God Is... Father

By Jason S (Connecting to Impact)

I wanted to do this particular attribute last because it's such an exciting and amazing topic.

How can you not help but marvel at a God who has infinite power and wisdom, is present everywhere at once, Creator, Provider, Sustainer, Self-existent, and on and on–yet He also reveals Himself as "Father to the fatherless" (Psalm 68:5).

He refuses to allow anyone to be orphaned, but this mentality pervades our culture and even our churches. We don't truly understand what it means to be called a son, but we really need to get it.

"For all who are being led by the Spirit of God, these are sons of God. For you have not received a spirit of slavery leading to fear again, but you have received a spirit of adoption as sons by which we cry out, "Abba! Father!" (Romans 8:14-15)

If we are sons, we carry a different mentality and authority. We go through testing and trials, but we don't have to doubt His love or our position.  Our service and devotion flows from knowing Him and His knowing us fully.

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One Word At A Time: Games

By Ginny (MAD21)

I've written before about how you can use games to teach your kids. But in general, I love to play. When it comes to family entertainment and children's ministries, I am commonly known as the "game keeper." It probably has to do with the fact that for years, whenever there was any kind of gathering whether family or ministry, you would usually find me playing with the kids. Generally it has always been where I felt the most comfortable.

I was the recreation director at a summer camp for seven years where I spent the week doing such things as filling water balloons for a wet version of sharks and minnows, playing caterpillar kickball, and providing an afternoon of fun on a 100 foot slip-n-slide; we had an annual kid's night out at our church where I built a maze out of about 12 rolls of duct tape and 24 wardrobe boxes that filled our sanctuary (it even had dead ends!). I could go on and on about all the fun I've had over the years in ministry. But honestly, even though it was a great time, the bottom line was that playing games with the kids helped to build relationships and trust between themselves and the leaders.

The same is true with family. I have found that the more time I spend just playing and talking with my kids, the more likely they are to listen to me, and the better they treat each other overall. We all learn about patience, taking turns, and being a good sport. The more face-time we all get, the better.

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God Is... Spirit

By Nick (My Experience As...)

Worshiping that which we cannot know

Back in the day I was very much into arguing.  I know, people are shocked and surprised at this admission but it is true.  Ok maybe I would be better off saying I was even more into debate than I currently am.  Over the course of a year or so I got into several online debates with a Mormon who was both rude and insulting. This is not to say all members of LDS (I did learn that many of them don’t like the term Mormon but the abbreviation LDS, for Later Day Saint, is less offensive) are rude or insulting, but this guy was.  It started on an old blog of mine, and moved to other blogs I participated in.

A key LDS belief is that God is a corporeal being so this guy often mocked the Christian belief that God is Spirit.  At one point he took a picture of his “Bubba Keg” and said he trapped our God in it since clearly God’s spirit has no mass or volume.

This argument doesn’t follow for many reasons, but at the very heart is a complete misunderstanding of what “spirit” really is.  Most people seem to assume it is some kind of ethereal energy, something like sentient electricity. This is an error in classification based on the assumption that “spirit” is something related to this natural order.

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Fingerprint Friday: Generosity

By Ginny (MAD21)

I recently worked on a project with a group of people that was successful only because of the grace of God and generosity of many others. What started out as a simple gift to some homeless families, turned out to be so much more because the resources just kept pouring in. God had some big plans for those families, and for those of us who were answering the call to serve.

I can't begin to tell you how amazing it was to have the opportunity to serve a community of folks who really need to know that God loves them. To step out of reality even if only for an afternoon and just have some fun. I am in awe of the generosity of those who made it all possible. God presented a need, and they stepped up and made it happen. These are fingerprints from God that will hopefully leave a lasting imprint for generations.

Fellow blogger Beki at The Rusted Chain has a really great weekly post she does every Friday called "Fingerprint Friday." We are to look around and see where we can see God's fingerprints. Is it in nature? Kids? Animals? Anywhere? Go find out where Beki saw God this week, and be sure to check out the other bloggers who linked their stories as well.

One Word At A Time: Adventure

By Ginny (MAD21)

If I were to choose a few words to describe my family, one of them would surely be adventurous. We love to go on adventures. Yes, we have also chosen that word to describe an everyday occurrence in hopes that by changing a certain child's perspective about it might make them more motivated to participate, but really, we do love them. One of our most favorite ways to add adventure to a road trip is that we don't usually have a map or a time line.

We have two different kinds of trips we like to take. One has a specific location as our destination, the other is "just pick a direction."

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