Below I am showing some of the questions we received as text during service. These are the ones we did not have the opportunity to respond to during the service either from the platform or from our other computers we were working from during the service to keep up with giving answers. I would encourage others who read this to give your input here in the blog on the ones labeled “Blog”. These were questions that were too lengthy to answer through a text or during the service.
Here we go:
Q-is it bad 2 l00k up 2 pe0ple other than g0d 11:41 AM
A-Paul wrote “follow me as I follow Christ” It is bad to follow people if they are not doing what God wants them to do. Just remember God will give you people that you should follow to lead you to him.
Q: Is it bad to not obey my Mom Dad and God
A:Scripture says honor your mother and father and it will be well with you. So yes in almost every case it is wrong to disobey your parents. Remember God did not come to condemn the world he came to redeem it. So if you have failed to obey God ask him to forgive you and he will.
Q:: Should we have open hearts to every one?
A: blog (How would you answer this for a child in 4-6th grade?)
Q: Whats the nugget of wisdom
A: A nugget is a small bite size piece, similar to chicken nuggets, you can pick one up, eat and go on the next piece. Nuggets of wisdom are small bite size pieces of information that is in Gods word.
Q: Is bad to try to correct older people.
A: The scripture that comes to mind is that was written about early church leaders “never sharply rebuke an elder” Note the word sharply, if you come to a person with a humble loving heart to help and explain to them what you see and feel to them that is not bad. Keep respect and honor, first and foremost. If they are a person of God, God will do the correcting.
Q: How can we tell the difference between the two types of fears
A: Blog (How would you answer this for a child in 4-6th grade?)
Q: Is there a book that helps u understand the bible because i get confused with some of the metaphores 11:46 AM Jamie answered
Fire bible.
Q: I always wonder what people think uv me. But i n0 that their th0tz d0nt mater. 0nly g0d’s d0. H0w d0 i make my self n0t care wut otherz think about me? 11:47 AM
A: Paraphrase of scripture.” Rest on the lord god all you heart lean not on your own understanding and in all your ways acknowledge him and he will make you path straight.” It sounds like you are doing this keep it up. What this scripture means, is it only matters what God thinks of you. Do what he says, and give God the credit.
Q: What if your friend cuss and then turnes around and sayes that they r a christain 11:46 AM
A: (How would you answer this for a child in 4-6th grade?)
Q: If someone drinks and smokes and cussis can they still be an christian 11:48 AM 11:49 AM
A: Blog (How would you answer this for a child in 4-6th grade?)
Q: Should you always walk away from bad people 11:50 AM
A: Yes , the scripture that comes to mind is “flee from immorality” There are situations that you know are wrong and the best thing to do is leave. Your leaving can be as simple as I know this is wrong and I do not want to be a part of it. This may give other the strength to do the same.
Q: in matt 6:10 it tells you to use the lords prayer…should we pray like that all the time
A: The lords prayer is a pattern of what prayer should be. I will take it in pieces.
“Our father which art in heaven hollowed be thy name thy kingdom come thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread and forgive us our debts as we forgive our debtors. But lead us not into temptation but deliver us from evil. For thine is the kingdom and the glory forever. “ Our prayers should give God glory for who he. This prayer also makes clear we want God in control of our lives. It also says God gives us exactly what we need when we need it. Just like he gave the Israelites enough mana to feed them and not any more than they needed. “daily bread” It also ask God for his hand of protection on us, then wraps up with glorifying God again. Mathew 6:10 should be our pattern for prayer but does not have to be repeated verbatim.
Q: How can we kow wat to say yes /no
A: When Jesus was in the the desert being tempted by the Devil. His answer always started, it is written. The only completely correct answer is if the Bible say yes, then yes, If the Bible says no then no. If it is not exactly layed out in the bible. Then find a principle that is clear in the bible. Never forget the Golden rule. Mat 7:12 ? Do onto others as you would want them to do to you.
Q: Is it bad wen we mis church?
A: Missing church is like missing a meal. It will leave you hungry for what you soul needs.
Q: How can we stay focused on god
A: blog (How would you answer this for a child in 4-6th grade?)
Q: D0 u think god letz us make our own choises? Or d0 u think he ch00ses 4 us?
A: Blog (How would you answer this for a child in 4-6th grade?)
Q: If u pray but dont pray every night or day dose it matter?
A: I anwered a question earlier about missing church is like missing a meal. Missing prayer is almost like forgetting to breath, You can hold your breath for awhile but sooner or later if you don’t breath you will die. If you go a long time with prayer it is not healthy for your spirit. When you are in love with something you want to spend time with it. God is no different.
Q: Do you need fear in your life? 11:53 AM
A: The bible say the beginning of wisdom is the fear of God. Fear is this spriture is more along the lines of respect. Another use of fear in the bible that talks about fear is “ God did not give us a spirit of fear but one of life” Fear should not keep you from serving God. Blog?
Q: do you have to give offering
A: Offering is given from a heart of love or a desire to give. If you think you have to do anything that is LAW. God looks at your heart, man looks at what you do. I will ask your question another way. Should you want to give offings? The answer to that is yes.
Q: I have a friend who is a Jehovah’s Witness..Should I still be her friend
A: Blog? (How would you answer this for a child in 4-6th grade?)
I left these un-edited on purpose. I took out the phone numbers or names as this is not important for anyone to see, but left the text itself alone. The answers on these where provided by sme great team members who helped me get answers to all the kids. Again, how would you have answered any of them differently? Or what kind of answer would you give on those marked “blog”?
Wow I can not believe that 2009 is already over. I was going back through the archives looking at the last time I posted a Backstage Pass and it was back on December 20th. So much has seemed to happen since then and more importantly for this topic, more lessons have been learned than I have taken the time to blog about.
Today I will try and get down some of the quick behind the scenes/back stage type lessons and ideas, new and old that I have been reminded of or discovered new for myself.
* Kids Love to text. Yesterday we had a texting service where we had all the kids (98% of all of our 4-6th graders have phones) brought them and used them to text us questions during the service. We would answer all of them that we could. Well we were delightfully surprised to the amount of great questions they sent us. We were able to get a peek into their minds and lives that no amount of money could have paid for. Because it was done through texting they felt a comfort of asking true, transparent questions. It was one of my most favorite services over the last few years.
* One little idea can lead to some really bigger ideas and more developed. That is what the texting service is doing for us. We have some great minds now thinking through how to make this bigger and better. We saw more visitors yesterday than in a long time. The main difference, we WANTED them to bring their phones and text during service. This is what I refer to as “Godly Naughtiness”.
* People want to be challenged and live up to something greater than themselves.
* Use people where they already love being and they will not feel it is a task.
* When people are given an opportunity to succeed they will take it. So offer many opportunities to success.
Lessons from Phil Vischer-What lessons do you see?
Posted January 9th, 2010 by Pastor Todd - 0 commentsWow, I have no idea how I never stumbled across these videos of Phil Vischer (The Veggie Tale guy for those of you who may have been living in the back of a cave over these last few years) they are great! So after you watch this one, let me know what lessons you take out of it?
For me one of the big ones is, when Phil talks about how he talks about how he made the work he was doing FOR GOD more important than his relations WITH GOD. How many times have you watched or been part of this very same thing?
Enjoy the video.
You have got to check this out. Watch it with others and at the end look at one another and say: “They are not just kids”.
Thanks Mike Johnson and C3 Kids.
I wanted to take this quick moment before I start to enjoy my uninterrupted family time as they are still asleep, and give some things that I am very thankful for in Children’s Ministry and not in any order other than the first one is the first because to me it starts and ends there.
1. God. Not only is this one of the most popular answers in children’s ministry that serves as the “answer to all questions” type answer for kids if asked a question, but it is really the total reason for anything I have to be thankful for. Thanks God.
2. My family. At the end of everyday regardless what has taken place I get the privilege of ending my day with my family. My family provides for me not only love but a safe place to be. We are able to talk openly, honestly, let our guard down, get into our comfy clothes and kick up our feet while we laugh and play with one another. Thanks family.
3. My Pastor. Not only because he is my boss, but also because he wants me on his team. He pours into me, watches out for me, invest in me, challenges me, spurs me on to be all that I can be and so much more. Thanks pastor.
4. My team of volunteers. I have heard it mentioned so many times, and I am sure they are only joking when it is said, “Ministry would be great if it weren’t for the people.” I always disagree. Ministry is great because of the people. I have the greatest job in all the world and I get to work with the greatest people in all the world. My teams from birth - 6th grade pout themselves out everyday, every week, every year as a gift to me, the kids, and their parents and. Thanks Teams
5. My Friends. I am going to be very careful to not mention specific ones because then it will take forever, but, I will tell you I have some of the finest, greatest, kind, friends a person could know. My friends are there to talk, help, support, encourage, challenge, and oh so much more. Thanks friends.
6. Resources. I have truly been blessed over the 17+ years of full time children’s ministry to have run across some great resources. There is Kidology (here is a site that when I first started it was the only one out there like it and I actually stole or “creatively borrowed” all my lessons from at first), I also did a post on this titled: Top 10 Ministry Resources according to me. Thanks to all the great resources that help me to be effective.
7. My Mentors. I will mention only a few here that have been part of those mentors from the start and they are still there as mentors for me even today. Karl Bastian (Here is the guy who created Kidology and is definitely one of those “friends” I was referring to above), Jim Wideman (who again was in many peoples site an untouchable because of how successful he was but really he has always been very touchable. He is always there to lend a hand and invest in those who want to grow). There have been so many and still are today. But wanted to give that very specific shout out to these two as like I said they were there when I first started and they are still there today. Thanks mentors.
I am going to stop here. Most may try and take it to 10, or stopped at 5. I am stopping it at 7 becasue my family is beginning to move around and I am going to go and spend time with them.
P.S.
I am very thankful for all of you who read this blog as well and send me the emails of encouragement. Thanks Take TWO global family!
