Bare Necessities - Relationship

This is the third segment in the series "Bare Necessities" that examines what are the essentials of the Christian faith for kids at VBS.

How many of you like magic tricks? I have always enjoyed someone pulling off a slight-of-hand trick right under my nose. Some folks enjoy stage magic, the big stuff where elephants disappear, cars appear, people get cut in half and put back together right before your eyes. If you like the big Las Vegas style magic show no one does it better than Penn & Teller. They have been together for over 30 years and have an edgy show that mixes gore and magic. Penn, a vocal atheist, together with Teller (who never speaks on stage) also do TV and videos that expose all kinds of frauds and skeptically examine religious claims. They might not be family friendly but they do put on a good magic show (check out the show "Fool Us" on Youtube to get a taste of Penn & Teller).

One thing that caught my attention about these two is that they have been together for thirty years but are not close friends. in a Larry King interview Penn stated that they are complete opposites and the only time the spend together is when they are performing. In other words, they have an understanding that theirs is a "working relationship" and they are fine with that, and have been for three decades.

A bare necessity to being a Christian is to understand the relationship we have with God. Christianity is not a "working relationship" were we do good deeds to earn our salvation from God. It is a Father son/daughter relationship. Through faith in Christ we are born into the family of God. He is our heavenly father. We do not earn his love and forgiveness. He loves us and forgives us when we are adopted into his family through faith in Jesus the Christ!

In his family you are loved simply because you are you. When Jesus imparts his right standing status with God to us we become part of the family. The heavenly father cannot be separated from us because we are blood relatives through the sacrificial blood of his son! We do not need to earn anything from God because he has given us everything in Christ. We do good, serve others and love God out of gratitude; we love him because he first loved us!

Let us pray that kids that attend VBS hear and understand that faith in Christ brings them into God's family. He is a good Father that will not hurt them nor leave them. They need to know that they do not earn his love and acceptance by working for it. It is a free Gift given through faith in Christ. No matter how bad their family life is they need to hear the God has great family for them full of love, forgiveness and acceptance. They need to know that if they have a great family life it is just a little taste of how great it is to be in a family with a loving heavenly father!

Penn & Teller may have a great working relationship that lasts for decades, but God has an even greater family relationship with his kids that lasts for all eternity!

Bare Necessites - Faith

This is the second segment in the series "Bare Necessities" that examines what are the essentials of the Christian faith for kids at VBS.

Alexander Grover Cleveland was a fine pitcher but he had his struggles. Before he made it to the majors he was hit in the head while running the bases and it almost ended his career. The blow left him with double vision that took sometime before it cleared up, and it left him with epileptic seizures. To deal with such events in his life Alexander often took to drinking alcohol.

But finally he made it to the big leagues and began his pitching with the Philadelphia Phillie's in 1911. Over the next six years he lead the league in wins 5 times, shutouts five times, strikeouts six times and innings pitched six times. He is one of only three other players in baseball history to win the pitchers Triple Crown (wins, strikeouts and earned run average)three times.

Strapped for cash the Phillie's sold Alexander to the Cubs in 1918. He then was drafted and ended up in World War 1 and suffered hearing loss due to shell shock. The horrors he saw on the front lines drove him deeper in to the bottle.

The cubs ended up in last place in 1925 and sold Alexander to the St. Louis Cardinals in the middle of the 1926 season. The reason for the sale, said the Cub's manager, "The Cubs finished last last year and if they finish last again, I'd rather it be without him."

Manager Branch Rickey saw something in the old pitcher and had faith he still had big wins left in him.

That same year in 1926 the Cardinal's finished the season by winning the national league pennant and faced the Yankees as under dogs in the World Series. Alexander started and won games 2 and 6 with undoubtedly his best pitching performances of his career . After game six Alexander celebrated by getting drunk and staying out all night. He set in the dugout nursing a hangover during the decisive game 7.

The Cardinals were leading the Yankees 3-2 in game seven. But in the seventh inning the Yankees loaded the bases with two outs. Yankee slugger Tony Lazzeri was up to bat when they called in Alexander. Woozy and reeking of alcohol Alexander took his good sweet time walking to the mound from the dugout out in right field.

He struck out Lazzeri to end the inning and protect the lead. He kept the Yanks scoreless in the 7th, the 8th and the 9th.The Cardinals went on to an upset World Series win over the heavily favored New York Yankees.

What in the world did Branch Rickey see in a drunken old pitcher? Where in the world did he get the faith to believe an old has-been could produce a heroic save in the World Series on half a days rest? I have no idea. The only thing Rickey had was faith in Alexander.

It has taken me a long time to get to my point but I am "rounding third and heading for home." In order to please God you must have faith. Faith, according to the Message Bible,faith is: is the firm foundation under everything that makes life worth living. It's our handle on what we can't see (Heb. 11:1).

Let us pray that God gives the kids at VBS faith in Jesus and that we encourage it and help build it up. Is not the one we have faith in greater that the object of Branch Rickey's faith?

Alexander was a half deaf epileptic - Jesus was perfect in order to be our high priest.
Alexander struggled with alcohol - Jesus turned water to wine but was never controlled by the drink.
Alexander was a shell shocked veteran (of which we should all be thankful for as Americans) - Jesus was killed in battle but rose again on the third day (for whom we should give thanks and praise in every nation!)
Alexander saved the Cardinal's win in game seven of the 1926 World Series - Jesus saves all humanity from sin for all time!
Alexander was simply a man who was a pitcher - Jesus was a man who is God.

A bare necessity that children need is faith in Jesus Christ. May God give it, may we build it up and may the kids use it . May they have faith in Christ when they face a situation in life where circumstances have the bases loaded and it looks like a devastating loss is inevitable. May they call on Jesus in faith to come in for the save and lead them to victory!

Bare Necessities - A Savior

This is the first segment in the series "Bare Necessities" that examines what are the essentials of the Christian faith for kids.

In July of 2002, nine coal miners were trapped in the Quecreek mine in Somerset County Pennsylvania. The men were 240 feet underground waist deep in water. They had been forced into a small area to avoid being drowned when the shaft had been flooded. The was no way out. They needed someone above ground to rescue them. One man played a huge role in the rescue. Bob Long was an engineer who used GPS equipment to determine where the men were located and were the rescue shaft would be drilled. There was no room for error in locating the men. Missing their location meant that valuable time would be lost and so also the lives of the nine miners.

One hour and half later the drill broke through the tunnel where the trapped miners were located. The sweetest sound that Bob Long heard was that of the miners pounding on the drill bit signalling that they were still alive. Four days later the the miners were brought out alive one by one and not until all nine were out did the rescue team celebrate. Bob long and the rescue team became part of what is now called the Quecreek miracle.

That story reminds me of the most important bare necessity of Christianity - Christ!Jesus is the one who knew exactly where we were - dead in sin. He knew there was no way out for us. No matter how much we tried to be good, no matter the penance, no matter the amount of benevolence, no matter if we had perfect attendance at church, no matter how much we read the Bible or prayed it would not have been enough to rescue our souls from sin. We needed a savior to lift us out sin and death into forgiveness and life.a

This bare necessity is what we will share with the kids at VBS. We are all in sin and there is no way out. But the good news is Jesus knows exactly where we are and he came to earth to rescue us. Teaching kids to be good, obey their parents, to do good, get good grades, be kind to their neighbor, and attend church is all good but that will not save them from their sins. The bare necessity for salvation is Christ. Just as the miners were save by climbing into the rescue capsule at the Quecreek mine, the kids can be saved when they climb into the arms of Christ.

Bob Long and the rescue team were truly part of a miracle in saving nine men, but the salvation of millions and billions of people by Christ is such a greater miracle! Just think how sweet the sound of the kids singing praise at VBS will be when it reach Christ's ears. And what a celebration there will be when we are all welcomed one by one into heaven! Therefore, let us share the bare necessity of Christ with the kids this summer!

Bare Necessities

Hello VBS folks,

As the temperatures are warming up our thoughts turn to summer. It is getting time to start thinking about VBS, swimming, softball, the Reds and vacations. Unfortunately, the high gas prices are causing people to cut back on travel plans. Not only is the high oil prices effecting travel but family budgets. I have talked with people who are looking to save money by cutting things such as land lines, cable TV, and eating out. Tight economic times cause businesses and families to cut non-essentials.

That got me to thinking, what are the essentials of Christianity? What is the bare necessities that Christians need? Specifically, what are the Christian essentials that children need?

It has been tough economical times but it could get tougher. Our American culture is not real friendly to Christians. What if it gets even more hostile? What are the bare necessities needed for the church to survive? What do we want to pass on to kids who attend VBS and many of whom will be the church of tomorrow.

In the next weeks leading up to VBS we will see what the Bible says is the necessities of the Christian life. Let us look to the Word and be reminded of the essentials God wants us to focus on. May God also open our eyes to what the bare necessities are that we can share with the kids during our 3 day VBS this summer!

Heading to the Beach in 2011

Hello folks,

Our first meeting is over and we will be heading to the beach for this summer's VBS! This VBS theme fits well with our outdoor program and the fact that kids love to get wet. Gospel Light's Bible focus is completely on Jesus; Who is Jesus? Why can I trust Jesus? Why do I need Jesus? How can Jesus help me when I mess up? and What does Jesus want me to do? We will have a 3 day VBS so choosing from this line up will be tough!

Sonsurf Beach Blast looks to be Biblically solid and we plan to keep on using Group Publishing's music from their 2011 VBS program. Group does a great job of taking popular Contemporary Christian music and tweaking it for kids.

Due to every one's busy schedule I am going to try a phone conference for our next meeting and I will let everyone know the day, the time and phone number in advance so we'll all be ready.

In the mean time, please pray that God will draw our adult volunteers for this summer and that He would show us what 3 topics to choose out of the 5.

Most importantly, when you pray ask God to do a wonderful work in each child's heart that attends this summer's VBS.

First Meeting of 2011!

Hello everyone,

by August we will all forget how cold it is right now. Until then we can beat the cold by thinking warm thoughts about this year's VBS!

Our first meeting will be 6PM next Monday, March 29th at the Junction. We will catch up with one another and then make our decision on this summers VBS curriculum. Please keep this meeting in your prayers!

See ya there!

Spring is On the Way!

Hello folks,

I know it is hard to believe following an ice storm that spring is around the corner. But according to this years Groundhog Day we are in for an early spring because the little guy didn't see his shadow!You know what all this means don't you? That is right, it is time to start planning for VBS 2011!

This will be our ninth year - can you believe it! This year I am partial to Gospel Light's "SonSurf Beach Bash" theme. The Bible theme stays nice and tight in the gospel books as opposed to Group's "Pandamania" theme that seems to all over the scriptures. We will no doubt use Group's music if we choose not do their theme but I would like for you to give me your feedback by visiting these two VBS links:

http://gospellightvbs.com/sonsurf/

http://pandamania.group.com/

If you have seen other VBS curriculum's out there that you think might work well let me know. Please let me know what day of the week in February is best for our first once-a-month-VBS-meeting.

Remember, VBS will be here before you know it and accompanied by warm weather!