Parents, Grandparents, & Our Primary Job Description

It has almost been six months since the start of covid quarantine and social distancing. While there are churches which have re-started church services, most churches have not re-started their ministry for children and youth. Six months without the opportunity for the children in our church to connect with other adults who teach them what we are and with friends who love Jesus. Six months without learning more from the Bible and being encouraged to have a confident faith. 

Do the Most Important Thing - Hand Down Confident Faith

Do you know what a Cassowary is? Have you ever heard of a Sun Bear, Sunflower Sea Star, or an Archerfish? What do you know about Pangolins? These five animals, and seven more, are included in my new book - Eyelash Vipers, Pygmy Elephants, Pangolins & More! and not only will you be able to use this book to share full-color photos of the animals and fun facts about them with your grandchildren, but you will also learn how each of these animals were designed "just right" to have the things they needed to be able to survive. When you share these things with the children you love, you will be able to show them "why" they are able to believe in God - the Designer - with confidence.

If we are serious about handing down the faith, we need to share with the children we love not only what to believe (although this is important), but also why they are able to believe with confidence. The day will come when they will be faced with people who do not believe. If we have not equipped them with the "whys" for their faith, the ones we love may join the increasing numbers of young adults who walk away from their faith. It is vital for us to teach our grandchildren and children the "whys" - and this book will help you do so.

Look what people are saying about this book . . .

Hand Down a Confident Faith with "Eyelash Vipers, Pygmy Elephants, Pangolins & More!"

Today I am very happy to let you know about a new book - Eyelash Vipers, Pygmy Elephants, Pangolins & More! This book is the second book in the new "Life on the 'Goldilocks Planet'" series and will equip you to hand down a confident faith to the children you love. It is available on Amazon at this link and in our bookstore at this link. If you order it through our bookstore, you will save a couple dollars and will receive an autographed copy.

This book will equip you to engage your grandchildren, have a great time learning about the amazing world around us, and see how God's design is everywhere we look - and shows us why we are able to believe He is real! I am so humbled and thankful for this endorsement from Tim & Darcy Kimmel for my new book series - they said . . .

Top Three Reasons to Leave Children's Ministry

If you are serving in a Children's Ministry where you love what you do, love the people with whom you work, and can not see yourself ever leaving, this post may leave you thinking; "There could never be a reason I'd leave Children's Ministry!"

If you are serving in a Children's Ministry where you are not supported and it is a struggle to go to work, but you think it would be wrong to quit; you may look at this post and wonder if there could really be even one reason to leave Children's Ministry.

Well, I've been in both places and after 45 years in Children's Ministry, I am here today to tell you there are reasons to leave Children's Ministry and am sharing with you what I see as the top three reasons to do so.

What is the Job of Your Church?

I'm going to say something which may surprise you; it is NOT your church's job to hand confident faith to children. If you look throughout Scripture you will see God's best plan for the handing down of confident faith is for grandparents and parents to be the people who hand it to the children He has given to them. When both sets of grandparents and the parents team up to hand down confident faith, they are powerfully effective and are able to make a strong impact on the children they love.

Equip Families to Hand Down a Confident Faith

June 2015 in a town not far from where I live, a tornado hit; four churches in this small community were seriously damaged. One church was 160 years old. The members of this church were understandably quite dismayed and disheartened to see the significant damage to their church. However; their sadness turned to rejoicing a couple months later when the builders who began the work to rebuild brought them shocking news. As these builders surveyed the damage and began the work, they discovered nothing was holding up the floor of this old church building. The years had taken their toll and unbeknownst to the church members, their church floor was unsupported and about to collapse. The tornado actually saved them.

Connect with Children & Families - Equip them During Covid & Beyond

At all times, but especially now with covid changing so much about how churches connect with families/children, we need to be focused upon equipping parents/ grandparents so they are able to hand down the faith and teach the "whys" - why we are able to believe God is real and trust Him with confidence - at home. If you ask the parents and grandparents if they are handing down the faith and teaching the "whys" for a confident faith, they will likely mostly say no. But it isn't because they don't want to do this - most often it is because they do not know how to engage the children they love and connect with them in meaningful and memorable ways.

Lay the Foundation AND Teach the "Whys" - It Matters

More and more often we hear and read about leaders in the church around the world who are renouncing their faith. And not just leaders in the church around the world, but many of us have children, grandchildren, siblings who have turned from a walk with God. What is happening?

I read a post on Cogent Christianity which made me think. George Brahm said; "Most of us have attended churches where apologetics is never an issue of focus. And what Marty’s case reveals is that a lack of apologetics-training in the local church can often be what causes a young person to apostatize, either when they are still young or later in the future." He goes on to say we tend to tell children what to believe, but do not ever tell them "why" they not only "should" believe it, but "why" it is the truth. Take a few minutes to follow the link above and read this article.