Category: Children’s Ministry

Children’s Ministry Lesson: The Ten Plagues

October 14, 2013

I 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

October 10, 2013

John 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

October 3, 2013

Years 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

September 19, 2013

I’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

September 19, 2013

Here 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

September 2, 2013

This 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

August 27, 2013

For 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

August 6, 2013

I 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

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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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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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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