Listen, O Israel! The Lord is our God, the Lord alone. And you must love the Lord your God with all your heart, all your soul, and all your strength (Deuteronomy 6:4). “Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.” This is...
“Go therefore and make disciples.” - Matthew 28:19 The call to make disciples isn’t a new one. It is as ancient as the Christian faith, given by Christ Himself before His ascension into Heaven. The journey of a disciple isn’t a new phenomenon. Christian Scripture and...
Editor's Note: This post was originaly published in March of 2016. We're republishing it now to be a resource in these times of social distancing. The final weeks leading up to Easter are a wonderful time for families to gather around the Bible and consider the...
This month, families and friends across the United States will gather to share a meal, to enjoy one another’s presence, and to celebrate and give thanks for the blessings we corporately and individually share. Community, the gathering together of people, will be at...
I often get asked the question, “What ministry conference do you recommend?” I’ve been to quite a few! As a church planter, I’ve done that round of conferences. As a children’s ministry director, I was able to attend quite a few focused on that area as well as those...
The other day, my kids broke a glass in the living room. We immediately sprang into action, protecting bare feet, sweeping up broken pieces, vacuuming up the tiny shards, and mopping up the ones we couldn’t see. To the best of our ability, we cleaned up the mess....
I got down on my knees in front of her, her eyes locked on mine in anticipation of what I was about to say. She didn’t know what was coming—after all, it was children’s church and I had singled her out in front of everyone. There was a hint of trepidation in her...
It’s Christmas Time! Oh, how we love to tell the Christmas story. We share it in pageants and cantatas; we read it in bedtime stories and Advent prayers, we sing it in carols and choirs. What a beautiful story it is of Love sent down, of Joy proclaimed and of Peace...
Whenever I’m faced with a big project, I try to approach it in pieces. I break it down into doable parts and work my way towards finishing the whole. When I heard Dr. Richard Ross speak at D6 Conference, I couldn’t help but think that what he shared was basically the...
Since 1900, the average life span of an American has increased by 33 years. 33 years. Why does this matter in ministry? More specifically how does this matter to family ministry? I heard this interesting fact this week at D6 Conference in Dallas (where,...
Today, as we were listening to the sermon at church, my 6-year-old son heard the speaker say the word “sin.” I whispered in his ear and asked him if he knew what sin was. Now we’ve had many discussions about the basics of the gospel, including sin, but I wanted to...
What does it mean to “welcome” a child? Then they came to Capernaum. While Jesus was in the house, He asked them, “What were you discussing on the way?” But they were silent, for on the way they had been arguing with each other which of them was the greatest. Sitting...