Real life ministry ideas
Here is a link to an idea for ministry in the real world, ministry to make a difference to real people outside of the walls of a church building.
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The reason for Christmas
Linus has the right idea about Christmas. In all the hustle and bustle of Christmas preparation, shopping, traveling, and gatherings, let us be reminded of the reason for the season — as told to Charlie Brown by Linus, direct from Luke 2.
\”Sure, Charlie Brown, I can tell you what Christmas is all about…\”
Nestor’s Journey
My most favorite Christmas story of all is Nestor, the Long-eared Donkey.
This little donkey had extra long ears that dragged the ground whenever he walked. He struggled with keeping them up off the ground and tripping over them. He had the kindest mother who loved and cared for him no matter what he looked. She reminded him to hold up his ears, “Ears, Nestor.”
The other animals on the farm where they lived constantly laughed at him until the evil farmer got angry and threw him out in the cold snow. His mother risked her life to find him and continue her unconditional love for him. She lost her life in the snowstorm in order to save his life. She knew that one day he would do big things.
Nestor was sad to be all alone but met a new friend, a cherub, who guided him to a very big assignment. On their journey, the cherub told him to listen. Upon their arrival near Bethlehem, Nestor was instructed to wait and listen for further instructions. He would know what to do and when to do it.
Nestor did hear his important assignment. He was to carry Mary and Joseph into Bethlehem. The weather conditions were tough, but Nestor listened and “followed the Voice” as the cherub had instructed him. Within that voice he was listening to was his mother. She was with him all along, still helping him.
Lesson to learn from Nestor’s journey: Follow the Voice. It is a special sound only for our ears. God has a big assignment for each of us. We will only hear it if we listen intently and follow the Voice. God guides us to a place and says wait here for further instructions, then moves us on in to fulfill His assignment.
May we Follow the Voice and Wait for further instructions then Move in.
Click each of the following video links to watch Nestor.
Christmas cultural studies and the TRUE celebration
A. The Story of Hanukkah: Around 200 BCE Jews lived as an autonomous people in the Land of Israel, also referred to as Judea, which at that time was controlled by the Seleucid king of Syria. The Jewish people paid taxes to Syria and accepted its legal authority, and they were free to follow their own faith, maintain their own jobs, and engage in trade.
By 175 BCE Antiochus IV Epiphanes ascended to the Seleucid throne. At first little changed, but under his reign, the Temple in Jerusalem was looted, Jews were massacred, and Judaism was effectively outlawed. In 167 BCE Antiochus ordered an altar to Zeus erected in the Temple. As was the normal practice of the Hellenic religion when sacrificing to the Greek gods, pigs were sacrificed on the altar to Zeus.
Many modern scholars argue that the king may have been intervening in an internal civil war between the traditionalist Jews in the country and the Hellenized elite Jews in Jerusalem. These competed violently over who would be the High Priest, with traditionalists with Hebrew/Aramaic names like Onias overthrown by Hellenizers with Greek names like Jason and Menelaus. As the conflict escalated, Antiochus took the side of the Hellenizers by prohibiting the religious practices the traditionalists had rallied around. This may explain why the king, in a total departure from Seleucid practice in all other places and times, banned the traditional religion of a whole people.[9]
Antiochus’ actions proved to be a major miscalculation as they provoked a large-scale revolt. Mattathias, a Jewish priest, and his five sons Jochanan, Simeon, Eleazar, Jonathan, and Judah led a rebellion against Antiochus. Judah became known as Yehuda HaMakabi (“Judah the Hammer”). By 166 BCE Mattathias had died, and Judah took his place as leader. By 165 BCE the Jewish revolt against the Seleucid monarchy was successful. The Temple was liberated and rededicated. The festival of Hanukkah was instituted by Judah Maccabee and his brothers to celebrate this event.[10] After recovering Jerusalem and the Temple, Judah ordered the Temple to be cleansed, a new altar to be built in place of the polluted one and new holy vessels to be made. According to the Talmud, olive oil was needed for the menorah in the Temple, which was required to burn throughout the night every night. But there was only enough oil to burn for one day, yet miraculously, it burned for eight days, the time needed to prepare a fresh supply of oil for the menorah. An eight day festival was declared by the Jewish sages to commemorate this miracle.
Hanukkah lamp unearthed near Jerusalem, c. 1900.
The version of the story in 1 Maccabees, on the other hand, states that an eight day celebration of songs and sacrifices was proclaimed upon rededication of the altar, and makes no mention of the miracle of the oil.[11] A number of historians believe that the reason for the eight day celebration was that the first Hanukkah was in effect a belated celebration of the festivals of Sukkot and Shemini Atzeret.[12] During the war the Jews were not able to celebrate Sukkot/Shemini Atzeret properly; the combined festivals also last eight days, and the Sukkot festivities featured the lighting of lamps in the Temple (Suk.v. 2-4). The historian Josephus[13] mentions the eight-day festival and its customs, but does not tell us the origin of the eight day lighting custom. Given that his audience was Hellenized Romans, perhaps his silence on the origin of the eight-day custom is due to its miraculous nature. In any event, he does report that lights were kindled in the household and the popular name of the festival was, therefore the “Festival of Lights” (“And from that time to this we celebrate this festival, and call it Lights”).
It has also been noted that the number eight has special significance in Jewish theology, as representing transcendence and the Jewish People’s special role in human history. Seven is the number of days of creation, that is, of completion of the material cosmos, and also of the classical planets. Eight, being one step beyond seven, represents the Infinite. Hence, the Eighth Day of the Assembly festival, mentioned above, is according to Jewish Law a festival for Jews only (unlike Sukkot, when all peoples were welcome in Jerusalem). Similarly, the rite of brit milah (circumcision), which brings a Jewish male into God’s Covenant, is performed on the eighth day. Hence, Hanukkah’s eight days (in celebration of monotheistic morality’s victory over Hellenistic humanism) have great symbolic importance for practicing Jews.
B. Kwanzaa Colors – red, black, green — Black for color of people; red for their struggles in the past; green for hope for the future
Principles of Kwanzaa: Kwanzaa celebrates what its founder called “The Seven Principles of Kwanzaa”, or Nguzo Saba (originally Nguzu Saba – “The Seven Principles of Blackness”), which Karenga said “is a communitarian African philosophy” consisting of what Karenga called “the best of African thought and practice in constant exchange with the world.” These seven principles comprise Kawaida, a Swahili term for tradition and reason. Each of the seven days of Kwanzaa is dedicated to one of the following principles, as follows:
* Umoja (Unity) To strive for and to maintain unity in the family, community, nation and race.
* Kujichagulia (Self-Determination) To define ourselves, name ourselves, create for ourselves and speak for ourselves.
* Ujima (Collective Work and Responsibility) To build and maintain our community together and make our brothers’ and sisters’ problems our problems and to solve them together.
* Ujamaa (Cooperative Economics) To build and maintain our own stores, shops and other businesses and to profit from them together.
* Nia (Purpose) To make our collective vocation the building and developing of our community in order to restore our people to their traditional greatness.
* Kuumba (Creativity) To do always as much as we can, in the way we can, in order to leave our community more beautiful and beneficial than we inherited it.
* Imani (Faith) To believe with all our heart in our people, our parents, our teachers, our leaders and the righteousness and victory of our struggle.
*****The Birth of Jesus: THE Meaning of CHRISTmas:*****
Luke 2 (NIV):
1In those days Caesar Augustus issued a decree that a census should be taken of the entire Roman world. 2(This was the first census that took place while Quirinius was governor of Syria.) 3And everyone went to his own town to register.
4So Joseph also went up from the town of Nazareth in Galilee to Judea, to Bethlehem the town of David, because he belonged to the house and line of David. 5He went there to register with Mary, who was pledged to be married to him and was expecting a child. 6While they were there, the time came for the baby to be born, 7and she gave birth to her firstborn, a son. She wrapped him in cloths and placed him in a manger, because there was no room for them in the inn.
The Shepherds and the Angels
8And there were shepherds living out in the fields nearby, keeping watch over their flocks at night. 9An angel of the Lord appeared to them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were terrified. 10But the angel said to them, “Do not be afraid. I bring you good news of great joy that will be for all the people. 11Today in the town of David a Savior has been born to you; he is Christ[a] the Lord. 12This will be a sign to you: You will find a baby wrapped in cloths and lying in a manger.”
13Suddenly a great company of the heavenly host appeared with the angel, praising God and saying,
14“Glory to God in the highest,
and on earth peace to men on whom his favor rests.”
15When the angels had left them and gone into heaven, the shepherds said to one another, “Let’s go to Bethlehem and see this thing that has happened, which the Lord has told us about.”
16So they hurried off and found Mary and Joseph, and the baby, who was lying in the manger. 17When they had seen him, they spread the word concerning what had been told them about this child, 18and all who heard it were amazed at what the shepherds said to them. 19But Mary treasured up all these things and pondered them in her heart. 20The shepherds returned, glorifying and praising God for all the things they had heard and seen, which were just as they had been told.
When Santa comes to church
The December Think Tank question:
How do you handle the whole issue of Santa Claus in your ministry? How would you redirect a group of children at church who are debating his existence? What advice would you give Christian parents & grandparents about Santa?
My response:
Imagination is a healthy, natural part of a child’s development. Imagination plays an important role in allowing a child to fantasize, pretend, and assign human traits to inanimate objects.
Santa fits right in with the imagination of a young child. But children grow up, mature, and begin to wonder if Santa is real. Older children (especially older siblings) often tease younger children about their continued belief in Santa.
This is the part where adults and leaders can intervene and begin to gently explain another aspect of Santa. Christmas is about giving, not receiving. Santa is the spirit of giving. What happens when a young child asks if he’s real? Adults can explain that he is real is the minds and hearts of those who truly believe in the giving spirit of Christmas. That is a difficult concept for young children to grasp but over a period of time of pondering and teaching and maturation, they will begin to understand.
Here is a bit of advice for parents/grandparents on Santa: It’s ok to believe in Santa with your children but remember to emphasis the true gift-giving meaning of Christmas as the birth of Jesus, the amazing gift God gave to all people.
Merry Christmas 2009
Sung to the tune of Away in a Manger:
Away in a year ’09 has gone / In marches a new year ready or not…
Brenna started 2009 with continued preparations and plans for her mom and dad’s 40th wedding anniversary reception. Their official anniversary was April 5, but we celebrated on March 29 at their church in Winter Haven, Florida. Many friends and family were in attendance and had a great time remembering their times together over the past 40 years.
For Brenna’s birthday celebration in February, David took her to a Washington Wizards basketball game in Washington, D.C. That was an amazing experience to see a professional basketball team play live.
The next week was Valentine’s Day, so Brenna and David had dinner at Morton’s Steakhouse in Philadelphia. That was a treat to remember.
The week after Valentine’s Day was Mardi Gras and being the New Orleans lovers that they are, Brenna and David made their annual King Cake order from the Big Easy and discovered a New Orleans restaurant in Wilmington, Delaware. Crawfish and Po’ boys and Bananas Foster, O my!
David spent much of the early months of the year writing his dissertation at Panera Bread at University of Delaware. He was able to defend it in mid-March, allowing him to graduate with 9 members of his cohort.
On April 27, they celebrated 13 years of marriage the weekend before flying to Portland, Oregon, for David’s doctoral graduation. He graduated in May with a Doctorate in Ministry, Leadership in the Emerging Culture from George Fox Seminary. His dissertation was entitled “Understanding Behavioral Change through the Integration of Emerging Sciences and Theology.” He cherishes those years of study and mentoring under our new friend Len Sweet. Len teaches at Drew University in New Jersey as well as George Fox Seminary in Oregon. Living in Delaware has allowed Brenna and David to share a meal and visit with Len while in New Jersey. What an encouraging friend.
While in Portland, we went to Timberline Lodge, 7,000 feet on the side of Mt. Hood, and rode the train through the Mt. Hood valley. We drove through the Columbia River gorge and saw many breath-taking waterfalls, including Multonomah Falls.
David turned 40 years old in June and Brenna surprised him with a graduation/birthday party at their home. He was surprised until the day of the party when he wanted to go somewhere and Brenna had to tell him no because 35 people were coming over later.
The next week after David’s birthday party, they went to a Braves-Orioles baseball game in Baltimore. The Braves lost but it was a fun experience and they consoled themselves with a piece of cheesecake from the Cheesecake Factory. It works every time.
For the July 4th weekend, Brenna and David rode their bikes on the trail and went kayaking at a Delaware state park. That was fun, but they would rather go canoeing than kayaking.
August through the remainder of the year has been a time of prayer for healing for Brenna’s mom. In August she had surgery to remove the pins in her hip from a fall 10 years ago. That wasn’t healing properly and giving a lot of pain and discomfort so she returned to the hospital in September to discover her hip was broken again. Meanwhile, her twin brother passed away suddenly. Brenna’s mom was in no condition to travel from Florida to Virginia at that time, but Brenna made the short 4-hour trip from Delaware to be with her aunt and other family members. She read a tribute from the twin sister at the memorial service on her mom’s behalf.
Brenna’s mom continued to have a lot of pain and the doctor discovered through x-rays that her hip had now dislocated. She went for the third surgery and continued physical therapy and occupational therapy at a center near their house. The center staff was impressed with how well she was recovering and getting back to a normal routine. She was finally able to return home in early December. Praise God!
Through social media tools, such as Facebook and Twitter, Brenna calculated that people from 12 states responded to her posts and tweets on her mom’s recovery journey. Thank you so much for the prayers and thoughts. We love you all.
A person is a professional when she gets paid for a work, right?! Given that definition, Brenna is now a professional writer. In September, she had 2 articles published in Group Publishing’s Children’s Ministry Magazine, and she wrote the VBS article for the Baptist Convention of Maryland/Delaware’s State Missions Offering. She has been asked to write a chapter on multi-age classrooms for a children’s ministry book coming March 2010. She has an illustrated children’s book on the transition from preschool to children’s ministry also coming in early 2010.
David continues to write as well. He authored an e-book entitled Reframing Success: Missional Metrics for Missional Ministry. He is nearing completion of his book based on his doctoral research Wholly Rewired: Science, the Gospel, and the Journey Towards Wholeness. He has started a book on missional theology called The Miror: the Reflection of God to the World. This book looks at the Trinity as the basis for missional theology.
In October David flew to Huntsville, Alabama, to visit his parents and see some other family and friends. He enjoyed visiting with high school friends, Brad and Russ. He was able to see his 6th grade teacher and another high school friend he has not seen since 10th grade.
In November, David had an eye doctor appointment that resulted in bi-focals. Now he’s really feeling 40 years old.
In early December, Brenna and David divided the house for the second year in a row as the undefeated Alabama Crimson Tide took on the undefeated Florida Gators. David is looking forward to watching the National Championship game in January while Brenna will watch the Gators make Kool-aid in the Sugar Bowl on New Year’s Day.
Brenna will drive back to Florida with her parents after Christmas, visit with friends, and go to an FSC basketball game then fly home New Year’s Day. David will drive back to Delaware after Christmas to get the dog from the vet and spend a few days reading and writing.
For Christmas 2008 we met the parents in Myrtle Beach, South Carolina. We loved it so much that we are going again this Christmas.
We are looking forward to time off from work, visiting friends and family, and celebrating the season of Jesus’ birth.
Merry Christmas! from Brenna and David Phillips
Find a treasure
Treasured, Knowing God by the Things He Keeps book blog tour. By Leigh McLeroy.
Are you looking for a daily devotional book? Try Treasured, by Leigh McLeroy. You can choose to read one chapter per day or one chapter per week and ponder that chapter all week, supplementing your other devotions.
Think about the things that are most precious to you. Think about things you collect and keep over the years. This book tells about some of God’s treasures. The author uses narrative stories of her own blended with Biblical stories to apply to our own life and experiences.
To purchase the book Treasured, click this link.
This book was provided for review by the WaterBrook Multnomah Publishing Group.
Three loves
God Gave Us Love book blog tour. Words by Lisa Tawn Bergren. Art by Laura J. Bryant.
The author and the artist did a fabulous job of appealing to the imaginations of young readers. This is an excellent book for preschool children. They love dramatic play, pretending, and adding real life to animals.
The story is about a bear family. Grandpa Bear takes the lead in the family to teach one young bear cub about the different kinds of love. The bear family comes to life through the pictures. When Grandpa takes the young bear cub on a fishing trip, the young cub becomes frustrated when the playful otters splash and scare off the fish. Grandpa explains, “God wants us to show the otter’s love… He wants us to show everyone his love.” But the young cub is finding it very difficult to show love to someone or something that seems to be working against them. Grandpa, then, explains that sometimes we like something better than we love it. Grandpa likes and loves the young cub. The same kind of love that God has for each of us.
When they return from their fishing trip, Grandpa explains to the cub another kind of love: the love between a mama and a papa. God gave us three kinds of love: between mamas and papas, between friends and family, and God’s love.
To purchase the book God Gave Us Love click this link.
This book was provided for review by the WaterBrook Multnomah Publishing Group.
A Bear Christmas
God Gave Us Christmas. Words written by Lisa Tawn Bergren. Art by David Hohn.
Have you ever wondered what bears do during Christmas? This book tells a great story of a bear family celebrating Christmas, complete with many traditions and the search for the true meaning of the celebration.
Young children will love this story as they see a mama bear baking Christmas cookies while her young bear cub asks the most important Christmas questions of all. Papa bear stays home with two younger cubs while Mama and her inquisitive cub start off on their search for answers from where Christmas came.
The artwork in the book shows beautiful northern winter sights along the journey to their destination to find the true meaning of Christmas.
To purchase God Gave Us Christmas book, click this link.
This book was provided for review by the WaterBrook Multnomah Publishing Group.