Recently in For Family Ministers Category

READ Philippians 1:9-11. Every child needs a father who calls his or her name before the Lord. By attending their events, getting involved in their interests, and expressing affection, we show our sons and daughters that we care. However, nothing demonstrates our love as powerfully as prayer does.

I've been married for 51 years to a wonderful woman. Over this time, I've come to learn from my marriage and from observations of other marriages around me (both good and bad) that there are some pretty foundational traits that are evident in every good one and missing in the bad ones. 

Generation after generation of Christmases are strung across the decades of family histories via journals, diaries, drawings, paintings, illustrations, photographs, and videos that stand witness to precious memories. Treasured long-standing traditions become Christmas legacies carefully fostered and presented to each new generation of children, who are taught the role they play in maintaining the family's Christmas traditions. Great unity can result from a family that focuses on celebrating and honoring the birth of Christ.

My son had an ambitious plan. He would drop out of college and focus on his music. All his life, I had urged him to discover what he was created to do and pursue what God had laid on his heart. I just didn't think it would be this -- at least not if it meant skipping college. But music was his passion. College wasn't. He had made up his mind.

One of my all-time favorite Christmas movies is The Muppet Christmas Carol. It retains the same story as the classic, but it's much funnier. The message that it's not too late to change your life rings loud and clear. 

"Train up a child in the way he should go: and when he is old, he will not depart from it" Proverbs 22:6. "My son, give me thine heart, and let thine eyes observe my ways" Proverbs 23:26.

A friend said something to me recently that got my attention. We were talking about the economic downturn and she said, "Maybe this will draw families closer together."

When we want to be successful at something in life, we usually don't attempt to "wing it." That's why those who want to play the piano take lessons. No one can sit down at a piano for the first time and play Mozart or Beethoven. Sure, most anyone can peck on the keys long enough to figure out "Chop Sticks" or "Mary Had a Little Lamb," but that's hardly musical success. An instructor will teach us what keys produce certain musical notes, what techniques to use to access those keys and how to determine musical notes from written symbols in order to play pieces of music.

It's 8:50 on Thursday morning.  The sun is sending warm beams of light through the trees that line your drive to the church.  The day is looking wonderful, not just because of the weather, or even the Starbucks in the cup holder of your car, but because you've enjoyed the summer season of youth ministry: camp, swimming, summer Bible study groups, the energy your students seem to have on their break from school.  And then it happens.  Your senior pastor calls and wants to discuss the vision for the upcoming school year.  And it seems that "discuss" really means "tell you that some new things are happening." You are told that the leadership of the church is eager to explore the idea of "family ministry" this year.  They want to implement a more intentional ministry plan for the families in the youth program.  And they want to know:  what do we already do for the family, and where can we go from here?