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[derkyness]

By Derek Jordan

 Does God really have a perfect system for us to apply to our lives? (Click to Tweet)

To start with I do not believe anyone meant this statement to be discouraging, confusing, or wrong in any way. I actually believe their intention is to point in the direction that I am about to take us all.

If God’s system were perfect it would never have included the possibility of it getting messed up, yet it did. Of all things told to the first two human people on this earth there was one very important one.

And the Lord God commanded the man, saying, You may freely eat of every tree of the garden; But of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil and blessing and calamity you shall not eat, for in the day that you eat of it you shall surely die. Genesis 2:16-17

Think of a world where we never had the choice to do something incorrect. Take just a moment to think of the possible Eden we could live in. It would be perfect. There would be no killing. There would be no shame. There would be nothing that would exist that would be against God. It would be a perfect system.

This perfect possibility does not exist. Well, it does, but the truth is that we were kicked out of it. It is now guarded to keep us from stumbling into it and gaining eternal life in our fallen state.

Therefore the Lord God sent him forth from the Garden of Eden to till the ground from which he was taken. So [God] drove out the man; and He placed at the east of the Garden of Eden the cherubim and a flaming sword which turned every way, to keep and guard the way to the tree of life. Genesis 3:23-24

God’s Perfect System

GPS is the take on this. A clever jibe on the modern technology used by our imperfect race to know where we are on this watery rock called earth.

God’s Perfect System

Global Positioning System

I say if you choose to change two words, you might as well change all three. From what I have seen over my time in the faith I know that the “system” of church keeps many away. Many see such a system and a bunch of dos and don’ts. A bunch of rules that MUST be followed, “Or Else”. Maybe you fall into this category. Maybe you look into the church world and can only see the legality of it. This… system is the problem. It seems as if there are a certain amount of steps that must be taken in order for a person to gain ascension. To gain access to Heaven and all the riches that are gained with such admittance. As simple as it seems… we let the idea of needing to be at a certain step keep us from actually growing. We look where we perceive another person to be in the system and believe, “I can’t be that good at it. Why even try.”

Well… would you like to know a secret?

That last “S” in this really should stand for “son”.

God’s Perfect Son

The next day John saw Jesus coming to him and said, Look! There is the Lamb of God, Who takes away the sin of the world! John 1:29

Every time my wife or I passed this sign we could not help but think that this was the proper way it should have looked. Even if you look at “The Son” as part of a “perfect system” the real truth is that HE is the only way and the only “perfect” humanity has ever had. God’s system has always had a huge imperfection in it. Interestingly enough it was designed this way. It was designed with this flaw, because without it… nothing would be genuine.

That “flaw” is our ability to choose.

And Peter answered them, Repent (change your views and purpose to accept the will of God in your inner selves instead of rejecting it) and be baptized, every one of you, in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of and release from your sins; and you shall receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. Acts 2:38

It is because of this flaw that we have a chance. (Click to Tweet) Jesus being the Lamb of God. Jesus being everything that was needed in order for us to be redeemed. We can use this flaw, choice, to choose Him. In this way… the system is perfect, but I still stand by the opinion that it should have said, “God’s Perfect Son”.

Has the “system” ever been so overwhelming that you wanted to give up?

   _________________________________________

Derek is a Children’s Pastor and Men’s Leader in his home church, a Mechanical Designer to pay the bills, a Music & Book Reviewer, and Prestidigitator. He is a Fantasy reader, Whovian, and Funko Pop and Toy Collector. Derek lives in Alabama with his wife and four children. Contact: Email | Twitter | Blog

Stay up to date on C|C and receive a free article called “The Fatherhood of God.” Click here to subscribe to our mailing list. Like us on Facebook. Follow us on Twitter.

[derkyness]

By Derek Jordan

Have you ever felt like your freedoms are judging you?

An odd question, I know. How can freedom be judgmental? It’s freedom. Isn’t that suppose to be what takes us away from all that pain and guilt? Isn’t freedom suppose to be an ultimate place we can be? Having this in our lives should just cause all the worries to trickle off our backs like flowing water, right?

If the Son therefore shall make you free, ye shall be free indeed. John 8:36

It doesn’t always. We all need to learn how to deal with the emotions that pop up when it not so refreshing to us. Delivery and perception are heavy interpreters on how freedom can be seen and felt within a person. Let me demonstrate with a story.

***

Imagine a small group setting. One with close friends, mostly filled with people you can trust. Add in one or two you may not know very well. This does not sway you from being honest while sharing though. You are an emotionally strong person with a heart for others. You are willing to share for the purpose of benefiting not only yourself, but the group as a whole.

Something has been bothering you recently. Something that would usually be considered a small thing. Something most people would just swat a hand at casually, instead of really giving it any attention. You know this, but also know that you trust those around you. You know that it is better to speak then to let it fester and destroy you from the inside out. So you do. You take the groups attention. They listen, they seem to understand you. They all seem to be very kind and accepting until one of those new hands shoot out. You see it, but you are not worried. Why would anyone attack? Why would anyone feel that they would need to in such a close knit group?

This new person looks you in the eye and says, “You don’t have to feel that way.” Your heart drops. Your spirit hits the ground. You spiritually scramble, quickly reaching and grabbing for the pieces. You are desperate to set them back into the proper places again. Desperate to be a in a position that you understand again.

What just happened? Why did that feel like an attack? Why does it feel like your heart was ripped from your chest? He meant what he said… “You don’t HAVE to feel that way.” He meant it to be encouraging. He meant it to be a sign, or rather a showing of the freedom you truly have. Why be held back by such a small thing? Why be worried by something so insignificant?

But you didn’t see it this way.

It is more like this:

Why IS something so small keeping you held back? Why aren’t you where they are? How come you can’t just see what they do and live this whole “Christian” thing correctly? Why are you a failure?

***

WOW! How does FREEDOM make us feel this way? Because when all we have ever known is chains; living without them can be uncomfortable. (Click to Tweet) It can make us uneasy. It unsettles our hearts, but most importantly there is a force within us (our flesh) as well as a force outside of us (our enemy) that desperately wants us to fail. Keep in mind, what is in our hearts is not to be trusted.

The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked: who can know it? Jeremiah 17:9

If Satan can take us down through our deceived perception of freedom, He will. I recently wrote about deceitful ways Satan works and did not intend this article to touch on it. The truth is, it does.

We can defeat ourselves.

If you feel like freedom is attacking you or if you feel like the thoughts and opinions of others are pinning you down, then you are likely pinning yourself down. The trouble here is that we need to be mindful of breaking others down in these moments. They may not be ready to take the true steps into freedom and need a guide. A guide is not a “You don’t have to feel that way”. Those words will likely be said at some point, but it needs to be a slow process. Instead reach out and say, “let me help you”.

There is a difference between conviction and shame. While conviction pricks the heart, it also leads to guidance and is intended to bring change in one’s life. Shame is different. It stops the heart and desires to be hidden. No change can occur because fear rules in our shame.

If you are feeling shame over things. If you are feeling oddly guilty when you should not, don’t beat yourself up. It is okay. It does not mean your life is bad. It does not mean that you are bad. It means something quite interesting.

You are important enough to be attacked. (Click to Tweet) Choose now to see that importance. The enemy wants you stopped. Do you want to give him such a victory? NO! Don’t let him have it.

O death, where is thy sting? O grave, where is thy victory? The sting of death is sin; and the strength of sin is the law. But thanks be to God, which giveth us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ. Therefore, my beloved brethren, be ye stedfast, unmoveable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, forasmuch as ye know that your labour is not in vain in the Lord. 1 Corinthians 15:55-58

You and I both have victory in Jesus. It is cliche, I know, but we really do. We don’t have to feel such a way, but we also cannot give up because we do. We cannot turn tail and hide because we do. We must strive to move forward and continue on towards the goal.

 _________________________________________

Derek is a Children’s Pastor and Men’s Leader in his home church, a Mechanical Designer to pay the bills, a Music & Book Reviewer, and Prestidigitator. He is a Fantasy reader, Whovian, and Funko Pop and Toy Collector. Derek lives in Alabama with his wife and four children. Contact: Email | Twitter | Blog

Stay up to date on C|C and receive a free article called “The Fatherhood of God.” Click here to subscribe to our mailing list. Like us on Facebook. Follow us on Twitter.

[derkyness]

By Derek Jordan

I interviewed Rick not too long ago in one of our C|C Music Artist interviews. It was a pretty fun interview and we all learned more about Rick. Well, he is back again and toting along with him a hymn project of some pretty awesome proportions, and he needs our help to make it happen. I sent him a few questions to answer for us so we could learn more about this project. We encourage you to consider taking his $5 challenge to help make this ambitious project happen. As a bonus, Rick is also offering rewards to donors who pre-order his new project, including an exclusive trip to Nashville Tennessee to see the recording happen in the studio, giving you a chance to actually be on the making of documentary.

Q: Didn’t you just have a hymns album produced?

A:I guess you could say that in one sense. I recorded a live album called Basement Psalms Live where every song was a different musical interpretation from the book of Psalms. There are many different literary types of Psalms and one of the easiest forms in the book of Psalms to categorize is the hymn.

The Hymns in the book of Psalms all follow the same general structure: 1.) An initial call to praise 2.) Reasons for giving praise 3.) A renewed call to praise as a conclusion

The hymns we find in the book of Psalms aren’t extremely sophisticated structurally, but they are very poetic and are designed to be used in a communal setting. Even the Psalms that seem to be written from the perspective of an individual were designed for communal use.

The hymns we sing in our churches today actually are very similar to the hymns that we find in the book of Psalms. They aren’t scripture put to music, rather they are poetry, rich with rhythm, meter, and imagery. They are theology in the form of song and they are also meant to be sung by the community. A hymn is unique because a hymn is incomplete if it is sung alone. It takes a people to really sing a hymn like it is intended to be sung.

We have a tendency to view hymns as tired and out of touch, but in reality I think we are out of touch as a culture with the poetry and theology that the Hymns provide for us. The poetry in the the church’s hymns require us to slow down, think over the lyrics, and grapple with the things they tell us about Who God is in relation to His people and His world.

Q: What is different about this hymn record as opposed to other records you‘ve released that are not specifically hymns?

A: There are a few big differences with this one. This is the first album where some of the songs aren’t written by me. Half of the songs are from hymnals and half are songs that I’ve written or co-written in a hymn-like meter, inspired by sources like the Book of Common Prayer, Creeds, and other standards of Christian tradition. We will have songs that deal with the Trinity, Advent, Easter, The Holy Spirit, The Lord’s Supper, and Jesus’ ever controversial command to love our enemies.

The budget is also much larger than anything I’ve recorded before. In the past I’ve used my home studio or home studios of friends and played most of the instruments myself. This record has a $25,000.00 budget, which will actually be closer to $30,000.00 after we pay crowd funding and credit card fees.

Another big change is that I have a producer this time around, and not just any producer. Craig Adams has won 5 Dove Awards for his production word and has been nominated 10 times. He wants to use A list Nashville musicians, engineers and studios. He also has a great idea to make a film and a songbook to accompany the album so that churches can really get a lot of use our of it in the local congregational setting.

We also hope to create a live album feel using a group of talented singers to play the part of a congregation in the studio. Truth be known, we can make a record for about $10,000 dollars but that would take away the congregational feel, the books, the documentary, some of the musicians, and a lot of the studios we would like to use. It would still be a good record but not necessarily what we are envisioning.

Q: Any new songs you find notable?

A: Well, the newest hymns on the album will be ones that I’ve written like The Invitation (A Communion Hymn), Hallelujah Christ Is Lord (st. Patrick’s Hymn), and Love Our Enemies. Some of the most notable ones might be ones that you’ve heard before but may not have paid a lot of attention because the music is so outdated. If the instrumental accompaniment sounds like a Carousel at an amusement park then chances are that it won’t leave an impression on modern ears, regardless of theological content.

What most people don’t realize is that hymns were for the most part not written to any specific tune. This is certainly the case with Charles Wesley’s hymns. the lyrics were written in a poetic meter and the music was added later, usually using tunes that were spoke the musical language of the time. If they are truly hymns then they are written in a meter that will allow them to be sung to multiple tunes. For example, we can sing ‘And Can It Be’ to the same tune as “Faith Of Our Fathers’ and not miss a beat because they were written in the same poetic meter.

That being said, we are updating the music to classic hymns to speak a modern musical language to the modern ear, but we aren’t messing with the lyrics, other than using the word ‘You’ instead of ‘Thee’ in certain places. So to finally answer your question, to me the most notable hymn we will be featuring is ‘Christ The Lord Is Risen Today’. It is one of the greatest declarations of the resurrection that has ever written in my opinion. I can’t wait to record that one.

Q: What will be different about your hymn album than other hymn albums?

A: For one thing, I’ll be on it…lol. Actually, I think the fact that we are trying to shy away from the well-known hymns like Amazing Grace and How Great Thou Art makes this album unique. Those amazing songs have been recorded by hundreds of amazing artists, but that’s why we want to avoid them. We would like to make something fresh, artistic, but also accessible to local churches. We don’t want this to be performance album as much as we want it to be something that any congregation could easily incorporate into their Sunday worship regardless of the number of musicians or the size of the church. We want to make arrangements of these hymns that are equally accessible to a church of 30 with one guy and a guitar, or a mega church that has a 300 voice choir with every instrument imaginable. Have I made it clear that we want to serve the local church with this project?

Q: How many tracks?

A: Ten minimum, depending on budget and time, maybe fifteen if all goes well.

Q: What has inspired you to get so into hymns?

A: I just see a great need for us to sing our faith in a deeper way than most of us are. Some incredibly good songs have been written in the last decade but there have also been a lot of what I would call “fad” songs. We are in danger of ignoring every song that is more than a decade old because there is something more relevant coming down the pike. We really need to slow down and pay attention to our heritage. Hymns are often the way that we learn our theology. People won’t leave singing the sermon, they leave singing the songs. I just want to make sure that the words we are putting into our people’s mouths are words that matter.

Q: Why is this album costing so much? $30,000 Is the estimate I believe. Can you give us a breakdown.

A: Sure, thing. Here’s the breakdown:

$500 Supplies (hard drives, CDs, DVDs, etc.) $2,500 Pre-production (arranging, chart preparation, contracting) $5,000 Musicians- Work for Hire $5,000 Studio Rental $7,000 Engineer (recording and mixing) $10,000 Studio Producer, Songbook Transcription, Filming Expenses, GoFundMe.com Fees and Credit Card Fees.

The good news is that in just a little over a week we’ve made over $1000.00 at GoFundMe.com/Hymns. However we will need a lot more support to get the record made. This is why we came up with the $5.00 challenge. If we can somehow get this project in front of the eyes of 6000 people who have $5.00 to spare, then we can do it. If you say we need $30,000 people will to see it as insurmountable, myself included. However, if we say we need 6000 people to simply give $5.00, most people can afford that.

Like this hymns themselves, this has to be a community endeavor so we are calling on the generosity of God’s people to help us make this album. This is such a labor of love for me and I really hope that it will become that for everyone who gets involved, sharing it on their social media pages, and giving as they are able. And like we said before, for people who can go over the $5.00 amount, we have worked hard to create some really great rewards like buying you dinner, being on my Podcast, hosting seminars and concerts at your church, books, DVD’s and more.

My desire is to make this resource available to all who want it. Once the project is finished, we can do a whole lot of things to make the music available to churches everywhere once the project is complete.

Q: How can we help?

A: 1.) Pray about what you can give.

2.) Visit http://ift.tt/1rCxUeU where you can find all the details about this project and see the great rewards we are offering to donors at different levels.

3.) You can also share this project on your social media pages. There are several sharable videos at http://ift.tt/1rCxUeW that you can easily share on your Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest and Tumblr pages. The fact is that people won’t give just because I ask. People give when they feel ownership and when they feel ownership they will tell others. I’m asking your readers to really own this project. I’m hoping your readers will find a number of reasons to take ownership of these hymns.

4.) Listen to some of the Hymns we are planning on recording at my YouTube channel because I am putting new ones up all the time as a way of saying thanks for helping with this project. Please send me a message on Facebook or Twitter and request songs you would like to hear. I want to be your YouTube Juke box during this process. I’m killing myself to make great videos and arrangements there for you.

5.) You can also find more information at http://ift.tt/1rCxUvc

We really believe that there are well over 6000 people in this world who care enough about hymns to spend $5.00 to see them revitalized on this project. I don’t know 6000 people personally, but if we just add up the people who are reading this article I’m certain we know that many people collectively through Facebook and Twitter. If everyone who is reading this would share a video once or twice a week in addition to their $5.00 donation then we can record this record before Christmas, which is my goal. I can really use the help, my C|C Friends. I so appreciate you allowing me to tell everyone about this project.

So those links again: The Official Site The Challenge Video (3 minutes long) The Challenge Video (90 seconds long) The Challenge Video (15 seconds long) Rick’s Personalize Homepage

If you would like C|C to help in promoting your project please contact Derek John Jordan at any of the links below.

Derek is a Children’s Pastor and Men’s Leader in his home church, a Mechanical Designer to pay the bills, a Music & Book Reviewer, and Prestidigitator. He is a Fantasy reader, Whovian, and Funko Pop and Toy Collector. Derek lives in Alabama with his wife and four children. Contact: Email | Twitter | Blog

Stay up to date on C|C and receive a free article called “The Fatherhood of God.” Click here to subscribe to our mailing list. Like us on Facebook. Follow us on Twitter.

[derkyness]

By Derek Jordan

Direct your children onto the right path, and when they are older, they will not leave it. Proverbs 22:6

But Jesus said, “Let the children come to me. Don’t stop them! For the Kingdom of Heaven belongs to those who are like these children.” Matthew 19:14

Don’t let anyone think less of you because you are young. Be an example to all believers in what you say, in the way you live, in your love, your faith, and your purity. 1 Timothy 4:12

But if you cause one of these little ones who trusts in me to fall into sin, it would be better for you to have a large millstone tied around your neck and be drowned in the depths of the sea. Matthew 18:6

These verses all have something in common. Heavily used within the Children’s Church community they remind us the importance of our younger generation. We cannot avoid them and we cannot forget them. I am a Children’s Pastor. I don’t get paid to do this, and as a matter of fact, I don’t get paid to write for CommentsOnChristianity.com either. Those facts have never, and likely will never bother me. When you do something you love. Something that you feel strongly God has called you to do, you are not worried about the money. This does not mean that these things do not cost money though. One of the largest money pots in ministries can be their curriculum. These pre-planed… no muss no fuss lessons, perfectly set up and designed for the leader to be able to easily share the gospel with young children are not things that just fall into one’s lap. They cost, but as well they pay off.

I was recently asked to speak at a Training conference within my denomination about Children’s Curriculum and music. Discussing options out there and, if I could, some of my opinions and insights about each of them as well. I do not often use curriculum, but I believe there is most definitely a time and a place for it. I took some time to study a few sets that were recommended as well as a few that I have used. There certainly are more out there, but this is what I had time for during my session. If you know of others and would like to recommend them, feel free to do so in the comments section.

Orange:

Pricing Starts at 604.00 growing to 2415.00 – based on ministry size

Orange is designed to mix the home and the church together. There is curriculum designed for all age groups. The basic idea is that the Head Pastor can be preaching on the exact same topics as the Children’s Pastor, but on the proper level for each group. This puts families getting together again on the car ride home talking about the same subject, rather than several different things at once. This is something you will actually see is happening in many newer sets of curriculum offered, and really seems to be the future of the church community.

The children’s set comes in three levels. As the child grows and moves into the next set the curriculum builds upon the foundations of what was taught prior. “First Look” is for preschoolers and is designed to start belief in God, the Father, who loves them without conditions. “252 Basics” is for school age children and works to set the core truths into the proper order and help each child define who they are to become. “XP3″ is for older students and young adults and will inspire them to engage in the world around them holding onto all they have learned and believe up until this point.

This program uses several methods:

The Bible Story The Story of God Reveals the character of God The Life App Applying the learned character of God to their own lives The Bottom Line A Memory Que for the lesson The Memory Verse A Verse of the Bible that goes with the lesson The Parent Cue A newsletter of lesson to the parents The Family Experience Combines leaders, parents, and kids for the purpose of learning together

Gospel Project For Kids:

Pricing (Usually around 200 to 400) Can get 4 Sessions Free as a “sampler” Packages are extremely customizable

The Gospel Project For Kids is designed to be a cross denominational curriculum. It is purely focused on Christ. The Gospel. Not that it only teaches from the New Testament. That would be incorrect all together. This curriculum is set and designed to show the Bible as a whole book, and story that ultimately tells one thing: The Gospel. Everything within is pointing to Jesus. It gets back to the basics of faith and belief without getting too complicated into statutes and divinations of opinionated theology.

Like Orange this also has sets of curriculum designed for many ages and is purposed to be used as a Church body. You can start “In the Beginning” and all learn, together, how the Bible points to Christ and the love of our God for us throughout in a 3 year plan. This curriculum can also grow with your kids as different sets are designed for differing developmental stages.

A Small example of resources offered:

Video Music Activities Parent Resources Several others

High Voltage Kids Ministries :

Pricing $99 per lesson set, Offers Digital Membership – $39 Monthly, $399 Yearly

High Voltage Kids has and is becoming even a more popular name in the Children’s ministry world. These sets of curriculum are designed and essentially tested by a Children’s ministry before it makes it to your home church. They are fun, informative, and kids can really get into them. You get everything you need to be able to reach your kids, as well as inform their parents of the goings on of the ministry. The more recent designed lessons are about reinforced repetition. Large group time, Small group time and even activities that go beyond the church building and into their homes with Parent take home information.

You are provided with a Data disk and a DVD. If you can work a DVD player, you can use this curriculum.

This provides you:

Intro Videos Cool Intros that get kids attention Power Verse Videos Scripture Memory Verses Lesson Memory Queue’s Sayings that are prompted that really stick in the kids heads (really… they do) Games Interactive and fun games that usually point back to the lesson Standard Lesson Videos Offering Games Character Intros (If you choose to use the provided Character) PowerPoints Full Lesson Mock up Bible Story (Illustrated) Games Review Time Small Group Information Reinforces Lesson with other activities (I have used this for Wednesday nights) Parent Take Home Information

****TIME SENSITIVE BONUS****

If you sign up for the Digital membership by August 31st, 2014 there are BONUS items you can get by being a FOUNDING member!

FREE for all ANNUAL Membership Founders (There is also an option for monthly)

Personalized video greeting by “Skittles, the Candy Rapper” Video Download ” How to Talk To Kids About Death & Tragedy” e-book “Kidminnovation” by Brian Dollar download of 20 PowerPoint Games download of 10 Worship Videos download of 10 Countdown Videos Video Download “How To Talk To Kids About God” MP3 download “Yah-Way (Dubstep Remix)”

Faith Case :

Pricing $140 per set

Faith Case are lesson sets with no mystery to the material to be taught. Each set is done as a mystery that needs to be solved. Think James Bond meets the Bible. The title of the set gives away the material they are planning on teaching out which makes it simple to pick and choose. Do you feel your kids need to understand the fruits of the spirit better? Then purchase “Fruit of the Spirit” which gives you 10 lessons teaching about that material.

These each come with a simple to use DVD and material for planning your lesson.

Available Lesson Sets:

Investigating Truth (12 Lessons) Fruit of the Spirit (10 Lessons) The Beatitudes (9 Lessons) Armor of God (10 Lessons) Extraordinary ACTS (10 Lessons)

Kidology :

Pricing is Free Membership, Premium (Monthly -$10, Quarterly -$24, Annual -$60 )

Kidology is a set of curriculum also written and designed by active ministers. The interesting part of this site is that it gives anyone the chance to be a writer. All you have to do is submit your idea and it is added to the plethora of information available. You can join for free and gain access to several lesson sets, object lessons, and just good ideas. There is a rotating schedule of lessons created by the main founders of Kidology that are available to these free members at all times.

You can join and just follow along with the rotating schedule of sets for free, or become a premium member and gain access to the full site. The full site can be a bit overwhelming as there are tons of “zones” available. An easy way to use the site is to know what you would like to teach and search that out. The material can come very detailed, or very basic. Everything you need in order to do it, or just a few sentences to get you started on an idea.

While a great resource for Children’s ministries without many funds, this can also be a wonderful resource for the parent that wishes to reinforce and teach their own children truths of the Bible.

CmConnect :

Pricing is Free

Unlike anything else brought to light here, this really not curriculum. This site is, at its heart, an online community of Ministers. You can think of it like “Facebook for Children’s Ministers”. Of course, you do not HAVE to be a minister in order to join the community. Anyone interested in imparting Godly wisdom into kids is welcome. The hope is that with this community we can work together to provide each and every kid with many cool and interesting ways to learn about God. I have used this resource heavily in the past, but have neglected it recently.

This is a place we can use our strengths to help others, and begin to strengthen where we are weak. Join interest groups and grow in knowledge and wisdom from the victories and mistakes of others.

If you choose to join, please feel free to add me to your lists: Derek John Jordan

Writing Your Own :

Pricing is at your own pace

There is a time, a place, and a need for curriculum. There is also a time and a place for writing your own. You may not have the time or the resources to do this. If you have the money, it is easy to turn and get one already done and ready for you to use. I have even pointed out places you can get it if you don’t have the money. In all situations you can get a good product that teaches kids about the Bible. All of this is good.

If you can write your own you can completely and totally cater to the needs of those within your reach. If you are curious about joining together as a whole church body, you do not have to purchase all sets of material in order to do it. You can have all the ministers and elders get together to begin a plan of action within your church to teach as a church body together. I personally have hopes for this occurring in my own church, though I may not have pushed hard enough. I hope we can begin to learn together and ultimately under the guidance of the Holy Spirit.

I write my own curriculum in what I call “The Four Week Plan”. Running a ministry is something that does not stop. It is an organism all within itself. One week will likely not turn out the same as the week before it. You can have several different “sets” of kids depending on circumstances in their own lives. Your writing of these lessons and implementing them can mold to the proper needs at the proper time. This can also occur with purchased, or pre-made curriculum so don’t ever let the words on the page sway you from a need in your home body of believers.

The idea behind “The Four Week Plan” is simple. You have a set goal for each week to complete for each weeks lesson. Because the wheel can just keep turning, you don’t have a time to stop teaching and just write. You need to be able to let these be created with just as a forward momentum as the lessons come up themselves.

This is my basic planning method: (Yes it can get confusing)

The Four Week Plan

Week 1: Plan the Lesson for four weeks away and any videos that will be needed for that lesson Week 2: Plan any skits and film any videos for lesson that will be three weeks away Week 3: Have all materials needed prepared, Write Itinerary and Newsletter, Review Skits for lesson two weeks away Week 4: Review and finalize all things, Practice Skits for lesson planned for week you are in

By using this plan you and your team will always know what you are doing for the next four weeks. You can extend the list, but it can get more confusing the more you add to it. If you follow it to the T, then you are completely and totally ready to do each lesson at least two weeks before you actually need to do it.

If you are interested in any of the lesson sets we have completed you can go to our blog. Also you can join our mailing list.  I am heavy on object lessons. I usually provide video “How Tos” before I ever even finish writing the lesson it was designed for. Our YouTube channel usually gets everything first. (Lakewood Kids for older stuff)  “How Tos” are hidden so they get emailed out. ONLY those on the list can view them. Our blogs are intended for parents and kids to be able to recap the lesson, not for a minister to be able to teach it… though you could. The way I write curriculum gets very slow after we have used it ourselves, but you can take parts of it for your own usage at any time.

Music:

Music is an important resource to have. There are many, many good sources for Children’s music with a Godly center. I can easily provide what I know, trust, and use. I have found that using too many in too short a time is not the best way to do this. Kids can get attached to music. They really do want to hear them over and over again. If you find something they like, stick with it. They will love you for it. If you have others that you enjoy, please share them in the comments.

Hillsong Kids:

A long time standard in each ministry I have been with over the years as a Children’s church worker and Pastor. These guys really know how to create music that gets kids excited about singing and motions that get them moving.

Go Fish Guys:

We have found this music to have a good bit of that old feel, mixed nicely with modern and stylish. Just right for kids at many ages. The focus on the Bible and truth is amazing.

Pop Scripture Songs:

A family band, headed by father Danny Stephens (also a member of the band Small Town Poets), with the soul purpose of providing fun and exciting music for kids to learn scripture. Check out the C|C interview with Danny here as well!

The Rizers:

Also a band created for the desire for kids to have music infused with scripture. This band is cartoon based with nifty characters with a drive for rocking music and teaching God’s word.

Kids On The Move:

Our newest addition of music. This is some really fun, upbeat music that gets the kids excited about standing up in worship of the Lord.

Noisetrade:

I could not talk about music without bringing up my go-to site for free tunes. While over time the site is getting harder and harder to navigate through the simple and uneventful music I still find wonderful gems here. They all usually get posted on the Sunday Reviews here on C|C. I actually found The Rizers and Pop Scripture Songs on this site. If you are on the lookout for some music and have some time on your hands I recommend it.

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Derek is a Children’s Pastor and Men’s Leader in his home church, a Mechanical Designer to pay the bills, a Music & Book Reviewer, and Prestidigitator. He is a Fantasy reader, Whovian, and Funko Pop and Toy Collector. Derek lives in Alabama with his wife and four children. Contact: Email | Twitter | Blog

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