62 thoughts on “Our Daily Thread 4-16-16”

  1. Morning all.
    Welcome to the weekend.
    Don’t’ forget to relax, especially Peter.
    Just got back from Talent night. There truly was a lot of talent on display. and there were a dozen of my 19 students there so I got my daily ration of hugs.

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  4. Good morning!
    I checked the weather forecast and no rain is expected so I watered in the ajuga I planted yesterday. I did not do it then since it looked as if it might rain, but it didn’t.

    Housework and writing is on my agenda for today. I need to check and see how my friend is doing who was in the hospital. I am trying not to think about the conference I am missing.

    Are any of your churches planning to have Vacation Bible School this year, and if so, what program will you use?

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  6. Yes, Janice, we are having the traditional 5-day, 9:00 – noon VBS the week of July 18. It was reported that it will be the “Camp” theme, which I’m assuming is a packaged curriculum from somewhere (probably Concordia Publishing).

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  8. Good Morning….waking up inside a snow globe once again….it is so wet and heavy it will be like shoveling cement….a branch and back breaker it is! I’m going to be lazy today…yep…that’s what I’ll do 🙂 Enjoy your rain/green grass/mowing/and spring flowers for me 🙂

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  9. Okay. A wire mesh supported by wood stakes and wired closed Bird netting over it entirely. Tobasco liberally drenching the surrounding area. Chipotle pepper sprinkled throughout. And, at Janice’s suggestion, a kitty litter box next to the garden. And he still prefers the freshly planted shade garden. I know this because of the little footprints and the excavated plants. And other evidence. Stupid cat. Stupid person to feed and water and care for the stupid worthless cat. And then eight year old, after watching me repeat all my efforts: but he is a nice cat. And there it goes. What is my life really about? Serving Christ through serving these children, whom I love dearly. And yes, the cat is here to give them comfort and stability. The flowers will grow another time. I will keep trying. But the cat is not currently looking at death through my hand.

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  11. Janice’s QoD: Probably, since they have been doing so since the new pastor has come. They make use of whatever is the CEF program for the year. Can’t say I think the themes are helpful. The last one was silly enough to make me want to squirm in embarrassment the way I would as a child when I knew the teacher was talking down to us. Why do adults persist in thinking children need themes in order to keep interest? For my Sunday School lessons, I just make up booklets of the stories, using verses extracted from the account along with Bible illustrations collected from old Sunday School papers and internet searches. Little Niece always asks me to “wead anoder one” after I finish.

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  12. Phos, they all do that. Our SS lessons this quarter are based on adjectives more than the Bible. We are studying Acts through Ch. 12, but leave it with the release of Peter from prison.
    But the lessons are titled
    Entrusted, Empowered, Unified
    Resurrected (This is a gospel insert for Easter)
    Courageous, Integrity, Faithful, Selfless, Obedient, Converted, Bold, Accepting, Extraordinary.
    I don’t have any objections to catchy titles, but I don’t think we should build the sequence around them. You can’t learn the Bible that way.
    I would rather just teach the book of Acts.

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  13. Husband had an interesting encounter with a guy at school. The guy claimed to be a scientist, which opened the door to conversation. The guy has a different interpretation of what happened at the crucifixion. Apparently, Jesus was crucified but did not die so he was stolen from the tomb. From there he led a peaceful quiet life with his wife, Mary, and their children (read any Da Vinci Code lately?). And then the bad guys came and secretly killed him. Want to know who the bad guys were? The Catholics, because we all know the Romans, who crucified Christ, were Catholic. What? Husband tried to help.

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  15. Janice, our church is doing “Cave Quest – Following Jesus, the Light of the World”. I’m not sure who created it. VBS is a huge outreach to our community.

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  16. And that theory has floated around for so long … Oh well.

    Those who have eyes to see and ears to hear … Those who don’t, well, they don’t. But maybe they will someday. 🙂

    Good storage tips, Janice — I love the shoe hangers and have used those for years. But I’m intrigued by the basket storage hangers and clothes storage hangers … Hmmm.

    Of course, the better option always is a trip to the Salvation Army with give-aways we’re not using. Which actually is on my to-do list for later today. I probably shouldn’t have slept so late!

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  17. I love the shoe hangers, too, Donna, and use several, but never had considered the alternative uses for them.

    I may have seen an ad for the Cave VBS at my husband’s church.

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  18. It is impossible that a Roman centurion would allow a crucified person the be taken down alive.
    That is more far-fetched than the Muslim teaching that Jesus was never crucified. That God took him to heaven and someone else (Judas??) was crucified in his place.
    Muslims believe Jesus never died.

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  19. Gorgeous weather up here, though I did water my garden because it’s supposed to hit 80 this afternoon.

    Tiny little peas unfurling (late to plant, I know), beets (husband cringed), thin blades of potential carrots and the like. Tomatoes are still snug in their bubble wrap. I may plant some lettuce in among the flowers in the “real” bed.

    I’ve got a writing day, too. Have done nothing on the biography but research since Monday; I’m embarrassed at how distracted I’ve been.

    So, not able to settle down and concentrate, I’ve written nine blog posts instead (to fill the website while I travel), have another one planned for later today (after I zoom through another old kids’ book–this post is for Novel Pastimes website where I write the fourth Monday of the month, usually about kids historical novels). I’ve got an idea for Mother’s day, too, which could/should go up the Tuesday after my return and will give me just a little more breathing room.

    God is good.

    VBS, yes, our church’s program is always popular in the community. They work really, really hard to find a curriculum that simply tells the Gospel and which recognizes Jesus as Lord. You’d be surprised how difficult that is, the curriculums are so watered down.

    One of our pastors often writes music to go with the program, records it and the kids are given a CD to listen to when their parents register them. It’s very popular and we often use the kids choir as background singers to the pastor. Lots of fun, but takes about 100 volunteers to plan, staff and run for the week after Father’s day. I’ll be in the early nursery, as usual, entertaining the teacher children while they have their pre-school devotional.

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  20. And that Jesus is coming back again, to tell us Mohammed was right. Why isn’t Mohammed coming back? Because he died. It does make you wonder what they are teaching in schools these days.

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  21. VBS, I am forever grateful for the men and women who put that on when I was fourteen and taught me about the love of Christ. I had never encountered such a thing before. The people did not seem that different from the folk I knew, but the message was different. And there were people praying for me for years before that. And God delivered.

    I don’t care for the money making business of VBS but it is an outreach and the business side organizes the people so they can feel like they can step up and contribute their time. That is good. When I did Sunday School, I certainly did not stick to the curriculum. But it was a help to organize the thoughts. After the children attend VBS, it is important to have follow up. Those children will need discipling. God can do it, of course, but He loves to use His people for His work.

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  23. No, the people who develop the curriculum. But that is as it should be. They are working and are worthy of their pay. They are trying to develop a curriculum that will capture the attention of the unsaved children, they are part of the ministry. It just appears gimmicky.

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  25. I don’t know, Mumsee. First of all, a child of Christian parents may also be an unsaved child. Secondly, by making a theme, say “Camping” while trying to teach Bible stories, they run the risk of confusing the child as to what the point of the lessons are. Are they to teach about going camping with Bible stories as campfire entertainment, or is the Bible the primary focus? Thirdly, the themes may lead to unintentional theological error. The CEF theme last year which made me want to squirm was about some imaginary inventor’s workshop, and one of the lessons tied the idea of this imaginary inventor into God as creator. The potential for theological error was enormous.

    Why do we feel that the stories of the Bible are dull and uninteresting to those outside? If we do feel that the story of Creation, for example, isn’t very interesting, maybe it is because we haven’t bothered to marvel those first seven days out for ourselves. If the Patriarchs appear boring, maybe we haven’t paused to hear the sounds of the baaing of the sheep and the grunt of the camels, to see the goat hair tents in the hot sun, to feel the sand and grass underfoot, to smell the smoke of the cooking fires. Perhaps we don’t take time to imagine what it would be like to be a quiet shepherd boy suddenly thrust into government politics or to be a pagan woman drawn to the religion of the strange tribe who threatens to destroy her country. Maybe we’ve gotten into the habit of viewing the Bible as less real than the novels we read or the films we watch for entertainment. Maybe it isn’t the Bible which needs a new thematic treatment, but we who need new eyes to see the Bible.

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  26. Phos, your description of listening to the sounds and smelling the smells reminds me of our children’s Christmas presentation. It was from the viewpoint of someone looking for Jesus, experiencing all those things along the way, with a very strong salvation message intertwined. It could have just been a ‘nice’ Christmas story, but it became very powerful.

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  28. Kare, thank you, although, my last maybe about needing new eyes to see the Bible was as much directed towards myself as anyone else. I do not always view it with the sense of reality that I would like to. As I said about my lessons, I don’t really add any new words or descriptions to Bible stories when I tell them. What I do try to do is have that sense of the reality of the narrative as I read the words already written. It is a technique that I have developed as I read classic books aloud to my parents. I find that if I can get into the mindset of the characters of the book and envision the scene which is set, that my voice can convey more detail as I read the printed words. If I can keep the mindset, I can even assume the accents (provided I have heard that kind of accent before) of the characters, although I’m not one of those people who can put on an accent at will. It is as if I’m an actor, acting out the book with just my voice. I know I don’t always get my point across, but it is a delight when Little Niece displays some understanding of the story. I made up one little book about the creation of Adam and Eve, and the second time I read the story (the next week), when we came to the picture of Adam sleeping, she pointed to it and said, “He’s gonna take a wib out.” It is those moments when you know they are listening and learning.

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  29. I agree. I follow the Bible curriculum we have in that those are the scripture stories I use. But I never use the guide. I use only the scriptures and try to go deeper. Giving t more drama this year. Having the kids move with the story, if it is part of the story, or moving myself. These children know so much.
    My pet peeve is being told, “I have the video!”

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  31. Jo, I used to teach three very energetic little boys in Sunday School, and I too tried to make it more dramatic and interactive. I collected square nails, and made a Roman lash for them to look at when I talked about the crucifixion. I made a diorama of the lake and fishing boats and fire when I told the story of Jesus appearing to the disciples after the resurrection. When I covered Paul’s missionary journey, I laid a one of those Bible maps of the places he traveled and moved a small boat from city to city. When we talked about the siege of Jerusalem, I made a little model of Jerusalem, with the enemy tents surrounding it. For the story of Daniel being thrown to the lions, I made a four sided shadow box that depicted each part of the story, turning it as I told it. I got them to act out one story, providing them with props. I was never sure what they thought about it all. Boys of that age seem to make it a rule not to show interest; but the two most energetic and most disruptive both wrote me thank you notes of their own volition when I stopped teaching them.

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  32. As usual, Roscuro says it better than I could. I have always wondered why churches which are otherwise sound doctrinally, resort to prepackaged VBS materials that leave a lot to desire. Why not teach them the Bible as is? And some use the VBS to reach the parents. Why not reach out to the parents directly?

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  34. you know the thing I hate about vbs, besides what you have mentioned, is that they make up their own music. I know, I know, but why not teach the kids the old hymns and choruses so that when they are in church they will know the music and feel like they belong.
    Not some songs that they will never hear again after that one week.

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  35. Jo, I agree about the music. Now they even resort to canned music, on a CD for the kids to sing along to. I’d rather teach a few songs that they will remember, than a new one for each day.

    Alas, about sending the props, most of them are now deconstructed. Aside from my sewing, I’m actually not very craft-y either; but necessity is the mother of invention. I just used ordinary household items, for example, for the Roman lash, I did some research about what such an instrument of torture would look like, then I found a straight short stick, some old toy harness that I could used to make ‘leather’ strips, and, because the lashes had little metal balls and pieces of bone at the ends of the leather strips, I used the metal balls from a magnetic construction toy and fragments of bone from a chicken leg and attached them to the ends of the strips, tied the strips onto one end of the stick, and had my lash. It wasn’t fully authentic and probably wouldn’t work right, but it gave a good impression.

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  37. The Ice Diaries is on sale for .99 for Kindle on Amazon. It would appeal to the guys and some ladies who like stories about submarines in the Arctic during the Cold War. I believe it is a true story.

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  38. I think the canned VBS is trying to peg learning onto what is already known by unchurched children who know nothing about Jesus. Children brought up in faithful families from the start are not handicapped by worldly knowledge so much. The children I have been around in my vicinity have really enjoyed the canned versions that are tweaked by each church. A number of years ago we had a child who did VBS at a really large neighborhood church and then did the same theme at our much smaller church (my husband’s church). The girl said she liked ours better. I always tried to go the extra mile on the crafts and the children loved it. It seemed that we had some children who were like “VBS junkies” in that they went to all of the VBS programs they could find nearby. It was free childcare for the parents.

    Chas, some VBS programs charge for T-shirts that are themed to go with the program.

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  48. Good Sunday to ya’ll….we lost phone and internet until this afternoon….now back to the real world….a couple of feet of snow later 🙂 The plow hasn’t been through our neck of the forest yet….Paul’s going to try to take Hannah out of here in the truck so she can get to work….I’m sure the main arterial roads are clear..it’s just getting to them 🙂 On the up side….it is sooo beautiful here!

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  49. I think I’ve mentioned before that Emily is friends with a lady named Stacey, & her husband Chris, & Forrest is friends with their two sons, Albie & Indy. (They also have two little daughters.) The second son adores Emily, as does the two-year old girl.

    When Emily mentioned to Forrest that she was going on a date, he was kind of indignant.

    Forrest: “You’re going on a date?!! Who is this guy? How did you meet him? What’s his name?”

    Emily: “His name is Chris.”

    Forrest: “You’re going on a date with Albie & Indie’s dad??!!!!”

    🙂

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  50. NancyJill – One of my FB friends shared a photo of the snow on her porch, & called it the “obligatory photo of spring in Colorado.” 🙂

    Her married name is the same as your married name, & she moved from Ohio, although I think she is originally from Indiana.

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  55. Jo: sorry you’re not feeling well. Prayers offered.

    Becca and I just returned from her baptism class. They asked for volunteers to pray at the end. Becca’s hand shot up and the leader called her forward along with a boy. Becca prayed first and my heart swelled with gratitude that she’s responding to Jesus’ call on her heart. Her prayer was heartfelt and she spoke with such poise–I was more than a little surprised. There were about 75 people there, and she didn’t seem nervous at all. She will be baptized May 21. God is good.

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  58. We just got back from “Bat Appreciation Day” in Hannibal. It involved hiking the hills to an old limestone mine that is a bat habitat, with the largest population of Indiana bats in the world: over 168,000 at last estimate. That bat is endangered, and it was thought there were only 13,000 in Missouri until someone discovered the colony in this old mine. I helped with a bat count there last summer, and now the area is a nature park. A friend is on the park board and took us on a long route through old ATV trails. It was a rugged hike, unlike the new paved trail that they are building. It was an enjoyable evening. Glad it was warm- around 80°.

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