Why Children’s Ministry is important

Well, starting tomorrow my young couples group and I will take over the Sunday School for the month of April.  In honor of this, I would like to post a video I found in youtube, stating why Children’s Ministry is so important.

It’s oh, so true.

JZone + Bivouac = an AWESOME summer camp

Question: what do you get when you combine one of the most vibrant, God-honoring youth ministries in Cagayan de Oro city…

 

My eldest daughter, Lynn, with two amazing role-models that she greatly admires: Charissa and Julia Angelica

….with one of the coolest venues of outdoor fun and adventure, located in the cool mountains nearby? 

Answer:  ONE CRAZY AWESOME SUMMER CAMP!!…and allow me to explain both below.

On becoming a BETTER LOVER…a blog I made for Definitely Filipino

It’s very cool that another one of my blogs made it to Definitely Filipino, one of the most popular Philippine Blog sites. 

The title of my piece is “On becoming a BETTER LOVER.”    I think you’ll like it.

Don’t let the title fool you.  It’s not one of those raunchy blog entries (I just made that title to interest readers who would otherwise skip the type of articles that I do).

Click here to see it, and please do leave a comment.  🙂

The juniors…I love them and I miss them already

The Juniors of The Abba’s Orchard Erdkinder…of which I was their homeroom adviser for this school year.

It’s approaching midnight of the last day of school (still doing last minute stuff) and yet I already miss you.  Thanks for making my job a bit easier.  You guys are an awesome group!

For my past posts that feature some of their work, see:

• An interesting BUY PINOY experiment: 2011 edition.
• Teens talk about finding Mr. and Ms Right, based on two great relationship books.

Funny church bulletin FAILS. Very humorous stuff.

In the other blog I contribute to, I posted a very funny article about church bulletin FAILS.  I got it from an email sent to me by a friend, and I couldn’t help but laugh out loud.

Here’s some of the funnies in that article, which totally shows the need for proofreaders:

•    Ladies, don’t forget the rummage sale. It’s a chance to get rid of those things not worth keeping around the house. Bring your husbands.

•    Don’t let worry kill you off – let the Church help.

•    Eight new choir robes are currently needed due to the addition of several new members and to the deterioration of some older ones.

•    Low Self Esteem Support Group will meet Thursday at 7 PM .. Please use the back door.

•    A bean supper will be held on Tuesday evening in the church hall. Music will follow

•    Irving Benson and Jessie Carter were married on October 24 in the church. So ends a friendship that began in their school days.

There a lot more where that came from.  My article has over 20 of these church bulletin fails, and what’s so hilarious is that all of them, bloopers and all, were actually used/announced.  You can see them by clicking here.



(This blog site, Lessons Of A Dad is mostly about parenting, marriage, and other topics aimed to develop the reader’s mind, body, and soul.  However, I don’t mind putting out the funnies every once in a while.  I’d consider it an honor if you’d follow or subscribe to this site.  You can also go to my Facebook page here, and I’m also on Twitter at @lessonsofadad)

Teens talk about finding Mr. and Ms. Right, based on two great relationship books

One thing about February, other than being one of the most stressful months of the year for this teacher, is that for my Literature classes, I bring my junior and senior students towards books that focus on wisdom when it comes to romantic relationships (in keeping up with February being the love month). 

The juniors read I Kissed Dating Goodbye, while the seniors read Boy Meets Girl, both books written by Joshua Harris.  It is my goal that my students not only become excellent in academics, but excellent in life in general…and part of that means making wise decisions at love.  That’s the reason why I have added some non-literature books in the Literature curriculum, complete with exams, assignments, etc.

In case you’re wondering, the school I teach in is The Abba’s Orchard (the main campus is here in Cagayan de Oro, but there are campuses in Manila, Cebu, and Davao), and I am a Literature and Humanities teacher in the Erdkinder (high school) program of the main farm campus. 

A large number of my students are also very involved in various Christian youth ministries in Cagayan de Oro City (InsideOut, Lifebox, and JZone, mostly).  This background info would explain the quotes that I would feature below.

Anyway, one of the assignments that the juniors have to make (remember, the Philippines only goes up to grade 10, so the juniors are grade 9 and are around 15 years old) is a seatwork titled, What Matters at 50, based on one of the latter chapters in I Kissed Dating Goodbye. 

In that chapter, Joshua Harris says that we often focus too much on physical appearance often at the cost of what really matters, and he counters this in his own life by imagining the lovely lady at age 50…would he still be in love with her?  This exercise would make character evaluation more important than physical attraction.

For the What Matters At 50 assignment, the juniors are asked about what they think is important in looking for a potential romantic partner.  I asked permission to quote a few of my students here, as these entries blessed me tremendously.

One student said:

“By 50, I want to still see how handsome my husband is.  Not physically in a sense that he still looks like he’s 17, but handsome in a way that God’s glory can be seen in him.

“Boys usually misunderstand girls and think that we’re looking for some ‘hunk’ with 10 pack abs and a body that can lift 100 kgs.  But all we’re looking for, really, is someone who’ll still love us and tell us we’re beautiful when we reach the age of 50.

“What matters most at 50 is that his character pleases God and he still treats me nicely.  One of the important traits that matters is that God is in the center of his life, in my life, and our marriage.  When it’s like that, everything else will follow.”

A beautiful marriage testimony

I was trying to make this short blog entry to encourage more people to try our 3rd batch of our couples retreat, The Story of Us…but then I just found out that the event has been sold out again, and they really can’t take in any more people (in fact, some are already staying in a different place than the venue, paying extra money to do so.)

But still, this video is too beautiful to pass up, so I’m publishing this entry anyway.  It’s from one of the marriage talks of famed pastor Mark Driscoll, and it shows a testimony of a couple whose marriage was in shambles, but through the grace of God, has been restored.

I love this video because it’s a beautiful testimony on the power of God’s grace and forgiveness; and I also love it because it serves as a stern warning.

It serves as a stern warning against the devastating consequences of emotional neglect and the subtle, yet equally devastating damage that our little pet sins and addictions can do (internet porn in the guy’s case).



Real Marriage – Phoenix – Vow Renewal from The Hub on Vimeo.

Husbands, the pursuit of our wives’ hearts should not end when they say “I do.”  We have the privilege of pursuing them until the very end of our days.

Kevin hit the nail on the head when he said, “I want them [our daughters] to be able to say, ‘I won’t settle for anyone who doesn’t treat me the way my dad treats my mom.'”

I want my daughters to say that, too.  Let’s be those kinds of men!!

Oh, by the way, the song they mentioned, Lead Me, is a favorite of mine and I feature it in my Father’s Day post last year.  It’s definitely a song that all dads and husbands need to hear.

Anyway, to those who are booked for the 3rd batch of The Story Of Us, see you on Saturday!

Wanna see more of my posts on marriage?  Click here.

Do you want some organic lettuce? We’ve got lots of em.

We’re swimming in organic lettuce, and I’m only half-exaggerating.  The high school I work for (it’s in uptown Cagayan de Oro) is a farm school, the only Montessori farm school in Asia, and the students organically planted lots and lots of lettuce.  They planted so much that they don’t know what to do with all these greens. 

So I’m gonna help them out by posting bringing the word out here on my blog.  If you live in Cagayan de Oro, and you want some yummy organic lettuce, feel free to email me at lessonsofadad@gmail.com.  In your email please indicate how many kilos you want and your contact number (I don’t want to give my students’ or my co-workers’ numbers out on the web).