VERVE 2.0 is coming April 25-26! Craig Jutila, Art Murphy, Jeff Slaughter, and breakouts. Check it out at www.childrensleader.com.

Somethings off with the formatting here, but read on anyway:

Some friends of mine just posted a comment to my opinion about The Golden Compass. It sparked a train of thought in me that I thought I could write in just a sentence or to response to their comment. However, it got a little longer, so I decided to give it its own entry as it may spark further discussion.I want to make a follow up remark to Justin and Erika Kirkham’s well written comment which you can read by clicking here.Bravo! That is a great perspective and one that is certainly reasonable and graciously put. I want to make an effort here to be totally transparent and honest and respond to the line of thinking you raise when you say “It is our opinion that if we as Christians did in fact pull all of the books and movies that are contrary to God’s Word from our shelves (and we’ve got plenty of dvds that would fit into this category myself which leads us to a big decision as to what we plan to do about that…), we may actually find ourselves spending more time reading our Bibles and Bible-related materials (and prayerfully applying what we’ve read) instead of inundating our free time and our minds with not only ungodly, but in this case, anti-God materials and activities.” Read the rest of this entry »

A friend of mine lost his mother on Thanksgiving day.  He is my age, so his mother was pretty young.  He and his wife have three young children about the same age as mine.  Please remember to pray for them. His loss got me thinking about how children deal with the loss of their loved ones, especially their grandparents.   Read the rest of this entry »

Okay parents, I know some of you have voracious readers for whom you would like to buy some books this Christmas. Since The Golden Compass will be a big push AND since many of you probably don’t want your kids to read those books, I’ve decided to list my favorite alternatives. These are all series that share some things in common with The Golden Compass and His Dark Materials. They are all written for either children or a young adult audience. They are all from Christian authors. They all bridge the gap between our world and an alternate universe. And they are all basically an allegory for Christ’s redemptive work on the cross and God’s free gift of grace. Read the rest of this entry »

With Christmas rolling around and kids growing up, I’m sure some of you will be getting new computers for Christmas. If not, many of you already have them in your homes, and your kids probably love to play on them. So, how do you keep them safe online?

Obviously, you must use a combination of approaches. Most importantly, you must monitor your children’s online viewing. Set limits for the amount of time they spend online. Periodically check your computer’s history and cookies. You might consider previewing some or all of their incoming e-mail. Keep the computer in a central location in your house so that it’s easy to see what’s going on. Whether or not your child has a computer in his or her room, consider using an internet filtering service. Read the rest of this entry »

If you haven’t read Part One or Part Two, click on their links to go there.

His Dark Materials, Part One

His Dark Materials, Part Two

Here’s a list of links for materials about the movie The Golden Compass as well as the book trilogy His Dark Materials by Philip Pullman. Some of these materials support the movie and books, some are speaking out against them, and some just provide information. They are provided in a completely random order. I’m sure I’ve forgotten some, but here goes. Read the rest of this entry »

According to Peter Bradshaw of Guardian Unlimited, The Golden Compass has “no other challengers as this year’s big Christmas movie.” Click here to read the review.

As many of you know, Uncle Charlie, a great kids’ worship leader, was in a car accident a couple of weeks ago. Read my original post here.

I just received an e-mail update from his team at Upward Bound Ministries. I’ve decided to post it here for all to read and continue praying for Uncle Charlie.

Read the rest of this entry »

If you haven’t read Part One, you may do so by clicking here.

I apologize for ending the last post so abruptly. I actually stopped in the middle of writing to pack for our Thanksgiving trip to Mississippi. That was Wednesday morning. I wasn’t online to publish again until Saturday night when we returned home. I had every intention of finishing but was just too tired.

So, here’s what you’ve all been waiting for…I hope. The opinion.

I want to give this opinion in the form of a series of questions and answers. Hopefully, these questions and answers will help you form your own opinion, even if it is different from mine.

Q01 - Is Philip Pullman an atheist? Let’s allow him to answer that question in his own words. Read the rest of this entry »

I’ve begun working on a new web design project. Lexi House is a shelter for women and children in Morgan County, Alabama. It is actually the only shelter in the county that will house both women and children for up to one full year completely free the residents.

I’m working with Allen Brown, the Executive Director, to create an online presence for this ministry. You can find the new website at www.lexihouse.com. It is still a work in progress, so feel free to make comments about the overall design, choice of colors, etc. As of the writing of this entry, I have not received their logo, so that is why it is missing from the site. But check out the basic design, the color choice, etc. and let me know what you think. I will be adding audio and video soon, as well as a Paypal donation link so that everyone can easily support the excellent work that Lexi House is doing.