Jenny Funderburke over at KidMin Thoughts has been blogging recently about “Answering Kids’ Tough Questions.” I thought it would be useful to share her posts answering the questions that routinely plague young minds (and even old ones!):
Answering Kids’ Tough Questions
I’m Cool. An Adolescent “Social Experiment”
The Calvin & Hobbes comic strip does a great job capturing the human condition (particularly with kids and parents) in a variety of ways.
This one highlights the oscillation for teenagers, especially middle school students, in an effort to fit in, blend in, or stand out (which ever action they want to either get noticed, or intentionally NOT get noticed).
It’s funny, because in their quest to figure out the “right” way for them, they do things that are often against their very nature. In this instance, Calvin would rather be bored and look cool, than be his true self and goof off!
While my pointing this out might sound critical it isn’t. It is informational (and funny because we were all there at some point). This action isn’t inherently bad. Middle school students particularly are experimenting or trying out various modes of being in an effort to find out what fits them best. We as parents and mentors need to wisely guide them through these various social experiments, all the while remembering that we were just like this and we not only needed encouragement and wisdom through the tumultuous adolescent years, but also space to try things out.
What I’ve learned as a parent of toddlers is: it’s important to laugh at the silly things my kids do in private with my wife and not in front of them. I’m not talking about silly things they say that are meant to be silly and goofy. I’m talking about things that they do that we giggle about as parents and only another adult will understand.
So laugh at your “cool” teenager (in private), while you give them space to experiment and offer encouragement and wisdom through the process!
Put Yourself in Another’s Shoes
Do we look through another person’s eyes? Do we step into another’s shoes? Can we step outside of ourselves and get some perspective on how another views what you do?
What about our church or our various ministry environments? How would a new person, or a new family perceive the look and feel and the process and information?
Enjoy the video!
The Parable of the Lost: Sheep, Coin and Son
Jesus spent some time with some shady people: tax collectors and sinners. This frustrated the religious, “super-duper Christian” types. So Jesus told a series of three stories: Lost Sheep, Lost Coin, and Lost Son.
Now, when the Scripture writers repeat themselves, it is saying something like: PAY ATTENTION HERE! Only in a few instances does the biblical authors, or Jesus himself, do a series of THREE. It’s like Jesus is saying:
“Okay, here’s a story…
“Now just in case you missed my point, here’s another story…
“Now because I know you are still not getting what I am saying, here is a third story right between the eyes!”
Jesus is strongly emphasizing that the reason he came is to seek and save the lost, not the righteous.
The Parable of the Losts [y3_w13]
Story Lesson (369.27kb, pdf)
Audio File: Lost Sheep (2.84mb, mp3), Lost Coin (3.33mb, mp3), and Lost Son (7.36mb, mp3)
Video Link: Lost Sheep, Lost Coin, and Lost Son (11.27.11 @ vimeo.com)
Video Link (11.30.08 @ vimeo.com)
The Parable of the Lost Sheep (max7)
We used this video this past Sunday (11.27.11) in Main Street as we taught through Luke 15 where Jesus does a trio of “lost” stories.
A Mavis Family Picture
This is a picture of our family created by a young friend of mine named Kate:
The Gospel | Raspberry Plants
This is a continual series known as The Gospel, which provides concrete, simple and creative ways to share the Gospel with children and youth.
At Kids Camp 2011, I had an opportunity to share the Gospel with the campers and I used a recent horticultural acquisition – raspberry plants.
source Vimeo
What an Argument Looks Like on Facebook…
I’m sure we’ve all seen a comment stream on a Facebook post that looks like this:
HT ChurchMag
source CollegeHumor
Post It Note // Game
How to Play the “Post It Note” Game:
Simple. Decide on a time (i.e. 60 seconds) and see who can stick more “post it notes” on the board, one at a time. Count the notes at the end of the round and declare a winner.
Want to take them down? Do the game in reverse. See who can take the notes off first. One at a time, though.
source YouTube
The Parable of the Sower
This past Sunday we started into some of the teachings of Jesus: the Parables. A parable is “a story with a point” as one student put it. And he was right! Jesus told some compelling stories to his listeners that challenged the current thinking of the day in light of the kingdom of God (Jesus) breaking in to human history (Jesus). And as far-reaching as it sounds, these ancient parables or stories, actually have something to say to us today in light of our current thinking and the kingdom of God (Jesus) breaking in to human history (Jesus).
The Parable of the Sower [y3_w12]
Story Lesson (369.47kb, pdf)
Audio File (14.82mb, mp3)
Video Link (11.20.11 @ vimeo.com)
Video Link (11.23.08 @ vimeo.com)
Cup Stacking Race // Game
How to Play the “Cup Stacking Race” Game:
21 plastic cups per person. Start with the cups in a column, and competitors must stack the cups in a pyramid, then unstack back into the column. First one done, wins.
This could also be a single person game that is timed (i.e. Minute to Win It style = 60 seconds or less).
source YouTube