-
No Little Pharisees!
I have been teaching children for just shy of 50 years. That is a lot of teaching. But have I been teaching them well? In recent years, I have had to stop and reevaluate the things I have said as I quoted God’s Word to the children. In doing so I concluded that there were times that if a child followed my teaching, they would come out more like a pharisee than a believer. How many times have we as teachers and parents been guilty of telling the children that God hates sin without emphasizing His great love for the sinner? The Pharisees had God’s Words in their mouths but…
-
Taking Responsibility for Our Choices
“God created humankind in his own image, in the image of God he created them, male and female he created them.” Genesis 1:27 God made humans different from the rest of His creation. In His loving kindness He made man in His own image. What a gift that is. Yet in that very gift he gave us another gift, the gift of choice. Every day we all make hundreds or maybe thousands of choices. Many of them are done without a thought. I don’t know about you, but I don’t always think about what I am doing when I do it; especially if it is something that I do all…
-
Making Summer Strategic
Making a successful transition is all about managing our emotions as well as our beliefs. How can we best use our summers to prepare them for transitions in the fall?
-
IF WE TALK THE TALK, LET’S WALK THE WALK!
If we talk the talk, we need to walk the walk!
-
Teaching Toddlers
Deuteronomy 6:6-7 “These words I am commanding you today must be kept in mind, and you must teach them to your children and speak of them as you sit in your house, as you walk along the road, as you lie down, and as you get up.” Seriously! Teach toddlers about God!
-
Resurrection Living
The big party if over. The family has gone home. The dishes are done, and the house is quiet. Easter Celebration is over. Is that how it is at your house? It is an event that many celebrate yearly. Though some celebrate for a week and others for 40 days, for most Easter Sunday is the climax of their celebration. It is one of the most important and powerful events in the world. Paul put it like this: “For I passed on to you as of first importance what I also received—that Christ died for our sins according to the scriptures, and that he was buried, and that he was raised on…
-
Trust in the Lord
The difference between Christianity and all other religions is summed up in the word, relationship! In America, we put the words, “In God we Trust” on every bill that goes into our pocket. By the way we act when there are no dollars in our pocket, I would say we trust more in the dollar than we do in our God. Relationship is built on trust. So how do we teach our children to trust in God? Our children come into this world totally dependent. We believe it is our goal to teach them to become independent adults. What if that goal is not the best one after all? They…
-
Teaching Children to be Thankful
It is culturally acceptable as Westerners to heap presents on our children at various holidays. We love to get presents and as parents we enjoy giving our children the things they want. In a land of plenty it is very easy to slip into a life of insatiable desires. Do we teach our children to say please and thank you only to teach them from our actions to be greedy and demanding? If this question leaves us feeling convicted and uncomfortable then perhaps it is a time for change! Typically, thankfulness is not the feeling you get when you get what you want or even what you don’t deserve. That…
-
Suffering Is Necessary in Order to See Glory
Beyond being a book of facts, people, events, and doctrine, the Bible is book that paints for us a very clear picture of the glory of suffering.