Life2gether

Stephanie Carmichael, writing for Matthias Media:

Teach all the time: Young children live in the moment. Help them to learn in the moment by making the most of opportunities as they arise. Talk about God in the day-to-day things you are doing.

Teach at a special time: Try to set aside a special time to read about God. Prepare for this time. If you are going to read the Bible, think about what you will read and how to simplify and explain it.

Questions and answers: Listen to your children’s questions, and give quality time to answering them. But also ask them questions about what you’ve been trying to teach to check they have understood.

Teach through your life: You are a living example (or visual aid) of someone who loves God. Set a faithful example of dependence on God and let them see you reading the Bible for yourself.

Be prayerful: Like adults, children need God’s help to grow in Christ and they can learn to pray. So pray for them and pray simple prayers with them (e.g. “sorry God that we…”, “thank you God for…”, “God, please help…”).

Be simple: Young children are not abstract thinkers so be literal and concrete. Use real examples where possible (eg. God made this flower). Use simple vocabulary that they can understand. Avoid jargon.

Be specific: Move from the specific (God loves Ben) to the general (God loves everyone). Use lots of familiar examples so that they can understand.

Repeat and repeat again: You might get tired of saying it, but remember young children thrive on repetition.

Be thankful: Approach God with thankfulness. Model to your children how we can thank God in various situations and what we can thank God for.

Be visual: Young children learn through their eyes as well as their ears. Use pictures, visual aids, picture books etc.

**MORE teaching tips for those who teach preschool or any age

Divorce affects the lives of so many children in our society today, but how can the church respond?  I appreciate Wayne Stocks and his heart to help hurting children and their families through his new website called divorceministry4kids.com. Here’s why he started the website:

Since 1972, over 1,000,000 kids each year have joined the ranks of the children of divorce. These kids face struggles which are very unique and very real. And, unfortunately, many of our churches are ill-equipped to deal with the special needs of this growing segment of their congregations. Whether they worry about addressing the issue of divorce for fear of alienating their congregations, pretend that the problem simply does not exist, or simply fail to recognize the magnitude of the issue, many churches are ill-equipped to deal with, or minister to, children of divorce.

Read the rest … and check out Tony Kummer’s podcast with Wayne about the website

I’ve mentioned God’s Kid Worship CD’s before, but they keep coming out with more and more cool resources for kids!

Crossway Blog:

We’re proud to announce the release of The Big Picture Story Bible eBook with Read-Aloud (available only in itunes/ibookstore).

Originally released in 2004, The Big Picture Story Bible by David R. Helm and Gail Shoonmaker received such positive feedback that a companion audio CD was released in 2010. Now the two have been joined! When purchased for the iPad in the itunes/iBookstore readers can follow along as the book reads itself!

By synchronizing the pre-recorded audio track with the written text of our book, God’s big picture is literally illuminated as the words light up in sync with the narrator’s voice. We know that your children will love this easy and fun new way to read a classic book on your family’s iPad. Click here to download your copy today ($12.99).

Here’s how it works…

Read the rest.

(HT: Z)

Tony Kummer, from ministry-to-children.com, recently asked me to respond to the problem of over-churched kids. By over-churched kids, he means kids with too much religion and not enough actual interaction with Jesus. This is a relevant issue for pastors’ kids. My short answer is that we must model the gospel to our kids and get them on mission early as a church family.

• Check out a few other video responses to the question here
• Read Tony’s 9 Strategies for Reaching Over-Churched Kids

I deleted my initial post on the book, Heaven is for Real, because I felt it was more appropriate for my wife to give her input since she actually read it. After reading Greg Thornbury’s post on the book, she had a different take so I encouraged her to share her thoughts below:

When given a copy of this book, I was prepared to have several critiques, but the opposite happened.  I felt the author did an excellent job of telling his son’s story without appearing to be exploiting him for money or fame.  While still not 100% convinced that Colton (the little boy from the story) went to heaven and back, I am convinced that this family loves Jesus and wants others to know Him.  Upon finishing the book, I recommended it to both believers and unbelievers (who I knew I would follow up with). I think it’s a great conversation starter and a pointer to the Bible, not a detractor from it.  I wouldn’t build my theology on it, but I thought about heaven more.  I know of another person who searched out Scripture passages on heaven after reading this book.  And I don’t think that the high volume of sales says anything other than we live in a fallen world.  People are curious.  Most people are looking for hope and a quick fix.  They want to hear heaven is real, but most want it to be for everyone.  This book clearly states that it is for those who have a relationship with Jesus Christ. The Jesus Christ of the Bible to which this book points.

If you’re like me, you love the Seeds Family Worship CD’s. Here’s a simple idea for the summer. As you play the CD’s in your home, your car, outside in the backyard, etc. why not challenge your whole family to memorize a few of them together. Seeds has provided these helpful memory cards that go along with each of the CD’s.  So print them off, put them on your fridge, dinner table, bathroom mirror, etc. and memorize some verses as a family this summer!

One more thing … your kids can keep track of the ones they’ve memorized with this helpful checklist as well.

Jared Kennedy, Family Pastor @ Sojourn Church:

What is the Church? is Sojourn’s second children’s book, written by Mandy Groce and Bill Bell.   What Is The Church? was written to teach preschool children that the church is not a building. It is a people that God has called together and made alive by faith.  Unlike other books on the church, this book does not answer the question by first telling about the activities that the church does (gathering, preaching, communion, baptism, counseling, discipline)–although those things are essential marks of the church and they should not be ignored.  Instead, this book begins with who God’s people are–recognizing that the church’s activity results from its identity.  When we call children to be a part of the church, we are calling them to be a part of a gospel people.  And, as a gospel people, the church is a believing family, a community of missionaries, servants, learners, and worshipers.  At Sojourn, we call our people to stop going to church and to start being the church. Once God’s people know who they are, we can challenge them to be who they are.  In other words, we call them to live as the people that God has made them to be.

We are pleased to announce that the book will soon be published by Christian Focus Publications.  The projected date for publication is July 2011.  You can pre-order now at their website.

Over at ministry-to-children.com, you can check out a children’s bible lesson I wrote awhile back based on J.C. Ryle’s sermon for children called, No More Crying.  This sermon and other addresses to children can be found in the book, The Two Bears, (Grace and Truth Books, 2004).

The lesson is shaped around “3 places” which kids (and parents) will easily remember:

I like these videos of the Easter Story (taken from this website) that walk through the Book of Mark:

1. Jesus on the Cross (Mark 15:22-32)
2. The Death of Jesus (Mark 15:33-39)
3. Jesus is Alive (Mark 16:1-7)