
Category: Bible
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Consecrating Our Work Unto the Lord
Read More: Consecrating Our Work Unto the LordThe following is the text of the sermon that I preached at Eternity Church in Richmond, VA on January 30, 2022: Consecrating Our Work Unto the Lord Scripture Genesis 2:15 15 The Lord God took the man and put him in the garden of Eden to work it and keep it. Genesis 3:17-19a 17 And…
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“Holy Fools”: Exploring the Journey of Calling for Christian Variety Performers
Read More: “Holy Fools”: Exploring the Journey of Calling for Christian Variety PerformersI 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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Acts Memory Verse
Read More: Acts Memory VerseOne of only two agraphon (plural of “agrapha”: a Jesus quote outside of the Gospels) in the New Testament. The other is 1 Corinthians 11:22. #mvotw#mvotwyear
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John Memory Verse
Read More: John Memory VerseThink of all the new stories about the life of Jesus that we will hear when we get to heaven! #mvotwyear #mvotw
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Mark Memory Verse
Read More: Mark Memory VerseLet the little children come to Jesus. Do not put any roadblocks in their way. #mvotw #mvotwyear
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A Taste of Heaven
Read More: A Taste of HeavenA few miles north of Waco, Texas, just off of Interstate 35, sits a Shell gas station and convenience store that looks like any other gas station except for one thing: the line for the convenience store bakery is almost always fifty people deep. That’s because the bakery, called the Czech Stop, specializes in a…
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Numbers Memory Verse
Read More: Numbers Memory VerseThis is the blessing to Aaron and his sons that God commanded Moses to tell Aaron. One thing I love about this blessing is that following this blessing, God then tells Moses, “so they [Aaron and his sons] will put my name on the Israelites, and I will bless them” (v. 27). Wow. God shines…
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Exodus Memory Verse
Read More: Exodus Memory VerseHere we are at week 2 of memorizing a verse from each book of the Bible in a year. This week’s verse comes from the Song of Moses and Miriam found in Exodus 15. They are praising God for delivering them from the hands of the Egyptian army after fleeing from them and making it…
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Where’s Haggai?: How to Help Kids Navigate the Bible
Read More: Where’s Haggai?: How to Help Kids Navigate the BibleIt’s on page 1,195 of course! So yeah, even most adults need the table of contents if the pastor says, “Turn to the second chapter of Haggai as we look at what this prophet says to Zerubbabel.” And if you work with kids in a church or ministry setting, you know the challenge of trying…
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Stewards of the Story
Read More: Stewards of the StoryLast night, I was working with my seven year-old daughter on a Bible verse that she is trying to memorize. The verse spoke about the “fear of God” and we had a good discussion about the definition of the word “fear” in that context. While that alone is a whole other discussion, the point I…
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Teaching the Good Samaritan Story to a Modern Audience
Read More: Teaching the Good Samaritan Story to a Modern AudienceI’ve had the chance to teach the Good Samaritan story to groups of children and preteens over the past month. I adapted the Bible story from Luke’s Gospel to speak to the kids in their cultural context. In Mississippi, for example, I orchestrated a skit that had a Mississippi State Bulldog fan kneel down and…
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Fidget Spinner Bible Lesson
Read More: Fidget Spinner Bible LessonSo here’s a way to teach a Bible lesson using a fidget spinner…. What Really Lasts? Bring and show off as many of these fad toys as you can find (show pictures if you don’t have the actual toy): the hula hoop Lincoln Logs the pet rock the Rubix Cube Slinky the slap bracelet Beanie…
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Scripture Memory for Kids
Read More: Scripture Memory for KidsI have an acronym for scripture memory that I use at camps: MVOTW. It stands for “Memory Verse of the Week.” You pronounce it, “muh-vah-twuh.” Kids love saying it and we put motions to the words to help us remember whatever verse we are working on. Most camps and vacation Bible schools have a theme…
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What Cain and Jesus Share
Read More: What Cain and Jesus ShareWhat?! You’re comparing Cain, the first murderer, to Jesus? How dare you! Follow me here. I was writing a paper about ministry with children and I suddenly discovered in the Cain and Abel story something I had never seen before… You probably already knew that Cain was the first child to be born (remember, Adam and Eve…
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Valentine’s Day Lesson for Children’s Church
Read More: Valentine’s Day Lesson for Children’s ChurchHere is a brief presentation I gave for the kids at my church on Valentine’s Day 2016. I do some juggling in it, but if you give a similar lesson (which you are free to do, of course), just insert your own version of something impressive to demonstrate to the children instead of juggling. The…
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Four Ways to Help Kids Get Excited About the Bible
Read More: Four Ways to Help Kids Get Excited About the Bible(Picture above thanks to JaredFanning.com). Also found at http://visual.ly/top-10-most-read-books-world Here’s the file of the image: In my previous post, I shared about a large group game idea called “Super Bible Trivia.” I wanted to follow that up with a few practical tips that help us share the wonder of God’s Word with children. Here are a…
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Large Group Game: Super Bible Trivia
Read More: Large Group Game: Super Bible TriviaI’ve played a fun game with large groups of kids over the years that I call “Super Bible Trivia!” This contestant-driven stage quiz game is more of a staged drama than an actual serious quiz game. But it is set up so that the kids think it is a normal quiz game at first. Don’t worry, they’ll…
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The Sheep of His Pasture
Read More: The Sheep of His PastureKnow that the Lord is God. It is he who made us, and we are his; we are his people, the sheep of his pasture. Psalm 100:3, NIV
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The Role of the Children’s Pastor
Read More: The Role of the Children’s PastorI’m reading a great book on ministry with children right now called Children Matter by Scottie May, Beth Posterski, Catherine Stonehouse, and Linda Cannell (Grand Rapids: Eerdman’s, 2005). Here is a quote that made me stop in my tracks: “Our responsibility is to create an environment in which the child can learn about and enter…
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An Undivided Heart
Read More: An Undivided HeartI love the simplicity of Scripture. The ability to rely on God and to have an undivided heart comes from Him! “Teach me your way, Lord, that I may rely on your faithfulness: give me an undivided heart, that I may fear your name” (Psalm 86:11).
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Bring Me Game Ideas
Read More: Bring Me Game IdeasThe ‘Bring Me’ game is a group activity ideal for engaging children. The leader requests random items, and the first person or group to bring the item gets a point. The game uses technology as it allows for internet-based scavenger hunt challenges. The leader needs to adapt the items according to the group’s characteristics. The…
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The Interrobang as a Metaphor for the Hypostatic Union
Read More: The Interrobang as a Metaphor for the Hypostatic UnionIf you have no idea what that title means, that’s OK. It is actually fairly simple to explain those weird words, which I will attempt to do. The “hypostatic union” is an important theological concept to understand about the person and work of Jesus Christ. It basically says that Jesus Christ is one person, two…
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One Body, Many Parts
Read More: One Body, Many PartsWhen I spoke at Camp Dixie last weekend, I was given the theme “Submerge,” which was focused on God’s deep love for us. As I was pondering some topics to go along with that, I learned a little bit about the creatures of the deep ocean. By the way, scientists say that we know more…
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Children’s Pastors are Bible Translators
Read More: Children’s Pastors are Bible TranslatorsI have a great deal of respect and admiration for the people of organizations like Wycliffe or New Tribes Mission who spend decades with an indigenous group of people. learn their culture and language, and then translate the Bible into that language. I believe that those who teach the Bible to kids (in any language…
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Winter Fusion 2014
Read More: Winter Fusion 2014Last night was the kickoff for Winter Fusion, a retreat for youth from churches in Virginia. I got to perform my unicycle routine as a little teaser for the full show tonight. It’s been a lot of fun so far interacting with these young people and meeting their leaders as well. The fun thing for…
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Socioeconomic Diversity in the Christmas Story
Read More: Socioeconomic Diversity in the Christmas StoryThere are two primary nativity narratives in the Gospels – the Matthew version and the Luke version. Have you ever noticed that Matthew talks about the Magi (but not the shepherds) and Luke talks about the shepherds (but not the Magi)? Matthew was writing to a mostly Jewish audience while Luke was writing with Gentiles…
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“What’s in the Bible?” Curriculum Review
Read More: “What’s in the Bible?” Curriculum ReviewI am somewhat of a bibliophile (one who loves books). And more particularly, I love to learn about and study the book of all books – the Bible. I guess that would be a more accurate use of the term “Biblio”-phile. So it is with excitement and anticipation that I share with you a new…
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The Power of a Family Camp
Read More: The Power of a Family CampI recently spoke at a Family Camp at Camp Dixie in North Carolina. The idea is simple: create a camp experience that involves the whole family. Most camps offer programs for age-specific groups, particularly children’s and youth camps. But Family Camp is where all the members of the family come to camp together and enjoy…
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Bright Ideas You Can Use This Sunday
Read More: Bright Ideas You Can Use This SundayI’m happy to announce a new book to which I contributed. It is a collection of practical creative ministry ideas that you can use in your Sunday School, Children’s Church, camp, youth group, or other ministry setting with kids. The book categorizes the ideas so that you can find a quick and easy idea whether…
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Worship Response Stations
Read More: Worship Response StationsI 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…
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Whatever is Admirable
Read More: Whatever is AdmirableThe 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…
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Whatever is Lovely
Read More: Whatever is LovelyGod 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…
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Whatever is Right
Read More: Whatever is RightPaul 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…
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Finally!
Read More: Finally!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…
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The Death of Jesus
Read More: The Death of JesusAccording 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…
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The Upward Show When My Luggage Didn’t Arrive
Read More: The Upward Show When My Luggage Didn’t ArriveIn 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…
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Palm Sunday Lesson
Read More: Palm Sunday LessonHere is a brief activity you can use on Palm Sunday in your Children’s Church service. It is designed to be humorous and then lead into teaching the kids the real meaning of Palm Sunday. Title: “Palm Sunday” Scripture: John 12:12-15 NIV “The next day the great crowd that had come for the Feast heard…
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Jerusalem IMAX Review
Read More: Jerusalem IMAX ReviewYesterday, I saw the IMAX film Jerusalem at the Fernbank Museum in Atlanta. Put out by National Geographic Entertainment, it shows both the bloody history as well as the beautiful peoples and cultures who live there today. I spent a semester living in the Old City of Jerusalem when I was in college for a…
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Children’s Ministry Lesson: The Ten Plagues
Read More: Children’s Ministry Lesson: The Ten PlaguesI have taught Children’s Church lessons for over a decade and I think yesterday’s lesson on the ten plagues was one of my favorite lessons to ever teach. Please don’t think that I love dark and dismal things like plagues. They really are pretty negative. Biblically speaking, they were real judgements carried out on lots…
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Visiting Israel with a Toddler
Read More: Visiting Israel with a ToddlerMy wife and I celebrated our 10 years of marriage this past May by visiting Israel and the West Bank. It was a two and a half week trip and we have a daughter who is two. We decided that we did not want to be away from her for that long of a trip,…
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MVOTW!
Read More: MVOTW!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
Read More: Teaching Kids to Use Their BiblesSummer 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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Kids and the Bible
Read More: Kids and the BibleFollowing 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
Read More: Stick to the WordLast 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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Hello, My Name Is…..
Read More: Hello, My Name Is…..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
Read More: When God Surprises YouI 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?
Read More: Is the Holy Land Really Holy?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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Why Does Thomas Get all the Blame for Doubting?
Read More: Why Does Thomas Get all the Blame for Doubting?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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The Wordless Book
Read More: The Wordless BookI 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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How to Kick Off Easter Week
Read More: How to Kick Off Easter WeekDespite 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 They Didn’t Teach Me in Sunday School about Jonah
Read More: What They Didn’t Teach Me in Sunday School about JonahYou 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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The Best Family Ministry Event
Read More: The Best Family Ministry EventIn 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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Children and Animals in Eternity
Read More: Children and Animals in EternityI am intrigued with the fascination that children have with animals. Is it because many domestic animals are more approachable and manageable (size-wise) for children? Is it because the animals are fuzzy and furry? Are there a variety of factors? Regardless, I think we all have a little kid in us when we interact with…
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The Impossible Paper Cut
Read More: The Impossible Paper CutI asked a group of elementary schoolers if they thought I could cut a hole in a regular 8.5″x11″ piece of computer paper large enough to fit 6 kids through it at the same time. We were able to do it with no problem! Are you also skeptical? Here’s how you do it…… Step 1:…
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The Uncle Charlie Only144 Sale
Read More: The Uncle Charlie Only144 SaleBuy over $1500 of Uncle Charlie’s music and other resources for only $97. The first one hundred buyers get a free “Live Show” DVD of my juggling act. Click on the image to get to the sale.
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Five Things You Should Know About Haiti
Read More: Five Things You Should Know About HaitiHaiti is on the Caribbean island of Hispaniola (shared with the Dominican Republic) in between the islands of Cuba and Puerto Rico. I had the chance to visit two weekends ago and perform my juggling show six times in three days for children at various events (a school, some orphanages, and a church). My hosts…
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This Is Why I Love My Job
Read More: This Is Why I Love My JobEvery so often I hear feedback from people who see my show. And over the years, I’ve heard the good, the bad, and the ugly. It’s amazing, though, just how powerful some stories can be in inspiring you to continue doing the job/ministry/vocation you do. This is one of those letters….. I recently got this…
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When Children Grieve: From Bethlehem to Newtown
Read More: When Children Grieve: From Bethlehem to NewtownOn a mild autumn morning twelve years ago, I found myself in front of a primary school class full of grieving children. I was their entertainment for the day – a juggler from halfway across the world, doing whatever I could to bring a little joy to their lives. The children were Palestinian kids from…
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The Problem with Santa
Read More: The Problem with SantaI have a problem with Santa. I’m not hostile towards the jolly fellow. He’s actually a really nice guy. But I still have a really big problem with him. Santa is a legalist. He makes a list. He checks it twice. He finds out who is naughty or nice. And then he rewards the good…
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My Take: Dumb Ways to Die
Read More: My Take: Dumb Ways to DieThis catchy and artsy music video will either make you laugh or make you a little creeped out, depending on your sense of humor. I thought it was hilarious, especially the character who “sold both kidneys on the internet.” Would you believe that this is a public service announcement from the rail Metro in Melbourne,…
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How to Save Three Dollars
Read More: How to Save Three DollarsSo you want to learn how to juggle but you don’t quite have the budget to go out and buy $5 balls, $7 rings, and $30 clubs. I have the answer for you. You could just use anything currently lying around the house, like balled-up socks, tomatoes, or kittens. But if you use socks, you…
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The Most Misunderstood Concept about God
Read More: The Most Misunderstood Concept about GodGrace. I often ask groups of children when I teach them, “Will you go to heaven if you’re a good kid?” And I usually get the same resounding “yes!” from the crowd. Many adults in the Church would answer the same way. This is a big problem in the Church today, and it starts in…
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Why It Helps for Children’s Church to Be Fun
Read More: Why It Helps for Children’s Church to Be FunLet me be clear: The message of the Gospel of Jesus Christ does not need a circus of pizazz to penetrate the heart of a child (or anyone for that matter). The love and grace of Jesus stands fine on its own to regenerate the hearts of children. But it sure does help to present…
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Captivating the Attention of Children
Read More: Captivating the Attention of ChildrenAnyone can captivate the attention of a child – or a group of children. All it takes is a smile and a little energy in your face. And those things come from a sincere heart to connect with the child/children. It helps to be able to perform some astonishing feat like a magic trick or…
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Every Child is a Winner by McCaslin and Biehl
Read More: Every Child is a Winner by McCaslin and BiehlCaz McCaslin runs Upward Sports, a global youth sports organization that promotes Biblical values, equal play time, and ultimately, the person and work of Jesus Christ. He wrote what he considers a “parent playbook” called Every Child is a Winner (Broadman and Holman: Nashville, 2002). My family and I got to visit the main headquarters…
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Faith Like a Child
Read More: Faith Like a ChildMy wife, Sarah, broke her pinky toe last week. Then she gouged the underside of her other foot on a broken piece of wood flooring (we have an old house – and I’m fixing the problem area today). So she’s limping around, ever-so-courageously, chasing our toddler and living normal life. Our toddler, Kezzie, has clearly…
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Shamgar: The Relief Pitcher of the Bible
Read More: Shamgar: The Relief Pitcher of the BibleI just read an article over at ESPN about the relief pitchers for the Baltimore Orioles, who did a fantastic job putting down the Yankees last night in the playoffs. Brian Matusz spoke about how being a bullpen pitcher can be a “thankless job.” Yet they are some of the most key players of a…
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Breakfast with Jesus
Read More: Breakfast with JesusWe can be pretty sure that Jesus wasn’t a vegetarian because he called his disciples over for a fish breakfast in one of his post-resurrection appearances. This was the original church fish fry. It doesn’t say that Jesus partook of the fish, but the meal was definitely his idea – so break out the tilapia!…
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The Engage Children’s Ministry Conference
Read More: The Engage Children’s Ministry ConferenceI was just invited to teach a workshop at The Engage Conference up in Pennsylvania in November. If you work in Children’s Ministry in any capacity (pastor, leader, volunteer, etc.), please see if you can make this great one-day conference. Its only twenty bucks! Click Here for all the info.
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Fall Festival Ideas
Read More: Fall Festival IdeasIf you’re a Children’s Pastor or leader of a community program for families, you’re probably somewhere on the spectrum of planning for your annual Fall Festival. If you haven’t started planning for one, its still not too late, but you only have about a month left, depending on when you hold it. Before I list…
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Including the Children
Read More: Including the ChildrenThe battle of Jericho has been immortalized in the Judeo-Christian conscience as the epic moment when “the walls came tumblin’ down.” So why don’t we remember the dramatic battle after Jericho? It is known as the battle of Ai. Ai was a city further into the Promised Land from Jericho. Joshua tried sending a small force…
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God and Money
Read More: God and MoneyWhen I was in college, I remember having a cloud of worry parked over my psyche every single day because I knew that I was taking out a LOT of money for school and I was going to have to pay it back. And it was during college that I decided my life theme verse…
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3,470 Hours Per Year
Read More: 3,470 Hours Per Year3,470 hours. If you’re a parent, that’s about how many hours per year that your children are awake and not in school or church. Church-going kids spend anywhere from an hour to five hours a week in church or doing church-related activities. Another 50-100 hours is spent sleeping, depending on the age of the child.…
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The Princess Problem
Read More: The Princess ProblemCheck out this article written by a professor at my alma mater, Taylor University. Her name is Amy Lepine Peterson and she offers a critique of Karen Kingsbury’s children’s books about princes and princesses. Here is the link to the article: http://tinyurl.com/9nbmofh Now that you’ve read it, here’s my thought: The character of a princess in…
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Living Up to Your Name
Read More: Living Up to Your NameThis past February, Sarah, Kezzie took a trip to Europe. We flew in and out of Barcelona. When we landed, we spent the day walking (a lot) around Barcelona. People told us we had to go see Sacrada Familia, so we wandered until we found it. Apparently, this is the big attraction in Barcelona, so…
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Why Do Churches Make The Worst Shirts?
Read More: Why Do Churches Make The Worst Shirts?Frankly, I don’t know why. But I’m posting this to see if anyone out there has the answer. I have dozens of free t-shirts from all over the country from church outreaches, camp retreats, summer camps, and other events put on by churches. I have a few that I am willing to wear in public.…
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Could You Turn Down 15 Million Bucks?
Read More: Could You Turn Down 15 Million Bucks?Delilah was a sell-out to the Philistines. Like Judas, she accepted money in exchange for betraying someone very close to her. But I recently discovered a detail that blows my mind about the story of Samson. The Philistines offered Delilah the equivalent of 15 MILLION dollars in today’s money (see the IVP OT Bible Background…
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The Bible is Rated R
Read More: The Bible is Rated RIf you’ve read the Bible, you will notice that if someone were to make an all-out accurate portrayal of it on the big screen, it would easily be rated R or worse. From the nakedness of Adam and Eve in the garden to the brutally violent crucifixion of Jesus, the Bible is one of the…
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Kids in Church: Children’s Service or Adult Service?
Read More: Kids in Church: Children’s Service or Adult Service?Think of all the “all-ages” events we go to in this life: baseball games, community festivals, museums, parks, shopping, concerts, movies, zoos, many restaurants, and volunteering in the community. Then there’s church – and in most churches, the first thing parents do when they arrive is check their kids into a parallel universe of Sunday…
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Free Puppet Show Skit for Children’s Church
Read More: Free Puppet Show Skit for Children’s ChurchThis kid-tested puppet show teaches kids how names have meanings, particularly the meaning of the name given to Jesus Christ. You may freely reproduce this skit. Just reference this website if you do…. “What’s In a Name?” (based on Matthew 1:21) by Jesse Joyner jessejoyner.com note: you may reproduce this skit freely so long as…
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Family Night Idea for Your Church: “Family Connect”
Read More: Family Night Idea for Your Church: “Family Connect”On a Sunday morning when I was the Children’s Pastor at our church, two dads of kids in our children’s ministry bumped into each other in the foyer. Now, before I go on, let me say that at the time we were a medium sized church (about 450 people), so not everybody knew everybody else.…
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Children’s Ministry Stunt Lesson: The Human Table
Read More: Children’s Ministry Stunt Lesson: The Human TableThis human stunt is a crowd favorite – and anyone can do it. Its called “The Human Table”. You could also call it “The Levitating People” or come up with your own name. It’s called a “stunt” lesson rather than an object lesson because you need 4 adults about the same size as one another…
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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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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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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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The Lord Gives and Roeder Takes Away
Read More: The Lord Gives and Roeder Takes AwayIn my hotel room in Columbus this weekend, I caught a glimpse of the televised trial for the murder of George Tiller, the abortion doctor from Kansas City. At the moment I was watching, Scott Roeder (the defendant who admittedly shot Tiller) was on the witness stand. Roeder attempted to justify his pulling of the…
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Knife Juggling and the Bible
Read More: Knife Juggling and the BibleTomorrow morning, the Scripture lesson for Godz Kidz at Commonwealth Chapel is going to be the same as what the adults will hear in the adult service – 2 Timothy 2:14-21. I’m going to focus in on verse 15, which says, “Do your best to present yourself to God as one approved, a workman who…
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According to What Scriptures?
Read More: According to What Scriptures?Image: “The Burial of Christ” by Gustave Dore, woodcut (19th Century) This is the season of Lent, where Christians remember the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus Christ during the 40 days (not counting Sundays) leading up to Easter. This morning, I read the first recorded Christian creed of the resurrection, which was written by…
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Lions who Don’t Hurt Donkeys
Read More: Lions who Don’t Hurt DonkeysThis morning, I experienced a “Wow” moment after reading a story in the Bible. Here I am, 27 years old, just graduated from seminary, the son of a pastor, currently serving in ministry – and I read a Bible story about which I was totally unfamiliar. I’m in Children’s Ministry, so I am used to…
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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…






