Monday; July 30


          As we begin our Vacation Bible School at church this week I am reminded of some of the lessons that I learned at VBS several years ago.  Some of them involved the great stories and characters of the Bible, but there were others as well, including:

1)  Studying the Bible doesn’t have to be boring.

2)  There is always a Mom watching – even when it isn’t yours.

3)  A little dirt on a sandwich cookie never hurt anyone.

4)  It is rewarding to bring someone to church with you.

5)  You may not be able to carry a tune in a bucket, but you still have fun singing your favorite songs.

6)  It is the quality of the company you keep, not the name brand of the snacks you eat that makes it special. 

7)  It is okay to yell at the devil.

8)  The fun of five (or ten days) at VBS is variable and often measured by the age of the person attending. 

9)  Religious art is not always stored in the environmentally-controlled museums of Europe.  (Sometimes it is on your Mom’s refrigerator.)

10)  Love is something that if you give it away you end up having more.

          Modern Vacation Bible School might have more gadgets than we did back in the day, but whether it was held in an un-air conditioned auditorium in South Florida during the 1960s or in the fanciest mega-church in suburbia today, the goal is the same – “Train up a child in the way he should go, even when he is old he will not depart from it.” (Proverbs 22:6).  Thanks to everyone working on VBS this summer.  We know all of our children will be blessed by your love and effort.
          Think About It!

Popular posts from this blog

Thursday; May 3

I have a fish tank that allows my three Bettas (Larry, Darrell and Darrell) to live in the same structure, but remain hidden from each other – well sort of.   When I go to feed the fish, I believe that one of the Darrell’s can sort of see that the other Darrell is getting fed and he will linger over on that side of the tank even after I put his food in his tank.   I have to tap on the side of the tank where his food is floating to help him refocus and eat.   I get the impression that he is so interested in what is going on in the other Darrell’s tank that he can’t enjoy his own food. I have been told that the brain of a fish is pretty small – which explains their inability to process “blessings”, but are we guilty of the same malady as Darrell?   Are we so worried (or consumed) by what happens to the people around us that we fail to realize what is going on with us?   Are we envious of the blessings that others are receiving and end up missing out on what we have been given?   Are w
Read more

Thursday; February 14

         While most of us are familiar with today being Valentine’s Day, there are some who actually refer to February 14 th as “St. Valentine’s Day”.  This title is often affixed to a criminally historic event known as “The St. Valentine’s Day Massacre” on February 14, 1929 in Chicago, but that is another story for another time.  Not knowing much about the history of “Saint Valentine” I did a little research and found out he was a Roman religious leader who was martyred in 269 AD.  According to my limited research Valentine was killed because of his encouragement of Roman men (especially soldiers) to marry which was in violation of Claudias’ edict that prohibited marriage to keep their minds singularly focused on their task of defending the Empire.  Somehow, from this beginning – and possibly embellished by Chaucer – St. Valentine became intertwined with the concept of romantic love.           I am not really sure how February 14 th became connected with love, but inspired by thi
Read more

Wednesday; December 6

What does it mean to be a leader? I subscribe to the belief that a leader is someone who seeks the best for others and works with them to achieve their potential. There are others; however, who define leadership as the ability to have a vision and the tenacity to get their own way. Leaders who are this way are often portrayed as having developed the maturity to manipulate people to do things their way. However, is the ability to drive people in our direction mature or is it childish? The Christians of the 1st Century came from a lot of different backgrounds and had to work hard to work together. As the Apostle Paul challenged Christians in the city of Ephesus he challenged them to accept individual differences, “… until we all attain to the unity of the faith, and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to a mature man, to the measure of the stature which belongs to the fullness of Christ. “ (Ephesians 4:13). Bossiness was not to be viewed as a sign of maturity, a willingness to wo
Read more