchen Remodeler. At last, I am finally down to 2 jobs,…
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The Greatest Half-Birthday Ever
Read More: The Greatest Half-Birthday EverToday is my sister’s birthday (happy birthday, Rachael). But that also means it is my half-birthday, since I was born on September 27th, as I proudly announced to the kids in church this morning (I made them sing “Happy Half-Birthday” to me). They forgot the cake. This has been a wonderful day for many reasons…
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2011 Upward Tour – 6 states in 9 days
Read More: 2011 Upward Tour – 6 states in 9 daysUpward Sports is a great organization. Each year, I have the privilege of speaking and entertaining at the closing ceremonies for many leagues around the nation. The heaviest time of the year for these programs comes in late February and early March. Here is my schedule for the next week and a half. I might…
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Wall Demo Before and After
Read More: Wall Demo Before and AfterWe are officially redoing the kitchen. This is a FULL remodel. We bought the house as a fixer-upper and got a good price because of that. The kitchen was the worst room in the house, and we have put up with it for a year and a half and now we are ready to do…
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Book Review: 9 Things They Didn’t Teach Me in College About Children’s Ministry by Ryan Frank
Read More: Book Review: 9 Things They Didn’t Teach Me in College About Children’s Ministry by Ryan FrankAt the Children’s Pastor’s Conference in Orlando, FL a few weeks ago, I ran into my friend Ryan Frank. Ever since I’ve known Ryan, I’ve admired his passion, commitment, and leadership in the world of children’s ministry. I’ve had the chance to work with him a few times at the church at which he serves…
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Daddy’s Little Princess
Read More: Daddy’s Little PrincessI think Keziah’s smile brings me so much joy because I love seeing her enjoy life and respond to my talking and smiling. Her smile is also just like her Mommy’s smile. Thank you Jesus for such an unexpected joy and blessing in our lives.
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Any De-Clutter Advice?
Read More: Any De-Clutter Advice?I’ve been reading and thinking a lot about simplicity and the elimination of clutter recently – maybe because the holidays and having a new child are two events that somehow create a mass of “stuff” around the house – and we just had both events happen in our lives recently. The holidays and our new…
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The Bible’s Hidden Christmas Story
Read More: The Bible’s Hidden Christmas StoryWhen most people retell the story of the birth of Jesus Christ, one of two accounts are usually used as the source – the Gospel of Luke or the Gospel of Matthew. The four Gospels are basically ancient biographies of Jesus Christ. Matthew and Luke are very direct in their narratives of the birth…
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5 Prophecies Surrounding the Birth of Jesus
Read More: 5 Prophecies Surrounding the Birth of JesusThe story of Christ’s birth in Matthew contains 5 prophecies (between Matthew 1:18 and 2:23). It is easy to focus on the virgin conception as a stand-out miracle in the life of Christ (and it is), but it is also easy to overlook the miracle of multiple fulfilled prophecies surrounding the birth of Jesus. Here…
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Transformers Have Always Been Cool
Read More: Transformers Have Always Been CoolAt least since the mid-80’s. I’m the one on the right. My sister Rachael in the middle and my cousin on the left. We were so proud of our little Optimus Prime and Megatron.
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When Is "Energy Efficient" Worth It? – GE Heat Pump Hot Water Heater Review
Read More: When Is "Energy Efficient" Worth It? – GE Heat Pump Hot Water Heater ReviewThis might bore some of you, but I’m really excited about the new water heater we got for our 1925 fixer-upper in Church Hill. When we first bought this place back in June 2009, there was an 8-year old 30-gallon hot water heater in the basement that was off-level and had a water line about…
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Just When You Thought Certain Ideas Have Never Been Attempted
Read More: Just When You Thought Certain Ideas Have Never Been AttemptedI found this public domain image on wikipedia. It is Walter Rothschild with his zebra carriage.
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Who Does She Look Like?
Read More: Who Does She Look Like?When Kezzie was born, one of my first reactions was “who’s child is this?” in regards to her looks. She was and is beautiful. And so is my wife Sarah. But I was having a hard time finding a likeness to Sarah or myself. So you get to weigh in. Who does Kezzie look like,…
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Teaching Kids Godly Character at Home
Read More: Teaching Kids Godly Character at HomeHere is a great real-life example of a family in our church who is living out Deuteronomy 6:7 in their home (“Impress them [God’s commands] on your children. Talk about them when you sit at home and when you walk along the road, when you lie down and when you get up.”). Click on the…
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4 Benefits to Being a One Car Family
Read More: 4 Benefits to Being a One Car FamilyI once read a book about living happily without a car. But Sarah and I like having at least one around. We own a 2001 Toyota Corolla with 176,000 miles on it. Sarah brought it into the marriage fully paid for and it currently shows no signs of dying soon. We change the oil and…
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Do You Dream of Puppets Too?
Read More: Do You Dream of Puppets Too?Dreaming of a full size puppet theater in the basement of our church – performing character-building and Bible-lesson puppet shows for kids and families in our city. Wednesday morning storytimes, Friday evening family nights, all sorts of applications. Widely publicized to maximize community participation. Even kids can learn and perform the puppets. Sketches are next,…
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Keys to an Effective Hospital Visit
Read More: Keys to an Effective Hospital VisitAs children’s pastors, one way we can minister to kids is through hospital visits. Being at the hospital is usually a very frightening experience for both the child and the child’s family. Showing up in person to offer prayer and some listening ears can do wonderful things for the child and the family. I’ve had…
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Keziah Grace Joyner
Read More: Keziah Grace JoynerWelcome Keziah Grace Joyner, 7 pounds, 1 ounce, September 30th, 2010 at 6:50am. Mom and baby are safe and healthy.
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Waiting
Read More: WaitingNo baby yet – but taking guesses on the name; your only clue is that it is an uncommon female’s name in the Old Testament – I can neither confirm nor deny any guesses – but I might consider a prize if someone gets it – one submission per person 🙂
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Popular Posts
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“Holy Fools”: Exploring the Journey of Calling for Christian Variety Performers
I am happy to announce that my PhD dissertation has been published to ProQuest, an academic database for published research. I have made the dissertation open source, which means anyone anywhere can access the full content free of charge. Here is the full dissertation: https://www.proquest.com/dissertations-theses/holy-fools-exploring-journey-calling-christian/docview/2622316783/se-2 Please share far and wide. I am very much excited…
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The Easiest Large Group Game Ever
This is probably the easiest large group game ever invented. If you can think of an easier one, please let me know in the comments. Heads or Tails! This game of heads or tails involves EVERYONE in your large group. It is actually better the larger the group gets. There is an elimination factor to…
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Merry Christmas from the Joyners!
Greetings from our family in Richmond, Virginia! We are thankful for you, our friends and family. We are also thankful to the Lord for His gift of the love to us all this season. This past year has been a roller coaster of experiences and emotions, specifically regarding our spunky little Annie, who is now…
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Book Release! Incredibly Bad Dad Jokes
I have been writing down my original Dad jokes for several years now, but recently they dramatically increased. While the past five months of my life have been the toughest for me as a Dad (with Annie’s medical crisis), the Dad jokes actually came out in full force during this season. You see, in my…
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A Children’s Ministry Poem
From the mouths of children come questions galore about heaven and angels and Satan and more. They speak what their hearts say without holding back, so the wonder of God is something they never lack. Oh God, who are you? Who inspires the minds of little ones many, so that they may find this Jesus…