God, you are my rock and refuge.
(Of course, sometimes I forget to lean on you and attempt to take control…)

Ever-present God, you are with me all the time.
(Sometimes it doesn’t feel like you are with me. Sometimes I forget to talk to you…)

Forgiving God, I’m sorry I was so judgmental yesterday.
(But those people made me so mad! How can they possibly believe what they say?)

Nurturing God, thank you for my family.
(Is it really necessary that the teenage years be so traumatic…for everyone?)

If you have ever given a children’s sermon (or listened to one) you realize that although the children’s message is addressed to children, the adults listen in. Children’s messages, with their (hopefully) simplified language, short duration, and (usually) fun approach, appeal to all ages. (This is not to say that adults should have a steady diet of children’s messages only, but rather that they can be a beneficial supplement to sermons.)

The same argument can be made for many children’s books. Fewer (and simpler) words and the addition of pictures make children’s books easier for adults to read than books that are written for adults. (Again, this does not mean that children’s books should be the only literature ready by adults…) Some children’s books even seem to be written more for adults than for children. Why War is Never a Good Idea is a book that falls into this category.

Okay, I know what you are probably thinking… Vacation Bible School is done for this year. It will not happen again until next summer. And right now I am busy with getting Sunday School started. I do not have time to plan next year’s VBS now!

I agree. It is too early to plan for next year’s VBS. But now, when the Vacation Bible School experience is still in your mind, is a great time to reflect on how VBS went this year. If you haven’t already, take some time to evaluate the VBS program at your church. You might want to gather a few people who were involved with this year’s VBS and have a brainstorming session. (I recommend an informal gathering rather than a formal meeting…perhaps at a coffee house.)

If you want to move beyond having a church website that is essentially a digital brochure to one that is part of an Internet ministry, you need to continually put the web and other digital technologies on your agendas -- your personal to-do list, of course, but also on the agenda of your committees and teams. Talking about the website and other digital forms of communication reminds your leaders that ministry in a digital age requires everyone to learn to "think digitally."

Here are 22 examples of questions you could ask:

• How will we share this information on our website?
• Are there other websites where we could promote this event / share this information?
• Who can share this on Facebook / Twitter / MySpace / etc.?
• Who will take digital photos that can be shared on Flickr?
• Can we capture this event on digital video to share with others?

A recent study on online education found that students do better, on average, when they learn online instead of in face-to-face situations. So does that mean you should ditch your classrooms, small groups, and youth group and just do all of your education online?

Of course not. We all know that there are many, many benefits to face-to-face learning, such as...

• Developing emotional intelligence. We need to physically be with people to better grow in our skills of empathy, listening, and compassionate caring.
• Healthy touch. In our germ-phobic, safety-obsessed, fingertip-friendly world, we simply don't come into physical contact with others very frequently. Our education settings can be places where persons can receive healthy touches.
• A more green setting. Computers, like it or not, are the cause of a LOT ofgreenhouse gasses, environmental destruction, and even war. A church classroom can provide a more environmentally friendly learning experience.
• Being together as the body of Christ. Online, it's easy to associate with only your close friends or those with similar interests and to "see" you only as a person with a profile. In person, we have the opportunity to get to know one another as whole persons of God. 
• Mentorship. While there are many things I can certainly learn online, often I can learn them much faster when someone is there beside me to give feedback, demonstrate techniques, and assist me.
• Spiritual practices. The corporate nature of worship, service, prayer, and other disciplines is hard to replicate online effectively.

This summer I am growing the garden of neglect. The garden got off to a late start. I was sick for six weeks, just at prime garden-planting time. I almost abandoned the idea of a garden, opting to let the beds lie fallow for the season. But the thought of fresh tomatoes, tasting as no store-bought tomato ever could, spurred me on. Mid-June I finally had the energy to plant the garden, with the help of my family. The advantage of waiting until later to start your garden, is that the plants are on sale. And so the garden was planted.

Today's blog entry is not so much a review as it is a plea: I'm looking for some great religious fiction, and I'm hoping the readers of The Daily Voice will give me some great suggestions. More on that in a bit...

Three novels took their place in my backpack during my vacation. First, I read Alive Day: A Story of Love and Loyalty by Tom Sullivan (with Betty White), a recently-released Christian novel about a blind psychiatrist and an injured war veteran. Next, I polished off (in one sitting) the delightfully offbeat Mr. Dixon Disappears, the second novel in the quirky "Mobile Library Mystery" series. I finished up with a political thriller, Sam Bourne'sThe Last Testament, a Davinci Code-ish book with great detail about the religious and political realities of contemporary Palestine and Israel and an intriguing (though far-fetched) archeological context.

Which one can't I recommend? The Christian novel.

After Tim’s email on Monday about parenting talk points on scripture, we received a request to use the information in a church newsletter. The reader is also planning to hand the article out on the day that the church presents Bibles to third graders. Both of these are excellent ideas, and it started me thinking about ways that other information from Different Voice might be used.

Jose Bowen, dean of Southern Methodist University's Meadows School of the Arts, uses a teaching technique in his college classrooms he calls, "Teaching Naked." Don't worry - it actually has nothing to do with the removal of clothing, but it is an interesting idea worth considering. The basic concept is laid out in this article and audio story (which I recommend you listen to now), but here's a quick summary. Rather than using technology in the classroom to communicate information via PowerPoint or other methods, he introduces a topic briefly, then instructs students to do online exercises and research before class. When the students come together, the classroom setting becomes a place for debate conversation, role-plays and the like.

Bowen makes the point that far from being an anti-technology approach, it recognizes that students are engaged with technology at many times during the day and are very comfortable with games, simulations, and other ways of exploring digital information. This concept could be adapted for use in your own educational setting. Here are three examples to get you thinking about the concept.

Parents in progressive congregations often wonder how (and even whether) to talk about scripture to their children. Some of them may have moved away from the literalistic views they heard or learned in their previous congregations but don't feel confident speaking in a "different voice" yet. Others may wonder about ways to talk about the Bible that are appropriate for children.

Here is a list of talk points I gave to a parenting class once to help us engage in a conversation about reading the Bible at home with children. Feel free to adapt and expand them - turn them into a handout, print them in a newsletter, provide them to teachers, and so on. (Crediting DifferentVoice.com is always appreciated!)