Let's Split

Look how far she's come with her splits!  If only there were a time lapse of all the practices and all the stretching over all the years, you'd see how flexible she's become over time.  It's pretty impressive, so much that Daddy's jaw dropped here.  Imagine in a year or so.  Sure there are other kids that can do that much further, but Madison was at a starting point only a few years ago where she couldn't really go too far at all.  Now look at her!

Tonight we had taekwondo again, and Daddy hasn't brought the camera in too often here lately, but thought it was time.  You can see Madison is working on her form, which she feels rather confident about.  And you can see she's getting into the swing of things with her combat stick below.

The dads are in the back there, in the window, including Daddy who is all the way to the left with the camera.  We're all at this little counter there, all still looking at various baseball cards from Daddy's collection.  Daddy had the camera with him though, and was occasionally snapping shots of the kids at practice, and of course of Madison.

Here she is getting a little instruction from Mr. Edge, who was wanting Madison to do a side kick, and not necessarily a high kick.  Madison couldn't help but kick high though, which was funny, because you'd think it would be easier to just do a side kick.

She had fun tonight, but then again, she usually has a lot of fun out there on the mat.  Afterwards, it was hitting the computer and books for a lot of studying.  Tonight she had to finish up a social studies project she's been working on, one about religions in China.  The other thing she had to do was study for a unit test tomorrow in math.  She's done well on the two previous quizzes, and on top of that there is an early-morning study session she's going to tomorrow morning as well.  Regardless, she spent a good while on this tonight when she got home, and that left little time for anything else.  Such is the life of a dedicated student!  She's got a small break tomorrow night, so she'll probably do a bath and watch a few episodes of her current favorite television show, "Kickin' It."  Thursday she has a field trip, so she won't have to study so hard on Wednesday night.

Tonight we continued our story, "Thrawn," and read from our devotional.  We were praying for our friends on a missions trip in Egypt, and praying for our nation too.  There's a lot to pray for lately.  After zerberts and kisses, it was time for a good night's rest.

The earlier part of the day was school, of course.  Daddy was teaching a class himself, spending two hours or so with the college kids at the church.  This was what he came up with for a pretty decent lesson plan for those wanting to be in the ministry.

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MATTHEW 4:18-22 NIRV

    One day Jesus was walking beside the Sea of Galilee. There he saw two brothers, Simon Peter and his brother Andrew. They were throwing a net in to the lake, because they were fishermen. ¹⁹ “Come and follow me,” Jesus said. “I will send you out to fish for people.” ²⁰ At once they left their nets and followed him.

     ²¹ Going on from there, he saw two other brothers. They were James, son of Zebedee, and his brother John. They were in a boat with their father Zebedee. As they were preparing their nets, Jesus called out to them. ²² Right away they left the boat and their father and followed Jesus.

1.   Lures.  There are different types of fish out there and different types of fishermen.  Some go trolling the deep ocean waves for certain kinds of fish while others visit the local streams to do some fly-fishing.  Some use nets.  Some use special kinds of stinky bait.  But all catch fish.  They use the lure… and they tie that to a hook.

2.  Look how many fishermen there were in the apostles. Jesus has four of them here in this passage, the first apostles.  And he tells them – and us – this famous line:  you will fish for people.  

3.  Well, they would know all about this, and now you do too: just like fish, there are all different types of people out there.  And all different types of lures.  This is one reason why I love the fact that there are all kinds of different churches out there.  We use a big old net here at this church, trolling the ocean waves for lots of fish. But there are a few churches less than a mile from here, and they’re small ones.  And you know something?  They’re catching some unique fish that this church cannot catch.  They’re using a different sort of lure.  This is the important part:  we’re all doing what Jesus said.  We’re all catching fish.   We’re just using different lures.  And what kind of lure you use… depends on what kind of fish you want to catch.  

Let me read you another passage that has given me great peace over the years.  You see, we bring up all kinds of stuff kids like to talk about down in our children’s ministry, from Star Wars to Frozen to Toy Story to Football.  None of this is in the Bible, I told myself, so how is it that I can talk about Darth Vader and Queen Elsa in church? Let me read you this passage from Acts 17:16-34 (below).

4.  I want you to see a few things here in this passage.  

a.  First Paul recognized who needed to hear the gospel in the first verse.

b.  Second, he studied these people before preaching to them. In this passage, we see him talk to them using their art – their sculptures (Acts 17:23) and their poetry (Acts 17:38).  And he used their arts to speak to them about the gospel.  I believe if he were alive today, he’d be using their movies too.

c.   Third, he spoke to them, using their own arts and poetry. That was to get their attention. That’s the lure.  Now for the hook:  he tied it all to the gospel.  He tied the lure to the hook.

d.  Fourth, the most important part of this is that there were people that were saved.  There was fruit. Some wanted to hear more (Acts 17:32), and others were convinced right there and then (Acts 17:34).  The lures he used worked. 

e.  That’s the part you hold on to at the end.  Jesus said you judge a tree by its fruit.  Was there fruit?  Were lives changed?  Did the message of the gospel get to people’s ears?  That’s what you judge your efforts by.

5.  Personal example:  My experience with the Catholic church growing up was pretty repetitive. As a young child, I paid no attention to service or what the guy up there was going on and on about.  But there was one service I remember to this day, and I was only eight years old then.  He mentioned “Luke, Leia, and Han Solo.”  I suddenly perked up.  He was speaking my language!  He was using my kind of lure!

6.  This is the strategy we use at our children’s ministry, and it’s a strategy that Paul used, so I know it should work for every ministry. You just have to learn the language of the people you are speaking to.

a.  Remember, you can’t use one type of lure, and expect to catch any kind of fish you want.  You just can’t go to a place like Greece, and speak English, and then expect them to understand the gospel.  Obviously, you need to speak Greek.

b.  In the same way, you can’t just go in and speak to a football prayer breakfast, and not be able to speak football.  Sure, the ones that already know the gospel will do their best to listen. But you’re looking to be fishers of men.  You need to use the right lures and catch newfish.  So you need that lure.   Just like Paul was going around and looking at the world of the Greeks, you need to study football, and see about learning their language.

c.   Just like a fisherman studies the kinds of fish he wants to catch, you’ll have to do some studying too.  Related to the group you are trying to reach:

·      Study what kinds of kids movies are coming out.  

·      Study what’s going on in current events.  

·      Study what people are finding funny.  

·      What holidays are coming up?  

·      Maybe a famous celebrity just did or said something?  

·      Is there a song the kids are listening to?  Is there a song that’s popular again that older folks remember well?  

·      It really depends on the audience you’re reaching, but you have to see what they’re seeing, hear what they’re hearing, and even watch what they’re watching.  That is, if you really want to know how to “catch” them.

d.  Yes, that means you need to study a little about football too. This time of year is easy – there’s a big game coming up, so start with that.  Do you even know who is playing in the Super Bowl?  Not that I’m super passionate about it or anything, but when I bring it up to a room full of football fanatics, sure, they’re already thinking about who they think will win, and all kinds of statistics.  

e.  Already, I’ve started with a good lure.  Now it’s time to find some gospel.  That’s the hook.

7.   So right now we’re going to do a fun little exercise, and it’s all about developing a new series, finding that lure – and then tying it to the hook.  We’ll divide you up into groups of two or three, and we have a list here of “languages” people speak.  And your quick assignment here is to try and figure out a “lure,” and hopefully tie it to the hook of the gospel as well:

a.  Future Farmers of America Luncheon

b.  Pastor wants you to develop services to lead up to Academy Awards Sunday

c.   A message for #millennials.

d.  There are new Hispanic services at the church, and you want to reach that part of the community with a new series.

e.  The Fourth of July is here

f.    There’s a kids camp this summer

g.  The seniors have invited you to speak

h.  The Youth Group is wanting to start the school year in a big way with a new series.

i.    You’re a guest speaker at a Camp Meeting in Lumpkin County

j.    You’ve been asked to do an outreach to a local urban community

k.   Future business leaders of America has asked you to do a weekly series at the school

l.    It’s a Family Campout for church members this weekend, and you’ve been asked to prepare a series for Friday, Saturday and Sunday.

Spend time with preparing ideas, and then having students share their lures and their hooks.

8.  One more side note:  we talked about football, or Star Wars, or Greeks, but there are some languages that are universal:  music and humor are two examples.  A good joke can suck just about anyone in.  And music is supremely powerful, even if it is in another language.

9.  Closing and prayer.

Acts 17:16-34 NIRV

¹⁶ Paul was Acts waiting for Silas and Timothy in Athens. He was very upset to see that the city was full of statues of gods. ¹⁷ So he went to the synagogue. There he talked both with Jews and with Greeks who worshiped God. Each day he spoke with anyone who happened to be in the market place. ¹⁸ A group of Epicurean and Stoic thinkers began to argue with him. Some of them asked, “What is this fellow chattering about?” Others said, “He seems to be telling us about gods we’ve never heard of.” They said this because Paul was preaching the good news about Jesus. He was telling them that Jesus had risen from the dead. ¹⁹ They took him to a meeting of the Areopagus. There they said to him, “What is this new teaching you’re giving us? ²⁰ You have some strange ideas we’ve never heard before. We would like to know what they mean.” ²¹ All the people of Athens spent their time talking about and listening to the latest ideas. People from other lands who lived there did the same.

²² Then Paul stood up in the meeting of the Areopagus. He said, “People of Athens! I see that you are very religious in every way. ²³ As I walked around, I looked carefully at the things you worship. I even found an altar with

to an unknown god

written on it. So you don’t know what you are worshiping. Now I am going to tell you about this ‘unknown god.’

²⁴ “He is the God who made the world. He also made everything in it. He is the Lord of heaven and earth. He doesn’t live in temples built by human hands. ²⁵ He is not served by human hands. He doesn’t need anything. Instead, he himself gives life and breath to all people. He also gives them everything else they have. ²⁶ From one man he made all the people of the world. Now they live all over the earth. He decided exactly when they should live. And he decided exactly where they should live. ²⁷ God did this so that people would seek him. And perhaps they would reach out for him and find him. They would find him even though he is not far from any of us. ²⁸ ‘In him we live and move and exist.’ As some of your own poets have also said, ‘We are his children.’

²⁹ “Yes, we are God’s children. So we shouldn’t think that God is made out of gold or silver or stone. He isn’t a statue planned and made by clever people. ³⁰ In the past, God didn’t judge people for what they didn’t know. But now he commands all people everywhere to turn away from their sins. ³¹ He has set a day when he will judge the world fairly. He has appointed a man to be its judge. God has proved this to everyone by raising that man from the dead.”

³² They heard Paul talk about the dead being raised. Some of them made fun of this idea. But others said, “We want to hear you speak about this again.” ³³ So Paul left the meeting of the Areopagus. ³⁴ Some of the people became followers of Paul and believed in Jesus. Dionysius was one of them. He was a member of the Areopagus. A woman named Damaris also became a believer. And so did some others.

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One thing today for staff were the Whoopie Pies.  Our friends from Maine sent two dozen of these sugar-infested monsters to us, all of these sent during the fast we were having.  So they've been quietly lurking in my refrigerator, and were brought to the office today for such a time as this!  We had ourselves a Whoopie Pie Party.  Daddy was unable to finish even one.  I cut it in half and shared it with someone else.  These things are neutron sugar bombs.  They're delicious, but so rich that I think the next time we have a party like this that we should have paramedics standing by.

Anyway, Madison had Live to Give after school today, and was happy to see a new teacher come in to take over.  Not that she disliked the previous teacher.  She just really likes the new teacher that is taking over the club.

She's studying blood in science, and the function of blood, which is ironic, given that Daddy lost a bit of it today:  I was showing my grandfather's lures to the audience, this collection that Mommy had put together.  Fortunately, it wasn't in front of the students, but wow:  I supremely gashed my finger!  Those hooks are still pretty sharp!  Anyway, the conversation about blood with Madison led to an amazing song by They Might Be Giants, or at least one that I like.

The Bloodmobile!  It's a delivery service inside us!  I think we watched this music video twice, and probably Daddy was more impressed than Madison was.  Still, it's a great video and instructive too.  

Each day we sort of review what was learned in each class:  two-point perspective in art, apertures in photography (although today was just about taking photos), area and volume in math, religions of India and China in social studies, and sentence structure in ELA.  That last one has been a bit of a challenge, but she's more on top of it now after a bit of studying.  

It was a good day today.  They're usually like that lately.  And now... I think we'll do as the title of this entry suggests:  let's split!