Reject? Receive? Redeem?
For 364 days of the year, parents lovingly and carefully reassure their children that there are no monsters under the bed, that the boogie man won't jump out of the cupboard and that whatever happens, Mummy and Daddy will do their best to protect them from the nightmares of the world outside. Then, on the 31st October we chuck all that out of the window, get them to dress up as monsters, dead people or even the devil, and then encourage them to practice extortion on neighbours by demanding they give us treats or else!
Using rest times as God intended
This half term my wife, Kirsten, and I (with our son Joshua happily in-tow) were able to enjoy a fantastic break in Brittany with some good friends. Brittany is a lovely part of France and we were with great company enjoying great food and great weather. We had a fantastic time, not least because our walk with Jesus continued on holiday... all thanks to an accidental 'stowaway' in our car.
When middle ground is best
Two things I ask of you;
deny them not to me before I die:
Remove far from me falsehood and lying;
give me neither poverty nor riches;
feed me with the food that is needful for me,
lest I be full and deny you
and say, "Who is the LORD?"
or lest I be poor and steal
and profane the name of my God.
Proverbs 30:7-9
Dissertation on infant baptism
This article is the full dissertation submitted towards my BA (Hons) in Youth & Children’s Ministry at Oak Hill Theological College in May 2007. The full title for the dissertation is as follows: A defence of infant baptism in the context of the growing practice of the dedication of children of the church, with particular attention to “discipleship” in Matthew 28:18-22 and the New Testament.
It is my hope to provide an abridged version of this dissertation, one that is a bit more readable for people 'on the ground' (so to speak). For now, the full technical version will have to do.
Open Youth Ministry cycle
Open youth ministry is the opening of church youth groups to allow them to be places where young people can hang out in an implicitly Christian environment. The idea being that non-Christian young people will recognise something different about the group (the loving atmosphere, or the time devoted to the group by the leaders) and want to know more.
In my 14 years experience in youth ministry so far, I have encountered several versions of open youth ministries, all of which appear to have repeating life-cycle, to some degree or another. In this article, I put forward my own observations on this cycle for comment and discussion.
Cultural values of Harry Potter
Assess the values portrayed in the film ‘Harry Potter & The Prisoner Of Azkaban’
Harry Potter. A simple name worth billions of pounds in books sales, movie franchises, merchandising spin offs, and so on. You cannot fail to be astounded at the success of what is in effect a simple idea: a story following a young boy as he discovers he is a wizard ('and a bloomin' good one at that!') and his journey into the magical world hidden behind secret spells and enchantments that keep the ordinary world in blissful ignorance.
Such a simple story has created quite a complex dilema for Christian parents: what values do the Harry Potter books and films portray to their young readers? It is this issue that the following essay, submitted as part of my youth and children's ministry degree, seeks to engage with.
About this site