Zondervan Blog |
- The Bottom-line Motivation for Ministry
- Beginner’s Bible App for iPad: Making the Bible Fun and Interactive for Kids!
- Talking With Teens About Loving God and Yourself (In High School and Beyond…)
| The Bottom-line Motivation for Ministry Posted: 14 Sep 2012 10:57 AM PDT What motivates Jesus-followers to serve others? To find out, let’s look at a key conversation between Jesus and Peter. (This is a devotion excerpted from Once-a-Day Men and Women of the Bible Devotional.) The third time he said to him, “Simon son of John, do you love me?” Peter was hurt because Jesus asked him the third time … Jesus said, “Feed my sheep.” -John 21:17 Much has been made of the question Jesus asked Peter three times: “Do you love me?” Pastors and teachers talk about how this question intentionally parallels Peter’s three denials of Christ. Others stress the different Greek words translated as “love” in this passage. But we must also recognize the emphasis Jesus placed on ministering to others. “Feed my sheep,” Jesus said each time Peter affirmed his love for Christ. If Peter really loved Jesus, he would care for those who belong to Jesus. Notice that not once did Jesus ask Peter if he loved Jesus’ sheep. The bottom-line motivation for ministry was and is love for Jesus and a willingness to act. There is another message here as well. “Even if you have failed,” Jesus seems to be saying, “I can still use you in the lives of others.”
What about your life? Do you love Jesus? Are you proving your love for him by serving others? Is your motivation in ministry to show love for Christ? Anything less will not endure. Are past failures haunting you and keeping you from seeking Christ? Look at the lesson of Peter and realize that God can and still wants you to be a fruitful servant for him. PrayerLord, in my barren times, help me to still bear fruit… -From the Once-a-Day Men and Women of the Bible Devotional
Learn more about the Once-A-Day Men and Women of the Bible Devotional: 365 Insights from Scripture’s Most Memorable People.
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| Beginner’s Bible App for iPad: Making the Bible Fun and Interactive for Kids! Posted: 14 Sep 2012 07:01 AM PDT The Bible is an exciting book, but sometimes it can be challenging to find new ways to keep little ones interested. That’s why Ruthie Spaans, a member of our Zonderkidz team, shares this exciting announcement about a new interactive storybook app from The Beginner's Bible. It's here, it's here! The eagerly awaited Beginner's Bible App for iPad is now available for download in the Apple store! The new app is based on The Beginner’s Bible, the bestselling storybook Bible of all time, having sold over 6 million copies since its release in 1989. The app contains stories, coloring pages, games, and audio, so children six and under can enjoy their favorite Bible stories all by themselves. Why kids and parents love the appThe Beginner's Bible App was designed for young children to easily use themselves but is also a great way for parents to connect with their kids, while teaching them biblical truths.
It’s fun too! The illustrations have interactive elements that a child can manipulate using the touch screen, including fun animal sounds such as elephants, kittens, and sheep. This app will be a wonderful addition to family time or bedtime storytime. What’s in the free app?The Beginner’s Bible App is available to download for free, with a complimentary story pack that includes: Additional story packs will be available for $1.99 and will include six new stories, coloring pages, puzzles, and a new game based on one of the stories. All story packs will be released over the next three to five months, allowing you to collect the complete Beginner’s Bible storybook through the app. Reviews are rolling inThe app has already received rave reviews. Craig Groeschel, pastor of Lifechurch.tv said, "I was blown away by The Beginner's Bible App. This app provides a fun way for kids to interact with the Bible using technology that they can relate to." Lori Cunningham, founder of WellConnectedMom.com said, “The Beginner's Bible app makes favorite childhood stories come alive in a new way for kids.” Download the free iPad app todayYou and your kids will love it: Download the Beginner's Bible App -Ruthie Spaans, Zonderkidz | |||
| Talking With Teens About Loving God and Yourself (In High School and Beyond…) Posted: 13 Sep 2012 06:57 PM PDT
Guest post by Annie F. Downs, author of Perfectly Unique: Praising God From Head to Foot, which is available now. This is the first post in a three-part series about Perfectly Unique, the Girls of Grace Tour, and equipping teen girls with the tools they need to find their security in Christ:
I wrote Perfectly Unique for about fifteen high school girls from my church. They showed up at my house every Monday night—we would eat cookies and drink coffee and they would read these pages, straight from my printer, and we would talk. And today, while those fifteen girls are out of high school and this book rests in many more hands (and is no longer printed at my house), that's still what Perfectly Unique is. It is a conversation, between the reader and I, you and me, about what it is like to love God, serve Him, all the while also learning how to better love yourself. I was never very good at that, the whole "love yourself" thing. In fact, I pretty much hated myself all through high school and some of college. But that's not all that this book is about—yes, I do talk about my struggles with self-worth and how God rescued me from those lies, but bigger than that, this book is about a God who saves and how we can live in such a way that brings glory to Him. I love Perfectly Unique. I love the title—it fits me so well. It's exactly what I wish someone would have called me when I was a teenager. That's what I wanted to be—unique, and good at it. And while I'm not sure I ever achieved that, I certainly see God doing that in other teens now, as they read the book, and that means more to me than anything. My inbox beeps a few times a day, little notes typed out from teenagers who are quietly wrestling with who they are in Christ and what they are doing on this planet. They tell me that the book has changed their life. I shake my head, it is hard to believe. Sometimes God lets us be a part of someone else's rescue and I am certainly unworthy. (I know. You think everyone says that. But seriously. I mean it.)
This book is just me telling some stories from my heart about my life and trying to help teenage girls maneuver through these years with as much grace and ease and Jesus as possible. But the emails come. And the Facebook messages from moms of how they see a change in their daughter. And the tweets from girls in the UK unloading their dishwasher because it is a way to glorify God with her hands. And I stop, my fingers hovered over the keyboard, and give thanks to God for letting my story, my rescue, make a way for other girls to be rescued from the lies of the enemy and rescued to a place of abundant life. I think of Joel 2:25 – "I will repay you for the years the locusts have eaten." And I think of teenage Annie, and all the ways that the swarm of lies ate away at her life like a plague of locusts. And then I think of God, and the girls who are hearing truth for the first time in Perfectly Unique. And it all seems worth it. - Annie F. Downs
Want to meet Annie on the Girls of Grace Tour? Enter our Girls of Grace giveaway for a chance to win VIP tickets* to the upcoming event at Grace Church in Eden Prairie, MN on September 22! Click here to enter: http://bit.ly/PgjRVu Giveaway ends September 18 at 11:59PM EST
About Annie F. Downs
(This post does not represent the views of Zondervan or any of its representatives. The writer’s personal opinions are shared only for information purposes. To receive new Zondervan Blog posts in your reader or email inbox, subscribe to Zondervan Blog.) *Winners will receive tickets for admission to the Girls of Grace event, but travel and food expenses are not included in the prize. |
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