Category: Christianity

“Holy Fools”: Exploring the Journey of Calling for Christian Variety Performers

January 27, 2022

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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Coming Soon: “Holy Fools”

November 19, 2021

My PhD dissertation will be available to the public very soon! I am so excited to share that my full 274-page PhD dissertation will be available (for free) to the public very soon. Stay tuned for the details. The title is “Holy Fools”: Exploring the Journey of Calling for Christian Variety Performers. I didn’t know…
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Teaching kids to use their talents for good

April 18, 2018

When I was in elementary and middle school, I was small. I couldn’t keep up with the stronger kids in the popular sports like football and basketball. I was pushed around and bullied by the bigger kids. Then I discovered a unique talent – juggling. While in fifth grade, my friend Tim taught me how…
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Did God the Father Abandon Jesus on the Cross?

March 29, 2018

“My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?” guest post by Russell Joyner Why would Jesus say something that sounds so discouraging? In Jewish tradition, in a moment of great distress, one should pray. When all looks hopeless, pray. When you can’t think of what to pray, then recite one of the pre-approved inspired…
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Activity: A Hunt for the Real Meaning of Easter

March 29, 2018

Here’s a simple and fun Easter egg hunt activity that involves all ages. You can use this at home, at church, or any other Easter event. Using plastic Easter eggs, have the adults hide the eggs for the children – the more people you get involved the better, as you’ll see why in the next…
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Billy Graham 1918-2018

February 22, 2018

I had the privilege of seeing Billy Graham preach at a packed Paul Brown Stadium in Cincinnati in the summer of 2002. I had just graduated from college with a Bible degree and was preparing to enter seminary later that Fall. The timing was perfect. As I was training to be a pastor and teacher,…
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Exodus Memory Verse

January 14, 2018

Here 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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Fidget Spinner Bible Lesson

May 30, 2017

So 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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Do you do Santa Claus?

December 16, 2016

This is a common question I hear parents asking one another at Christmas time. The question comes from different perspectives and experiences that people have had with the story, tradition, and character of that jolly man, Santa. We’ve all heard stories of the proverbial thirteen year-old kid (or older) who finds out from their friends…
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His Name Endures Forever: An Object Lesson

August 19, 2016

I’d like to share a worship response object lesson we organized at summer camp last month. It was a little risky because we had about 300 campers and it could have gotten chaotic, but the kids did great and the end result was very moving. First of all, when I say, “worship response,” I’m referring to…
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Faith Development Resources: Early Childhood

April 22, 2016

INTRODUCTION Finding quality resources that help nurture the faith development of children and families can sometimes be difficult. This is the first post in a series, broken up by age-level focus, that can be of help to children, family members, and ministry leaders as they navigate the pilgrimage of the Christian faith. I will start…
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The Caterpillar and the Butterfly: Easter Activity

March 24, 2016

This family or children’s ministry idea comes from Ivy Beckwith, the author of one of my assigned readings for my class at Trinity Evangelical Divinity School about ministry with children. Here is the description as I put it in my paper. I would encourage you to take this simple idea and make your own creative…
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What Cain and Jesus Share

March 24, 2016

What?! 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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Is Jesus Our Superhero?

January 21, 2016

A metaphor that some people use for describing Jesus Christ is that he is our superhero. But, I feel that the metaphor (like most) breaks down here – and so much so that I am uncomfortable saying that Jesus is my superhero (and teaching kids the like). Here’s why: I believe that Jesus is beyond the…
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Talking to Kids About Martin Luther King, Jr.

January 18, 2016

The great thing about a holiday is not just the fact that many people get the day off, but it also carves a memorial into the annual calendar that commemorates something or someone that we as a society deem important. When children see that they have a day off of school and that people are…
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Longest Celebrity Marriage?

January 15, 2016

Celebrities, including Hollywood stars, music icons, and famous people around the world have a reputation for short and numerous marriages. But there are always examples to the contrary, and I write this to show that lifelong monogamy is still possible. I personally believe it is only possible by the grace of God. I think I…
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A Brain Game for Ministry

January 14, 2016

I like finding neat science tricks and visual illustrations that can be used to help communicate Biblical concepts in teaching. I found this neat brain game trick which I like to call the “curved arcs” from Steve Spangler Science. He sells the pieces I bought below. But you can also make your own and he…
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Super Easy Scripture Slides and Images

January 12, 2016

I recently stumbled upon a fast and free way to make Scripture slides for Children’s Ministry (or any other ministry, for that matter) with an array of free and attractive backgrounds. And it may already be in your phone/device. It’s built into one of the popular apps out there – the free YouVersion app of the…
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Overcoming Stage Fright

January 6, 2016

I performed at a company holiday banquet on Sunday night in Pennsylvania. As I was eating dinner with the owner and his family, one of his children asked me, “Do you ever get nervous before your shows?” My answer was a quick and simple, “Yes.” Then I explained a little more. Yes, I still get nervous…
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The Interrobang as a Metaphor for the Hypostatic Union

December 18, 2015

If 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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Five Ways to Redeem Halloween

October 27, 2015

As a Christian who grew up in the church and in a Christian family, I have seen many various ways that Christians respond to the cultural phenomenon that has become Halloween. Like many things in life, there are extreme ways to celebrate (or not celebrate) something. Some Christians avoid Halloween and anything having to do…
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5 Fun and Easy Summer Camp Games

July 2, 2015

Millions of kids across the country are participating in some sort of summer camp experience this summer. Camp is such a meaningful time for kids because of the memories they make, the friends they meet, and the fun they have. Since I travel to many camps each summer, I get to see a lot of…
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Remembering the Sabbath

January 14, 2015

Last week was a very busy week. There was office work, family obligations, booking events, and the ongoing process of fixing up our old house. And right now we are fixing up the kitchen! It will be great when it is done, but the process can seem long and laborious. So I try to find…
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Winter Fusion 2014

December 30, 2014

Last 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

December 16, 2014

There 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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