Media Archives - Page 5 of 5

Leadership, Media, Networking, Preteen, Resources

March 22, 2011

FLYTE … Just What Is It? (Free iBook for all!)

Wow! I’m pretty impressed with all of the action on the blog yesterday. You guys seem to be a lot like me, longing for a curriculum that will really reach preteens, engage them, and most of all, bring them closer to God.

It’s our prayer that FLYTE: faith. life. together. is going to help you accomplish that task. We’ve spent MANY hours praying, researching, studying, and surveying in order to develop the most engaging, exciting, and biblical-centered curriculum your preteens will ever experience.

kitcover I hope that when you hear the word FLYTE it evokes images of movement and air. That’s exactly what we were thinking when we came up with the name. A little research told us that the initials FLT mean flight in aeronautical terms.

Each session of FLYTE is centered on a particular question. To see the full 2 year scope and sequence (yes, that’s right! TWO YEARS! Perfect for your preteen ministry!) click here!

During the faith. portion of the session, preteens will learn GOD’S ANSWER to the question through a blblically-rich study. Preteens are encouraged to dig deep into God’s Word to discover His answer.

During the life. portion of the session, preteens will learn the WORLD’S ANSWER to the session question. It became clear to the preteen team that most of the time in church, we tell preteens God’s answers, but never tell them that most of the world is going to disagree. This section will help preteens learn about how the world views a particular question or topic.

During the together. portion of the session, preteens will develop their OWN ANSWER to the session question based on the God’s Word. Hopefully, now, not only will they know God’s answer, they will OWN it and DO it. They will be prepared to respond to the world about the session topic with several simple, easy-to-remember statements. Prayerfully, over the course of two years, preteens will develop their own biblical worldview based on God’s unchanging word!

Tomorrow, I’ll tell you more about the different pieces of the FLYTE line. I want to give you a chance to be a part of something really awesome. FLYTE is the first curriculum line by LifeWay to have a leader guide available not only in print, but also available in the iBookstore for your iPod, iPhone, or iPad. If you would like to have this book for free, send me an email and ask me for it!

For now, check out the FLYTE videos here (under the heading promo videos) and tell me your thoughts! Remember, all comments are entered into a drawing for the FLYTE Prize Pack.

Media, Preteen

February 7, 2011

Burning Question: Electronic Bibles?

By Klista Storts

I’ve been teaching and working with some great Children’s Ministers from the state of Louisiana today. We’ve been working on creating outlines to help churches develop Transformational Classes that will make an impact on the community and world around them. It’s been exciting to work alongside others who realize that kids can make an impact, too!

As we talked about how we can help children develop a love for the Bible as we teach them to Hear God’s Word, Know God’s Word and Do God’s Word, a new question was brought to light that I’ve not come across yet in Children’s Ministry. Someone asked the group’s opinion about allowing children – more specifically, preteens – to use electronic Bibles in class – such as those found on computers, smart phones and the like.

We had a lively discussion – not heated mind you, but lively, with some differing opinions and all made some very good points. Here are just a few…

What about taking notes – some of us love to take notes in our Bible – dates, reference notes, and the like. How do you do that in an electronic Bible? I mean — I want to leave my Bible with my children when I leave this world — how can I do that with an IPad?
Today’s technology is taking away from relationship building.
But…if preteens who have never shown much interest in using their Bible in class are now excited about participating, there’s no way I’m going to say no!
But…what if they’re really texting, or checking out the "social network"…how do I know?
What about Bible skills?

Like I said, good points on both sides. So…what do YOU think? Is this just a fad or a trend that we need to get on board with to reach today’s kids? Looking forward to hearing your opinions!

Leadership, Media, Preteen

December 22, 2010

All I Want for Christmas is my … Cell Phone

By Jeff Land

Today, I’m taking the opportunity to talk about something that’s on a lot of kids in your ministry’s minds. They are probably all thinking about what they want for Christmas and for many of those kids, it’s a cell phone. Cell phone mania has taken attention of kids everywhere, and none moreso than those preteens!

MCland

Meet MC. She’s a sweet girl. Every bit of 11 years old and one of our close friend’s daughters. MC was in our Sunday School class until we recently changed churches for my wife to serve on staff at a different church. Still, MC comes over and hangs out with us. I think she just really likes our boys.

For as long as I’ve known MC, I have known two things:

1. ALL her friends have cell phones.

2. SHE doesn’t have a cell phone.

MC was at our house the other night and from the way she’s talking, I’m pretty sure she’s positive that there’s a package waiting underneath her Christmas tree that she’s been waiting for and wanting for a long time. That’s right, I think MC is entering the world of mass communication and endless texting. MC thinks she’s getting that cell phone she’s been longing for.

I guess when I think about it, it’s hard for me to imagine why an 11-year-old needs a cell phone. I mean, when I was 11, I survived without a cell phone. Honestly, I didn’t get my first mobile phone until I was in college and it was in a brief case. It cost so much to use that I never even plugged it in unless there was "an emergency." At the same time, when I was 11-years-old we had a landline, something my sons may never know. Maybe that’s why they are so impressed with the phone when we stay in a hotel.

At any rate, I know the age of cell phone users is moving down. Even as I was taking MC’s picture the other night for this blog, I looked down and my three-year-old was downloading new apps to my iPhone. Seriously. I think it’s really funny that my iPhone has more apps downloaded by my young son than I’ve actually put on it.

Reedland

I’ve come up with a few ideas about good cell phone use among preteens. Do you think you might be able to use some of these ideas?

1. Cell Phones don’t need to come to Sunday School. Even though you can’t live without your cell phone, your cell phone will have a limited life. Let’s not take up space in the classroom for soul-less items.

2. If cell phones or other electronics do make it outside the Swagger Wagon, I’ve found it very useful to have an E-Bucket. The E-Bucket looks alot like a trash can with a big E on the side of it. Preteens learn that ALL electronics go straight to the E-Bucket as soon as they walk through the doors to your class. Preteens can retrieve their items at the end of class.

51Sv10CE1GL._AA300_.jpg

3. Ernest shouldn’t take a cell phone to camp. I think that my buddies at CentriKid would agree that camp and cell phones don’t mix! Bringing cell phones to camp only increases negative things. They increase distraction, homesickness, jealousy, and the chances that it will be lost or stolen. BEWARE: Some parents will help their kids sneak their cell phones to camp with them. Simply retrieve the smuggled cell phone and return it at the end of camp.

4. Make cell phones work for you. If you have cell phones coming to class, you might want to try to let them work for you. Instead of just asking questions for review, why don’t you post your cell phone number, ask the question and let teams of kids text the answer back to you. The first one to get the correct answer texted in, wins the points. This helps out on the "they cheated" thing preteens are always bringing up.

So, no matter where you stand on the whole cell phone debate, cell phones are here to stay and users of the devices are getting younger. Help parents be smart about cell phones. Make sure they know about parental controls, enforce cell phone bed times, and so forth.

Just think, I bet after Friday, MC isn’t going to be the ONLY ONE of her friends without a cell phone. I bet she’s not the only preteen whose going to tell you she got a cell phone for Christmas.

Fun, Leadership, Media, Preteen

December 8, 2010

iShine: The Rubyz, Paige Armstrong, and Mission 6 (Big Giveaway!)

By Jeff Land

Noise. It’s all around you. There’s noise in almost everything you do. My office faces one of the busiest streets in all of downtown Nashville. Even on the Seventh Floor I hear amubulances, fire trucks, horns honking, and a cars accelerating. I have even heard a car accident and helicopters whirling in the air.

All of this noise can be distracting, so I always plug my iPhone into my Mac as soon as I arrive at work and start listening to tunes I’ve downloaded to iTunes. I’m not going to lie, since the beginning of October, I’ve been listening to Christmas music, but everyone has to have a vice right?

Recently, I was teaching the preteens at my church using a passage from Ezekiel 36. The lesson was actually supposed to be about missions, but we ended up really getting into a great conversation about verses 20-21 where God talks about nations profaning His holy name. We discussed what profaning meant and what God’s holy name was.

This led to the topic of texting and the popular text and status message, OMG. JuliAnn was stunned and a little hurt that the phrase OMG—a phrase she used regularly—profaned God’s name. We talked about how some people might not think that it was a bad phrase, but most people knew that the G in the phrase stood for God, and the Bible clearly exhorts us to not take His name in vain. This led us to another rabbit chase of what phrase abbreviations were not appropriate. I’ll save that for another post.

The boys were really starting to understand what we were talking about, and I knew it. It was not long until one chimed in that the popular animated series Family Guy uses God’s name in vain all of the time. They said, "we know it’s bad, but the show is awesome, it’s so funny." I understood this as a tragic testimony against that we exist in a world of cultural Christians, it’s easy to stand for what you believe while you are in church, but we aren’t equipping believers to stand when they are alone. The kids in our ministries deserve better.

So, what can you do to as a minister to kids understand how the world’s answer and God’s answers are not the same. You can disciple them, expose them to good choices in media, and pray for them.

I have been privileged to develop a relationship with some awesome people at the organization called iShine. Founder, Robert Beeson, became burdened for his own children that their choices for positive music and television were limited, so he began producing television shows and developing an event called iShine Live. The event is geared towards older kids and preteens and exposing them to great music, amazing production, great Bible teaching, and wonderful role models.

Several members of the iShine family were at KMC10 and we had the privilege of sampling their music and hearing their prayers. Several of the artists have been featured in Bible Express and are amazingly talented.

Their musical styles vary greatly by band, from Paige the rocker-girl to the Rubyz, an upbeat pop group. Mission Six is a group of guys who rock hard with their God-honoring lyrics and positive attitudes. There are many, many more but I just don’t have space to tell you about them all.

You might not really care for a particular genre of music, but your preteens love it. The truth is, they are going to listen whether you like it or not, so why not expose them to the best the world has to offer. Give them positive role models, music with a message, and something they can tell their friends about. Go to the iShine page and check out their listing of artists. The variety will blow you away! Help your preteens reduce the noise in their lives that is pulling them away from the One we desire for them to be completely in love with. Expose them to great music from great Christian artists they can look up to.

I’ve got two huge prize packs to give away from the good people at iShine. All you have to do is comment on this blog to be entered to win. The pack includes 3 iShine DVDs, 6 iShine artists’ CDs, a pack of iShine silly bands and several more items! You’ll definitely want to win this pack and share it with your preteens. It’s great! You must comment by Friday at Midnight!

Follow iShine artists on Twitter: The Rubyz, Mission Six, Paige Armstrong, SiLOam, Jamie Grace, Kylie Jean, Jonnie and Brookie, and Chelsea Musick. While you’re at it, be sure to follow me!

Fun, Media

November 30, 2010

Guest Blogger, Sam Luce: 8 Tech Tools that should be on Every Kids’ Pastor wish list!

By Courtney Baker

Courtney here, and we have another exciting guest blogger for you today, Sam Luce. Sam has been the children’s pastor at Redeemer Church in Utica NY for the past 13 years. Sam also shares many of his experiences on his blog SamLuce.com. If you haven’t visited Sam’s blog before, you should!

————————————–

Sam Luce_bio_b&w.jpg

8 Tech Tools that should be on Every Kids’ Pastor wish list!

If you do kids ministry and you have been nice all year here is a list of things you need to ask St. Nick to hook you up with this Christmas season. If BTW, you are looking for a online wishlister service check out LifeHacker.

1. iPhone or Android phone – The amount of apps available are mind numbing from apps to help you be productive (Things by Culture Coded), apps that are just addicting fun (Angry Birds), apps that will help you when a volunteer doesn’t show up (pro-presenter remote & Keynote Remote). Having an iPhone is a must have if you work with kids.

2. Boxee – Perfect for finding that perfect video object lesson……ok it’s just stinking cool and I want one.

3. iPad – So you can leave your computer home when you go to Orange, Kids Ministry Conference, Kidmin Conference, or CPC. Or you can actually even use it to check your kids in to kids church or give your kids their Bible Bucks.

4. Kodak Playsport – This is the perfect digital video camera for camps, VBS, and mission trips it’s called the Kodak Playsport and it is not water resistant but waterproof. If a waterproof camera doesn’t scream Kidmin I don’t know what does.

5. Eye-fi Card – The Eye-fi card allows you to upload your photos from your Digital camera straight to your computer without any cords and in some cases directly from the field. This is a perfect tool for kids camp.

6. TV Poltergeist – Maybe a harmless prank to play on the youth department. Not suggesting just sayin.

7. External HardDrive – Everything you do from photos you take, music you buy, lessons your write to fliers you make can all be gone in a flash of an eye. If you don’t regularly back up your digital life start now. It only takes one hard drive crash to teach you. BACK UP BACK UP BACK UP. There are few things in the world that make me sick like lost data.

8. Livescribe Pen – This pen will literally blow your mind. Take notes record the meeting or lecture you are in you can playback what was said in the room at the exact moment your wrote an exact word. Perfect for staff meeting or a college class.

I hoped I help you find an angle of how you could use these new gadgets to better your life and to help you do ministry more efficiently. Happy tech hunting and Merry Christmas!

Sam Luce has been the children’s pastor at Redeemer Church in Utica NY for the past 13 years. He is passionate about empowering the local church to effectively communicate the gospel to kids and minister to families. When not working he loves spending time with his beautiful wife and three kids.

Leadership, Media, Training

November 16, 2010

Guest Blogger, Sammy Clary: Evaluating Your Ministry

By Courtney Baker

Hey it’s Courtney, and we have another top-notch guest blogger for you today, Sammy Clary. Sammy is the teaching pastor at Marathon Church in Easley, South Carolina, and if you were at CentriKid Camp this past summer at Georgetown you’ll recognize Sammy as your camp pastor.

Check out our interview with Sammy Clary, and his guest blog post on evalutating your ministry:

Kids Ministry Conference with Workshop Leader Sammy Clary from LifeWay Kids on Vimeo.

————————————–

Sammy Clary.jpg Evaluating Your Ministry

Back this Summer, I was spending a week in the Washington, D.C. area. One afternoon while at the hotel, I noticed that the Washington Redskins were having training camp close by. Training camp was open to the public. So that afternoon I had some free time and I decided to drop by and check out what they were doing. I was amazed at the size and speed of the players. There were coaches everywhere barking out play calls. Everything they did was fast paced and precise.

There was something though that caught my eye. All around the field were placed these orange scissor lifts and each one was manned by a camera and operator. Every single snap was filmed by 5-6 different cameras from all types of angles. As I thought about this I realized that this team placed a high value on evaluation. They literally spend millions of dollars and thousands of man hours evaluating their team and their opponents. They do this in order to maximize the effectiveness of their organization. They want to know if what they are doing is working. They want to know how they can improve each play, each player, and each position. There is never a moment when they sit back and feel like they have arrived and that everything is all together.

I really feel that we as a church could learn a lot from what I witnessed at the field that day. They feel it’s important enough to spend untold resources on evaluation because they understand the value of knowing what works and what doesn’t. So the question for us is, when was the last time we sat and evaluated the ministries in our church. If we want the church to be most effective then we have to begin to understand the value of knowing what works and what doesn’t. We all have been called to be stewards of what God has entrusted us with and the only way we will maximize what God has trusted us with is by evaluating to be sure we are best utilizing the resources, time, and ministry we’ve been given.

Sammy Clary is the Teaching Pastor at Marathon Church in Easley, South Carolina.

—————————————–

Check back next Tuesday when Sammy will be back with us to talk about "How to Evalutate Your Ministry."

Fun, Media, Preteen, Sunday School

November 3, 2010

And the Winner Is …

By Jeff Land

Well, it’s time to reveal the winner of the LifeWay|Preteens contest. I loved reading all of your entries and seeing what you thought about those preteens in your life. It really is exciting to be able to minister to preteens. I tell people all the time that they are at a great age—old enough to grasp big concepts, but still young enough to be moldable—it’s the best.

Anyway, I used my phone (and you thought I didn’t know that cameras had phones didn’t you?) to video myself drawing the winner of the contest’s name. I know that you are just dying to find out the winner, so why don’t you click the link below.

The winner is Lori Jones from Arizona. I bet it is warmer where she is than it is here in Nashville today. Anyway, just make sure that you keep reading the blog. I’m competing with Courtney to "give away the farm." (Happy Cliche Day!) Be sure to read my post on Friday for another contest!

Fun, Media, Resources

October 20, 2010

The Preteen Connection

By Jeff Land

I am so honored to be able to lead a fantastic team of editors, graphic designers, and writers who have hearts for ministering to preteens. I wanted to take some time to introduce you to the incredibly talented group of people I get to work with.

Cheryl Lewis is our veteran team member, being the team member who has served at LifeWay the longest. She is passionate about preteens and teaches them weekly at her church.
Alyssa Reeves is our newest team member and has been on the team for a little over a year. She is fast, efficient, and almost always right. She also conducts all of our artist interviews for Bible Express.
Jessica Burnett is graphic designer for BTX: Bible Teaching Experience for Preteens. She has an incredible sense of style. I’m always amazed to see what she designs. She can take a simple concept and turn it into beautiful art.
Andy Scates is graphic designer for Bible Express. He’s got a clean design aesthetic, but also has a great eye for color. I love seeing the page spreads he designs for the magazine. He’s really good at taking a couple of suggestions and turning them into phenomenal graphics.

Our entire team is joining forces to create an amazing new curriculum that will be released in Fall 2011. The new line will replace Everything You Need to Know to Be a Teenager and will have two years worth of exciting curriculum. You’ll definitely be hearing more about that from me.

A couple of weeks ago, our team (minus Cheryl, who was unfortunately out of the office for surgery) got together to make a video about what it’s like being on the preteen team. I hope you enjoy a comical look into what we do!

Preteen Welcome Video from Jeff Land on Vimeo.

As you can see, we get to have a lot of fun together as a team. In all honesty, we really do try to keep up with what is making preteens tick. We browse Web sites, watch television shows aimed at preteens, and read magazines created for preteens. Our desire is that preteens would have a firm foundation in Christ as a result of being involved in a vibrant ministry to preteens. We’re hopeful that our resources make teaching preteens even more fun!

Now for a little giveaway, leave a comment with 3 words describing preteens and you will be entered to win a Bible Express Prize Pack including a Bible Express t-shirt, CD, and several copies of Bible Express devotional magazine. ~~All entries must be received before midnight on Friday, October 22, so be sure to enter soon.~~

THIS POST HAS BEEN HI-JACKED BY BECKY IN ORDER TO EXTEND THE BIBLE EXPRESS PRIZE PACKAGE GIVEAWAY!!! Our comments have not been working correctly, so we are extending this giveaway! All entries must be received before midnight on Halloween night (Sunday, October 31st) to be eligible to win!!! A winner will be chosen at random from the comments on this blog post.

Media, Training

October 18, 2010

Guest Blogger: Tony Kummer, How Much Church is Too Much?

By Courtney Baker

Hey there, Courtney here, and I’ve got an exciting post for you today. Not only do we have an incredible guest blogger, Tony Kummer, joining us today, but we also have a short interview with him as well!

I had the privilege of meeting Tony last week at the Kids Ministry Conference, and if you haven’t checked out his blog, well, where have you been? No, seriously, Ministry-To-Children is a great resource for Kids Ministers, and you at least need to go check out his humorous video from last week’s conference featuring our own blogger Bill Emeott. Let’s just say it involves a fog machine and a fire alarm.

Check out my interview with Tony and the social media tips he gives Kids Ministers, and his guest blog post on overchurched kids:

Using Social Media in Ministry with Tony Kummer from LifeWay Kids on Vimeo.

——————————-

How Much Church is Too Much for Kids?

That’s probably a new question for you. In children’s ministry, we’re usually more concerned with getting kids to come to church. “Un-churched” for families who have no religious background. They have an obvious need to discover the love of God through a believing community of Jesus-followers. Their lack of knowledge is a barrier to them knowing Christ.

But have you ever thought too much knowledge can become a barrier too?

Think about the most faithful families in your church. Many times, their kids attend Christian schools and benefit from family devotions in the home. These are the kind of children know the Bible stories better than some of their Sunday School teachers. They can recite the Books of the Bible and quote hundreds of verses from memory.

Here’s the problem. This religious knowledge can give those kids a sense of superiority. They start to think God is impressed with their accomplishments or that He might even own them certain blessings because they have been faithful.

Does that sound familiar?

It should, because it’s the same attitude that kept the Pharisees from following Jesus. At a certain point their exposure to religion actually worked against their faith in Christ. They were too convinced of their own righteousness to accept a Savior who demanded repentance. They would never tolerate a message that was grace alone without respect to their achievements. Being “over-churched” in this sense is just as dangerous as being “un-churched.”

Is less church the answer?

We all know that two wrongs don’t things right. So, less involvement with the people of God is certainly not the answer. What these children need is more Gospel. They need to see their own sin on the cross. They need to come face-to-face with Jesus and discover what the goods news is really all about. They need your prayers. Most of all they need God to work the miracle of new birth in their life.

If this topic has your attention, you can read more about overchurched children on my blog. I’d love to hear about your experience in reaching these kids for Christ.

Tony Kummer is a Kids Pastor from Indiana. He’s the founder of Ministry-To-Children, a free online resource for anyone serving in children’s ministry.

FLYTE … Just What Is It? (Free iBook for all!)

Burning Question: Electronic Bibles?

All I Want for Christmas is my … Cell Phone

iShine: The Rubyz, Paige Armstrong, and Mission 6 (Big Giveaway!)

Guest Blogger, Sam Luce: 8 Tech Tools that should be on Every Kids’ Pastor wish list!

Guest Blogger, Sammy Clary: Evaluating Your Ministry

And the Winner Is …

The Preteen Connection

Guest Blogger: Tony Kummer, How Much Church is Too Much?

All Ministry Sites

Digital Resources

LifeWay Network