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Tonight our fuzion group (5th and 6th grade ministry on Wednesday nights) is headed to Get Air in Wichita for an end of semester party.  Why?  Because God is good, great and awesome.  In previous years, we have only allowed those who memorized half of the Bible verses to attend.  This year, I changed it to allow everyone to be able to attend.  Why?  Because grace is a free gift and is available to all.  The gospel is about Jesus and not about what good or bad we do.  We all sin.  We need a Savior. So rather than focus on us, we are focusing on Jesus and what He has DONE for us. Before we have a lot of fun on the trampolines, I will share who we are celebrating (God) and the great gift available to us in the gift of Jesus.  Check back later tonight for pictures from the evening.

Last night, I had the privilege of taking 30 5th & 6th graders to serve at the Harvey County Homeless Shelter.  fuzion (name for this ministry at our church) participates in several service projects throughout the year.  They have already made MCC Kits and will do a couple more after the first of the year.  Whoever is concerned about the younger generations has not spent much time with these kids.  Not only did they work hard, but they also had some great questions and observations.  See a few pictures below. Praising God for their service and for their futures!

My last workshop at Orange was led by Daniel Scott.  He shared about the 5th/6th grade transition.  Here are my notes: The Kids-What is Generation Z? Born Between 1994 and 2010 Over 16 million in the US alone This Year's 5/6 Graders: 1999-2001 Most are growing up in a post 9/11 world They are more over-protected and over-parented than any previous generation. Tween-Agers-Do they even exist? Origins of the word: Late 90's when marketing companies studied brand awareness with 7-12 year olds (i.e. stores like Justice, Limited Too, etc.)  Buying power: Tweens spend $30 billion on clothes, music, toys, and entertainment each year. Youngest mother in 2011 was 11 years old. What do they face? Home: Untraditional 6 living generations Seniors 1900-1928 Builders 1929-1945 Boomers 1946-1964 Busters 1965-1980 Millenials 1981-1993 Generation Z 1994-2010 School: Unconventional Culture: Unprecedented "The problem: our culture is redefining the word, kid....

I have officially decided that starting next school year, I will be hosting a parenting class on how to talk about purity, puberty, sex, and dating at Hesston MB.  It will be for parents of 5th/6th graders.  It was prompted as I read through Passport2Purity by Dennis & Barbara Rainey.  It is a great resource and the class will walk through good resources to use to facilitate this discussion.  I don't know any topic that creates as much anxiety and fear as having "the talk" with your kids.  Hopefully, through this class, parents will become more at ease and not feel ill equipped to have an open conversation.  So, what questions would you like me to answer in this class? What resources would you recommend?

I love planning for the Fall! Today, I met with my fuzion leaders and had a great time discussing our fall calendar and our plans. If you have a 5 th or 6 th grader, they will definitely want to be a part of fuzion this year. Here are a few details about the upcoming year: Monthly service projects-This is a very important part of why we do fuzion . Some of these include: Valentine's to the Villa, MCC Kits, Raking leaves, etc. Lessons focusing on these questions: What is a Christian? What is worship? How do I study my Bible? Rewards for Bible memory-come to the parent's meeting on Aug. 31st to hear what is planned for December & June What is the format? Games, large group lesson, small group time, & give aways If you have questions or are interested in fuzion for this year, please let me know. It is a going to be a great year of fun, service & learning! Did I mention new t-shirts too?

Today's post is dedicated to God for his greatness. Last night, was our first "official" night of ministry for our 4 year olds through 6 th graders. It went very well! We had a great turnout for both Hide N Seek and our 5 th /6 th grade ministry. I want to give glory and praise to God for the whole thing because without Him none of this would be possible. God has provided wonderful volunteers to lead both of these ministries! God has provided a great facility and curriculum to make ministry possible! God sent His son, Jesus, to be our Savior to forgive us of our sins and therefore we want to share that good news with others. Thanks for all the behind the scenes work coming together. I also have had two of three D6 Dads groups. I have been blessed by each one. I am so excited to see dads seeking God for what He wants them to do and be. It is exciting to see a willingness to grow together and challenge one another. Thank you God for bringing each dad that has a...

What prayer has God answered for you today? It is important that we share with our children the little ways that God answers our prayers every day. Hopefully, we don't just pray when it is a "big" thing. By sharing these answered prayers, our children learn to trust and seek God in all things, not just the more difficult and large situations in life I have seen many prayers answered in the last day. But I am going to share one from last night. I have been preparing to implement a new ministry to our 5 th and 6 th graders at our church. I had shared the new ministry with many people, but last night was the parent's meeting to explain the change and introduce them to the new curriculum. I had a polished presentation ready with a brief video to show from the Grapple website. It really needs to be seen to understand what it includes. I had been on the site most of the day. I had everything ready before the meeting began. After my other meeting ended, I had ab...

Right now, my desk is piled high with things to get done before fall activities begin. School starts for Hesston students next Tuesday. Our training for teachers begins Wednesday for Hide N Seek and then we kick off the year with a cookout on August 26 th . Our new Sunday School teachers begin this Sunday as it is Promotion Sunday. I can now officially say that we have all of our positions filled. Praise God! As a new pastor, I did not want to make a lot of changes in my first year. However, one area that I was praying for direction was the ministry to 5 th /6 th graders. At GracePoint Community Church (where I served as youth pastor in Colorado), I started a ministry specifically for this age group about 6 years ago. It was a lot of fun. I started seeing a need for something for this group at Hesston MB. I prayed and prayed and then God starting confirming the need for a change. I was planning a change in 2010, but people kept coming up and asking for ideas for somethin...

I cannot believe that summer is almost over. We leave on Sunday for our vacation. We will be staying in Paris, TN for a few days and then end the vacation in Branson . The kids are very excited! Bethany and Shirley are working on things for the kids to do in the car. Once we get back to Hesston , the kids will start school is a little over a week. They are ready! So is mom. What else does the end of summer bring? Fall-which means activities get started again. Hide N Seek (our children's program) will begin with a cookout and parent meeting on Aug. 26 th at 6:45 p.m. I am working on implementing a new ministry to our 5 th /6 th graders that will also kickoff that evening. I am very excited about this new ministry and think the 5 th /6 th graders and their parents will be too. New Sunday School teachers begin on Aug. 16. It makes your head start to spin a little. But I am ready. Starting in November, I missed out on all of this last year. I have enjoyed evaluating ...