Of Books There is No End!

As the son and son-in-law of pastors, and a book lover myself, I have inherited and collected on my own a LOT of great books. Bible commentaries, Christian living, topical, popular authors, Christian college textbooks, apologetics, Bible study tools, biographies, many ancient books from famous Christians of the past such as Moody, Ironside and Torrey, and on and on. I’d love to get rid of a many of them, but my options are all no good when I try to think of HOW to do this: Throw out? Would kill me to see good books trashed, I’m not a Nazi! Thrift store? Do they really want them? Will Christians look there? (majority are Bible tools, antique text books, and popular modern books) E-bay? Too much work to photograph, add, ship, etc. for books that won’t sell for much and many are great titles no one may ever “search” for, but I know Christian leaders would love if they saw them. Kidology Garage Sale? I’ve thought of adding them there in bundles, as I can set a price, but again, its a lot of work for little profit for the time invested. I’ve thought of bundling sets of 10, but that…

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The Kidologist Top Ten of CM

I got an e-mail yesterday with a request from a senior pastor who will soon be speaking to a gathering of children’s pastors from around the country. He asked me: If you were a denominational Christian Education Director who oversaw the children’s ministry for all the  churches in a given state or region: 1. What 10 recent books would you read or tell other directors about? 2. What 10 web-sites would you share with other directors? 3. What 10 experiences, conferences or resources would you tell other directors about? My response, “Sounds like a great blog post!” So here it is: The Kidologist’s Top Ten Books for CM Transforming Children Into Spiritual Champions by George Barna This is a must read for senior pastors as well as children’s pastors. Barna finally supports with research what children’s ministry leaders have known for decades. Rock Solid Kids by Larry Fowler The best biblical case made for church to prioritize ministry to children and to engage parents in the process rather than trying to do it for them. Raising a Modern Day Joseph by Larry Fowler Just released, this follow up to Rock Solid lays out a very doable strategy for the entire…

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Rick Warren’s Prayer for Our President and Nation

I thought Rick Warren did a wonderful job with the inauguration prayer. He included the English version of the Jewish Sh’ma at the start and recited the name of Jesus in Hebrew, Arabic and Spanish, as well as in English at the end. I wish those who get so vile in their attacks on him and other Americans would heed his prayer. I disagree sharply with President Obama on many issues, but as an American raising a child in American, I pray for his success and that he will actually do the lofty things he states so well and perhaps be more influenced by Godly people like Rick Warren than by those who try to move the tide of culture through hate and mean-spiritedness. President Obama gets a pass on many things a Republican would be attacked on (and no, I won’t mention them) but I hope that the optimism and hope he has inspired will lead him to listen and learn and govern wisely and with restraint and with an openness that may only come because of the weight that is now upon him. It’s one thing to want the job – it’s entirely different thing to have the…

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A GPS for Life?

Sermon Summaries are simply my sermon notes taken on my iPhone WordPress app during church. I love taking notes, but then they are lost in a stack of spiral journals. This way they are archives, searchable, and I can share them too! I love my GPS, if used properly, can lead you to where you want to go, giving step by step directions. This is possible because of satelites in space that are looking down; they see exactly where you are, where you want to go, and all the possible route, hazzards and obsticles between the two. Wouldn’t it be helpful to have GPS for our life?! If there was someone watching from above who knew exactly where I am, where I want to go, and all the possible paths, dangers and challenges along the way? Yes! What I need is A God Positioning System! The passage is: Jeremiah 39-42 Background: The Remnant of Israel were going to run to Egypt after the heir to the Jewish throne killed the Babylonian governor of the land, but first they consulted Jeremiah. This all looks very good – but in the end they didn’t take God’s advice and were later killed in…

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Message Bible for Kids? Concordance too?

Look what I got in the mail! And I’ve got an extra set I want to mail to YOU! (details at the bottom) NAVPRESS just sent me these in the mail for review – and I’m impressed. This bundle of two books really complement each other! Buy Via Amazon: My First Message – Bible Search The first is My First Message, a devotional for kids ages 4-8 featuring the text of Eugene H. Peterson’s The Message Bible. Each beautifully illustrated story ends with a short PRAY and LIVE section helping children pray about what they just read and gain some insight into how to apply the lessons within the story to their life. The second book is call My First Bible Search, Discovering Answers in God’s Word. While it is described on the cover as a “Bible Concordance and Dictionary for Kids” (ages 6-10) that description is a little misleading and distracts from what the book truly is. The book is much more (and far better than a concordance or dictionary) so if those phrases make you fear kids will be bored with this book, think again! The book is divided into two sections. The first called the “Concordance” –…

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