My friends at LifeWay have offered to giveaway some subscriptions to help promote their parenting magazine. Here are a few details about this magazine from their excellent Parent Life blog. ParentLife brings a Christian worldview to today’s top parenting and cultural issues, covering topics related to health, development, education, discipline, and spiritual growth. Each issue of ParentLife gives practical ideas … More Children’s Ministry Resources
For years, I’ve been recommending Age of Opportunity as an excellent and Gospel-focused book about Christian parenting. Now that same author has a whole parenting conference on DVD called “Getting to the Heart of Parenting.” Each of the 10 sessions last for about 25 minutes. That makes it an excellent tool for a small group, church seminary, or private study. … More Children’s Ministry Resources
“It’s hard enough to train kids to behave, but good behavior isn’t what Jesus calls for in the Bible.” In Spiritual Parenting, author Michelle Anthony calls us as parents to “depend upon God for our children’s spirtual and moral development, urging us toward a heart posture of surrender and faithfulness. The end goal is a vibrant faith that is passed … More Children’s Ministry Resources
Enter into our home and you’ll see a play kitchen set with a birthday cake on the counter, waiting the daily baby doll birthday. You’ll trip over a stray Cinderella shoe and find a ballerina coloring page in-transit, ready to be mailed to Mimi. Pink is the only color in existence that we know of. We live in a five … More Children’s Ministry Resources
It’s no secret that kids often struggle to pay attention during the sermon in big church. Sometimes the problem is comprehension, other times it’s just listening skills. This post features a downloadable resource to help the children in your church. It was sent to us from Rich Shipe, who first posted it on his church website. Directions: To download this … More Children’s Ministry Resources
It’s almost inevitable. If you’ve spent any time with toddlers and preschoolers, you’ll get to diffuse a temper tantrum. I suppose you can view it as one of the perks of the business… responding creatively to little challenges who may or may not be thrashing on the floor. Though tantrums typically peak around 2 or 3 years of age, preschoolers … More Children’s Ministry Resources
What follows is my rough paraphrase and summary of a talk from the 2010 Connecting Church and Home Conference. In this break-out session, Randy Stinson assumed a basic understanding of Ephesians 5:22-33. This message was more about an application for husbands as they lead their families. There are nine applications that build on one another. Randy Stinson is the Dean … More Children’s Ministry Resources
What follows is a rough paraphrase and summary from the 2010 Connecting Chruch & Home Conference. This session was comprised of the eleventh chapter of the forthcoming book, Trained in the Fear of God edited by Randy Stinson and Timothy Paul Jones. While we did not delve deep into each point Schemm has, we did gain a lot of insight … More Children’s Ministry Resources
Psalm 34:8 invites us to, “Taste and see that the Lord is good.” Jesus calls Himself the bread of life and He encourages His followers to be the salt of the earth. There are innumerable references to fruit, fish, and oil in the Bible. Sometimes food staples such as these are mentioned as part of the typical diet consumed. Other … More Children’s Ministry Resources
I find that it isn’t all that hard to talk to kids. They like to talk if you can find some common ground and explore something that really interests them. As children’s ministers, and as parents, though, there are things that they need to hear from us. Words are powerful things, and the tongue has the power to build up … More Children’s Ministry Resources
Several weeks ago at my church, my eyes were opened to a biblical passage. It is one that I have read many times, but this particular sermon would cause me to view it in a whole new way. What I had previously read as a general reprimand to a wayward church now appeared as a model for parenting. With Father’s … More Children’s Ministry Resources
Everything I Need to Know About Prayer I Learned From My Two-Year-Old One of the things I have committed to doing as a father is instilling in my kids a love for prayer. I try to model prayer for them at all time and in all circumstances. My hope and prayer is that my kids will “pray constantly” talking to … More Children’s Ministry Resources
The Bible is clear – fathers must step up and lead their family to follow the LORD. These powerful Bible verses about parenting are exactly the encouragement every man needs to hear this Father’s Day. Don’t miss the free 7-page Father’s Day coloring book. Biblical Advice and Encouragement for Father’s Day What is a good Bible verse for Father’s Day? … More Children’s Ministry Resources
Oftentimes as we grow older and become parents, we find ourselves repeating the things that our own parents have said to us. You know – those sayings that, as a kid, you promised yourself you would never use when you became a parent. Much like God’s blessings and curses travel from generation to generation, so too do our parents quips … More Children’s Ministry Resources
It’s amazing what sort of things we can learn at 3:00 am! I can probably tell you all of the programming for channels 4, 7, 13, 21, 29, and 40 for the early morning hours. I have learned that McKinney Dodge spends a lot of money on advertising. I have learned that there are lots of reruns. I have learned … More Children’s Ministry Resources
Here is my short video recommendation of a new book about Christian Adoption called “Adopted for Life.” The book was written by Russell Moore, a professor I knew in Seminary. He does a great job showing how the Gospel relates to adoption. In the process he makes a strong case for Christians getting more involved. I read this book while … More Children’s Ministry Resources
In Children’s Ministry, it is easy for us to challenge the kids in our care at the church to be mindful of Christ at Christmas. I have found that it is somewhat more difficult to get the parents to keep Christ at the center of Christmas. I have discovered some nice resources that help to keep Christmas Christ-Centered. For example, … More Children’s Ministry Resources
They say that a parent is a child’s primary teacher. The hours are stacked up to support that statement. In a post entitled 1/168: Children’s Ministry Hours per Week, Terry Delaney writes that parents have 167 hours to influence their children. We, as individuals serving God in Children’s Ministry, have 1. One short hour. In one of his recent posts, … More Children’s Ministry Resources
Q: Who made you? A: God made me. (Genesis 1:26, 27; 2:7; Ecclesiastes 12: 1; Acts 17:24-29) from A Catechism for Boys and Girls What is catechism? The term “catechism” is one that may well bring up images of a strange, outdated method of instruction. But catechizing has been a time-honored and effective practice throughout Protestant as well as Catholic … More Children’s Ministry Resources
The July 31, 2009 broadcast of the Albert Mohler radio program features an interview by guest-host Dr. Russell Moore with singer and musician Andrew Peterson on the need children have for rich, wonderful story. Dr. Moore asks the question, “Does storytelling matter to children?” The program discusses the importance of telling the right stories–and telling the right Story–to children, demonstrating … More Children’s Ministry Resources
I grew up in the late 80’s and early 90’s as many of our readers have. My generation was known as “Generation X.” Those who grew up in the late 90’s and early 2000’s are part of what has been called the “ME Generation.” It is this generation that concerns me in this article. Most of our readers here at … More Children’s Ministry Resources
Sometimes I’m discouraged about how few children are really being taught the Bible at home. But as a parent, I need to think about my own home first. Am I an example for my children in memorizing the Bible? I ran across this very practical and encouraging blog post on memorizing the Bible with your kids. It gives day-by-day instructions … More Children’s Ministry Resources
Do you ever find yourself forgetting what is most important? I know I do. My keys, my debit card, my license. Yep, they have all been lost this week to my husband’s horror. But at least I haven’t yet forgotten our kids anywhere. Or maybe I have. Sometimes I beam with pride over my son’s developing vocabulary or his hand/eye … More Children’s Ministry Resources
Welcome to the latest session of the Children’s Ministry Think Tank. Grab some coffee, print off this post and put your thinking cap on. The aim is to get different perspectives and help everyone to learn (including me). Please read through the responses and share your own ideas in the comments. Think Tank #3 Questions About Baby Dedication What is … More Children’s Ministry Resources