Archive: January 2011
Phil Vischer at CPC 2011 – Part 3
Here is Part 3 of Phil’s speech at the Children’s Pastors Conference. You can watch Part One here and Part Two here.
True Joy
Have you listened to parts 1 & 2 of Phil’s presentation at Children’s Pastor’s Conference 2011, which are posted on this blog (yesterday’s and earlier today)? If not, I encourage you to take a few minutes to listen to his story.
In part 1, Phil spoke about the Fruits of the Spirit (Gal.5:22). How he was so physically and emotionally spent, and so stressed out–doing the very things that he felt God wanted him to do. He started to observe that there was no evidence of the Fruits of the Spirit in his life. It caused him to question if, maybe, he wasn’t truly a Christian!!
Have you ever been there? On any level? Doing the work but too busy to feel His presence?– and left wondering, where’s God in all of this?
It could be as a home schooling mom or a caretaker of an elderly parent. It could be that you work with kids as a Sunday school teacher, or run a dress shop, are an executive or the assistant to an executive. Maybe you lead a small group Bible study. It doesn’t matter who you are or what position you hold. Do you sometimes wonder how you are supposed to lead others to Jesus when you’re feeling so empty inside? Most of us have been guilty of getting so wound up in doing what we think we’re supposed to be doing FOR God, that we tend to forget (even momentarily) that God desires to give us Himself–first.
It’s about relationship; God and us. The works / deeds comes after, not instead of.
My dad had a saying that I didn’t know was Biblical until a few years ago. I tend to get a little tightly wound. I think they call us, Type A’s. There were many times in my life where I literally bit off more than I could chew. I was stressed out, grumpy and sarcastic–while (proudly) busy doing something rather awesome FOR God. My dad would see my anxiety creep in and would simply say, “Don’t let Satan steal your joy, Lisa”.
I’m ashamed to admit that I would often roll my eyes when I heard those words. Loving words filled with such wisdom. I didn’t understand them. I was equating joy with happiness. And I would silently think, while nodding my head in false agreement, “I can’t be happy ALL the time, dad!”
I have learned, the hard way, that Joy is not an emotion, like happiness. Joy, in the Biblical context, is an attitude of the heart. As temporary as happiness is, joy is something that lasts.
Try this exercise; make a list of everything that makes you happy. It could be anything from hearing your favorite song on the radio to smelling something yummy cooking on the stove to seeing your adorable baby wake up from a long afternoon nap. Anything that makes you happy, list it.
What you’ll find is that this list is full of things that are only temporary, and that they will bring you only temporary happiness.
Joy is something that God bestows on us through the Holy Spirit. And yes, the enemy will try to steal it away. Slyly, Satan will tempt you with some of the very things that give you temporary happiness, but serve to separate you from God– and that beautiful relationship with Him. Causing us stress, guilt, anxiety…
My dad is gone now, but what he taught me about joy is something that continues to bless my daily life. I still struggle with biting off more than I can chew… and yeah, when I do, it does tend to stress me out. But I’m getting better at making my relationship with God primary to everything else I do.
Romans 15:13
May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace as you trust in him, so that you may overflow with hope by the power of the Holy Spirit.
You can follow Lisa on twitter @lisastrnad and she blogs regularly at talking like a girl.
Phil Vischer at Children’s Pastors Conference – Part Two
Here is Part Two of Phil’s speech at the Children’s Pastors Conference a few weeks ago. You can watch Part One here.
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The Biblical Application of Fairy Tales
As a parent, I’m constantly in teaching mode. Sometimes it’s not a planned thing, either. Sometimes opportunities just present themselves.
While cleaning out the attic, we’ve recently come across a box of old children’s books that I had put away (for safe keeping, no doubt). One of the treasures that we found was a book of classic fairy tales. I’m a big fan of fairy tales; there are so many life lessons that can be learned through these little stories! But can you find a Gospel life-application within the pages of a fairy tale?
I believe you can. And it was a pleasant surprise!
Let’s take for instance the tale of “Little Red Riding Hood”. What a great example of how Satan tries to deceive us! He lies to us and tries to trick us to believing that even what we know to be right might just be an incorrect perception!
How about “The Lion and the Mouse”? Remember the lion does not think that the mouse can help him, but gets a laugh from the tiny mouse so he lets him go. Later the lion is caught in a net and it is the mouse that rescues him. The moral of the story COULD be: even though children are small they can still do mighty things for God.
Then there is always the classic tale of “The Tortoise & the Hare”. The race is not to the swift but to those who endure. In the Bible, Paul spoke many times of pressing toward to the goal. That’s exactly what the tortoise did, he did not become overconfident, but kept his mind on the goal, and ultimately won the race.
If any of you are into musical theater, one of my favorite shows is “Into the Woods”. It’s a Stephen Sondheim musical, which takes several well known fairy tales, and combines those stories with a new twist. The story and the music are genius! In the end the lesson that the main characters learn is, Actions have consequences–even for future generations, so be careful what you pass on to your children, because children will listen.
What better reason is there than to be in constant teaching mode?
Have you utilized non-Biblical stories as a resource to help influence your children to live a Biblical World View? Please share with us your experiences and the stories you’ve used.
You can follow Lisa on twitter @lisastrnad and she blogs regularly at talking like a girl.
Got Snow?
It’s been a LONG, icy week for many of our friends across the country. Some of you have been snowed in since early in the week, enjoying snow-day schedules and wondering what in the world to do with the kids.
Of course you should definitely pop in those What’s in the Bible? DVDs that you just got for Christmas, and watch them with the entire family. That’s a great idea! Because, as we’ve recently discussed, they are both very educational and entertaining. A win-win!!
But before you curl up on the sofa with the Snuggie and your kids, how about making some cookies? The thing that I most love to do when winter house-bound is bake! I know, I know… we had great intentions about starting those diets at the beginning of the year. In fact the “resolution police” are handing out tickets as I type! But honestly, with the weather we’ve seen lately, is there anything better than homemade cookies, a mug of hot cocoa, some awesome DVDs and a roaring fire?
Has the weather put a crimp in your plans this week? What do you enjoy doing with the family on snow days?
This is a great recipe for cookies that uses oatmeal and FRUIT! I think that makes them borderline-healthy!? Fine…it’s chocolate covered fruit, but still…
I have heard that Buck Denver is a chocolate FANATIC. Hmmmm… I might make up a batch just for him!
Chocolate and Fruit Oatmeal Cookies:
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. In a large bowl beat together 1 cup vegetable shortening, 1 t salt, 2 t cinnamon, 2 t vanilla, 2 T molasses, 2 cups sugar, and 2 eggs. Add in 2 cups flour and 1 1/2 t baking soda until combined. Have your cookie sheets ready to go. Add 2 cups of oats, 1 cup chocolate-covered raisins, 1 cup dried cranberries, and 1 cup dark chocolate chips. Mix with your hands. While your hands are messy, roll the dough into 2 inch balls and place them on the cookie sheet (aren’t you glad you got your cookie sheets out already?). Bake for 15-17 minutes. Yield: 30-36 cookies.
You can follow Lisa on twitter @lisastrnad and she blogs regularly at talking like a girl.
Do You Home School ?
Reading some of the comments on our Facebook fan page, I realize that many of you are home schooling your kids. I remember telling you that I loved using the What’s in the Bible? DVD’s as a curriculum for my 2nd grader, and it is something I personally piece together. It takes time to plan and sometimes, quite honestly, I just don’t have that much time. I have many times (this school year) dropped the ball, and for weeks at a time I’ve simply let our Sunday school facilitate my 8 year old’s Bible instruction. It’s now half way through the school year, and I want to give him more, here at home. I still have the DVD’s, I love the lessons that are taught, but want to use them less like an entertainment resource and more like I had originally planned– a home school curriculum.
Today’s blog post is meant to be a fact finding endeavor! If you are a homeschooling parent, I need your feedback.
First, what do you think of using What’s in the Bible? as your children’s home school Bible curriculum?
If you’ve gone to the FOR PARENTS section of the web site, you’ve seen the Activities Page. What are your thoughts on the coloring pages, game and flashcards? Are they the type of things that you would like to incorporate into a curriculum?–or maybe you done so, already?– Please share your stories!
Here’s your chance to have a voice. Let’s open this up for discussion!
What Did You Get Jesus for His Birthday?
As you’re busy putting the last strand of twinkle lights away in the attic, the last thing you probably want to read is something to do with Christmas, right? It was great, and a good time was had by all, but come on Lisa, it’s January and we want to get on with the newness of our year and look forward– not back.
I get it. I really do. But I wanted to share a little something with you guys that impacted the way I entered into this this new year, and it all started on Christmas Eve.
I’m not overtly materialistic, but I need to reign things in on Christmas morning so I don’t become overwhelmed in all the “presents” and forget to celebrate His “presence”. Does that happen to you, too? Do you struggle to keep CHRIST in Christmas?
On Christmas Eve it’s our tradition to sit around the tree and discuss what it is we are about to celebrate. We reign each other in before the craziness of Santa Claus and the reindeer and the toys take over our every thought. Right before bedtime we read the story of Jesus’ birth from the book of Luke. Thankfully, my kids understand first and foremost it’s Jesus’ birthday that we are celebrating!!
This year after we read from our family Bible, my youngest son asked me a little question that has had a great impact on me. He asked, “What did we get Jesus for His birthday?” As I sat and thought about that question, I had no idea how to answer him. Truthfully, I was sort of speechless. Gee, What DID we get Jesus for His birthday?
My son knows that in our house, birthdays are a big deal! It was a perfectly great question, and I was left wondering, what does Jesus want for His birthday, anyway?
The answers can vary, and I assume, be pretty personal. I did some research and after looking into scripture, LOVE seems to be a pretty big deal to our Lord!
When we turn to The Word we see that the love Jesus teaches us to emulate is an action, not simply a feeling. Love God, with your whole being—all you’ve got,”with all your passion and prayer and muscle and intelligence” (Luke 10:27 The Message) and, love your neighbor as yourself.
In another setting, Jesus responds to a question about God’s final accounting (Matthew 25:31-40). Those who inherit the Kingdom (receive God’s blessing) are those who feed the hungry, give drink to the thirsty, provide a room for the homeless, clothes for the poor, and spend time with the sick and those incarcerated. This is true faithfulness and love for Christ: “Whenever you did one of these things to someone overlooked or ignored, that was me—you did it to me” (Matthew 25:40 The Message).
Later, to Christians, Paul spelled it out even more: Love must be genuine (Romans 12:9). Genuine love is expressed through mutual affection (being really good friends), playing second fiddle, energetically persevering in caring, inventive, entrepreneurial in hospitality to strangers and good friends alike, blessing enemies, sharing the laughter and tears of others, living in harmony with all, with humility. Real love refrains from revenge and judgment, looks for the best in everyone, lets God judge, and takes the initiative in doing simple acts of kindness and generosity.
Is it just me, or does this sound exactly like Christmastime?
Christmas is the one time of the year when most of us really try to actively love our fellow man. We give MORE of ourselves, we judge others LESS and we LOVE without hesitation. In fact, the act of forgiveness is more abundant during this season than any other time of the year!
What if for his birthday present we choose to give Jesus the gift of following His “love plan” throughout the whole upcoming year? Living like it’s Christmastime towards our fellow man for the next 365 days; sharing the Light of the World all year, not just one month out of the year!
That’s my resoultion for 2011. Its inception came about on Christmas Eve, thanks to a child who was innocently wondering how we could celebrate a very special birthday.
Merry rest of the year, my friends!!
