source Vimeo
Questions About Faith in Jesus
I am Second is a movement meant to inspire people of all kinds to live for God and for others. Actors. Athletes. Musicians. Business leaders. Drug addicts. Your next-door neighbor. People like you. The authentic stories on iamsecond.com provide insight into dealing with typical struggles of everyday living. These are stories that give hope to the lonely and the hurting, help from destructive lifestyles, and inspiration to the unfulfilled. You’ll discover people who’ve tried to go it alone and have failed. Find the hope, peace, and fulfillment they found. Be Second.
On their website they got a great section that addresses questions about faith in Jesus.
Calvin Wonders about the Mystery of Santa Claus (and God)
A sense of mystery is built in to many parts of our “secular” culture (i.e. Santa Claus, Easter Bunny, Tooth Fairy). Do we wonder where we get that mystery?
Perhaps its built in to the hearts of human beings…
Big Thoughts for Little Thinkers: a Review
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The Big Thoughts for Little Thinkers series by Joey Allen are fantastic books for preschool children that help begin the formation of good doctrinal truths into their lives.
The most foundational teachings of the Christian faith are presented in the Big Thoughts for Little Thinkers series at a level preschool and elementary children can understand. In simple and precise language, God-centered theology is promoted, giving children a firm foundation in God’s timeless truth.
There are four books in the series: The Scripture, The Gospel, The Trinity, and The Mission.
In The Scripture, we meet Gabe who wants “to tell you about the Bible.” In The Gospel, Gracie introduces herself and “wants to tell you the best new in the whole world.” In The Trinity, young Angel says “Hi” and “wants to tell you about God.” And in The Mission, we meet Mikey leaning on a shovel and he “wants to tell you about God’s mission.”
All four of these books offer phenomenal content that accurately and biblically communicates theology and doctrine at a level young children can comprehend. You will find this series easy to read and re-read with your children.
As a parent, I have enjoyed reading these to my two girls. They don’t quite get the overarching concepts yet, but they love the characters they meet in each book as they tell stories and share about who God is, what he wrote, how we enter into relationship with him, and why we should be involved in mission.
The Rich Young Man
A rich young man approaches Jesus and asks him: “Teacher, what must I do to inherit eternal life?” Now we often read that in a timeline sense, like “how do I live forever?” This young man was asking a much deeper, more pressing question: “What must I do to live the kind of life that God wants, that is true to God’s ultimate intention for humanity?”
Valid question. One we all wonder about. “How do I live the kind of life that God wants me to live?” For the rich young man, Jesus’ answer was targeted toward the man’s wealth because it was in riches that the man hoped to be “saved” or taken care of in this life. In other words: “Surely God’s ultimate intention for humanity is to accumulate wealth so you can live comfortably and without fear.”
Jesus says, “Nope. You are serving two masters. Sell everything you have then follow me.” This was something the rich young man either could not or would not let go of.
I wonder what it is that I serve right alongside of God sometimes…?
The Rich Young Man [y3_w15]
Story Lesson (418.77kb, pdf)
Audio File (12.75mb, mp3)
Video Link (12.11.11 @ vimeo.com)
Video Link (12.14.08 @ vimeo.com)
The Dreaded Chin-Up Bar
There are two iconic images of middle school: the chin-up bar and the climbing rope. These images conjures up pleasant feelings in some and dread in others.
I thought I would take this opportunity to “force” you to remember those fun years in middle school!!
The Rich Young Ruler Asks Jesus an Important Question
I’ll be using this clip for teaching the story of The Rich Young Man in Main Street. It’s informative to “see” the emotion of the characters as they interact, especially the actor that plays Jesus. The Jesus character’s piercing, yet caring eyes communicate an intensity that probably accompanied this real-life conversation a little under 2,000 years ago.
Powerful.
source YouTube
Global Poverty: Living on Less Than $2 a Day
I’ve been thinking a lot lately, as I’m sure the rest of the inhabitants of the USA are in these uncertain economic times. We don’t know what to do about the declining economy because what has always seemed to work in the past are not working like they used to (or should in some people’s minds).
I’m not ready to make a value judgment either way yet, but in the meantime it’s good to gather data and gain perspective on what is going on “economically” around the world.
Thus the embedded graphic above.
In many countries, a significant percentage of the population survives on just a few dollars a day. Here’s a look at the distribution of consumption in several developing nations.
Kind of puts things in perspective, doesn’t it?
source GOOD
The Parable of the Good Samaritan
“Just who is my neighbor?”
We’ve (humans) been asking this question for millenia. And this was the very question posed to Jesus back 2,000 years ago:
“Who do I have to LOVE?”
And it was just like the Son of God to pinpoint exactly “who” it was to the person (or group of people) asking this question. In the Gospel of Luke, Jesus shoots straight at the religious leaders and Jews of the day with their hated neighbors, the Samaritans. It was in this iconic and classic story that Jesus shares “you need to be a neighbor (and love them) to the one (or group of people) that you seem to hate the most.”
Jesus always had a way of accurately pinpointing exactly what the “hearer” needed.
I wonder who it is that I hate and need to love as my neighbor? Maybe you should wonder and let Jesus ask you that question as well…
The Parable of the Good Samaritan [y3_w14]
Story Lesson (604.66kb, pdf)
Audio File (10.63mb, mp3)
Video Link (12.4.11 @ vimeo.com)
Video Link (12.7.08 @ vimeo.com)
The DONE Manifesto
Are you passionate about getting things done?
Do you find yourself procrastinating and NOT getting things done?
Well then consider joining “The Cult of Done.” This “cult” recently released a “manifesto” that’s worth a look:
HT Lifehacker
via Bre Pettis