It's that time of year...

School is about to start. That also means that "Promotion Sunday" is happening soon. This Sunday (August 22nd) all of our kids will "move up" to their next grade level. That's always an exciting time, but you want to make sure you're informed.

Parents, be watching your inboxes for all the details.

Motivation or Morality...what are you teaching!

There is a difference between the two. You can concern yourself with whether or not your children obey, or you can do your best to help them learn the proper motivation for why obedience is important. I ran across this tidbit today...and it has me thinking!

"As a rule the decay of religion works out in the second generation as moral
rigidity, and in the third generation as the breakdown of all morality." -Emil
Brunner

Brunner makes a simple observation about families where parents try to teach children moral values without teaching them the proper motive behind those values (a love of God).

If Christian parents do not get to the hearts of their children and teach them why they should behave certain ways, they still might appear to succeed in morally training their children. It's true that their kids might appear to do and say godly things. But without those decisions being motivated by a genuine heart-love for Christ, all that's really happening is "moral rigidity." Kids are behaving in what appear to be Christlike manners and might even become legalistic about them, but Christ-honoring motivation is absent.

Fast-forward to when they have children.

That child-now-turned-parent has always behaved in relatively "moral" or "godly" ways, but their motivation was only to please mom or dad. Or maybe it was to impress others. Or maybe it was to try to earn some good standing with God....And they start to try to teach their own children to behave in similar ways morally. But their children see empty and groundless morality lived out in front of them week to week. They see mom and dad try to be "good," but why? And more importantly, why should they? Mom and dad never provide a reason other than "It's the right thing to do" or "It's what's best for you" or "Because I said so!" So this new generation--a generation that is not pointed to Christ or to love of God as the motivation for moral behavior--actually is where we see a "breakdown of all morality." They cast off the empty shell of morality they saw in their parents. ***

Sobering thoughts...be careful what you're teaching!

***Source LINK

Devotions on the Go!

Life with kids is a busy time, but that doesn't mean you can't teach some positive lessons along the way. There's always a chance to invest in your children, and some of the devotions can happen on the run. You can turn a trip to the zoo, a trip to the beach, or a trip to your backyard into a lesson for children. Want to find out how...click away!

5 On-the-Go Family Devotions for Summertime

Have fun!

Food and God

You can leverage almost anything to teach kids about their Heavenly Father. I read an article the other day that had three different food "projects" that you could do with your children that had an easy spiritual lesson tied to them.

Next time, you're cooking...maybe there's a way to have a family devotion.

Family Devotions: Cooking

It's been a fantastic week!

I just wanted to take a moment and thank all of you who participated somehow in our outreach to a local apartment community. The amount of kids that continued to show up each night was amazing. It may have had something to do with the free popsicles, but they stayed for the games, bible story, and crafts.

It was a helpful reminder to me as well. Ministering to people is often so simple. Despite our efforts to "complicate" it with strategies and the like, investing in the lives of people really isn't all that difficult. I was blessed to be a part of this week, and you can bet we'll be doing it again next year.

Have a great weekend, and we'll see you on Sunday!

Video Games and Impatience...

I was part of the first generation that really knew and experienced (on a large scale at least) the proliferation of video games. I remember getting my first Nintendo when I was 7 years old, and I loved to play Mario Bros.

As my video game system aged I never got a new one. When SEGA came out...didn't get one. When Super Nintendo came out...I had to go over to a friends house to play. When Nintendo 64 hit the market...I sure didn't get one. All I had was my Nintendo. By this time it was old and outdated. I still liked to play some of the games, but often it woudl take a long time for me to get it to work. I would have to blow into the cartridge (you know you all did it to). It would often take multiple tries, and I would often get impatient.

Today's child is met with a differnt world of video games, but the link between video games and impatience in children may still be there. I ran across an interesting set of articles the other day which talked about how video games and impatiece amoung children.

Learning From Video Games: Impatience

I Want It Now: The Fierce Urgency of Videogaming

Please don't hear me saying your child should never play video games, but if you do have them in your home, it might be wise to know what you're up against.

That's Not Fair...

I don't know how many times I said this when I was a child. And I know for a fact that if I had a nickel for every time I heard "that's not fair" from children in my almost 10 years of ministry, I would be a very wealthy man. My dad would always respond to my "that's not fair" with "well, life's not fair." I never really understood what he was talking about until I really began to understand who God was and how life works.

So, what's the big deal with fairness? Do we really want "fair"? We often try to trumpet the cause of fairness (that is until something until we do something unfair to someone else...and then we want mercy/grace). Funny how that works!

I don't know about you, but when it comes to God, I don't want to be treated "fairly." If God treats me according to what I deserve, I'm dead (Rom. 3:23).

I read the article below, and, for me, it confirmed many of the thoughts I've had about how we can talk about fairness vs. grace with our children. I highly recommend going a little deeper with your kids about this "fairness" issue. Don't just leave it as "well, life isn't fair." Begin to talk to them about how deep down inside, we really don't want fairness.

Life is Not Fair (And Neither is God)

37.7 Seconds

Are you wondering what that number is? That number is actually the average time "a middle class father spends in conversation and interaction with their children."**

Now, when I read that, I was deeply troubled. Surely, that's not the case. I REALLY hope that's not the case for the men of Firewheel. The demands on men are everywhere, but our first calling is to love/serve our wives, and to love our chidlren.

Guys, we can do better than than 37.7 seconds...we HAVE to do better than that!!!

Read the article at the link below men...get challenged!

**How much time should Dad spend with children?

I'm BORED!!!

It's getting toward the end of the summer, and I'm almost positive that at some point in the last few weeks/months, you've heard this from one of your children.

"I'm bored! There's nothing to do!"

Now, when my dad heard me say that when I was a kid, it was like Christmas to him. He would then run down a list of all the things I "could" be doing. That was usually enough for me to shut my trap about being bored and find something else to do that wasn't on his list.

However, if you don't want to go down that road, I recently ran across a list of "things to do when there's nothing to do." When those times come and your child can't find anything to do, here's a few ideas of fun, and yet simple, things to fill the time. For instance...

• Play rock, paper scissor
• Arm or thumb wrestle
• Try to retell your favorite storybook
• Speak pig latin
• Conduct an inteview of your child and pretend you're on TV

For the full list, follow this LINK

Are your kids excited about the Bible?

As a children's pastor, it can sometimes be pretty tough to try and get kids excited about the Bible. For kids who love books, it can be a little easier, but it's still tough. The Bible is God's word, and it should be exciting. Below are some helpful hints about how to get your kids excited about the Scriptues. Who knows, they may even re-ignite your own passion/enthusiasm for God's word.

10 Ways that you can build excitment about God's Word**

1. Let them see your excitement.
2. Hold your Bible
3. Teach them how to use it
4. Explain where it comes from and what it is
5. Give them a place to start
6. Show them how it can be useful for them
7. Encourage them to memorize it
8. Find out what excites them and show it to them in the Bible
9. Use it regularly
10. Pray

** Taken from www.ministrytochildren.com

For more descriptions about how to do each of these steps, follow this LINK

"Digitally Deluged"

There's a fantastic article by Dr. Albert Mohler (one of the real leaders in evangelical circles). Not only is he the president of a seminary, but he's probably one of the smartest dudes around.

He wrote an article on his blog about how the modern American family is "digitally deluged." It's well worth your time.

Digitally Deluged


Oh, and you should probably make his website one of your favorites...there's loads of awesome stuff to read through.

"Money doesn't grow on trees..."

As much as you said you would never say some of the things your parents said, I'm almost postive that 90% of you have used this line before if you've got kids that are at least 7-8 years old.

When my dad said this, it was because he was trying to teach me valuable lessons on the value of money. I learned some of them. Because we didn't have a lot when I was a kid, I understand the value of a dollar and a hard days work. Those are lessons I value deeply.

Although it's true that money doesn't grow on trees, there might be other ways we can teach kids how to value, use, and steward God's resources in the best way. If you'd like, you can continue to use that old line, but after about the fourth time you've said it...it has probably lost it's impact.

A recent article by Randy Alcorn does just that. He outlines 10 different ways that parents can begin to train their children how to manage money well.

Training Children to Manage Money

Good stuff!

Marriage is Tough...

It just is. When you put two sinners together, it just gets difficult. It is especially difficult because so many people enter into it with unrealistic expectations and "Hollywood-love-story-itis."

If you're struggling in marriage right now, I'd love to point you to a great website. Wherever you are, there is hope.

http://www.hopeformarriages.com/

Here's their story...It's definitely worth the few minutes!

Come and Party

Make sure you come and party with us on Friday night. We're ending our VBS week with a huge celebration.

Bounce houses, water slides, dunking booth...SNO CONES!

It all starts at 6:30...make sure you're there1

VBS - This Week!

Our annual VBS is this week. You probably won't hear from me much this week. The wi-fi is spotty out on the High Seas.

Come and join us each evening from 6:30-9:00pm, and set sail on the High Seas with us.

Have a great week!