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Tuesday, June 24, 2008

Drill Here, Drill Now


Please sign the "Drill Here Drill Now. Pay Less." petition on Americansolutions.com. As gas prices continue to increase, Congress continues to blame others while ignoring practical steps to stop the pain Americans are feeling at the pump. To lower gasoline prices and reduce our dependence on foreign oil, we need real solutions to our energy challenges. Sign this petition
Some forecasters are talking about $12 a gallon. Not omly do we need to dirll here and drill now in a safe and clean way, we need to build refineries, clean coal plants and drill for natural gas. It is in our hands , we as the citizens need to make the difference!

Thursday, June 19, 2008

KID CEO


I reviewed a great parenting book for Kidology.org called Kid CEO. I highly recommend it!

Monday, June 16, 2008

A special class




Yesterday we graduated our 5th grade students from church on up to the middle school ministry. this was a very special class for me for several reasons.



  • Several were in kindergarten when we first came here. I am the only children's pastor they have had through all of elementary. We have been through tons of events (5 VBS weeks!), broken up fights, watched friendships form, had them over to play with our kids, given out awards, and two of these kids lost parents in the 2nd grade. We are close with many of their parents as well.


  • This is a class of special potential. My prayer is that many spiritual giants come form this class.


  • Our oldest son Blake is in this class. Wow this is a little sad for me. Plus his friends have been over to our house much more than other kids so I know many of them really well. We've jumped on the trampoline together and they've swung on my tire swing and camped out in my backyard!

Feeling kind of philsophical about all this I have been thinking kids growing up is like art and progress:



You can't rush art and you can't stop progress. So we'll enjoy every stage!

Monday, June 09, 2008

Big weekend






We had a very busy weekend. On top of Tanner's baptism we went to Richmond to a Homeschool conference called Heav, see here. We learned lots and saw some sights too. The canal I am standing in front of is over 200 hundred years old and was concieved in the mind of George Washington. We also saw the capital building and the Confederate whitehouse. We had fun just being with our friends the Knicks too.




















Then on Saturday my sister Rachel and her family and my sister Becky came to Roanoke for final get-together before the Cassadys head to South Korea. It was fo course very sad to say goodbye for 2-3 years to them. It is hard to beleive but Blake will be a teenager when they get back.

Tanner's baptism

This is one the greatest joys for a dad/pastor. I was fighting the tears for sure. Before hand I gave Tanner a hug and was crying so it got out my system. In another thought - wouldn't it be great when we could to have every dad in the tank with me helping me baptize their kids!

Tuesday, June 03, 2008

Greenhouse effect

My wife has been working on an herb garden. She started with some seedling sin our house and then moved them into the sun porch as they became little plants. She will eventually plant them in a protected area outside and watch over them daily until they are strong enough to survive outside.
This got me thinking about parenting in terms of a greenhouse. Weird thoughts I know but what can I say? Anyway I did some research online and here is some of what I found:
A green house is made up of glass. It takes solar energy form the sun and converts it into thermal energy. You can easily observe this happening in your day to day life. On a hot sunny day, when you park your car in sunlight with the windows rolled up. The solar energy passes through the window and heats up the inner atmosphere of your car. As a result, everything in the car becomes warm. This happens because the infra red rays are of a shorter wavelength before they touch the window. As they pass through the glass, they become of a longer wavelength. Infra red rays of a longer wave length cannot escape. As a result they get absorbed by the objects surrounding them. This is how a green house creates an ideal setting to grow plants. Plants get enough energy and sun light to absorb and grow.
Essentially, the large kettle full of water has been replaced by one with half an inch of water on its bottom, and as a result the water will warm up much faster. This also explains why ventilation is so important in keeping a greenhouse from overheating.
So how does this relate to parenting? Or children’s ministry for that matter? I have always thought of my philosophy of parenting as a greenhouse philosophy.
Most of feel when God gives us a new little baby we need to protect it from the elements, you know sickness, junk food, the rain, bad people etc... As times goes on we all know that we have to release our little seedling into the big world and hope they survive it! But when and how is that done?
First of all I think as a society in general we are too quick to put them into the world in general. I know they have to learn to survive in a hostile environment. I know they have to leaner to deal with a sin-filled society. I know all that. But how do we do this. I firmly believe we do it slowly and gently. They are children and their innocence is such a treasure. In order to develop normally they need to keep that innocence for along time.
Our job is to slowly expose them to the harsh elements of this world while allowing them to grow stronger with deeper roots in the greenhouse of God’s Word, love and security. If I may indulge myself in a little homeschool parent rant here, I have heard the argument against homeschooling that we have to expose them to the real world; they need to interact with a sinful society if they are going to develop a strong faith. Whether you homeschool or not is between you and God, but that argument is pure nonsense!
Secondly in the same vein we have become as a society such protectors of what goes into our child’s mouth and stomach but allow the most horrible junk to go straight into their souls. If we are going to be greenhouse parents we have to work hard at protecting our children’s souls and minds. The body will pas away, and is worth protecting. Should we not be a hundred times more vigilant with their spirit, their souls, and their innocence?

If you were expecting an article on carbon emissions please go here http://www.junkscience.com/Greenhouse/

Sunday, June 01, 2008

Order of the Ancient


Our latest book is a novel by Karl Bastian called Order of the Ancient. In the interest of full disclosure I am friend of Karl's and serve as a Team member for his website Kidology.org. All ratings are based on a five star system.


Tanner - 5 stars, because I loved it! I liked Josiah's urge to tell people about God!


Blake - 4 stars. I liked the parts when they infiltrated bases when he saved people and he got the Bible back.


Patsy - 4 stars. I really liked that the book showed how hard it could be to be a Christian and yet how easy it is for us today. It's too easy for us to take it for granted.


Marty - 4.5 stars . I love it when there is a great Christian book with adventure and intrigue for kids. Boys especially need to know that Christianity is an adventure!


BTW - We have some copies of the Order of the Ancient for sale in the KidZone store. Check out his site at http://www.orderoftheancient.com/