The Tower of Newspaper

Tonight was daddy’s turn to lead ‘Super Family Bible Night’ and what a fun night it was. Tonight began with a little competition, not a fair competition in my opinion but we were split into 2 teams of which Toby chose to go with daddy & Lily with mummy. We had newspaper & masking tape; we had to build the tallest tower that was able to stand on its own when the 5min timer went off. Now personally I thought we were going to lose this one – I know Adam’s played and won these game lots of times before with youth group kids, and his ability to make things stronger and stand easier meant I felt the girl’s team was starting from behind. So resolved that we would lose, sad I know. However what I didn’t take was that while Lily & I plodded along adding each piece to the tower as we went along – the other team where so fixated on making lots of pieces and making them strong that they totally ran out of time and so when the timer went off their tower wasn’t even close to standing – WOOHOOO!! Girls won!! And boy were we excited!!!

So after the excitement died down and we received our prize (a lolly J) we all sat down together to read the story of the Tower of Babel and how and why God confused the language of the people. We discussed what it means to make things and ourselves more important than God. Funnily this week Lily shared with us her ‘Love Chart’ which is the order of the things she loves, which I thought was quite fascinating.

Lily’s Love Chart

1.       God/Jesus

2.       Sheepy (sheepskin she’s had since birth)

3.       Mummy

4.       Toby

5.       Daddy (poor daddy)

Although the last 3 change daily depending on mood and how she’s interacted with that person on the day. But Sheepy is always at number 2.

Love to hear your stories and thoughts on how you involve your kids in bible stories. Share a comment below.

Of course afterwards we had a newspaper sword fight

More information on bible engagement or to purchase Milk to Meat go to www.milktomeat.com.au

Jesus and the popping sprinkles

Tonight was Lily’s turn for ‘Super Family Bible Night’ and we also decided to incorporate a special dessert into our Family Nights. The kids have been bugging me about making a special dessert for the family for weeks, but I have been reluctant after the last dessert Toby made for us which was: strawberry jelly & ice cream mixed together with a large dollop of Nutella on the top, then on top of that was marshmallows, Milo, musk stick and sprinkles onto was Star Dust (the kind of sprinkles that pop in your mouth). It was a massive sugar overload and the kids took a LONG time to go to sleep. So as you can imagine I was a little hesitant to allow Toby back into the kitchen again to make dessert. But with some guidelines Toby headed off to make dessert.

So as we all sat around the table, with wine glasses in hand, we began to wonder just what did our 5yo have in store for us tonight? Well, she had prepared well and sent dad off to the supermarket to get some grape juice and she shared the story of how Jesus to water into wine. Dad thought he might have been able to do that miracle too, just like Jesus but he just couldn’t make it happen. But as we sat outside on a warm night we were able to share and discuss the power and miracles of Jesus and that same power is still available today.

Afterwards we all scoffed Toby’s dessert – which was still jelly & ice cream but we did have a hint of healthy food with some fruit salad.

Well done Lily and Toby on a great fun family night.

Moses and the burning craft

Bunny ears

This week was Toby’s turn to lead ‘Super Family Bible Night’ and he was very excited (although totally unprepared). After sifting through the Children’s bible stories about 6 times he finally came to the story of Moses and the burning bush (I think he like this idea because he could think of an idea for a craft activity). Oh well I guess whatever works for him hey!

I wonder if my burning
bush will burn?

So we sat and read the story of Moses and the burning bush, and Toby asked his set 3 questions that he seems to ask every time he leads 1. What is important about this story? 2. Why is this story in the bible? 3. What prayer points do you have? And the quicker he could get through those questions the quicker he could get to his activity.

His craft activity was cutting out pictures from coloured paper and re-creating a scene from the story. Toby loves being able to do anything involving art – he’s quite talented in the craft area (he doesn’t get this from his mum that’s for sure!!). Although he would have loved to have actually set his craft alight to see whether it really did “burn up” – we decided against that idea. But he loved leading this week and we now have paper craft of Moses and the burning bush hung up around our house. And as you can see from the pics we had a lot of fun too

Why not share your thoughts with us on how your family engages the Bible together we’d love to hear your thoughts & ideas.

For more information on Bible Engagement, Milk to Meat or other blogs go to www.milktomeat.com.au

Boys, boys, boys...

5 Tips on how to get the most out of your Bible

I received these tips when attending a Bible class a number of years ago, great for those wanting to take the next step in their bible engagement and going deeper into the Word.

1.       View the Bible as a library

The Bible is a collection of books written over a period of 1800 years and covers different periods of history, different cultures and was written to different audiences.

The Bible books contain different types of literature which should be approached differently.

If we view the Bible as a library rather than a single homogenous book we will be able to read in context and according to the type of literature. Read narratives as stories, letters as letters, poetry as poetry.

2.       Use an appropriate translation

We have a multitude of English translations of the Bible to choose from and we should read from a variety.

Translations are usually:

·         Literal – stick very closely to grammar and language of the original language e.g. RSV

·         Dynamic – seek to convey the message of the original in contemporary English e.g. NIV, TNIV

·         Paraphrase – not a translation but a retelling according to one person e.g. The Message

Choose the translation that best suits your purpose – study, reading for meaning, reading for story

3.       Recognise it is not all about you

We can approach the Bible always looking for directions, commands, promises and answers for particular questions we have. Much of the Bible cannot be applied in that way so we may misapply it or allegorise it. The purpose of the Bible is to reveal God and the story of the unfolding of his plan to redeem humanity. The Bible leads us to Jesus, who reveals God’s heart and offers new life in him.

4.       Read it actively

Because the Bible reveals God to us, we must read it with attention and purpose so that we may find him. We should read to see what the text actually says rather than what we think it says. We should ask questions – Who? What? When? Where? How?

We should only interpret the text after we understand what it says. We should apply the text only after we know what the author intended the first audience to understand.

5.       Read it in light of the cross

We are New Covenant Christians who live after the Cross and day of Pentecost. We read the Old Testament, understanding that things changed dramatically as a result of Jesus’ death, burial and resurrection. We are no longer to keep OT ritual and civil law, we have the Holy Spirit indwelling us, and all who put faith in Jesus Christ are the people of God.