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spreading the WORD

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sharing God’s Word doesn’t have to be hard.  since beginning events with t-shirts i wanted to ensure a way for children to share in their sphere of influence the life-changing word of God.   (i believe the day will come soon where scripture and Christian t-shirts will be banned from many areas.  some may exists outside our region now.)

we keep it simple.  we print the event logo on the front and the theme scripture on the back of the shirt.  then after the event, we challenge all the kids to wear their shirts to school.  this year we asked parents to post pictures of kids in their shirts on our ministry facebook page.  wow, what a day.  i was giddy throughout the day as i saw picture after picture of kids boldly wearing their WORD shirt to school.

schoolshirtsthree of our dawson kids proudly wearing their WORD shirts to school.

one of our parents volunteers sums it up best in a post she shared on Facebook after seeing all the kids in their shirts.  we have much to learn from the children – the church of today!

“As a leader @ 24Hrs4Him, I can say it was an EXHAUSTING 24 hours, but totally worth it to share the love of Christ and His Word with the children! We laughed, played, studied, worshipped and prayed and the weekend was worth it for me when my daughter’s sweet lifelong friend made her public profession of faith. However, watching my FB newsfeed blow up with pics of all these kids wearing their shirts to school today, reminds me how big our GOD is. Those 24 hours are spilling into schools all over town today and affecting who knows how many more people. Danielle Bell was correct when she reminded us that these children are not the FUTURE church, they are TODAY’s church, and I am inspired by their joy and enthusiasm to tell everyone they know about Jesus! I hope it reminds all us “old fogies” to do the same! WORD!”
– Marty Dunn 2nd grade 24 Hours 4 Him leader & 3rd Grade dawson kids investor

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In guest blogs

kids experiencing God

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recently many of our dawson kids participated in the “experiencing God kids” Bible study.  i loved watching them process and begin to grasp the seven realities shared in this study.

  • reality 1 – God is always at work around me.
  • reality 2 – God wants a personal relationship with me.
  • reality 3 – God wants me to be a part of His work.
  • reality 4 – God speaks and shows me what He wants me to do.
  • reality 5 – i must have faith and take action to follow God and join in His work.
  • reality 6 – i must be willing to make changes in my life to follow God’s plan.
  • reality 7 – i know and experience God when i obey Him.

i also realize the short time we have exploring these truths within the church walls simply isn’t enough.  we must help children and families understand that each reality is to be a part of our everyday life.  so, i went to one of the most humble, godly men i know, claude king, who just also happens to be the co-author of experiencing God.  because i see Him not only talk about these truths but genuinely live them out daily, i ask him to share some thoughts for children and families about the importance of experiencing God each day. below is the video he shared:

[vimeo]http://vimeo.com/87676560[/vimeo]



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In kidmin

step back and see

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it is old news that us southerners experienced some eventful snow days recently.  wanting to fully experience these rare snowy moments, i rushed out the other evening to take pictures as the snow began to fall.

photo 1

i live right beside my church in the sweet “mayberryesque” town of homewood.  so as the much talked about snow (not ice, that’s what we usually get.) began to fall, i couldn’t wait to get outside and experience it.  there may have been snowmen and snowball fights, but my first priority was to take some pictures. i crossed the street to the church and quickly snapped a picture of the front of our sanctuary.  when looking at it later i thought, hey that’s not half bad.  i mean i don’t need to quit my day job, but i thought i captured the whole scene quite nicely. (even if it was taken with my phone.)

photo 2

 

then later that evening i saw a picture that my friend and coworker, andy cartee, had taken and shared on our church’s facebook page. same night, same building, and same snow, but i was blown away by how much more beautiful his picture was.  i kept saying to myself, “danielle, you should have stepped back to really see the whole picture.”  how did i miss those incredible snow-covered oaks? while my close up was just a glimpse of what surrounded me, andy captured the bigger, more beautiful picture. his is boldly framed with glorious oaks. (i sound like my mother as i go on and on about trees.)

i know these are simple snow pictures, but i keep thinking about how i all too often approach life, ministry, and God’s story like i did my photograph.  i zoom in and fixate on one or two issues. depending on what i perceive in my small frame, i can feel complacent, worried, prideful, scared, angry, or sad. when focused on my tiny view, i can miss an opportunity to see the greater picture.  i miss the oaks.

since that snowy night last week, these are the lessons i have been continually repeating to myself:

when the lens of life’s journey captures moments that don’t seem fair or make sense… step back.  what is unfocused to me, my great God sees clearly.

instead of allowing ministry challenges/successes to frame the way i serve… step back.  maybe it is time to broaden my view and remember God holds the landscape in His hands.

when things don’t go my way…step back.  i am constantly in need of the humble reminder that God is the main subject of the story, not me.

because i didn’t step back, my picture is void of the oaks. may that not be the case for my life.

“they will be called oaks of righteousness, a planting of the Lord for the display of His splendor.” isaiah 61:3

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In faith

living like we really believe

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Basic RGBrecently i attended an all sons & daughters / tim tommons concert in the area.  during one of the familiar worship songs, tim timmons stopped and challenged us.  he asked, “what if we really, whole heartedly believed the amazing words we were singing? how would our worship be different?”

what a simple, profound thought.  we often worship so flippantly, allowing words to casually fall from our lips before taking time to examine our heart.  my worship the rest of the evening was altered.  i could no longer just sing to be a voice.  with each song, i had to consider what i truly believed about each word i voiced.  more often than going through the motions of the song, i fell silent in prayer.

as we enter the Christmas season, i can’t help but think about applying this same principle.  we will have the opportunity to hear and teach scriptures we have studied countless of times.  carols and worship songs we sing are so familiar we could easily sing the last note without ever truly pondering the truth the tune holds.

so, i ask myself this Christmas: 

 what if i lived like i really believed the miraculous truths of Christmas?  

what if instead of “lip service”, i celebrated Christmas with “life service” grounded in deep belief?

what if, as i taught the lessons of Christmas to children, i could support them with examples of where i have allowed Him to be faithful to me?

my Christmas could be different if:

as i pondered the way our Savior and King entered the world, i could eagerly trust that His ways are not like mine.

i believed beyond the shadow of a doubt that “nothing is impossible with God.” (luke 1:37)

i not only taught children about how an angel told mary, joseph, and the shepherds  “not to be afraid” (luke 1:30, matthew 1:20, luke 2:10), but i lived a fearless life trusting God’s plan.

mary’s song caused me to examine if my soul truly “glorifies the Lord.” (luke 1:47)

like the shepherds, my reason to hurry was to spend time with Jesus. (luke 2:16)

i, like the wisemen, may have some valuable gifts for Jesus this Christmas.  i could lay down some idols and my “precious” time. i could tightly wrap up control and trust it to the One who holds me in the palm of His hand.  and, i could consistently lay my future at my Savior’s feet.

one day at a time this Christmas season, may i live more and more like i believe!

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In faith

Jesus in john…

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john330a week ago today i had the honor of sharing in the closing general session of group’s 2013 kidmin conference.  our theme for the day was “celebrate Jesus” and i was about to burst with excitement to share what i know God placed on my heart.  we looked at john the baptist in the first chapter of john.  wow, did he ever get celebrating Jesus.  john the baptist truly knew who he wasn’t (“i am not the Messiah.” verse 20), knew it wasn’t about him (“i am the ‘voice’ calling in the wilderness, make straight the way of the Lord.” verse 23) and he knew the true worth of the One he was privilege to serve. (“the straps of whose sandal i am not worthy to unite.” verse 27)

through looking closely at john the baptist’s example, God showed me how we can so easily make ministry about us when we are simply the lamp stand for the Light of the world – Jesus.  i was convicted about how the praise of man and innocent encouragement can quickly lead me to try to steal some of His glory!  i have great strides to make in making it all about Him. “He must increase, i must decrease.” john 3:30.

as i continued to study the book of john, i looked for who Jesus was in each chapter. so i set out to memorize a truth of Jesus (and literally just a tiny glimpse of all He is) for each of the 21 chapters.  how could i talk about celebrating Jesus without actually doing so? i know i haven’t begun to grasp it all, but boy how i needed those truths.  see it turns out that i had some unexpected, additional responsibilities placed on me at the conference. i would be lying to say at moments i didn’t have the tendency to be overwhelmed.  what a great gift from Jesus to be able to get away, alone with Him, and recite each of these 21 truths.  see, i thought they were only for my talk on monday morning, but the Jesus in each verse seems to be who sustained me throughout the entire weekend.  here is what i kept saying over and over to myself and also how i ended my talk on celebrating Jesus.

piccrossglow

– in chapter one Jesus is the Word becoming flesh and dwelling among us. 
– in chapter two He is the mighty man of miracles.
– in chapter three Jesus is Savior and the only way to be born again.  
– in chapter four Jesus is the Living Water.
– in chapter five He is Healer and equal to God.
– in chapter six Jesus is the Bread of Life.  
– in chapter seven Jesus is the Christ.
– in chapter eight Jesus is the Light of the world.
– in chapter nine He makes the blind see.
– in chapter ten Jesus is the Good Shepherd.
– in chapter eleven He is the Resurrection and the Life. 
– in chapter twelve He is the Son of Man lifted up.
– in chapter thirteen He is the humble servant. 
– in chapter fourteen Jesus is the Way, the Truth, and the Life.
– in chapter fifteen He is the True Vine.
– in chapter sixteen He is Overcomer.
– in chapter seventeen Jesus prays for us.
– in chapter eighteen He is called Jesus of Nazareth and King of the Jews.
– in chapter nineteen Jesus, our Savior, was crucified for us. 
– in chapter twenty Jesus is ALIVE!!!!
– in chapter twenty-one Jesus appears to His disciples, tells Peter to feed His sheep, and we learn that Jesus did so many other things that the world could not hold the volumes of books it would take to record them!  

i have loved my time in john (and have much more time ahead there), but God did something with the truths in those scriptures that not only carried me throughout the conference but encourage and hold me accountable each day as i go forward. i am thankful that even a small glimpse of Jesus shows us that He is enough. He can be our all and all.  He is able and He is worthy to be celebrated!!! what do you need to be reminded about Jesus today?

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