Drawing the Bible; Turn Off the DVD Player

I’m speaking this week at Hartland Bible Camp in California. It’s my first time here, but I am really loving the experience. I’ll post more about the camp at the end of the week. I wanted to post a few pics about one of my favorite teaching methods… Bible Story Drawing. Besides drama, illustion, and some of my other usual techniques, for the actual Bible story segment, I am illustrating the Bible Story by drawing it as I teach it. Since the drawing gets erased each day (Actually, by my arch nemesis before the next lesson, more on that in a future post!) I take a picture to save my works of art for posterity! Here they are, perhaps someone else might enjoy them… as you can see, my artist skills peaked around the second grade. As for the lesson content, I am covering The Nine Virtues and teaching Bible Characters that displayed them. I’ve done four so far: Courage: Displayed by David: (Click image to see full size) HONOR: Displayed by Young Jesus (Click image to see full size) TRUTH: Displayed by Peter (Click image to see full size) LOYALTY*: Displayed by Esther (Click image to see full size)…

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Step Aside, and Let God Recruit

Got a great e-mail today – one of those that says it better than I can. Pastor Karl, I recently was granted a Kidology scholarship and I am SO thankful. It would take a book to explain my situation but I am sure you have heard it all before… a struggling Children’s Ministry without a Minister so a member takes the task on and is just overwhelmed. When I opened my email from Rachel (customer support) stating I had the Premium Membership there was a mention of this “Leadership Labs” series that was suggested I try out. I started the “First Things First” lab and had to pause the video after the first homework assignment. Can we say a gut check? I immediately started crying out to God and apologizing for making this MY task and MY service. I turned everything over to Him and asked Him to take care of everything. “Just show me what you want me to do,” I pleaded. I was in tears before our talk was over. That night I slept better than I had slept in weeks! I was actually planning on sleeping in the next morning, but the phone woke me up. On…

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Something Cool With “K!” (WIN a FREE Subscription!)

If you haven’t heard yet – Ryan Frank asked me to help spread the cool news that his K Magazine will now be available to subscribers electronically. Here’s the scoop, direct from the Big “R” Himself: Beginning with the Sept/Oct issue of K! Magazine, subscribers to K Magazine will begin receiving a free e-version of the magazine! This e-magazine can be read on any mobile device with a web browser! So, when you purchase an annual subscription to K! Magazine (less than 20 bucks a year) you will receive as a free bonus an e-version of the magazine! CHECK IT OUT HERE! Wanna Subscribe? Visit: www.thekmagazine.com BUT: Ryan’s giving me FIVE SUBSCRIPTIONS to GIVE AWAY FREE! Just make a comment on my blog about what you like about K! Magazine and I’ll randomly pick FIVE WINNERS and send your info to Ryan for a FREE SUBSCRIPTION! How cool is that? So make your comments now!

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It’s a Bird, it’s a Plane, it’s a Model Airplane!

Saturday the family headed to the Pikes Peak Radio Control Club’s “Warbird’s Over Pike’s Peak’s Air Show”, and it was incredible! (Don’t miss HIGHLIGHT VIDEO at end of this post!) NOTE: Click on any image to see larger in a new window. For Luke, it was a real treat! He brought a box of toy airplanes and enjoying playing with his planes while watching grown men play with their toys. As the saying goes… The difference between the men and the boys, is just the price of their toys! It was hard to believe these things were not real! Especially when the jets went straight up into the air spinning until they were a speck in the sky! They even SOUNDED like real jets… well, actually, there WERE real jets… just smaller and without a real person inside! They literally flew up to the clouds! I had to use a telephoto lens to keep up with them! Luke enjoyed chillin’ out on Daddy’s hammock, which I got for Father’s Day way back when he was just a baby… (remember?) Everyone had their cameras out trying to capture these birds in the coolest pics possible – the pics in this post…

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Choices

This morning I am teaching on free will to a group of first and second graders. It’s really only a lesson into, but nevertheless, it’s got me thinking – how do you get people, adults or kids, to grasp the sheer Power of their Choices? Our free will is the greatest and yet most dangerous gift God has given us. When I say “dangerous” you may immediately think I mean because of how it can be misused. And of course, that is true. But I am more thinking of the loss when it is NOT used. Missed opportunity, missed potential, kids or people who failed to reach their potential in life because they simply refuse to make the big or little choices daily that would get them there. How do you motivate or inspire others to grab a hold of the Power they have to Choose?! This AMAZING POWER we have to CHOOSE what we want to do each day and with our lives? Now some will be quick to point out that there are many things we can’t control or can’t change or can’t choose. Of course! I can’t go buy myself a Ferrari this afternoon, nor (more painfully)…

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