May 4, 2016
Can you imagine being in the classroom of the Master Teacher, Jesus Christ, day in and day out? If so, can you imagine what you would ask Him to teach you? It fascinates me that the disciples had seen Jesus perform chemistry lessons (turning H2O into wine), physical education lessons (walking on water), and math lessons (multiplying the loaves and fishes), and instead of asking Him how to do those things, they asked Him, “Lord, teach us to pray…” (Luke 11:1). This request is the only record we…
December 8, 2014
Shakespeare once queried, “What’s in a name?” but I don’t think he was thinking about Santa’s nice and naughty list. However, when School Stickers, an education rewards program for schools all over the world, in a light-hearted way asked the same question, they WERE thinking “naughty” and “nice”.
Approximately 60,000 children at 10,000 schools use School Stickers’ system and when these students received stickers for good behavior they were able to digitally log their stickers on the website. Based on this data, totaling over one million stickers, it was determined…
June 13, 2014
I find myself staring a lot lately at this picture hanging on my office wall. It was a gift from a student who had visited Kenya where an African artist, with obviously a very African perspective, painted the batik. As you can see, Peter is trying to walk on the water toward Jesus, and not very well, but Jesus rescues him. As I stare at the picture I think two things: I’m thankful God put Peter in the Bible, and if someone ever sold apostle action figures, I…
February 21, 2014
We write a lot about words and their meanings. It seems fitting since this blog and ministry is entitled “Words of Worth”. Today and next week, I want to look at the power of a couple of words Jesus used during His ministry. The story takes place in the gospel of Luke – Chapter 8, verses 41-56.
First on the scene, an important synagogue official named Jarius. Perhaps his social and religious status allowed him to push through to Jesus; it would be immediately evident this man was important. Yet, his…
August 9, 2013
I love analogies. Love them. Ask me the difference between a metaphor and a simile and I will have to phone a friend, but I can come up with an analogy for just about any given situation. My son often asks me, “How do you DO that?” I have no idea – it’s just the way my brain works.
Some analogies are better than others and some analogies are more effective for certain audiences. For example, here’s my latest sports analogy since we moved…
April 19, 2013
Sometimes the subject matter found in children’s books is decidedly, well…not so childlike. In fact, many of the themes presented in books on my 12 year old daughter’s bookshelf are topics that as adults, we still find ourselves struggling with.
It takes a rare literary talent and a great love for children to be able to present the topic of racial tensions in 1960’s America in a way that’s understandable and approachable for all ages. Yet, that is exactly what Augusta Scattergood does in the book “Glory Be”. Here’s a synopsis:
A…
March 1, 2013
March 1st already?? How does that happen? We are already beginning our third month of 2013 and as we continue in our book of the month challenge, we have chosen Tim Keller’s King’s Cross. Since Easter is March 31st, we felt that this was a terrific choice to prepare our hearts to encounter the King of the cross!
When Tim Keller first released his book, John Piper said, “My oldest daughter compares Tim Keller to Pixar: when they both release new material, you just know it’s going to be great.”…
February 15, 2013
What a week! Did you cry Monday over spilt milk? You could have, because it was “National Cry over Spilt Milk Day”. What about Tuesday? Did you think you had a hole in your pocket? Nope – it was “National Lost Penny Day”. Of course everyone knew yesterday was Valentine’s Day, but did you know it was also “National Ferris Wheel Day”! Today is “National Gum Drop Day” in case you want to indulge your sweet tooth and you finished all the chocolates you received on “National Ferris Wheel Day”…
