Half Time Kids = Full Time Work

The plague of modern society:
Most folks are only 50% committed to anything. RSVPs mean absolutely nothing. Returning emails, getting a 'like' from a Facebook post, a one year commitment to volunteer, and showing up most of the time to church or Sunday school is relegated to "Leave It To Beaver land". Its somewhere in another time period and not anymore.

How many of us in church ministry lament the lack of committed attendance. No matter what we program and provide it seems like the majority of our kids are only showing up about half the time. Considering 52 weeks a year for Sunday school that's about 25 to 30 times we will actually see the child in class. Of course kids don't drive themselves so its really a parental issue and another post.

We already know why this happens but sometimes the stark reality of the list has some affect on us if none other than eliciting pain, thus proving that we are still alive. Here it is in all its lacklustreness: divorce, vacations, sickness, sports, hobbies, weather, out of town guests, church shopping, and just playing hooky. This list does not even take into consideration the ridiculous numbers that show up way late to every event and class. I bet another 20% show up so late that the disruption is painful and then I wonder why bother to show up at all for last 10 minutes of leftovers and crumbs. It is some of the most childish, rebukable behavior that occurs in every church I know. It is a shameful scourge on our programming.

Problem: got it down!
Answer: not even close to nailing it down.

I go back to what I'm trying to accomplish as a teacher, a discipler of children, a parent too. Biblical discipleship is what I'm trying to do. 1. Holy Spirit saves a person. 2. Holy Spirit uses a person (like a parent or teacher) through the Word of God to grow this new believer from point A to point B. This is the "walking in Christ" sanctification process.

A couple of quick thoughts:

1. My goal is not the numbers but the quality of the training
2. I have to work with who shows up, the committed. Just like a coach has to field the team that is there and practiced up. The injured reserves and the lazy won't be playing Sunday in the game no matter how good they might be, were, or could be.
3. I have to start on time even if its just me and a fellow teacher's kid in the room. (Again, reason? See point #2)
4. The content of the program cannot be driven by or dictated by the lazy and the uncommitted. Jesus had a ton of 'disciples' or followers who came and went based on the food and the miracle show. He always programmed for the 12, the truly committed. Sure the crowds benefited from this, but if you look closely at the context, Jesus always was working with the 12. We should do the same.
5. The modern "seeker" churches are in a real bind. They appear to be more committed to the masses (in all likelihood the lost in their midst than they are with the truly saved, committed small core.) They have subscribed to the tragic mistake of programming church for the lost, fair weather fans instead of the core rain or shine fanatics. 

Bottom line: Jesus programmed for His 12 handpicked fanatics. The masses benefited as they came and went, fickle as it was. In John 17:4 Jesus prayed to His Father, acknowledging that He had completed the work He was given to do. Seeing how this is pre-cross and in the context of a prayer for His disciples it would seem that He was talking about finishing up His training of the twelve committed. We would do well to aim for the same type of prayer at the end of our ministry time as well.

Are you comfortable in your own shoes?

Are you comfortable in your own preaching shoes? In Well-Driven Nails, my pastor, Byron Yawn, explains the strange event that all of us know as the sermon. Everyone has heard a sermon and many picking up this book have preached or are about to preach a sermon real soon. Ok, so why should a preacher or teacher invest in this book. First, its a fairly unique approach to the subject. Finding your own voice is pretty hard stuff to do in life whether you are a stand up comic or a Sunday school teacher. But for those who study to deliver God's word to an audience it is of immense importance. Secondly, Byron takes a unique road of personal interviews to get inside some of the top preachers of our time, RC Sproul, John Piper and John MacArthur. Then he distills down three necessary ingredients: clarity, simplicity and passion into a very helpful approach to preaching and teaching.Finally, this book is great for the preacher to grasp preaching in a deeper way and is helpful to us being "preached at" so we know what we are supposed to get. That's a pretty tough thing to accomplish in one book and you would never think that he could deliver that dual message, but he does.

A book worth reading that has a solid Biblical core

Larry Fowler encourages me every time I listen to him or shake his hand. In Rock Solid Volunteers he wonderfully draws truth, encouragement and easy principles from the evidence from Nehemiah. I loved this book because it was straight from the Bible. I have read and studied Nehemiah's leadership and planning principles many times and yet Larry taught me several things that I just flat our missed. I can't wait to put them in to practice in my church's AWANA ministry and my own life. Ok, books have to accomplish several things to be any good, worth reading, worth owning, worth re-reading and then worth recommending. This one accomplished that and more. Number one: Biblical. I only want to read and suggest books to people that are more God's truth than man's opinions. Done. This one is solid Bible through and through. Number two: Quick. I like books that flow well, read quick and steady, organize thoughts that I can remember and apply. Done. I can remember the things I need to do in ministry from this book by simply remembering the flow of Nehemiah's story. Finally, I like books that translate instantly into my life's needs. Done, I needed a fresh boost of energy concerning my volunteers and for me, a volunteer too. These seven simple and instantly achievable principles are just what I needed. Now, let's see, I've got a wall to finish. Hey, are you still sitting there? Go get the book. See you at the wall.

Tried and True curriculum evaluation questions

There is a growing number of children's Sunday School curriculum options in the market today due to the ease of the internet and digital production capabilities of your average computer savvy church worker or leader. I was digging through some old Gospel Light resource books and dusted off this old resource and Surprise! Surprise! The content is just as important today as it was first written back in the 70s or even before that probably.
So here goes: when choosing a curriculum you must watch for:

BIBLE CONTENT AND USAGE

1. Is the curriculum designed to teach the Bible as God’s inspired and authoritative Word?
2. Is there balanced coverage of the Old and New Testaments?
3. Does the overall plan of the curriculum point students to faith in Christ as Savior and Lord, and also nurture and guide them to “grow up in Christ”?
4. Does the material present Bible truths in a manner appropriate to the abilities and development of the students’ age levels?
5. Are hands-on Bible usage and skill development encouraged at appropriate age levels?

TEACHER

1. Does the curriculum challenge the teacher to prepare spiritually for the task of teaching?
2. Is the material clearly arranged to show the teacher an understandable and logical lesson plan?
3. Are the Bible-learning and life response aims specifically and clearly stated for each lesson?
4. Does the material provide the teacher with a variety of Bible-learning approaches from which to choose?
5. Are the materials clearly presented, enabling the teacher to be prepared with a reasonable amount of effort?
6. Are there enough ideas and suggestions to adapt the material for longer or shorter sessions, larger or smaller groups, or limited equipment?

STUDENT

1. Is the vocabulary appropriate for the age and abilities of the students?
2. Does the curriculum provide a variety of ways for students to participate actively in the learning process?
3. Are the student materials attractive and do they encourage involvement?
4. Do the teacher resources provide a variety of attractive aids to stimulate student interest and involvement?
5. Are the Bible-learning approaches appropriate to the mental, spiritual, social and physical development of the students?

BEYOND THE CLASSROOM

1. Does the material provide ideas for making and sustaining meaningful contact with both students and families outside the classroom?
2. Does the take-home paper contain activities that assist the family in relating the student’s learning to everyday life?
3. Does the curriculum speak to issues relevant to the student’s everyday life?
4. Does the curriculum provide materials and suggestions for ways students may understand the responsibility and joy of sharing Christ?
5. Does the curriculum encourage outreach and church growth?

 © 2000 by Gospel Light. Permission to photocopy granted. How to Have a Great Sunday School (Content also appeared in a 70s copy of Sunday School Standards also published by Gospel Light)

Family Devotions in a personal and unique style

Our family has kept a tradition for years of reading to our children devotional books or any quality classic for that matter. We have been through the Bible in various forms, Narnia, Little House on the Prairie and countless other books over the last 18 years. This devotional is different than all the others. One simple, yet profound twist in the writing style makes this one interesting and memorable. Instead of reading about God and Jesus this book has Jesus and God speaking to us directly. This is how the Bible should be read and understood. Its God's love letter about His Son to us. I absolutely love the personal nature of this first person style in concept, away. It speaks to the heart and takes very simple passages of Scripture that are overlooked due to familiarity and transforms them to touch our hearts. Even though written for 3rd to 6th graders I find myself captivated by what God has to say to me today.
Today's devotion, September 30th, entitled, I Already Know, is about God being with us and walking beside us to help since He has already lived in our future and knows exactly what we need from Him to live for Him. I took great comfort in this truth presented by this book in a very personal way. I think your family will too. I recommend this book with some precautions to you especially if you are just starting out with family devotions.
As with almost every modern book, sloppy theology has infiltrated this devotional as well. Its so subtle but is especially troublesome with a book that in many ways is most dangerous to write, a book in first person from God. The author has taken a much needed approach  to writing a devotional but a little more theological sobriety would have been nice. Here is the warning for readers and writers of theology. We are dealing with God, His very words to His church and His very character and name are on the chopping block of men's hearts. When I say, "Thus says the Lord!" I better be sure He really did say that. The devotion for October 4th dumped in some of that insidious man-centered theology commonly known as Arminianism. The author, speaking for God mind you, says: "But when you choose to become one of My followers, I come to live inside you." This is unfortunate because the Bible is clear over and over again that we don't choose God first, we don't seek God first, we are dead in sin until God chooses us first. Once we are born again then we are able to have faith, repent, trust and live for Him all as gifts from God. Our spiritual gifts and tools are not inherent from within but from without. (see 1 Cor. 1:30 as one simple example) To be more biblical the author should have said, "When I choose you..."
For this reason, I can only recommend this book for the discerning parent who can glean the junk food theology out of the book for their children.

Church + Home is the ideal combination for growing Christian faith

Mark Holmen of Faith@Home Ministry writes from personal experience as a Faith@Home dad and a Faith@Home pastor on how to build lifelong faith at home. The book is a very quick read filled with personal testimonies as well as other voices from all over the country. I think Mark gets it right when he encourages church leaders to weave home directed faith throughout the church programming instead of building another family program as a separate entity.
I'm just a bit uncomfortable with this self-proclaimed "Faith@Home movement" as it is described in this book and the general tenor of Holmen's ministry. Don't get me wrong, there is tremendous spiritual advantages as we as church leaders discuss and plan how to encourage families to bring glory to God at home. However, as I finished the book I was left with a few haunting reminders of how easy it is for the church in general to get caught up in systematic programming combined with sloppy theology thus detracting from Christ and clear vision of God's sovereign plan. All the events and steps in the Take It Home concepts are, I'm sorry to say, more programs. When you plan a regular event at the church it is a program. It very much has the feel of a silo, the very thing, I know Holmen wants to avoid. Here is the point: as a church gathers to worship Christ, preach and respond to a Gospel that no one ever outgrows, and studies in such a way to believe the Bible and live out the Bible, then you know from the Word that the Holy Spirit is behind the scenes orchestrating it all. I saw very little confidence in the work of Holy Spirit in this book as the driver of parents hearts to bring to bear the Word of God to fruitfulness. I saw hints of a man centered approach to salvation as all the pressure was placed upon the church leaders and the parents to bring faith to the home or another generation will be lost for Christ. I don't buy it. God uses His vessels certainly as He is a God of means but all the pressure is on Him to build His church.
The "movement" to build the Church was started at the cross and it includes every area of life and practice including the home. Its interesting to me that the New Testament constantly directs us to the Cross and to the Church. I think that the Bible writers were able to assume by God's inspiration that faith was going to be taken to the marketplace, the town, the countryside and the home. True God wrought conversion does that to a person. I think the main problem that Holmen exposes but never realizes is that faith is so often not at home because its not at the church or in the typical 'seeker' style entertainment driven church goer. Parents are not saved and that is why faith is not at home. The answer is the gospel, a true God centered gospel and not a Finney bootstrap false gospel.
Finally, all in all, I enjoyed the book as it was another reminder in my life to disciple my own children in the spirit of Deuteronomy 6. For this reason alone I give this book a thumbs up.

The Church should be allergic to the world

Tozer connects another lethal blow to man's self-centered sufficiency in this newly discovered, unpublished work. 47 years after his death, Tozer is still absolutely critical for the modern church to take heed. Tozer's lifelong message of battling entertainment in the church and an insidious form of Christless mysticism still rings truer than ever. Listen to Tozer in his own words: "The average person, unable to understand this passion for intimacy with God, fills his life with things, hoping somehow to satisfy his inward longing. He chases that which is exterior, hoping to satisfy that inner thirst, but to no avail."
This work of Tozer is a basic walk through the book of Hebrews guiding the reader into an opening of the scripture. The modern church still has so much to learn from the simple message of real Christianity that Tozer champions. Tozer was able to see the danger signs in the road of post modern, post Christian American churchianity and his message in this new book needs to be heard and applied. Our churches our filled with entertainment seeking, sin cauterizing conscience, spiritual lethargists.
Here is another great quote to sum up this book and it's importance to us: "From my reading of the Holy Scriptures, church history and Christian biography, I find that there is nothing in the church that appeals to the world, and nothing in the world that appeals to the true Church of Jesus Christ." Tozer's problem with the Church was that worldliness was creeping in and taking over. "Christianity, I fear, is not allergic to fads and fancies." Tozer's simple Christianity from a simple study in the book of Hebrews is another wake up call for us, the modern church. Are we still hitting the snooze button?

Big read for Small groups

In What Every Small Group Leader Should Know, Larry Kreider gives the church a very solid training tool for any church's small group ministries. Whether you are a Sunday School teacher, Bible study leader or home fellowship host you will greatly profit from this book.
The book is filled with some basic biblical theology of ministry and small groups. The added strength of the book is the tons of tips, ideas and illustrations about doing it right and learning from doing it wrong.
I like this book. Rarely will a book stimulate whiteboard, dream big sessions with my creativity but this one delivered. I found myself with pen and paper jotting down notes and ideas about my own fellowship group that I lead. Maybe that's the key to this book's success with me: I needed the contents to encourage me to wade out of the shallow end of my small group experience and venture into the deep waters of real ministry. I have left this book encouraged and ready to pursue God with my small group.

The Jesus you are probably ignoring

One of America's greatest modern preachers and possibly one of the greatest yet has served up another volume worth reading. Even though this book is a distillation of many of his sermons on the topic of Christ and His bold ministry confrontations it is an important work for me as I try to grow in Christ and grow in my understanding of Christ.
The reader is brought face to face with a Jesus who does not receive too much press in our modern age. As you will learn in this book Jesus spent his whole public ministry confronting in very bold and even extreme ways the prevailing false views and practices of the spiritually elite in a way and style that we as moderns need not ignore and better off to embrace.
I was personally challenged to rethink how and why I should be more bold and wise and yet at the same time mild and loving in my witness to the lost as well as to the church. This is one more book that will be added to my Christology section of the bookshelf and will be referenced again and again.

Thank you Thomas Nelson publishers for making this volume available through your free book blogging service.

Jesus Manifesto

Jesus Manifesto: Restoring the supremacy and sovereignty of Jesus Christ
by Leonard Sweet and Frank Viola



Who do you say that Jesus is? Where does He fit in your thinking, your life, your church? In Jesus Manifesto Sweet and Viola help the reader and thus the church flesh out freshness to our understanding of the Christ. Could it be that the church has become so occupied with Christianity that we miss Jesus? The authors believe it is so and so do I.

Who does the world say that Jesus is? More important, though, is this question: who do you say that Jesus is? This book very directly and simply gives us the answer. Do we really need another book about Jesus? Surely the Bible itself and the countless thousands upon thousands of books written about The Christ is sufficient? Well, yes and no. Yes, the Bible is all that we need for life and godliness. Certainly out of the countless books written about Christ there are no doubt more than enough that are worthy to be read and enjoyed. However, like anything else in this life, seeing and savoring the savior through another set of eyes is always wonderful. Can one have too many pictures over the years of our children going through stages of life? Another book, a good book that is true to Scripture, is always needed. I believe this is one of those books.

To start with, I like the premise behind this book even though the title threw me off and seemed a bit on a cultic twinge. However, the content is very much orthodox and helped me in my walk with God. I believe I need a constant freshness in my view of Christ and this book delivered that for me. This course correction for a modern church that is more interested in having a dialog about justice or going green than in the worship and exaltation of Christ is straightforward and long overdue. This book can reach into emergent, missional, moderate, conservative and even liberal churches in a way that some authors with great books about Christ might not reach. These two authors hand deliver and gift to our churches that is worthy of small group studies throughout Christendom.

Here is the cool content that draws me to and helps me easily recommend this book to my friends. These guys get the questions right and even more importantly they get the answers right. “Who do you say that I am?” “Do you love me?” In these questions lies the premise of the book. The answers are just as profound and fill the pages as they flow over our souls like gentle waves lapping at the shore of our need. Here are a few of these little nuggets to capture your interest. Every scripture and every biblical story points to and is about Christ. “He is the Rosetta Stone of the Bible.” Did you know that? Jesus, the son of man, is the human being, the way human beings were supposed to be before sin. He died the perfect death after He lived the perfect life and all this to please and magnify the Father as we reap the benefits. The book opens with this challenge and I will close this review with it. So what is your chief occupation in life and ministry? Here’s a hint: Whatever you are occupied with comes out of your mouth. It’s what you talk about most of the time.” Is it Christ or something else? That’s why you should read this book.

I was given this book as a free copy to review and blog. I was not told in any way what to say by Thomas Nelson publishers.

Simple, encouraging leadership principles for Church workers

Ok, so there are tons of books on leadership. When I saw that Gospel Light and Regal Books were adding to the list of this genre I was quite skeptical. I wasn't even going to read the book until I met the author, Craig Johnson. Warm, personable, humble and real are my new impressions of this man. His life story, replete with triumph and tragedy, are on display in this book. God is proclaimed and glorified as the victor and ministries across the world should be blessed by this style of leadership. You will certainly benefit from reading this book but more importantly from taking your team through this book this year. Its not heavy theology but should make a heavy imprint on your ministry none the less. Note: I received a free copy of this book from Regal with no expectations to read it let alone review it.

How to connect the family to the Bible and church

How in the world can the church effectively connect the Sunday school efforts, the Word of God, and the family together? Within the context of modern society this seems like an impossible task given all the activities and 'pulls' on the family. Sitting around the crackling fire all snuggled up with each other as dad gently draws on his pipe while turning the pages of Scripture in an engaging Bible devotion seems totally foreign today. Is it possible to capture that lost innocence and direct the same spirit of family time into modern constructs? Heaven help the home and the church if we can't or stop trying.
I want to share with you some ideas and some examples of how one Sunday school publisher is trying to establish the connections.

 As a dad, the biggest hurdle I face is motivation to remember to ask what my kids learned in Sunday school. If I do remember they usually don't remember what they learned. It could be that my question is just too big and too broad to help them focus. I'm looking forward to this solution: automatic, weekly emails that will be delivered to me early in the week so we can review Sunday school easily. I look forward to the simple reminder from myhomelight.com

Another issue we face is kids and their Bibles. Often we have struggled in this area because when they do take their bibles to class they are a different translation and different page numberings  making it tough for the teachers to get the kids to use their own bibles. Now with God's Story for Me Bible Storybook we have a great resource at home that matches story for story what is going on in Sunday School. No more guess work and the children actually use their bibles at home and in class.

"Give me something practical and easy!" is no doubt the battle cry of men. I need something really quick and visual that I can point to or ask about concerning the Sunday school lesson. The kids are doing these fun in class activity pages that end up coming home too. Its amazing to me how much the kids want to show off what they were doing in class. The level of recall as they point out the different parts and pieces of this resource is pretty impressive. Since I wasn't raised in Sunday school I think I'm learning too.

I remember the days of being in children's ministry and the difficulty of seeing take homes not being taken home. I think these Family Fun Time take homes have a great chance of making it home. The parenting articles are great. The retelling of the story in an interactive way is fun and it references what page to turn to in the God's Story for Me Bible which is a huge bonus.

Another area that I often forget about is the music. I know that kid's Sunday School is always filled with music. Everyone remembers the words to their favorite songs even from 30 years ago in high school. This music from Gospel Light makes it very family friendly. Its reproducible and now we can have a free copy of what they are using at the church for home use. Great idea and the songs are fun. Yes, I sing along in the minivan too.

Finally, I think its terrific that the second hour Children's Church is using a curriculum that actually matches story for story with the first hour Sunday School programming. I always found it difficult to try to help the kids keep up with too many stories in the morning. How many times have they been talking about a story only to get confused about the other story in the other class. "No son, Jesus did not walk out on the water to visit Noah in the ark!"

Nothing is perfect when it comes to raising kids and teaching them at church but I think Gospel Light is doing a pretty good job.The Bible. Pure and Simple. Sounds good to me.

Knuckle dragging theology

The Selfless Gene
Knuckle dragging theology
By Charles Foster

The author and I have at least one thing in common: anger. He wrote that he was 'angry while writing the book' and I was angry while reading it. In the Selfless Gene, Foster attempts to so disparage and belittle Christians who actually believe the Bible concerning the creation account in hopes of shattering faith thus allowing his gods, natural selection plus whatever force allowed altruism, joy, pain and pleasure, to be seated. The hated view point of the 'Young Earth Creationists', as he calls them, so irritates this man that he feels compelled to shower the reader with gifts of evidence from science and logic. If anything, I am grateful to the author for hopefully showing the Answers In Genesis crowd that trying to dispute or prove various artifacts of evidence will never win or charm anyone into accepting God as sovereign over His creation. No matter which evidential rabbit trail you wonder down with an evolutionist you will always be tempted to point out folly concerning this bone or that rock in their thinking. The answers from the Creationists will always be the same: "God did it!" And, the answers from the evolutionists will always be the same too: "natural selection did it!" Dead ends, deaf ears and no common ground whatsoever will be found. The author tries and the author fails to find middle ground with a very poor conclusion to the book which leaves the reader with nothing: nothing to believe and nothing to hold. Be warned Christian reader, this man is certainly a wolf in predatory, natural selection, eat or be eaten clothing with no semblance of costuming. He openly states that Creationist evidence and positions are foolish and that after reading his book he will enlighten you and win you out of darkness. As usual, the evolutionist fails to answer the question, the most important question in the universe, why? Why us, why earth, why anything as opposed to nothing? Only God can answer that question and the evolutionist denies God so therefore these questions simply remained unanswered and really unasked by them. I have news for the author, evolutionists and evidential Creationists alike, the answer to our universe is very simple: God created an 'old earth' with the appearance of age. This theory is called the Appearance of Age Theory. The author apparently has never heard of it nor has it ever crossed his mind either. Here it is in a nutshell: God created the earth with the appearance of age for that is the only way He could have done it. Let me illustrate: Five minutes after God created an Oak tree if Adam were to chop it down how many growth rings would it have? By simple definition a certain aged tree must have growth rings equal to the seasonal yearly changes of growth. God created it and so created a 100 year old tree that was actually only five minutes 'old'. The same holds true with humans, rocks, gamma radiation, light rays and every other created thing. They all look and have to be a certain age to even exist and yet they were only minutes old after God spoke them into being. Why not reader? Couldn't God, who we believe to be all powerful and sovereign, create the world however He wished? This is exactly what I believe and it perfectly explains the world and every artifact. However, its not even close to being the most foolish thing I believe. No, I believe in something even more far-fetched. I believe that an ancient Jewish carpenter's son's death on a cross actually provided everything I needed to have all my sins forgiven and be put in perfectly right standing before God, my Creator. Now that's foolishness. I guess the author and those who buy in to his illogical conclusions will continue to drag their knuckles into the naturally selected godless, Christless future. As for me, I will continue to serve and believe God who supernaturally revealed Himself to me by His Word, the Bible by the enlightening of my darkened mind by God, Holy Spirit. Make no mistake about this book. This book is a battle but not the battle the author tries to fight between creationists and evolutionists. No, this battle is even more important concerning the trustworthiness of God's written word, the Bible, and the clear message of the gospel contained in that perfect Word. If the author doesn't want to believe what the bible says about creation why would he believe what the Bible says about Christ? The Bible, God and the gospel are on trial in this book.

The most unlikely Christians: head-hunting cannibals.

"Thank you" shouted a thousand times from a thousand Sago thatched rooftops would not be enough to recommend this book to you. Having worked for Gospel Light for over a decade made me certainly familiar with this book that was first published in the 70s but for whatever reason I never got around to reading it. What was I thinking? I loved this book from cover to cover and did not want it to end. Don Richardson is a terrific story teller and writer. The story flows and is very compelling as I learned all about the conversion of the Sawi cannibal tribe of Irian Jaya. His discovery, explanation and illustration of God's thumbprint of a redemptive analogy in this culture will blow you away. I left this book with my mouth wide opened as I search my shelves for the other books Richardson has written. I have read thousands of books and this one is firmly in my top ten! Read this book. Live this book by finding the redemptive analogies in your own culture that God may use for His glory.

Discover Rediscovering God in America

Newt and his wife take the reader on a wonderful stroll through our nation's capitol in search of God. Trust me, they find more than you have been taught about the importance of God to our forefathers. God was no passing fancy or the politically correct lip service to sway voters like today's political leaders believe. God was the sovereign rights giver who, in their belief system, was worthy of worship and honor now reflected in the artifacts left behind in our capitol. Newt proves without a shadow of a doubt from the writings, souvenirs, dedication plaques, engravings and even the monuments themselves that our country was not only founded for God's glory but that our leaders actually believed in this fact and lived this fact. I enjoyed this book more than I thought I would. The pictures were beautiful and the book's layout is as nice as the Capitol mall itself. Can't wait for my dad to open his copy for Christmas.

I blog for Thomas Nelson and this book was a free copy. They don't tell me what to say and they certainly doesn't correct my grammer and spelling!

NKJV Greatest Stories of the Bible is quality worth reading for the coffee table

NKJV Greatest Stories of the Bible is a Bible story book with so much more. 250 favorite Bible stories using the actual Bible text from the New King James version makes this book quite unique. These are not paraphrases or loosely translated retellings of the stories but the Bible divided into stories. With a fabulous old school cover this will look great in the family room or on the coffee table. While I would have liked to see an additional scripture index in the back I like the content, selection of stories and the arrangement. This will work very well for family devotions or anyone on your gift list that you would like to introduce to the bible without overwhelming them. I was a bit curious when I ordered the book if I was going to find value in another bible offering because aren't there enough Bibles of various kinds on the market already? Well, I was pleased with my copy and hope to use it in the mix of our family's story time selections.

I received this book free with the Nelson blogger program. Nelson in no way sways opinions from their bloggers.

The White Horse King

The White Horse King
The Life of Alfred the Great
By Benjamin Merkle

Thank you Benjamin Merkle for opening up the life of a man whom all should get to know, King Alfred the Great. I hardly knew or remembered anything about these early years of England. All I knew was a few convoluted stories about Vikings, Saxons, and Anglos and various invasions. You really did your homework and gave this generation a great read and a great story. I highly recommend King Alfred the Great to you. He was a strong man, king and most importantly Christian. His innovations in warfare, city defenses, national defense, government, education and leadership were second to none and helped shape not only the future of the great British empire but also the world including America. I never knew that King Alfred was the only English ruler ever to be dubbed 'Great'. Find out why in this book. I could not put it down and finished it in just a few days. Students and adults will enjoy the fabulous stories from the late 800s AD. Parents, this would be a terrific story book to read during family reading after the dishes are pushed aside. Filled with incredible detail with very little speculation on the part of Merkle makes this a book worthy to be read at the college level as supplemental material for any British history, world history or even British literature class. Find out why King Alfred should be considered the father of British lit, the British Navy, modern law, education and bible study. Thank you King Alfred and again, thank you Benjamin Merkle. This goes on my read again and read to others shelf.

The Bible Pure & Simple: The Priority of God’s Word in the Classroom

The focus of any Sunday school class should be the teaching of God’s Word from God’s Word. Kids and teachers bring their bibles to class but sadly they are rarely opened and studied these days. Are you ready for a refreshing perspective and renewed commitment to the only way to know Jesus – know His word?

We are in a silent battle for the priority of the Word of God in all of life as well as the classroom. You may never have thought about this battle but I’m certain you have been the recipient of the wounds and scars from this battle. It may have been your own church, a class in a Christian college, a Sunday school classroom or a sermon, maybe a podcast that left you high and dry because God’s Word was marginalized, minimalized or completely left out of the message. I remember attending a church in Tennessee years ago with my folks and when it was time for the sermon a passage of scripture was read and then a twenty minute rambling message seemingly out of left field with nary a reference to the bible or the passage in ‘focus’ for that morning. Sad? Certainly! Uncommon? Certainly not!

As Christian educators, pastors, teachers and leaders we have dedicated our whole lives to moving the Word of God from the pages of the bible into the hearts of our students. As we all can quote from memory, “I am not ashamed of the gospel, because it is the power of God for the salvation of everyone who believes: first for the Jew, then for the Gentile.” Romans 1:16. Our gospel is found in the pages of the bible and so the bible is a top priority in the church. To accomplish this goal every church uses some form of curriculum either purchased, borrowed or self written. The basic idea is that we start with God’s word and through the process of a curriculum attempt to filter, transfer and translate God’s word into student friendly, accessible, effective and enjoyable learning. There are many well established benefits to using curriculum such as increased learning, student retention, teacher ease, consistency, guided application and age appropriate bible coverage to name a few. But, as you can imagine, any man made attempt at presenting God’s word can be fraught with dangers and pitfalls such as: God’s word actually being left out of the lesson or in the very least, marginalized or poorly interpreted leading to incorrect application and thus faulty actions just to name a few.

There is an approach to teaching that can keep our actions and teaching on track. We must begin our journey to Bible centered classrooms by following a correct, biblical view of the bible itself.

Here is where we must pause and ask ourselves some key philosophical questions about our beliefs about the bible. What is your view of the bible as it pertains to education and growth in the Christian life? In other words, what causes spiritual growth and how is this accomplished in our teaching? We have all taught many times but how often have we paused to consider how students will actually learn and apply the lesson? How you answer this question will determine not only your curriculum choices but more importantly your educational or teaching model and techniques.

I believe the proper way to answer this question is to ask God Himself and His answer is found, you guessed it, in His Word. (See, I’ve already revealed to you two key beliefs I have about God’s word: it is the exact words of God and it can be understood because it is clear or has perspicuity.) This means that God’s word is sufficient for our every spiritual need and it is authoritative, it has the answers we need.

For the remainder of our time together I want to focus on exactly what God’s word does for a person and how that should influence the classroom. God actually uses His word, the word of God found in the bible, as a means to accomplish His work in our lives. The Holy Spirit takes the word, the word preached, taught, read and memorized to change us. Look at a few biblical examples: I Peter 1:23 "For you have been born again, not of perishable seed, but of imperishable, through the living and enduring word of God.” We are saved by the word of God. Paul makes this crystal clear in Romans 1:16 “I am not ashamed of the gospel, because it is the power of God for the salvation of everyone who believes: first for the Jew, then for the Gentile.” Where is this gospel found, again, it is found in the pages of the Bible. Romans 10:17 “Consequently, faith comes from hearing the message, and the message is heard through the word of Christ.” The gospel is the power of God unto salvation. Where is the gospel? Yes, it’s found in the word of God, the bible. Where does our faith to believe come from? Again, the word of God.

The testimony of the bible about itself convinces us of the primacy of the word in the believer’s life. Now, this conviction needs to trickle down into every classroom and every teaching session in our ministries. Too often the curriculum that we use actually limits the use of or ignores the bible outright. Think through your last teaching time or when you observed one of your teacher’s sessions. What was the actual amount of time the teacher used the bible and the time students actually used their bibles? Not just referred to it or referenced it but actually dug in and used the bible? Also think about the bible story time. Surely this would be the place in every classroom where God’s word is opened up and read, studied and used. Even in the best of written curriculums I have found this time ends up being the teacher reading a paraphrase from the teacher’s guide with no need in opening up an actual bible and reading the word. A few verses may be quoted and then ninety percent of the time is spent talking about other things such as object lessons or illustrations. As memorable as this lesson may be I must ask how effective it was? God has promised to use His Word not crafts, games or illustrations based on His Word. I would dare make the bold statement that the average children’s Sunday school class uses the actual bible for maybe five short minutes or even less out of sixty minutes.

I hope you will find this as shocking and disturbing as I do. We have spent way too may years in training and preparing to be leaders in God’s church to allow this lack of priority of God’s Word in the classroom to continue. Shock is a first good step to recovering the priority of God’s word in the Sunday school and any other teaching we offer in our churches. The bible calls this repentance and it is a good, healthy response to His Word. Next, we need to cultivate a strong faith in the effectiveness of God’s Word. Henrietta Mears, founder of Gospel Light in 1933 and Education Director for Hollywood Presbyterian church from the 1920s till her death in 1963, was fond of reminding her teachers about the truth found in Isaiah 55:10-11. “As the rain and the snow come down from heaven, and do not return to it without watering the earth and making it bud and flourish, so that it yields seed for the sower and bread for the eater, so is my word that goes out from my mouth: It will not return to me empty, but will accomplish what I desire and achieve the purpose for which I sent it.” She knew the secret to Christian growth was dependent upon God using His own Word to accomplish His own purposes upon the earth. Finally, we need to overhaul every classroom and every lesson, yes, every section of every lesson making sure that the lesson features drive the bible home. No, maybe a better way to say this is that the Bible must drive every feature of the lesson. Make sure every part of every lesson is opening up God’s word in fresh, creative ways so that God the Holy Spirit can bring that message to bear, not returning void.
Do you need to consider a complete curriculum change or overhaul? I have no idea but regardless of what curriculum you use make sure your teachers and students are opening God’s word with more vigor. purpose and frequency. Make sure that you and your leaders are convinced without a shadow of a doubt concerning the sufficiency and usefulness of the Word of God. Reader, there is no other way or means that He has ordained in which we grow towards maturity in our Christian lives. We have such a limited time with our students so let’s make sure we are opening His word so He can change us, save us, give us faith and guide us and our students.

Mark Smith is a Church Field Manager with Gospel Light for the past 12 years. He spent over five years in full time church ministry as a Children’s and Youth Pastor out of Dallas Theological Seminary. He currently lives in Brentwood, TN with Jennifer, his wife of 22 years, and five children ages 17 to 8. Currently he serves his local church as resident comedian and is a volunteer director of TNT Boys for the AWANA ministry.

We are in a worship war! Called to Worship

Called To Worship
by Vernon M. Whaley
Thomas Nelson 2009

With the basic premise of defining worship using clear biblical evidence Whaley offers a lengthy tome loaded with plenty of historical facts. A better title for the book after taking about three analyzing weeks pouring over the chapters could be: The War For Worship, tracing the history of worship in the bible. Or I might suggest: Worship Wars.

This is a very nice view of the history of the bible, worship style.
I really liked the historical overview of the bible with the emphasis on worship.
Other than a couple of research errors, more like misspoken statements such as pg. 56 where he says, "Now rewind, thousands of decades..." Even if you took the plural here in the most limited sense as two that would add up to 20,000 years. I believe he meant to write, "thousands of years" which would be more in line with the roughly 3,500 years between Martin Luther King Jr's speech and the Egyptian monarchy of Moses day.

What is worship and does the bible offer guidance for the modern worshipper and more importantly the modern worship leader? Yes, and Whaley gives the church a much needed history of worship. Much of today's worship and the ever interesting modern 'worship service' will be better served because of this book. I think the worship wars concept speaks dead on and from a perspective that I've never heard before. Over the course of the ages worship of God really has been under attack from enemies like Satan and enemies within like our wicked hearts. Everyone and everything ends up being worshipped over the course of time instead of the one true and living God. Not only does Whaley draw out an interesting perspective on worship from history but add wonderful principles of worship from those same stories.

Whaley shows the reader that God has worship standards, a worship plan, and has put an innate desire within each of us for worship. We are worshipping creatures and if we are not worshipping the one true God then we fill that void with cheap substitutes and the war for worship is continued.

Some areas of concern: I think the author must mention the use and abuse of alcohol at least in five different places which reveals one of the pet sins of the whole conservative Baptist, Liberty crowd. Yet the sin of overeating is never mentioned which seems in my mind just as big (pun intended) of a problem for mankind than someone who enjoys a glass of red wine with a nice steak and ends up having too much and driving home drunk. In both cases of eating a whole box of Twinkies or consuming a whole six pack of beer the issue is worship and over indulgence of something other than God which is the sin. Also to watch out for early on is a small creeping in of Arminianism. Like most of modern evangelicalism we are plagued with this insidious 'me centered' theology that it just slides in to our common dialog. On page xvii of the introduction we read, "Above all, you will read about God's love for you," Really? God's love for us is above all? I do not think that it is above His glory and His desire to be worshipped by every aspect of His universe. Then on page 215 he does get it right: "Yes, but it all begins with the worship-the right worship-of Yahweh, and that starts with recognizing the glory of God-and giving Him glory." So all is not lost with his theology.

I think the biggest impact this book made of me was filling in some missing elements of my theology of worship. For instance, I never thought about the reading, studying and proclaiming of scripture as worship and yet, there it is, all through the pages of scripture. I will never interact with God's word without worship going through my mind and that is a big plus.

Over all, this is an extremely readable treatment of worship and worthy of being read. I enjoyed the unique perspective of drawing out worship principles from the historic battle for worship found all through the bible. Good job Mr. Whaley. I have already starting changing my thinking about worship because of your book and for that I say thank you.

VBS: friend or foe!

VBS, Vacation Bible School. What thoughts do these words conjure up in our minds? I guess even a better question we need to ask of VBS is why? Why do we take the time, money and manpower to pull off the biggest children's programming of the year? Evangelism. A good plan coupled with a solid evangelism everyday curriculum is designed to introduce children, teens and adults to the word of God so they can have a relationship with Jesus. The gospel has to be packed into every lesson, every day. I know as well as you that many children may only show up at our churches for this one event and for maybe just a day or two at that. For those naysayer kids who proclaim, "I already know all that Jesus stuff and salvation stuff!" are the kids who don't have a 'heart clue' but only head knowledge. The gospel never gets old for true believers and is fresh and exciting to lost sinners who are being moved by God to repent and believe. (See Acts 16:14 for real proof of this.)

VBS is one of those 'everyone wins' programs. If I only had 10 kids in the church and 5 of them were my own, I would still put on a vbs, invite the community's kids and have a great time. Along with summer camps, VBS is one of those ongoing programs that brings back the fondest memories in us adults. Personally, I don't remember one Sunday school lesson from my youth but I remember camp and vbs and know that Christ was first introduced to me there in the mid 70s.
From my own ministry experience, VBS from Gospel Light has been very good to me and faithfully accomplished the 3 key things I look for in any curriculum: (in this order) 1. The gospel of Christ is clearly proclaimed. 2. The kids through all the elements are driven back to the scriptures as the only way to find Christ and that gospel. 3. Fun theme in all the elements that keep the kids coming back day after day so the first two can be accomplished.
Gospel Light always seems to accomplish that for me.

Ditching a tried and true program for other programming and re-allocating budgets may certainly be what you need to do or are being forced to do but, wow!, giving up a week to spend and be spent on creating incredible gospel memories in kid's lives is totally priceless. Implanted memories that last require two key elements that only camps, retreats and vbs supply: length of time and repetitive imprints. My week long camping adventures on rivers, mountains etc come back to my mind in almost perfect recall as opposed to a little weekend trip or overnighter. Don't give up on VBS unless you can replace it with something equal or greater in total memory recall ability!