Just finished

I just finished reading this book by Dr. Voddie Baucham, Jr., called Family Driven Faith. I was convicted, enlightened but also a little disgruntled with the book. I agree with mostly everything he had to say, mostly because he certainly covers the Biblical basis for his arguments.

Some of what he covers in this book includes:

• Amount of time families pour into sports vs. church and family life
• Biblical worldview and why it is important
• Multigenerational faith—passing down Christianity
• Priority of good marriages
• Parents being the main teachers of their children
• Homeschooling
• Biblical manhood and womanhood
• Stay-at-home moms—importance of motherhood
• Failure of modern day youth ministry
• Emerging Church
• Family Integrated Churches
• Qualifications of a man to be in ministry

I would encourage all of you to get your hands on a copy to read. Dads, I especially recommend this for you, and begin to implement some of his ideas.

Let me know if you decide to get it and read it, I would love to start a dialouge about it.

Blessings, Dean

Finishing Well

Our next Equip meeting is scheduled for this coming Sunday night, March 30th at 6:00 PM. We will be discussing the topic of Finishing Well. Basically, every year there are thousands of Christian pastors, leaders and teachers that end up bowing out of ministry for one reason or another. Most of them we never hear about, but some we do (Ted Haggard, Jim Baker, Jerry Fallwell, etc.). In fact, the Bible is riddled with all kinds of examples of people who do not finish well (Solomon, Samson, Judas, etc.).

So what does that have to do with Children's Ministry. Well, you can come to our Equip meeting on March 30th and find out!

...OK, I'll put it here too...

What kind of Children's Ministry volunteer will you be? Will you bow out because you don't have the energy? Have you been staying connected to the Vine (John 15)? Finishing Well is not about what is done at the end of your life, but is about what you are doing NOW! It is about living a Christ-centered life here and now.

So how do you accomplish that? Check out this article that I will use in my presentation. Of course, it is not that cut and dry, but these are some great insights in starting today to end up finishing well.

Dean

Easter Weekend

Just thought you may like to know how crazy our weekend was here at CW last week. Over the 5 services, we had over 2100 people in attendance, at least 400 of which were kids. While the numbers are not necessarily important, they do give an indication of the potential impact you are having as Children's Ministry volunteers.

Also, we had 12 kids accept Christ on Sunday during our Elementary Children's Church (2nd Hour) program. We used a cool salvation tool called The Big Cube from EvangeCube. Praise God!

Dean

Ressurection/Easter Services

Don't forget this Sunday is Resurrection/Easter Sunday and brings a little different schedule around CW. There are 3 Service slots on Sunday mornings: 8, 9:30 and 11:00. Our normal 1st Service routine will take place at the 9:30 AM slot, with the 2nd Service classes taking place at 11:00 AM.

One more thing...

Happy Resurrection Day!

Dean

Money, Money, Money.....Money!

My family and I typically go out to eat Sunday after church, often to Olive Garden (my wife's favorite). Last week, as we were finishing up our meal, our waitress came by and told us that a gentleman from another table has paid for our bill because "he had never seen so many, well behaved children" - I have 4 kids. We had never met the man, but he simply chose to bless us.

Then again, later in the week, my family and I went to DayBreak Cafe (a local joint), where once again someone picked-up our bill (this time we knew them from church). What a powerful blessing once again! I took the 2nd opportunity to share with my kids what had happened to let them know what kind of testimony they were being when they were well behaved.

Then I ran across THIS video. There are some points that need to be made about money and how to teach your kids about it:

1) Your kids will learn about money more by what you DO than what you SAY. It's part of legacy living - they will learn from YOU about how to manage money. If you don't do it properly, they will not do it properly either.

2) The purpose of money is the same purpose that the rest of our lives should be - to be fully living for Christ and sharing his good news with others (especially our kids). If we teach them how to manage money, but to manage it for the purpose of gaining wealth and possessions, we miss the point.

3) Keep clear lines between money managment via God's Word versus how the world teaches about money. Often times, these lines can become blurred: retirement, saving for college, etc. It can all get rather messy.

Keep the purpose in mind: TO PRODUCE GODLY DISCIPLES OF YOUR CHILDREN. The point is not to raise millioners, sport stars, rich politicians, or even good citizens of the country. Everything we do with our kids and everything we allow them to do should point back to the goal.

Dean

Where's the balance?

It is a fact that, in America anyway, we live in a money driven society that requires people to work to make money in order to survive. A long way off are the days of Star Trek in which things can be replicated by a computer and consumed (a little shout out to my fellow Trekies). So how do families balance it all?

Should both husband and wife work? Can we make it on one salary? What if the two of you are at odds about this issue? It is an ever brewing and controversial topic in society and even more so in the church. As you may have guessed, or just know about us, my wife is a stay at home mom (SAHM).

Before my 1st child was born, we made the decision for her to stay at home, which has now turned into homeschooling (or will as my other three kids get older). We had to make tough financial choices along the way, some of which are not popular either; but we feel that this is God's design for our family (Deut. 6:4-9, 1 Timothy 5:14, Titus 2:4-5, Acts 20:28-29, Proverbs 27:23).

I do have opinions abou this, and won't get into them here, but want to offer to my readers the opportunity to comment about where they are, where they would like to be, and how they got there. Just remember, we are all in the Christian family here, so be kind and loving. {Any disrespectiful comments will get edited or deleted all together.}

Dean

The Problem with Intelligence

Sometimes, I can you can be too smart for your own good! I ran across this article about supposed research by a Israeli professor who claims that Moses must have been on narcotic, psychedelic drugs during his Mt. Sinai experience receiving the 10 Commandments. Here is his quote:

"As far Moses on Mount Sinai is concerned, it was either a supernatural cosmic event, which I don't believe, or a legend, which I don't believe either, or finally, and this is very probable, an event that joined Moses and the people of Israel under the effect of narcotics."

How can he say this? He has a presupposition that a miraculous encounter simply could not exist! Since that is out of the question, it must be something else. This is an example of someone who's intellect has super seeded wisdom.

So what's are your presuppositions when it comes to working with kids? Do you ever look at a kid and say: "That kid simply wont' listen." Or have you ever said: "Oh she comes from a singe family." Those statements imply something that we believe, but may not necessarily be true.

Remember, there is no substitute for knowing your kids! The best way to teach, love and help the kids in your ministry grow is by knowing them PERSONALLY and knowing their situation.

Dean