Pastor Drew's Blog

Drew is moving His blog

2010-10-05T20:24:00.002-04:00

I have decided to move all my "stuff" to one place, and the best way to do that was to combine my blog with my web site. So in order to be more efficient and to have more control over what I can do with the blog, I have moved everything to;

www.drewboswell.com I hope to see you there and let me know what you think about the move.

God bless and thanks for reading.

A Path Toward Making A Difference

2010-10-04T11:04:00.003-04:00

A Path Toward Making A Difference
Nehemiah 1

Let’s go through the first chapter of Nehemiah as a quick devotion together. First go ahead and read the text.

1:1 The words of Nehemiah the son of Hacaliah. Now it happened in the month of Chislev, in the twentieth year, as I was in Susa the capital, 2 that Hanani, one of my brothers, came with certain men from Judah. And I asked them concerning the Jews who escaped, who had survived the exile, and concerning Jerusalem. 3 And they said to me, “The remnant there in the province who had survived the exile is in great trouble and shame. The wall of Jerusalem is broken down, and its gates are destroyed by fire.” 4 As soon as I heard these words I sat down and wept and mourned for days, and I continued fasting and praying before the God of heaven. 5 And I said, “O Lord God of heaven, the great and awesome God who keeps covenant and steadfast love with those who love him and keep his commandments, 6 let your ear be attentive and your eyes open, to hear the prayer of your servant that I now pray before you day and night for the people of Israel your servants, confessing the sins of the people of Israel, which we have sinned against you. Even I and my father's house have sinned. 7 We have acted very corruptly against you and have not kept the commandments, the statutes, and the rules that you commanded your servant Moses. 8 Remember the word that you commanded your servant Moses, saying, ‘If you are unfaithful, I will scatter you among the peoples, 9 but if you return to me and keep my commandments and do them, though your outcasts are in the uttermost parts of heaven, from there I will gather them and bring them to the place that I have chosen, to make my name dwell there.’ 10 They are your servants and your people, whom you have redeemed by your great power and by your strong hand. 11 O Lord, let your ear be attentive to the prayer of your servant, and to the prayer of your servants who delight to fear your name, and give success to your servant today, and grant him mercy in the sight of this man.”
Now I was cupbearer to the king. (ESV)

Nehemiah receives word from his brothers that Jerusalem was destroyed, and his response was brokenness over its condition. But this was not a new occurrence; it had sat this way for over a hundred years. His brothers bring him the news (again this was not “current events.”) and they also seem to upset – so our first question is why are they upset about something that has been that way for a long time and doesn’t really affect Nehemiah?

His response to the news is brokenness over the condition of the land, his own sin, and the sin of the people as a whole. He goes on to quote Scripture (vv.8-9) that says , if they turn from their sin their land could be restored and they could return. So what’s keeping the land in it’s current condition and their own exile was how they viewed their own sin.

He begins with consistent prayer, and the prayer is one of confession (v. 7). He recognizes that his sin (and the sin of the people) have caused them to be “scattered” v.8. He prays specifically for the meeting with the king.

So what do we see here? Nehemiah (and his brothers) is aware of his own sin and then repents. Then his eyes are opened to the spiritual condition of things around him. He can then “see” the condition of how the people are living, and it then breaks his heart. So what keeps us “blind?” – our sin. When we deal with the sin in our lives, we are then able to see the world in a different way.

What was the spiritual condition of Nehemiah’s brothers? They “see” the issue first, and they bring it to their brother’s attention. God then uses Nehemiah to lead an effort to rebuild the city (and it’s walls in 52 days!)

So let’s look at it graphically: (because I am a visual learner):

(1) Information Received (visit from family)

(2) Broken (made aware of his own and other’s sinful condition)

• Recognition of who God is (v. 5)
• Confession of sin – the condition of man (v.6)
• A trust/reliance upon God’s Word (v. 8)

(3) Praying in faith the truths from Scripture

(4) Development of a plan (over days of praying)
• Nehemiah’s plan begins by talking with the king about his condition and the condition of his people.

(5) The (first) meeting
• God works in the king’s heart to assist Nehemiah in the rebuilding project. It is always God’s heart to “rebuild” people’s lives and restore them to a proper relationship with Him. But we have to go through a process of dealing with our sin, and realizing that His ways are always best.

Big Idea from Chapter One: It is God in His grace that makes us aware of our sinful condition and the need for change. He promises us in His Word that if we change, he will put us back on a redemptive path (see Psalm 51, and Ezekiel 18). When we deal with sin our eyes will become open to things we have never “seen” or cared for before. When we pray and fast God will show us what to do. Then we step out in faith.

May javascript:void(0)God bless your journey with Him, step out and do something great today.

Isaac's Photo Adventure

2010-09-28T09:41:00.003-04:00

Created with Admarket's flickrSLiDR.

A couple weeks ago Kimberly lost her camera. She had taken it outside to the garage during a yard sale at our home but she was sure that she had brought it inside and had taken it with her to the basement. We both looked all over the house but had essentially given up. I was sure that once we cleaned the basement we would find. So we went on with our lives.

A few days later, Isaac was sitting on the couch and had pulled it out from one of the cushions and was playing with it – but was not able to hide it again once we saw him with it.

While we were not looking he was going around and taking pictures, and then hiding the camera again. He did this with peanut butter m&ms a few months ago. He kept breaking out with a rash (because he is allergic) and we could not find out why – until we found his stash of candy.

So the pictures above are his photos, enjoy. He definitely has his own style.

Life Changing Opportunities

2010-09-20T11:06:00.005-04:00

Kimberly went to Orphanage Emmanuel last year and I could tell it really was a meaningful and spiritually revitalizing time in her life. Upon her return she said that I had to go next year and I was very reluctant to say the least. I did not want to take away from her experience but I had no desire to go – I was dealing with comments in my mind like, “it just about broke us to pay for her trip, how could we both go?” and “How would we take care of the kids?” and on top of all that I knew that if I went, I would probably be “hooked” too.

The last thing I wanted was to fall in love with hundreds of children, and then have to leave them. So I stuffed the thoughts deep in my brain, and Kimberly started praying. Well a year rolled around, Kimberly started raising money so she (we) could go and sure enough, she raised her amount so that it didn’t break us for her to go again.

Then the dreaded phone call came – the pastor who had planned to go had backed out for personal reasons and all eyes seemed to roll on to me. I said, “I couldn’t get my passport soon enough (I did). I couldn’t afford to go (turns out it was already paid for.) Great, they needed a pastor, it was paid for, and Kimberly’s prayers had been answered.

So I went, and the trip was amazing. I had never traveled over-seas, so I was introduced to the Honduran poverty and corruption, but far more importantly I was introduced to a ministry that is truly making a difference in the lives of hundreds of children and has done so for over twenty years.

I could have “knuckled-down” and refused to go, but that would have been going against all the evidence that God had worked it out for me to go (in spite of me). I also, would have missed a spiritually rejuvenating experience that comes once every decade or so. God wanted me to “go,” because he was going to use me to minister in His name, and he wanted to move in my heart; to change a piece that was beginning to grow cold and hard.

After over a decade of pastoring God in mercy would not let me become bitter, hardened, cold, and sarcastic. He renewed my hope (not in Him, for He is always faithful) in myself. When the world falls down around us, we begin to feel crushed, that is when God reaches down and pulls us from the rubble and says, let’s build. And he begins the building process in our hearts. If this is how you feel, then look around; there is more than likely someone praying for you, and His hand may be reaching out to you. I am thankful for the gifts of God, my wife and His providence.

We Make Life So Complicated

2010-09-13T12:01:00.002-04:00

I have had several people ask me about Kimberly and my recent mission trip to Honduras. I had intended to journal while I was there but due to poor internet connection and a busy schedule I was unable to do so. And to be honest the experience was so emotionally overwhelming that my entries would have been trite and dishonest (only because I would be writing something just to get something out). I was asked by others on the team what I thought about the experience while we were on the field and I honestly could not adequately explain in a few words the emotions and feeling I was experiencing. I really can’t describe (this coming from a person who communicates for a living) what it was like, but I can put the feelings into the form of a few stories. So the next series of entries will be me trying to share a life changing experience with you.

I will begin by telling you of my experience of the toddler house. The children at Orphanage Emmanuel are divided into age groups and gender, but the youngest children have the boys and girls together, where they live in age graded housing. Kimberly and I on this particular morning were serving in the clinic (due to an outbreak of chicken pox) and because of fever and diarrhea the clinic was running low on diapers. So I was sent to the Toddler House to get some more and bring them back to the clinic.

As I approached the Toddler House I was first amazed at how orderly and clean everything was. All of the clothes were folded and sorted by color, and then stacked into cabinets. There were about six older girls from the orphanage who were helping a staff member. I approached the woman in charge of the home and explained why I was there and she began to talk with the other girls about where to get the diapers, and was giving them instructions. It was at this time when the children there became aware of my presence.

They all began to rush me, hugging my leg, pulling on my hands, pulling on shirt, and all speaking Spanish. I couldn’t understand their words but I understood their hearts. These children wanted me to hold them, hug them, touch them, just love them. I began to think about my three year old son Isaac. What if he were here, and had no mother, no father, no one to tell him how wonderful he is.

It was as if the air around me began to get thick, and I felt my heart in my throat. As they were pulling me I began to weep. All of these children, and all they want is someone to hug them, smile at them, hold their hand, and tell them that they are loved. The staff love them, but they are only a hand full in comparison to 415 orphans, and their focus is on clothing, preparing meals, organizing their day, etc. . . They need volunteer teams to come in and to love the children. So, my job for 10 days was to simply love children.

The first thing that I came to realize was that I went to Honduras to simply love, hug, smile at, and hold hands with children. My background is that of an organizer and “fixer.” I work at the executive level of a church -- I put out fires, and deal with problems. In Honduras there was nothing for me to “do” but love children. This filled my heart with joy like nothing I have done in a long time. We make life so complicated, there it became very clear and uncomplicated. God said to me, “Drew, just love the children.” Even now this brings tears to my eyes. Just love the children.

For All of You Back-to School People Out There

2010-09-12T15:31:00.001-04:00

Preaching From an iPad

2010-09-05T22:01:00.006-04:00

I had some PC friends as they left the church service today just shook their heads with disgust. Not only have I switched from PCs to Macs but I am quickly becoming zealous. After all, if you are going to do something then be obsessive about it, right? My friends were shaking their heads in disgust because not only have I purchased an ipad, but I was actually preaching from it. So this is a quick blog entry for anyone out there who gives presentations and is considering using an ipad for that purpose.

Out of the box it quickly connects with a wi-fi source and everything (just about) has to be done through itunes wirelessly. So in order to get my word documents from my Macbook Pro to the Ipad I had to set up a Drop Box account (online data storage) and pull it down when I need it. The drawback is that you can not edit it, only view it. But it automatically resizes the document to fit the screen and you can do some fine adjustment with your fingers on the screen. So today it worked really well. There are other apps available -- Evernote, for example. But after looking around I like Dropbox the best. Also, you can not store Word documents on it (as far as I can tell), so you have to have internet access at the location where you will give your presentation. This is becoming less and less of an issue as time goes by.

My immediate issue is that after about 2-3 minutes of me talking (and not touching it) it cut off. This is nerve wracking for a presenter (or preacher) who is heavily dependent upon notes, only to lose them. No amount of touching the screen will turn it back on. You have to touch the "on" button and go through the process of opening it up again. This happened three times while I was preaching. So this week I will see if there are any apps (like Caffeine), that will keep it awake.

I also have seen some nice looking ipad "pulpits." But instead of spending the $600-800, I am going to attempt to make one myself.

9-7-10
I have discovered on the "settings" and under general you can set the power down time to "never." this should deal with the lost notes mentioned earlier.

Broken

2010-09-05T21:23:00.009-04:00

Today in our church service at Daybreak Community Church we introduced a new sermon series entitled “Consequences.” It is a journey through the book of Lamentations. The book of Lamentations is not a warning not to sin, but it tells us how to deal with the consequences of our sin once they lay upon us as “a yoke.” It was written by a person (I believe it to be Jeremiah) who had gone though “the Day of the Lord,” and lived to write about it.

We discussed how God’s people became aware of their condition and how it was brought upon them by their sin. We also said that they were remembering what life as like when they had the favor of God and His blessings) which were now distant objects in their rear view mirrors. How many times have we ever asked the question, "Why did I do that?" So in Lamentations 1 they begin to cry out to God and recognize their condition was brought on by their own rebelliousness and that their only hope of a different life was God and his grace poured out upon them.

Everyone has sinned in such a way that they have some consequence that they now live with. Sometimes this consequence is more readily visible than others. Some may not be able to readily hide their consequence. For others, they may dream horrible dreams, have panic attacks, or some other condition brought on because of the consequence they carry.

We discussed how God’s people were broken over their sin. In Lamentations 1:20 they say, “Look, O Lord, for I am in distress; my stomach churns; my heart is wrung within me, because I have been very rebellious.”

So what does it mean to be broken over our sin?

1. To stop playing games with God. There are so many games that people play with God. False repentance, emotional outcries that are void of any heart change, asking for forgiveness knowing that in a matter of hours the sin will be repeated, etc… But in this passage the judgment has fallen upon them and they are done with playing games. Read the passage and see if there is any hint of being “religious.” They are far from playing religious games with God, they desperately want the weight of their sin to be lifted and for something to be done about the condition they find their lives in.

2. They are crying out to God and have stopped trying to get help from other places. In chapter one they go to their false gods (called “lovers”) and those false gods rejected them. They have fallen so far that no one around them respects them or in any way wants to help them. The “gods” they had left God for, now reject them. Their only hope is for God to have mercy upon them. We are truly broken over our sin when we realize that there is no help anywhere but in God alone.

3. They acknowledge that their hearts are broken over their sin, how they have grieved God and now cry out for His mercy. In the story of Jacob in Genesis 32:22 ff helps us to better understand being broken over our sin. (go ahead read it). Because of this encounter with God, Jacob would always walk with a limp for the rest of his life. Every step would remind him of how he had seen God face-to-face and God had spared his life.

This handicap would always remind him, with every step he took, of his rebellion and God’s grace. Jacob had broken his life to pieces – he betrayed his father, his brother, and left his mother. He had several wives and they hated each other. His life was a mess. So God meets him in the desert, and wrestles with him.

Jacob recognizes that God has met him there, so he refuses to let God go, until he blesses him. Jacob’s life forever changes in that all night wrestling match because he was broken. Do you realize how you have broken your life to pieces? (We all have, it’s not a secret). Do you know that there is a gracious and loving God who loves you enough to break you?

God’s people in Lamentations one, when they say “I have been very rebellious” are agreeing with God over the condition of their sin and they are crying out for mercy and grace from God. They are not playing game (asking for forgiveness knowing in a few moments they would do it again) – instead they were broken over what they had done, and were pleading with God for His grace.

Mission Trip to Orphanage Emmanuel, Honduras

2010-08-31T23:58:00.000-04:00

Testing iPad app to social media sites

2010-08-14T22:26:00.001-04:00

I am testing my iPad to see if I can write entries from anywhere, even without my laptop. Let's see how it goes.

- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone

Books I Am Reading

2010-08-09T10:18:00.007-04:00

I am in the middle of both of these books right now. I would highly recommend both of them (presuming there is not some kind of wild heresy at the end of the book). I was attracted to Phil Vischer's book, Me Myself, and Bob a few weeks back when I watched his new series of kid's videos called JellyTellys. A friend found the book at Ollie's and gave it to me. Upon hearing about the nugget of gold I went hunting at Ollie's myself and found Andy Stanley's book Principle of the Path.

"I'm Exhausted!"

2010-08-06T15:27:00.006-04:00

We dropped the kids off at McDonald’s at the FSK mall today and the boys and I headed home. It was an intense week of Camp (Centrikid) and we are all very tired. But it’s a “good tired.” You know the kind after you have helped the old lady across the street fix her porch and it took you all day, or serving in a soup kitchen and it emotionally drained you, or swimming to save a child from drowning in the ocean and you struggled to keep your own head above the water.

Anyway, the kids are tired and the leaders are tired (especially me) and the staff of Centrikid are tired. They have traveled all over the southeast for thirteen weeks, and this was their final week. They didn’t show it, and they gave all they had for the kids – but even twenty-somethings get tired (and sick – right Daniel?).

In ministry there are several myths that I have seen that smart and hard working people tend to buy into. Let’s look at three real quick:

1) You should always be tired; you can rest when you go to heaven.

These are the people who are up at 4am (without coffee), work constantly all day, are constantly beginning new initiatives, and have to force themselves into bed in the early hours of morning. They feel guilty if they take a nap or even a vacation. After all, there are still mountains to climb, souls to save, revolutions to begin, etc. . .

The truth is that if you don’t rest and sleep properly then you will go to meet your Creator sooner as opposed to later. Tiredness directly affects your ability to make the best decisions, your emotional quotient, and your health. If you allow your body to rest, then you are able to accomplish more than if you make a series of mistakes that you have to “fix” because you made them while you were exhausted.

2) You should keep the same pace as the leader across town.

Let’s face it, there are some people who only need four hours of sleep and can stay mentally focused the other twenty hours that they are working. But, that’s just not me. I am thirty-six and have come to realize that I need eight hours of sleep, and I need mental breaks through out the day. My kids also need me to spend time with them, oh, and my wife really appreciates it when I spend time with her as well.

The guy across town who is keeping a “break-neck” pace may be on the verge on a mental break-down, his marriage may be falling apart, and his kids may hate him – but man look at what he’s getting accomplished! When we compare ourselves to the guy across town we will never know all the information we need to make a proper comparison. Even if he/she has managed to keep it all balanced shouldn’t we celebrate what God is doing with them, instead of trying to show ourselves better than they are?

Wisdom tells us to know ourselves, and to obey Christ in the position and place that He has placed us. It’s ok to slow down, spend time with your family, and still be able to work hard. The work you accomplish will be of better quality and you will still have those loved ones around you as you go.

3) You should keep the same pace your whole life.

Ok, I already mentioned that I was thirty-six, so when it was time for the campers to go to bed at 10pm – I made them go to bed at 10pm. I was tired and grew increasingly grumpy as the minutes winded past 10pm. In the years past, I probably would have lead an expedition to the Coke machine, a secret splash in the pool, or just to run around in the open fields, finding my way into a bed way past midnight.

But I’m not twenty-something anymore. But who cares, I have much more wisdom now, then in my twenties (at least I hope so). At each stage of life there are pluses and minuses. Wisdom is knowing what your weaknesses are and leveraging your strengths. As you get older it’s ok to slow down and rest – but make sure that you use your rested self in pursuits that are of value.

There was no one on the Centrikid staff over twenty-five (as camp pastor he was the elder). But it was their youth that added exuberance and excitement to the camp that the children fed on like the sugar coated “Nerds” sold in the camp store. But if you looked through the crowd most of the adult leaders who brought the kids were over thirty-five. So there was a good balance of generations using their giftedness and abilities to minister to children. One was not better than the other; both played a very important part.

So I’m going to try and get some rest before my next big adventure. So if you call you may get the machine, and if you facebook it may be a couple of days before I respond. Just know that I may be getting geared up for the next ministry opportunity.

Centrikid Cardboard Regatta

2010-08-04T13:57:00.005-04:00

Tuesday's highlight was the cardboard ship regatta. Churches working together built a ship out of duct tape, cardboard, and as much engineering as nine-years-olds can muster.

Caleb was chosen as the captain because of his mastery of the sea (not really it was because of his size), and I was elected to build it as close to the children's drawings as possible. The boys talked into the night about what the design should be like -- we ended up having to cut the front chain saw and and upper decks.

We were the fifth heat, so they had saved the fastest to the last (fastest to the bottom). We positioned our ship built in twenty minutes in the pool and on five-four-three-two-one I lowered him into the ship. After one mighty stroke it pitched forward throwing Caleb out and it sunk like a stone. Caleb being a master of the sea, grabbed it off the bottom and swam the length of the pool with it in tow.

The team cheered but needless to say there was no trophy given for our speed of design.

You can see more pictures at this link.

Daybreak Kids at Centrikid

2010-08-03T09:25:00.003-04:00

The Daybreak kids are at Centrikid this week. This is a Southern Baptist Camp that is designed just for kids and is a five day experience that encourages children to live for Jesus and asks them the question, "In light of who God is, how should I then live?" In the pictures to left, Elise P. was chosen from our group to participate in the "Party" which is a large group game time. She did awesome, but was scared to death to be in front of hundreds of kids performing a cup relay.

Joshua and Caleb made a new friend (Sam) who is from another church that joined us for the trip.

The day included checking in, swimming (76 degrees – brisk baby!), eating burgers off the grill with all the fix'ns, a short hike, settling into their rooms, Party Time, small group Bible study, and church devotion time. My boys are not used to such a past paced schedule but they love it.

During an adult meeting the leader of the time asked, "What do you want your kids to get from this experience?” Which is a fair question, after all it cost $260 dollars per kid, and many groups traveled from as far as North Carolina. In the break neck speed of life we move from experience to experience, duty, obligation, family stuff, and on and on we go.

Planning and evaluation, even expectation of things to come are very important concepts to consider. The leader above may have been trying to fill time with the adults while our kids were having their “group Bible Study” but I believe she has had asked a very deep question.

With Joshua and Caleb, I want them to have a blast at a “church event.” I want them to see older teens and college aged students leading and living out a solid Christian life. I want them to hear about Jesus to be taught solid doctrine, and to grow to love Jesus more. I want them to be changed – no small task for a camp experience.

Today is their first full day of Centrikid, let’s see how it goes.

From Behind the Clip Board

2010-07-31T11:36:00.002-04:00

The Storm

The opening of day four of Cub Scout Day Camp was like all the others, a flag ceremony, a thought for the day and announcements. On this day there was a call for rain and potential thunderstorms. We were given instructions to follow in the event there was lightening – but I was not listening because several of the boys were wrestling, some were talking, and one was just having a rough morning and was crying for his mother. So I tried to comfort him, stop the wrestling, and maintain control of twenty eight year old boys. Needless to say, I completely missed the announcements – besides right then it was hot and there was no cloud in the sky.

Two hours later, a storm blew up within minutes and all the boys were corralled into a large pavilion to wait out the storm. But before we discuss the storm let me go back to the beginning of the day. Before we leave for our first station all the boys are to line up two-by-two and hold up their buddies hand, and in the other hold up their water bottle. They have to go everywhere with their buddy, and they have to drink water constantly (it was hot).

So let’s back to the storm.

As we huddled into the pavilion the light rain turned into a thunderstorm. Lightening cracked, and thunder boomed – and it was a solid sheet of heavy rain that blew through the open air building. The rain on top of the tin roof drowned out the Camp Director’s shouts as she tried to give instructions. The parents who were with our group, and myself made the boys sit down – next to their buddy. Several of the boys began to cry, all were afraid, and one was even praying. So here we were, cold from the rain, huddled together, hearing the cries of our friends, and surrounded by noise that was terrifying (for an eight year old boy).

The boys began to put their arms around each other comforting and telling each other that it was going to be ok. I held the clipboard and was going through our group trying to make sure we had everyone and that no one was missing. We had everyone, and now we just had to wait out the storm. I was amazed at how the boys who came from different neighborhoods, schools, and walk of life put aside the childish fun making and joking – and began to truly care for each other. There are always a few in any group that seem to just be mean toward others because of how they dress, look, act, etc. but not then. Every boy was scared and sought comfort from and helped out his buddy.

We all have storms that come into our lives – sometimes slowly, often times quickly. But what makes the difference is that we can hold up our buddy’s hand and tell each other that “it’s going to be ok.”

Buddies are important.

H.B. London, head of pastoral ministries for Focus on the Family has disclosed “at least 70 percent of pastors in the United States claim they have no friends.” That means that most pastors who teach on fellowship and community don’t have these things within their own lives. They see the need in the life of others, but aren’t willing to take those steps in their own lives. Why don’t we have a buddy’s hand that we can hold up?

First, many leaders buy into the myth that as the leader they can not show favoritism toward others or it will seem “cliquish” and upset others. Some feel they can’t truly be themselves and relax because they still remain to be “the leader.” For a pastor this means that they are always the spiritual leader and always feel as though they set the example for others to follow. Whatever the reason (true or false) many people find themselves in a storm alone. The thunder booms and the lightening strikes, and they are sacred to death – and there is no comfort.

As a pastor I am supposed to tell you to read your Bible and seek comfort from Christ – but we are also designed by God to need other people in our lives. God created “woman” for “man” in the Garden of Eden. The apostle Paul describes the church as a body – and there is a need for all the parts to work together and to present. There are many more examples of Scripture of where men/mankind need friendships, family, and meaningful relationships.

How Do We Find A Buddy?

1) Assign yourself to a person and stick with them all week.
At Cub Scout Camp all the boys chose a buddy and some (for various reasons) were assigned a buddy. Glen was assigned to Jared. Glen took this responsibility very seriously, but Jared would run off from the group, disrupt the “quiet times” during the flag ceremonies with (let’s just say boys sounds), and it was all around very difficult to be his buddy. On the second day I asked Glen if he wanted to make a buddy group of three with another group of two and I would assign our older Scout helper to be Jared’s buddy. Glen said, “no” he wanted to stay with Jared. And he did all week. Glen put up with a lot of grief – but when the storm on day four hit both were comforted. Jared and Glen needed a buddy. Perhaps, as adults we don’t have one because we bounce from person to person, group to group, when they prove to be difficult to be their buddy.

2) Always stay with your buddy.
The reason why Boy Scouts of America pushes the buddy system so strongly is because of the numerous accounts of where a scouts got lost, drowned, hurt, etc.. because they got turned around and there was no one there to keep account of them. We all need someone there to make sure we are on the right path, going in the right direction, and following the safety rules. Buddies keep us safe, it’s as simple as that. The only way for the buddy system to work is that we have to always stay with our buddy.

3) Be a Good Friend.
It is amazing to me how eight-year-old will go all week playing with and being friends with another boys and never stop to ask their name. There have been several times where my children will go to an event and have a wonderful time, and make several friends. But when I ask them what the other children’s names were, they will typically say, “I never asked.”

But if you watch them play together they are good friends. They share, pat each other on the back, cheer when they do well, say “that’s ok” when they don’t do so well. They open up their hearts and share moments in time together as friends. Adults seem so guarded, and focused on what they get out of the relationship – but kids are there to make a friend and have a great time.

The storm passed and we went on our way. It quickly was forgotten about as we went to Scout Skills and swimming. Parents showed up at the end to pick up their kids, and it wasn’t the storm that they talked about with them, it was the activities that followed.

Cub Scout Day Camp 2010 Part Two

2010-07-31T10:15:00.004-04:00

The last three days of camp included sling shots, dissecting owl pellets, swimming, performing skits, playing games, even more archery, knot tying and much much more. They don't want to admit it, but they are tired. They learned so much and had a great time. It also gets them ahead on earning their "Bear Rank."

Cub Scout Day Camp

2010-07-27T21:30:00.003-04:00

This week Joshua and Caleb have been attending the Cub Scout Day Camp. The theme for this year is "Jungle Book" based on Rudyard Kipling's book (Not Disney's). If you want to read about it click here. Activities include archery, crafts, BBs, sports (kickball, swimming, etc.), sling shots, nature, and "Scout Skills." They have enjoyed the camp, but are really looking forward to earning their "whitl'n chip." This is an award that allows them to carry a pocket knife on their uniforms. The temperature has varied between hot and slightly hot -- but overall "bearable." (They are Bears, sorry for the Cub Scout humor). The boys have made some new friends, learned some new life skills, and are having a blast.

Backyard Adventure Camp Day Three

2010-07-22T21:56:00.003-04:00

Thank you parents for allowing us to share a few evenings with your children. They are so precious and we had a great time. Thank you volunteers for helping, we could not have done it without you.

BYAC 2010

2010-07-21T23:13:00.000-04:00

First Flight Lesson

2010-07-21T23:11:00.001-04:00

sometimes you have to laugh or else you just go crazy

2010-07-13T11:34:00.000-04:00

First Flight Lesson

2010-07-11T22:30:00.009-04:00

So today’s my birthday and Kimberly completely surprised with a wonderful gift. She set up childcare and took me on a surprise “date.” After we finished breaking down and putting away church, dropping the kids off, and grabbing a quick bite for lunch we found ourselves at the Frederick airport.

She had arranged for me to take my first flying lesson (and only lesson

unless we can come up with $8,000). The lesson began with pre-flight training. We went around the plane and checked everything from the air pressure of the tires, to fuel levels, to instruments and various buttons and gadgets.

I learned how to “taxi” the plane to the runway, and the flight instructor actually let me take off, and (almost)

land the plane. Kimberly screamed when we felt the feeling of actual flight upon takeoff. She told me later that she couldn’t see who was actually flying – all she could see were my hands on the yoke. We flew around the Frederick area but to be honest I didn’t do much sight seeing. I was focused on about five things at once (keeping the nose and wings lined up correctly to the horizon, controlling the thrust, and watching for other planes in the area . . .etc. We saw our old town home in Spring Ridge and the Lake Linganore Lake.

It was the coolest thing that I have done in along time – thank you Kimberly (and kids) for a great birthday.

PS-if you are going to take your first flight lesson . . . don't wear flip-flops.

Road Hazards

2010-07-07T21:32:00.002-04:00

Never put the words “uneventful” in a blog/facebook entry before the trip is completely over. On the way back from vacation one hour south of Roanoke, VA (where my wife and her family are from) the van began to spew red liquid, smoke, and would go no further than the gas station we limped into.

The van had begun to make some funny noises that to the untrained mechanics ear sounded “a little funny” but nothing to be concerned about – boy were we wrong. We went into the gas station and asked if a mechanic’s shop was close by and within 20 minutes there was an elderly gentlemen looking under our hood. His news was not good and the quote he gave was $1,500.

We opted to pay him $200 to tow us to Roanoke, VA for Kimberly’s uncle David (aka “Hoo Pop”) gracefully agreed to help us. This kind man also saw our family of six and figured very quickly that we were not all going to climb into his tow truck. So he graciously and without charge offered to let us borrow his brand new extended cab (which I drove) to lead him to Salem, VA where David’s shop is located.

“We”[1] originally thought it was simply low transmission fluid levels, but after changing it and filling it back up as we headed back the next afternoon it began to spew fluid and smoke again. So we headed back to Roanoke and spent the night. David ended up completely pulling out the entire transmission, fixing a leaking “grey seal” and “overdrive belt” located inside.[2] I needed to go back home to work, and Kimberly and the kids stayed for several days until the work was completed (a total of eight days).

Our family is so thankful to God for getting us all back together in one piece and not having to take out a second mortgage on the house to fix Ole’ Blue. Also, we are thankful for family that came to our rescue. David took eight days from his summer vacation to fix our car and we are so thankful for this gracious act of love towards our family.

So the uneventful vacation became eventful -- but what would vacation be if it were only calm, relaxing, and peaceful.

[1] I stood with my hands on my hips peering into the hodgepodge of wires and metallic moving parts trying to act like I knew what these parts were. Nodding in agreement with the prognosis.

[2] I put these things in quotes because I have no idea what they are or what they do.

Communicating Successfully

2010-07-06T23:40:00.002-04:00

One of the greatest challenges many leaders face is effective communication between the leader and those whom he leads. We live in a technological world of constant communication with cell phones, texts, twitter and facebook. We can know what you ate for dinner, but do we know what truly motivates your soul? We understand that you have changed a part of our organization, but do you understand how this change affects my family?

It is difficult to translate a new concept across multiple layers of organization, different ages, life experiences, etc… that includes passion, explanation, vision, and reasons for this “new direction.” Everyone has the ability to take something that is said and add his or her own “understanding” to the communicated items.

So not only does the leader have to communicate an idea, but he must also try and predict how others may respond and adjust the communication accordingly. So as we enter into a discussion regarding communication let’s start with a definition: “Communication is the process we go through to convey understanding from one person or group to another (Genesis 11, Matthew 13:51, Mark 8:13-21.)”

Generally there is a process that one goes through to pass on this understanding:

1. Develop a clear concept of the idea or feeling to be communicated.

2. Choose the right words and actions to convey the idea or feeling.

3. Become aware of the surrounding communication barriers and work at minimizing them.

4. Absorb the transmitted information by listening to the words and observing the actions.

5. Translate the words and actions.

6. Develop correct ideas and/or feelings.

But in any organization there is always the potential or eventual conflict that results from either poorly communicated ideas, or persons who add in too much of their own information to the communication and the end result is conflict.

Organizational Conflict

"Open and hostile opposition occurring as a result of differing viewpoints." It is possible to have a “disagreement” without hostility. But this definition involves hostility. Our focus today will focus on how to deal with conflicts directly resulting from conflicting communication.

Negative Results

• Conflict comes from our own selfish desires and passions (James 4:1)

• Conflict causes us to fabricate and magnify faults and weaknesses in others (Ad Hominem).

• Conflict creates division within the organization (will you participate?)

• Conflict causes us to expend our energies on non-productive activities (Romans 12:18).

Positive Results

• Disagreement can lead to individual and organizational growth (Proverbs 27:17).

• Disagreement can reveal the need for change (Proverbs 18:15).

• Disagreement can help make us more tolerant of opposing views (Proverbs 23:12).

So the business meeting didn’t go the way you thought, you have received an e-mail from an angry person in your organization, or certain people won’t return your phones calls – there it is conflict staring you right in the face. So how do we deal with it?

Methods of Dealing with Conflict

1. Avoid it, retreating from it. You can always just run away.

2. Attempting to avoid it by circumventing major issues and focusing on minor issues. You find yourself saying things like, “we are meeting tonight to discuss the brand name of the toilet paper in the stalls.”

3. Dealing without side issues.

4. Identifying the real issues of the conflict and working your way through them to a satisfactory resolution.

Yes, you guess it – this is the right answer (not the easy answer). It takes experience, spiritual discernment, and understanding of sinful human nature to sometimes identify the “real” issues of the conflict. Believe it or not, people will not always tell you why they are angry (they may not even know why), won’t come to meetings, aren’t returning e-mails, etc… So the challenge is get past the false issues and move into the true root of the conflict.

Scriptural Approach to Confrontation

1. Make Sure that you are dealing with facts, not guesses or hearsay (Deuteronomy 19:15).

2. Always make the initial confrontation in private between you and the person involved (Proverbs 25:9-10; Matthew 18:15).

3. When you try to resolve the conflict privately if the other person involved refuses to resolve the problem, take someone with you and try again (Matthew 18:16). The goal is restoration.

4. If the person continues to resist resolving the conflict, you may need to dissolve the relationship (Matthew 18:17). But this is another chance for the person to repent.

• The biblical picture of “restoration” is one of setting a broken bone. It is painful but the ultimate goal is healing and putting things back as they should be. Also, be aware that you may not always be the one setting the bone – it might be you who are in need of having their legs broken and reset. Ouch.

• In leadership, people are always important. Therefore, seeking to restore relationships should always be a top priority. Sometimes it ends well, sometimes it doesn’t – but you must do all that is within your ability to restore the relationship.

Note: the basic premise of this article was borrowed from class notes of Dr. Ken Coley at Southeastern Baptist Theological Seminary in a class entitled Church Management and Administration in 1998.

Boswell Vacation 2010

2010-06-24T08:43:00.002-04:00

The Boswell's headed out on vacation about two weeks ago and it is beginning to come to a close. We began our journey by spending time with family in AL, celebrated Joshua and Caleb's eight birthday. We then headed even further south to Port St. Joe, FL and stayed at my parents beach house. We went to the beach, went fishing, watched movies, ate seafood a couple of times, and traveled to Panama City, FL to Shipwreck Island Water Park.

It has been very uneventful and rest was had by all. Having been away from the deep south for over 15 years I see things that make me laugh that I perhaps would not have seen otherwise. For instance, an Exxon station had put their pickled pig lips on sale for $1.99 and the church we visited was very traditional (but worshipful).

As the time of vacation begins to come to a close I am beginning to feel the itch to get back to work. I noticed during my morning walk this morning that I had put my cell phone on again (which was off until now). I also have avoided wearing shoes but I guess those have to go back on now. sighhhh. The family had some much needed extended time together and have had some wonderful bonding time.

Staying unplugged has been difficult. Where we stay there is no internet except at a local coffee shop. So I would make a daily early walk to check e-mail, write, and have my devotion. So I was not able to post pictures on facebook as I would have liked -- but perhaps it was for the best.

I am thankful to my church that allows me to have this extended time away every year, and for men who God has brought to Daybreak that can preach and cover the services while I am away.

I am thankful for my family that truly loves me, my wife, and kids. So I am leaving this trip somewhat rested, a little tan, and a deeper feeling of thankfulness for the blessings from the Lord.

Short Ropes

2010-06-09T15:31:00.002-04:00

In his book Total Church Life, [1] Darrell W. Robinson tells the following story;
“The next morning I sat across from Eddie’s father, Leroy Meek. He looked like a bum. His beard was long, his hair was matted, and his eyes were red. He had been fishing the bayou for his son’s body all night. Leroy began to tell me his story.

‘I am a foreman for a large construction company. I did not go to work yesterday due to the flooding. We have eight children. I told them not to go outside to play. But while I took a nap, three of the boys slipped out and made a raft of Styrofoam material and began to float down the bayou. The raft broke up. Two of the boys were able to get out, but Eddie could not get out. The other two raced home and awakened me. I jumped into the pickup truck and sped to the bayou. I tried to reach Eddie, but the concrete sides were steep and the water was rushing and I couldn’t get to him. He was screaming, ‘Daddy, help me! Help me, I can’t hold on much longer!’ ‘I ran back to the pickup truck and grabbed a rope. Eddie screamed, ‘Somebody help me! I can’t hold on much longer!’ I threw him the rope, but the rope was too short!’

As I listened to Leroy, a chill went down my spine. I chocked back tears as I visualized the scene he described. It was like God was speaking to me and showing me the multitudes of hurting people near our church. Like Eddie, they were clinging to whatever they could hold on to. They were crying, ‘Help me! Somebody help me! I can’t hold on much longer!’ And Christians and churches were throwing out ropes, but the ropes were too short to reach the world.

I made arrangements for the funeral and set an appointment to visit the family in their home that afternoon. Dan, our minister of music, and I were the first Christians to enter the Meek home. They had never allowed our bus ministry workers or others from the church in. That afternoon the Meeks were open to Christ. All of the things they were confident in had failed. What Leroy wanted and needed from me was to know his Creator. Our best ministry at this point was to respond to their spiritual need for comfort from God.

Leroy said, ‘Pastor, I have done all kinds of things with my boys. I have taken them fishing, hunting, and camping out, but I have never sat with them in church.’

‘When the funeral is over, if it is OK, I would like to come back and visit with you about Christ,” I responded.’”

As Christians I am assuming that we are throwing ropes to help people (to ignore the plight of a drowning society would be monstrous), so what are the ropes that we are throwing? Are these ropes too short? How would we know one way or the other? Do the cries of those being swept away saying, “I can’t hold on much longer!” keep us awake at night? Do tears of the Father and seeing him trying to help his loved ones stir us to want to help? Are we content with just doing funerals that may have been prevented?

We can change the world around us and make a difference right where we are by throwing a rope that saves – it is not too short. We have been given the “ministry of reconciliation” where “All this is from God, who through Christ reconciled us to himself and gave us the ministry of reconciliation.[2]” Christ saved us from drowning in sin and despair, he lifted us onto a solid foundation – he saved us. But he did not send us into the lighthouse to dry off and get warm. Instead he handed us a flotation circle, and a rope and said go and throw your rope.

As long as we throw out the gospel to people, it is the only means of salvation that will not fall short. If we throw programs, buildings, fellowships, come as you are, health and wealth, faith healings, your best now, etc… we will continue to see hands slip below the surface.

[1] Darrell W. Robinson. Total Church Life (Nashville, Tennessee; Broadman and Holman, 1997) 11,12
[2] 2 Corinthians 5:18

Life Lessons From the Elementary Field Day

2010-06-09T11:42:00.008-04:00

Yesterday was Field of Day at Brunswick Elementary School and I volunteered as a station leader (the water sponge relay). Kids would line up in groups of three or four and stand behind water buckets as teams. The goal of the game is to take your team’s sponge (filled with water), run to a cup with a fill line on it, and wring all the water out of the sponge and run back. The team who filled their cup first won the game. Seeing kids do this for over two hours I noticed that in many ways this was a metaphor for life. So here are some “real life” observations.

1. Make every drop count. Many of the kids would loose most of the water in their sponge before they got there, or when they squeezed the sponge, they completely missed the cup altogether.

• In life we get so caught up in the game, running the race, that we lose focus of what life is really about. In the game ultimately nothing matters if the water is not in the cup. We work so hard, but if Christ is not the primary focus and source of strength, then it’s like running through life with an empty sponge – we are just going through worthless motions.

2. Take the hand off seriously. Many of the boys about half-way on their return run would throw the sponge to the next team mate. It would inevitably go flying off in a wrong direction and the second runner would have to go run after it, wasting precious time.

• How we relate to other people is so important. People are important. We tend to take people, relationships, and time with those people for granted. When we fail in our relationship “hand offs” become difficult and so much time is wasted. How many years are wasted when dads take their children for granted, and when he finally reaches out to them they resist and are “busy.” How many hand offs are fumbled because somebody thinks its funny to play around with other people.

3. Don’t take too long wringing the water out. Squeezing the water out of the sponge over the cup is a critical part of the game, but several students would stand over the cup and wring with all their might, and continue to do so, even when the pay off is a single drop of water. Other students could have returned with a full sponge of water.

• Wringing too long deals with obsessing. Do you tend to dwell too long on something even when it is obvious to others that it is time to move on? Do you have to always be right? There is a point in making decisions when to stay with something is no longer worth the pay off.

• Also, the student who squeezes too long doesn’t realize that there are other people on the team who can come after them with a full sponge of water. It is ok to let someone else to be next on the team. Run back to the line and quit working so hard. Trust your team.

4. Don’t kick the cup over. Twice during the games a kid in their excitement of playing the game would kick the cup over. This happened because they were more focused on getting the water in the cup, and would lose focus on where their feet where.

• I saw both of the students when they kicked over the cups, but you know what I noticed? The team didn’t get upset, they were content to put the cup back upright and keep playing the game. They knew they wouldn’t win, but they didn’t seem to care. When we kick the cup over in life, it’s because we have allowed our lives to get out of balance. We focus on one thing too long and with too much energy so that we are not aware of what the rest of our body is doing. Do you have systems, alarms, or people that will let you know if you are beginning to obsess?

5. Have fun! Life is not always about winning. You have friends on your team, play the game and have fun.

• The weather was beautiful on Field Day; the kids were excited to be outside and to play the games. The teachers were joyful to be outside with their students, and the parents enjoyed helping the school. Life has its’ difficulties and rainy days, but when the sun shines and the people are in your life whom you love – then smile, enjoy the sun, and play the game.

A Defense of Pastoral Leadership In the Local Church

2010-06-02T23:46:00.001-04:00

Words of John Bunyun in Bedford England are carved on a statue of him that state;
A very great person hung against the wall;
And this was the fashion:
Eyes lifted up to heaven,
the best of books in his hand,
the law of truth was written upon his lips,
the world was behind his back;
he stood as if he pleaded with men;
a crown of gold did hang above his head.

He describes the preacher as being God’s gift to the world. While I do not consider myself in the same high esteem, I do know many gracious men who I could say this about. The position of the pastor is of utmost importance to the church, as well as his role as leader and representative before God.

The preacher is sent on a heavenly mission (as are all Christians). He is to declare the message of God to the world, “Whether they will hear, or whether they will forbear” (Ezekiel 2:5; 7; 3:11). Preaching was recognized as a gift from God in the Old Testament. Noah was “a preacher of righteousness” (2 Peter 2:5) by those whose testimony the primitive world was condemned (Hebrews 11:7). The psalmist and the prophets delivered their messages of truth in pleading, exhortation, prophecy, and promises from the Lord. The prophets were preachers of their day and the predecessors of the New Testament heralds of the gospel.

After the exile the reading and exposition of Scripture were from the beginning the chief feature of the synagogue service, and is frequently mentioned in the New Testament. Jesus, “as his custom was,” went to the synagogue service on the Sabbath day and there delivered the wonderful message of hope recorded in Luke 4:17-22. In Acts 13:5, “after the reading of the law of prophets” the rulers of the synagogue invited the two preachers, Paul and Barnabas, to deliver this message of exhortation. In Acts 15:21, James the pastor of the church at Jerusalem and the presiding officer over the council in Jerusalem, spoke of the fact that “Moses of old time hath in every city them that preach him, being read in the synagogues every Sabbath day.”

The New Testament church, likewise, moves on the feet of those who, “preach the gospel of peace and bring glad tidings of good things (Romans 10:15). It was Paul that declared that faith in Jesus as Lord will save all who call upon him (v. 9), but “How . . . shall they call on him in whom they have believed? And how shall they believe in him of whom they have not heard? And how shall they hear without a preacher? (v. 14)” This preaching of salvation that Paul referred to is the proclamation of the Word of God recorded in the Holy Scriptures and centered in the redemptive work of Christ. It is a summons of men to repentance, faith, and obedience before the Lord Jesus. It is God’s appointed means for communicating the gospel of hope to the unbelieving world for communicating the gospel of hope to the unbelieving world and for the strengthening of the faith of those who have found refuge in our living Lord.

The apostolic message (kerygma), the preaching of the men who first heard the Great Commission of our Lord, consisted of these seven things:
1. It was a definite body of facts; it was “propositional truth.”
2. It was not speculative philosophy but an announcement of the intervention of God in human history for the salvation of those who would hear and accept.
3. It was centered on the redemptive work of Christ, in his cross and atonement, and glorious resurrection.
4. It was witnessed to and confirmed in the human heart by the Holy Spirit.
5. It was historically and organically related to the Old Testament.
6. It imposed a stern, ethical demand upon men.
7. It was a vast eschatological dimension. It looks forward to a triumphant forever in Christ.

In God’s plan, there is no such thing as the delivery of this glorious message of truth without a preacher. In the elective purpose of God his will and work are made known to us through a living personality. This is the essence of preaching and is the first, primary calling of a pastor. Each generation must experience falling in love, building a home, rearing children. So each congregation must have a living pastor. The truth of God must be made to live again and again.

That is the calling of a preacher-pastor. It is preaching the Word of God that people desperately need. And it is preaching that feeds the souls of Christians. Paul wrote about the services of public worship in Corinth, “Let all things be done decently and in order” (1 Corinthians 14:40).

The verse concludes a lengthy discussion of disorder that marred the meeting of the Corinthian Christians. The worship of God ought to be worthy of his glorious name. Therefore, the pastor has been called to preach God’s Word and to lead the church. He should be allowed to do this so that order and appropriate worship may take place, and the message of the gospel may be preached.

What of Those Who Feel Called?

2010-06-02T22:34:00.001-04:00

God originally called the nation of Israel to Himself and established a covenant with them. However, because of their disloyalty they forfeited this claim on God. There is frequently the thought that it is amazing grace of God that the whole people were not consumed and that a Remnant continues to inherit the election. The Israelites were elected to service and that one element of service was a universal mission to the world. Within Israel itself, however the thought is a collective one, either of the whole people or of the group that constituted the Remnant.

*Those who are truly called come from God’s chosen people.

Within the elected nation, individuals were also chosen for service. Several are said to have been chosen before they were born, and in this way it is emphasized that their election is not the reward of their worth. They are not chosen for what they are, or even primarily they will be, but for a specific task that is assigned them and for service God requires of them. For that service they are equipped by God, and all that is required of them is humble obedience to His will and surrender of themselves to His power.

* Calling has nothing to do with talent, skill, gifting, or worthiness.

Some are chosen to be judges and kings, to be God’s vice-regents among His people, to deliver them from their foes and to rule them in His name. Gideon was chosen to deliver Israel from the Midianites [1] , and Sampson, even before his birth, was chosen that he might be a thorn in the side of the Philistines.[2] In the story of the establishment of the monarchy, Saul was chosen by God to enable Israel to throw off the yoke of the Philistines. There are two accounts of the setting up of the monarchy in the Biblical story. According to the latter account the institution had its origins in nothing more exalted than a popular desire to imitate foreign nations, and it was in itself an ac of disloyalty to God and rebellion against Him. According to the earlier account the initiative was with God, who said to Samuel, “About this time tomorrow I will send unto thee a man from the land of Benjamin, and thou shalt anoint him to be the leader over my people Israel; and he shall save my people from the hand of the Philistines, because I have seen the affliction of my people, for their cry has come unto me.” [3] Acting on these divine instructions, Samuel privately anoints Saul, who then takes the lead in the rescue of Jabesh Gilead and is in consequence hailed as king by all the people.

* God alone chooses what the calling will be to, i.e. the task to be performed

David was later chosen to replace Saul. Of the rejection of Saul we have two accounts. One attributes it to his impatience in not waiting for Samuel at Gilgal, [4] while the other attributes it to his failure to annihilate the Amalekites. [5] It should be noted that Saul’s failure to annihilate the Amalekites sprang from a defect of character. He accepted the commission of Samuel as the command of God, and yet failed to carry it out, because he set his own will above the will of God. The other story reveals an impatience of spirit, while all the story of Saul there is apparent an instability of character that marred his achievements. But here in this story of the Amalekites there is revealed a deeper defect of spirit, and a rejection of God’s will as final for him. If then election is for service, and its first corollary is loyalty of spirit to God, and if the abandonment of that loyalty is equivalent to the renunciation of the election, Saul had indeed renounced his election. He had revealed the attitude of his heart towards God, and it was no longer serviceable.

* One can disqualify himself from a calling of God by a rebellious and sinful heart.

How prophets were recruited is still unclear, but what we do know is that of several prophets we have some record of their Divine call to their office. They were not prophets because they were born to the office, or because they fancied the life, but because they felt a constraint which they believed to be of God. It is frankly recognized in the Old Testament that to tell a true prophet from a false one was no easy matter. Of the call of Moses in the wilderness, of Samuel in his childhood in the shrine of Shiloh, of Amos when pursuing his daily work, of Hosea in the tragedy of his domestic life, of Isaiah in the temple, of Jeremiah in his youth, and Ezekiel in the bizarre vision that came to him, we have a familiar record. All of these men became prophets because the hand of God was laid upon them. Some tried to resist the call, only to find that it could not be resisted. Amos 3:8 says, “The Lion hath roared, who can but fear? The Lord Yahweh hath spoken; Who can but prophesy?”

* God seems to delight in calling all “types” of people to be His.

All this would imply that the call of the prophet was the arbitrary act of God, and especially if he was called before he was born. Yet there is much in the Old Testament to indicate that it was neither arbitrary, nor so irresistible as the experience of the greater prophets would suggest. There were prophets who did not fulfill the purpose of their call, and who stand under sharp condemnation. The edge of their spirit’s sensitiveness became blunted, and no longer did they feel the command and constraint of God’s hand. More are called to service than truly respond to the call. There is a paradox in this area of calling. The prophet’s response to the call that he feels the irresistibility of the constraint, and he who most justifies the call and fulfills its purpose is most conscious of the Divine element and least conscious of the human element in his commissioning.

Paul could feel himself to be the “chief of sinners,” and it has ever been the case that the nearer a man becomes to God the nearer he wants to come, for it is only he who is very close to God who can feel the gulf that separates him from God. It is apparent that the true prophet is thought of as one who stands in so close and intimate a relationship with God that his personality becomes the vehicle of God’s Word.

* The effectiveness of a called man of God is directly related to his closeness with God.

God calls men by His own volition and gives them abilities to perform the tasks they are asked to do. God always calls individuals to particular acts of service (a pastor, youth leader, associate pastor, etc.) and as with any position, especially that of a pastor, his effectiveness in that position is dependent upon his closeness and dependence upon God. When the one who is called turns from God, he is no longer usable and will be replaced. The calling process appears to be a personal matter between an individual and God, whereby the latter places His hand upon that person “in a special way” and directs them to a position of leadership within the church body. But there is also recognition of this calling by a body of believers and the apparent power of the prophet.

* God will give His called one what he needs to perform his task and will empower him to show that he is God’s man.

[1] Judges 6:15

[2] Judges 13:3-5

[3] 1 Samuel 9:16

[4] 1 Samuel 13:8-14

[5] 1 Samuel 15

Cub Scout Camping "OverNighter"

2010-05-29T17:30:00.003-04:00

Cub Scouts from Pack 277 had their annual camping "overnighter" at Mar-Lu-Ridge in Jefferson, MD last night and today. Rain threatened but held off all day, and the cloud cover added much needed relief from the heat. Activities included setting up and breaking down camp, learning about rules for hiking and earning their "hiking" belt loop," preparing their own dinner and breakfast, a campfire program, learning about maps and compasses, where they earned their "maps and compass" belt loop, "whipping" a rope and knot tying. The boys went to bed around 9:00pm and most were up by 6:30am.

Determining Curriculum (part one)

2010-05-24T00:17:00.002-04:00

The apostle Paul said in 1 Corinthians 11:23, “For I received from the Lord what I also passed on to you.”[1] Paul is discussing various practices regarding the Lord’s Supper, but in a broader interpretation he is also sharing something he has learned regarding Jesus and is passing it on in the form of his teaching to another.

What was taught by the apostle Paul has been passed down from one generation to another. This transferring of information has gone on for centuries. The shape that this transfer of knowledge takes is called the curriculum. Brummelen explains, “Curriculum is what is taught, particularly the subject matter contained in a school’s course of study.”[2] This choice of what to teach and what not to teach is a mighty trust, and despite heresies, wars, and false teachers, the Bible has come to this generation without any error. Brummelen goes on to say, “Academic traditionalists plan curriculum by dividing the program of study into subjects. Then they list the content to be taught by topics and subtopics. Implicit in the definition is the belief that the aim of education is to transit a body of knowledge.”[3]

In any teaching environment there must be the determination of what is to be taught to the next generation. What information is to move forward? In the church environment some purchase dated curriculum and are dependent upon the publishing house, to a certain degree, to determine what they will teach their children for a given period of time. So they abdicate the responsibility to choose what to teach to another source. Other churches write their own curriculum and therefore have a high degree of control over what is taught, but these are few and tend to be churches with a larger membership base.[4] Others do little planning or find something to teach on a week-to-week basis. Whatever the scope of the ministry, at some point someone has to choose what will be taught in the classroom.

Barna has argued that the most successful children’s ministries are those who have determined what each age group will be taught and have a plan for a child all the way through their ministry. He argues that those churches that plan for all of a child’s years in a church environment are the ones that have the most successful impact upon their spiritual formation. Barna states, "One of the most startling revelations I encountered on this journey was finding that many of the effective ministries have a long-term plan—in some cases an 18-year developmental plan with specific ideals outlined for each age group from infants through high school seniors. While those churches allow for spontaneity and flexibility despite their long-range planning, they are fully committed to implementing their “big picture” plan.[5]"

The first problem is to determine the foundational doctrines that children should be taught, what Barna refers to as their “big picture” plan. It is a harder task than one may originally think. If one begins with the assumption that the average church teacher has a student for one to two hours on a given Sunday, then the volume of optional teaching material from the Bible far outweighs the available time in the classroom. How then does the teacher, church, or publishing house determine what to teach, and what not to teach? Is there a biblical mandate? Is there a traditional point of reference? What did the people who have chosen to face this question come up with, and what was their rationale for the choices that they made?

These questions can begin to be answered by going back to the beginning of the early church. With the passing of Passover and Pentecost in Acts chapter 2, thousands were saved and then proceeded to go back to their homes in areas other than Jerusalem. Because of this movement of God, new churches were beginning to form by the apostles and unnamed believers who went back to their home towns. Antioch is an example of such a church that formed soon after Pentecost, by someone other than an apostle. The apostles were concerned for the doctrinal integrity of this church since they had not personally been present to teach them the Scriptures, so they sent a group to examine what was happening.[6]

In order for these new churches to grow, and for others to be founded, the apostles felt that there was a need to have a more systematic form of instruction to ensure the “authenticity of faith and consistency in practice.”[7] What developed was a document entitled “Didache.” It is a church manual or handbook for the training of new believers. This document also resulted because of the apostles’ concern that their teachings remain doctrinally pure and that the content survive after the transmission from person to person.[8]

During the early church there also developed the practice of catechism and catechumen. These words are derived from Greek words meaning to “instruct.” This would be a course of instruction that had three levels of instruction and would take from two to three years to complete. It was only after a person had gone through catechism that they would be allowed to be a part of the local fellowship of the church.

There are at least two reasons why this was necessary during the time of the early church, but may not necessarily apply today. First, very few people could read, and so the process of having a teacher give oral instruction and then have the student quote material back was a very effective method of teaching. For the purposes of this discussion, the researcher is only referring to churches in the United States, so literacy does not effect the spiritual formation of most churches.

Second, the church was under great persecution; therefore, this stress could cause the new convert to recant their faith. The early church leadership wanted to give a person enough time to grow in their faith and learning so when they were baptized and became apart of the church they would be doctrinally sound and mature in their faith. The catechism “declined in its effectiveness once it became expected of children to be baptized and when pagans, lacking genuine motivation for joining the faith, were commanded by law to attend church.”[9] Therefore, when following the Christian religion became state mandated, the need to prepare new believers for a persecuting world no longer existed.

Just as in the times of the early church, there is still a need to maintain scriptural integrity and doctrinal purity. Unlike the early church, however, today’s church has the complete canon of Scriptures, which are inerrant. History then does give some foundational thoughts regarding what is essential to a scope of teaching, and it does give an outline for priority. One could study early catechisms to see what the early church found to be of most importance.

Another source of deciding what to teach could be various Christian creeds. The Apostle’s Creed, for example, also gives several foundational Christian beliefs that could be a church’s core teaching to its children.

To answer the question of how these decisions are made today, the researcher contacted three publishers of children’s ministry curriculum. Their responses are given in subsequent articles. Following their responses is overview of the interviews, and remarks will be made at the end of the interview descriptions.

[1] 1 Cor 11:23, NIV

[2] Harro Van Brummelen, Steppingstones to Curriculum (Colorado Springs: Purposeful Design, 2002), 13.

[3] Ibid.

[4] For example, Willow Creek Community Church publishes a children’s ministry curriculum entitled “Promiseland” and can be found at www.willowcreek.org/promiseland. Another example would be Fellowship Church which produces “Elevate” and can be found at www.creativepastors.com/elevate.php. These curriculums are used within their own church and are available for other churches to purchase.

[5] Barna, Transforming Children Into Spiritual Champions, 100.

[6] Acts 11:23

[7] Anthony and Benson, Exploring the History and Philosophy of Christian Education, 107.

[8] Ibid., 109.

[9] Ibid.

A Religious Man

2010-05-18T23:50:00.005-04:00

There once was a religious man who went walking in the woods to escape the feelings of inevitable doom – which one never escapes by running away; but he tried.

Along the trail the religious man felt “called by God” to carve a walking stick. Thinking he would be like Moses of old, or that he would be leading some vast multitudes shortly he began looking for a tree to cut down. Remembering the passage from his holy book where a man choose foolishly by gathering too few arrows, or not pulling the arrows in the bow back far enough – he chose a “tree” that was big and different and then began to carry it – He was to carry the staff at all times, everywhere he went.

So the religious man continued down the path into the “wilderness.” He then felt that “the Lord laid upon his heart” to grow out his beard until God had taken him through the time of inevitable doom – where he would then shave it. Content that he would not actually have to do anything until about 8-14 hours (the next morning). With this revelation he continued on his journey.

Also, as the religious man walked he felt called by God to fast until the moment of inevitable doom passed and he was told to eat once again by God.

Some time and miles past.

The next “calling” from God was that he was to remove his shoes (back to the whole Moses and burning bush thing) and leave them some where along the trail and then walk back and retrieve them at a later date – perhaps when the feelings of inevitable doom had passed. But he was also not to wear shoes any more until told to do so by God.

So at this point the religious man felt called by God to carry a staff, not shave his beard, go without food, and not to wear shoes until told to do so by God. It all seemed to be directly related to his feelings in inevitable doom (the escaping into the wilderness, and the tasks given to him from God).

At the end of his trail he took off his shoes and walked back to his point of beginning. There was much snow and ice on the ground. His feet became bruised and cut.

He decided to leave the staff in the back of his car because is wife would have become angry if he brought it in the house.

He shaved the next morning and ate breakfast and dinner the next day.

The only thing that the religious man followed by the impressions on his heart were the old shoes he left in the woods (that he had intended to replace any way.)

Did the religious man really hear the voice of God?

Brent's Baptism

2010-05-16T21:37:00.001-04:00

Congratulation upon your baptism Brent H. May God bless your journey!

The Importance of Continued Education in Ministry

2010-05-14T15:46:00.004-04:00

Teaching involves many skills that have little to do with natural gifting. Even if a person is very gifted, they may be using methods that have grown outdated with the children who are being taught. A person would never go to a medical doctor for help if the doctor were using Civil War era instruments or were not up to date on new medicines or procedures offered. Teachers in the classroom can quickly become irrelevant if they are not aware the culture around them.

There are several ways to help teachers, helpers, administrators, etc. to improve the skills they need within the church. There are yearly or monthly training opportunities led by the local church, mentoring/apprenticeship in the classroom or on-the-job training, local workshops sponsored by creditable children’s ministry companies, and denominational training either locally or nationally.

Choun and Lawson explain, “Training events introduce new materials, methods, and programs. Society is changing rapidly, and curriculum publishers are responding with materials tailored to the specific needs of today’s children.”[1] While it is certainly true that “the Word of our God stands forever” (Isa 40:8), the methods that were once very impacting and powerful do become obsolete. Some archaic methods can actually distract a student from learning instead of enhancing the learning experience. Training, therefore, should be designed to show teachers how to include culturally relevant materials to their students, and use the current cultural trends as a way to teach and expound Scripture. Understanding this concept Children’s Ministry Magazine includes a section that is called “Keeping Current.” They define this section of the magazine as “What you need to know about today’s kids and their culture; plus creative lessons to use the current song, video, or news story.”[2] Within this section there are often current movies given with teaching points based upon scenes from the movie. Different age groups are also broken down with specific cultural developments given in each age group. For example, a new toy that is popular among preschoolers or a video game among the pre-teens may be described. A teacher could reference this magazine to get an insider’s view of her student’s world in order to use it as an illustrative bridge to the Bible.

Since culture is always changing, a teacher’s approach and methods (not the message) should always be changing. Training then becomes paramount in order to keep teachers informed of cultural trends. Being informed is also another way that a teacher can show her love for her students. She cares enough to take the time to craft a lesson that includes their world and is designed just for them.

[1] Robert Choun and Michael Lawson, The Christian Educators Handbook on Children’s Ministry (Grand Rapids: Baker, 1998), 288.
[2] Christine Yount Jones, ed., “Keeping Current,” Children’s Ministry Magazine (May/June 2006 ): 6.

Digging For Gold, Found Alot of Rocks

2010-05-13T20:44:00.006-04:00

This evening the Wolves Cub Scouts of den #277 went on the road to dig for crystals. Between six to eight really cool crystals were found by the boys and fun was had by all. We would dig out debris from the embankment, put it on a screen, shake and viola – rocks or crystals! A water bucket was used to clean off the mud and to wash our hands.

Thank you Jeff B. for leading us and letting us borrow your equipment.

New Sermon Series Begins this Sunday

2010-05-11T23:56:00.002-04:00

Daybreak begins a new series this Sunday. Life can be different, yeah, it really can.

Understanding Roles of Church and Home (Part Five; Evaluating the Staff)

2010-05-11T15:25:00.003-04:00

Lately I have been thinking about the strategy that the church uses as a means to encourage the spiritual formation of others, specifically children. The following is the fifth article of a series of articles that attempts to understand how we can do this. You can find all the articles at www.drewboswell.com.

Evaluation is a means to make a poor teacher, adequate, an adequate teacher, good, or a good teacher, exceptional. Ephesians 4:11–13 states, “It was he who gave some to be apostles, some to be prophets, some to be evangelists, and some to be pastors and teachers, to prepare God’s people for works of service, so that the body of Christ may be built up” (NIV). These verses show that it is the responsibility of those who are in a church’s leadership position to train and equip those who teach the body of Christ.

While the Bible commands all Christians to “go and make disciples,”[1] which involves “teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you” and all parents are given clear mandate to teach their children the ways of the Lord,[2] should anyone or everyone teach in the church? In 1 Cor 12:4–7 it teaches that all Christians have been given a spiritual gift but that not all Christians have the same gift. These spiritual gifts are not for their own benefit but for the edification and common good of the church body. The verse states, “There are different kinds of gifts, but the same Spirit. There are different kinds of service, but the same Lord. There are different kinds of working, but the same God works all of them in all men. Now to each one the manifestation of the Spirit is given for the common good” (NIV).

Later in verse 12 Paul adds, “The body is a unit, though it is made up of many parts; and though all its parts are many, they form one body,” and he continues this line of thought in verse 14, “Now the body is not made up of one part but of many” (NIV). Therefore, if the church is to be seen allegorically as a body, which is made of different parts performing different functions, the answer to the previous question is no, not everyone should seek to teach but only those who have been given this gift from God. Romans 12:3–6 teaches that even among those who have the spiritual gift of teaching, this gift should be exercised in humbleness and love;

For by the grace given me I say to every one of you: Do not think of yourself more highly than you ought, but rather think of yourself with sober judgment, in accordance with the measure of faith God has given you. Just as each of us has one body with many members, and these members do not all have the same function, so in Christ we who are many form one body, and each member belongs to all the others. We have different gifts, according to the grace given us (NIV).

James 3:1 warns that there will be an ultimate evaluation of the teaching ministry within the Church; “Not many of you should presume to be teachers, my brothers, because you know that we who teach will be judged more strictly” (NIV). Those that presume to teach should be evaluated in order to determine if they have the gift of teaching, and if they are exercising this gift with humility and love, so that when their ultimate evaluation before God is given they will hear the words, “Well done, good and faithful servant!” (NIV).[3]

But even if a person has been given the gift of teaching, there are other things to consider. Philippians 3:12–14 says,
Not that I have already obtained all this, or have already been made perfect, but I press on to take hold of that for which Christ Jesus took hold of me. Brothers, I do not consider myself yet to have taken hold of it. But one thing I do: Forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead, I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus (NIV).
Therefore, a teacher is to be an example of a person who is “pressing on” and growing and maturing in their own faith. They recognize that even though they are an example that their students are to follow, they are not perfect and have areas of their own lives in which they need to grow.

God requires that teachers be faithful and 1 Cor 4:2 says, “Now it is required that those who have been given a trust must prove faithful” (NIV). Eldridge says, “Those in a Bible study class need to know that a teacher will be consistently present, adequately prepared, and personally interested in their lives.”[4] If students’ lives are to be changed because of the teaching in the classroom, they must respect and trust their teachers. Teachers must also be faithful to following the leadership that is over them, to remaining faithful to God’s Word, and to the church as a whole. Bruce Wilkinson has said,
If the truth has already transformed the teacher, then the truth has a far greater chance of transforming the students. That’s why teaching other people’s material often lacks power. Unless your presentation has your fingerprints on it, and has made a difference in your life, you can almost count on it not to compel you students to make changes in their lives.[5]

The Bible has to move the teacher and change her heart before it can ever move the students’ hearts toward obedience and love for God.
1 Corinthians 13:2 says, “If I have the gift of prophecy and can fathom all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have a faith that can move mountains, but have not love, I am nothing” (NIV). The apostle Paul gives another evaluative component of those that should teach within the local church, love. If a teacher lacks love for his students, but is brilliant in subject matter Paul says that he is “nothing.” Superior knowledge cannot replace love in the classroom. This is not a mushy sentimentality, but a genuine concern for another’s well-being.

Continuing to address the question of who should teach in the church, there is another area to be evaluated. Does the proposed teacher know how to study the Bible? While churches often give their teachers curriculum to follow, the Bible is ultimately the core of what is being taught. Eldridge states that it is hard to teach a lesson from Scripture if one only relies on other people’s understanding of the text.[6] When a teacher personally studies and wrestles with the concept in her own mind, it will enhance the teaching time far more than a skim through a teacher’s guide to a curriculum. Along this same line of thought is the teacher’s ability to communicate what he has learned or studied in such a way that the students understand. Even though the teacher may be well prepared and the text may have moved him greatly, he still needs to be able to show the students how to apply it to their lives at a level that they can understand. Besides knowledge of the subject matter, teachers need to understand the learning process.

Lastly, following the thought of evaluating who should teach, an administrator should look for a person who understands the importance of developing relationships both within and outside the classroom. The teacher has a very special opportunity to foster and cultivate a relationship that no one else can. It is through this relationship of love and understanding that the most dynamic teaching and learning can take place. It is during this most influential time that students need teachers who love and desire to teach them in such a way that their lives will be changed.

[1] Matt 28:19–20
[2] Deuteronomy 6
[3] Matt 25:21
[4] Eldridge, The Teaching Ministry of the Church, 298.
[5] Bruce Wilkinson, The Seven Laws of a Learner (Sisters, OR; Multnomah, 1992), 157.
[6] Eldridge, The Teaching Ministry of the Church, 299.

Understanding Roles of Church and Home (Part Four; Evaluating the Children’s Ministry Program )

2010-05-04T09:11:00.007-04:00

In order to see if this gradual spiritual development of the child is taking place, there must be some way of determining spiritual formation and teaching effectiveness. If the teacher in the classroom is not teaching adequately, then the entire children’s ministry department suffers. It suffers because the teacher of the next age/skill level has to go back and reinstruct basic principles in order to move forward to more complicated material.

Eldridge gives several definitions of educational evaluation when he says,
Ralph Tyler (1949) defines it as documenting the congruence of learner outcomes and program objectives. Popham (1971) says it is a comparison of performance data with a commonly accepted standard. It is also viewed as specifying, obtaining, and providing relevant information for judging decision alternatives (Stufflebeam, 1971). D. Campbell Wyckoff defines evaluation as ‘a process of comparing what is with what ought to be, in order to determine areas and directions for improvement.’[1]

For the purpose of this article, the following definition will be used for evaluation: “To gather data for the purpose of making a decision.” With regard to the individual teacher, evaluation consists of two areas: 1) Is the teacher following the “big picture” plan for her age group and not her own agenda, and 2) Does the teacher have the skills to teach what needs to be taught? Are the kids growing spiritually? Therefore, before any person begins to teach, there should be some way to evaluate if that person should serve in this area. In too many instances, there is a “desperate” need to have a person in the classroom to fill an age graded slot, and anyone who is willing to do it is put in the classroom with no training, no expectations or job description, and no help. Sink or swim! They are figuratively locked away in a classroom and are expected to stay there indefinitely. Curriculum is slid under her door every quarter, and the prayer is that she will just keep teaching.

Recruiting and volunteer retention could be improved by providing clear expectations, a path for them to follow, and thorough evaluations that are designed to help the teachers improve their teaching skills. 2 Timothy 2:15–16 says, “Do your best to present yourself to God as one approved, a workman who does not need to be ashamed and who correctly handles the word of truth” (NIV). A church may have trouble recruiting new teachers or retain the teachers they already have, if that person feels “ashamed” of their ability to teach. But if someone were to show them where they could improve and how to do so, they may remain. No matter how gifted the teacher, there is always room for improvement.

Sadly, too many (not all) parents are not concerned about measurable goals or learning objectives. Many are more concerned about their children behaving properly at church and show little or no concern for what they are actually taught during their time there. Barna has said,
In all the evaluation research we have conducted during the past two decades, I have seen firsthand that you get what you measure. Unfortunately, most parents are pleased simply to have churchgoing children. If the children learn anything of positive value while they are at church, it is deemed as a bonus – if it is even noticed. There is usually little if any attempt by the family to track what the child is learning and integrating. The outcomes that are measured more closely relate to behavior modification than to spiritual development.[2]

If there is no evaluative process to determine the progress or lack of progress in a student’s life, then “assessment is based on assumptions and intuition.”[3] The problem with this, or any subjective way of evaluating a ministry, is that it is based upon emotions and impressions that can greatly fluctuate from week to week, or even moment to moment. Focus by leaders is then focused on placating these opinions and emotions instead of being able to strategically deal with objective issues in tangible ways and making real changes for the better. A subjective evaluator may not even have a full picture of the overall ministry, but may only have a skewed picture of reality. By having an objective means to evaluate, it is easier to develop a more extensive diagnostic process that would enable an evaluator to develop a more complete picture of the ministry. This process can be added to or removed, depending upon the value of data collected.

You can also view this article and the entire series at www.drewboswell.com.

[1] Eldridge, The Teaching Ministry of the Church, 310.
[2] Barna, Transforming Children Into Spiritual Champions, 126.
[3] Ibid.

Bus Stop Evangelist (part three)

2010-04-29T09:41:00.012-04:00

I came home from work day before yesterday to Kimberly saying, "the principal called today." I said, "hold on, let me put my stuff down." So I then went into the kitchen, sat down and Kimberly told me the story. As the kids were leaving the house that morning they had all asked for cards to give to their friends to invite them to come to church. So I dug through my "stuff" and pulled out several for each of them, and off they went to get on the bus. Apparently, as they were in route to school a boy on H-G's bus had emptied the contents of his backpack, unzipped it and placed it upon his head. She then told him to take it off or he was going to die (or get hurt we can't get the story straight). She then handed him a sermon series card from our church entitled "parenting under attack" and went on her way, and invited him to come.

For some reason the boy's mother became aware of this conversation and the boy's being "proselytized" and went to the principal saying something about separation of church and state. The principal went to H-G in her classroom and demanded all the rest of the religious propaganda (too late she had already infected others with her zealous hateful propaganda). -- I know I'm starting to exaggerate so I'll tone it back down.

After which, the principal went back to her office and called Kimberly asking our family not to do this anymore. It was not given out during the instruction time. She was expressing her first amendment right to speak about what she believed and wanted to persuade others to her point of view. If there had been a Muslim boy or Jehovah's Witness giving my children "stuff" I would have talked with my children about what we believe, discuss the material but I would never demand that the other children don't have the right to tell others what they believe.

It was the atheist Voltaire who said, "I do not agree with what you have to say, but I'll defend to the death your right to say it."

We live in a crazy world, that just doesn't make sense some times. But my kids resolve in their beliefs have only been strengthened not weakened. And they will not remain silent -- trust me, I try often.

The boys did something similar a while back:
bus stop evangelist part two

also here's the original bus stop evangelist entry
bus stop evangelist part one

Written Learning Goals and Objectives

2010-04-28T14:24:00.005-04:00

Lately I have been thinking about the strategy that the church uses as a means to encourage the spiritual formation of others, specifically children. The following is the third article of a series of articles that attempts to understand how we can do this. You can find all the articles at www.drewboswell.com.

Another way to help parents and teachers in their effort to educate their children would be to have written learning goals and objectives. Doug Fields has written a book entitled Purpose Driven Youth Ministry. What makes this book different from any other “how to do youth ministry” book is that he introduces the concept of identifying “H.A.B.I.T.S. ”[1] that students should be encouraged to implement into their lives.[2] These are activities that students do outside of structured church programs and are an effort to get students to have a quiet time, an accountability partner, memorize Scripture, etc., on their own, away from adult supervision. Field’s theory is that if these “H.A.B.I.T.S.” truly become second nature in the lives of the students, they will more than likely carry them over when they graduate out of youth ministry. The strength of this concept is that he has identified a short list of six things that the youth ministry can focus on and encourage in the lives of the student.
With regard to a strategy of equipping children within the local church, it would be helpful to provide parents and teachers with a list of learning objectives that the church feels are fundamental to the child having a balanced and maturing relationship with God.[3] These learning goals can even be broken down by appropriate age range. For example, two-year-olds would have completely different objectives than second graders. In order for the material to be reviewed over time these various sets of learning objectives could build upon one another over the course of the child’s time in the church’s children’s ministry.

Someone may ask, “But what if a new student comes into the class or a student misses several lessons?” This lack of knowledge on a particular topic (missions, evangelism, Samson, for example) can be dealt with by making the topics cyclical in nature. For example, a first and second grade class may learn about “missions” and when they graduate up to the third and fourth grade class, they may study it again. Instead of repeating the old material, it will be reviewed and new material will become the focus. At each class level, even though the same topics may be covered, the learning objectives change toward becoming more complex.[4]

There are several benefits of having written learning goals and objectives. One is that the teachers have a clear list of learning objectives that can help them in evaluating if their teaching has been effective. Second, parents have a clear list of learning objectives so that they can be working on these concepts at home, in the car to the soccer game, during bath time, or whenever the parent thinks would be an appropriate time to teach.[5] The third benefit is that the home and the church can work together, in concert to see that the child’s life conforms to the set biblical teaching objectives and life habits. It has been said that, “what is not evaluated is not worth much.” It is humanity’s natural tendency to drift toward mediocrity rather than push toward improvement and growth. Therefore, a fourth benefit of learning objectives is that it encourages the teacher to do a good job of teaching because he knows that his ministry will be evaluated when the child “graduates” to the next class. There will also be a form of outside evaluation when the child goes home and the parents ask them questions based on the set learning objectives. In discussing this concept of written goals and learning objectives Barna says,

One of the most startling revelations I encountered on this journey was finding that many of the effective ministries have a long-term plan—in some cases an 18-year developmental plan with specific ideals outlined for each age groups from infants through high school seniors. While those churches allow for spontaneity and flexibility despite their long-range planning, they are fully committed to implementing their “big picture” plan.[6]

A teacher may have teaching objectives for a given year, and she may even have learning objectives that she has developed on her own, but for her ministry to be successful these goals have to coincide with the “big picture” for the child’s spiritual development.

A fifth benefit of having written goals and objectives is that the teaching ministry of a church from nursery to high school can function as a team, with one level building upon the next until the child is mature in Christ.[7] A teacher or parent could reference the learning goals and objectives and seek to help one another in their teaching efforts. It is in essence a map for everyone to follow, so that one could get to the desired destination; a growing disciple of Christ.

[1] HABITS is an acronym where the “H” stands for Hang Time With God, “A” stands for Accountability Partner, “B” stands for Bible Memorization, “I” stands for Involvement in the Church, “T” stands for Tithing, and “S” stands for Studying the Bible.
[2] Fields, Purpose Driven Youth Ministry, Chap. 9.
[3] See Appendix A
[4] See Appendix B for an example of how topics can be repeated with the learning objectives becoming more complex.
[5] Deut 6:7–9
[6] Barna, Transforming Children Into Spiritual Champions, 100.
[7] “Maturing” as defined in Heb 5:14, “But solid food is for the mature, who by constant use have trained themselves to distinguish good from evil.” (NIV)

To Hear A Whisper

2010-04-23T09:50:00.003-04:00

I am currently at a pastor’s prayer retreat and we have been given the assignment of following the spiritual discipline of silence. It’ s not as easy as you might first think – “just don’t say anything for 24 hours.” But once you close the noise coming out, there is also the noise inside your brain. Why is it that we have such a hard time simply being quiet and listening for God’s voice?

It might be that we associate silence with death (“dead men don’t tell lies.”) If I am speaking, then I am alive, or apart of what’s going on, or active with the conversation. Or even if you don’t want to take that morbid path, we at least have to deal with the internal question, “Am I ok?” If not, then I want to keep the internal dialogue to a minimum and keep my hands busy, or the tv loud, or the car tires rolling (with the radio turned up). Anything to keep me from having to quietly face God and the question, “Am I ok?”

After the battle of Mt. Carmel, Elijah (after having his life threatened) runs away. In God’s grace he comes to Elijah and says, “Go out and stand on the mount before the Lord.” And behold, the Lord passed by, and a great and strong wind tore the mountains and broke in pieces the rocks before the Lord, but the Lord was not in the wind. And after the wind an earthquake, but the Lord was not in the earthquake. 12 And after the earthquake a fire, but the Lord was not in the fire. And after the fire the sound of a low whisper. 13 And when Elijah heard it, he wrapped his face in his cloak and went out and stood at the entrance of the cave. And behold, there came a voice to him and said, “What are you doing here, Elijah?”[1]

The Lord was not in the great wind, or the earthquake, or the fire. He was in the whisper. It is not very hard to miss an earthquake, and wind that levels mountains, or fire sweeping in front of you – but you might very well miss a whisper.

So if God desires to communicate with you in whispers, and not mighty acts of nature, then how do we discern or hear Him?

Make An Effort
1. You have to make an effort to approach God. Yes, God came to Elijah first [2] but Elijah had to come out and approach God. We have a relationship with God through Christ so there is no need to cover our faces – but we must still go to Him. Elijah walks out of the cave.

Stop Talking (Outside and Inside)
2. God speaks in whispers, not earthquakes, fires, etc… so stop looking for Him in the loud world and quiet your soul to listen. This again requires effort and discipline. It’s much easier to turn on the tv and mentally check out, verses having to stay focused on listening and remaining quiet.

Any time I have to listen to someone who speaks in such a way that is unnatural to my ear (broken English, some other language, foreign accent) it will after a while mentally exhaust me. Listening for and to God can be tiring – but like learning a new language it gets easier.

Think of it as two people yelling at the same time – there’s a lot of noise, but not very much communication. God intentionally speaks softly so that we have to quiet ourselves to hear Him. We need to hear what God is saying, not the other way around.

Study the Bible and Remember Why You Were Created
3. In the Garden of Eden everything was perfect, yet God still came and talked with
Adam and Eve. Even though life was perfect they still needed God to help them “figure out life.” [3] Mankind is like a mirror – we were created to reflect the light of Jesus Christ. So how do we reflect His light into the world or “Bear His image?” We have to listen and remember the reason for our existence – to reflect the glory of God into our world. We need him to help us figure this out.

Salvation is not about filling an empty spot within us (or giving us something that we need or want). Instead, it is the ability to once again give God glory or “reflect” the image of His Son in your life. Mirrors don’t have batteries, they simply reflect what’s in front of them.

[1] 1 Kings 19:11-13
[2] see also1 John 4:19
[3] Mark Driscoll. Doctrine (Crossway, 2009) p. 117

Image Bearer

2010-04-23T09:39:00.003-04:00

A couple of days ago my neighbor asked me, “what does it mean to be an ‘image bearer’? So not satisfied with the answer that I gave him, I wrote this blog entry. David I hope this helps.

Genesis 1:26 says “Let us make man in our own image, after our likeness.” Being made in the image of God, or bearing His image makes mankind distinctly different from the rest of creation, since mankind is the only being to be made in the image of God.

The rest of creation points to a Creator because it is so wonderfully complex and orderly that it must have a Creator (as a man who finds an ipod in the forest knows someone at one point made it).[1] While mankind also points to God as having a creator because of the complexity and beauty the human body holds, it also plays a far more important role. The role of “bearing the image of God.”

So what does this mean, to be made in the image of God? The word “image” in the Hebrew is where the word “idol” comes from. You don’t have to read vey much of the Old Testament to see that idols were forbidden, and caused much trouble for the people of God. God’s people, the Israelites, would follow a false god, and create an idol (or representation) of the god, that they would then bow down to and worship it as the one true God. The representatives made of stone, metal, straw, etc. represented the god. These images angered God because they did not accurately represent Him and His character, and it was not the way that God had directed that he was to be worshipped. [2]

There are certain attributes that God posses as part of his nature that we also posses (holiness, love, truth, righteousness, beauty, etc… ) and attributes that we do not posses (omnipresence, omnipotence, eternality, etc…) [3] Mankind can show love; dads love their daughters. This is true if a person knows Jesus or not. But it is through a relationship with Christ, that the father is able to point his daughter to God in love.

Think of being an image bearer where the human is a mirror. He was created to reflect; specifically he was created to reflect God. It is in reflecting, that God receives glory and the person does what he was created to do. Idols are forbidden because they do not accurately represent God as he truly is – In fact it is only mankind that can “bear His image.” But we bear His image in order to reflect the glory to God our Creator. This does not make us gods, anymore than the mirror is its’ maker.

But because mankind is sinful the mirror is covered with mud. It reflects nothing. This is mankind apart from a saving relationship with Jesus Christ. We do not bring God glory and we do not live a life of reflecting the image of God. God saves us; we then reflect our Creator (Jesus) and He receives honor, worship, praise, and glory. We have a sense of fulfillment and satisfaction because we finally are doing what mankind was created to do (Genesis 1:26).

There is also another problem. Once a person receives Jesus’ free gift of salvation the reflection that he gives is not a perfect reflection. Yes, Christians still make mistakes! In fact it’s much like a House of Mirrors at the local county fair. The image is distorted, warped, and weird. Thus begins a lifelong process of making the image more and more accurate (theologians call this Sanctification). It is only in eternity when we will as the image bearers of Christ accurately reflect Him as we should. Also, because we are all created different and unique we have been designed to reflect that light differently. One person will reflect the attribute of love differently, but they both reflect love.

Therefore the Church (the body of believers) is like a chandelier. Many pieces of cut glass or crystal, grouped together to create a magnificent display as the light shines through it. Light is reflected, and it bounces and shines all throughout the room (or the world).

[1] Romans 1:18 ff.
[2] Exodus 20:3, 4
[3] Mark Driscoll and Gerry Breshears. Doctrine (Crossroads; Wheaton, Illinois, 2007) 121.

Big Hairy Questions

2010-04-20T23:33:00.003-04:00

This coming Sunday at the Delaplaine the DBCC student ministry is inviting everyone who can make it to an evening of games, snacks, and BIG HAIRY QUESTIONS! Bring a friend, a snack to share, and some BIG HAIRY QUESTIONS.

Understanding Roles of Church and Home (Part Two)

2010-04-19T21:52:00.004-04:00

Develop a Definition of Success

Lately I have been thinking about the strategy that the church uses as a means to encourage the spiritual formation of others, specifically children. The following is a continuation of articles that attempts to understand how we can do this (better).

With any strategy, a teacher must have some way of knowing when she is reaching or has achieved her objectives. The church must, therefore, have a simple way of acknowledging whether it is being successful or not. Barna suggests three such standards for defining success and the author will give another. The first is “widespread parental involvement in the spiritual development of the children.”[1] This is a simple way for determining whether the children’s ministry is successful or not. One could simply take the parents of the participating children and determine how many of them are involved. The second is “strategically equipping parents.” One could observe how many equipping opportunities are available for parents, and of those available opportunities, how many parents took part in the training. A third measure of success would be “the transformed life of the child.” This measure is very subjective because it is hard to determine what is going on in the heart of a child by watching the behavior in the limited time a teacher has with the child during a class or other activity.

Proverbs 4:23 states, “Above all else, guard your heart, for it is the well spring of life.” The way a person acts is an expression, a wellspring, or overflow of the heart. The heart determines behavior. Mark 7:21–23 says, “For from within, out of men’s hearts, come evil thoughts, sexual immorality, theft, murder, adultery, greed, malice, deceit, lewdness, envy, slander, arrogance and folly. All these evils come from inside and make a man ‘unclean.’” Luke 6:45 says, “The good man brings good things out of the good stored up in his heart, and the evil man brings evil things out of the evil stored up in his heart. For out of the overflow of his heart his mouth speaks.” A strategy of the church must address the heart (what is going on inside) along with expressed outward behavior.

In addressing a similar issue Tripp says, “A biblical approach to educating children involves two elements that you weave together. One element is rich, full communication. The other is the rod or correction (See Proverbs 23:13-19, 22, 26.)”[2] The didactical writings of the Bible, specifically the Law of the Old Testament were given to make the people of God see the impossibility of keeping it and to cry out to God for mercy.[3] The law must be followed (telling the truth, honoring one’s parents, etc.), but it is only when one’s bend is toward God that they can keep the intention of the law which is a dependence upon God. If that bend is away from God, a person becomes like the Pharisees. Matthew 23:27–28 references this type of outwardly religious but inwardly rebellious person; “Woe to you, teachers of the law and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You are like whitewashed tombs, which look beautiful on the outside but on the inside are full of dead men’s bones and everything unclean. In the same way, on the outside you appear to people as righteous but on the inside you are full of hypocrisy and wickedness.” If a church focuses only on correcting outward behavior, but does not communicate enough with the children to determine what is transpiring in the heart, they have not successfully ministered to children. This is not a suggestion that the church should “bear the rod” of correction but only that the church should emphasize relationship and communication in its educational endeavors with children.

The Pharisees looked religious and obedient to God on the outside, but their hearts were far from God. The measure of success should not be proper behavior alone (sitting quietly in their seat, saying “yes ma’am or no ma’am,” etc.) but a heart reliant upon and sold out for God. Discipline in the classroom and the home must be carried out to show specifically where the child has displeased God. It is this process of showing the child, according to the Bible, why what they have done is wrong that the child makes the decision to follow God and not the world. If the parent or church stops at only correcting behavior alone, and giving no explanation of why a standard of behavior is required, then they are raising Pharisees not true worshippers of Christ.[4] Again, the earlier this process begins, the easier it is for the child’s heart to be bent toward God and away from their natural heart’s desire to sin.[5] This is the heart of Deuteronomy 6 where it discusses a constant conversation with the child. This ideally is to be accomplished by the parents during their daily living, not one hour on Sunday morning by a teacher.

Romans 1:18–20 states, “The wrath of God is being revealed from heaven against all the godlessness and wickedness of men who suppress the truth by their wickedness, since what may be known about God is plain to them, because God has made it plain to them.” In the language of Romans, a child will either respond to God by faith or they suppress the truth in unrighteousness. In his rebellion, he will actually hide the truth from himself. It is the parent’s and the church’s responsibilities to guide the child toward faith in God (through teaching and correction) and to point out when the child is worshipping something other than God, thereby suppressing the truth in his life.

A fourth way of defining success is to have a diagnostic test of some kind that would effectively measure the knowledge of the child as he progresses through the years and stages of the ministry. One such test could be a life application challenge given in the classroom. For example, if the lesson is on “Spending Time with God,” the life application challenge could be for the child to have a daily devotional time. The teacher could then ask the child in a nonjudgmental fashion, “Did you have a devotional time this week?” When this information is received and reviewed, it can become the goal of the church to increase the total average over time by trying different strategies. Actual numbers and data give the leadership and parents something to work with as a basis to project realistic goals. Regarding this issue Barna has said, "In order to meaningfully operationalize these (or other) desired outcomes, we start by tying our search for clues (for spiritual growth) to the means of measurement. Here are some means through which we can evaluate outcomes: Formal evaluation tools – written tests, oral tests, essays, competitions and homework assignments. Self-report evaluation tools – surveys, inventories and profiles. Conversation and dialogue – language used, reasoning skills, foundational worldview expressed and interactive engagement. Observable behavior or perspectives – attendance, volunteerism, invitations, donations, professed beliefs, memorized beliefs, physical condition and body language. Inferences from choices – character of friends, media preferences, spending habits, social activity, attire and appearance.[6]

Assessment can be formal or informal. At the more formal extreme are written tests of ability and knowledge. On the informal extreme would be casual observation. Both of these measurements can be used together to give an administrator a more complete picture.

[1] Barna, Transforming Children Into Spiritual Champions, 101.
[2] Tripp, Shepherding A Child’s Heart, 74.
[3] Rom 3:20
[4] John 4:24
[5] Ps 51:5
[6] Barna, Transforming Children Into Spiritual Champions, 130.

In the Twinkling of an Eye

2010-04-19T10:22:00.006-04:00

The art presented here was inspired from the verse, "in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet. For the trumpet will sound, and the dead will be raised incorruptible, and we shall be changed." 1 Corinthians 15:52. It reminds me of how limited our time is here on this earth and how at any moment Christ could return to take us to glory.

Last night I attended a friends ordination service. It was an evening of pastors and others seeking to impress the gravity of the calling into ministry and recognizing and affirming him to this calling. The presenters were given the assignment of telling a young man entering ministry what he needed to know, and they were limited to one minute. I was asked to be a presenter so I have thought about this for weeks. In the end, I decided to do three things with my minute. 1. I read what I felt was the most important verse for a pastor to remember, Matthew 22:37 "And he said to him, “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind." Jesus was asked the same question by the way. Above all else a man of God must love God with every fiber of their being. 2. I gave a practical tip that I have learned along the way and it is this: There is no short cut, no magic bullet, no secret formula. Success in ministry is to faithfully do what you have been called to do, and it will be hard. Don't quit. 3. I prayed for him from the pulpit. Every ordination typically ends with the laying on of hands, but I wanted to pray for this young man, the way I wished men had prayed for me. I believe that he needed to hear men of God praying for him.

Also, that evening took me back to when I was seated in his seat. It was the first time I really began to feel the weight of ministry placed upon my shoulders. Perhaps it was the men leaning on me as they prayed, or the Holy Spirit using that moment to impress upon me the importance of my task -- but I do remember and still carry the weight. There has never been a time when I desired to be rid of the weight, it is very precious to me, but there are times when I have wanted a sabbatical from it. It never goes away, I am always a called man of God where ever I go, whatever I do -- it's there.

So "in the twinkling of an eye" Jesus could return and I will have to give an account of my actions and how I have managed His church, the Bride. You already know what i want Him to say. . . "Well done good and faithful servant." Then I will be rid of the weight and can rejoice before my King. but for now, it's Monday and time to write Sunday's sermon.

In the waiting room

2010-04-16T08:42:00.004-04:00

We were up early this morning getting everything ready for the kids to go off to school -- well all the kids except Joshua. He had an oral surgery scheduled for this morning. Granny, aunt Janet and cousin Susie all came over to get the kids on the bus so that Kimberly and I could take Joshua to the surgery.

After about fifteen minutes of instructions for post-operation life (like not smoking, driving, drinking alcohol, etc...) Joshua was taken back, put under anesthesia, and as of right now Kimberly and I are waiting.

This is the second time Joshua has been put to sleep for surgery and Kimberly and I have found ourselves "waiting." It is not a very comfortable feeling placing your son into the hands of another (no matter how well qualified.) Both Kimberly and I both brought "stuff to do," but there is a quiet distraction that really keeps us from being truly focused. We are trusting the doctor with our son, and there is nothing that we can add to the process. It will take the time it takes, it will cause Joshua necessary pain, and in the end we are trusting that it will be for his benefit . . . so we wait.

Isaiah says, 40:31 ". . . but they who wait for the Lord shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings like eagles; they shall run and not be weary; they shall walk and not faint." So we know what it means to "wait on the doctor" in the "waiting room" but is this the same of "waiting for the Lord?" It is where we recognize that life is out of our control, and we trust/place it into the hands of another who is far more qualified to take care of it. If we wait, for the Lord, then in the end, our lives will be better off.

So Kimberly and I sit, waiting.

4-19-10 Update
Joshua is doing wonderful and is back to normal activities. Thank you for all the prayers and phone calls. Some of you have asked what he had done:

He has many, many teeth on the bottom, so two were removed to make room for the teeth to align naturally. Also, on the top Joshua had a tooth that really wasn't a tooth at all (a bony growth that would never change) so it was removed. And he has a tooth impacted way up in his gum. So a gold chain was attached to it, drawn through the gum and attached to his upper set of braces. This will slowly pull the tooth down as the chain has increased tension. I am beginning to understand the angst in my mother's voice as she would correct me as a boy not to open bottles with my teeth, cut items with my teeth, etc...

Respite 4-10-10

2010-04-13T15:40:00.002-04:00

Thank you volunteers and parents for letting us share life with your beautiful kids.

Creeping Customs

2010-04-12T23:48:00.007-04:00

This past Sunday I preached from 1 Samuel chapter 2:12 ff. It is the story of Eli and his three sons (I am counting Samuel as an adopted son). I focused on the comparison of the two biological sons (v. 12) against how Samuel is presented in the story. Here, I would like to discuss a part of the passage, I was not able to spend too much time on.

1 Samuel 2:13-14 "The custom of the priests with the people was that when any man offered sacrifice, the priest's servant would come, while the meat was boiling, with a three-pronged fork in his hand, 14 and he would thrust it into the pan or kettle or cauldron or pot."

I find the phrase, "The custom of the priests with the people. . ." to be very interesting. Earlier, when the law outlines how the sacrifices were to be collected, slaughtered, and burned, there was no mention of the practice that is mentioned in the rest of the verse. There was no mention of a three-pronged fork, boiling the meat, etc... Something happened between the giving of the law, and the actual carrying out of the law that resulted in a "custom."

This "custom" in an attempt on the part of the priests to make their job more comfortable or even convenient for themselves. And the people have a "chance" to get more meat back since, "All that the fork brought up the priest would take for himself." So if the priest hooked a little piece the people got to keep more of the meat. So this led the people to be greedy with that which was to be the Lord's.

Whenever you seek to make God's Word more convenient or comfortable (by adding to it, or changing it in some way) you take away the God given tool that is designed to keep people from acting upon their sinful nature that is within them. God's Word and the leaders who teach it, are there to fight against creeping "customs."

Judges 21:25 "In those days there was no king in Israel. Everyone did what was right in his own eyes."

Along these same lines is keeping a balance between being culturally relevant and staying true to the original meaning and teaching of Scripture. God has called all believers to study, memorize, apply, and love His Holy Word. Teachers of the Word are admonished to "15 Do your best to present yourself to God as one approved, a worker who has no need to be ashamed, rightly handling the word of truth. (2 Timothy 3:15)" Jesus looked around and used illustrations (seed, people on a journey, bushes, etc.) as a way to help people understand spiritual things. Today teachers still look around a see (wiis, iphones, cars, etc.) and make the cultural connection. It is not as easy as it may seem on the surface. If you reference a popular television show that many people are watching (hence it being popular) but the show may be filled with course comments, sexual innuendo, rude behavior. . .then have you endorsed the show? Do you want to spend time (precious time) talking about what's wrong with the show? So don't mention the show, but now you have left out a huge chunk of where the "culture" is focusing their attention.

So obviously we pray, study Scripture, and ask the Holy Spirit to guide us along this arkham's razor.

Let us just make sure that we don't try to make God's Word more convenient for us (or others) to change the meaning which will lead to others sinning (2 Timothy 3:14,16).

*http://www.marklawrencegallery.com/ The picture above is from this web site. I really like his abstract work as it relates to biblical principles.

Easter at Daybreak

2010-04-05T17:05:00.005-04:00

Music is a gift from God that moves the soul like nothing else. This Sunday Matt C. our worship director wrote a new song regarding Christ’s life, death, and resurrection, and it was very powerful. The praise team did an awesome job, of leading us into a worshipful time with the Lord. Our children also sang a special, guided by a wonderful sister in Christ Pam. G. They met for several practices and finally had their Easter debut. My kids listened to a cd of the song every night for weeks, and enjoyed practicing with their friends and eating pizza at rehearsals.

This Sunday, we began a new preaching series entitled "Parenting Under Attack" in which we will look at parents from the Bible (where they got it right, and where they got it wrong). Thank goodness they didn't always get it right, or I would feel pretty bad.

Understanding Roles of the Church and Home (Part One)

2010-04-05T15:00:00.006-04:00

Lately I have been thinking about the strategy that the church uses as a means to encourage the spiritual formation of others, specifically children. The following is the beginning of a series of articles that attempts to understand how we can do this (better).

Before any effective and biblical strategy can be developed, the church must understand its role and how it relates to the role of the home. If the church does all the intentional spiritual teaching and the parents do little or no intentional spiritual teaching, then the child suffers. This reliance of the parent upon the church is not only a poor use of time, but also an abdication of their God given responsibility. Children are highly influenced by the environment around them. Parents spend far more time with their children than the typical Children’s Ministry teacher on Sunday morning. If a child attends a school, then he is further influenced by that school’s philosophy of education and by their peers around them. The Children’s Ministry teacher spends far less time with the student than any other major influence in their lives. However, if the parents are relying on a one hour a week Sunday morning program to educate their children in Christian foundations, the church has to fight against these other influences that have far more access to the child.

Barna has said, “When a church—intentionally or not—assumes a family’s responsibilities in the arena of spiritually nurturing children, it fosters an unhealthy dependence upon the church to relieve the family of its biblical responsibility” The church and the home are partners. The home bears most, if not all, of the responsibility and the church bears the biblical mandate to supplement that teaching and to give biblical guidance. Since there is this preferred symbiotic relationship between the church and the home, it would be in the best interest of each to work together. Also, the church has no oversight regarding the activities the child does when they are away from the church classroom. It is the parent’s responsibility to have oversight of the child and to keep him safe.

Fields, while relating specifically to youth ministry, gives several ideas on how to bring the home and church together. Developing a growing relationship between the church’s educational team and the parents is very important. Fields says, “It is impossible to create healthy teamwork with people you don’t know.” As this relationship develops, parents can inform the teachers of issues that are going on in the student’s individual lives in times of difficulty. As the children grow older, the parent’s control and influence will decrease. This may bring feelings of fear, inadequacy, abandonment, or failure. By working together the church has invaluable background about the students, and the parents have a support network. Another benefit of working together is that the weekly flow of life can be better managed. The home and the church can work together to ensure that both calendars are balanced. If a children’s ministry has an event planned and desires for it to be a success, then it needs to make sure the parents are aware of it and thoroughly informed well in advance. Many precious resources have been wasted, when a church event or program is planned and few people show up. The same is true for the home. Once parents are committed (financially or personally) to an activity, they feel as though they miss out on a much desired church activity.

(blogger won't let me add footnotes, so there are many assumptions above that I will footnote elsewhere.)

Two Special Guests at Cub Scouts

2010-04-01T21:39:00.002-04:00

Mrs. Denise Portis and Chloe (her hearing assistance dog) came to Cub Scouts tonight to help the boys earn their Disabilities Awareness belt loop. The boys sat quietly as Denise explained hearing loss, how Chloe helps her, and what the color of the dog’s vest mean (among many other things).

Thank you Denise and Chloe!

Why Spiritual Leaders Are Essential

2010-03-22T22:46:00.004-04:00

Proverbs 29:18 says, “Where there is no revelation, the people cast off restraint; but blessed is he who keeps the law” (NIV). The general meaning of this verse is that without someone explaining God’s Word, holding it with great regard, and directing the people to look to it for answers, then the people will perish. They perish because they turn away from God and His law and begin to do what they feel is right in their own eyes. The Hebrew verb yipaara` means 'are dissipated;' also 'revolt,' 'become unbridled,' and so perish. This unbridled, and consequently ruinous state, is opposed in the parallel clause, "happy;" as "the law" stands in contrast to "no vision." The following principle can be drawn from this passage of Scripture: If a ministry within the church does not have a leader, then the ministry will plateau and decline. Weekly objectives will not be met, and the overall quality will diminish. As people involved in the ministry begin to do things as they think best due to a lack of direction; there will be disunity, confusion, and decline.

Therefore, before a strategy can be developed for any ministry, there must be someone to champion the ministry within the church. This leader must cast a vision of a desirable future and see that the Sunday-to-Sunday objectives are accomplished, along with hundreds of others items that need to be addressed on a weekly basis. Clark says:
Effective leadership is essential for progress. Someone must be responsible for planning, organizing, directing, and making decisions. Some groups operate in a leaderless structure with group members sharing responsibility equally. However, unless individuals are skillfully trained and experienced, they need leaders to motivate them towards goals to be accomplished. The leader acts as a guide to show the way and to coordinate activities.

A lack of this characteristic of seeking to improve by casting vision and goal setting is analogous to the carpenter who uses a piece of wood as a way to measure another piece of wood to cut. When the carpenter has cut the wood, he then casts the original measured wood aside and substitutes it with the new cut piece of wood. This process continues for some time, until he realizes that when he measures the pieces each is a different size. If he had used one piece as a standard, instead of using each new piece with a slightly different cut size, he would have been able to accomplish his task. But the carpenter has to go back and start over. In ministry if everyone is ministering the way they feel is best, or referencing the analogy above, “a different size,” then nothing really fits together; but if they are all the same size, it is much easier to build the ministry and Christ’s kingdom. A leader needs to make sure that standards are kept and bars are raised in order to improve the ministry. Otherwise people tend to do what they think is best; there is a lack of uniformity and purpose; and decline becomes inevitable.

For the purposes of our discussion, Blackaby’s definition of leadership will be used. This definition of leadership is, “spiritual leadership is moving people on to God’s agenda.” He explains that spiritual leadership has not occurred if a person has not left their personal desires and plans and if they have not been influenced to move towards God’s plan. A leader in any ministry seeks God’s plan for the ministry and then leads the rest toward this God-ordained purpose and plan. In Luke 9:33 Jesus brought Peter with Him to a mountain in which God chose to transfigure Jesus so that He had a glorious appearance. Peter, not understanding what was going on, says, “Master, it is good for us to be here. Let us put up three shelters—one for you, one for Moses and one for Elijah” (He did not know what he was saying) (NIV).

In any ministry people will want to do things that are counterproductive to God’s agenda, and do things that just do not make sense. It is the leader’s role to have clear instructions from the Lord and to explain these instructions to others. Otherwise, everyone is trying to build shelters and miss their mandate to transform the lives of others. A leader keeps his team on task and does not allow them to become involved in activities that distract them from their task of directing others towards God.

"One Small Step for Man, One Giant Leap for Mankind"

2010-03-11T21:05:00.005-05:00

My role in this life doesn't seem to be one of landing on the moon, inventing the newest technology, or winning a major battle. Instead, it seems that my destiny lies in my influencing those young men who will. And that's ok.

Tonight the Wolf den of Pack 277 had an awesome time. We are working on our "science" belt loop so we discussed the "scientific method." All the boys were able to walk through the process, and we experimented with balsa wood air planes (the kind that you wind a rubber band on the bottom). It is so much fun to see their smiles as they discover simple scientific concepts as though they were the first people ever to think of such things. They are so full of energy and anticipation about life -- it was fun just to be there with them. Each boy adds so much to our evenings. I am so proud of each and every one of them.

A New Strategy For Students

2010-03-06T10:56:00.007-05:00

A strategy is a plan of action with an end in mind (Reggie Joiner. Think Orange (Colorado Springs, Colorado; David C. Cook, 2009) 113). So if you set out toward a particular objective, you anticipate an end result. In youth ministry for many years the long term end in mind were youth who graduated from High School and entered independence with a solid Christian belief and a lifestyle that reflected those Christian beliefs. But over the past 10 years through various studies and analysis, we have discovered that this desired end result is not taking place.

Typically, churches would hire a staff person who would tirelessly strive to impact young people for Christ only to discover later that most of their effort and work did not achieve the desired end. (George Barna and others have given percentages as high as 70% of young people graduating student ministries leave the church and their Christian beliefs with it.)

I have had a facebook account for some time now. More times than not, I am grieved to see so many young people who I have worked with over the years proudly displaying pictures of activities that clearly go against Christian principles and obvious biblical mandates for behavior.

So what do we do about this? For Daybreak Community Church we are going to change the strategy. Instead of allowing parents to drop off their children to the care of a “hired professional” we are going to attempt to equip the parents for ministering to the youth. We will enter into a relationship where we partner with them, but never allowing them to give the church the responsibility of discipleship. We will keep pushing it back to them, where biblically it belongs (see Deuteronomy 6). The church is not to be the primary place of biblical instruction, it is the home.

This is a new way of thinking and even how we structure student ministry has to change – no more “drop and roll” but parents are encouraged to be apart of all the activities that we do as a ministry. The church’s goal is not just to partner with, and equip, but also to provide resources and ideas for this journey. In the life of a young person they may have several churches that they are apart of, but their parents will always be their parents.

We have three main events for students at Daybreak:
1) Family Group – this is where we have the entire family sit down and discuss various topics (crisis, beliefs, death, etc.) and the family goes through planned activities to get them talking about these specific topics.

2) Small Group – (i.e. Sunday School) this is where the students gather and decide for
themselves what they believe regarding the theme for the month, and they are able talk with their peers about the topic. Parents go to the worship service during this time.

3) Large Group – we invite other churches to join us for a time of worship, a
message (sermon), games, and snacks. The students are able to interact with other Christian young people and discuss the theme for the month. Parents are encouraged to stay and we have activities planned for them as well.

BRBA Student Ministry Large Group

2010-03-02T11:53:00.002-05:00

This past Sunday night two youth groups from the BRBA gathered together for an evening of fun and worship. They had snacks, a time of worship, a message, and games. The goal is to encourage churches to work together to expand the gospel through cooperation.

Watch What You Say

2010-02-24T13:39:00.003-05:00

Speed skater Sven Kramer was disqualified for an illegal lane change in the Winter Olympics yesterday. As the skater was competing in the event, his coach yelled out that he needed to change lanes, that the speeder had made a mistake. Because the skater followed his coach's instructions he was disqualified. In response Kramer said,

"Usually, I don't want to blame anyone else, I take responsibility as the skater on the ice. But this time I can't do anything else,'' the son of two-time Olympic speed skater Yep Kramer told reporters after the race."

"I wanted to go on the outer lane, then just before the cone Gerard shouted, 'Inner lane!' I thought he was probably right. At first I thought my skates passed the cone on the wrong side, and I will be disqualified. Then I noticed in the stadium, something was wrong." (cnn.com 2-24-10)

If you think of all the hours of practicing, untold amounts of money spent and sacrifices by the boy's family, and his dreams that melted before him, it is really sad. He lost because he took the advice of someone he trusted (his coach).

My first response is to blast the coach; he made a monumental mistake. But truth be told, those in leadership make mistakes. But if you watch the video the coach's heart is to see his skater win -- he truly believes that the boy has made a mistake and he is doing all he can to make the (false) correction. The coach acted in good faith. If there is a charge to be made, it is one of incompetence. But he is an Olympic coach -- he was doing something right to get the boy to "the show." Men make mistakes.

You could also, put fault at the skater’s feet. He had been trained and had prepared for thousands of hour -- this was his event after all. He was the one racing, and he was the one who would win the metal. Players have a responsibility to pay attention and cautiously evaluate everything they are told (even by their coaches).

In the book of Acts we see the early church receiving spiritual coaches and listening to what they say, while at the same time comparing what they say to the ultimate authority, the Bible.

Acts 17:10 says "The brothers immediately sent Paul and Silas away by night to Berea, and when they arrived they went into the Jewish synagogue. 11 Now these Jews were more noble than those in Thessalonica; they received the word with all eagerness, examining the Scriptures daily to see if these things were so.” (ESV)

So in life, whether you are a player or a coach, if you line up what you say, and how you respond to the ultimate authority (the Scriptures) you will avoid wrong lane changes, loss of metals, or things that are of far more eternal value. But in the end we all will make mistakes, and the Bible was written for those who are human.

The Theory and Theology of Discipleship

2010-02-19T16:09:00.003-05:00

Robert Pazmino proposes an acronym that encapsulates the three phases of teaching as “PIE.” The letters in the order given stand for “preparation,” “instruction” and “evaluation.” While many things are as “easy as pie,” teaching oftentimes is not one of these endeavors. Perhaps the best place to start on this meaningful yet sometimes treacherous journey of teaching is to define what is meant by Christian education. Powers defines Christian education as seeking “to develop within persons an understanding of, commitment to, and ability to practice Christian teachings . . . the ongoing effort of believers seeking to understand, practice, and propagate God’s revelation.” Perhaps a working definition of Christian education could be seeking to partner with the Holy Spirit in teaching and learning that transforms lives into the image and pattern of Jesus Christ.
Pazmino says, “A holistic vision of education calls for addressing the information, formation, and transformation of persons.”

The holistic vision can be illustrated by a person needing a balanced diet. This balanced diet contributes to the overall health of a person. In theory if a person eats the right kinds of food (grains, vegetables, fruits, milk products, and proteins) from each food group, he or she will live healthier and live longer. Daryl Dale takes spiritual formation and the balanced diet principle and applies it to the development of a spiritually healthy child. His “spiritual formation philosophy” emphasizes the spiritual needs of children rather than programming. Program based ministries evaluate themselves on the basis of size, growth, and enthusiasm. Growth in a ministry and enthusiasm on the part of workers and children are certainly important elements of quality ministry. However, when a church fails to evaluate what is happening inside the life of a child, it is in danger of engaging its staff in labor intensive ministries that have little spiritual impact on people.

Dale identifies twelve components of a spiritually balanced diet. These spiritual needs are: “salvation, Bible knowledge, praise and worship, Christian friendships, personal outreach, Christian service, church commitment, prayer, devotional life, missions awareness, Scripture memorization, and stewardship.” Dale shows that these particular topics can be tested to determine their inclusion by asking the following two questions: 1) “Would we be negligent if we did not teach one thing on prayer (substitute any other issue) over the next twelve months?” The second question would be, 2) “Would we be doing our God-given ministry well if we did not offer one prayer experience (substitute and other issue) or project over the next twelve months?” When leaders are knowledgeable of the main or basic spiritual needs, they can begin to address these needs through their programs.
Dale also points out that all of the components of a spiritually balanced diet do not merit equal attention. He says, “Just as the ‘Food Pyramid’ (nutrition chart) illustrates how a person needs more daily servings from the grain group than from the protein group, some spiritual issues need to be addressed more often than others. Some may be addressed every week while others may be satisfied through three or four lessons and a couple of experiences a year.”

Daniel Aleshire says that an educational ministry within the church should lead to discipleship and this ministry has several requirements. He says, “First, education that is true to the grace of the gospel requires a vision of the church, its purpose, and mission. Christian education must emerge from the mission of the church and move its people toward authentic discipleship.” The church must keep in mind that it is mobilizing an army to win the world for Christ, not simply edifying oneself. Discipleship is not for the purpose of growing believers to sit in a pew, but to equip believers to be sent out to see their neighbor won for Christ. Aleshire says, “Second, Christian education requires theologically informed goals and objectives.”

This is a reference to what the teacher is trying to accomplish, and how these goals are to be accomplished. Not only is the content of the lesson important but the method of delivery as well. Aleshire also says, “Third, the learning that results from Christian education requires some serious consideration. The learning must be of a special kind—the kind that provides knowledge, instills feelings, and leads to right living. Forth, the processes and organizations that the church uses to educate people in faith require ongoing, thoughtful evaluation and renewal.” These refer to life change as the ultimate objective and ways to evaluate if this change is taking place.

Before any life changing learning can ever take place there must be a desire in the heart of a person to share their lives and communicate truth. This is a prerequisite for transformational teaching. For Christian educators, there must be a heart change in the teacher before there can ever be a life change in the student. In the secular teaching environment, there is no spiritual component per se to teaching mathematics or language arts, for example. The effective Christian teacher has to have an active prayer and Bible study lifestyle. The Christian educator has to understand the importance of the Holy Spirit working through the teacher throughout the course of the teaching endeavor. It is a love of God and His Word and an understanding of the passion that was poured out for them on a rugged cross that overflows into life changing teaching. The teacher must love the Lord and this love is displayed in his teaching. This is something that cannot be taught. It is not a different method to try, a resource to implement, or something that could be substituted. The teacher either has this passion or he does not. Pazmino says, “Every teaching session, along with its explicit and implicit curriculum, has a null curriculum. Basically the null curriculum is that which is not taught, with the explicit curriculum referring to what is taught. The implicit curriculum refers to what is caught by persons than directly taught in the course of instruction.” The teacher’s life is the real curriculum that will lead to transformation in the students. More than likely they will remember the character of their teacher lived out before them far longer than they will remember the lesson taught in the classroom.

Perhaps, the first step to becoming an effective teacher is to set the bar higher and higher throughout one’s ministry. This desire to improve comes from a humble heart and an authentic desire to reach more people for Christ. Hendricks suggests that “to teach children two plus two equals four, you need a minimum of four years of higher education. To teach the unsearchable riches of Jesus Christ, anything is good enough . . . and that’s why it too often degenerates into a ministry of mediocrity.” The teaching of the Bible is the most important thing a person could ever do. Therefore, there should be a much higher standard than to simply seek to fill a slot on a nomination committee list. Howard Hendricks tells of a story that expresses this point. He says,
" We learned she was eighty-three and from a town in Michigan’s Upper Peninsula. In a church with a Sunday school of only sixty-five people, she taught a class of thirteen junior-high boys. She traveled by Greyhound bus all the way to Chicago the night before the convention. Why? In her words, ‘To learn something that would make me a better teacher.’ I thought at the time, ‘Most people who had a class of thirteen junior-high boys in a Sunday school of only sixty-five would be breaking their arms to pat themselves on the back: Who, me? Go to a Sunday school convention? I could teach it myself!’ But not this woman. Eighty-four who sat under her teaching are now young men in full-time vocational ministry. Twenty-two are graduates of the seminary where I teach."

Was there something special about this woman? What made her teaching so effective? She had a desire to raise the bar of her teaching ministry. This passion for Christ and having a lifestyle of constant learning overflows into the lives of the students. They see before them week after week a person who lives what they teach. Jesus said, “Take up my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls” (Matt 11:29, NIV). Eldridge said, “The yoke was a symbol of submission, obedience, and service. It was a means to harness power and direct the energy of an animal. The yoke guides or steers the beast of burden.” The student like the animal must be willing to submit to the teaching or guiding of another. The disciple must be “teachable.” While the early disciples were from different backgrounds and had rather undesirable qualities, they were teachable and truly wanted to understand what Jesus was teaching. This teachable countenance was used by God to spread the gospel around the world, and it is only when modern day teacher/disciples have this teachable characteristic that the gospel can continue to transform the world. When students see that their teacher is learning, they will desire to follow his example.

Gregory Milton says that a teacher must “stimulate in the pupil the love of learning, and to form in him habits and ideals of independent study.” This stimulation from within comes from observing the teacher and then applying these learned behaviors to their own lives. This is why Scripture holds those who teach to a higher standard (Jas 3:1). God recognizes that those who desire to teach set the standard for which their students follow. It is therefore the second goal of the teacher to encourage their students to fall in love with learning about God and to encourage them to continue this practice throughout his life.
If this lifelong learning is to be embraced by the student, the teacher must understand seven distinct elements. Gregory refers to these concepts of education as the “Seven Laws of Teaching.” From these seven laws are three major components of effective learning (preparation, instruction, and evaluation.) There are two personal factors that make up the first element, (1) a teacher and (2) a learner. The second element has two factors as well, (3) a common language and a (4) lesson of truth to be communicated. The third element has three functional acts or processes, (5) that of the teacher – the teacher’s work, (6) that of the learner – the learner’s work, and a final finishing process (7) to test and fix the result.

Pictures of the Blizzard 2010

2010-02-11T00:06:00.003-05:00

Some pictures from the great snow over the past couple of days.

http://animoto.com

/play/2Z9MpXNMFj43btWR1Vu5oA

Pray for Summer Outreach

2010-02-09T22:08:00.002-05:00

You pick the dates, the time, and location. We give you everything you need to reach your neighbors for Christ.

The Importance of Christian Education

2010-02-09T13:57:00.002-05:00

Early in the earth’s history God was man’s original instructor. Man’s classroom was the perfect Garden of Eden, and his teacher was none other than God Himself. In the cool of the day God would come and talk and dialogue with Adam (Gen 3:8). Creation taught of God’s omnipotent power and immeasurable creativity. The fall (Genesis 3) taught man not only of God’s grace and mercy, but also of His holiness. God is the ultimate teacher; Job said, “Who is a teacher like him” (Job 36:22)? Michael Anthony and Warren Benson write,
God’s desire has always been to see His children mature in their faith and pass that faith on to subsequent generations. To accomplish that aim, He chose patriarchal leaders such as Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob to model godly familial and national leadership. Soon after that, He gave us written instructions, known as the Torah, or Old Testament Law. Later, he commissioned priests, judges, and prophets with the task of instructing His people with the proper application of those laws to everyday life. Eventually, this task was given to synagogue leaders such as rabbis and scribes. After the Jews returned from exile, they established schools for the education of their children.

This knowledge was not only to pass from parent to child, but from God’s people to the lost world around them. Genesis 18:19 says, “For I have chosen him, so that he
will direct his children and his household after him to keep the way of the LORD by doing what is right and just, so that the LORD will bring about for Abraham what he has promised him” (NIV). That promise was that Abraham would be a blessing to those around him, and that his offspring would be as numerous as the sand on the seashore (Genesis 12). Later it was explained that his offspring are all those that have a saving faith in God. As the world surrounded God’s people, they would see God working in the Israelite’s lives, and they would be drawn to want a relationship with God as well. When they come to inquire, God’s people would need to know how to respond. If God’s people are to be a “lamp on a stand” that shines the light of God to the world, then their lives must reflect God’s character and their minds must be ready to “give an answer for the hope that they have” (1 Pet 3:15). Acts 17:26-–27 says, “From one man he made every nation of men, that they should inhabit the whole earth; and he determined the times set for them and the exact places where they should live. God did this so that men would seek him and perhaps reach out for him and find him, though he is not far from each one of us.” God has strategically placed Christians where they are, in the history of time that they are in, in order to bring a lost world to Him. But they must be knowledgeable regarding the doctrines of Scripture. Otherwise the church becomes doctrinally shallow and easily swayed by the deception of sin (Jas 1:8).

God chooses to work through the local church as the main avenue, other than parents to children, as the way in which to educate believers. Pazmino identifies the responsibilities of the local church as being “proclamation (kerygma), community formation (koinonia), service (diakonia), advocacy (propheteia), and worship (leitourgia).” He points out that didache or teaching is not listed. Pazmino believes that “teaching serves as the connective membrane linking these five tasks to form a vital and living body of ministry and mission in the world.” 1 Corinthians 12:4–7 says, “There are different kinds of gifts, but the same Spirit. There are different kinds of service, but the same Lord. There are different kinds of working, but the same God works all of them in all men. Now to each one the manifestation of the Spirit is given for the common good.” Those who teach are in partnership with other Christians who have these different gifts from God. They should share these different spiritual gifts to bring depth and creativity to the teaching ministry of the church.

Whereas the methods that God has used to reveal Himself have changed throughout the generations, his desire to see His people grow and become like Him has not. Today this same responsibility of instruction has not changed regarding godly parenting. But also, the parents of children must be taught so they can mature and grow in Christ. If the local church is to be “the body” as described throughout the New Testament (1 Corinthians 12), it must be educated. God’s design behind education is that people would be taught how to become more like Him. Since the beginning of time, it has been God’s desire for man to populate the earth and to instruct those people on how to have a relationship with their Creator.

The ultimate purpose of all Christian education, then, is to bring those who are taught into a relationship with Jesus Christ, then to equip them to grow in this relationship for the rest of their lives, while showing others God’s purpose for their lives. This is actually given as a command in the Great Commission in Matt 28:18–20, “Then Jesus came to them and said, ‘All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age’” (NIV).

All who have a saving faith in God should be educated in the doctrines of the Bible in order that they can impact their world around them. Clarence H. Benson said, “The progress and permanency of Christianity has been dependent upon a program of education.”

One sees this importance early in the life of the church. Acts 2:42 says, “They devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching and to the fellowship, to the breaking of bread and to prayer.” Every pastor in the early church was expected to be an apt teacher (1 Tim 3:2), and most Christians were more than likely apt teachers (Acts 8:1, 4) as well. The importance of Christian education can be followed throughout all of history, with its foolish conclusions when education is lacking in the medieval period, and its great strides in discoveries during the Reformation and Renaissance. Looking specifically at the Roman Empire in history Anthony and Benson wrote,
The contribution of the great Roman Empire to the beginnings of Christianity cannot be overstated. The Son of God was born into a world that valued learning. The Hebrews had contributed an emphasis upon monotheistic and family-life education; the Greeks had provided an emphasis upon philosophic thought united under a common language; and the Romans gave the world a strong civil government with secure borders, commerce, communication, and stable means of transportation. Together these national and cultural contributions laid the foundation for early Christian church education.

This shows that Christian education has had many influences that God has used to shape it into a method that is effective if taken seriously in the life of the family and church. It is the challenge of the teacher, guided by the Holy Spirit, to instill within the learner a desire to glorify the Lord with their lives. This is something that is caught as opposed to being taught. With Jesus being the ultimate example, His life never veered from His teaching. He never did anything that contradicted what He said. The teacher’s life should exude love for the students and for God, and their lessons are an overflow of a heart that has been in God’s presence continuously. Pazmino says, “The Holy Spirit inspired the initial writing and compilation of the Scriptures. The Holy Spirit also illuminates those who seek to teach the Scriptures or to be taught by them.”

Daybreak Community Church Prayer Retreat

2010-02-08T17:35:00.004-05:00

Order tickets via Eventbrite:
http://www.eventbrite.com/event/561690030/efbevent

Daybreak Prayer Retreat

"Turn To Clear Vision"

Travel to any major city and you will find binoculars attached to major buildings overlooking the skyline. For a fee you can see the beauty of the landscape and take in the breathtaking scenery. But you just about always have to adjust the focus in order to see anything clearly.

The book of Isaiah shows us how to turn our lives so that it comes into focus with God's plan. Christ paid the price so that we can see it, but we have control over how in focus it is. We will use the book of Isaiah to guide our times of prayer and worship times with the Lord. Sign up today and plan to discover the wonder of this prophetic book and how you can get your life back into focus.

Our time together will consist of studying God's Word, worship, prayer and planned time alone with God. This is a time of refocusing your life that you don't want to miss.

Skycroft Retreat Center

Middletown, MD

$69.57 (all inclusive)

*this price includes three meals, study/prayer materials, and housing.

$48.46 (if you are not planning to stay over night)

*This price includes three meals, and study/prayer materials..

Attend This Event

Snow Removal Ministry Update

2010-02-06T13:11:00.004-05:00

The Snow Removal Ministry began in my own front yard. It was way more snow than I had anticipated and as I write this at 1pm in the afternoon, it is still coming down heavily. My snow blower couldn’t handle the volume of snow. The snow blower can handle about a foot of snow, so the three feet bank of snow just swallowed it. So, I shoveled, and shoveled, and shoveled.

I checked my e-mail and facebook looking for people wanting help and for volunteers to pick up. I loaded my snow blower, shovel, broom, a cup of coffee, and gps and started out.

I took 464 to 15N and after about two miles it became clear that I was not going to be able to help very many people today. The main roads were barely plowed, and I had to drive for miles just to find a place to turn around. For the hour I was gone I saw perhaps a dozen vehicles total and most of them were county plows and service vehicles. So instead of getting in their way, I decided to head back home.

Often times in disastrous times there is an overwhelming desire to help people, but there may be reasons why we can’t. It might be a person can’t handle the emotional stress, the distance, the physical requirements (like shoveling), or some other obstacle that prevents them from helping. There has to be a ‘first responder’ group that has the proper training or equipment to go to work first, plowing the way for those that want to help to come in later.

There may even be people who are suffering and questioning why no one is coming to help them, not knowing that there may be obstacles keeping those who want to help from taking action. If I kept going on 15 I would have eventually gotten in the way of the plows or eventually needed county resources to get me out of a snow bank. We all have to know our limitations, and be willing to help within that limit.
So the snow removal ministry has been delayed because of snow, and we will give it another try tomorrow. Perhaps by that time the roads will be clear, the snow will have stopped, and we will be ready to help.

CheckThis Out!

2010-02-05T21:24:00.001-05:00

Daybreak Snow Removal Ministry - http://eepurl.com/hzYc

Finally Some Words on a Page

2010-02-02T11:52:00.002-05:00

It's been a while since I have written anything. it seems life stays at two ends of a pendulum. One one side is a lack of activity. There is nothing going on that is worth writing down, or telling "the world" about. Do you really want to read about the kids being sick? It seems that is what facebook is for. Then, without warning, the pendulum swings to the opposite end and life becomes a swirl of activity and overwhelming responsibility. Then there is no time to write about everything that is going on. (Hold on to your head, I'm going in a new direction)

Do you know why lion tamers in the circus use a chair and a whip? The whip is obvious, but can you really protect yourself with a kitchen chair? Notice that they point the four legs at the lion and twist it. The lion can not focus on any one leg, and tries to watch all four legs at the same time. It is the classic "paralysis by analysis." The mighty lion is held at bay and tamed, because it can't get focused.

Which is where discipline comes in. This is something that we all struggle with. I want to lose 20 pounds, so I have to be disciplined to work out and eat right. (Hold on let me wipe the potato chip grease of my fingers as I type). I want to retire at some point, so I have to be disciplined to put money away for later instead of spending it all now. I want to see God's power and presence in my life, so I have to be disciplined to read his Word, obey it's commands and walk in faith.

What are the things that you want to do? Where are the places you want to go? Who do you really want to become? Take some time to answer these questions -- it's harder than you may think. Set some goals, and follow them. Satan can tame the lion in your soul by keeping you reoccupied with silly things that you obviously have the power to overcome. Pick one thing, take care of it, then reach for another. You are more than a conqueror in Christ.

Romans 8:37-39 "No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us. 38 For I am sure that neither death nor life, nor angels nor rulers, nor things present nor things to come, nor powers, 39 nor height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord."

Animoto.com

2009-12-14T09:37:00.001-05:00

Gingerbread House Family Fun Building 2009

2009-12-12T21:30:00.004-05:00

Today was Daybreak Community Church's fourth annual Gingerbread House Family Fun Morning.

Thanksgiving @ the Boswells

2009-11-26T19:25:00.000-05:00

Thanksgiving was wonderful this year. It was a day packed with adventure and lots of food. The adventure began with deep frying a turkey to a beautiful golden brown (ok a little dark brown). After thirty minutes of heating up the grease, then after another fifty minutes cook time – the turkey was great. Lunch included fried oreos, fried asparagus, fried olives, fried onion rings, fried pickles, and squash casserole.

Then after lunch was our rocket competition. Three teams constructed rocket made from two liter bottles and were judged based on style, hang time, and height. All three rockets fell apart on their first or second launch and eventually were just the bottle itself – which was just as fun.

We concluded the day playing wii Mario Brothers and just hanging out. Man am I tired.

Mountain Top Expereince

2009-11-23T10:32:00.002-05:00

Yesterday was a very special service for me. I felt the Lord had given me an idea, and instead of tucking it away and saying, “I can’t do that,” I said, “why not?” The preaching series is called Yellow, Red, Orange (inspired by Reggie Joiner and his book entitled Think Orange) and I am trying to teach how God has designed the church and the home and how they are to work together.

So this Sunday was Red, and my goal was to show how parents aren’t perfect. There are no perfect parents in Scripture (excluding Jesus, Mary, and Joseph). Yet, God seeks to show the world His story of redemption, grace, and unconditional love through imperfect people (and their imperfect families).

Also, in Duet. 6 God described through Moses how important it is for those who have been freed from slavery are not to forget that “God is One” – He must be number one. So God seeks to tell His story through imperfect people as His people seek to live for. But there is also one big next step that we miss – that being that we are to take our children along with us in this learning journey. We seek after God, and we take our kids with us, and as we go we talk about what we are doing, what happened, how we feel, and point them constantly to Christ. We are to try things for God that stretch us, challenge us, and take us out of our comfort zone – so that when we grow, so do our kids. They see their mom and dad doing things that require faith, and spiritual strength and courage – so they are willing to follow their example.

To illustrate this process, I connected climbing ropes to the ceiling of where we have church, and Caleb and I climbed to the top (of our spiritual mountain). He and I touched the rafter of a 15-20 foot ceiling, and we did it together.

So today, let me encourage you to quit trying to be perfect and cooperate with what the Holy Spirit is seeking to do in your heart. Follow Him and He will seek to push you to do something great for Him. Take your kids with you, and talk about it as you go. Let me know what happens.

Foundations of Character

2009-11-01T22:12:00.002-05:00

This past Thursday Pack 277 had its’ regular pack meeting at the local city park building. I gave a presentation on an award that the cubs can earn called “Duty to God.” It is an award that encourages the boys to learn about their individual denominational beliefs. Every time we meet as a pack (all the boys) or as a den (age graded) the boys say, “I promise to do my best, to do my duty to God and my country, To help other people, and To obey the Law of the Pack.” The boys promise to do their duty to God, every time we get together. This leads us to why I wanted to write you tonight.

If we say a promise that we have no intention of doing, then it is a lie. I cannot in good conscience lead boys (who are seeking to be men of character) in a pledge/promise if I am also not encouraging them to understand who God is and what our duty to Him should be. So I gave a presentation on how parents can guide their children in the spiritual formation of their kids and I hope that they saw the importance of this heavy responsibility. I also volunteered to take boys and their parents through a class if they do not have a religious leader of their own.

We must have a foundation that is sure and sound if we are to build boys of character upon it. They must understand who God is, and what His Word teaches us, if they are ever to follow it and honor Him with their lives.

1 Corinthians 3:11 “For no one can lay a foundation other than that which is laid, which is Jesus Christ. 12 Now if anyone builds on the foundation with gold, silver, precious stones, wood, hay, straw— 13 each one's work will become manifest, for the Day will disclose it, because it will be revealed by fire, and the fire will test what sort of work each one has done. 14 If the work that anyone has built on the foundation survives, he will receive a reward. 15 If anyone's work is burned up, he will suffer loss, though he himself will be saved, but only as through fire.”

My goal of working with the Cub Scouts is to have a positive influence and these young boys and guide them to a solid foundation of character. The true foundation is in Christ.

Cub Scout Go-See-It 911 Center Frederick

2009-10-24T17:54:00.000-04:00

Today was our first Pack 277 "Go-See-It" when and we visited the Frederick 911 Center. It was a huge facilites where multiple municipal agencies share resources, personnel, and the building itself. We had a tour guide who allowed the rambuncious Cub Scouts to see the inner workings of the dispatch unit. Our leader was an older gentlemen who seemed to have forgtotten the five second attention span of a seven year old, so he gave a very detailed explanation of every aspect of the operation. His colorful montogue included stories of funny 911 stories. Thank you Frederick 911 for all you do, and the service you provide to our community.

BES Awards Day

2009-10-24T16:32:00.001-04:00

Friday was awards day for children at Brunswick Elementary School. Hannah-Grace won the "Good Friend" award for being helpful and an encourager to others. Caleb won the "Being A Hard Worker in Class" award for .... well I think you get the idea. It was fun to see their faces when their names were called and they didn't expect to get anything. I think that is when life is the most fun, when you receive a validation for something you didn't realize about yourself and at a time when you don't expect it. God often times blesses us by showing us things He has built into us that makes us unique and special to others, while doing it at a time when we most need it or feel especially blessed. Have a great day knowing that you were created unique and special and look for ways to bless others.

Getting Ready for The Great Outdoors

2009-10-14T18:42:00.000-04:00

Tomorrow I will begin the second half of a leadership training course offered by the Boy Scouts of America called the Wood badge. This portion is predominately outdoors, where we cook all our food, eat, and live outdoors for three days. When I signed up for this in July it seems like an awesome idea. But now it is the middle of October in Maryland, and the weather is calling for rain and cold weather. I have been battling a head cold for over a week, but have lots of medicine. So I have everything packed in water resistant bags, I purchased a backpacking tarp, along with some waterproof pants, and am looking forward to seeing how it goes. Last month when I went for the first half, my camera died after three pictures, so this time I am hoping to get a lot more pictures to share. Kimberly (my wife) can not understand why anyone would want to do this -- I just keep telling her "it for the children." No not really, I have just found a hobby. Check back in a few days and I'll (prayerfully) post some pictures.

Two Things to Think about With Regard to Change

2009-10-13T12:11:00.000-04:00

A few years ago I met with a group of pastors and we enjoyed a time of sharing the struggles of leadership, but the conversation quickly turned serious when we talked about change. We had preached from our pulpits how other people should change, but we seriously disagreed on how change comes about and what role the leader plays in that process. Every one of these pastors have moved away, six men who became frustrated with change had all dealt with the change process differently. It was at this time that I became even more entrenched in my belief that things that are of real worth, genuine, and will have longevity require a fight and take serious life long effort. In the following discussion I would like to share two characteristics that I believe leaders must possess if they are going to see long term and meaningful change take place.

First, there must be a recognition that easy fixes and flashy light shows are not going to bring about long term change. There are so many leaders who are drawn to the newest fad, current book, or whatever someone else has told them was cool and would turn things around. So they put much trust and effort into bringing about this effort – as if a sermon series, a projector, a slick brochure, or web site is going to change everything. I’ve tried it and it doesn’t work. One new thing (change in dress, turning down the lights, turning up the lights, videos, handing out post cards, having a special event, etc…..Ad nauseam) will not have a lasting change, so quit waiting for that new, big, cool thing to come along to fix everything – it’s not coming.

True change requires that we seek the face of the Lord and wait on Him. He will give you eyes to see the true problem (sin, rebellion, shallow devotion to Him, a lack of holiness, etc…). We get so focused on wanting to grow so that we don’t deal with the genuine problems. They only get worse, and covering them up with a flashy slide show won’t fix it. So pray and ask God to help you identify what the real issues are, and not what so-and-so said would grow your church/ministry over night. LEADER, what has the Lord told you that needs to be addressed, and what does His Word have to say about it?

Second, are you willing to stay put until the Lord brings it about? Psalm 24:14 says, “Wait for the Lord; be strong, and let your heart take courage; wait for the Lord!” (ESV) I only know of a hand full of church planters that have remained where they were when Kimberly and I first came to Frederick almost ten years ago. Many of our friends from seminary have moved several times to several different churches. In talking with them, there is a predictable pattern. There is a honeymoon period (1.5 to 2 years), then there is the first push back or crisis and suddenly they don’t feel “called” there anymore. So they move on, and on, and on, and on.

Leaders have to have the courage to stay the course, and sometimes all you can do and accomplish is to stay, and keep trying, keep pushing. Every true leader understands that they carry a burden, it is always with them, and they always feel it. It never ever goes away. I am always a pastor, I am never “off the clock” and the burden is never lifted, and as much as I may want a break, it’s always there. We become so consumed with pride as time passes by and we feel as though we aren’t going to be the next Andy Stanley, or Ed Young, or Mark Driscal if I can’t deal with (insert your problem), and I should be writing books by now not (insert another problem), and I have to accept that this is where God has called me, and this is what God has tasked me to do. Pride, pride, pride.

I believe that if God wants me to be Andy Stanley, then as I seek to serve the Lord, and give Him all that I am, He will work it out. Enter ambition. How do I balance my godly ambition with prideful arrogance? What have you been called to do? If that is unclear please stop what you are doing, and pray – go away, come back after you have heard from the Lord. No really, stop reading blogs, reading books, and pray and spend time with the Lord. LEADER. If we don’t know where we are going, how do we expect people to follow us? Did we think leadership would be easy? If we run away when the load becomes heavy, how will those who God has called become the people God has designed them to be? Let someone else do it? LEADER?

Paul said, in Romans 10:14 “How then will they call on him in whom they have not believed? And how are they to believe in him of whom they have never heard? And how are they to hear without someone preaching? 15 And how are they to preach unless they are sent? As it is written, “How beautiful are the feet of those who preach the good news!” 16 But they have not all obeyed the gospel. For Isaiah says, “Lord, who has believed what he has heard from us?” 17 So faith comes from hearing, and hearing through the word of Christ.”

Did you see it? Someone needs to be there to preach, and eventually they will preach it. they have not all obeyed (rebellion, push back, and gossiping), but faith comes from hearing (that’s you leading, teaching, preaching, again, and again, and again). This process takes time, and it won’t happen over night.
It is this calling that will give you courage to get out of bed, to put your feet on the floor and face “them” one more time. To preach with all your heart to “them,” and to keep pushing what God has shown you even though “they” keep saying, “it won’t work, it costs too much, or we’ve done that and it didn’t work.” Your center of this calling will give you a long term vision and ability to see down the road, where no one else can see yet, and to stay put, and keep pushing on. One day, it will happen, you will see “them” taking the next step. If you leave too soon you will miss the wonder of their first steps – when “they” learn to walk, run…….preach!

Leader, we are kindred spirits you and I. We know something others don’t. We feel the weight others don’t understand. Let me encourage you, I am here, and Lord willing I will be here tomorrow, and the next day and I am waiting on the Lord. Let me encourage you to stay one more day, keep pushing, you are changing your world and making a difference – stay focused on the long term vision of seeing your people not as they are today, but what God is shaping them to become.

Where the Wild Things Are

2009-10-01T21:51:00.003-04:00

So I was listening to NPR (I know, I know) at they were doing a book review discussion of Where the Wild Things Are by Maurice Sendak. They discussed many things including the last line of the book, "and it was still hot." Anyway that day the commercial came on television for the book to become a movie. Something snapped within me and I went out and bought the book. We had checked it out of the library years ago, but I wanted them to love the books and to "rumpus" around before they saw it on a movie screen. I wanted them to love the book first -- before it in their brain as a movie. There are just some books that should stay books! Any thoughts?

Cub Scout Election Time

2009-10-01T20:56:00.002-04:00

Tonight at Cub Scouts we had several interesting things happen. First Patti S. ,and her daughter EmmS., came out as a guest to teach the guys some beginners first aid. They learned how to deal with a cut finger, put on a sling for a broken arm, and check their/or another’s pulse. They were unusually “active” but I think they will remember the chocolate band aids for a long time.
We also, began having a “Denner.” The boys were introduced to the democratic system where they had the opportunity to vote for the boy in their den who should hold this leadership position. The Denner leads in the Pledge of Allegiance, is responsible for the den flag, carries himself “like a leader” and gets to wear a sweet looking yellow cord on their shoulder. So, all the boys voted for themselves with two of the five writing “me.” We then had to discuss the importance of writing the name (and not “me”) on the cards. After the revote one of the boys voted for someone other than himself and Caleb won. So Caleb won his first official election by a very narrow margin (1). He was sworn into office, where he pledged to serve with to the best of his ability. Joshua is not taking it very well. He has pointed out several things that Caleb is doing that he feels a “Denner” shouldn’t do, including not stepping down and letting his brother have the cool shoulder cord and carry the den flag.
Caleb has not stopped smiling and I think if I went up there to his room, he would be smiling in his sleep.

Children's Retreat Pics

2009-09-20T23:15:00.000-04:00

2009 Children's Retreat

2009-09-20T21:49:00.003-04:00

Last weekend Daybreak had it's annual Children's Retreat. It was roughly 24 hours of getting away from the business of life that are in everyone's life (including children) and seeking to refocus the children on their relationship with Christ. We couldn't have even sponsored the retreat if it were not for our parents -- so a huge thank you to all of you guys. Also, Lori Ferguson did an exceptional job this year. She put together a medical theme for us, and we learned how Jesus is our great healer. We are all broken on the inside and it is only Christ that can bring about this spiritual healing. We were scheduled to go through a confidence course but due to the rain we went inside a nearby gym and climbed a rock wall. The adults and kids had fun try to ring the bell at the top of the tower. I walked away with an anticipation for next year and wanting to watch the children throughout this year to see how God will work in the children's lives.

Why Go to Prayer Meeting?

2009-09-08T10:16:00.003-04:00

In Acts 6 we see the account of when the early church's beloved leader had become imprisoned they gathered together to pray. While they are praying for Peter, an angel was setting him free and he ran to their gathering. As he knocks on the door the people who were undoubtedly praying for his release don't believe that it was him at the door. Do you see the irony? God answered their prayers, but they couldn't believe he actually would. Why then were they praying? We go to pray corporately because we believe that God hears and answers our prayers.

This Sunday we have pressing things to pray about, but those who will gather -- do we really expect for God to answer our prayers? Let's pray this week in anticipation of a knock at the door.

Acts 12:6-17
"6 Now when Herod was about to bring him out, on that very night, Peter was sleeping between two soldiers, bound with two chains, and sentries before the door were guarding the prison. 7 And behold, an angel of the Lord stood next to him, and a light shone in the cell. He struck Peter on the side and woke him, saying, “Get up quickly.” And the chains fell off his hands. 8 And the angel said to him, “Dress yourself and put on your sandals.” And he did so. And he said to him, “Wrap your cloak around you and follow me.” 9 And he went out and followed him. He did not know that what was being done by the angel was real, but thought he was seeing a vision. 10 When they had passed the first and the second guard, they came to the iron gate leading into the city. It opened for them of its own accord, and they went out and went along one street, and immediately the angel left him. 11 When Peter came to himself, he said, “Now I am sure that the Lord has sent his angel and rescued me from the hand of Herod and from all that the Jewish people were expecting.”

12 When he realized this, he went to the house of Mary, the mother of John whose other name was Mark, where many were gathered together and were praying. 13 And when he knocked at the door of the gateway, a servant girl named Rhoda came to answer. 14 Recognizing Peter's voice, in her joy she did not open the gate but ran in and reported that Peter was standing at the gate. 15 They said to her, “You are out of your mind.” But she kept insisting that it was so, and they kept saying, “It is his angel!” 16 But Peter continued knocking, and when they opened, they saw him and were amazed. 17 But motioning to them with his hand to be silent, he described to them how the Lord had brought him out of the prison. And he said, “Tell these things to James and to the brothers.” Then he departed and went to another place."

Cub Scouts Starting Back

2009-09-03T22:11:00.003-04:00

Tonight was the first night of Cub Scouts. Our theme for this month is “Cub Scout Pockets” and the boys brought some items that they collected. Joshua showed his rock collection, Caleb his sea shells, and the other boys brought items like comic books, bakugan balls (bakugan.com). We also began to make leather marble bags. After trying to stamp the leather with leather stamps/punches we found out that the older distressed leather would not take the stamping (it simply rubbed away). So we went on the lacing. We got one stitch and had to stop. We had a great evening, and it was fun to be around the boys again.

Meet and Greet with Lori F.

2009-09-03T22:00:00.000-04:00

Last night we invited George and Lori Fergeson over for a meet and greet with Daybreak Community Church. Over light refreshments we talked about Lori’s joining our church staff as a part time Interim Children’s Ministry Director. Church members had several opportunities to ask her questions, and talk with her about her experience and beliefs. Topics of discussion were implementing change, getting parents on board, curriculum, and sustainability just to mention a few. The evening was pleasant and filled with excitement about the future of the children at Daybreak and our reaching Frederick County for Christ.

prayerfully Lori will begin the first of November.

First Day of School

2009-08-24T10:39:00.003-04:00

Like thousands of other children across Maryland, today was the first day of school. We got up in plenty of time, and our goal was to begin a routine that we will do everyday (or at least try our best). it consists of getting dressed, making their beds, and brushing their teeth before they come down stairs. The we eat breakfast, have a family devotion, pray, and they played twister hopscotch, and operation games until the bus came. We took pictures, kissed and hugged, and off they went.

Duet. 6 discusses the importance of creating a family rhythm, Reggie Joiner said in Think Orange, "Moses clearly highlighted certain patterns or times throughout the day that were opportune for teaching. Look closer at what he said, 'talk about them when you sit at home and when you walk along the road, when you lie down, and when you get up.' It is important for parents and leaders to cooperate with the way life naturally happens.'" So the Boswell family is seeking to take advantage of a natural pattern for life in order to further teach our children the things of God.

Also, if we are not careful God becomes what we do on Sunday or at night before we go to bed, and not instill within our children that He is with us all day, everyday. He is there when we are scared on the bus, and he is there when we see a kid who does not have a friend, and he is there when we are around kids who don't believe the same things about God that we do. So we have to be careful not to compartmentalize Jesus into a day, or event -- he must be pushed into every moment of the day, "talk of them when you sit in your house, and when you walk by the way, and when you lie down, and when you rise."

Pics from Brenzel BYAC

2009-08-19T22:04:00.002-04:00

The Brenzel marked the end of our summer outreach events. We were able to reach a lot of kids with the gospel and to see some volunteers shine.

2009-08-01T17:16:00.002-04:00

70 pairs of hand made beautiful ear rings were delivered to my door today for the Honduras team to give out to girls living in the orphanage. Can you imagine the look on their faces when they see them? this act of love was given by a person who realized that she could not go, but she could do something that would share Christ's love to them. She and those who joined her will reach across thousands of miles and touch over 70 girls deeply. May God bless you for your generous heart and love for children. Pray and ask God how you may share Christ's love today.

2009-07-21T17:30:00.003-04:00

Whenever I try to post a document from photoshop to blogspot the colors get all messed up -- does anyone out there know why or how to fix it? The same thing happened with my header (the gum in a wrapper), but it turned out kind of cool so I left it.

Backyard Adventure Camp -- Day 2 Con't

2009-07-14T23:11:00.003-04:00

Tonight was day two of our annual Backyard Adventure Camp. We had over 40 kids, plus Daybreak volunteers, plus parents, makes it a full backyard. The most interesting "God sighting" was a boy who probably feels too old to be at the camp. But we made him a jr. helper and group leader. He came yesterday, but was seen riding his bike back and forth in front of our house tonight. After about 20 minutes pas the time after we started, he finally came over, found his group and had a great evening. I believe that he was drawn by God to my house to hear that God is powerful, and that God is with Him whenever he is afraid. This young man is eager to hear about God -- and it was cool to see it happen. We found out later that several of his friends his age asked him to go with them, and he declined choosing to come to BYAC instead.

Day 2 of Backyard Adventure Camp

2009-07-14T22:55:00.001-04:00

Happy Birthday Me

2009-07-11T22:49:00.002-04:00

Today is my 35th birthday. My mom asked how it felt to be half way to 70. Over all the day was uneventful, and calm. Joshua came back home from a visit with Granny, we celebrated james R.'s one year b-day, and the church sent me flowers. Facebook friends sent me tons and tons of "Happy Birthdays", and Kimberly and my parents told me my gift was "in the mail." whatever. You don't have to be 35 to know what that means (just kidding guys). God bless and thank you everybody -- I feel loved.

Caleb's 7 Year Check Up

2009-07-08T16:51:00.004-04:00

Today was Caleb's seven year doctor's appointment. Joshua is staying with his grandmother this week so he got out of it (we rescheduled his appointment for the fall). So Isaac, H-G, Caleb, Kimberly, and I (plus a nurse and doctor Tores) crammed into the little examination room, and we went through the battery of tests and examinations. His eyes, ears, abdomen, etc... were checked and everything is fine. As the doctor examined him Caleb did not stop laughing -- he is so ticklish.

The bigger the kids get the smaller that room seems to feel. The exam ends with a shot or shots -- which they ask about all throughout the day -- "will I get a shot?" We say yes, and try to encourage them, and explain how getting a shot is a good thing (fighting diseases, growing healthier, etc..) but this is no comfort to a seven year old. Caleb was asked to urinate in a cup, which was dropped by mistake in the toilet. So we filled it back up at the end of the exam. As I paid, Kimberly helped in this area.

As an aside, have you seen the Everybody Loves Raymond episode where Ray teaches his brother how to mess things up so that his wife wants to do everything, and the wedding invitations accidentally get sent out -- and they are all messed up. Enough said -- now back to peeing in a cup.

Hannah-Grace never stopped smiling, she knew that Caleb was getting a shot. I discovered that the way to make her sit down and be quiet was to threaten for her to have to leave the room. She smiled all the way to the van afterwards. Isaac was a hyper handful who realized that his voice sounded different in this tiny cramped room so he kept yelling to hear himself.

screaming, crying, laughing, smiling, tooting (I'm not even going to go there but yes), it's all apart of a yearly check-up.

So let me know what you think about the video and pictures -- and I do remind you that I do love my son.

Cool Cheap Technology

2009-06-30T22:12:00.004-04:00

Every year I like to try out a new piece of technology, or gadget on my vacation. Last year I purchased a “Flip” digital video camera. It was great for taking to the beach and it only cost me $150. I wanted something that I did not have to constantly worry about it getting salwater or sand in it. I really didn’t expect much for the price tag, but I was greatly pleased with the camera. In order for it to work well it has to be close (about 10-12 feet at a max.)to its’ subject and in fairly bright light – so if you can keep these things in mind it will be a great investment. I could have gotten it cheaper had I ordered it online ($10-20) but I needed it for the trip. This year I ordered a waterproof housing for the camera, as something new to try. It cost $30 almost 40% cheaper than it was last year (1st generation flip), and I ordered it online and had it delivered to the beach house (3-5 days). So for under $200 I have a great underwater/waterproof camera that I would highly recommend to all my friends! http://www.amazon.com/Flip-Video-Underwater-Generation-Camcorders/dp/B0012YSSRK

Kayak Adventure in Port St. Joe FL

2009-06-25T20:27:00.004-04:00

To tell you the truth I was a little nervous taking my crew of six (the youngest is two) and my mother on a kayak adventure in the Port St. Joe bay. But the nervousness subsided when we found out that the water was not very deep (several times throughout the four hour tour we walked in knee deep water). Isaac, the two year old, whined to be in his mother's boat and once he was there slept for over an hour in her lap. We saw all kinds of sea creatures (snails, horseshoe crab, left handed something,small fish, etc...) and we stopped all along the way to investigate and learn (and rest our arms!). The week had been extremely hot, but today it seemed to cool off, and when we did get hot we just took a dip in the water. The boys (Joshua and Caleb) were on the look out for sunken pirate ships and gold, but alas we didn't find a single "shiver me timbers" clue. My mom was a trooper and I was amazed that she had the arm power to move her boat all along the bay -- even getting away from our group from time to time for her own adventure seeking. We all had fun and I would suggest it to any family as a way to have a nice break from the beach and have the kids discover a neat part of nature.

www.happyourskayak.com

Gone Fishing

2009-06-23T22:20:00.004-04:00

4am comes really early, but it was especially early this morning. I drank a whole tumbler full of Dunk'n Doughnuts coffee and it didn't touch the dramamine funk I was in. I was doped up to go on our fishing trip to Panama City, FL. We went out 28 miles on a cabin cruiser (with air conditioning), and we were fishing by 8am. We traveled from spot to spot seeking red snapper and anything else that we could bring up. I did get a little sea sick (it was kinda rough), but is was fun watching my dad stumble all over the place trying to get his footing (I was stumbling too). Far more got away, than we put in the cooler, but at the end of the day we did ok, and we had some snapper and a king mackeral to show for our hunt. Our captain and first mate were great and while I am exhauseted it was a lot of fun. We left the beach house at 5am and got back at 9pm.

First Part of Vacation

2009-06-22T00:52:00.003-04:00

The plan was for the family to leave right when the boys got off the bus. But an hour and half later we really did pull out for vacation. After one trip around the block and going back for something, a trip to the bank, library, and gas station we were finally on our way. We stopped in Roanoke, VA for some dinner and fun times with family, a quick stop at starbucks (we were driving through the night you know), we begane the decent into exhaustion and madening drive into the night. We arrived in Alabama at 6am and it took all of us a couple of days to recover.
We were able to visit a horse stable that raises, feeds, takes care of feeding and shoeing, transports, trains, and shows "show horses." These horses are worth hundreds of thousands of dollars. (It was hot, but pretty cool). Hannah-Grace wants to be a cowgirl now.
We celebrated the boys birthday by having relatives come over for hamburgers and a pool party. It was a blast and with all the adults over I was able to slip in a nap in one of the chairs around the pool. I was able to visit my dad’s shooting range and fire off some rounds. My aim is not what it used to be. I need to practice more.
We drove down to Florida and are staying in my parents beach house. It has been over 95 degrees everyday and little relief in the evenings. The beach is perfect, and we were able to cool down in the ocean. Today we went to FBC Port St. Joe and spent the afternoon and evening napping and eating dinner – mainly we were just trying to stay cool.
Tommorow, the plan is to going fishing or go to the beach – whichever the weather allows.

Hannah-Grace's 5 Year Check Up

2009-06-08T21:32:00.005-04:00

Yes, Hannah-Grace is FIVE YEARS OLD -- wow, I really can't believe it. Time seems to have flow by so fast. Every day she gets a little taller, and more and more beautiful. She brings joy to me and is truly my little princess. I love the times when I tuck her in, pray with her, and now (thanks to Pam G.) I have to sing a song to her every night. We have a routine where we turn on the cd player (Ms. Patty Cake of course), pray, sing, and read a devotion from a Gi Gi book. She follows me around in the yard when I do yard work, and she always wants to give me a kiss and a hug. My little princess just turned five, and I know time will be a blur, and 10, 15, 20, 25, will fly by like telephone poles on the highway. God help me to seize every day and enjoy every moment.

Prayer Meeting

2009-06-01T09:55:00.004-04:00

Among Southern Baptists the name “prayer meeting” means many things to many people. For many it means hearing people complain about health problems (which are often insignificant). For others it means gossiping about what someone else is doing “we need to pray for them because. . .” Prayer meeting for many also means a lot of talking but not very much actual praying.

Having said all that, some time ago I knew that the Lord was calling Daybreak to pray, to have a prayer meeting. My personal prayer was that when people left the time that they would not describe it as I did above. If you have been a Christian for any length of time you can easily report of a time when the “times of prayer” were just plain dead. Also, among our congregation God was moving in other people’s hearts for the need for the church to pray together. So a small group of people and individuals separately, have been praying for God to move His people to desire to pray and get right with Him.

Last night we saw God move at a Prayer Meeting. We simply read Scripture and then prayed asking God to show us what we need to apply to our lives from what was read. People shared things that were on their hearts, and we prayed. We bowed down and prayed, and we stood to sing His praises. There was some laughing and joy, but mostly there was weeping and brokenness before the Lord.

God moved on the group’s heart to covenant before the Lord our desire to put away distractions, sin, and everything that keeps us from doing what God has commanded us to do and being the people we are supposed to be. It was not planned and was not initiated by me. I led the time of prayer, but God moved in the heart of His people. We all promised before the Lord to follow Him with our whole heart. Words just can’t describe it, and it is truly one of those moments when “you just had to be there.”

At the end, the praise team led the congregation in one last song, and I walked to the back to greet people as they left. As everyone left no one really said anything and there was a quiet reverence and appreciation of an experience we shared of being with the Lord. We hugged instead of shaking hands and people just quietly walked into the night.

What will God do next? I don’t know but I’m going to follow and see. (Matt. 8:23-27 – Jesus calms the storm)

Drew’s Graduation

2009-05-24T22:46:00.003-04:00

The hoods, gowns, and caps worn in academic ceremonies today are modified versions of clothing worn by ecclesiastics and students in the 12th and 13th centuries. They wore gowns and hoods to their lectures, probably for warmth in the damp, unheated halls where classes were held. The designs and colors of these costumes have come to symbolize the level of academic attainment and the institution attended.

The bachelor's robe has an elaborate yoke but is otherwise a plain garment with a closed, pleated front and long, full pointed sleeves. The master's robe is identifiable by its sleeves, cut for the arm at the wrist and just above the elbow, which have a distinctive oblong back and are squared at the ends. The doctor's robe, full cut and with voluminous long sleeves, is distinguished by its rich velvet trim. Robe-length front panels and velvet sleeve bars are either black or symbolize, by their color, the field in which the doctorate was obtained. The mortarboard or tam is worn with tassels that are usually black but may represent the degree held by the wearer. (from Commencement Exercises, Spring 2009 booklet published by SEBTS).

It seemed like a good idea at the time

2009-05-14T16:10:00.007-04:00

So for Mother's Day I thought I had a great idea. Every year I go with the safe gifts for my wife (clothes, perfume, spa treatments, etc...) but this year as a I was in Wal-Mart (which should've been my first red flag) I had a brainstorm. There were other factors as to why I chose the gift I did. The economy is making it to where we need to cut expenses and an emphasis to "go green." There was also the idea that what I purchased -- we could do as a family. And we could teach our children how people used to do things way back when. So here we go .... I purchased Kimberly everything one needs to can fruits and some vegetables (water bath canning). I got her a giant pot, racks to hold the mason jars, mason jars of different sizes, packets of flavoring, accessories like tolls to pull the jars out, magnet to handle the lids coming out of boiling water, a funnel, and a book to explain how to can. As she opened all 7-8 separately packaged gifts I could tell it wasn't what she was looking for. It could have been her response when she said, "It looks like you got a great Father's Day gift." Anyway, I thought it was cool, but right now it is sitting in the garage because it's still too early in the growing season to can anything. So, our first round will be with strawberries.

Some More pictures of the Praise team

2009-05-10T23:36:00.001-04:00

Shout Out for Daybreak Praise Team

2009-05-10T23:25:00.001-04:00

Daybreak has a wonderful praise team. The pictures I have posted are not of the whole team, so I will do a follow up to make sure I include everyone. As a pastor and “preacher” with absolutely no musical skill or gifting I have always stood as an outsider looking in on this special family. Over several years now I have observed how they work together as a team. They listen to each other, are all open to guiding towards a direction that lifts up the name of Jesus. They are all focused on getting better at what they do, and have a genuine spirit of love for one another and the congregation. They are worked through many things, and are a strong team that Daybreak Community is proud of. Also, I really enjoy the variety of age on the team. We have several young people that play, and they look to the older musicians as examples to follow win their Christian walk. This past Sunday they really shined. As their pastor I just sat back and allowed them to lead me in worship.

Hannah-Grace's First Field Trip

2009-05-10T21:59:00.004-04:00

Hannah-Grace and her pre-k class went to see the Frederick Keys stadium, and they met Keyote the Keys mascot. She was all decked out in her Atlanta Braves hat and sports jacket. She had a blast. The Frederick Keys support the Frederick school system by giving out free tickets to kids who read three books and turn in a form showing the books that they read. H-G had a blast, rode the merry-go-round, ate lunch at a park, and made some new friends. Field trips are awesome.

National Free Comic Book Day

2009-05-04T22:29:00.005-04:00

For weeks now Kimberly and I have been seeing ads in the paper (usually a day too late) of how various businesses were giving away free stuff. We just keep missing them – coffee here, a free drink there, etc.) But Saturday as we were finishing up at the YMCA with swim classes and gymnastics, we saw that Saturday was national free comic book day! So all six of us went to the closest comic book store and were amazed at what we discovered.

My last experience with a comic book store was in Columbus, GA about 10-15 years ago. It was dusty, tired, and if there were more than three people in the store it was "busy." There may have been some t-shirts and baseball cards. So when we entered Beyond Comics on Saturday I was swept up in a new nostalgia. The store was packed, and not just with "treckers," but there was a wide variety of ages and "types" of people. The store had figurines, all kinds of comic book stuff, artists drawing various characters, and vendors giving away free stuff. There were only two occasions when I had to distract my children's view from a tattoo on a guys leg that was very crude and a couple of sketches on the wall (half-naked women -- good grief!)

Roy Rogers were giving away free chicken, coupons, and Hoyt Cinemas asked to take various pictures of the family (with a sign of their newest movie) – which ended with a free movie ticket (cha-ching). We can make an appointment, get dressed up (even coordinating outfits), go to the mall, and they will not sit still -- but give them a free comic book and a chicken strip and they will take picture after picture (perfectly still.)

Overall, it was fun, but I will probably wait until they are a little older to go back and have a discussion of how we should guard our eyes (not only what we see, but what we choose to read as well).