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Clique or Affinity Group?
Have you ever wondered what the difference is between a clique and an affinity group?[1] I have. Have you ever felt excluded from a group? I have. Have you ever wondered if there were groups in the Bible? I have. Have you ever wondered how to navigate the group issue? I have. Perhaps my ponderings will encourage you (as it did me) to have a healthier view of groups. I found the definition of clique and affinity to be helpful. Affinity is “sympathy marked by community of interest” and clique is a “narrow exclusive circle or group of persons” as defined by Merriam-Webster. So, a clique is a group where…
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Focus on What’s Important
A 5th Grade Sunday School Class talks about Jesus preparing for His death.
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Boundaries That Protect
A child doesn’t have to be burned to learn that fire is dangerous. It’s not necessary to be hit by a car to learn that a street is not a safe place to play. Children need consistent reinforcement of truth to learn it. For most children, this will be enough to shape their thinking and influence their actions. While they are very young, we take them by the hand moving them out of danger while reinforcing with our words, “It’s hot, don’t touch it or it will burn you. It is dangerous to go into the street. That is a no! This is a yes.” Our actions and words influence…
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Celebrity-Driven Christianity?
Aspire to lead a quiet life (1 Thess 4.11). “It’s the seemingly unimportant people who determine the course of history. The greatest forces in the universe are never spectacular. Summer showers do more good than hurricanes, but they don’t get a lot of publicity. The world would soon die but for the loyalty, creativity, and commitment of those whose names are unhonoured and unsung.” —author James Sizoo For seventeen years I served as editor-in-chief of a magazine for Christ-followers. In that position I constantly faced pressure from myself and others to gain followers by running a big-name profile on the cover. But I had to resist the temptation, because I…
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Be a God-Dependent Woman
Listen to this blog as a similar podcast: For years, I have been drawn to carefully study Second Corinthians. I can honestly say that studying it has been one of the most meaningful and impactful studies I have ever done. It has been powerful in my life. The main emphasis of the whole letter was that we, as believers in Christ, should live our lives dependent on God all the time. We are to be God-dependent in our strengths when we are using our gifts and skills and opportunities well. We are to be God-dependent in our weaknesses that drive us to Him for help. And we are to be…
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Will you have a crown to lay at His feet?
This week we saw the end of the life of Queen Elizabeth, who had reigned over her nation for over 70 yrs. She reigned longer than any British monarch, and in those years, she remained steadfast and lived by the words she shared as a new queen in 1953. “I declare before you that my whole life, whether it be long or short, shall be devoted to your service, and the service of our great imperial family to which we all belong,” But what was more remarkable was her testimony that she wished Jesus would return so she could lay her earthly crown at his feet. In sharing this with children, you…
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Why I’m Sad About the Queen’s Passing
“Rest in Peace, Queen Elizabeth” popped up on my social media feed on September 8, 2022. I immediately felt sad. For Her Late Majesty’s family, for friends in the United Kingdom, for those who actually knew her. But also, weirdly, for me. Here’s why I, an American, am sad over the death of a foreign head of state whom I never met nor knew personally: It stirs up childhood nostalgia Like many Americans I am an anglophile, an admirer of all things British. I feel I come by it naturally since I grew up in the commonwealth nation of Papua New Guinea. As a multi-national missions community, we took turns recognizing…
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Believe Boldly
Scripture uses “courage” and “boldness” (including derivatives) over 110 times. To live boldly, we must believe boldly. How can we live and believe boldly?
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What Does Genesis 6 Have to Do with Male/Female Relationships?
What Does Genesis 6 Have to Do with Healthy Male/Female Friendships? Recently, I had a fascinating email interaction initiated by my friend Henry Rouse, a theologian in Australia, about the narrative in Genesis leading up to the Flood. The text in view seems to reveal something important about man and woman in God’s story. The text we discussed was not Genesis 1 (origin of humanity) nor Genesis 2 (the man’s nap, the woman’s creation) nor Genesis 3 (the Fall)—the usual pericopes from the book of Beginnings mentioned in conversations about men and women. Rather, we were talking about Genesis 6. I’ve combined our conversation into what follows, which includes work…
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Sandy the Sucker
A 5th Grade Sunday School class talks about Nehemiah and Sanballat aka Sandy the Sucker.
