Over the past several years, the Lord has been brewing something in my heart that I just can not contain any longer. About two and a half years ago, I could not go to sleep. There was a burden on my heart that I had to get on paper. I had a burning desire to glorify Christ in all things. I was driven to the Scriptures. I read the Word, I read books on Christology, family ministry, and discipleship…and I wrote.

I hope to have a book published out of this…in fact I’m currently searching for a literary agent and/or publisher. I also want to proliferate these ideas through a new site which is now live at Becoming Saturated. The goal of the site is to further dialogue in the Christian community about the importance of the supremacy of Christ (Col. 1:18) with leaving a legacy. I’m not proposing some revolutionary movement, I just think that in all the family ministry, legacy, orange talk out there, we must always be aware of our focus on the centrality of the Person of Christ and the gospel.

I’m encouraged by the gospel-centeredness that the Christian community is heralding more and more. I want to be a part of that. I want to be a helping part of that as a fellow journey man who is on the road to “becoming saturated” with Jesus. I want to see Jesus more and more in my life as a disciple, husband, father, pastor, and leader. I’m sure you do to.

So that’s the deal. Free CM Stuff will remain a site for now, though I will not be updating it with new content. I’m working with another organization to get the Free CM Stuff content on their site, and I think that will be a great partnership. I’ll update you when that becomes more of a reality.

I’m so thankful for the support of my readers. I hope this site has been a blessing. I hope Becoming Saturated will be a blessing as well. I would certainly love for you to spread the word about my new site. Tweet it, share it with your leaders at church, post it on Facebook, put it in your newsletters…whatever avenue comes to your mind. I would greatly appreciate your promotion.

May the Lord bless you richly through Jesus Christ, by the power of the Holy Spirit, as you minister to the next generation.

Little Jesus Freaks is a website for parents that provides reviews on DVD and Blu Ray releases, books, and other parental resources. It also offers recipes, commentary on everyday parenting experiences, and press releases pertinent to resources and announcements that are beneficial to parents.

For those of you wanting information on a little bit more mature level, you can get a ton of reviews and be in the know on the latest Christian film and music through Jesus Freak Hideout. Movie reviews include a parental guide much like Plugged In Online’s content. Jesus Freak Hideout also has ongoing contests for free music and special meetings with artists. You can also check out their free music section.

With Family Crossings, families in your ministry can set up free websites to keep track of one another. The free version offers:

• General news content
• Photo galleries
• Family calendar
• Family address book
• Live chat
• Gift center

Would your family use this? Do you think this would be a good tool instead of Facebook for family communication or is it worth the trouble to sign up for something else?

I came across a book review site done for kids, by kids recently called There and Blog Again. The main author of the blog is a kid named Cal and I think he may be a grandson of RC Sproul. Please correct me if I’m wrong here.

This would be a great site to let pre-teen readers and parents of these kids in your ministry to know about. Cal writes well, but from a kid’s perspective. He filters his reviews through a Christian world-view and makes solid recommendations for other kids. I’m thankful for kids like Cal who step out with bold faith in an effort to serve other kids.

Focus on the Family Canada has a great site called Kids of Integrity that provides tools for growing godly character in kids. Kids of Integrity is a set of free resources that will help you coach your kids with confidence and a clear sense of direction. Better still, Kids of Integrity will excite your children about living “God’s way.”

You can utilize this resource either as a tool for parents or for supplemental materials for a lesson you may be teaching. It is filled with lessons, memory verse activities, object lessons, Bible stories, and practical suggestions for implementing that character trait into a child’s life. You will find materials on acceptance, generosity, honesty, kindness, and more.

What other free materials do you know about for building godly character in kids?

ZipZap is a family friendly web browser that allows parents to closely monitor and control what their children view on the internet. It essentially revolves around giving each family member a user account which can be filtered using 64 different categories. I think this would be a great tool to make available to elementary and middle school parents and could even be something that you installed on any ministry computers used by children.

If you want a great site to send your parents to for helpful articles and practical advice from a biblical perspective, then Premeditated Parenting will be a help to you. › Continue reading…

While I was at CPC in Orlando, I came across a few resources that Disciple Land curriculum makes available to any children’s ministry leader. You can find them here. At this site you will find several articles and charts that aid in disciple making, parent equipping, and ministry evaluation. Thanks Disciple Land!

I have been reading a book recently by a great Chinese pastor named Watchman Nee. The book is called Christ the Sum of All Spiritual Things. It is a small unassuming book that you can read in one or two sittings, but it is packed with some earth shaking thoughts about what it means to be in relationship with Christ. I want to quote a few short paragraphs that led me to think about the way I minister to kids and families. I’ve been considering how I revolve my life and ministry around Jesus more and more over the last several years and this just helped me to move my thinking to a different level.

Living Christianity (as opposed to Dead Christianity) Has Only One Person

Probably you will ask me, Why do you lay such stress on this point? Because here lies the difference between living Christianity and dead Christianity. The distance between these two ways is incalculable. One is spiritual, while the other is not spiritual. One is of God, but the other is of man’s invention. Let me say this: that when you have studied God’s word carefully, you will discover that in the Bible there is only a Person, not a thing. And that Person is the Lord Jesus. You cannot find anything except that Person.

A colossal problem exists among God’s children today. The Christianity which they know is quite fragmentary. You obtain a little grace, I receive a little gift, and he speaks a little tongue. This man experiences some change in his conduct, that man possesses some measure of love; this one has patience, that one has humility. This is what is commonly known as Christianity. But is this Christianity? It is not, for Christianity is Christ. Christianity is not reward, neither is it what Christ gives to me. Christianity is none other than Christ himself.

Do you perceive the difference? These are two totally divergent ways. Christianity is not any one thing which Christ gives to me; Christianity is Christ giving himself to me. Here is the problem, that people consider today’s Christianity to be the endowment of Christ. When I was a sinner, Christ endowed me with grace and mercy. Now that I have become a Christian, He endows me with patience and humility and gentleness and whatever. But this is just not so.

So let me pose a few questions to all of you ministry leaders out there:

1. First of all, are you giving your people Jesus? Is he the centerpiece of your ministry?
2. Are you teaching people to do better, thereby seeking to grow in their own righteousness, or leading them to grow in their relationship to the person of Jesus Christ.
3. Are you focusing more on the “gifts” Christ provides rather than Christ being the gift Himself?
4. Is your Bible teaching thoroughly Christ-centered? Do the people under your teaching know that the end of Scripture is the supremacy of Christ?

I’d love to hear your thoughts, convictions and testimonies on this one. Please leave a comment and let the discussion roll!

My Job Chart is set up as an online way for parents to track the chores that their children do while maintaining an allowance that they bank via points. A friend of mine who uses this with her children told me that it is working wonders in regard to communicating to her kids what needs to be done as well as giving them a unique way to stay motivated.

Here’s how it works:

Not only do I see usefulness for this in the home, but it could be good in ministry as well. Small group leaders could keep track of various challenges they gave for the kids to do during the week. They could help kids stay accountable for practicing Christian disciplines. They could use it as incentives to help difficult children honor their parents and seek a change of heart.

Can you think of any other ministry uses?