Category: Children’s Ministry
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Whatever is True
Read More: Whatever is TruePaul 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…
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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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What Not to Say to a Juggler
Read More: What Not to Say to a JugglerI 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…
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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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Art and Christianity
Read More: Art and ChristianityFive 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…
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Easter Sunday Lesson Idea from a Great Children’s Pastor
Read More: Easter Sunday Lesson Idea from a Great Children’s PastorMy 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…
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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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The Value of an Internship
Read More: The Value of an InternshipA few years ago I started taking interns along for some of my summer camps. They assist me by teaching juggling workshops to campers, running my merchandise table, and sometimes even speaking and performing on the stage during gathering sessions. I love having these interns around. It takes a lot of weight off my shoulders…
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Unleashing Your Creative Potential
Read More: Unleashing Your Creative PotentialSarah and I recently got to visit Italy – home to some of the world’s greatest art, architecture, and historical sites. It is a very moving experience to stand in front of Rome’ Pantheon or Michaelangelo’s David statue in Florence and reflect on the human ability to create beautiful art. You could make the case…
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The Best of 2013
Read More: The Best of 2013One family tradition that we have recently started is a simple dinner time question: “What was your favorite part of the day?” Kezzie loves to both ask and answer this question. It makes for a fun time to recap the day’s events and talk about the things we value in life. I thought I would…
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Life as a Professional Juggler: FAQ’s
Read More: Life as a Professional Juggler: FAQ’sBy God’s grace, I am living a dream. I get to do what I love and I don’t even feel like I work. But what I do is serious “work” at the same time. I get a lot of questions from people about what I do, so I thought I would try to consolidate the…
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The Gifts of the Wise Men – Children’s Ministry Lesson
Read More: The Gifts of the Wise Men – Children’s Ministry LessonYesterday, I taught on the wise men from the Christmas story in Matthew 2. I always love teaching on this part of the Christmas story because there is so much more in the text than we usually learn from a simple nativity scene. Here are three things that might help as you assemble your lesson…
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How to Build a Portable Puppet Theater
Read More: How to Build a Portable Puppet TheaterSeveral years ago I built a portable puppet theater out of PVC and black fabric. We have used it since then for puppet shows at our church. Our church has different locations, so this is perfect for moving the theater back and forth to different spots where we have children’s worship services and summer activities.…
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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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John Wesley in America
Read More: John Wesley in AmericaJohn Wesley, the founder of Methodism, made a missionary trip to the colony of Georgia in the 1730’s. I recently spoke at Epworth-by-the-Sea, a Methodist retreat center on St. Simon’s Island, GA. This is the place where the Wesleys (John and Charles) came, particularly Fort Frederica. There is a beautiful Celtic cross commemorating their time…
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Advanced Chinese Yo-Yo Trick: The Elevator
Read More: Advanced Chinese Yo-Yo Trick: The ElevatorYears ago, I learned a trick with the Chinese Yo-Yo (aka Diabolo) that is known as “the elevator” or “the climb.” Since I use it in my ministry show to illustrate the resurrection of Christ (thanks for the idea, David Cain), kids who see my show call it the “rise-from-the-dead” trick. Whatever you call it,…
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Circus 4 Ever
Read More: Circus 4 EverI’ve got some exciting news. I have partnered with some other jugglers from the Christian Jugglers Association and we are happy to introduce to you a non-profit called Circus 4 Ever. This is an organization that exists to make an eternal impact on lives around the globe using juggling and circus arts. Our primary objectives…
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Meet Fellow Christian Juggler Bob Cates
Read More: Meet Fellow Christian Juggler Bob CatesHere is a video introduction of a friend of mine who is also in the Christian Jugglers Association. I love his heart for God’s Word and his skill at quality entertainment. Bob Cates on Faith Family & Show from Bob Cates on Vimeo.
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A Retreat for the Whole Church
Read More: A Retreat for the Whole ChurchThis past weekend, I had the privilege of speaking and entertaining at a church-wide retreat at a camp in the middle of Nebraska. What I witnessed in the dynamics of this retreat was one of the most powerful forms of the church being the church I’ve seen before. And I’m not talking about how they…
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Developing a 45-minute Show
Read More: Developing a 45-minute ShowFor many variety performers out there, one of the challenges is filling a 45-minute window of time with engaging content for hundreds or thousands of people. Since I work mostly with audiences that include lots of kids, I have found 45 minutes tends to be a good length of time for family audiences to enjoy…
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A Preteen Who Finally Heard
Read More: A Preteen Who Finally HeardI just got this note from a young lady who attended PreTeen Camp at Highland Lakes a few weeks ago. At first it sounds like a criticism, but when I kept reading it I saw it was a testimony. It is very encouraging, reminding me to just keep pressing on in proclaiming God’s Word, because…
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The Ultimate Church Van
Read More: The Ultimate Church VanFound this van at Highland Lakes Camp this week. Talk about going to camp in style. Zoinks!
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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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Large Group Game: First Time on the Potty
Read More: Large Group Game: First Time on the PottyI 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…..
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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Israel: The Land of the Bible
Read More: Israel: The Land of the BibleJust 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?
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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4 Great Apps for Teachers
Read More: 4 Great Apps for TeachersI 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
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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Can God Lie?
Read More: Can God Lie?“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
Read More: 10 Ways to Know You are the Parent of a Toddler10. 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
Read More: Team Building Game – The Water BowlI 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
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’s the Tallest Building in Your State?
Read More: What’s the Tallest Building in Your State?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
Read More: Happy Birthday BachMy 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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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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Busy Days
Read More: Busy DaysThis 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
Read More: A Father’s Prayer for His DaughterA 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
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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Friday Trivia
Read More: Friday TriviaSince I’m in the Quad Cities, here’s a little local trivia: Name the Quad Cities area radio announcer who went on to bigger and better things in life, like leading the free world.
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Top 5 Games for Summer Camp
Read More: Top 5 Games for Summer CampI travel to a lot of summer camps around the country each year. I have seen with my own eyes what games kids are drawn to the most throughout their given week of camp. And they are the same games no matter where you go. Kids are kids! Here are the 5 games that I…
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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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Friday Trivia
Read More: Friday TriviaI love trivia. I especially love random trivia that blows your mind. Here is something I recently learned that will blow your mind. Do you know the answer? Name a species of bird (that most of you have probably heard of before) that was one of the most abundant animals in North America (numbered in…
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How to Handle a Woman – Camelot the Musical
Read More: How to Handle a Woman – Camelot the MusicalIn honor of Valentine’s Day, here is some helpful sage advice for all us guys out there. You’re welcome.
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Immortality on Earth
Read More: Immortality on EarthThere is a fascinating example in science of an “eternal” living animal: the Turritopsis nutricula. It is a tiny jellyfish-like creature that reverts to a juvenile after maturing to older life stages (an so on and so forth). It is a cell development process called transdifferentiation (say that ten times fast). It tops any list…
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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…