Just Between You, Me, & God 10/29/2012

TRICK OR TREAT!!! It’s that time of year already. In our neck of the woods (Northeast Texas) Halloween usually ushers in some of our first cooler weather, it signals the change from day light savings time, and marks the start of the Christmas selling season. I know the decorations have been up in some places since July but most people don’t really get serious about Christmas shopping until after Halloween. We usually buy enough candy for 200 kids and when we hit that number the porch light goes out and we go in even though there are still kids coming. What I enjoy are the little kids and the imagination that goes into their costumes. There are pirates and princesses, baseball players and ballerinas, ghost and gangsters, devils and dinosaurs. I know a lot of people get real legalistic and say that we’re supporting pagan holidays but for the kids it’s a chance to dress up and pretend to be someone they’re not, have some fun, see a lot of other neat costumes, and, oh yea, get some real good candy, if Dad doesn’t eat it all before they get home. As in watching TV, movies, video games, and other activities, it is the parent’s responsibility to teach their children through the experiences they are involved in. Every event is a teaching opportunity. As far as the mask go, why do adults get so upset about those. As adults, we change mask all day long, just ask your kids. If the phone rings while you’re upset with them, your voice changes dramatically as you pleasantly answer the phone. You’ve been in a foul mood all day but when you run into a friend at the store everything is great. You hate going to work in the morning but you’re not happy coming home either. You tell the pastor how much you enjoyed his sermon and complain about it all the way home. We teach our kids well. We tend to have a whole collection of mask and often wear ourselves out changing them all the time. It is a form of deception and lies but we had an expert teacher. 2 Cor. 11:14 tells us, “…Even Satan disguises himself as an angel of light.” Jesus describes Satan in John 8:44, “… When he lies, it is consistent with his character; for he is the father of lies.” So don’t just put on a happy face, change your attitude by taking on a new role model, Jesus Christ. No trick, just my treat, Pastor Dean.

Resources to inform Parents, Kids, and Teens About Bullying

October is National Anti-Bullying Month here in the US, and we will be spending this week posting about bullying and persecution. We hope that you will be blessed by what you read.

This week we have talked about bullying and persecution. Below are some resources that parents can use with their kids and teens.This is by no means a comprehensive list, but some resources that we have personally researched/viewed.

Children:

Bullying Prevention videos on EducationalTrainingVideos.com: there are several to look at and choose from. A good place to shop for videos and resources to use in a classroom or church.

The Berenstein Bears and the Bully: by Stan and Jan Berenstein, these classic characters are always loved by kids young and old. Sister Bear has to deal with a bully. The content is a little dated, but still relevant. My daughter enjoyed it immensely. This is a link to their page on Amazon.

Help Me to Be Good: Bullying by Joy Berry: Part of the Help Me to Be Good series, this book has a slightly moe modern approach, and urges children to be Christ-like in offering kindness to bullies, avoiding, and going to adults for help. This is a link to their entry on ChristianBook.com. 








Teens:

To Save a Life: This film appeals to teens because it is real, and although a faith-based film, it is a little gritty. A popular young man regrets the way he treated an old friend, sees his need to change, and through his belief in Jesus, becomes a new person and deals with the consequences of his actions. I have yet to meet a person who watched this that disliked it. NOT appropriate for young children, as it contains content about sex, drugs, drinking, and suicide. This is a link to the IMDB entry for this movie.

Cyberbully: An ABC Family production, this movie also strikes a chord with teens due to its open, real, and brutally honest portrayal of teen behavior. Emily Osment stars as Taylor Hillridge, a pretty but slightly awkward girl who becomes the subject of intense bullying, both online and in the halls at school. Some reviewrs have said it's a bit melodramatic, and that may be true, but I personally remember high school and remember girls very much like the antagonists in this film. This is the IMDB link. NOT apropriate for childre as it contains refereces to sex.




StopBullying.gov: US Government resources for teachers and parents of kids of all ages.

Again, this is not reotely a conclusive list. There are numerous books and video for all ages that talk about the subject. Please look online (Youtube is a great resource), and at your local library. Parents can also check with their local schools, which may have resources and can also share what they use with their students, as well as outline their anit-bullyig policies.

We hope that you have founnd something useful in what we posted this week. Please talk to your children and be active in their lives. Remember, YOU are their best earthly advocate. God Bless You.

Melissa McGinnis is the Children's Ministry Director for LHF.

Just Between You, Me, & God 8/13/2012

I was a middle kid with an older and a younger brother. As three boys often do, we could get in trouble pretty easily. When brought before the judges (Mom or Dad) and asked "Whose fault is this?", I could point in either direction and lay the blame accordingly. Likewise, they could point at each other and I would be caught in the middle. Truth be known, we all usually had some kind of part in the mischief. It seems to be our human nature to want to blame someone else for our troubles. Zig Zigler pointed out that "when you're pointing a finger at someone else that just means that there are three more pointing back at you. In Matthew 7:1-6, Jesus gives a lesson to His disciples on judging, mercy, and protecting what is sacred. "Do not judge, or you too will be judged. For in the same way you judge others, you will be judged, and with the measure you use, it will be measured to you. Why do you look at the speck of sawdust in your brother's eye and pay no attention to the plank in your own eye. How can you say to your brother, 'Let me take the speck out of your eye,' when all the time there is a plank in your own eye? You hypocrite, first take the plank out of your own eye, and then you will see clearly to remove the speck from you brother's eye. Do not give dogs what is sacred; do not throw your pearls to pigs. If you do, they may trample them under their feet, and then turn and tear you to pieces." Jesus is telling them that they set their own standard of judging on themselves by the way that they judge others. It doesn't mean that some things do not demand judging but if you do, you'd better have your own house in order. If our own lives are in disarray, then we are hypocrites for judging others for their way of life. When we as Christians take the standards that God has given us (pearls) and disregard them ourselves but expect others to live up to those standards, then we are giving them excuse that we don't even live up to God's laws so why should they, how can anybody if we can't. If we as Christians expect to see marriage continue as one man and one woman as God intended, then we need to look at fixing our divorce rates, our unfaithfulness, and our acceptance of living together outside the bonds of marriage. Maybe if our kids could see how God intended marriage to be representative of our relationship with Christ then they would grow up with a better self-image of themselves and how to relate to others. When our image in the mirror becomes more clearly then we can start to show others by God's example through us. Pastor Dean

Pastor Dean Hanssen is the Ministries & Outreach Pastor for LHF.

Review: Johnny Rogers ZuCamp Series

Working in Children’s Ministry, I am always looking for curriculum to engage my audience, which consists of mixed-age children ranging at any point in time from 2- to 10-year-olds. Often I design my own curriculum and “aim for the middle,” where my older kids act as mentors to my younger ones, learning in an applicable way. This works well, but sometimes it would be nice to use something that requires less direct preparation and more spiritual legwork.

Enter Johnny Rogers. Designed for 6-12 years, there are multiple series available. The site where I (or rather, my husband, who loves looking for stuff on the Internet) found it (www.kidmo.com) offers several courses, but allows you to request samples to preview and “try out” with the kids. Forms were filled out and discs were shipped. What I received was Lesson 2 of the ZuCamp series, which teaches about putting God’s Love into action. Lesson 2, “The church cares for people,” focused on teaching kids that God’s Church isn’t in four walls, but within us, and by caring for people, we take the church to them (which lines up directly with our church’s Core Beliefs, Values, and Mission Statement).


I tried it with the kids, and it was a HUGE success! The video lesson DVDs include their own worship songs, which were an especially big hit with the twirling dancer in the class, but also upbeat and engaging enough to encourage our “too big for bouncing” brooding worshipper. The video lesson was quirky, humorous, campy, and cheesy in the very best sense. It was also Scripturally grounded and had a sound point made continuously through the lesson. The characters were over-the-top in a fun way, and the class got a particularly large giggle at the ZuCamp leader trying to resuscitate a rubber chicken. I found it enjoyable to watch and the kids were enthralled. After the lesson, the kids enthusiastically let me know they wanted more like it, and were able to tell me in their own words what they learned, including the youngest class members. To say I am impressed is an understatement, and we will be buying the entire ZuCamp series, and I am looking forward to trying other series as well (a complete listing is available at www.kidmo.com). 


In addition to the great lesson and worship music, the DVD contains “opener” music to be played while kids are coming in, a trivia section, and other reinforcement sections. It is designed to be popped into the DVD player and let run with minimal interference from the teacher. It does have a section menu so that relevant sections can be used, while those that are less applicable can be skipped. There are also resource CD-ROMS that come with the lessons with extra materials, such as worksheets, which are handy, but weren’t directly applicable in my Children’s Church setting because we have such a broad scale of reading levels in our group I generally avoid worksheets in favor of simple hands-on crafts that every child can do with little or no assistance. At $149.00 for the entire series, this is not likely to break most church budgets and can of course be used more than once (it could also be used for a four-day Vacation Bible School with a “camp” theme).


Thank you, Johnny Rogers, for making the lives of Children’s Church and Sunday School teachers just a bit easier!


www.kidmo.com also offers Phil Vischer’s What’s In the Bible? Elementary Program for Churches, and Lil’ K Preschool Program lessons (ages 2-5). I also previewed a Lil’ K video, and while it is not applicable to my Children’s Church situation, it is cute, reminiscent of “Blue’s Clues,” and has a strong Scriptural foundation as well. I have not at this time reviewed the What’s In the Bible? sample disc I received.


Melissa McGinnis is the Children’s Ministry Director for LHF. Her opinions are her own and she was not compensated for this review in any way. 

To Boldly Go...

I admit it. I am a geek. A nerd. A dork. Pick a term. It’s cool (though I’m not); I don’t mind. I watch Star Trek, Star Wars, and have pets named after characters. I’ve attended Harry Potter midnight book release parties and snurl my nose at Twilight (no self-respecting geek likes that!).

And I wish more people were geeks…Gospel Geeks (yep, I Jesus Juked myself!). I wish that we were more excited about spreading the Gospel like we would be about a discussion on Darth Vader vs. Spock (Spock would totally win).

I know a few Gospel Geeks. I gave birth to one, and my sister gave birth to two more. These kids “geek out” constantly, telling anyone who’ll listen that Jesus loves them and died on the Cross for them, and sing “Every Move I Make” and “One Way Jesus” at the top of their lungs in Home Depot (true story; they made people smile). They are living out their faith in a bold way that would make Paul proud. They may not have Proverbs 28:1* memorized, but they sure can live it!

The three Gospel Geeks: my nephew,
niece, and daughter.

From a sweet elderly woman to someone who smells “smokey” (in the non-legal kind of way), if they are within earshot of these kids, they will probably get an earful, and among the diatribe about family pets, video games, and favorite colors, there will be “Jesus loves you and He died for you.”

These kids haven't read David Platt. They have never been overseas, and may only have a vague idea of what a missionary is (if any at all). They aren't ordained, educated in theology at a private Christian university, or holding leadership positions in church.They just know a basic truth about their Savior, and want everyone else to know it too. And, unlike most adults, they are less concerned about how they look or sound doing it, and they are less worried about rejection.

Now that’s boldly going…

Melissa McGinnis is the Children's Ministry Director for LHF.


*The wicked run away when no one is chasing them, but the godly are as bold as lions. Proverbs 28:1 NLT