Education | Jesse Joyner

A Brain Game for Ministry

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 has instructions on his site. I made my own large versions out of wood. The pictures below are the smaller cardboard type.

At first glance, one may look smaller than the other.

You can especially notice how they appear different lengths when you position them like this.

This is the two pieces switched. Now the yellow one is “longer”!

But when you stack them (seen below), you realize they are the same size!

Most adults pick up on this pretty quickly. Kids take a little longer to agree with you, of course. But no matter your age, it is still a fascinating reality. Two objects of the exact same size can appear to be different lengths depending on how they are positioned relative to one another.

Clearly our eyes and brains can play tricks on themselves. And that is one of the points I like to make in teaching kids about the Bible. There are several connections you can make here.

One that I make is that we as humans are all equally fallen sinners before God. We might compare ourselves to other people and think, “Well, I’m not as bad as that person!” The truth is, all have sinned and have fallen short of the glory of God (Romans 3:23). When you put the two arcs on top of one another, you realize that they are the same. We are the same as humans as well in terms of our guilt before a perfect and holy God.

What metaphors or illustrations would you make with this brain game? Have you used any in the past? Let me know if you have any ideas!

Super Easy Scripture Slides and Images

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 Bible (they’re not paying me to post this, btw 🙂 I just really like this feature and want to share about it).

I was using the app recently and saw a button I had never seen before. So I clicked on it. What I found was amazing. It was an option to make an image of any selected Bible verse over any background of your choice (your own or from their library). The settings make it easy to change the font, the font size, the colors, etc. Below are some steps and pics to show you how to do it.

First, download the app. Search “youversion” on your app store.
Once you familiarize yourself with how to find a certain verse (which is intuitive), select a verse by tapping it. It will underline the verse with a dotted line and then give you a selection of options on the right.
Then tap on the orange button (of a photograph), which will lead you through the step-by-step editing process.
Once you have your slide, share it as you like! See the images below for a more detailed look at how it works.

Tap a verse you want to turn into a slide. It will underline it will dotted lines. Then click on the orange button on the right - the one with the image of a photograph. — Tap a verse you want to turn into a slide. It will underline it will dotted lines. Then click on the orange button on the right – the one with the image of a photograph.

Select an image from their gallery. Or you can use your own (the very first option).

Use the options under the image to change the font, size, and color of the verse.

When you’re ready, tap “save.” Then you will see this image. Tap the “share” button to see your sharing options.

Then you can share the image by email, message, or social media. You can also save the image to your device and hence drop it into any slide show you are making (such as Keynote or ProPresenter).

I love to use it to share a quick verse on social media or as a slide when I’m speaking or teaching about the Bible. It’s super easy to use and best of all, it’s free!

Bonus: Many of the most popular Bible verses (John 3:16, for example) have special pre-made images with artsy fonts and backgrounds. Those are fun to discover and you just have to stumble upon them when you go to those verses and then go to this “edit image” process.

Want more creative ideas for Children’s and Family Ministry? Sign up for my free newsletter here.

Need a speaker/entertainer for your next event? Check out my promo videos here.

Here are some slides I’ve made since I found out about this……

Vintage Richmond in the Public Domain

I love Richmond, VA history. I especially love finding old photos showing the way things used to be in this lovely east coast city. Some things have changed dramatically and some things have stayed mostly the same.

I just found out from smithsonian.com that the New York City Library recently made nearly 200,000 photographs, documents, posters, and sheet music digitally available for public use. We can easily search the collection and quickly download the articles. There is a box you can check when you search to search only public domain articles, which means you can use those images for whatever use you like. Click here for the entry site to search anything. Click here for the Richmond, VA stuff I found.

nypl.digitalcollections.510d47d9-7d83-a3d9-e040-e00a18064a99.001.w — Both buildings are now gone, but used to be at 14th and Franklin. The Miriam and Ira D. Wallach Division of Art, Prints and Photographs: Print Collection, The New York Public Library. “Exchange Hotel and Ballard House, Richmond, Va.” The New York Public Library Digital Collections. 1875. http://digitalcollections.nypl.org/items/510d47d9-7d83-a3d9-e040-e00a18064a99

nypl.digitalcollections.510d47e1-bc7e-a3d9-e040-e00a18064a99.001.w — Another look at the Ballard House and Exchange Hotel

Many of these images have already been online, but this site makes it easy to search for and download what you’re looking for. I found duplicates of some files over on the Library of Congress site, but there could potentially be some previously “undiscovered” or little known digital images in this treasure trove. If you’re familiar with historical photos of Richmond, VA, I’d be curious to know if you see anything new in the New York Library collection when you search “Richmond, VA.” Try searching other related phrases too (like “Richmond”, “Richmond, Virginia”, “Church Hill”, etc). I’ve certainly found a lot of fun ones that I’ve never seen before.

nypl.digitalcollections.510d47e1-4433-a3d9-e040-e00a18064a99.001.w — Elizabeth Van Lew, the Union spy who lived in Church Hill (at the current location of Bellevue Elementary School) is seated on the right. Manuscripts and Archives Division, The New York Public Library. “Elizabeth Van Lew with her nieces, brother John, and servant on main mansion grounds.” The New York Public Library Digital Collections. 1862 – 1901. http://digitalcollections.nypl.org/items/510d47e1-4433-a3d9-e040-e00a18064a99

nypl.digitalcollections.510d47e1-bc76-a3d9-e040-e00a18064a99.001.w — The Libby Hill prison

nypl.digitalcollections.510d47d9-7cf1-a3d9-e040-e00a18064a99.001.w — View of the James River and Richmond, VA.

nypl.digitalcollections.510d47da-364c-a3d9-e040-e00a18064a99.001.w — View from Gambles Hill Park (up the hill from Tredegar Iron Works and near the current site of the Richmond Folk Festival). You can see the Christopher Newport Cross in the distance, which is now located on the Canal walk down the hill and east a bit.

nypl.digitalcollections.510d47e2-5ab8-a3d9-e040-e00a18064a99.001.w — A very overgrown grassy St. John’s Church stereograph

nypl.digitalcollections.510d47e1-bd0e-a3d9-e040-e00a18064a99.001.w — View from Libby Hill Park

Can you find any new pics that you haven’t seen before? Who loves RVA history?!