iRock Ministries

intentionally Reaching Our Community Kids

New Life

If the reason for Easter could be summed up in a text message this is how it would read,

“Thanks so much for all you guys do.  I just wanted to let you know that my nephew Eric accepted Jesus Christ as his savior today in kids church.  He was able to tell us the whole story of Easter.  The day before we had asked Eric what happened 3 days after Jesus died on the cross and he said they had a funeral.  He now knows that after three days Jesus rose from the grave and that he now lives in his heart.”

This was received after Pastor TJ and I shared an Easter service with the kids at Warwick AG. That morning nine children gave their hearts to the Lord. Knowing that these children now have the love and hope that only comes from knowing Jesus truly touches my heart and reminds me of the importance of taking every opportunity to tell people about Jesus’s life, death and resurrection offering forgiveness to everyone.

We celebrate Easter in many different ways; egg hunts, candy, family dinners, football, new outfits, and yet there will never be a better way to celebrate than to hear that a child has asked Jesus into their heart.

Preparation for the day takes on many forms, hours of drama rehearsals, shopping, decorating, spring planting, cleaning and a flurry of activity but no amount of preparation should exceed the amount that we put into the spiritual preparation that could lead someone into a personal relationship with Jesus.

Why can’t every day be like Easter? Why can’t we spiritually prepare for every Sunday like we prepare for Easter? Jesus didn’t raise from the dead for us to celebrate one Sunday in the year, he rose from the dead so that we can celebrate every day. Make a commitment today to treat every day like Easter.

A Heart for Missions

BGMC (Boys and Girls Missionary Challenge) goes to extremes to provide missionaries with much needed resources.
To what extent will you go to help provide the resources that missionaries need to spread the gospel to people around the world?

Faith Community church in Mount Airy MD decided to bring in a professional chef (that would be me and I’m far from a professional) to prepare and reward it‚Äôs congregation with Chef Tera Masu‚Äôs signature soup, Missions Soup. A recipe only shared with congregations that have a heart and passion for the lost, Chef Tera Masu‚Äôs recipe is more secret than Bush‚Äôs Baked Beans. Even Duke couldn‚Äôt persuade her to reveal the secret ingredients.

Although the recipe may be secret, it’s no secret that BGMC is meeting critical needs around the world. Chef Tera Masu was able to share the many projects that impact lives such as disaster relief in Kenya, Haiti and Jamaica, building orphanages in Venezuela and the United States, providing clean water and water buckets to Africa, assisting children in Bolivia who have imprisoned parents and providing Bibles to Iran, Iraq and Russia. These are only a few of the ways BGMC is “Shaking it up to Change the world.”

Chef Tera Masu broke it down into bite size portions as she shared how much can be done with just a little. The cost of a McDonald’s happy meal can provide 7 complete meals to a hungry child. For the price of a magazine, a child could purchase the needed supplies to attend school and for price of a new release DVD movie, 36 children could have a new pair of shoes. A small price to pay to relieve hunger, provide an education or protect the feet of a small child.

That morning the congregation raised over $4,500 toward their goal of $5,000. May God continue to work in this congregation as they continue to help missionaries through BGMC.

Kidtopia Egg Hunt

It was a good day to be investing in the lives of children. Saturday afternoon brought hundreds of children to Calvary’s Kidtopia Egg hunt. Volunteers from the church helped hide/distribute candy filled eggs over the park, register kids and prepare for the gathering of the eggs.

Plethora of balloons

Over 150 sculpting balloons were inflated and secured in a large bag so that with the onslaught of children we would be free to concentrate on interacting with the kids and twisting a plethora of balloons.  Before long there were dogs, cats, hats, swords, rabbits and a few unrecognizable animals. But it’s safe to say that each twist brought a look of amazement and excitement on to the faces of the children. The event wasn’t intended to evangelize that community but it was to show the families that the people at Calvary Assembly of God cared about the children and wanted to invest in their lives. If we are unable to show people that we care, then we have not earned the right to share the gospel with them. Each step and each act of kindness brings us one step closer to bringing a life to Christ.

“For this very reason, make every effort to add to your faith goodness; and to goodness, knowledge; and to knowledge, self-control; and to self-control, perseverance; and to perseverance, godliness; and to godliness, brotherly kindness; and to brotherly kindness, love. For if you possess these qualities in increasing measure, they will keep you from being ineffective and unproductive in your knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ.” 2Pet. 1:5-8

The Power of One

As I encouraged a group of children’s ministry volunteers at Mt Calvary in Morgantown WV the one thing that I wanted them to hear and believe is that they are valued and their ministry is vital to building the kingdom of God. I shared the following, ‚ÄúA student is not above his teacher, but everyone who is fully trained will be like his teacher.‚Äù

This is not some profound statement from a teaching manual, seminar or workshop for teachers, this is a statement that Jesus himself made in Luke 6:40

Jesus needed his disciples to help him, to learn from him, and to eventually become the leaders after he had gone away. Jesus also says in Matt. 28:19, “Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit.”

We are doing what Jesus himself did on earth. How awesome is that?

There are people all over the world that have a passion for reaching children with Jesus’s love and forgiveness. They may use different methods, curriculum and approaches but their desire to teach so that students will learn is the same.
You may not see immediate results and you many not see your impact until you get to heaven, but be encouraged that you are making a difference.

One Young Boy

Edward Kimball, a shoe clerk and a Sunday school teacher in Chicago, loved boys. He spent hours of his free time visiting the young street urchins in Chicago’s inner city, trying to win them for Christ. Through him, a young boy named D.L. Moody got saved in 1858. Moody grew up to be a preacher.

In 1879 Moody won to the Lord a young man by the name of F.B. Meyer, who also grew up to be a preacher. An avid enthusiast of personal visitation, Meyer won a young man by the name of J.W. Chapman to Christ. Chapman, in turn, grew up to be a preacher and brought the message of Christ to a baseball player named Billy Sunday. As an athlete/evangelist, Sunday held a revival in Charlotte, NC, that was so successful that another evangelist by the name of Mordecai Hamm was invited to Charlotte to preach. It was while Hamm was preaching that a teenager named Billy Graham gave his life to Jesus.

It all started with the winning of a child to Jesus. We may not all be a D.L. Moody, Billy Sunday or Billy Graham, but we can all be instrumental in beginning that process in the life of someone who will be.

Write a letter to “Hades”?

Today I received a letter from a friend asking for my best advice. She and her family are strong Christians and have been raising their daughter to believe in God as the one and only true God. I have seen this young girl grow in her faith and she is committed to Jesus Christ. She was given an assignment by her elementary school teacher to write a letter to the Greek god ‘Hades’.

When I first read her question, several things went through my mind but I wanted to make sure that I responded rather than react to her question. After talking with a friend here was my response.

First I would ask the teacher if she could modify the assignment and share with her why you do not want your daughter to write to a greek god of the underworld which is equivalent to who you know as satan. Ask if she could write a letter or essay telling about another god other than hades and then tell about the God she does believe in?

Secondly, if the teacher will not modify the assignment then you need to question her purpose for this type of writing assignment. I would then question the principal if this is state required material and give suggestions on alternative writing projects that would meet the state requirements.

This is a good opportunity to talk with your daughter about the difference between little ‘g’ and big ‘G’ when using the term god and that you know the only true God and the others are false gods. There are gods that people have worshiped throughout the ages but that doesn’t mean they are real.

How would you have responded to this question? I’d love for you to leave a comment to this blog.

Just talked with a friend and she gave me a great idea. Take this opportunity to write to Hades and let him know that his life could have been different had he trusted Jesus in his life. Take the opportunity to tell Hades about Jesus and share the entire salvation message. What do you think about this direction?