Equipped with Chris BrooksMany of us know the challenge of bringing our active children to God’s Word each day but we also know the eternal impact it can have.
Family devotions are not an unreachable goal. Chris Brooks brings Tim Shoemaker to the program to present some out-of-box ways to have fun family times that deliver spiritual impact. Learn to communicate Biblical truth to your busy family!
Today's resource: The Very Best, Hands-on, Kinda Dangerous Family Devotions.
Equipped with Chris Brooks is made possible through your support. To donate now, click here.
This month's featured resource: Praying the Bible
Hey friends, please enjoy this encore presentation of Equipped with curse for us. Hey there friends, welcome to another exciting edition of equip with Chris Brooks! I am so thrilled you have joined me today. Why don't you do me a favor? Strap on your seat belt. We're going to navigate through the contours of culture, as always, with the lens of the biblical worldview on. But before we do that, let me remind you, this is the day that the Lord has made. He has given it as a gift so that you and I can rejoice and be glad in it. So let's do just that. Let's follow the words of the Apostle Paul. Let's rejoice in the Lord always. And again I say, rejoice. Well, my friends, today I want to help you as parents to be able to have phenomenal, life changing and memorable devotional time with your kids. I want you to be empowered to turn boring devotional times into something that they actually listen to, take notice of, and that they will never forget. And so in order to do that, I got a resource that has one of the very best titles I have ever experienced. As a matter of fact, here's the title. Get ready. It is the very best hands on kind of dangerous family devotions. And it's by Tim Shoemaker. He joins me today. Tim is the author of 14 books for Parents and Kids. He's worked as a volunteer with youth at his local church for over 25 years. He also speaks to thousands of students at public schools every year. He's a popular workshop speaker, and he's been heard on focus on the family, Iron Sharpening, Iron Man's conference, and great homeschool conventions as well. He's joining me today to talk about the very best hands on, kind of dangerous family devotions. How are you, brother?
Hey, I'm doing great, Chris. Thanks for having me.
You know what? I appreciate it. Talk just for a moment about your passion for our families and gathering around the word.
Well, I have such a heart, obviously, for kids. And, you know, there's that that stage where they're they're innocent and everything is changing and they're learning about things. And in so many ways. Uh, my heart goes out to kids and they so many get messed up and they get involved in the wrong things. And I just want this chance for us to be able to reach out to these kids and help these kids at home. And for many of them will keep them from getting in some of those traps, and others, we're going to just make things a little bit better so they can get out of the traps they're already in. Uh, but yeah, just a heart for those kids has been just a huge thing for me.
Well, you know, I think that that heart is a heart that has produced, led you to produce a number of resources. But I don't want people to think that this is just a job for you. This is deeply personal for you. You know, one of my favorite pages of any book is the dedication page, and I just want to read yours to Andy and Laura, to Mark and Sarah and Luke and Beth. May this book be one more tool to help you teach the next generation about God and the principle he gives, the principles he gives us to live by. And then you quote Psalm one 1918 open my eyes that I may see wonderful things in your law. Who are these wonderful people and why are they important to you as you made this resource?
Well, the three boys mentioned are my sons and their wives, and of course they're all having kids now, so that's terrific. And it was this love for my sons and trying to find a way to connect, to teach them spiritual truth at home. And I struggled with it. I struggled, I just felt like I wasn't getting through or you'd see the kids be bored as they were growing up. But when I finally, by God's grace, he was starting to lead me into how to do it, where it connected. And I saw that change and that was so exciting to me. And and of course, I want them to have the same thing with their kids.
Yeah, I think that's beautiful. I think it's great. You know, anytime I write, I try to keep someone in mind, you know, as I'm writing, I think that makes me a better writer. Tim. And I see that with this resource that in many ways, what you did in private, you just went public with it. And and it's a blessing to us all. All right. Let's talk about what it means to go from a struggling, kind of disengaged devotional time to a fully engaged devotional time. What's the big secret for making that transition?
Well, I think the big thing is, is to do something active an activity, an object lesson, at least, at the very least, something visual. And so what you do is you you do this little activity or this object lesson with the kids. It has them engaged. And then you tie in this nugget of spiritual truth at the end, and the two of them become etched in their mind and they remember it. So anytime they think about this crazy thing you did, they remember that lesson that you taught them. And it's just a nugget of truth. So this these aren't, uh, you know, Bible studies where you're taking a deep look in the word. It's a devotional. And our goal is get one nugget of truth across, but in a way where they never forget.
Yeah, we're going to talk about some of the, uh, the dangerous things you did. I'm just wondering if my my wife will actually let me electrocute a pickle. I'm just wondering if she'll let me use the snowblower. I'm sorry. The leaf blower to demonstrate and teach lessons on the Holy Spirit. You know, it's funny. One of my most memorable devotions. Now, you got a picture of this. I'm 66, right? Uh. And, uh.
And so, you know.
We wanted to reenact David and Goliath, and I wanted to do it with the boys. And so I told I told them, you go get your slingshots. Let me just say this. By the end of the devotion, the living room was a wreck. And I just think my wife, she's been merciful. She's forgiven me. Uh, but I'm going to have to sell her on some of these ideas. But just talk a little bit before we get into all of these creative ideas. From jello to leaf blowers to pickles. But before we get into all of those creative things, talk about your commitment to the Word of God. Because at the end of the day, yeah, these illustrations are great. They're fun, they're engaging, they're multi-sensory. But it's ultimately about getting the word in their hearts, isn't it?
You're absolutely right. And so we want to be true to the word. And this is why, you know, going back to Deuteronomy four and six and 11, you know, it talks about the fact that we're to we're to teach our kids about God and the principles he gives us to live by. And so this word is extremely important. And and that's what we want to teach from, not just, uh, nice things to teach them, but we teach them the word. And the thing of it is, is, yeah, you can have the most creative ideas in the world, and that's and that's important, but it's only half the equation. The other part is, is us, um, the person teaching it, we need to be the real deal. We need to be following the Lord and and following his word. And when we put those two together, when we're putting it into practice, when we're living it out, you know, then we've then we've got something to say. And then we use an object lesson to, to catch their attention.
Well, we can't get the word into their hearts without having the word in our hearts. We've all heard that devotional time with our kids described this way. Maybe you've heard it this way, that it's about building a bridge from my heart to their heart that Jesus can walk across. And and in many ways, it really is the deposit of the Word of God in our own lives being transferred to our kids. And so all month long, we're going to be encouraging our parents and adults to get this wonderful resource that we're making available. While you are exploring, getting this wonderful devotion that Tim has put out. Also, maybe you want to consider getting our resource of the month, which is plain theology for plain people. Listen, I know theology can be intimidating, but this is a very approachable small book about theology. Walter Strickland, my good friend and brother in Christ, has put it together. Uh, and it's a great, great resource for getting theology and doctrine in your own heart so that you can make sure that your illustrations aren't violating Scripture, and you can make sure that you have enough deposited in you so that when you do these family devotionals, it's easy to pour it into the next generation. So I want to give the number 888644 4144. That's 888644 4144. If you're ready to go to the next level and your understanding of the truths of the faith, why don't you dial that number? Gift of any amount. We'll send it out to you. Also, you can find out Tim's book more about that at our website. Equip radio.org. The very best hands on kind of dangerous family devotions and uh equip radio.org. There we have links. Tim. We've talked about how your parenting life, family life have impacted this devotional. What about your time as a youth worker, uh, volunteering, working with youth. How has that impacted this resource?
Well, I think, uh, so much the idea of, you know, how am I going to connect with these kids, how do I get through? And found very much that the very things Jesus was doing when he taught and when he walked this earth, are the very types of things that we do. You know, he he often taught nuggets of truth. It wasn't, you know, a big three point sermon. It was a nugget of truth he got across and often with a story or sometimes he did it with an object lesson. Now, often we call those object lessons miracles. But they were still an object lesson. Yeah, right. You know, here's a guy. He can't walk. Oh, now he can walk. What did we just learn here, people? You know, uh, so there's things like this that we want to employ those same things. So when working with youth, I found if I'm going to get through to them, I'm going to use stories. I'm going to have visuals with me or do some sort of an object lesson. I try to do something about every five minutes that to make sure that they stay engaged when I'm speaking with them. And then, um, and then you're tying these things in, and again, in a way where they don't forget.
Yeah. Now, has that changed over time, your time in working with youth and and children. Has that changed the way you engage them?
Oh, definitely. Um, yeah, it definitely does. And you've got to listen. Right. And you've got to, uh, they've got to trust you. So one of the things when I'm talking with youth right off the bat, uh, you know, I kind of make this agreement with them. I'll. I'll always tell you the truth. Um, you know, even if it's hard, I will tell you the truth. Because we live in a world of lies, and a lot of people aren't going to tell you the truth. So if you've got a question, um, that's my commitment to you, to tell you the truth. And I'll explain why it's the truth. Uh, so I think early on, they begin to trust you and say, okay, he's going to tell the truth. And, um, And there's so many things, you know, Jesus was all about telling the truth, right? He he was straightening out misconceptions about God and misconceptions about God's principles for living. Uh, you know, people think that the the Bible is this book of do's and don'ts and it's so strict and restrictive. And I say, oh my goodness, no, it's the opposite. It's freeing. It's, it's a, it's a, it's a, it's a survival guide because we've got an enemy hunting us. Yes. Uh, you know, our world system has got how many laws do you think? And regulations. Millions. Uh, they're they're uncountable. But Jesus boiled it down to two. Now, love God, love others.
That's powerful.
Yeah. So. So, actually, um, you know, the word is, is so often not what people want to make it out to be.
Well, friends whom the Son of Man has set free is free indeed. We're going to talk about freedom through God's Word, and how we can convey that passion that clearly comes through when Tim talks about teaching our kids the Word of God. We're going to talk about how that can be a part of your devotional time. As we get ready to take this first break. This is a devotional, uh, resource that will give you 52 activities that your kids will never forget. And by the time it's all said and done, we're going to talk about the way grandparents can use this. What if you're like me and you have a house full of kids that range in a wide variety of ages? We're going to talk about that. What if you have kids that just want no parts of devotional time and they rebel against it? We're going to talk about that as well. Listen, social media is available to you if you have questions that you like. For Tim and I to process and ponder, why don't you go there right now? And here's the good news. We're going to give away three of these just to say thank you for those who are listening. And so you go, you communicate that you're interested in getting a copy of the very best hands on Kind of Dangerous Family Devotions will pick three names, let you know today. The rest of you go to equip radio.org. Whatever you do, don't go anywhere. Much more to come next up on equip. And equip is our goal to strengthen your faith. And we're always excited as we hear stories of people coming to faith as a result of our program, but we couldn't possibly accomplish this mission alone. That's why we're looking for equips and people just like you, who will give a monthly gift to help us keep this program on the air. Would you consider partnering with us? Become an Equipper today and receive special insider benefits, such as a bi weekly email that contains pastoral messages prepared just for you? Call 888644 4144 or go online to equip radio.
Org.
Welcome back to equipped with Chris Brooks. My guest today, Tim Shoemaker, talking about this wonderful devotional resource. He's produced a very best hands on a dangerous family devotions. It's 52 activities your kids will never forget as they learn the Word of God. You can find out more at our website. Equip radio.org. Okay. Real quickly Tim, what can I learn about the Holy Spirit from a leaf blower?
Okay, well, first of all, you take a regular leaf blower and you can convert this in about ten minutes to shoot toilet paper. It's fantastic. We we just. Yeah, we just connect a paint roller to the end of it, and we use just regular, uh, single ply toilet paper. And you can unload that thing in less than 10s in one continuous stream. So that's sort of the the background information. Real easy. We show you how to do that. And then you have a couple of the kids or whatever. You've got them doing a little toilet paper race. So you hand them a roll of toilet paper, have them use their fingers like a spool and unload that, say, okay, we're going to have a race. You're going to unload or unroll this toilet paper here. And meantime, dad is going to work with one of the other kids or whatever. We're going to work together. We're going to do it a little different way, and we're going to we're going to race you. All right, so you guys take a head start. You let them go. They're unrolling this toilet paper. And then we pull out the leaf blower. We load the toilet paper on there, turn it on and it empties this thing so quick. And of course, we just we just blow them away. Well, the point of it is, is we show them that, you know, just like they didn't expect, um, us to pull out a leaf blower to shoot this toilet paper. That's the way it is. Life with the Holy Spirit. Sometimes we can be like the kid unrolling the toilet paper. We're working as hard as we can, we can't seem to go much faster. Um, we're trying not to mess up. But then that's the way it is when we're working life in our own power. The leaf blower just illustrates, hey, when the Holy Spirit is working and flowing through us, he does things that we would never expect and things that were once hard for us become very easy because often the Holy Spirit is changing our heart. He's changing us on the inside. And so it's just little things like that where we teach that little nugget of spiritual truth.
You know, I love that. And and again, these are exciting and fun activities. And the way the book is laid out, it gives you how to how to prep in advance. It gives you obviously the the discussion guidelines, you know, and the text as well. It helps you to walk through passages of Scripture, for example, for this particular one, Galatians 516, Paul writes, so I say, let the Holy Spirit guide your lives, then you won't be doing what your sinful nature craves. And so you can really launch into, as you said, a discussion about the Holy Spirit, what happens when he guides our life and and all of it leading to not only activity, but memorable conversations as well. Galatians 525 says, since we are living by the spirit, let us follow the Spirit's lead in every part of our lives. What does that look like? And this is a great illustration of our power versus his power. Now I could see again my younger ones getting involved in this and being pretty excited. My five year old Sophia, my seven year old Judah, my ten year old Cameron. They would love stuff like this. What do you say to teens parents that have, you know, I got a 14 year old. What do you what do you say to parents who have teens about how to get them engaged and involved? Tim.
Okay, so when you've got kids that are getting a little bit older, you know, and some of them might be great, they're totally engaged. They're in it. Wonderful. You just keep working with that. But some of them, they're going to feel that family devotions are below them, and they're going to feel like you're treating them like a kid. Then I would do one of a couple things. One, you could take them aside and just explain, hey, you know what? God's given me this job. I've got to teach my kids about him and about the principles he gives us to live by and and just encourage them to to go along with that a little bit. So sometimes that's all it takes. But other times, again, when they're thinking this is below them, then I make them my helper. So I say, look, there's things we've got to teach your younger brother, your younger sisters, whatever it would be. Uh, and here's what dad's going to do this week. And we're going to, we're going to convert this leaf blower to, uh, shoot toilet paper. And so you and I are going to work on that together. And if there's supplies to pick up, you take your 14 year old with you. And if there's a time to test it ahead of time, you test it ahead of time. You two work it out. Now he's now he's not one of the kids so much. He's in it with you. And when you actually do the devotional, you might actually put him in charge of a certain part of it. Like, for example, the leaf blower. Hey, when we pull out the leaf blower, you're going to be the one doing that. Okay. So see, now they're into that and they're on the inside scoop. They're not treated like one of the kids. But when all is said and done, they're still getting the lesson that you're trying to teach. And the beauty of it, Chris, is that you're also prepping them and teaching them how to do it someday, when they're a dad or when they're a mom. Or they can teach their own kids because, hey, you know what I used to? I used to help my parents teach my little brother or my little sisters, you know? So, um, Generally when you bring them along that way, they're good with it.
Yeah. You know, I'll be honest with you, this stuff I know you put together for young kids and maybe even teenagers, but I believe this is the type of stuff that works for all ages. Who doesn't want to have a multi-sensory experience when it comes to learning God's Word? So parents, the kids can be the excuse. If you've always wanted to have a more engaging time in studying God's Word, this is the type of resource that is great for you as well. This is why I'm introducing it to you. We are all about bringing guests and resources before you that we believe will help to equip you to more effectively live, share, and defend your faith. That's why I'm saying go to our website, equip radio.org. Also, our social media is available to you. I'll mention that throughout the program because we're going to pick three. That's right. Three of you to just say thank you for listening. And we're going to send you a copy of this wonderful devotional. All right. Listen, uh, Tim, uh, Ephesians two and ten. I love this. This is one of my life verses. It says this Paul writing for we are God's handiwork, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do. Ephesians two and ten. So in my mind, I think about the type of life that I want to have devoted to God, my family, serving God. This is a pretty beautiful picture, but what do I learn about building that type of life from a Lego set?
Well, all right, that's all right. So, you know, when you when you get a box of Legos, it's always the same. You've got this great looking picture on the cover, but when you open it up, what do you get? Bags of pieces and an instruction book. And it's a great way you get this box of Legos with the kids and you and you talk about Legos with them just a little bit, and then you transition over to that spiritual truth that this Christian life is so much like a box of Legos. Uh, you know, we can have a, a great picture of the type of person we want to be, but just like a Lego, it doesn't come ready made. We must we must build according to the instructions. And, um. And this word tells us exactly how we do that, how to be building ourselves into that mature Christian that we want to be. So we've got that great picture and some, some spots in the word. They almost read like a Lego, you know, instruction book would be, you know, second Peter five 1 to 8, you know, for this very reason, make every effort to add to your faith, goodness and to goodness, knowledge and to knowledge self-control. You know, it's like building the the Lego pieces together. And so we just use that as a reminder to them that this is it doesn't come ready made. We have to do some work and he's going to do some work in us. We work together.
What do you say to your kids then, when hard things come? Because, you know, you can be building a Lego set. And I've seen this happen among my kids. One of them, you know, maybe has a bad attitude that they didn't get the particular Legos that the other one got, and they just kind of come over and knock down the whole edifice that they've been building. Sometimes life is like that, right? Sometimes hard things come to us through life. What do you say to kids about, uh, about how we should think about when hard times come?
Well, you know, let's go back to the Lego thing for a moment. You know, we're making this Lego project out of all these little blocks. And to me, in life, these are the experiences we have, the knowledge we gain. All these different things are our little blocks in our life. Some are good and some are very, very hard, but they make us into the person God is designing us to. To be going back to Ephesians 210 like you brought up things. He's planned for us, these good things. And so there have been times or there will be times in their life where that Lego project, it's like you hold it up over your head and you drop it to the floor and pieces scatter all over. That's the way life can feel for kids very often. But oftentimes what happens? God just takes those those same pieces and he builds something a little bit different and it's better. Um, and we see how all these things that he put in our life, uh, these experiences such that we had the good times, the bad times, they all are used. He doesn't waste a thing to build us into that kind of person that he's designed us to be.
Well, someone who's listening that maybe is an adult that's listening to us right now needed to hear that and be reminded of that. God doesn't waste a thing. He takes the good, he takes the bad, and all of it works together for his glory and for our good. So grateful to have Tim Shoemaker here. He's an author, he's a dad, he's a youth worker. He's put all of those experiences together to produce the very best hands on, kind of dangerous family devotions. 52 activities your kids will never forget. Why don't you get a copy by going to our website? Equip radio.org. When we come back, we're going to talk about how we can use Jell-O to help to explain a lesson about our brains. Don't go anywhere. Much more to come. Next up on equip. Chris Brooks here reminding you that today's program is prerecorded. While we won't be taking calls, we do want to connect with you on social media. Welcome back to equip with Chris Brooks, having a phenomenal conversation with Tim Shoemaker about this wonderful 52 lesson family devotional resources put together. You know, one of the friends of equip is our good friend Kathy Cook. Doctor Kathy Cook. She says this about the the resource Tim has put together. She says this book is fabulous. The devotions are memorable, unique, fun for all ages, engaging and not complicated. You and your children are going to learn so much. Well, anything Cathy endorses I want to have on my bookshelf, so I do encourage you to get a copy. Find out more about how you can order a copy at our website. Equip radio.org. And if you're just tuning in, social media is available to you as well. We love to get new friends and followers on social media, Facebook and Twitter. Equip radio. And so what we're going to do to incentivize you, encourage you to thank you for listening, as we have three copies that we're going to give away of the very best hands on, kind of dangerous family devotions that Tim Shoemaker has put together. All right, Tim, tell us a little bit about this jello.
Okay. There's there's a couple of things you can do with gel. In fact, I think there's two devotions in there with it. But one of the ones is, you know, you can you can make a regular Jell-O mold. Uh, now, you could do it in just a typical Jell-O mold. Um, you know, pan that you use. Or you can go online if you want to prepare ahead, and you can order one that's shaped like a brain, which is.
So.
Much more fun. Okay. So you can get this brain one. And so then what you do, you could take it up on a ladder. You could take it to a second story window and, uh, you know, you hold it out or let one of the kids hold it out if they're older and let it go. And of course, when that thing hits the pavement below, it's going to splatter. And, you know, that's fun. If you want to make a couple of the molds, you can let a couple of kids do it. But the point is then is you start to tie that into a spiritual truth, you know? Yeah. You know, our brain is fragile, isn't it? That's why it's encased in a skull. And that's why we wear helmets when we play sports or ride our bike, because the the brain is fragile. We've got to protect it. And they all get that there with that. Um, and then use that to transition into a discussion to talk about how we've got to protect our minds. And, uh, in a very we're all about the physical sense, protecting our brains. But what about in the spiritual sense? And then we can talk about ways that we do that, to talk about how we, uh, keep from being deceived, uh, for one, uh, or in another devotional. They're just the talk about, um, you know, what you allow in your life, you can do this where you make this jello and you just pick up junk. Okay? So maybe you pick up some, uh, you know, you empty the bag of your vacuum cleaner, and you got hair and fuzz and all this stuff, and you and you put some of that in the jello before it's hardened, right? So you got all this stuff in there. You can take little, you can take bugs or whatever, a nice clear jello. And when you slice it open and there's all this stuff in there, they're like, oh, sick. Well, yeah, that doesn't belong in there, does it? No, that's not appetizing. And that can lead you right into a quick discussion about the things we allow in our brain, uh, that, uh, we don't want this junk in there.
Now, what do you say to parents who are listening about what's typical as far as the prep time for one of these devotionals, and how long is a typical devotional that you've put together for the very best hands on kind of dangerous family devotions?
Well, the prep time can, you know, if you're making a jello? There's a little bit of prep there. Uh, most of them, it's really very quick, um, the prep time that you do in advance and the devotional itself, often they're 5 minutes to 10 minutes. They're not very long, including your wrap up time, because you're just getting a nugget of truth across in a way where they remember it and the kids to them, it's it's painless. You had some little activity, you tied something in, and it gets to the point where they aren't dreading family devotions. They're actually beginning to look forward to it. Uh, I found that in my own life, when one of my boys had asked me, hey, dad, when are we going to have family devotions again? I realized, okay, I'm on to something here. You know, this has changed. It was so different from trying to round them up. Hey, guys, we want to have a little devotional here. Um, so it was when we started doing the active stuff that that made all the difference, but it doesn't take a lot of time. And here's the other thing I think, Chris, is it doesn't take a lot of time prep wise for yourself. You can you can have notes in front of you. You can have a book in front of you. I've always had that. When I talk with kids, I've always got notes in front of me. Um, and they're okay with that. Especially like with the book, if if it looks if it looks like it's the first time you've looked at this, well, then that's going to be a problem. But take that book, highlight it, cross something out, make a note in the margin and they see that you've looked at this, but you can work right through the book. Otherwise, if the prep time takes too long, you're going to start skipping weeks. Yeah. As a parent. And so we're trying to make this. So it's it's not that we want to make it easy to get in and and to get out.
What are the top spiritual issues Tim. Uh, among our kids that you're most concerned about in this season?
Oh, boy. Well, right now, uh, there's so much. You know, we've got kids that are, uh, discouraged. Uh, they can be depressed. We've got kids that are wondering, is there a purpose for them? What's this all about? Is it, you know, you look at that, that Lego lesson that we talked about. You know, they're not seeing the picture, uh, at the end. We they can't even see that many of them right at this point. There's all kinds of added temptations that kids have got. So we want to address a lot of these different issues in a in a very positive way. Um, and I think they're feeling heard. They're feeling understood and they're not feeling so alone. And they see how God can help.
Yeah. I think this is really good, folks. You can find out more about the very best hands on Kind of Dangerous Family devotions by going to our website. Equip radio.org that's equipped radio.org. We really are encouraging you to get this resource. And maybe you've started some devotions before and never finished them because let's be honest, not only were the kids bored, but you were bored as well and didn't know how to keep it engaging. I promise you, this one will feel and be totally different. Not lacking in substance. Don't get me wrong, the activities only go to support the teaching of the word. Just like in scripture, how miracles were for messages, signs were for sermons, wonders were for the word. So this devotional helps you to go deeper into Scripture. And so I want to encourage you to get a copy of the very best hands on Kind of Dangerous Family Devotions 52 activities that Your Kids Will Never Forget. Go to our website equip radio.org. I've always believed, Tim, that grandparents are the second most important group of people in the life of a child. What do you want to say to grandparents about how they can use this to engage their grandkids?
Oh boy, grandparents are in a terrific place. Often the grandkids are just a little bit more patient with grandma and Grandpa in different ways. And often grandparents, they're looking for ways. How do I connect with these kids? What do we talk about? Boy, you do an activity, you do some sort of an object lesson and let that open up a discussion, and you're teaching them truth about God's Word. This is fantastic to be able to do that with them. So, um, I would really encourage grandparents. Yes. Get involved. And when you've got the kids, you can do that even if they can't be with the kids. A lot of these things you could do on zoom, they could just, you know, set something up and they'd do some little demo for them. And and then they talk about it a little bit. But it's, it's better in person for sure.
Yeah. I want to commend my mom who may even be listening. Now, you know, my mom has this rhythm with our kids where she's going to share at least a verse, sometimes multiple verses per week, but at least a verse of Scripture a week to really engage their hearts around and to encourage them around. Well, you think about grandparents who take their jobs seriously and imparting the Word of God, and then you equip them with resources like yours. Tim. I think it takes it to another level. And what you've just done for guys like me who aren't super creative when it comes to kids ministry, there's a reason why they kick kicked me out of kids ministry. Tim. Uh, you know, I'm not cut from the same creative cloth as you. You just made our jobs easier because you just took the creative work and said, hey, I'll help to think about that if you just show up to the party. Is that kind of the message you want to send to parents?
Absolutely. Hey, the body of Christ, right? We we we have different functions. So there's things that you're doing that I can't do and the the creative end. Hey, he gives some this creative energy or ideas that we can help in another way. So that's the beauty that we work together. We can't do it on our own. And so, uh, yeah, I mean, there's some times where I see something, I see some object lesson, I see some demo something, uh, and I say, oh my goodness, there's a devotional in there someplace. We got to figure out how to use this, like electrocuting the pickle. The first time I saw that, I thought, this has got to be a spiritual lesson.
But, you.
Know, what do we do with it? You know?
Well, here we go.
Okay, you brought it up. I promised our listeners we get to it. Let's talk about electrocuting the pickle. What do we learn from that?
Okay, this is this is this is going to be an interesting one. Now, this is one of those ones that would be, you know, kind of dangerous, uh, but. And you brought up, I think earlier you were talking about your wife. Well, she really be for this. Yes. She will. Yes she will. Here's what I here's what I tell wives. You know, moms, when they're a little bit concerned, I say, do you ever leave your car keys on the on the counter? Well, yeah. Well, wait a minute. The kids could grab that. They could take the car and they could drive away. That's dangerous. Well, no, no, they're not going to do it because. Right. You train them. Of course, it's the same thing with this. So you can say to, you know, your kids look we're going to do one. This is going to be a little bit, you know, a little a little more dangerous. Uh, and, and they're going to be leaning forward. First of all, you've got to understand they are really tuned in, which is good. Uh, and so I just, you know, encourage them to tell the kids, look, anytime you want to see this demo again, you want to do it for friends. Hey, I'll do it. We'll be there. I'd love to do it, but if you start doing it on your own, we're going to go back to Bible picture storybooks for devotions. And, uh, they're not going to like that very much. Right. So doing the fun stuff. So, so you take like a little extension cord, um, that you might use for a lamp, you know, when you, when the cord is not long enough, you cut off the socket end and you can separate those wires. You just wrap those wires around the head of a nail, put a little electrical tape on each side. So now you've got these two like electrodes. Right. Okay. It's not plugged in. It's not plugged in. That's important. Uh, so now you take a nice big deal, pickle, put it on a plate, and you stick one nail in one end, and you stick the other nail in the other. Now, you plug that in, and when you plug that in. you'll hear a little sizzling, and then a little steam comes out, and then the pickle lights up. It's like there's a battle inside all these flashes of light. If you dim the lights, it is absolutely, you know, amazing when you look at this. And so we do that, then we unplug it and we transfer over to a spiritual truth and talk about what did we see here and the fact that it looked like a battle. We say, you know what? This is like the Christian life. We're like this pickle. And often there's a battle inside us because we've got two influences in our life a positive the Holy Spirit and a negative our old nature. And when those are present. Galatians 517 talks about there's a war, there's a battle going on inside us, things we want to do that we know we shouldn't, or things that we're doing that we know we need to stop. There's a battle. Well, how do we stop that battle? Well, just like with the the pickle, we could take out one nail or the other nail in the battles over. Um, but in the spiritual sense, very often what people do is they, they push back or they quench the Holy Spirit. Wow. And and the fight is over. We don't feel the fight anymore, but we're just left with the old nature. That is not a good place to be as a Christian, but instead, the word shows us how we want to use the Holy Spirit and some self-control, and we use that to push back the old nature in this little battle. And we keep doing that. And after a while, that battle no longer becomes a battle. And then there'll be something else. But we use that same thing, so we can use this electrocuting pickle to teach a really, really important lesson about maturing in the faith.
I love it, I absolutely love it. I feel fathers honking their horns all across America as they're listening to this right now. Listen, what can a watermelon being dropped from a two story window. Teach us about the power of purity, integrity. Honoring parents, moms and dads. What about a fire being put out by squirt guns? What can it teach us about the importance of Christian community? All of this and so much more found in the very best, hands on, kind of dangerous family devotions. Find out more at Equip radio.org. Do you want to deepen your prayer life but you don't know where to start? Praying the Bible. By doctor Don Whitney shows how anyone can have meaningful prayer times using Scripture as our guide. This transformative book reveals how the Bible, especially the Psalms, can fuel your prayer life with fresh language and God centered thoughts. Get your copy today. When you give a gift to equip, call 888644 4144 or give online at Equip radio.org. Welcome back to equip with Chris Brooks. Have you ordered your copy yet of Colleen Chow's book. Well, one of the ways you can get a copy of that wonderful book that we're featuring all month long in the hands of a fiercely tender God, is by supporting the program, your gifts allow us to proclaim the gospel. But in exchange for that, we want to help you. And one of the ways that we help you is through these wonderful monthly resources this month, in the hands of a fiercely tender God. 31 days of hope, honesty and encouragement for the sufferer. You can find out more by clicking on Equip Radio. Org or dialing 888644 4144. That's 888644 4144. Gift of any size to the ministry. We will send it out to you. I am having a blast having a conversation today with Tim Shoemaker about this wonderful devotional resource. Tim. We've talked about everything from leaf blowers and jello Yellow and electrocuting pickles. Let me ask this question. Out of all the 52 activities and devotions, which one has really been your favorite over the years?
Oh my goodness, there's so many. I've enjoyed that leaf blower like crazy, but there's other ones that are maybe. Well, there's one. One that I call Catching Fire. I've loved that because maybe we're using fire. Uh, but, uh, we get we get several, um, tubes of paste, you get, you get diaper rash paste, you get tooth paste, and you can get this stuff called fire paste, and you can get that at any camping store. So you can order it online. And now we wrap them with foil and we have a little, you know, piece of wood for each of the, you know, the kids and, and have them pick a tube and make an X on it on that board. Okay. Great. Now the whole idea is you're going to try to ignite that. You're going to do this outside for obvious reasons. And uh, so you you try to ignite that. And only one of those is going to ignite and it's going to burn real nice. And that's the fire paste. And then we then we talk about that transitional truth. What kind of what kind of Christian do they want to grow up to be? Going back to Ephesians 210, who do they want to be? And we talk about different Christians. We open up the one tube, the diaper rash paste. Oh, boy. You know, that's like the baby Christians. You're always cleaning up their messes. But you know what? They never really ignite for Christ. They're just. They just don't burn. You have to keep you have to keep babying them. And then the toothpaste. Um, you know, it's represents the Christians. A lot of them. They just want to look good. They've got that great Christian smile, but there's no depth. They don't ignite. And then, of course, the fireplace igniting for Jesus and keep burning. What kind of a Christian do you want to be? And and encouraging them to be one who is on fire for the Lord. So I don't know, but there's so many I could I could go to.
You know.
I know I.
Love it, I.
Love it, and, you know, you got my mind racing. And again, I know this is for kids, but brother, let me just tell you, as a 44 year old father, man, this is for all of us and I love it. Let's help some wives, though, for a moment, who have husbands that maybe aren't where they are spiritually, maybe spiritually disengaged. What do you want to say to those wives?
Well, I want to encourage him. You know, the kids still have to learn, but understand if they're going to try to push their husband or shame them into it, it's not going to work. It's not going to work for long. So, um, what I think part of it is to understand where your man is at. If he's a Christian, I would say he's probably afraid. He's intimidated by it. Um, you know, as men, we don't want to be embarrassed in front of our kids, right? That's we really don't want that. And oftentimes they're going to just they just don't think this is going to work. They think the kids will be bored or they won't pay attention. And that to them is embarrassing. They would rather not even step into that arena because they're afraid this is going to happen. So what I would say to this, this wife is, you know what? You pick up the book, you start looking at some things that are in the comfort zone of your husband. So if it is the electrical one or something with the fire, we do one with a fire pit, which would be super easy for her husband to get involved with. And so let him do the activity, say, hey honey, I want to talk to the kids about the importance of whatever going to church, for example. Um, and I'm going to need some squirt guns and we need to build a campfire, you know, maybe in the fire pit or something like that. Could could you help out with that fire thing? And then I just want to talk to the kids just a little bit about the importance of this. And so now you let him get involved in the area that's in his comfort zone. Wait a minute. I'm just running an activity. Hey, I'm starting a fire. I can do that. Um, you know, and then. So maybe he's running this activity part, and then she's tying it in with the nugget of truth. Not a long lesson, just a nugget of truth. And you know what? You do that a few times. He's going to see this was easy. This was fun. The kids were engaged. And you're breaking down all those stereotypes in their mind of what it would have been and how bad it would have been, and you start to build them up.
Well, brother, you've been a blessing. You've showed us the way. You've put together the resource, the very best hands on kind of dangerous family devotions, 52 activities your kids will never forget. Tim Shoemaker, thank you, brother, for joining me today.
Thanks very much. I'd love to be here. Chris.
Hey, folks. Find out more at Equip radio.org and make sure you get a copy of it. As always, remember equip with Chris Brooks is a production of Moody Radio, a ministry of Moody Bible Institute.
