This Blog Has Moved
This blog has moved to its own domain:
jeremymavis.com
I have noticed that folks have “followed” this website (jdmavis.wordpress.com) and I wanted to make sure those who show up at this site will be disappointed because there hasn’t been an update here since 2011.
New content is at jeremymavis.com.
See you there!
Shouldn’t Church Be Fun?
Growing up, I loved going to McDonald’s. I loved the play area, the Happy Meals and the Happy Meal toy. In other words, I wanted the “Mickey D’s” experience because I knew it would be fun, I would get fed and I would leave with something. Shouldn’t the church be the same way?
Jelani Lewis on ministrytodaymag.com
via Children’s Ministry Magazine July/August 2011 pg. 22
Kids and the Gospel (video)
I’m a children’s pastor, so I’m supposed to emphasize the value and importance of children in God’s kingdom. But I’m in good company. Jesus did as well (actually, I did as well, Jesus was first!).
via Ministry-To-Children
source YouTube
Digging Up the Philistines
The annual digging season has begun in the city of Gath (a former Philistine city). They are unearthing some interesting things that tell us today what the Philistines were like. An article @ msnbc.com tells some of the discoveries and connections that have been made in reference to this ancient people group and their affiliation with the Israelites as mentioned in the Hebrew Bible.
In Israel, diggers unearth the Bible’s bad guys
It’s interesting to me that archaeologists seem to start with suspicion of an ancient text (i.e. like the Bible) and seek to go all out to disprove the claims and the stories contained within (and they are super-surprised if the stories appear true). I don’t know, maybe these findings and the resultant articles and theories that are written paint the discipline in a bad light. Not because of the stellar work archaeologists are doing, rather they appear to be written with a particular slant toward continual suspicion of the biblical text.
It seems, at least to this amateur theologian, that if one thinks that the Bible stories are true and view archaeological conclusions at this point are premature are definitely in the minority of scientific opinion and labeled at best ignorant, but at worst uninformed and out-of-touch with reality.
Regardless of who is right or wrong, the point for me at least, is to hold down the side of the debate that isn’t getting the most press…
Planking (video)
I showed this to our middle school youth group on the last night before summer break. They were fascinated by it!
via JCISONLINE
source YouTube
Need Help Starting a Conversation With Kids?
For some of us, it has been a long time since we were a kid. And in the words of an epistle writer, most adults have put their childish ways behind them. So how do you converse with children (especially today’s children!)? What do you say? What questions do you ask?
This is a great resource for starting a conversation with a kid: 100 Questions to Start Conversations
“Enjoy the Little Things…”
Enjoy the little things,
for one day you may look back and realize
they were the big things.~Robert Brault
via Slowing to See
Are We Doing the Right Things? (video)
Wow… convicting. I was talking with a friend the other day about the evolution of my thinking as a pastor. More and more I’m asking myself the question: “Is what I spend the majority of my time doing, what I should really be doing?” I spend a lot of my time planning events, curating and studying content and resources for teaching venues, archiving and linking video, curriculum and graphics, and other “computer” stuff. It seems to me that the organizational beast needs to be uniquely fed to continue to work. Most of the articles and thinking out there is on how to feed the beast, rather than asking: “Should we be feeding the beast?” Or “are we feeding the right beast?”
Another question: “Is what we are doing in children and youth ministry helping to disciple kids and teens?”
Hmmm…
via Ministry-To-Children
source YouTube
Junk in the Trunk | Minute to Win It (video)
Junk in the Trunk:
Wiggle a box filled with ping pong balls and attached to your waist until the box is empty in under 60 seconds.
Video Blueprint
via Vimeo
Jeremy Mavis 