Peace. Another quality of the young church - peace more profound than the times in which they lived. Peace with God and with one another. The peace that comes from Hope based on who God is, and the Love He sheds abroad in our hearts, Faith that links our reality with God's reality and helps us line up with Him.
I pray the Lord's prayer more often as I get older, if only to reiterate, "Thy will be done" even if, especially if, I don't know what that is. I don't have to know what it is. I can pray with no doubt that God will accomplish His will. Looking back, when I found myself praying the Lord's prayer more and my own prayers less, maybe to acknowledge that's how Jesus taught His disciples to pray, there were some big, unexpected changes in my life - changes I never expected.
He talks about some of the things that fight with Peace: the need to resolve inner conflict, to share life with God, to accept ourselves as God made us and the resources He provides one day at a time, the need to align ourselves with God's purpose for us however seemingly insignificant.
And remember. There is an individual expression here but perhaps even more important, there was a group of believers learning to stand in awe of God's work - His visiting the earth, sending His son in the flesh, learning to live faith, to live hope, to live love and they became an unassuming force to be reckoned with.
Showing posts with label holidays. Show all posts
Showing posts with label holidays. Show all posts
Sunday, December 14, 2014
A Book to Talk About! Actually, Two! III
Phillips explores Love in New Testament Christianity. He says, "God Is Love," was a new concept for the people of this era. The passage," ...the love of God is shed abroad in our hearts."(Romans 5:5) was "...stimulated and developed by accepting the love of God as shown in Christ." (pg. 61) Phillips says, "I am quite sure that a great deal of the joyful experience and invincible courage of the Young Church is due simply to the fact that the early Christians believed these words to be literally true." (pg 62) The love of the God of the New Testament transformed lives.
The young church was convinced, he says, despite difficult times, that nothing could ever separate them from the love of God. Phillips explores how we are tempted by that which isn't Love and ends the chapter saying. Ponder "the paramount importance" and "permanence" of Love.
If love is God's nature, ponder how Christ Jesus expressed it and how the early church expressed it. How do we express it? How do we teach children that love is most important and the love of God, the love of God shed abroad in our hearts will outlast everything else? Is the love I share with the people around me, something that will last forever?
What qualities or choices fight with our call to love God and our neighbor, as adults and as children? I seem to remember my kids getting into arguments and saying, "It's not about who's right or who's wrong, it's how you treat each other. If you treat each other badly, you're both wrong." You may feel differently.
I was going to link to a bio for J.B. Phillips. Some circles consider him a heretic yet, apparently the Reverend Billy Graham thanked him for his work.
But this isn't about the translator. This isn't about the man. Every non-original language translation has been given into the hands of men and women in order to make the Living Word of God more accessible to more people. If five people look at the same sunset, which only God can make happen, do they see the same thing? The sunset is beautiful. (I think). You can talk about the science of the sunset but that doesn't mean that God didn't create it. You can write prose or poetry about it. You can photograph or paint it. But we don't change the sunset. And it doesn't wait for us.
Definitely read the intro (Explanation) in the beginning of the book as the writer talks of the scriptures of the New Testament as a Living book like no other.
Trying to look at the New Testament through the eyes, history, and culture of the early Christians just adds another dimension. God's Word is intended to stand generation after generation. As human beings we will always be very Me-centered. God isn't.
Much of what the author is doing is looking at those first Christians who didn't have all of the religious baggage that we have and the themes he saw repeating as he translated. He observing: these are qualities that made the Early Church alive, vibrant, life-changing, world-changing, drawing men and women to God. These qualities are within the grasp of every generation. Why do we focus on other things?
I disagree that we don't really need to read the whole of scripture (Old Testament, too). God gave us all of it for the reasons the scriptures say in I Timothy 3:16. You can pick which version you want to read it in. I think Phillip's point is that if your time is limited, focus on the gospels because they tell of Jesus, who He was, what He did, how He loved God and man - his faith, his hope, his love, how He maintained his connection with the Father, How He served. Read the New Testament because it tells you of those who knew God in the flesh and how they lived after Jesus left His Spirit to dwell in us and continue what He began.
The young church was convinced, he says, despite difficult times, that nothing could ever separate them from the love of God. Phillips explores how we are tempted by that which isn't Love and ends the chapter saying. Ponder "the paramount importance" and "permanence" of Love.
If love is God's nature, ponder how Christ Jesus expressed it and how the early church expressed it. How do we express it? How do we teach children that love is most important and the love of God, the love of God shed abroad in our hearts will outlast everything else? Is the love I share with the people around me, something that will last forever?
What qualities or choices fight with our call to love God and our neighbor, as adults and as children? I seem to remember my kids getting into arguments and saying, "It's not about who's right or who's wrong, it's how you treat each other. If you treat each other badly, you're both wrong." You may feel differently.
I was going to link to a bio for J.B. Phillips. Some circles consider him a heretic yet, apparently the Reverend Billy Graham thanked him for his work.
But this isn't about the translator. This isn't about the man. Every non-original language translation has been given into the hands of men and women in order to make the Living Word of God more accessible to more people. If five people look at the same sunset, which only God can make happen, do they see the same thing? The sunset is beautiful. (I think). You can talk about the science of the sunset but that doesn't mean that God didn't create it. You can write prose or poetry about it. You can photograph or paint it. But we don't change the sunset. And it doesn't wait for us.
Definitely read the intro (Explanation) in the beginning of the book as the writer talks of the scriptures of the New Testament as a Living book like no other.
Trying to look at the New Testament through the eyes, history, and culture of the early Christians just adds another dimension. God's Word is intended to stand generation after generation. As human beings we will always be very Me-centered. God isn't.
Much of what the author is doing is looking at those first Christians who didn't have all of the religious baggage that we have and the themes he saw repeating as he translated. He observing: these are qualities that made the Early Church alive, vibrant, life-changing, world-changing, drawing men and women to God. These qualities are within the grasp of every generation. Why do we focus on other things?
I disagree that we don't really need to read the whole of scripture (Old Testament, too). God gave us all of it for the reasons the scriptures say in I Timothy 3:16. You can pick which version you want to read it in. I think Phillip's point is that if your time is limited, focus on the gospels because they tell of Jesus, who He was, what He did, how He loved God and man - his faith, his hope, his love, how He maintained his connection with the Father, How He served. Read the New Testament because it tells you of those who knew God in the flesh and how they lived after Jesus left His Spirit to dwell in us and continue what He began.
Friday, December 12, 2014
A Book to Talk About! Actually, Two! II
I'm reading and talking about New Testament Christianity by J.B. Phillips. The book Your God is Too Small is also a book worth reading and pondering especially in the context of working with children and youth. It forces us to take a second look at how we see God.
In New Testament Christianity, Phillips is looking at the New Testament and the early church, exploring themes he saw as he translated - surprisingly appropriate for the Christmas season. The nature and purpose of the God of the scriptures and His untainted Word are at the heart of his commentary.
His book isn't a how-to but he draws attention to mega-themes that effect how we think. He talks about God historically visiting a tiny dot in the universe for which we should be eternally humbled and grateful. He talks about faith as a muscle, the bridge between God's reality and our own reality - the reality of living in a physical, social, cognitive world. He talks about faith based on fact.
Then he talks about hope; not hope as wishful thinking or "pious hope" but again, hope based on fact, work, and God's realities. Faith and hope, as he describes them, are based on what is real and true of God's nature and God's purpose, even if we don't know or understand what that purpose is.
He briefly touches the historical context of the New Testament; how brightly the faith and hope of the early Christians shined in such a dark culture. At one point he says, "To the pagan mind to take a man's life was to take his all, but to attack Christians by sword, torture, or the atrocities of the arena was to invite defeat. Even if you killed them they slipped through your fingers to be with their Lord for ever!" ( pg 48) I've read Eusebius. The historic account of the early church is incredulous - humbling and inspiring.
He ventures to say that the New Testament is more about faith than depravity. He shares brilliant metaphors to explain how he understands the relationship between faith, hope, our actions, and God's. He ventures to explore the challenge of living in the world but not of the world - holding to the realities of both the physical and the spiritual (living, working, believing) knowing we're being prepared for the latter.
More to come. I'm about halfway through.
Why do these tiny adult books matter if I'm working with children? Children start off with a faith, hope, and love uncharacteristic of most adults. We are given charge (parents, teachers, friends, family) to nurture faith muscles, hope muscles, and the muscles of godly love. In order to set children up to succeed, they have to learn how to tap into the God of the Universe as revealed through Christ Jesus and His Holy Spirit in their day to day life. God help us if we give them what is counterfeit and set them up to fail.
Sometimes we get so caught up in things that don't matter that we miss what really does matter. Check out 1 Corinthians 13:13.
The scriptures tell us of true faith, hope, love founded on the reality of Who God is and His own eternal purpose. We have an obligation to tend and grow what is true to the God of the scriptures - faith, hope, love that will last a lifetime and beyond, not counterfeits that can't stand up to life in this world. Can I tell you where the lines are? No, I've just started pondering this.
How did the early church know they were on target? Their faith, hope, and love stood the test of the world they lived in. God's reality became their reality. Their eyes were always on the Father and their lives and actions reflected that love in tangeable ways that even the world could see. They were different. The God of Creation, the God of the Universe, walked with them.
In New Testament Christianity, Phillips is looking at the New Testament and the early church, exploring themes he saw as he translated - surprisingly appropriate for the Christmas season. The nature and purpose of the God of the scriptures and His untainted Word are at the heart of his commentary.
His book isn't a how-to but he draws attention to mega-themes that effect how we think. He talks about God historically visiting a tiny dot in the universe for which we should be eternally humbled and grateful. He talks about faith as a muscle, the bridge between God's reality and our own reality - the reality of living in a physical, social, cognitive world. He talks about faith based on fact.
Then he talks about hope; not hope as wishful thinking or "pious hope" but again, hope based on fact, work, and God's realities. Faith and hope, as he describes them, are based on what is real and true of God's nature and God's purpose, even if we don't know or understand what that purpose is.
He briefly touches the historical context of the New Testament; how brightly the faith and hope of the early Christians shined in such a dark culture. At one point he says, "To the pagan mind to take a man's life was to take his all, but to attack Christians by sword, torture, or the atrocities of the arena was to invite defeat. Even if you killed them they slipped through your fingers to be with their Lord for ever!" ( pg 48) I've read Eusebius. The historic account of the early church is incredulous - humbling and inspiring.
He ventures to say that the New Testament is more about faith than depravity. He shares brilliant metaphors to explain how he understands the relationship between faith, hope, our actions, and God's. He ventures to explore the challenge of living in the world but not of the world - holding to the realities of both the physical and the spiritual (living, working, believing) knowing we're being prepared for the latter.
More to come. I'm about halfway through.
Why do these tiny adult books matter if I'm working with children? Children start off with a faith, hope, and love uncharacteristic of most adults. We are given charge (parents, teachers, friends, family) to nurture faith muscles, hope muscles, and the muscles of godly love. In order to set children up to succeed, they have to learn how to tap into the God of the Universe as revealed through Christ Jesus and His Holy Spirit in their day to day life. God help us if we give them what is counterfeit and set them up to fail.
Sometimes we get so caught up in things that don't matter that we miss what really does matter. Check out 1 Corinthians 13:13.
The scriptures tell us of true faith, hope, love founded on the reality of Who God is and His own eternal purpose. We have an obligation to tend and grow what is true to the God of the scriptures - faith, hope, love that will last a lifetime and beyond, not counterfeits that can't stand up to life in this world. Can I tell you where the lines are? No, I've just started pondering this.
How did the early church know they were on target? Their faith, hope, and love stood the test of the world they lived in. God's reality became their reality. Their eyes were always on the Father and their lives and actions reflected that love in tangeable ways that even the world could see. They were different. The God of Creation, the God of the Universe, walked with them.
Thursday, December 11, 2014
A Book to Talk About! Actually, Two!
Not long ago, I read a very short but loaded book by J.B. Phillips. Yes, he is one of the individuals who translated the New Testament. The book was Your God is Too Small. It truly challenges what we believe about God in the light of what scripture says. A challenging book for a parent/teacher group Bible study. An important book for people ministering to children in Christ-following faith communities.
Now, I am reading New Testament Christianity also by J.B. Phillips. Both are very small (as in short) books: 90-100 pages. I'm reading this on the sly because it's a Christmas present. I wanted to read it first.
The main points Phillips makes are so important, so foundational to how we think. And if they are crucial for us as adult believers, how much more for children?
I admit his introduction is a bit stuffy. He's telling you why he feels compelled to write the book, but hang in there! The rest of the book will keep your attention. These are very short books that should send you back to the scriptures "to see if these things be so."
Chapter 1 "The Angel's Point of View" - a reminder that is it utterly amazing that the God of the Universe chose to visit us. Beyond our ability to even comprehend! Worth celebrating at Christmastime.
Chapter 2 "God Makes News" is another reminder that ties into Christmas: "Emmanuel, God With Us" - God came and lived among us and that was beyond our comprehension and the understanding of those who lived with him. How did His presence with them effect their everyday lives?
We've become so dull to the Amazing that we say with our minds. Of course. I knew that. But maybe such understanding, too wonderful for us, should bowl us over!
Chapter 3 "The Faith Faculty." I'm only half-way through this very short chapter. Phillips approaches this with fresh perspective looking at the visible and invisible world. Faith is in some ways a portal, if you will; in other ways, a muscle to be exercised. If Jesus is the Way, the Truth, the Life, the Door to the Father and faith is what we need to access Him . . . is there anything more important for us to give our children? Is it ours to give? Or only by example and through prayer?
Going back to read more.
Now, I am reading New Testament Christianity also by J.B. Phillips. Both are very small (as in short) books: 90-100 pages. I'm reading this on the sly because it's a Christmas present. I wanted to read it first.
The main points Phillips makes are so important, so foundational to how we think. And if they are crucial for us as adult believers, how much more for children?
I admit his introduction is a bit stuffy. He's telling you why he feels compelled to write the book, but hang in there! The rest of the book will keep your attention. These are very short books that should send you back to the scriptures "to see if these things be so."
Chapter 1 "The Angel's Point of View" - a reminder that is it utterly amazing that the God of the Universe chose to visit us. Beyond our ability to even comprehend! Worth celebrating at Christmastime.
Chapter 2 "God Makes News" is another reminder that ties into Christmas: "Emmanuel, God With Us" - God came and lived among us and that was beyond our comprehension and the understanding of those who lived with him. How did His presence with them effect their everyday lives?
We've become so dull to the Amazing that we say with our minds. Of course. I knew that. But maybe such understanding, too wonderful for us, should bowl us over!
Chapter 3 "The Faith Faculty." I'm only half-way through this very short chapter. Phillips approaches this with fresh perspective looking at the visible and invisible world. Faith is in some ways a portal, if you will; in other ways, a muscle to be exercised. If Jesus is the Way, the Truth, the Life, the Door to the Father and faith is what we need to access Him . . . is there anything more important for us to give our children? Is it ours to give? Or only by example and through prayer?
Going back to read more.
Monday, December 01, 2014
Non-electronic Christmas thoughts
Our kids are grown but they seem to enjoy coming home for some combination of Thanksgiving and Christmas. We almost put the tree up this year while they were still here for Thanksgiving. No grand kids yet. But thinking about traditions.
Years ago someone wrote an article in New Wine magazine about creating Christmas ornaments each year that reminded them of something God did that year, or something to be thankful for. Over the years, we made ornaments and bought ornaments for the tree with that in mind.
You could do that in Sunday school classrooms, too, or even as a multi-generational church activity.
You could even combine Thanksgiving and Christmas: collect magazine pictures of something each child (or person) is thankful for this year. [Instead of a magazine picture of something each person is thankful for, consider a photo of each person.]
Collect metal juice can lids (hammer a hole in the lid for the hook). Glue each picture to a lid.
Seal (with something like modgepodge). Sprinkle the wet sealer with glitter.
Hang them on a class or church Christmas tree.
Send each person's decoration home on Christmas or Christmas Eve.
If you play with this, you'll probably come up with a better idea.
I have to say that if you do this every year at home, eventually you will need a separate memory box to keep all those kid-friendly juice can lid pictures but what a fun box to open with grand kids if you decorate your tree together at the end of Thanksgiving! We have pictures of babies, hamsters, a computer, homes. When I dig out my Christmas boxes, I'll post photos.
Each picture ornament comes with a story and a real live storyteller. :-)
Years ago someone wrote an article in New Wine magazine about creating Christmas ornaments each year that reminded them of something God did that year, or something to be thankful for. Over the years, we made ornaments and bought ornaments for the tree with that in mind.
You could do that in Sunday school classrooms, too, or even as a multi-generational church activity.
You could even combine Thanksgiving and Christmas: collect magazine pictures of something each child (or person) is thankful for this year. [Instead of a magazine picture of something each person is thankful for, consider a photo of each person.]
Collect metal juice can lids (hammer a hole in the lid for the hook). Glue each picture to a lid.
Seal (with something like modgepodge). Sprinkle the wet sealer with glitter.
Hang them on a class or church Christmas tree.
Send each person's decoration home on Christmas or Christmas Eve.
If you play with this, you'll probably come up with a better idea.
I have to say that if you do this every year at home, eventually you will need a separate memory box to keep all those kid-friendly juice can lid pictures but what a fun box to open with grand kids if you decorate your tree together at the end of Thanksgiving! We have pictures of babies, hamsters, a computer, homes. When I dig out my Christmas boxes, I'll post photos.
Each picture ornament comes with a story and a real live storyteller. :-)
Monday, November 24, 2014
Holidays are Coming!
It's pretty hard to be original when the holidays come around.
Thinking about Thanksgiving:
We never know when God might call us home.
No matter how old we are, we never know.
How do we nurture, grow, train gracious thankful hearts
willing and able to unwrap each day
like a gift
and put it to good use?
What are you most thankful for
today?
Thinking about Christmas and Jesus:
Can you think of a discouraging or disappointing circumstance
that turned into something more positive
than you expected?
What everyday choice did you make recently that
affected someone else's tomorrow?
"Lord, it is good to praise you.
Most High God, it is good to make music to honor you.
It is good to sing every morning about your love.
It is good to sing every night about how faithful you are."
Psalm 92:1-2 (NIRV)
Friday, April 18, 2014
Easter
Not putting much on paper these days but I found myself thinking about a post that someone posted a few years ago asking a question about violence in the scriptures and children's ministry. Watching the Anthony Quinn movie, Barabbas, tonight with my parents brought it back to mind.
So many of the stories of scripture happened in such violent times. The history of the church after Christ's crucifixion, too. I always found it interesting, the details that the scriptures include and the details they leave out. Our life experiences give depth of meaning to God's stories. Our missing life experiences leave holes in others. Maybe it's God's way of keeping us "childlike." God managed to mix concreteness and unanswered questions because.
The scriptures seem clear about not adding to or taking away from the inspired Word of God - violent or not. The Living Word of God came to earth, suffered, died a gruesome death, and still spared us so many of the gory details. Yet for those who suffer and know war and persecution and life experiences that sear souls, their understanding of what Christ did is more intimate than it is for those of us who don't. And the Holy Spirit counsels. We can only listen and shudder and understand that we don't understand except by faith.
So God left spaces in His Word, quiet places, where we can ponder what God includes and what He leaves out. And we choose to trust Him even when we don't understand the way Jesus' family and friends and disciples has to trust their Maker and wonder why. The things that are revealed belong to us and the things that remain hidden belong to God (its somewhere in the Word) and that's the way it is.
We ponder, we pray, with humble, grateful hearts and minds and spirits.
Happy Resurrection Day! Give thanks for your kids and all they've been given and consider all we have to be thankful for...
Monday, January 20, 2014
"Wise men still seek him!"
Epiphany! http://www.textweek.com/epiphany.htm
"the fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom"
Bible Gateway: "the fear of the Lord"
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Friday, December 20, 2013
Christmas Thoughts
Do you have a real live manger scene to visit this season? Maybe at your own church. Maybe at a neighboring church?
How about a barn full of farm animals with all the smells and textures, out in the cold...
If the sky is clear this week, look up into the sky after dark and check out the stars...
If you live near a desert or a big salt lake, check out the moon, if it's still in the sky...
Do you wander from house to house singing Christmas carols? Does it make you think of the angels?
Do folks sleeping on the street make you think of shepherds?
Do unwed mothers remind you of Mary?
Do new babies remind you of Jesus?
Do you find yourself without something that you think you need to celebrate the season, like a place to spend the night?
Break away from traditional thought. Ponder the stories.
Think about the folks who were there when Christ Jesus arrived on this earth, who do they make you think about today: city folk, country folk, animals, rich, poor, celestial, the impatient, the generous...anybody else?
Venite adoramus!
How about a barn full of farm animals with all the smells and textures, out in the cold...
If the sky is clear this week, look up into the sky after dark and check out the stars...
If you live near a desert or a big salt lake, check out the moon, if it's still in the sky...
Do you wander from house to house singing Christmas carols? Does it make you think of the angels?
Do folks sleeping on the street make you think of shepherds?
Do unwed mothers remind you of Mary?
Do new babies remind you of Jesus?
Do you find yourself without something that you think you need to celebrate the season, like a place to spend the night?
Break away from traditional thought. Ponder the stories.
Think about the folks who were there when Christ Jesus arrived on this earth, who do they make you think about today: city folk, country folk, animals, rich, poor, celestial, the impatient, the generous...anybody else?
Venite adoramus!
Monday, December 24, 2012
We wish each other Happy Holidays or a Merry Christ-filled Christmas . . .
So sad for so many, this season. Maybe for more people than we know every Christmas season, but this year, the grief is media-public.
Words of comfort ... There are many faces of comfort in these verses... a word study . . .
Read them in context...
So sad for so many, this season. Maybe for more people than we know every Christmas season, but this year, the grief is media-public.
Words of comfort ... There are many faces of comfort in these verses... a word study . . .
Read them in context...
Friday, August 10, 2012
Saturday, May 26, 2012
If you want LOTS of great ideas for kids get yourselves on Pinterest. It's visual but the links will send you back to the source. People "pin" pics from sites they like. I wasn't all that interested in yet another virtual distraction but it really is a gold mine for ideas.
My first impression was that it was about materialism and consumerism but it doesn't have to be. I started making boards for things I care about and it wasn't about consumerism (for me).
I recently saw a teacher's board FULL of kid ideas, crafts, books. Very very cool!!
Check it out. You can probably also use it as yet another source for networking if you haven't already!
My first impression was that it was about materialism and consumerism but it doesn't have to be. I started making boards for things I care about and it wasn't about consumerism (for me).
I recently saw a teacher's board FULL of kid ideas, crafts, books. Very very cool!!
Check it out. You can probably also use it as yet another source for networking if you haven't already!
Friday, May 18, 2012
Mother's Day is over for this year, so this is late.
A family member sent me a USA "history of Mother's Day" forward.
This site tells about carnations as the flower for Mother's Day. For all the decades I spent in church on Mother's Day I don't think I ever say a presentation of red carnations for living mothers and white carnations for those deceased. Each family could bring a vase of carnations representing the mothers in their families. Or wear a carnation! It could be quite beautiful. If your people are going to number in the hundreds looking for red and white carnations the day before Mother's Day you might want to pick a florist and order ahead.
Do it for fathers, too! Wear a rose! Red if your father is alive, white if he's deceased. If you want to honor more than one father (or mother), common these days, wear two!!
Maybe you've already done something like that. With all your CM networking, is there a gathering place for holiday ideas? Consider a Pinterest board of holiday CM/Family Ministry ideas!
A family member sent me a USA "history of Mother's Day" forward.
This site tells about carnations as the flower for Mother's Day. For all the decades I spent in church on Mother's Day I don't think I ever say a presentation of red carnations for living mothers and white carnations for those deceased. Each family could bring a vase of carnations representing the mothers in their families. Or wear a carnation! It could be quite beautiful. If your people are going to number in the hundreds looking for red and white carnations the day before Mother's Day you might want to pick a florist and order ahead.
Do it for fathers, too! Wear a rose! Red if your father is alive, white if he's deceased. If you want to honor more than one father (or mother), common these days, wear two!!
Maybe you've already done something like that. With all your CM networking, is there a gathering place for holiday ideas? Consider a Pinterest board of holiday CM/Family Ministry ideas!
Friday, December 23, 2011
Do you linger outside in the winter after dark? Imagine the sky lit up without fireworks or city lights, airplanes or satellites. Imagine the songs of angels filling the night time. Grander than a church choir, grander than the Mormon Tabernacle choir or the best choir in the world. And of course, you've never heard anything like it before because you work all the time and you're too poor to do anything else. And suddenly the sky is filled with music. And you go into town to see a new baby lying in a cow's manger in a cave or a barn filled with animals... you're used to being around animals but the baby...it's all about the baby...the baby lying there in the manger was just the beginning...
Did you ever consider going star gazing with your kids?
Have you ever literally let the path of a star in the sky lead you somewhere? Miles and miles through foreign countries? Think about it.
And those middle eastern wise men did follow that star. What did it cost to take such a trip? What would they have been doing if they had decided not to go? It was still all about that baby...and still, that baby lying there in that manger was just the beginning...
Did you ever consider going star gazing with your kids?
Have you ever literally let the path of a star in the sky lead you somewhere? Miles and miles through foreign countries? Think about it.
And those middle eastern wise men did follow that star. What did it cost to take such a trip? What would they have been doing if they had decided not to go? It was still all about that baby...and still, that baby lying there in that manger was just the beginning...
Sunday, April 17, 2011
Mark 11. (I was looking for the passage about Palm Sunday. Here it is in one of the gospels)
The close up view is to look at the "Hosanna" story and see how many details you notice. The zoom out story is to look at the simple, obvious big picture.
What age would you tell this story to? What parts would appeal to which age? How can you tell it without compromising the story? If you were a child, and you were there, what would it be like? What would you see & hear and experience? As a toddler or preschooler? As an elementary aged child, as a pre-teen, as a teen, as a parent? How about someone who wasn't a parent? Was it common in that culture NOT to be around children? What can you discover about Jesus?
How many different stories are there in this chapter? (There may be more than the headings in your Bible.) Look at them one at a time. How is it that this story goes with the other stories in this chapter? What ages would you tell them too? Why? Do you find the same stories with the "Hosanna" story in the other gospels? Which stories? Does it matter?
What about the variations on one story from gospel to gospel? Same stories, different writers, different points of view. Still God's story - the story of His Son. Still God's Word.
The close up view is to look at the "Hosanna" story and see how many details you notice. The zoom out story is to look at the simple, obvious big picture.
What age would you tell this story to? What parts would appeal to which age? How can you tell it without compromising the story? If you were a child, and you were there, what would it be like? What would you see & hear and experience? As a toddler or preschooler? As an elementary aged child, as a pre-teen, as a teen, as a parent? How about someone who wasn't a parent? Was it common in that culture NOT to be around children? What can you discover about Jesus?
How many different stories are there in this chapter? (There may be more than the headings in your Bible.) Look at them one at a time. How is it that this story goes with the other stories in this chapter? What ages would you tell them too? Why? Do you find the same stories with the "Hosanna" story in the other gospels? Which stories? Does it matter?
What about the variations on one story from gospel to gospel? Same stories, different writers, different points of view. Still God's story - the story of His Son. Still God's Word.
Saturday, April 16, 2011
This is just for fun. Lent. Easter. 'Tis the season.
This is a site with old pictures from Children's Bibles. Someone came looking for "the teaching boat" which I thought was a neat phrase for the boat Jesus taught from. Here's another page from the same site.
I'm going to post this and then go look for sites for Bible Art.
Take your familiar holidays, read the familiar passages the way a storyteller would, without visuals and props and let the story (God's Word) do it's work. Or read it and then gather images that people have created over the centuries and flip through from the oldest to the newest and see what you see. See how the artist interpreted the story but also see how people's cultural perspectives changed. What stayed the same. What changed? What part of the story did they focus on?
This is a site with old pictures from Children's Bibles. Someone came looking for "the teaching boat" which I thought was a neat phrase for the boat Jesus taught from. Here's another page from the same site.
I'm going to post this and then go look for sites for Bible Art.
Take your familiar holidays, read the familiar passages the way a storyteller would, without visuals and props and let the story (God's Word) do it's work. Or read it and then gather images that people have created over the centuries and flip through from the oldest to the newest and see what you see. See how the artist interpreted the story but also see how people's cultural perspectives changed. What stayed the same. What changed? What part of the story did they focus on?
Tuesday, December 28, 2010
from the lectionery:
Numbers 6:22-27: Not sure how old I was when I learned this benediction. There's God's shining face again...When did God bless them? Before He was totally annoyed with them or after?
Psalm 8: Verse 2 mentions infants & babies. The contrast between "what is man...?" and the fact that He's given man "dominion" is seems mind-boggling to me ...
Galatians 4:6
(still looking for kids) "And because you are children, God has sent the Spirit of his Son into our hearts, crying, "Abba! Father!" So you are no longer a slave but a child, and if a child then also an heir, through God." I think one of the books I reviewed explored this in depth. Not sure which one.
Philippians 2:5-11
Someone made the comment that "every" would include children. When you visualize what vs 10-11 might look like, include children of all ages.
Luke 2:15-21 I've been pondering this passage a lot this season. The shepherds looked after animals all day. They were outside all day most days? everyday? And the angels came and sang to them. They were the first to hear this amazing life shattering announcement. They left their sheep to go and check it out. You don't just leave a field full of sheep untended. Maybe they left someone behind. Maybe they took the sheep. We don't really know...Apparently they verbal, they were credible. They exclaimed to people and people listened. More importantly, they exclaimed to God! You think God has a special place in his heart for sheep & shepherds? :-)
Numbers 6:22-27: Not sure how old I was when I learned this benediction. There's God's shining face again...When did God bless them? Before He was totally annoyed with them or after?
Psalm 8: Verse 2 mentions infants & babies. The contrast between "what is man...?" and the fact that He's given man "dominion" is seems mind-boggling to me ...
Galatians 4:6
(still looking for kids) "And because you are children, God has sent the Spirit of his Son into our hearts, crying, "Abba! Father!" So you are no longer a slave but a child, and if a child then also an heir, through God." I think one of the books I reviewed explored this in depth. Not sure which one.
Philippians 2:5-11
Someone made the comment that "every" would include children. When you visualize what vs 10-11 might look like, include children of all ages.
Luke 2:15-21 I've been pondering this passage a lot this season. The shepherds looked after animals all day. They were outside all day most days? everyday? And the angels came and sang to them. They were the first to hear this amazing life shattering announcement. They left their sheep to go and check it out. You don't just leave a field full of sheep untended. Maybe they left someone behind. Maybe they took the sheep. We don't really know...Apparently they verbal, they were credible. They exclaimed to people and people listened. More importantly, they exclaimed to God! You think God has a special place in his heart for sheep & shepherds? :-)
Friday, December 17, 2010
Here's the readings from this week's lectionery
...Looking for kids...
Isaiah 7:10-16 We think about the miracle of the virgin birth, the promise of God fullfilled. I think about an unwed teen mother and the range of emotion she must have experienced. Mary called her son Immanuel "God with us."
At what age are kids old enough to refuse evil and choose good?An interesting point of reference... Is it cultural?
Psalm 80:1-7, 17-19
How long will you be angry O Lord? Let your face shine. I don't really think about God that way, the God with the shining face. What does that look like to kids? People with shining faces? What makes somebody's face shine? Do you have kids who know about eating the bread and drinking the drink of tears? How about laughing enemies? Here is a picture of God: the Good Shepherd enthroned on cherubim shining forth. People calling to their shepherd, "Stir up your might! Come and save us! Make your face shine on us." A call to the Shepherd, not the soldier...never noticed that before.
Romans 1:1-7 The season of advent is full of Old Testament prophecy. The Christmas story, the Easter Story- full of Old Testament prophecy. What is prophecy? Have you or your kids ever watched God bring His Word to pass? What was that like? What was it like for people around Jesus? The passage starts about Paul & prophecy. It ends up being about Jesus.
Matthew 1:18-25 Here is more of Mary's story and that of a very gracious man, apparently sensitive to the spirit of God as Mary was. It seems God sovereignly chose them. Imagine. Mary & Joseph believed God. How did they know it was Him? I don't know. We all assume they just knew. If I remember right the scriptures say that every word of the Lord - if it is the Word of the Lord -comes to pass...a season of odd happenings, prophecy fullfilled, answered prayer & God's face shining.
...Looking for kids...
Isaiah 7:10-16 We think about the miracle of the virgin birth, the promise of God fullfilled. I think about an unwed teen mother and the range of emotion she must have experienced. Mary called her son Immanuel "God with us."
At what age are kids old enough to refuse evil and choose good?An interesting point of reference... Is it cultural?
Psalm 80:1-7, 17-19
How long will you be angry O Lord? Let your face shine. I don't really think about God that way, the God with the shining face. What does that look like to kids? People with shining faces? What makes somebody's face shine? Do you have kids who know about eating the bread and drinking the drink of tears? How about laughing enemies? Here is a picture of God: the Good Shepherd enthroned on cherubim shining forth. People calling to their shepherd, "Stir up your might! Come and save us! Make your face shine on us." A call to the Shepherd, not the soldier...never noticed that before.
Romans 1:1-7 The season of advent is full of Old Testament prophecy. The Christmas story, the Easter Story- full of Old Testament prophecy. What is prophecy? Have you or your kids ever watched God bring His Word to pass? What was that like? What was it like for people around Jesus? The passage starts about Paul & prophecy. It ends up being about Jesus.
Matthew 1:18-25 Here is more of Mary's story and that of a very gracious man, apparently sensitive to the spirit of God as Mary was. It seems God sovereignly chose them. Imagine. Mary & Joseph believed God. How did they know it was Him? I don't know. We all assume they just knew. If I remember right the scriptures say that every word of the Lord - if it is the Word of the Lord -comes to pass...a season of odd happenings, prophecy fullfilled, answered prayer & God's face shining.
Monday, December 13, 2010
An image for you. My daughter recently had opportunity to introduce my sister at a Women's Christmas Tea. My sister is a nurse, single. She finds ways to give to people. She's done a lot of misssionary work over the years. Now she's looking out for & caring for my parents. My sister A was in the Phillipines when my daughter M was born. I was disappointed because I really wanted them to know each other. A moved back and a couple of years ago M had opportunity to live with A for a season. One of the things she said in her introduction was that when she thought of A, she thought of Jesus. When she thought of Jesus, she thought of A. After they finished we told her, there's no higher complement than that. M was surprised but pleased.
People will tell you there's something about holding a real book in your hands. M's a craftsman. She's always been a very tactile, kinesthetic kid. Now, in her free time, she works with fabric and searches out very soft yarns. M said, "When I pick up Aunt A's Bible, the pages are so soft..." Just an image for you before you and your children all go virtual on us...
People will tell you there's something about holding a real book in your hands. M's a craftsman. She's always been a very tactile, kinesthetic kid. Now, in her free time, she works with fabric and searches out very soft yarns. M said, "When I pick up Aunt A's Bible, the pages are so soft..." Just an image for you before you and your children all go virtual on us...
Thursday, December 09, 2010
Pondering lectionary passages
So I pulled some scriptures out of the lectionary and posted them below only because those particular verses jumped out at me for whatever reason or I saw something I hadn't noticed before...
If you use the lectionary in your church or want the fun of using it for devotions. . . This is The Revised Common Lectionary at the Vanderbilt Divinity Library. You'll see the year and the link on the left when you click.
Go looking for kids. You can use Bible stories that tie to the season. You can look for children in the text (reading it in context) or ask where were they? How did these words affect their parents, them, their community? Look for promises to multi-generations. Look for imagery that is particularly appealing to kids or imagery that children can relate to. If children can't relate to the imagery and the ideas are age appropriate, (branches growing from a stump for instance) what can you do to add that experience to your kids so they have a point of reference? Do you see the passages about peace and being teachable? Don't you love the imagery of beating swords into plows and farm tools? Do you know a soldier turned farmer? A tree specialist? Do you know a metal worker?
I'm not talking long and complicated. Think snapshots in a big album, depending on the ages of your kids. Sure it's good to know the family and the stories and back stories that go with the snap shots but as kids grow you share a little more and a little more. And some day the whole picture of their Loved One makes sense.
Enjoy the season!
If you use the lectionary in your church or want the fun of using it for devotions. . . This is The Revised Common Lectionary at the Vanderbilt Divinity Library. You'll see the year and the link on the left when you click.
Go looking for kids. You can use Bible stories that tie to the season. You can look for children in the text (reading it in context) or ask where were they? How did these words affect their parents, them, their community? Look for promises to multi-generations. Look for imagery that is particularly appealing to kids or imagery that children can relate to. If children can't relate to the imagery and the ideas are age appropriate, (branches growing from a stump for instance) what can you do to add that experience to your kids so they have a point of reference? Do you see the passages about peace and being teachable? Don't you love the imagery of beating swords into plows and farm tools? Do you know a soldier turned farmer? A tree specialist? Do you know a metal worker?
I'm not talking long and complicated. Think snapshots in a big album, depending on the ages of your kids. Sure it's good to know the family and the stories and back stories that go with the snap shots but as kids grow you share a little more and a little more. And some day the whole picture of their Loved One makes sense.
Enjoy the season!
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