Newsletter for Today's Children's Ministry            Nov. 2002        Number 1


Welcome To The First Issue
by Mark Kilcoyne

 I know your time is valuable and that going to meetings is not high on your agenda.  Here's an idea.  Why not get some training in your inbox?  Each month I will be sending out this tackle box to give the lures you need to reach boys and girls for Christ.  In this column I will tackle issues that are important to the life of those who minister to children.   Whether you work in the nursery, or a Sunday school class,  I know you can find the one nugget that will work for you. [more]
  
 

 

Tackle Box Web Sites

Tackle Box Home Page
New Life Assembly of God
The Kidz Zones

Recommended places to fill your tackle box
 

Teaching a Child How To Resist Peer Pressure
by Mark Kilcoyne

Have you heard a joke like this?  'I don't have a problem with peer pressure.  I just give in - no problem!"  Does this sound like you or your kids?  Living in our culture we all face situations that challenge our values and deep-seated beliefs.  One of the greatest challenges for teacher and parent is equipping and allowing our children to just say no to negative influences in their lives.  It is often easier to say no to influences that we can plainly see endanger our physical health, but what about our spiritual health.  Why is it harder to say no to those things that are a cancer to our spiritual health? [more]

(Just O.K.)   or   ( Good Book) or (Excellent)
If You Want to Walk on Water, You've Got To Get Out Of The Boat
John Ortberg (Zondervan, 2001)  

The one book I've read this year that has challenged me to my core and I liked it.  If you have never stepped out in faith on what God has called you to do, this book is for you.  If you stepped out in faith and found yourself with that sinking feeling, this book is for you.  If you want to stay in the boat where it's safe, this book may have you walking on water.  

  
   
An Unstoppable Force: Daring to Become The Church God Had In Mind.
Erwin Raphael McManus (Group, 2001)  

Erwin McManus is a visionary for where the church is going.  His insight into becoming an unstoppable force is encouraging.  This is not a how to book.  Instead, it gives a clear vision for the emerging church and what kind of people take hold of that vision.  Very applicable to children's ministries.  If we want to be a force in our community, offering quality children's ministries is part of what God has in mind.  McManus takes us through his life voyage and teaches us the lessons he has learned along the way.  Excellent book.

  
   

A recent Kaiser Family Foundation/Nickelodeon survey of 10- to 12-year-olds found that 22% know of classmates who smoke, 13% have friends who drink, and 35% consider the pressure to have sex "a big problem." - "Are you prepared for puberty?" by Sue Woodman. Family Life, Jun/July 2001. Pages 60-64

Your companions are like the buttons on an elevator. They will either take you up or they will take you down.
- Bits & Pieces

But you must pay for conformity. All goes well as long as you run with conformists. But you, who are honest men in other particulars, know, that there is alive somewhere a man whose honesty reaches to this point also, that he shall not kneel to false gods, and, on the day when you meet him, you sink into the class of counterfeits.. - Ralph Waldo Emerson

Much of the pressure contemporary parents feel with respect to dressing children in designer clothes, teaching young children academics, and giving them instruction in sports derives directly from our need to use our children to impress others with our economic surplus. We find “good” rather than real reasons for letting our children go along with the crowd. - David Elkind, U.S. psychologist, child development specialist

According to a 1995 National survey of fourth through sixth graders who read the Weekly Reader, 30 percent of students reported that they received "a lot" of pressure from their classmates to drink beer. - The Weekly Reader.


"12We do not dare to classify or compare ourselves with some who commend themselves. When they measure themselves by themselves and compare themselves with themselves, they are not wise." - 2 Cor. 10:12  (NIV)

"24 Do not make friends with a hot-tempered man,
do not associate with one easily angered,25 or you may learn his ways and get yourself ensnared.
" - Proverbs 22:24-25 (NIV)

"6 These commandments that I give you today are to be upon your hearts. 7 Impress them on your children. Talk about them when you sit at home and when you walk along the road, when you lie down and when you get up." - Deuteronomy 6:6,7  (NIV)
Trends Vs. Fads - by Dick Gruber.  This is a good article to open  the fresh fish area.  It will probably be kept on this page along with new trends or fads you need to know about.


VeggieTales - The driving force behind the new Jonah movie is Big Idea out of Chicago.  Check how the movie is doing and what our favorite veggies are up to next.  

Burial Box Of James, Jesus' Brother Found - Biblical Archaeology Review has a fascinating article about the discovery of James' burial box.  This is the first ever archaeological discovery to corroborate Biblical references to Jesus.  Kids should see this and strengthen their faith through this information.

Thanksgiving - What is the origin of America's annual Thanksgiving day?  An excellent short article written by David Barton of Wallbuilders reprinted on the Christian Answers Network.

The Friendship Factor - What your child's friendships tell you about his spiritual, mental, and emotional well-being
By Henry Cloud, Ph.D.

Mansfield Teen Finds Strength In The Bible. How Ashley Page an Assemblies of God teen faces and overcomes peer pressure.


Preparing for Peer Pressure by Faith Tibbets McDonald Jennifer Tiszai

Monitoring a Child's Motivation 
Before we go any further.  Who is this Rod Bender? Rod is the keeper of the tackle box.  He's my altar-ego.  A Supernatural hero.  A real fisher of men.  This column will be that last word and after that the tackle box will be closed until next time.

Peer Pressure & Experts: One of the silliest questions on TV in the past 2 years was "Who wants to be a Millionaire?"  Like there are people who are sitting around wishing they weren't millionaires.  Somebody's fishing without a license.  Most everybody wants to be a millionaire.  Even old "Stink Bait" Jones wouldn't mind his shack bein' featured on Lifestyles of the Rich and Famous. 

With that thought firmly fixed under my hat, I was wondering why anyone wouldn't want to be an expert at overcoming peer pressure?  Most of us have come face to face with high pressurin' peers.  We've been workin' for years to get "Stink Bait" to buy a bar of soap.  He says he's not giving in to our peer pressure.  "Stink Bait" claims to be an expert on peer pressure.  He says he learned from the best how to over come peer pressure.  I asked "Stink Bait" who was the expert?  "Grandpa Norman taught me alls I need to know 'bout peer pressure," said "Stink Bait."  Old "Stink Bait then told us the secret passed down from Grandpa Norman.  "Yep, according to Grandpa Norman there are two ways to over come peer pressure.  Number one, don't have no friends.  Ifin you have no friends they can't peer pressure ya.  And in the event you fail at havin' friends, alls you have to do is out live em."

Old "Stink Bait" hasn't done too well with rule number one.  I wouldn't be surprised however if he manages number two.

"Stink Bait" Dictionary- 

Expert- Two words put together to form one word. The first "ex" means has been.  The second, "spert" means a drip under pressure.  Put it together you have some one who has been under pressure.  

 

This newsletter is the work of Mark Kilcoyne children's pastor at New Life Assembly of God Janesville, WI.  If you would like to be removed from this newsletter, please follow the instructions below.  Any questions or suggestions can be emailed to Mark Kilcoyne.

 

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