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Articles in this Newsletter New Puppets with Spanish Slogan
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 Driving back roads this Spring to put on Parenting Conferences in North Carolina took me through rich farmland. It was too early to plant, but already the fields were plowed awaiting warmer weather. I remember the sweet smell of plowed fields that filled the air as I drove through Lancaster, PA. I thank God for farmers, because I love to eat all kinds of produce. As I looked at those fields and thought about how much work it must be to produce a harvest, I realized children's leaders are farmers. Look at the comparison with me. 1. Farmers observe the seasons. It would be a waste of time and energy for a farmer to dig through the snow to plant beans. Beans just don't grow in the snow. Peas need the warm sunshine for growth. Children don't learn or mature spiritually on our time table. We must learn to reach them at their level where they are spiritually. There will be seasons for you to win their confidence; seasons to break down barriers through fun events and getting to know the child, there will also be tender teachable moments. Teaching is not following a curriculum step by step. Teaching is building a bridge of understanding from where there are to spiritual truths they can apply in their life. Recognize the seasons. Do you have students ripe to accept Christ? Do you have children going through turmoil that leaves them tender to accept the love of Christ? Be careful that you teach more than a lesson, that you teach students. Answer their questions even if it is off the lesson subject. Teach where they are, not where you want them to be spiritually. Be sure the subject is relevant to them and meets a perceived need. Create a greenhouse environment where the child feels loved, significant and accepted. 2. Plow the soil. Plowing prepares the ground for the seed. Plowing loosens the soil so the tender roots can penetrate the ground to retrieve the water and nutrients it needs to grow healthy and strong. As children's leaders we need to prepare hearts to receive the seed, but how? I have given this considerable thought because I have observed in the last few years a new hardness in children's hearts. This hardness prevents the seed from germinating and taking root in their lives. I believe the spiritual plowing that must take place is prayer. Hosea 10:12 Sow to yourselves in righteousness, reap in mercy; break up your fallow ground: for it is time to seek the LORD, till he come and rain righteousness upon you. Psalm
126:5 They who
sow in tears shall reap in joy and singing. Prayer is an essential part of seeing children become Christ like. Prayer prepares you and the hearts of your students. Always make prayer a part of your lesson preparation. Pray that God will lead you. Ask God to prepare the hearts of your students to receive the Word of God. Ask Him to guide your words. Invite Him to be your guest. Children need to experience the presence of God. Pray in your class before you start the lesson. Be careful that the prayer is more than a mindless gesture, but it is a sincere declaration of your dependence on God. 3. Understand the power in a seed. God's Word is powerful. It has not lost its power to change lives. Isaiah 55:10, 11 For as the rain comes down, and the snow from heaven, And do not return there, but water the earth, and make it bring forth and bud, that it may give seed to the sower and bread to the eater. So shall my word be that goes forth from My mouth; it shall not return to Me void, but it shall accomplish what I please, and it shall prosper in the thing for which I sent it. Nothing looks deader than a shriveled seed. But looks are deceiving. Locked inside that seed is life. The Bible looks like an ordinary book, black ink, letters forming words that fill the pages. But locked in the sentences are truths that unlock all heaven's resources. It is a map to heaven. It is God's plan of success for people, families, businesses and nations. A farmer can have truck loads of seed, but he will never have a harvest unless he plants the seed. What are you planting in hearts of children? What kind of fruit do you see them bearing? That is a good indication of what is being planted in their lives. It isn't enough that a farmer have vast acreage as his disposal. He must plant the seed. It's not enough for you to have a class full of students, you must plant the Word of God in children's hearts. That doesn't mean stand up in your class and read verse after verse to your children. It is far more effective to take one key principle and communicate the message of that principle than to read numerous verses. Always teach for understanding. Brain research has proven the brain dumps most of what it does not understand. Tell Bible stories dramatically. Use puppets to illustrate memory verses. The harvest begins by planting a seed. Observe Paul's stern warning to the young preacher Timothy in 2 Timothy 4:1 "I charge you therefore before God and the Lord Jesus Christ, who will judge the living and the dead at His appearing and His kingdom." We are going to give an account before God for what we did in the classrooms with the opportunity God gave us to impact their lives. Your not just working for a superintendent or pastor, you are God's representative in that class. You may get away with laziness with your pastor, but you won't escape giving an honest report to God. He instructs in verse 2 "Preach the word! Be ready in season and out of season. Convince, rebuke, exhort, with all longsuffering and teaching." 4. Watches over the seed. The farmer still has back breaking labor before he can enjoy the harvest. He must see that the plants have the proper fertilizer and water. Often that means providing irrigation or hand watering if the rains do not come. He must remove the weeds that would rob the plants of water and nutrients. Again, responsibilities of a children's leader. Once you have taught a principle, look for ways to reinforce that principle. If you've taught on kindness, look for examples of kindness on display in your class. Comment when you see them put a principle in practice. In the weeks following that teaching ,ask the children to share examples where someone was kind to them. Is there a way that as a group you can put the principle into practice? Look for attitudes and habits that will hinder them from putting the principle into practice--selfishness, always wanting to be first etc. 5. Reap the harvest. A few years ago I spoke at a conference held at a private university. All over the campus were orange and grapefruit trees loaded with fruit. All around the tree was rotting fruit. No one seemed interested in the bounty of the harvest. As you pray for the children and precious truths in children's hearts you will impact them deeply. Children need to respond to that touch of God on their lives through prayer. Always give children an opportunity to respond to God in your services. Children need to know Jesus as their friend, not just know about Him. Have a time in your class where children can really talk to God from their heart. The next time you drive down a country road and see a lush garden, remember that is what God has called you to do-produce fruit for the kingdom. Ministering the Salvation Message If you are doing outreach this summer it is always a good idea to have lots of resources to help you effectively communicate the Salvation Message. Below you will find a list of resources with a salvation message for Summer outreach. Color Changing Story Bags The bag is shown with the color as a visual for your story. The bag is turned inside out for the next, then inside out for the next color continuing until you finish the story. It is a wonderful visual effect and fun to use.
Well, howdy there. I'm Bubba. Welcome to our show sponsored by Bubba's Bar B Q. We want to thank Bubba's Bar B Q for the new choir robes even though the choir director don't really like the red pig or the Bubba's Bar B Q printed on the back. Grab yourself a cup of coffee and sit a spell with Bubba, while we cook some good stuff. (looks off stage) Do I have to wear this monkey suit? I feel plum stupid. Dey said if I wanna have a cookin show I gotta look like a cook. All the cooks down at the Bar B Q wear overalls and an apron. But ya gotta do what ya gotta do. Anyhow, most of the time I like to cook Southern. Ya know good ole' tomaters and corn bread and collard greens. But today I'm gonna cook Christian. Now I know there's not much difference 'tween good ole , Southern cookin' and Christian cause Southern food is just heavenly stuff. And beside that if ya eat Southern you'll get ta heaven a whole lot quicker than everybody else, cause all dat grease is bad fer ya. But anyhow taday I'm gonna talk about some vegetables every Christian has just gotta have. Like these squash. Now if I was cookin' Southern. I'd slice dem babies nice and thin and sprinkle 'em with corn meal and fry 'em til they 'uz nice and brown. But I'm not cookin' Southern, no sire, I'm cooking Christian vegetables. Did ya know ever believer needs ta squash sin. Ya know what I mean? Ya gotta squash all that bad stuff in ya life and a good place to start is with selfishness, meanness and disobeying ya parents. Don't laugh this is serious stuff, all you folks out there need ya Christian vegetables- like lettuce. Lettuce ain't just for rabbits and fancy folks, no sir-re. Lettuce if for Christian folks too. Ya need lettuce lots and lots of lettuce. Lettuce love da Lord our God with all our heart and all our soul and all our strength. Loving the Lord is not som'em you talk about, ya gotta do it. Lettuce love the Lord a whole lot! Then peas, ya gotta have peas (peace). what's a Christian without peas (peace)? Especially when times are rough. I'm probably not making a bit of sense, ya know what peas (peace) is don't ya? No, ya don't find it in the can on the shelf, ya find from knowing God. Ya find it in da Bible. The Bible says, "my peas (peace) I leave with you. God don't want ya ta be afraid, He wants ya to have His peas (peace) . And den der's beans. I can't forget the beans, now let me ask ya a question. Have you bean (been) in the word lately? Oh, ya take time every day to read ya Bible. Even if it's just a few verses. Don't ya ever let folks say dat ya don't know beans about da Bible. Oh, my don't forget de beets, ya do eat beets don't ya now? Haven't even seen a beet? Well, they are bright red and usually sliced and pickled. They are so tasty and just beautiful lying there on ya plate. But believers need their beets to live the life of a winner. Faith beets fear every time. Kindness beets indifference. Love beets hatred. Ya get the picture! This hat looks sa silly. Do I look like a clown? One of my fav-O-rite vegetables is turnips. Oh, baby! Now dat's go-od eatin'! Now turnips are good 'nough to make a pig squeal. I like da green tops cooked with the roots and den a big ole hunk of corn bread and a big ole glass of ice tea. Oh, ya talk 'bout good. But that's southern and I'm suppose to be talking Christian here. You need to turnip for church every time dey have it. With so many places to go and things to do, some folks miss church. Dat's why ya need turnips. Ya boys and girls need to turnip for church on Sunday morning. Yes, ya do! And turnip with ya offering and ya Bible. Yep, that's a mighty fine thing to do! Talkin' 'bout turnips, I think I'll see if I can fix me some turnips for supper. Bye! A Different Twist- Believer's Menu Maybe you don't want your Chef to be Southern, maybe you want him to be a bit sophisticated give him a French accent and try a little different version of the same skit. Good a morning, my sweet little vegetables. Oh, I love you all. Ze beautiful yellow squash and ze lovely little green peas. Oh, excuse me, I forgot I had guest. Welcome! Welcome! I have been gathering vegetables that every believer shoulda have every day. Oh, yes, ze vegetables are very important for anyone, but especially de believer. You laugh, you say what vegetable ya talking 'bout you silly chef. Vegetable for believer, silly talk. No, ya just listen to me for a minute and you'll agree. First, let ze chief recommend ze squash. Every believer needs to squash ze sin in ze life. Ya see what I mean? Zat be very important to squash ze selfishness, ze meanness and ze disobedience. Next ya need ze lettuce. Ya need lots and lots of ze lettuce. Lettuce love ze Lord our God with all our heart and all our soul and all our strength. Ya gotta have da lettuce. Oh ze peas, sweet little peas. Ya need ta have ze peas. The Bible says, "and the peas (peace) of God will rule and reign in your heart. No, no, not the peas in the can. Canned peas no good. Ya need ze peas (peace) that comes from ze Bible. Peas is knowing God will take care of ya no matter what is happening all around ya. Ya got to get ze peas (peace) of God. And ze fat purple turnip. Couldn't find ze turnip, ah? Well, they're finicky little fellows. They only grow at certain times of ze year and certain places, so you can't always count on finding ze little fellows. Kinda like ze boys and ze girls on Sunday morning. With so many places to go and things to do, ze boys and ze girls need to turnip for church on ze Sunday morning. Yes, ya do! And turnip with ya offering and ya Bible. Yes, now that's a mighty fine thing to do! Oh, and ze beans. I can't forget ze beans, cause I must ask ya dear child have you bean (been) in the word lately? Oh, that is so very, very important that ya take time every day to read ya Bible. Even if it's just da few verses. Now my dear children, don't every let it be said, dat ya don't know beans about da Bible. Beets, ya do eat beets don't ya now? Haven't even seen a beet? Well, they are bright red and usually sliced and pickled. They are so tasty and just beautiful lying there on ya plate. But believers need their beets to live the life of a winner. Faith beets fear every time. Kindness beets indifference. Love beets hatred. Ya get the picture! Speaking of ze beets, I must go beet the eggs for ze souffle.
In our "Flower Power" we used plants to illustrate attributes that children need to grow in their lives. These 13 puppets skits use Rosie & Posie, two flower puppets to help your class grow Godly attitudes and strong character. Subjects include: Growing Faith, What You Plant Grows, God Made it All, Love, God's With Us. You can order the skits pre-recorded on CD or cassette so your puppeteers don't have to develop the voices for the flower puppets. You puppeteers can concentrate on good lip sync and strong dramatic personality instead of reading the lines. This is especially helpful for families or children's puppet teams. Click here to see a sample skit from Flower Power. You can order the two adorable flower puppets, the skit book and the CD. In addition to the 13 skits you'll find so many ways to use these flower puppets. They will be a real addition to your puppet ministry. They are colorful, really different and just fun! Only $55.00 when you order the Flower Power Skit book, CD and 2 flower puppets.
These are the songs America loves to sing! This collection of popular patriotic songs will enable your children to learn about our American Heritage. This CD also features split-track arrangements. This album includes:
Music
This album includes ten great tunes, each with new clever lyrics written by America's top parody writer, Mark Bradford. Songs included are:
Did you miss the last one?
Vol 5 Compact Disks For $14.99
Each He Loves You (She Loves Me) Hispanic Kids
I hate them! In spite of their bright yellow flowers, I hate them. My granddaughter loves to blow the seed heads and watch them scatter everywhere, but I still hate them. Yes, I'm referring to dandelions. I've spent hours pulling the weeds, but still they cover the lawn where lush grass should grow. But after years of pulling and poisoning, I've learned a few secrets. First, don't let the weeds go to seed. Stop them before they can spread. I have learned that if I want to love people the way God wants me to love, I can never, never let wrong thoughts or attitudes go to seed. Those seeds will come up in abundance and spread to others. One of believers core values should be to love people. It can be challenging sometimes. Guard your attitude when you see a fault in someone, instead of gloating or being critical purpose in your heart not to let it go to seed. Immediately rip that weed out by the roots any prayer. Confess any self-righteous attitude or critical spirit. Then pray for the person that is giving you a hard time. Secondly, feed what you want to grow. Feeding your lawn with a good fertilizer and watering your lawn can make a dramatic difference quickly. A healthy lawn prevents the growth of weeds. If you want to develop Christian attributes in your life, then you must feed your spirit man the right kind of stuff. Daily prayer and Bible study isn't just kid stuff. It is necessary for even seasoned saints.
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April Newsletter
Growing is an important part of life. Kids out grow their coats, plants
out grow their pots, but what about spiritual maturity? Is it automatic? I
wish it were! That would sure make our jobs as parents and Christian
Educators easier. We want to help you grow spiritual mature children using
tools children will enjoy with examples that are easy to understand, fun
and yet provoke thought. Jesus understood this principal and it was one of
the things that made him a powerful communicator. 
America's
Favorite Patriotic Songs for Kids 
Righteous
Pop Music 
If
you minister to Spanish speaking children or if you are going on a
missions trip you'll want to order these puppets. You'll want to order several to leave with the missionaries so your
ministry continues long after you are gone.
